Innovation in Democratic Athens - Professor Armand D'Angour (Oxford)

Note: Venue is different this week. This event will take place in room 213, Building 5 (Richards Building), UQ St Lucia. View map. 

Was political innovation important in democratic Athens? What did it mean, and how was it pursued? While it is recognised that the Greeks were conspicuously innovative across numerous disciplines, such as literature, medicine, and sculpture, politics is rarely thought of as a domain for innovation. In a period beset with war and social turmoil, however, political innovations were sought and implemented, though they were often presented as a return to ancestral tradition. The broader context of Athenian innovationism can illuminate some of the practical and philosophical approaches to socio-political innovation in the course of the fifth century BC.