8 - The prosecution of impiety in Athenian law

Summary

The three preceding chapters have discussed the manner in which Athenian society encompassed two areas of problematic sexual practices: adultery and homosexuality. Building upon these investigations, the next chapter will attempt to analyze the way in which the regulation of such sexual behavior relates to more general questions of political ideology, particularly to democratic theory. So as not to leave this general discussion of the enforcement of morals vulnerable to the criticism that it relies exclusively upon material concerning sex and gender, the present chapter takes up aspects of the legal regulation of religious behavior. Although modern discussions of the enforcement of morals often confine themselves to the realm of sexual morality, the nature and scope of the statutory provisions for the enforcement of socio-religious norms is, in most legal systems, one of the most significant criteria by which to evaluate various aspects of the relationship of the individual and the family to the state and to the society as a whole. This is no less the case in classical Athens where the processes which regulate religious practices and beliefs are of central importance for an understanding of issues like the relation between law and morals, the place of individual liberty and freedom of conscience, and the link between democracy and toleration. Indeed, Plato's Republic and Laws bear witness to the recognition of the importance of religious conformity, as, in its own way, does the trial of Socrates.