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Chapter 1 - Approaching Slavery in Ancient Greece

Motivations, Methods and Definitions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2021

Sara Forsdyke
Sara Forsdyke
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Summary

This chapter provides an introduction to the book. It begins by justifying the study of ancient slavery then turns to the difficulties of studying slavery from the available evidence. Methods for recovering the experiences of slaves are explored, including the use of comparative evidence. Next, ancient and modern definitions of slavery are surveyed and the distinctions between slavery and other forms of unfree labor, including serfdom, are discussed.

Keywords

definitions of slaveryproblems of evidenceuse of sourcescomparative study of slaveryAristotle on slaveryslave voicesslave agencyserfsserfdomSpartahelots
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Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Greece , pp. 1 - 51
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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