Lycurgus of Athens

Lycurgus of Athens Lycurgus also or only Lycurgus (Greek Λυκοῦργος, * around 390 BC; † 324 BC) was an orator and politician in ancient Athens.

Lycurgus was Eteobutade. Since time immemorial (ie real Butaden, descendants of Bute, the brother of the legendary king Erechtheus ) high priestly offices were hereditary in the family of Eteobutaden. He was a pupil of Isocrates and Plato.

As a partisan of Demosthenes Lycurgus was a few years head of the Fund for the spectacle funds, that he led the Athenians financial management. He let rebuild the theater of Dionysus in stone, set up statues of the three great tragedians and create a state copy of their texts.

Works

From Lycurgus only the 330 speech delivered against Leocrates is obtained. In the long, quote -rich speech just returned to Athens Leocrates is accused to have abandoned in their hour of need (after Chaeronea ) his hometown and called for his death. As we know from Aeschines ' speech Against Ctesiphon held a little later, Leocrates was acquitted by just one vote.

Expenditure

• Likurgos ' speech against Leocrates, translated by Carl Hoizer. Stuttgart 1882

• Lycurgus. Speech against Leocrates, edited, introduced and translated by John Engels ( texts for research volume 93), Darmstadt 2008. ISBN 978-3-534-20083-2