Athena’s Vote: Imperial Proceedings and the Hegemonic Origins of International Criminal Law in Aeschylus’ Eumenides

Abstract

In this paper, the author gives an account of the final trial scene in Aeschylus’ Eumenides, which in his opinion could be described as a subtle literary representation of the imperial justification of the exercise of criminal legal power over foreigners in classical Athens. Based on a philosophical exploration of the importance of criminal pollution and the need to create a new tribunal—the Areopagus—to institutionally overcome its dreadful consequences, it is contended that Aeschylean drama provides us with an aesthetic justification in antiquity for the creation (and imposition) of courts concerned with international offences which were considered to be extremely serious and dangerous for Athenian interests.