Greek Bastardy in the Classical and Hellenic Periods [Hardcover]

In the ancient Greek world bastards were often marginal, their affinities being with the female, the alien, the servile, the poor, and the sick. This book reviews the major evidence from Athens, Sparta, Gortyn, and Hellenistic Egypt, as well as collating and analyzing fragmentary evidence from the other Greek states. Dr. Ogden shows how attitudes towards legitimacy differed across the various city states, and analyzes their developments across time. He also advances new interpretations of more familiar problems of Athenian bastardy, such as Pericles' citizenship law. This book should interest historians of a wide range of social topics--from law and the economy to the study of women in antiquity and sexuality.

This is a work impressive in both breadth and depth of scholarship, particularly for a first book by a young scholar. --History

If any book can make Greek bastardy legitimate, this is it....a thorough and thoughtful investigation which combines punctilious reference to ancient and modern sources, close attention to detail and an awareness of broader issues to illuminate many of the areas it touches on and to deliver a stimulating and sophisticated thesis on its main subject. --Bryn Mawr Classical Review