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Hypereides 3 and the Athenian Law of Contracts
- Transactions of the American Philological Association
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 139, Number 1, Spring 2009
- pp. 89-122
- 10.1353/apa.0.0026
- Article
- Additional Information
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This article examines the Athenian law of contracts as illuminated by the particular case of Hypereides 3, Against Athenogenes, in which the prosecutor, Epicrates, seeks to void a contract of sale on the grounds that the defendant, Athenogenes, has employed fraud in its formation. Part 1 compares and analyzes the attested variants on the general contract law cited at Hypereides 3.13 and concludes that Hypereides' version is most likely to be correct. Part 2 discusses modifications of the right to contract created by additional legislation and addresses the value and significance of Epicrates' arguments from analogy. Part 3 offers an explanation of the strategy behind Epicrates' attribution of particular laws to Solon.