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Too Painful to Watch? The Representation of Violence and Suffering in Classical Athens

In the Republic of Plato, we find the story of a certain Leontius, son of Aglaion, who one day, while on his way up from the Piraeus, spotted the bodies of some freshly executed criminals: “He wanted to go and look at them, but at the same time he was disgusted and tried to turn away. He struggled for some time and covered his eyes, but at last the desire was too much for him. Opening his eyes wide, he ran up to the bodies and cried: ‘There you are, curse you, fill yourselves with this beautiful sight!’”. My paper takes the cue from this story in order to reflect and raise questions about the general attitude toward suffering and violence and their artistic portrayal in classical Athens.

Plato; Leontius; death penalty; suffering; violence; macabre; tragedy

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