Beyond the sophisms: Characterization and proof in Antiphon’s Second Tetralogy

ABSTRACT This study is an exploration of the beginnings of characterization in one of the earliest extant examples of Greek forensic oratory. In particular, it examines how an image of the behaviour of the young protagonists of the imaginary homicide case debated in Antiphon’s Second Tetralogy is constructed through the arguments brought forward by the speakers (their fathers), in the absence of a fully fledged narrative and overt attempts at character portrayal. This contribution details how such an image appears against the backdrop of traditional stereotypes associated with the nature and character of the young. As has been recognized by a number of scholars, such stereotypes are explicitly questioned by Antiphon in the Third Tetralogy, along with the validity of the probability (eikos) arguments that could be founded on them. In the Second Tetralogy, this study argues, the relationship between stereotypical characterization and this type of (often shaky) logical arguments is further loosened in the direction of the psychological and emotional conceptualization of character portrayal.