The Household as the Foundation of Aristotle's Polis [Hardcover]

This 2006 book explains how Aristotle thought household and state interacted within the polis.The household was not the family in the modern sense of the term, but a much more powerful entity with significant economic, political, social, and educational resources. This 2006 book explains how Aristotle thought household and state interacted within the polis.The household was not the family in the modern sense of the term, but a much more powerful entity with significant economic, political, social, and educational resources. This 2006 book explains how Aristotle thought household and state interacted within the polis.Among ancient writers Aristotle offers the most profound analysis of the ancient Greek household and its relationship to the state. The household was not the family in the modern sense of the term, but a much more powerful entity with significant economic, political, social, and educational resources. The success of the polis in all its forms lay in the reliability of households to provide it with the kinds of citizens it needed to ensure its functioning. In turn, the state offered the members of its households a unique opportunity for humans to flourish. This 2006 book explains how Aristotle thought household and state interacted within the polis.1. Ancient and modern household; 2. The polis as community and polity; 3. Polis households: possessions; 4. Polis households: labor needs of the oikos; 5. Non-polis households; 6. The perfection of the household; 7. Philia as bond between oikos and polis; 8. Plato's Paideai; 9. Aristotle's Paideia.'...this book is an invaluable compedium of information from multiple sources that will deepen any reader's understanding of the material conditions of the ancient household and the nature of the local and city-wide institutions that inculcated the values of the community.
Cathal Woods, Virginia Wesleyan College, Bryn Mawr Classical Review'I recommend Nagle's account of the demographics of the polis and the l“,