Castoriadis reads Thucydides: The aspiration to autonomy and the acceptance of history

Abstract: This essay discusses the third of Castoriadis’s seminars on Ancient Greece. Following the structure of the book, the first part deals with questions of autonomy and its limits. In that regard, Castoriadis’s analysis leads to more sceptical conclusions and modest expectations than in some earlier writings. This applies both to the social context and to the anthropological grounding of aspirations to autonomy. The second part focuses on some key points in Castoriadis’s reading of Thucydides. His interpretation of Athenian political culture in the fifth century bce, largely based on the funeral oration which Thucydides ascribes to Pericles, is shown to be problematic in some respects, especially with regard to power structures, but his key claims are nevertheless defended against the views of Nicole Loraux and Jonas Grethlein. The essay concludes with reflections on Thucydides’s account of interstate competition and geopolitical dynamics, and on its implications for our times.