Lysias was a professional speechwriter, or logographer, who worked in Athens during the late 5th and early 4th centuries BCE. He was not an Athenian citizen but a metic, a resident alien. His family was wealthy, but their lives were upended by the oligarchic regime known as the Thirty Tyrants, who seized power in 404 BCE. The regime executed his brother and confiscated their property. Lysias escaped and helped fund the democratic resistance. After democracy was restored, he returned to Athens but was denied citizenship. He then built a career writing courtroom speeches for others to deliver.
Over 200 speeches were attributed to him in antiquity, but only 35 survive in whole or in part. Most are forensic speeches, written for real legal cases involving murder, inheritance, business, and politics. One of the most famous, Against Eratosthenes, is the only speech he delivered himself, accusing a member of the Thirty Tyrants of killing his brother. His works are celebrated for their clear, persuasive style that seemed artlessly suited to the character of the client. According to modern scholars, his speeches provide invaluable evidence for Athenian law, daily life, and social history. As a non-citizen, his writings also offer a distinct perspective on Athenian society. His style was highly praised in antiquity and his works became standard models for the study of rhetoric.
Available Works
κατηγορία πρὸς τοὺς συνουσιαστὰς κακολογιῶν
Accusatithe Companions of Slander
20 passages
κατὰ Ἀγοράτου ἐνδείξεως
Against Agoratus for Informing
87 passages
κατὰ Ἀλκιβιάδου λιποταξίου
Against Alcibiades for Desertion
37 passages
κατὰ Ἀλκιβιάδου ἀστρατείας
Against Alcibiades for Military Evasion
10 passages
κατ᾽ Ἀνδοκίδου ἀσεβείας
Against Andocides for Impiety
49 passages
κατὰ Διογείτονος
Against Diogeiton
26 passages
κατὰ Ἐπικράτους καὶ τῶν συμπρεσβευτῶν ἐπίλογος
Against Epicrates and Co-Envoys, Epilogue As Theodorus
15 passages
κατὰ Ερατοσθένους τοῦ γενομένου τῶν τριάκοντα,
Against Eratosthenes of the Thirty
86 passages
κατὰ Ἐργοκλέους ἐπίλογος
Against Ergocles, Epilogue
15 passages
κατὰ Νικομάχου γραμματέως εὐθυνῶν κατηγορία
Against Nicomachus Secretary-Accounts
34 passages
κατὰ Παγκλέωνος ὅτι οὐκ ἦν Πλαταιεύς
Against Pancleon Not Being Plataean
14 passages
κατὰ Φίλωνος δοκιμασίας
Against Philo-Examination
25 passages
κατὰ Φιλοκράτους ἐπίλογος
Against Philocrates, Epilogue
15 passages
κατὰ τῶν σιτοπωλῶν
Against The Grain Dealers
18 passages
Πρὸς τὴν εἰσαγγελίαν περὶ τοῦ μὴ δίδοσθαι τῷ
Against the Indictment-Not Giving Money to the Weak
26 passages
κατὰ θεομνήστου, Α
Against Theomnestus A
28 passages
κατὰ Θεομνήστου Β
Against Theomnestus B
11 passages
Ἀρεοπαγιτικὸς περὶ τοῦ σηκοῦ ἀπολογία
Areopagiticus Defense of the Shrine
37 passages
ὑπὲρ Καλλίου ἱεροσυλίας ἀπολογία
Defense for Callias' Sacrilege
6 passages
ἐν βουλῇ Μαντιθέῳ δοκιμαζομένῳ ἀπολογία
Defense in the Council for Mantitheus Under Examination
17 passages
ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἐρατοσθένους φόνου ἀπολογία
Defense in the Murder of Eratosthenes
41 passages
δήμου καταλύσεως ἀπολογία
Defense of the Overthrow of the People
33 passages
Ἐπιτάφιος τοῖς Κορινθίων βοηθοῖς
Epitaph for Corinthian Helpers
48 passages
ὑπὲρ Πολυστράτου
For Polystratus
35 passages
ὑπὲρ τοῦ στρατιωτοῦ
For the Soldier
17 passages
Ἀποσπάσματα περὶ Χρέους
Fragments on a Debt Case
42 passages
Ἀποσπάσματα περὶ Δικῶν
Fragments on Legal Disputes
38 passages
ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἀριστοφάνους χρημάτων, πρὸς τὸ δημόσιον
In Defense of Aristophanes' Funds, to the Public
60 passages
περὶ τοῦ μὴ καταλῦσαι τὴν πάτριον πολιτείαν
On Not Abolishing The Ancestral Constitution At Athens
8 passages
περὶ τῆς δημεύσεως τῶν τοῦ Νικίου ἀδέλφου ἐπίλογος
On the Confiscation of the Property of Nicias' Brother, Epilogue
20 passages
περὶ τῆς Εὐάνδρου δοκιμασίας
On the Examination of Evander
24 passages
περὶ τῶν Ἐράτωνος χρημάτων: πρὸς τὸ δημόσιον
On the Funds of Eratones, to the Public
11 passages
περὶ τραύματος ἐκ προνοίας, ὑπὲρ οὗ καὶ πρὸς ὃν
On Wound by Design, For Which and to Whom Unknown
18 passages
πρὸς Σίμωνα ἀπολογία
To Simon Apology
38 passages
ἀπολογία δωροδοκίας ἀπαράσημος
Unmarked Defense of Bribery
23 passages