“For the Doer to Suffer”. The Combination of δράω and πάσχω as Mark of Responsibility in Greek Tragedy

This article discusses certain combinations of δράω and πάσχω in Greek tragedy in the light of the fifth-century debate on responsibility. In some contexts, not only does δράω – combined with other semantic elements – mean ‘to act’, but also ‘to act responsibly’. In this sense, its contrast with πάσχω (‘to suffer as punishment’) cannot be interpreted as a reference to the old principle of retributive justice or private revenge. In Attic law, action and punishment were measured on the basis of the agent’s intentions, which determined the extent of guilt and responsibility. This paper shows how the Classical tragedy poets authors drew on the principle of δράσαντα παθεῖν in the Athenian legal context and thought.