Da li je dozvoljeno ubiti?

Abstract

U Atini se od VII veka pre n. e. dozvoljavalo ubistvo u određenim slu-čajevima. Do današnjih dana je sačuvano malo neposrednih izvora koji bi poka­zali kako se ovaj institut primenjivao u praksi, ali izdvaja se jedan Lisijin govor. Eufiletos je optužen za ubistvo čuvenog zavodnika Eratostena, koga je uhvatio na delu sa svojom ženom. Odbrana mu je zasnovana na citiranju zakona, koji su predstavljali dokazno sredstvo u atinskom sudskom postupku, s obzirom na to da porotnici - laici nisu morali poznavati zakonske norme. Jedan od citiranih zakona u ovom govoru ističe razliku u kažnjavanju silovanja i preljube, iz čega jasno proizilazi da je ubistvo preljubnika zatečenog na delu bilo dozvoljeno, dok to nije bio slučaj kod krivičnog dela silovanja. Autor pokušava da objasni moguće razloge zbog čega se u Atini silovanje kažnjavalo novčanom kaznom, blaže nego preljuba.

There were circumstances under which it was permissible to kill another human being in the ancient Athenian democracy. Moreover, the killing itself was governed by a number of statutes. As citations to, and exegesis of, the applicable statutes had a role of means of evidence in the Athenian litigation; the speeches of the Attic orators contained numerous citations of individual statutes. As a result, some of these statutes survived until today as fractions of the preserved oratorical pieces - such as the Speech against Eratosthenes, coming under a name of Lysias. Though the laws cited in this piece of Lysias' oratory may not resolve numerous dilemmas regarding the notion of permissible killing, these laws clearly show that adultery stood for a more serious crime than rape. The husband, or the closest blood relative of the adulteress, was permitted to kill her lover on the spot, while it was forbidden to kill the rapist. In Athens, rape was sanctioned only compositionally, i.e through money compensation. In other Greek citystates, the victims of adultery or rape were granted only the right to monetary compensation.