In the quote from the essay the author is actually paraphrasing some en vogue, literary type analyses that were happening then, around 2010 I think. He’s not ex

In the quote from the essay the author is actually paraphrasing some en vogue, literary type analyses that were happening then, around 2010 I think. He’s not expressing support for this style of forensic literature in any way. Instead, the author argues pretty persuasively that ancient Athenian law is more similar to modern analogues than is frequently understood, precisely because people who argue otherwise fail to recognize the role of storytelling in our modern legal system. Later, in the essay’s conclusion, he says that the use of story telling by ancient Athenians was more free wheeling, but he goes on to say that it’s was often all they had to go off of in many situations. The death of Eratosthenes, in his example, lacked any kind of forensics so both sides basically had to tell a story that conformed to the same set of facts. Anyways, the natural law stuff and popular opinion also play a role of course. Antigone for example risks death to recover her dead brother’s body even though it’s been made illegal by the tyrant of Thebes. Clearly Sophocles is a pretty standup guy and Antigone is sympathetic, so it makes sense. Also there were all sorts of demagogues who hijacked their democracy, like Kleon who convinced the Athenians to reject the soartan peace proposal, which was probably something they regretted tremendously.