Paul Demont presented the various social and political aspects of the use of drawing lots in ancient Greece. Particularly attested to in epic and tragedy as a means of selecting a champion in decisive battles, it presupposes a belief in the intervention of the gods to direct fate. In large sanctuaries, oracular responses could also be governed by fate. In matters of inheritance, it was also used to divide property between brothers. It thus contributed in various ways to the smooth running of the city, and was even used, again under the protection of the gods, to put an end to civil war.
To assess its role, says Paul Demont, we need to take a close look at its starting point: designed to select or distribute among equals, it adapts to different types of equality, from aristocracies to real or symbolic siblingships, and to democracies, where its use is widespread. In Athens, for example, it has been possible to reconstruct the precise operation of the "lottery machines" referred to by Aristotle in the Constitution of Athens. But it was only gradually, as the basis for drawing lots broadened, that it came to be identified almost exclusively with democracy, usually in a critical way, notably from the perspective of philosophers who challenged the egalitarian nature of the initial basis, no longer recognized, or hardly recognized, the role of the gods in the matter, and reserved political activity for the possession of knowledge and savoir-être.
Paul Demont is Professor at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris-IV), and Director of the Doctoral School "Mondes anciens et médiévaux". His books include La Cité grecque archaïque et classique et l'idéal de tranquillité (Les Belles Lettres, 1990, republished 2009).
