Homicide Then and Now

The punishment for homicides in the present can end up surprisingly similar to those of Ancient Greece. For example, the much publicized O.J. Simpson trial ended up not with a criminal conviction which is the common result in the U.S. (the classical Greeks did not have a penal system such as the one in the U.S., criminals were either put to death, fined, enslaved, or exiled). The civil case which was brought be the victim's relatives is the course of action that would have been taken in antiquity. It fulfills the next of kin's responsibility to bring the murder to justice. Since O.J. has been ordered to compensate the families of the victims (pending an appeal of course), it is sufficient for the placement of blame, so that a modern version of a criminal trial would have been unnecessary. While O.J. is not likely to seek purification from a priest of Apollo, his home has been seized by the courts, so that exile appears likely.

Even though the outcome of both trials is likely not to have completely satisfied either side, it corresponds fairly closely to the course of events that would have followed a murder in antiquity. Although, if the civil trial had not found O.J. liable, the law allowing the prosecution of lifeless object may have allowed for the prosecution of the knife, if it is ever located.