The Tetralogies and Athenian Homicide Trials

ARISTOTLE, ATHENAION POLITEIA 57.4: TRIAL OF ANIMALS AND INANIMATE OBJECTS FOR HOMICIDE

“…A good and recent hypothesis is that they were composed toward the middle of the fourth century as a contribution to contemporary discussion of the five traditional courts for homicide. 18 The only certainty about the Tetralogies is that they were never delivered in any trials.…”