The seminar will deal with the question of existence and meaning of “human rights” and other civil/social/political rights in different periods of Greek history in antiquity as possible sources of modern universal human rights law. Relevant texts from different periods will be read and analyzed in order to understand if (and how) modern concepts of human rights might be rooted in ancient Greek civilization, history and thought - or if the reference to Greek antiquity in human rights law is used to “update the myth of ‘Western civilization’ to suit momentary agendas” (Samual Moyn, Human Rights and the Uses of History, xiv).