Demosthenes Statesman and Orator

Demosthenes' political power stretched over thirty years. Successive generations have judged him the statesman "par excellence," and his oratory as some of the finest to survive from classical Greece. His reputation is such that he is still quoted in speeches by modern politicians, and is often viewed as the supreme example of a patriot. Yet, conversely, Demosthenes' political career led to the defeat of Greece by Macedon, and the loss of Greek autonomy. In spite of his undoubted individual importance in fourth-century Greek history, recent scholarship has tended to focus on Demosthenes in the context of his era. This volume redresses the balance, with a thoroughgoing study of the man and his career.

Demosthenes is often adjudged the statesman par excellence, and his oratory as some of the finest to survive from classical times. Contemporary politicians still quote him in their speeches and for some he is the supreme example of a patriot. This landmark study of this remarkable man and his long career, the first to focus on him for more than 80 years, looks at the background behind this reputation and asks whether it is truly deserved.

Introduction: Demosthenes, Then and Now, Ian Worthington 1. The Road to Prominence, E. Badian 2. Demosthenes and Philip II, T.T.B. Ryder 3. Demosthenes' (In)activity during the reign of Alexander the Great, Ian Worthington 4. Demosthenes and Aeschines, John Buckler 5. Demosthenes and the Social Historian, Mark Golden 6. Demosthenes as Advocate: The Private Speeches, David C. Mirhady 7. The Public Speeches of Demosthenes, R.D. Milns 8. Philosophers, Politics, Academics: Demosthenes' Rhetorical Reputation in Antiquity, Craig Cooper 9. Demosthenes in the Underworld: A Chapter in the Nachleben of a Rhetor, Phillip Harding