Works of Demosthenes
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Demosthenes (384–322 BC, Greek: Δημοσθένης) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute the last significant expression of Athenian intellectual prowess and provide a thorough insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece. The Alexandrian Canon compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace recognized Demosthenes as one of the 10 greatest Attic orators and logographers. Cicero acclaimed him as "the perfect orator,"[1] while Quintilian extolled him as "lex orandi" and underscored that "inter omnes unus excellat."[2]
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[edit] Orations
Demosthenes must have written down and put them into circulation most of his orations.[3] In the next generation after his death, texts of his speeches survived in at least two places: Athens and the Library of Alexandria (early-mid third century BC). During this period, Callimachus was responsible for producing the catalogue of all the volumes contained in the Library. Demosthenes' speeches were incorporated into the body of classical Greek literature that was preserved, catalogued and studied by scholars of the Hellenistic period. From then until the fourth century CE copies of his orations multiplied at a time when Demosthenes was deemed the most important writer in the rhetorical world and every serious student of rhetoric needed access to his writings. Texts of his speeches were in a relatively good position to survive the tense period fron the sixth till the ninth century CE.[4]
Of Demosthenes' orations sixty-one finally survived. Modern editions of these speeches are based on four manuscripts: the tenth-century Venetus Marcianus 416 (called F), the tenth- or eleventh-century Monacensis Augustanus 485 (called A), the tenth- or eleventh-century Parisinus 2935 (called Y) and the tenth- or eleventh-century Parisinus 2934 (called S) considered to be the most reliable by many scholars.[5][6]
The authorship of at least nine of the sixty-one orations is disputed.F.Blass disputes the authorship of the following speeches: Fourth Philippic, Funeral Oration, Erotic Essay, Against Stephanus 2 and Against Evergus and Mnesibulus.[7] A. Schaefer recognizes as genuine only twenty-nine, disputing the authorship of the following orations among others: Reply to Philip, Against Leochares, Against Stephanus 1 and Against Eubulides.[8] Friedrich Blass predicates that nine more speeches were recorded by the orator, but they are not extant.[9]
| Demosthenes' orations | |
| Political orations | Olynthiacs 1-2-3 | First Philippic | On the Peace | Second Philippic | On the Halonnesus | On the Chersonese | Third Philippic | Fourth Philippic | Reply to Philip | Philip | On Organisation | On the Navy | For the Megalopolitans | On the Liberty of the Rodians | On the Accession of Alexander |
|---|---|
| Judicial orations | On the Crown | On the False Embassy | Against Leptines | Against Meidias | Against Androtion | Against Aristocrates | Against Timocrates | Against Aristogiton 1-2 | Against Aphobus 1-2-3 | Against Ontenor 1-2 | Against Zenothemis | Against Apatourius | Against Phormio | Against Lacritus | For Phormio | Against Pantaenetus | Against Nausimachus and Xenopeithes | Against Boeotus 1-2 | Against Spudias | Against Phaenippus | Against Macartatus | Against Leochares | Against Stephanus 1-2 | Against Evergus and Mnesibulus | Against Olympiodorus | Against Timotheus | Against Polycles | On the Trierarcic Crown | Against Callipus | Against Nicostratus | Against Conon | Against Callicles | Against Dionysodorus | Against Eubulides | Against Theocrines | Against Naeara |
| Epideictic orations | Funeral Oration | Erotic Essay |
[edit] Prologues
Fifty-six prologues are extant. These were openings of Demosthenes' speeches, collected by Callimachus for the Library of Alexandria. He believed that Demosthenes composed them, as also did Julius Pollux and Stobaeus.[10] Modern scholars are divided: Some of them reject them,[11] while other, such as Blass, believe they were genuine.[12]
[edit] Letters
Six letters are written under Demosthenes' name, but their authorship has been fiercely debated.[13][14] J.A. Goldstein regards Demosthenes's letters as authentic apologetic letters that were addressed to the Athenian assembly and asserts that "whether the letters had a spurious origin as propaganda or as rhetorical fictions, the aim of the author would be to present a defense of Demosthenes' career, a simulated self-defense".[15]
[edit] References
- ^ Cicero, Brutus, 35
- ^ Quintillian, Institutiones, X, 1, 6 and 76
- ^ H. Weil, Biography of Demosthenes, 66
- ^ H. Yunis, "Demosthenes: On the Crown", 28
- ^ C.A. Gibson, Interpreting a Classic, 1
- ^ K.A. Kapparis, Apollodoros against Neaira, 62
- ^ F. Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit, III, 1, 404-406 and 542-546
- ^ A. Schaefer, Demosthenes und seine Zeit, III, 111, 178, 247 and 257
- ^ F. Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit, III, 2, 60
- ^ I. Worthington, Oral Performance in the Athenian Assembly and the Demosthenic Prooemia, 135
- ^ "Demosthenes". Encyclopaedia The Helios. (1952).
- ^ F. Blass, Die Attische Beredsamkeit, 3.1, 281-287
- ^ F.J. Long, Ancient Rhetoric and Paul's Apology, 102
- ^ M. Trap, Greek and Latin Letters, 12
- ^ J.A. Goldstein, The Letters of Demosthenes, 93
