Demosthenes
Demosthenes (384–322 BC, Greek: Δημοσθένης, Dēmosthénēs) was a well-known Greek statesman and orator from ancient Athens. His speeches show the height of classical Athenian skill at speaking. They also show us lots about the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. He delivered his first law court speeches when he was twenty. He argued effectively to gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech-writer and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits.
Demosthenes | |
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| Born | 384 BC |
| Died | 322 BC Island of Calauria, modern Poros |
At the age of 21, Demosthenes took the job of the commander of warships in Athens.
Demosthenes grew interested in politics during the time he wrote speeches for others. In 354 BC he gave his first public political speeches. He went on to devote his most productive years to opposing Macedon's expansion. He idealized his city and tried throughout his life to restore Athens' supremacy and motivate the rest of the Athenians against Philip II of Macedon. He sought to preserve his city's freedom and to establish an alliance against Macedon, in an unsuccessful attempt to impede Philip's plans to expand his influence southwards by conquering all the Greek states. After Philip's death, Demosthenes played a leading part in his city's uprising against the new King of Macedon, Alexander the Great. However, his efforts failed and the revolt was met with a harsh Macedonian reaction. To prevent a similar revolt against his own rule, Alexander's successor, Antipater, sent his men to track Demosthenes down. Demosthenes took his own life, in order to avoid being arrested by Archias, Antipater's confidant.
The Alexandrian Canon compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace recognized Demosthenes as one of the ten greatest Attic orators and speech writers. According to Longinus, Demosthenes "perfected to the utmost the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed".[1] Cicero acclaimed him as "the perfect orator" who lacked nothing, and Quintilian extolled him as "lex orandi" ("the standard of oratory") and that "inter omnes unus excellat" ("he stands alone among all the orators").[2][3]
Demosthenes Media
Bust of Demosthenes (British Museum, London), Roman copy of a Greek original sculpted by Polyeuktos.
Demosthenes Practising Oratory by Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouy (1842–1923). Demosthenes used to study in an underground room he constructed himself. He also used to talk with pebbles in his mouth and recited verses while running. To strengthen his voice, he spoke on the seashore over the roar of the waves.
Illustration by Walter Crane of Demosthenes leaving the Assembly in shame after his first failure at public speaking, as described by Plutarch in his Life of Demosthenes
Philip II of Macedon: victory medal (nikétérion) struck in Tarsus, c. 2nd century BC (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris).
Satellite image of the Thracian Chersonese and the surrounding area. The Chersonese became the focus of a bitter territorial dispute between Athens and Macedon. It was eventually ceded to Philip in 338 BC.
The battle of Chaeronea took place in the autumn of 338 BC and resulted in a significant victory for Philip, who established Macedon's supremacy over the Greek cities.
Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii, from a 3rd-century BC original Greek painting, now lost. In 336–335 BC, the king of Macedon crippled any attempt of the Greek cities at resistance and shattered Demosthenes's hopes for Athenian independence.
The site of the temple of Poseidon, Kalaureia, where Demosthenes died by suicide.
Herma of Demosthenes: the head is a copy of the bronze posthumous commemorative statue in the Ancient Agora of Athens by Polyeuctus (c. 280 BC); this herm was found in the Circus of Maxentius in 1825 (Glyptothek, Munich).
Phryne Going to the Public Baths as Venus and Demosthenes Taunted by Aeschines by J. M. W. Turner (1838).
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