Persuasion: Greek Rhetoric in Action

290 Pages·1994·1.72 MB·English

by  Ian Worthington

PERSUASION:
GREEK RHETORIC
IN ACTION
Greek rhetoric and oratory are currently experiencing a
renaissance of interest. Individual orators are receiving more
attention in the form of editions and commentaries; Greek
rhetoricians and rhetorical theories are undergoing new scrutinies
and applications; and oratory and rhetoric are being linked
together in studies of ancient Greece and its intellectual
background, as well as providing a starting point for some modern
discourse analysis. Other modern approaches draw out links with
political science and dynamics, sociology and anthropology.
This book provides the most recent and wide-ranging treatment
of Greek rhetoric and oratory at any level. The chapters are
written by leading scholars in the field and deal with the influence
of rhetoric on a particular historical aspect or literary genre of
ancient Greece, taking advantage of the most recent trends and
ideas. A chapter also discusses the influence of Greek rhetoric on
modern theories of discourse. Law, politics, history, philosophy,
rhetorical criticism and techniques, epic, tragedy, comedy and
literacy are among the topics which are examined.
Persuasion: Greek Rhetoric in Action is an exciting and
accessible introduction to rhetoric and oratory in ancient Greece.
All Greek and Latin is translated. The book will be of interest to
students and scholars of ancient history, communication,
literature, philosophy and politics.
Ian Worthington is Lecturer in Classics at the University of
Tasmania.

PERSUASION:
GREEK RHETORIC
IN ACTION
Edited by
Ian Worthington
London and New York
First published 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Editorial material © 1994 Ian Worthington;
this collection © 1994 Routledge;
individual chapters © 1994 individual contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Persuasion: Greek Rhetoric in Action/edited by Ian
Worthington.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
1. Greek literature—History and criticism—Theory, etc.
2. Greek language—Rhetoric. 3. Persuasion
(Rhetoric). 4. Rhetoric, Ancient. 5. Oratory, Ancient.
6. Literary form. I. Worthington, Ian.
PA3074.P47 1993
808'.00938–dc20 93–2061

ISBN 0-203-41840-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-72664-2 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-08138-6 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-08139-4 (pbk)
Contents
Notes on contributors vii
Preface viii
Abbreviations xi
Part I Communicating
1 From orality to rhetoric: an intellectual transformation 3
Carol G.Thomas and Edward Kent Webb
2 Rhetorical means of persuasion 26
Christopher Carey
3 Probability and persuasion: Plato and early Greek
rhetoric 46
Michael Gagarin
4 Classical rhetoric and modern theories of discourse 69
David Cohen
Part II Applications
5 Power and oratory in democratic Athens: Demosthenes
21,against Meidias 85
Josiah Ober
6 History and oratorical exploitation 109
Ian Worthington
7 Law and oratory 130
Edward M.Harris
v
CONTENTS
Part III Contexts
8 Epic and rhetoric 153
Peter Toohey
9 Tragedy and rhetoric 176
Victor Bers
10 Comedy and rhetoric 196
Phillip Harding
11 Philosophy and rhetoric 222
Stephen Halliwell
12 The Canon of the Ten Attic Orators 244
Ian Worthington
Bibliography 264
Index 274

vi
Notes on contributors
Victor Bers Department of Classics, Yale University
Christopher Carey Department of Classics, Royal Holloway,
University of London
David Cohen Department of Rhetoric, University of California,
Berkeley
Michael Gagarin Department of Classics, University of Texas at
Austin
Stephen Halliwell Department of Classics, University of
Birmingham
Phillip Harding Department of Classics, University of British
Columbia
Edward M.Harris Department of Classics, Brooklyn College and
the Graduate Center/City University of New York
Josiah Ober Department of Classics, Princeton University
Carol G.Thomas Department of History, University of
Washington
Peter Toohey Department of Classics and Ancient History,
University of New England
Edward Kent Webb Department of History, University of
Washington
Ian Worthington Department of Classics, University of Tasmania

vii
Preface
Though distinct genres, Greek rhetoric and Greek oratory are
intimately connected with each other: rhetoric is the intellectual art
or study of persuasion; oratory is the actual verbal communication
with the intent to persuade, the application of the art of rhetoric.
One cannot live without the other, so to speak, and that is why this
book is so titled since oratory is rhetoric in action. Rhetoric
permeated and influenced (and, to an extent, was influenced by)
other genres, concepts and features of ancient Greek life far more
comprehensively than any other intellectual art or pursuit. This is
reflected in Protarchus’ words in Plato’s Philebus (58a):
I have often heard Gorgias constantly maintain that the art
of persuasion surpasses all others; for this, he said, makes all
things subject to itself, not by force, but by their free will,
and is by far the best of all arts.
(Trans. H.N.Fowler)
It is important, though, not to restrict the influence of Greek
rhetoric just to the ancient world but to trace its continuity into
our modern world, in the last instance perhaps most evident in the
realm of communication.
Greek rhetoric and its effects on both its contemporary context
and modern times are the scope of, and the justification for, the
present book. In recent years there has been something of a
renaissance of Greek rhetoric and oratory. Individual orators are
receiving more attention in the form of editions and commentaries;
Greek rhetoricians and rhetorical theories are undergoing new
scrutinies and applications; critics of rhetoric, ancient and modern,
are having their merits and views evaluated and re-evaluated; and
viii
PREFACE
oratory and rhetoric are rightly being linked together in studies of
ancient Greece and its intellectual background. All of this is very
welcoming, especially as many of what may be termed the
‘standard’ works on oratory and rhetoric have been around for a
long time, and although many may still remain indispensable they
naturally cannot reflect new trends, ideas and work in these two
genres. Furthermore, it is still necessary to consult large numbers of
modern works when interest centres on several aspects connected
with rhetoric, such as its development; various rhetorical devices;
the exploitation of rhetoric through the medium of oratory; or the
relationship of rhetoric to other genres. I think it was while
ploughing through a pile of books and articles on rhetoric and
oratory that the idea for the present book hit me.
The aim of this book is to bring together within one set of
covers discussions of the relationship of Greek oratory and
rhetoric to a variety of important areas and genres, at the same
time reflecting new trends and ideas now at work in the study of
rhetoric. The book is divided into three parts to illustrate the
influence and exploitation of rhetoric, and the reaction to it, at
both the theoretical and practical levels. Although the focus is
primarily the ancient Greek world, a chapter deals with the
influence of Greek rhetoric on the sphere of modern
communication. It is unavoidable in view of the wealth of source-
material from Athens that attention will centre largely on
Athenian sources and that city, yet it is as well to remember that
although the Athenians transformed oratory into a fine art, the
origins of oratory and rhetoric lay not in Athens but in Sicily. The
history of those two genres, as Friedrich Blass would point out
(Die attische Beredsamkeit2, I, p. 4), began with Gorgias, and the
directions which the Athenians took after Gorgias’ visit illustrate
the impact he had on them.
The book is aimed at student, scholarly and informed general
audiences as is reflected in the varying pitches of the chapters. It
serves as a starting point for those studying (or finding themselves
interested in) ancient and modern rhetoric; politics and society;
literature; philosophy; and the ancient world in general—as well
as a stimulant to scholarly reaction and further work in rhetoric
and its related areas.
There are several people I wish to thank, first and foremost being
the other contributors for their enthusiasm and ready response to
ix