The Greek orators

by John Frederic Dobson

In Athens, speaking was power. Words moved the whole polis. J. F. Dobson guides you into the fierce, practical art of ancient Greek rhetoric, where a citizen's future could hinge on a single performance before the Assembly or the courts. The Greek Orators is a classical studies survey with the sweep of a literary history it traces how persuasion and civic speech shaped public life, from the rise of professional teachers to the mature masterpieces of the fourth century. Dobson offers a clear rhetoric and oratory overview of the major figures and their styles, setting Athenian courtroom speeches beside deliberative debate and epideictic display. You meet Demosthenes and Isocrates not as marble names, but as rival answers to one how should language serve the city? Along the way, this becomes a rhetoric reference guide for reading speeches with sharper ears - argument, rhythm, character, and political purpose - and an Aristotle Rhetoric companion in spirit, showing where theory meets hard civic necessity in classical Greece politics and ancient Athens democracy. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike. For classics students it works as a dependable textbook; for general readers, an inviting doorway into the world where eloquence governed history. A timeless map of voices that built an empire of ideas, it belongs on the shelf of every classical literature collector today.

362 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

1875-1947

Reviews

[Justin Echols]

An exquisite overview of the Attic orators.

If I had to level one criticism against Dobson it's that he loves to dick-ride Demosthenes oration skills, yet it must be remembered that Demosthenes was never able to successfully rally the Athenians against Philip II; in fact, he probably made the very war he feared inevitable.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

العمل ده "خطباء اليونان" بيبين حجم الفجوة بين الواقع وبين ما يتم الترويج له. قدر "John Frederic Dobson" بأسلوب بليغ وسلس يوصل الرسالة بدون تعقيد. كمعارض ومحلل للسياسات العامة، بعتبر الكتاب ده إضافة ممتازة للمكتبة النقدية.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is easy to defend the innocent" Publilius Syrus insists "but who is eloquent enough to defend the guilty?" It isn't a frivolous question, quite the opposite—it demands of us more than who? but how: how is it that these skills are crafted? By what means? Through what study? How is it that eloquence can be cultivated and brought to maturity? And admitting that eloquence could dispose of the case—by charm and enchantment—we are impelled to ask whether it should? That nagging problem of casuistry: whether the weak argument should be made strong? And supposing we do, is it really strong? Or only seemingly?

But to take up this last set of questions will balloon our inquiry to so large size that it would stretch all bounds and explode this entry. Let me limit myself, then, with the first set: who are the heroes of eloquence? How? By what feats?

The Greek Orators, by Dobson, is a terrific start to these questions. Dobson has assembled a thrifty, but not miserly, account of the high days of Attic oratory, with a sampling of its most celebrated figures. The arrangement within chapters is rightly done, especially the division of historical context and stylistic features. The book proceeds through its cast at a steady pace; and although the discussion is necessarily condensed, Dobson gives enough material for us to construct images of each orator. Most of all, Dobson is at his best when he is doing stylistic analysis—including input from other commentator; and his observations are rarely repetitive, and more than interesting, they are often insightful.

Still, The Greek Orators is not free from stutters and stumbles. The evolution of style that Dobson is so eager to impress—from Antiphon to Demosthenes—is not well demonstrated; and it is difficult to perceive the marks of influence that he insists later orators have adopted from earlier ones. His discussion, though never boring, dulls at times, as he prepares the foundations for Isocrates and Demosthenes. This was unfortunate. If Lysias and Isaeus were so important for understanding the style of pre-Hellenic speaking, then more emphasis was needed here. A strange start was made with the glancing pass by Thucydides, followed by a long stop at Antiphon. Though the Antiphon chapter was terrific, this juxtaposition sits uncomfortably with the relative historical importance of the two in the tradition, and required more explanation. And Dobson has an annoying quality of teasing the reader with arousing comparisons of Plato's style to that of the Orators; but, with unthinking obedience to his discipline, Dobson never follows up these lusty possibilities, and rather follows through with his discussion with a frigid narrow-mindedness.

But what Dobson loses with his concentration he repays with scope. Brevity has been balanced with breath; and even if topics were not explored, nearly every issue was compassed. Ultimately Dobson is not intimate enough with the Orators to discover their most guarded secrets; but, strong in acquaintance, the reader is happily introduced.

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few books on the Athenian orators. This is a good summary and has few excerpts from the extant works of the great ones.