The greatest of the Greek orators, the son of a rich Athenian arms manufacturer. After studying rhetoric and legal procedure, he took up the law as a profession, becoming first a speech-writer, then an assistant to prosecutors in public (state) trials. In c.354 BC he entered politics, but did not gain prominence until 351 BC, when he delivered the first of a long series of passionate speeches (the First Philippic) advocating all-out resistance to Philip of Macedon. Swayed by his oratory, the Athenians did eventually go to war (340 BC), only to be thoroughly defeated at Chaeronea (338 BC). Put on trial by the peace party of Aeschines, he fully vindicated himself in his oratorical masterpiece, On the Crown. He was exiled for embezzlement in 325 BC, and committed suicide after the failure of the Athenian revolt against Macedon following Alexander's death.
| Demosthenes | |
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Bust of Demosthenes Louvre, Paris, France |
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384 BC Athens |
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322 BC Island of Calauria, modern Poros |
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 during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned Rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech-writer (logographer) and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits.
Demosthenes grew interested in politics during his time as a logographer, and in 354 BC he gave his first public political speeches. 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. 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 10 greatest Attic orators and logographers. According to Longinus, Demosthenes "perfected to the utmost the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed".
Early years (384 BC–355 BC)
Family, education and personal life
Demosthenes was born in 384 BC, during the last year of the 98th Olympiad or the first year of the 99th Olympiad. His father - also named Demosthenes - who belonged to the local tribe, Pandionis, and lived in the deme of Paeania in the Athenian countryside, was a wealthy sword-maker. Demosthenes was orphaned at the age of seven.
As soon as Demosthenes came of age in 366 BC, he demanded that they render an account of their management. Although his father left an estate of nearly fourteen talents, (somewhat over 3,150 golden pounds or 400,000 United States dollars) Demosthenes asserted that the guardians had left nothing "except the house, and fourteen slaves and thirty silver minae (30 minae = ½ talent)". At the age of 20, Demosthenes sued his trustees in order to recover his patrimony and delivered five orations himself: three Against Aphobus between during 363 BC and 362 BC and two Against Ontenor during 362 BC and 361 BC.
Between his coming of age in 366 BC and the trials that took place in 364 BC, Demosthenes and his guardians negotiated acrimoniously, but were unable to reach an agreement, as neither side was willing to make concessions. At the same time, Demosthenes prepared himself for the trials and improved his oratory skill. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philologist and philosopher, and Constantine Paparregopoulus, a major Greek historian, Demosthenes was a student of Isocrates; Cicero, Quintillian and the Roman biographer Hermippus maintain that Demosthenes was a student of Plato. According to Plutarch, Demosthenes employed Isaeus as his master in Rhetoric, even though Isocrates was then teaching this subject, either because he could not pay Isocrates the prescribed fee or because Demosthenes believed Isaeus' style better suited a vigorous and astute orator such as himself . Curtius, a German archaeologist and historian, likened the relation between Isaeus and Demosthenes to "an intellectual armed alliance".
It has also been said that Demosthenes paid Isaeus 10,000 drachmas (somewhat over 1½ talent) on the condition that the teacher should withdraw from a school of Rhetoric which he had opened, and should devote himself wholly to his new pupil. Another version credits Isaeus with having taught Demosthenes without charge. Jebb, a British classical scholar, "the intercourse between Isaeus and Demosthenes as teacher and learner can have been either very intimate or of very long duration". Konstantinos Tsatsos, a Greek professor and academician, believes that Isaeus helped Demosthenes edit his initial judicial orations against his guardians. Demosthenes is also said to have admired the historian Thucydides. In the Illiterate Book-Fancier, Lucian mentions eight beautiful copies of Thucydides made by Demosthenes, all in the orator's own handwriting.
According to Pseudo-Plutarch, Demosthenes was married once. Demosthenes had also a daughter, "the first and only one who ever called him father", according to Aeschines' trenchant comment.
Career as logographer
In order to make his living, Demosthenes became a professional litigant and logographer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits. Aeschines accused Demosthenes of unethically disclosing his clients' arguments to their opponents. Will he not imitate you, Demosthenes, in his treatment of those whom chance throws in his way and who have trusted him?
As an example, Aeschines accused Demosthenes of writing a speech for Phormion, a wealthy banker, and then communicating it to Apollodorus, who was bringing a capital charge against Phormion. Plutarch supported this accusation, pointing out that Demosthenes "was thought to have acted dishonorably".
Early politics (354 BC–350 BC)
Speech training
Even before he was 21 years of age in 363 BC, Demosthenes had already demonstrated an interest in politics. Then, in 363 BC, 359 BC and 357 BC, he undertook the function of the trierarch, being responsible for the outfitting and maintenance of a trireme.
Although Demosthenes contended that he never plead in a single private case, it still remains unclear when and if Demosthenes abandoned the profitable but less prestigious profession of the logographer.
As a boy Demosthenes had suffered from a speech impediment, an inarticulate and stammering pronunciation. Demosthenes soon undertook a disciplined program to overcome these shortcomings and improve his locution.
Increased political activity
Between 354 BC and 350 BC, Demosthenes continued practicing law privately, while, at the same time, he became increasingly interested in public affairs. He mainly remained a judicial orator, but started involving himself in the politics of the Athenian democracy. In 355 BC he wrote Against Androtion and a year later Against Leptines, two fierce attacks on individuals who attempted to repeal certain tax exemptions. Demosthenes denounced measures regarded as dishonest or unworthy of Athenian traditions.
In 354 BC, Demosthenes delivered his first political oration, On the Navy. The orator espoused moderation and proposed the reform of "symmories"(boards) as a source of funding for the Athenian fleet. In 352 BC, he delivered For the Megalopolitans and a year later On the Liberty of the Rodians. In both speeches, the orator opposed Eubulus, the most powerful Athenian statesman of the period 355 BC to 342 BC, who was against any intervention in the internal affairs of the other Greek cities.
Although none of his early orations were successful, Demosthenes established himself as an important political personality and broke with Eubulus' faction, a prominent member of which was Aeschines.
In 351 BC, Demosthenes felt strong enough to express his view concerning the most important foreign policy issue facing Athens at that time: the stance his city should take towards Philip II of Macedon. From this point on, Demosthenes' career is virtually the history of Athenian foreign policy.
Confronting Philip
First Philippic and the Olynthiacs (351 BC–349 BC)
Most of Demosthenes' major orations were directed against the growing power of King Philip II of Macedon. Since 357 BC, when Philip seized Amphipolis and Pydna, Athens had been formally at war with the Macedonians. In 352 BC, Demosthenes characterized Philip as the very worst enemy of his city; this speech presaged the fierce attacks that Demosthenes would launch against the Macedonian king over the ensuing years.
In 352 BC, Athenian troops successfully opposed Philip at Thermopylae, but the Macedonian victory over the Phocians at the Battle of Crocus Field shook the orator. The theme of the First Philippic (351 BC-350 BC) was preparedness and the reform of the theoric fund, a mainstay of Eubulus' policy. In his rousing call for resistance, Demosthenes asked his countrymen to take the necessary action and asserted that "for a free people there can be no greater compulsion than shame for their position".
From this moment until 341 BC, all of Demosthenes' speeches referred to the same issue, the struggle against Philip. In 349 BC, Philip attacked Olynthus, an ally of Athens. In the three Olynthiacs, Demosthenes criticized his compatriots for being idle and urged Athens to help Olynthus.
Case of Meidias (348 BC)
In 348 BC a peculiar event occurred: Meidias, a wealthy Athenian, slapped in public Demosthenes, who was at the time a choregos at the Greater Dionysia, a large religious festival in honour of the god Dionysus. in 361 BC he had broken violently into the house of Demosthenes, with his brother Thrasylochus, to take possession of it.
Demosthenes decided to prosecute his wealthy opponent and wrote the judicial oration Against Meidias. This speech gives valuable information about Athenian law at the time and especially about the Greek concept of hybris (aggravated assault), which was regarded as a crime not only against the city but against society as a whole. According to philologist Henri Weil, Demosthenes dropped his charges for political reasons and never delivered Against Meidias, although Aeschines maintained that Demosthenes received money to drop the case.
Peace of Philocrates (347 BC–345 BC)
In 348 BC, Philip conquered Olynthus and razed it to the ground. In the wake of this Macedonian victory, which also included the conquest of the entire Chalcidice and all the states of the Chalcidic federation that Olynthus had once led, Athens sought to make peace with Macedon. Demosthenes was among those who orientated themselves towards a compromise. In 347 BC, an Athenian delegation, comprising Demosthenes, Aeschines and Philocrates, was officially sent to Pella to negotiate a peace treaty. In his first encounter with Philip, Demosthenes is said to have collapsed because of his fright.
Philip imposed his own harsh terms that the ecclesia officially accepted. Nevertheless, when an Athenian delegation travelled to Pella to put Philip under oath for the final conclusion of the treaty, the King of Macedon was campaigning abroad. Being very anxious about the delay, Demosthenes insisted that the embassy should travel to the place where they would find Philip and swear him in without delay. Despite his suggestions, the Athenian envoys, including himself and Aeschines, remained in Pella, until Philip successfully concluded his excursion in Thrace.
Finally, peace was sworn in Pherae, but Demosthenes accused the other envoys of venality. Despite some reluctance on the part of the Athenian leaders, Athens finally accepted Philip's entry into the Council of the League. Demosthenes was among those who recommended this stance in his oration On the Peace.
Second and Third Philippic (344 BC–341 BC)
In 344 BC Demosthenes travelled to Peloponnese, in order to detach as many cities as possible from Macedon's influence, but his efforts were generally unsuccessful. Most of the Peloponnesians saw Philip as the guarantor of their freedom and sent a joint embassy to Athens to express their grievances against Demosthenes' activities. In response to these complaints, Demosthenes delivered the Second Philippic, a vehement attack against Philip. In 343 BC Demosthenes delivered On the False Embassy against Aeschines, who was facing a charge of high treason.
In 343 BC, Macedonian forces were conducting campaigns in Epirus and, a year later, Philip campaigned in Thrace. When the Macedonian army approached Chersonese (now known as the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravaged the maritime district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage. Demosthenes delivered On the Chersonese and convinced the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes. Using all the power of his eloquence, he demanded resolute action against Philip and called for a burst of energy from the Athenian people. Demosthenes now dominated Athenian politics and was able to considerably weaken the pro-Macedonian faction of Aeschines.
Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)
In 341 BC Demosthenes was sent to Byzantium, where he renewed the alliance between that city and Athens. Thanks to the orator's diplomatic manoeuvres Abydos also entered into an alliance with Athens. These developments worried Philip and increased his anger towards Demosthenes. The Athenian Assembly, however, laid aside Philip's grievances against Demosthenes' conduct and denounced the peace treaty, an action equivalent to an official declaration of war. In 339 BC Philip made his last and most effective bid to conquer southern Greece, assisted by Aeschines' stance in the Amphictyonic Council. Demosthenes reversed, however, Aeschines' initiatives and Athens finally abstained. After this significant victory, Philip swiftly entered Phocis in 338 BC.
At the same time, Athens orchestrated the creation of an alliance with Euboea, Megara, Achaea, Corinth, Acarnania and some other states in the Peloponnese. Therefore, Demosthenes was sent to the Boeotian city by Athens; Philip also sent a deputation, but the Athenian orator succeeded in securing an alliance with Thebes. Thebes' control of Boeotia was recognized, Thebes was to command solely on land and jointly at sea, and Athens was to pay two thirds of the campaign's cost.
While the Athenians and the Thebans were preparing themselves for war, Philip made a final attempt to appease his enemies, proposing in vain a new peace treaty. After a few trivial encounters between the two sides, which resulted in minor Athenian victories, Philip drew the phalanx of the Athenian and Theban confederates in a plain near Chaeronea, where he defeated them. Demosthenes fought as a mere hoplite. Such was Philip's hate for Demosthenes that, according to Diodorus Siculus, the King after his victory sneered at the misfortunes of the Athenian statesman. However, the Athenian orator and statesman Demades is said to have remarked: "O King, when Fortune has cast you in the role of Agamemnon, are you not ashamed to act the part of Thersites (an obscene soldier of the Greek army during the Trojan War) ?"
Last political initiatives and death
Confronting Alexander and delivering On the Crown
See also: On the CrownAfter Chaeronea, Philip inflicted a harsh punishment upon Thebes, but made peace with Athens on very lenient terms. Demosthenes encouraged the fortification of Athens and was chosen by the ecclesia to deliver the Funeral Oration. In 337 BC, Philip created the League of Corinth, a confederation of Greek states under his leadership, and returned to Pella. In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated at the wedding of his daughter, Cleopatra of Macedonia, to King Alexander of Epirus. Greek cities like Athens and Thebes saw in this change of leadership an opportunity to regain their full independence. Demosthenes celebrated Philip's assassination and played a leading part in his city's uprising. Demosthenes also sent envoys to Attalus, whom he considered to be an internal opponent of Alexander.
In 335 BC Alexander felt free to engage the Thracians and the Illyrians. Darius III of Persia financed the Greek cities that rose up against Macedon, and Demosthenes is said to have received about 300 talents on behalf of Athens and to have faced accusations of embezzlement. He did not attack Athens, but demanded the exile of all anti-Macedonian politicians, Demosthenes first of all, a request turned down by the ecclesia.
Despite the unsuccessful ventures against Philip and Alexander, the Athenians still respected Demosthenes. In 336 BC, the orator Ctesiphon proposed that Athens honor Demosthenes for his services to the city by presenting him, according to custom, with a golden crown. This proposal became a political issue and in 330 BC, Aeschines prosecuted Ctesiphon on charges of legal irregularities. In his most brilliant speech, On the Crown, Demosthenes effectively defended Ctesiphon and attacked vehemently those who would have preferred peace with Macedon.
Case of Harpalus
In 324 BC Harpalus, to whom Alexander had entrusted huge treasures, absconded and sought refuge in Athens. Demosthenes, at first, advised that he be chased out of the city. Finally, Harpalus was imprisoned despite the dissent of Hypereides, an anti-Macedonian statesman and former ally of Demosthenes. The ecclesia, after a proposal of Demosthenes, decided to take control of Harpalus' money, which was entrusted to a committee presided over by Demosthenes. When Harpalus escaped, the Areopagus conducted an inquiry and charged Demosthenes with mishandling 20 talents.
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, Demosthenes again urged the Athenians to seek independence from Macedonian control in what became known as the Lamian War. However, Antipater, Alexander's successor, quelled all opposition and demanded that the Athenians turn over Demosthenes and Hypereides, among others. Demosthenes escaped to a sanctuary on the island of Calauria, where he was later discovered by Archias, a confidant of Antipater. When Demosthenes felt that the poison was working on his body, he said to Archias: "Now, as soon as you please you may commence the part of Creon in the tragedy, and cast out this body of mine unburied.
Assessments
Political career
Plutarch lauds Demosthenes for not being of a fickle disposition. The historian maintains that Demosthenes measured everything by the interests of his own city, imagining that all the Greeks ought to have their eyes fixed upon Athens. "And had it not been for the king's magnanimity and regard for his own reputation, their misfortunes would have gone even further, thanks to the policy of Demosthenes". According to this critique, Demosthenes should have understood that the ancient Greek states could only survive unified under the leadership of Macedon. Therefore, Demosthenes is accused of misjudging events, opponents and opportunities and of being unable to foresee Philip's inevitable triumph. Chris Carey, a professor of Greek in UCL, concludes that Demosthenes was a better orator and political operator than strategist. Nevertheless, the same scholar underscores that "pragmatists" like Aeschines or Phocion had no inspiring vision to rival that of Demosthenes. According to Professor of Greek Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge, success may be a poor criterion for judging the actions of people like Demosthenes, who were motivated by the ideal of political liberty. Athens was asked by Philip to sacrifice its freedom and its democracy, while Demosthenes longed for the city's brilliance.
The fact that Demosthenes fought at the battle of Chaeronea as a hoplite indicates that he lacked any military skills. Demosthenes dealt in policies and ideas, and war was not his business.
Oratorical skill
According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, Demosthenes represented the final stage in the development of Attic prose.
According to the classical scholar Harry Thurston Peck, Demosthenes "affects no learning; Demosthenes was apt at combining abruptness with the extended period, brevity with breadth. According to Jebb, Demosthenes was a true artist who could make his art obey him.
According to Cicero, Demosthenes regarded "delivery" (gestures, voice etc.) as more important than style.
Rhetorical legacy
See also: Demosthenes (fictional character)Demosthenes' fame continued down the ages. Juvenal acclaimed him as "largus et exundans ingenii fons" (a large and overflowing fountain of genius) and Cicero was inspired by Demosthenes for his speeches against Mark Antony, which were called Philippics too. Plutarch drew attention in his Life of Demosthenes to the strong similarities between the personalities and careers of Demosthenes and Marcus Tullius Cicero:
| The divine power seems originally to have designed Demosthenes and Cicero upon the same plan, giving them many similarities in their natural characters, as their passion for distinction and their love of liberty in civil life, and their want of courage in dangers and war, and at the same time also to have added many accidental resemblances. |
During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Demosthenes had a reputation for eloquence. French author and lawyer Guillaume du Vair praises his speeches for their artful arrangement and elegant style, while John Jewel, bishop of Salisbury, and Jacques Amyot, a French Renaissance writer and translator, regard Demosthenes as a great or even the "supreme" orator.
In modern history, famous orators like Henry Clay would mimic Demosthenes' technique. Georges Clemenceau was among those who idealized the Athenian orator and wrote a book about him. For his part, Nietzsche was often composing his sentences according to the paradigms he found in Demosthenes, whose style he admired. During World War II, the fighters of the French Resistance identified themselves with Demosthenes, while they gave Adolf Hitler the name of Philip. Therefore, the Athenian statesman was recognized as the symbol of independence and as a synonym of resistance against any tyrannical oppression.
Works
Demosthenes must have written down and published most of his orations. After his death, texts of his speeches survived in Athens and the Library of Alexandria. The prologues were openings of Demosthenes's speeches. They were collected for the Library of Alexandria by Callimachus, who believed that Demosthenes composed them. The letters are written under Demosthenes's name, but their authorship has been fiercely debated.
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