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. E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 177–178. [98], 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. [62] In 352 BC, Demosthenes characterised Philip as the very worst enemy of his city; his speech presaged the fierce attacks that Demosthenes would launch against the Macedonian king over the ensuing years. Thanks to Demosthenes' diplomatic manoeuvres, Abydos also entered into an alliance with Athens. He had no wit, no humour, no vivacity, in our acceptance of these terms. [158], The Alexandrian texts were incorporated into the body of classical Greek literature that was preserved, catalogued and studied by the scholars of the Hellenistic period. According to Professor of Classics Cecil Wooten, Cicero ended his career by trying to imitate Demosthenes' political role. [15], In his speeches, Aeschines uses pederastic relations of Demosthenes as a means to attack him. [169] According to Aeschines, Gylon received as a gift from the Bosporan rulers a place called "the Gardens" in the colony of Kepoi in present-day Russia (located within two miles (3 km) of Phanagoria). In 341 BC Demosthenes was sent to Byzantium, where he sought to renew its alliance with Athens. [116] Unable to pay this huge amount, Demosthenes escaped and only returned to Athens nine months later, after the death of Alexander. [48] In Against Timocrates and Against Aristocrates, he advocated eliminating corruption. [25] Curtius, a German archaeologist and historian, likened the relation between Isaeus and Demosthenes to "an intellectual armed alliance". [139] According to the Roman statesman, Demosthenes regarded "delivery" (gestures, voice, etc.) xkcd has referenced Ender's Game before this, specifically in 241: Battle Room, dealing with Ender's experience during his training, and 304: Nighttime Stories, dealing with the sequels to Ender's Game. His crime, according to Aeschines, was to have betrayed his eromenos by pillaging his estate, allegedly pretending to be in love with the youth so as to get his hands on the boy's inheritance. Students should be able to answer the questions in a class period or less. Because of this turbulence, the Athenian Assembly convened. [91] When the Macedonian army approached Chersonese (now known as the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravaged the maritime district of Thrace, thereby inciting Philip's rage. In the three Olynthiacs, Demosthenes criticised his compatriots for being idle and urged Athens to help Olynthus. He pleaded with his audience to predict the potential of being defeated, and to prepare. Also in 342 BC, he delivered the Third Philippic, which is considered to be the best of his political orations. do? According to Demosthenes, the account revealed the misappropriation of his property. [i] Such was Philip's hatred for Demosthenes that, according to Diodorus Siculus, the King after his victory sneered at the misfortunes of the Athenian statesman. To prevent a similar revolt against his own rule, Alexander's successor in this region, Antipater, sent his men to track Demosthenes down. [135] In a now lost letter, Cicero, though an admirer of the Athenian orator, claimed that occasionally Demosthenes "nods", and elsewhere Cicero also argued that, although he is pre-eminent, Demosthenes sometimes fails to satisfy his ears. [20] At the same time, Demosthenes prepared himself for the trials and improved his oratory skill. And why? However, though he probably continued writing speeches throughout his career,[e] he stopped working as an advocate once he entered the political arena. [129], According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, Demosthenes represented the final stage in the development of Attic prose. Demosthenes (/dɪˈmɒs.θəniːz/; Greek: Δημοσθένης, romanized: Dēmosthénēs; Attic Greek: [dɛːmosˈtʰenɛːs]; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. [138], Besides his style, Cicero also admired other aspects of Demosthenes' works, such as the good prose rhythm, and the way he structured and arranged the material in his orations. To secure their allegiance, Demosthenes was sent by Athens, to the Boeotian city; Philip also sent a deputation, but Demosthenes succeeded in securing Thebes' allegiance. Often they indicted each other for breaches of the statute laws (graphē paranómōn), but accusations of bribery and corruption were ubiquitous in all cases, being part of the political dialogue. [77] After these Macedonian victories, Athens sued for peace with Macedon. After saying these words, he passed by the altar, fell down and died. Demosthenes took his own life, to avoid being arrested by Archias of Thurii, Antipater's confidant. Upon his return, he "received from his countrymen an enthusiastic welcome, such as had never been accorded to any returning exile since the days of Alkibiades. By the end of the book, Peter has become the leader of the world, and Valentine runs away with Ender to a planet formerly inhabited by Buggers to live out their lives in peace. [m] Irrespective of their status, the speeches attributed to Demosthenes are often grouped in three genres first defined by Aristotle:[162], In addition to the speeches, there are fifty-six prologues (openings of speeches). It was still owned by Nate in 2009, the year of this comic's release, but in 2010 the blog became a licensed feature of The New York Times online and in July 2013, ESPN announced that it would become the owner. Once they've completed the worksheet, it's easy enough to have them fill the remainder of [38] In 363 and 359 BC, he assumed the office of the trierarch, being responsible for the outfitting and maintenance of a trireme. Polybius accused him of having launched unjustified verbal attacks on great men of other cities, branding them unjustly as traitors to the Greeks. [6] Aeschines, Demosthenes' greatest political rival, maintained that his mother Kleoboule was a Scythian by blood[7]—an allegation disputed by some modern scholars. ", "For a house, I take it, or a ship or anything of that sort must have its chief strength in its substructure; and so too in affairs of state the principles and the foundations must be truth and justice. [72] He also was an old enemy of Demosthenes; in 361 BC he had broken violently into his house, with his brother Thrasylochus, to take possession of it. Demosthenes escaped to a sanctuary on the island of Kalaureia (modern-day Poros), where he was later discovered by Archias, a confidant of Antipater. [175] As far as Isaeus is concerned, according to Jebb "the school of Isaeus is nowhere else mentioned, nor is the name of any other pupil recorded". However, Antipater, Alexander's successor, quelled all opposition and demanded that the Athenians turn over Demosthenes and Hypereides, among others. [93] Demosthenes now dominated Athenian politics and was able to considerably weaken the pro-Macedonian faction of Aeschines. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Demosthenes had a reputation for eloquence. [153], In modern history, orators such as Henry Clay would mimic Demosthenes' technique. Both students' handwriting must be on the Famously, at the age of 18, he prosecuted his guardians for wasting his inheritance, delivered his own speeches in court, and won the case. [26] For his part, Aeschines stigmatised his intensity, attributing to his rival strings of absurd and incoherent images. as more important than style. E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 175, 185. In Parallel Lives, Plutarch states that Demosthenes built an underground study where he practised speaking and shaving one half of his head so that he could not go out in public. [95] After the failure of a first military excursion against the Locrians, the summer session of the Amphictyonic Council gave command of the league's forces to Philip and asked him to lead a second excursion. When he first left the ekklesia (the Athenian Assembly) disheartened, an old man named Eunomus encouraged him, saying his diction was very much like that of Pericles. [24] These claims are nowadays disputed. www.hatrack.com/research/questions/q0027.shtml [155] For his part, Friedrich Nietzsche often composed his sentences according to the paradigms of Demosthenes, whose style he admired. Also note that the note is addressed to "Peter" rather than "Locke"; Peter's attempt to remain anonymous has failed miserably. [38], To make his living, Demosthenes became a professional litigant, both as a "logographer" (λογογράφος, logographos), writing speeches for use in private legal suits, and as an advocate (συνήγορος, synígoros) speaking on another's behalf. Friedrich Blass, a German classical scholar, believes that nine more speeches were recorded by the orator, but they are not extant. He idealized his city and strove throughout his life to restore Athens' supremacy and motivate his compatriots against Philip II of Macedon. When the committee counted the treasure, they found they only had half the money Harpalus had declared he possessed. ", "While the vessel is safe, whether it be a large or a small one, then is the time for sailor and helmsman and everyone in his turn to show his zeal and to take care that it is not capsized by anyone's malice or inadvertence; but when the sea has overwhelmed it, zeal is useless. [55] In 352 BC, he delivered For the Megalopolitans and, in 351 BC, On the Liberty of the Rhodians. D. M. MacDowell, Demosthenes the Orator, ch. [9], As soon as Demosthenes came of age in 366 BC, he demanded his guardians render an account of their management. One is for Demosthenes, but the other is for FiveThirtyEight, a real political blog that was founded by Nate Silver in 2008, more than a year before this comic was released. The rancorous and often hilariously exaggerated accusations, satirised by Old Comedy, were sustained by innuendo, inferences about motives, and a complete absence of proof; as J. H. Vince states "there was no room for chivalry in Athenian political life". During their conversation, Peter is shown feeding a squirrel. [198] Goldstein regards Demosthenes's letters as authentic apologetic letters that were addressed to the Athenian Assembly. The orators often resorted to "character assassination" tactics (δῐᾰβολή, diabolḗ; λοιδορία, loidoría), both in the courts and in the Assembly. [5] Nevertheless, the accuracy of these allegations is disputed, since more than seventy years had elapsed between Gylon's possible treachery and Aeschines' speech, and, therefore, the orator could be confident that his audience would have no direct knowledge of events at Nymphaeum.