Demosthenes by Ian Worthington and buddies
Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 4:35 pm
Hi
I had prepared this post and just as I was about to send it, something happened and all my post just happened to vanish into thin e-air.so this is a more condensed version.
Just finished my second book pre Alexander. Demosthenes orator and statesman It was talking about the greatest orator of all time(well, some have called him that apart from a few other names too through history, his nickname Batalos for example but that is another story.)
The book includes several dissertations from several experts in the field amongst whom are E.Badian, Ian Worthington to name a couple.
I liked the chapter by Badian although a bit dense, it was interestingly about the orator and Philip.
Demostenes achievement was really laudatory due to the fact that he had to overcome several obstacles like stuttering(not the most ideal problem when you want to be a big hot shot public speaker)
Badian mentions that Demosthenes' meeting with Philip was quite exceptional because of a certain freezing up which at first glance could seem like anxiety getting the better but Badian posits a different posture.
Demosthenes was famous for his inability to extermporize and it could have just happened that what he had prepared to say was so off the mark that he didnt feel he could verbalize it and so he was left speechless.
I went into reading the book with a heavy bias and general set of beliefs about him that weren't exactly the fairest.
The concept of desertor had tinged my perception of the man and yet after reading the book, I see that he was hardly on his own in his unexpected disappearance from the battlefield of Chareoneaand not only that but the people of Athens can hardly have held him in poor account because of it, as he was asked to give a speech for the dead of Chaeronea.
His accomplishments in rhetoric are lauded too as Cambridge and Oxford used his extant speeches to teach with and his speech "on the crown" was considered a tour de force.
There is a comparsion made between Demesthenes and Philip and Churchill and Hitler although Churchill was warning the British several years before Hitler and his armies were committing attrocities. Demosthenes didn-t seem aware of Philip until he was knocking on the door.
All in all, an eye opener of a book for me and very interestinng about a very interesting individual who was studied in detail by Elizabeth the first.
Best regards,
Dean
I had prepared this post and just as I was about to send it, something happened and all my post just happened to vanish into thin e-air.so this is a more condensed version.
Just finished my second book pre Alexander. Demosthenes orator and statesman It was talking about the greatest orator of all time(well, some have called him that apart from a few other names too through history, his nickname Batalos for example but that is another story.)
The book includes several dissertations from several experts in the field amongst whom are E.Badian, Ian Worthington to name a couple.
I liked the chapter by Badian although a bit dense, it was interestingly about the orator and Philip.
Demostenes achievement was really laudatory due to the fact that he had to overcome several obstacles like stuttering(not the most ideal problem when you want to be a big hot shot public speaker)
Badian mentions that Demosthenes' meeting with Philip was quite exceptional because of a certain freezing up which at first glance could seem like anxiety getting the better but Badian posits a different posture.
Demosthenes was famous for his inability to extermporize and it could have just happened that what he had prepared to say was so off the mark that he didnt feel he could verbalize it and so he was left speechless.
I went into reading the book with a heavy bias and general set of beliefs about him that weren't exactly the fairest.
The concept of desertor had tinged my perception of the man and yet after reading the book, I see that he was hardly on his own in his unexpected disappearance from the battlefield of Chareoneaand not only that but the people of Athens can hardly have held him in poor account because of it, as he was asked to give a speech for the dead of Chaeronea.
His accomplishments in rhetoric are lauded too as Cambridge and Oxford used his extant speeches to teach with and his speech "on the crown" was considered a tour de force.
There is a comparsion made between Demesthenes and Philip and Churchill and Hitler although Churchill was warning the British several years before Hitler and his armies were committing attrocities. Demosthenes didn-t seem aware of Philip until he was knocking on the door.
All in all, an eye opener of a book for me and very interestinng about a very interesting individual who was studied in detail by Elizabeth the first.
Best regards,
Dean