CONTENTS
Preface
Abbreviations
General Introduction
Select Bibliography
PARALLEL GREEK TEXT AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION
COMMENTARY
Index
Rational persuasion and appeal to an audience's emotions are elements
of most literature, but they are found in their purest form in
oratory. The speeches written by the Greek Orators for delivery
in law-courts, deliberative councils and assemblies enjoyed an
honoured literary status, and rightly so, for the best of them
have great vitality. There is no crude, primitive stage of development:
the earliest speeches are perfect in form and highly sophisticated
in technique. They inform the reader about aspects of Greek society
and about their moral values, in a direct and illuminating way
not paralleled in other literature.
This edition offers a contrasting pair of early orators. In his
speech The Murder of Herodes, edited by Michael Edwards,
Antiphon relies on a varied and resourceful use of probability
argument, presented with great force and gravity. Motivation of
both defendant and prosecutor is also explored thoroughly, as
are the religious aspects of homicide. The five speeches by Lysias,
edited by Stephen Usher, illustrate that orator's skill in using
narrative to portray character and his talent for creating and
dispelling personal and political prejudice in difficult cases.
The Commentary seeks to call attention to the orators' rhetorical
and stylistic skills to a degree not previously attempted in editions
of the orators, to elucidate historical and legal matters and
to explain textual and grammatical difficulties. The notes are
keyed to the translation, rendering the speeches accessible to
the reader with little or no Greek.
Michael Edwards is Senior Lecturer at The University of London Queen Mary and Westfield College and author of Greek Orators volume IV in this series.
Stephen Usher was Senior Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College of the University of London and has written extensively on oratory and is also the author of The Historians of Greece and Rome and Dionysius of Halicarnassus Critical Essays. He is also the author of Greek Orators volume III and V in this series.
284pp. (1985) cl 246 2 £35 / $59.99, pb 247 0 £16.50 / $28 (pb reprint under consideration)
|
CONTENTS PARALLEL GREEK TEXT AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION COMMENTARY Index |
SOME COMMENTS BY REVIEWERS
"A profitable and attractive read." REG
"Should prove very valuable in teaching." G&R
RELATED BOOKS
See under GREEK ORATORS in this series.