Ian Worthington

Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Regarded as ancient Greece's greatest orator, Demosthenes lived through and helped shape one of the most eventful epochs in antiquity. His political career spanned three decades, during which time Greece fell victim to Macedonian control, first under Philip II and then Alexander the Great. Demosthenes' resolute and courageous defiance of Philip earned for him a reputation as one of history's outstanding patriots. He also enjoyed a brilliant and lucrative career as a speechwriter, and his rhetorical skills are still emulated today by students and politicians alike. Yet he was a sickly child with an embarrassing speech impediment, who was swindled out of much of his family's estate by unscrupulous guardians after the death of his father. His story is one of triumph over adversity. Modern studies of his life and career take one of two different approaches: he is either lauded as Greece's greatest patriot or condemned as an opportunist who misjudged situations and contributed directly to the end of Greek freedom. This biography, the first ever written in English for a popular audience, aims to determine which of these two people he was: self-serving cynic or patriot - or even a combination of both. Its chronological arrangement brings Demosthenes vividly to life, discussing his troubled childhood and youth, the obstacles he faced in his public career, his fierce rivalries with other Athenian politicians, his successes and failures, and even his posthumous influence as a politician and orator. It offers new insights into Demosthenes' motives and how he shaped his policy to achieve political power, all set against the rich backdrop of late Classical Greece and Macedonia.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 3. Dezember 2012
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780199986941
• Artikelnr.: 38168886

Autorenporträt

Ian Worthington is Curators' Professor of History and Adjunct Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Missouri and author of By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations and Maps
Demosthenes' Life: The Main Events
Speech Numbers and Titles
Quotations and Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Preamble: "Politicians and Heroes"
Chapter 2. Demosthenes, Son of Demosthenes
Chapter 3. Greece and the Awakening of Macedonia
Chapter 4. Into the Public Eye
Chapter 5. The Aspiring Politician
Chapter 6. Swaying the Assembly
Chapter 7. An Uneasy Peace
Chapter 8. Resisting Philip
Chapter 9. "Speeches Like Soldiers"
Chapter 10. The End of Greek Freedom
Chapter 11. "For the Conqueror, Death"
Chapter 12. Demosthenes and Alexander the Great
Chapter 13. The Crown Trial
Chapter 14. Decline and Fall
Chapter 15. Poison from the Pen
Appendix: Ancient Coinage and Months of the Attic Year
Bibliography
Index