Isocrates
Isocrates (436–338 BC),Athenian orator of central importance. Although he lacked the voice and the confidence ever to address a large audience and so played no direct part in the affairs of the state, his written speeches, which presumably were of some influence on public opinion, provide us with a most valuable commentary on the great political issues of the 4th cent. His system of education in rhetoric exercised a profound effect on both the written and the spoken word: his many pupils included the historians Ephorus and Theopompus, the atthidographer Androtion, and the orators Hyperides and Isaeus. Judgements of his importance have variously treated him as the prophet of the Hellenistic world, and as the specious adulator of personal rulers, but, admired or despised, he cannot be neglected in the study of his age.
Life
As son of a rich...[The entire page is 2334 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
