Demosthenes as Text: Classical Reception and British Rhetorical History

Lois Agnew Syracuse University

Abstract

ABSTRACT British rhetorical theorists demonstrate a persistent interest in Demosthenes, but their interpretations of his significance reflect different understandings of rhetoric. This article uses reception theory to illuminate how British depictions of Demosthenes at different moments in history reflect writers’ values and rhetorical aims. The focus on Demosthenes as a model of rhetorical prowess becomes particularly important for nineteenth-century British theorists who conceive of rhetoric as an individualistic display of linguistic virtuosity. Viewing Demosthenes through the lens of reception history reveals the inherent instability of a disciplinary history that is not only shaped by important figures, but also constructs those figures in ways that reflect shifting scholarly values.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2016-01-02
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2016.1137249
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Advances in the History of Rhetoric
  2. Advances in the History of Rhetoric

References (44)

  1. Demosthenes and His Influence
  2. Thomas De Quincey: British Rhetoric’s Romantic Turn. Rhetoric in the Modern Era Series
  3. The Schoolmaster
  4. The Advancement of Learning. 1605
  5. “Dialectical Histories of Rhetoric,” in “Octalog: The Politics of Historiography.” Rhetoric Review 7.1
Show all 44 →
  1. “The Point of Reception Theory,” in Classics and the Uses of Reception. Eds. Charles Martindale and Richard F. Thomas. Malden, MA: Blackwell
  2. Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. 1787. Ed. and with an introduction by Linda Ferr…
  3. Thomas Wilson’s Demosthenes and the Politics of Tudor Translation
    International Journal of the Classical Tradition  
  4. Companion to Classical Receptions
  5. Style and the Nineteenth-Century British Critic: Sincere Mannerisms
  6. The Philosophy of Rhetoric. 1776
  7. Carlyle, Thomas . 1886. “Inaugural Address at Edinburgh.” Web. 26 May 2015. http://www.bartleby.com…
  8. “Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson,” 12 August
  9. Earl of. The Letters of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield. 1750–1754. Vol. II. Ed. Lord Mahon. 5 vols. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott
  10. The Speaker Respoken: Material Rhetoric as Feminist Methodology
    College English  
  11. In Demosthenes: Statesman and Orator
  12. “A Brief Appraisal of the Greek Literature in its Foremost Pretensions.” 1838–39. Selecte…
  13. The Collected Writings of Thomas De Quincey
  14. Selected Essays on Rhetoric by Thomas De Quincey. Ed. Frederick Burwick, Landmarks in Rhe…
  15. Selected Essays on Rhetoric by Thomas De Quincey. Ed. Frederick Burwick, Landmarks in Rhe…
  16. The Book Named the Governor. 1531
  17. The Present State of Scholarship in the History of Rhetoric: A Twenty-First Century Guide
  18. History of Greece
  19. Demosthenes: Statesman and Orator
  20. The Present State of Scholarship in Historical and Contemporary Rhetoric
  21. Of Eloquence.” 1742
  22. Macaulay, Thomas Babington . “On Mitford’s History of Greece.” 1824. Vol. 1. The Miscellaneous Writ…
  23. Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Book Named the Governor
  24. Marcuse, Harold . “Reception History.” University of California at Santa Barbara, n.d. Web. 26 May …
  25. Classics and the Uses of Reception
  26. The Textual Condition
  27. Adam Smith: The Rhetoric of Propriety. Rhetoric in the Modern Era Series
  28. History of Greece. Vol. VI
  29. Demosthenes and Cicero, Alexander and Caesar
  30. Companion to Classical Receptions
  31. The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of Hume
  32. 10.1017/S001738350001545X
    Greece and Rome  
  33. The Schoolmaster, by Roger Ascham
  34. Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres Delivered in the University of Glasgow by Adam Sm…
  35. Earl of Chesterfield
  36. Advances in the History of Rhetoric
  37. Elements of Rhetoric
  38. Classics and the Uses of Reception
  39. Arte of Rhetorique. 1560. Ed. G.H. Mair. Oxford: Clarendon