Because of its familiarity, Plato's Gorgias frequently is treated as if it is stable in its material composition and meaning. However, closer attention to historical reception reveals that the text is not as stable as it might first appear. For example, today, we take for granted that Plato's text is available to English-only readers in clear and engaging prose, but until the nineteenth century, most intellectuals would have considered a "popular Plato" to be a contradiction of terms. This article examines the complex ideology that prompted John Stuart Mill to publish a "popular" translation of Plato's Gorgias (1834). By exploring the motivation behind Mill's English text, we illuminate key assumptions that have shaped the modern reception of ancient Greek rhetoric.

Abstract George Grote's History of Greece (1846–56) was instrumental in overturning the traditional view of Athens as an oppressive and corrupt society. In particular, Grote's rewriting of the story of the Athenian demagogue Cleon illustrates the difficulties he faced in attempting to argue for the legitimacy of popular government and popular rhetoric. His defense of Cleon—and more broadly, his defense of rhetorical democracy—helped to challenge the ascendancy of rhetoric as belles lettres and to stimulate the modern revival of Athenian popular rhetoric.

Abstract In his essay “What is Poetry ?”(1833), John Stuart Mill described the difference between rhetoric and poetry using the antithesis, “rhetoric is heard; poetry is overheard.” In the twentieth century, scholars from the field of Speech Communication appropriated Mill's words as justification for the separation of Speech Communication (and rhetorical criticism) from English (and literary criticism). This essay argues that twentieth-century scholars misunderstood Mill's meaning. They failed to recognize that, for Mill, the key issue was not the frequently quoted distinction between rhetoric and poetry but a more problematic distinction between art and science.

Abstract In an age in which “democracy”; is viewed as synonymous for legitimacy in government, it is easy to overestimate the positive influence of Athenian democracy on the history of rhetoric and politics. However, a survey of eighteenth‐century commentaries on ancient Greece reveals consistent hostility toward the underpinning rhetorical dynamic of Athenian popular government. An understanding of the anti‐Athenian tradition is useful because it clarifies political assumptions that inform rhetorics of the early‐modern period. More broadly, it also demonstrates the importance of the historical relationship between rhetorical studies and classical studies.