The spread and expansion of Rhetoric to Greece

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“Changes in the Greek political system created the need for a new kind of education, an education consistent with the new politics of limited democracy”

John Poulakos, 1983

Rhetoria has always been the natural gift of some people, causing the audience's interest and admiration. Already from the time of Homer (8th century BC), great orators made their appearance by speaking with special eloquence and eloquence, trying to persuade (Om, E 443.), such as Nestor in Chapter I Iliad or even later in historical times such as Solon, Cleisthenes, Themistocles, Aristides and of course Pericles. Rhetoric, as has already been mentioned, is the artistic use of speech, which evolved in connection with the development of society and the needs and forms of freedom (political freedom, democracy) that it implied. Considering the fact that rhetorical art can be taught and talent to be transplanted from the rhetor to the apprentice, the rhetorically-competent people undertook to instill it into young people through teaching.

During the Classical period (5th century BC), the art of artistic discourse was quite popular in the context of democracy and was particularly flourishing after the end of the Peloponnesian War in the city of Athens, which marked the cradle of philosophy and socio-intellectual development and Sicily, because eagleism was an integral part of civic participation. In Athens, the church of the Municipality, the House of Pentecost, as well as the frequent public gatherings were some of the factors that prompted citizens to speak, to orate and to convince on various issues and politics.

Politicians who did not have the extraordinary gift of eloquence were directed at rhetorodidascals who knew the laws in depth and showed them how to handle the word correctly with the main objective of confronting and rebutting the arguments of opponents. This teaching focused on three points, placing a great emphasis on public speech and acting, which included, inter alia, correct articulation, the tone of voice, the physical attitude and the movements of the orator (Kennedy, 1994). A decisive role in the rapid development of rhetorical art at that time, was the dissemination of writing, since the first written textbooks with the name "arts" were

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obtained, while at the same time the Attic dialect was established as the official language of rhetoric.

It is noteworthy that the Classical period was the only opportunity for men to practice rhetoric, while women were not allowed to enroll in the philosophy of studies except to attend the municipal assemblies and the courts. However, according to testimonies (H 8.68-102), in Asia Minor there were women who had the right to exercise the right of giving speech (Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, xx). Indicatively, reference is made to Artemisia I, the Bodhisattva of Halicarnassus and the ally of Xerxes in the campaign against Greece in 480 BC, which addressed two speeches during critical military operations and Artemisia II, the queen of Caria (353-352 BC), who provided financial assistance to carry out a rhetorical contest.

However, rhetoric became more widely accepted and established during the Hellenistic years, as with the achievements of Alexander the Great, the Greek civilization was fortunate to spread and to be deposited from all over the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greek language to be recognized as its official language of trade and education. In the context of this flourishing of the Greek language, a significant number of rhetoric schools were created in several cities of the East under the auspices of Hellenistic rulers and thus philosophy, literature and the arts were promoted. In the present schools, the attendance of the Romans was also frequent, with the result that the Hellenistic rhetoric was a source of inspiration for the Latin orators who conjured the 1st century. B.C.

Throughout the Hellenistic period, rhetoric was able to spread on at a theoretical level, as its teaching was delivered more methodically, setting the foundation for the Late Antiquity curriculum. The majority of schools were private but this did not mean that public institutions were absent (Montanari, 2008). It is also noteworthy that since the 2nd c. A.D. and then the first grants to teachers are observed. In terms of teaching the rhetoric, a suitable time to begin the first contact with it, was considered to be between twelve and fourteen years of age and was an exclusive privilege for boys (Kennedy, 1994). For their part, the apprentices dealt with the study of classical texts, the writing of speeches and the creation of arguments, while

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the teachers provided the youngsters with the theory of rhetoric and the techniques that it required using either manuals or handwritten notes. In the course of the students, students were orally examined during the school year through their daily effort to compose and then to address specific topics.

Although during the Hellenistic era, political and social circumstances, which had been based on the development and evolution of rhetoric in the Classical era, were absent, characteristic of public life was public speeches, since the Hellenistic leaders hired orators in order to communicate their decisions and create a climate favorable to one of them. The illustrative speech was used extensively in Hellenistic areas, Greek and Roman cities on public speeches which were orally presented, a fact which created the right conditions for the spread in the Asia Minor and particularly in political cases.

Most philosophical schools of the era have shown admiration for rhetoric, such as the Stoic philosophers, who have emphasized the right grammar and the correct way of using words. However, the negative attitudes of some faculties to rhetoric were not absent. However, several representatives of the Stoa, the Academy and the Peripatus did not accept the rising tendencies of rhetoric because they believed that the places they belonged to, were purely the courts and assemblies of the municipality and not generally any version of the public life. At the same time, at that time, a different tendency in rhetorical art emerged as "Asiaticism". According to the orator Cicero, "Asiaticism" was about exaggerating expressions, with the result that the orators seemed more like philosophers who spoke (Kik., Brutus, 51).

Two distinct tendencies appeared, different from each other, as the one appeared to be caustic and laconic, while the second was immediate and sophisticated (Kik., Brutus 325). Referring to the Second Sophistic, there was a shift in tradition on rhetoric and literature, which was evident mainly in the cities of Asia Minor, where most of the schools were created.

Rhetors who were fortunate to act in the cities of Asia Minor during the Hellenistic period are not particularly well-known because their works have been saved only through later Latin, mostly petitions. One of these orators is Alkidamas from Elaia of Aeolida, who was a student of Gorgia. His work is "About Written Discourse or

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about Sophists," in which he compared his importance to improvising in rhetorical art rather than to performing demonstration mechanisms (Lesky, 1996).

In addition, Anaximenis from Lyssakos of Mysia, was the teacher of Alexander the Great and wrote the "Rhetoric to Alexander" about 341 BC. This work together with Aristotle's "Rhetoric" composed the most basic and complete textbooks of rhetoric, which have survived from the 4th century BC (Fuhrmann, 2000).

Although Anaximenis of Anaksinos does not add new knowledge to the theory of rhetorical art, it deepens in correlations and contrasts, because at that time there was a need for its systematization. Finally, Ermagoras from the Limnos of Aeolidas also left his mark in the middle of the 2nd century BC, exerting a great influence on rhetorical art.

However, his work has been totally lost and we cannot know details only through reports from Cicero and other rhetors (Kennedy, 1963). As a teacher of rhetoric, he tried to focus on a particular aspect of rhetorical art, on the theory of "attitude".

More specifically, he formulated four forms of attitudes on a variety of logic issues, which are: reflection, term, incident, and meditation (στοχασμός, όρος, κατά συμβεβηκός και μετάληψη) (Kennedy, 1994). Additionally, he dealt with "legal issues" not so much by studying the cases of judicial acts but mainly by positions and opinions, which gave a new impetus to rhetorical art as he dealt with issues that until then no one else had, which dealt with ethics and philosophy. This distinction of Errmagar's four attitudes played an important role in the theory of rhetorical art and at the same time formed the basis for subsequent orators. His great work was a guide to the rhetorical art he wrote in order to help students of rhetoric schools not only to compose and to pronounce forensic speeches, but to be able to handle the public speech perfectly in every facet of it (Kennedy, 1994).

The art of rhetoric has undergone a new flourishing during the Imperial period, taking on new forms and innovative directions. The majority of rhetorical works that survive and are known to us today come mainly from this time. The political and social events at that time clearly affected the subject matter and the theory of rhetoric, which was no longer distinguished in philological criticism and rhetoric. It

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is noteworthy that many rhetoric schools were still in operation, while there were few Greek orators practicing the profession in Rome.

Among the most famous orators of this period was Apollodorus of Pergamon, the teacher of Octavian, on the order and wish of Julius Caesar. His work entitled

"Rhetorical art" was fortunate to be translated into Latin. His teachings were widely accepted by the general public, which helped establish a whole school.

The most important, however, physiognomy of the time was Dionysius the Alikarnassyseus, who was a teacher of rhetoric, historian, grammar, teacher of Greek language and literature, but also an active critic in Rome (Kennedy, 1994).

His main concern was to be able to bring to the forefront Attic standards in rhetorical art and history as they appeared to classical orators.

In the late 2nd century BC, the Greek rhetoric began to display significant differences from the Latin one, which stems from the division of the empire into two parts over two centuries. On the one hand, in the East dominated the tradition of generosity, which emphasized "ideas", while on the other hand in the West the presence of Cicero settled and established purely classic and traditional tendencies.

At this point, it should be noted that the Latins focused their interest on forensic speeches, while the Greeks were more fascinated by philosophy and illustrative speeches. The royal teachers in the middle of the 2nd century A.D. were paid by the cities themselves, and the tax was reduced after a letter from Emperor Antonin Piu.

In the 3rd century AD with Diocletian, the instruction was given a more methodical form and the teachers' fees were legislated.

During Late Antiquity, one of the orators who acted and stood out was Dion Chrysostom from Burshia of Burshya in the 1st century AD, representative of the Second Sophistic. His work is composed of 80 rhetorical motifs with the four best known "Basil" speeches, which he gave to the Emperor Trajan.

Significant form of the 2nd century A.D. was also Ermogenis from Cilicia. It is known that Ermogenis bequeathed the greatest rhetorical work available to the Greek language and literature. His textbooks on the teaching of rhetorical art greatly facilitated the later ones and were used extensively during the Byzantine and

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Renaissance years, since their content was original (Kennedy, 1994). According to Ermogenis, the characteristics of a right speech were accuracy, extent, beauty, rhythm, ethos, truth and ability.

Pliny the Younger, a student of Koindilianos, was also a well-known orator. His letters to Traianus, the governor of Bithynia, are important because they provide us with important information and details not only about the way in which provinces are administered, but also about early Christianity. In his letters, one can directly distinguish the style and the technique from the influence of Koindilian's teacher.

In addition, Polem, an orator in the profession and a sophist, born in Laodicea on Lykus in 90 A.D, was taught the rhetoric in Smyrna by Skopjelian and the Stoic philosophy by Timokratis, but he himself claimed to have been taught near Dion Chrysostom. The fact that he is one of the best sophists is evidenced by the fact that in 110 A.D, he managed to build his own school in Smyrna and gain so important reputation and glory that students from all over the Greek world rushed to visit him in order to teach them himself. Polem also emerged as an outstanding political leader in the region, since his rhetoric gave him the opportunity to assume and represent court cases, to speak at the assemblies of the municipality and to be a member of embassies sent to Emperors Trajan and Adrian. He preferred to deal mainly with forensic speeches, using real or fictional events, which he "dressed"

with a natural theatricality, which helped him to enchant his audience. All of this was the occasion for frequent invitations to give speeches in separate circumstances, such as the completion of the temple of Olympian Zeus in the city of Athens. He was entitled to travel publicly and was honored to be a member of the Museum of Alexandria, events that contributed to his financial comfort.

Great orator was Ailos Aesteides, who was born in Mysia of the Asia Minor, but lived and acted in Smyrna. At the same time, he was traveling to Egypt, Greece and Rome. His main concern was not merely to speak thanks to his audience but also to raise his ethics, which made him acclaimed by the Byzantine scholars.

A central point in the course of rhetorical art was the Decree of the Medians in 313 A.D by Constantine. With the new facts, many philosophical schools were forced to discontinue their function because the orators believed that religion did not interfere