Footnote:
Also issued in print: 2021. - Includes bibliographical references and index. - Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on March 9, 2021)
Description:
This is a monograph, in English, about Demades, an influential Athenian politician and a collaborator of many leaders of classical Greece, including Alexander the Great and Demosthenes. Reflecting that most of the available sources about Demades belong to the Roman imperial period, this book proceeds from presenting the figure of Demades as a later rhetorical construct to revealing the problematic nature of our overall knowledge about classical Greece.
"This is the first monograph in English about Demades, an influential Athenian politician from the fourth century B.C. An orator whose fame outlived him for hundreds of years, he was an acquaintance and collaborator of many political and military leaders of classical Greece, including the Macedonian king Philip II, his son and successor Alexander III (the Great), and the orator Demosthenes. However, an overwhelming portion of the available evidence on Demades dates to at least three centuries after his death and, often, much later. Contextualizing the sources within their historical and cultural framework, The Orator Demades delineates how later rhetorical practices and social norms transformed his image to better reflect the educational needs and political realities of the Roman imperial and Byzantine periods. Using the specific example of Demades as a rhetorical construct that eventually replaced its historical prototype for later generations, the book raises a general question about the problematic foundations of our knowledge of classical Greece. The evolving image of Demades illustrates the role played by rhetoric, as the basis of education and edification during the Roman and Byzantine Empires, in creating an alternate, inauthentic vision of the classical past that continues to dominate modern scholarship and popular culture"--