Trials of Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian EthosUniversity of North Carolina Press, 1988 - 215 pagine By its very nature, the art of oratory involves character. Verbal persuasion entails the presentation of a persona by the speaker that affects an audience for good or ill. In this book, James May explores the role and extent of Cicero's use of ethos and demonstrates its persuasive effect. May discusses the importance of ethos, not just in classical rhetorical theory but also in the social, political, and judicial milieu of ancient Rome, and then applies his insights to the oratory of Cicero. Ciceronian ethos was a complex blend of Roman tradition, Cicero's own personality, and selected features of Greek and Roman oratory. More than any other ancient literary genre, oratory dealt with constantly changing circumstances, with a wide variety of rhetorical challenges. An orator's success or failure, as well as the artistic quality of his orations, was largely the direct result of his responses to these circumstances and challenges. Acutely aware of his audience and its cultural heritage and steeped in the rhetorical traditions of his predecessors, Cicero employed rhetorical ethos with uncanny success. May analyzes individual speeches from four different periods of Cicero's career, tracing changes in the way Cicero depicted character, both his own and others', as a source of persuasion--changes intimately connected with the vicissitudes of Cicero's career and personal life. He shows that ethos played a major role in almost every Ciceronian speech, that Cicero's audiences were conditioned by common beliefs about character, and finally, that Cicero's rhetorical ethos became a major source for persuasion in his oratory. |
Sommario
Preface | |
THE PRECONSULAR SPEECHES 13 | |
THE CONSULAR SPEECHES 49 | |
Copyright | |
3 sezioni non visualizzate
Altre edizioni - Visualizza tutto
Parole e frasi comuni
accusator actions adversary Antony argument Art of Rhetoric atque auctoritas audience authority Caecilius Caelius Caesar Catilinarian Catiline Cato causa charge Chrysogonus Cicero Cicero's ethos Ciceronian oratory citizens client Clodius consul Consular Speeches consulship court defense dicere dignitas dignitatis dignity digression enemy enim ethos etiam exile Flaccus gratia Greek haec honorable Hortensius identifies important influence iudices jury Kennedy Laterensis Ligarius mihi Milo mos maiorum Murena Naevius neque nobilitas nobility Notes to Pages novus homo orator pathos patriot patronus peroration persona Plancius Pompey portrait possession Post Reditum Speeches Pre-Consular Speeches presentation Pro Caelio Pro Milone prosecution prosecutor quae quam quid Quinctius quod recall rei publicae Republic reputation rhetoric of advocacy rhetorical ethos role Roman Rome Roscius semper Senate Sestius source of persuasion Sulla Sulpicius sunt theme throughout the speech tion togatus Torquatus Trials of Character Tubero Verres virtue vitae