The Oxford Handbook of Demosthenes

As a speechwriter, orator, and politician, Demosthenes captured, embodied, and shaped his time. He was a key player in Athens in the twilight of the city’s independence, and today he is a primary source for her history and society in that period. The Oxford Handbook of Demosthenes sets out to explore the many facets of the man’s life, work, and time. It gives particular weight to elucidating the setting and the contexts of his activity and some key themes that the speeches deal with. It thereby illustrates the interplay and mutual influence between the rhetoric and the environment from which it emerged. In this way the handbook is an up-to-date reference to issues and problems one encounters when approaching the speeches: it showcases the role that Demosthenes’ presentation of his world has had for our view of it and how Athenian reality in turn influenced the speeches, as it formed the backdrop to which the rhetoric had to adapt. Thirty-five experts contribute to explore and enrich our knowledge of one of the most prominent figures of ancient Greece and the masterpieces he left. Their wide range of expertise and the different scholarly traditions they represent make this book a demonstration of the richness and diversity of current Demosthenic studies.