Description
Book SynopsisIntroduces readers to the ancient rhetorical tradition by investigating key questions about the origins, nature and importance of rhetoric. This book explores the role of the orator, especially the two greatest figures of the tradition, Demosthenes and Cicero. It also investigates the place of rhetoric at the center of ancient education.
Trade Review“Marrying originality and theoretical broadmindedness with the virtues of a learned survey, Habinek brings the reader face to face with the aesthetic, political, and philosophical vitality of ancient rhetoric and oratory.”
Joy Connolly, New York University
“More than a compact history of ancient rhetoric, Habinek’s Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory is a revelatory analysis of its social functions and an energetic defense of its democratic potential.” Steve Johnstone, University of Arizona
"Habinek's experience and mature scholarship are manifest in the production of this work. It is fairly comprehensive, but even in areas in which it chooses to be selective, the choice is judicious... I would recommend this book to senior undergraduates and graduate students of history of rhetoric." Scholia
Table of ContentsPreface.
Chronological Chart.
I Rhetoric and the State.
II The Figure of The Orator.
III The Craft of Rhetoric.
IV Rhetoric as Acculturation.
V The Afterlife of Rhetoric.
A Brief Outline of Ancient Rhetoric.
Notes.
Further Reading.
Annotated Index
