Who was Demosthenes?
Q: Who was Demosthenes?
A: Demosthenes was a well-known Greek statesman and orator from ancient Athens who lived during the 4th century BC.
Q: How did Demosthenes learn rhetoric?
A: Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators.
Q: When did he deliver his first law court speeches?
A: He delivered his first law court speeches when he was twenty.
Q: What job did he take at age 21?
A: At the age of 21, Demosthenes took the job of commander of warships in Athens.
Q: Why did he become interested in politics?
A: He became interested in politics while writing speeches for others. In 354 BC, he gave his first public political speech.
Q: What were his goals as a politician?
A: His goals as a politician were to preserve Athens' freedom and to establish an alliance against Macedon, in an unsuccessful attempt to impede Philip's plans to expand his influence southwards by conquering all the Greek states.
Q: How was Demosthenes recognized by other greats throughout history?
A: The Alexandrian Canon compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace recognized Demosthenes as one of the ten greatest Attic orators and speech writers. Longinus praised him for perfecting "the tone of lofty speech, living passions, copiousness, readiness, speed". Cicero acclaimed him as "the perfect orator" who lacked nothing, and Quintilian extolled him as "lex orandi" ("the standard of oratory") and that "inter omnes unus excellat" ("he stands alone among all the orators").
