Aeschines

Translated by Chris Carey

Publication Year: 2000

This is the third volume in the Oratory of Classical Greece series. Planned for publication over several years, the series will present all of the surviving speeches from the late fifth and fourth centuries B.C. in new translations prepared by classical scholars who are at the forefront of the discipline. These translations are especially designed for the needs and interests of today’s undergraduates, Greekless scholars in other disciplines, and the general public. Classical oratory is an invaluable resource for the study of ancient Greek life and culture. The speeches offer evidence on Greek moral views, social and economic conditions, political and social ideology, and other aspects of Athenian culture that have been largely ignored: women and family life, slavery, and religion, to name just a few. This volume contains the three surviving speeches of Aeschines (390–? B.C.). His speeches all revolve around political developments in Athens during the second half of the fourth century B.C. and reflect the internal political rivalries in an Athens overshadowed by the growing power of Macedonia in the north. The first speech was delivered when Aeschines successfully prosecuted Timarchus, a political opponent, for having allegedly prostituted himself as a young man. The other two speeches were delivered in the context of Aeschines’ long-running political feud with Demosthenes. As a group, the speeches provide important information on Athenian law and politics, the political careers of Aeschines and Demosthenes, sexuality and social history, and the historical rivalry between Athens and Macedonia.

Published by: University of Texas Press

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This is the third volume in a series of translations of The Oratory of Classical Greece. The aim of the series is to make available primarily for those who do not read Greek up-to-date, accurate, and readable translations with introductions and explanatory notes of all the surviving works and major fragments...

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

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pp. xi-xii

The present volume has benefitted enormously from the aid of several colleagues and friends. Two debts in particular need to be acknowledged. The series editor, Michael Gagarin, offered countless corrections and improvements, and his guidance has made its presence felt on every page, especially in the area of idiom, where his intervention has resulted in a more fluent version; in almost...

SERIES INTRODUCTION: Greek Oratory

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pp. xiii-xxxi

From as early as Homer (and undoubtedly much earlier) the Greeks placed a high value on effective speaking. Even Achilles, whose greatness was primarily established on the battlefield, was brought up to be "a speaker of words and a doer of deeds'' (Iliad 9.443); and Athenian leaders of the sixth and fifth centuries,¹ such as Solon, Themistocles, and Pericles, were...

AESCHINES: Translated with introduction by Chris Carey

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pp. 1-

INTRODUCTION: The Life and Times of Aeschines

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pp. 3-17

To the modern reader at least, the fifth century, for all its intellectual turmoil, looks like an age of political certainty. For much of the century, in a way familiar to anyone whose horizons were formed by the world between the Second World War and the fall of the European communist regimes, the Greek...

1. AGAINST TIMARCHUS

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pp. 18-87

Although there was majority support for the conclusion of peace in 346, there remained elements in the city implacably and explicitly opposed either to the idea of peace with Macedonia or to the terms of the Peace of Philocrates. There were others, like Demosthenes, who saw the peace as a necessary but temporary...

2. ON THE EMBASSY

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pp. 88-158

With the exception of Demosthenes, those who negotiated the Peace of Philocrates had high hopes of its potential benefits. In the event, their expectations were disappointed. The peace released Athens from a war of which the population was tired, but it brought no tangible benefits. The vague promises...

3. AGAINST CTESIPHON

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pp. 159-251

By the time Aeschines and Demosthenes faced each other in court again, their positions had to a large extent been reversed. Demosthenes' influence had increased, partly because those who had argued most vigorously for peace in 346 had been unable to demonstrate any tangible benefit, whereas those who...

Index

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pp. 253-261

E-ISBN-13: 9780292799288
E-ISBN-10: 0292799284
Print-ISBN-13: 9780292712225
Print-ISBN-10: 0292712227

Page Count: 293
Publication Year: 2000

Series Title: The Oratory of Classical Greece