The Rhetoric of Home and Homeland in Demosthenes 19 on the False Embassy

Responding to internal and external threats to the Athenian democracy, Demosthenes uses language, imagery, and sentiment connected to the house to unite the demos under a single metaphorical roof. Pointing to politicians' houses as visible symbols for the constitution and using the language of inheritance, Demosthenes links home and homeland, patriotism and family, to persuade the Athenians to actively oppose Philip. In contrast, he attributes to Aeschines an isolationist interpretation of home that rejects ancestral models and historical alliances. This study of Demosthenes' rhetoric of home—the nexus of public and private—demonstrates how inextricably politics and emotion are intertwined.