Demosthenes (fictional character)

The prominent Athenian statesman and orator Demosthenes constituted a source of inspiration for certain novelists, especially those writing historical novels.

In the historical novel Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault, Demosthenes is depicted as the chief villain – arrogant, deceitful and lustful, who attempts to sexually molest the young Alexander but gets a humiliating comeuppance. At the battle of Chaeronea, he acts with cowardice, throwing down his shield and weapons to run for his life. Later he conspires to assassinate King Phillip. These depictions are mostly speculative on Renault's part, except for his behavior at Chaeronea. This passage is fully supported by the historical record.

Demosthenes (a conscious nod to Demosthenes of Athens) was used as an online pseudonym by Valentine Wiggin in the "Ender's Game" series of books by Orson Scott Card. This, supposedly, was used as a reference because Valentine Wiggin, or Demosthenes, was trying to halt the encroaching Warsaw Pact invasion, which was parallel to Demosthenes' actual attempt to stop Philip II of Macedon. The online Demosthenes is a bit of a demagogue, trying to stir up the people. Her brother, Peter Wiggin, wrote under the name of Locke, a distinctly cooler head. The irony of it is that Valentine is actually much calmer than Peter. Demosthenes's name was chosen because of the orator's symbolic status as the personification of resistance against any tyrannical oppression. G. Slusser, "Ender's Game", 82] Amusingly, the series timeline has Valentine secretly monopolizing use of the name Demosthenes as she travels forward through time gradually from approximately 2200 A.D. to 5000 A.D. producing definitive historical volumes, effectively rendering the previous owner of the name irrelevant by comparison.

Demosthenes is the namesake of the Demosthenian Literary Society at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The Demosthenian Literary Society was founded in 1803, making it the one of the older literary societies in the United States.

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