Works of Demosthenes

extolled him as "lex orandi" and underscored that "inter omnes unus excellat." Quintillian, "Institutiones", X, 1, 6 and 76]

Manuscript tradition

Demosthenes must have written down and put them into circulation most of his orations. [H. Weil, "Biography of Demosthenes", 66] In the next generation after his death, texts of his speeches survived in at least two places: Athens and the Library of Alexandria (early-mid third century BC). During this period, Callimachus was responsible for producing the catalogue of all the volumes contained in the Library. Demosthenes' speeches were incorporated into the body of classical Greek literature that was preserved, catalogued and studied by scholars of the Hellenistic period. From then until the fourth century CE copies of his orations multiplied at a time when Demosthenes was deemed the most important writer in the rhetorical world and every serious student of rhetoric needed access to his writings. Texts of his speeches were in a relatively good position to survive the tense period fron the sixth till the ninth century CE.H. Yunis, "Demosthenes: On the Crown", 28]

Scholars have recorded 258 Byzantine manuscripts of Demosthenes' speeches and 21 of extracts. Modern editions of these speeches are based on four of these manuscripts:
*The tenth-century "Venetus Marcianus 416" (called "F"), including the sixty-one orations, which finally survived. The Aldine edition was based on three manuscripts of the same family as F, though not on F itself; so the customary order of the speeches is of this family.R. Sealey, "Demosthenes and His Time", 222]
*The tenth- or eleventh-century "Monacensis Augustanus 485" (called "A"), which includes fifty-four speeches. Those omitted are 12, 45, 46, 52, 60 and 61.
*The tenth- or eleventh-century "Parisinus 2935" (called "Y"), which includes twenty-nine speeches (1-21, 23, 22, 24-26, 59, 61 and 60 in that order).
*The tenth- or eleventh-century "Parisinus 2934" (called "S") considered to be the most reliable by many scholars.I. Kalitsounakis, "Demosthenes", 958; C.A. Gibson, "Interpreting a Classic", 1; K.A. Kapparis, "Apollodoros against Neaira", 62. The preference for "S" has been challenged by Dieter Irmer ("Zur Genealogie", 95-99) and defended by Hermann Wankel (R. Sealey, "Demosthenes and His Time", 222).] It omits item 12 ("Philip's Letter") but includes the 60 speeches. A facsimile of the code was published in 1892-93, in Paris, by H. Omont.I. Kalitsounakis, "Demosthenes", 958; Maurenbrecher-Wagner-Freund, "Grundzüge", 176]

Authorship

The authorship of at least nine of the sixty-one orations is disputed. F.Blass disputes the authorship of the following speeches: "Fourth Philippic", "Funeral Oration", "Erotic Essay", "Against Stephanus 2" and "Against Evergus and Mnesibulus".F. Blass, "Die attische Beredsamkeit", III, 1, 404-406 and 542-546] A. Schaefer recognizes as genuine only twenty-nine, disputing the authorship of the following orations among others: " Reply to Philip", "Against Leochares", "Against Stephanus 1" and "Against Eubulides".A. Schaefer, "Demosthenes und seine Zeit", III, 111, 178, 247 and 257] Friedrich Blass argues that nine more speeches were recorded by the orator, but they are not extant.F. Blass, "Die attische Beredsamkeit", III, 2, 60]

Prologues

Fifty-five passages bearing the collective title "prooimia" (or "prooimia dēmēgorika") — "(demegoric) prologues" or "preambles" — are extant. These were openings of Demosthenes' speeches, collected by Callimachus for the Library of Alexandria, and preserved in several of the manuscripts that contain Demosthenes' speeches.I. Worthington, "Demosthenes", 57] The passages vary somewhat in length, though most are about one page or slightly less.H. Yunis, "Taming Democracy", 287] The majority of the prologues bear no relation to Demosthenes' other extant speeches (only five correspond closely to the beginnings of five of Demosthenes' Assembly speeches), but we have only seventeen public orations by him. The topics that arise vary considerably, and there is no apparent order.I. Worthington, "Demosthenes", 57; H. Yunis, "Taming Democracy", 287] The prologues give us insights into the Athenians' attitude to their democracy as well as to the reactions and even expectations of an audience at an Assembly.I. Worthington, "Demosthenes", 56] Callimachus believed that Demosthenes composed them, as also did Julius Pollux and Stobaeus.I. Worthington, "Oral Performance", 135] Modern scholars are divided: Some of them reject them,I. Kalitsounakis, "Demosthenes", 957. In prologues 54-55, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff recognized parts of Athenian speeches of the third century BC (R. Sealey, "Demosthenes and His Time", 221).] while others believe they were genuine.F. Blass, "Die Attische Beredsamkeit", 3.1, 281-287; H. Yunis, "Taming Democracy", 289: "No imitator [...] could perfectly imitate Demosthenes in style and substance while excluding all inappropriate or anachronistic elements."]

Letters

Six letters are written under Demosthenes' name, but their authorship has been fiercely debated.F.J. Long, "Ancient Rhetoric and Paul's Apology", 102; M. Trap, "Greek and Latin Letters", 12] J.A. Goldstein regards Demosthenes's letters as authentic apologetic letters that were addressed to the Athenian assembly and asserts that "whether the letters had a spurious origin as propaganda or as rhetorical fictions, the aim of the author would be to present a defense of Demosthenes' career, a simulated self-defense". [J.A. Goldstein, "The Letters of Demosthenes", 93] Ostensibly, the first four were written by Demosthenes during his exile in 323 BC, the fifth in his youth, and the sixth during the Lamian War.

Citations and notes

References

*cite book | last=Blass | first=Friedrich | title=Die Attische Beredsamkeit — Third Volume | publisher=B. G. Teubner | year=1887–1898| language=German
*cite book | last=Gibson | first=Graig A. | title=Interpreting a Classic | publisher=University of California Press | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-520-22956-8
*cite book | last=Goldstein | first=Jonathan A. | title=The Letters of Demosthenes | publisher=Columbia University Press | year=1968
*cite book |title=Zur Genealogie der Jungeren Demostheneshandschriften: Untersuchungen an den Reden 8 und 9 |last=Irmer |first=Dieter |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1972 |publisher=Helmut Buske Verlag |location=Hamburg|language=German
*cite encyclopedia|title=Demosthenes|encyclopedia=The Helios|date=1952|last=Kalitsounakis|first=Ioannis|location=Athens|publisher=Encyclopedic Review "The Helios"|editor=Ioannis D. Passias|language=Greek
*cite book | last=Kapparis |first=Konstantinos A. | title=Apollodoros Against Neaira | publisher=Walter de Gruyter | year=1999 | id=ISBN 3-11-016390-X
*cite book | last=Long |first=Fredrick J. | title=Ancient Rhetoric and Paul's Apology | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2004 | id=ISBN 0-521-84233-6
*cite book | last=Schaefer | first=Arnold | title=Demosthenes und seine Zeit — Third Volume | publisher=B. G. Teubner | year=1885|language=German
*cite book |title=Demosthenes and His Time: A Study in Defeat |last=Sealey |first=Raphael |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |chapter=The Transmission of the Demosthenic Corpus |isbn=0-195-07928-0
*cite book | last=Trapp | first=Michael | title=Greek and Latin Letters | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2003 | id=ISBN 0-521-49943-7
*cite book | last=Weil | first=Henri | title=Biography of Demosthenes in "Demosthenes' Orations" | publisher=Papyros (from the Greek translation) | year=1975
*cite book | last=Worthington | first=Ian | title=Oral Performance and its Context edited by C.J. MacKie | publisher=Brill Academic Publishers | year=2004 | id=ISBN 9-004-13680-0|chapter=Oral Performance in the Athenian Assembly and the Demosthenic Prooemia
*cite book | last=Worthington | first=Ian | title=Demosthenes, Speeches 60 And 61, Prologues, Letters| publisher=University of Texas Press | year=2006 | id=ISBN 0-292-71332-0|chapter=Prologues
*cite book | last=Yunis | first=Harvey | title=Demosthenes: On the Crown | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2001 | id=ISBN 0-521-62930-6|chapter=Introduction
*cite book | last=Yunis | first=Harvey | title=Taming Democracy | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=1996 | id=ISBN 0-801-48358-1|chapter=Appendix II: The Authenticity of Demosthenes' Collection of Demegoric Preambles