Texts and contexts: the materiality of documents in the Attic orators
By Hilary Lehmann (Knox College)
This paper examines the materiality of wills, contracts, and depositions in the speeches of the Attic orators. I argue that the orators draw attention to the physical nature of these documents as a way to exploit various strains of respect and suspicion associated with the written word; at the same time, since legal discourse both reflects and influences the world that produces it (Smith 2014; Biber, Luker, and Vaughan 2022), the material nature of the documents in legal oratory has shaped ancient and modern attitudes towards textuality and legal discourse.
Sophistic Innovators and Christian Persuaders: The Rhetoric of Persuasion and Consent in Church History
By Sinja Küppers (Duke University)
Rhetoric was part of the standard education of churchmen. Nonetheless, its use in Christianity was contentious (see Asay 2015). This paper analyzes how the fifth-century church historian Sozomen made Classical rhetoric acceptable in a Christian context by emphasizing persuasion through truth and character rather than the art of eloquence. He thus informs us about Christian communication culture and practices of community building in a formative period of church history.
Meta-Oratorical Magic: Invoking Peitho as a Powerplay in Ancient Greek Oratory
By Allannah K Karas (University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL)
Any project of public persuasion demands craft, charisma and emotional force. It is no wonder, then, that in lawcourts and theaters, fifth and fourth century Greek orators often appealed to certain gods such as Peitho (conventionally translated, “Persuasion”) in their speeches. As scholars (Johannesen 1962, Martin 2009, Serafim 2021) have pointed out, deistic references of these sorts can be used to curry favor with the audience or, conversely, to alienate an opponent.
May Poseidon Crush My Neighbor and His Guests: Envy Attribution in Libanius’ Thirtieth Declamation
By Andrew Scholtz (Binghamton University (SUNY))
Why would anyone pray to see a neighbor crushed under the rubble of his house? Why cherish the memory of witnessing that neighbor beating his wife? Why petition one’s city to put one to death? For a speaker in Libanius, it is because one is agonizingly and incurably envious of a neighbor’s financial windfall, but how does that explain the speaker’s strikingly negative self-characterization? I argue that in Libanius’ rarely discussed Thirtieth Declamation, the speaker’s aim is, ultimately, to persuade the city to seize said neighbor’s property.