Greek Orators on Rhetoric

Abstract

Since the human existence, the spoken word rules the human trajectory of language even before written word, as human learns to speak first rather than to write. Thus considering the oratory first, Greek writers like Plato, Aristotle and Isocrates thought to consider spoken language of more importance. In modern time Rhetoric, as a word stands for negative connotation or as fancy language, used to distort the truth. But as a tradition, in west, it stands as a way of persuasiveness and choice of word to arouse emotions was the centre of language. The journey of the word rhetoric first started with Sophists. Among the Athenians of the fifth century B.C., the term Sophists carried no invidious or negative connotation. It was rather neutral term applied to professors who lectured on “new learning” in literature, science and philosophy and specially ORATORY. But gradually it turned in lucrative business to earn money. That attracted a number of charlatans into teaching profession and it was men like these who eventually gave Sophists an unsavory reputation and made “sophistry” a synonym for deceitful reasoning. Perhaps this was the reason that leads Isocrates to write his educational work like ‘Against the Sophists’