La sirène et l'enchanteur : portraits croisés d'Eschine et de Démosthène à la tribune

Abstract

In the derogatory portraits that they reciprocally paint of each other, Aeschines and Demosthenes leave a great part to oratory action, claiming to unmask their adversary's true personality and to show how he strays from the norm of σωφροσύνη. Each of them however chooses to emphasize a different aspect. Demosthenes denounces the vocal prowess and the seasoned technique of a voice that does not reflect the true orator's state of mind and is raised only to serve his personal ambitions. As much as his façade solemnity and his seductive speeches, his eloquent silences betray the former actor's ambiguous role. Aeschines's criticisms, on the contrary, deal essentially with his adversary's range of gestures. His often abrupt taking of the floor, his gesturing at the tribune, his vulgar or unbecoming postures, are the mark of a dangerous orator, whose excesses echo back to the figure of a Cleon and who, like the latter, tries to cast on his audience a spell that would be that of miracle maker.