Great orators

[PoBoy321]

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cicero

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The fact that the brilliance of the best orators of antiquity is completely unknown to most people of modern times astounds me.

That said, if you can consider Plato's accounts to be accurate, Socrates has to rate very highly. The fact that his opening in The Apology, "What you have heard about me from my accusers, Athenians, I do not know," utilizes a common rhetorical trick still used today is a testament to that.

[phiphika1453]

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cicero

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The fact that the brilliance of the best orators of antiquity is completely unknown to most people of modern times astounds me.

That said, if you can consider Plato's accounts to be accurate, Socrates has to rate very highly. The fact that his opening in The Apology, "What you have heard about me from my accusers, Athenians, I do not know," utilizes a common rhetorical trick still used today is a testament to that.

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What trick is that?

[DrSues02]

The Steve Jobs commencement address was very good.

Anyone have other links to famous commencement address speeches?

[Victor]

cicero was badass. the wiki doesnt do him justice. mebbe ill look up some good sites for him someday. some things from memory:

cicero was not of the noble class, yet he still rose to the most powerful political rank in rome of the time of the republic, consul.

he stood up and saved the republic from powerful conspirators. his orations against cataline are what made him famous. look up cataline etc.

he was so well liked that despite supporting pompey, caesar forgave him and accepted him back to rome. this was a huge gesture considering caesar killed nearly all of his even marginal opponents.

its somewhat surprising that cicero is not more studied in american education considering that his political thoughts are quite in line with democracy and he devoted his life to defending the roman republic.

[Azizal]

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he was so well liked that despite supporting pompey, caesar forgave him and accepted him back to rome. this was a huge gesture considering caesar killed nearly all of his even marginal opponents.


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Cicero was special because he really believed in the republic. He was the very definition of a patriot.

However, your comment about Caesar is the exact opposite of the truth. Caesar was extremely generous to his defeated opponents. He had to be, or else his scheme of becoming the supreme ruler of Rome without actually looking like a monarch would fail. He was essentially ruthless towards those who stood against him, but pardoned nearly *everyone* who layed down arms. Cicero was not special in that regard. Killing Cicero off would've been a horrible political move, so it wasn't exactly done out of kindness.

[Azizal]

Demosthenes of Athens was probably the greatest orator from ancient Greece (though it could be Pericles, maybe Socrates depending on your definition of orator).

Many/most of his great speeches are extant and thus, readable.

He was so good that Cicero called him "the perfect orator." Other greats had similar lofty compliments to offer.

He is known for speaking out against the machinations of Phillip II (father of Alexander the Great), who wanted to be master of all Greece. He was able to sway many Greek cities (including Thebes, the pre-eminent military power in non-Macedonian Greece at the time) to the Athenian cause. This effort was doomed to failure, but considering how powerful Macedonia was at the time, gaining the support he did was an incredible feat.

[bigmonkey]

I agree with Winston Churchill. I don't think there can be any orator or indeed, leader, before or since like him. Also worth mentioning is Daniel O'Connell, who campaigned for Catholic emancipation in Ireland in the 19th century, His meetings used to attract 100,000 people. I've heard it said that they could all hear him, so loud was his voice. Consider that they didn't have loudspeakers then and that's quite a fine effort.