Elocution And Athenian Democracy

For many years, there have been two sharply contrasting arguments about Athenian democracy in academic circles, namely "the real democracy" and "the oligarch rule of the noble and the rich or the slave owners". Through probing and analyzing the background of Athenian oratory and their function in Athenian democracy, this dissertation demonstrates that the Athenian democratic power is shared by the mass and the political leaders and they co-rule in Athenian democracy. The outline of this dissertation is arranged as follows:Chapter 1 explains the background of Athenian oratory, namely ancient Greek oral tradition , the oratory in Homer era, the birth of ancient Greek rhetoric and the Sophists movement.Chapter 2 deals with the relation between the oratory and democratic decision-making, demonstrating that oratory plays an important role and can influence the result of the decision-making.Chapter 3 explicates without modern media, oration and oratory plays the part of disseminating the ideology of Athenian democracy, and it can defend prompt Athenian democracy.In conclusion, from the prospect of oration and oratory, this dissertation analyzes the character of Athenian democracy, demonstrating...