29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite a mouthful!!!!, December 3, 2000
This review is from: Cicero on Oratory and Orators (Landmarks in Rhetoric & Public Address) (Paperback)
This is considered by many to be Cicero's magnum-opus of his career. Whether it is or not is a topic of debate. What is outside the jurisdiction of debate is that it is a landmark work in the history of oratory.
In it Cicero details the various oratorical techniques which should be employed by the master of elocution. Such topics as eloquence, delivery, word choice and accessability of diction are discussed. Each view and counterview is presented by a different interlocutor, in the Platonic tradition. We even have none other than Julius Caesar lecturing on what Nietzsche would call the "uses and disadvantages" of invoking humor during serious orations. One of the primary issues which comes under consideration is the level of erudition of the orator. Should the individual be well versed in sundry fields of intellectual endeavor (such as the philosopher, perhaps?)? Does the ability to invoke virtually any academic pursuit aid in getting one's point across? Or, does this only lead to a person with an overly and unnecessary pedantic approach to oratory - one which stocklists various irrelevant points to the topic at hand? If so, is it better for the speechmaker to be less well rounded in his studies, and instead focused solely on the subject matter of his parlance? Cicero takes the question up at great lengths.
Within the dialogue myriad allusions are made to such household names as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pericles, Isocrates, Democritus, Hesiod, Demosthenes, Cato the elder, Anaxagoras, Valerius and Scipio Africanus, as well as a multitude of less well known names which would be recognized only by the most learned classical scholars. A general knowledge of Greaco-Roman history up until the time of Cicero is highly recommended before engaging this text.
The second part of the book is entitled "Brutus; or Remarks on Eminent Orators." This is supposedly taken from a conversation which Cicero actually had with Brutus and a few other mutual friends, in Cicero's own words "in a private lawn, near a statue of Plato" (p. 268). In it Cicero extols the great Roman orators of the past and (as in "Orators") extends his criticism against the sophists. He also pays homage to his own teacher: Molo of Rhodes. One comes away with nothing less than an awe of Cicero's vast knowledge of the history of elocution.
This book is a must read for philosophers, scholars of antiquity, lawyers, politicians and all others who own the task of swaying the opinion(s) of the masses. Oh, and by the way, it's a pretty good read for those who aren't interested in any of that stuff, too. 8-)
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
learning from the wisdom of the ancient thinkers, August 21, 2005
This review is from: Cicero on Oratory and Orators (Landmarks in Rhetoric & Public Address) (Paperback)
Cicero provides us all with an opportunity to discover what matters when stepping up to the podium in academic or public debate. Throughout this carefully translated book lies the wisdom of the ancients which all of us in public and private life ought to consider... "the means by which the minds of men excited or calmed" (On the character of the Orator:47) or how to use the power of metaphor so that..."but bring some accession of splendour" (on the character of the Orator:237). For anyone studying law politics or discourse this is the book for you.
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