Demosthenes

Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) - in Greek Δημοσθένης; English pronunciation 'dim-OS-then-eeze', with '-th-' as in 'think' rather than 'then', IPA: /dɪ'mɒsθə,niːz/ - was an Athenian statesman and the greatest of the Greek orators.

Demosthenes lost his father at the age of 7 and was deprived of his inheritance by his guardians' mismanagement of the family estate. When he was 21, after several unsuccessful attempts to reach agreement with his guardians, he decided to take legal action against them and won his case. He had already studied rhetoric, i.e., the art of public speaking, and was earning a living as a speech-writer or logographos (λογογράφος). Owing to the weakness of his voice Demosthenes was at first a poor public speaker but he overcame this disability - though it is probably not true that he did so, as tradition has it, by declaiming his speeches against the noise of the waves while walking on the sea shore with his mouth full of pebbles. Demosthenes' reputation as an advocate in private cases led to his appointment in the mid 350s as an official prosecutor and his appearance in a number of high-profile public prosecutions.

By the end of the 350s Demosthenes had begun to take a prominent part in Athenian politics. Unlike Isocrates, he saw the the rise of Philip of Macedon as a threat to the freedom of Athens and the other Greek cities and urged the Athenians to resist the advance of Macedonian power. His finest speeches - the so-called Philippics and Olynthiacs - were delivered as part of this passionate, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign in defence of Greek freedom.

When Philip died in 336, his plans for Macedonian expansion were taken over by his son Alexander the Great, who secured the submission of Athens and the other Greek cities to the power of Macedon. On the death of Alexander in 323 Demosthenes attempted to organise resistance to the Macedonian general Antipater, but the latter defeated the rebels at the battle of Crannon (322). The Macedonians demanded the execution of Demosthenes, who managed to escape from Athens to the temple of Poseidon at Calauria, where he committed suicide.

Demosthenes' speeches against Philip of Macedon, his Philippics, have given the English language the word 'philippic'. A philippic is any speech of passionate denunciation or invective against a particular individual.

See further Isocrates, Alexander the Great.

For some help with the pronunciation of Greek names see Pronunciation of Greek Proper Names.