In Dionysius's essays, Lysias and Isocrates have thus become the pillars of the rhetorical tradition. However, he does not seem to be perceived as contributing to the development of the overall structure of rhetoric.
Plato’s Lysias
21 An excellent discussion of the role of 'first words' in the interpretation of Plato's dialogues is Burnyeat (1998). Rowe (2000) proposes a persuasive reading of Cleitophon as a serious challenge to the philosophical method presented in the Republic. There is a sense of insincerity in the behavior of both Lysias and Cleitophon, which is directly alluded to at the beginning of the dialogue by Socrates' direct confrontation with Cleitophon.
Let us bear in mind that the dramatic date of the dialogue suggests a time well before the oligarchic coup and thus the final start of Lysias' speechwriting career. Lysias's speech will also be examined at a later point in the dialogue: From 262c4 onwards, Socrates analyzes the beginning of Lysias's speech and finds that it lacks that kind of structure. The language in 'Lysias' is dominated by direct references to the speaker and the listener to the speech,49 and clearly distinguishes between the two roles in a way that we do not find in the other two discourses.
After Plato
Phaedrus seems to be lying to DL in the fact that it is the first to challenge and analyze Lysias.56 It can of course be argued that DL is simply thinking of the beginning of the dialogue and is not really a reliable source for the contemporary reception of Lysias (whether in Plato or in other authors). Cope is confident ('the illustration is no doubt a recollection') that this quotation refers to the closing words of Lysias' twelfth speech. PlutarchX orat.836c, where Isocrates' student Philiscus (Φιλίσκος ὁ Ἰσοκράτους μέν), also a friend of Lysias (γνώριμοςἑτιμοςἑτ υ), is said to have composed a poem for Lysias, which should prove that Lysias was older than Isocrates.
Trevett examines the existing evidence and concludes that it is very likely that there were two speeches: Isocrates' indictment and Lysias's defense. In other words, Plato's early reception of Lysias left an enormous mark on Lysias' future reception, simply because there was no other surviving external evidence. Lysias's intellectual circle and alludes to the speaker's moral depravity and, implicitly, to the kind of rhetoric he promotes.
Challenging the Poetic Tradition
In his writings, Isocrates also shows a polemical attitude towards poetry, which indicates a more competitive attitude towards the role of poetry in society. This ambivalence is crucial to Isocrates' argument, as it must demonstrate the utility of those aspects of poetry that he will associate with his genre, and point out the flaws that make poetry an inadequate or obsolete carrier of the virtues and benefits that Isocrates's discourses promise. Examples of a critical attitude towards the poetic tradition can be found in his Evagoras and Nikokles, speeches that are closely related to the poetic and especially to the gnomic tradition. 17.
Therefore, great prose writers must be more coherent and precise than their poetic counterparts. In several passages of To Nicocleshe discusses gnomic poetry and argues that the education available to rulers should be different from that of the general public. In summary, Isocrates challenges the aims and means of the poetic tradition and by moving beyond it he demonstrates how his discourses more appropriately fulfill the expectations of society.
Isocrates on Prose
Το πρώτο μέρος του λόγου μας δίνει την κριτική αποτίμηση του Ισοκράτη για την τρέχουσα εκπαιδευτική σκηνή και η πεζογραφία που ακολουθεί δεν μπορεί να διαβαστεί μεμονωμένα από όσα προηγούνται. 27 Αυτό φυσικά (και όχι τυχαία, όπως θα υποστηρίξω παρακάτω) θυμίζει έντονα τον Σωκράτη και την κριτική του στον «Λυσιακό λόγο» στον Φαίδρο. Τα έξι είδη πεζογραφίας είναι τα εξής: (1) Έρευνες στις γενεαλογίες των ημίθεων. 4) Διάλογοι, λεγόμενη διαλεκτική (ή εριστική;) (5) Ιδιωτικοί λόγοι (όχι γύρω από συμβόλαια); (6) Πανελλήνιες πολιτικές ομιλίες (γράφουν
In the opening section of the work, Isocrates makes some clarifications about the characteristics of their authorship. Isocrates' severe criticism of this type of writing may suggest its widespread popularity and may therefore be taken as further confirmation of. Returning to the two lists given in the Antidosis and the Panathenaicus, the slight differences should not come as a surprise after Isocrates' own emphasis on the arbitrariness of giving them, but what is perhaps more striking is the fact that in neither list does Isocrates mention philosophical writings as a separate category.
On What Is and What Is Not Philosophy
On Isocrates' fees see further Ostwald and Lynch (1994), especially596 where they state that Isocrates' fee was modest in comparison with that of the famous sophists. He analyzes Isocrates' use of this term and concludes that Isocrates offers "a techne₂, a kind of learnable knowledge that makes none of the hard and fast claims of a techne₁" (288). See Politis (2015) for a recent interpretation of the 'τίἐστι' question and Plato's method of inquiry in the early dialogues.
15 Halliwell (2002) is a useful discussion of the concept of μίμησις in Plato, Aristotle and beyond (with only a few comments on Isocrates). 3 One of the most prominent and outspoken defenders of this association was George Kennedy in his account of Isocrates. In other words, Isocrates' hard work in his school has enabled Athens to distinguish itself internationally as the teacher of the rest of the world.11.
Athenians are world leaders in education and this is due to the work that teachers in Athens do successfully. Those in the last two categories (professionals and businessmen) are generally seen as capable of representing a particular field or institution (in the broadest sense of the word).
Alcidamas
To express Isocrates' feelings about the intellectual climate of fourth-century BC Athens. better understand, and the way his self-made image resonated within this context, it is thus worth looking at writers who were close to his time, with whom he may have been in dialogue, and who refer to his work. Aside from the superficial connection through Gorgias, most scholars interested in the links between Isocrates and Alcidamas have focused on the chronological relationship between Alcidamas' work and Isocrates' Against the Sofists. All six occurrences of the root *ρη in Sophists refer to either the practice or the practitioner of rhetoric as speaking or speaking.9 Alcidamas seems to separate this art from philosophy, although the distinction between the two is not made explicitly in this work.10 Based on our earlier discussion of Isocrates' terminology, Alcidamas is very similar to Isocrates.
Isocrates' rejection of spoken discourse as the primary basis of education becomes one of the defining characteristics of his work, and his advocacy of written discourse as the best basis of education makes him stand out on the intellectual scene of the fourth century BCE. Stylistic differences between Alcidamas and Isocrates may indeed reflect their respective views on rhetoric and its mode of operation.11 Isocrates's carefully polished 'written' style perhaps deliberately lacks the ability to stir emotions and manipulate audiences, something promoted in public - and the right one for success. Isocrates' writing style was intended to be the result of careful training and deeper learning which would raise the level of discussion and prevent his students from scoring 'cheap points' by appealing to the audience's irrational and/or emotional expectations.12 After all, it is undisputed that Isocrates was deeply concerned with the moral status of a versatile teaching apparant which could explain this horror which could explain his moral status. παιδεία, which strives to help its practitioners towards 'reasonableness' (ἐπιείκεια; Against the Sophists 21).
Plato ’ s Isocrates
21 For example the fact that the critic is connected by Crito first with the writers of forensic medicine (304d6:εἰς τὰδικαστήρια); this connection is omitted in the later part of the discussion (305c). However, there are aspects of Socrates' description of 'orators' which at first sight would be difficult to connect with Isocrates. Therefore, even if it were not a criticism of the person of Isocrates, the philosophical school of Isocrates would have cultivated characteristics that emerge in the 'orator' in contrast to the values of the 'cohort of philosophers'.
This is developed in the first part of the dialogue in the exchange between Socrates and Gorgias. There are many verbal references here to the last part of Euthydemus and therefore the connection to Isocrates – if indeed he is to be identified among the recipients of Socrates'. At the end of the dialogue, Socrates laments that they have both fallen far behind in education (pursuing philosophy in moderation obviously has important drawbacks).
Isocrates and Aristotle
44 This conclusion is to be preferred mainly due to external evidence: in the lists of Aristotle's works, the Protreptic was mentioned among the dialogues; Cicero's Hortensius was (very likely) a protreptic dialogue, said to have been inspired by Aristotle (and presumably especially by his Protrepticus). 47 Many speculate that it belongs to Aristotle's early works, when he was still part of the Academy. In general, however, Isocrates's use of personal address stands out compared to Aristotle's Protreptic as more developed and involved in speech.
In Aristotle's Protrepticus, Themison and his royal status seem to play no major role in the work, unlike Isocrates's To Nicocleswhere the personal address serves to give a raison d'etre for the work. In fact, compared to other (protreptic) examples - Plato's Euthydemus or Isocrates' Cyprian orations - Aristotle's Protrepticus appears as the most a-personal: apart from the address, it seems that the main body of the text (or what is proposed to form the main text) general arguments and discussions about the nature of life, rather than the philosophy of life and the purpose of the with especially concrete examples or individuals. 56 Hutchinson and Johnson argue that Aristotle's Protrepticus was one of his most widely read philosophical-programmatic works.
Post-Fourth-Century BCE and Hellenistic Receptions of Lysias and Isocrates
The influence of Isocrates on the Hellenistic period, and especially on Hellenistic historiography, has been a highly controversial topic, which in itself is not the focus of this overview. From the scattered evidence, it seems that we can talk about the influence of Isocrates in four main areas: (1) theater, (2) historiography, (3) language and style, and (4) political philosophy. 11 My reading of Isocrates' influence on Hellenistic thought is very close to a recent assessment of Isocrates in historiography by Marincola (2014).
Hermippus, for example, mentions Demosthenes only in fragments preserved in the book on the pupils of Isocrates, and there does not seem to have been a separate treatise on him. 32 A recent discussion of Jerome's engagement with Isocrates is Mirhady (2004), who argues that Jerome's condemnation of Isocrates' style had an important Nachleben in the works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and possibly also in Philodemus. The scholarly evaluation of Isocrates' possible contribution to political philosophy (with respect to philosophy more generally) has been tough.
