Sometimes they gave lectures, as
we should say.
The oldest orators spoke simply, limiting themselves to an account of
the facts without oratorical flourishes; on the platform they were
almost rigid without loud speaking or gesticulation. Pericles
delivered his orations with a calm air, so quietly, indeed, that no
fold of his mantle was disturbed. When he appeared at the tribune,
his head, according to custom, crowned with leaves, he might have been
taken, said the people, "for a god of Olympus." But the orators who
followed wished to move the public. They assumed an animated style,
pacing the tribune in a declamatory and agitated manner. The people
became accustomed to this form of eloquence. The first time that
Demosthenes came to the tribune the assembly shouted with laughter;
the orator could not enunciate, he carried himself ill. He disciplined
himself in declamation and gesture and became the favorite of the
people. Later when he was asked what was the first quality of the
orator, he replied, "Action, and the second, action, and the third,
action." Action, that is delivery, was more to the Greeks than the
sense of the discourse.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230