4 James T. Lees, 



The subject thus includes the 76^09 hiKavLKov, 7eVo<? avfx^ov- 

 XevTCKOV, and <yivo^ eirtheLKTiKov} 



In Hterature the speech is as old as Homer. From the 

 first speech in the Iliad until the end of the classical period 

 the pr)(7L<i plays an important role in all the branches of Greek 

 literature, with the single exception of the Lyric. Public 

 speaking was indigenous ; the Greeks were born speakers. 

 The popular assembly and the eloquent orator were to them 

 what the quiet room and the newspaper of to-day are to us. 

 Theirs was a listening, ours is a reading public. It is but 

 natural, therefore, that the speech, which was so important a 

 factor in the life and development of the nation, should be of 

 frequent occurrence in the Epos and the Drama, as well as 

 in History and Philosophy. 



In Aischylos the long p/]aeL<; are generally delivered by a 

 messenger who relates some action which has taken place at 

 a distance, or by a stranger who gives a description of a far- 

 off country and people. The tendency to argument is very 

 slight, and generally no sooner is a discussion begun than it 

 is ended. In the Hept. Theb., 1026 fg., after a pfjaif of six- 

 teen lines by Antigone, the discussion is quickly brought to 

 a close by a short cmxofJt'vdLa (1042 fg.). In the Eumenides, 

 443 fg., the trial of Orestes naturally leads to discussion ; but 

 the arguments are advanced by Orestes and by the chorus,, 

 hence would not produce the same effect on the audience as 

 two long pi]aei<; delivered by individuals on the stage. The 

 parties argue in a-ri-x^ofMuOia, vv. 588-606, and only Apollo, 

 the advocate for Orestes, speaks at any length (Eum. 614- 

 621, 625-639). The poet, therefore, shows a strong tendency 

 to avoid long p^'o-et? in such discussions. 



But when we come to Sophokles we find the rhetorical 

 element in a more marked degree. This change is doubtless 

 due to the fact that rhetoric and discussion had begun to 

 occupy a more prominent place in Athenian life, and the 



1 Quintilian (II, 21, 23. Ill, 4, i ; 7, i) informs us that Aristotle was the first 

 to make this triple division of rhetoric. See also Dion. Hal., De Lysia ludicium, 

 16. 



