Demosthenes

[ChilledVodkaIV]

Orator or windbag? discuss.

 

[cloudy]

I've missed you....and I must have missed Demosthenes, too. I got nothing.

 

[Guest]

Orator or windbag? discuss.

Great orator, history says.

But if he starts up a thread with any of that political stuff, his ass is gonna be moved out of the AH.

 

[oggbashan]

Orator or windbag? discuss.

Depends on your point of view.

Oratory and Rhetoric are less common in these days when the soundbite is all that television news audiences will assimilate.

Who is prepared to listen to an hour-long speech on a specialist topic? Who now is willing to follow an argument for ten thousand words before replying?

Formal debate, for which oratory and rhetoric are useful tools, is a very rare occurence even in parliamentary democracies.

Og

 

[Teloz]

I can't even say it, let alone discuss it!

 

[Handley_Page]

If I have the thing right, Rhetoric is the formulation of the sentence, Oratory is the manner of its delivery.
Cicero learned Rhetoric (a fact which made him a good advocate) in Greece as well as Oratory
I think it is not given to many to have the power or Oratory.
But, enforced or not, the speeches of that man Hitler are fascinatingly delivered (although he was preaching to the converted). Churchill was another who could move men with words.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title&ved=0CAoQkAE

HERE, LEARN SOMETHING THEN POST AGAIN.

 

[TE999]

Ol' Demo was a lawyer and a politician. Both occupations put a high value on speechfyin'. Both are also accomplished pickpockets.

I vote 'windbag'.

 

[3113]

Wasn't he the guy with the sword over his head?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

No, that's Damocles! Sheesh, the quality of classical education these days.

 

[3113]

No, that's Damocles! Sheesh, the quality of classical education these days.

Hey, I've listened to lotsa Classical Music!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Hey, I've listened to lotsa Classical Music!

Can I entice you to dance to Bolero?

 

[Guest]

Hey, I've listened to lotsa Classical Music!

Sure.

They are the soundtrack for every classic cartoon ever made.

My husband's favorite is "What's Opera Doc?"

 

[TE999]

Can I entice you to dance to Bolero?

I'll drink to that.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

What? You thirsty or sumpin?

 

[TE999]

What? You thirsty or sumpin?

Nah...I'm watching 'Laugh-In' clips on YouTube. That was Dick Martin's gag line.

 

[Guest]

Nah...I'm watching 'Laugh-In' clips on YouTube. That was Dick Martin's gag line.

You bet your bippy.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You bet your bippy.

Sock it to me!

 

[3113]

Veeeery Interesting!

 

[SixtyMinuteMan]

Never know where you're going to end up on a given night. Popped into Lit and now here I am reading about Demosthenes, about whom all I knew was that he was an orator, and looking forward to a show on the Discovery Channel.

Cheers, AH. Glad I stopped by.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Demosthenes was one of the few to see the dangers of King Philip of Macedon, so I'd say he was a great statesman indeed.

 

[Handley_Page]

Sure.

They are the soundtrack for every classic cartoon ever made.

My husband's favorite is "What's Opera Doc?"

We have a Classical music station (Classic FM).
Every time I hear Wagner played, I think of Bugs Bunny.

Chuck Jones was a genius.