Date of Award
2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Classics
Supervisor
Dr. Kendall Sharp
Abstract
The philosophical works o f Plato are characterized by the Socratic dialogue, the dialectical style o f conversation Socrates employs with his interlocutors. However, Plato also occasionally departs from the Socratic dialogue to experiment in genres outside his, own. The Menexenus and the Apology are two o f his works that feature ‘inserted’ genres /o f Attic oratory: the funeral oration and forensic oratory. While these two works are typically characterized as Plato parodying or criticizing oratory, this thesis examines philosophy and oratory in both the Menexenus and the Apology and argues that Plato deliberately uses Attic oratory to communicate his philosophy to the Athenians and the polls as a whole. Plato uses these genres not to parody them, but uses them in a serio com ic way to show that philosophy too, by means o f oratory, can be capable o f political action.
Recommended Citation
Skinner, Ashley Erika, "PLATO’S USE OF ATTIC ORATORY" (2011). Digitized Theses. 3456.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3456