Isocrates, << y SOK ruh `teez` >> (436-338 B.C.), was an important Greek author and educator. A weak voice and stage fright kept him from public speaking. But he wrote many great speeches and published them as pamphlets. He repeatedly urged a Greek invasion of Persia to unify and enrich Greece. Twenty-one of his speeches still exist. Experts praise their polished style and careful form. Isocrates often worked for years on one speech.
Isocrates was born in Athens. He studied under several philosophers and was a follower of the Greek philosopher Socrates. Isocrates found his calling about 392 B.C. when he set up his famous school of public speaking in Athens. Isocrates’s rivals included the school of the Greek philosopher Plato and the Sophists, who were professional traveling educators His pupils included some of the greatest speakers, historians, debaters, and writers of Greece of his day.
