Oratory is the art of eloquent speaking. An orator is a speaker who tries to persuade listeners by logical arguments and emotional appeals to their feelings. An oration is a speech that uses principles of rhetoric (the art of using words for persuasion). An oration, unlike a public speech, has a formal style and includes similes, metaphors, and other figures of speech.
Beginnings.
A mass of lawsuits arose when a democracy was established in Syracuse in Sicily in 466 B.C. They were brought by former exiles whose property had been seized by the tyrants. Many claims were several years old, and documentary evidence was often lacking. The claimants needed help in presenting their cases. Corax, a Sicilian Greek, was the first to supply this help, and is considered the founder of oratory. He established a system of rules for public speaking in the 460’s B.C., with the aid of his pupil Tisias.
Corax said that a speech usually should have five parts. He described these parts as (1) proem (introduction); (2) narrative; (3) arguments; (4) subsidiary remarks; and (5) summary.
Other early teachers of rhetoric include Protagoras, who developed the principles of debate; Gorgias, who emphasized style; Hippias, who was chiefly interested in the use of memory; and Lysias, who “showed how perfect elegance could be joined to plainness.”
The study of speechmaking spread to Athens. During the 400’s B.C., almost all male Athenian citizens attended the general assembly, where public policies were debated. They took part in the formulation of policies and the administration of justice. In the courts, they acted as jurors. The decision in each case rested with the jury, because there were no judges. Those who brought the charges and those who defended themselves pleaded their own cases. This practice led to a study of speechmaking.
Classical orators.
The first great Greek orator was Pericles. His speeches were reported by Thucydides in his famous History of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles’ Funeral Oration is his best-known speech. The greatest Greek orator was Demosthenes. He is best known for his Philippics, speeches in which he attacked Philip II of Macedonia as a threat to Greek independence.
The outstanding Greek writer on rhetoric was Aristotle. He defined rhetoric as “the faculty of discovering in every case the available means of persuasion.” Aristotle emphasized three methods of proof: (1) ethical (the influence of the speaker’s personality); (2) pathetic (the influence of the speaker’s use of emotional appeal); and (3) logical (the influence of the use of formal principles of reasoning in proof).
Cicero holds first place among the important early Roman orators. Authorities believe that the Rhetorica ad Herennium was written by Cicero about 86 B.C. It states that an orator must divide the preparation of a speech into five steps. These steps are: (1) invention (analysis of speech situation and audience, investigation and study of subject matter, and selection of speech materials); (2) disposition (the arrangement of the speech materials under what we now call introduction, discussion, and conclusion); (3) style (the use and grouping of words to express ideas clearly, accurately, vividly, and appropriately); (4) memory (methods of memorizing material); and (5) delivery (the oral presentation).
Book I of Cicero’s De Oratore, written about 55 B.C., develops the theme that a great orator must be a person of great learning and that the “proper concern of an orator … is language of power and elegance accommodated to the feelings and understandings of mankind.” Book II emphasizes the importance of invention and disposition, with particular attention to court oratory. Book III deals with style and delivery.
Institutio Oratorio (The Training of an Orator), written by Quintilian about A.D. 90, was a complete manual for the training of public speakers. Even today, it is one of the most comprehensive works on training speakers.
Later orators.
With the coming of Christianity, the preacher replaced the political speaker. Famous early preachers include Paul, John Chrysostom, and Augustine. Outstanding speakers for religious reform were Savonarola in the late 1400’s and Martin Luther and John Calvin during the Reformation in the 1500’s.
Political oratory again became important in the 1700’s. During the French Revolution, Comte de Mirabeau spoke for the common people fighting royal authority.
Britain has produced many distinguished speakers. They include Edmund Burke, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, and Winston Churchill.
American orators include Patrick Henry, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglas, and William Jennings Bryan.
