1.1 Necessary conditions of classical rhetoric
(1) Greek Democracy : Democracy provides a necessary condition for the birth of classical rhetoric. The ancient Greeks are a unique people. They believed that individuals should be free as long as they acted within the laws of Greece. This allowed them the opportunity to excel any direction they chose. Individuality was the basis of their society. The ability to strive for excellence was what Athenians dearly believed in.
English Rhetoric
Chapter Two Brief History of Western Rhetoric
By Song Pingfeng
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Contents of This Chapter
• 1. Classical rhetoric • 2. Rhetoric in the Middle Ages • 3. Rhetoric in the Renaissance • 4. New Classic Rhetoric • 5. Contemporary Rhetoric
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The concept of rhetoric in general
Along with grammar and logic or dialectic, rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric normally explains the three arts of using language as a means to persuade (logos, pathos, and ethos), as well as the five canons of Rhetoric: memory, invention, delivery, style, and arrangement. From ancient Greece to the late 19th Century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public speakers and writers to move audiences to action with arguments.
(2) Great thinkers/ scholars: There are a lot of great thinkers/ scholars in the ancient Greece, such as Socrates(苏格拉底), Plato(柏拉图), and Aristotle(亚里士多德). Their great Words and thoughts are still taught in universities to this day. Most of them are great rhetoricians.
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1.2 The social and political organizations of Ancient Greece:
(1) Polis or City-state: In 508 B.C., the city of Athens became one of the first polis, or one of the first city-states in ancient times.
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1. Classical rhetoric (5th B.C – 5th A.D.)
In the ancient times, rhetoric evolved as an important art, one that provided the orator with the forms, means, and strategies for persuading an audience of the correctness of the orator's arguments. Rhetoric originates from the ancient Greece. It provides two necessary conditions for the classical rhetoric.
(2) Democracy and Council: In 508 B.C., Cleisthenes (克利斯提尼，他将索伦的立法改革制定成法律文件，通 常被认为是雅典民主政治的创建者) instituted a new political organization whereby the citizens would take a more careful and more direct role in running the city-state. He called this new political organization “demokratia”, or democracy----rule by the entire body of citizens. He created a Council of Five Hundred which planned the business of the public assemblies.