Lysias (d. ca. 380 BC), Attic orator, was born, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the author of the life ascribed to Plutarch, in 459 BC. Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 385 BC 384 BC 383 BC 382 BC 381 BC 380 BC 379 BC 378 BC 377... The ten Attic orators were considered the greatest orators and logographers of the classical era (5th century BC–4th century BC). ... Dionysius Halicarnassensis (of Halicarnassus), Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, flourished during the reign of Augustus. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 5th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC - 450s BC - 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC Years: 464 BC 463 BC 462 BC 461 BC 460 BC - 459 BC - 458 BC 457 BC...

This date was evidently obtained by reckoning back from the foundation of Thurii (444 BC), since there was a tradition that Lysias had gone thither at the age of fifteen. Modern critics would place his birth later, between 444 and 436 BC, because, in Plato's Republic, of which the scene is laid about 430 BC, Cephalus, the father of Lysias, is among the dramatis personae, and the emigration of Lysias to Thurii was said to have followed his father's death. The latter statement, however, rests only on the Plutarchic life; nor can Plato's dialogue be safely urged as a minutely accurate authority. The higher date assigned by the ancient writers agrees better with the tradition that Lysias reached, or passed, the age of eighty. Cephalus, his father, was a native of Syracuse, and on the invitation of Pericles had settled at Athens. The opening scene of Plato's Republic is laid at the house of his eldest son, Polemarchus, in Peiraeus. The tone of the picture warrants the inference that the Sicilian family were well known to Plato, and that their houses must often have been hospitable to such gatherings. Thurii, or Thueium, was a city of Magna Graecia on the Gulf of Taranto, near the site of the older Sybaris. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC Years: 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC 446 BC 445 BC - 444 BC - 443 BC 442 BC... Statue of a philosopher, presumely Plato, in Delphi. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 435 BC 434 BC 433 BC 432 BC 431 BC - 430 BC - 429 BC 428 BC... In Greek mythology, Cephalus was the son of Hermes and Herse. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. ...

At Thurii, the colony newly planted on the Tarentine Gulf, the boy may have seen Herodotus, now a man in middle life, and a friendship may have grown up between them. There, too, Lysias is said to have commenced his studies in rhetoric--doubtless under a master of the Sicilian school possibly, as tradition said, under Tisias, the pupil of Corax, whose name is associated with the first attempt to formulate rhetoric as an art. In 413 BC the Athenian armament in Sicily was annihilated. The desire to link famous names is illustrated by the ancient ascription to Lysias of a rhetorical exercise purporting to be a speech in which the captive general Nicias appealed for mercy to the Sicilians. The terrible blow to Athens quickened the energies of an anti-Athenian faction at Thurii. Lysias and his elder brother Polemarchus, with three hundred other persons, were accused of Atticizing. They were driven from Thurii and settled at Athens (412 BC). The Gulf of Taranto from the satellite The Gulf of Taranto (Italian: Golfo di Taranto, Latin: Sinus Tarentinus) is a gulf of the Ionian sea, in southern Italy. ... Bust of Herodotus Herodotus (Greek: ΗΡΟΔΟΤΟΣ, Herodotos) was an ancient historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - c. ... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ... Corax, along with Tisias, was one of the founders of rhetoric. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 418 BC 417 BC 416 BC 415 BC 414 BC - 413 BC - 412 BC 411 BC 410... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... Nicias (d. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 417 BC 416 BC 415 BC 414 BC 413 BC - 412 BC - 411 BC 410 BC 409...

Lysias and Polemarchus were rich men, having inherited property from their father; and Lysias claims that, though merely resident aliens, they discharged public services with a liberality which shamed many of those who enjoyed the franchise (In Eratosth. 20). The fact that they owned house property shows that they were classed as komX~Zs, i.e. foreigners who paid only the same tax as citizens, being exempt from the special tax (ueroiiaov) on resident aliens. Polemarchus occupied a house in Athens itself, Lysias another in the Peiraeus, near which was their shield manufactory, employing a hundred and twenty skilled slaves.

In 404 the Thirty Tyrants were established at Athens under the protection of a Spartan garrison. One of their earliest measures was an attack upon the resident aliens, who were represented as disaffected to the new government. Lysias and Polemarchus were on a list of ten singled out to be the first victims. Polemarchus was arrested, and compelled to drink hemlock. Lysias had a narrow escape, with the help of a large bribe. He slipped by a back-door out of the house in which he was a prisoner, and took boat to Megara. It appears that he had rendered valuable services to the exiles during the reign of the tyrants, and in 403 Thrasybulus proposed that these services should be recognized by the bestowal of the citizenship. The Boule, however, had not yet been, reconstituted, and hence the measure could not be introduced to the ecclesia by the requisite preliminary resolution (iipo$oXeuui). On, this ground it was successfully opposed. Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 409 BC 408 BC 407 BC 406 BC 405 BC - 404 BC - 403 BC 402 BC... The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian War in April 404 BC. Its two leading members were Tharamenes and Critias, a former acolyte of Socrates. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Sparta (Grk. ... Cicuta virosa Cicuta virosa (Northern water hemlock) is of the genus Cicuta. ... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece, on the Saronic Gulf opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. ... Thrasybulus (d. ...

During his later years Lysias--now probably a comparatively poor man owing to the rapacity of the tyrants and his own generosity to the Athenian exiles--appears as a hard-working member of a new profession--that of logographer, writer of speeches to be delivered in the law-courts. The thirty-four extant are but a small fraction. From 403 to about 380 BC his industry must have been incessant. The notices of his personal life in these years are scanty. In 403 he came forward as the accuser of Eratosthenes, one of the Thirty Tyrants. This was his only direct contact with Athenian politics. The story that he wrote a defence for Socrates, which the latter declined to use, probably arose from a confusion. Several years after the death of Socrates the sophist Polycrates composed a declamation against him, to which Lysias replied. A more authentic tradition represents Lysias as having spoken his own Olympiacus at the Olympic festival of 388 BC, to which Dionysius I of Syracuse had sent a magnificent embassy. Tents embroidered with gold were pitched within the sacred enclosure; and the wealth of Dionysius was vividly shown by the number of chariots which he had entered. Lysias lifted up his voice to denounce Dionysius as, next to Artaxerxes, the worst enemy of Hellas, and to impress upon the assembled Greeks that one of their foremost duties was to deliver Sicily from a hateful oppression. The latest work of Lysias which we can date (a fragment of a speech For Pizerenicus) belongs to 381 or 380 BC. He probably died in or soon after 380 BC. The title of logographer (from the Ancient Greek λογογράφος, logographos, a compound of λόγος, logos, word, and γράφω, grapho, write) was applied to professional authors of judicial discourse in Ancient Greece. ... Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 408 BC 407 BC 406 BC 405 BC 404 BC - 403 BC - 402 BC 401 BC... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 385 BC 384 BC 383 BC 382 BC 381 BC 380 BC 379 BC 378 BC 377... Socrates This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, c. ... Socrates This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, c. ... Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. ... Polycrates, son of Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from 535 BC to 515 BC. He took power during a festival of Hera with his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson, but soon had Pantagnotus killed and exiled Syloson to take full control for himself. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 393 BC 392 BC 391 BC 390 BC 389 BC 388 BC 387 BC 386 BC 385... This page is about Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse. ... Artaxerxes was the name of several rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia: Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Arses of Persia is believed to have taken the royal title of Artaxerxes IV. Bessus, the Persian nobleman who murdered Darius III of Persia, renamed himself Artaxerxes when he claimed the... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 385 BC 384 BC 383 BC 382 BC 381 BC 380 BC 379 BC 378 BC 377...

Lysias was a man of kindly and genial nature, warm in friendship, loyal to country, with a keen perception of character and a fine though strictly controlled sense of humour. The literary tact which is so remarkable in the extant speeches is that of a singularly flexible intelligence, always obedient to an instinct of gracefulness. He owes his distinctive place to the power of concealing his art. It was obviously desirable that a speech written for delivery by a client should be suitable to his age, station and circumstances. Lysias was the first to make this adaptation really artistic. His skill can be best appreciated if we turn from the easy flow of his graceful language to the majestic emphasis of Antiphon, or to the self-revealing art of Isaeus. Antiphon of Rhamnus in Attica (480-403 BC) was the earliest of the ten Attic orators. ... Isaeus (fl. ...

Translated into terms of ancient criticism, he became the model of the plain style (to~vbs XcLPaKT1~P, ioxv~, Xtri~, ?tq~Xv)s Xi~ is: genus tenue or subtile). Greek and then Roman critics distinguished three styles of rhetorical composition--the grand (or elaborate), the plain and the middle, the plain being nearest to the language of daily life. Greek rhetoric began in the grand style; then Lysias set an exquisite pattern of the plain ; and Demosthenes might be considered as having effected an almost ideal compromise. Demosthenes Demosthenes (384 BC – 322 BC) is generally considered the greatest of the Attic orators, and thus the greatest of all Ancient Greek orators. ...

The vocabulary of Lysias is pure and simple. Most of the rhetorical figures are sparingly used--except such as consist in the parallelism or opposition of clauses. The taste of the day not yet emancipated from the influence of the Sicilian rhetoric probably demanded a large use of antithesis. Lysias excels in vivid description; he has also a happy knack of marking the speakers character by light touches. The structure of his sentences varies a good deal according to the dignity of the subject. He has equal command over the periodic style (Karrpa,su~vi~ X~rs) and the non-periodic or continuous (~tpoufv~, &aX~Xuu~v,i). His disposition of his subject-matter is always simple. The speech has usually four parts: introduction (lrpooffuov), narrative of facts (& yila-r,r), proofs (~Lumir), which may be either external, as from witnesses, or internal, derived from argument on the facts, and, lastly, conclusion (iniXo-yos). Antithesis (from the Greek anti = against and thesis = position) is a figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure. ...

It is in the introduction and the narrative that Lysias is seen at his best. In his greatest extant speech--that Against Eratosthenes--and also in the fragmentary Olympiacus, he has pathos and fire; but these were, not characteristic qualities of his work. In Cicero's judgment (De Orat. iii. 7, 28) Demosthenes was peculiarly distinguished by force (vis), Aeschines by resonance (sonitus); Hypereides by acuteness (acumen); Isocrates by sweetness (suavitas); the distinction which he assigns to Lysias is subtilitas, an Attic refinement--which, as he elsewhere says (Brutus, 16, 64) is often joined to an admirable vigour (lacerti). Nor was it oratory alone to which Lysias rendered service; his work had an important effect on all subsequent Greek prose, by showing how perfect elegance could be joined to plainness. Here, in his artistic use of familiar idiom, he might fairly be called the Euripides of Attic prose. And his style has an additional charm for modern readers, because it is employed in describing scenes from the everyday life of Athens. Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin prose stylist. ... Aeschines (389 - 314 BC), Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators, was born at Athens. ... Hypereides (c. ... Isocrates (436–338 BC), Greek rhetorician. ... Euripides (c. ... Attic Greek is the ancient dialect of the Greek language that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. ...

Thirty-four speeches (three fragmentary) have come down under the name of Lysias; one hundred and twenty-seven more, now lost, are known from smaller fragments or from titles. In the Augustan age four hundred and twenty-five works bore his name, of which more than two hundred were allowed as genuine by the critics. Our thirty-four works may be classified as follows:

Epidectic

• Olympiacus, xxxiii. 388 BC.
• Epitaphius,ii. (purporting to have been spoken during the Corinthian War; certainly spurious), perhaps composed about 380-340 BC (soon after 387, Blass).

The Corinthian War was an ancient conflict fought between 395 BC and 387 BC. This war saw Sparta already at war with Persia, faced with an alliance between its traditional enemies Athens and Argos, and its former allies Thebes and Corinth. ...

Deliberative

• Plea for the Constitution, xxxiv., 403 B.C.

Forensic, in Public Causes

• Relating to Offences directly against the State (ypa4w2 nuoo-Lwv a.&t,1u6.rwv); such as treason, malversation in office, embezzlement of public moneys.

1. For Polystratus, xx., 407 BC.

• Defence on a Charge of Taking Bribes, xxi., 402 BC.

1. Against Ergoles, xxviii., 389 BC.
2. Against Epicrates, XXVII, 389 BC.
3. Against Nicomachus, xxx., 399 BC.
4. Against the Corn-dealers, xxii., 386 BC.

• Cause relating to Unconststutional Procedure (~ypw~ irapavbuwv)

1. On the Property of the Brother of Nicias, xviii., 395 BC III

• Causes relating to *Claims for Money withheld from the State (&,ro-ypabat).

1. For the Soldier, ix. (probably not by Lysias, but by an imitator, writing for a real cause), 394 BC. (?)
2. On the Property of Aristophanes, XiX.,. 387 BC.
3. Against Philo i. 142-316. Socrates, xxix., 389 BC.

• Causes relating to a Scrutiny (~1oiajuwta); especially the Scrutiny, by the Senate, of Officials Designate.

1. Against Evandrus, xxvi., 382 BC
2. For Mantitheus, XVi., 392 BC.
3. Against Philon, xxxi., between 404 and 395 BC.
4. Defence on a Charge of Seeking to Abolish the Democracy, xxv., 401 BC
5. For the Invalid, xxiv., 402 BC (?)

• Causes relating to Military Offences (ipa4szl )siiroxaftov, &ri-paretai).

1. Against Alcibiades, I. and II. (xiv., xv.), 395 BC.

• Causes relating to Murder or Intent to Murder (ypactad 4vov, rpal~jsa-ros & irporota1).

1. Against Eratosthenes, Xii., 403 BC.
2. Against Agoratus, Xiii., 399 BC.
3. On the Murder of Eratosthenes, L (date uncertain)
4. Against Simon, iii., 393 BC.
5. On Wounding with Intent, iv. (date uncertain).

• Causes relating to Impiety (ypacliai &us~9stac)

1. Against Andocides, vi. (certainly spurious, but perhaps contemporary)
2. For Callias, v. (date uncertain)
3. On the Sacred Olive, vii., not before 395 BC.

Alcibiades Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ancient Greek: ΑΛΚΙΒΙΑΔΗΣ ΚΛΕΙΝΙΟΥ ΣΚΑΜΒΩΝΙΔΗΣ)¹ (c. ...

Forensic, in private Causes

• Action for Libel (Itio~ ~a,o~optas)
  • Against Theoinnestus, x.,384-383 BC (the so-called second speech, xi., is merely an epitome of the first)
• Action by a Ward against a Guardian (Miiv tir1rpoir~c)
  • Against Diogeiton, xxxii.,400 BC.
• Trial of a Claim to Property (lialieaola).
  • On the property of Eraton, xvii., 397 BC.
• Answer to a Special Plea (irphc irapaypa~v).
  • Against Pancleon, xxiii. (date uncertain).

In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...

Miscellaneous

To his Companions, a Complaint of Slanders, viii. (certainly spurious).

The ~pwriKbr in Plato's Phaedrus pp. 230 E-234. This has generally been regarded as Plato's own work; but the certainty of this conclusion will, be doubted by those who observe:

• the elaborate preparations made in the dialogue for a recital of the ipferi.ebr which shall be verbally exact,
• the closeness of the criticism made upon it.

If the satirist were merely analysing his own composition, such criticism would have little point. Lysias is the earliest writer who is known to have composed purucof; it is as representing both rhetoric and a false or that he is the object of attack in the Phaedrus.

Fragments

Three hundred and fifty-five of these are collected by Sauppe, Oratores Attici, ii. 170-216. Two hundred and fifty-two of them represent one hundred and twenty-seven speeches of known title; and of six the fragments are comparatively large. Of these, the fragmentary speech For Pherenicus belongs to 381 or 380 BC, and is thus the latest known work of Lysias In literary and historical interest, the first place among the extant speeches of Lysias belongs to that Against Eratosthenes (403 BC), one of the Thirty Tyrants, whom Lysias arraigns as the murderer of his brother Polemarchus. The speech is an eloquent and vivid picture of the reign of terror which the Thirty established at Athens; the concluding appeal, to both parties among the citizens, is specially powerful.

Next in importance is the speech Against Agoratus (388 BC), one of our chief authorities for the internal history of Athens during the months which immediately followed; the defeat at Aegospotami. The Olympiacus (388 BC) is a brilliant fragment, expressing the spirit of the festival at Olympia, and exhorting Greeks to unite against their common foes. The Plea for the Constitution (403 BC) is interesting for the manner in which it argues that the well-being of Athens--now stripped of empire--is bound up with the maintenance of democratic principles. The speech For Mantitheus (392 BC) is a graceful and animated portrait, of a young Athenian iirirthr, making a spirited defence of his honor against the charge of disloyalty. The defence For the Invalid is a humorous character-sketch, The speech Against Pancleon illustrates the intimate relations between Athens and Plataea, while it gives us some picturesque glimpses of Athenian town life. The defence of the person who had, been charged with destroying a mona, or sacred olive, places us amidst the country life of Attica. And the speech Against Theomnestus deserves attention for its curious evidence of the way in which the ordinary vocabulary of Athens had changed between 600 and 400 BC. Battle of Aegospotami Conflict Peloponnesian War Date 405 BC Place Aegospotami Result Spartan victory The battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC was the destruction of the Athenian navy in the Peloponnesian War, and led directly to Athens final defeat by Sparta in the following year. ... Plataea is an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia, south of Thebes. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 405 BC 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401 BC - 400 BC - 399 BC 398 BC...

All manuscripts of Lysias yet collated have been derived, as H Sauppe first showed, from the Codex Palatinus X. (Heidelberg). The next most valuable manuscript is the Laurentianus C (15th century), which Immanuel Bekker chiefly followed. Speaking generally, we may say that these two manuscripts are the only two which carry much weight where the text is seriously corrupt. In Oratt. i.-ix. Bekker, occasionally consulted eleven other manuscripts, most of which contain only the above nine speeches: viz., Marciani F, G, I, K (Venice); Laurentiani D, E (Florence); Vaticani M, N; Parisini U, V; Urbinas O. (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... August Immanuel Bekker (May 21, 1785 - June 7, 1871), was a German philologist and critic. ...

Bibliography

Editio princeps, Aldus (Venice, 1513); by Immanuel Bekker (1823) and WS Dobson (1828) in Oratores Attici; C Scheibe (1852) and T Thalheim (1901, Teubner series, with bibliography); CG Cobet (4th ed., by JJ Hartman, 1905); with variorum notes, by JJ Reiske (1772). Editions of select speeches by JH Bremi (1845); R Rauchenstein (1848, revised by C Fuhr, 1880-1881); H Frohberger (1866-1871); H van Her~verderi (1863); A Weidner (1888); ES Shuckburgh (1882); A Westermann and W Binder (1887-1890); GP Bristol (1892), MH Morgan (1895), CD Adams (1905), all three published in America. There is a special; lexicon to Lysias by DH Holmes (Bonn, 1895). See also Jebb's Attic Orators (1893) and Selections from the Attic Orators (2nd ed). Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics of that time. ... Carel Gabriel Cobet (November 28, 1813 - October 26, 1889), was a Dutch classical scholar. ... Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (August 27, 1841 - December 9, 1905) was a British classical scholar and politician. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...