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Rhetorical Defence, Inter-poetic Agōn and the Reframing of Comic Invective in Plato’s Apology of Socrates

  • Emiliano J. Buis
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Comic Invective in Ancient Greek and Roman Oratory
This chapter is in the book Comic Invective in Ancient Greek and Roman Oratory

Abstract

This chapter identifies the features that are shared by Aristophanic comedy and Plato’s Apology of Socrates. Those similarities include specific rhetorical arguments employed by the main characters in order to criticise their enemies in front of a civic audience, which is willing to enjoy the pleasures of vituperation and verbal violence. Paying attention to the staging of comic invective in each genre reveals some of the elaborate methods employed by Plato to confront comedy and its influence by means of the consolidation of an efficient “inter-poetic agōn”. The chapter shows that an examination of the Apology based on the importance of the rhetorical construction of Socrates’ defence can greatly profit from a comparison with Aristophanes’ Acharnians. In that regard, while the Clouds is often quoted in order to trace the root of the offences included in the judicial indictment against Socrates, a comparative approach to the defence strategies employed in the Acharnians can reveal new links and contribute to a better understanding of Plato’s verbal hostility towards Socrates’ adversaries.

Abstract

This chapter identifies the features that are shared by Aristophanic comedy and Plato’s Apology of Socrates. Those similarities include specific rhetorical arguments employed by the main characters in order to criticise their enemies in front of a civic audience, which is willing to enjoy the pleasures of vituperation and verbal violence. Paying attention to the staging of comic invective in each genre reveals some of the elaborate methods employed by Plato to confront comedy and its influence by means of the consolidation of an efficient “inter-poetic agōn”. The chapter shows that an examination of the Apology based on the importance of the rhetorical construction of Socrates’ defence can greatly profit from a comparison with Aristophanes’ Acharnians. In that regard, while the Clouds is often quoted in order to trace the root of the offences included in the judicial indictment against Socrates, a comparative approach to the defence strategies employed in the Acharnians can reveal new links and contribute to a better understanding of Plato’s verbal hostility towards Socrates’ adversaries.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Acknowledgements VII
  4. Killing with a Smile: Comic Invective in Greek and Roman Oratory 1
  5. Part I: Intertextual and Multi-genre Invective
  6. Comedy and Insults in the Athenian Law-courts 25
  7. Comic Invective and Public Speech in Fourth-Century Athens 43
  8. Comic Invective in Attic Forensic Oratory: Private Speeches 65
  9. Rhetorical Defence, Inter-poetic Agōn and the Reframing of Comic Invective in Plato’s Apology of Socrates 81
  10. “You are Mad!” Allegations of Insanity in Greek Comedy and Rhetoric 107
  11. Comic Invective in Cicero’s Speech Pro M. Caelio 125
  12. How to Start a Show: Comic Invectives in the Prologues of Terence and Decimus Laberius 147
  13. Part II: The Cultural Workings of Invective
  14. Comic Somatisation and the Body of Evidence in Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 171
  15. Comic Invective, Decorum and Ars in Cicero’s De Oratore 191
  16. No Decorum in the Forum? Comic Invective in the Theatre of Justice 211
  17. Part III: Invective in Ancient Socio-political Contexts
  18. Political Rhetoric and Comic Invective in Fifth-Century Athens: The Trial of the Dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps 235
  19. Democracy, Poverty, Comic Heroism and Oratorical Strategy in Lysias 24 257
  20. Notes on Editors and Contributors 273
  21. General Index 275
  22. Index Locorum 279
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110735536-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Acknowledgements VII
  4. Killing with a Smile: Comic Invective in Greek and Roman Oratory 1
  5. Part I: Intertextual and Multi-genre Invective
  6. Comedy and Insults in the Athenian Law-courts 25
  7. Comic Invective and Public Speech in Fourth-Century Athens 43
  8. Comic Invective in Attic Forensic Oratory: Private Speeches 65
  9. Rhetorical Defence, Inter-poetic Agōn and the Reframing of Comic Invective in Plato’s Apology of Socrates 81
  10. “You are Mad!” Allegations of Insanity in Greek Comedy and Rhetoric 107
  11. Comic Invective in Cicero’s Speech Pro M. Caelio 125
  12. How to Start a Show: Comic Invectives in the Prologues of Terence and Decimus Laberius 147
  13. Part II: The Cultural Workings of Invective
  14. Comic Somatisation and the Body of Evidence in Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 171
  15. Comic Invective, Decorum and Ars in Cicero’s De Oratore 191
  16. No Decorum in the Forum? Comic Invective in the Theatre of Justice 211
  17. Part III: Invective in Ancient Socio-political Contexts
  18. Political Rhetoric and Comic Invective in Fifth-Century Athens: The Trial of the Dogs in Aristophanes’ Wasps 235
  19. Democracy, Poverty, Comic Heroism and Oratorical Strategy in Lysias 24 257
  20. Notes on Editors and Contributors 273
  21. General Index 275
  22. Index Locorum 279
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