Cicero, On the Ideal Orator Trans. May, James M. and Wisse, Jakob.

Cicero, On the Ideal Orator Trans. May, James M. and Wisse, Jakob. Oxford, UP: New York (2001).

“Yet again, if you look at this group, where excellence is so very rare, and are willing to make a careful selection both from our number and from that of the Greeks, you will find that there have been far fewer good orators than good poets” (60).

“To begin with, one must acquire knowledge of a great number of things, for without this a ready flow of words is empty and ridiculous; the language itself has to be shaped not only by the choice of words but by their arrangement as well; also required is a thorough acquaintance with all the emotions with which nature has endowed the human race, because in soothing or in exciting the feelings of the audience the full force of oratory and all its available means must be brought into play” (61).

In this work I particularly admired Plato for the way in which, while making fun of orators, he appeared to be a supreme orator himself” (69).

I find this particularly interesting as I was thinking the same as I watched
Socrates argue in circles, but argue with eminent superiority.

“For everyone knows that the power of an orator is most manifest in dealing with people’s feelings, when he is stirring them to anger or to hatred and resentment, or is calling them back from these same emotions to mildness and compassion” (70).

“Well, then,” said Crassus, “in my opinion it is, in the first place natural ability and talent that make a very important contribution to oratory” (83).

“First, so the rules say, the duty of the orator is to speak in a manner suited to persuasion. Next, every speech is concerned either with the investigation of an indefinite, general matter, in which the persons or occasions are unspecified, or with a matter that is tied to specific persons or occasions. Furthermore, in both cases, whatever the point at issue may be, the question always posed is either whether or not the deed was done, or , if it was, what its nature is, or again by what name it should be called, or as some add whether or not it seems to have been done justly. Furthermore, issues also arise from the inpretation of written documents, if some part of the test gives rise to ambiguity with intent” (89).

Invention: Arguments

Arguments are derived from connecdted terms, from a genus, from a simkilarity, and from attendant circumstances, from consistencies and from antecedents and from contradictions. (167).

Invention: ethos and pathos

“For nothing in oratory, Catulus, is more important that for the orator to be favorably regarded by the audience, and for the audience itself to be moved in such a way as to be ruled by some strong emotional impulse rather than by a reasoned judgment” (170).

“Now, the following emotions are the most important for us to arouse with our speech in the hearts of the jurors, or of any other audience we addresss: affection, hate, anger, envy, pity, hope, joy, fear, and grief” (178).

Again, no mention of guilt at all.

“It is also pleasant and often tremendously useful to employ human and witticisms” ((180).

“Prompted by this experience, he is then said to have made the discovery that order is what brings light to our memory” (219).