Antidosis
Encyclopedia
Antidosis is the title of a speech treatise by the ancient Greek rhetoric
ian, Isocrates
. The Antidosis can be viewed as a defense, an autobiography
, or rhetorical treatise. However, since Isocrates wrote it when he was 82 years old, it is generally seen by some people as an autobiography. The title literally translates as “an exchange,” and was applied in ancient Greek
courts as a peculiar law pertaining to an exchange of estates between two parties. If one of the 1200 wealthiest Athenians eligible was tasked with the performance of a public liturgy and financing one of the many public concerns of Athens
, then he could avoid the duty by nominating a richer man who was more qualified than himself to perform it. If the supposedly richer man disagreed with the terms, then the entirety of their estates would be exchanged and the now more wealthy man would have to perform the liturgy
, as originally planned. The law inspired Isocrates' Antidosis, which was written in the form of a court case
where Isocrates had to defend himself from a charge of corrupting the youth by teaching them how to speak well in order for them to gain an unfair advantage over their peers. Although this work is put forward by Isocrates as his imagined defense in a legal case, it is more a treatise on morality
and teaching.
he is charged with and from which he must defend, nor does it say what the penalty would be for being found guilty. Isocrates also does not make any attempt to offer evidence in his favor, yet presents the defense that he is a good teacher
to his students as the full defense for the crime that he has committed. There is no specific mention of anything that would prove him innocent in this particular case.
Another idea by scholars is that early on in the Antidosis, Isocrates reads aloud that he is being indicted for corrupting his students. He is accused of educating his students to speak against the courts, question the laws, and think for themselves. Isocrates says, “Here is the indictment my accuser endeavors to vilify me, charging that I corrupt young men by teaching them to speak and gain their won advantage in the courts contrary to justice…” Isocrates is being charged by Lysimachus who has accused Isocrates of receiving money from his students. In return, Isocrates has been teaching them how to become better public speakers and leaders. Isocrates proves his innocence by showing, that through teaching his students rhetoric, he is teaching them how to become better citizens and leaders of Athens. Isocrates proved his rationale by citing the accomplishments and devotion to the state his students displayed after being educated by him. Isocrates says in his defense, “But, I beg of you, consider well whether I appear to you to corrupt the young by my words, or, on the contrary, to inspire them to a life of valor and of dangers endured for their country…” B. Keith Murphy says of Isocrates’s defense, “For Isocrates, it is through rhetoric that we can approximate truth, or at least a consensual truth. A man who is trained in rhetoric is trained in truth, and the creation of that truth through oratory.”
In the sense that he is defending himself from an onerous charge to perform a liturgy, Isocrates makes a claim that his value to the city was provided through his teaching. He states that as a lifelong teacher, the value of the education
that he has provided for students is worth far more than any monetary donation he can give to Athens. His teaching has provided for civic-minded and properly educated citizen
s that contribute to the orderly running of the city-state. For Isocrates to be sentenced to death would be to ignore the public service that he has performed for the city, by which he has devoted his life to giving its citizens a proper rhetorical education.
is used in a way to bring many different cases of litigation
against each other - which the elite believed to negatively affect the way in which the republic
was run. He tries to withdraw himself from the public interfering and intrusive efforts made into democratic
politics.
The Antidosis is not seen by some as an autobiography of Isocrates; it was written later in his life as a fictionalized story similar to his own court trial. While there are similarities between Isocrates’s real court case and the one in the Antidosis, many aspects of the case were fictionalized. Examples are Lysimachus being the person who has brought Isocrates to trial for this crime, and the crime being different from the one with which he was actually accused. According to George Norlin, “At any rate, in the Antidosis-a title which he borrows from the actual suit to which he had just been subjected-he adopts the fiction of a capital charge brought against him by an informer named Lysimachus, and of a trial before a court with its accessories.”
It is known that in his own life Isocrates did in fact go to court in his own defense over an amount of money he was made to pay. Isocrates argued this fine was based on the fact people thought he was wealthier than he actually was. He claimed this distorted perception of his wealth was due to his popularity as a public figure. This is similar to Isocrates’s defense in the Antidosis in which he claims he has been indicted due to the fact he is a very successful person, people are jealous of him, and people want to publicly embarrass him. In the Antidosis, Isocrates is charged with corrupting the youth by teaching them to become good public speakers. With this ability, the students may trick people by convincing them of false truths which could ultimately allow the students to corrupt the government. This is an obvious defense of his life’s work of teaching.
d. This directly opposes Gorgias
’ view that it is not up to him how his students use what he teaches them.
At the end of his Antidosis, Isocrates explains how he attempts to keep his students in high moral standing by discouraging some of the more debaucherous behaviors available in the city, such as “participating in drinking-bouts and tossing dice
in gambling dens.” He posits the idea that as a teacher, he can be judged as successful by the moral ways in which his students live their lives when compared to other young men who are wasting their youth in revelry. Hence he agrees to submit to the punishment if any of his students can be shown to be bad influences on society
and challenges his accuser to present even one student who could be said to belong to the group of degenerate youth.
Another important topic is natural talent. In Gorgias
, Plato
argues through his characters that there are some speakers who have no training, who are better than those who are receiving formal training. Isocrates offers a possible answer to Plato; that native ability is needed, along with a proper education on the subject and practical experience.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
ian, Isocrates
Isocrates
Isocrates , an ancient Greek rhetorician, was one of the ten Attic orators. In his time, he was probably the most influential rhetorician in Greece and made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works....
. The Antidosis can be viewed as a defense, an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, or rhetorical treatise. However, since Isocrates wrote it when he was 82 years old, it is generally seen by some people as an autobiography. The title literally translates as “an exchange,” and was applied in ancient Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
courts as a peculiar law pertaining to an exchange of estates between two parties. If one of the 1200 wealthiest Athenians eligible was tasked with the performance of a public liturgy and financing one of the many public concerns of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, then he could avoid the duty by nominating a richer man who was more qualified than himself to perform it. If the supposedly richer man disagreed with the terms, then the entirety of their estates would be exchanged and the now more wealthy man would have to perform the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, as originally planned. The law inspired Isocrates' Antidosis, which was written in the form of a court case
Legal case
A legal case is a dispute between opposing parties resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case may be either civil or criminal...
where Isocrates had to defend himself from a charge of corrupting the youth by teaching them how to speak well in order for them to gain an unfair advantage over their peers. Although this work is put forward by Isocrates as his imagined defense in a legal case, it is more a treatise on morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
and teaching.
As a Court Case
Although it is assumed that he is defending himself from a charge of corrupting the youth, nowhere in his Antidosis does Isocrates mention what crimeCrime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
he is charged with and from which he must defend, nor does it say what the penalty would be for being found guilty. Isocrates also does not make any attempt to offer evidence in his favor, yet presents the defense that he is a good teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
to his students as the full defense for the crime that he has committed. There is no specific mention of anything that would prove him innocent in this particular case.
Another idea by scholars is that early on in the Antidosis, Isocrates reads aloud that he is being indicted for corrupting his students. He is accused of educating his students to speak against the courts, question the laws, and think for themselves. Isocrates says, “Here is the indictment my accuser endeavors to vilify me, charging that I corrupt young men by teaching them to speak and gain their won advantage in the courts contrary to justice…” Isocrates is being charged by Lysimachus who has accused Isocrates of receiving money from his students. In return, Isocrates has been teaching them how to become better public speakers and leaders. Isocrates proves his innocence by showing, that through teaching his students rhetoric, he is teaching them how to become better citizens and leaders of Athens. Isocrates proved his rationale by citing the accomplishments and devotion to the state his students displayed after being educated by him. Isocrates says in his defense, “But, I beg of you, consider well whether I appear to you to corrupt the young by my words, or, on the contrary, to inspire them to a life of valor and of dangers endured for their country…” B. Keith Murphy says of Isocrates’s defense, “For Isocrates, it is through rhetoric that we can approximate truth, or at least a consensual truth. A man who is trained in rhetoric is trained in truth, and the creation of that truth through oratory.”
In the sense that he is defending himself from an onerous charge to perform a liturgy, Isocrates makes a claim that his value to the city was provided through his teaching. He states that as a lifelong teacher, the value of the education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
that he has provided for students is worth far more than any monetary donation he can give to Athens. His teaching has provided for civic-minded and properly educated citizen
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
s that contribute to the orderly running of the city-state. For Isocrates to be sentenced to death would be to ignore the public service that he has performed for the city, by which he has devoted his life to giving its citizens a proper rhetorical education.
As an Autobiography
Isocrates was 82 years old at the time he wrote Antidosis, the longest work of his life. Antidosis is used by the author to depict himself as a model citizen and a contributor to the city-state of Athens. Since he was nearing the end of his life, he presumably would have wanted to leave behind a legacy of a devoted and moderate citizen to his home town and to justify his life as a service to Athens and the citizens to whom he taught rhetoric. Isocrates presents himself as a quiet citizen who avoids the public light, where oratoryOratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
is used in a way to bring many different cases of litigation
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against each other - which the elite believed to negatively affect the way in which the republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
was run. He tries to withdraw himself from the public interfering and intrusive efforts made into democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
politics.
The Antidosis is not seen by some as an autobiography of Isocrates; it was written later in his life as a fictionalized story similar to his own court trial. While there are similarities between Isocrates’s real court case and the one in the Antidosis, many aspects of the case were fictionalized. Examples are Lysimachus being the person who has brought Isocrates to trial for this crime, and the crime being different from the one with which he was actually accused. According to George Norlin, “At any rate, in the Antidosis-a title which he borrows from the actual suit to which he had just been subjected-he adopts the fiction of a capital charge brought against him by an informer named Lysimachus, and of a trial before a court with its accessories.”
It is known that in his own life Isocrates did in fact go to court in his own defense over an amount of money he was made to pay. Isocrates argued this fine was based on the fact people thought he was wealthier than he actually was. He claimed this distorted perception of his wealth was due to his popularity as a public figure. This is similar to Isocrates’s defense in the Antidosis in which he claims he has been indicted due to the fact he is a very successful person, people are jealous of him, and people want to publicly embarrass him. In the Antidosis, Isocrates is charged with corrupting the youth by teaching them to become good public speakers. With this ability, the students may trick people by convincing them of false truths which could ultimately allow the students to corrupt the government. This is an obvious defense of his life’s work of teaching.
As a Rhetorical Treatise
Isocrates states that the teacher should be judged by his students, in that if they do good and moral works then the teacher has done a good job and should be praisePraise
Praise is the act of making positive statements about a person, object or idea, either in public or privately. Praise is typically, but not exclusively, earned relative to achievement and accomplishment...
d. This directly opposes Gorgias
Gorgias
Gorgias ,Greek sophist, pre-socratic philosopher and rhetorician, was a native of Leontini in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger...
’ view that it is not up to him how his students use what he teaches them.
At the end of his Antidosis, Isocrates explains how he attempts to keep his students in high moral standing by discouraging some of the more debaucherous behaviors available in the city, such as “participating in drinking-bouts and tossing dice
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
in gambling dens.” He posits the idea that as a teacher, he can be judged as successful by the moral ways in which his students live their lives when compared to other young men who are wasting their youth in revelry. Hence he agrees to submit to the punishment if any of his students can be shown to be bad influences on society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and challenges his accuser to present even one student who could be said to belong to the group of degenerate youth.
Another important topic is natural talent. In Gorgias
Gorgias (dialogue)
Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC. In this dialogue, Socrates seeks the true definition of rhetoric, attempting to pinpoint the essence of rhetoric and unveil the flaws of the sophistic oratory popular in Athens at this time...
, Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
argues through his characters that there are some speakers who have no training, who are better than those who are receiving formal training. Isocrates offers a possible answer to Plato; that native ability is needed, along with a proper education on the subject and practical experience.