Demagogues and Demagogy in the Attic Orators

The paper focuses on the figure of the demagogue and the phenomenon of demagogy in the ancient Greek orators. They make a wide use of the notion of demagogy and apply it both to the historical or even mythical past, and to their own times. In the cases in which this terminology is used with regard to the recent past, it is interesting that we find some coincidences with the remarks provided by contemporary historians like Thucydides. In the other cases, we face a reinterpretation of the figure of the demagogue or an adaptation of it to historical and political circumstances that were very different from those of the period of “classical” demagogy of the late fifth century. The terms considered can on the one hand be used with the neutral meaning of “leader of the demos”, but, on the other, they can obviously also contain a political judgment, either negative or positive (a bad or good leader). The orators, hence, use this terminology in a polysemic way, and this shows how much this notion has been important and how deeply it has affected at Athens both political debate and theoretical reflection about political leaders and their relationship with the demos.