Studi su Isocrate (1980-2020)

This book collects a series of essays on Isocrates published over the course of forty years, with the addition of an unpublished one, as well as some reviews, and gives an account of a research path that captures, from time to time, the multiple interests of the orator: democracy and its functioning; pan-Hellenic hegemony; the serious social issues that plagued Greece in the 4th century, tormented by wars and civil conflicts, impoverishment and social instability; the importance of Greek culture and its relationship with the 'other'. Isocrates proposals on these issues are supported by arguments that makes extensive use of the manipulation of historical memory, with which the past of Athens and of other Greek cities was adapted to the needs of propaganda: then as now, the 'construction of the past' was inseparable from political persuasion. From the contributions collected in this volume Isocrates emerges as a keen political commentator, an intellectual protagonist and an authoritative witness to the history of Athens.