Isaeus ( ''Isaios''; fl. early 4th century BC) was one of the ten Attic orators according to the

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

n canon. He was a student of

Isocrates Isocrates (; ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and writte ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, and later taught

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

while working as a ''

metic In ancient Greece, a metic (Ancient Greek: , : from , , indicating change, and , 'dwelling') was a resident of Athens and some other cities who was a citizen of another polis. They held a status broadly analogous to modern permanent residency, b ...

'' logographer (speechwriter) for others. Only eleven of his speeches survive, with fragments of a twelfth. They are mostly concerned with inheritance, with one on

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

compared his style to

Lysias Lysias (; ; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a Logographer (legal), logographer (speech writer) in ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrac ...

, although Isaeus was more given to employing sophistry.

Life

The time of his birth and death is unknown, but all accounts agree in the statement that he flourished () during the period between the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

and the accession of

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

, so that he lived between 420 and 348 BC. He was a son of Diagoras, and was born at

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

in Euboea; some sources say he was born in

, probably only because he came there at an early age and spent the greater part of his life there. He was instructed in oratory by

and

. He was afterwards engaged in writing judicial orations for others, and established a rhetorical school at Athens, in which

is said to have been his pupil. The ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' states that Isaeus instructed him free of charge, whereas

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

relates that he received 10,000

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

s; and it is further said that Isaeus composed for Demosthenes the speeches against his guardians, or at least assisted him in the composition. All particulars about his life are unknown, and were so even in the time of Dionysius, since Hermippus, who had written an account of the disciples of

, did not mention Isaeus at all.

Works

In antiquity there were 64 orations which bore the name of Isaeus, but only fifty were recognised as genuine by the ancient critics. Of these, only eleven have come down to us; but we possess fragments and the titles of 56 speeches ascribed to him. The eleven extant are all on subjects connected with disputed inheritances; and Isaeus appears to have been particularly well acquainted with the laws relating to inheritance. Ten of these orations had been known ever since the revival of letters in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, and were printed in the collections of Greek orators; but the eleventh, ''On Menecles' legacy'' (), was first published in 1785 from a Florentine manuscript by Tyrwhitt, and later by Orelli in 1814. Also, in 1815 Mai discovered and published the greater half of Isaeus' oration ''On Cleonymus' legacy'' (). Isaeus is also known to have written a manual on speechwriting entitled the ''Technē'' or ''Idiai technai'' (, "Personal skills"), which, however, is lost. List of extant speeches (available at th
Perseus Digital Library

On The Estate of Cleonymus

On the Estate of Menecles

On The Estate Of Pyrrhus

On the Estate of Nicostratus

On the Estate of Dicaeogenes

On the Estate of Philoctemon

On The Estate of Apollodorus

On The Estate of Ciron

On the Estate of Astyphilus

On The Estate Of Aristarchus

On the Estate of Hagnias

On Behalf of Euphiletus

Oratorical style

Although his orations were placed fifth in the Alexandrian canon, still we do not hear of any of the grammarians having written commentaries on him, except Didymus of Alexandria.Harpocrates, s.vv. , . But we still possess the criticism upon Isaeus written by

; and by a comparison of the orations still extant with the opinions of Dionysius, we come to the following conclusion. The oratory of Isaeus resembles in many points that of his teacher,

: the style of both is pure, clear, and concise; but while Lysias is at the same time simple and graceful, Isaeus evidently strives to attain a higher degree of polish and refinement, without, however, in the least injuring the powerful and impressive character of his oratory. The same spirit is visible in the manner in which he handles his subjects, especially in their skillful division, and in the artful manner in which he interweaves his arguments with various parts of the exposition, whereby his orations become like a painting in which light and shade are distributed with a distinct view to produce certain effects. It was mainly owing to this mode of management that he was envied and censured by his contemporaries, as if he had tried to deceive and misguide his hearers. He was one of the first who turned their attention to a scientific cultivation of political oratory; but excellence in this department of the art was not attained until the time of

Bibliography

* Forster, E.S. (ed., tr.) 1927, ''Isaeus'' (Cambridge, MA). * Roussel, P. (ed., tr.) 2003, ''Isée. Discours'', 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1922; Paris). * Thalheim, Th. (ed.) 1963, ''Isaei Orationes cum deperditarum fragmentis'', 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1903; Stuttgart). *

Life

Works

Oratorical style

Bibliography

References

Sources

Further reading