I enjoyed this
weeks reading about Cicero. He was an interesting character to read about and I
gained more information about his background and personal life than I did with
Aristotle, Plato, or Gorgias. I enjoyed the fact that Cicero was very involved
in the Roman community between being an orator, lawyer, and having a political
career. It seems as though he had a good reputation in Rome too, based on his
loyal supporters. It was nice to read that he gained most of his public support
because of his oratory skills rather than his noble birth. Even with the many
challenges he faced as a leader, such as exile and power shifts taking place in
Rome, he maintained a following of people. However, he also made enemies by
displaying his speech abilities, such as Mark Antony. It was shocking that
Antony’s wife pulled out Cicero’s tongue after he was beheaded and jabbed it
multiple times with her hairpin. This act displays how truly fearful some
people were of his oratory skills.
His background
was in some ways similar to Aristotle and Plato however, because they were all
of high class. Cicero was considered an elite, with a father who had made good
connections for their family in Rome. Cicero was educated in both Latin and
Greek, making him “cultured.” Not only was he an elite, he was a talented
student. Much of his ideas about rhetoric seem to have been formed through the
influence of many different rhetoricians. He makes rhetoricians out to be an
elite group, like himself, by saying they have to have eloquence and knowledge
in all the important subjects and arts.
However, this
elite placement of rhetoric was interesting because he discusses how few men
are involved in the study of rhetoric. He claims that the most men are involved
in philosophy, followed by poetry, then rhetoric. This seems to be a kind of
ranking between the subjects that contradicts his notion that rhetoric is the
most eloquent of subjects. Placing philosophy as the highest is similar to
Plato’s idea that philosophy was the most honorable subject of study. Although,
Cicero was a student of Plato’s so perhaps his ideas were rubbing off on him. De Oratore is written with dialogues,
which is similar to the dialectic nature of Plato’s writings. However, it is
difficult to tell if there was one character that Cicero was using to speak his
own ideas, like Plato used Socrates. Both Antonius and Crassus seem to have
strong opinions and Cicero could be using either of these characters to speak
his own opinions. In addition, Cicero shows his Platonic influence by including
teachings in philosophy in his treatise on rhetoric.
Cicero differs
from Gorgias because he claims that rhetoric is one of the most difficult areas
of study. He thinks rhetoric is difficult because it applies to all subjects;
therefore students must have knowledge in many fields. This differs from
Gorgias who argued that a speaker did not need to necessarily be a master in a
subject to be convincing. Because of this difference, I think Cicero considers
rhetoric an art rather than flattery as Gorgias does.
Cicero also
agrees with Aristotle in some ways. He mentions appeals to emotion, logic, and
character (pathos, logos, and ethos). Also, he agrees with the three types of
persuasive speech outlined by Aristotle: forensic, epidictic, and deliberative.
One of Cicero’s biggest contributions to the study of Western rhetoric was the
division of the five canons: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and
delivery. These canons are important to studying how arguments are created,
organized, and presented. I think Cicero’s division of the canons is similar to
Aristotle’s methodical way of thinking about rhetoric.
Including memory
as one of the five canons was important in Cicero’s time but is not so
important today. People now have the ability to look up anything on the
Internet and do not need to memorize facts or laws as Cicero’s suggests. Even
though I may not specialize in a certain subject, I am confident that I could
quickly find credible Internet sources about that subject matter as well as
book sources from the WSU library. While we may not have to memorize as many
facts today, I still think it is a valuable skill for public speakers to be
able to memorize their speech and present it without hesitations. President
Obama is an excellent example of a speaker who knows his material before he
presents it so that he rarely appears unprepared by having to refer to his
notes.
Questions for Discussion:
1. Do you think any of the other five canons
of rhetoric are less relevant today than they were in Cicero’s time?
2. Do you agree that Cicero consider rhetoric
an art?
3. Because Cicero was educated in Latin and
Greek he was considered “cultured.” What kinds of things in today’s society are
required for orators to be considered “cultured?”
I believe memory is weaker with the orators of today. I know you asked if any are less relevant today, but I do not believe any are less relevant than during Cicero’s time. However, I do believe memory is not as great as it once use to be with the orators of Cicero’s time. The obvious reason memory is not equal to Cicero’s time is because orators do not tend to memorize their speeches as Cicero and his constituents did. Today, orators have a prepared speech written down or notes on what they want to talk about or even read off their speech by using see through glass projections as President Barack Obama does in his State of the Union addresses every year. Although I may be wrong, I do not believe orators during the time of Cicero wrote down their thoughts and points they wished to discuss when speaking I do believe they utilized objects in the audience as reminders of what they wished to discuss. For instance, gargoyle statutes could be used to represent a topic of oration for the orator.
ReplyDeleteRegarding being ‘cultured,’ there is definitely a different interpretation that evolved from Cicero’s time to today. Of course Latin and Greek were considered cultured because they were the only other cultures worth educating yourself in during Cicero’s time. Today, there are a plethora of cultures one can educate themselves in, especially in the United States. To be considered ‘cultured’ can easily have more than one meaning to it. We can go off the basis of education as Cicero’s time did or we can introduce a new meaning to it like the amount of different cultures a person makes up. The latter can be introduced vaguely; still the question does arise, what is considered a culture. Is college life considered a culture or is it racial culture, or sexual culture, or all? I simply believe awareness is required to be considered cultured.
Hi Kaity,
ReplyDeleteThe involvement of men in philosophy, poetry, and rhetoric does seem to be ranked by Cicero, with rhetoric being the least studied by the public. With rhetoric requiring the orator to be eloquent, it doesn't seem to contradict the idea that rhetoric is the least practiced. It takes refined skill and some innate ability to be an eloquent speaker, especially with a strong illocutionary force. As philosophy can be practiced by the many, rhetoric is a subset of philosophy and poetry that is practiced by the few. I liked how Cicero brought the essentials of Greek philosophy to Rome, and then sculpted them with a certain pragmatism that the people of Rome could use and adapt to their culture and politics.
I'm also glad you brought up the five canons of rhetoric, and impressed the importance of memory to rhetoric. It is underutilized today, especially among politicians and talking-heads on TV that read from teleprompters. This lack of speaking from memory detracts from the ethos of the orator, which I notice whenever someone comments on how you can see the speaker's eyes move rapidly back and forth while they are reading and speaking. However, one venue that I respect quite a bit for their use of memory and oratory style is slam poetry. Slam poets have their speeches memorized, and perform in a way crosses the border from poetry to rhetoric. Their tone, body language, and knowledge of the subject captivates the audience and leaves them with a deep impression, often a pathetic response. I saw Andrea Gibson, a famous slam poet, perform in Moscow once, and was astonished by the impact left on me when she was done speaking. It's powerful stuff.