The Art of Persuasion

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In 427 BCE, the Sicilian orator Gorgias arrived in Athens and changed the art of persuasion forever. He defined rhetoric as “the greatest good, the cause of freedom to mankind, and also for each person the source of rule over others.” This class will examine the art and science of rhetoric in Greece and Rome from the 5th century BCE through the early Roman Empire (1st century CE). The texts read will range widely across time, space, and genre and will include rhetorical handbooks and theoretical works, such as Aristotle’s Rhetoric, philosophical dialogues, and examples of persuasive rhetoric by the greatest ancient orators, including Demosthenes and Cicero.