Aeschines

Aeschĭnes, is, m., = Αἰσχίνης.

• A disciple of Socrates, Cic. Inv. 1, 31; Quint. 5, 11, 27.—But more celebrated,
• II The orator Aeschines, rival to Demosthenes, Cic. de Or. 2, 23; 3, 56; Quint. 2, 1, 17; 10, 1, 22. —
• III A physician of Athens, Plin. 28, 4, 10, § 44.

Aeschinēs, is u. ī, Akk. em u. ēn, m. (Αἰσχίνης), Äschines, I) aus Athen, Philosoph, Schüler des Sokrates, dah. gew. der Sokratiker gen., Cic. de inv. 1, 51. Quint. 5, 11, 27. – II) aus Neapel, Schüler des Karneades u. ein Lehrer der neuen Akademie zu Athen, Cic. de or. 1, 45. – III) der berühmte Redner zu Athen (geb. 389 v. Ch.), Gegner des Demosthenes, Cic. Tusc. 3, 63; de opt. gen. 14 (wo Genet. -ini). Quint. 10, 1, 77. Iul. Val. 2, 18, 5 (wo Genet. -ini). – IV.) aus Milet, ein asiatischer Redner, Zeitgenosse Ciceros, Cic. Brut. 325. – V) ein Arzt in Athen. Plin. 28, 44.

Æschĭnēs, is, m. , ¶ 1 Eschine [disciple de Socrate]: Cic. Inv. 1, 31 ¶ 2 [orateur rival de Démosthène] : Cic. Tusc. 3, 63 ¶ 3 médecin dʼAthènes : Plin. 28, 44 ¶ 4 philosophe de la nouvelle Académie, élève de Carnéade : Cic. de Or. 1, 45 ¶ 5 orateur asiatique, contemporain de Cicéron : Cic. Br. 325.

Aeschĭnes

(Αἰσχίνης). (1) A great Athenian orator, born in B.C. 389, the son of Atrometus, a schoolmaster, and Leucothea. The statements of Demosthenes in regard to the disreputable character of his parents are probably groundless. After some experience as a soldier he entered upon the profession of a public clerk, which, however, he soon left to become an actor of indifferent success. But his real talents, aided by his experience of public life gained as a clerk, soon made him prominent when he turned his attention to a political career. In B.C. 348, after the fall of Olynthus, he attracted attention by advocating a general council of the Greek States to concert measures against King Philip. But the failure of the embassy to Arcadia, which he undertook in pursuance of this plan, seems to have so discouraged him that he immediately changed sides, and was thenceforth an adherent of the peace party. In this capacity he played a conspicuous part as a member of the famous embassy to Philip in b. c. 346, preliminary to the peace of Philocrates. The complicated details of these negotiations need not be given here. (See Demosthenes; Philip II.) It is sufficient to say that Aeschines was won over by Philip's flattery (there is no proof that he was actually bribed, beyond the partisan statement of Demosthenes), and became convinced that a close alliance with the Macedonian king was the safest course for Athens. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the peace, he was indicted by Timarchus, an adherent of Demosthenes, for treasonablc conduct, but was triumphantly acquitted. A second accusation, brought by Demosthenes himself in b. c. 343, was more nearly successful, and Aeschines narrowly escaped conviction, after an able defence, in which he was aided by the intercession of Eubulus and Phocion. Aeschines next appears as one of the representatives of Athens at the Amphictyonic Council at Delphi in b. c. 339. Here, as he tells us, he was so enraged by an unjust complaint which the delegates from Amphissa brought against Athens, that he in turn made a vehement counter-attack on the Amphissians for their occupation of the sacred plain of Cirrha. So infuriated were the Amphictyons by his invective that, after burning the buildings of the offending Amphissian settlers, they voted to hold a special meeting of the council to consider what further punishment should be inflicted. Athens and Thebes refused to send delegates to this assembly, and thus became involved in war with Philip and the rest of the Amphictyons—a war which resulted in the fatal battle of Chaeronea and the downfall of Athenian independence.

In stirring up this new conflict, Aeschines certainly played into the hands of Philip, who was awaiting an opportunity for armed interference in the affairs of Central Greece; but here, too, the charge of bribery rests on the unsupported testimony of his bitterest enemy. After the battle of Chaeronea, the party of Aeschines naturally fell into disfavour. He does not figure prominently in public affairs again till B.C. 330, when he made a final effort to defeat his hated rival. An obscure politician named Ctesiphon had in b. c. 336 brought in a bill proposing to confer a golden crown upon Demosthenes for his services to the State. Aeschines raised objection to this on the score of illegality. The case did not come to trial till six years had elapsed, and then each of the orators exhausted every effort to crush his opponent. But Aeschines was the weaker, both in genius and in merit, and, not receiving the fifth part of the votes of the court, he was fined one thousand drachmas, and lost the right of appearing before the people in a similar capacity again. He left Athens and went first to Ephesus and afterwards to Rhodes, where he is said to have opened a school of oratory. He outlived his great opponent and died at Samos at the age of seventy-five.

Only three orations of Aeschines have been preserved, and all of these bear, directly or indirectly, on his quarrel with Demosthenes. Their titles are: (a) Against Timarchus, (b) On the Dishonest Embassy, (c) Against Ctesiphon. The occasion and subject of each have been noticed above. The second of them is generally considered to be the best. In natural gifts of oratory Aeschines was inferior to Demosthenes alone among his contemporaries. He excelled particularly in brilliant narrative, and was also one of the first to win a reputation for extemporaneous speech. He was less careful in his composition than Demosthenes, and was inferior to him in vigour and moral earnestness.

The editions of Schultz (Leipzig, 1865) and Weidner (Berlin, 1872) are among the most important. Richardson's edition of Weidner's Against Ctesiphon may be recommended to American readers.

(2) A philosopher of Athens, a pupil of Socrates, after whose death he became a perfumer, but, meeting with little success, went to Sicily and stayed at the court of the tyrant Dionysius until that ruler was expelled. Returning to Athens, he taught philosophy in private for a fee. Besides orations and epistles, he wrote Socratic dialogues on temperance and the other virtues. None of these dialogues remains. Three others that exist and that are ascribed to Aeschines are spurious. They treat (a) of Virtue, (b) of Riches, (c) of Death. Aeschines pretended to have received his dialogues from Xanthippé, the wife of Socrates.

Aeschines

Aeschines (c. 390-c.322 BC) was an Athenian political figure, three of whose orations survive. Early in his career he worked with Demosthenes to resist the expanding power of Philip of Macedon, but after the failure of an embassy to Philip in 346 BC, in which both Aeschines and Demosthenes participated, the two men became bitter enemies. Their rivalry culminated in the famous trial in 330, when Aeschines delivered Against Ctesiphonand Demosthenes responded with On the Crown. The verdict went overwhelmingly against Aeschines, and he was forced to leave Athens. History has not treated him well, and his inferiority to Demosthenes as an orator and politician is generally taken for granted.

life and Works

We know little of Aeschines’ family or early life besides what we are told by Demosthenes, whose bias is obvious, but it is probably fair to say that he came from a poor but respectable family. We have no evidence that he formally studied rhetoric, or wrote speeches for others; rather he seems to have been a politician first and an orator only from necessity. He served in the army and had a career as an actor before becoming involved in politics. In 347/6 he served on the Council (with Demosthenes). The main issue facing Athens at this time was how best to stop the advance of Philip into Greece. After several strategies failed, the Athenians sent an embassy to Philip to negotiate peace. Both Aeschines and Demosthenes were members of the embassy, but in the process of dealing both with Philip and the Athenian assembly the two men became more and more hostile to one another, with Demosthenes opposing the eventual peace treaty and Aeschines supporting it.

Relations between the two men over the next fifteen years are marked by three trials, which account for all three of Aeschines’ surviving speeches. He must have spoken often in the assembly, but no deliberative speech of his survives; perhaps none was ever published. In all three cases Demosthenes supported the other side, and in two of these we have his speech. The legal disputes began in 346/5, when the ambassadors underwent an accounting for their actions on the embassy. Timarchus, a politician allied with Demosthenes, charged Aeschines with treason, but Aeschines responded with a countersuit, claiming in Against Timarchus (1) that Timarchus was unfit to prosecute because he had been a prostitute, which was illegal for an Athenian citizen. This speech has traditionally been neglected, but recently there has been increased interest in it as a source for Athenian views of homosexuality (Dover 1978). Aeschines won the case against Timarchus, and the prosecution for treason was postponed until 343, when Demosthenes delivered On the False Embassy (19) and Aeschines responded with On the Embassy (2). Aeschines was narrowly acquitted of the charges, but his career suffered.

The most famous episode in Aeschines’ life came after the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), when Philip decisively defeated Athens and its allies. In 336 Ctesiphon proposed in the assembly that Demosthenes be awarded a crown for his service to the city. On the basis of some relatively minor (though probably valid) legal points, Aeschines then charged Ctesiphon with making an illegal proposal. When the case was finally tried in 330, Aeschines (in Against Ctesiphon) raised his legal objections but devoted most of his speech to attacking the career and person of Demosthenes. The latter responded in On the Crownwith an impassioned defense of himself and his service to Athens and a virulent attack on Aeschines’ family, character and policies. The verdict was so one-sided that Aeschines was fined and went into exile. He finished his life teaching rhetoric on the island of Rhodes.

Significance

The speeches of Aeschines, especially On the Embassyand Against Ctesiphon, have been read and studied primarily by those interested in the opposing speeches of Demosthenes, and indeed Aeschines’ entire career has been relegated to the shadow of that of his more famous opponent. With regard to rhetorical skill this is a fair assessment, for although Aeschines is skilled at attacking his opponents and arguing relatively minor points, he does not have Demosthenes’ ability to sound grand and noble themes or to raise larger issues of policy. As a result, his speeches often appear petty and mean. Because of his rhetorical inferiority, however, Aeschines’ political views may be unfairly judged. Since he never presents a comprehensive defense of his positions in the context of the overall goals of Athenian policy, most have judged his views inferior to Demosthenes’, but it is arguable that his policy of a less strident opposition to Philip and greater cooperation with Athens’ allies was the better one. In any case, it is unlikely that anyone could have stopped Philip in the end, and Aeschines seems to have been as honest as Demosthenes in his proposals. As is usually the case, however, claims of patriotism on one's own part and accusations of treason on one's opponent's, even if grossly misleading (at best), were politically opportune. Aeschines’ career ended in failure, but a balanced judgment would see him as a well-meaning and partially successful politician but a second-rate speaker, who had the misfortune to be pitted against one of the most brilliant orators the world has ever known.

Blass, Friedrich, Die attische Beredsamkeit.. 3rd ed. vol. 3.2 Leipzig 1898. Dover, Kenneth J. Greek Homosexuality.London 1978. Kennedy, George, The Art of Persuasion in Greece. Princeton 1963. Kennedy, George, “Oratory” in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature I: Greek Literature. Ed. by P. E. Easterling and B. M. W. Knox (Cambridge 1985), pp. 498-526. Kindstrand, Jan Fredrik, The Stylistic Evaluation of Aeschines in Antiquity. Uppsala 1982. Michael Gagarin

• Demosthenes
• Dinarchus
• Hyperides

Aeschines (2), a leading Eretrian

• Hdt. 6.100

Aeschines(3), an Argive

• father of Epiteles: Paus. 4.26.7

Aeschines(4), an Elean

• Olympic victor: Paus. 6.14.13