Demosthenes’ Model in Action

Abstract

This chapter reassesses the political and intellectual activity of Demochares of Leuconoe (BNJ 75), nephew of Demosthenes and a leading figure in early Hellenistic Athens, orator and historiographer, as well as the most plausible candidate as the first editor and collector of the Demosthenic corpus. After reviewing his career in light of recent scholarship on early Hellenistic Athens, the chapter analyses the surviving fragments of Demochares’ Histories, showing the extent to which his outlook was shaped by Demosthenes, notably in his criticism of contemporary financial policies. It then examines the honorific decree for Demochares, addressing, also in light of recently published epigraphic evidence, the major historical problems it raises. Finally, the chapter offers a new reading of Demochares’ anti-philosophical speech In Defence of Sophocles of Sounium, situating it within his broader intellectual project and illuminating the entanglement of politics, rhetoric, and philosophy in early Hellenistic Athens.