Oratorical Manipulation and Critical Reading: A Study of the Proem of Lysias's against Eratosthenes

Discussing politics of reading in schools, Kress notes that: * The task of writer is to construct a text which will most effectively coerce reader into accepting constructed text.... Clearly best reader will be a critical, resistant reader, one who both sees constructedness of text and of reading position and who can at same time reconstruct text in a manner useful to herself or himself. Hence aim of teaching of reading in school should be just that: to train effective readers who are active in relation to text, able to construct text to their benefit. Paradoxically, reading in school positively counteracts engendering of such modes of reading. (40) In present paper I would like both to explore how this counterproductive influence of educational practices can extend to university, as evidenced by scholarly publications addressed mainly to university student, and to suggest a particular alternative approach that allows student to engage actively with text in reconstructing its meaning, namely its analysis through tools developed by school of linguistics known as Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). (1) The texts in reference to which I will try to tackle this question is proem of Speech 12 by Lysias entitled Against Eratosthenes, (2) a very authoritative piece of oratory that has attracted critical admiration for over two thousand years; and its commentary by Usher, (3) a much respected piece of scholarship that always finds its way to reading lists of students of Greek Oratory throughout world. Before presenting text itself, I will introduce historical context within which it was produced. The presentation of text itself tries to accommodate reader without knowledge of Greek by offering interlinearly two English translations, one that follows closely grammar of Greek text, and another in more easily comprehensible English. Given that neither of these translations has literary aspirations, and as a stimulus to reader to explore alternative ways of understanding text, two most widely used English translations are quoted in Appendix. The following section examines reasons which make Usher's commentary on text, although impeccable as scholarship, unsuitable for a course that envisages engaging students in an active exploration of meanings of text. This introductory part concludes with an explanation of linguistic tools made available by SFL. The main part of paper is devoted to an application of tools to text, and my interpretation of data gathered. 1.1. The Historical Setting The Peloponnesian war, which started in 431 B.C. and was fought by Athens and its allies and Sparta and its allies, ended in April 404 B.C. with defeat of Athens. One of terms imposed on Athens was abolition of democracy and its substitution by a regime headed by Thirty Tyrants (usually referred to as the Thirty). Under this regime political rights were reserved only for five hundred persons (as opposed to, under democracy, every male born to an Athenian man and an Athenian woman) and right to bear arms and to receive a jury trial was available to only three thousand persons (as opposed to every free person living in Athens). The Thirty remained in power less than a year; however, even in this short period they executed without trial hundreds of Athenian residents and forced thousands into exile. Among their victims were Lysias and his brother Polemarchos, members of a wealthy family of resident aliens in Athens. Lysias was arrested and would probably have been executed had he not succeeded in escaping. However, his brother did not succeed in escaping summary execution. During his time in exile, Lysias provided democrats in exile with generous financial assistance, and after restoration of democracy in 403 B. …

Topic: Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences