Judson Herrman, Allegheny College: Divided reactions: Athenian politics after Chaeronea

March 7, 5 pm, HUMN 1B80

Professor Herrman will discuss a newly discovered speech of the fourth century BC in which the Athenian orator Hyperides defends his motion to crown Demosthenes, the foremost politician of the day. In this speech, delivered about four years after Athens lost its independence in foreign policy to Macedon in 338BC, Hyperides defends the hawkish policy of Demosthenes that led to the defeat. The new fragments are strikingly similar to Demosthenes' own defense of his policy, which he presented in his greatest oration, On the Crown, some four years after Hyperides' defense. In this new material Hyperides emerges as a political partner working closely with Demosthenes.

Professor Herrman will focus on this relationship and suggest that it is an example of factional politics in Athens in the 330s.