Author: Stull, William
Title: Deus ille noster: Platonic Precedent and the Construction of the Interlocutors in Cicero’s De oratore
Review/Collection: "Transactions of the American Philological Association", 141, 2
Year edition: 2011
Pages: 247-263
Keywords: Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy, Rhétorique - Retorica - Rhetorics
Description: In a letter to Atticus defending the treatment of Scaevola in De oratore, Cicero appeals both to the example of Plato, "that god of ours," and to the memory of what the real Scaevola was actually like. Turning from the letter to De oratore itself, I show how this juxtaposition of Platonic divinity and Roman memory reflects a pattern present in the prefaces to each of the three books. I argue that Cicero presents his characters, in pointed response to Plato in general and the Phaedrus in particular, in such a way as to privilege history and oratory over philosophy.
Works:
Link: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/transactions_of_the_american_philological_association/summary/v141/141.2.stull.html
Author initials: Stull 2011
Title: Deus ille noster: Platonic Precedent and the Construction of the Interlocutors in Cicero’s De oratore
Review/Collection: "Transactions of the American Philological Association", 141, 2
Year edition: 2011
Pages: 247-263
Keywords: Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy, Rhétorique - Retorica - Rhetorics
Description: In a letter to Atticus defending the treatment of Scaevola in De oratore, Cicero appeals both to the example of Plato, "that god of ours," and to the memory of what the real Scaevola was actually like. Turning from the letter to De oratore itself, I show how this juxtaposition of Platonic divinity and Roman memory reflects a pattern present in the prefaces to each of the three books. I argue that Cicero presents his characters, in pointed response to Plato in general and the Phaedrus in particular, in such a way as to privilege history and oratory over philosophy.
Works:
Link: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/transactions_of_the_american_philological_association/summary/v141/141.2.stull.html
Author initials: Stull 2011
