Demosthenes and the Art of Perseverance

In his lifetime, Demosthenes was regarded by his countrymen as the greatest speech writer and orator among them. Today, scholars the world over place him in the ranks of the very most artful practitioners of persuasive rhetoric ever to have lived. Moreover, to examine the life of Demosthenes is to study the history of Greece in the fourth century BC, since he was deeply involved in the political life of Athens at that time, when the city-state was the focal point of regional and world affairs. The most remarkable thing about the man, however, may be the path he took to achievement. He overcame many obstacles and adversities in his life to become not an ordinary man, not a notable man, but an individual whose grand accomplishments ensured that his celebrity would endure for over two millennia.

The year of Demosthenes’ birth is a matter of rather hot dispute among scholars, but the most widely accepted dates for the event place it between 385 BC and 382 BC. In any case, at the time of his birth there was no indication either of the tremendous challenges that lay ahead of him, nor of his future greatness. Athenians of that era might have thought that he was destined for an undistinguished life of privilege and ease. His father, also named Demosthenes, was the proprietor of a major sword-making business and had grown quite wealthy in the contentious Greece of his time.

 When the younger Demosthenes was only seven years old, however, his father died. Though he inherited a fortune, he was left in the care of guardians. His childhood was further complicated by the fact that he was a frail boy. This prevented him from receiving the physical training that was common for Athenian children. His physical appearance and a speech impediment also made him the target of ridicule by his young peers. According to the ancient biographer Plutarch, the other boys had nicknames for him that would roughly be translated as “sissy,” in reference to his appearance, and “snake,” a statement on either his manner of speaking or his behavior.

Demosthenes, however, began to blossom after one day persuading his tutor to take him to court so that he could listen to a judicial oration by Callistratus. He was extremely impressed by the orator’s performance, and perhaps even more so by the response of the crowd, which treated the man like a hero. He also discovered in his youth that the guardians who should have been looking out for his wellbeing had misappropriated the bulk of his inherited estate. These two experiences combined to instill in the young man the ardent desire to try his hand at judicial oratory. He vowed that when he reached adulthood, he would seek redress from his guardians in the courts.

In ancient Greece, anyone wishing to take legal action against another had to rely on the art of judicial oratory to sway the court. Since there were no attorneys in the modern sense, the plaintiff also had to deliver his orations himself. In order to prepare for his day in court, Demosthenes began to study rhetoric and to practice oratory. Unfortunately, he was slow to grow out of his frail physic, small lung capacity and speech impediment. In addition to these shortcomings, he had little knack for organizing an argument. As a result, his early attempts at public speaking met with laughter and scorn.

Most would have given up at that point, but Demosthenes was determined to succeed. In the wake of his oratorical failures, he undertook a regimen of self-improvement, including a course of speech therapy that he himself designed.

A popular story about Demosthenes suggests that he forced himself to enunciate clearly around a mouthful of pebbles while projecting his voice over the ocean’s roar. This particular story may be more folklore than fact, but it is true that Demosthenes practiced enunciation for long hours and built up the strength of his lungs by reciting memorized text while climbing steep hills or running. He also sought the tutelage of Satyrus, a comic actor of note in Athens with whom the young man was acquainted. Satyrus’ practical demonstration of the power of facial expression, posture and intonation had a profound impact on Demosthenes. Inspired, the future oratorical celebrity built an underground study room equipped with mirrors. He spent hours, days, even months on end practicing, and watching himself practice, becoming, little by little, the sort of public speaker that Satyrus had suggested he could be.