Demosthenes

Author Code: CDEM

From a very young age, Demosthenes cultivated his oratorical abilities and became a lexographer. Legend has it that in order to increase the power of his voice, he placed pebbles in his mouth and recited on the sea-shore amongst the thundering waves. In his later years he took an active part in Athenian politics as a leader of the democratic faction and opposed Philip of Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great. Sentenced to prison, exile and then death during the reign of Antipater, Demosthenes killed himself by taking poison. A number of Demosthenes' speeches have survived, although the authorship of some are dubious. Among his extant works are Callicles, Conon, Polycles, For Phormico (350), Symmories (354), Liberty of the Rhodians (351) and the Olynthiacs (349).