Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the use of prayers that are denoted by the verbeuchomai, and their function as a means of affecting the cognitive/emotional disposition of people in forensic, symbouleutic and epideictic orations. It is argued that (references to) prayers may be of explicit or implicit character, and that they serve a variety of purposes: to secure the goodwill of the audience for the speaker; to present his character and civic/political qualities positively, while attacking, undermining and incriminating opponents for religious and political misconducts; to invite people in court or in the Assembly to think they are inspected by an invisible yet omnipresent divine audience; to refer to patriotism; and to triangulate relations between the speaker, his opponents and the audience.
Source: Trends in Classics
DOI: 10.1515/tc-2022-0004
Author: Andreas Serafim
Institution: Academy of Athens
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,107
OpenAlex ID: W4284965005