Women as Speakers

7 Abril 2020, 10:00 • Fotini Hadjittofi

Greek: Forgotten Voices and Free Speech Questions

Do you know of any ancient women praised for their rhetorical skill? How about modern women?

Julian’s Speech of Thanks to the Empress Eusebia is the only surviving panegyric about a woman. For which virtues is Eusebia praised? Do you agree with Liz James (below) that author and audience share a “complicit silence”, an understanding that the author could never express his true opinion?

Primary Text
Julian, Speech of Thanks to the Empress Eusebia Secondary Readings

Glenn, C. and Lunsford, A. A. 2017. “Rhetoric and Feminism”, in M. MacDonald (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies: 583–597. Oxford.

James, Liz. 2012. “Is there an Empress in this Text? Julian’s Speech of Thanks to Eusebia”, in N. J. Baker-Brian and S Tougher (eds.), Emperor and Author: The Writings of Julian “the Apostate”: 47–59. Swansea.

Roman: Female Speakers in Roman Oratory and Literature

Questions

Why does there appear to have been so few female orators in Roman society?
Does it make sense for female scholars of Roman rhetoric (Richlin, Connolly) in the “Secondary Readings” below to discuss female orators and speakers with reference to

male orators and speakers? Why or why not?
What types of roles do female speakers assume in Roman literature, for example, Livy’s

History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita) and Vergil’s Aeneid, in comparison with their male counterparts? What does the depiction of female speakers suggest about their role in Roman culture in comparison with males?

Primary Text

Livy, History of Rome 1, esp. 13 (Sabine Women, pp. 22-23), 41 (Tanaquil, pp. 59-60), 47 (Tullia, pp. 66-67), and 58 (Lucretia, pp. 80-81)

Vergil, Aeneid 4 (with focus on the speeches delivered by Dido, Ana, and Aeneas) Ovid, Heroides 7

Secondary Readings

Stevenson, T. 2011. “Women of Early Rome as Exempla in Livy, Ab Urbe Condita”, Classical World 104.2: 175-189, esp. 179–181 (Sabine Women), 183–184 (Tanquil), 184–185 (Tullia), and 185–187 (Lucretia).

Richlin, A. 1997. “Gender and Rhetoric: Producing Manhood in the Schools”, in W.J.Dominik (ed.), Roman Eloquence: Rhetoric in Society and Literature: 74–90. London.

Connolly, J. 2007. “Virile Tongues: Rhetoric and Masculinity”, in W. Dominik and J. Hall (eds.), A Companion to Roman Rhetoric: 83–97. Oxford.