Journal | Lexis
Journal issue | Num. 42 (n.s.) – Giugno 2024 – Fasc. 1
Research Article | The Legislator’s Speech in Book IV of Plato's Laws: Between Poetry and Rhetoric
The Legislator’s Speech in Book IV of Plato's Laws: Between Poetry and Rhetoric
Abstract
This paper aims to analyse the speech of the lawgiver in Book 4 of Plato’s Laws, the only one directly addressed to the citizens of the Cretan colony to outline their behaviour rules. This speech is examined not only for its ethical content but also for its argumentative structure. In particular, references to archaic gnomic poetry, which give the discourse great solemnity, are reviewed. In addition, the lawgiver’s mastery of rhetorical tools aimed at persuading citizens is emphasized. The lawgiver’s use of persuasion, further applied in all the preambles prefixed to the laws, seems to be an implementation of rhetoric as psychagogy outlined in the Phaedrus.
Submitted: Nov. 16, 2023 | Accepted: Feb. 9, 2024 | Published July 3, 2024 | Language: it
Keywords Gnomic Poetry • Laws • Plato • Lawgiver • Rhetoric
Copyright © 2024 Silvia Gastaldi. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Lexis/2724-1564/2024/01/006
