Orator
An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled.[1]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Orators
3.1 Classical era
3.2 Modern era
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Etymology
Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French oratour, Old French orateur (14th century), Latin orator ("speaker"), from orare ("speak before a court or assembly; plead"), derived from a Proto-Indo-European base *or- ("to pronounce a ritual formula").
The modern meaning of the word, "public speaker", is attested from c. 1430.
History
In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (Ars Oratoria) was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. As the Greeks were still seen as the masters in this field, as in philosophy and most sciences, the leading Roman families often either sent their sons to study these things under a famous master in Greece (as was the case with the young Julius Caesar), or engaged a Greek teacher (under pay or as a slave).[citation needed]
In the young revolutionary French republic, Orateur (French for "orator", but compare the Anglo-Saxon parliamentary speaker) was the formal title for the delegated members of the Tribunat to the Corps législatif, to motivate their ruling on a presented bill.
In the 19th century, orators and lecturers, such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Col. Robert G. Ingersoll were major providers of popular entertainment.
A pulpit orator is a Christian author, often a clergyman, renowned for their ability to write or deliver (from the pulpit in church, hence the word) rhetorically skilled religious sermons.
In some universities, the title 'Orator' is given to the official whose task it is to give speeches on ceremonial occasions, such as the presentation of honorary degrees.
Orators
The following are, by necessity, those who have been noted as famous specifically for their oratory abilities, or for a particularly famous speech or speeches. Most religious leaders and politicians (by nature of their office) may perform many speeches, as may those who support or oppose a particular issue. To include them all would be prohibitive.
Classical era
- The ten Attic orators (Greece)
Demosthenes, champion of the Philippic
- Aeschines
- Andocides
- Antiphon
- Dinarchus
- Hypereides
- Lysias
- Isaeus
- Isocrates
- Lycurgus of Athens
- Aristogeiton
Claudius Aelianus, meliglossos, 'honey-tongued'- Cicero
- Corax of Syracuse
- Gaius Scribonius Curio
- Gorgias
Hegesippus, Athenian
Julius Caesar, Roman dictator
Licinius Macer Calvus, Roman poet and orator
Marcus Antonius (orator), Roman
Nicetas of Smyrna, 1st century AD, Greek sophist and orator
Pericles, Athenian statesman- Quintilian
- Quintus Hortensius
John Chrysostom (literally golden-mouthed), Christian preacher
Modern era
Allied and Axis leaders of World War II noted for their speeches:
Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister)
Charles de Gaulle (Free French general; President of France)
Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Propaganda Minister)
Adolf Hitler (Führer of Nazi Germany)
Douglas MacArthur - Farewell Speech to Congress
- Benito Mussolini
Franklin D. Roosevelt (US President)
- The Great Triumvirate:
- Henry Clay
- John C. Calhoun
- Daniel Webster
Jawaharlal Nehru - Tryst with Destiny
William Jennings Bryan - Cross of Gold speech
Frederick Douglass - Self-Made Men
Ralph Waldo Emerson - The American Scholar
Patrick Henry - Give me Liberty, or give me Death!
John F. Kennedy (US President) - Inaugural Address
Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have A Dream
Abraham Lincoln (US President) - Gettysburg address
Richard M. Nixon (US Vice-President) - Checkers speech
Ronald Reagan (US President) - First
Inaugural Address; Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
Margaret Thatcher - The lady's not for turning
Sojourner Truth[2] - Ain't I a Woman?
Malcolm X - The Ballot or the Bullet
Nelson Mandela - I Am Prepared to Die
- Leon Trotsky
Notes
^ "orator | Definition of orator in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2018-06-05..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ African American Orators: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook, edited by Richard W. Leeman, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
ISBN 0-313-29014-8
References
Catholic Encyclopaedia (passim)- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica (passim)
- EtymologyOnLine
- African American Orators: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook, edited by Richard W. Leeman, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996.
ISBN 0-313-29014-8
- The Will of a People: A Critical Anthology of Great Speeches by African Americans, edited with critical introductions by Richard W. Leeman and Bernard K. Duffy, Southern Illinois University Press, 2012.
ISBN 0-8093-3057-1 |
ISBN 978-0-8093-3057-7
- American Orators of the Twentieth Century: Critical Studies and Sources, edited by Bernard K. Duffy and Halford R. Ryan, Greenwood, 1987.
ISBN 0-313-24843-5
ISBN 978-0-313-24843-6
- American Orators Before 1900: Critical Studies and Sources, edited by Bernard K. Duffy and Halford R. Ryan, Greenwood, 1987.
ISBN 0-313-25129-0
ISBN 978-0-313-25129-0
- American Voices: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Orators, edited by Bernard K. Duffy and Richard W. Leeman, Greewnood, 1987.
ISBN 0-313-32790-4
ISBN 978-0-313-32790-2
- Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1800–1925: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook, edited by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Greenwood, 1993.
ISBN 0-313-27533-5
ISBN 978-0-313-27533-3
- American Voices, Significant Speeches in American History: 1640–1945, edited by James Andrews and David Zarefsky, Longman Publishing Group, 1989.
ISBN 0-8013-0217-X
ISBN 978-0-8013-0217-6
- Contemporary American Voices: Significant Speeches in American History, 1945–Present, edited by James R. Andrews and David Zarefsky, Longman Publishing Group, 1991.
ISBN 0-8013-0218-8
ISBN 978-0-8013-0218-3
- Contemporary American Public Discourse. 3rd Edition. edited by Halford Ross Ryan, Waveland Press, 1991.
ISBN 0-88133-629-7 |
ISBN 978-0-88133-629-0
External links
Look up orator in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Voices of Democracy
- American Rhetoric