Cultural determination of rhetorical styles: A study in Greek oratory

This study explores three distinct historical periods in ancient Greece and shows how the cultural perspective evidenced in the works of representative dramatists can be seen in the speeches of court logographers. The essay traces the cultural shift from the time of Aeschylus and Antiphon, who believed in an orderly cosmos, to the period of disillusionment, when Euripides and Isaeos explored the depths of human emotions in an uncontrollable universe.