Looks beyond the abstract realm of shared beliefs in order to strengthen epideictic's relation to the social sphere. Argues that epideictic oratory in classical Greece is a worthy object of study and provides an opportunity for inquiring into the relation between epideictic oratory and society. Argues that epideictic oratory gives artistic…

Argues that the surviving funeral orations from the classical Greek period are instances of laudatory discourse designed to fulfill the institutional function of glorifying the Athenian state. Examines changes this discourse underwent as the state changed, and reveals incompleteness in current explanations of funeral orations as essentially…

Examines the "Evagoras" from the perspective of contemporary narrative theory, inquiring into internal adjustments that the encomium underwent as epideitic rhetoric sought to play a role in state affairs. Claims uniqueness for the narrative structure of Isocrates's encomium: a combination of fictional narrative (quest for virtue) with…