I Have a Dream: The Speeches That Changed History

8TH–1ST

CENTURIES BC

THE CLASSICAL ORATORS

It was in Ancient Greece that the art of rhetoric first began to flourish. The cramped city-states of the Greek world made perfect stages for orators to display their skills. And where, as was the case in many cities, power was relatively fragmented, a persuasive speaker could wield considerable influence over small and easily swayed political assemblies.

In legal matters too, the best speakers had a distinct advantage. In democratic Athens, cases were tried by large citizen juries – who appreciated fine words as much as solid argument.

Indeed, one of literature’s first heroes – Homer’s Odysseus – was most admired not for his fighting skills but for his cunning way with words.

Like philosophy and science, rhetoric too was soon codified. Itinerant teachers called ‘sophists’ gave lectures on the subject, and young Greek aristocrats flocked to their feet to learn the tricks of the trade. Aristotle, the tutor of Alexander the Great and one of Greece’s foremost intellectuals, laid out the rules of style and argument in a monumental work – The Art of Rhetoric. Public speaking became the cornerstone of any proper education.

—— THE SPEECHES ——

HOMER – THE ILIAD

Homer’s Iliad is perhaps the first and greatest work in the whole of Western literature. It is also full of great speeches, of which the following is among the most famous. Agamemnon, high king of the Greeks, has insulted Achilles, the army’s greatest fighter. In typically overblown style, Achilles gets up to reply:

Wine-bibber … with the face of a dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight, nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself.

… Therefore I say, and swear it with a great oath … that hereafter they [the Greeks] shall look fondly for Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men fall dying by the murderous hand of Hector, you shall not know how to help them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult to the best of the Achaeans.

PERICLES – FUNERAL ORATION

Pericles was the greatest leader of Ancient Athens, the man who most of all was responsible for establishing the city as the home of art, culture and democracy. In this speech, which has since often been held up as a masterpiece of the rhetorical arts, he is commemorating those who had died in the first year of the Peloponnesian war against Sparta.

Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us who survive should gladly toil on her behalf.

[…]

Such was the end of these men; they were worthy of Athens, and the living need not desire to have a more heroic spirit, although they may pray for a less fatal issue. The value of such a spirit is not to be expressed in words.

[…]

For the whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war.

DEMOSTHENES – THIRD PHILIPPIC

Demosthenes was an Athenian statesman of the fourth century BC who devoted his life to the art of public speaking. It is said that when he was young he used to train his voice by speaking with pebbles in his mouth, or shouting over the roar of the waves.

His most famous speeches are the Philippics, so called because they dealt with Philip II of Macedon, a northern king who, Demosthenes was convinced, posed a mortal threat to Athenian freedom and democracy.

Despite Demosthenes’ efforts, Athens fell to Philip’s armies. But the Philippics lived on as rhetorical models for generations to come.

Many things could be named by the Olynthians today, which would have saved them from destruction if only they had then foreseen them. Many could be named by the Orites, many by the Phocians, many by every ruined city.

But of what use to them is that?

[…]

So we too, Athenians, as long as we are safe, blessed with a very great city, ample advantages, and the fairest repute—what are we to do? Perhaps some of my hearers have long been eager to ask that question. […] To begin with ourselves, we must make provision for our defence, I mean with war-galleys, funds, and men; for even if all other states succumb to slavery, we surely must fight the battle of liberty.

CICERO – THIRTEENTH PHILIPPIC

Cicero was the finest orator Ancient Rome ever produced. As a young man, his prowess in the courts was legendary – and feared. His speeches could ruin careers and demolish reputations.

His skill soon carried him to the forefront of Roman politics, just as the civil wars were tearing the Republic apart. His Philippics, named after Demosthenes’ orations, were a set of fourteen speeches he made attacking Mark Antony, leader of one of the most powerful factions. At the time this speech (the thirteenth) was made, Antony was asking the senate for peace. Cicero was determined that there should be war.

You have repealed the acts of Marcus Antonius; you have taken down his laws; you have voted that they were carried by violence, and with a disregard of the auspices; you have called out the levies throughout all Italy; you have pronounced that colleague and ally of all wickedness a public enemy. What peace can there be with this man? Even if he were a foreign enemy, still, after such actions as have taken place, it would be scarcely possible, by any means whatever, to have peace. Though seas and mountains, and vast regions lay between you, still you would hate such a man without seeing him. But these men will stick to your eyes, and when they can, to your very throats; for what fences will be strong enough for us to restrain savage beasts?

c. AD 26

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

JESUS OF NAZARETH (c. 5 BC – c. AD 30)

No one really knows when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, concrete facts about Jesus’s life are hard to come by. All we know for sure is that there was a Jewish preacher by that name, who was crucified in Jerusalem sometime during the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Beyond that, the details of His life are uncertain.

None of which prevented Him from making perhaps the most influential speech of all time – at least, if it was a speech, and if He made it. There are those who argue that what the Gospels present as a single sermon was in fact a poetic running together of three years’ worth of teachings.

But the facts of what happened are, perhaps, less important than the story of what was believed to have happened, as found in the Gospels that were written by Jesus’s followers long after His death. These books, the central scriptures of Christianity, record a speech which, in the context of ancient religion, is truly revolutionary. Jesus took centuries of traditional Jewish law, handed down all the way from Moses, and stood them on their head.

—— THE SPEECH ——

[The following version is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew]

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[…]

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement:

But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement …

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart …

It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King …

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

[…]

After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from