Summary Of The Rhetorica Ad Alexandrum

In the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum, Aristotle and/or Anaximenes give guidelines on rhetoric and how to use it. They argue that rhetoric is a system that can be learned, so therefore, there are rules and regulations to using rhetoric effectively. The most common way to use the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum’s guidelines was to use it in speeches, and many individuals believe that the advice was practical rather than theoretical on how to give successful speeches. Some of the classification of speeches that the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum has includes exhortation speeches, eulogistic speeches, and investigation, but this paper will be focusing on the application of the rules for forensic speeches to see if they follow the rhetorical handbook closely or loosely.

Ariston argues that everything was fine with himself and Conon, but things escalated quickly. Ariston says before the presents his narrative that he has “been wronged and treated illegally” and he seeks for help (Demosthenes, 68). While Ariston was in the military, he claimed that the sons of Conon and his friends would always be drunk and abusive, and they would mock others if told to stop. Conon’s son and his friend then intruded on Ariston and his companions and started fighting them. They eventually returned to Athens, but after that incident, Ariston was walking with a friend one evening when one of the sons of Conon, Ctesias, came at them drunk. Ctesias called on his friends, robbed Ariston of his cloak, beat him up, and left him half dead on the street. To amplify his argument, which is one of the elements, he described the moments after he was beat up. Ariston said that he was naked when he went home, and “his mother and the serving women cried and shrieked and only with difficulty got me into a bath, washed me off all around, and showed me to the doctors” (Demothenes, 70). In addition, Ariston then calls on his witnesses as proof that the crime was committed. Ariston also brings up the laws for which Conon is liable under since he committed assault and stole a cloak. He then addresses the court and says that he

In this speech, Euphiletus is defending himself and his actions for killing Eratosthenes by saying that killing him is justifiable. The people hearing the case were more than likely a specialist panel of Ephetae, so they will decide whether Euphiletus is guilty or not. Euphiletus does read in court some laws in his support of killing Eratosthenes. The main law that Euphiletus uses is that “If somebody kills a man after finding him next to his wife or mother or sister or daughter or concubine kept from producing free children, he shall not be exiled as a killer on account of this” (Lysias, 45). By stating this law in court, Euphiletus is confirming that he actually did kill Eratosthenes, thus he is showing the court the proof that his actions were right and lawful. As Euphiletus continues his defense speech, he goes into narrative about what he did from the beginning of when he married his wife. He explained how everything was fine until his mother’s death, and at the funeral, his wife was corrupted by Eratosthenes. He then noticed unusual behaviors from his wife and became suspicious. He then confronted the slave girl about Eratosthenes, and she said that he was the man that was visiting his wife. Euphiletus made a plan with the slave girl and various friends to catch Eratosthenes with his wife. When Eratosthenes was caught, Euphiletus hit, captured, and