Person

Demosthenes

384–322 BCE · 4th century BCE

Demosthenes was an Athenian statesman and the greatest orator of ancient Greece. In speeches such as the Olynthiacs and Philippics he urged Athens to resist Philip II of Macedon, and he helped build the alliance defeated at Chaeronea in 338 BCE. After a failed revolt against Macedonian rule in 322 BCE he took poison to avoid capture.

Demosthenes
Image: Polyeuctus · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

AthensDeclineBosporan KingdomSocioeconomyAncient GreekLiterature

Mentioned in 1 state history

Olynthus

Great speeches

Demosthenes' First Philippicc. 351 BCE

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Demosthenes. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/demosthenes
MLA
“Demosthenes.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/demosthenes. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Demosthenes.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/demosthenes.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Demosthenes’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/demosthenes (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻