Commentary on the Pseudonymous Letters of Aeschines

Through a comprehensive introduction and detailed commentary, Zilong Guo reappraises the letters attributed to the Attic orator Aeschines. These letters merit a place in Greek literature for their synthesis of preexisting literary forms. Letters 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12 imitate the letters of Demosthenes in a manner akin to rhetorical exercises. Letters 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 exhibit features reminiscent of the epistolary fiction that flourished in the first centuries AD. Letter 4 is a prose paraphrase of Pindar's victory odes. Like other literary forgeries, these letters are both problematic and fascinating. Likely products of rhetorical culture, they nevertheless hold a unique place as early - and remarkably successful - examples of how literary and political trends were interwoven to (re)shape the Classical tradition.Introduction
1. The letters of Aeschines? A background
2. History of scholarship
3. Spuriousness and imitativeness
4. Milieu and date of composition
5. Concluding remarks
6. Notes on text and translation
Text and translation
Commentary on the ‘Demosthenic’ counterparts
Commentary on the epistolary fictions
Commentary on the Pindaric exegesis