With this volume, the fourth-century Athenian orators make their first appearance in the Oxford World's Classics series, to which W. has already contributed numerous highly-regarded translations (mainly of Greek prose authors). C.'s introduction includes a bibliography, chronology and three helpful maps (including one of the Athenian agora). He provides brief prefaces to each speech or speech set, and the explanatory notes at the end are supplemented by a list of W.'s textual reactions to Dilts's OCT, a glossary of historical and literary terms, and an index of proper names. The Loeb provision for Demosthenes is serviceable but outdated, and the two relevant Penguins have long been out of print, so this volume's principal competition is the University of Texas Press's Oratory of Classical Greece series (1998–), which is now only one volume – Demosthenes 23–26 – short of full coverage. While the quality of both translation and supporting material is comparable to the high standard set by that series, this book offers a freestanding set of reliable, contemporary English versions of a wide range of the most interesting Demosthenic speeches from Assembly and lawcourt contexts, and in this it is currently unique.
W.'s translation is lively, readable and often colloquial (sacrificing some of Demosthenes' longer periods, but capturing his renowned stylistic variety). This offers a stimulating counterpoint to the formality preferred by other translators. C.'s succinct introduction caters to the wide readership this volume is likely to attract, with sections on Demosthenes' life and times, style, ancient reception, and on Athenian law and politics, all of which are well tied to the selected speeches and couch complex issues in economical and insightful terms. A key strength of the volume is its commitment to giving a rounded sense of Demosthenes both as rhetorical composer (on others' behalf as well as his own) and as historical actor. This is communicated both in the balance of C.'s notes and in the selection itself: alongside virtually mandatory inclusions like On the Crown and the Third Philippic, several highlights from the ‘private’ part of the corpus are included (notably the darkly entertaining Against Conon). Another winner here is the under-read public trial speech Against Aristocrates, which now enjoys an English translation which does justice to its sheer relentless energy. On the other hand, I wondered whether, in view of the several alternatives already available, Apollodorus' admittedly brilliant Against Neaera ([Dem.] 59) might have been omitted, thus freeing space for further demonstration of Demosthenes' own oratorical range (no Assembly speeches focusing on issues other than Philip are included, nor is the probably genuine Funeral Oration). But any selection from a large corpus will encounter this kind of reservation, and W.'s version of Against Neaera certainly holds its own both beside the other options and beside his other translations in the volume.
W. and C. have provided a valuable resource both for those approaching Demosthenes for the first time and for more experienced readers. May we now hope for an Oxford World's Classics selection of – say – Lysias?
