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Definition: oratory 2 from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1594) 1 : the art of speaking in public eloquently or effectively 2 a : public speaking that employs oratory b : public speaking that is characterized by the use of stock phrases and that appeals chiefly to the emotions

oratory

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech. In ancient Greece and Rome oratory was included under the term rhetoric , which meant the art of composing as well as delivering a speech. Oratory first appeared in the law courts of Athens and soon became important in all areas of life. It was taught by the Sophists. The Ten Attic Orators (listed by Alexandrine critics) were Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates, Isaeus, Aeschines, Demosthenes, Lycurgus, Hyperides, and Dinarchus. Classic Rome's great orators were Cato the Elder, Mark Antony, and Cicero. The theory of rhetoric was discussed by Aristotle and Quintilian; and three main classes of oratory were later designated by classical rhetoricians: (a) deliberative—to persuade an audience (such as a legislature) to approve or disapprove a matter of public policy; (b) forensic—to achieve (as in a trial) condemnation or approval for a person's actions; (c) epideictic—“display rhetoric” used on ceremonial occasions. Rhetoric was…
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Full text Article oratory

From Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Anthropologists, drawing on Western traditions of rhetoric and homiletics, have restricted the term ‘oratory’ to refer to public discourse whose style is remarked as somehow dramatic, persuasive or both. These styles are part of the verbal repertoire – the linguistic capital – of speech communities; …
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Full text Article oratory

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome
One of the most important fields of study in Rome. The art of speaking with skill, manipulating the emotions of listeners, and attaining victory because of the logical sequence and delivery of words, was highly regarded by Roman society. Training to become proficient in oratory took many years. …
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Full text Article oratory

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech. In ancient Greece and Rome oratory was included under the term rhetoric , which meant the art of composing as well as delivering a speech. Oratory first appeared in the law courts of Athens and soon became important in all areas of life. It was…
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Full text Article Oratory of Divine Love

From Encyclopedia of World Religions: Encyclopedia of Catholicism
The Oratory of Divine Love was a 16th-century reform movement in the Catholic Church. It was formed under the inspiration of Catherine of Genoa (Caterinetta Fieschi, 1447–1510), a Franciscan lay woman who devoted the last three decades of her life to serving the poor and sick. Over the years…
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Gallus/Gallarus Oratory
Architect: Unknown Completed: c. 800 CE Location: County Kerry, Ireland Style/Period: Early Christian The best preserved early Christian church in Ireland, Gallus, or Gallarus Oratory, on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry is thought to have been built in the 7th or 8th centuries, although…
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Full text Article After-Dinner Oratory

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
James Russell Lowell had a varied career as a poet, essayist, professor, editor, and diplomat. He began his literary career working in two distinct genres – poetry and abolitionist essays. In 1855, he became a language professor at Harvard, and soon thereafter became an editor of several popular…
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Full text Article Epideictic Oratory

From Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World: A Companion to Late Antique Literature Full text Article LITERARY FORMS
A late antique individual’s life was punctuated by publicly experienced occasions. Some were cyclical or regularly occurring: They included birthdays, arrivals, departures of important persons such as governors and emperors, contests and feasts, often in honor of God or gods, saints, heroes, or…
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[Lat. abbr., Cong. Orat. ], in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1575, an association of secular priests organized into independent communities according to the rule written by St. Philip Neri . The purpose of the oratory is to raise local religious standards. To do this they employ three…
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Oratory and rhetoric were key components of Greek culture. The Hellenistic world was primarily an oral culture—as was most of the world prior to the invention of the printing press—with public lectures and performances being the primary literary form of the time. The orator ( rhetor ) was a…
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Full text Article orators and oratory

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature
In the ancient world, literature comprised a much more inclusive category than it does in modern times. Whereas we now categorize works like novels, plays, and poems as literature, the ancients were inclined to consider any extended piece of writing as oratory, regardless of whether it was intended…
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