This is the first Oxford Classical Text of the speeches of Antiphon and Andocides, two Athenian orators of the fifth century BCE. An influential statesman, Antiphon of Rhamnus also wrote speeches for clients in court cases, of which three are extant, and three tetralogies consisting of speeches for hypothetical murder trials arguing for both prosecution and defence. The first oration of Andocides is our principal source about two scandals from the eve of the Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415, while his second and third speeches shed light on his later exile and diplomatic efforts between Athens and Sparta. The volume also includes a fourth speech, falsely attributed to Andocides, which vigorously pillories the early career of Alcibiades up to a point just before he, like Andocides, was accused of mutilating herms and profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries in 415.

Based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript tradition, this critical edition aims to set the standard for a definitive text of the speeches that will serve for the next century. Taking into account all the significant manuscript evidence as well as the most compelling corrections proposed by scholars, it also incorporates testimony from other ancient authors to establish the text of these earliest representatives of Attic oratory.

About the Author:
Mervin R. Dilts, Emeritus Professor, New York University, David J. Murphy, Emeritus, the Nightingale-Bamford School

Mervin R. Dilts was trained in Classics at Gettysburg College and Indiana University, before taking up teaching positions at Knox College and The University of Illinois. He joined the faculty of New York University in 1969 and for many years chaired the Department of Classics, also serving as a long-time financial trustee for the American Philological Association. His publications include editions of Heraclides' fragments on constitutions and a 1553 index of Greek books in the Vatican (co-authored with Mark L. Sosower and Antonio Manfredi), as well as Teubner editions of Aelian, Aeschines, and the Aeschinean and Demosthenic scholia, and a four-volume edition of Demosthenes' speeches in the Oxford Classical Texts series.

Trained in Classics at Rutgers College and Columbia University, David J. Murphy taught Latin and Greek in high schools and colleges in New York before moving on to direct the high school divisions of St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School and, later, the Nightingale-Bamford School. He also served on the boards of the New York Classical Club and the Classical Association of the Atlantic States, with terms as President of both associations. His publications include articles on Greek palaeography, textual criticism, and Socratic studies, both in journals and collections of essays, and he has co-authored several textbooks on Horace with Ronnie Ancona.