Christopher Johnstone, a professor in the Communication Arts & Sciences Department at Pennsylvania University lectured at Hamilton on February 4. He gave a multimedia lecture on "Oral Communication in Classical Contexts."
Johnstone began by talking about the power of speech, noting the enormous impact that a speaker's voice has on an audience. He showed various picture slides and diagrams of Ancient Greek oratorical sites, focusing on the acoustical properties of the structures where speeches and performances were once given.
The Sophists of fifth century BC were the first to view the voice as a central component in the delivery of speech. Detailed layouts and remains of ancient speaking sites are indicative of the Sophists' awareness of the importance of speech, and their interest in maximizing the effectiveness of oratory. Studying oratorical locations during the Classical period is important because it calls for speech and rhetoric to be viewed as an emboidied art, rather than an impalpable art.
The value of looking at Ancient Greek speaking sites, according to Johnstone, is to "gain an appreciation of Greek performance from an oratorical point of view. Many read Ancient Greek texts, but often overlook the effect that speech was intended to have on the meaning of it."
This lecture, co-sponsored by Hamilton's Departments of Communication and Classics, raised intellectual awareness about the importance of speech, not only in Ancient Greece, but in our everyday lives.
-- by Melissa Kong '08
