"What is persuasion? For some, it should be thought of primarily as an alternative to violence. For others, persuasion is less an ethical practice and more a neutral instrumentality-a valued source of soft power. Whichever position seems more appealing, they both rest on a fundamental belief: persuasion is a power residing in an individual speaker who acts on an audience. But what if we question this basic understanding of persuasion? What if we shift...

"The best of ancient Greek literature retains a freshness and immediacy that reaches far beyond its time and place of creation and speaks to readers and audience members today. In these 36 lectures, we discuss selections from that group of masterpieces, starting in every case with the cultural and historical background of each, then focusing on close readings of the works themselves"--P. 1 (guidebook).