Teisias from Syracuse

Teisias ( Greek Τεισίας Teisías , also Tisias ) was a famous teacher of rhetoric in ancient Greece. He is considered a student of the Korax , from whose school the famous orator Gorgias von Leontinoi emerged , after whom the philosopher Plato named one of his dialogues .

Korax and Teisias, whose exact dates of life are not known, are said to have occurred after the overthrow of the tyrant Thrasybulus of Syracuse in 466 BC. BC, which triggered a large number of property lawsuits, began to write court speeches for other people for money. Korax is said to have written the first rhetorical textbooks, consisting of sample speeches, together with his student Teisias. The speeches in private court hearings were based on these. Both are therefore considered to be the inventors of the elaborate court speech and rhetoric as a teachable and learnable art. This genesis suggests a practical origin of rhetoric lessons that has nothing to do with the later philosophical ambitions of a Gorgias or Thrasymachus. According to some sources, the Korax is the actual founder of this discipline and Teisias his student.

Teisias is known, among other things, for his legal dispute with his teacher Korax about the refusal to pay the tuition fee. The following anecdote is reported about this:

“In Syracuse lived a man named Korax. Allegedly he was very good at teaching rhetoric and reasoning, especially for appearing in court. Teisias therefore sought out Korax to complete rhetoric training with him. That cost a lot of money back then too. Teisias promised that he would pay the training fee as soon as he won the first trial. After a while he couldn't learn anything. Korax asked for the salary, but Teisias did not pay. "

“Before the judge in Syracuse, Korax argued that he had to get his pay in any case: if he won - then because he had won the trial, if he would lose - then because Teisias had won his first trial. The judge was impressed. "

“Teisias, on the other hand: he didn't have to pay at all. Either he wins the process, ie the lawsuit is dismissed, then he pays nothing, or he loses the process, in which case the condition of the training agreement is missing (won process). With so much sophistic sophistication, the judge was now at a loss. Who should he agree with? "

It is reported that the judge found a pragmatic solution: he is said to have chased them both away with abuse.

Following the example of his teacher, Teisias set up a speech school, first it seems in Syracuse, then in Thurioi , where the later famous orator Lysias enjoyed his lessons. Thereupon he went to Athens in the wake of the Gorgias embassy , but probably without a political character, but merely to try his hand at foreign rhetoric as a teacher.

The length of his stay in Athens is indefinite. The later famous speaker Isocrates still heard him there and was one of his students.

In Plato's dialogue Phaedrus Teisias is mentioned as an artful rhetorician. He is named there together with Gorgias as a representative of the view that the probable should be valued more highly than the true. Another source is Cicero's Brutus .

literature

• Pierre Chiron: Tisias. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 1247-1255.

Remarks

1. ^ Christof Rapp (translator): Aristotle: Rhetorik (= Aristotle: Works in German Translation , Volume 4). Half volume 1, Berlin 2002, p. 208.
2. ↑ Plato, Phaedrus 266d-267d.
3. ↑ Cicero, Brutus 46-48.