Scholarly Works
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Item The three faces of Greek and Aristotelian rhetoric(Vienna, 2017) Akinboye, G. A.; Adebowale, B. A.The need for the persuasion is often informed by a dire or grave situation which one needs to wriggle out from. Persuasion may also be necessitated by a person’s disposition to a subject, development, or topic in view. The art of persuasion through speech is what scholars, ancient and modern, call rhetoric or oratory. The Greek traditional theorists, who invented rhetoric, divided the art into three types: the judicial (dicanic or forensic), the deliberative (symbouleutic) and the demonstrative (epideictic). Broadly, Greek rhetoric also has a tripartite part: invention, arrangement and style. Similarly, by Aristotelian theory, rhetoric is the art of persuasion which functions by three means: by appeal to people’s reason (logos); by the appeal to their emotions (pathos) and by the appeal of the speaker’s personality or character (ethos). What exactly did the Greeks and, indeed, Aristotle mean by these terms and their functions? This paper, while highlighting the general conception of the Greek rhetoric and its three-way nature, surveys the Aristotelian tripartite division and functionality of rhetoric through a simple method of content analysis of selected ancient and modern texts. It submits that a rhetor (rhetorician/orator) is not firm in his trade if he does not artfully possess and execute the Aristotelian three modes of persuasion in contexts of necessity or grave situationsItem What was the notion of ‘the other’ in antiquity? an examination from the perspective of ancient Greeks(2016) Akinboye, G. A.; Adekannbi, G. O.The idea of 'the other' and 'otherness' often relates to the state of a group being different from certain individuals, groups or peoples. Over and over again, a greater or superior group, using certain social distinctiveness, stereotypes, or identities that are often seen as natural and innate, conceives of the lesser group as constituting 'the other(s)', that need(s) refinement, enlightening, or acculturation. In many quarters, 'the other' is conceived as those who do not speak one's language. Going back to the remote Classical antiquity, where one might least expect a prevalence valence of social distinctiveness, identities or stereotypes conjured among definite groups, this paper examines the notion of 'the other' and 'otherness' as it relates to the ancient Greeks and their conception of other peoples. It identifies the term barbarian as the Greeks' equivalent of 'the other'. Etymologically, the barbarian refers to a foreigner, one whose language and customs differ from the native speaker's; and within the Judaeo-Christian civilization, he is a gentile outside the circle of the Christian faith. Using the works of Greek historians such as Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus and others to provide insight into the Greeks' general perception of these 'others', the paper submits that the word barbarians was used for all non-Greek-speaking peoples, including Egyptians, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Persians. The Greeks' thought set the tone for the everyday pejorative meaning given to the barbarian (barbaric, barbarism) as a rude, crude, wild, uncultured, uncivilized person, who has no sympathy with literary culture; he is just a little distinguished from savage or beast.Item The fundamental principles of ancient Greek participatory democracy for contemporary Nigerian community development(Community Development Association of Nigeria, 2016-06) Akinboye, G. A.; Adekannbi, G. O.Most scholarship on system of rule in ancient communities generally emphasized monarchic, aristocratic, and oligarchic forms of governments. Least accentuated is the system of participatory democracy whose provenance and prevalence has also been situated more in relative parts of contemporary Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. This gives the impression that communal participatory democracy was not very deep in the remote ancient world. The concept of participatory democracy underscores the principles of direct inclusive participation of citizens in political decisions and socio-economic policies that affect their lives in their communities, as opposed to contemporary representative participation. In classical antiquity however, the Greeks extolled the idea of communal participatory democracy by their establishment of communities (the polis, city-state), whose very existence thrived on certain fundamentals such as equality, freedom, rule of law, accountability and full citizens’ participation in communal affairs. Using the ancient city-state of Athens as a case study, this paper discusses the fundamental principles of Greek participatory democracy with a view to highlighting its implications for the development of contemporary Nigerian communities. Its main contention is that a simple revisit to the basic vital principles of Athenian democracy may positively fast-track the socio-economic and political development of many communities in contemporary Nigeria.Item Socio-economic relevance of strike actions in ancient Rome and contemporary Nigeria(Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 2016) Akinboye, G. A.; Adekannbi, G. O.Since the ancient Roman plebeians blazed the trail by embarking on the first general strike in human history to protest the monopolistic rule of patricians in 494B.C., numerous peoples globally have engaged in strike actions to express certain grievances and resist untoward policies of their governments or employers. This is so because it is generally assumed, especially by the masses, that 'the only language of resistance that governments understand is strike'. It is also known that when strikes are embarked upon, there is stoppage of work and services, which result in the paralysis of socio-economic and political activities and sometimes death of individuals. Beyond these various consequences and disorders, this paper examines the dominant causes of strike actions and argues that they (strike actions) are, oftentimes, relevant means of effecting positive socio-economic changes in a polity. Adopting a comparative method of research with an analysis of both ancient end modem authors to substantiate its argument, this paper provides evidence from two republics, far separated by time and space: the ancient Rome (494-287B.C) and contemporary Nigeria (A.D. 1945-2016). It concludes that strike actions are not altogether destructive; rather, they serve as the last resort of masses in attaining equity, fairness, and constructive socio-economic change.