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Orator

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'''Orator''' is a Latin word for '''speaker''' (from the Latin verb ''oro'', meaning "I speak" or "I pray"). The derived word '''oration''' means a formal speech, as on a ceremonial occasion or delivered in similar high-flown or pompous manner. One meaning of the word '''oratory''' is abstract: the art of public speaking. There is also the equivalent word "Rhetor" of Greek origin. hence the abstract noun rhetoric.

History
In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (''Ars Oratoria'') was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. As the Greeks were still seen as the masters in this field, as in philosophy and most sciences, the leading Roman families often send their sons, to study them under a famous master in Greece, e.g. the young Julius Caesar, or engaged a Greek (under pay or as a slave). It later was developed into rhetoric. In the 18th century, 'Orator' John Henley was famous for his eccentric sermons. In the 19th century, orators and lecturers, such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Col. Robert G. Ingersoll were major providers of popular entertainment. Adolf Hitler is widely regarded by historians as a master orator; his speeches would begin very slowly and gradually build up to an almost ecstasis ecstatic and frenzied Climax (narrative) climax that would drive the massive audiences absolutely berserk. One can witness first hand the hypnotic and mesmerizing power of Hitler's speeches by watching the famous Nazism Nazi propaganda film ''Triumph of the Will'' which was released in 1934, one year after Hitler ascended to power and established Nazi Germany.

Famous ancient and medieval orators
*Demosthenes (see philippica), Attic orators (Greece) *Cicero (last great defender of the 'true' Roman Republic) *Marcus Porcius Cato (Roman Republic- calling for the final Punic war) *Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (Roman Republic Roman) *Paul of Tarsos, thirteenth Apostle *Peter the Hermit, calling for the First Crusade

Famous modern orators
*Abd-el-Kader (Algerian Kabylian leader against French colonial conquest) *William Jennings Bryan *Fidel Castro (Cuban Marxist revolutuonary leader > President) *Winston Churchill (WWII British PM) *Charles de Gaulle Charles De Gaulle ('Free French' general > President) *Frederick Douglass *Ralph Waldo Emerson *John Henley *Patrick Henry *Adolf Hitler (Austrian Führer of Nazi Third Reich) *Robert G. Ingersoll *John F.Kennedy (US President) *Martin Luther King, Jr. *Abraham Lincoln (US President) *Benito Mussolini (Duce of Fascist Italy) *James Orbinski *Ronald Reagan (US President- often scolded as 'mere' actor, but great text delivery) *Daniel Webster *Malcolm X *Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Pakistani)

Formal titles
In the young revolutionary French republic, ''Orateur'' (French for Orator, but compare the Anglosaxon parliamentary speaker (politics) speaker) was the term for the delegated members of the Tribunat to the Corps législatif to motivate their ruling on a presented bill. In some university universities the title 'Orator' is given to the official whose task it is to give speeches on ceremonial occasions, such as the presentation of honorary degrees. '''Grand Orator''' is a high rank in the Grand Lodges of Freemasonry in certain US states (including Alabama, Arizona, ,California (where 'The Grand Orator shall deliver an address at each Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge upon matters appertaining to the Craft and deliver such other addresses as the Grand Master may request.' - California Masonic Code #3050), Missouri, North Carolina)

Sources
(incomplete) *Catholic Encyclopaedia
- Californian mason site Category:Public speaking de:Orator fr:Orateurs attiques pl:Orator sl:Govornik

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