[Niall_Livingstone]_A_Commentary_on_Isocrates'_Busiris

20 INTRODUCTIONemphasising his respect for the gods and making a virtue of rejectingtraditional myth, Isocrates gives new force to the argument, whichseemed weak before, that Busiris as son of Poseidon and grandsonof Zeus was 'the most likely' author of the great institutions of Egypt.At the same time he develops, especially in § 41-43, a direct moralcontrast between himself and Polycrates. 40The Encomium ended with the evidence of Busiris' atthe end of the Defence, Isocrates contrasts his own piety withPolycrates' The structural link highlights the contrast betweenIsocrates' morally edifying encomium and Polycrates' blasphemousencomium, and connects rhetorical competence with moral uprightness;this sets the tone for the Epilogue, with its serious moral censureof Polycrates' work.The Epilogue returns to the themes of the Prologue, summarisingPolycrates' errors once again and announcing the fulfilment ofIsocrates' promise to provide guidance. It also introduces new elementsinto the critique. In § 45 comes the first mention of a wayin which Polycrates did in fact attempt to defend Busiris—the argumentfrom precedent, pointing to others who had behaved as hedid. The series of arguments in § 45—47 attempts to bring home toPolycrates the disgrace of using such a defence, on grounds both ofpractical uselessness and of the potential moral harm to anyone foolishenough to put faith in it.In § 48 it is acknowledged for the first time that the paradoxicalquality of Polycrates' Busiris, which admitted Busiris' crimes whileostensibly defending him, may reflect a deliberate choice on the partof its author. Isocrates' response to this possibility (§ 48-49) followson from his arguments in § 45—47: since for practical purposesPolycrates' method of defence is worse than useless, his work has nomerit even as an attempt to make the best of an impossible case;moreover, compositions of this kind inevitably add to public distrustof rhetorical education. 41The concluding advice in § 49 brings these arguments togetherand emphasises the freshly-exposed moral aspects of Polycrates' error.40 On the background to Isocrates' attack on poetic blasphemy, see note on § 38i