Early history (1889–1969).

Origins (1889–1929).

Nintendo was founded as Nintendo Koppai on September 23, 1889 by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan, to produce and distribute "hanafuda" ('flower cards'). The word "Nintendo" can be translated as 'leave luck to heaven,' or alternatively as 'the temple of free hanafuda.' Yamauchi manufactured these playing cards using white mulberry bark, which he himself painted by hand. He was able to market them despite the fact that gambling had been prohibited by Japanese authorities since 1633, because the cards incorporated illustrations rather than numbers.  With the increase in popularity of the cards, Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce in order to satisfy demand. Despite a favorable start, however, the slow and expensive manufacturing process and high product price led the company to financial difficulties. Adding to the issue was the limited niche market to which the company belonged, as well as the long durability of the cards,

Expansion and diversification (1929–1968).

In 1933, Sekiryo Kaneda established the company as a general partnership titled Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. Ltd., investing in the construction of a new corporate headquarters located next to the original building, near the Toba-kaidō train station. Because Sekiryo's marriage to Yamauchi's daughter produced no male heirs, he planned to adopt his son-in-law Shikanojo Inaba, an artist in the company's employ and the father of his grandson Hiroshi, born in 1927. However, Inaba abandoned his family and the company, so Hiroshi was made Sekiryo's eventual successor.  World

History in electronics (1969–present).

Electronic toys and early video games (1969–1978).

Yamauchi's experience with the previous initiatives led him to increase Nintendo's investment in a research and development department directed by Hiroshi Imanishi, an employee with a long history in other areas of the company. In 1969, Gunpei Yokoi joined the department and was responsible for coordinating various projects. Yokoi's experience in manufacturing electronic devices led Yamauchi to put him in charge of the company's games department, and his products would be mass-produced. During this period, Nintendo built a new production

Arcade games, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy (1979–1989).

Two key events in Nintendo's history occurred in 1979: its American subsidiary was opened in New York City, and a new department focused on arcade game development was created. In 1980, the first handheld video game system, the Game & Watch, was created by Yokoi from the technology used in portable calculators. It became one of Nintendo's most successful products, with over 43.4 million units sold worldwide during its production period, and for which 59 games were made in total.  Nintendo's success in arcade games grew in 1981 with the release of "Donkey Kong", which was developed by Miyamoto and one of the first video games that allowed the player character to jump. The character, Jumpman, would later become Mario and Nintendo's official mascot. Mario was named after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo's offices

Fourth and fifth generation consoles (1990–1998).

The late 1980s marked the slip of Nintendo's dominance in the video game market with the appearance of NEC's PC Engine and Sega's Mega Drive, game systems designed with a 16-bit architecture that allowed for improved graphics and audio compared to the NES. In response to the competition, Uemura designed the Super Famicom, which launched in 1990. The first batch of 300,000 consoles sold out in a matter of hours. The following year, as with the NES, Nintendo distributed a modified version of the Super Famicom to the United States market, titled the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Launch games for the Super Famicom and SNES include "Super Mario World", "F-Zero", "Pilotwings", "SimCity", and "Gradius III". By mid-1992, over

GameCube and portable innovations (1999–2005).

In May 1999, with the advent of the PlayStation 2, Nintendo entered an agreement with IBM and Panasonic to develop the 128-bit Gekko processor and the DVD drive to be used in Nintendo's next home console. Meanwhile, a series of administrative changes occurred in 2000, when Nintendo's corporate offices were moved to the Minami-ku neighborhood in Kyoto, and Nintendo Benelux was established to manage the Dutch and Belgian territories.  The year 2001 marked the introduction of two new Nintendo consoles: the Game

Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U (2006–2015).

Nintendo's next home console was conceived in 2001, although the designing commenced in 2003, taking inspiration from the Nintendo DS. The Wii was released in November 2006, with a total of 33 launch titles. With the Wii, Nintendo sought to reach a broader demographic than its seventh generation competitors, with the intention of also encompassing the "non-consumer" sector. To this end, Nintendo invested in a $200 million advertising campaign. The Wii's innovations include the Wii Remote controller, equipped with an accelerometer system and infrared sensors that allow it to detect its position in a three-dimensional environment

Mobile platforms, Nintendo Switch, and other products (2015–present).

The financial losses caused by the Wii U, along with Sony's intention to release its video games to other platforms such as smart TVs, motivated Nintendo to rethink its strategy concerning the production and distribution of its properties. In 2015, Nintendo formalized agreements with DeNA and Universal Parks & Resorts to extend its presence to smart devices and amusement parks respectively. In March 2016, Nintendo's first mobile app for the iOS and Android systems, "Miitomo", was released. Since then, Nintendo has produced other similar apps, such as "Super Mario Run", "Fire Emblem Heroes", "", "Mario Kart Tour" and "Pokémon Go", the last being developed by Niantic and having generated $115 million in revenue for Nintendo. The theme park area Super Nintendo World is set to open at Universal Studios Japan in 2020. In March 2016, the loyalty program My Nintendo replaced Club Nintendo.  The NES Classic Edition was released in November 2016. The console is a redesigned version of the NES that includes support for the HDMI interface and Wiimote compatibility. Its successor, the Super NES Classic Edition, was

Products.

Nintendo's central focus is the research, development, production and distribution of entertainment products, primarily video game software and hardware and card games, and its main markets are Japan, America and Europe, although more than 70% of its total sales come from the latter two territories.

Video game consoles.

Since the launch of the Color TV-Game in 1977, Nintendo has produced and distributed various video game consoles, including home, handheld, dedicated and hybrid consoles. Each

Video games.

The first video games produced by Nintendo were arcade titles, with "EVR Race" (1975) being the company's first electromechanical title, and "Donkey Kong" (1981) being the first platform game in history.

Marketing.

Nintendo of America has engaged in several high-profile marketing campaigns to define and position its brand. One of its earliest and most enduring slogans was "Now you're playing with power!," used first to promote its Nintendo Entertainment System. It modified the slogan to include "SUPER power" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and "PORTABLE power" for the Game Boy.  Its 1994 "Play It Loud!" campaign played upon teenage rebellion and fostered an edgy reputation. During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out." During the GameCube era, the "Who Are You?" suggested a link between the games and the players' identities. The company promoted its Nintendo DS handheld with the tagline "Touching is Good." For the Wii, they used the "Wii would like to play" slogan to promote the console with the people who tried the games including "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Super Paper Mario". The Nintendo 3DS used the slogan "Take a look inside." The Wii U used the slogan "How U will play next." The Nintendo Switch uses the slogan "Switch and Play" in North America, and "Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" in Europe.

Trademark.

During the peak of Nintendo's success in the video game industry in the 1990s, their name was ubiquitously used to

Logos.

Used since the 1960s, Nintendo's most recognizable logo is the racetrack shape, especially the red-colored wordmark typically (though not always) displayed on a white background, primarily used in the Western markets from 1985 to 2006. In Japan, a monochromatic version that lacks a colored background is on Nintendo's own Famicom, Super Famicom,

Company structure.

Internal divisions.

Nintendo's internal research and development operations are divided into three main divisions:

Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD).

The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the primary software development division at Nintendo, formed as a merger between their former

Platform Technology Development (PTD).

The Nintendo Platform Technology Development division is a combination of Nintendo's former Integrated Research & Development (or IRD) and System Development

Business Development (NBD).

The Nintendo Business Development division was formed following Nintendo's foray into software development for smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets. They are responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for the dedicated video game system business, and for furthering Nintendo's venture into development for smart devices.

Subsidiaries.

Although most of the research and development is being done in Japan, there are some R&D facilities in the United States, Europe and China that are focused on developing software and hardware technologies used in Nintendo products. Although they all are subsidiaries of Nintendo (and therefore first-party), they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by the Japanese personal involved. This can be seen in the "Iwata asks..." interview series. Nintendo Software Technology (NST) and Nintendo Technology Development (NTD) are located in Redmond, Washington, United States, while Nintendo European

Additional distributors.

Bergsala.

Bergsala, a third-party company based in Sweden, exclusively handles Nintendo operations in the Scandinavian region. Bergsala's relationship with Nintendo was established in 1981 when the company

Tencent.

Nintendo has partnered with Tencent to release Nintendo products in China, following the lifting of the

Tor Gaming.

In January 2019, it was reported by ynet and IGN Israel that negotiations about official distribution of Nintendo products in the country were ongoing. After two months, IGN Israel announced that Tor Gaming Ltd., a company that established in earlier 2019, gained a distribution agreement with Nintendo of Europe, handling official retailing beginning at the start of March, followed by opening an official online store the next month. In June 2019, Tor Gaming launched an official Nintendo Store at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv, making it the second official Nintendo Store worldwide, 13 years after NYC.

International divisions.

Nintendo Co., Ltd..

Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan since the beginning, Nintendo Co., Ltd. oversees the organization's global operations and manages Japanese operations specifically. The company's two major subsidiaries, Nintendo of America and Nintendo

Nintendo of America.

Nintendo founded its North American subsidiary in 1980 as Nintendo of America (NoA). Hiroshi Yamauchi appointed his son-in-law Minoru Arakawa as president, who in turn hired his own wife and Yamauchi's daughter Yoko Yamauchi as the first employee. The Arakawa family moved from Vancouver to select an office in Manhattan, New York, due to its central status in American commerce. Both from extremely affluent families, their goals were set more by achievement than moneyand all their seed capital and products would now also be automatically inherited from Nintendo in Japan, and their inaugural target is the existing $8 billion-per-year coin-op arcade video game market and largest entertainment industry in the US, which already outclassed movies and television combined. During the couple's arcade research excursions, NoA hired gamer youths to work in the filthy, hot, ratty warehouse in New Jersey for the receiving and service of game hardware from Japan.  In

Nintendo of Europe.

Nintendo's European subsidiary was established in June 1990, based in Großostheim, Germany. The company handles operations across Europe excluding Scandinavia, as well as South Africa. Nintendo of Europe's United Kingdom branch (Nintendo UK) handles operations in that country and in Ireland from its headquarters in Windsor,

Nintendo Australia.

Nintendo's Australian subsidiary is based in Melbourne, Victoria. It handles the publishing, distribution, sales, and marketing of Nintendo products in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania (Cook Islands, Fiji,

iQue.

Originally a Chinese joint venture between its founder, Wei Yen, and Nintendo, manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand.

Nintendo of Korea.

Nintendo's South Korean subsidiary was established on 7 July 2006, and is based in Seoul. In March 2016, the subsidiary was heavily downsized due to a corporate

Policy.

Content guidelines.

For many years, Nintendo had a policy of strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles. Although Nintendo allowed graphic violence in its video games released in Japan, nudity and sexuality were strictly prohibited. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed that if the company allowed the licensing of pornographic games, the company's image would be forever tarnished. Nintendo of America went further in that games released for Nintendo consoles could not feature nudity, sexuality, profanity (including racism, sexism or slurs), blood, graphic or domestic violence, drugs, political messages or religious symbols (with the exception of widely unpracticed religions, such as the Greek Pantheon). The Japanese parent company was concerned that it may be viewed as a "Japanese Invasion" by forcing Japanese community standards on North American and European children. Past the strict guidelines, some exceptions have occurred: "Bionic Commando" (though swastikas were eliminated in the US version), "Smash TV" and "" contain human violence, the latter also containing implied sexuality and tobacco use; "River City Ransom" and "" contain nudity, and the latter also contains religious images, as do "" and "".  A known side effect of this policy is the Genesis version of "Mortal Kombat" having more than double the unit sales of the Super NES version, mainly because Nintendo had forced publisher Acclaim to recolor the red blood to look like white sweat and replace some of the more gory graphics in its release of the

License guidelines.

Nintendo of America also had guidelines before 1993 that had to be followed by its licensees to make games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, in addition to the above content guidelines. Guidelines were enforced through the 10NES lockout chip.  The last rule was circumvented in a number of ways; for example, Konami, wanting to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, formed Ultra Games and later Palcom to produce more games as a technically

Intellectual property protection.

Nintendo has generally been proactive to assure its intellectual property in both hardware and software is protected. With the NES system, Nintendo employed a lock-out system that only allowed authorizes game cartridges they manufactured to be playable on the system.  Nintendo has used emulation by itself or licensed from third parties to provide means to re-release games from their older platforms on newer systems, with Virtual Console, which re-released classic games as downloadable titles, the NES and SNES library for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, and with dedicated consoles like the NES Mini and SNES Mini. However, Nintendo has taken a hard stance against unlicensed emulation of its video games and consoles, stating that it is the single largest threat to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. Further, Nintendo has taken action against fan-made games which have used significant facets of their IP, issuing cease & desist letters to these projects or Digital Millennium Copyright Act-related complaints to services that host these projects.  In recent years, Nintendo has taken legal action against sites that knowingly distribute ROM images of their games. On 19 July 2018, Nintendo sued Jacob Mathias, the owner of ROM image distribution websites LoveROMs and LoveRetro, for "brazen and mass-scale infringement of Nintendo's intellectual property rights." Nintendo settled with Mathias in November 2018 for more than along with relinquishing all ROM images in their ownership. While Nintendo is likely to have agreed to a smaller fine in private, the large amount was seen as a deterrent to prevent similar

Seal of Quality.

The gold sunburst seal was first used by Nintendo of America, and later Nintendo of Europe. It is displayed on any game, system, or accessory licensed for use on one of its video game consoles, denoting the game has been properly approved by Nintendo. The seal is also displayed on any Nintendo-licensed merchandise, such as trading cards, game guides, or apparel, albeit with the words "Official Nintendo Licensed Product."  In 2008, game designer Sid Meier cited the Seal of Quality as one of the three most important innovations in video game history, as it helped set a standard for game quality that protected consumers from shovelware.

NTSC regions.

In NTSC regions, this seal is an elliptical starburst named the "Official Nintendo Seal". Originally, for NTSC countries, the seal was a large, black and gold circular starburst. The seal read as follows: "This seal is your assurance that NINTENDO

PAL regions.

In PAL regions, the seal is a circular starburst named the "Original Nintendo Seal of Quality." Text near the seal in the Australian Wii manual states:

Charitable projects.

In 1992, Nintendo teamed with the Starlight Children's Foundation to build Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units and install them in hospitals. 1,000 Starlight

Environmental record.

Nintendo has consistently been ranked last in Greenpeace's "Guide to Greener Electronics" due to Nintendo's failure to publish information. Similarly, they are ranked last in the Enough Project's "Conflict Minerals Company Rankings" due to Nintendo's refusal

Since then, Nintendo has produced some of the most successful consoles in the video game industry, such as the Game Boy, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Wii, and the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has also developed numerous influential franchises, including "Donkey Kong", "Mario", "The Legend of Zelda", "Metroid", "Fire Emblem", "Star Fox", and "Pokémon".

Nintendo K.K. (jap., "Nintendō kabushiki-gaisha", engl. "Nintendo Co., Ltd.") ist ein japanischer Hersteller von Videospielen und Spielkonsolen. Nintendo wurde ursprünglich als Hersteller von Spielkarten im Jahr 1889 von Fusajirō Yamauchi in Kyōto gegründet, wo sich bis heute der Firmensitz befindet. Von 1949 bis 2002 stand Hiroshi Yamauchi, der Urenkel des Firmengründers, 53 Jahre lang an der Spitze des Unternehmens. Nach Yamauchis Rücktritt übernahm Satoru Iwata bis zu seinem Tod am 11. Juli 2015 die Führung. Am 16. September 2015 übernahm der vorherige Personalchef Tatsumi Kimishima das Amt des Nintendo-Präsidenten. Kimishima verließ das Unternehmen am 28. Juni 2018 und wurde durch Shuntarō Furukawa ersetzt.


Prelude.

During the Peninsular War and the Spanish resistance against Napoleon, Austria had tried to reverse the 1805 Peace of Pressburg by sparking national uprisings in the French-occupied territories of Central Europe (most notably the Tyrolean Rebellion against Napoleon's Bavarian allies).  These attempts ultimately failed, after French forces occupied Vienna in May 1809. The Austrians under Archduke Charles were able to repulse them at the Battle of Aspern on 21-22 May; however, Napoleon withdrew his forces and crushed Charles' army at Wagram a few weeks later. The archduke had to sign the Armistice of Znaim on 12 July. In October, Austrian Foreign Minister Johann Philipp Stadion was superseded by Klemens von Metternich.

Terms.

France imposed harsh peace terms: Austria had to cede the Duchy of Salzburg to Bavaria and lost its access to the Adriatic Sea by waiving the Littoral territories of Gorizia and Gradisca and the Imperial Free City of Trieste, together with Carniola, the March of Istria, western ("Upper") Carinthia with East Tyrol, and the Croatian lands southwest of the river Sava to the French Empire (see Illyrian provinces). West Galicia was ceded to the Duchy of Warsaw, and Tarnopol district to the Russian Empire.  Austria recognized Napoleon's previous conquests from other nations as well as the rule of his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. Austria also paid to France a large indemnity and the Austrian army was reduced to 150,000 men - a promise not fulfilled. The Graz Schlossberg fortress, whose garrison had firmly resisted the French occupation forces, was largely demolished.  Austria also had to apply Napoleon's Continental System, as Britain remained at war with France. One contemporary British view on the treaty was: Though considerably weakened, Austria remained a European great power. Emperor Francis I approached to the French by marrying his daughter Marie Louise off to Napoleon (whom she at first detested) in 1810. As a result of Metternich's change of policies, the Austrian forces joined the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

Assassination attempt.

During the negotiations at Schönbrunn, Napoleon narrowly escaped an attempt on his life. On 12 October, shortly before signing the treaty, the emperor exited the palace with a large entourage to observe a military parade. Seventeen year old Friedrich Staps, son of a Lutheran pastor from Naumburg, had arrived in Vienna and demanded an audience to present a petition. He was refused by the emperor's aide General Jean Rapp, who shortly thereafter observed Staps in the courtyard pushing through the crowd towards Napoleon from a different direction, and had him arrested.  Taken to the palace, Staps was found to be carrying a large kitchen knife inside his coat, concealed in the petition papers. Interrogated, Staps frankly revealed his plans to kill the emperor, calling him the misfortune of his country. Brought forward to Napoleon, he asked whether Staps would thank him if he was pardoned, to which Staps replied: "I would kill you none the less."  Napoleon left Vienna on 16 October and the next day Staps was shot by Württemberg fusiliers outside the palace. At this execution, he is said to have shouted "Long live freedom! Long live Germany!" Napoleon, impressed and fearing a greater conspiracy, instructed his police minister Joseph Fouché to keep the incident secret.  Soon after the German campaign of 1813, Staps came to be seen as a martyr of the burgeoning German nationalism. He was the subject of a poem by Christian Friedrich Hebbel and a play by Walter von Molo.

The Treaty of Schönbrunn (; ), sometimes known as the Peace of Schönbrunn or Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October 1809. The treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars, after Austria had been defeated at the decisive Battle of Wagram on 5-6 July.

Der Friede von Schönbrunn war ein Friedensschluss zwischen Napoleon Bonaparte und Franz I. von Österreich am 14. Oktober 1809 auf Schloss Schönbrunn. Das Kaisertum Österreich hatte den am 9. April 1809 begonnenen Fünften Koalitionskrieg gegen Frankreich verloren.


Overview.

"The Washington Post" is regarded as one of the leading daily American newspapers along with "The New York Times", the "Los Angeles Times", and "The Wall Street Journal". The "Post" has distinguished itself through its political reporting on the workings of the White House, Congress, and other aspects of the U.S. government.  Unlike "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal", "The Washington Post" does not print an edition for distribution away from the East Coast. In 2009, the newspaper ceased publication of its "National Weekly Edition", which combined stories from the week's print editions, due to shrinking circulation. The majority of its newsprint readership is in the District of Columbia and its suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia.  The newspaper is one of a few U.S. newspapers with foreign bureaus, located in Beirut, Berlin, Beijing, Bogotá, Cairo, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Jerusalem, Kabul, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Paris, and Tokyo. In November 2009, it announced the closure of its U.S. regional bureaus—Chicago, Los Angeles and New York—as part of an increased focus on "political stories and local news coverage in Washington." The newspaper has local bureaus in Maryland (Annapolis, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Southern Maryland) and Virginia (Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Richmond, and Prince William County). , its average weekday circulation was 474,767, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, making it the seventh largest newspaper in the country by circulation, behind "USA Today", "The Wall Street Journal", "The New York Times", the "Los Angeles Times", the "Daily News", and the "New York Post". While its circulation (like that of almost all newspapers) has been slipping, it has one of the highest market-penetration rates of any metropolitan news daily.  For many decades, the "Post" had its main office at 1150 15th Street NW. This real estate remained with Graham Holdings when the newspaper was sold to Jeff Bezos' Nash Holdings in 2013. Graham Holdings sold 1150 15th Street (along with 1515 L Street, 1523 L Street, and land beneath 1100 15th Street) for in November 2013. "The Washington Post" continued to lease space at 1150 L Street NW. In May 2014, "The Washington Post" leased the west tower of One Franklin Square, a high-rise building at 1301 K Street NW in Washington, D.C. The newspaper moved into its new offices on December 14, 2015.  The "Post" has its own exclusive zip code, 20071.

Publishing service.

Arc Publishing is a department of "The Washington Post", which provides the publishing system Arc, software for news organizations such as the "Chicago Tribune" and the "Los Angeles Times".

History.

Founding and early period.

The newspaper was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins (18381912), and in 1880 it added a Sunday edition, becoming the city's first newspaper to publish seven days a week.  In April 1878, about four months into publication, "The Washington Post" purchased "The Washington Union", a competing newspaper which was founded by John Lynch in late 1877. The "Union" had only been in operation about six months at the time of the acquisition. The combined newspaper was published from the Globe Building as "The Washington Post and Union" beginning on April 15, 1878, with a circulation of 13,000. The "Post and Union" name was used about two weeks until April 29, 1878, returning to the original masthead the following day.  In 1889, Hutchins sold the newspaper to Frank Hatton, a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio. To promote the newspaper, the new owners requested the leader of the United States Marine Band, John Philip Sousa, to compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa composed "The Washington Post". It became the standard music to accompany the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze, and remains one of Sousa's best-known works.  In 1893, the newspaper moved to a building at 14th and E streets NW, where it would remain until 1950. This building combined all functions of the newspaper into one headquarters – newsroom, advertising, typesetting, and printing – that ran 24 hours per day.  In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the "Post" printed Clifford K. Berryman's classic illustration "Remember the Maine", which became the battle-cry for American sailors during the War. In 1902, Berryman published another famous cartoon in the "Post" – "Drawing the Line in Mississippi". This cartoon depicts President Theodore Roosevelt showing compassion for a small bear cub and inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom to create the teddy bear.  Wilkins acquired Hatton's share of the newspaper in 1894 at Hatton's death. After Wilkins' death in 1903, his sons John and Robert ran the "Post" for two years before selling it in 1905 to John Roll McLean, owner of the "Cincinnati Enquirer". During the Wilson presidency, the "Post" was credited with the "most famous newspaper typo" in D.C. history according to "Reason" magazine; the "Post" intended to report that President Wilson had been "entertaining" his future-wife Mrs. Galt, but instead wrote that he had been "entering" Mrs. Galt.  When John McLean died in 1916, he put the newspaper in trust, having little faith that his playboy son Edward "Ned" McLean could manage his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, but, under his management, the newspaper slumped toward ruin. He bled the paper for his lavish lifestyle, and used it to promote political agendas.  During the Red Summer of 1919 the Post supported the white mobs and even ran a front-page story which advertised the location at which white servicemen were planning to meet to carry out attacks on black Washingtonians.

Meyer–Graham period.

In 1929, financier Eugene Meyer (who had run the War Finance Corp. since World War I) secretly made an offer of $5 million for the "Post," but he was rebuffed by Ned McLean. On June 1, 1933, Meyer bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $825,000 three weeks after stepping down as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He had bid anonymously, and was prepared to go up to $2 million, far higher than the other bidders. These included William Randolph Hearst, who had long hoped to shut down the ailing "Post" to benefit his own Washington newspaper presence.  The "Post"s health and reputation were restored under Meyer's ownership. In 1946, he was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law, Philip Graham. Meyer eventually gained the last laugh over Hearst, who had owned the old "Washington Times" and the "Herald" before their 1939 merger that formed the "Times-Herald." This was in turn bought by and merged into the "Post" in 1954. The combined paper was officially named "The Washington Post and Times-Herald" until 1973, although the "Times-Herald" portion of the nameplate became less and less prominent over time. The merger left the "Post" with two remaining local competitors, the "Washington Star" ("Evening Star") and "The Washington Daily News" which merged in 1972, forming the "Washington Star-News." This had again become simply the "Washington Star" by the time it closed on August 7, 1981, leaving the "Post" as the only major daily in Washington for almost a year. On May 17, 1982, Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon began publishing the current "Washington Times", a conservative daily broadsheet whose circulation has only ever been a fraction of its rival, the "Post". In 2005, conservative competition increased slightly with the founding of the "Washington Examiner", originally a free tabloid daily, which switched to a weekly magazine format in 2013. But the "Post", with a far larger presence, locally and nationally, has remained Washington's dominant paper since the 1950s.  After Phil Graham's death in 1963, control of The Washington Post Company passed to his wife Katharine Graham (19172001), who was also Eugene Meyer's daughter. Few women had run prominent national newspapers in the United States. Katharine Graham described her own anxiety and lack of confidence based on her gender in her autobiography. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979 and headed The Washington Post Company into the early 1990s as chairman of the board and CEO. After 1993, she retained a position as chairman of the executive committee until her death in 2001.  Her tenure is credited with seeing the newspaper rise in national stature through effective investigative reporting after it began to live down its reputation as a house organ for the Kennedy and Johnson administration, working to ensure that "The New York Times" did not surpass its Washington reporting of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandal.  Graham took The Washington Post Company public on June 15, 1971, in the midst of the Pentagon Papers controversy. A total of 1,294,000 shares were offered to the public at $26 per share. By the end of Graham's tenure as CEO in 1991, the stock was worth $888 per share, not counting the effect of an intermediate 4:1 stock split.  During this time, Graham also oversaw the Post company's diversification purchase of the for-profit education and training company Kaplan, Inc. for $40 million in 1984. Twenty years later, Kaplan had surpassed the "Post" newspaper as the company's leading contributor to income, and by 2010 Kaplan accounted for more than 60% of the entire company revenue stream.  Executive editor Ben Bradlee put the newspaper's reputation and resources behind reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who, in a long series of articles, chipped away at the story behind the 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington. The "Post" dogged coverage of the story, the outcome of which ultimately played a major role in the resignation of President Richard Nixon, won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize in 1973.  In 1972, the "Book World" section was introduced with Pulitzer Prize–winning critic William McPherson as its first editor. It featured Pulitzer Prize–winning critics such as Jonathan Yardley and Michael Dirda, the latter of whom established his career as a critic at the "Post". In 2009, after 37 years, with great reader outcries and protest, "The Washington Post Book World" as a standalone insert was discontinued, the last issue being Sunday, February 15, 2009, along with a general reorganization of the paper, such as placing the Sunday editorials on the back page of the main front section rather than the "Outlook" section and distributing some other locally oriented "op-ed" letters and commentaries in other sections. However, book reviews are still published in the Outlook section on Sundays and in the Style section the rest of the week, as well as online.  In 1975, the pressmen's union went on strike. The "Post" hired replacement workers to replace the pressmen's union, and other unions returned to work in February 1976.  In 1980, the newspaper published a dramatic story called "Jimmy's World", describing the life of an eight-year-old heroin addict in Washington, for which reporter Janet Cooke won acclaim and a Pulitzer Prize. Subsequent investigation, however, revealed the story to be a fabrication. The Pulitzer Prize was returned.  Donald E. Graham, Katharine's son, succeeded her as a publisher in 1979 and in the early 1990s became both chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He was succeeded in 2000 as publisher and CEO by Boisfeuillet Jones Jr., with Graham remaining as chairman.  In 1995 the domain name washingtonpost.com was purchased. That same year, a failed effort to create an online news repository called Digital Ink launched. The following year it was shut down and the first website was launched in June 1996.  Katharine Weymouth, Donald Graham's niece, served as publisher and the chief executive officer from 2008 until 2014, when Jeff Bezos took over ownership of the paper.

Jeff Bezos era (2013–present).

In 2013 Jeff Bezos purchased the paper for cash. The newspaper is now owned by Nash Holdings LLC controlled by Bezos. The sale also included some other local publications, websites and real estate. After the sale the Washington Post Co. became Graham Holdings Company  Bezos said he has a vision that recreates "the 'daily ritual' of reading the "Post" as a bundle, not merely a series of individual stories..." He has been described as a "hands-off owner," holding teleconference calls with executive editor Martin Baron every two weeks. Bezos appointed Fred Ryan (founder and CEO of "Politico") to serve as publisher and chief executive officer. This signaled Bezos’ intent to shift the "Post" to a more digital focus with a national and global readership.  In 2014, the "Post" announced it was moving from 1150 15th Street to a leased space three blocks away at One Franklin Square on K Street. In recent years the "Post" launched an online personal finance section, as well as a blog and a podcast with a retro theme. The Washington Post won the 2020 Webby Award for News & Politics in the category Social. The Washington Post won the 2020 Webby People’s Voice Award for News & Politics in the category Web.

Political stance.

1933–2000.

When financier Eugene Meyer bought the bankrupt "Post" in 1933, he assured the public he wouldn't be beholden to any party. But as a leading Republican (it was his old friend Herbert Hoover who had made him Fed Chairman in 1930), his opposition to FDR's New Deal colored the paper's editorial stance as well as its news coverage. This included editorializing "news" stories written by Meyer under a pseudonym. His wife Agnes Ernst Meyer was a journalist from the other end of the spectrum politically. The "Post" ran many of her pieces including tributes to her personal friends John Dewey and Saul Alinsky.  Eugene Meyer became head of the World Bank in 1946, and he named his son-in-law Phil Graham to succeed him as "Post" publisher. The post-war years saw the developing friendship of Phil and Kay Graham with the Kennedys, the Bradlees and the rest of the "Georgetown Set" (many Harvard alumni) that would color the "Post's" political orientation. Kay Graham's most memorable Georgetown soirée guest list included British diplomat/communist spy Donald Maclean.  The "Post" is credited with inventing the term "McCarthyism" in a 1950 editorial cartoon by Herbert Block. Depicting buckets of tar, it made fun of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's "tarring" tactics, i.e., smear campaigns and character assassination against those targeted by his accusations. Sen. McCarthy was attempting to do for the Senate what the House Un-American Activities Committee had been doing for years—investigating Soviet espionage in America. The HUAC made Richard Nixon nationally known for his role in the Hiss/Chambers case that exposed communist spying in the State Department. The committee had evolved from the McCormack-Dickstein Committee of the 1930s.  Phil Graham's friendship with JFK remained strong until their untimely deaths in 1963. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly told the new President Lyndon B. Johnson, "I don't have much influence with the "Post" because I frankly don't read it. I view it like the "Daily Worker"."  Ben Bradlee became the editor-in-chief in 1968, and Kay Graham officially became the publisher in 1969, paving the way for the aggressive reporting of the "Pentagon Papers" and Watergate scandals. In the mid-1970s, some conservatives referred to the "Post" as ""Pravda" on the Potomac" because of its perceived left-wing bias in both reporting and editorials. Since then, the appellation has been used by both liberal and conservative critics of the newspaper.

2000–present.

In the PBS documentary "Buying the War", journalist Bill Moyers said in the year prior to the Iraq War there were 27 editorials supporting the Bush administration's ambitions to invade the country. National security correspondent Walter Pincus reported that he had been ordered to cease his reports that were critical of the administration. According to author and journalist Greg Mitchell: "By the "Post" own admission, in the months before the war, it ran more than 140 stories on its front page promoting the war, while contrary information got lost".  On March 26, 2007, Chris Matthews said on his television program, "Well, "The Washington Post" is not the liberal newspaper it was, Congressman, let me tell you. I have been reading it for years and it is a neocon newspaper". It has regularly published a mixture of op-ed columnists, with some of them left-leaning (including E. J. Dionne, Dana Milbank, Greg Sargent, and Eugene Robinson), and some of them right-leaning (including George Will, Marc Thiessen, Michael Gerson and Charles Krauthammer).  In a study published on April 18, 2007, by Yale professors Alan Gerber, Dean Karlan, and Daniel Bergan, citizens were given a subscription to either the conservative-leaning "Washington Times" or the liberal-leaning "Washington Post" to see the effect that media has on voting patterns. Gerber had estimated based on his work that the "Post" slanted as much to the left as the "Times" did to the right. Gerber found those who were given a free subscription of the "Post" were 7.9–11.4% more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate for governor than those assigned to the control group, depending on the adjustment for the date on which individual participants were surveyed and the survey interviewer; however, people who received the "Times" were also more likely than controls to vote for the Democrat, with an effect approximately 60% as large as that estimated for the "Post". The study authors said that sampling error might have played a role in the effect of the conservative-leaning "Times", as might the fact that the Democratic candidate took more conservative-leaning positions than is typical for his party, and "the month prior to the post-election survey was a difficult period for President Bush, one in which his overall approval rating fell by approximately 4 percentage points nationwide. It appears that heightened exposure to both papers’ news coverage, despite opposing ideological slants, moved public opinion away from Republicans."  In November 2007, the newspaper was criticized by independent journalist Robert Parry for reporting on anti-Obama chain e-mails without sufficiently emphasizing to its readers the false nature of the anonymous claims. In 2009, Parry criticized the newspaper for its allegedly unfair reporting on liberal politicians, including Vice President Al Gore and President Barack Obama.  Responding to criticism of the newspaper's coverage during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, former "Post" ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote: "The opinion pages have strong conservative voices; the editorial board includes centrists and conservatives; and there were editorials critical of Obama. Yet opinion was still weighted toward Obama." According to a 2009 Oxford University Press book by Richard Davis on the impact of blogs on American politics, liberal bloggers link to "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" more often than other major newspapers; however, conservative bloggers also link predominantly to liberal newspapers.  In mid-September 2016, Matthew Ingram of "Forbes" joined Glenn Greenwald of "The Intercept", and Trevor Trimm of "The Guardian" in criticizing "The Washington Post" for "demanding that [former National Security Agency contractor Edward] Snowden... stand trial on espionage charges".  In February 2017, the "Post" adopted the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" for its masthead.  Since 2011, the "Post" has been running a column called "The Fact Checker" that the "Post" describes as a "truth squad." The Fact Checker received a $250,000 grant from Google News Initiative/YouTube to expand production of video fact checks.

Political endorsements.

Katharine Graham wrote in her autobiography "Personal History" that the newspaper long had a policy of not making endorsements for political candidates. However, since at least 2000, the newspaper has occasionally endorsed Republican politicians, such as Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich. In 2006, it repeated its historic endorsements of every Republican incumbent for Congress in Northern Virginia. There have also been times when the "Post" has specifically chosen not to endorse any candidate, such as in the 1988 presidential election when it refused to endorse then-Governor Michael Dukakis or then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. On October 17, 2008, the "Post" endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. On October 25, 2012, the newspaper endorsed the Obama's re-election. The "Post" has endorsed Democrats for president during at least nine different presidential elections. The paper has never endorsed a Republican for president. On October 21, 2014, the newspaper endorsed 44 Democratic candidates versus 3 Republican candidates for the 2014 elections in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. On October 13, 2016, it endorsed Hillary Clinton for that year's presidential election.  The "Post" endorsed Maryland Governor Harry Hughes and D.C. Mayor Marion Barry in the 1978 elections.

Criticism and controversies.

"Jimmy's World" fabrication.

In September 1980, a Sunday feature story appeared on the front page of the "Post" titled "Jimmy's World" in which reporter Janet Cooke wrote a profile of the life of an eight-year-old heroin addict. Although some within the "Post" doubted the story's veracity, the paper's editors defended it, and assistant managing editor Bob Woodward submitted the story to the Pulitzer Prize Board at Columbia University for consideration. Cooke was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing on April 13, 1981. The story was then found to be a complete fabrication, and the Pulitzer was returned.

Private "salon" solicitation.

In July 2009, in the midst of an intense debate over health care reform, "The Politico" reported that a health-care lobbyist had received an "astonishing" offer of access to the "Post's" "health-care reporting and editorial staff." "Post" publisher Katharine Weymouth had planned a series of exclusive dinner parties or "salons" at her private residence, to which she had invited prominent lobbyists, trade group members, politicians and business people. Participants were to be charged $25,000 to sponsor a single salon, and $250,000 for 11 sessions, with the events being closed to the public and to the non-"Post" press. "Politico"s revelation gained a somewhat mixed response in Washington, as it gave the impression that the parties' sole purpose was to allow insiders to purchase face time with "Post" staff.  Almost immediately following the disclosure, Weymouth canceled the salons, saying, "This should never have happened." White House counsel Gregory B. Craig reminded officials that under federal ethics rules, they need advance approval for such events. "Post" Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli, who was named on the flier as one of the salon's "Hosts and Discussion Leaders," said he was "appalled" by the plan, adding, "It suggests that access to "Washington Post" journalists was available for purchase."

"China Daily" advertising supplements.

Dating back to 2011, "The Washington Post" began to include "China Watch" advertising supplements provided by "China Daily", an English language newspaper owned by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, on the print and online editions. Although the header to the online "China Watch" section included the text "A Paid Supplement to The Washington Post," James Fallows of "The Atlantic" suggested that the notice was not clear enough for most readers to see. Distributed to the "Post" and multiple newspapers around the world, the "China Watch" advertising supplements range from four to eight pages and appear at least monthly. According to a 2018 report by "The Guardian", "China Watch" uses "a didactic, old-school approach to propaganda."  In 2020, a report by Freedom House, "Beijing's Global Megaphone," was also critical of the "Post" and other newspapers for distributing "China Watch." In the same year, thirty-five Republican members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice in February 2020 calling for an investigation of potential FARA violations by "China Daily". The letter named an article that appeared in the "Post", "Education Flaws Linked to Hong Kong Unrest," as an example of "articles [that] serve as cover for China’s atrocities, including...its support for the crackdown in Hong Kong."

Headline and article controversies.

In November 2016, the "Post" published a story that relied heavily on a report by PropOrNot, an anonymous internet group that seeks to expose what it calls Russian propaganda. PropOrNot published a list of websites they called "bona-fide 'useful idiots of the Russian government. Given PropOrNot's broad criteria for classifying sources as propaganda, the "Post"s decision to run the front-page article was criticized by commentators such as Andrew Cockburn, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and Adrian Chen.  In August 2018, the "Post"s article profiling the Jacksonville Landing shooter, a competitive gamer, was criticized by University of Oregon journalism professor Nicole Dahmen, who said, "The article reads like a glorified celebrity profile." The paper responded, saying: "As is true in all cases, reporting on the alleged killer is only one aspect of our coverage. In this instance, the story helps readers better understand the esports community affected and the accused killer's history within that community. These are not easy decisions to make and for each individual story, we must consider what is newsworthy."  In October 2019, "The Washington Post" was criticized and lampooned on social media after the headline in its obituary of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi described Baghdadi as an "austere religious scholar at the helm of Islamic State." The paper later changed the headline to read, "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, extremist leader of Islamic State, dies at 48."

Pay practices.

In June 2018, over 400 employees of "The Washington Post" signed an open letter to the owner Jeff Bezos demanding "fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security." The open letter was accompanied by video testimonials from employees, who alleged "shocking pay practices" despite record growth in subscriptions at the newspaper, with salaries only rising an average of $10 per week, less than half the rate of inflation. The petition followed on a year of unsuccessful negotiations between "The Washington Post" Guild and upper management over pay and benefit increases.

Lawsuit by Covington Catholic High School student.

In 2019, Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann filed a defamation lawsuit against the "Post", alleging that it libeled him in seven articles regarding the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation between Covington students and the Indigenous Peoples March. On October 2019, a federal judge dismissed the case, ruling that 30 of the 33 statements in the "Post" that Sandmann alleged were libelous were not, but allowed Sandmann to file an amended complaint.

Controversial op-eds and columns.

Several "Washington Post" op-eds and columns have prompted criticism, including a number of comments on race by columnist Richard Cohen over the years, and a controversial 2014 column on campus sexual assault by George Will. The "Post"'s decision to run an op-ed by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a leader in Yemen's Houthi movement, was criticized by some activists on the basis that it provided a platform to an "anti-Western and antisemitic group supported by Iran."

Criticism by elected officials.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against the "Washington Post" on his Twitter account, having "tweeted or retweeted criticism of the paper, tying it to Amazon more than 20 times since his campaign for president" by August 2018. In addition to often attacking the paper itself, Trump has used Twitter to blast various "Post" journalists and columnists.  During the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders repeatedly criticized the "Washington Post", saying that its coverage of his campaign was slanted against him and attributing this to Jeff Bezos' purchase of the newspaper. Sanders' criticism was echoed by the leftist magazine "Jacobin" and the progressive journalist watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. "Washington Post" executive editor Marty Baron responded by saying that Sanders' criticism was "baseless and conspiratorial".

Website.

The "Washington Post" launched its website (WashingtonPost.com) in June 1996.  In first quarter of 2020 the website was one of the most popular and reliable sources in different languages version of Wikipedia.  According to Alexa, the website WashingtonPost.com is ranked as the 174th most popular website in Internet.

Executive officers and editors (past and present).

Major stockholders  Publishers  Executive editors

The Washington Post (sometimes abbreviated to WaPo) is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

The Washington Post ist die größte Tageszeitung in Washington, D.C., der Hauptstadt und dem Regierungssitz der USA. Die „Post“ wurde 1877 gegründet; sie ist damit die älteste noch erscheinende Zeitung in Washington, einer Metropolregion mit über 8 Millionen Einwohnern. Sie war bis 2013 Teil der "Washington Post Company". Am 5. August 2013 wurde der Verkauf der Zeitung an den Amazon-Gründer Jeff Bezos bekanntgegeben. Das Motto der Washington Post lautet seit 2017: "Democracy Dies in Darkness" (engl. für „Demokratie stirbt in der Dunkelheit“) Der Slogan ist vermutlich eine Anspielung auf den US-Präsidenten Donald Trump.


Construction.

Let formula_1 be any integral domain. For formula_17 with formula_18, the fraction formula_19 denotes the equivalence class of pairs formula_20, where formula_20 is equivalent to formula_22 if and only if formula_23. The "field of fractions" formula_8 is defined as the set of all such fractions formula_19. The sum of formula_19 and formula_29 is defined as formula_30, and the product of formula_19 and formula_29 is defined as formula_33 (one checks that these are well defined).  The embedding of formula_1 in formula_8 maps each formula_36 in formula_1 to the fraction formula_38 for any nonzero formula_39 (the equivalence class is independent of the choice formula_40). This is modelled on the identity formula_41.  The field of fractions of formula_1 is characterised by the following universal property: if formula_43 is an injective ring homomorphism from formula_1 into a field formula_45, then there exists a unique ring homomorphism formula_46 which extends formula_47.  There is a categorical interpretation of this construction. Let formula_48 be the category of integral domains and injective ring maps. The functor from formula_48 to the category of fields which takes every integral domain to its fraction field and every homomorphism to the induced map on fields (which exists by the universal property) is the left adjoint of the forgetful functor from the category of fields to formula_48.  A multiplicative identity is not required for the role of the integral domain; this construction can be applied to any nonzero commutative rng formula_1 with no nonzero zero divisors. The embedding is given by formula_52 for any nonzero formula_53.

Generalizations.

Localization.

For any commutative ring formula_1 and any multiplicative set formula_55 in formula_1, the localization formula_55formula_1 is the commutative ring consisting of fractions formula_59 with formula_60 and formula_61, where now formula_62 is equivalent to formula_63 if and only if there exists formula_64 such that formula_65. Two special cases of this are notable:

Semifield of fractions.

The semifield of fractions of an commutative semiring with no zero divisors is the smallest semifield in which it can be embedded. The elements of the semifield of fractions of the commutative semiring formula_1 are equivalence classes written as formula_2 with formula_3 and formula_4 in formula_1.

In abstract algebra, the field of fractions of an integral domain is the smallest field in which it can be embedded. The elements of the field of fractions of the integral domain formula_1 are equivalence classes (see the construction below) written as formula_2 with formula_3 and formula_4 in formula_1 and formula_6. The field of fractions of formula_1 is sometimes denoted by formula_8 or formula_9.

In der Algebra ist der Quotientenkörper eines Rings (mit bestimmten Eigenschaften) eine Obermenge dieses Rings, auf welche die Addition und die Multiplikation des Rings fortgesetzt werden und in der jedes Element außer formula_1 ein multiplikatives Inverses besitzt. Das prominenteste Beispiel ist der Körper der rationalen Zahlen als Quotientenkörper des Rings der ganzen Zahlen. Eine Verallgemeinerung des Konzepts für nicht notwendigerweise nullteilerfreie Ringe ist durch die Lokalisierung gegeben.


Geography.

Umbria is bordered by Tuscany to the west and the north, Marche to the east and Lazio to the south. Partly hilly and mountainous, and partly flat and fertile owing to the valley of the Tiber, its topography includes part of the central Apennines, with the highest point in the region at Monte Vettore on the border of the Marche, at ; the lowest point is Attigliano,. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a common border with other countries. The comune of Città di Castello has an exclave named Monte Ruperto within Marche. Contained within Umbria is the hamlet of Cospaia, which was a tiny republic from 1440 to 1826, created by accident.  Umbria is crossed by two valleys: the Umbrian valley ("Valle Umbra"), stretching from Perugia to Spoleto, and the Tiber Valley ("Val Tiberina"), north and west of the first one, from Città di Castello to the border with Lazio. The Tiber River forms the approximate border with Lazio, although its source is just over the Tuscan border. The Tiber's three principal tributaries flow southward through Umbria. The Chiascio basin is relatively uninhabited as far as Bastia Umbra. About farther on, it joins the Tiber at Torgiano. The Topino, cleaving the Apennines with passes that the Via Flaminia and successor roads follow, makes a sharp turn at Foligno to flow NW for a few kilometres before joining the Chiascio below Bettona. The third river is the Nera, flowing into the Tiber further south, at Terni; its valley is called the "Valnerina". The upper Nera cuts ravines in the mountains; the lower, in the Tiber basin, has created a wide floodplain.  In antiquity, the plain was covered by a pair of shallow, interlocking lakes, the Lacus Clitorius and the Lacus Umber. They were drained by the Romans over several hundred years. An earthquake in the 4th century and the political collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the refilling of the basin. It was drained a second time, almost a thousand years later, during a 500-year period: Benedictine monks started the process in the 13th century, and the draining was completed by an engineer from Foligno in the 18th century.  The eastern part of the region, being crossed by many faults, has been often hit by earthquakes: the last ones have been that of 1997 (which hit Foligno, Assisi and Nocera Umbra) and those of 2016 (which struck Norcia and the Valnerina).  In literature, Umbria is referred to as "Il cuore verde d'Italia" or "The green heart of Italy". The phrase is taken from a poem by Giosuè Carducci, the subject of which is the source of the Clitunno River in Umbria.

History.

Antiquity.

The region is named for the Umbri people, an Italic people which was absorbed by the expansion of the Romans. The Umbri's capital city was Gubbio, which now houses the longest and most important document of any of the Osco-Umbrian group of languages, the Iguvine Tablets. Pliny the Elder recounted a fanciful derivation for the tribal name from the Greek ὄμβρος "a shower", which led to the idea that they had survived the Deluge familiar from Greek mythology, allowing them to claim to be the most ancient race in Italy. In fact, they belonged to a broader family of neighbouring peoples with similar roots. Their language was Umbrian, one of the Italic languages, related to Latin and Oscan. The northern part of the region was occupied by Gallic tribes.  The Umbri probably sprang, like neighbouring peoples, from the creators of the Terramara, and Proto-Villanovan culture in northern and central Italy, who entered north-eastern Italy at the beginning of the Bronze Age.  The Etruscans were the chief enemies of the Umbri. The Etruscan invasion extended from the western seaboard towards the north and east from about 700 to 500 BC. They eventually drove the Umbrians towards the Apennine uplands and captured 300 Umbrian towns. Nevertheless, the Umbrian population does not seem to have been eradicated in the conquered districts. The border between Etruria and Umbria was the Tiber river, as established by the ancient name of Todi, "Tular" ("border").  After the downfall of the Etruscans, Umbrians aided the Samnites in their struggle against Rome (308 BC). Later communications with Samnium were impeded by the Roman fortress of Narnia (founded 298 BC). Romans defeated the Samnites and their Gallic allies in the battle of Sentinum (295 BC). Allied Umbrians and Etruscans had to return home and defend each of their territories against simultaneous Roman attacks, leaving the Samnites without their help in the battle of Sentinum.  The Roman victory at Sentinum initiated a period of integration under the Roman rulers, who established some colonies, such as Spoletium, and built the via Flaminia (220 BC). The via Flaminia became a principal vector for Roman development in Umbria. During Hannibal's invasion during the second Punic war, the battle of Lake Trasimene was fought in Umbria, but the local people did not aid the invader.  During the Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Octavian (40 BC), the city of Perugia supported Antony and was almost completely destroyed by Octavian. In Pliny the Elder's time, 49 independent communities still existed in Umbria, and the abundance of inscriptions and the high proportion of recruits in the imperial army attest to its population. Under Augustus, Umbria became the Regio VI of Roman Italy.  Modern Umbria is different from Roman Umbria. Roman Umbria extended through most of what is now the northern Marche to Ravenna, but excluded the west bank of the Tiber, which belonged to Etruria. Thus Perugia was an Etruscan city and the area around Norcia was in the Sabine territory.  After the collapse of the Roman empire, Ostrogoths and Byzantines struggled for supremacy in the region, and the decisive battle of the war between these two peoples took place near modern Gualdo Tadino.

Middle Ages.

After the Ostrogoths, the Lombards founded the duchy of Spoleto, covering much of today's southern Umbria, but the Byzantine were able to keep in the region a corridor along the Via Flaminia linking Rome with the Exarchate of Ravenna and the Pentapolis. The Lombard king controlled also the northern part of the region ruled directly by Pavia. When Charlemagne conquered most of the Lombard kingdoms, some Umbrian territories were given to the Pope, who established temporal power over them. Some cities acquired a form of autonomy named "comune". These cities were frequently at war with each other, often in a context of more general conflicts, either between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire or between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.  In the early 14th century, the "signorie" arose and the most important of them were those of the Vitelli in Città di Castello, of the Baglioni in Perugia and of the Trinci in Foligno, but the two last ones were subsumed by the middle of the same century into the Papal States by Cardinal Albornoz, who in this way prepared the return of the pope from Avignon to Rome. Città di Castello was subsumed later into the Papal States by Cesare Borgia. During 15th century Renaissance spread in the northern part of the region. It was in this period that humanists started to use again the ancient denomination of "Umbria" to name the area, which until then has been named "Ducato", after the Duchy of Spoleto in the southern part of it. The supremacy of the pope on Umbria was reinforced in 16th century through the erection of a fortress in Perugia by Pope Paul III, named after him Rocca Paolina. The Papacy ruled the region uncontested until the end of the 18th century.

Modern history.

After the French Revolution and the French conquest of Italy, Umbria became part of the ephemeral Roman Republic (1798–1799) and later, part of the Napoleonic Empire (1809–1814) under the name of department of Trasimène.  After Napoleon's defeat, the Pope regained Umbria and ruled it until 1860. In that year, during Italian Risorgimento, Umbria with Marche and part of Emilia Romagna were annexed by Piedmontese King Victor Emmanuel II, and the people of Perugia destroyed in the same year the Rocca Paolina, symbol of the papal oppression. The region of Umbria, with capital Perugia, was part of the Kingdom of Italy in the following year. The region, whose economy was mainly based on agriculture, experienced a dramatic economic shift at the end of the 19th century with the founding of the "Acciaierie di Terni", a major steelwork placed in Terni because of its abundance of electric power due to the Marmore waterfall and its secluded position.  The region of Umbria at the time was somewhat larger than today, comprising Rieti to the south, now part of Lazio. Rieti was detached and added to the Province of Rome (Lazio) in 1923. In 1927, the region of Umbria was divided into the provinces of Perugia and Terni.  During WWII, the industrial centers of the region like Terni and Foligno were heavily bombed and in 1944 became a battlefield between the allied forces and the Germans retreating towards the Gothic Line. In 1946, Umbria was incorporated into the Italian Republic as a region, comprising the two provinces of Perugia and Terni.

Festivals.

One of the most important festivals in Umbria is "the festival of the Ceri (Candles)", also known as Saint Ubaldo Day in Gubbio. The race has been held every year since 1160, on the 15th day of May. The festival is focused around a race consisting of three teams of "cerioli", carrying large symbolic "candles" topped by saints, including St. Ubald (the patron saint of Gubbio), S. Giorgio (St. George), and S. Antonio (Anthony the Great), and run through throngs of cheering supporters. The cerioli are clad in the distinctive colors of yellow, blue or black, according to the saint they support, with white trousers and red belts and neckbands. They travel up much of the mountain from the main square in front of the "Palazzo dei Consoli" to the basilica of St. Ubaldo, each team carrying a statue of their saint mounted on a wooden octagonal prism, similar to an hour-glass shape 4 metres tall and weighing about 280 kg (617 lb).  The race has strong devotional, civic, and historical overtones and is one of the best-known folklore manifestations in Italy, and therefore the Ceri were chosen as the heraldic emblem on the coat of arms of Umbria as a modern administrative region.  Umbria is not only known for its historical recollections such as the festival of the Ceri, Calendimaggio, but also for one of the biggest jazz music festivals called Umbria Jazz. Umbria Jazz was born as a festival in 1973 and since 2003 has been held in the Umbrian capital "Perugia" in July; it has become the fixed appointment of all jazz and good music lovers.

Economy.

The present economic structure emerged from a series of transformations which took place mainly in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, there was rapid expansion among small and medium-sized firms and a gradual retrenchment among the large firms which had hitherto characterised the region's industrial base. This process of structural adjustment is still going on.  Economically the most important region is the upper Tiber valley with Città di Castello. Terni steelworks (stainless steel, titanium, alloy steel) and processing companies (automotive, stainless steel tubes, industrial food facility) account for 20 to 25 % of Umbria's GDP. In Terni there are also many multinational companies in the fields of chemistry, hydroelectric power, renewable sources of energy, and textiles (Alcantara). In the rest of the region the ornamental ceramics industry is much esteemed.  Umbrian agriculture is noted for its tobacco, olive oil and vineyards, which produce excellent wines. Regional varietals include the white Orvieto, which draws agri-tourists to the vineyards in the area surrounding the medieval town of the same name. A notable wine is the Grechetto of Todi. Other noted wines produced in Umbria are Torgiano and Rosso di Montefalco. The Umbrian wineries are at the center of the "Cantine Aperte" or "Open Cellars" event, when local wine makers open their wineries to the public. Another typical Umbrian product is the black truffle found in Valnerina, an area that produces 45% of this product in Italy.  The food industry in Umbria produces processed pork-meats, confectionery, pasta and the traditional products of Valnerina in preserved form (truffles, lentils, cheese).

Umber.

Umbria is the region where the Umber pigment was originally extracted. The name comes from "terra d'ombra", or earth of Umbria, the Italian name of the pigment. The word also may be related to the Latin word "ombra", meaning "shadow". Umber is a natural brown or reddish-brown earth pigment that contains iron oxide and manganese oxide.  In the 20th century, natural umber pigments began to be replaced by pigments made with synthetic iron oxide and manganese oxide. Natural umber pigments are still being made, with Cyprus as a prominent source.

Government and politics.

Umbria was a former stronghold of the Italian Communist Party, forming with Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Marche what was then known as Italy's "Red Regions". Nowadays, Umbria is still a stronghold of the Democratic Party and left-leaning parties.

Demographics.

, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 75,631 foreign-born immigrants live in Umbria, equal to 8.5% of the total population of the region.

Administrative divisions.

Umbria is divided into two provinces:

Umbria (, ) is a region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. The regional capital is Perugia.

Umbrien (italienisch "Umbria") ist eine Region Italiens, die zwischen der Toskana, Latium und den Marken liegt. Sie umfasst eine Fläche von 8.456 km2, wobei 6.334 auf die Provinz Perugia und 2.122 km2 auf die Provinz Terni entfallen. Umbrien hat Einwohner (Stand ), die sich auf 92 Kommunen verteilen. Hauptstadt ist Perugia.


Life.

Gorgias was born circa 483 BCE in Leontinoi, a Chalcidian colony in eastern Sicily that was allied with Athens. His father's name was Charmantides. He had a brother named Herodicus, who was a physician, and sometimes accompanied him during his travels. He also had a sister, whose name is not known, but whose grandson dedicated a golden statue to his great uncle at Delphi. It is not known whether Gorgias married or had children. Gorgias is said to have studied under the Sicilian philosopher Empedocles of Acragas ( 490 – 430 BCE), but it is not known when, where, for how long, or in what capacity. He may have also studied under the rhetoricians Corax of Syracuse and Tisias, but very little is known about either of these men, nor is anything known about their relationship with Gorgias.  It is not known what kind of role Gorgias may have played in the politics in his native Leontinoi, but it is known that, in 427 BCE, when he was around sixty years old, he was sent to Athens by his fellow-citizens as the head of an embassy to ask for Athenian protection against the aggression of the Syracusans. After 427 BCE, Gorgias appears to have settled in mainland Greece, living at various points in a number of city-states, including Athens and Larisa. He was well known for delivering orations at Panhellenic Festivals and is described as having been "conspicuous" at Olympia. There is no surviving record of any role he might have played in organizing the festivals themselves.  Gorgias's primary occupation was as a teacher of rhetoric. According to Aristotle, his students included Isocrates. (Other students are named in later traditions; the "Suda" adds Pericles, Polus, and Alcidamas, Diogenes Laërtius mentions Antisthenes, and according to Philostratus, "I understand that he attracted the attention of the most admired men, Critias and Alcibiades who were young, and Thucydides and Pericles who were already old. Agathon too, the tragic poet, whom Comedy regards as wise and eloquent, often Gorgianizes in his iambic verse"). Additionally, although they are not described as his students, Gorgias is widely thought to have influenced the styles of the historian Thucydides, the tragic playwright Agathon, the doctor Hippocrates, the rhetorician Alcidamas, and the poet and commentator Lycophron.  Gorgias is reputed to have lived to be one hundred and eight years old (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He won admiration for his ability to speak on any subject (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He accumulated considerable wealth; enough to commission a gold statue of himself for a public temple. After his Pythian Oration, the Greeks installed a solid gold statue of him in the temple of Apollo at Delphi (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). He died at Larissa in Thessaly.

Philosophy.

The philosophies of the pre-Socratic Greek Sophists are controversial among scholars in general, due to their highly subtle and ambiguous writings and also to the fact that they are best known as characters in Plato's dialogues. Gorgias, however, is particularly frustrating for modern scholars to attempt to understand. While scholars debate the precise subtleties of the teachings of Protagoras, Hippias, and Prodicus, they generally agree on the basic frameworks of what these thinkers believed. With Gorgias, however, scholars widely disagree on even the most basic framework of his ideas, including over whether or not that framework even existed at all. The greatest hindrance to scholarly understanding of Gorgias's philosophy is that the vast majority of his writings have been lost and those that have survived have suffered considerable alteration by later copyists.  These difficulties are further compounded by the fact that Gorgias's rhetoric is frequently elusive and confusing; he makes many of his most important points using elaborate, but highly ambiguous, metaphors, similes, and puns. Many of Gorgias's propositions are also thought to be sarcastic, playful, or satirical. In his treatise "On Rhetoric", Aristotle characterizes Gorgias's style of oratory as "pervasively ironic" and states that Gorgias recommended responding to seriousness with jests and to jests with seriousness. Gorgias frequently blurs the lines between serious philosophical discourse and satire, which makes it extremely difficult for scholars to tell when he is being serious and when he is merely joking. Gorgias frequently contradicts his own statements and adopts inconsistent perspectives on different issues. As a result of all these factors, Scott Porter Consigny calls him "perhaps the most elusive of the polytropic quarry hunted in Plato's "Sophist".  Gorgias has been labelled "The Nihilist" because some scholars have interpreted his thesis on "the non-existent" to be an argument against the existence of anything that is straightforwardly endorsed by Gorgias himself. According to Alan Pratt, nihilism is "the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated." It is associated with pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence.  Gorgias presented his nihilist arguments in "On Non-Existence"; however, the original text is no longer extant. We only know his arguments through commentary by Sextus Empiricus and Pseudo-Aristotle's "De Melisso, Xenophane, Gorgia." Ostensibly Gorgias developed three sequential arguments: first, that nothing exists; second, that even if existence exists, it is inapprehensible to humans; and third, that even if existence is apprehensible, it certainly cannot be communicated or interpreted to one's neighbors.  That being said, there is consensus in late 20th century and early 21st century scholarship that the label 'nihilist' is misleading, in part because if his argument were genuinely meant to support nihilism it would be self-undermining. The argument, of course, "is" itself something, and has pretensions to communicate knowledge, in conflict with its explicit pronouncement that there is nothing and that it can't be known or communicated. Gisela Striker argues: "I find it hard to believe that anyone should ever have thought that Gorgias seriously advocated the view that nothing is and that he was, therefore, a 'nihilist.' Similarly Caston states: "Gorgias would have to be not merely disconsolate, but quite dull-witted, to have missed the conflict between his presentation and its content". Finally, Wardy says, "This sadly mistaken reading overlooks the most obvious consequence of Gorgias' "paradoxologia" (παραδοξολογία): his message refutes itself, and in consequence, so far from constituting a theory of "logos", it confronts us with a picture of what language cannot be, with what it cannot be assumed to aspire to be." Gigon and Newiger make similar points.

Rhetorical innovation.

Gorgias ushered in rhetorical innovations involving structure and ornamentation, and the introduced "paradoxologia" – the idea of paradoxical thought and paradoxical expression. For these advancements, Gorgias has been labeled the "father of sophistry" (Wardy 6). Gorgias is also known for contributing to the diffusion of the Attic Greek dialect as the language of literary prose. Gorgias was the first orator known to develop and teach a "distinctive style of speaking" (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33).  Gorgias' extant rhetorical works – "Encomium of Helen" (Ἑλένης ἐγκώμιον), "Defense of Palamedes" (Ὑπέρ Παλαμήδους ἀπολογία), "On Non-Existence" (Περὶ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἢ Περὶ φύσεως), and "Epitaphios" (Επιτάφιος) – come to us via a work entitled "Technai" (Τέχναι), a manual of rhetorical instruction, which may have consisted of models to be memorized and demonstrate various principles of rhetorical practice (Leitch, et al. 29). Although some scholars claim that each work presents opposing statements, the four texts can be read as interrelated contributions to the up-and-coming theory and art ("technē") of rhetoric (McComiskey 32). Of Gorgias' surviving works, only the "Encomium" and the "Defense" are believed to exist in their entirety. Meanwhile, there are his own speeches, rhetorical, political, or other. A number of these are referred to and quoted by Aristotle, including a speech on Hellenic unity, a funeral oration for Athenians fallen in war, and a brief quotation from an "Encomium on the Eleans." Apart from the speeches, there are paraphrases of the treatise "On Nature or the Non-Existent." These works are each part of the Diels-Kranz collection, and although academics consider this source reliable, many of the works included are fragmentary and corrupt. Questions have also been raised as to the authenticity and accuracy of the texts attributed to Gorgias (Consigny 4).  Gorgias' writings are intended to be both rhetorical (persuasive) and performative. He goes to great lengths to exhibit his ability of making an absurd, argumentative position appear stronger. Consequently, each of his works defend positions that are unpopular, paradoxical and even absurd. The performative nature of Gorgias' writings is exemplified by the way that he playfully approaches each argument with stylistic devices such as parody, artificial figuration and theatricality (Consigny 149). Gorgias' style of argumentation can be described as poetics-minus-the-meter ("poiêsis-minus-meter"). Gorgias argues that persuasive words have power ("dunamis") that is equivalent to that of the gods and as strong as physical force. In the "Encomium", Gorgias likens the effect of speech on the soul to the effect of drugs on the body: "Just as different drugs draw forth different humors from the body – some putting a stop to disease, others to life – so too with words: some cause pain, others joy, some strike fear, some stir the audience to boldness, some benumb and bewitch the soul with evil persuasion" (Gorgias 32). The "Encomium" "argues for the totalizing power of language."  Gorgias also believed that his "magical incantations" would bring healing to the human psyche by controlling powerful emotions. He paid particular attention to the sounds of words, which, like poetry, could captivate audiences. His florid, rhyming style seemed to hypnotize his audiences (Herrick 42).  Unlike other Sophists, such as Protagoras, Gorgias did not profess to teach "arete" (excellence, or, virtue). He believed that there was no absolute form of "arete", but that it was relative to each situation. For example, virtue in a slave was not the same as virtue in a statesman. He believed that rhetoric, the art of persuasion, was the king of all sciences, since he saw it as a techné with which one could persuade an audience toward any course of action. While rhetoric existed in the curriculum of every Sophist, Gorgias placed more prominence upon it than any of the others.  Much debate over both the nature and value of rhetoric begins with Gorgias. Plato's dialogue "Gorgias" presents a counter-argument to Gorgias' embrace of rhetoric, its elegant form, and performative nature (Wardy 2). The dialogue tells the story of a debate about rhetoric, politics and justice that occurred at a dinner gathering between Socrates and a small group of Sophists. Plato attempts to show that rhetoric does not meet the requirements to actually be considered a "technê" but rather is a somewhat dangerous "knack" to possess, both for the orator and for his audience, because it gives the ignorant the power to seem more knowledgeable than an expert to a group.

"On the Non-Existent".

Gorgias is the author of a lost work: "On Nature or the Non-Existent" (also "On Non-Existence"). Rather than being one of his rhetorical works, it presented a theory of being that at the same time refuted and parodied the Eleatic thesis. The original text was lost and today there remain just two paraphrases of it. The first is preserved by the Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus in "Against the Professors" and the other by Pseudo-Aristotle, the author of "On Melissus, Xenophanes, and Gorgias". Each work, however, excludes material that is discussed in the other, which suggests that each version may represent intermediary sources (Consigny 4). It is clear, however, that the work developed a skeptical argument, which has been extracted from the sources and translated as below:  The argument has largely been seen as an ironic refutation of Parmenides' thesis on Being. Gorgias set out to prove that it is as easy to demonstrate that being is one, unchanging and timeless as it is to prove that being has no existence at all. Regardless of how it "has largely been seen" it seems clear that Gorgias was focused instead on the notion that true objectivity is impossible since the human mind can never be separated from its possessor.  "How can anyone communicate the idea of color by means of words since the ear does not hear colors but only sounds?" This quote was used to show his theory that 'there is nothing', 'if there were anything no one would know it', 'and if anyone did know it, no one could communicate it'. This theory, thought of in the late 5th century BC, is still being contemplated by many philosophers throughout the world. This argument has led some to label Gorgias a nihilist (one who believes nothing exists, or that the world is incomprehensible, and that the concept of truth is fictitious).  For the first main argument where Gorgias says, "there is no-thing", he tries to persuade the reader that thought and existence are not the same. By claiming that if thought and existence truly were the same, then everything that anyone thought would suddenly exist. He also attempted to prove that words and sensations could not be measured by the same standards, for even though words and sensations are both derived from the mind, they are essentially different. This is where his second idea comes into place.

Rhetorical works.

"Encomium of Helen".

The Encomium of Helen is considered to be a good example of epideictic oratory and was supposed to have been Gorgias' "show piece or demonstration piece," which was used to attract students (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). In their writings, Gorgias and other sophists speculated "about the structure and function of language" as a framework for expressing the implications of action and the ways decisions about such actions were made" (Jarratt 103). And this is exactly the purpose of Gorgias' "Encomium of Helen". Of the three divisions of rhetoric discussed by Aristotle in his "Rhetoric" (forensic, deliberative, and epideictic), the "Encomium" can be classified as an epideictic speech, expressing praise for Helen of Troy and ridding her of the blame she faced for leaving Sparta with Paris (Wardy 26).  Helen – the proverbial "Helen of Troy" – exemplified both sexual passion and tremendous beauty for the Greeks. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the Queen of Sparta, and her beauty was seen by the Trojans as the direct cause of the decade long Trojan War between Greece and Troy. The war began after the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite asked Paris (a Trojan prince) to select who was the most beautiful of the three. Each goddess tried to influence Paris' decision, but he ultimately chose Aphrodite who then promised Paris the most beautiful woman. Paris then traveled to Greece where he was greeted by Helen and her husband Menelaus. Under the influence of Aphrodite, Helen allowed Paris to persuade her to elope with him. Together they traveled to Troy, not only sparking the war, but also a popular and literary tradition of blaming Helen for her wrongdoing. It is this tradition which Gorgias confronts in the "Encomium".  The "Encomium" opens with Gorgias explaining that "a man, woman, speech, deed, city or action that is worthy of praise should be honored with acclaim, but the unworthy should be branded with blame" (Gorgias 30). In the speech Gorgias discusses the possible reasons for Helen's journey to Troy. He explains that Helen could have been persuaded in one of four ways: by the gods, by physical force, by love, or by speech ("logos"). If it were indeed the plan of the gods that caused Helen to depart for Troy, Gorgias argues that those who blame her should face blame themselves, "for a human's anticipation cannot restrain a god's inclination" (Gorgias 31). Gorgias explains that, by nature, the weak are ruled by the strong, and, since the gods are stronger than humans in all respects, Helen should be freed from her undesirable reputation. If, however, Helen was abducted by force, it is clear that the aggressor committed a crime. Thus, it should be he, not Helen, who should be blamed. And if Helen was persuaded by love, she should also be rid of ill repute because "if love is a god, with the divine power of the gods, how could a weaker person refuse and reject him? But if love is a human sickness and a mental weakness, it must not be blamed as mistake, but claimed as misfortune" (Gorgias 32). Finally, if speech persuaded Helen, Gorgias claims he can easily clear her of blame. Gorgias explains: "Speech is a powerful master and achieves the most divine feats with the smallest and least evident body. It can stop fear, relieve pain, create joy, and increase pity" (Gorgias 31). It is here that Gorgias compares the effect of speech on the mind with the effect of drugs on the body. He states that Helen has the power to "lead" many bodies in competition by using her body as a weapon (Gumpert, 74). This image of "bodies led and misled, brought together and led apart, is of paramount importance in Gorgias' speech," (Gumpert, 74).  While Gorgias primarily used metaphors and paradox, he famously used "figures of speech, or schemata" (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa). This included balanced clauses (isocolon), the joining of contrasting ideas (antithesis), the structure of successive clauses (parison), and the repetition of word endings (homoeoteleuton) (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). The "Encomium" shows Gorgias' interest in argumentation, as he makes his point by "systematically refuting a series of possible alternatives," (Matsen, Rollinson and Sousa, 33). It is an encomium of the "rhetorical craft itself, and a demonstration of its power over us," (Gumpert, 73). According to Van Hook, "The Encomium of Helen" abounds in "amplification and brevity, a rhythm making prose akin to poetry, bold metaphors and poetic or unusual epithets" (122).

"Defense of Palamedes".

In the "Defense of Palamedes" Gorgias describes logos as a positive instrument for creating ethical arguments (McComiskey 38). The "Defense", an oration that deals with issues of morality and political commitment (Consigny 38), defends Palamedes who, in Greek mythology, is credited with the invention of the alphabet, written laws, numbers, armor, and measures and weights (McComiskey 47).  In the speech Palamedes defends himself against the charge of treason. In Greek mythology, Odysseus – in order to avoid going to Troy with Agamemnon and Menelaus to bring Helen back to Sparta – pretended to have gone mad and began sowing the fields with salt. When Palamedes threw Odysseus' son, Telemachus, in front of the plow, Odysseus avoided him, demonstrating that he was sane. Odysseus, who never forgave Palamedes for making him reveal himself, later accused Palamedes of betraying the Greeks to the Trojans. Soon after, Palamedes was condemned and killed (Jarratt 58).  In this epideictic speech, like the "Encomium", Gorgias is concerned with experimenting with how plausible arguments can cause conventional truths to be doubted (Jarratt 59). Throughout the text, Gorgias presents a method for composing logical ("logos"), ethical ("ethos") and emotional ("pathos") arguments from possibility, which are similar to those described by Aristotle in "Rhetoric". These types of arguments about motive and capability presented in the "Defense" are later described by Aristotle as forensic "topoi". Gorgias demonstrates that in order to prove that treason had been committed, a set of possible occurrences also need to be established. In the "Defense" these occurrences are as follows: communication between Palamedes and the enemy, exchange of a pledge in the form of hostages or money, and not being detected by guards or citizens. In his defense, Palamedes claims that a small sum of money would not have warranted such a large undertaking and reasons that a large sum of money, if indeed such a transaction had been made, would require the aid of many confederates in order for it to be transported. Palamedes reasons further that such an exchange could neither have occurred at night because the guards would be watching, nor in the day because everyone would be able to see. Palamedes continues, explaining that if the aforementioned conditions were, in fact, arranged then action would need to follow. Such action needed to take place either with or without confederates; however, if these confederates were free men then they were free to disclose any information they desired, but if they were slaves there was a risk of their voluntarily accusing to earn freedom, or accusing by force when tortured. Slaves, Palamedes says, are untrustworthy. Palamedes goes on to list a variety of possible motives, all of which he proves false.  Through the "Defense" Gorgias demonstrates that a motive requires an advantage such as status, wealth, honour, and security, and insists that Palamedes lacked a motive (McComiskey 47-49).

"Epitaphios" (or the Athenian funeral oration).

This text is considered to be an important contribution to the genre of epitaphios. During the 5th and 4th centuries BC, such funeral orations were delivered by well-known orators during public burial ceremonies in Athens, whereby those who died in wars were honoured. Gorgias' text provides a clever critique of 5th century propagandist rhetoric in imperial Athens and is the basis for Plato's parody, "Menexenus" (Consigny 2).

Reception and legacy.

In antiquity.

Plato was one of Gorgias' greatest critics and a student of Socrates. Plato's dislike for sophistic doctrines is well known, and it is in his eponymous dialogue that both Gorgias himself as well as his rhetorical beliefs are ridiculed (McComiskey 17).  In his dialogue "Gorgias", Plato distinguishes between philosophy and rhetoric, characterizing Gorgias as a shallow, opportunistic orator who entertains his audience with his eloquent words and who believes that it is unnecessary to learn the truth about actual matters when one has discovered the art of persuasion. In the dialogue, Gorgias responds to one of Socrates' statements as follows: "Rhetoric is the only area of expertise you need to learn. You can ignore all the rest and still get the better of the professionals!" (Plato 24).  Gorgias, whose "On Non-Existence" is taken to be critical of the Eleatic tradition and its founder Parmenides, describes philosophy as a type of seduction, but he does not deny philosophy entirely, giving some respect to philosophers.  Plato answers Gorgias by reaffirming the Parmenidean ideal that being is the basic substance and reality of which all things are composed, insisting that philosophy is a dialectic distinct from and superior to rhetoric (Wardy 52).  Aristotle also criticizes Gorgias, labeling him a mere Sophist whose primary goal is to make money by appearing wise and clever, thus deceiving the public by means of misleading or sophistic arguments.  Despite these negative portrayals, Gorgias's style of rhetoric was highly influential. Gorgias's "Defense of Helen" influenced Euripides's "Helen" and his "Defense of Palamedes" influenced the development of western dicanic argument, including possibly even Plato's version of the "Apology of Socrates".

Modern reception.

For almost all of western history, Gorgias has been a marginalized and obscure figure in both philosophical thought and culture at large. In the nineteenth century, however, writers such as the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) and the English classicist George Grote (1794–1871) began to work to "rehabilitate" Gorgias and the other Sophists from their longstanding reputation as unscrupulous charlatans who taught people how to persuade others using rhetoric for unjust causes. As early as 1872, the English philosopher Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900) was already calling this the "old view". Modern sources continue to affirm that the old stereotype of the Sophists is not accurate.  Since the late twentieth century, scholarly interest in Gorgias has increased dramatically and the amount of research conducted on him is even beginning to rival the research on his more traditionally popular contemporary Parmenides. Gorgias's distinctive writing style, filled with antithesis and figurative language, has been seen as foreshadowing the later development of Menippean satire, as well as, in more recent times, the mannerist, grotesque, and carnivalesque genres. Several scholars have even argued that Gorgias's thoughts on the nature of knowledge, language, and truth foreshadow the views of modern philosophers such as Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, Ludwig Wittgenstein, A. J. Ayer, Amélie Rorty, and Stanley Fish. Nonetheless, many academic philosophers still ridicule any efforts to portray Gorgias as a serious thinker.

Gorgias (483 – 375 BCE) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger. "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and give impromptu replies." He has been called "Gorgias the Nihilist" although the degree to which this epithet adequately describes his philosophy is controversial.

Gorgias von Leontinoi (altgriechisch Γοργίας "Gorgías"; * zwischen 490 und 485 v. Chr. in Leontinoi; † wohl frühestens 396 v. Chr.) war ein griechischer Rhetor, Rhetoriklehrer und Philosoph. Er wurde schon in der Antike mitunter zu den Sophisten gezählt, doch in der Forschung ist diese Einordnung, die von der Bestimmung des Begriffs Sophistik abhängt, umstritten.