Demosthenes is held as the greatest of all
Greek orators by many, not least of all
the Greeks. His main credit to this title is a set of
orations against
Philip II of
Macedon, father of
Alexander the Great. These orations, which gave birth to the
word "
philippics", roused the Greek populace against the outsider. Unfortunately for them, (not to mention for Demosthenes) Philip Was Not Amused and proceeded to thoroughly defeat the
insurgents.
Not being an idiot, Alexander had Demosthenes exiled as soon as possible on the basis of a rather obscure charge. When Alexander died, however, Demosthenes was free to come back. Apparently, being exiled for a year hadn't taught him anything- he attempted to instigate another rebellion, which failed miserably. He fled again, eventually killing himself to avoid capture.