 The English noun and adjective "panegyric" seems to have been borrowed from the French word, but no doubt with cognisance of its Latin and Greek origins.In Athens such speeches were delivered at national festivals or games, with the object of rousing the citizens to emulate the glorious deeds of their ancestors.The most famous are the "Olympiacus" of Gorgias, the "Olympiacus" of Lysias, and the "Panegyricus" and "Panathenaicus" (neither of them, however, actually delivered) of Isocrates.