On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse

352 Pages·2006·2.47 MB·English

by  Aristotle

ON RHETORIC
R
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ARISTOTLE
R
ON RHETORIC
A THEORY OF CIVIC DISCOURSE
Translated with Introduction, Notes, and Appendices by
GEORGE A. KENNEDY
Second Edition
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
2007
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aristotle.
[Rhetoric. English]
On rhetoric : a theory of civic discourse / by Aristotle ; translated with
introduction, notes, and appendices by George A. Kennedy. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-19-530508-1 (alk. paper) — ISBN 13: 978-0-19-530509-8
(pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-19-530508-6 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-19-530509-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Rhetoric—Early works to 1800. 2. Aristotle. Rhetoric. I. Kennedy, George
Alexander, 1928– II. Title.
PN173.A7K46 2006
808.5—dc22
2005055487
Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper.
To My Grandson,
Alexander Kennedy Morton,
The Original Rhetoric for a Later Alexander
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Contents
Prooemion ix
Notes on the Translation xiv
Introduction 1
A. Aristotle’s Life and Works 1
B. Rhetoric Before Aristotle 7
C. Aristotle’s Classification of Rhetoric 16
D. Aristotle’s Original Audience and His Audience Today 17
E. The Strengths and Limitations of On Rhetoric 20
F. Chapter-by-Chapter Outline of On Rhetoric 23
BOOK 1: Pisteis, or The Means of Persuasion in Public
Address 27
BOOK 2: Pisteis, or The Means of Persuasion in Public
Address (continued) 111
BOOK 3: Delivery, Style, and Arrangement 193
Appendix I: Supplementary Texts 251
A. Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen 251
B. Socrates’ Critique of Sophistic Rhetoric 256
C. Lysias’ Speech Against the Grain Dealers 259
D. Introduction to Dialectic from Aristotle, Topics 1.1–3 263
E. Two Selections from Isocrates 266
1. From Against the Sophists 266
2. From Antidosis 267
F. Selections from Rhetoric for Alexander 269
vii
viii Contents
G. On Word Choice and Metaphor from Aristotle’s Poetics 275
H. Demosthenes’ Third Philippic 277
Appendix II: Supplementary Essays 293
A. The Earliest Rhetorical Handbooks 293
B. The History of the Text After Aristotle 306
Glossary 313
Bibliography 321
Index 331
Prooemion
The study of rhetoric in the western world began in Greece in the fifth
century b.c.e. Democratic government was emerging in Athens,
based on the assumption that all citizens had an equal right and duty
to participate in their own government. To do so effectively, they
needed to be able to speak in public. Decisions on public policy were
made in regularly held assemblies composed of adult male citizens,
any of whom had the right to speak. Not surprisingly, however, the
leadership role in debate was played by a small number of ambitious
individuals called rhBtores, who sought to channel the course of
events in a direction they thought was best for the city or for them-
selves. There were no professional lawyers in Greece, and if citizens
needed to seek redress in the courts for some wrong or if they were
summoned to court as defendants, they were expected in most
instances to speak on their own behalf. There were also occasions for
public address on holidays or at funerals, as well as more informal
speeches at symposia or private meetings.
Some people seem to have a natural gift for communication;
others can develop these skills by studying the principles of speech
and composition, by observing the method of successful speakers
and writers, and by practice. To meet the needs of students in Greece,
teachers called “sophists” emerged who took students for pay and
taught them how to be effective in public life by marshaling argu-
ments, dividing speeches into logical parts, and carefully choosing
and combining words. One of the most famous of these teachers was
a man named Gorgias, who came from Sicily to Athens in 427 b.c.e.
and made a great impression on his audiences by his poetic style and
paradoxical arguments. Others began to publish short handbooks on
the “art” of speeches, concerned primarily with showing how a person
with little or no experience could organize a speech for delivery in a
court of law and how to argue on the basis of the probability of what
someone might have done in a given situation. These handbooks
ix