Rhetoric in Antiquity PDF
Preview Rhetoric in Antiquity
RHETORIC IN ANTIQUITY ; Laurent Pernot RHETORIC IN ANTIQUITY Translated by W. E. Higgins ; The Catholic University of America Press Washington, D.C. Originally published in as La Rhétorique dans l’Antiquitéby Librairie Générale Française in the series “Antiquité” edited by Paul Demont. Copyright © The Catholic University of America Press All rights reserved The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Li- brary materials, .-. ∞ -- Pernot, Laurent. [Rhétorique dans l’Antiquité. English] Rhetoric in antiquity / Laurent Pernot ; translated by W. E. Higgins. p. cm. “Originally published in as La rhétorique dans l’Antiquité by Librairie générale française in the series “Antiquité edited by Paul Demont”—T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. :978----(pbk. : alk. paper) :---(pbk. : alk. paper) .Rhetoric, Ancient. .Speeches, addresses, etc., Greek—History and criticism. .Speeches, addresses, etc., Latin—History and criticism. .Oratory, Ancient. I. Title. . ´.—dc Contents Translator’s Note vii Introduction ix First Excursus:Rhetoric of .l.l./xiii . Rhetoric before “Rhetoric” Homer / From the Homeric World to the Classical World / . The Sophistic Revolution The “First Inventors” / The Sophists / Gorgias / Second Excursus:The Birth of the Word Rhetorike/ . The Athenian Moment The Practice of Oratory / The Republic of the Orators: Reality and Image / Third Excursus:The Canon of the Ten Attic Orators / Teaching and Theory of Rhetoric / The Philosophical and Moral Problem of Rhetoric / . The Hellenistic Globalization Advances in Rhetorical Technique / Philosophies Investigate Rhetoric / The Life of Eloquence in the Greek World / Fourth Excursus:Greek Political Eloquence Did Not Die at Khaironeia / vi Contents . The Roman Way and Romanization The Background of Roman Rhetoric / Stars of Roman Rhetoric before Cicero / The Conquest of Greek Rhetoric / Cicero / Fifth Excursus:Laughter as Weapon / Cicero’s Contemporaries / . The Empire: Innovation in the Tradition Decline or Renaissance of Rhetoric? / General Characteristics of the Period / Literary Criticism / Archaism and Atticism / Rhetoric, Queen of the Curriculum / Treatises on Theory / The Emperor as Orator / The Practice of Oratory and the Irresistible Rise of the Epideictic Genre / The Roman Orators / The Second Sophistic / Sixth Excursus:Aelius Aristides, Sophist by the Grace of Asklepios / Rhetoric and Literature/ Conclusion: The Heritage of Greco-Roman Rhetoric The Conversion of Rhetoric / From the End of Antiquity to Modern Times / Greco-Roman Rhetoric Today / Thesaurus: The System of Rhetoric Chronological Table Bibliography Index of Proper Names Index of Subjects Index of Greek Words Index of Latin Words Translator’s Note All ancient sources have been rendered into English based on the translations found in the Loeb Classical Library, when available, and on others, identified as they occur, when there is no Loeb volume. The initials WEH indicate those I have done myself. I have also noted where I have modified existing translations, Loeb or others, in order to suit the tenor of Professor Pernot’s argument better or to foster, in my opinion, a contemporary reader’s livelier understanding. I have also translated any French in addition to Professor Pernot’s. In translating Greek and Latin technical terms, I have been guided by the solutions of other translators and scholars of ancient rhetoric. I hope this will facilitate the ability of the non-specialist reader or the reader without Greek and Latin to use and cross-reference this volume with other books on the topic. The reader should note, however, that standard or “canonical” translations for each and every term do not ex- ist in English, so some variety is inevitable, mirroring the variety and nuance of the ancient writers. As for the spelling of Greek names in English, I have generally pre- ferred to rescue them from the practice of making them look like Ro- mans in disguise, but I cannot claim complete consistency in solving this perennial problem, especially where the most widely known names are concerned. So I am content to live with a happy eclecticism that can tolerate both “Socrates” and “Isokrates.” A translator necessarily serves two masters, a parlous state about which no less an authority than Sacred Scripture warns us. The fact that the work translated here deals in part with the intricacies of trans- lation as well as with the requirements of style only compounds the in- herent riskiness of the situation. So it is with more than formulaic vii viii Translator’sNote courtesy that I add my own acknowledgments to those of Professor Pernot below. I thank David McGonagle, director of the CUA Press, for his support and willingness to free me from some of the tasks asso- ciated with preparing this volume. My editor at the Press, Sarah Don- ahue, made helpful suggestions improving my English and the book’s format. Gerald Heverly, Classics librarian at New York University, facil- itated my work by introducing me to resources available at the Bobst Library. I must also personally thank Pierre Zoberman for bringing this project to my attention. A translator himself and bilingue extraordi- naire, he lavished time and insight on major and minor points of the translation and helped to make it better than it otherwise would have been. All gaffes, however, remain my responsibility. Introduction The word “rhetoric” comes from the ancient Greek rh¯etorik¯e,which means “art of the spoken word.” Right off,etymology indicates the role the ancients played in the subject of the present work. If Greco-Roman antiquity by itself did not invent the art of speaking—other, more an- cient civilizations could lay claim to this honor—it did develop it in a special way and conceptualize it with an unprecedented rigor and rich- ness. This art has occupied an important place in the history of West- ern culture, and it continues to exert a genuine influence, although less visibly present than before, on the modern world’s forms of expression and modes of thought. But in bequeathing us the art of the spoken word, antiquity also left us with a fear of it. Some among the ancients advertised their mistrust of rhetoric, and still today the noun and the adjective “rhetoric” and “rhetorical” may remain pejorative in accepted usage, where they can designate empty or deceitful words. As with “literary,” “prosaic,” “so- phistic”—all terms with which it is connected—the word “rhetoric” sometimes carries a sense of hesitation and suspicion, which corre- sponds to a very deep-seated anxiety about the power of language, its autonomy in relation to things and ideas, and the risks of its misuse. Here the aim is to go beyond this appearance, to get past the anxiety, and to tryto understand better an essential and controversial object. First of all, what is rhetoric? We can look for an answer to this ques- tion in the treatise of Quintilian on the education of the orator, which devotes a chapter to different definitions proposed in antiquity (Insti- tutio Oratoria .: first century a.d.). The most widespread opinion defined rhetoric as “the power of persuading” (vis persuadendi).Gener- ally, this definition signified that the orator is someone whose speeches ix
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