Alcidamas, Aristophanes and the beginnings of Greek stylistic theory

More about the book

This book examines the ideas of style as used by ancient Greek writers up to and including Aristotle. Arguing that these ideas were much more clearly defined at this stage than has usually been thought, it pays particular attention to the early connections between poetic and rhetorical theory and demonstrates the same influences at work in both. From Aristophanes' Frogs to Aristotle's Rhetoric, and from Plato's Phaedrus to the fragments of Gorgias' pupil Alcidamas, the discussion brings together many early perceptions of style and focuses attention on the antithesis of 'unwrittenae and 'writtenae, corresponding, it is argued, to the better known opposites of 'grandae and 'thinae. This connection is further shown by copious illustrations from literary theory preserved by later writers, both Greek and Roman. The climax of the book is the examination of Aristophanes' descriptions of orators in the light of the rhetorical theory of following generations and his own description of poetic styles: a unity stretching across centuries and across all forms of verbal expression is revealed. The detailed Index verborum and Index locorum increase the book's usefulness to all students of ancient rhetoric.