Assignment: Aristotle and Codifying Ancient Greek Rhetoric

An important turning point in ancient Greek culture comes about when the powers of language move from practice to theory; that is, when oratory becomes rhetoric.

Oratory (speech making) preceded rhetoric (an awareness of the powers of speech and the effort to use these powers artfully). Thus, powerful examples of speaking are found in Homer's epics, but no real analysis of that speaking occurs, just the general appreciation of oratorical powers. Similarly, the powers of language are evident in Greek drama and poetry, where those powers are respected, but not inspected with any rigor or method.

Pragmatic and professional rhetoric came along in the 5th century BCE via "logographers" or "sophists" who offered to compose speeches for clients or to train them in speaking. Corax and Tisias were seen as representative of the earliest efforts to write handbooks to help with this.

A handbook is one thing, but systematic rhetoric is another. It was not until Plato's student, Aristotle (384-322 BCE), that rhetoric as a systematic study came into being.  Aristotle did more than make lists of possible approaches one might use to win an argument; he theorized rhetoric (much as he did other subjects like biology, physics, and poetry).

When consulting a comprehensive reference to rhetoric such as Silva Rhetoricae, the Forest of Rhetoric, one is viewing the results not of the sophists, but of the systematizers like Aristotle and others who created a taxonomy of terms so that rhetoric could truly be an art: something that could be rationally understood and mastered in practice.

I'd like my students to read from the first book of Aristotle's Rhetoric while simultaneously referring to Silva Rhetoricae for the key concepts from this section of the treatise. Then, returning either to the Encomium of Helen by Gorgias or to the Funeral Oration of Pericles, they are  to analyze one of these speeches for evidence of the terms or methods discussed by Aristotle (in a post of 300-400 words).

A guide to reading Aristotle's Rhetoric follows

A one-line-per chapter summary of Aristotle's Rhetoric is available at Silva Rhetoricae, but it is suggested that students consult the helpful chapter summaries in the Joe Sachs edition (pp. 121-23). Key concepts should be looked up in Silva Rhetoricae:

1. Chapter 1 (pp. 133-37) Read more closely. Key concepts: dialectic, art/techne. (More on techne as an art in rhetoric); persuasive appeals
2. Chapter 2 (pp. 137-43) Read more closely. Key concept: enthymeme
3. Chapter 3 (pp. 143-45) Read more closely. Key concepts: branches of oratory: forensic/judicial, deliberative, and epideictic
4. Chapters 4-8 (pp. 145-61). Skim and sample. Look for his discussion of topoi (commonplaces) and for conventional expectations regarding specific subjects.
5. Chapter 9 (pp. 161-67). Read more closely. Key concept: epideictic oratory; amplification and hyperbole
6. Chapter 10 (pp. 167-70). Read more closely. Key concept: forensic oratory
7. Chapter 11-12 (pp. 170-78). Skim and sample. Look for how Aristotle is bringing in psychology to rhetoric (see pathos)
8. Chapters 13-14. Skip or skim.
9. Chapter 15 (pp. 183-88). Read more closely. Key concepts: topics of invention, and specifically those listed under "Testimony" (Can you tell the difference between artistic and nonartistic proofs?)

This assignment is due Tuesday 9/30/14 at 10pm, though I will allow an extension of 24 hours for the blog post if you wish to take it. The readings, however, will still be due before class on Wednesday, and there will be a quiz on the Aristotle reading and the rhetorical terms.