Epideictic Oratory:
Rereading this speech has helped me understand so much about
what epideictic oratory actually is. The biggest goal of it is to praise (or
blame, but in the case of Pericles and Athens to praise). He even says at the
beginning that people may become jealous of all the praise heaped upon the
dead, recognizing that such exaggeration is an important part of this branch of
speaking. - He praises their fathers who created Athens, praises them for their “courage and virtues”.
- He exaggerates the power of their army, stating that others always say they fought the entire Athenian army.
- He states that all Athenians show exceptional grace and exceptional versatility.
- He praises all the positive aspects of the men who fought and downplays the negatives that they have done. For example, “[the soldiers have] done more service to the commonwealth than they ever did harm in their private lives”.
By doing such praise he is also setting up a bigger
enthymeme. Not one that is said in a sentence or two, but his message as a
whole.
Enthymemes:
The minor premise he says is: These men fought for Athens.
The conclusion he draws is: Therefore Athens is great.
The missing major premise he is inferring us to realize is:
Those men who fight for something, make it great.
In addition to this overarching Enthymeme, he uses many
smaller ones throughout his speech.
- Page 73, line 24-26: He assumes that which is appropriate is advantageous.
- Page 76, line 1-4: He assumes that we must fight the cause of those who sacrifice for us.
- Page 76, line 29: He indicates that it takes doing great things to be worthy of Athens.
It is an interesting idea that enthymemes can extend through an entire speech, not just to prove or persuade one point! I wonder if Pericles uses more exaggeration (which according to Aristotle is primarily used for epideictic rhetoric) or enthymeme (which is primarily used for judiciary rhetoric.) You should check out my blog post to see how enthymemes and testimony play into the Encomium of Helen!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this analysis completely. I didn't even realize how many enthymemes were used until I read your blog. Looking back, those enthymemes were what made me want to sacrifice for Athens myself by the time I finished the text. Pericles successful use of these parts (each part being an individual enthymeme) made up the whole speech as you pointed out which is making use of Division as a topoi.
ReplyDeleteI was really hoping to see a good example of an enthymeme after studying about the concept and you did it beautifully. I also agree with Macey and believe that it was the usage of enthymemes that got me all fired up and took a hit at the appeal of pathos.
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