A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric

Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1977 A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric Richard C Blakeman Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Speech Communication at Eastern Illinois University Find out more about the program Recommended Citation Blakeman, Richard C., "A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric" (1977) Masters Theses 3354 https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3354 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep For more information, please contact tabruns@eiu.edu PAPER CERTIFICATE #2 TO: Graduate Degree Can didates who h ave w r i t t en formal theses SUBJECT: Permission to r ep ro duce theses The University Library is r eceivin g a number of requests from oth er in their library holdings Although no copyright laws are involved, t institutions asking p erm ission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion feel that profe ss ional courtesy demands that permission be obtained we from the a u th or before we allow theses to be copied Pl ease sign one of the following statements: Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend my th esis to a repu t able college or university for the purpose of copying it for inclusion in that institution! s library or research holdings J:>l,.te I respectfully request B oo th Library of Eastern Illinois University not allow my th esis be reproduced because ������� Date pdm Author A Synoptic History Classical Of Rhetoric (TITLE) BY Richard C Blakeman THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master Of IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, Arts EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 1977 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE �r�1t;,7 DATE ; '/ c?jdcd /177 DATE / TA B LE O F CO NTE NTS Chapter One Prospe ctus a O rigin of the Study b Purpose of the Study c Revi ew of the Literatu re d Materi a l s e Method and Procedure f Li mitations of the Study g Sign i §can ce of the Study h Organ i zation of the Study • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ., •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Chapter Three The G reek Phi I osophers a Plato b I socrates c A ri stot I e d Anaxi menes ' Rhetori ca Ad A l exandrum • • • • • • • • • Chapter Two The Sophist i c Period a Genera l Ba ckg round b Rhetori ca l E mphases of the Spphi sti c Pe ri od c Criti cisms of Sophi stry d The I n d i vidua l Sophi sts l)Corax and Tisias 2) Protagoras 3)Gorg i as 4) H i ppias 5)Thrasyma chus 6) Theodorus 7) Prod i cus • • 2 5 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • a G enera l Backg round b The Dec l amati o of the N ee-Sophisti c Period c The C ri t i c i sm of N ee-Sop h i sti c Dec l amati on • • • • • • • • • • • 33 33 41 46 55 d -i- • • l 59 59 60 65 70 76 78 • • Chapter Fi ve The Nee-Sop h i sti c Period • Chapter Four The Roman Period a The Transi tion From G reek to Roman Rhetori c b [Ci cero] R hetori ca Ad JllMMlm llliabnJ c C i cero d Qui nti l ian e Dionysius of Ha l i carnassus f [ Long i nus] On The Sub l i me • 10 10 13 16 18 19 21 24 26 27 28 30 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 83 83 86 88 Tab l e of Contents (cont ' d ) 92 92 95 Chapter S ix Conc l uding Rema rks a Con c l us i ons b Di re ct ions for Further Resea rch • Bib l iography • • • • ; • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 98 - i i- Prefa ce I am deep l y indebted to severa l peop l e for both the orig i n and the conc l usion of thi s study Fi rtt and foremost, to D r B F McC l erren , Professor of Speec h Commun i cation , Eastern l l i nois Un i ve rsiW, for his i mpetus , re i n forcement , schol a r l y cri ti c i sm , and conti nued support of my work in the fi e l d To my commi ttee members, Dr Ca l vi n Smi t h and R G l en Wi l ey , for the i r seem i ng l y end l ess hours of rea d i ng , commenta ry , and schol arly prodd ing To my father- i n-I-aw , w ho made the typing of the study easier throug h the loan of h i s typewriter Fina l l y , to my dear w i fe Tammy , for pu tting up with my l ong hours at the typewriter and for supporti ng my ent i re l i fe w i th her l ove -iii- C HA PT E R O N E : PRO S PECTUS For every tree to grow , there must be roots The fi e l d of Spee c h , often as expans i ve as the largest oak , has roots tha t enab l e i t to g row and continue to b l oom Yet for as much as no pa rt of a tree can forget the i mporta n ce of i ts roots , the fi e l d of Speech no longer seems to resemb l e a tree There a re those today who wou l d dismiss the roots of the field as uni mportant or even nonexisten t: they wou l d g rasp excl usive l y after the supe rfi c i a l beauty o f observation a n d experi mentati on a s t h e on l y means t o truth Certa i n l y , to the naked eye , the roots a re not the most becom i ng pa rt of a tree , but wi thout them the growth of that whi ch is aestheti cia l ly p l easi ng wou l d not be possi b l e Thi s study seeks to go beyond su c h superfi cia l and seasona l beauty: i t seeks to revea l the roots A O rigin of the Study The basis for this study l i es in a frustration to be found in any l i bra ry of c l assi ca l rhetori c: the l a ck of any sing l e work to su rvey the enti rety of the c l assi ca l period of rhetori ca l history Whil e many authors have done extensi ve scho l a r l y work on myriads of specifi c topi cs , yet the student fi nds it i mposs i b l e to consu l t a s i ng l e source whi ch wi l l convey both the ove l l fee l i ng and the spe c i fi c rhetori ca l emphases of the pe riod as a w hol e Thi s study attempts to contribute su ch a text to the fi e l d of Speech A second o rig i n for this study comes out of the contempora ry rej ection of the h istori ca l foundations previous l y mentioned Whil e the fi e l d of Speech , a l ong with every other edu cationa l fi e l d , is bei ng ca l l ed upon to retu rn to the 1 bas i cs11 of the fi e l d , some fee l that these 11basi cs 11 can be found somew here other than i n the rhetori ca l past T h i s work -3is deve l oped in order to tra ce out the ma jor stra ins of the c l ass i ca l foundations of rhetori c Some of that w h i c h i s esta b l ished w i l l hopefu l l y be seen as the 11bas i cs 11 that some are searchi ng fo r B Purpose o f the Study The pu rpose of this stydy is to d iscove r the ma jor theori es and methods of rhetoric during the c l assi ca l period Whi l e the defi n i tions of the te rms 11theori es11 and 11 methods 11 wi l l va ry from contribution to contri bution , there must be some operationa l defi n i tion of the pe riod of time t hat is under study For the pu rposes of thi s study , the c l assi ca l period wi l l be defi ned as fo l l ows: the period of time w h i ch beg i ns w ith the tributi ons of the Sophists and ends w ith the neo-Sophist i c rhetori c of Seneca the E l der Chrono l og i ca l l y , the period extends from 500 B C throug h the yea r 100 A D The spe c i fi c purpose of this st, d y does not i n c l ude the study or i nvest igation of any one theorist or theory i n gretit depth , as such study has been adequate l y done by i nd i vidua l scholars in yea rs past This study i ntends to provi de a genera l know l edge of the background , contributions, and un i que featu res of ea c h i n d i vi dua l mak ing a sign i fi cant contribution to the c l assi ca l pe riod The centra l i dea w h i c h g u i des the enti re work is that the author shou l d provide for other scho l a rs a work w h i c h may be examined in order to ga i n summary know l edge of any one theorist of the c l assi ca l period , yet w h i ch a l so de l i neates the thread of rhetori ca l deve l opment as i t exi