A study of the relationship between Greek prose literature of the Antonine Age in the second century AD and idea-theory. The author considers sophistic declamation, the relative value attributed to prose and poetry, attitudes towards Xenophon and Demosthenes, and the reputation of Aelius Aristides.
A study of the relationship between Greek prose literature of the Antonine Age in the second century AD and idea-theory. The author considers sophistic declamation, the relative value attributed to prose and poetry, attitudes towards Xenophon and Demosthenes, and the reputation of Aelius Aristides.
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between literature and stylistic theory in the Antonine Age. The literature is the prose literature of the Second Sophistic and the stylistic theory is the so-called idea-theory set out in the Peri Ideon of Hermogenes of Tarsus, as well as two anonymous works: the Peri Politikou Logou and the Peri Aphelous Logou. The author discusses the relationship betweenidea-theory and sophistic declamation, the relative value attributed to prose and poetry, attitudes towards Xenophon and Demosthenes, and the reputation of Aelius Aristides. He concludes that the links between literary theory andliterary practice are greater than previously imagined. A translation of the anonymous Peri Aphelous Logou (`On Plain Language') is included as an appendix. This has not previously been translated although it is the major source for the reception of Xenoephon in this period.
“This slim volume offers much to students of the Second Sophistic”
`An important and stimulating book'Malcolm Heath, The Classical Review
Ian Rutherford is Professor of Greek at the University of Reading. His principal research interests are Greek lyric, religious practice and state-pilgrimage, and the relations between Greek and eastern cultures. His Pindar's Paeans was published in 2001, and he is an editor of Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity: Seeing the Gods (2005).
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between literature and stylistic theory in the Antonine Age. The literature is the prose literature of the Second Sophistic and the stylistic theory is the so-called idea-theory set out in the Peri Ideon of Hermogenes of Tarsus, as well as two anonymous works: the Peri Politikou Logou and the Peri Aphelous Logou. The author discusses the relationship between idea-theory and sophistic declamation, the relative value attributed to prose and poetry, attitudes towards Xenophon and Demosthenes, and the reputation of Aelius Aristides. He concludes that the links between literary theory and literary practice are greater than previously imagined. A translation of the anonymous Peri Aphelous Logou (`On Plain Language') is included as an appendix. This has not previously been translated although it is the major source for the reception of Xenoephon in this period.
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