The Genres of Rhetorical Speeches in Greek and Roman Antiquity

Download or read book The Genres of Rhetorical Speeches in Greek and Roman Antiquity written by Cristina Pepe and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-09-12 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Genres of Rhetorical Speeches in Greek and Roman Antiquity, Cristina Pepe offers a complete overview of the concept of speech genre within ancient rhetoric. By analyzing sources dating from the 5th-4th century BC, the author proves that the well-known classification in three rhetorical genres (deliberative, judicial, epideictic), introduced by Aristotle, was rooted in the debate concerning the forms and functions of the art of persuasion in classical Athens. Genres play a leading role in Aristotle’s Rhetoric, and the analysis of considerable sections of the treatise shows profound links between the characterization of the rhetorical genres and Aristotelian philosophy as a whole. Finally, the volume explores the developments of the theory of genres in Hellenistic and Imperial rhetoric.