Any library can benefit from the inclusion of Greco-Roman classics. Since the Enlightenment, these classics have influenced world thought because authors have adopted the philosophies, theories or ideas presented in these as the height of human ideology. Even if these ideas are extremely outdated, understanding them helps to clarify the reasons for some of the strange philosophies or beliefs modern branches of the humanities and sciences have retained. Thus, I have requested a few of these annotated re-releases of these classics before, and will continue to request them as they pop up among academic publishers.
“This volume contains three rhetorical treatises dating probably from the reign of Diocletian (AD 285–312) that provide instruction on how to compose epideictic (display) speeches for a wide variety of occasions both public and private. Two are attributed to one Menander Rhetor of Laodicea (in southwestern Turkey); the third, known as the Ars Rhetorica, incorrectly to the earlier historian and literary critic Dionysius of Halicarnassus. These treatises derive from the schools of rhetoric that flourished in the Roman Empire from the 2nd through 4th centuries AD in the Greek East. Although important examples of some genres of occasional prose were composed in the 5th and 4th centuries BC by Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, and especially Isocrates, it was with the flowering of rhetorical prose during the so-called Second Sophistic in the second half of the 2nd century AD that more forms were developed as standard repertoire and became exemplary./ Distinctly Hellenic and richly informed by the prose and poetry of a venerable past, these treatises are addressed to the budding orator contemplating a civic career, one who would speak for his city’s interests to the Roman authorities and be an eloquent defender of its Greek culture and heritage. They provide a window into the literary culture, educational values and practices, and social concerns of these Greeks under Roman rule, in both public and private life, and considerably influenced later literature both pagan and Christian.”
I opened this book a few times already while searching for inspiration with my own scholarly writing. I found a lot of curious ideas. For example, I mentioned in one of my essays that there needs to be an Olympics for writers like Dionysia, and then as I was flipping through this book, I found a suggestion for this type of an Olympic writing event in this collection. This shows that I have more in common in my ideas about how the world and intellectual pursuits should work with 2nd century AD writers than with my contemporaries. I also found some inspiration in the strict ideas expressed regarding the elements of proper rhetorical structure in these pages. Since it worked for me a couple of times, I recommend glancing through this collection as a cure for writer’s block.
This classics series has small book sizes, which is useful for those who want to fit one of these in a pocket if going for a walk or to the beach with it. I personally prefer larger page sizes because I haven’t gone walking or skating in a couple of decades to avoid sun-exposure, but given the booming tourism industry, I think Harvard is right to offer it in this size for this particular market with free vacation time. These collections are also useful for those who are learning Greek, as the Greek original texts are placed next to the precise translations, allowing readers to check their comprehension in the other language. The “Introduction” to the first work by Rhetor does state that the original Greek text contained “many errors and problems”, which were corrected by the edition’s editors. I cannot read Greek, so I cannot check if the errors were only fixed in English or in the Greek version as well (2). This is a relatively short set of introductory remarks that presents only essential information even a casual reader might want to know prior to diving in. The Rhetor text includes instructions on composing various genres such as: Cletic, Sendoff, Philosophical, Mythical, Genealogical and Fictive Hymns, as well as instructions on composition “Praise” for a Country, Cities, Harbors, Gulfs, Acropolis, and guidance on rhetoric speech types such as the Royal Oration, Arrival, Bedtime, Birthday, Consolation, Ambassador, and Leave-taking. Many of these topics still make up commonly used speeches types today: given how most scholars tend to echo older scholars, the prevalence of these types of speeches in our culture might be due to Rhetor isolating them as significant formulas. Since I don’t believe in celebrating birthdays, this is the first section that draws me; it recommends: “praise of his family, followed by his birth, upbringing, activities, and deeds… you should make comparisons…” Several examples of portions of these speeches are given, as in: “‘The most important thing about this child is that he has already inspired speeches about himself’” (259-61). Similar formulas with proposed sentences and general types of information to include can be found in modern how-to-write-a-mystery and the like books. Most of these types of speeches and formulaic novels are very similar to each other because of these types of formula-offering rhetoric textbooks. Ars Rhetorica is repetitive in the types of advice it offers, as it also includes sections on marriage, birthday and funeral speeches. The birthday section also asks speakers to refer to the time of the year, seasons, associated festivals and the like. In the personalized section, it recommends: “praise of… his natural qualities, his build, his strength? If he is big, he is like Ajax; if handsome and brave, like Achilles… If he is a good man, say that he combines spirit with gentleness and is quick to understand. If he is small, say that he is of greater stature in the virtue of his soul…” (395-7). While this is pretty silly, and I would recommend breaking these types of formulas whenever possible to say anything else in such speeches, I find reading this type of advice inspiring because it makes me think about why I find these formulas to be annoying, so that I am more careful to write more original structures and content into my own writing projects.