Epideictic Rhetoric

Questioning the Stakes of Ancient Praise

By Laurent Pernot

University of Texas Press

Speeches of praise and blame constituted a form of oratory put to brilliant and creative use in the classical Greek period (fifth to fourth century BC) and the Roman imperial period (first to fourth century AD), and they have influenced public speakers through all the succeeding ages. Yet unlike the other classical genres of rhetoric, epideictic rhetoric remains something of a mystery. It was the least important genre at the start of Greek oratory, but its role grew exponentially in subsequent periods, even though epideictic orations were not meant to elicit any action on the part of the listener, as judicial and deliberative speeches attempted to do. So why did the ancients value the oratory of praise so highly?

In Epideictic Rhetoric, Laurent Pernot offers an authoritative overview of the genre that surveys its history in ancient Greece and Rome, its technical aspects, and its social function. He begins by defining epideictic rhetoric and tracing its evolution from its first realizations in classical Greece to its eloquent triumph in the Greco-Roman world. No longer were speeches limited to tribunals, assemblies, and courts—they now involved ceremonies as well, which changed the political and social implications of public speaking. Pernot analyzes the techniques of praise, both as stipulated by theoreticians and as practiced by orators. He describes how epideictic rhetoric functioned to give shape to the representations and common beliefs of a group, render explicit and justify accepted values, and offer lessons on new values. Finally, Pernot incorporates current research about rhetoric into the analysis of praise.

[Pernot's] familiarity with a vast amount of material allows him to summarise, succinctly and elegantly, the evolution of epideictic rhetoric in theory and practice from its Athenian origins to the fall of Empire...[Pernot's] authority in the field of epideixis and his intimate knowledge of the texts make this short monograph a very useful addition to current scholarship. Journal of Roman Studies

The master has now written an excellent introduction to ancient epideictic, and I thoroughly recommend it. Revue de Philologie

The definitive work on the subject. . . . This short book presents a wealth of information about epideixis, both historical and theoretical. James Murphy, Professor Emeritus of English and Rhetoric and Communication, University of California, Davis

An internationally recognized expert in ancient Greek rhetoric, Laurent Pernot presents here a compact and stimulating account of epideictic rhetoric: speeches of praise and blame. In four elegant chapters, the author distills a considerable depth and breadth of scholarship on a neglected area of rhetorical activity. Accessible and witty, the work offers simultaneously an introduction for newcomers and a critical intervention of interest to specialists across a range of disciplines. Susan C. Jarratt, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine, coeditor of The Norton Anthology of Rhetoric and Writing, and author of Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured

Laurent Pernot is Professor and Chair of the Department of Greek at the University of Strasbourg, Director of the Center for the Analysis of the Religious Rhetorics of Antiquity, Member of the Institut de France (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres), and former President of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric (ISHR). His many publications include Rhetoric in Antiquity and New Chapters in the History of Rhetoric.

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Note on Sources

1. The Unstoppable Rise of Epideictic

2. The Grammar of Praise

3. Why Epideictic Rhetoric?

4. New Approaches in Epideictic

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Related Titles