Brills Companion to the Reception of Ancient Rhetoric

Editors
Michael Edwards: Professor of Classics at the University of Roehampton

Andreas Serafim: Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Cyprus and the Open University of
Cyprus
Sophia Papaioannou: Associate Professor of Latin Literature at the University of Athens

Headline
Brill's Companion to the Reception of Ancient Rhetoric examines the ways in which ancient
rhetoric has been adopted, adapted, imitated, contested, admired and criticized in representative
genres, cultures and spatiotemporal contexts, from late antiquity through Byzantine culture, the
Renaissance and the Enlightenment to the 21st century AD.

Keywords
Reception, rhetoric, oratory, Greek, Roman, Hellenistic, literary criticism, emotions,
persuasion, performance, argument, language, multiculturalism, Byzantine, Renaissance,
Enlightenment, discourse, composition, culture, media, theatre, communication.

Hermeneutics, aims, themes and competition

Brill's Companion to the Reception of Ancient Rhetoric systematizes and enhances the study
of the reception and cultural transmission of ancient rhetoric i.e. Greek and Roman rhetorical
theory and practice from the 5th century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. Attention will be paid to
the examination of the ways in which Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian affected the reception of
rhetoric transhistorically and transculturally. By reception, we mean the ways in which
Greek and Roman material has been transmitted, translated, excerpted, interpreted, rewritten,
re-imagined and represented (Hardwick and Stray, Companion to Classical Receptions,
Wiley-Blackwell 2011, p. 1). Our contributors have been guided, therefore, to explore the
multiple, and often complicated, ways in which rhetoric has been adopted, adapted, imitated,
contested, admired and criticized in representative contexts ranging from Late Antiquity to the
Byzantine period to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment (18th and 19th centuries) to the 20th
and 21st centuries AD.

The aim of this companion is to offer an exploration of several aspects of ancient rhetoric
including, but not limited to, emotions, persuasion, performance, language and style and the
ways in which these have been rediscovered in several cultural and spatiotemporal contexts,
informed and interpreted by the insights provided by linguistics, Performance Studies and
ancient scholarship (notably rhetorical treatises and handbooks). Chapters in the companion
examine what other cultures knew about ancient rhetoric and how they treated that knowledge.
Their ancient rhetoric was convergent to and simultaneously divergent from ancient rhetoric.
This implies both continuity and variation: ancient rhetoric was fertilized by ideas, conceptions
and perceptions held by another community. In this context, how then was rhetoric received
and repackaged? What were its purposes? What were the divisions and types of speeches? How

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did multiple audiences receive the rebranded ancient rhetoric, and what did they know about
its archetypal form? Or is ancient rhetoric taught and reused completely de-historicized because
it forms part of the Western culture?

It is hoped that the broad thematic width and the interdisciplinary approach of this companion
will offer insights into the recovery, addition and change of ancient rhetoric, and will enhance
our knowledge and understanding of the ways in which ancient discourse has shaped our
sensibilities transhistorically, transnationally and transculturally, such that we are now
conditioned to be receptive to it. With the incorporation of modern strands in theory and
research, this companion proceeds even further to investigate broader cultural frameworks. Its
ultimate goal is to demonstrate that the past is always part of the present: in the ways in which
decisions about crucial political, social and economic matters have been made historically, to
the ways literature, philosophy and culture have been put forward to lay the foundations of
Western thought and values.

Structure of the companion

This companion consists of two main sections that pick up major threads to the reception of
ancient rhetoric. The first section, Reception across Times, consists of survey chapters of the
reception of rhetoric across the following historical periods.

1. Late Antiquity: chapters on rhetoric from the 5th to the 6th century AD.
2. Byzantium: there are several interlocking strands to the relationship of the Byzantine
era with the rhetorical culture of ancient Greek authors. The Byzantine reception
includes close readings of the reception of the classical period by Greek authors,
working in the Roman imperial era, such as Hermogenes treatises on the Demosthenic
speeches. Byzantine rhetoric also draws on and fertilizes the Second Sophistic
movement.
3. The Renaissance: ancient rhetorical teaching was significantly expanded and reworked
in the Renaissance in order to suit a linguistic community that was much more one of
readers and writers than one of speakers and listeners. Innovations emerging from a
deep engagement with rhetorical tradition gave rise to the distinctiveness of literature
in the Renaissance.
4. Chapters on:
a. the Enlightenment (18th and 19th centuries):
b. 20th century
c. 21st century

The reception of ancient rhetoric and oratory in Europe in these three periods of time
offers an extremely dynamic topic of investigation. Some of the most provocative
intellectual figures of the previous century, for example, explicitly engaged with the
sophists of the fifth century BC.

The second section of the companion, Rhetoric across Topics, comprises chapters that focus
on the examination of the ways in which rhetoric is used in selected themes and topics, which
may include, but are not limited to considerations of:

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 1. Rhetoric, Scholarship and Teaching. A topic that could possibly be included in this
section is the teaching of rhetoric in English schools in the Renaissance (e.g. Terence
was used to teach rhetorical narratio and other parts of speech) and in modern
American academic institutions.
2. Feminist and gendered rhetoric.
3. Religious rhetoric: ancient rhetoric has been used in several religious contexts.
Maximising the persuasive potential of Christian preaching, for example, ancient
rhetorical tactics began to bear theological weight in biblical contexts. The ingredients
of this mixture of classical and Byzantine rhetorical traditions are explored in the
present companion.
4. Revisiting Crisis: Ancient Answers to Modern Challenges. The chapters in this section
draw a parallel between ancient and modern crises and the ways in which they were
described or addressed in Greek and Roman public discourse. A wide range of political,
social and economic challenges familiar to the modern world appeared also in ancient
societies: never-ending wars, financial recessions, mass migration, social upheavals and
political fractures within and between cities and states. The chapters of this section of
the Companion seek to shed light on the convergences and divergences between ancient
and modern rhetorical reflections on their causes and solutions.
5. Science, media, theatre and film, performance, music, painting and other aspects of
culture.
The historic and thematic structure of the companion are designed to work together to offer the
fullest possible coverage of the examined topic. Chapters on the reception of rhetoric across
times will focus on the features, forms and scope of the reception of rhetoric in a designated
historical period, while the thematic chapters would allow direct comparisons of the nature and
the purposes of rhetoric in a wide diversity of periods and cultures.