THE EPIDEICTIC AGŌN AND ARISTOTLE'S ELUSIVE THIRD GENRE

Aristotle's statement that the spectator of epideictic rhetoric judges dynamis (Rhetoric 1.3, 1358b5—6) is problematic because it seems to direct audience judgment towards the ability of the speaker as opposed to the subject-matter of his speech. I argue that, as a reference to the speaker'...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican journal of philology Vol. 133; no. 2; pp. 177 - 208
Main Author Pratt, Jonathan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore, MD Johns Hopkins University Press 01.07.2012
Subjects
Ancient Greek
Aristotelian rhetoric
Aristotle
Audiences
Blame
Debate
Deixis
Discourse/Text Genres
Epideictic rhetoric
Greco-Roman antiquity
Historical studies (History of philosophy. History of ideas)
Historical Text Analysis
Judgment
Naming
Oratory
Philosophical logics. Philosophy of language
Philosophy
Political rhetoric
Political speeches
Rhetoric
Sophistry
Speeches
Spoken communication
Demonstrative
Rhetoric
Aristotle
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ISSN0002-9475
1086-3168
1086-3168
DOI10.1353/ajp.2012.0010

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Summary:Aristotle's statement that the spectator of epideictic rhetoric judges dynamis (Rhetoric 1.3, 1358b5—6) is problematic because it seems to direct audience judgment towards the ability of the speaker as opposed to the subject-matter of his speech. I argue that, as a reference to the speaker's ability, the remark indexes the peculiar competitive structure in which speeches of praise and blame are conventionally involved. Thus understood, it is essential to Aristotle's taxonomy of genres and helps resolve the dilemma created by naming the genre of praise and blame after a mode of performance, epideixis, compatible with speeches of any formal description.
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ISSN:0002-9475
1086-3168
1086-3168
DOI:10.1353/ajp.2012.0010