The paper aims to present in a new perspective some aspects of the stylistic evaluation of Theopompos' historical production in the context of the ancient rhetorical tradition, by focusing on the technical issues on which actually this kind of evaluation relied. The concepts of "prepon/kairos" and the related association to the "mimetic" writing-expression seem to be cornerstone elements in the criticism to Theopompos' stylistic attitude: but it is the very kind of criticism addressed to Isocrates itself, as we can infer from the stylistic synkriseis between Isocrates' "graphic" lexis and the "agonistic" one of Demosthenes' forensic logoi in rhetorical treatises. Some ancient literary critics, less willing to appreciate the peculiar features of the "Isocratic" epeideictic oratory or rather polemic against the "theatricality" of the Asian style, abscribed to the phrasis of Theopompos' prose the very faults blamed on the speech-writing style of Isocrates, actually for the circumstance itself that Theopompos' was "canonically" associated to his school.
'Prepon' versus 'theatrikon'? Qualche osservazione sui parametri stilistici alla base della valutazione della prosa 'Isocrateo more' di Teopompo
OTTONE, GABRIELLA
2014-01-01
Abstract
The paper aims to present in a new perspective some aspects of the stylistic evaluation of Theopompos' historical production in the context of the ancient rhetorical tradition, by focusing on the technical issues on which actually this kind of evaluation relied. The concepts of "prepon/kairos" and the related association to the "mimetic" writing-expression seem to be cornerstone elements in the criticism to Theopompos' stylistic attitude: but it is the very kind of criticism addressed to Isocrates itself, as we can infer from the stylistic synkriseis between Isocrates' "graphic" lexis and the "agonistic" one of Demosthenes' forensic logoi in rhetorical treatises. Some ancient literary critics, less willing to appreciate the peculiar features of the "Isocratic" epeideictic oratory or rather polemic against the "theatricality" of the Asian style, abscribed to the phrasis of Theopompos' prose the very faults blamed on the speech-writing style of Isocrates, actually for the circumstance itself that Theopompos' was "canonically" associated to his school.
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