Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Writings from the Greco-Roman World) (English and Greek Edition)

For students of classical, medieval, and early modern literature and of the history of education, Kennedy (classics emeritus, U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) presents and comments on four Greek treatises for teaching prose composition and elementary rhetoric. They were written during the time of the Roman Empire and studied throughout the Byzantine period; Latin translations of some were used across Europe during the Middle Ages; and one was translated into English in 1563. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Several of these works have never before been translated into English and are made accessible to the general reader for the first time. George A. Kennedy, one of the world's leading scholars of ancient rhetoric, provides an English translation of four Greek treatises written during the time of the Roman empire but studied throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods--works attributed to Theon, Hermogenes, Aphthonius, and Nicolaus. Also included are translations of the fragments of Sopatros' treatise as well as John of Sardis' commentary on these exercises. The progymnasmata were fundamental to the teaching of prose composition and elementary rhetoric in European schools from the Hellenistic period to early modern times. The habits of thinking and writing learned in schools molded not only the secular literature of the Greeks and Romans, but also the writings of the early Christians through the patristic period Frontmatter Introduction (page ix) Acknowledgments (page xvii) Pagination of Theon's Text (page xviii) Chapter 1. The Exercises of Aelius Theon (page 1) Chapter 2. The Preliminary Exercises Attributed to Hermogenes (page 73) Chapter 3. The Preliminary Exercises of Aphthonius the Sophist (page 89) Chapter 4. The Preliminary Exercises of Nicolaus the Sophist (page 129) Chapter 5. Selections from the Commentary on the Progymnasmata of Aphthonius Attributed to John of Sardis, Including Fragments of the Treatise on Progymnasmata by Sopatros (page 173) Index (page 229) For students of classical, medieval, and early modern literature and of the history of education, Kennedy (classics emeritus, U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) presents and comments on four Greek treatises for teaching prose composition and elementary rhetoric. They were written during the time of the Roman Empire and studied throughout the Byzantine period; Latin translations of some were used across Europe during the Middle Ages; and one was translated into English in 1563. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR