Influences on Peripatetic Rhetoric

There has recently been a great deal of scholarship on the origins of rhetoric, as well as on important 4th-century figures, such as Isocrates and Alcidamas. This volumes focuses particularly on the generation before Aristotle wrote his Rhetoric, the central text of ancient Greek rhetorical theory. Individual papers concentrate on different aspects of the Peripatetics' writings, both of Aristotle and Theophrastus, their thoughts on character, emotion, logos, style, and metaphor, the influences of dramatic writings, the relationship with Plato and with the Rhetorica ad Alexandrum, and the historical contexts. Some papers offer close readings of individual passages, while others tease out information based on fragmentary references. All of the papers offer original insights based on a thorough knowledge of the original texts.

The honorand of this volume, William W. Fortenbaugh, was for more than three decades Professor of Classics at Rutgers University. The author of numerous publications on ancient rhetoric, including a Commentary on the rhetoric and poetics of Theophrastus, he has most recently published Aristotle's Practical Side (Brill, 2006). David C. Mirhady, Ph.D. (1992) Classics, Rutgers, is Associate Professor of Humanities at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver). He has published papers on Greek rhetoric, law, and political theory and is completing a commentary on the political writings of Theophrastus.