Hippocratic Oratory: The Poetics of Early Greek Medical Prose

ISBN-13: 9781472474155 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 160 str.

James Cross

Opis

This book offers a fresh examination of the experimental nature of persuasion in the ancient Greek Hippocratic medical treatises, which are among the first examples of 'scientific' explanatory writing composed for oral dissemination in an age in which there are few precedents for prose treatises. Analysis of the persuasive features of Hippocratic prose treatises reveals recognisable signs of 'scientific' reasoning - such as reference to evidence, proof and logical validity. Often obscured, however, in current discussions of proto-scientific prose are the presence and significance of stylistic features such as formulae in wording and phrasing and the use of rhyme and word play which both contribute to the persuasive effectiveness of such writing and suggest new insights into the nature of early Greek prose authors' understanding of notions of 'scientific' reasoning. This study considers the impact of the stylistic features of early Greek prose writing associated with a culture of oral knowledge dissemination on notions of reasoning, and also offers an analysis of poetics to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between Hippocratic and contemporary Greek prose authors.

Recenzje

"Cross’s approach represents a refreshing and novel contribution to the study of Hippocratic texts as well as to the study of ancient expository prose more broadly... [A]n excellent and approachable piece of research—the book clearly encompasses an important contribution to the study of Hippocratic texts and their place within the literary tradition of fifth century BC Greece. With its methodological advances Hippocratic Oratory will surely appeal both to students and academics, and it would be good to see it facilitate further study in the future." - Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Spis treści

1. Hippocratic expository prose  2. Models of logos and medical oratory  3. Hippocratic epideixis and the orality of medical oratory  4. Gorgias, Heraclitus and the persuasive functions of sound in On Breaths  5. In the agon: the persuasive functions of antithesis in Hippocratic oratory  Conclusion

O autorze

James R. Cross is a Tutor in Classical Civilisation at University College London. He completed his PhD in Classics at King’s College London. His research focuses on connections between ancient medicine and literature.