Homeric Speech and the Origins of Rhetoric

4. Explaining the Correspondence between Homeric Speech and Aristotelian Theory

c h a p t e r f o u r The remarkable points of correspondence between the techniques of persuasion used in Homeric speech and those appearing in Aristotle’s Rhetoric raise the question of how this correspondence might have arisen—a question made more intriguing because it seems to have gone largely unacknowledged by Aristotle himself (Aristotle’s treatment of Homer will be discussed in chapter 6, section III). There are three possible explanations for the rhetorical similarities between Homer and Aristotle: (1) common sources for both authors; (2) the universality of rhetoric, implying that Aristotle arrived at his theories apart from and independent of any Homeric contribution to the discipline; and (3) the impact of Homeric represented speech on the development of formal rhetoric, culminating in Aristotle’s work. Investigating this last possibility (option 3) will involve examining the historical and literary processes in Greece that might have led from Homer’s poetic representation of rhetoric to Aristotle’s canonical treatise. Chapters 5 and 6 will thus treat texts in the intervening centuries between Homer and Aristotle, both poetic (Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Pindar, tragedy) and theoretical (the sophists and Plato), looking specifically at instances of rhetoric in these texts that might be comparable to the rhetoric of speeches from the Iliad. My discussion of option 2, the possibility that rhetoric is a universally occurring, unlearned phenomenon, will be informed in part by a comparative examination of rhetoric in non-Greek ancient narratives. While it is impossible to answer definitively questions such as “Did Homer invent rhetoric ?” and “Was Aristotle borrowing from Homer in developing his rhetorical theory?” due to their speculative nature, my intention is to identify the most Explaining the Correspondence between Homeric Speech and Aristotelian Theory 92 t h e g e n e a l o g y o f r h e t o r i c plausible account of the transmission of rhetoric in Homeric poetry into the formal, Classical manifestation of rhetoric in oratory and theory. i. common sources It is theoretically possible that both Homer and Aristotle drew on the same preHomeric material in creating their respective representations of a rule-governed system for persuasive speech. The lack of attestation for pre-Homeric sources beyond a few references to the shadowy figures of Orpheus and Musaeus, however, makes it impossible to argue for this possibility in any meaningful way. Although various works of poetry are attributed to the mythical figure of Orpheus, known for his gifts at singing and lyre-playing, the earliest such attributions date to the late-sixth or early-fifth century BCE.1 And even if a tradition of Orphic poetry did predate the Homeric epics, its subject matter—centered on religious ritual, theogonies, cosmogonies, metempsychosis, and the like (which we know from the appropriation of Orphic material by the Pythagoreans, Bacchic mysteries, and other mystery cults)—makes it unlikely that such poetry would have contained the type of rhetorical paradigms that Homeric poetry exhibits. The figure of Musaeus occupied a place similar to and allied with Orpheus in Greek tradition, but with even less claim to being an actual historical figure. His name is often invoked in the Classical era and later as an early (pre-Homeric) poet, but he served primarily as the mouthpiece for a variety of oracles and poetry on religious and eschatological themes.2 Ultimately, even if the Homeric epics were derived from earlier sources, the fact that subsequent Greek literature does not acknowledge such sources suggests that the epics must have effectively assimilated and superseded any source material. What is relevant to this study is that the Homeric epics represent the earliest surviving Greek literature, and that no earlier literary source can be invoked. Given the unique “debate culture” that prevailed in ancient Greece, however, actual speaking practices could well have functioned as a common source of rhetorical material for Homer and Aristotle (for further discussion of Greece as a debate culture, see section II below). Although this project focuses on the influence of Homeric poetry on rhetorical theory and practice, there is little doubt that speaking practices in Greece influenced Homeric poetry as well. ii. universality of rhetoric In seeking to explain the correspondences between Homer’s and Aristotle’s depictions of effective rhetoric, it is necessary to consider the possibility that Ho- meric speakers are simply using a mode of speech...