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Concerning the origin of the ancient division of style into three types or characters, there seems to be at the present time general unanimity in attributing it to Theophrastus. It was first assigned to him, so far as I am aware, by Westermann,' but the more recent discussions of the matter award to Dr. H. Rabe' (of Hannover) the credit of having demonstrated the origin of the classification and its place in Theophrastus' rhetorical system. In criticising this conclusion I am less concerned to attack the name of Theophrastus than I am to correct a misconception of the stylistic theory of the Peripatetic school which follows upon the acceptance of the evidence which has yielded this result. For in fact a true account of the origin of the three styles will attribute to Theophrastus the formulation of the ideas which gave rise at a subsequent time to this division, but it will approach the matter from a wholly different point of view, and will employ other evidence than that which has hitherto been used. It is therefore to define some aspects of the Peripatetic conception of rhetorical style, as formulated by the two first masters of the school, that 1 Griech. Beredsamkeit I, p. 170 and n. 8. But see Vossius Com. Rhet. II (1630), p. 464. Cf. Blass, Griech. Beredsamkeit von Alex. bis Aug., p. 81, and Jebb, Attic Orators, Vol. II, p. 397. 2 De Theophrasti libris mɛpì λéğews, Diss. Bonn, 1890. 3 Cf. Norden, Antike Kunstprosa I, p. 70, note (extr.): "Dass die im Text behandelte Scheidung der xapakτпpeç λéžɛwę mit ihren benachbarten Fehlern auf Theophrastus zurückgeht... weist H. Rabe überzeugend nach." Radermacher, Rh. Mus. Vol. 54 (1899), p. 361. Wilamowitz, Hermes Vol. 35 (1900), p. 27, and note I. the following study is undertaken, with the further purpose of clearing the ground for a truer account (as I venture to hope) of the origin and meaning of this stylistic analysis. 1 The evidence, which has seemed to furnish proof for the prevailing view, is found in a passage of Dionysius de Dem. ch. 3. It will be cited later in its true connection, but here let it suffice to summarize briefly the argument from the beginning of the treatise to this point: Gorgias and Thucydides are named and characterized as representatives of the grand style (λégis repɩttǹ καὶ ἐγκατάσκευος and again χαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός); the plain style, culminating in Lysias, then follows; finally, on the authority of Theophrastus, Thrasymachus is designated as the author of a mixed style or a mean (μικτή λέξις Οι μεσότης), which was further cultivated by Plato and Isocrates, and reached its highest development in Demosthenes. This evidence is used with much reserve by Westermann; more confidently by Rabe, whose words I quote (1. c. p. 7): “Quia de tertio, mixto ex prioribus, Theophrasti iudicium affert, aperte tria illa genera eadem iam Theophrasto probata sunt." Again in recapitulation on p. II he attributes to the treatise Tepi λégews the three styles essentially as they stand in Dionysius, with the representatives of each as named by him. That in claiming all this for Theophrastus Rabe went too far has been generally recognized, especially in attributing to him the judgment of the pre-eminence of Demosthenes, which belongs to a later time.' Effective criticism may be made also against the probability of his naming Lysias as a representative of the plain style. In fact to conclude that Theophrastus conceived of the two other styles as Dionysius does, or named the same representatives of the different characters, or even that he made a classification of style in any such sense as Dionysius understands it, is to transcend the limits of legitimate inference from the data afforded. Theophrastus recognized Thrasymachus as the author of a μIKTη λégis or a Loc. cit.: "Im Ganzen scheint er, doch ohne sklavische Nachbeterei, auf dem von Aristoteles gelegten Grunde fortgebaut zu haben. Einzelne Theile erweiterte er, wie namentlich den Abschnitt über den rednerischen Ausdruck, wo er auch vielleicht zuerst die technische Scheidung der früher nur factisch bestehenden drei Arten des Stils begründete." And in note 8 ib. “Darauf führt Dionysius Hal. Lys. 6, Dem. 3." 2 See Radermacher, Rh. Mus. 54, p. 379 extr. and Wilamowitz cited on p. 125. On the judgment of Demosthenes' rank as an orator see esp. Schmid, Rh. Mus. 49, p. 142, note 2. |