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Prose versus Poetry in Early Greek Theories of Style

Author: Graff, Richard J.

Published in 2005

Item type: Article

Journal: Rhetorica

Issue: 23

Pages: 303-335

Comments: Discussion of the opposition to an overly poetic style of prose in all three authors; argues that Aristotle intervenes in the dispute between Isocrates, whom he only quotes approvingly in Rhetoric 3, against Alcidamas, heavily criticised in the account of frigidity. But all three \"contributed to an emerging theory that focused on the critical evaluation of style\"; This \"developed out of reflection on the style of poetry and on prose\'s relationship to the older verbal art\", but \"the very basic division between poetry and prose in early style theory is a troubled one\".

Work we read it for: Rhetoric