Lexis

Poetica, retorica e comunicazione nella tradizione classica

Hermagoras of Temno and the ‘Commonplaces’ (T 17 Woerther)

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Abstract

This paper offers a new interpretation of a passage from Theon’s progymnasmatic manual (120.13‑20 Sp.), which is traditionally included among Hermagoras of Temnos’ ‘fragments’ (T 17 W.). Based on the text preserved by Theon’s Armenian tradition and on the comparison with the parallel sources, the following conclusions can be drawn: (a) the ‘fragment’ consists of two sections, which must be considered separately; (b) while the first part can be prudently linked to Hermagoras of Temnos only, the second one is certainly attributable to him and – if correctly contextualised – may reveal some interesting details about his theory of argumentation.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: April 30, 2023 | Accepted: April 11, 2024 | Published July 3, 2024 | Language: it

Keywords Thesis (θέσις) • De inventione • Commonplace (locus communis; κοινὸς τόπος) • Rhetorical argumentation • Hermagoras of Temnos • Cicero • Theon • Fragmentary tradition

Copyright © 2024 Luigi Pirovano. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Lexis/2724-1564/2024/01/009