Exam 2: The Origins and Early History of Rhetoric

According to Richard Enos, what three functions of language had Homer already identified in the ninth century BCE? Identify and briefly describe each function of language.

Provide the term for the following definitions: -Premises that were widely believed or taken to be highly probable. The probable premises from which dialectic began.

Provide the term for the following definitions: -A poet, a leader of souls through a kind of incantation.

Could the teaching and practice of rhetoric in our own society elicit the same controversy it did in ancient Greece? Why or why not?

Assuming that rhetoric is not a central educational concern today, where do citizens today learn to reason and to speak persuasively?

Who was Aspasia? What was her relationship to rhetoric?

What effects on the subsequent history of Western culture may have resulted from the exclusion of women from rhetorical theory and practice in ancient Greece?

What educational revolution did the Sophists introduce into Athenian society? Why were these teachers of rhetoric controversial in Athens?

What threat did the Sophists pose to traditional Greek society?

What did Gorgias see as the relationship between rhetoric and magic?

Which of the following is alleged to have been the first to charge for lectures, is considered by some to be the first of the Greek Sophists, and is famous for the maxim, "man is the measure of all things; of things that are not, that they are not; of things that are, that they are."?

As pioneers of the concept of equality, Athenians thought it was fair that the Sophists be paid for teaching how to speak persuasively.

Provide the term for the following definitions: -Rhetorical device that takes its name from the reversing of elements in adjacent clauses.

Who was Aspasia, and which great Athenian orator was likely influenced by her?

What was the Sophists' view of truth?

Briefly describe the contributions of the Sophist Protagoras to an understanding of rhetoric.

Briefly describe the teachings, interests, and influence of Isocrates.

Provide the term for the following definitions: -Virtue, personal excellence, the ability to manage one's personal affairs in an intelligent manner, and to succeed in public life. Natural leadership ability.

What beliefs, practices, and personal qualities characterized the Sophists?

What goal did Isocrates seek through his emphasis on pan-Hellenism?