Progymnasmata - Aphthonius of Antioch; Agricola, Rodolphus 1443?-1485; Cattaneo, Giovanni Maria -1529; Lorich, Reinhard 1510-1564 (Amsterdam Elsevier, 1649)
Progymnasmata are a series of preliminary rhetorical exercises that began in ancient Greece and continued during the Roman Empire. These exercises were implemented by students of rhetoric, who began their schooling between ages twelve and fifteen. The purpose of these exercises was to prepare students for writing declamations after they had completed their education with the grammarians. There are only four surviving handbooks of progymnasmata, attributed to Aelius Theon, Hermogenes of Tarsus, Aphthonius of Antioch, and Nicolaus the Sophist.
Aphthonius of Antioch was a student of the great sophist Libanius during the second half of the fourth century. This is the most widely used and referenced handbook that became the standard on the practice of progymnasmata. His treatises were combined with rhetorical treatises of Hermogenes on stasis theory and style to create the “Hermogenic Corpus.”
In Aphthonius Progymnasmata, all students were asked to write out each assignment, memorize it, and then perform a class oration. The progymnasmata were taught in order, increasing in difficulty as the course advances. The courses were organized to begin with story-telling and end with making an argument. There was a focus on literature as a supplement to the course, paying close attention to models of rhetoric and literature. The progymnasmata of Aphthonius was first translated to Latin in the fifteenth century by Rudolphus Agricola.
Originally published in 1573
marbled cover and endpapers
Partim à Rodolpho Agricola, partim à Johanne Maria Catanæo, Latinitate donata, cum scholiis R. Lorichii. Novissima editio, superioribus emendatior, & concinnior: adjecto indice utilissimo
Keywords: Classical Antiquity (8th Century BC-6th Century AD); 16th Century (1501-1600); 17th Century (1601-1700); Rhetoric; Literature; Education; Greece; blokfluit; muziek_algemeen; cister