A statistical and rhetorical study of the speeches of Isaeus

Abstract

The present work is concerned with presenting an investigation of the occurrence of Figures of Speech in Isaeus' speeches, and an analysis of their arrangement, in an effort to show how the factors of Figures and Arrangement are connected with the content of the speeches. This present study relies for its originality and value on the fact that it is essentially directed towards providing the reader with a general numerical survey of Isaeus' speeches, which has - up to now - been lacking in the corpus of works on Isaeus. The work has been divided into two main chapters, with a short chapter of general conclusions. The first chapter, which provides a general background, begins with the definitions, effects and particular forms of the I5 Figures of Speech selected for study, and indicates the occurrence of the Figures and the Arrangement of the speeches throughout the whole of Isaeus' work. In this chapter, tables have been prepared for the purposes of easier reference where the writer is dealing with the comparison between the occurrence of Figures, and an attempt has been made to represent the proportion of Figures per speech more accurately, by estimating all the speeches as though they contained 600 lines - which is the maximum length of any of Isaeus' speeches. This preparatory chapter leads into the second chapter which examines the occurrence of the Figures, already selected, in detail in each speech, analysing the exordium, narrative, proof and peroration in turn to determine whether the subject matter of the speech affects the distribution of Figures and the Arrangement. The last chapter consolidates the points made in the previous two, on the occurrence of Figures, the Arrangement of the speeches and the way in which these factors are connected to the subject matter of Isaeus' cases.