Plutarch's Rhythmic Prose - Hutchinson, G. O.

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Résumé :
Greek literature is divided, like many literatures, into poetry and prose, but in Greek the difference between them is not that all prose is devoid of firm rhythmic patterning. In the earlier Roman Empire, from 31 BC to about AD 300, much Greek (and Latin) prose was actually written to follow one organized rhythmic system. How much Greek prose adopted this patterning has hitherto been quite unclear...

Biographie:

• Frontmatter


• List of Abbreviations


• List of Rhythms


• 1: Rhythmic Prose in Imperial Greek Literature


• Appendix: details on samples in rhythmical list


• 2: Rhythmic Prose in Plutarch's Lives


• 3: Density in Plutarch


• 4: Life as Art (Plutarch, Timoleon 35)


• Appendix: Plut. Tim. 36.2-4, Cras. 22.1, Arat. 24.5, Nepos, Timol. 3.2, 5


• 5: Taking Fratricide too Hard (Timoleon 5-6)


• Appendix: Plut. Comp. Aem. Tim. 41 (2).11-12, Nepos, Timol. 1.5-6


• 6: Peace Pervades (Numa 20.4-5)


• Appendix: Plut. Numa 20.6-10, Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2.76.3, Plut. Fort. Rom. 321c-d, Aesch. Eum. 902-7, Hor. CS 29-32


• 7: What to Write under a Statue (Cato Maior 19.4-6)


• Appendix: Praec. Ger. Reip. 820b, Otho 18.1-2


• 8: A Dangerous Leap (Alexander 63.2-6)


• Appendix: Plut. Alex. Fort. 2 343d-e, Diod. Sic. 17.98.5-99.2, Curt. 9.5.1-3, Arr. Anab. 6.9.5, App. BC 2.637, Just. 12.9.5-7


• 9: Brutus and his Mirrors (Brutus 10.4-6, 13.7-9, 29.2-3, 40.7-8)


• Appendix: App. BC 2.470-2, Plut. Sull. 30.6


• 10: Daggers and Dangers (Brutus 1.5, 16.4, 52.1-4, 7-8...

  Sommaire:
  the present volume for the first time establishes an answer on an adequate basis: substantial data drawn from numerous authors. It constitutes the first extensive study of prose-rhythm in later Greek literature. The book focuses particularly on one of the greatest Imperial works: Plutarch's Lives. It rests on a scansion of the whole work, almost 100,000 phrases. Rhythm is seen to make a vital contribution to the literary analysis of Plutarch's writing, and prose-rhythm is revealed as a means of expression, which draws attention to words and word-groups. Some passages in the Lives pack rhythms together more closely than others...