Acta Classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis 31. (1995)

Adamik Tamás: Ciceros's theory of three kinds of style

CICERO’S THEORY OF THREE KINDS OF STYLE BY TAMÁS ADAMIK 1. The detailed exposition of three kinds of style is first to be found in the Rhetorica ad Herennium in ancient rhetoric (4,8,11—4,11,16). The following author who treats this topic is Cicero. In his de Oratore he barely touches it (3,95; 199), but in his Orator he expounds in a more detailed way than the Rhetorica ad Herennium. Varro also dealt with the genera dicendi according to Gellius (6,14) and Charisius (246, B.-K.), but concerning his work on this topic everything is vague so I will omit him. In my paper I will discuss three problems: a) In what way does the interpre­tation of Cicero differ from that of the Rhetorica ad Herennium concerning the three kinds of style? b) Do the three kinds of style really differ from each other? In 1966 H.M. Hűbbel came to the conclusion that the plain style (genus tenue) is not a rhetorical kind of style: „In other words there is no rhetoric in the pro Caecina” (1966, 178); and the middle style is questionable. Hűbbel explains it this way: „If the term middle is be kept, it might cover everything from the simplicity of Lysias to the grandeur of Demosthenes” (1966, 186). c) Finally, there is a more general question: is the doctrine of three oratorical styles of Latin rhetoricians useful for literary criticism of their speeches? The answers given by scholars are rather different and even contradictory. The French scholars L. Laurand and J. Marouzeau give a positive answer. Laurand writes on Cicero’s theory of three kinds of style as follows: „sa théorie des tria genera dicendi aide peut-être à comprendre l’art avec lequel il savait varier son style suivant les circonstances; elle permet de caractériser le ton général de certains discours” (1949, 285). Marouzeau after having treated the theory of three styles of Latin rhetoricians in his „Traité de stylistique Latine” declares as follows: „Nous avons là une sorte d’expérimentation particulièrement probante, du fait qu’elle nous est proposée par un auteur ancien. Mais nous pouvons la refaire pour notre compte à propos de n’importe quel texte littéraire” (1954, 195). The Anglo-Sa­xon scholars disagree with this opinion. In his article on Cicero’s theory of style A.E. Douglas in Aufstieg und Niedergang says: „But since it is perfectly true, as has recently been pointed with great vigour and wit by W.R. Johnson ..., that the doctrine is virtually useless as a tool for the serious literary criticism of the speeches themselves ...” (1973, 115). I think that these problems and contradic­tions require us to reconsider the question of three kinds of style of Latin rhetoric. ACTA CLASSICA UNIV. SCIENT. DEBRECEN. XXXI. 1995. p. 3-10. 3

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