Commentary on the Pseudonymous Letters of Aeschines (excluding Letter 10)
The aim of the thesis is to study the pseudonymous letters of Aeschines, all of which purport to give an account of his sojourn in exile. There is a strong consensus among scholars that all the letters are forgeries, and their date of composition tends to be located in the first few centuries CE on linguistic grounds. Embracing a variety of literary forms, these letters were probably composed by multiple hands and may for convenience be divided into three categories: Letters 2, 3, 7, 11, 12 imitate the âDemosthenicâ letters in a manner similar to the Hellenistic (and beyond) historical declamations and progymnasmata; Letters 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 come to us with features reminiscent of what German scholars would call Briefromane, or âepistolary novelsâ, and are normally deemed typical of the so-called Second Sophistic; and Letter 4 is a showpiece assuming the form of a Pindaric exegesis. The thesis consists of two parts. The first gives an extensive account of the letters, including their background, history of scholarship, and basic features, to seek to present the âforgerâ and the text in their proper historical and cultural contexts. The second part, which constitutes the basis for the reflections
Guo, Zilong
Aeschines ; Demosthenes ; Pindar ; victory odes ; post-Classical era ; rhetorical examples ; literary forms ; textual analysis
Commentary on the Pseudonymous Letters of Aeschines (excluding Letter 10). The aim of the thesis is to study the pseudonymous letters of Aeschines, all of which purport to give an account of his sojourn in exile. There is a strong consensus among scholars that all the letters are forgeries, and their date of composition tends to be located in the first few centuries CE on linguistic grounds. Embracing a variety of literary forms, these letters were probably composed by multiple hands and may for convenience be divided into three categories: Letters 2, 3, 7, 11, 12 imitate the âDemosthenicâ letters in a manner similar to the Hellenistic (and beyond) historical declamations and progymnasmata; Letters 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 come to us with features reminiscent of what German scholars would call Briefromane, or âepistolary novelsâ, and are normally deemed typical of the so-called Second Sophistic; and Letter 4 is a showpiece assuming the form of a Pindaric exegesis. The thesis consists of two parts. The first gives an extensive account of the letters, including their background, history of scholarship, and basic features, to seek to present the âforgerâ and the text in their proper historical and cultural contexts. The second part, which constitutes the basis for the reflections
commentary pseudonymous letters exclude letter aim_study pseudonymous letter purport give_account sojourn exile strong consensus among scholar letter forgery date composition tend locate linguistic ground variety literary form letter probably compose multiple hand may convenience divide_three category letters imitate demosthenic letter manner similar hellenistic beyond historical letters come feature german scholar would call epistolary novel normally deem typical so_called second_sophistic letter assume form exegesis consists two_part first give extensive account letter include background history scholarship basic feature seek present text proper historical cultural_context second_part constitute basis reflection