Two notes on Quintilian: genera causarum vs. genera rhetorices (Inst. 3, 3-4) and stylistic decorum vs. moral decorum (Inst. 11, 1)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23808/rel.v8i0.87859Keywords:
Quintilian; genera causarum; rhetorical genres; decorum; appropriateness.Abstract
1. It is almost a commonplace that the three traditional genres of rhetoric established already by Aristotle (forensic, deliberative and epideictic) are often found mixed with each other; such a conception, however, springs from a confusion between genera rhetoricae and genera causarum: genera causarum, as distinguished by Quintilian (Inst. 3, 4), are always and necessarily found in their ‘pure’ form.
2. Quintilian devotes a long chapter to the issue of decorum (Inst. 11, 1) within his treatment of elocutio; nevertheless, he skillfully and purposely extends the range of decorum from the field of style to that of morals. This part of the Institutio is thus a key point in the work, where the subordination of rhetoric to morals is fully accomplished according to the general principles which rule Quintilian’s book.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2008 Revista de Estudios Latinos
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The originals published in the printed and electronic editions of this journal are the property of the Revista de Estudios Latinos and can be circulated as long as the original source and authorship is made clear in any reproduction, full or partial, of the same, and as long as this is not done for commercial purposes.
