Aphthonius of Antioch
Aphthonius of Antioch (Greek: Ἀφθόνιος Ἀντιοχεὺς ὁ Σύρος; fl. c. 315)[1] was a Greek sophist and rhetorician who lived in the second half of the 4th century CE.
Life
[edit]No information about his personal life is available except for his friendship with the sophist Libanius and a certain Eutropius, who may have been the author of a Roman history epitome.[2]
Aphthonius is known for his work Progymnasmata, a textbook on rhetoric and its elements, including exercises for students before they entered formal rhetorical schools. This work served as an introduction to the techne of Hermogenes of Tarsus.[3] Aphthonius's writing style is characterized as pure and simple, and ancient critics praised his atticism. The Progymnasmata remained popular as late as the 17th century, particularly in Germany. A collection of 40 fables written in the style of Aesop is also attributed to Aphthonius.[3]
Aphthonius may have visited the Serapeum of Alexandria around 315 CE, according to Rowe and Rees.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Argyropoulos, Joannes, Prolegomena in Aphthonii progymnasmata
- ^ Conley, Thomas M. (1990). Rhetoric in the European tradition. New York: Longman. p. 60. ISBN 0-8013-0256-0. OCLC 20013261.
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aphthonius". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 168.
- ^ Alan Rowe & B. R. Rees (1956). "A Contribution To The Archaeology of The Western Desert: IV - The Great Serapeum Of Alexandria" (PDF). Manchester.
Further reading
[edit]- Heinsius, Daniel, Progymnasmata Apthonii sophistae Graece (1626)
- Agricola, Rodolphus and Catanaeo, Giovanni Maria, Aphthonii Progymnasmata (1655)
- Edition of the fables by Francesco de Furia (1810)
- Leonhard von Spengel, Rhetores Graeci, vol.2 (1856), p. 21f. Google books here. - The page numbers from this are used in subsequent texts for reference, according to Kennedy p. 95.
- Christoph Eberhard Finckh, Aphthonii et Nicolai Progymnasmata sophistarum progymnasmata (1865)
- Oskar Philipp Hoppichler, De Theone, Hermogene, Aphthonique Pro-gymnasmatum Scriptoribus (1884)
- Hugo Rabe, Leipzig: Teubner (1926) - modern critical edition
- Ray Nadeau, Speech Monographs 19 (1952), p. 264–85 - English translation. Revised version in Readings from Classical Rhetoric, ed. Patricia P. Matsen &c, p. 266–288.
- George Alexander Kennedy, Progymnasmata: Greek textbooks of prose composition and rhetoric, pp. 95f. - English translation. Preview on Google Books here.
- Malcolm Heath, Aphthonius Progymnasmata (1997). Online English translation, but does not include all the material at the end given by Kennedy.
