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Encomium

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Saved by Jennifer Forsthoefel
on September 28, 2009 at 4:51:04 pm
 

 

Encomium

 

Origin: Aristotle classified three forms of oratory in On Rhetoric: forensic, deliberative, and epideictic

 

Epideictic oratory includes an audience that is plays the role of spectator rather than judge, with the focus mainly on the speaking ability of the orator.  Aristotle claims that epideictic oratory requires the most attention to style because it acts similarly to a written piece rather than extemporaneous speech.

 

Epideictic oratory consists of several subgenres:

 

Epitaphios logos: a eulogy delivered in ancient Athens for those who has died in battle; the purpose of this oration was to glorify the state and the values and ideas championed by the state. 

 

Panegyric: a festival oration, speeches given at ceremonial occasions and public festivals in Greek cities; included a praise for the festival itself and the god associated with it, praise for the king or city officials, praise for the city in which it was held, and praise for the contest that would take place during the festival.

 

Encomium: Formal eulogy in prose or verse glorifying people, objects, ideas, or events before a special audience. Encomiums generally discuss actual events deeds and accomplishments of a particular individual.

 

Pedagogical Use:Progymnasmata

This term refers to a series of graduated rhetorical exercises common to the school of Western and Eastern Europe from the Roman republic through the Renaissance. These exercises were conducted in preparation of the more difficult      gymnasmata, also known as the declamations. Each exercise built on the one before it, moving the student from imitation forms of writing to more a more creative merging of the concerns of audience, speaker, and subject. The progymnasmata moved from Mythos, or fable, which involved the retelling of folktale in simple, direct style, to Nomou eisphora, which means legislation, an excise which asked the student to argue in support or refute of a particular law.      

 

Among this list of exercises was the encomium.

 

For this exercise, students were taught to praise an individual, simultaneously educating students on the cultural values prized by the society while teaching students a performative way to use these values. The objects of praise range from plants to persons, virtues to season to locales.

 

Highly practical and relevant for funeral eulogies, forensic addresses, and other discourse forms, the encomium gave a student the opportunity to discover and use the available means of cultural praise.

 

Sample Encomium formula:

  1. Describe the stock a person comes from:
    • what people
    • what country
    • what ancestors
    • what parents
  2. Describe the person's upbringing
    • education
    • instruction in art
    • training in laws
  3. Describe the person's deeds, which should be described as the results of
    • his/her excellencies of mind (such as fortitude or prudence)
    • his/her excellencies of body (such as beauty, speed, or vigor)
    • his/her excellencies of fortune (as high position, power, wealth, friends)
  4. Make a favorable comparison to someone else to escalate your praise
  5. Conclude with an epilogue including either an exhortation to your hearers to emulate this person, or a prayer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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