Chreia
Acropolis at night.
Definition
Chreia is but one facet of the progymnasmata, or exercises that prepare a student of rhetoric for his or her own effective speeches. It is an “exercise in which students amplify a short narrative, usually taken from history, that points up a moral or teaches a lesson.” [1] Chreia is not the same as a fable with a moral at the end, it is simply (or not so simply) used to put upon a pedestal some lesson that has been presented based on one’s actions. The ultimate goal of a young rhetorician utilizing chreia would be to craft an intricate intensification of said narrative in order to demonstrate mastery of memory and study. Beyond this goal, a masterful speaker could weave elaborate additions into the simplest of narratives with which to sway even the most hardened of audiences. Many times, the chreia would evolve from a statement provided from someone famous, and the rhetorician built upon that saying by implementing methods he or she had learned from the chreia. Hermogenes, a Greek philosopher, and Aphthonius, a Greek sophist and rhetorician, “both supplied a list of instructions for amplifying on a simple account of a historical event or speech.” [1]
The list is as follows: [1]
- Begin with praise of a famous speaker or doer of deeds.
- Provide an explanation or paraphrase of the famous saying or action.
- Supply a reason for the saying or doing.
- Compare and contrast the famous saying or doing to some other speech or event.
- Add an example and support the saying or doing with testimony.
- Conclude with a brief epilogue.
Examples
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