Issue Brief: Classical Rhetoric

Cheryl Glenn and Heather Brook Adams

The Pennsylvania State University

cjg6@psu.edu

hba106@psu.edu

Contemporary studies of rhetoric can be traced to rhetoric’s emergence as a practical art in ancient Athens during the 4^th and 5^th centuries BCE as well as to its codification by Aristotle around the middle of the 4^th century BCE. Early Athenian and Roman philosophers of rhetoric such as Aristotle, Aspasia, Plato, the Sophists (theorists and teachers of rhetoric whose work was systematically destroyed), Cicero, and Quintilian are central figures of antiquity whose ideas continue to serve as a basis for Western definitions, practices, and evaluations of rhetoric. Despite a lingering focus on the Greek and Roman roots of contemporary rhetorical study, concerted efforts are being made to recognize roots of rhetorical study in Asia and Africa.

Leading Journals

Advances in the History of Rhetoric  http://www.advances.umd.edu

Classical Antiquity  http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=ca

The Classical Quarterly  http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=CAQ

Journal of Hellenistic Studies http://www.hellenicsociety.org.uk/frame.htm

Philosophy and Rhetoric  http://www.psupress.org/journals/jnls_pr.html

Pre/Text  http://www.pre-text.com/pt/

Quarterly Journal of Speech  http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RQJS

Rhetoric Review  http://www.rhetoricreview.com

Rhetoric Society Quarterly   http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RRSQ

Rhetorica http://ucpressjournals.com/journalSoc.asp?jIssn=0734-8584

Yale Classical Studies  http://www.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=YCS

Relevant Organizations

American Society for the History of Rhetoric  http://www.ashr.org

International Society for the History of Rhetoric   http://ishr.cua.edu   

National Communication Association http://www.natcom.org

Rhetoric Society of America http://associationdatabase.com/aws/RSA/pt/sp/Home_Page

Relevant Web Sites

Rhetoric and Composition  http://rhetoric.eserver.org

Silvae Rhetoricae  http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Silva.htm

Relevant Email Discussion Lists

H-Rhetor http://www.h-net.org/~rhetor/