The pragmatic persuasiveness of prose rhythm: a rhetorical approach to Cicero's rhythmic technique

Thesis

The purpose of this thesis is to explore Cicero’s use of prose rhythm from a persuasive and audience centred perspective, and to demonstrate that prose rhythm functions as a domain of rhetorical technique. Prosody, that is the natural patterns of speech rhythm, is a fundamental and intrinsic element of language, and an integral component of communication that offers practical benefits for enhancing audibility, intelligibility, and clarity in a spoken setting. Ancient authors, including Cicero, distilled this natural linguistic feature into a comprehensive system, taking pains to select rhythms that they regarded as sounding the most pleasing. The question therefore naturally arises as to why such effort was put into choosing and manufacturing specific rhythms, and what rhetorical advantage this labour might have produced. The question is not one, however, that has so far drawn much scholarly attention, with efforts centering on the granular identification, categorisation, and quantification of rhythms, rather than on considerations of functionality. Yet it is an important question to explore. Cicero himself discusses prose rhythm as a feature that can charm the ear and capture goodwill – so at least in his own mind, prose rhythm was for Cicero a purposeful device. This thesis therefore aims to address this question of the rhetorical purpose and benefit of prose rhythm. The discussion approaches the issue via several angles, exploring what constitutes a rhythmic clausula, how we should treat resolution, how word boundaries affect clausulae, where clausulae can be found, and how rhythm contributes to structure, before culminating in a thorough metrical examination of the Pro Archia. Through all these lenses prose rhythm is consistently found to be used as a practical rhetorical device, deliberately deployed by the orator to influence his audience according to his purposes in a rhetorical context. The thesis largely adopts a qualitative approach, maintaining a consistent focus on the ear of the audience as the target for rhythmic effects. Contextualised examples from Cicero’s speeches are used to illustrate points throughout, and clausula categories are colour-coded for easy visual identification.

Authors: Hutchings, HMK

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qym0pz1az
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Pro Archia; Clausula; rhetoric; persuasion; rhythm; literary criticism; Cicero; prose rhythm; oratory; metrics; speeches
• Subjects: Philology; Authors, Classical; Classicists