The Evolution of Greek Prose Style

Download or read book The Evolution of Greek Prose Style written by Kenneth James Dover and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transmission of literature in writing began in the Greek world with poetry; the publication of laws and regulations came later, and prose literature last, about 500 BC. This book examines the stages by which prose was turned into the sophisticated art-form practised in the fourth centuryBC, in particular by Plato and Demosthenes. An attempt is made to determine the linguistic conventions which can reasonably be attributed, on the analogy of other cultures, to unwritten narrative and oratory. The extent to which `content' and `form' can be separated is considered, and thestylistic choices which constitute form are treated as determining the relationship (e.g. of authority or familiarity) between creator and receiver and the balance sought by the creator between innovation and deference to the receiver's expectations.