A Compelling Case for Beauty: the Sophistic Alignment of Rhetoric with Aesthetic Power by Birney Richard Young B.A. Rhetoric, U
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Title Page A Compelling Case for Beauty: The Sophistic Alignment of Rhetoric with Aesthetic Power by Birney Richard Young B.A. Rhetoric, UC Berkeley, 2013 B.A. Classics, Ancient Civilizations Greek Language, UC Berkeley, 2013 M.A. Communication: Rhetoric and Communication, University of Pittsburgh, 2015 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2020 Committee Membership Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Birney Richard Young It was defended on June 24, 2020 and approved by Dr. Caitlin Bruce, Assistant Professor, Communication Dr. Gordon Mitchell, Associate Professor, Communication Dissertation Co-Director: Dr. Jacques Bromberg, Assistant Professor, Classics Dissertation Co-Director: Dr. David Marshall, Associate Professor, Communication ii Copyright © by Birney Richard Young 2020 iii Abstract A Compelling Case for Beauty: The Sophistic Alignment of Rhetoric with Aesthetic Power Birney Richard Young, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2020 This dissertation argues that rhetorical power is analogous to aesthetic power. This power operates distinctly from others and deprioritizes strength, presence, and actualizable ability. By examining what some of the earliest thinkers of the discipline of Rhetoric, the Sophists, said concerning the power of their art, this more dynamic power emerges as not being subject to the possessor’s agency and can be simultaneously weaker than a strength-centered power yet able to overcome it at key moments. Sophistic thinking about beauty, personified by Helen, versus their thinking about strength, personified by Heracles, provides the evidence for this understanding rhetorical power as compelling but not compulsive. The texts on Heracles find an admiration for what he stands for, raw strength as power, and makes use of it through analogy and subversion, making the mythic icon of deeds over words work to rhetorical ends by the juxtaposition of Heracles’ might to his well-known weakness for beauty. The Sophistic texts concerning Helen find much to admire in the power of her beauty, yet they often focus on the curious position she holds as the possessor of a beauty whose power she has no agency over. Rhetoric, the Sophists seem to suggest, contains the benefits of the power of beauty but, being a matter of art rather than nature, are controllable and deployable with the proper training. Rhetoric becomes a hybrid between active might and passive beauty, a middle-voice, capable of the power of the beautiful object but directed with an agency in line with that of the powerful subject. iv Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Limits of Defining Power ....................................................................................... 4 1.2 Discourses on the Power of Discourse .......................................................................... 7 1.3 A Power for the Powerless ........................................................................................... 29 1.4 Sources and Methods ................................................................................................... 35 1.5 Preview .......................................................................................................................... 48 2.0 Chapter 1: Lucian and the Prodical Path to Old Man Heracles ...................................... 52 2.1 The Common Myths of Heracles ................................................................................. 57 2.2 Xenophon’s Socrates’ Prodicus’ Young Heracles ..................................................... 59 2.3 Old Man Heracles at the Renaissance of Sophistry .................................................. 77 2.4 Lucian Forges a New Wrinkle in Power Dynamics ................................................... 81 3.0 Chapter 2: Sophocles’ Heracles and the Fragility of the Stronger .................................. 91 3.1 Deianira’s Tale .............................................................................................................. 94 3.2 Love is a Battlefield where Eros is Sole Invictus ..................................................... 101 3.3 Strength Subjected to Beauty .................................................................................... 108 4.0 Chapter 3: Euripides and Playing With Helen ................................................................ 115 4.1 The Price of Beauty .................................................................................................... 117 4.2 Euripides and the Chimera of Beauty ...................................................................... 123 4.3 Eloquence in Trojan Women ...................................................................................... 131 4.4 Helen’s Union of Opposites........................................................................................ 142 v 4.5 Spare the Φάρμακον, Spoil the Telemachus ............................................................ 144 5.0 Chapter 4: Gorgias and the Potency of Beauty as Φάρμακον ........................................ 151 5.1 Playful Arguments ...................................................................................................... 152 5.2 Giving Helen the Cosmetic Touch ............................................................................. 157 5.3 A Force of Words, Words, Words ............................................................................ 166 5.4 Power in the Middle Voice ......................................................................................... 175 5.5 Gorgias’ Aesthetic Pharmacy .................................................................................... 183 6.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 194 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 199 vi Preface The following is a list of key Greek terms used throughout the dissertation. Many terms appear in multiple parts and, after the transliteration and a brief description of each term, these locations are listed. Many terms are dealt with both more completely and with greater nuance in the dissertation itself, but I provide this list to help the non Greek-reader recognize and keep track of these terms and concepts. Ἀνάγκη, ἀνάγκη – anagke – Well translated as ‘necessity,’ anagke is a force or compulsion against which there can be no struggle or resistance. The term is used in chapter 4. Ἀρετὴ, ἀρετή – arete – A term that is often translated as ‘virtue’ but is better understood as ‘excellence’ as the morality of the term in the fifth-century BCE Sophistic context is more means oriented, giving one’s all, then ends centric, the goodness of one’s goal. Used in the introduction and chapters 1 and 3. Βία, βία – bia – A coercive word, bia is well translated as ‘force’ or ‘violence.’ Used in the introduction and chapter 4. Δύναμις, δύναμις – dunamis – One of many Greek words for ‘power,’ but dunamis is a dynamic term of power in the sense of ‘ability,’ ‘faculty,’ and ‘potentiality’ among others. An important concept for this dissertation and put in distinction to kratos, dunamis is used in the introduction, chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as in the conclusion. Εἴδωλον, εἴδωλον – eidolon – The word means ‘likeness,’ ‘image,’ or ‘phantom,’ often with magical or mystical overtones, and carries a close etymological kinship to verbs of knowing and seeing. The term is used in chapter 3. vii Ἔρως, ἔρως – eros – A word for ‘love,’ eros is a love that is often erotic and always passionate; it is the kind of love that drive one wild. Can be translated as ‘lust,’ though eros carries less moral censure than our ear hears in modern concepts of lust. The term is used in the introduction and chapters 1, 2, and 4. Κακία, κακία as well as Κακίαν – kakia, Kakian – Often translated as ‘Vice,’ Kakian appears in the dissertation as a name derived from the noun kakia which means ‘foulness,’ ‘cowardice,’ and, generically, ‘badness.’ The adjective of the term, kakos is antithetical to kalos and, indeed, means ‘ugly’ on top of the of the other negative senses. ‘Foul’ still serves in modern English to carry across most of the valences. The term is used in chapters 1 and 2. Καιρός, καιρός – kairos – A concept of time distinct from sequential chronological time. It is more akin to our use of ‘timing,’ such as comic timing, and is translatable as ‘opportune moment.’ The right word uttered at the right moment produces a much more profound effect. Kairos is used in the introduction. Κάλλος, κάλλος – kallos – The word translates well enough as ‘beauty’ and is particularly used as such when referencing the body. However, the word and concept becomes more interesting in its adjectival form, kalos, which has some of the same moral sense of ‘good’ and ‘noble’ while still meaning ‘beautiful.’ ‘Fair’ still carries similar aesthetic and moral comingled valences in modern English. The term is used in the introduction and chapters 1, 3, and 4. Κάλλιστος, κάλλιστος – kallistos – Superlative of kallos. ‘Most beautiful’ or ‘fairest’ are good translations. Used in introduction and conclusion as