The ideal orator in Eustathius of Thessalonike and his rhetorical tradition

What is it about?

This study focuses on the treatise for a panegyric address to the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, which is contained in a speech by Eustathius of Thessalonica (or. Μ, ed. Wirth). Having linked the reference to the panegyric address of Manuel Komnenos with other evidence contemporary with Eustathius (e.g. Euthymios Malakes, John Kinnamos), particular attention is paid to the literary/rhetorical evaluation of this speech by Eustathius. In Eustathius’s treatise rhetorical terms are used (like semnotes, katharotes) that can also be found in Homer, Aristotle, Hermogenes, Aelius Aristeides, Menander Rhetor and other authors dating to before and after Christ. The use of the terms in the ancient authors is defined and their semiological function and differentiation in the work of Eustathius are investigated. In the second part of my study I examine the aesthetic evaluation of Eustathius as regards the way in which the panegyric was presented (hypocrisis), in particular the voice of the orator Manuel Komnenos and how it was received by the listeners (‘rhetoric of hearing’). On this issue, we can observe a diachronic evolution of the prototype of the ideal rhetor from Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian and the Anonymous of the Rhetorica ad Herennium until the 12th century.

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