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  • Chapter 10 - ‘Asianist’ Style in Hellenistic Oratory and Philostratus’ Lives of the Sophists

  • Edited by Jason König, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Nicolas Wiater, University of St Andrews, Scotland
  • Book:
    Late Hellenistic Greek Literature in Dialogue
    Published online:
    21 April 2022
    Print publication:
    05 May 2022, pp 272-318

  • Summary

    In this chapter, I address the question of the relationship between the styles of the non-classicising sophistic prose of the imperial era and the so-called ‘Asianist’ oratory of the Hellenistic period; I also assess the connection of both to the style of Gorgias, with whom they have often been linked. I base my study on a comparison of a limited selection of texts: five of the longest excerpts quoted in Philostratus’ Lives of the Sophists, Gorgias’ Helen and Epitaphios Logos, the fragments of Hegesias of Magnesia (3rd c. BCE), and three late Hellenistic inscriptions. I conclude that, although the passages of Hellenistic and imperial ‘sophists’ undeniably share a broad stylistic similarity that sets them apart from ‘classical’ or ‘classicising’ oratory like that of Lysias, Demosthenes or Dio of Prusa, the differences between them, especially regarding their relation to Gorgianic prose and their preferences for rhythmical clausulae, are more significant.