Protreptic
Encyclopedia
Protreptic is a mode of classical rhetoric
associated originally with the Sophists who used this style in speeches for recruiting students. The philosopher would achieve this end by discussing the fallacies and deficiencies of rival schools while extolling the virtues of his own. Over time the style came to be associated with all the major philosophical schools, especially during the Second Sophistic
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The term derives from the Greek word προτρέπω (a compound of πρό- and τρέπω) which means "to urge forward; to exhort; to persuade."
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
associated originally with the Sophists who used this style in speeches for recruiting students. The philosopher would achieve this end by discussing the fallacies and deficiencies of rival schools while extolling the virtues of his own. Over time the style came to be associated with all the major philosophical schools, especially during the Second Sophistic
Second Sophistic
The Second Sophistic is a literary-historical term referring to the Greek writers who flourished from the reign of Nero until c. 230 AD and who were catalogued and celebrated by Philostratus in his Lives of the Sophists...
.
The term derives from the Greek word προτρέπω (a compound of πρό- and τρέπω) which means "to urge forward; to exhort; to persuade."
See also
- Protrepticus (disambiguation), with links to articles on some ancient protreptic works