Lessons from the Past: The Moral Use of History in Fourth-Century Prose (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780472113279)

Because of the didactic nature of the historical genre, many scholars ancient and modern have seen connections between history and rhetoric. So far, discussion has centered on fifth-century authors -- Herodotus and Thucydides, along with the sophists and early philosophers. Pownall extends the focus of this discussion into an important period. By focusing on key intellectuals and historians of the fourth century (Plato and the major historians -- Xenophon, Ephorus, and Theopompus), she examines how these prose writers created an aristocratic version of the past as an alternative to the democratic version of the oratorical tradition.
Frances Pownall is Professor of History and Classics, University of Alberta.


Author: Frances Anne Pownall
ISBN-10: 0472113275
ISBN-13: 9780472113279
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Language: English
Published: 12/23/2003
Pages: 216
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.36w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2004 pg. 165