Alicia D. Myers, «Prosopopoetics and Conflict: Speech and Expectations in John 8», Vol. 92 (2011) 580-596
This article explores the conflict of John 8 within the larger context of the Gospel and in the light of the ancient rhetorical practice of prosopopoiia: the creation of speech for characters. These speeches add to the credibility of a narrative by being «appropriate» for both the person speaking and the situation in which the speech is given. Although perhaps not prosopopoiia in the traditional sense of speeches from Greek histories, this essay argues that the Gospel nevertheless includes prosopopoetics by creating appropriate, albeit unnerving, words for Jesus that elevate the audience and add to the persuasiveness of the work.
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tions and social expectations 6. Moreover, carefully crafted words
added variety to the style of a given tale — even if already known (cf.
Theon, Prog. 87-90) — in order to drive the plot forward or perhaps
add a dramatic pause before a climactic event 7.
Nevertheless, the key aspect of any attributed speech in the ancient
world — be it a formal prosopopoiia, an anecdote, or a dialogue in a
history, philosophical diatribe, biography, novel, or drama — is its
appropriateness to both the character to whom it is attributed and the
situation in which it is delivered. The emphasis on appropriateness is
evident in a variety of progymnasmata and rhetorical handbooks.
Theon, for example, writes: “In order for the narration to be credible
one should employ styles that are natural for the speakers and suitable
for the subjects and the places and occasions†(Prog. 84; emphasis
added); and that prosopopoiia is “the introduction of a person to whom
words are attributed that are suitable and have an indispensible appli-
cation to the situation discussed†8. The author of Rhetorica ad Heren-
nium describes the technique as “representing an absent person as
present, or in making a mute thing or one lacking form articulate, and
attributing to it a definite form and a language or a certain behavior ap-
propriate to its character†(4.53.66 [CAPLAN, LCL]). Echoing this con-
cept, Quintilian warns his readers that “a speech which is out of
keeping with the speaker is just as bad as one which is out of keeping
with the subject to which it ought to have been adapted†(Inst. Or.
3.8.51 [RUSSELL, LCL]) 9. Numerous other examples can be cited
from literature as well. Thucydides famously describes his practice
of speech-writing explaining,
6
Theon comments on the connection of credibility and prosopopoiia in
Prog. 84, and Quintilian likewise emphasizes the importance of believability
in Inst. Or. 9.2.29-32. On emotions and attributed speech, see John of Sardis,
who writes that it “makes the language alive and moves the hearer to share
in the emotion of the speaker by presenting his character†(Prog. 194) and Ni-
colaus the Sophist, who instructs that ethopoiia is used to “move the hearer
to pleasure or to tears†(Prog. 67).
7
J. MARINCOLA, “Speeches in Classical Historiographyâ€, A Companion to
Greek and Roman Historiography (ed. J. MARINCOLA) (Malden, MA 2007) I, 120.
8
Unless otherwise noted, all quotations from progymnasmata are taken
from G.A. KENNEDY, Progymnasmata. Greek Textbooks of Prose Composi-
tion and Rhetoric (Atlanta, GA 2003).
9
See also Quintilian, Inst. Or. 3.8.49-54; 9.2.29-30; 11.1.32-59. Cf. Ps.-
Hermogenes, Prog. 20; Apthonius, Prog. 44-45; Rhet. Her. 4.50.63-53.66;
Cic. De Orat. 3.53.205. For further references and discussion see, R.D. AN-