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The Rhetoric ofEkphrasis
Frank J.D'Angelo
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440JAC
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The RhetoricofEkphrasis441
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The RhetoricofEkphrasis 443
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TheRhetoricofEkphrasis 445
"you see how bloodshot ishis eye, how his crest bristles, and how abundant is
the foam thatdrips fromhis longupright tusks,which areunblunted at thepoint."
Callistratus differsinhis technique from thatof the two Philostrati because he
isdescribing a differentmedium and a differentkind ofwork of art. For example, in
describing a statueofDionysus, who was believed tohave visitedlndia (hence the title,
"On theStatue of an Indian"), he begins by giving the reader thename of the statue,
tellswhere it is located, andmentions thematerial ofwhich it ismade ("By a spring
stood an Indian, setup as adedication to theNymphs. The Indian was ofmarble
vergingon black"). Then he describes itsprominent features("ithad thickwooly hair,
shiningwith a hue not exactly black") and praises the success of the artist ("itwas
perfected only as regards the composition of its limbs"). Although Callistratus
includesmore descriptivedetails inhis ekphrasisthandoes Philostratus theElder, his
aim "is rather to praise, and thedescription isquite subordinate to his rhetorical
encomium of the sculptor'smarvelous success inhiswork" (Fairbanks 379).
Like the treatmentof style intheexerciseon ekphrasisintheprogymnasmata,the
treatmentof style in theprose description ofworks of artputs a strongemphasis on
clarity and vividness. In discussing the role of ekphrasis in the ancient novel, Shadi
Bartsch connects the two qualities of style inthismanner: "Providingthe readerwith
a vivid visual imagewas defined as theparticular role of all ecphrasis [sic]? The
other quality of ecphrasis [sic],largelyafunctionof thatvividness, is itsabilitytomove
thehearer" (111). Clarity and vividness become themeans bywhich the speaker or
writer enables the audience to absorb thework of art into themind. Clarity and
vividness help the speaker to create an illusion thatelicits an imaginative response
fromtheviewer. "By penetrating thevisual imaginationof the listenerand involving
him inthe subjectof the speech,theorator can persuademore effectivelythan through
logical argument alone" (Webb andWeller332).
As a literaryor poetic genre,ekphrasisrefersto "poemswhich describeworks of
visual art" (Mitchell 152). The earliest classic example, often cited by scholars, is
Homer's description ofAchilles' shield in theIliad. Another oft-quoted example is
Virgil's description of the shield ofAeneas in theAeneid. During theHellenistic
period, ekphrasisappears innarrative poetry as "an isolated unitwithin discourse"
(Dubois 6). Then itdetaches itselffromnarrative and appears ina variety of non
narrativecontexts, including lyricpoetry.
In earlierpoetic narrative, ekphrasisfocusedon everyday objects such as vases,
bowls, flasks,combs, cloaks, sandals,garments,murals, tapestries,and the like.The
description of everyday objects inearlyGreek literature leadsW.J.T. Mitchell to
conclude that"theearliestexamples of ekphrasticpoetry arenot... principally focused
on painting, but on utilitarian objects that
happen tohave ornamental or symbolic
visual representations attached to them" (115).
Today, scholars labelas ekphrasisonly thosepoems that"entailengagementswith
particular and identifiableworks of art" (Hollander 5). Some typical examples of
ekphrasticpoetry fromtheRenaissance on includeAndrew MarvelPs "TheGallery,"
William Wordsworth's "Elegiac Stanzas" (suggestedby a picture ofPeele Castle in
astorm),Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" (adescriptionof astatue of theancient
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446JAC
ArizonaStateUniversity
Tempe,Arizona
Works Cited
Alpers, Svetlana Leontief. "Ekphrasis and Aesthetic Attitudes inVasari's Lives." Journal of the
Warburg
andCourtauldlnstituteslb (1960): 190-215.
Baldwin, Charles Sears. Medieval Rhetoric and Poetic. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1959.
Becker, Andrew Sprague. The Shield ofAchilles and thePoeticsofEkphrasis. Lanham,MD: Rowman&
Littlefield, 1995.
Bryson, Norman. "Philostratus and the ImaginaryMuseum." A Hand Text inA ncientGreek Culture. Ed.
Simon Goldhill and Robin Osborne. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. 255-83.
Butts, James R. TheProgymnasmata ofTheoniA New Text with Translation and Commentary. Diss.
Claremont: Claremont Graduate School, 1987.
Conan, Michel. "The Imagines of Philostratus." Word&Image 3.2 (19 S7): 162-71.
Dubois,Page. History, Rhetorical Description and theEpic. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1982.
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The RhetoricofEkphrasis 447
Eisner, Jas.Art and theRoman Viewer. New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.
James, Liz, and Ruth Webb. "To Understand Ultimate Things and Enter Secret Places: Ekphrasis and
ArtinByzantium." ArtHistory 14.1 (1991): 1-17.
Kennedy, George A. GreekRhetoric Under Christian Emperors. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1983.
Nadeau, Ray. "The Progymnasmataof Aphthonius inTranslation." SpeechMonographs 19.4 (1952): 264
85.
Smith,Mack. Literary Realism andthe Ekphrastic Tradition. University Park, PA: PennsylvaniaState UP,
1995.
Webb, Ruth Helen, andPhilip Weller. "Enargeia." TheNew Princeton Encyclopedia ofPoetry andPoetics.
Ed. Alex Preminger andT.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1993.332.
Composition Forum
CompositionForum,published serm-annuallybytheAssociation
ofTeachers ofAdvanced Composition and edited and pro
duced atTheWriting Program, SyracuseUniversity, invites
articles and review essays on the theoriesof, practices in,and
approaches towriting pedagogy.Articles and essays should be
between 2,500to 5,000words in MLA style. Send typescripts
(two copies) and diskettes toFredricG. Gale, Editor, Compo
sitionForum, 232HBC, SyracuseUniversity, Syracuse,NY
13244.
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