This paper analyzes fragments and testimonia of ancient laudationes funebres for women in order to show the significant contribution they offer to the history of Republican oratory and rhetoric. In fact, despite these remains are by no means abundant, they provide some clues to understanding of: 1) the content suitable for the eulogy and the methods that the laudator is to use in treating this subject matter: the headings should be deal with, namely the catalogue of female qualities and virtutes; the arrangement of the materials in different sections of the speech; the peculiar stylistic devices, an important part being played by embellishment and amplification; 2) the intended impact of the eulogy upon the audience. As any form of epideictic oratory, laudatio funebris aimed to offer an exemplum of moral behavior: Roman women assembled at the funeral could find in the eulogistic portrait of the dead a positive model to admire and emulate. At the same time, the speech served as a vehicle of political propaganda for the man delivering the speech, who was a close relative of the deceased woman: by celebrating her ancestors, by praising her as proba femina and by emphasizing her value as superior to all others of her sex, he could enhance the prestige of himself and his family.
Fragments of epideictic oratory in Roman Republic: the exemplary case of the laudatio funebris for women
Cristina Pepe
2018
Abstract
This paper analyzes fragments and testimonia of ancient laudationes funebres for women in order to show the significant contribution they offer to the history of Republican oratory and rhetoric. In fact, despite these remains are by no means abundant, they provide some clues to understanding of: 1) the content suitable for the eulogy and the methods that the laudator is to use in treating this subject matter: the headings should be deal with, namely the catalogue of female qualities and virtutes; the arrangement of the materials in different sections of the speech; the peculiar stylistic devices, an important part being played by embellishment and amplification; 2) the intended impact of the eulogy upon the audience. As any form of epideictic oratory, laudatio funebris aimed to offer an exemplum of moral behavior: Roman women assembled at the funeral could find in the eulogistic portrait of the dead a positive model to admire and emulate. At the same time, the speech served as a vehicle of political propaganda for the man delivering the speech, who was a close relative of the deceased woman: by celebrating her ancestors, by praising her as proba femina and by emphasizing her value as superior to all others of her sex, he could enhance the prestige of himself and his family.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
