Consolatory rhetoric : grief, symbol, and ritual in the Greco-Roman era / Donovan J. Ochs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ochs, Donovan J., 1938-

Series:

Studies in rhetoric/communication

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Funeral rites and ceremonies--Greece--History.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

Funeral rites and ceremonies--Italy--Rome--History.

Funeral orations.

Rhetoric--Greece.

Rhetoric.

Rhetoric--Italy--Rome.

History.

Greece--Social life and customs.

Greece.

Manners and customs.

Rome--Social life and customs.

Rome.

Rome (Empire).

Italy--Rome.

Physical Description:

xiv, 130 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, [1993]

Summary:

Consolatory Rhetoric explores Greco-Roman funeral rites to reveal how opposing symbols functioned rhetorically to comfort ancient communities. While the bulk of rhetorical criticism interprets written texts, Donovan Ochs broadens the traditional focus to consider non-verbal symbols as well as action and object languages. Ochs demonstrates that non-discursive dimensions of Greco-Roman burial rites held a place of particular persuasive significance in consoling the populace, and he attributes funeral customs practiced in contemporary Western civilization to the legacy of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-127) and index.

ISBN:

0872498859

OCLC:

27642980