Hermagoras and the Epicheireme

Abstract

This article argues that contrary to modern assumptions Hermagoras may not have discussed the epicheireme. And if he did, it is further maintained that he must have treated the epicheireme as an amplifying feature of style, as represented in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, rather than as a syllogistic device, as represented in Cicero's De inventione. Until now scholars have not appreciated that the stylistic view of the epicheireme underlies the discussion of both Ad Herennium and De inventione. They have failed to note that in the latter work Cicero has combined two views of the epicheireme: the original, typically rhetorical, amplifying feature of style, and a secondary argumentative-syllogistic form, which is derived from a philosophical-dialectical source.