This book is conceived as a tribute to Pierre Chiron, Professor Emeritus of Greek Philology at the Université Paris-Est Créteil and Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. It is composed of seventeen articles (published between 1998 and 2017), which have been judiciously selected from more than a hundred published studies. It is intended to illustrate C.'s fundamental contribution to rhetorical studies. Editor, translator and commentator, the Hellenist was interested in many difficult texts. He was able to present renewed points of view on classical subjects, to present complex questions with clarity and to raise new issues in relation to today's world. In this respect, the anthology presented demonstrates that scholarship and technicality provide keys to rethinking both the importance of argumentation in our educational system and the role of the humanities in our society.
After a brief introduction by the editors and a systematic bibliography of C.'s work, the book is organised into five balanced and representative thematic sections. These are followed by a general bibliography corresponding to the republished articles, an index of modern terms, an index of Greek terms, an index of ancient characters and an index locorum.
The first part, ‘Structures rhétoriques’ (four articles), deals with the question of definitions of rhetoric, looking in particular at the notion of τέχνη (or ars) and how rhetoric differs from other fields of knowledge, such as philosophy, dialectics, ethics and literature. From this perspective C. analyses the variety, plasticity, evolutionary and inventive nature of rhetorical treatises, which correspond to ever-changing political and historical conditions. The result is an exceptional richness of rhetorical meta-discourse, of which Aristotle and Isocrates are the main inspirers.
The second part, ‘Tradition, innovation’ (four articles), is devoted to the general question of the relationship to tradition, that is to say to various testimonies which, from Isocrates (fourth century bc) to Tiberius rhetor (fourth century ad), illustrate attitudes of fidelity or infidelity and the notions of recurrence and deviation in the transmission of rhetorical doctrines. In this case, the analysis reveals that servility is not in order and gives meaning to texts that had become opaque to us: Isocrates, for example, shows originality (a quality that is generally denied); similarly, the Rhetoric to Alexander is a treatise with a practical aim, all examples of which are forged by the author, whereas Aristotle's Rhetoric serves a philosophical project by proposing precepts based on quotations from authors (orators, poets, historians etc.).
The third part, ‘La preuve’ (three articles), deals with the doctrine of πίστεις and in particular the ‘sign’ (σημεῖον). Here the reader can not only refine his perception and understanding of a shifting lexical field, but also become familiar with the techniques of persuasion and manipulation as exhibited by classical rhetoricians.
The fourth part, ‘Le style’ (four articles), brings together studies devoted to simplicity, oxymoron, kôla and ‘figurative discourse’. Here again the study of the doctrines is based on a precise analysis of the terminology used and the values conveyed, which is not without surprises. Thus it appears that the oxymoron, whose well-known use dates back to Homer, was not really considered as a figure by the ancients, while the logos eskhematismenos proves to be a skilful means of conducting polemics by various roundabout means in a world where freedom of expression has disappeared and where one must behave with prudence (that is to say, in fact, by taking care of one's own safety), respect propriety and decorum, or show elegance.
The fifth part, ‘Frontières de la rhétorique’ (two articles), considers rhetoric to its limits, firstly with an analysis of the ‘untranslatable’ notion of ἐπιείκεια, which opens up interactions with anthropology, law and ethics, and secondly with a study of the occurrences of silence in rhetoric (collective silence in the assembly, aposiopesis, the pause in the verbal sequence, the omission and the process of showing something, for example the nakedness of Phryne, instead of arguing, as well as preterition and reticence), which shows the model of a politician in antiquity far removed from our reality, as one who must be reserved, respectful of others, the enemy of all violence, in short: dignified.
The book, which required a great deal of re-editing and harmonisation, is characterised by its elegant presentation and easy handling. Guérin and Woerther really had a fruitful idea in bringing together this coherent and significant sample of C.'s research and thought. The texts chosen, which are recommended for their concern for clarity and for their cultural and even political dimension, are indeed to be considered as ‘classics’ for those interested both in the history of rhetoric and in Greco-Latin philology.
