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Document Details : Title: Augustine's Martyrs as Ideal Christian Rhetors Author(s): PLOYD, Adam Journal: Augustiniana Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Date: 2021 Pages: 27-43 DOI: 10.2143/AUG.71.1.3289612 Abstract : This article argues that we should read Augustine’s preaching on the martyrs as endowing them with the qualities of the ideal Christian rhetor. In this way I hope to advance the common observation that martyr discourse is rhetorical. For Augustine, it is not just that martyr discourse is rhetorical; rather the martyrs themselves become rhetors, both in the performance of their acta and passiones as well as in their intended effect on Augustine’s audience. I begin by showing how Augustine depicts the martyrs as rhetors. I then turn to the classical rhetorical tradition to trace concerns over a rhetor’s relationship to justice and virtue, and how these ideas shape the ideal of the perfect rhetor, especially in Quintilian. Pivoting back to Augustine, I examine his own discussion of the ideal rhetor in De doctrina christiana before returning to my original martyrial examples to show that they are not depicted simply as rhetors but as ideal Christian rhetors, promoting divine wisdom and living exemplary lives. |
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