Abstracts Language, Literature, and Linguistic

Euphony in Theory and Practice: Sweet Sound in Composition

by Maria Gaki

ABSTRACTThis dissertation investigates the development of the concept of euphony into a main component of ancient literary theories in the Hellenistic period and its importance for our understanding of ancient approaches to literature. Previous scholarship treated euphony as a concept of ancient aesthetics or linguistics and its importance in ancient literary criticism has been overlooked. I study the poetic theories of the three main Hellenistic euphonists, as they survive in the fragmentary treatise On Poems of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus. Their main principle is that the sound of poetic language determines poetic excellence instead of its content. I investigate the main elements of their theories by interpreting the fragments, in which Philodemus criticizes them. I argue that the ideas of these Hellenistic critics originate from Archaic and Classical philosophical and musical views about sound and language, which established the aesthetic, scientific and linguistic background for the development of their theories. I argue that the emphasis of the euphonists on euphony and cacophony, their debate about the value of poetic form over content and the role of the senses in the appreciation of poetic excellence determined the formation of later literary theories, such as those of Demetrius in his treatise On Style (end of 2nd B.C.) and of Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his treatise On Literary Composition (1st century B.C.). On the basis of my comparison of Demetrius’ and Dionysius’ treatises with the euphonists’ theories, I also argue that the theories about the literary styles, which become widespread in the first century B.C., rely to a large extent on the most progressive theory of the euphonist Pausimachus and his distinction of the kinds of poetic diction. The chapters of my dissertation thoroughly examine the aforementioned topics and their ramifications in a chronological progression.