TheProgymnasmataand Progymnasmatic Theory in Imperial Greek Education

Abstract

In the Hellenistic period, a literary–rhetorical curriculum was developed by the Greeks. This ancient curriculum varied in content, length of study, and methods of delivery, which were affected by local resources. The curriculum was divided into three stages: The first or elementary stage had as its goal the acquisition of basic reading and writing skills along with some arithmetic. The second or intermediate stage focused on the close reading and explication of classical poetic texts. The third stage focused predominantly on education in rhetoric. The most advanced compositional exercise that students engaged in at the third educational stage was declamation. Before students began to compose declamations, they worked on a series of less demanding compositional exercises called progymnasmata. The chapter focuses on the divergences from the “classic” Libanian-Aphthonian of progymnasmata. It discusses the influence of the progymnasmata on ancient thought and literature.

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