ABSTRACT
Elocutio, the third of the classical rhetorical faculties engaged in composition was very much the poor sister in relation to inventio and dispositio. For Torquato Tasso and his contemporaries, elocutio constituted not only the third rhetorical faculty, but also the fourth component of the product of the faculties. This chapter offers a comparison between the earlier Discorsi àelVarte poetica and the later Discorsi del poema eroico, in the general realm of style. It provides an account of Tasso's specific response to stylistic criticism of the Gerusalemme liberata, which he formulated as the Apologia in difesa della Gerusalemme liberata in 1585. Tasso explores stile in the early Discorsi in terms of the three Ciceronian styles, namely the high, middle and low. Tasso defends himself against an unnamed opponent throughout the Apologia. He turns to usage in order to defend his choice of words in the Gerusalemme liberata, and indeed in determining how language should be used.
