Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the particular phenomenon in ancient rhetorical theory and practice: the use of language to try to make an audience imagine a scene. It focuses on the rhetorical theory and practice of ekphrasis for the simple reason that it is in the rhetorician's schools that ekphrasis was defined, taught and practiced and it is therefore in the domain of rhetoric that we can find a substantial explanation of what ekphrasis was, how it functioned and what its purpose was. This book describes the ancient conception of ekphrasis begins in with the definition of the term in the Progymnasmata and continues in which focuses on the range of subject matter prescribed for ekphrasis. The nature of ekphrasis, its defining quality of enargeia and the role of the imagination in mean that this is much a study of ancient psychology as of rhetoric.