Crítica literária de Homero no tratado Sobre o estilo de Demétrio

Abstract

On style is a rhetorical handbook that analyzes the various stylistic features used in the composition of a speech. Therefore, it takes short and paradigmatic passages of various authors of the Greek literary tradition. The literary criticism comes from the evaluation of the form in relation to the content, and this criticism is guided by a theory of"types of style." Among these authors, Homer is by far the most mentioned. In fact, the commentators have recognized the critical bias of the work and the great number of the quotations of the poet. However, their comments dont provide a larger and specific study correlating these reflections with the theoretical background and the context of omposition.This is precisely the purpose of this thesis. Although there are many doubts about the dating and authorship, evidences suggest that On style, assigned to certain Demetrius, is the work of a sophist of the end of the Hellenistic period. And indeed, the quotations of Homers works inthis treaty reflects the intersection of peripatetic and stoic conceptions and seem to have the educational system of the time as their Foundations, that would be the basis of the formation of the public of Demetrius On style. Demetrius uses Homeric examples consolidated ingrammatical tradition especially in the studies about tropes and figures by adapting them to the purpose of his theory and of his stylistic criticism. And much of his criticism about the poet can be compared to the criticism of other stylistic manuals such as Dionysius of Halicarnassus On literary composition. Moreover, the lessons of Homeric scholia also reproduce grammatical and stylistic comments that dialogue with many of the Demetrius reflections. Therefore, starting from this comparative analysis of the works, with the perspective of inclusion of stylistic criticism of Homer in the writing context of On style and in its theoretical level, I intend to reveal a more complete and detailed picture of the various aspects of the literary criticism of the poet proposed by Demetrius in his treatise.