Hermogenes of Tarsus

Hermogenes of Tarsus (Greek: Ἑρμογένης ὁ Ταρσεύς) was a Greek rhetorician, surnamed The Polisher (Ξυστήρ). He flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161–180).

His precocious ability secured him a public appointment as teacher of his art while he was only a boy, attracting the note of the emperor himself; but at the age of twenty-five his faculties gave way, and he spent the remainder of his long life in a state of intellectual impotence. According to legend, he probably fell victim to a disease which resulted in meningitis, such as measles or yersinia. Philostratus of Lemnos notes he continued in this pitiable state until dying at an advanced age. Allegedly, Antiochus used to taunt him: "Lo, here is one who was an old man among boys and now among the old is but a boy." The Suda records a rumor that after his death his heart was found to be enormous and covered in hair.

During his early years, however, he had composed a series of rhetorical treatises, which became popular textbooks, and the subject of subsequent commentaries. We still possess some sections:

In On Types of Style, Hermogenes identifies seven, rather than the traditional three—high, medium and low—elements of style. First is clarity, because of its importance. Clarity is subdivided into purity, which is sentence-level clarity, and distinctness, which is about over all organization. The next category, grandeur is subdivided into six parts, but generally clumped into four sections: solemnity and brilliance are the first section and are very similar. Solemnity is using short, abstract statements about elevated topics; brilliance takes those abstracts down to specifics, and is longer. The third part of grandeur is amplification. The last section of grandeur comprises three parts: asperity, vehemence and florescence. Asperity for sharp criticism, vehemence for disdain and florescence to ameliorate strong feelings. The category of beauty is not subdivided. The next type of style is rapidity—quick short sentence, rapid replied, sudden turns of thought in antithesis. The fifth style is ethos which is subdivided into simplicity, sweetness, subtlety and modesty. The last style, gravity, is the correct balance of all six of these types of style.

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