Abstract
By focusing on the fascinating connections between the ideas on imitation and emulation expressed by Dionysius (in On Imitation and other relevant passages), Quintilian (in Institutio 10 and other relevant passages) and contemporary Greek and Latin authors, this dissertation sheds light on the intercultural dialogue and exchange of ideas between Greek and Roman intellectuals in early imperial Rome.
Although we may well assume that Dionysius represents a Greek, Quintilian a Roman perspective on imitation in the field of rhetoric, the twofold hypothesis of this dissertation is that these two critics 1) made use of a shared discourse of imitation, and 2) each adapted this shared discourse, and made it subservient to their own rhetorical agendas, which are determined by factors such as writing goal, readership, pedagogical aims, and developments of classicism and literary taste in the decades between their activities.
This hypothesis allows us to consider the remarkable differences and similarities between the mimetic ideas of Dionysius, Quintilian and their Greek and Latin colleagues in relation not only to the traditional parameters of ‘Greekness’ and ‘Romanness’, but also to the idea of a shared conceptual framework of imitation that could be used discretionally.
