The Past as Spread

Abstract

The etymology of “etymology” is “the study of the true,” as in the true sense of a word, which, truthfully, is a bit misleading. Few etymologies are definite, especially when one pushes a word back far enough. “Past” is an interesting case in point. It seems to originate from the Proto-Indo-European baseword “*peth2,” meaning “to spread out.” One future for the history of rhetoric lies in pressing on this etymology: the past spreads out more spaciously with every passing year, but particular pasts take up more space than others. Consider, for instance, ancient Athens and ancient Rome, particularly their so-called classical periods. Education, tradition, translation, canonization, devotion, allusion, and even subversion and usurpation have afforded them great scope. What can we learn about history, rhetoric, and the history of rhetoric from such cultural infra/structures? What are the rhetorical processes through which something comes or continues to be regarded as “first-class” (the original meaning of “classical”) or sees that status annexed or challenged?The past tells us it cannot be contained, but we shouldn’t simply take its word for it.