The poetic face of rhetoric: Ephrem's polemics against the Jews and heretics in Contra Haereses xxv

Abstract

From the second to the fourth century C.E., the Roman Empire experienced a revival of the rhetoric of the classical period. The influence of the literary exuberance of this so-called “second sophistic” also penetrated the church, and profoundly transformed the style of preaching and writing of many fourth-century C.E. Christian bishops. Representatives of this new style were: John Chrysostom, and the three Cappadocians (Basil of Caesarea, his younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus). 2 Unlike these four; Ephrem the Syrian wrote in Syriac, had no classical education, and was a poet rather than an orator. For this reason Ephrem’s affective approach to persuasion and argumentation, and his command of a range of technical literary and rhetorical devices are all the more striking. To further the study of the relationship between the Greek and Syriac speaking branches of Christianity in the fourth century C.E., and also because Ephrem’s work is a rewarding subject in itself; I propose to give a translation of one of his hymns against heresies, and then to proceed with a discussion of its rhetorical features. Ephrem’s course of argumentation will be analysed with reference to the effective use of rhetorical devices. Some remarks on the relationship between the style of Ephrem and that of the Greek fathers of the fourth century C.E. will be made in conclusion. Hymns 25 and 26 in Ephrem’s cycle Contra Haereses are bound together by the same melody and the mutual theme of “the way of life”. These two are effectively demarcated from the preceding part of the composition, since hymns 22-24 have a different melody and theme. While hymn 27 is related to the preceding two, expanding on the different “milestones” on the way of life, it has the same melody as its successor (28), thereby drawing a line