Logos as composition

Rhetoric Society Quarterly Jun 2003

David Hoffmann

Abstract

Abstract This essay argues that the word logos meant “a gathering or composition “ in Homeric Greek and that it retained this sense through the fifth century BCE. It first builds a philological case for the composition/ gathering meaning of logos. Next, it addresses the historiographic question of how the interpretation of logos as logic/language has come to prevail in our histories of Greek thought. Finally, it demonstrates the relevance that the composition/gathering reading of logos can have for the history of rhetoric by showing how it can help in rethinking the “rivalry “ between muthos and logos.

Journal: Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published: 2003-06-01
DOI: 10.1080/02773940309391258
Open Access: Closed
Topics: argument

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