The Art of Rhetorical Composition through Aesop's Fables

Led by Miguel Ángel Acosta Albarracín

1. Logistics & Schedule

• Instruction Language: Ancient Greek

• Day & Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 14:00–15:30 EDT / 20:00–21:30 CET/CEST.

• Course Duration:

  • Start Date: June 23, 2026

  • End Date: September 10, 2026

• Lesson Structure:

  • Duration: 90 minutes per session

  • Total Instructional Hours: 36 hours total (based on a 12-week schedule)

2. Course Overview

• Abstract: This twelve-week seminar offers a rigorous immersion into the foundations of ancient eloquence. By pairing the timeless narratives of Aesop’s Fables with the Progymnasmata—the classical sequence of rhetorical exercises—students will transition from textual analysis to active stylistic mastery. Each session interrogates a single fable through both adapted and original Greek versions, culminating in structured composition and oral activities modeled after the seminal handbooks of Aelius Theon, Aphthonius, and Hermogenes.

• Comprehensive Description: The course is meticulously structured around eighteen fables, analyzed at a rate of one per 90-minute session. Each class is bifurcated into two integrated phases. The first phase focuses on lexical acquisition and immersion; the text is read aloud and dissected through comprehension questions to internalize key vocabulary. The second phase challenges the student to bridge the gap between comprehension and creation. Students will compare the original Greek with its adaptation before engaging in a rotating exercise (ἄσκησις) drawn from the Progymnasmata.

• The Rhetorical Sequence: These exercises follow the authentic pedagogical path of antiquity: σύντμησις (abbreviation), αὔξησις (amplification through direct dialogue), παράφρασις (close paraphrase), διήγημα (narrative retelling), ἠθοποιΐα (character impersonation), ἔκφρασις (vivid description), and χρεία (expansion of the moral). Rather than modern inventions, these represent the exact curriculum ancient students navigated to master the fable (μῦθος)—the essential gateway to all classical rhetoric. The seminar concludes with a final capstone analysis of a reserve fable (λύκος καὶ γραῦς).

3. Proficiency & Requirements

• Language Level:

  • Framework Reference: Designed for students who have completed Athenaze (Italian Edition) Vol. I or an equivalent curriculum.

  • General Description: Upper-intermediate. Students should be able to read simple Greek prose with support and possess familiarity with core morphology, participial constructions, and narrative syntax.

• Estimated Self-Study Time:

  • Time Commitment: 1.5 hours per week.

  • Preparation Type: Texts are encountered and analyzed in class; therefore, no prior preparation of the fable is required. Review of previous sessions is recommended to reinforce active composition skills.

4. Materials & Bibliography

• Required Textbooks:

  • Primary Text:Corpus fabularum Aesopicarum, vols. 1.1 & 1.2, 2nd ed. Ed. Hausrath, A., Hunger, H. (Leipzig: Teubner).

• Further Reading:

  • George A. Kennedy, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (SBL, 2003).

  • Ronald F. Hock and Edward N. O'Neil, The Chreia in Ancient Rhetoric (Vols. I & II).

  • Malcolm Heath, “Theon and the History of the Progymnasmata,” GRBS 43.

  • Gideon O. Burton, Silva Rhetoricae, rhetoric.byu.edu.