XV. THERAMENES
1. Sud. s. v.: Θηραμένης Ἀθηναῖος, ῥήτωρ, μαθητὴς Προδίκου τοῦ Κείου, ὃς ἐπεκαλεῖτο Κόθορνος· Mελέτας ῥητορικὰς καὶ ἄλλα τινά. Θηραμένης Κεῖος, σοφιστής. Mελετῶν βιβλία γ’, περὶ ὁμοιώσεως λόγου, περὶ εἰκόνων ἤτοι παραβολῶν, περί σχημάτων.
Verba lacera, cum saltem ἔγραψεν ante Mελετῶν desideretur, ex scholiis Aristophaneis hausta videntur. Certe, quae apud Sudam secuntur, ex Aristophanis scholiis sumpta (cf. schol. ad Ran. 541. 970), quoniam ad rem non pertinent, hic omisi. ὁμοίωσιν λόγου similiter intellegi posse atque παρομοίωσιν, ut certa quaedam perihodi conformatio sit, docere studet Ν. Suess, Rh. M. 66, 184, nihil omnino scripsisse Theramenem satis confidenter W. Schwahn profitetur, RE. V A 2, 2316 sq. V. etiam Stegemann ibid. 2320. Mihi quidem Sudae auctor, alioquin unum ex duobus facere solitus, hic ex uno duos fecisse videtur, ab Aristophanis scholiastis deceptus.
2. Cic. de orat. 2, 22, 93: antiquissimi fere sunt, quorum quidem scripta constent, Pericles atque Alcibiades et eadem aetate Thucydides, subtiles, acuti, breves, sententiis magis quam verbis abundantes. non potuisset accidere, ut unum esset omnium genus, nisi aliquem sibi proponerent ad imitandum. consecuti sunt hos Critias, Theramenes, Lysias. multa Lysiae scripta sunt, nonnulla Critiae, de Theramene audimus.
Patet e Cicerone Theramenem inter scriptores numerari vel, ut ipse ait, inter eos ‘quorum quidem scripta constent’, sed nihil scriptum viderat, quod quidem etiam de aliis V. saeculi scriptoribus adfirmare poterat, poterat dicere ‘de Pericle audimusʼ.
3. [Plut.] Vit. X οr. 836 F.: (Isocrates) ἀκροώμενος Προδίκου τε τοῦ Κείου καὶ Γοργίου τοῦ Λεοντίνου καὶ Τισίου τοῦ Συρακουσίου καὶ Θηραμένους τοῦ ῥήτορος. οὗ καὶ συλλαμβανομένου ὑπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα καὶ φυγόντος ἐπὶ τὴν βουλαίαν ἑστίαν, ἁπάντων καταπεπληγμένων, μόνος ἀνέστη βοηθήσων καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐσίγησε κατʼ ἀρχάς. ἔπειτα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παρῃτήθη εἰπόντος ὀδυνηρότερον αὐτῷ συμβήσεσθαι, εἴ τις τῶν φίλων ἀπολαύσει τῆς συμφορᾶς. καὶ ἐκείνου τινὰς οὔσας τέχνας αὐτῷ φασι συμπραγματεύσασθαι, ἡνίκα ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἐσυκoφαντεῖτο, αἵ εἰσιν ἐπιγεγραμμέναι Βότωνος.
10 Βάτωνος Salmasius.
Itaque ut sycophantas evitaret, Theramenes artes falso sub nomine ediderat. Botonis Atheniensis Χenophanes philosophus fuerat discipulus (Diog. Laert. IX 18). Ex eodem fonte Dionysius Hal. de Isocr. p. 54, 8 sq. U. R.
4. Schol. Aristoph. ran. 541: Θηραμένης διδάσκαλος Ἰσοκράτους… τοῦτον διὰ τὴν ποικιλίαν τοῦ ἤθους Κόθορνον ἐκάλουν, ἐπειδὴ ἑκατέρᾳ στάσει τῇ τῶν πολιτευομένων ἑαυτὸν παρετίθει, καθομιλῶν τοῖς καιροῖς καὶ τὸ συμφέρον ἑαυτοῦ τοῦ πιστοῦ προτάσσων, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ κόθορνος ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ πρὸς τὰς ὑποδέσεις ἀρμόττει.
Cf. Sud. s. v. Δεξιός, al.
5. Schol. Aristoph. nub. 361 (Prodicus): διδἀσκαλος δὲ ἦν οὗτος καὶ Θηραμένους τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Κοθόρνου.
6. Aristoph. ran. 964 (Euripides): γνώσει δὲ τοὺς τούτου τε κἀμοὺς ἑκατέρου μαθητὰς... (967) οὑμὸς δὲ Κλειτοφῶν τε καὶ Θηραμένης ὁ κομψός. – (Dionysus) Θηραμένης; σοφός γʼ ἀνὴρ καὶ δεινὸς εἰς τὰ πάντα, ὃς ἢν κακοῖς που περιπέσῃ καὶ πλησίον 5 παραστῇ, πέπτωκεν ἔξω τῶν κακῶν, οὐ Χῖος, ἀλλὰ χεῖος. – (Eurip.) τοιαῦτα μέντοι ἐγὼ φρονεῖν τούτοισιν εἰσηγησάμην, λογισμὸν ἐνθεὶς τῇ τέχνῃ καὶ σκέψιν, ὥστʼ ἤδη νοεῖν ἅπαντα καὶ διειδέναι τά τʼ ἄλλα καὶ τὰς οἰκίας οἰκεῖν ἄμεινον ἢ πρὸ τοῦ κἀνασκοπεῖν· πῶς τοῦτʼ ἔχει; ποῦ μοι τοδί; τίς τοῦτʼ ἔλαβε;
5 Κείος libri.
Ultima perstringunt rhetorum quae vocantur περιστατικὰ κεφάλαια (cf. Prol. Syll. p. 51 and.), velut πότε, ποῦ, πῶς est in Gorgiae Palam. 22, haud aliter atque ὁ χρόνος, ὁ τρόπος, ὁ τόπος apud Hippocratem κατʼ ἰητρεῖον 2 p. 30, 10 Κw., sed cum Theramenis, quem nominat Aristophanes, arte congruit Scholion Soph. El. in. δεδήλωκεν ὁ ποιητὴς τὸν τόπον τῆς σκηνῆς (scil. ποῦ), τὸν τρόπον… (πῶς), τὸν καιρόν… (πότε), τὸν συνόντα… (τίς). Inde Quintilianus (inst. 3, 5, 5) quaestiones infinitas nominat, ‘quae remotis personis et temporibus et locis ceterisque similibus in utramque partem tractanturʼ, significantius idem 9, 3, 102: sciendum vero imprimis, quid quisque in orando postulet locus, quid persona, quid tempus (i. e. τὸ ποῦ, πότε, τίς). Unde Diogenes Laertius de Aristippo (2, 8, 66): ἦν δὲ ἱκανὸς ἁρμόσασθαι καὶ τόπῳ καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ προσώπῳ. Alia eius generis in commentario ad Aristophanis Ran. p. 284 congessimus. V. etiam supra ad Gorgiae fr. 24. Gravissimum fortasse ad Aristophanem ipsum interpretandum est, quod Hermogenes dicit π. στ. p. 145, 15 Sp. τὰ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἄχρι τέλους… γίνεται… καὶ αὐξάνεται, ἀφʼ ὧνπερ καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐλέγχων ἀπαίτησις, ἔστι δὲ τάδε· τίς, τί, ποῦ, πῶς, πότε, διὰ τί; Non potest esse dubium, quin Hermogenes, cum talium περιστάσεων doctrinam condidit, vias ingressus sit dudum munitas.
7. Prol. artis rhet. W VI, p. 20, 20 = Prol. Syll. p. 34. 7 R.: ὅστις γὰρ οἶδε μόνον τὸ συμβουλευτικόν, μὴ μέντοι τὸ δικανικὸν ἢ τὸ πανηγυρικόν, οὗτος ῥήτωρ ὡς Θηραμένης ὁ Κόθορνος· συμβουλεύειν γὰρ μόνον εἰδὼς ὅμως ῥήτωρ ἐνομίζετο, ὁ δὲ Ζήνων δικάζεσθαι μόνον εἰδὼς ῥήτωρ ἤκουε, Γοργίας τε πανηγυρίζων μόνον ῥήτωρ ἤκουσε καὶ αὐτός.
Sic etiam P. S. p. 327, 24 sq. R., cf. ibid. p. 129, 28 sq.
8. Aristoph. ran. 534sq.:
ταῦτα μὲν πρὸς ἀνδρός ἐστι
νοῦν ἔχοντος καὶ φρένας καὶ
πολλὰ περιπεπλευκότος,
μετακυλινδεῖν αὑτὸν ἀεὶ
πρὸς τὸν εὖ πράττοντα τοῖχον
μᾶλλον ἢ γεγραμμένην
εἰκόνʼ ἑστάναι λαβόνθʼ ἓν
σχῆμα· τὸ δὲ μεταστρέφεσθαι
πρὸς τὸ μαλθακώτερον
δεξιοῦ πρὸς ἀνδρός ἐστι
καὶ φύσει Θηραμένους.
Cum Theramenes περὶ εἰκόνων et περὶ σχημάτων scripsisse dicatur, Aristophaneis verbis non solum politicum sed etiam rhetorem perstringi W. Suess coniecit (Rh. M. 66, 183 sq.), provocans ad Alcidamantis περὶ σοφ. 27 sq.: ὥσπερ γὰρ ταῦτα (i. e. χαλκοῖ ἀνδριάντες καὶ λίθινα ἀγάλματα καὶ γεγραμμένα ζῷα) μιμήματα τῶν ἀληθινῶν σωμάτων ἐστί, ... τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὁ γεγραμμένος λόγος (qualis Isocratis fuit), ἑνὶ σχήματι καὶ τάξει κεχρημένος... ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν καιρῶν ἀκίνητος ὢν... Scilicet ἓν σχῆμα non est genus Theramenis. Statuarum quidem τὸ ἀκίνητον et adulescentis pulchri corpore expressos animi motus opponit Erotici Pseudodemosthenici auctor (16). Ceterum adi Antisthenem, cur Ulixes πολύτροπος sit dictus, explanantem B XIX 10. Omnino autem ea, qua Aristophanes utitur, comparatio tum temporis satis trita fuisse videtur (Plat. Phaedr. 275 D, Isocratis 13, 12).
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XV. THERAMENES
1. Suda s.v.: Theramenes of Athens, a rhetorician, pupil of Prodicus of Keos, who was nicknamed Kothornos [“high boot” or “tragic shoe”]. He wrote Rhetorical Exercises and some more works. Theramenes of Keos, a sophist, wrote Exercises (in three books), On the Similarity of Speech, On Images or Comparisons and On Figures.
The text is fragmentary; one misses at least ‘he wrote’ before ‘Exercises (in three books)’. It seems to have been put together from the Scholia on Aristophanes. I have left out what follows in Suda, which is certainly taken from those Scholia (cf. Schol. Frogs 541, 970) since they have nothing to do with the subject matter at hand. The ‘similarity of speech’ can be understood in a similar way as paromoiosis, namely as a certain shaping of a period, according to Ν. Suess, Rh. M. 66, 184; that Theramenes did not write anything at all is argued with a great deal of confidence by W. Schwahn, RE. V A 2, 2316 f. See also Stegemann ibid. 2320. To me at least it seems that the author of Suda, who otherwise usually conflates two persons into one, at this point makes two different Theramenes out of a single one, having been led astray by the scholiasts on Aristophanes.
2. Cicero, On the Orator 2.22.93: Pericles and Alcibiades and his contemporary Thucydides are the oldest authors to have left writings behind. These authors are subtle, acute, short, rich in thoughts rather than words. There is no way they could all have written in the same genre had they not chosen somebody to imitate. These ones were followed by Critias, Theramenes, and Lysias. We have many writings by Lysias, some by Critias, and we have heard about those by Theramenes.
From Cicero it is evident that Theramenes is listed among writers or, as Cicero himself puts it, among those ‘by whom writings are known’; yet he had not seen any such writing. But he could say the same thing about any other author from the 5th century: he could say ‘we have heard this about Pericles…’
3. Pseudo-Plutarch, Lives of the Ten Orators 836 F.: (Isocrates) learned from Prodicus of Keos, Gorgias of Leontini, Tisias of Syracuse and the rhetor Theramenes. When the Thirty tried to arrest Theramenes and he fled to the hearth of the Boule, and everybody else was scared, Isocrates was the only one to stand up in his defense and at first kept silent for a while. Finally, he was persuaded to stop by Theramenes, who pointed out that the affair would turn out much more painful for him if one of his friends were to suffer because of his misfortune. Theramenes is the author of some treatises and Isocrates is claimed to have co-authored them when he was being frivolously dragged to court; they are published under the name of Boton.
So, to avoid sycophants, Theramenes published his treatises under a false name. The philosopher Xenophanes was a student of Boton of Athens (Diog. Laert. IX 18). From the same source Dionysius Hal. On Isocrates p. 54, 8 f. U. R.
4. Scholion on Aristophanes’ Frogs: Theramenes, teacher of Isocrates, […] was called “Kothornos”[1] because of the shrewdness of his character after he joined both of the parties in a fight among citizens, going with the flow and putting his own interest above faithfulness. For the tragic boot is a fit wear for both men and women.
Cf. Sud. s. v. Δεξιός and elsewhere.
5. Scholion on Aristophanes’ Clouds: [Prodicus] was also teacher of Theramenes, who was nicknamed “Kothornos”.
6. Aristophanes, Frogs 964: (Euripides:) You'll recognize the disciples of both this fellow and myself […] (967) but mine are Cleitophon and Theramenes the dandy. – (Dionysus:) Theramenes? A clever fellow, an all-round wonder; if he runs into trouble and happens to be close by he’s thrown clear of the trouble, no Chian but a Kian. – (Euripides:) Well, to ponder such things, I instructed these folks here, putting logic in my art and scrutiny, so now they notice everything and know through and through most especially how to run the household better than before, and they inquire, “How’s this doing? Where's this? Who took that?”
The last words satirize what is called ‘circumstantial headings’ (cf. Prol. Syll. p. 51 n.), such as ‘when, where, how’ in Gorgias’ Palamedes 22, not unlike ‘the time, the manner, the place’ in Hippocrates’ On the Surgery 2 p. 30, 10 Κw. However, the Scholium on Sophocles Electra, introduction is consistent with the treatise by the Theramenes whom Aristophanes names: ‘The poet has made clear the location of the scene [that is, the ‘where’], the manner… [‘how’], the time… [‘when’], the participant… [‘who’].’ Hence Quintilian 3.5.5 gives an endless list of questions ‘which, once one removes the characters, the times, the places and the like, are dealt with in both directions.’ More significantly in 9.3.102: ‘One must know, to begin with, what in a speech is demanded by the place, what by the character, what by the time [that is, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘who’].’ Hence Diogenes Laertius On Aristippus (2.8.66): ‘He was good enough to accommodate his speech to the place, the time and the character.’ Other sources to the same effect I have gathered in the commentary on Aristophanes Frogs p. 284. See also above on Gorgias fr. 24. Perhaps the most important explanation we can give to Aristophanes himself is what Hermogenes writes in On legal questions p. 145, 15 Sp.: ‘What comes from the beginning to the end is born and grows out of the same things as does the asking of the inquisitory questions, that is, who, what, where, how, when, why?’ There can be no doubt that Hermogenes, when he created this doctrine of circumstances, was treading on ground already prepared by others.
7. Prologue on The Art of Rhetoric: anyone who has mastered only the deliberative style but not the forensic and the declamatory ones is a rhetorician like Theramenes the Kothornos: he was only capable to give advice and yet he was considered a rhetorician; Zenon, who knew only how to litigate, was said to be a rhetorician, and so was Gorgias himself, who could only do declamatory speeches.
So also P. S. p. 327, 24 f. R.; cf. ibid. p. 129, 28 f.
8. Aristophanes, Frogs 534ff.: This is the mark of a man who’s got wit and brains and has sailed around the block a few times: to roll himself over to the prospering side rather than stand like a graven image, taking a single position. But to change for the softer is the mark of a clever man, a true Theramenes.
As Theramenes is said to have written On pictures and On Figures, W. Suess (RhM 66, 183 f.) hypothesizes that Aristophanes’ words satirize not only a politician but a rhetorician, and he points to Alcidamas On Wisdom 27 f.: ‘Just as golden statues, wooden figurines and pictures of animals are imitations of the actual bodies […] in the same way, a written speech [such as that by Isocrates], stuck in one appearance and one position… and unchangeable in different situations…’ This means that ‘one appearance’ is not the genre of Theramenes. The author of the pseudo-Demosthenic Erotic treatise (16) contrasts the ‘stillness’ of statues with the emotions expressed by the body of a beautiful youth. See also Antisthenes’ explanation of why Odysseus is called ‘man of twists and turns’ (B XIX 10). And generally, the comparison Aristophanes uses seems to have been fairly commonplace at that time (Plat. Phaedr. 275 D, Isocrates 13.12).
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