Later. How did Greek boys actually learn rhetoric, day by day? Our best evidence comes from school handbooks called progymnasmata, “preliminary exercises,” written by Greek teachers in the Roman era. The earliest surviving handbook is by Aelius Theon, probably of the first century CE. Others were written by a teacher known as Hermogenes, probably in the second or third century, and by Aphthonius of Antioch in the fourth century; Aphthonius's version became the standard schoolbook for over a thousand years, in the Byzantine Empire and later in Renaissance Europe. Although these handbooks are later than classical Athens, many of their exercises, such as praise and blame, arguing both sides, and writing in character, go back to classical practice.

The sequence

The exercises were arranged from simple to complex, so that each built skills needed for the next. Aphthonius listed fourteen:

1. Fable: retelling a story such as one of Aesop's.
2. Narrative: telling an event clearly and briefly.
3. Chreia: developing a saying or action of a famous person.
4. Maxim: developing a general saying.
5. Refutation: arguing that a story is implausible.
6. Confirmation: arguing that a story is plausible.
7. Commonplace: amplifying the evil of a known wrongdoer, such as a traitor.
8. Encomium: praise of a person or thing.
9. Invective: blame of a person or thing.
10. Comparison: setting two subjects side by side.
11. Characterization (ethopoeia): writing what a person would say in a given situation.
12. Description (ekphrasis): bringing a scene vividly before the eyes.
13. Thesis: arguing a general question, such as whether one should marry.
14. Introduction of a law: arguing for or against a proposed law.

The chreia

The chreia, from a word meaning “useful,” was a brief saying or action attributed to a famous person. Students did not simply repeat it; they developed it according to a fixed set of headings. Aphthonius gave eight:

1. Praise of the person who said it.
2. Paraphrase of the saying.
3. The cause, explaining why it is true.
4. The contrary, showing what follows if it is ignored.
5. An analogy.
6. An example.
7. The testimony of the ancients, quoting other authorities.
8. A brief epilogue.

Aphthonius's own model chreia was a saying attributed to Isocrates: “The root of education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

Characterization

The exercise of ethopoeia, characterization, asked students to write what a person would say in a particular situation: what Niobe would say over the bodies of her children, or what Achilles would say over the body of Patroclus. It trained students to understand and express different points of view and emotions, a skill Lysias had shown in writing speeches for his clients. The classical poets and historians had done the same: Thucydides' speeches are, in a sense, characterizations.

Encomium

The encomium, praise of a person, followed a pattern: the person's origin, family and city; upbringing and education; deeds, arranged by virtues such as courage, justice and wisdom; and a comparison showing the person's superiority. The same headings, reversed, served for invective. Students practiced on heroes and villains from myth and history.

Why so much structure?

Modern readers sometimes find the progymnasmata mechanical. Ancient teachers saw the structure as a scaffold. By practicing fixed patterns repeatedly, students absorbed them so thoroughly that they could later use them freely and creatively, as a musician who has practiced scales can improvise. The headings also trained students to look at a subject from many angles: causes, opposites, comparisons, examples and authorities.

Worked example: elaborate a chreia

Develop Isocrates' saying, “The root of education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet,” through Aphthonius's eight headings. A brief model:

1. Praise: Isocrates taught the leading men of Greece, and his wisdom shaped generals and statesmen.
2. Paraphrase: He means that learning is hard at first, but its rewards are pleasant.
3. Cause: The young must give up easy pleasures, submit to teachers and labor at difficult tasks; only later do they enjoy understanding and honor.
4. Contrary: The boy who avoids the bitterness of study grows into a man who cannot speak, judge or govern himself.
5. Analogy: As a farmer labors through winter to enjoy the harvest, so the student labors through study to enjoy its fruits.
6. Example: Demosthenes struggled with a weak voice and stammer, yet became the greatest orator of Athens.
7. Testimony: The poet Hesiod said that the gods placed sweat before excellence.
8. Epilogue: We should therefore admire Isocrates, and accept the bitterness of learning for the sake of its sweetness.

Now try it yourself with another saying, such as the one attributed to the philosopher Diogenes, who, when asked where he came from, replied that he was a citizen of the world. Work through all eight headings. This was the daily work of Greek schoolboys for centuries, and it is still one of the best ways to learn to develop an idea fully.