THE RHETORIC OF PEDAGOGICAL NARCISSISM: PHILOSOPHY, PHILOTIMIA AND SELF-DISPLAY IN MAXIMUS OF TYRE'S FIRST ORATION

摘要

Maximus of Tyre’s first1 oration is often regarded as an important source for thenreconstruction of the author’s view of his own rhetorical2 and philosophical projectnand, in consequence, for the interpretation of the whole corpus of the 40 subsequentndialexeis which Maximus probably delivered after this introductory speech.3 The factnthat in this oration, more clearly than anywhere else in Maximus’ oeuvre, thenaddressees of the speech can be characterized as young Roman students of philosophy,n4 makes this text outstanding material for further examination by those whonwant to gain a better understanding of Maximus’ pedagogical aims, conceptions andntechniques. In this respect, three scholars certainly deserve mention here. Hobein5 wasnthe first to analyse Maximus’ first oration systematically, shedding light on thencircumstances in which he performed the text. Koniaris,6 on the other hand, althoughnoffering many interesting observations, probably went too far in his interpretation ofnthe first oration as Maximus’ general self-apology for his adoption of ‘philosophical