De la retórica moral a la carta de intercesión

Abstract

In this paper the author tries to show the connection of the moral rhetoric, as established by Isocrates, with Epistolography in general and with the letters of intercession in particular. As it is well known, the fourth and fifth centuries are the age of great collections of letters and many of them (so, for instance, in Libanins epistolary corpus) are letters of intercession. The use of artificial oratory in the schools and the clase association of rhetoric with epistolography (some elaborate epistles are difficult to be distinguished from speeches) explain many features of the letters of intercession regarded as a product of a rhetorical school. There are, nevertheless, stylistic differences between speeches and letters, some of which are examined in this article.