Rhêtorikê: What's in a name? Toward a revised history of early Greek rhetorical theory

The coining of the Greek word for rhetoric was a watershed event in the history of rhetorical theory in ancient Greece which has been overlooked by most classical rhetoric scholars. This omission often has resulted in a distorted understanding of the Sophists and "rhetoric." Prior to the coining of rhêtorikê, logos was the key term thematized in the texts and fragments we generally assign to the fifth‐century BCE history of rhetorical theory. The texts and fragments concerning logos suggest important differences between the way the art of the discourse was conceptualized before and after the coining of rhêtorikê. Prior to the coining of rhêtorikê, the verbal arts were understood as less differentiated and more holistic in scope than they were in the fourth century BCE, and the teaching associated with logos shows considerably less tension between goals of seeking success and seeking truth than is the case once Rhetoric and Philosophy were defined as distinct disciplines.