Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Kevin Robb. "Preliterate Ages and the Linguistic Art of Heraclitus." In his Language and Thought in Early Greek Philosophy. La Salle, IL: Monist Library of Philosophy/The Hegeler Institute: 153-206.

Establishes the preliterate and protoliterate condition of Heraclitus' audience and argues that Heraclitus composed his works both with a maximum economy of words and with mnemonic devices. Suggests a possible Semitic influence on Heraclitus with respect to the form of his sayings, inasmuch as he uses parallelism to create a poetic unit and thus make it memorable for an oral audience. Examines the first fifteen fragments of Heraclitus as printed by Diels from the point of view of the density of oral compositional devices employed therein, concluding that Heraclitus intentionally used devices of mnemonic utility and persuasive euphony.
Area: AG