Anatomy of a Speech: Rhetorical Strategies in the Hittite Instructions for Priests and Temple Personnel (CTH 264)

Silvia Alaura

CTH 264 – Instructions for Priests and Temple Personnel – has been frequently discussed because of the information its content provides on various aspects of the Hittite religious beliefs and practices. The article focuses on a much less investigated topic, that is, the use of rhetorical strategies displayed by this text. In particular, instances of interrogative phrases and rhetorical questions, of repetitions and reiterations generating a climax, and of anecdotes and proverbs as storytelling devices are analyzed. The trial-like structure and the sapiential flavour informing the § 7 of the text are put in evidence.

Silvia Alaura is Research Fellow in Anatolian Studies at Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo Antico, CNR, Roma.
Full Bibliographic Reference

Alaura S. 2015, Anatomy of a Speech: Rhetorical Strategies in the Hittite Instructions for Priests and Temple Personnel (CTH 264), SMEA NS 1, 9-17

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Fresque de la Xestè 3, Akrotiri, Théra, d’après Doumas 1992, 157, fig. 121.