What is the Second Sophistic?

MYTUTOR SUBJECT ANSWERS

Answers / Classical Greek / A Level / What is the Second Sophistic?

718 views

What is the Second Sophistic?

The Second Sophistic was a Greek rhetorical movement dating back to the 1st century AD. It originated to fill the vacuum left by the decline of tragedy, comedy and political oratory. Compared to the First Rhetoric, it lacked the strictly philosophical component, and posed its emphasis on a demonstrative kind of rhetoric. The Sophists of the Second movement did not use their art to discover the truth through philosophical disquisition, rather they taught to master the art of words through the discussion of absurd theses.
Their prose was extremely chiselled, fluid and Actic (ie. structured neatly and simply, with the use of concise words).
At the time, the word Sophist acquired an ambivalent meaning; the profession of the Sophist used to be a prestigious one. It was well-paid and therefore accessible mostly to the aristocracy. However, in addition to this, many did not consider moral that the Sohists taught how to bend the truth employing words; although their "playing the devil's advocate" was for purely didactical purposes, most believed that this practice, disconnected from philosophy and its quest for the truth, could only yield negative and immoral results.

Giulia F. A Level Classical Greek tutor, A Level Latin tutor, A Level...

2 years ago

Answered by Giulia, an A Level Classical Greek tutor with MyTutor

Still stuck? Get one-to-one help from a personally interviewed subject specialist

14 SUBJECT SPECIALISTS

Olly J. A Level Classical Greek tutor, GCSE Classical Greek tutor, GC...

View profile

£36 /hr

Olly J.

Degree: Classics (Bachelors) - Oxford, St Hilda's College University

Subjects offered:Classical Greek, Latin+ 3 more

“As a tutor of Latin and Greek, my aim is to help students improve their language skills in an interactive way.”

5.0

202 reviews | 507 completed tutorials

Save profile

Teddy J. GCSE Latin tutor, IB Latin tutor, 13 Plus Latin tutor, A Le...

View profile

£20 /hr

Teddy J.

Degree: Classics I (Bachelors) - Oxford, St Hilda's College University

Subjects offered:Classical Greek, Latin+ 3 more

“I love Latin and Greek and take great joy in helping other see the joy in these languages as well”

5.0

1 review | 1 completed tutorial

Save profile

Maria E. GCSE English Literature tutor, A Level English Literature tu...

View profile

£26 /hr

Maria P.

Degree: Classics (Masters) - Edinburgh University

Subjects offered:Classical Greek, Latin+ 5 more

“Passion, patience and persistence: the 3 keys we will use to unlock your confidence and exam technique!”

5.0

254 reviews | 333 completed tutorials

Save profile

See more A Level Classical Greek tutors

About the author

View profile

Giulia F.

Currently unavailable: for regular students

Degree: International Relations with History of Art (Bachelors) - Exeter University

Subjects offered:Classical Greek, Philosophy+ 2 more

“A bit about me...My name is Giulia and I am a third year International Relations with Art History student at the University of Exeter. My high school Diploma was Humanities-oriented, since I've always had a great fondness for subjects...”

MyTutor guarantee

Save profile

Version:	3.49.9
Build:	5f485a18d000
Time:	2017-09-20T16:11:15Z

MYTUTOR SUBJECT ANSWERS

What is the Second Sophistic?

Still stuck? Get one-to-one help from a personally interviewed subject specialist

14 SUBJECT SPECIALISTS

About the author

You may also like...

Posts by Giulia

Other A Level Classical Greek questions

One-to-one help is at your fingertips