Progrumnasmata (
προγυμνάσματα)
The introduction to the study of rhetoric, which bears the title Progymnasmata (προγυμνάσματα), if considered from a right point of view, is of
great interest, inasmuch as it shews us the method followed by the ancients in the
instruction of boys, before they were sent to the regular schools of the rhetoricians. The
book consists of rules and exercises. Previous to the time of Aphthonius the progymnasmata
of Hermogenes were commonly used in schools; Aphthonius found it insufficient, and upon its
basis he constructed his new work, which contained fourteen progymnasmata, while that of his
predecessor contained only twelve. Soon after its appearance the work of Aphthonius
superseded that of Hermogenes, and became the common school-book in this branch of education
for several centuries.
On the revival of letters the progymnasmata of Aphthonius recovered their ancient
popularity, and during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were used everywhere,
but more especially in Germany, in schools and universities, as the text-book for rhetoric.
But by a singular mistake the work was during that period regarded as the canon of
everything that was required to form a perfect orator, whereas the author and the ancients
had intended and used it as a collection of elementary and preparatory exercises for
children. The number of editions and translations which were published during that period is
greater than that of any other ancient writer. (Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vi.
p. 96, &c.; Hoffmann, Lex. Bibliogr. i. p. 199, &c.)
Editions
The editio princeps is that in Aldus' collection of the Rhetores
Graeci, Venice, 1508, fol.The most important among the subsequent editions are that of Giunta, Florence, 1515,
8vo., which contains also the progymnasmata of Hermogenes; that of
Camerarius, with a Latin translation, Lips. 1567, 8vo.; of B. Harbart,
1591, 8vo., with a Latin translation and notes; of F. Scobarius, 1597,
8vo., and that of J. Scheffer, Upsala, 1670, 8vo.The last and best edition is that in Walz's collection of the " Rhetores Graeci," i.
p. 54, &c. It contains the notes of Scheffer, and an ancient abridgement of the
work by one Matthaeus (ἐπιτομὴ εἰς τὰ τῆς ῥητορικῆς
προγυμνάσματα), and a sort of commentary upon them by an anonymous writer
(Ἀνωνύμου περὶ τῶν τοῦ Ἀφθονίου
προγυμνασμάτων), p. 121, &c., 126 , &c.
Aesopic Fables
The Aesopic fables of Aphthonius are inferior in merit to those of Aesop.
Editions
Aphthonius' Aesopic Fables are printed in Scobarius' edition of the
progymnasmata, and also in the Paris edition of 1623. Furia's
edition of the fables of Aesop contains twenty-three of those of Aphthonius.
(Westermann, Geschichte der Griech. Beredtsamkeit, § 98, nn.
16-20.)