Building Texts. Architecture, Music and the Teaching of Prose Composition

Abstract

This paper explores the connections between ancient rhetoric, architecture and music. Ancient teachers of rhetoric compare the art of composition to the building of a house: words or parts of speech are like stones, which are put together in a building. The only extant treatise on stylistic composition (synthesis) is Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ On Composition (first century BC). The didactic nature of this treatise explains its abundant use of architectural metaphors and analogies. Dionysus compares prose composition not only to building, but also to the production and performance of music. Rhetoric, architecture and music share a set of technical terms, and the ancient teachers of these disciplines describe both the creative process and the effects of their art in similar ways. Dionysius’ use of architectural and musical metaphors invites us to read his treatise in the context of contemporary writings on literary criticism, music and architecture. A comparison between Vitruvius and Dionysius demonstrates that both authors — contemporary

citizens of Rome — were deeply influenced by Hellenistic theories on music.