Inimitable sources: Canonical texts and rhetorical theory in the Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew traditions

This paper offers an overview of the development of rhetorical studies in four different textual cultures (ancient and medieval Greek, ancient and medieval Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew), and some comparative thoughts on the ways in which these scholarly approaches arise chiefly from the perusal of a single foundational text (Homer, the Bible, the Qur'an). Some unexpected similarities and some striking synchronisms emerge from the analysis, along with obvious differences deriving from the different nature and status of the "inimitable sources" considered.