Sopatros’ Μεταποιήσεις: Stylistic Rewriting, Byzantine Rhetorical Figures, and a Proto-Pragmatic Theory of Speech Act

This paper undertakes a comprehensive examination of Sopatros’ scholastic treatise Μεταποιήσεις (“Transpositions”), a pivotal yet underexplored contribution to the rhetorical practices of Early Byzantine scholarship. The study focuses on the treatise’s innovative techniques of stylistic rewriting and its profound influence on the evolution of postclassical theories of rhetorical figures. Through an analysis of the rhetorical and lexicographical sources that underpin Sopatros’ work, this investigation illuminates the transformative potential of scholastic rewriting, as exemplified by the remarkable variation of a single Homeric passage into seventy-two distinct stylistic products. The inquiry commences by situating the concept of μεταποιήσις within the broader rhetorical lexicon of rewriting practices, including related terms such as μετάφρασις, παράφρασις, and μεταβολή, while elucidating its nuanced relationship to Proto-Byzantine conceptions of figurative language. These conceptions manifest in sophisticated techniques such as amplification, simplification, analogical stylization, and rhythmic variation, which collectively underscore the treatise’s engagement with the diglossic—or potentially triglossic—stratification of linguistic registers (levels of speech) in Byzantine written stylistics. Moreover, the proposal explores Sopatros’ attention to the illocutionary force and performative dimensions of rhetorical discourse, positing that Μεταποιήσεις may represent an early milestone in the development of linguistic Pragmatics. By foregrounding the functional and contextual efficacy of language, Sopatros’ work appears to prefigure a Theory of Speech Acts, anticipating later pragmatic frameworks avant la lettre. Through this multifaceted analysis, the study not only reaffirms the significance of Sopatros’ contributions to the rhetorical traditions of the Early Byzantine period but also underscores their relevance to contemporary discussions in rhetorical theory, stylistics, and the history of linguistic thought.