Sur une partie spécifique de la démonstration dans les textes géométriques grecs classiques : l’anaphore

Abstract

The rhetorical figure that I have called anaphora is a syntactic device often used by the Greek mathematicians in the demonstrations of their propositions, its function being to send back to a former expression. However, I will only deal with the linguistic aspects of this figure. There are two sorts of anaphoras : the anaphoras that contain the verb « be », and the others. – In the first part, I’ll examine the numerous appearances of the first type, which we find in causal subordinate clauses, made interesting by the form of their subjects and complements, that are sometimes definite, sometimes indefinite, but never at random. In the second part, I’ll study the second class, remarkable not only because of the form of the nouns, but mainly because of the type of verbs employed, construction verbs above all, not many actually, and of which I draw up a comprehensive list.

Keywords

• anadiplosis
• anaphora
• aspect
• cataphora
• demonstration