Orator perfectus: La réplica de San Agustín al rétor ideal de Cicerón

Abstract

In this article the author shows the similarities and dissimilarities in the characterization of the perfect orator from the perspectives of Cicero and St. Augustine, above all from the ethical point of view. While in Cicero the difficulty of finding a model for the ideal orator is evident, product of his preference for articulating rhetorical art from juridical rhetoric and his distrust of the possibility of finding the truth within the framework of the persuasive word, St. Augustine opts for the model that must predominate in the ecclesiastical orator, established from the texts of Sacred Scripture and from those who wrote them, where truth is guaranteed. For this analysis, the author focuses on Cicero's Orator ad M. Brutum and on Book IV of De doctrina Christiana of the philosopher of Tagaste.