From the Ancient World to the Modern Imagination: The Progymnasmata

Many ancient ideas are so brilliant, they persist to this day. Do you like movies? We are indebted to the ancient Greeks, who pioneered the foundational forms of drama. What about checkers or chess? You can thank the ancient Egyptians for coming up with senet, the granddaddy of all board games. And if you're grateful for indoor plumbing, as I certainly am, we must give credit to the Romans for their aqueducts and love for public baths. Coffeehouses? Arabia. Papermaking? China. Calculators? Sumer. Chocolate? Mexico. The progymnasmata? Wait. What? The progymnasmata?

Yes — the progymnasmata! This is an ancient way of learning to write that was so brilliant, it persists in every English class to this day. We just know it by other names. Fables and narrative stories? Part of the progym. Descriptive, expository, persuasive essays? Part of the progym. The five paragraph essay? Progym. Thesis statements? Progym. Imitation of style? Public speaking class? You guessed it — progym.

Our modern education has done student writers a disservice by taking what used to be a complete course in writing and speaking and fragmenting it into its component parts. Classical Academic Press's Writing & Rhetoric series is a reclamation of ancient wisdom, creatively designed for modern students.

First of all, progymnasmata means "preliminary exercises" in Greek. You can see the root word for "gymnasium" right there in the middle. Those incredibly inventive Greeks — who gave us the Olympics — believed that their young students needed an athletic workout for writing and speaking. When the Romans conquered the Greeks, they fell in love with the progym as the best way to train young thinkers, and all of our complete progym manuscripts date back to the Roman period. The progymnasmata have persisted in various forms for twenty-five-hundred years, from their origins in 5th-century BC Greece to the present day. Yes, that's how young people in the West learned to write in Byzantium, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and even into early modern Europe.

Why is it so great? The exercises gently ladder through the skills of narration, exposition, analysis, and persuasion, from more concrete to more abstract. We follow a progression from simple moral tales with anthropomorphic animals — fables — and end up in thesis essays that support a persuasive position and refute counter arguments. Each stage builds upon the previous ones, ensuring a natural progression from storytelling to structured reasoning, then to critical analysis, and finally to persuasive argumentation.

A student need not begin as a natural writer. The scaffolded structure ensures that weaker writers gain confidence and mastery, while stronger writers are challenged to refine and expand their abilities. The repetitive nature of the exercises allows all students to practice at their own pace, reinforcing key skills. In this method, repetition is not a flaw — it is an essential feature of the learning process.

Unlike rigid, formulaic essay instruction, the "progym" prioritizes imitation of excellent samples of writing and oral rhetoric. It weaves together the four modes of discourse — narration, exposition, description, and persuasion — highlighting their interplay in well-crafted compositions. In other words, it does not focus on a particular form of writing, and then leave it behind. The best compositions almost always include each of the modes of discourse.

Another vital aspect of Writing & Rhetoric is that it prepares students for formal rhetoric — the art of persuasive speaking. This includes the five canons of rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery), the three branches of oratory (legislative, judicial, and ceremonial), and the three modes of persuasion (ethos, pathos, and logos). It's a public speaking class embedded in a composition course — both writing and speaking reinforce each other. Importantly, teachers do not need formal training in rhetoric to effectively guide students through the exercises of the progymnasmata.

Finally, a huge benefit of this method and curriculum is its deliberate cultivation of virtue in students. Our society does not need persuasive speakers and writers who seek to tear down civilization! These so-called influencers often lack depth, yet they can mislead impressionable young people who have yet to develop critical thinking skills. Rather, Writing & Rhetoric strives to cultivate conscientious, principled individuals who will contribute meaningfully to uplifting society. It aspires to grow virtuous writers, thinkers, and speakers who elevate culture through wisdom and eloquence.

Imagine your students crafting compelling stories, delivering persuasive speeches, and thinking critically with confidence — all the while growing in wisdom and virtue. Classical Academic Press's Writing & Rhetoric series, rooted in the ancient progymnasmata, offers a proven path to these outcomes.

Renoir — The Writing Lesson (1905)