This course traces the medieval transformation of classical ideas about persuasive language and literary aesthetics, by focusing on such topics as the role of figurative language, especially metaphor and allegory, the structural principles of literary works, and the function of literature in society. Students will become familiar with the classical basis of medieval rhetorical thought through an analysis of select writings of the Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Augustine, and Horace, before turning to early medieval rhetorical and linguistic thought, in the writings of such theorists as Martianus Capella, Isidore of Seville, and Donatus. Finally, the course will illustrate how the views of language expressed in classical and early medieval rhetorical texts shaped the later development of medieval literature.