The essay has no real precedent in the generic system of classical antiquity. The specific genre in relation and reaction to which Montaigne developed the eseai was the compendium of sayings, like Erasmus's Adagia. The task of commentary is first to assemble, and only then to add to, all of the existing writing on the topic.
The essay has no real precedent in the generic system of classical antiquity. The specific genre in relation and reaction to which Montaigne developed the eseai was the compendium of sayings, like Erasmus's Adagia. The task of commentary is first to assemble, and only then to add to, all of the existing writing on the topic.
The essay has no real precedent in the generic system of classical antiquity. The specific genre in relation and reaction to which Montaigne developed the eseai was the compendium of sayings, like Erasmus's Adagia. The task of commentary is first to assemble, and only then to add to, all of the existing writing on the topic.