Kiedy adwersarz polemiczny nie boi się Boga i nie wstydzi się ludzi: obraz przeciwnika w „Lithosie” (1644)

This article is devoted to the rhetorical strategies used by the authors of the famous polemical treatise “Lithos aboKamień...” (Kyiv 1644). In it there is an extraordinary amount of invectives against the adversary – Kasijan Sakovyč, author of the treatise “Epanorthōsis abo Perspectiwa” (Cracow 1642). These invectives were intended to discredit the opponent in the eyes of the readers and were not uncommon in the early modern era, not only in Poland but in all Europe. Despite the practice of rei publicae litterarum, as A.Naumow has already shown, polemicists also drew inspiration for invectives from the Bible and thepatristic tradition. This article discusses and organises the various types of ad personam arguments that the authors of “Lithos” resorted to. In this way, a fairly wide range of means of dignifying a rival and the expediency of using outlandish expressions in creating a negative image of the opponent are revealed.