The progymnasmata were taught in order, increasing in difficulty as the course advances. The courses were organized to begin with story-telling and end with making an argument. There was a focus on literature as a supplement to the course, paying close attention to models of rhetoric and literature. The progymnasmata of Aphthonius was first translated to Latin in the fifteenth century by Rudolphus Agricola. Fable (mythos) Aesop's fables were popular at the time rhetoric became a common topic of study. There are three forms of fable: the rational form (where characters are men and women), the ethical form (where animals are protagonists), and a third form involving both. What all three have in common is they each have a moral, stated before the story begins or after it has concluded. In Aphthonius's handbook, the first exercise was to create a fable that followed the three forms. Narrative (diēgēma) This elementary assignment was to simply write a narrative (not to be confused with fable). It is assumed that this training is a result of Aristotle's theory of categories and introduces students to the four values of narrative, which is perspicuity, incisiveness, persuasiveness, and purity of language. The content of the narrative exercise in the progymnasmata is either political, historical, or based on fiction. Just as diegesis indicates the narrative plot of a film, the so-called narrative of a speech or oration moves the content forth. Anecdote (chreia) Students were asked to take an action or saying of a famous person and elaborate on it. They were to develop the meanings of these actions or quotations with the framing under the headings of praise, paraphrase, cause, example of meaning, compare and contrast, testimonies, and an epilogue; anecdote is something that is frequently used in the Bible. Maxim (gnōmē) Maxim or proverbs were first described by Aristotle, and in Aphthonius's book are divided into, protreptic, apotreptic, declarative, simple, and compound. A moral generalization was given to students about a writer, and they were asked to create something similar to an anecdote about the writer. Refutation (anaskeuē) This exercise required the student to logically reason against something drawn from myths, narratives, or fables. The student's argument was that something was either impossible, illogical, unsuitable, or inexpedient. Confirmation (kataskeuē) The confirmation exercise is the opposite of refutation. The student was asked to reason in favor of something drawn from legends and literature. Commonplace (koinos topos)