Introduction Introduction to Rhetorical to Rhetorical Devices & Devices & Figures of Figures of Speech Speech
Nov 16, 2014
Introduction Introduction to Rhetorical to Rhetorical
Devices & Devices & Figures of Figures of
SpeechSpeech
With With Examples Examples
From Book I From Book I of The of The AeneidAeneid
We’ll start with the easy
ones.
An implied comparison achieved through a figurative
use of words.
metaphor:
1.301Volat ille per aera magnum
remigio alarum ac Libyae citus astitit oris.
comparing wings with oars
* this metaphor will appear again in Book VI – look for it!
simile:a comparison
between two things using 'like' or 'as'.
1.82Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem
impulit in latus; ac venti velut agmine facto,
The winds are like soldiers in formation.
http://vergil.classics.upenn.edu/images/images.old.html
Now turn to Book 1, lines 430-431. There’s a famous similie here. What are the two words that introduce it?
Qualis apes aestate nova per florea rura
exercet sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos
educunt fetus, aut cum liquentia mella
stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas, aut
onera accipiunt venientum,aut agmine facto
Ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent;
Qualis apes aestate nova per florea rura
exercet sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos
educunt fetus, aut cum liquentia mella
stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas, aut
onera accipiunt venientum,aut agmine facto
ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent;
Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan Coast c. 1520(Giovanni di Niccolo Luteri)
About the picture on the preceding page, from www.nga.gov
Dosso DossiItalian, active 1512 - 1542
Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan Coast, c. 1520oil on canvas
Samuel H. Kress Collection1939.1.250
National Gallery of Art Brief Guide The obscure iconography of Dosso's canvas has caused much
speculation. In the past it has been titled simply Scene from a Legend and, more often, Departure of the
Argonauts. The present title refers instead to an event in Virgil's Aeneid. Designed to celebrate the origin and
growth of the Roman Empire, the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas, who after the fall of Troy and seven years
wandering, founded a settlement on the Italian peninsula, establishing the Roman state. The story of Aeneas and
Achates is taken from Book I of the Aeneid, where Aeneas and his faithful companion Achates, their journey just
begun, take refuge on the Libyan coast after their ships are wrecked in a storm.
alliterationThe repetition of the same (usually initial) consonant or sound.
Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem
Open your book and find further examples of alliteration in lines 1.82 & 1.83 Alliteration is usually the repetition of an initial consonant,
but not always!
1.81 – 1.83
Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montemimpulit in latus; ac venti velut agmine facto,
qua data porta, ruunt et terras turbine perflant.
Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem
assonancethe repetition of the same vowel sound.
1.217
Amissos longo socios sermone requirunt
onomatopoeia:the use of imitative
and naturally suggestive words for
rhetorical effect.
1.55Illi indignantes magno cum murmure montis
Can’t you just hear the mountains rumbling?
This is also an example of….?
alliteration!
1.124
Interea magno misceri murmure pontum,emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus,et emis
stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et altoprospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda.
Can you find both alliteration and onomatopoeia in this passage?
1.124
Interea magno misceri murmure pontum,emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus,et emis
stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et altoprospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda.
What is being described here?
personification:the assigning of
human personality to inanimate objects
1.82Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem
impulit in latus; ac venti velut agmine facto,
The winds are being compared to soldiers in formation, so not only is this simile, it is also
personification.
These next figures of speech are also
easy to recognize, , but the terminology will be
new to you.
anaphora:
the repetition of a word or phrase at the
beginning of successive phrases,
clauses or lines.
1.16-17
…hic illius arma, hic currus fuit; hoc regnum dea gentibus esse
Turn to 1.418 in your text. Read until you find another example of anaphora in those
lines.
1.421-422
Miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam,
miratur portas strepitumque et strata viarum
Book 1. 418-440. Aeneas and Achates, having been made invisible by Venus,
admire the rising city of Carthage
O fortunati, quorum iam
moenia surgunt!
apostrophe:
a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction
absent or present.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laesoquidve dolens regina deum tot volvereinsignem pietate virum, tot adire laboresimpulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
1.8-11
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laesoquidve dolens regina deum tot volvereinsignem pietate virum, tot adire laboresimpulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
1.8-11
Floor Mosaic from Trier, Germany. Middle 3rd Century AD
zeugma:
two different words linked to a verb or an
adjective in such a manner that it applies to each in a different
sense.
An example in English:He stole her heart, and her wallet.
(This would make a good Country – Western song!)
Come up with one or two of your own.
Now, let’s look at one in Latin…
Aeole (namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rexet mulcere dedit fluctus et tollere vento),gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequorIlium in Italium portans victosque penates:incute vim ventis submersasque obrue puppis
1.65 - 70
Can you find the example of zeugma in this passage?
"Aeole (namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rexet mulcere dedit fluctus et tollere vento),
gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequorIlium in Italium portans victosque penates:
incute vim ventis submersasque obrue puppis
1.65 - 70
What does this mean?
aposiopesis:(more fun to say than zeugma!)
“falling silent” this is a breaking off in the middle of a sentence…
aposiopesis:
Why I oughta….
aposiopesis:Go to 1.135 and find the example of
aposiopesis.
Quos ego – sed moto praestat componere fluctus.
Neptune calms the tempest.Image credit: (c)1996 President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard University Art Museums,
Courtesy of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums Alpheus Hyatt Fund.
polysyndeton::
an overabundance of conjuctions.
And so I said…and then he said…and so I said…but he said “oh no she
didn’t”
incubuere mari totumque a sedibus imisuna Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellisAfricus, et vastos voluunt ad litora fluctus.insequitur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum;eripiunt subito nubes caelumque diemque
1.84-88
Can you find the conjunctions?
incubuere mari totumque a sedibus imisuna Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellisAfricus, et vastos voluunt ad litora fluctus.insequitur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum;eripiunt subito nubes caelumque diemque
1.84-88
And then, on the other
hand, there’s…
an omission of conjunctions
asyndeton::
Turn to I.421-422
Miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam,
miratur portas strepitumque et strata viarum
You see here an example of ______________ and asyndeton.
anaphora
Now, back to asyndeton. Translate those two lines. What conjunction is missing?
Metonymy:The substitution of
one word for another which it suggests. In
other words, a reference to
something or someone by naming one of its
attributes.
Here’s an example in English…
You all need to be on your best behavior today because the suits from the Central
Office will be roaming the halls today.
Suits refers, of course, to the administrators who can be recognized
by the business suits they wear.
Turn to 1.34-35
Vix e conspectu Sicuae telluris in altum
vela dabant laeti et spumas salis aere ruebunt.
What does salis mean?
What do you suppose it represents here?
Vix e conspectu Sicuae telluris in altum
vela dabant laeti et spumas salis aere ruebunt.
A related figure of speech is
synecdoche
This is defined as a whole represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa
(species named for genus).
An example of synecdoche in English:
“Nice wheels!” they said, as Maximus rolled into the parking
lot.
(We’ll look for examples in Latin in another book of the Aeneid.)
enallage: the use of one grammatical form in place
of another – also called transferred epithet.
Turn to 1.4
vi superum, saevae memorem Iuonis ob iram,
With what word does memorem agree?
vi superum, saevae memorem Iuonis ob iram,
Memorem,meaning unforgetting, actually describes Juno, but here is agreeing with anger.
The next few devices deal
with word order.
Hyperbaton: separation of words which belong together, often to emphasize the first of
the separated words or to create
a certain image.
Another definition reads: the violent displacement of
words.
tmesis:
the separation of the parts of a compound word by one or more intervening words.
Turn to line 1.412
et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu
In this line we see an example of tmesis: circum…fudit
The compound verb means to surround. We see the split word literally surrounding the goddess
(dea) in this line.
Also, the adjective multo modifies the noun amictu, but they are at opposite ends of the line
(hyperbaton), adding to the image of the goddess being at the center of all this.
et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu
et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu
Anastrophe: transposition of normal word order; most often found in Latin in the
case of prepositions and the words they control.
Anastrophe is a form of hyperbaton.
Turn to 1.29
his accensa super iactatos aequore toto
Which word in this line is a preposition?
his accensa super iactatos aequore toto
If we translate the first three lines as “angered over these things…” this is an
example of anastrophe because we would normally find the preposition
before the noun.
Chiasmus: two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a);
from shape of the Greek letter chi (X).
NOUN – adjective – adjective - NOUN
Take a look at line 1.184
Navem in conspectu nullam, tres litore cervos
Navem nullam
tres cervos
navem nullam
tres cervos
Let’s take a look at our example of enallage from a few slides back. This is also an example of interlocked word
order - synchesis
vi superum, saevae memorem Iuonis ob iram,
Hendiadys: use of two words* connected by a conjunction, instead of
subordinating one to the other, to express a single complex idea.
Or, to put it another way:
The definition in Vergil’s Aeneid, by Barbara Weiden Boyd, specifically says NOUNS.
When two nouns are used with a conjunction (storm and rain) instead of combining them as an adjective and a substantive (stormy rain), it’s called hendiadys.
“bread and butter”
You don’t eat bread and then butter separately. What you’re eating is
“buttered bread.”
Gratias to Sister Therese Marie Dougherty, SSND, PhD, Queen of All Things Latin, who explained hendiadys to me using this example – I couldn’t come up with another one!!!
Finding examples of this in English is difficult, although Mr.Shakespeare did use this device quite a bit. But here’s one you
can easily grasp…
Turn to line 1.61
hoc metuens molemque et montes insuper altos
molem et montes
mass & mountains = massive mountains
Litotes:
Understatement, for intensification, by denying the
contrary of the thing being affirmed
An example:
Mrs. Jeffrey is not the tallest member of the
Thomas Stone staff. (In other words, she’s one of
the shortest.)
Look at lines 1.387 - 388
“Quisquis es, haud, credo, invisus caelestibus auras vitales carpis, Tyriam qui
adveneris urbem…”
haud invisus = not at all hated = loved
The following slides contain terms and definitions you should
learn now. Examples of these devices will be pointed out as
we encounter them.
Hysteron Proteron
Inversion of the natural sequence of
events, often meant to stress the event
which, though later in time, is considered the
more important.
Pleonasm
A superfluous and redundant use of extra
words.
Prolepsis (anticipation)
References to events which will occur after the time of
the poem
ecphrasis
An extended description of a work of art or location.
Sources
Boyd, Barbara Weiden. Selections from Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 10 &12 of Vergil’s Aeneid. Illinois: Bolchazy- Carducci, 2004.
Sienkewicz, Thomas and Osburn LeaAnn. Vergil: a Legamus Transitional Reader. Illiois: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2005.
http://www.historywiz.com/aeneidimages.htm
http://www.tabney.com/
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html