An Explanation of Rhetorical Devices With Examples from Book I of the Aeneid

1. Introduction to Rhetorical Devices & Figures of Speech

2. With Examples From Book I of The Aeneid

3. We’ll start with the easy ones.

4. An implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words. metaphor:

5. 1.301 Volat 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!

6. simile: a comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as'.

7. 1.82 Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem impulit in latus; ac venti velut agmine facto , The winds are like soldiers in formation.

8. http:// vergil .classics. upenn . edu /images/images.old.html

9. 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;

10. 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;

11. Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan Coast c. 1520 (Giovanni di Niccolo Luteri )

12. About the picture on the preceding page, from www.nga.gov Dosso Dossi Italian, active 1512 - 1542 Aeneas and Achates on the Libyan Coast , c. 1520 oil on canvas Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.250 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.

13. alliteration The repetition of the same (usually initial) consonant or sound.

14. Haec ubi dicta, c avum c onversa c uspide 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, c avum c onversa c uspide montem impulit in latus; ac v enti v elut agmine facto, qua da t a por t a, ruun t e t t erras t urbine perflan t . Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem

15. assonance the repetition of the same vowel sound.

16. 1.217 Amiss o s l o ng o s o ci o s serm o ne requirunt

17. onomatopoeia: the use of imitative and naturally suggestive words for rhetorical effect.

18. 1.55 Illi indignantes magno cum murmure montis Can’t you just hear the mountains rumbling? This is also an example of….? alliteration!

19. 1.124 Interea magno misceri murmure pontum, emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus,et emis stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et alto prospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda. Can you find both alliteration and onomatopoeia in this passage?

20. 1.124 Interea magno misceri murmure pontum, emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus,et emis stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et alto prospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda. What is being described here?

21. personification: the assigning of human personality to inanimate objects

22. 1.82 Haec 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.

24. These next figures of speech are also easy to recognize, , but the terminology will be new to you.

25. anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines.

26. 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

27. 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!

28. apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.

29. Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores impulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae? 1.8-11

30. Musa , mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores impulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae? 1.8-11

31. Floor Mosaic from Trier, Germany. Middle 3 rd Century AD

32. zeugma: two different words linked to a verb or an adjective in such a manner that it applies to each in a different sense.

33. 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…

34. Aeole (namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rex et mulcere dedit fluctus et tollere vento), gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor Ilium in Italium portans victosque penates: incute vim ventis submersasque obrue puppis 1.65 - 70 Can you find the example of zeugma in this passage?

35. "Aeole (namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rex et mulcere dedit fluctus et tollere vento), gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor Ilium in Italium portans victosque penates: incute vim ventis submersasque obrue puppis 1.65 - 70 What does this mean?

36. aposiopesis: (more fun to say than zeugma !) “ falling silent” this is a breaking off in the middle of a sentence…

37. aposiopesis: Why I oughta….

38. aposiopesis: Go to 1.135 and find the example of aposiopesis. Quos ego – sed moto praestat componere fluctus.

39. 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.

40. polysyndeton: : an overabundance of conjuctions .

41. And so I said…and then he said…and so I said…but he said “oh no she didn’t”

42. incubuere mari totumque a sedibus imis una Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque procellis Africus, et vastos voluunt ad litora fluctus. insequitur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum; eripiunt subito nubes caelumque diemque 1.84-88 Can you find the conjunctions?

43. incubuere mari totum que a sedibus imis una Eurus que Notus que ruunt creber que procellis Africus, et vastos voluunt ad litora fluctus. insequitur clamor que virum stridor que rudentum; eripiunt subito nubes caelum que diem que 1.84-88

44. And then, on the other hand, there’s…

45. an omission of conjunctions asyndeton: :

46. 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?

47. 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.

48. 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.

49. 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.

50. 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).

51. 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.)

52. enallage: the use of one grammatical form in place of another – also called transferred epithet.

53. 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 .

54. The next few devices deal with word order.

55. 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.

56. tmesis: the separation of the parts of a compound word by one or more intervening words.

57. 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

58. 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 .

59. 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.

60. 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).

61. NOUN – adjective – adjective - NOUN Take a look at line 1.184 Navem in conspectu nullam , tres litore cervos Navem nullam tres cervos

62. x navem nullam tres cervos

63. Synchysis : Interlocked word order A-B-A-B

64. 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 ,

65. 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.

66. “ 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…

67. Turn to line 1.61 hoc metuens molem que et montes insuper altos molem et montes mass & mountains = massive mountains

68. Litotes : Understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed

69. An example: Mrs. Jeffrey is not the tallest member of the Thomas Stone staff. (In other words, she’s one of the shortest.)

70. 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

71. The following slides contain terms and definitions you should learn now. Examples of these devices will be pointed out as we encounter them.

72. 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.

73. Pleonasm A superfluous and redundant use of extra words.

74. Prolepsis (anticipation) References to events which will occur after the time of the poem

75. ecphrasis An extended description of a work of art or location.

76. 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