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In this thread, I have compiled a list of stylistic devices with a special focus on Latin. I did so because a lot of resources you find on the internet leave a lot to be desired, and hardly anywhere are there any Latin examples to be found. In my examples, I tried to focus on classical sources like Caesar and Cicero for prose and Vergil, Horace, Ovid and (by some extension) Catullus for poetry, even though I have included other examples as well.
The devices are sorted in 4 categories: tropes, sound-related schemes, word-related schemes, sentence-related schemes.
A. Tropes
Adynaton (ἀδύνατον "impossible) - the use of an impossible condition or premise for something to indicate that it will never happen.
Personification - introducing concrete things as well as abstract and collective terms as acting personae.
Alliteration - repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within a group of words.
Apo koinou (ἀπό κοινοῦ "from a common thing") - one word (or word group) semantically (and often also grammatically) refers to two different word groups at the same time.
Enallage (ἐναλλαγή "interchange") - a shift in grammatical dependencies. Typically, an adjective refers grammatically to one noun and semantically to a different one. Also called hypallage or transferred epithet.
Paronomasia (παρονομασία "assonance") - play upon words which sound alike, but have different senses.
Antithesis (ἀντίθεσις "opposite") - contrasting juxtaposition of two opposite ideas.
Aposiopesis (ἀποσιώπησις "becoming silent") - deliberately interrupting a sentence.
Climax (κλῖμαξ "ladder") - enumeration of multiple words with an increasing intensity. Often as a tricolon (3 items).
Parallelism (παραλληλισμός "placing side by side") - same construction of syntactic units in 2 or more subsequent sentences or parts of a sentence.
Polysyndeton (πολυσύνδετον "many tied together") - enumeration of multiple items using a conjunction every single time. Often found as a tricolon (cf. asyndeton).
The devices are sorted in 4 categories: tropes, sound-related schemes, word-related schemes, sentence-related schemes.
versibus antiquis stat res humana metrisque,
rhetoricaque fluit priscus ab arte decor.
"unde," rogas, "veteris venit haec facundia linguae?
unde venit iuveni mollis in aure sonus?"
"Caesar," ais, "Cicero, Maro, Flaccus, Naso, Catullus:
sermo tam validus, tam gravis, unde venit?"
paucula collegi, quae tanta ingentia tractent.
haec lege: collectis doctior ito meis!
Dantius ingenii plenus complevit abunde
exemplis tabulam notitiisque novis.
gratia sit vobis, qui me iuvistis, amici!
bis refero grates! gratia habenda ter est!
maxima at assiduae, quae iterumque iterumque legebas
consiliisque aderas, gratia, Sarah, tibi est!
A. Tropes
Adynaton (ἀδύνατον "impossible) - the use of an impossible condition or premise for something to indicate that it will never happen.
Namque prius siccis phocae pascentur in arvis
vestitusque freto vivet leo, dulcia mella
sudabunt taxi, confusis legibus anni
messem tristis hiems, aestas tractabit olivam,
ante dabit flores autumnus, ver dabit uvas,
quam taceat, Meliboee, tuas mea fistula laudes. (Nem. ecl. 1,75-80)
Allegory (ἀλληγορία "veiled language") - basically an accumulation of many metaphors to create an even denser verbal picture.- (...) nec tuas umquam ratis ad eos scopulos appulisses ad quos Sex. Titi adflictam navem et in quibus C. Deciani naufragium fortunarum videres. (Cic. Rab. perd. 25)
- This does not literally refer to any nautic situation, but Cicero uses a lot of metaphors from sea travels to make his argument more vivid.
- suae vitae durius consulere = "to take care of your life too roughly" = "to lay hand on yourself"
- infelix Dido, verus mihi nuntius ergo / venerat exstinctam ferroque extrema secutam? (Verg. Aen. 6,456f.)
- ferro extrema sequi = "to pursue the utmost with the sword" = "to commit suicide"
- paelice laeva / uteris et Veneri servit amica manus. (Mar. 9,41f.)
- [Pompeius] plura bello gessit quam ceteri legerunt. (Cic. Manil. 25)
pro duce Neritio docti mala nostra poetae
scribite: Neritio nam mala plura tuli. (Ov. tris. 1,57f.) Neritius = Odysseus
Irony (εἰρωνεία "dissimulation") - what is said is the opposite of what is meant.- Gallia vastatur; quae pax potest esse certior? (Cic. Phil. 8,5)
- non ignoro = "I know very well".
- itaque feci non invitus ut prodessem multis rogatu tuo. (Cic. am. 1,4) - non invitus = libentissime.
- fulmina fortunae - "lightning bolts of fortune" meaning "great misfortune"
ignoscant augusta mihi loca dique locorum!
venit in hoc illa fulmen ab arce caput. (Ov. tris. 1,1,72f.)
-> fulmen - Augustus gets compared to Iuppiter; fulmen stands for the punishment Ovid received from Augustus (he was sent to exile) and the misfortune by which Ovid was struck.
- Love as military service:
- militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido; / Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans. (Ov. am. 1,9,1f.)
- principio, quod amare velis, reperire labora, / qui nova nunc primum miles in arma venis. (Ov. ars. 35f.)
- gemino cum consule Magnus / ille tremor Ponti saevique repertor Hydaspis / et piratarum scopulus. (Petr. sat. 123)
- Pompeius is depicted as the "quiver of the Black Sea", i.e. the downfall of Mithridates, and as a "rock" that causes the pirates to suffer shipwreck.
Author instead of opus: Ciceronem saepe legimus. = "We often read a lot of Cicero's books"
Deity instead of the abstract concept the deity is responsible for: Mars = "war"; Venus = "love, sexuality"; Musa, Apollo = "poetry"
Organ of perception instead of perception: vereor ne vana surdis auribus cecinerim. (Liv. 40,8)
Material instead of the product: ferrum = "iron" = "sword"
Container instead of contents: "The kettle is boiling."
Institution instead of person: "She phoned the hospital."
Capital city instead of country: "The relationship between Paris and Berlin has improved."
Region of origin instead of product: "That's a nice Bordeaux!"
Singular instead of plural: Romani hostem superaverunt.
Possession instead of owner: "The Porsche left without paying!"
Result instead of action: "Win two weeks of vacation!"
Pars pro toto: tecta, limen, penates = "house"; carina, puppis = "ship"; caput = "human"
Totum pro parte: "Our school won the Latin tournament" - 'school' stands for a school team.
Antonomasia: A proper name is replaced by a paraphrase that would usually be its apposition: divom pater atque hominum rex for Iuppiter (Verg. Aen. 1,65); dux Troianus for Aeneas (Verg. Aen. 4,124)
Personification - introducing concrete things as well as abstract and collective terms as acting personae.
- etenim, si mecum patria, quae mihi vita mea multo est carior, si cuncta Italia, si omnis res publica loquatur (...). (Cic. Cat. 1,11,27)
scilicet ut victus repetit gladiator harenam,
et redit in tumidas naufraga puppis aquas.
forsitan ut quondam Teuthrantia regna tenenti,
sic mihi res eadem vulnus opemque feret,
Musaque, quam movit, motam quoque leniet iram:
exorant magnos carmina saepe deos. (Ov. tris. 2,19-22)
tigris ut auditis diversa valle duorum
exstimulata fame mugitibus armentorum
nescit, utro potius ruat, et ruere ardet utroque,
sic dubius Perseus, dextra laevane feratur,
Molpea traiecti submovit vulnere cruris
contentusque fuga est (...). (Ov. met. 5,164-169)
B. Sound-Related SchemesAlliteration - repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within a group of words.
- O Tite, tute, Tati, tibi tanta, tyranne tulisti. (En. ann. 109)
o saepe mecum tempus in ultimum
deducte Bruto militiae duce,
quis te redonavit Quiritem
dis patriis Italoque caelo,
>>
Pompei, meorum prime sodalium,
cum quo morantem saepe diem mero
fregi, coronatus nitentis
malobathro Syrio capillos? (Hor. car. 2,7,1-8)
ipse cava solans aegrum testudine amorem
te, dulcis coniunx, te solo in litore secum,
te veniente die, te decedente canebat. (Verg. georg. 4, 464-466)
--> A reference to Orpheus singing about Eurydike.
Homoioteleuton (ὁμοιοτέλευτον "ending alike") - the same final sound recurs in corresponding units ... basically the forerunner of rhyme.- [homo] sine re, sine fide, sine spe, sine sede. (Cic. Cael. 78)
- quot caelum stellas, tot habet tua Roma puellas. (Ov. ars 1,59)
- veni, vidi, vici. (Caesar)
- A lot of word coinages are based on onomatopoeiae: ululare; cuculare; sibilare; murmur; susurrus.
- quadripedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. (Verg. Aen. 8,596)
- Rataplan of hooves.
- hinc tibi, quae semper, vicino ab limite saepes / Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti / saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro. (Verg. ecl. 1,53-55)
- The humming of bees.
- nec satis est, ipsos etiam pedibusque manuque / turbavere lacus imoque e gurgite mollem / huc illuc limum saltu movere maligno. (Ov. met. 6,363-5)
- The alteration of i- and u/o-sounds imitates the stomping.
- quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere temptant. (Ov. met. 6,376)
- The quacking of frogs.
Apo koinou (ἀπό κοινοῦ "from a common thing") - one word (or word group) semantically (and often also grammatically) refers to two different word groups at the same time.
- heu quoties fidem mutatosque deos flebit! (Hor. car. 1,5,6)
- mutata / mutati are both, the fides and the dei.
- duabus urbibus eversis inimicissimis huic imperio non modo praesentia verum etiam futura bella delevit. (Cic. am. 3,11)
- huic imperio can refer to both inimicissimis (as a dative governed by the adjective) and to the main clause as a dative of reference. It's not unlikely that the author had both options in mind, that both are equally valid and that both are actually supposed to be implied.
a! quotiens aliquo dixi properante 'quid urges?
vel quo festinas ire, vel unde, vide.'
a! quotiens certam me sum mentitus habere
horam, propositae quae foret apta viae.
ter limen tetigi, ter sum reuocatus, et ipse
indulgens animo pes mihi tardus erat. (Ov. tris. 1,3,51-56)
Enallage (ἐναλλαγή "interchange") - a shift in grammatical dependencies. Typically, an adjective refers grammatically to one noun and semantically to a different one. Also called hypallage or transferred epithet.
Seu caperis primis et adhuc crescentibus annis,
Ante oculos veniet vera puella tuos. (Ov. ars 1,61f.)
-> It is not the years that are growing. What is meant is that the girl is not fully grown up, yet.
- multum ille et terris iactatus et alto / vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram. (Verg. Aen. 1,3f.)
- memorem grammatically agrees with iram; however, it is more likely that it is Iuno who is memor, i.e. she remembers all the things that are enumerated further down in the prooemium.
- de exsilio reducti multi a mortuo, civitas data non solum singulis, sed nationibus et provinciis universis a mortuo, immunitatibus infinitis sublata vectigalia a mortuo. (Cic. Phil. 1,24)
- nec languere diu patitur dolor. excitor illo, / excitor et summa "Thesea!" voce voco. (Ov. her. 10,35f.: Ar. Thes.)
- ego hac nocte quae praecessit proxima / mirum atque inscitum somniavi somnium. (Plaut. Per. 596f.)
- In the context of figurae etymologicae, verbs that are actually intransitive can become transitive: vitam vivere; servitutem servire; pugnam pugnare.
- maiorum nemo servitutem servivit. (Cic. top. 29)
- fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac re publica virtus, ut viri fortes acrioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum quam acerbissimum hostem coercerent. Habemus senatus consultum in te, Catilina, vehemens et grave, non deest rei publicae consilium neque auctoritas huius ordinis; nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus. (Cic. Cat. 1,3)
- est hic, est animus lucis contemptor et istum / qui vita bene credat emi, quo tendis, honorem. (Verg. Aen. 9,205f.)
- Anadiplosis
- consul videt; hic tamen vivit. vivit? immo vero etiam in senatum venit (...). (Cic. Cat. 1,2)
- quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere temptant. (Ov. met. 6,376)
- hinc enim illa et apud Graecos exempla, Miltiadem victorem domitoremque Persarum (...) vitam (...) in civium vinclis profudisse, et Themistoclem patria quam liberavisset pulsum atque proterritum (...) in barbariae sinus confugisse. (Cic. rep. 1,5)
- si non his tantus fructus ostenderetur, et si ex his studiis delectatio sola peteretur, tamen (ut opinor) hanc animi adversionem humanissimam ac liberalissimam iudicaretis. (Cic. Ar. 16)
- tantamne unius hominis incredibilis ac divina virtus tam brevi tempore lucem adferre rei publicae potuit (...)? (Cic. Manil. 33)
- Word picture- the word order can sometimes even mirror the content when using a hyperbaton.
- speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem / deveniunt. (Verg. Aen. 4,165f.)
- the speluncam eandem ("the same cave") surrounds Dido and Aeneas (= dux Troianus) who are inside the cave.
- celsa sedet Aeolus arce. (Verg. Aen. 1,56)
- speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem / deveniunt. (Verg. Aen. 4,165f.)
- Synchysis(σύγχυσις "mixture") - interlocked word order of 2 adjective-noun expressions after the model A-B-A-B.
- caesis summae custodibus arcis (Verg. Aen. 2,166)
- posita fallacis imagine tauri (Ov. met. 3,1)
- Golden line- a dactylic hexametre that consists of 2 adjectives, 2 nouns and a verb and follows the structure A-B-Verb-A-B. In its purest form, the 2 adjectives precede the verb.
- lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae. (Ov. met. 1,147)
- aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem. (Verg. Aen. 4,139)
quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere umorque calorque,
concipiunt, et ab his oriuntur cuncta duobus,
cumque sit ignis aquae pugnax, vapor umidus omnes
res creat, et discors concordia fetibus apta est. (Ov. met. 1,430-433)
parcus deorum cultor et infrequens,
insanientis dum sapientiae
consultus erro, nunc retrorsum
vela dare atque iterare cursus
>>
cogor relictos. (Hor. car. 1,34,1-5)
Paronomasia (παρονομασία "assonance") - play upon words which sound alike, but have different senses.
- Often in collocations and proverbs: urbi et orbi; dum spiro, spero; quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.
- nam inceptiost amentium, haud amantium. (Ter. Andr. 218)
- "Pretentious academic prose" (Pacifica)
- primus ibi ante omnes magna comitante caterva / Laocoon ardens summa decurrit ab arce. (Verg. Aen. 2,40)
- ecce anus in mediis residens annosa puellis / sacra facit Tacitae. (Ov. fas. 2,571f.)
- centum quisque parabat / inicere anguipedum captivo bracchia caelo. (Ov. met. 1,184)
- Each of the 100 Titans (anguipedes) decided to lay hand on the sky in order to capture it.
- sed ut tum ad senem senex de senectute, sic hoc libro ad amicum amicissimus scripsi de amicitia. (Cic. am. 1,5)
- spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae. (Ov. ars 1,99)
- saxo cere comminuit brum. (Enn. ann. frag. 609) cerebrum = "brain, head": "He split his head with a stone."
- qui te cumque manent isto certamine casus / et me, Turne, manent. (Verg. Aen. 12,61f.)
- et quodcumque mihi pomum novus educat annus, / libatum agricolae ponitur ante deo. (Tib. 1,1,14)
- NB ponitur ante as a tmesis of anteponitur is only one possible interpretation of this verse. Other scholars consider ante to be referring to libatum. However, understanding it as a tmesis is a valid interpretation.
- manus ac supplices voces ad Tiberium tendens immoto eius vultu excipitur. (Tac. ann. 2,29)
- "When he asked, 'What in heaven?' she made no reply, up her mind, and a dash to the door." (The Limeliters - Have Some Madeira My Dear)
Antithesis (ἀντίθεσις "opposite") - contrasting juxtaposition of two opposite ideas.
- concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur. (Sall. Iurg. 10)
Ovid opposes Odysseus to himself in his Tristia arguing that he himself had to suffer much more:
pro duce Neritio docti mala nostra poetae
scribite: Neritio nam mala plura tuli.
ille breui spatio multis errauit in annis
inter Dulichias Iliacasque domos:
nos freta sideribus totis distantia mensos
sors tulit in Geticos Sarmaticosque sinus.
ille habuit fidamque manum sociosque fideles:
me profugum comites deseruere mei.
ille suam laetus patriam uictorque petebat:
a patria fugi uictus et exul ego. (Ov. tris. 1,5,57-66)
Aposiopesis (ἀποσιώπησις "becoming silent") - deliberately interrupting a sentence.
- de nostrum enim omnium — non audeo totum dicere. (Cic. Mil. 12,33)
- "at quasdam uitio" — quicumque hoc concipit, errat. (Ov. tris. 2,277)
ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
spectat et audit
>>
dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
<vocis in ore> (Cat. 51)
--> The last verse is a conjecture; in the manuscripts, that verse is actually missing. The context of the poem suggests that Catullus may have left it out intentionally.
Apostrophe (ἀποστροφή "turning away") - turning away from the reader (usually of a 3rd person narrator) in order to directly address another person or thing.
terretur minimo pennae stridore columba,
unguibus, accipiter, saucia facta tuis. (Ov. 1,1,75f.)
-> accipiter (hawk) is in the vocative here.
fortunati ambo! si quid mea carmina possunt,
nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo. (Verg. Aen. 9,446f.)
-> Vergil addresses Nisus and Euryalus after they raided a camp of the Rutulians at night, where they both died.
Asyndeton (ἀσύνδετον "unconnected, loose") - enumeration of multiple items without any conjunctions. Often as a tricolon (cf. polysyndeton).- veni, vidi, vici. (Caesar)
- polliceor hoc vobis, patres conscripti, tantam in nobis consulibus fore diligentiam, tantam in vobis auctoritatem, tantam in equitibus Romanis virtutem, tantam in omnibus bonis consensionem, ut Catilinae profectione omnia patefacta, inlustrata, oppressa, vindicata esse videatis. (Cic. Cat. 1,12,32)
- Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc / Parthenope; cecini pascua, rura, duces. (Epitaph on Vergil's grave, cited in Suet. Verg. 36)
- multo maior alacritas studiumque pugnandi maius exercitui iniectum est. (Caes. Gall. 1,46,4)
maior alacritas
----X----
studium maius
Mulciber in Troiam, pro Troia stabat Apollo;
aequa Venus Teucris, Pallas iniqua fuit. (Ov. tris. 1,2,5f.)
Climax (κλῖμαξ "ladder") - enumeration of multiple words with an increasing intensity. Often as a tricolon (3 items).
- tum denique interficiere, cum iam nemo tam inprobus, tam perditus, tam tui similis inveniri poterit, qui id non iure factum esse fateatur. (Cic. Cat. 1,2,5)
- veni, vidi, vici. (Caesar)
- quis ergo iste optimus quisque? numero, si quaeris, innumerabiles. (Cic. Ses. 65, 97)
- est is missing.
- cum Iuno aeternum servans sub pectore volnus / haec secum: "Mene incepto desistere victam?" (Verg. Aen. 1,36f.)
- a word like dixit or cogitavit is missing. (cf. Verg. Aen. 2,42)
- moriamur et in media arma ruamus! / una salus victis nullam sperare salutem! (Verg. Aen. 2,353f.)
inque epulis epulas quaerit; quodque urbibus esse,
quodque satis poterat populo, non sufficit uni,
plusque cupit, quo plura suam demittit in alvum.
(...)
utque rapax ignis non umquam alimenta recusat
innumerasque trabes cremat et, quo copia maior
est data, plura petit turbaque voracior ipsa est:
sic epulas omnes Erysichthonis ora profani
accipiunt poscuntque simul. cibus omnis in illo
causa cibi est, semperque locus fit inanis edendo. (Ov. met. 8,832-842)
--> The more Erysichthon eats, the hungrier he gets. This was the punishment he received from Ceres for chopping trees in her sacred grove.
una salus victis nullam sperare salutem. (Verg. Aen. 2,354)
odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. (Cat. 85)
Parallelism (παραλληλισμός "placing side by side") - same construction of syntactic units in 2 or more subsequent sentences or parts of a sentence.
- concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur. (Sall. Iurg. 10)
quae tu reddideris ego primus pocula sumam,
et, qua tu biberis, hac ego parte bibam. (Ov. am. 1,4,31f.)
--> I gave the same colour to the parts of speech that correspond to each other.
Polysyndeton (πολυσύνδετον "many tied together") - enumeration of multiple items using a conjunction every single time. Often found as a tricolon (cf. asyndeton).
- liberosne? quos neque ut convenire potuerit neque qua ratione inducere neque ubi neque per quos neque qua spe aut quo pretio potes ostendere. (Cic. S. Rosc. 29,79)
- manet alta mente repostum / iudicium Paridis spretaeque iniuria formae / et genus invisum et rapti Ganymedis honores. (Verg. Aen. 1,26-28)
- nam illa nimis antiqua praetereo, quod C. Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium novis rebus studentem manu sua occidit. (Cic Cat. 1,1,3)
- itaque primum illum actum istius vitae turpissimum et flagitiosissimum praetermittam. Nihil a me de pueritiae suae flagitiis peccatisque audiet, nihil ex illa impura adulescentia sua; quae qualis fuerit aut meministis, aut ex eo quem sui simillimum produxit recognoscere potestis. (Cic. Ver. 2,1,32)
- quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? (Cic. Cat. 1,1,1)
- at regina dolos - quis fallere possit amantem? - / praesensit, motusque excepit prima futuros. (Verg. Aen. 4,296f.)
- quid vetat et stellas, ut quaeque oriturque caditque, / dicere? promissi pars sit et ista mei. (Ov. fas. 1,295f.)
- dolores autem si qui incurrunt, numquam vim tantam habent, ut non plus habeat sapiens, quod gaudeat, quam quod angatur. (Cic. fin. 1,62)
- dolores is the subject of both the conditional clause and the main clause. It has to be said that this is also the regular way of constructing such a sentence in classical prose.
- Caesar, postquam ex Menapiis in Treveros venit, duabus de causis Rhenum transire constituit. (Caes. Gall. 6,9,1)