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[German version] (Λαπίθαι/ Lapíthai, Latin Lapithae). Mythical Thessalian tribe (Hom. Il. 2,738ff.; Str. 9,439ff.), particularly known for their battle with the Centaurs. According to a late version, they were descendants of an eponymous ancestor Lapithes or Lapithas, who was himself descended either from Apollo and a daughter of the river god Peneius (Stilbe) or from Ixion and t…

(Κένταυρος; Kéntauros). [German version] [1] Father of the centaurs According to Pind. Pyth. 2,21ff. son of  Ixion and  Nephele (the supposed Hera). C. fathers the  centaurs with the mares of Pelion (Diod. Sic. 4,70). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Ship According to Virgil (Aen. 5,122; 10,195), name of a ship with the figure of a centaur. Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] …

[German version] (πάθος/ páthos, i.a. 'passion', Latin. i.a. perturbatio animi, affectus), provoking emotion for the purpose of persuasion, occupies a central position in all major ancient and aesthetic literary works (catharsis). The first reference text is Aristotle's Rhetoric [6], which posits that the audience is convinced in three ways: through ethos (ethical self-presentation of the speaker), pathos (the presentation of the subject matter in a way calculated to produce an emotional response from the listener) and logos (logic…

[German version] A. Memoria as part of the rhetorical system In Graeco-Roman antiquity, a speech was supposed to be delivered from memory, i.e. without written aids (exception: Cicero's speech to the Senate on his retur…

[German version] (Ἰφικλῆς; Iphiklês, also Ἴφικλος; Íphiklos). Son of  Alcmene and  Amphitryon, twin (half-)brother of  Heracles, for whose godlike powers he is used as a foil. In their cot he flees from the snakes, which Hercules strangles (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 69). I. participates in the Calydonian Hunt and in Hercules' Trojan campaign (Diod. Sic. 4,49,3). With Automedusa, daughter of Alcathous, he fathers  Iolaus. After the battle against Erginus, Hercules is married to Creon's older daughter Megara,…

[German version] (εὕρεσις, heúresis: invention, finding sc. of ideas). In the system of rhetoric, inventio denotes the first of five production stages in the compositon of a speech (  partes orationis ; apart from inventio,   dispositio ,   elocutio ,   memoria ,   pronuntiatio ). Within the separation of verbal realization ( verba) and ideas ( res), which permeates all rhetoric in antiquity and counteracts this quintuple division, the inventio together with the dispositio, to which it is inseparably linked, belong to the res that are conceded a peculiarly concrete status. The inventio s…

[German version] (ἀντίθετον, ἀντίθεσις; antítheton, antíthesis), contrapositum, contentio, assigned to the list of conceptual and verbal figures, but also part of rhetorical argumentation as such. It is therefore relevant for the theory of expression (rhetoric) as well as for the theory of cognition and contemplation (dialectics, e.g. in Heraclitus: war and peace as opposites). Antithesis creates a semantic broadening through a critically-dividing or a mediating juxtaposition of two (or more) word…

(μεταφορά/ metaphorá, ‘transference’; Latin loan translation: translatio). [German version] A. Definition of the problem and its classification in the rhetorical system The discussion of metaphor and other forms of figurative speech, which today is taking place with great emphasis in various fields (linguistics, neurophysiology, psychology, and philosophy), has its origin in Aristotle, who dealt with metaphor in the ‘Poetics and ‘Rhetoric. In keeping with these origins, metaphor finds its place in the rhetorical system that later established itself firmly…

[German version] Roman tragedy by an unknown author, handed down in the corpus of  Seneca's tragedies. This drama, the longest in antiquity (1996 v.), has been subject to highly controversial assessments, mostly depending on whether Seneca's authorship is accepted or rejected (extremes [1] and [2], mediating [3]). The subject, the events leading up to the death of Hercules and his apotheosis, is treated originally, despite artistic and intelligent  intertextuality with Soph. Trach., Ovid (Epist. 9 and Met. 9) and to Seneca's …

[German version] (Κέρβερος, Kérberos). A guard dog that belongs to the standard repertoire of the Graeco-Roman  Underworld who signals and prevents any unauthorized entry into, or departure from, the realm of the dead. He often appears at the side of  Hades and/or  Persephone. In the Hellenistic age C. in a changed form was also associated with the god  Sarapis (Macrob. Sat. 1,20,13-14). …

(Κελαινώ, Kelainṓ, of κελαινός/‘dark’). [German version] [1] Lover of Poseidon One of the  Pleiades (Hes. fr. 275,2 Rzach; Ov. Fast. 4,173), by Poseidon mother of Lycus (Apollod. 3,111; Eratosth. Katasterismoi 23) and of Nycteus (Hyg. Poet. Astr. 2,21).…

[German version] (Μορφεύς). One of the many sons of Hypnus (of ‘Sleep’, Latin Somnus) who personify the dream life of people. With his brothers Icelus and Phantasus M. is responsible for the realistic form of dream images. M., who appears to Alcyone in the form of her dead husband Ceyx, in particular, became proverbial in the tradition of Ovid (‘lie in M.'s arms’). The ‘dream artists’, men…

[German version] ( Κήϋξ; Kḗyx). Son of Hesperus and Philonis (Apollod. 1,7,4), king of  Trachis. C. grants asylum to Hercules in his flight from Calydon, who went from there to his death on the Oeta, and to his spouse Deianira (Apollod. 2,7,6; Diod. Sic. 4,57,1).…

[German version] (Μελπομένη/ Melpoménē; Lat. Melpomena; descriptive name: ‘she who sings’; cf. Diod. Sic. 4,7: M. because of the melody that affects the listeners). One of the nine Muses (Hes. Theog. 77). According to Achelous [2], she is the mother of the Sirens (Apollod. Ep. 7,18). For a long time, M. remains the least specific and most rarely mentioned Muse. She is regar…

[German version] (Μῶμος/ Mômos). Greek personification of censoriousness, son of Nyx/Night (Hes. Theog. 214). In the Kýpria, M. is an advisor to Zeus (Kypria fr. 1 EpGF). Iulianus (Ep. 50) tells that M. was gripped by excessive rage, because he could find no fault with Aphrodite. After Callimachus, who often refers to him in his literary feuds as the embodiment of the stupid, carping cavil…

(Greek Λαῦνα/ Laûna). Name of two female characters who are linked with the Aeneas myth ( Aeneas). [German version] [1] Daughter of Anius…

[German version] (Ὑπερίων; Hyperíōn; on the etymology [1]). In the tradition of Hesiod one of the  Titans, who with his sister Theia fathers the gods of light Helios ( Sol),  Selene and  Eos (Hes. Theog. 134; 371-374; Apollod. 1,2,8). Opinions are divided on his participation in the  titanomachy (schol. Hom. Il. 14,274 Dindorf contra Serv. Aen. 6,580). In Homer, however, H. is an epithe…

(Πιερίδες/ Pierídes; Lat. Pierides or Pieriae). [German version] [1] Epithet of the Muses Name for the Muses after the place of their residence (Hes. Theog. 53). …

[German version] Latin rhetor and advocate in the early Imperial Period. His intelligence and gift for oratory allowed him to work his way up from modest circumstances to being a welcome guest at the court of Tiberius [II 1] (Quint. Inst. 6,3,100; Tac. Ann. 1,74). In the quaestor Caepio [1] Crispinus' treason case against the praetor Granius [II 3] Marcellus he appeared as a joint plaintiff. Seneca [1] the Elder's numerous mentions of him express admiration for his extraordinary c…

[German version] In ancient rhetoric, the terms εικών/ eikṓn (literally ‘image’, ‘illustration’: often for short comparisons), παραβολή/ parabolḗ (especially for similes) as well as Latin simile, similitudo cover diverse phenomena dominating a word, sentence or even a text that create a relationship between two facts or spheres of the imagination. The primary function of emphasis placed the comparison close to the  topos (Quint. Inst. 4,1,70), and the exemplum (5,11,22; but cf. Cic. Inv. 1,49), the figurae sententiarum (Cic. De or. 3,201 = Quint. Inst. 9,1,31;  figures). A theory…

(Κύκνος; Kýknos, Latin Cygnus; ‘swan’). Name of several heroes whose common element is their relationship with swans. Among these the most important are: [German version] [1] Son of Ares and Pelopea Son of  Ares and of Pelopea (Apollod. 2,5,11: the Pyrene), king of Amphanae, husband of Themistonoe. In the grove of Apollo in Thessalonian Pagasae, C. robs pilgrims travelling to Delphi and invites them to participate in chariot races which he always wins (detailed narration [Hes.…

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[German version] (Μνημοσύνη/ Mnēmosýnē, Latin Moneta; Liv. Andronicus, Odusia fr. 21 Morel-Büchner-Blänsdorf). Goddess of m…

(Greek Μοῦσαι/ Moûsai, Latin Musae; Camenae: see below; etymology contentious [3. 7f.]; ancient attempts at a solution, e.g. Pl. Crat. 406a; Diod. Sic. 4,7,3-4; Etym. M. 589,40; further details [3. 5f.]). [German version] A. General The M. are a specific of the religion and of the cultural self-conception of the Greeks. Far from being mere personifications of the arts, they are rather the expression of the capacity, granted to man alone, for self-reflection and taking a place in history. As goddesses of memoria (memory and the means of remembering, the spoken and the written word) they are the condition for the knowledge and memory of men and gods, because they protect and sing of what was, is and will be. Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] B. Descent and names The M. are traditionally considered to be daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne/Latin Moneta, Memoria (Hes. Theog. 53ff.; Apollod. 1,3,1). For the love a…

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[German version] (Κάλχος; Kálchos). King of the Daunians ( Daunia), lover of  Circe prior to the arrival of Odysseus. Because he continues to importune her against her will, she drives him to madness with enchanted food and drink. As a Daunian army begins looking for him, Circe releases him from her spell, but only after C. promises never to set foot on her island again (Parthenius 12).…

[German version] The term was coined by the Neapolitan humanist G. Pontano (14th cent.) for the frequent repetition of the same consonant (also, vowel in initial position) or of the same syllable in a word group. However, the phenomenon of alliteration was already known in the practical use of ancient rhetoric (it corresponds to a positively under…

[German version] (Greek σιγή/ sigḗ, σιωπή/ siōpḗ and associated verbs; Latin silentium, taciturnitas, quies and associated verbs). Even though Graeco-Roman Antiquity bears the stamp of a culture of speech (Rhetoric), many testimonies from ancient literature, religion, philosophy, medicine and general understanding betray a high awareness of the importance of silence, which had its own forms of expression and performance [2; 4; 12]. Programmatic statements on silence are found throughout Antiquity, e.g. in Pi…

[German version] (Φωσφόρος/ Phōsphóros, 'bringer of light'; also Ἑωσφόρος/ Heōsphóros, 'bringer of dawn'; Latin Lucifer [1], cf. Cic. Nat. D. 2,53). Term for the planet Venus as a light-brin…

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[English version] The multi-voiced discourse conducted within Graeco-Roman Antiquity regarding dreams and dream interpretation in religion, literature, everyday life, philosophy, divination/mantic art and medicine shows clear signs of cultural determination [19]. Despite striking breaks with tradition - above all through Christianity - a relatively high degree of continuity in dream discourses can be observed since Antiquity [18]. Among other things, this is probably owing to the fact that the anc…

[German version] Factual poem in 185 Latin hexameters, dealing in alphabetical order with rhetorical  figures; it was designed as an aide-mémoire in the teaching of rhetorics. It was evidently based on  Rutilius Lupus and  Alexander [25], son of Numenius. As a rule, three lines are offered per figure (the Greek designation, one line for the Latin definition, two lines of examples from Greek and Latin classics). The writer is anonymous (the addressee Messius is perhaps identical with Arusianus Messius); the late Lat…

[German version] (τρόποι/ trópoi; singular τρόπος/ trópos, rhetorical term, literally 'turn', from τρέπεσθαι/ trépesthai, 'to turn'; the original technical term was metaphorá, which later acquired its more preicse meaning: Aristot. Poet. 21,7,1457b; Latin …

[German version] (Τερψιχόρη, 'she who delights in choral dances'). One of the Muses (Hes. Theog. 78), whose name indicates responsibility for  chorus and dance (Pind. I. 2,7; Korinna, fr. 935 Page; Pl. Phdr. 259b-d; Anth. Pal. 9,504) and is connected with paid…

[German version] (Ἴφιτος; Íphitos). Son of  Eurytus [1] of Oechalia and Antiope (or Antioche) who was killed by Hercules because his father and brothers (except for I.: Apollod. 1,128) did not give Hercules  Iole as his wife, as had been promised to him as a prize for his winning at archery. The legend is told in Hom. Od. 21,14ff. (where the bow of Odysseus is a gift from I.), in the lost epic …

[German version] ἀλληγορία ( allēgoría; first documented as a rhetorical term in Cic. Att. 2,20,3), from ἀλληγορέω ( allēgoréō; ‘I say something other [than I mean]’); Lat. translatio, inversio, immutatio, permutatio. In rhetoric, allegory does not refer to a hermeneutical method ( Allegorical poetry,  Allegoresis). Instead, rhetoric deals with the production of allegories and with their effectiveness as a strategy of argumentation (  argumentatio ). However, the rhetorical treatment of allegory also faces fundamental questions of languag…

[German version] (Πολύμνια/ Polýmnia, less often Πολυύμνια/ Polyýmnia, one 'with many songs' or 'polyphonic choral song'; cf. Diod. Sic. 4,7,2 ff.). One of the nine canonical Muses, seldom mentioned individually in verse (Ov. Fast. 5,9-54). Despite her unambiguous name, her sphere of activity is non-specific and multifaceted. In Horace (Carm. 1,1), P. is to be understood as a Muse who immortalizes great matters with great songs. She is known as the inventor of the lyre (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 3,1-5a) and …

[German version] (Latin 'old age'; Greek Γῆρας/ Gḗras). Daughter of Erebus and Nyx/Night (Cic. Nat. D. 3,17,44), personification of old age (Hor. Epod. 8,4), often mentioned in connection with illnesses and human suffering (cf. Sen. Epist. 108,28: “senectus enim morbus est”): Verg. Aen. 6,275; Sen. Herc. f. 696; Sil. Pun. 13,583 et passim. Walde, Christine (Basle)

[German version] Daughter of Hippomenes [2]. Walde, Christine (Basle)

[German version] (Κέραμβος, Kérambos…

[German version] (Κάμβλης; Kámblēs, also Κάμβης; Kámbēs). Mythological king of Lydia. His insatiable appetite (perhaps caused by poison given to him by his enemies) drives him to cannibalism. Driven mad by hunger, he devours even his own wife. Upon waking the next morning with the rest of her hand in his mouth and realizing what he had done, he kills himself (Xanthus, Lydiaca, fr. 12., FHG vol. I, 36ff.; Nicolaus of Damascus FGrH 2 A 90 F 28; Ael. VH 1,27).…

Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] A. Definition and Historical Overview of the Development of the Genres of Speech (CT) Already in the epics of Homer, the Attic tragedies, among historiographers and in philosophy, the prominent areas of public speech become crystallised in reflection, however sublimated, of socio-cultural reality: speeches of advice, defence and accusation, epitaphs and encomia. Yet it was Aristotle, in his Rhetoric (Book I), who created the first reference text, influential to this day, of a canonic threefold division of the genres of speech (Greek: génē …

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[German version] ('Lack of clarity' sc. of expression); corresponds with the Greek noun σκότος ( skótos, 'darkness') with the adjective σκοτεινός ( skoteinós); ἀσάφεια ( asápheia, 'unclearness'). Obscuritas is a central term in ancient rhetorical and literary-aesthetic discussions. For the Greeks, …

(Θάλεια/ Tháleia, Θαλία/ Thalía, Lat. Thalia; related to the Greek θάλλειν/ thállein, ‘to sprout, grow, thrive’, esp. in reference to fruit trees; cf. Diod. Sic. 4,7). Hesiod counts T. among (1) the Muses, (2) the Nereids and (3) the Charites; generally, she is related to the realm of fertility. Later literary references show a deliberately vague distinction between Muses and Charites. [German version] [1] Muse One of the Muses (Hes. Theog. 77), associated with comedies (e.g. Anth. Pal. 9,504; attribute: comic theatre mask; ‘the light muse’, cf. T.-Theater, Hamburg) as well as mi…

(λαβύρινθος; labýrinthos, labyrinthus). [German version] A. The concept The term ‘labyrinth’ denotes in current usage either the labyrinth in the narrow sense; or in the broad sense, any maze or confusing, large building (especially since the Hellenistic period as a motif in literature or in the pictorial arts); or else in a figurative sense, it is used as a metaphor or allegory for the vagaries and deceptions of human life. This last sense can increasingly be observed after the 3rd cent. AD.…

[German version] (Greek Κύκλωπες; Kýklōpes, singular Κύκλωψ; Kýklōps, Latin Cyclopes, singular Cyclops; etymology see below). C. is the term used to describe about 18 groups or individual figures in Greek myth who differ not just in their descent and location but also in their outward form and characteristics. As early as antiquity, Hellanicus (FGrH 4 F 88) was the first to undertake systematization and to attempt to trace them back to a single ancestor, Cyclops, son of  Uranus and/or the king of Thrace (Schol. Eur. Or. 965). People distinguished in particular between: 1. the C. who fortified  Mycenae (Pind. Fr. 169 A 7 S.-M.; Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 12; Paus. 2,16,5f.). This mythological explanation was adopted when the technique of constructing such big fortification systems had been lost. 2. the C. who appear in literature especially as a backdrop to the individual C.  Polyphemus ( Galatea [1]) (Hom. Od. 9,10ff.). 3. the three sons of  Uranus and  Gaia: Brontes, Steropes and Arges/Pyragmon (Apollod. 1,1ff; Hes. Theog.…

Terminology: Greek μεταμόρφωσις ( metamórphōsis; ‘transformation’); Latin transfiguratio, mutatio, with the verbs mutare, refigurari, transformare…

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