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(Greek Κένταυρος, pl. Κένταυροι; Ἱπποκένταυροι; Κενταυρίδες; Kéntauros, pl. Kéntauroi; Hippokéntauroi; Kentaurídes). I. Mythology [German version] A. Definition Centaurs are four-legged  monsters consisting of man and horse, their homeland was seen as the Greek mainland, generally speaking the forested mountains of Thessaly, especially the Pholoe Range and Cape Malea. They often appear as an aggressive group of evil-doers, who cause offence especially by raping women. They challenge not only heroes (such as Hera…

[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 the slave Dia (Diod. Sic. 4,63,2; 5,58,5; Paus. 5,10,8; schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,40). Descent from Ixion would make the L. en…

Name of probably the most important Roman plebeian family. The similarity to the Etruscan name lecne and the links between the gens and Etruria in historical times (L. [I 7]) suggest an origin in that region [1. 108, n. 3]; the name may, however, also be of Latin origin ( Licinus). The spelling with a double ‘n’ occurs not only in the Greek form Λικίννιος ( Likínnios), but also in Latin inscriptions [1. 108, n. 1]. In the annalistic historical records dealing with the early Republic, members of the family appear among the earliest people's tribunes, reaching their polit…

[German version] In the macchia shrubland of Mediterranean countries the genus Arbutus L. of the Ericaceae family is represented by two of its total of 20 evergreen species, namely a) the ST Arbutus unedo L. (κόμαρος; kómaros) with its strawberry-like sour-tasting drupes ( arbuta Verg.  G. 3,301 and 4,181), which ripen in a year, and b) the andrachle, Arbutus andrachle L. (ἀνδράχνη; andráchn ē), spread from Greece to the east as far as the coast of the Black Sea, with small orange-yellow inedible fruits. The fruits of the arbutus, which grows as far west as the Atlantic coast of Ir…

[German version] With around 30 different species, oaks are by far the most common deciduous trees in the natural vegetation of the countries around the Mediterranean. As such, the Greeks gave them the collective Indogermanic name for a tree δρῦς ( drŷs) which was already documented in linear B, as well as special names to distinguish between them. Thus the name for the sacred oak oracle of Zeus in Dodona varies between δρῦς and φηγός ( phēgós), whilst in Latin it is consistently called quercus. This refers to the ‘Trojan oak’, Q uercus troiana [1. 385-391]. The most detailed and reliab…

(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] [3] Constellation The constellation C., usually identified with  Chiron or  Pholus. Walde, Christine (Basle)

[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…

(lit. 'standing', 'condition', 'position'). [German version] [1] In rhetoric (Rhetoric). The Latin rhetorical term status (Quint. Inst. 3,6,1; Cic. Top. 25,93) or constitutio (Quint. Inst. 3,6,2: 'ascertainment' i.e. of the point in dispute) equates to the Greek στάσις/ stásis (Quint. Inst. 3,6,3; Cic. Top. 25,93; Isid. Orig. 2,5,1). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] A. Definition In the rhetorical system (Rhetoric), status ('standing of the matter of dispute') was the determination, arrived at by a series of questions ( summa quaestio, 'crucial question': Quint. I…

[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 return from exile; he merely prefaced it with some improvised words of thanks, Cic. Planc. 74). Recall of phrases, thoughts, and arguments of the rhetorical system were also indispensable for the orator: memoria, the ‘treasure-house of recollection’, is the foundation of every form of rhetoric (Cic. Inv. 1,9; Rhet. Her. 3,28). On that basis, memory is one of the five  partes or…

[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…

Name of a Plebeian family (connection with the Campanian city of Pompeii is unclear). The family acquired political significance with P. [I 1]; he is the origin of the Rufi branch. With P. [I 8] a related branch attained consulship and with his son Cn. P. [I 3] Magnus supplied the most significant member of the gens. Both lineages continue until the early Imperial period (family trees: [1; 2; 3]). I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., Q. Consul 141 BC A homo novus and popular orator (Cic. Brut. 96), he became consul in 141 BC, despite resistance from the nobility a…

(Λάμος/ Lámos). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon, king of the Laestrygones Son of Poseidon, old king of the Laestrygones and constructor of their stronghold at Telepylus (Hom. Od. 10,81ff.; Ov. Met. 14,233). On account of the identity of Telepylus and Formiae, Hor. Carm. 3,17 imagines his friend Aelius Lamia from Formiae to be L.'s offspring. Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Eponym of the Thessalian town Lamia (also Lamius). Son of Hercules and Omphale, eponym of the Thessalian town Lamia (Diod. Sic. 4,31). He persecutes his half-brother Bargasu…

[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) words, wo…

(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 sys…

(Καρκίνος; Karkínos). [German version] [1] Cancer, the crab that was turned into a sign of the zodiac for biting Heracles in the foot at the behest of Hera while fighting the Hydra (Eratosth. Katasterismoi 11). The Alexandrian month of Karkinon (Καρκινών) was named after it. Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Epic poet C. of Naupactus, epic poet of the archaic period. In Paus. 10,38,11 C. is named, with reference to Charon of Lampsacus, as the author of the Ναυπάκτια ἔπη ( Naupáktia épē), evidently a history of this town, lying at the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf…

[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 Hercules Furens. The stylization of Hercules as sav…

Name of a plebeian gens in Rome, probably of Etruscan origin (ThlL, Onom. 101-104) [1. 138]; attested from the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family into the 1st cent. AD was that of the Calpurnii Pisones (I 13ff.). Family connections and the identification of individual members in the Republican period have not been completely clarified. Late Republican pseudo-genealogy declared Calpus, one of the sons of king Numa, the progenitor of the gens (Hor. Ars P. 292; Laus. Pis. 3f.; 14f.; Plut. Numa 21,2 et al.; portraits of Numa on coins of the Calpurnii). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Repu…

[German version] I. Terminology Generic term: Greek τέχνη ῥητορική/ téchnē rhētorikḗ; from Plato onwards, the technical term is ῥητορική/ rhētorikḗ [43]; Latin: ars oratoria, ars dicendi (rhetoric as an acquired skill), or eloquentia (as an ability). Performers: Greek ῥήτωρ/ rhḗtōr (Homeric ῥήτηρ/ rhḗtēr); Latin orator (initially referring to any orator; later used in the specific context of rhetoric), rhetor (technical term for a teacher of rhetoric). Activity: Greek είρειν/ eírein (‘say’ in formal language) or more generally λέγειν/ légein (‘speak’); the Latin equivalen…

[German version] [1] Poisoner Roman family name. Name of a preparer of poison in Hor. Sat. 2,1,48, probably not identical with the one named in 2,2,67. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] T., follower of Epicurus (end of 2nd cent. BC) T., follower of Epicurus, became involved in a fight with the praetor Q.  Mucius Scaevola because of his Hellenophilia in 120 BC. A. charged him unsuccessfully in 119 and was mocked for this reason by  Lucilius in the 2nd book of his Satires. Praetor and propraetor in 105-104 (107-106?) in …

[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). C. is mentioned for the first time -- although without a name or any more detailed description -- in Homer in connection with the adventures of  Hercules in the Underworld…

(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). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] One of the Harpies One of the  Harpies living with the Strophades, who predicts to the Aeneads that they would devour their tables before the founding of the city (Verg. Aen. 3,209-258; cf. Val. Fl. 4,453ff.). Walde, Christine (Basle)

[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’, mentioned only by Ovid (Met. 11,633-676) in his description of the caves of sleep localised in Cimmeria, are amon…

(Λεύκων; Leúkōn). [German version] [1] Boeotian hero Boeotian hero, son of Athamas and Themisto, daughter of the Lapith king Hypseus (Apollod. 1,9,2). His daughter Euippe marries Andreus of Orchomenus (Paus. 9,34,6f.). Eponym of Lake Leuconis (= Copais) (Steph. Byz.). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Author of Old Comedy, 5th cent. BC Author of Old Comedy who competed in the Lenaea of 422 BC with the play Πρέσβεις (‘Legates’) against Aristophanes' ‘Wasps’, and in the Dionysia of 421 with the play Φράτερες against the latter's ‘Peace’…

[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). C. later also receives the Heraclides, whom he must however send on their way (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 30). C.'s life is marked by blows of fate: his son Hippasus participates in Hercules' campaign against Oechalia and loses his life (Apollod. 2…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Dreams and their interpretation were a popular topic in the written tradition of the Ancient Orient and Egypt since the 22nd cent. BC. Both spontaneously experienced dreams as well as dream incubation are attested. Preserved dreams relate divine messages (in the form of theophanies). Though usually contained in literary texts [3; 5. 746; 6], they also occur in letters [1]. Dreams also contained ethical maxims and wisdom for life reflecting personal experience and st…

[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 regarded as the patron of tragedy, especially of the lyric choral parts, and is depicted with, among other things, theatrical masks (c…

[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 caviller (e.g. Callim. H. 2,113; Callim. Fr. 393), M. is often mentioned in later literature (Lucian. Iuppiter tragoedus 19ff; Lucian. Verae historiae 2,3). In his Oneirokritiká (Artem. 4 pr.), the drea…

(Greek Λαῦνα/ Laûna). Name of two female characters who are linked with the Aeneas myth ( Aeneas). [German version] [1] Daughter of Anius Daughter of Anius - the priest king of Delos at the time of the Trojan War (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,59,3) - who marries Aeneas (Ps.-Orig. 9,2,5) and later as a seer accompanies him on his wanderings. L. dies on the site where Lavinium is built (Isid. Orig. 15,1,52). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Daughter of Latinus and Amata Daughter of Latinus and of Amata who after the death of her brother is the sole heir to the throne (Ve…

[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 epithet (Hom. Od. 1,8) as well as an independent term for Helios (Hom. Il. 19,398, but especially in Roman poetry: e.g. …

(Κέφαλος, Képhalos). [German version] [1] Athenian hero Athenian hero, eponym of the Attic deme  Cephale (north-west of Thoricus) and founding father of the Cephalid lineage (Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 34; Hsch. s.v. Κεφαλίδαι). C. is regarded a) as the son of the Athenian king  Pandarus (Pandium) or of  Hermes and Herse, the daughter of Cecrops; or b) as the son of the Phocian king Deion(eus) and Diomede, the daughter of Xuthus, whereby he becomes the brother of Aenetus, Phylacus, Actor and Asteropeia. C. is an exceptional hunter with breathtaking beauty. When hunting on the slope…

Name of a plebeian gens (cf. Tac. Ann. 6,15,1), the representatives of whom have been known historically since the middle of the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family, especially in the 1st cent. BC, are the Cassii Longini. A patrician C. (around 500 BC, C. I 19) is rare. I. Republican age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Governor of Asia 89-88 BC Praetor 90 BC (?), in 89-88 governor of the province of Asia whence he, with M'. Aquillius [I 4], induced Nicomedes of Bithynia to attack  Mithridates (MRR 2,34). He then had to retreat from the victorious Mithridat…

(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). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] The nine daughters of Pierus The nine daughters of Pierus (Paus. 9,29,4) and Antiope, they challenged the Muses to an artistic competition, were defeated and turned into magpies (Ov. Met. 5,671ff.)  (Ov. Met. 5,294ff.; Antoninus Liberalis 9,1ff.). According to Antoninus Liberalis l.c. their names were Acalanthis, Colymbas, Iynx…

[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 command of the lan…

[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.] scut. 57ff.). He kills the losers and decorates …

Roman family name, frequently attested in inscriptions, also in the form Cavius [1. 76f.]; in the Republican period its bearers are still politically insignificant; also a Faliscan praenomen [2. 103]. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] G., P. Crucified as a spy of Spartacus 72 BC from Compsa (Lower Italy), was captured and crucified in Sicily in 72 BC by C.  Verres as an alleged spy of the slave leader  Spartacus (Cic. Verr. 2,5,158-170). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] G. Bassus Roman grammarian and antiquarian of the late Republic Roman grammarian and…

(Ἰδαία; Idaía). [German version] [1] Epithet of Cybele One of many epithets of the mother of gods ( Cybele), named after her cult on the Phrygian  Ida [2] (e.g. Eur. Or. 1453; Str. 10,469). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] [2] Nymph of the Ida mountains Nymph of Ida [2] in Phrygia, wife of the river god Scamander, mother of  Teucer, the first king in the Troad, after whom the people of the Teucri are named (Apollod. 3,139; Diod. Sic. 4,75). Zingg, Reto (Basle) [German version] [3] Daughter of Dardanus Daughter of Dardanus, great-granddaughter of [2], second wife of  Phineu…

(Νύξ/ Nýx; Lat. Nox, night). In antiquity, the night as a sphere of the eerie and the hidden was regarded not simply as a natural, daily phenomenon that shaped people's lives but as a goddess and personification. It is difficult to draw clear boundaries between these realms. [German version] A. Genealogies In variously accentuated genealogies of gods [1], N. is a cosmogonic power. In Hesiod, N. belongs to the first generation of gods along with other appearances of light (Hes. Theog. 123ff.; 211; 744ff.; cf. her authority in Hom. Il. 14,259). Sh…

[German version] (Μνημοσύνη/ Mnēmosýnē, Latin Moneta; Liv. Andronicus, Odusia fr. 21 Morel-Büchner-Blänsdorf). Goddess of memory (cf. Mneme). As a daughter of Uranus and Gaia M. belongs to the oldest generation of Titans (Hes. Theog. 135), who represent cosmic and social concepts. After spending nine nights with Zeus, she became the mother of the nine Muses who bring human beings joy and temporary light-heartedness (Hes. Theog. 54 ff.; Pind. Nem. 7,15; Pind. Isthm. 6,75). Parallels to Zeus’s other lo…

(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…

In the 1st cent. BC, vernacular form of the gentilicium  Claudius (C. [I 4] and  Clodia), since late Republican period also an independent family name. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] C., C. Praefect of M. Brutus in 43/42 BC In 43/42 BC follower and prefect of M. Brutus; he murdered C. Antonius [I 3]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] C., Sex. Henchman of P. Clodius [I 4] Pulcher, Sex. Cloelius [2] Henchman of P. Clodius [I 4] Pulcher, Sex.  Cloelius [2]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 3] C. Aesopus Tragic actor, 2nd half of the 1st cent. BC Tragic …

[German version] [1] Bishop of Gabala/Syria, c. 400 The bishop of Gabala (present-day Ǧabla) in Syria who appeared from AD 401 as a preacher in  Constantinopolis. His name is primarily tied to the acrimonious conflict with Iohannes [4] Chrysostomus after the latter was nominated as ecumenical patriarch. Both were regarded as gifted preachers, and their rivalry, characterised by reciprocal slights and their open competition for the favour of Empress Aelia [4] Eudoxia, finally led to the deposition and ex…

Roman cognomen; see also Ateius, Fonteius. [German version] [1] Orator of the Augustan period Orator of the Augustan period, praised by  Seneca the Elder because of his ability -- in contrast with  Cassius [III 2] Severus -- to distinguish clearly between the demands of declamations as opposed to those of legal speeches, with regards to their tone and presentation. According to Seneca's assessment, C.'s best orations were in no way inferior to those of the tetrad of the great declamators  Latro,  Fuscus,  Alb…

(Greek εἰρωνεία, eirōneía, orig. ‘dissimulation’, Lat. simulatio, dissimulatio, illusio). [German version] I. Rhetoric Like e.g. metaphor ( Comparison), irony is classed in the rhetorical system among the tropes ( Figures) (Rhet. Her. 4,46 assigns it to allegory). While metaphor works through the similarity between what is said and what is meant, irony is characterized by a relationship of contrast ( contrarium) (Anaximen. Ars Rhetorica = [Arist.] Rh. Al. 21,1,1434a, 17f.; Quint. Inst. 8,6,54-56; Aquila Rhetor 7 p. 24,21f. H). Irony is context dependen…

[German version] (from Greek παράλληλοι/ parállēloi, 'standing or lying side-by-side'). As a transpositional figure of speech (Figures) parallelism, like hyperbaton, antithesis and chiasmus, is part of embellished speech ( ornatus). It designates (at least two) coordinated sentence units of equal rank that relate to one another and also deviate from normal word order (Quint. Inst. 9,3,80f.). If the number of syllables in the words and the length of the two sentence units are identical, this is called isokolon; if they are approximately equal, the term used is parison. In order to…

[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). Walde, Christine (Basle)

[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 understood homoeoprophoron, related to paronomasia). Alliteration results in a closer linking of sentence parts and creates a mnemotechnical effect (e.g. in Germanic alliteration). It is used most often in aphorisms (Suet. Iul. 37,2: veni, vidi…

[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] [1] C., Ti. Teacher of Latin rhetoric and orator, 2nd cent. AD Teacher of Latin rhetoric and orator of high-flown speeches at the time of Antonines who was even listened to by  Gellius (13,22); befriended by  Fronto (ep. ad am. 2,2), highly regarded by  Hadrianus because of his fine education and moral attitudes. C. favoured the reading of Republican authors (Sallust, Metellus Numidicus, C. Gracchus: Gell. NA 2,27; 1,6; 11,13) is linked with the revival of old Roman virtues: Stylistic and moral judgment go hand in hand in the spirit of Cato's vir bonus, peritus dicendi; C. …