Literary Devices in the Aeneid

anaphora

repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars

alliteration

repetition of initial consonant sounds

The Wicked Witch of the West went her own way.

asyndeton

lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses or words

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

polysyndeton

deliberate use of many conjunctions

Marge and Susan and Anne and Daisy and Barry all planned to go for a picnic.

ekphrasis

extended description of art or nature in literary work

And first Hephaestus makes a great and massive shield, blazoning well wrought emblems all across its surface, raising a rim around it, glittering, triple ply with a silver shield strap run from edge to edge and five layers of metal to build the shield itself.

allegory

prolonged metaphor

Faith is like a stony uphill climb: a single stumble might send you sprawling but belief and steadfastness will see you to the very top.

aposiopesis

a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion or modesty

But I... never mind.

apostrophe

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

Oh ancestors, what would you say about this matter?

assonance

the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words

caesura

a pause between words occurring within a metrical foot; the effect at the principal caesura in a line of verse (generally within the third foot, or in both the second and fourth, in the dactylic hexameter) is sometimes to emphasize the word immediately preceding or following.

chiasmus

two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a)

It is boring to eat; to sleep is fulfilling.

ellipsis

omission of one or more words necessary to the sense of a sentence but easily understood from the context; often a form of the verb sum or a speech verb.

The streets were deserted, the doors bolted.

enjambment

delay of the final word or phrase of a sentence or clause to the beginning of the following verse, to emphasize an idea or create suspense.

I think I shall never see a poem lovely as //a tree.

hendiadys

use of two conjoined nouns instead of a noun and modifier

He came despite the rain and weather.

hiatus

lack of elision where two syllables would ordinarily be elided, usually employed for emphasis at the end of a clause.

hyperbaton

the strategic separation of linked words for the purpose of emphasis

Alone he walked on the cold, lonely roads.

hyperbole

exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect.

Waves high as mountains broke over the reef.

hysteron proteron

description of events in an order reversing their logical sequence

He died and he rushed against the enemy.

irony

expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another.

Watching it rain, he said, "Lovely day for a picnic."

litotes

understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed

Jackie Robinsons breaking of baseball's color barrier was no small accomplishment.

metaphor

implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it.

Henry was a lion on the battlefield.

metonymy

which a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.

The Crown had absolute power in the Middle Ages.

onomatopoeia

using words that imitate the sound they denote

The burning crackled and hissed; now and again an owl hooted somewhere in the darkness.

oxymoron

apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another.

He possessed a cold fire in his eyes.

personification

attribution of personality to an impersonal thing.

Love enfolded us in her arms.

pleonasm

using more words than necessary

Take your shoes off your feet.

polyptoton

repetition of a word in a different case or inflection in the same sentence

With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.

praeteritio

pretended omission for rhetorical effect.

Not to mention your salary, but I don't think you can afford this.

prolepsis

the anticipation, in adjectives or nouns, of the result of the action of a verb; also, the positioning of a relative clause before its antecedent.

The murdered king falls by a traitors hand.

prosopoeia

literally "making a face" in Greek and has two variations according to the ancients. The first is personification in which inanimate objects are given human speech and sometimes other characteristics developing into characters at times. This can be such diverse things as a door or a shade (ghost). The other variation given by Quintilian, which he mentions was called "dialogue" by many of the ancients, is when the speaker impersonates a person or a conversation between persons, typically their opponent(s) in a court case.

The homicide victim is speaking to us through the evidence.

synchesis

interlocked word order - ABAB

I run fast and shoot accurately.

synecdoche

a part of something used to signify the whole. (Example: ten head of cattle, all hands on deck.) Understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part. (A form of metonymy.)

You've got to come take a look at my new set of wheels.

tmesis

the separation of a compound word into two parts.

It's a sort of long cocktail--he got the formula off a barman in Marrakesh or some-bloody-where.

transferred epithet

application of an adjective to one noun when it properly applies to another, often involving personification and focusing special attention on the modified noun.

The walls of high Troy

ascending tricolon

a combination of three elements increasing in size.

We cannot dedicate

We cannot consecrate

We cannot hallow

zeugma

two different words linked to a verb or an adjective which is strictly appropriate to only one of them

You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you see fit.