Alliteration
Repetition of the initial consonant sound in neighboring words, e.g. "magno cum murmure montis", Aeneid 1
Simile
An expressed comparison, introduced by a word such as similis, qualis, or velut(i); in epic they tend to be long, to relate to nature, and to digress from the point(s) of comparison
Apostrophe
Address of an absent person or an abstraction, usually for pathetic effect; e.g. "o terque quaterque beati", Aeneid I
synecdoche
Use of the part for the whole to avoid common words or to focus attention on a particular part ("puppes" for "naves" in the Aeneid ); a type of METONYMY
Metonymy
Use of one word for another that it suggests
Hyperbaton
The violent dislocation of words out of their normal word order; ANASTROPHE = hyperbaton in a prepositional phrase (Italiam contra).
Chiasmus (adj. chiastic)
The arrangement of words in inverse (A, B, B, A) order, from the Greek letter "X"). This figure often emphasizes a contrast
Metaphor
An implied comparison, that is, the use of a word or words suggesting a likeness between what is actually being described and something else
Enjambment
The running over of a sentence from one verse or couplet into another so that closely related words fall in different lines
Asyndeton
Omission of conjunctions in a closely related series; cf. POLYSYNDETON.
Hyperbole
Exaggerated or extravagant terms used for emphasis, and not intended to be understood literally
Litotes
An understatement for emphasis, usually an assertion of something by denying the opposite (e.g. "not unhappy")
Rhetorical question
A question for which no answer is expected or to which the answer is self-evident
Synchesis (= Interlocked Word Order)
Arrangement of pairs of words so that one word of each pair is between the words of the other (A, B, A, B). This arrangement normally emphasizes the close association of the pairs
Personification
The attribution of human qualities or personality to an impersonal thing
Transferred Epithet ( = Hypallage)
A device of emphasis in which the poet attributes some characteristic of a thing to another thing closely associated with it (e.g. "the mindful wrath of Juno" instead of "the wrath of mindful Juno")
Onomatopoeia (adj. onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic)
Use of words whose sound suggests the sense
Polysyndeton
Use of unnecessary conjunctions
Tmesis
Separation of the parts of a compound word, usually for metrical convenience
Anaphora
Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses or lines
Allegory
A narrative in which abstract ideas figure as circumstances or persons, usually to enforce a moral truth.
Anthithesis
A contrast of ideas or words, often placed in contrasted pairs in like order
Pathos
An appeal to the audience's emotions (cf. Dido in the Aeneid)
Prolepsis (adj. proleptic)
Use of a word before it is appropriate in the context. A proleptic adjective does not apply to its noun until after the action of the verb and often is best translated with a clause or phrase, to bring out the emphasis on the adjective
Prosopopoeia
a device in which the speaker or author assumes the guise of another person or object to address the audience (e.g. Cicero's Pro Caelio, when Cicero speaks as stern old Appius Claudius Caecus, who is long since deceased)
Syncopation (or Syncope)
The omission of a letter or syllable in the middle of a word (confirmasti = confirmavisti; most common in perfect system of verbs).
Pleonasm (adj. pleonastic)
A redundancy or unnecessary fullness of expression, usually for emphasis
Tricolon Crescens
The use of three examples, each of which is longer or more elaborate than the preceding, in order to emphasize a point.
Oxymoron (= Paradox)
The use of apparently contradictory words in the same phrase (e.g. "jumbo shrimp)
Word picture
Arrangement of words that reinforces the meaning (e.g. "speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem" in the Aeneid, where "the same cave" is enveloping "Dido and the Trojan leader").
Zeugma
Use of a verb or adjective with two words with two words when it literally applies only to one (e.g. "Mr. Jones took his coat and his leave").
Praeteritio
the pretense of omitting something in order to make it more emphatic (e.g. Cicero: "I leave unspoken the ruin of your fortunes")
Synesthesia
A cross-sensory metaphor; e.g. English: a loud shirt, a bitter wind, a prickly laugh
Irony
Stating the opposite of what is meant, often with sarcastic intent ("clear as mud").
Ekphrasis (or ecphrasis)
Detailed description, especially within poetry; this figure is often used to describe art within art, as in the lengthy description of Aeneas's shield in Book 8.
Hendiadys
The expression of an idea by two nouns connected by a conjunction, instead of a noun modified by an adjective or by another noun in the genitive
Aposiopesis
The abrupt stopping of a sentence or thought
Epithet
A characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing
Archaism
The use of an earlier grammatical form or spelling.
Juxtaposition
The use of two opposing things to create a contrast
Homoteleuton
A series of words with the same ending (end-rhyme)
Ellipsis
Omission of one or more words necessary to the sense; editors often supply the needed word using the abbreviation sc. (= "scilicet")
Hysteron-proteron
The inversion of the natural order of events (like "shoes and socks")
Figurative language
Speech that departs from literal meaning to achieve a special effect or meaning (by employing the rhetorical devices on this list).