Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
ENCOMIUM - 2 reference results
Encomium

Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Classical Greek ἐγκώμιον (encomion) meaning the praise of a person or thing. Related to this general meaning, "encomium" also identifies several distinct aspects of rhetoric:

  • A general category of oratory
  • A method within rhetorical pedagogy
  • A figure of speech. As a figure, encomium means praising a person or thing, but occurring on a smaller scale than an entire speech.
  • The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series
  • A genre of literature that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue.

Famous encomia

  • Gorgias's Encomium of Helen is one of the most famous historical encomia. In it, Gorgias offers several justifications for excusing Helen of Troy's adultery -- notably, that she was persuaded by speech, which is a "powerful lord" or "powerful drug" depending on the translation.
  • A kind of encomium is used by the Christian writer Paul in his praise of love in 1 Corinthians 13. The prologue is verses 1-3, acts are v. 4-7, comparison is v. 8-12, and epilogue is 13:13-14:1. (From David E. Garland, Baker Exegetical Commentary, 1 Corinthians, 606, based on the work of Sigountos.)
  • In Erasmus's Praise of Folly, Folly composes an encomium to herself. It is an ironic encomium because being praised by Folly is backwards praise; therefore, Folly praising herself is an ironic conundrum.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday September 20, 2008 at 03:50:26 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation

Encomium versus Vituperation: Contrasting Portraits of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel
Oct 01, 2007; I. TOPIC AND HYPOTHESES Some past discussions of Johannine characters considered them either as symbolic or representative...
Read more with a free trial on HighBeam.com »
encomium
Jan 01, 1999; encomium noun plural encomiums, encomia L16 Latin (from Greek egkōmion eulogy, noun use of neuter of adjective (sc. epos...
Read more with a free trial on HighBeam.com »
The life and work of Douglas Darden: a brief encomium.(Architecture, Design, and Utopia)
Jan 01, 1998; This is intended as a brief encomium, a praise of sorts. It is an encomium to Douglas Darden, an architect, teacher, and...
Read more with a free trial on HighBeam.com »
Encomia and National Notary Association Provide SMARTDoc Solution for eMortgages.
Jun 01, 2004; HOUSTON, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Encomia, L.P. is proud to announce its partnership with the National Notary Association, the...
Read more with a free trial on HighBeam.com »
Encomia Releases SMARTDoc Editor 1.0.
Jul 19, 2004; HOUSTON, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Encomia, L.P. is proud to announce the release of the SMARTDoc Editor 1.0, a powerful XML editor...
Read more with a free trial on HighBeam.com »
HighBeam Research, Inc. © Copyright 2009.

Search another word or see ENCOMIUM on Dictionary | Thesaurus