Creating an alter-ethos: Metaphors in Cicero's Philippics
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2019-07
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en
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In 44 BCE, the assassination of Julius Caesar heralded a turbulent time for Rome, eventually resulting in the end of the Roman Republic. It is at this time that the great, Republican orator Cicero delivers 14 scathing speeches against his rival politician Mark Antony. These speeches form the apex of Cicero’s rhetorical career and heavily feature the use of ethos: persuasion on the ground of a person’s character. This thesis concerns Cicero’s use of metaphor. It explores theories concerning both the concept of metaphor and that of ethos and their relation to persuasion. Combining a traditional literary and a novel cognitive interpretation of metaphor, the thesis offers a categorical analysis of the rhetorical figure in all 14 Philippics with a special focus on ethos, concluding that metaphor plays a vital role in three major elements of Cicero’s rhetorical strategy in the Philippics.
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