Latin and Classical Languages Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Latin and Classical Languages flashcards as text
In classical rhetoric, 'anaphora' refers to which specific technique?
Answer: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
Anaphora repeats the same word or phrase at the start of successive clauses, as in Cicero's repeated 'nihil agis' in the Catilinarian orations.
The Greek word 'ἀγορά' (agora), which influenced Roman concepts of civic space, referred to what type of space?
Answer: A central public space for commerce and civic assembly
The agora was the central public space of a Greek city-state where citizens gathered for commerce, political debate, and social interaction, analogous to the Roman forum.
Dactylic hexameter, the meter of Homer's and Virgil's epics, uses six feet per line. A single dactyl consists of what syllabic pattern?
Answer: One long syllable followed by two short syllables
A dactyl (– ∪ ∪) has one long and two short syllables; it can be replaced by a spondee (– –), and the sixth foot is always a spondee or trochee.
The rhetorical figure 'chiasmus' in classical writing involves what structural pattern across two clauses?
Answer: An ABBA reversal of grammatical or semantic elements
Chiasmus (named for the Greek letter chi, χ) creates a crossing or X-shaped arrangement: 'Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country' (A-B / B-A).
In classical Greek tragedy, what was the primary dramatic function of the chorus?
Answer: To comment on the action, reflect community values, and provide narrative context
The Greek tragic chorus sang and danced in the orchestra between episodes, voicing communal responses, offering moral perspective, and helping audiences interpret the drama's significance.
The Latin phrase 'carpe diem,' from Horace's Odes (I.11), is most accurately translated into English as what?
Answer: Seize the day
'Carpe' is the imperative of 'carpo' (to pluck or seize), so 'carpe diem' literally means 'pluck the day,' urging enjoyment of the present before time passes.
The Latin word 'sincerus,' the source of English 'sincere,' meant what in its classical, literal usage?
Answer: Pure, unmixed, or unadulterated (as of wine or honey)
'Sincerus' in classical Latin described something pure and unmixed—such as undiluted wine or unblended honey—before it was extended metaphorically to mean genuine or honest.