Literary Devices, Meter, and Scansion: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
40 flashcard terms for AP Latin Unit 5, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 21-question quiz — free, no account needed.
The meter of Latin epic: six feet per line, each a dactyl (long-short-short) or spondee (long-long); the fifth foot is almost always a dactyl and the sixth is a spondee or trochee.
Dactyl
A metrical foot of one long syllable followed by two shorts (— u u), like the rhythm of 'strawberry'; the name comes from the Greek for finger (one long joint, two short).
Spondee
A metrical foot of two long syllables (— —); a line heavy with spondees feels slow, solemn, or laborious, as in Vergil's description of the Cyclopes hammering.
Long by Nature
A syllable containing a long vowel or a diphthong (ae, au, oe, ei, eu, ui) is long regardless of what follows it.
Long by Position
A short vowel followed by two or more consonants (or x or z) makes its syllable long; the consonants may be split across two words.
Elision
When a word ends in a vowel, diphthong, or -m and the next word begins with a vowel or h, the final syllable is slurred away and not counted: 'monstrum horrendum' scans as monstr(um) horrendum.
Hiatus
The deliberate failure to elide where elision is expected; rare in Vergil and usually reserved for effect or before Greek names.
Caesura
A word break within a metrical foot; the principal caesura usually falls in the third foot (or second and fourth) and marks the line's main pause of sense.
Diaeresis
A word break that coincides with the end of a foot; a bucolic diaeresis occurs after the fourth foot and gives a light, pastoral effect.
Mute plus Liquid
A stop consonant (p, b, t, d, c, g) followed by l or r may leave the preceding short vowel either short or long at the poet's choice: pa-tris or pat-ris.
Anceps / Syllaba Anceps
The final syllable of a hexameter line is metrically indifferent, so the sixth foot may be written as spondee or trochee.
Spondaic Line
A hexameter with a spondee in the fifth foot instead of the usual dactyl; Vergil uses it sparingly for weight, often with a Greek proper noun.
Ictus and Accent
The metrical beat (ictus) falls on the first syllable of each foot; when it clashes with the natural word accent it creates tension, and their coincidence in the last two feet gives the line closure.
Simile
An explicit comparison using ut, velut, qualis, ceu, or similis; Vergil's epic similes often run several lines and comment on character (Aeneas as Apollo, Dido as Diana or a wounded deer).
Metaphor
An implied comparison without a comparing word; Dido's love as a wound and a fire in Book 4 is the sustained metaphor of the book.
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words: 'magno misceri murmure' underscores the roar of the storm.
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words, often to slow the line or create a mournful tone.
Onomatopoeia
Words whose sound imitates their sense, such as 'quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum' echoing galloping hooves.
Repetition of the same word at the start of successive clauses or lines: 'hic ... hic ... hic' in the description of the Carthaginian temple murals.
Asyndeton
Omission of conjunctions between words or clauses, producing speed or intensity: 'ferte citi flammas, date tela, impellite remos.'
Polysyndeton
Use of more conjunctions than needed ('-que ... -que ... et'), which slows the pace and piles up detail.
Chiasmus
An ABBA arrangement of words or ideas, often noun-adjective-adjective-noun, that mirrors or entwines two elements.
Synchysis
Interlocked word order in an ABAB pattern (adjective A, adjective B, noun A, noun B), common in Vergil to weave images together.
Golden Line
A hexameter with two adjectives, a verb, and two nouns arranged so that adjectives precede the central verb and nouns follow it, e.g. an ABVAB or ABVBA shape.
Hyperbaton
Unusual separation of words that belong together grammatically, used to emphasize or to frame the line.
Hendiadys
Expressing one complex idea with two nouns joined by 'and': 'pateris libamus et auro' = we pour libations from golden bowls.
Litotes
Understatement by negating the opposite: 'non ignara mali' = well acquainted with suffering.
Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration for effect, as when the storm's waves are said to touch the stars.
Apostrophe
The narrator turns to address a character or thing directly, as Vergil apostrophizes Nisus and Euryalus or Dido; it heightens pathos and authorial sympathy.
Ecphrasis / Ekphrasis
An extended description of a work of art within the narrative, such as the murals of the Trojan War on Juno's temple in Book 1 or the shield of Aeneas in Book 8.
Enjambment
Running the sense of one line over into the next, so that a key word lands emphatically at the start of the following verse.
Tmesis
Splitting a compound word into two parts with another word between them: 'circum dea fudit' for 'circumfudit dea.'
Synecdoche
A part standing for the whole or vice versa: 'puppis' (stern) for ship, 'tectum' (roof) for house.
Metonymy
Substituting a closely associated term: 'Mars' for war, 'Ceres' for grain, 'ferrum' for sword.
Transferred Epithet
An adjective grammatically attached to one noun but logically describing another: 'ibant obscuri sola sub nocte' (dark ones through the lonely night).
Zeugma
One verb governs two objects in different senses, e.g. a single verb meaning both 'take up' arms and 'take up' hopes.
An adjective describes a state that results from the verb's action rather than one that already exists: 'submersas obrue puppes' = overwhelm the ships so that they sink.
Tricolon (Crescens)
A group of three parallel elements, often growing in length; Caesar and Vergil both use tricola for rhetorical build.
Rhetorical Question
A question asked for effect, not for answer; Dido's speeches in Book 4 and Juno's opening monologue in Book 1 are built on them.
Personification
Giving human qualities to abstractions or objects: Fama in Book 4 has feathers, eyes, tongues, and ears and stalks the cities of Libya.