Sunday, February 10, 2008
Chiasmus, Part II
The examples of reflecting chiasmus in Chiasmus, Part I, involved crosswise pairs of repeated words, usually synonyms or antonyms. Another common type of reflecting chiasmus involves syntactical patterns.
Verbs (or Participles) plus Objects
Plato, Republic 9.588e-589a:
Subjects plus Predicates
1.352b:
Sometimes the chiastically arranged subject / predicate pairs occur with a verb of calling or naming, e.g. 2.371 d:
Nouns plus Possessive Genitives
3.397a:
Nouns plus Prepositional Phrases
1.348e:
Nouns plus Adjectives or Participles
1.334a:
Miscellaneous examples of reflecting chiasmus involving syntactical patterns that do not fall into any of the above categories occur in Plato's Republic at 1.334a, 1.352e, 2.373d, 3.400a, 3.402d, 7.535d, 7.536b, 8.551c, 8.560d, 9.580a-b, 9.587b, 10.599e, 10.609a, and 10.613a-b.
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Plato, Republic 9.588e-589a:
...to strengthen the lion and the things pertaining to the lion, but the man to starve and to weaken...See also 2.381a, 2.367b, 2.371e, 2.373c, 2.383a, 3.393e, 3.404e, 8.550a, 8.554a, 9.572a, 9.573b, 9.576a, 9.576b-c, and 9.578a-b.
...ποιεῖν ἰσχυρὸν καὶ τὸν λέοντα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν λέοντα, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον λιμοκτονεῖν καὶ ποιεῖν ἀσθενῆ...
1.352b:
To the gods also then, Thrasymachus, hateful will be the unjust man, but the just man dear.See also 6.484b, 6.505d, 8.568a, 9.572e, 9.588e, 9.591a, 10.604e, and 10.616e.
καὶ θεοῖς ἄρα ἐχθρὸς ἔσται ὁ ἄδικος, ὦ Θρασύμαχε, ὁ δὲ δίκαιος φίλος.
Sometimes the chiastically arranged subject / predicate pairs occur with a verb of calling or naming, e.g. 2.371 d:
"Shopkeepers" do we not call those seated in the marketplace performing a service in buying and selling, but those wandering to cities "merchants"?See also 7.534a, 8.559c, and 8.559c-d.
οὐ καπήλους καλοῦμεν τοὺς πρὸς ὠνήν τε καὶ πρᾶσιν διακονοῦντας ἱδρυμένους ἐν ἀγορᾷ, τοὺς δὲ πλανήτας ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐμπόρους;
3.397a:
...noises of winds and of hailstones and of axles and of pulleys, and of trumpets and of flutes and of pipes and of all instruments sounds...See also 1.353b, 7.532c, 8.552c, and 8.569b-c.
...ψόφους ἀνέμων τε καὶ χαλαζῶν καὶ ἀξόνων τε καὶ τροχιλιῶν, καὶ σαλπίγγων καὶ αὐλῶν καὶ συρίγγων καὶ πάντων ὀργάνων φωνάς...
1.348e:
In the class of virtue and wisdom you place injustice, but justice in the opposites.See also 1.333b, 3.389c, 5.477a, and 10.614c-d.
ἐν ἀρετῆς καὶ σοφίας τιθεῖς μέρει τὴν ἀδικίαν, τὴν δὲ δικαιοσύνην ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις.
1.334a:
Of whatever, then, a man is a skillful guardian, of that also he is a thief skillful.See also 8.574e, 10.603c, and 10.609e-610a.
ὅτου τις ἄρα δεινὸς φύλαξ, τούτου καὶ φὼρ δεινός.
Miscellaneous examples of reflecting chiasmus involving syntactical patterns that do not fall into any of the above categories occur in Plato's Republic at 1.334a, 1.352e, 2.373d, 3.400a, 3.402d, 7.535d, 7.536b, 8.551c, 8.560d, 9.580a-b, 9.587b, 10.599e, 10.609a, and 10.613a-b.
