''Encomium'' (: ''encomia'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word deriving from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is '' laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the song sung by the chorus at the κῶμος, or festal procession, held at the Panhellenic Games in honour of the victor, either on the day of his victory or on its anniversary. The word came afterwards to denote any song written in celebration of distinguished persons, and in later times any spoken or written panegyric whatever. ''Encomium'' also refers to several distinct aspects of

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

: * A general category of oratory * A method within rhetorical

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

* A

figure of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from straightforward language use or Denotation, literal meaning to produce a rhetorical or intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, et ...

praising a person or thing, but occurring on a smaller scale than an entire speech * The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series * A literary genre that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue :*The '' basilikos logos'' (imperial encomium), a formal genre in the Byzantine empire

Examples

* Gorgias' famous '' Encomium of Helen'' offers several justifications for excusing

Helen of Troy Helen (), also known as Helen of Troy, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda (mythology), ...

's adultery * In Erasmus' ''

In Praise of Folly ''In Praise of Folly'', also translated as ''The Praise of Folly'' ( or ), is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511. Inspired by previous works of the Italian Renaissance humanism, hu ...

'', Folly composes an encomium to herself * '' De Pippini regis Victoria Avarica'' is a medieval encomium of the victory of Pepin of Italy over the Avars * '' Encomium Emmae Reginae'' is a medieval encomium of Queen Emma of Normandy * '' Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis'' or ''Versum de Mediolano civitate'' is a medieval encomium of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

* '' Versus de Verona'' is a medieval encomium of Verona * '' Polychronion'' is chanted in the liturgy of Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite * Paul the Apostle uses a kind of encomium in his praise of love, in

1 Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in Anc ...

13; the prologue is verses 1–3, acts are v. 4–7, comparison is v. 8–12, and epilogue is 13:13–14:1. David E. Garland, Baker Exegetical Commentary, 1 Corinthians, 606, based on the work of Sigountos.

References

External links

*{{wiktionary-inline Public speaking Rhetorical techniques Evaluation Latin words and phrases de:Laudatio fr:Éloge it:Elogio nl:Laudatio pt:Elogio