''Encomium'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word deriving from the

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

''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 great national 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, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

: * 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 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 In Byzantine rhetoric, a ''basilikos logos'' ( gr, βασιλικòς λόγος, literally "imperial word") or ''logos eis ton autokratora'' ("speech to the emperor") is an encomium addressed to an emperor on an important occasion, regularly at Epi ...

'' (imperial encomium), a formal genre in the Byzantine empire

Examples

* Gorgias' famous ''

Encomium of Helen Gorgias (; grc-gre, Γοργίας; 483–375 BC) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several dox ...

'' offers several justifications for excusing Helen of Troy's adultery * In

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

' '' In Praise of Folly'', Folly composes an encomium to herself * ''

De Pippini regis Victoria Avarica ''Rythmus'' (or ''Carmen'') ''de Pippini regis Victoria Avarica'' ("Poem ongof king Pippin's Avar victory"), also known by its incipit as ''Omnes gentes qui fecisti'' ("All peoples whom you created"), is a medieval Latin encomium celebrating the vi ...

'' 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 Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and th ...

* ''

Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis ''Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis'' ("Praises of the City of Milan"), also known as the ''Versum de Mediolano civitate'' ("Verse of the City of Milan") or ''Versus in laudem mediolanensis civitatis'' ("Verse in Praise of the City of Milan"), is an ...

'' or ''Versum de Mediolano civitate'' is a medieval encomium of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

* '' Versus de Verona'' is a medieval encomium of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

* ''

Polychronion The Polychronion (Greek: Πολυχρόνιον, "many years"; ka, მრავალჟამიერი, ; cu, мъногаꙗ лѣта ''mŭnogaja lěta'') is a solemn encomium chanted in the liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Cat ...

'' is chanted in the liturgy of Churches which follow the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours ar ...

* Paul the Apostle uses a kind of encomium in his praise of love, in 1 Corinthians 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 es:Encomio fr:Éloge it:Elogio nl:Laudatio pt:Elogio