A Macabre Parallel. A Reading of Lucan’s Pharsalia 1, 1–7
A Macabre Parallel. A Reading of Lucan’s Pharsalia 1, 1–7

Summary/Abstract: The present article gives a rough outline of Lucan’s use of alliteration by attempting to discover the most important functions of this particular rhetorical device in the Pharsalia. For the sake of clarity, the instances of alliteration that are found in the Pharsalia are divided into three groups: ‘pure’ (of one and the same consonant), ‘mixed’ (of two or more consonants) and ‘combined’ (accompanied by other rhetorical devices). Lucan’s use of alliteration is shown to extend far beyond the achievement of an instantaneous sound effect at the level of a single line or even a single passage. In several cases, alliteration is used as a means of association in order to allow the poet to connect passages that would seem to have nothing in common. This in turn leads to the conclusion that Lucan’s compositional scheme – based on allusions and association – is present even at the level of the phoneme.

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