''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 of the ...
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:
* 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'' (imperial encomium), a formal genre in the Byzantine empire
Examples
*
Gorgias' famous ''
Encomium of Helen'' 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'' 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 the ...
* ''
Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis'' or ''Versum de Mediolano civitate'' is a medieval encomium of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
* ''
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'' 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 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