Rhetorical Analysis Essay
In The Deification of Caesar, Ovid uses a combination of poetic devices to make his story more specific and vivid.
Ovid sometimes doesn’t refer to ideas directly, but instead uses a related word. On lines 746 and 747, he describes how exceptional and skilled Julius Caesar is: “Caesar in urbe sua deus est; quem Marte togaque / praecipuum non bella magis finita triumphis”. In this line, Caesar is described as “praecipuum” (particular or exceptional) in both “Marte” and “toga”. If these words are literally translated, they end up as Mars, the Roman god of war, and the toga, a piece of clothing worn by senators.
Ovid uses these words to represent the ideas of peace and war: Mars, is the god of war in Roman mythology, and therefore represents war as a concept, while senators (usually) make decisions peacefully. This is an example of metonymy, where a concept is referred to using a word connected to, but not exactly it. This really helps form mental pictures in the reader’s mind: Instead of just thinking of the vague idea of “peace”, someone reading the word “toga” would think instead of Caesar making a legal decision while wearing a toga. This is used throughout the story: on line 781, he uses the same strategy: “ferrea non possunt veterum decreta sororum”. By referring to the fates as “veterum sororum” (ancient sisters) rather than their actual names, Ovid makes the story more vivid and enhances its imagery.
Another poetic device Ovid uses is allusion, where he references specific events in his text. On lines 752-56, he lists events and wars that Caesar was involved in, "scilicet aequoreos plus est / domuisse Britannos / perque papyriferi septemflua flumina Nili / victrices egisse rates Numidasque rebelles / Cinyphiumque Iubam Mithridateisque tumentem / nominibus Pontum populo adiecisse Quirini". He describes Caesar as “conquering the Britons” and “leading his ships up the Nile” as well as how he stopped Numidian rebellions.
By adding in these (relatively) recent events Ovid makes the story much more “real” and believable: A Roman citizen reading the story would be able to recognize all of these events and it would have made it much more relatable for them. By doing this Ovid makes sure that the Deification is not just being some ancient, disconnected myth, but instead a modern, believable story. Since the Metamorphoses are arranged chronologically, and the Deification is the last story in the entire poem, it also helps tie in Greek and Roman creation myths to modern (at the time) Rome, allowing Ovid to complete the Metamorphoses in a way that is meaningful to Roman society.