The rhetorical technique of Juvenal's 'Tenth satire'

Abstract

Juvenal wrote his satires in an age of learning and when everybody aimed at precision. As a result, the satires are well-planned rhetorical essays, and the tenth is no exception. This satire, which is about praying, is a very good model of his other satires, with regards to the rhetorical techniques. This technique comprises first of all the compositional structure of the satire, which sets out the arguments considered point by point and not in a rambling way, as does Horace. Each point is then enriched by means of parallelism (symmetry or ‘concinnitas’), by sequences of images, and by the many epithets which Juvenal uses. The rhythm of the satire is aided by the sentence structure, and finally, every point is embellished by means of purple passages, sententiae, dialogue, and various figures of speech.