What is "prosopopoeia"

Prosopopoeia \Pros`o*po*p[oe]"ia\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; pro`swpon a face, a person + ? to make.] (Rhet.) A figure by which things are represented as persons, or by which things inanimate are spoken of as animated beings; also, a figure by which an absent person is introduced as speaking, or a deceased person is represented as alive and present. It includes personification, but is more extensive in its signification.

n. 1 (context rhetoric English) Personifying a person or object when (l en communicate communicating) to an (l en audience). 2 (l en personification Personification) of an (l en abstraction).

n. (alternative spelling of prosopopoeia English)

n. representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature [syn: personification]

A prosopopoeia is a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. The term literally derives from the Greek roots prósopon "face, person", and poiéin "to make, to do".

Prosopopoeiae are used mostly to give another perspective on the action being described. For example, in Cicero's Pro Caelio, Cicero speaks as Appius Claudius Caecus, a stern old man. This serves to give the "ancient" perspective on the actions of the plaintiff. Prosopopoeiae can also be used to take some of the load off the communicator by placing an unfavorable point of view on the shoulders of an imaginary stereotype. The audience's reactions are predisposed to go towards this figment rather than the communicator himself.

This term also refers to a figure of speech in which an animal or inanimate object is ascribed human characteristics or is spoken of in anthropomorphic language. Quintilian writes of the power of this figure of speech to "bring down the gods from heaven, evoke the dead, and give voices to cities and states" (Institutes of Oratory [see ref.]).