Ἀποσιώπησις
aposiopesis, clamming up, sudden silence
Translated by Jennifer Benedict3 Jun 2001Vetting: high4 revisions
Translation
A type of [rhetorical] figure; as in Aristophanes: "... o by no means!"1 There is is also [something] similar in Demosthenes. "O - but what should someone say to describe you correctly?"2 For after [Aristophanes] had said "by no means" he said "o by no means!"
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀποσιώπησις· σχήματος εἶδος· ὡς παρὰ Ἀριστοφάνει· ὦ μηδαμῶς. ἔστι δὲ καὶ παρὰ Δημοσθένει τὸ ὅμοιον. ἀλλ' ὦ τί ἄν σέ τις προσειπὼν ὀρθῶς προσείποι; εἰρηκότος γὰρ αὐτοῦ μηδαμῶς, εἶπεν, ὦ μηδαμῶς.