Chapter 37: Similes

Parableand likenesses (we must, you see, return to our subject) are neighbors of metaphors, differing only in this

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Commentary

parables: Aristotle (Rhetoric l 393a28 ff.) distinguishes between two kinds of examples or illustrations: one is the ex­ ample proper, i.e., an historical anal­ ogy; the other is the “parable,” i.e., an imaginary fable or analogue, or even an apologue. If, for example, we draw an analogy between Caesar and Napoleon, we have used Caesar as an illustrative example; if, however we make up a little story—like a fable by Aesop or like Socrates’ myth of the cave—then we have a parable. Jesus’ parables in the New Testament are the most famous examples of this device. Aristotle ob­ serves (1394al ff.) that parables are ap­ propriate to public speeches because they are numerous and easy to find or make up, whereas historical examples are harder to find; on the other hand, he says, historical examples are more tell­ ing, since we expect the future to be like the past.

likenesses: the Greek word gives us our English “icon.” In the Rhetoric (l 406b20 ff.), Aristotle says that they are a species of metaphor: his definition corresponds to our “simile,” that is, a metaphor which contains the word “as” or “like.” The rhetorical handbooks generally preserve this distinction, which they elaborate by saying that it is a point-for-point comparison of the parts of two things (Spengel III.104, 108, 240, etc.).