View source for Encomium

{{short description|Latin word meaning "the praise of a person or thing"}}
{{for|the Led Zeppelin [[tribute album]] released in 1995|Encomium (album)}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2011}}
{{Rhetoric}}
'''''Encomium''''' ({{plural form}}: '''''encomia''''') is a [[Latin language|Latin]] word deriving from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''enkomion'' ({{lang|grc|ἐγκώμιον}}), meaning "the praise of a person or thing."<ref>{{LSJ|e)gkw/mios|ἐγκώμιον|ref}}</ref> Another Latin equivalent is ''[[Laudatio funebris|laudatio]]'', a speech in praise of someone or something. 

Originally it was the song sung by the [[Greek chorus|chorus]] at the κῶμος, or festal procession, held at the [[Panhellenic Games]] in honour of the victor, either on the day of his victory or on its anniversary. The word came afterwards to denote any song written in celebration of distinguished persons, and in later times any spoken or written [[panegyric]] whatever.<ref>Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Encomion</ref>

''Encomium'' also refers to several distinct aspects of [[rhetoric]]:

* A general category of [[public speaking|oratory]]
* A method within rhetorical [[pedagogy]]
* A [[figure of speech]] praising a person or thing, but occurring on a smaller scale than an entire speech
* The eighth exercise in the [[progymnasmata]] series
* A literary genre that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue<ref>Jerome H. Neyrey, Encomium vs Vituperation: Contrasting Portraits of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, https://www3.nd.edu/~jneyrey1/encomium-article.html</ref>
:*The ''[[basilikos logos]]'' (imperial encomium), a formal genre in the Byzantine empire


The classical model of the ''encomium'' typically followed the form:

# Exordium: Call the audience to virtue and rouse them to imitation of the thing praised.
# Praise the subject's "stock," including their people, country, ancestors, and parents.
# Praise the subject's education, artistic talent, and training in laws.
# Praise the subject's deeds, such as their excellencies of mind, body, and fortune.
# Favorably compare the subject to another figure commonly understood to be virtuous or praiseworthy.
# Conclude with an exhortation or final emulation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric |url=https://rhetoric.byu.edu/ |access-date=2025-11-12 |website=rhetoric.byu.edu}}</ref>

==Examples==
* [[Gorgias]]' famous ''[[Encomium of Helen]]'' offers several justifications for excusing [[Helen of Troy]]'s adultery
* In [[Erasmus]]' ''[[In Praise of Folly]]'', Folly composes an encomium to herself
* ''[[De Pippini regis Victoria Avarica]]'' is a medieval encomium of the victory of [[Pepin of Italy]] over the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]]
* ''[[Encomium Emmae Reginae]]'' is a medieval encomium of Queen [[Emma of Normandy]]
* ''[[Laudes Mediolanensis civitatis]]'' or ''Versum de Mediolano civitate'' is a medieval encomium of [[Milan]]
* ''[[Versus de Verona]]'' is a medieval encomium of [[Verona]]
* ''[[Polychronion]]'' is chanted in the liturgy of Churches which follow the [[Byzantine Rite]]
*  [[Paul the Apostle]] uses a kind of encomium in his praise of love, in [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|1 Corinthians]] 13; the prologue is verses 1–3, acts are v. 4–7, comparison is v. 8–12, and epilogue is 13:13–14:1.<ref>[[David E. Garland]], Baker Exegetical Commentary, 1 Corinthians, 606,  based on the work of Sigountos.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{wiktionary-inline}}

[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Rhetorical techniques]]
[[Category:Evaluation]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]

[[de:Laudatio]]
[[fr:Éloge]]
[[it:Elogio]]
[[nl:Laudatio]]
[[pt:Elogio]]