Institutio Oratoria

It is also to be found in poets, as in the passage in Homer [*](Il. ii. 101. ) describing the sceptre which he traces from the hands of Jupiter down to those of Agamemnon, and in the following from one of our own tragedians: [*](Unknown.)

1. From Jove, so runs the tale, was Tantalus sprung,
2. From Tantalus Pelops, and of Pelops' seed
3. Sprang Atreus, who is sire of all our line.

As regards the figures produced by omission, they rely for their charm in the main on conciseness and novelty. There is one of these which I mentioned in the last book [*](VII. vi. 21.) with reference to synecdoche, and postponed discussing until such time as I came to deal with figures: it occurs when the word omitted may be clearly gathered from the context: an example may be found in Caelius' denunciation of Antony: stupere gaudio Graecus: [*](The Greek was struck dumb with joy.) for we must clearly supply coepit. Or take the following passage from a letter of Cicero [*]( Lost. No talk except of you. What better? Then Fla virus says, 'Couriers to-morrow,' and I scribbled these lines at his house during dinner. ) to Brutus: Serno nullus scilicet nisi de te: quid enim potius? turn Flavius, cras, inquit, tabellarii, et ego ibidem has inter cenum exaravi.