Catacosmesis Explained

Catacosmesis is the Greek word for "to set in order".^[1] In rhetoric, it refers to a device in which there is a descending order of words or phrases, either in order of importance, dignity or time, and either abrupt or gradual.^{[2] [3]} It is considered to be synonymous with anticlimax.^[4] The opposite of catacosmesis is auxesis when used to refer to climax, wherein a series of clauses has increasing, rather than decreasing, force. Catacosmesis is distinct from bathos because the former is a relative term, requiring that a phrase or word is proceeded by something greater in dignity, time, or some other metric, whereas bathos may apply to an entire work, text, or speech, with no major changes in dignity.

An example of catacosmesis is:^[5]

Here, the verbs "die", "faint", and "fail" are arranged such that the most important of them (die) is first and the least important (fail) last.

Another example of catacosmesis is the Yale University motto:^{[6] [7]}

Here, the nouns "God", "country", and "Yale" are ordered so that the most important (God) is first and the least important (Yale) last.

Catacosmesis may also be used for humorous statements due to the juxtaposition of phrases leading to the anticlimax, as in the following statement:

See also

• Anticlimax
• Auxesis, the opposite device, in which clauses increase in force
• Climax, the specific form of auxesis which serves as the opposite of catacosmesis
• Rhetoric
• Rhetorical Device

Notes and References

1. Book: Greene, Roland . The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics . Princeton University Press . 2017 . 9780691154916 . 4th.
2. Anticlimax . 2 . 123. 1.
3. Web site: Peachum . Henry . Crane . Gregory . 1977 . The Garden of Eloquence Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, Inc . Perseus Digital Library.
4. Book: Lanham, Richard A. . A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms . 1991-01-01 . University of California Press . 978-0-520-07669-3 . 31 . en.
5. DELASANTA . RODNEY . 1965 . Shelley's "Sometimes Embarrassing Declarations": A Defence . Texas Studies in Literature and Language . 7 . 2 . 173, 174, 176 . 40753856 . 0040-4691.
6. Kulikov . Sergey B. . 24 January 2018 . Wittgenstein Studies and Contemporary Pyrrhonism . Philosophia . en . 46 . 4 . 930–931 . 10.1007/s11406-018-9946-0 . 255164384 . 0048-3893. subscription .
7. Book: Liberman . Myron M. . A Modern Lexicon of Literary Terms . Foster . Edward E. . 1968 . Scott, Foresman . 85 . en.