OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation · J199
Paper 2, Paper 4
Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis, such as comparing the desired number of kisses to countless grains of sand and stars.
Revise: Roman Social, Legal, and Lyric SourcesThe speaker imagines as many kisses as the grains of Libyan sand between Jupiter’s oracle at Ammon and the sacred tomb of old Battiades in Cyrene. He then turns from the earth to the sky: he wants as many kisses as the stars looking down on ‘secret human desires’ during the still night. These immense quantities are hyperbole: exaggeration makes his desire seem impossible to measure or exhaust.
- Revise: Roman Satire: Origins and the Styles of Horace and Juvenal
Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis, humour or emotional impact.