Back to Types of Chiasmus

Types of Chiasmus: Chiastic Shorthand

All examples of chiasmus share the same distinctive structure-a reversal in word order that can be "marked with an X" (as described in Welcome to the World of Chiasmus.) However, there are a number of interesting variations on the chiastic theme. We'll examine all of them here at "Types of Chiasmus." In this edition, we take a look at Chiastic Shorthand.

There's a statue in Paris commemorating Niobe (pronounced NY-uh-bee), the Queen of Thebes in Greek mythology. The mother of numerous children, she boasted of her fertility and disparaged the goddess Leto for having only two children. It turned out to be a fatal mistake. Leto sought revenge and, with her two children, Apollo and Artemis, killed all of Niobe's children. In despair, Niobe fled to Mt. Sipylus in Asia Minor, where Zeus turned her into a stone that wept perpetually. She is known in literature as the personification of maternal sorrow. In a famous literary allusion, Hamlet describes his mother's behavior at his father's funeral this way: "Like Niobe, all tears."

Niobe's story is an interesting one. But even more interesting to friends of chiasmus is the inscription that appears at the base of her statue. Written by Voltaire, it reads (when translated into English):

Voltaire concludes the verse with an intriguing chiastic suggestion—that the sculptor outdid the gods by turning the stone into a woman. He doesn't formally complete the thought because he is sure readers will know exactly what he means. By using a helpful little language convention—simply writing "the opposite"—he communicates what he means without having to use the actual words.

Voltaire does something very similar in one of his most quoted remarks:

Once again, he only suggests the chiasm—that we humans have more than reciprocated by creating God in our image. It's a thought-provoking notion in its own right, but it's also another interesting way—another shorthand way—of framing a chiastic thought.

 Vice Versa
 The Other Way Around
 The Reverse Is True
 The Opposite Is True
 Other Miscellaneous Methods

drmardy.com   copyright © 1999-2008 by Dr. Mardy Grothe.