Synonymes as Indices of Cohesion in the Text of Vita Miltiadis by Cornelius Nepos

Abstract

In the text of Vita Miltiadis by Cornelius Nepos as many as one hundred synonymes play the role of indices of cohesion. The present article is an attempt at characterization of these synonymes and at showing their important unifying function. By fulfilling this function they also contribute to the composition of the text. The point of departure for the characterization is a classification of the synonymes in the large sense (sensu lato). Apart from 1) proper synonymes, i.e. words having simply a similar meaning, also two other kinds of broadly understood synonymes were included in this group, namely, 2) meronyms, and 3) hyponyms. Within these three groups further, more detailed variations of synonymes were distinguished.

Among the hundred synonymes which occur in the text of Vita Miltiadis in order to make it more consistent, all the distinguished kinds of synonymes can be found, which is illustrated by the examples presented in the article, and fully shown in the list supplied at the end of the article. Such a great number of synonymes and their variety prove that synonymy plays the role of an important unifying mechanism in the text of Vita Miltiadis.