Paradeigma (Greek: παράδειγμα; plural: paradeigmata) is a technique used in Ancient Greek rhetoric used to compare the situation of the audience to a similar past event, like a parable (Greek: παραβολή). It offers counsel on how the audience should act.1 Aristotle was a prominent ancient rhetorician who explicitly discussed the use of paradeigmata.
In the Greek tradition many paradeigmata are mythological examples, often in reference to a popular legend or well-known character in a similar position to the audience.2 Homer's The Iliad (24.601–619) – Achilles is trying to encourage Priam to eat rather than continue to weep for his dead son Hector. He brings up Niobe, a woman that had lost twelve children but still found the strength to eat.2 He is trying to counsel Priam to do what he should by using Niobe as a paradeigma, an example to guide behaviour.
It is also the etymological root of the English word "paradigm".
References
References
- Liddel, Henry G., and Robert Scott. "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon." Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, παράδειγ-μα. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
- Willcock, M. M. "Mythological Paradeigma in the Iliad", The Classical Quarterly New Series, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Nov., 1964), pp. 141–154.