Adynaton

Adynaton (plural adynata) (from Greek: a-: without and dynasthai: to be powerful) is a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to suggest a complete impossibility:

• It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Book of Matthew 19:24
• I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one of his cheek Shakespeare Henry IV, Part 2

Classical and Medieval usage

Adynaton was a widespread literary and rhetorical device during the Classical Period and was known in Latin as impossibilia. A frequent usage was to refer to one highly unlikely event occurring sooner than another:

One can expect an agreement between philosophers sooner than between clocks. Seneca, "The Pumpkinification of Claudius".

However it largely fell into disuse during the Middle Ages before undergoing a minor revival in the works of romantic poets, who would boast of the power of their love, and how it could never end.

Together, we shall sooner see, I, & you, The Rhône tarry, & reverse its course, The Saône roil, & return to source, Than this my fire ever die down Maurice Scève

Fiction, folklore and drama

Adynata are sometimes used within works of fiction or drama:

Part heat from fire, then, by that notion,

Part frost from snow, wet from the ocean!

Ask less!      Henrik Ibsen, Brand

Impossible tasks appears often in legends and folklore, such as the tale of "The Spinning-Woman by the Spring", and can form elements of ballads, riddles and proverbs.

Modern usage

Adynaton has survived to the modern age in several colourful examples:

• Pigs might fly!
• Not before Hell freezes over!

See also

• 'Pataphysics

References and further reading

• Dictionary of poetic terms Myers, J., Wukasch, D.
• Some Notes on the Adynaton in Medieval Literature
• Ronald Grambo, Adynaton Symbols in Proverbs. A Few Fragmentary Remarks (s. 40-42). Proverbium 15. Helsinki 1970.
• Martti Haavio, Omöjlighetssymboler i finsk epik (s. 73-83). Sed och Sägen 1956.
• Henrik Ibsens Skrifter Brand. Peer Gynt. Universitetet i Oslo. H. Aschehoug & Co. (William Nygaard). Oslo 2007. ISBN 82-03-19002-2.