On the Shortness of Life

Anaphora is a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences. Seneca uses it periodically throughout his essay and it is preserved in instances of Costa’s translation, such as when he writes:

None of these will force you to die, but all will teach you how to die. None of them will exhaust your years, but each will contribute his years to yours. With none of these will conversation be dangerous, or his friendship fatal, or attendance on him expensive (24).

Here, Seneca underscores the benefits of immersing oneself in philosophy and surrounding oneself with philosophical friends. The repetition of “none of these” makes it emphatically clear that philosophers and philosophy on the whole are beneficial and important. The anaphora is a key component of Roman rhetoric and writing style and by using it, Seneca demonstrates his fine education and fluency in composition.

Asyndeton is a rhetorical device characterized by the omission of conjunctions (i.e., “and,” “but,” “or”) between words or phrases in a series. Seneca uses this device periodically throughout his essay to give his ideas more weight by not distracting the reader with conjunctions.