prosopopoeia

Prosopopoeia is a figure of speech in which a nonhuman, inanimate, or absent entity is given a voice and portrayed as speaking or acting. The term comes from the Greek prosōpon (face, person) and poiein (to make), and it is often treated as a specific form of personification. Unlike simple personification, where objects or ideas are described with human traits, prosopopoeia presents a fully voiced speaker—the entity itself—commenting on events, revealing motives, or offering critique from its own perspective.

Usage and function: In classical rhetoric and drama, personified abstractions such as Fortune, Justice, Time, or Death address characters or the audience. In tragedy and comedy, a statue, weather, or deity may speak as if alive. In poetry and prose, prosopopoeia can function as a dramatic or satirical device, enabling an first-person perspective for otherwise voiceless entities. In modern literature and film, the device persists in allegory and metafiction and may be used for political or social commentary.

Examples: A common instance is to have Death speak in the first person, for example, “I am Death, come for you.” Similarly, abstractions like Fortune or Justice are portrayed as addressing characters or rulers. Everyday usage might anthropomorphize institutions or objects, such as a city’s statue addressing citizens or a clock speaking to time-pressed readers.

See also: personification, apostrophe.