Erotema

Erotema (Greek ἐρώτημα, 'a question') is the classical rhetorical term for the rhetorical question — a question posed not to elicit an answer but to make an assertion that the answer is obvious, or to force the audience to arrive at the assertion themselves.

The device is one of the oldest in rhetoric. Cicero's 'Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?' ('How long, Catiline, will you go on abusing our patience?') is an erotema; the answer — 'too long already' — is planted in the audience before the sentence has ended. Modern political speech relies on the same mechanism: 'Are we the kind of country that leaves its veterans on the street?'

Erotema has two subtler cousins in the classical repertoire. Hypophora asks a question and then supplies the answer aloud; the erotema leaves the answer to the audience. Anthypophora is the answer offered to one's own hypophora. In practice modern writers use 'rhetorical question' for all three; classical writers preferred the distinctions.

Common mistake: using several erotemas in a row until the device empties out. Each one demands assent from the audience; after three, the assent turns to irritation, because the audience notices it is being led rather than persuaded. One erotema, well placed, can carry a paragraph; four in a paragraph can kill an essay.