Coriolanus

“For the dearth

The gods, not the patricians, make it, and

Your knees to them, not arms, must help.”

Menenius diffuses the anger of the plebeians by convincing them that the gods, not the patricians, are to blame for the food shortages. His words use a figure of speech called a synecdoche, where a term for a part of something refers to a broader concept. In this synecdoche, Menenius refers to parts of the body associated with practices, rather than the practices themselves, using the knees to suggest the idea of prayer and the arm to suggest the concept of a riot.

“Who deserves greatness

Deserves your hate.”

Coriolanus insults the plebeians through a paradoxical statement, one that seems contradictory or impossible. By using repetition, telling the people that those who deserve greatness also deserve to be hated by them, he implies that their judgement is totally opposite from moral truth. If a person who is genuinely great will always be hated by the commoners of Rome, he argues, then the will of the plebeians should be disregarded by the senate and they should have no power in the Roman government. Coriolanus’s arrogance helps to fuel The Dangers of Internal Political Conflict in the play.