1. A literary or rhetorical device in which an absent, dead, or inanimate person or thing is addressed as if present and able to respond, or is represented as speaking.
Usage: plural of prosopopeia; literary/rhetorical term; also spelled prosopopoeia

Examples

• The poet used prosopopeias to address the moon and stars as if they were living beings.
• In classical rhetoric, prosopopeias allowed speakers to give voice to abstract concepts like Justice or Death.
• Shakespeare employed prosopopeias when his characters spoke directly to absent figures or inanimate objects.
• The orator's use of prosopopeias made the argument more emotionally compelling by personifying the nation itself.
• Ancient Greek dramatists frequently relied on prosopopeias to create dialogue with gods and mythological figures.