Paradeigma (Greek: παραδειγμα; plural: paradeigmata) is a Greek term for a pattern, example or sample. Its closest translation is "an isolated example by which a general rule illustrated". It is also the etymological root of the English word "paradigm".
Limited to rhetoric, a paradeigma is used to compare the situation of the audience to a similar past event, like a parable (Greek: παραβολή). It offers counsel on how the audience should act.[1] In the Greek tradition many paradeigmata are mythological examples, often in reference to a popular legend or well-known character in a similar position to the audience.[2]
Aristotle was a prominent ancient rhetorician who explicitly discussed the use of paradeigmata.
Homer's The Iliad (24.601–619) – Achilles is trying to encourage Priam to eat rather than continue to weep for his dead son Hector. He brings up Niobe, a woman that had lost twelve children but still found the strength to eat.[2] He is trying to counsel Priam to do what he should by using Niobe as a paradeigma, an example to guide behaviour.
Jesus' parables in the New Testament of the Bible – In Luke 7:41–47 Jesus uses the following paradeigmata to explain how much a man loves in response to how much he is forgiven. (Jesus is alluding to the magnitude of his coming sacrifice on the cross for all of mankind’s sin.)