46 Amphibole: "double talk"

This also is a pet device of oracles. Amphibole takes the advantage of the equalization of syntax, that is, of logical ambiguity in sentence structure. In Latin there is often doubt as to which of two accusatives is the subject and which the object of an infinitive. This gave a head start to the oracles. "Aio te, Aecida, Romanos vincere posse," means that you can conquer the Romans -- or vice versa. In Shakespeare (2 Henry VI, I, i, 33-34) there is a famous instance;

The Duke yet lives that Henry shall depose
But him outlive and die a violent death.

No telling whether this means that the Duke is still alive whom Henry shall depose, or who shall depose Henry. The first line turns on the ambiguity of "that," which can stand indifferently for "who" or "whom," and there is a faulty pronoun reference in the second line, "him." This oracle could be regarded as an instance of verbal ambiguity rather than amphibole, which is am-bifiWy nf Fyntfl^ -- of course pronouns are structure-words, and very different from sense-words, such as nouns and adjectives.