The Distinction between the Philosophical- Rhetorical Meanings of the two terms Enargeia and Energeia and their Importance for Understanding Ekphrasis in Word-Image Studies

Word-image studies are one of the new areas of study that has attracted the attention of academics. Among the commonly used terms in this field is the term "ekphrasis". This term is mainly understood as a verbal description of a visual representation. But such an understanding does not accord with the classical meanings of this term. In order to get a better understanding of the meaning of "ekphrasis", it is important to investigate its philosophical-rhetorical background term known as enargeia. Enargeia means to describe and put before the eyes of the audience. While analyzing the rhetorical term of enargeia and comparing it with its affiliated concept of energeia, this paper would try to illustrate the philosophical significance of the term and extract its classical records as well. As a result, we will consider that the philosophical implications of the concepts that are used in the new field of word-image studies, are of utmost importance without which it would not be possible to advance the new studies appropriately.