Seneca

Referring to the philosopher Seneca's use of hyperbole, Alain de Botton in The Consolations of Philosophy states:

"If most philosophers feel no need to write like this, it is because they trust that, so long as an argument is logical, the style in which it is presented to the reader will not determine its effectivenesss. 

Seneca believed in a different picture of the mind.

Arguments are like eels: however logical, they may slip from the mind's weak grasp unless fixed there by imagery and style. 

We need metaphors to derive a sense of what cannot be seen or touched, or else we will forget."

http://www.alaindebotton.com/ 

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/seneca/