Chapter I Occasion and Purpose of the Treatise
To you, Rufus Metilius, whose worthy father is my most honoured friend, “I also offer this gift, dear child,”85 as Helen, in Homer, says while entertaining Telemachus. To-day you are keeping your first birthday after your arrival at man’s estate; and of all feasts this is to me the most welcome and most precious. I am not, however, sending you the work of my own hands (to quote Helen’s words when she offers the robe to her young guest), nor what is fitted only for the season of marriage and “meet to pleasure a bride withal.”86 No, it is the product and the child of my studies and my brain, and also something for you to keep and use in all the business of life which is effected through speech: an aid most necessary, if my estimate is of any account, to all alike who practise civil oratory,
1 ἁλικαρνασσέως PV2 4 καὶ om. V 6 ταυτηνὶ PMV 7 ἡδίστην om. P 8 χεῖρον PV1 9 ἔφη PV || οὔτε εἰς PMV 11 σοὶ om. E 12 πάσας EF 13 ὠφέλιμον V: ὠφελίμων EFM: ὠφέλιμοι P 14 τι] τι δὴ MV
2. For the meaning and rendering of σύνθεσις see Glossary, p. 326 infra.
5. In ll. 5, 8, 9, 10, the reference is to Odyssey xv. 123-127:—
Ἑλένη δὲ παρίστατο καλλιπάρῃος
πέπλον ἔχουσ’ ἐν χερσίν, ἔπος τ’ ἔφατ’ ἐκ τ’ ὀνόμαζε·
Δῶρον τοι καὶ ἐγώ, τέκνον φίλε, τοῦτο δίδωμι,
μνῆμ’ Ἑλένης χειρῶν, πολυηράτου ἐς γάμου ὥρην,
σῇ ἀλόχῳ φορέειν.
10. The word γαμετή is used by Dionysius in the interesting and highly characteristic passage which opens the de Antiq. Oratoribus (c. 2).—Here Sauppe conjectures γαμετῇ for γαμετῆς.—For εὔθετος cf. de Thucyd. c. 55 τὸ διηγηματικὸν μέρος αὐτῆς πλὴν ὀλίγων πάνυ θαυμαστῶς ἔχειν καὶ εἰς πάσας εἶναι τὰς χρείας εὔθετον, τὸ δὲ δημηγορικὸν οὐχ ἅπαν εἰς μίμησιν ἐπιτήδειον εἶναι.
11. κτῆμα... χρῆμα, ‘a treasure and a tool,’ ‘a compliment and an implement’: similarly 264 14 φθόνῳ καὶ χρόνῳ (the reading of PMV), and 268 9 χρόνῳ τε πολλῷ καὶ πόνῳ, 184 25 ἀγνοίας... προνοίας. Cp. the jingles found in the fragments of Gorgias, or in Aristophanes (ῥώμῃ... γνώμῃ, Av. 637, 638; σχῆμα... λῆμα, Ran. 463). Such rhyming tendencies (frequent in the orations of Cicero) are condemned in prose-writing by modern taste, though they have, in the course of centuries, found much acceptance in poetry.—For the antithesis in κτῆμα... χρῆμα cp. Isocr. ad Demonicum 28, Cic. ad Fam. vii. 29, 30, Lucr. de Rer. Nat. iii. 971.
The Epitome (except Er) omits σοι, thus securing brevity at the price of rhythm, antithesis, and point. Cp. 66 13, where E omits οἰκειοτέρα.
14. κἀγώ: the καί gives a modest tone, as in Soph. Philoct. 192 εἴπερ κἀγώ τι φρονῶ (Jebb).
15. πολιτικούς: see Glossary, s.v.
τε καὶ ἕξει τυγχάνωσιν ὄντες· μάλιστα δὲ τοῖς μειρακίοις τε
καὶ νεωστὶ τοῦ μαθήματος ἁπτομένοις ὑμῖν, ὦ Ῥοῦφε Μετίλιε
πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ, κἀμοὶ τιμιωτάτου φίλων.
διττῆς γὰρ οὔσης ἀσκήσεως περὶ πάντας ὡς εἰπεῖν τοὺς
λόγους, τῆς περὶ τὰ νοήματα καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, ὧν ἡ 5
μὲν τοῦ πραγματικοῦ τόπου μᾶλλον ἐφάπτεσθαι δόξειεν ἄν,
ἡ δὲ τοῦ λεκτικοῦ, καὶ πάντων ὅσοι τοῦ λέγειν εὖ στοχάζονται
περὶ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς θεωρίας τοῦ λόγου ταύτας σπουδαζόντων
ἐξ ἴσου, ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα καὶ τὴν ἐν τούτοις
φρόνησιν ἄγουσα ἡμᾶς ἐπιστήμη βραδεῖά ἐστι καὶ χαλεπὴ 10
νέοις, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδύνατος εἰς ἀγενείων καὶ μειρακίων πεσεῖν
ἡλικίαν· ἀκμαζούσης γὰρ ἤδη συνέσεώς ἐστι καὶ πολιαῖς
κατηρτυμένης ἡλικίας ἡ τούτων κατάληψις οἰκειοτέρα, πολλῇ
μὲν ἱστορίᾳ λόγων τε καὶ ἔργων, πολλῇ δὲ πείρᾳ καὶ συμφορᾷ
παθῶν οἰκείων τε καὶ ἀλλοτρίων συναυξομένη· τὸ δὲ περὶ 15
τὰς λέξεις φιλόκαλον καὶ ταῖς νεαραῖς πέφυκε συνανθεῖν
οὐχ ἧττον ἡλικίαις. ἐπτόηται γὰρ ἅπασα νέου ψυχὴ περὶ
τὸν τῆς ἑρμηνείας ὡραϊσμόν, ἀλόγους τινὰς καὶ ὥσπερ ἐνθουσιώδεις
ἐπὶ τοῦτο λαμβάνουσα τὰς ὁρμάς· οἷς πολλῆς πάνυ
whatever their age and temperament, but especially to youths like you who are just beginning to take up the study.
We may say that in practically all speaking two things must have unremitting attention: the ideas and the words. In the former case, the sphere of subject matter is chiefly concerned; in the latter, that of expression; and all who aim at becoming good speakers give equally earnest attention to both these aspects of discourse. But the science which guides us to selection of matter, and to judgment in handling it, is hampered with difficulties for the young; indeed, for beardless striplings, its difficulties are insurmountable. The perfect grasp of things in all their bearings belongs rather to a matured understanding, and to an age that is disciplined by grey hairs,—an age whose powers are developed by prolonged investigation of discourse and action, and by many experiences of its own and much sharing in the fortunes of others. But the love of literary beauty flourishes naturally in the days of youth as much as in later life. For elegance of expression has a fascination for all young minds, making them feel impulses that are instinctive and akin to
1 τε καὶ PV: ἢ FM || τε om. F 2 νεωστὶ PMV: ἄρτι F || μετίλιε FP: μελίτιε EMV 3 καμοὶ P,MV: καὶ ἐμοὶ F 4 ἀσκήσεως EPMV: ὑποθέσεως F 5 νοήματα καὶ τὴν λέξιν ὧν EF 6 μᾶλλον ἐφάπτεσθαι om. M 9 τούτοις EPMV: αὐτοῖς F 10 ἐπιστημηι F1 11 καὶ EFMV: ἢ P 12 ἀγμαζούσης F1 || πολιαῖς κατηρτυμένης FMVs: κεκοσμημένης P 13 ἡλικίαις M2 (cf. v. 17 infra) || ἡ τούτων κατάληψις F γρ M: ἐστὶν ἡ τούτων κατάληψις E: ἡ τούτων γνῶσις ἐστὶν PMV || οἰκει[ο]τέρα cum litura F,PMV: om. E 15 συναυξανομένη PMV 16 φιλόκαλον EFP: φιλότιμον καὶ φιλόκαλον MV || πέφυκε συνανθεῖν Reiskius: πεφυκὸς συνανθεῖν P: συνανθεῖν εἴωθεν οὐχ ἧττον EF: πεφυκὸς συνανθεῖν (εἴωθεν addit M) οὐχ ἧττον MV 19 ἐπὶ τοῦτο EF2: ἐπὶ τοῦτον F1MV: om. P || τὰς EFM: om. PV
2. For the plural ὑμῖν cp. Long. xii. 5 ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὑμεῖς [‘you Romans’] ἂν ἄμεινον ἐπικρίνοιτε.
Ῥοῦφε Μετίλιε: reference may be made to the editor’s article on ‘The Literary Circle of Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ in the Classical Review xiv. (year 1900), pp. 439-442. Dionysius clearly numbered many Romans among his friends and pupils. Dedicatory books, or poems, were not uncommon gifts on birthdays: compare
Ἀντίπατρος Πείσωνι γενέθλιον ὤπασε βίβλον
μικρήν, ἐν δὲ μιῇ νυκτὶ πονησάμενος.
ἵλαος ἀλλὰ δέχοιτο, καὶ αἰνήσειεν ἀοιδόν,
Ζεὺς μέγας ὡς ὀλίγῳ πειθόμενος λιβάνῳ.
Antipater Thessalonic.
Epigr. Anthol. Pal. ix. 93.
θύει σοὶ τόδε γράμμα γενεθλιακαῖσιν ἐν ὥραις,
Καῖσαρ, Νειλαίη Μοῦσα Λεωνιδέω.
Καλλιόπης γὰρ ἄκαπνον ἀεὶ θύος· εἰς δὲ νέωτα,
ἢν ἐθέλῃς, θύσει τοῦδε περισσότερα.
Leonidas Alexandr. ib. vi. 321.
3. Reiske’s conjecture ‹παῖ› is plausible rather than necessary: cp. Il. xxi. 109 πατρὸς δ’ εἴμ’ ἀγαθοῖο and Odyss. iv. 611 αἵματος εἶς ἀγαθοῖο.—In the words κἀμοὶ τιμιωτάτου φίλων Dionysius illustrates his own contention (in c. 25) that fragments of metrical lines are occasionally found in prose writings. [F, however, has καὶ ἐμοί.]
6. πραγματικοῦ... λεκτικοῦ: see Gloss., s.v.
13. κατηρτυμένης: cp. the sense of ‘break in,’ as in Soph. Antig. 477 σμικρῷ χαλινῷ δ’ οἶδα τοὺς θυμουμένους | ἵππους καταρτυθέντας and Plut. Vit. Themist. c. 2 καὶ τοὺς τραχυτάτους πώλους ἀρίστους ἵππους γίνεσθαι φάσκων, ὅταν ἧς προσήκει τύχωσι παιδείας καὶ καταρτύσεως. So Plato Legg. 808 D (of a child regarded as ‘the most intractable of animals’) ὅσῳ μάλιστα ἔχει πηγὴν τοῦ φρονεῖν μήπω κατηρτυμένην.—On πολιαῖς (although supported by FMV) Usener candidly remarks “fort. πολιαῖς interpolatum.”—Against κατάληψις (notwithstanding its strong manuscript support) must be weighed: (1) Dionysius’ anti-Stoicism, (2) the likely intrusion of a comparatively late word.
14. συμφορᾷ: perhaps the meaning is ‘comparison of,’ as (according to a possible interpretation) τὰς ξυμφορὰς... τῶν βουλευμάτων in Soph. Oed. Tyr. 44, 45.
15. συναυξομένη: the form αὐξάνω (and its compounds) does not seem to be used by Dionysius.
17. οὐχ ἧττον (EFMV) should be retained: cp. n. on line 13. The words can hardly be regarded as a gloss on καὶ ταῖς νεαραῖς, though εἴωθεν (see critical notes) is probably a gloss on πέφυκε, which would subsequently be changed to πεφυκός.
ἐπτόηται: not infrequent in earlier and in later Greek. Aesch. Prom. V. 856 ἐπτοημένοι φρένας (‘with their hearts wildly beating’), Plato Phaedo 68 C περὶ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας μὴ ἐπτοῆσθαι (so Rep. 439 D), Plut. Mor. 40 F βλὰξ ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ παντὶ λόγῳ φιλεῖ ἐπτοῆσθαι (quoted from Heracleitus), id. ib. 1128 B ἐπτοημένους περὶ τὰ ὄψα, Chrysostom de Sacerdotio c. 1 περὶ τὰς ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ (i.e. the theatre) τέρψεις ἐπτοημένον.—For youth in relation to the arts of style cp. Plut. Vit. Demosth. c. 2 (last sentence).
18. ἑρμηνείας: see Gloss., s.v.
καὶ ἔμφρονος δεῖ τῆς πρώτης ἐπιστάσεώς τε καὶ ἀγωγῆς, εἰ
μέλλουσι μὴ πᾶν “ὅ τι κεν ἐπ’ ἀκαιρίμαν γλῶσσαν ἔπος ἔλθῃ”
λέγειν μηδ’ εἰκῇ συνθήσειν τὰ προστυχόντα ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλ’
ἐκλογῇ τε χρήσεσθαι καθαρῶν ἅμα καὶ γενναίων ὀνομάτων καὶ
συνθέσει ταῦτα κοσμήσειν μεμιγμένον ἐχούσῃ τῷ σεμνῷ τὸ 5
ἡδύ. εἰς δὴ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, ὃ δεῖ πρῶτον νέοις ἀσκεῖσθαι,
“συμβάλλομαί σοι μέλος εἰς ἔρωτα” τὴν περὶ τῆς συνθέσεως
τῶν ὀνομάτων πραγματείαν ὀλίγοις μὲν ἐπὶ νοῦν ἐλθοῦσαν,
ὅσοι τῶν ἀρχαίων ῥητορικὰς ἢ διαλεκτικὰς συνέγραψαν τέχνας,
οὐδενὶ δ’ ἀκριβῶς οὐδ’ ἀποχρώντως μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος ἐξειργασμένην, 10
ὡς ἐγὼ πείθομαι. ἐὰν δ’ ἐγγένηταί μοι σχολή, καὶ
περὶ τῆς ἐκλογῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων ἑτέραν ἐξοίσω σοι γραφήν,
ἵνα τὸν λεκτικὸν τόπον τελείως ἐξειργασμένον ἔχῃς. ἐκείνην
μὲν οὖν τὴν πραγματείαν εἰς νέωτα πάλιν ὥραις ταῖς αὐταῖς
προσδέχου θεῶν ἡμᾶς φυλαττόντων ἀσινεῖς τε καὶ ἀνόσους, εἰ 15
δήποτε ἡμῖν ἄρα τούτου πέπρωται βεβαίως τυχεῖν· νυνὶ δὲ
ἣν τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐπὶ νοῦν ἤγαγέ μοι πραγματείαν δέχου.
κεφάλαια δ’ αὐτῆς ἐστιν ἃ πρόκειταί μοι δεῖξαι ταῦτα,
τίς τε ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς συνθέσεως φύσις καὶ τίνα ἰσχὺν ἔχει, καὶ
τίνων στοχάζεται καὶ πῶς αὐτῶν τυγχάνει, καὶ τίνες αἱ γενικώταται 20
αὐτῆς εἰσι διαφοραὶ καὶ τίς ἑκάστης χαρακτὴρ καὶ ποίαν
inspiration. Young people need, at the beginning, much prudent oversight and guidance, if they are not to utter
What word soe’er may have sprung
To the tip of an ill-timed tongue,87
nor to form at random any chance combinations, but to select pure and noble words, and to place them in the beautiful setting of a composition that unites charm to dignity. So in this department, the first in which the young should exercise themselves, “for love’s service I lend you a strain,”88 in the shape of this treatise on literary composition. The subject has occurred to but few of all the ancients who have composed manuals of rhetoric or dialectic, and by none has it been, to the best of my belief, accurately or adequately treated up to the present time. If I find leisure, I will produce another book for you—one on the choice of words, in order that you may have the subject of expression exhaustively treated. You may expect that treatise next year at the same festive season, the gods guarding us from accident and disease, if it so be that our destiny has reserved for us the secure attainment of this blessing. But now accept the treatise which my good genius has suggested to me.
The chief heads under which I propose to treat the subject are the following: what is the nature of composition, and where its strength lies; what are its aims and how it attains them; what are its principal varieties, what is the distinctive
1 ἐπιστάσεως EF: ἐπιστασίας PMV 3 μηδὲ PF1V || εἰκῆ sine iota PF2: εἰκεῖ F1 || ἀλλὰ PMV 4 τε χρήσεσθαι s: τε χρήσασθαι PMV: κεχρῆσθαι sine τε EF 5 τῶ σεμνῶ sine iota P: σεμνῶ[ι] cum litura F 6 ἐσ F 7 συμβάλλομέν F || μέλος M. Schmidt: μέρος libri || εἰς F: εἰς τὸν PMV || τὴν (ex τῆς) F,M: τὸν P,V in marg.: τὸ r || τῆς F: om. PMV 8 ὀλίγοις] οὐκ ὀλίγοις V in marg. || ἐλθοῦσαν ἐπινοῦν F 9 ἀρχομένων M || διαλεκτικὰς F: καὶ λεκτικὰς P: καὶ διαλεκτικὰς MV 10 et 11 δὲ PMV 10 ἀποχρώντως οὐδ’ ἀκριβῶς F || οὐδὲ PMV 12 σοι om. F 13 ἔχης P sine iota 15 ἀνούσους P 16 ἄρα om. F 17 δέχου F: προσδέχου PMV 18 δὲ PMV || ταῦτα δεῖξαι F 19 τε om. M 21 τίνες ἑκάστης χαρακτῆρες F
2. The reference is to the indiscretions of an impertinent tongue,—‘Whatever, without rhyme and reason, | Occurs to the tongue out of season’: Lat. quicquid in buccam. Cp. Lucian de conscrib. hist. c. 32 ἀναπλάττοντες ὅ τι κεν ἐπ’ ἀκαιρίμαν γλῶσσαν, φασίν, ἔλθῃ.
4. The κεχρῆσθαι of EF perhaps points to τε χρῆσθαι as the right reading. We should then have λέγειν... συνθήσειν, χρῆσθαι... κοσμήσειν: a combination of present and future infinitives which would be in keeping with Dionysius’ love of variety (μεταβολή).
6. “Write νέους. The dative with the passive present, though of course possible, is unlikely in Dionysius. ἀσκῶ can take two accusatives,” H. Richards in Classical Review xix. 252.
7. M. Schmidt’s conjecture μέλος (M. Schmidt Diatribe in Dithyrambum, Berol. 1845) seems to be established by Athenaeus xv. 692 D ἐπεὶ δ’ ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου ἐσμέν, συμβαλοῦμαί τι μέλος ὑμῖν εἰς ἔρωτα, κατὰ τὸν Κυθήριον ποιητήν: cp. ib. vi. 271 B συμβαλοῦμαί τι καὶ αὐτὸς μέλος εἰς ἔρωτα τῷ σοφῷ καὶ φιλτάτῳ Δημοκρίτῳ.—In itself, however, συμβάλλομαι μέρος gives good sense (cp. Plato Legg. 836 D τί μέρος ἡμῖν ξυμβάλλοιτ’ ἂν πρὸς ἀρετήν;); and the repetition of μέρος might be deliberate,—‘to this part of the subject... I contribute as my part.’—ἔρανον [corrupted into ἔρον, ἔρων, ἔρωτα] might be conjectured in place of ἔρωτα, if any considerable change were needed.
8. In estimating Dionysius’ obligations to his predecessors, it should be noticed that the correct reading here is not οὐκ ὀλίγοις (as in the editions of Reiske and Schaefer) but ὀλίγοις.—For συνθέσεως see Gloss., s.v.
11. Either (1) ἐὰν δ’ ἐγγένηταί μοι (without σχολή), or (2) ἐὰν δὲ γένηταί μοι σχολή, would be more natural. Cp. H. Richards in Classical Review, l.c.
12. Either Dionysius did not fulfil his design, or this treatise on the ‘choice of words’ has been lost. For other lost works of Dionysius see D.H. p. 7.
14. εἰς νέωτα: Hesychius, εἰς τὸ ἐπιὸν ἢ νέον ἔτος. Cp. Theophr. de c. Pl. iii. 16. 2 τὸν εἰς νέωτα καρπόν.
17. τὸ δαιμόνιον: cp. de Demosth. c. 58 ad f. ἐὰν δὲ σῴζῃ τὸ δαιμόνιον ἡμᾶς κτλ.
18. ταῦτα: compare 86 4, 90 15, 100 12, 27, 106 5, and contrast 98 20, 21, 100 16, 17, 18.
κρατίστην αὐτῶν εἶναι πείθομαι, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις, τί ποτ’
ἐστὶ τὸ ποιητικὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ εὔγλωσσον καὶ μελιχρὸν ἐν ταῖς
ἀκοαῖς, ὃ πέφυκε τῇ συνθέσει τῆς πεζῆς λέξεως παρακολουθεῖν,
ποιητικῆς τε κατασκευῆς τὸν ἀποίητον ἐκμιμουμένης λόγον καὶ
σφόδρα ἐν τῇ μιμήσει κατορθούσης ποῦ τὸ κράτος, καὶ διὰ 5
ποίας ἂν ἐπιτηδεύσεως ἐγγένοιτο ἑκάτερον αὐτῶν. τοιαυτὶ
μὲν δή τινά ἐστιν ὡς τύπῳ περιλαβεῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν μέλλω λέγειν,
ἄρχεται δὲ ἐνθένδ’ ἡ πραγματεία.
II
ἡ σύνθεσις ἔστι μέν, ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὔνομα,
ποιά τις θέσις παρ’ ἄλληλα τῶν τοῦ λόγου μορίων, ἃ δὴ καὶ 10
στοιχεῖά τινες τῆς λέξεως καλοῦσιν. ταῦτα δὲ Θεοδέκτης μὲν
καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης καὶ οἱ κατ’ ἐκείνους φιλοσοφήσαντες τοὺς
χρόνους ἄχρι τριῶν προήγαγον, ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα καὶ
συνδέσμους πρῶτα μέρη τῆς λέξεως ποιοῦντες. οἱ δὲ μετὰ
τούτους γενόμενοι, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ τῆς Στωικῆς αἱρέσεως 15
ἡγεμόνες, ἕως τεττάρων προὐβίβασαν, χωρίσαντες ἀπὸ τῶν
συνδέσμων τὰ ἄρθρα. εἶθ’ οἱ μεταγενέστεροι τὰ προσηγορικὰ
διελόντες ἀπὸ τῶν ὀνοματικῶν πέντε ἀπεφήναντο τὰ πρῶτα
μέρη. ἕτεροι δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀντονομασίας ἀποζεύξαντες ἀπὸ τῶν
ὀνομάτων ἕκτον στοιχεῖον τοῦτ’ ἐποίησαν. οἱ δὲ καὶ τὰ 20
ἐπιρρήματα διεῖλον ἀπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων καὶ τὰς προθέσεις ἀπὸ
feature of each, and which of them I believe to be the most effective; and still further, what is that poetical element, so pleasant on the tongue and so sweet to the ear, which naturally accompanies composition in prose, and wherein lies the effectiveness of that poetical art which imitates plain prose and succeeds excellently in doing so, and by what method each of those two results may be attained. Such, in broad outline, are the topics with which I intend to deal, and on this programme my treatise is based.
Chapter II — Composition Defined
Composition is, as the very name indicates, a certain arrangement of the parts of speech, or elements of diction, as some call them. These were reckoned as three only by Theodectes and Aristotle and the philosophers of those times, who regarded nouns, verbs and connectives as the primary parts of speech. Their successors, particularly the leaders of the Stoic school, raised the number to four, separating the articles from the connectives. Then the later inquirers divided the appellatives from the substantives, and represented the primary parts of speech as five. Others detached the pronouns from the nouns, and so introduced a sixth element. Others, again, divided the adverbs from the verbs, the prepositions
1 εἶναι F: om PMV 4 ποιητικῆς τε om. P || ἐκμημουμένης P1 5 ποῦ] αὐτοῦ PV: τοῦτο FM: αὐτῷ s 6 ἐγγένοιτο F: γένοιτο PMV 8 ἄρχεται δὲ ἐνθένδ’ ἡ πραγματεία om. s || δὲ om. V || ἔνθεν PF2: ἐντεῦθεν F1MV 9 ἔστι μὲν EFM: ἐστιν PV 13 προῆγον F 14 μετὰ τούτους F: μετ’ αὐτοὺς PMV 16 τεσσάρων F 19 ἀντωνυμίας V 20 τοῦτο PMV 21 ἐπ[ι]ρρήματα cum litura P || διεῖλον PMV: διελόντες F
4. κατασκευῆς: see Gloss., s.v.
5. Usener’s conjecture εὖ τί may derive some colour from the manuscript readings in 72 10. But 270 11 shows that εὖ is not necessary here, and ποῦ is nearer the manuscript tradition. Cp. also 250 3 (κατορθουμένοις), 198 11 (κατόρθωμα), de Thucyd. c. 1 (τῆς δυνάμεως οὐκ ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς ἔργοις κατορθούσης). Other examples are quoted in Long. p. 202.
7. ὑπέρ: cp. 72 3, 17: περί, 68 12.
10. de Demosth. c. 48 τοῖς πρώτοις μορίοις τῆς λέξεως, ἃ δὴ στοιχεῖα ὑπό τινων καλεῖται, εἴτε τρία ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὡς Θεοδέκτῃ τε καὶ Ἀριστοτέλει δοκεῖ, ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα καὶ σύνδεσμοι, εἴτε τέτταρα, ὡς τοῖς περὶ Ζήνωνα τὸν Στωικόν, εἴτε πλείω, δύο ταῦτα ἀκολουθεῖ μέλος καὶ χρόνος ἴσα. Quintil. i. 4. 18, 19 “tum videbit, ad quem hoc pertinet, quot et quae partes orationis; quamquam de numero parum convenit. veteres enim, quorum fuerunt Aristoteles quoque atque Theodectes, verba modo et nomina et convinctiones tradiderunt; videlicet quod in verbis vim sermonis, in nominibus materiam (quia alterum est quod loquimur, alterum de quo loquimur), in convinctionibus autem complexus eorum esse iudicaverunt; quas coniunctiones a plerisque dici scio, sed haec videtur ex συνδέσμῳ magis propria translatio. paulatim a philosophis ac maxime Stoicis auctus est numerus, ac primum convinctionibus articuli adiecti, post praepositiones: nominibus appellatio, deinde pronomen, deinde mixtum verbo participium, ipsis verbis adverbia. noster sermo articulos non desiderat, ideoque in alias partes orationis sparguntur.” Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 15. 10) writes: “a quo non dissentit Theodectes, sive ipsius id opus est, quod de rhetorice nomine eius inscribitur, sive ut creditum est Aristotelis.” It is hardly likely that in i. 4. 18 Quintilian is translating from the de C.V. c. 2; the coincidences are, rather, due to the use of common sources.—Dionysius does not mention Dionysius Thrax, the author of the first Greek Grammar, nor does he seem to take account of Aristot. Poet. c. 20.
13. The Arabic grammarians in the same way reckon ‘verbs,’ ‘nouns,’ and ‘particles.’
15. Cp. 96 8, 12 infra.
17. τὰ προσηγορικὰ διελόντες: cp. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. p. 23 (Uhlig) τοῦ δὲ λόγου μέρη ἐστὶν ὀκτώ· ὄνομα, ῥῆμα, μετοχή, ἄρθρον, ἀντωνυμία, πρόθεσις, ἐπίρρημα, σύνδεσμος· ἡ γὰρ προσηγορία ὡς εἶδος τῷ ὀνόματι ὑποβέβληται.
21. This seems to imply that adverbs were originally included in verbs—that, for example, εὖ ποιεῖν (like bene facere in Plautus) was regarded as a quasi-compound. It is to be remembered that the division of words in writing is a later invention.
τῶν συνδέσμων καὶ τὰς μετοχὰς ἀπὸ τῶν προσηγορικῶν, οἱ δὲ
καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς προσαγαγόντες τομὰς πολλὰ τὰ πρῶτα μόρια
τῆς λέξεως ἐποίησαν· ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐ μικρὸς ἂν εἴη λόγος. πλὴν
ἥ γε τῶν πρῶτων εἴτε τριῶν ἢ τεττάρων εἴθ’ ὅσων δήποτε
ὄντων μερῶν πλοκὴ καὶ παράθεσις τὰ λεγόμενα ποιεῖ 5
κῶλα, ἔπειθ’ ἡ τούτων ἁρμονία τὰς καλουμένας συμπληροῖ
περιόδους, αὗται δὲ τὸν σύμπαντα τελειοῦσι λόγον. ἔστι δὴ
τῆς συνθέσεως ἔργα τά τε ὀνόματα οἰκείως θεῖναι παρ’ ἄλληλα
καὶ τοῖς κώλοις ἀποδοῦναι τὴν προσήκουσαν ἁρμονίαν καὶ ταῖς
περιόδοις διαλαβεῖν εὖ τὸν λόγον. 10
δευτέρα δ’ οὖσα μοῖρα τῶν περὶ τὸν λεκτικὸν τόπον
θεωρημάτων κατὰ γοῦν τὴν τάξιν (ἡγεῖται γὰρ ἡ τῶν
ὀνομάτων ἐκλογὴ καὶ προϋφίσταται ταύτης κατὰ φύσιν)
ἡδονὴν καὶ πειθὼ καὶ κράτος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις οὐκ ὀλίγῳ
κρεῖττον ἐκείνης ἔχει. καὶ μηδεὶς ἡγήσηται παράδοξον, εἰ 15
πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ὄντων θεωρημάτων περὶ τὴν ἐκλογήν,
ὑπὲρ ὧν πολὺς ἐγένετο φιλοσόφοις τε καὶ πολιτικοῖς ἀνδράσι
λόγος, ἡ σύνθεσις δευτέραν ἔχουσα χώραν τῇ τάξει καὶ λόγων
οὐδέ, πολλοῦ δεῖ, τῶν ἴσων ἐκείνῃ τυχοῦσα τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν
ἔχει καὶ δύναμιν ὥστε περιεῖναι πάντων τῶν ἐκείνης ἔργων 20
καὶ κρατεῖν, ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν,
ὅσαι διαφόρους ὕλας λαμβάνουσαι συμφορητὸν ἐκ τούτων
ποιοῦσι τὸ τέλος, ὡς οἰκοδομική τε καὶ τεκτονικὴ καὶ ποικιλτικὴ
καὶ ὅσαι ταῖς τοιαύταις εἰσὶν ὁμοιογενεῖς, αἱ συνθετικαὶ
δυνάμεις τῇ μὲν τάξει δεύτεραι τῶν ἐκλεκτικῶν εἰσι, τῇ δὲ 25
δυνάμει πρότεραι· ὥστ’ εἰ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ αὐτὸ συμβέβηκεν,
οὐκ ἄτοπον ἡγητέον. οὐδὲν δὲ κωλύει καὶ πίστεις παρασχεῖν
from the connectives and the participles from the appellatives; while others introduced still further subdivisions, and so multiplied the primary parts of speech. The subject would afford scope for quite a long discussion. Enough to say that the combination or juxtaposition of these primary parts, be they three, or four, or whatever may be their number, forms the so-called “members” (or clauses) of a sentence. Further, the fitting together of these clauses constitutes what are termed the “periods,” and these make up the complete discourse. The function of composition is to put words together in an appropriate order, to assign a suitable connexion to clauses, and to distribute the whole discourse properly into periods.
Although in logical order arrangement of words occupies the second place when the department of expression is under investigation, since the selection of them naturally takes precedence and is assumed to be already made; yet it is upon arrangement, far more than upon selection, that persuasion, charm, and literary power depend. And let no one deem it strange that, whereas many serious investigations have been made regarding the choice of words,—investigations which have given rise to much debate among philosophers and political orators,—composition, though it holds the second place in order, and has been the subject of far fewer discussions than the other, yet possesses so much solid strength, so much active energy, that it triumphantly outstrips all the other’s achievements. It must be remembered that, in the case of all the other arts which employ various materials and produce from them a composite result,—arts such as building, carpentry, embroidery, and the like,—the faculties of composition are second in order of time to those of selection, but are nevertheless of greater importance. Hence it must not be thought abnormal that the same principle obtains with respect to discourse. But we may as well submit proofs of this statement,
2 προσαγαγόντες F: εἰσάγοντες PVa: προεισαγαγόντες M 3 οὐ μικρὸς PMV: πολλὺς sic F 4 τῶν τριῶν PMV: * * * τριῶν * * * * F 5 καὶ om. P1 8 οἰκείως θεῖναι τά τε ὀνόματα (verbis in hunc modum dispositis) PMV || παράλληλα PM, corr. F1 9 ἀποδιδόναι F || ἀρμονίαν FP: sic passim 10 λαβεῖν F1 || εὖ τὸν EF: αὐτὸν ὅλον τὸν PMV 11 δὲ PMV 12 κατὰ γοὖν F: κατανοοῦντι EPMV 14 τοῖς EF: om. PMV || ὀλίγον M 15 κρεῖττον EFM: κρείττω PV || ἡγήσεται F 17 καὶ ῥητορικοῖς PMV || ἀνδρᾶσι F: ἀνδράσιν P 18 χώραν ἔχουσα F || συντάξει F1 19 ἐκείνη (sine iota) FP 21 ἐπὶ EF: αἱ περὶ PMV 22 δ(ια)αφόρους P1 || λαμβάνουσιν F: λαμβάνουσι M 23 τε om. EF || πολιτικὴ E 24 ταῖς τοιαύταις PMV: ταύτης F || ὁμοιογενεῖς P: ὁμογενεῖς FMV 25 τῶν λεκτικῶν E
6. ἁρμονία: see Gloss., s.v.
8. Cic. de Orat. iii. 43. 171 “sequitur continuatio verborum, quae duas res maxime, collocationem primum, deinde modum quendam formamque desiderat. collocationis est componere et struere verba sic, ut neve asper eorum concursus neve hiulcus sit, sed quodam modo coagmentatus et levis; in quo lepide soceri mei persona lusit is, qui elegantissime id facere potuit, Lucilius:
quam lepide λέξεις compostae! ut tesserulae omnes
arte pavimento atque emblemate vermiculato.”
9. In the actual contents of his treatise Dionysius pays more attention to the ὀνόματα than to the κῶλα and περίοδοι. The importance of employing periods judiciously is indicated in 118 15.
12. κατανοοῦντι (the more difficult and better supported reading) may be right, cp. 90 12 εἰσπλέοντι (from Thucydides).
13. Cic. Brut. 72. 253 “primoque in libro dixerit (Caesar) verborum dilectum originem esse eloquentiae.”
25. For the antithesis cp. Demosth. Olynth. iii. 15 τὸ γὰρ πράττειν τοῦ λέγειν καὶ χειροτονεῖν ὕστερον ὂν τῇ τάξει, πρότερον τῇ δυνάμει καὶ κρεῖττόν ἐστιν.
τοῦ προκειμένου, μή τι δόξωμεν ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαμβάνειν τῶν ἀμφισβήτησιν ἐχόντων λόγων.
III
ἔστι τοίνυν πᾶσα λέξις ᾗ σημαίνομεν τὰς νοήσεις ἡ μὲν
ἔμμετρος, ἡ δὲ ἄμετρος· ὧν ἑκατέρα καλῆς μὲν ἁρμονίας
τυχοῦσα καλὸν οἵα τ’ ἐστὶ ποιεῖν καὶ τὸ μέτρον καὶ τὸν 5
λόγον, ἀνεπιστάτως δὲ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ῥιπτομένη προσαπόλλυσι
καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ χρήσιμον. πολλοὶ γοῦν καὶ
ποιηταὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς φιλόσοφοί τε καὶ ῥήτορες λέξεις
πάνυ καλὰς καὶ πρεπούσας τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις ἐκλέξαντες
ἐπιμελῶς, ἁρμονίαν δὲ αὐταῖς ἀποδόντες εἰκαίαν τινὰ καὶ 10
ἄμουσον οὐδὲν χρηστὸν ἀπέλαυσαν ἐκείνου τοῦ πόνου. ἕτεροι
δ’ εὐκαταφρόνητα καὶ ταπεινὰ λαβόντες ὀνόματα, συνθέντες
δ’ αὐτὰ ἡδέως καὶ περιττῶς πολλὴν τὴν ἀφροδίτην τῷ λόγῳ
περιέθηκαν. καὶ σχεδὸν ἀνάλογόν τι πεπονθέναι δόξειεν ἂν
ἡ σύνθεσις πρὸς τὴν ἐκλογήν, ὃ πάσχει τὰ ὀνόματα πρὸς 15
τὰ νοήματα. ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄφελος διανοίας ἐστὶ χρηστῆς,
εἰ μή τις αὐτῇ κόσμον ἀποδώσει καλῆς ὀνομασίας, οὕτω
κἀνταῦθα οὐδέν ἐστι προὔργου λέξιν εὑρεῖν καθαρὰν καὶ καλλιρήμονα,
εἰ μὴ καὶ κόσμον αὐτῇ τις ἁρμονίας τὸν προσήκοντα
περιθήσει. 20
ἵνα δὲ μὴ δόξω φάσιν ἀναπόδεικτον λέγειν, ἐξ ὧν
ἐπείσθην κρεῖττον εἶναι καὶ τελειότερον ἄσκημα τῆς ἐκλογῆς
that we may not be thought to assume off-hand the truth of a doubtful proposition.
Chapter III — The Magical Effect of Composition, or Word-Order
Every utterance, then, by which we express our thoughts is either in metre or not in metre. Whichever it be, it can, when aided by beautiful arrangement, attain beauty whether of verse or prose. But speech, if flung out carelessly at random, at the same time spoils the value of the thought. Many poets, and prose-writers (philosophers and orators), have carefully chosen expressions that are distinctly beautiful and appropriate to the subject matter, but have reaped no benefit from their trouble because they have given them a rude and haphazard sort of arrangement: whereas others have invested their discourse with great beauty by taking humble, unpretending words, and arranging them with charm and distinction. It may well be thought that composition is to selection what words are to ideas. For just as a fine thought is of no avail unless it be clothed in beautiful language, so here too pure and elegant expression, is useless unless it be attired in the right vesture of arrangement.
But to guard myself against the appearance of making an unsupported assertion, I will try to show by an appeal to facts
4 ἄμετρος ἣ δ’ (ex ἥδ’ corr.) ἔμμετρος F,E || καλ(ῶς) P || μὲν om. M 5 οἵα τ’ M: οἷά τ’ PV: οἷά τε F,E || καὶ τὸ FE: τὸ PMV 6 ἔτυχεν] ἔοικε M || ῥιπτομένη PMVE: ῥιπτουμένη F 7 τὸ om. F1 || γοὖν καὶ F,E: γοῦν PMV 10 ἀποδόντες E γρ M: [ἀποδόν]τες cum litura F: περιθέντες PV: παραθέντες M 12 δὲ PMV 13 δε PV || ἀντὰ P1 || ἰδίως EFM1: ἡδέως ex ἱδίως P1: ἰδέως M2 || τ(ῶ) λόγ(ω) P: τῶν λόγων M 14 ἂν om. M 16 ἐστὶ ante διανοίας ponunt EF 17 κόσμον * * * * * P || ἀποδώσῃ F 18 καὶ ἐνταῦθα EF || πούργου P1 (ρ suprascr. P2): προὔργον V || καλλιῥήμονα FM,P: καλλιῤῥήμονα V 19 τίς F: τ(ῆς) P,MV 21 φασὶν libri: corr. Krueger || ἀναπόδεικτον P: ἀναπόδεικτα F2MV: ἀπόδεικτα F1 22 κρεῖττον] καὶ κρεῖττον F || τελεώτερον M
1. ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαμβάνειν: cp. 78 13 ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαβὼν ἐχρήσατο.
9. There is much similarity, both in thought and in expression, between this passage and the de Sublimitate xl. 2: ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι γε πολλοὶ καὶ συγγραφέων καὶ ποιητῶν οὐκ ὄντες ὑψηλοὶ φύσει, μήποτε δὲ καὶ ἀμεγέθεις, ὅμως κοινοῖς καὶ δημώδεσι τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπαγομένοις περιττὸν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ συγχρώμενοι, διὰ μόνου τοῦ συνθεῖναι καὶ ἁρμόσαι ταῦτα δ’ ὅμως ὄγκον καὶ διάστημα καὶ τὸ μὴ ταπεινοὶ δοκεῖν εἶναι περιεβάλοντο, καθάπερ ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ καὶ Φίλιστος, Ἀριστοφάνης ἔν τισιν, ἐν τοῖς πλείστοις Εὐριπίδης, ἱκανῶς ἡμῖν δεδήλωται. The author of the de Subl. had, as he himself tells us, dealt with the subject of composition ἐν δυσὶν συντάγμασιν (xxxix. 1 ibid.).
13. ἰδίως may be right, meaning with περιττῶς ‘in a special and distinctive manner.’
14. The Aristotelian ἀναλογία is before the author’s mind here, just as is the Aristotelian doctrine of τὸ μέσον later in the treatise (246 16).
17. de Demosth. c. 18 οὐχ ἅπαντα δέ γε τὰ πράγματα τὴν αὐτὴν ἀπαιτεῖ διάλεκτον, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν ὥσπερ σώμασι πρέπουσά τις ἐσθής, οὕτως καὶ νοήμασιν ἁρμόττουσά τις ὀνομασία.
18. προὔργου: cp. Plato Alcib. II. 149 E ὥστε οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἦν προὔργου θύειν τε καὶ δῶρα τελεῖν μάτην.
21. MS. Canon. 45 has φάσιν, ἀναπόδεικτον, as reported (Journal of Philology xxvii. 84) by A. B. Poynton, who compares Aristot. Eth. Nic. 1143 b 12 ὥστε δεῖ προσέχειν τῶν ἐμπείρων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἢ φρονίμων ταῖς ἀναποδείκτοις φάσεσι καὶ δόξαις οὐχ ἧττον τῶν ἀποδείξεων. διὰ γὰρ τὸ ἔχειν ἐκ τῆς ἐμπειρίας ὄμμα ὁρῶσιν ὀρθῶς. Probably Dionysius has this passage of Aristotle in his mind, and wishes it to be understood that he does not mean to dogmatize simply on the score of being an old and experienced teacher. In the Rhet. ad Alex. 1432 a 33, an oath is defined as: μετὰ θείας παραλήψεως φάσις ἀναπόδεικτος.
τὴν σύνθεσιν, ἔργῳ πειράσομαι δεικνύναι, ἐμμέτρων τε καὶ
πεζῶν λόγων ἀπαρχὰς ὀλίγας προχειρισάμενος. λαμβανέσθω
δὲ ποιητῶν μὲν Ὅμηρος, συγγραφέων δὲ Ἡρόδοτος· ἀπόχρη
γὰρ ἐκ τούτων καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἰκάσαι. ἔστι δὴ παρ’
Ὁμήρῳ μὲν ὁ παρὰ τῷ συβώτῃ καταγόμενος Ὀδυσσεὺς περὶ 5
τὴν ἑωθινὴν ὥραν ἀκρατίζεσθαι μέλλων, ὡς τοῖς παλαιοῖς
ἔθος ἦν· ἔπειτα ὁ Τηλέμαχος αὐτοῖς ἐπιφαινόμενος ἐκ τῆς εἰς
Πελοπόννησον ἀποδημίας· πραγμάτια λιτὰ καὶ βιωτικὰ
ἡρμηνευμένα ὑπέρευ. ποῦ δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἀρετή;
τὰ ποιήματα δηλώσει παρατεθέντα αὐτά· 10
τὼ δ’ αὖτ’ ἐν κλισίῃς Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ δῖος ὑφορβὸς
ἐντύνοντ’ ἄριστον ἅμ’ ἠοῖ κειαμένω πῦρ
ἔκπεμψάν τε νομῆας ἅμ’ ἀγρομένοισι σύεσσι.
Τηλέμαχον δὲ περίσσαινον κύνες ὑλακόμωροι
οὐδ’ ὕλαον προσιόντα. νόησε δὲ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς 15
σαίνοντάς τε κύνας, ὑπὸ δὲ κτύπος ἦλθε ποδοῖιν·
αἶψα δ’ ἄρ’ Εὔμαιον προσεφώνεεν ἐγγὺς ἐόντα·
Εὔμαι’, ἦ μάλα τίς τοι ἐλεύσεται ἐνθάδ’ ἑταῖρος
ἢ καὶ γνώριμος ἄλλος, ἐπεὶ κύνες οὐχ ὑλάουσιν,
ἀλλὰ περισσαίνουσι· ποδῶν δ’ ὑπὸ δοῦπον ἀκούω. 20
οὔπω πᾶν εἴρητο ἔπος, ὅτε οἱ φίλος υἱὸς
ἔστη ἐνὶ προθύροισι. ταφὼν δ’ ἀνόρουσε συβώτης·
the reasons which have convinced me that composition is a more important and effective art than mere selection of words. I will first examine a few specimen passages in prose and verse. Among poets let Homer be taken, among prose-writers Herodotus: from these may be formed an adequate notion of the rest.
Well, in Homer we find Odysseus tarrying in the swineherd’s hut and about to break his fast at dawn, as they used to do in ancient days. Telemachus then appears in sight, returning from his sojourn in the Peloponnese. Trifling incidents of everyday life as these are, they are inimitably portrayed. But wherein lies the excellence of expression? I shall quote the lines, and they will speak for themselves:—
As anigh came Telemachus’ feet, the king and the swineherd wight
Made ready the morning meat, and by this was the fire alight;—
They had sent the herdmen away with the pasturing swine at the dawning;—
Lo, the dogs have forgotten to bay, and around the prince are they fawning!
And Odysseus the godlike marked the leap and the whine of the hounds
That ever at strangers barked; and his ear caught footfall-sounds.
Straightway he spake, for beside him was sitting the master of swine:
“Of a surety, Eumaeus, hitherward cometh a comrade of thine,
Or some one the bandogs know, and not with barking greet,
But they fawn upon him; moreover I hear the treading of feet.”
Not yet were the words well done, when the porchway darkened: a face
Was there in the door,—his son! and Eumaeus sprang up in amaze.
1 ἔργω F || δεικνῦναι F || ἐνμέτρων F 4 εἰκᾶσαι F 5 ὁμήρ(ω) P || τῳ om. P || σϊβώτηι P: corr. in margine P2 || ὀδυσεὺς P 8 πραγμάτια λιτὰ καὶ PV: πραγμάτια ἅττα F: πραγματιάττα λιτὰ καὶ M 9 δ’ ἔστιν F: δέ (ἐστιν) P 11 κλισίησ’ EFV: κλισίῃ Hom. || ὀδυσσεὺς FP2M1V 12 ἐντύνοντ(ες) P,V 13 ἐκπέμψαντε EFPM || ἀγρομένοισ(ιν) P 14 περίσαινον FEV 15 ὀδυσεὺς P 16 περί τε κτύπος Hom. 17 ἂρ sic FP || ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα Hom. 18 ἐῦμαι’ P: εὔμαιε V 20 περισαίνουσι FV 22 ἐπὶ F || προθύροισ(ιν) P
5. The extract from the Odyssey well illustrates that Homeric nobleness which pervades even the homeliest scenes; and Dionysius is right in pointing out that this nobleness does not depend on any striking choice of phrase, since Homer’s language is usually quite plain and straightforward.
6. On Odyss. xvi. 2 (ἄριστον) there is the following scholium, ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι ἅμα τῇ ἀνατολῇ ἐσθίουσιν: and similarly on Theocr. i. 50, πρωΐας ἔτι οὔσης ὀλίγον τινὰ ἐσθίομεν ἄρτον καὶ ἄκρατον οἶνον πίνομεν.
9. The charm of a simple scene, simply but beautifully described, is seen in Virg. Ecl. vii. 1-15; Georg. ii. 385-9; Aen. v. 328-30, 357-60. (The Latin illustrations, here and elsewhere, are for the most part the exempla Latina suggested by Simon Bircov (Bircovius), a Polish scholar who lived early in the seventeenth century.)
11. By “Hom.” in the critical notes is meant the best attested reading in the text of Homer. κλισίῃς, however, has some support among the manuscripts of Homer; and so has the form ἂρ in 76 17, and πέσεν in 78 1.
14. Monro (Odyss. xiv. 29) regards ὑλακόμωρος as a kind of parody of the heroic epithets ἐγχεσίμωρος and ἰόμωρος, and thinks that we cannot tell what precise meaning (if any) was conveyed by the latter part of the compound. See, further, his note on Iliad ii. 692.
20. The construction must be ὑπὸ ποδῶν: cp. Il. ii. 465 ὑπὸ χθὼν σμερδαλέον κονάβιζε ποδῶν. The force of ὑπό is half-way between the literal sense of ‘under’ and the derived sense of ‘caused by’ (Monro).
ἐκ δ’ ἄρα οἱ χειρῶν πέσεν ἄγγεα, τοῖς ἐπονεῖτο
κιρνὰς αἴθοπα οἶνον. ὁ δ’ ἀντίος ἔδραμ’ ἄνακτος·
κύσσε δέ μιν κεφαλήν τε καὶ ἄμφω φάεα καλὰ
χεῖράς τ’ ἀμφοτέρας· θαλερὸν δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε δάκρυ.
ταῦθ’ ὅτι μὲν ἐπάγεται καὶ κηλεῖ τὰς ἀκοὰς ποιημάτων 5
τε τῶν πάνυ ἡδίστων οὐδενὸς ἥττω μοῖραν ἔχει, πάντες ἂν
οἶδ’ ὅτι μαρτυρήσειαν. ποῦ δὴ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ πειθὼ καὶ
διὰ τί τοιαῦτά ἐστι, πότερον διὰ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων
ἢ διὰ τὴν σύνθεσιν; οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι διὰ τὴν ἐκλογήν, ὡς
ἐγὼ πείθομαι· διὰ γὰρ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων καὶ ταπεινοτάτων 10
ὀνομάτων πέπλεκται πᾶσα ἡ λέξις, οἷς ἂν καὶ γεωργὸς καὶ
θαλαττουργὸς καὶ χειροτέχνης καὶ πᾶς ὁ μηδεμίαν ὤραν τοῦ
λέγειν εὖ ποιούμενος ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαβὼν ἐχρήσατο. λυθέντος
γοῦν τοῦ μέτρου φαῦλα φανήσεται τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἄζηλα·
οὔτε γὰρ μεταφοραί τινες ἐν αὐτοῖς εὐγενεῖς ἔνεισιν οὔτε 15
ὑπαλλαγαὶ οὔτε καταχρήσεις οὔτ’ ἄλλη τροπικὴ διάλεκτος
οὐδεμία, οὐδὲ δὴ γλῶτται πολλαί τινες οὐδὲ ξένα ἢ πεποιημένα
ὀνόματα. τί οὖν λείπεται μὴ οὐχὶ τὴν σύνθεσιν τοῦ
κάλλους τῆς ἑρμηνείας αἰτιᾶσθαι; τοιαῦτα δ’ ἐστὶ παρὰ τῷ
Dropped from his hands to the floor the bowls, wherein erst he began
The flame-flushed wine to pour, and to meet his lord he ran;
And he kissed that dear-loved head, and both his beautiful eyes;
And he kissed his hands, and he shed warm tears in his glad surprise.89
Everybody would, I am sure, testify that these lines cast a spell of enchantment on the ear, and rank second to no poetry whatsoever, however exquisite it may be. But what is the secret of their fascination, and what causes them to be what they are? Is it the selection of words, or the composition? No one will say “the selection”: of that I am convinced. For the diction consists, warp and woof, of the most ordinary, the humblest words, such as might have been used off-hand by a farmer, a seaman, an artisan, or anybody else who takes no account of elegant speech. You have only to break up the metre, and these very same lines will seem commonplace and unworthy of admiration. For they contain neither noble metaphors nor hypallages nor catachreses nor any other figurative language; nor yet many unusual terms, nor foreign or new-coined words. What alternative, then, is left but to attribute the beauty of the style to the composition? There are countless
1 πέσον Hom. 2 αἴθωπα PM || ἔδραμ(εν) F: ἔδραμ’ E: ἦλθεν PMV Hom. 3 καὶ φαλήν P 5 ἐπάγεταί τε καὶ F 6 τῶν F: καὶ τῶν PMV || οὐδ’ ἑνὸς F1 || ἥττων F 7 εὖ ante οἶδ’ habet F 8 τοιαύτη F1 || πότερα F 9 ἐκλογ[ὴ]ν cum litura P || ὡς ἐγὼ πείθομαι om. F 10 καὶ FE: τε καὶ PMV 12 ὤραν Sylburgius: ὥραν PMV: ὧραν F γρ φροντίδα in marg. M 13 λαβῶν P 14 γοὖν F: γ’ οὖν P 15 ἐν αὐτοῖς (αὐταῖς P) εὐγενεῖς ἔνεισιν PMV: εἰσὶν εὐγενεῖς ἐν αὐτοῖς EF 16 οὔτε ἄλλη PV || οὐδεμία διάλεκτος F 17 οὐδεδὴ P: οὔτε δὴ FMV || γλῶσσαι F || οὐδὲ Sauppius: οὔτε PMV: ἢ in rasura F2 19 τοιαῦτ(α) (εστι) P,MV
7. Perhaps ποῦ δὲ δή: cp. 116 9.
9. Cp. Hor. Ars P. 47 “dixeris egregie notum si callida verbum | reddiderit iunctura novum.”
On the other hand, the importance of ἐκλογή is illustrated by Aristotle’s comparison (Poetics xxii. 7) of νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἀεικής with νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν μικρός τε καὶ ἀσθενικὸς καὶ ἀειδής.
10. Cp. J. W. Mackail in Class. Rev. xxii. 70, “A quality of the finest Greek poetry, from Homer to the late anthologists, is its power of taking common language and transforming it into poetry by an all but imperceptible touch.” The quality is exemplified in Euripides, though it did not originate with him (κλέπτεται δ’ εὖ, ἐάν τις ἐκ τῆς εἰωθυίας διαλέκτου ἐκλέγων συντιθῇ· ὅπερ Εὐριπίδης ποιεῖ καὶ ὑπέδειξε πρῶτος, Aristot. Rhet. iii. 2, 4: cp. Long. p. 146). So “tantum series iuncturaque pollet, | tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris” (Hor. Ars P. 242-3).
13. λυθέντος γοῦν, κτλ. Cp. Isocr. Evag. 10 οἱ μὲν (sc. ποιηταὶ) μετὰ μέτρων καὶ ῥυθμῶν ἅπαντα ποιοῦσιν... ἃ τοσαύτην ἔχει χάριν, ὥστ’ ἂν καὶ τῇ λέξει καὶ τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασιν ἔχῃ κακῶς, ὅμως αὐταῖς ταῖς εὐρυθμίαις καὶ ταῖς συμμετρίαις ψυχαγωγοῦσι τοὺς ἀκούοντας. γνοίη δ’ ἄν τις ἐκεῖθεν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῶν· ἢν γάρ τις τῶν ποιημάτων τῶν εὐδοκιμούντων τὰ μὲν ὀνόματα καὶ τὰς διανοίας καταλίπῃ, τὸ δὲ μέτρον διαλύσῃ, φανήσεται πολὺ καταδεέστερα τῆς δόξης ἧς νῦν ἔχομεν περὶ αὐτῶν.
14. ἄζηλα: this adjective occurs also in the de Demosth. c. 28, and more than once in the Antiqq. Rom.
16. ὑπαλλαγαί, καταχρήσεις: see Glossary, s. vv.
17. Usener reads γλῶτται παλαιαί τινες. But (1) γλῶτται are usually παλαιαί (cp. Galen Gloss. Hipp. xix. 63 ὅσα τοίνυν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐν μὲν τοῖς πάλαι χρόνοις ἦν συνήθη, νῦν δὲ οὐκέτι ἐστί, τὰ μὲν τοιαῦτα γλώττας καλοῦσι, κτλ.): (2) the phrase πολλοί τινες is elsewhere used by Dionysius, e.g. de Lysia c. 1 οὔτε πολλοῖς τισι κατέλιπεν ὑπερβολήν, κτλ.
18, 19. An interesting modern parallel is that passage in Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria (c. 18) which touches on the stanza (in Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads) beginning “In distant countries I have been.” Coleridge remarks, “The words here are doubtless such as are current in all ranks of life; and of course not less so in the hamlet and cottage than in the shop, manufactory, college, or palace. But is this the order in which the rustic would have placed the words? I am grievously deceived, if the following less compact mode of commencing the same tale be not a far more faithful copy, ‘I have been in many parts, far and near, and I don’t know that I ever saw before a man crying by himself in the public road; a grown man I mean that was neither sick nor hurt,’” etc.—In this connexion see also F. W. H. Myers’ Wordsworth, pp. 106 ff., for the music in Wordsworth’s Affliction of Margaret.
ποιητῇ μυρία, ὡς εὖ οἶδ’ ὅτι πάντες ἴσασιν· ἐμοὶ δ’ ὑπομνήσεως
ἕνεκα λέγοντι ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα μόνα εἰρῆσθαι.
φέρε δὴ μεταβῶμεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πεζὴν διάλεκτον καὶ
σκοπῶμεν, εἰ κἀκείνῃ τοῦτο συμβέβηκε τὸ πάθος, ὥστε περὶ
μικρὰ καὶ φαῦλα πράγματά τε καὶ ὀνόματα συνταχθέντα 5
καλῶς μεγάλας γίνεσθαι τὰς χάριτας. ἔστι δὴ παρὰ τῷ
Ἡροδότῳ βασιλεύς τις Λυδῶν, ὃν ἐκεῖνος Κανδαύλην ‹καλεῖ,
Μυρσίλον δὲ› καλεῖσθαί φησιν ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ
γυναικὸς ἐρῶν, ἔπειτα ἀξιῶν τινα τῶν ἑταίρων αὐτοῦ γυμνὴν
τὴν ἄνθρωπον ἰδεῖν, ὁ δὲ ἀπομαχόμενος μὴ ἀναγκασθῆναι, ὡς 10
δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθεν, ὑπομένων τε καὶ θεώμενος αὐτήν—πρᾶγμα
οὐχ ὅτι σεμνὸν ἢ καλλιλογεῖσθαι ἐπιτήδειον, ἀλλὰ καὶ
ταπεινὸν καὶ ἐπικίνδυνον καὶ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ καλοῦ
ἐγγυτέρω· ἀλλ’ εἴρηται σφόδρα δεξιῶς, καὶ κρεῖττον γέγονεν
ἀκουσθῆναι λεγόμενον ἢ ὀφθῆναι γινόμενον. ἵνα δὲ μή τις 15
ὑπολάβῃ τὴν διάλεκτον εἶναι τῆς ἡδονῆς αἰτίαν τῇ λέξει,
μεταθεὶς αὐτῆς τὸν χαρακτῆρα εἰς τὴν Ἀτθίδα γλῶτταν καὶ
οὐδὲν ἄλλο περιεργασάμενος οὕτως ἐξοίσω τὸν διάλογον.
“Γύνη, οὐ γάρ σε δοκῶ πείθεσθαί μοι λέγοντι περὶ τοῦ
εἴδους τῆς γυναικός· ὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποις ὄντα 20
ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν· ποίει ὅπως ἐκείνην θεάσῃ γυμνήν. ὁ
passages of this kind in Homer, as everybody of course is well aware. It is enough to quote this single instance by way of reminder.
Let us now pass on to the language of prose and see if the same principle holds good of it too—that great graces invest trifling and commonplace acts and words, when they are cast into the mould of beautiful composition. For instance, there is in Herodotus a certain Lydian king whom he calls Candaules, adding that he was called Myrsilus by the Greeks. Candaules is represented as infatuated with admiration of his wife, and then as insisting on one of his friends seeing the poor woman naked. The friend struggled hard against the constraint put upon him; but failing to shake the king’s resolve, he submitted, and viewed her. The incident, as an incident, is not only lacking in dignity and, for the purpose of embellishment, intractable, but is also vulgar and hazardous and more akin to the repulsive than to the beautiful. But it has been related with great dexterity: it has been made something far better to hear told than it was to see done. And, that no one may imagine that it is to the dialect that the charm of the story is due, I will change its distinctive forms into Attic, and without any further meddling with the language will give the conversation as it stands:—
“‘Of a truth, Gyges, I think that thou dost not believe what I say concerning the beauty of my wife; indeed, men trust their ears less fully than their eyes. Contrive, therefore, to see her
1 δε P,MV 2 εἰρεῖσθαι P 3 μ[ε]ταβῶμεν cum litura P || ἤδη ante καὶ ἐπὶ add. F || διάλεξιν F 4 καὶ ἐκείνη F || τοῦτο F: τὸ αὐτὸ PV: τοῦτο αὐτὸ M || τὸ F: om. PMV 6 ἡδονὰς post μεγάλας add. F || τὰς PMV: καὶ F 7 καλεῖ Μυρσίλον δὲ om. FM: καλεῖ Μυρσίλον δὲ καλεῖσθαι om. PV: supplevit Sylburgius coll. Herod. i. 7 9 τινα post αὐτοῦ ponit F 10 ὁ δὲ PMV: ὃσ F 11 δὲ om. F || αὐτὴν· πρᾶγμα F: αὐτὴν τὸ πρᾶγμα P: αὐτὴν ἦν· τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα MV 12 ἐπιτήδειον] δυνάμενον E 13 ταπεινὸν EPMV: παιδικὸν F 14 ἀλλὰ PM 16 τηῖ P 17 γλῶσσαν F 18 περιειργασμένος P || τὸν λόγον F 19 περὶ] τ(ους) περι P: τὰ περὶ Va 20 τυγχάνει] ὑπάρχει F
4. Usener’s conjecture παρὰ (for περὶ) may be held to find some support from 92 21 and 256 10, but on the other hand Dionysius’ love of μεταβολή has always to be remembered.
6. F’s reading ἡδονὰς γίνεσθαι καὶ adds still another καί to the four already used in this sentence. The two nouns ἡδονὰς... χάριτας are superficially attractive, but the plural ἡδοναί is not common in this sense.
9. γυμνήν: some light is thrown on various phases of Greek and non-Greek feeling with regard to any exposure of the person by such passages as Thucyd. i. 6, Plato Menex. 236 D, Herod. i. 10 (ad f.). As to the women of Sparta cp. Gardner and Jevons Greek Antiquities pp. 352, 353.
10. For the participles cp. p. 76 ll. 5-7.
12. οὐχ ὅτι (in a context which gives it the meaning of non solum non) occurs elsewhere in Dionysius: e.g. Antiqq. Rom. ii. c. 18 καὶ οὐχ ὅτι θεῶν ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀγαθῶν ἀξίους.
13. ταπεινόν (which is weightily supported) seems to correspond better than παιδικόν to σεμνόν.—F’s reading παιδικὸν might perhaps be translated ‘sportive’ or ‘freakish’ (with a reference to boyish pranks); cp. D.H. p. 196 (s.v. μειρακιώδης) and p. 199 (s.v. παιδιώδης), and Aristot. Rhet. iii. 11 fin. εἰσὶ δὲ ὑπερβολαὶ μειρακιώδεις... διὸ πρεσβυτέρῳ λέγειν ἀπρεπές.
17. So, in de Demosth. c. 41, μετακεκόμισται δ’ εἰς τὴν Ἀτθίδα διάλεκτον ἡ λέξις (the passage in question being Herod. vii. 8). For the charm of the Ionic dialect cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 18 “in Herodoto vero cum omnia (ut ego quidem sentio) lenitur fluunt, tum ipsa διάλεκτος habet eam iucunditatem, ut latentes etiam numeros complexa videatur.”
18. οὐδὲν ἄλλο περιεργασάμενος: notwithstanding this undertaking, the variations from the traditional text of Herodotus are (as will be seen on reference to the critical footnotes) considerable.
It is no doubt possible that F’s reading τὸν λόγον (‘the story’) is original, and was changed to τὸν διάλογον (‘the conversation’) because the whole story is not quoted. But such readings of F as ὑπάρχει (for τυγχάνει l. 20: against the MSS. of Herodotus) show that its unsupported testimony must be received with much reserve.
20. This passage of Herodotus may have been before Horace’s mind (Ars P. 180): “segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem | quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus et quae | ipse sibi tradit spectator.” Cp. also Shakespeare Coriolanus iii. 2 “the eyes of the ignorant | (are) more learned than the ears.” In the Greek the emphatic position of both ὦτα and ὀφθαλμῶν is to be noticed; cp. Introduction, pp. 19-25, for emphasis at the end and at the beginning of clauses.
δ’ ἀναβοήσας εἶπε· Δέσποτα, τίνα λόγον λέγεις οὐχ ὑγιᾶ,
κελεύων με δέσποιναν τὴν ἐμὴν θεάσασθαι γυμνήν; ἅμα δὲ
χιτῶνι ἐκδυομένῳ συνεκδύεται καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ γυνή. πάλαι
δὲ τὰ καλὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐξεύρηται, ἐξ ὧν μανθάνειν δεῖ· ἐν οἷς
ἓν τόδ’ ἐστίν, ὁρᾶν τινα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ. ἐγὼ δὲ πείθομαι ἐκείνην 5
εἶναι πασῶν γυναικῶν καλλίστην, καὶ σοῦ δέομαι μὴ
δεῖσθαι ἀνόμων. ὁ μὲν δὴ λέγων ταῦτα ἀπεμάχετο, ὁ δ’
ἠμείβετο τοῖσδε· Θάρσει Γύγη, καὶ μὴ φοβοῦ μήτ’ ἐμέ, ὡς
πειρώμενόν σου λέγω λόγον τόνδε, μήτε γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμήν,
μή τί σοι ἐξ αὐτῆς γένηται βλάβος. ἀρχὴν γὰρ ἐγὼ μηχανήσομαι 10
οὕτως, ὥστε μηδὲ μαθεῖν αὐτὴν ὀφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ σοῦ.
ἀγαγὼν γάρ σε εἰς τὸ οἴκημα, ἐν ᾧ κοιμώμεθα, ὄπισθε τῆς
ἀνοιγομένης θύρας στήσω· μετὰ δὲ ἐμὲ εἰσελθόντα παρέσται
καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἐμὴ εἰς κοίτην. κεῖται δ’ ἐγγὺς τῆς εἰσόδου
θρόνος· ἐπὶ τοῦτον τῶν ἱματίων καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον ἐκδῦσα 15
θήσει, καὶ καθ’ ἡσυχίαν πολλὴν παρέσται σοι θεάσασθαι.
ὅταν δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου πορεύηται ἐπὶ τὴν εὐνὴν κατὰ νώτου
τε αὐτῆς γένῃ, σοὶ μελέτω τὸ ἐντεῦθεν, ὅπως μή σε ὄψεται
ἀπιόντα διὰ θυρῶν. ὁ μὲν δὴ ὡς οὐκ ἐδύνατο διαφυγεῖν,
ἕτοιμος ἦν [ποιεῖν ταῦτα].” 20
naked.’ But he cried out and said: ‘My lord, what is this foolish word thou sayest, bidding me look upon my lady naked? for a woman, when she puts off her dress, puts off her shamefastness also. Men of old time have found out excellent precepts, which it behoves us to learn and observe; and among them is this—“Let a man keep his eyes on his own.” As for me, I am fully persuaded that she is the fairest of all women, and I beseech thee not to require of me aught that is unlawful.’ Thus he spoke, and strove with him. But the other answered and said: ‘Be of good cheer, Gyges, and fear not that I say this to prove thee, or that harm will come to thee from my wife. For, in the first place, I will contrive after such a fashion that she shall not even know that she has been seen by thee. I will bring thee into the room where we sleep, and set thee behind the door that stands ajar; and after I have entered, my wife will come to bed. Now, near the entrance there is a seat; and on this she will place each of her garments as she puts them off, so that thou wilt have time enough to behold. But when she passes from the seat to the couch, and thou art behind her back, then take heed that she see thee not as thou goest away through the door.’ Forasmuch, then, as he could not escape, he consented to do after this manner.”90
1 δ’ F: δὲ PMV: δὲ μέγα Her. (exc. ACP) || λέγεις λόγον Her. 3 ἐκδυομένῳ F, Her.: ἐκδυομένη PMV 5 ἐν τώδε (τῶδε corr.) F, MV: ἐν τωῖ δε P || ἔνεστιν corr. F1, M 6 εἶναι post γυναικῶν traiciunt PMV 7 δεῖσθαι F, Her.: χρήιζειν P, MV || ἀνομῶν P || ταῦτα] τοιαῦτα Her. || post ἀπεμάχετο haec verba habet Her., ἀρρωδέων μή τί οἱ ἐξ αὐτῶν γένηται κακόν || δὲ P 8 ὡς σέο πειρώμενον (vel πειρώμενος) Her. 9 λόγον λέγω PMV || τόνδε... ἐγὼ om. add. in marg. P2 10 τ[ι] σοι cum litura F: τισ P 12 ἄγων P: ἐγὼ Her. || ἐσ P,M || ὄπισθεν PMV 13 θυραστήσω P1 14 καὶ post παρέσται om F || ἐς PMV || δὲ PMV 15 ἐκδῦσα ante καθ’ ponunt PMV || ἐκδύνουσα Her. 16 παρέξει Her. 17 ὅτ’ ἂν FP ut solent: ἐπεὰν Her. || δε P, MV 18 μελέτω σοι F 19 ἰόντα Her. || δ[ι]α cum litura P || ἐδύνατο F, Her. (exc. RSVb): ἠδύνατο PMV || διαφεύγειν P 20 ἦν ἕτοιμος Her. || ποιεῖν ταῦτα (τά γ’ αὐτά P) om. Her.
3. Cp. Diog. Laert. Vit. Pythag. § 43 τῇ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα μελλούσῃ πορεύεσθαι παρῄνει (sc. Θεανὼ) ἅμα τοῖς ἐνδύμασι καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἀποτίθεσθαι, ἀνισταμένην τε πάλιν ἅμ’ αὐτοῖσιν ἀναλαμβάνειν.
14. εἰς κοίτην and ἐγγὺς τῆς εἰσόδου are Dionysius’ Attic equivalents for ἐς κοῖτον and ἀγχοῦ τῆς ἐσόδου.
15. καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον: cp. Herod. viii. 113 ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἐξελέγετο κατ’ ὀλίγους.
20. Perhaps the effect of Herodotus’ style is best conveyed by the Elizabethan translation (published in 1584) of Barnaby Rich, which is, however, confined to books i. and ii. In The Famous History of Herodotus, by B. R. (i.e., probably, Barnaby Rich), Dionysius’ extract from Herod. i. 8 is freely Englished thus: “My faithful servant Gyges, whereas thou seemest not to credit the large vaunts and often brags which I make of my lady’s beauty and comeliness (the ears of men being much more incredulous than their eyes), behold I will so bring to pass that thou shalt see her naked. Whereat the poor gentleman greatly abashed, and in no wise willing to assent thereto, made answer as followeth, My lord (quoth he) what manner of speech is this which unadvisedly you use in persuading me to behold my lady’s secrets, for a woman, you know, the more in sight the less in shame: who together with her garments layeth aside her modesty. Honest precepts have been devised by our elders which we ought to remember, whereof this is one, that every man ought to behold his own. For mine own part I easily believe you that of all women in the world there is none comparable unto her in beauty. Wherefore I beseech your grace to have me excused, if in a case so heinous and unlawful I somewhat refuse to obey your will. Gyges having in this sort acquitted himself, fearing the danger that might ensue, the king began afresh to reply, saying, My good Gyges, take heart at grace, and fear not, lest either myself do go about to examine and feel thy meaning by the coloured glose of feigned speech, or that the queen my lady take occasion to work thy displeasure hereby. Pull up thy spirits, and leave all to me: it is I that will work the means, whereby she shall never know any part of herself to have been seen by any creature living. Listen then awhile and give ear to my counsel:—When night is come, the door of the chamber wherein we lie being wide set open, I will covertly place thee behind the same: straight at my entrance thereinto, her custom is not to be long after me, directly at her coming in, there standeth a bench, whereat unclothing herself, she accustometh to lay her garments upon it, propounding her divine and angelical body, to be seen and viewed for a long space. This done, as she turns from the bench to bedward, her back being toward thee, have care to slip privily out of the doors lest haply she espy thee.—The gentleman seeing himself taken in a trap, that in no wise he could escape without performance of his lord’s folly, gave his assent.” [From the rare copy in the British Museum, with the spelling modernized.]
If Dionysius does not quote the sequel of the story, the reason may well be that he expects his readers to find it, or to have found it, in the pages of Herodotus himself.
οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ
ἡ σεμνότης τῶν ὀνομάτων εὔμορφον πεποίηκε τὴν φράσιν·
ἀνεπιτήδευτα γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀνέκλεκτα, οἷα ἡ φύσις τέθεικεν
σύμβολα τοῖς πράγμασιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἥρμοττεν ἴσως κρείττοσι
χρήσασθαι ἑτέροις. ἀνάγκη δὲ δήπου, ὅταν τοῖς κυριωτάτοις 5
τε καὶ προσεχεστάτοις ὀνόμασιν ἐκφέρηται τὰ νοήματα, μηδὲν
σεμνότερον εἶναι, ἢ οἷά ἐστιν. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐστι
σεμνὸν οὐδὲ περιττόν, ὁ βουλόμενος εἴσεται μεταθεὶς οὐδὲν
ὅτι μὴ τὴν ἁρμονίαν. πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ
τοιαῦτά ἐστιν, ἐξ ὧν ἄν τις τεκμήραιτο, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ κάλλει 10
τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ πειθὼ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἦν, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῇ συζυγίᾳ.
καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἱκανὰ ταῦτα.
IV
ἵνα δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον αἴσθηταί τις, ὅσην ἔχει ῥώμην ἡ
συνθετικὴ δύναμις ἔν τε ποιήμασι καὶ λόγοις, λήψομαί τινας
εὖ ἔχειν δοκούσας λέξεις, ὧν τὰς ἁρμονίας μεταθεὶς ἀλλοῖα 15
φαίνεσθαι ποιήσω καὶ τὰ μέτρα καὶ τοὺς λόγους. λαμβανέσθω
δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν ταυτί·
ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε τάλαντα γυνὴ χερνῆτις ἀληθής,
ἥ τε σταθμὸν ἔχουσα καὶ εἴριον ἀμφὶς ἀνέλκει
ἰσάζουσ’, ἵνα παισὶν ἀεικέα μισθὸν ἄροιτο. 20
τοῦτο τὸ μέτρον ἡρωϊκόν ἐστιν ἑξάπουν τέλειον, κατὰ δάκτυλον
Here again no one can say that the grace of the style is due to the impressiveness and the dignity of the words. These have not been picked and chosen with studious care; they are simply the labels affixed to things by Nature. Indeed, it would perhaps have been out of place to use other and grander words. I take it, in fact, to be always necessary, whenever ideas are expressed in proper and appropriate language, that no word should be more dignified than the nature of the ideas. That there is no stately or grandiose word in the present passage, any one who likes may prove by simply changing the arrangement. There are many similar passages in this author, from which it can be seen that the fascination of his style does not after all lie in the beauty of the words but in their combination. We need not discuss this question further.
Chapter IV — To Change Order Is to Destroy Beauty
To show yet more conclusively the great force wielded by the faculty of composition both in poetry and prose, I will quote some passages which are universally regarded as fine, and show what a different air is imparted to both verse and prose by a mere change in their arrangement. First let these lines be taken from the Homeric poems:—
But with them was it as with a toil-bowed woman righteous-souled—
In her scales be the weights and the wool, and the balance on high doth she hold
Poised level, that so may the hard-earned bread to her babes be doled.91
This metre is the complete heroic metre of six feet, the basis
1 οὐδὲν F 2 πεποίηκεν P 3 ἡ om. PV || τέθεικεν FP: τέθεικε EMV 4 κρείττοσ(ιν) P 5 δὲ δὴ [που] FM: δε P: δὴ Vs 8 περιττὸν οὐδὲ σεμνὸν F 9 τοῦτο (-τω corr.) τ(ω) P 11 ἦν * * ἀλλ’ P 12 καὶ] ἦν καὶ M: ἦ καὶ V 13 τις FM: om. PV 14 ποιήμασιν P 15 ἀλλοίας P 17 μὲν om. PMV || ταυτί PMV: ταῦτα F 18 ἔχεν FM: ἔχον PV Hom. 19 εἰριον deleto accentu P 20 ἄρηται Hom. 21 ἡρωϊκόν PMV: ἡρῷόν F
3. P gives ἀφηκέναι in 262 22, and τέθηκεν may possibly be right here. The -η- forms are found in some MSS. of Eurip. Hel. 1059 and Demosth. Chers. 34. But cp. 108 13.
9. καὶ παρὰ τούτῳ: perhaps ‘in Herodotus as well as in Homer.’ Reiske, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ‹ἄλλα› παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τοιαῦτά ἐστιν.
10. Dionysius seems to allow too little for the charming naïveté of Herodotus’ mental attitude, which is surely characteristic, whether or no Herodotus was the first to tell the story. Cp. D.H. p. 11 n. 1. The narrative which opens in Livy xxxix. c. 9 may be compared and contrasted.
18. The verse illustrations used on pp. 84, 86 are similarly treated by Hermogenes (Walz Rhett. Gr. iii. 230, 231; cp. p. 715 ibid.).
21. It seems better to read ἡρωϊκόν here (with PMV) rather than ἡρῷον (with F), as the form ἡρωϊκός is found consistently elsewhere (86 3, 88 7, 172 17, 206 10).
Dionysius tends to regard the Homeric hexameter as the original and perfect metre, from which all others are inferior deflexions. Metres, after all, have their associations; the associations of the Homeric hexameter were eminently noble; and so even the choral odes of Aeschylus gain where the heroic line is most employed. So much, at any rate, may be conceded to Dionysius’ point of view, prone though he is to the kind of exaggeration which Tennyson (Life i. 469, 470) so effectively parodies.
πόδα βαινόμενον. ἐγὼ δὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων μετακινήσας
τὴν σύνθεσιν τοὺς αὐτοὺς στίχους ἀντὶ μὲν ἑξαμέτρων ποιήσω
τετραμέτρους, ἀντὶ δὲ ἡρωϊκῶν προσοδιακοὺς τὸν τρόπον
τοῦτον·
ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε γυνὴ χερνῆτις τάλαντ’ ἀληθής, 5
ἥ τ’ εἴριον ἀμφὶς καὶ σταθμὸν ἔχουσ’ ἀνέλκει
ἰσάζουσ’, ἵν’ ἀεικέα παισὶν ἄροιτο μισθόν.
τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ πριάπεια, ὑπό τινων δ’ ἰθυφάλλια λεγόμενα,
ταυτί·
οὐ βέβηλος, ὦ τελέται τοῦ νέου Διονύσου, 10
κἀγὼ δ’ ἐξ εὐεργεσίης ὠργιασμένος ἥκω.
ἄλλους πάλιν λαβὼν στίχους Ὁμηρικούς, οὔτε προσθεὶς
αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀφελών, τὴν δὲ σύνθεσιν ἀλλάξας μόνον
ἕτερον ἀποδώσω γένος τὸ τετράμετρον καλούμενον Ἰωνικόν·
ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς, 15
βεβρυχώς, κόνιος δεδραγμένος αἱματοέσσης.
ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς,
αἱματοέσσης κόνιος δεδραγμένος, βεβρυχώς.
of which is the dactyl. I will change the order of the words, and will turn the same lines into tetrameters instead of hexameters, into prosodiacs instead of heroics. Thus:—
But it was with them as with a righteous-souled woman toil-bowed,
In her scales weights and wool lie, on high doth she hold the balance
Level-poised, so that bread hardly-earned may be doled to her babes.
Such are the following Priapean, or (as some call them) ithyphallic, lines:—
I am no profane one, O young Dionysus’ votaries;
By his favour come I too initiate as one of his.92
Taking again other lines of Homer, and neither adding nor withdrawing anything, but simply varying the order, I will produce another kind of verse, the so-called Ionic tetrameter:—
So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,
Groaning, convulsively clutching the dust that was red with his gore.93
So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,
At the dust that was red with his gore clutching convulsively, groaning.
1 πόδα δάκτυλον PMV || τῶν] τῶν αὐτῶν PV 3 προσωιδιακοὺς FP: προσῳδικοὺς MV 5 ἔχεν FMV: ἔχον P scholl. Hermogenis || τάλαντ’ F: τάλαντα PMV 6 ἥ τ’ FM: ἣ PV || ἐχ(ων)ουσ’ P: ἔχουσα F || ἄνελκει P: ἕλκει F 8 [ὑ]πό τινων δὲ ἰθυφάλλια cum litura F, MV: διφίλια P 10 συμβέβηλος F || τελεταί (sic) P: λέγεται FMV || δρονύσου P 11 εὐεργεσίης P: ἐργασίης MV: ἐργασίας F || ὀργιασμένος F: ὡργια*σμένος P 13 οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς PV 14 γένος τὸ F: μέλος PMV || τὸ ante καλούμενον dant PMV 16, 17 om. F 16 αἱματοσέσ(η)ς P: αἱματοέσης V
3. Maximus Planudes (Walz Rhett. Gr. v. 491), referring to this passage, says: ἃ πῶς ἂν εἶεν προσῳδικὰ (v. προσῳδιακὰ) καὶ προσόμοια τοῖς πριαπείοις, ἢ πάλιν πῶς ταῦτα πριάπεια, οὐδαμῶς ἔχω συνορᾶν. For the prosodia (προσόδια, sc. ᾄσματα: also called προσοδιακοί), or processional songs, see Weir Smyth’s Greek Melic Poets p. xxxiii.; and for the various metres employed see pp. xxxiv., xxxv. ibid. It is clear that Dionysius is not here thinking specially of the so-called προσοδιακὸς πούς (– – ᴗ). Cp. Bacchyl. Fragm. 19 (Bergk: 7, Jebb).—Reading προσῳδικοὺς (with the inferior MSS.), and translating by ‘accentual,’ A. J. Ellis (English, Dionysian, and Hellenic Pronunciation of Greek p. 37) thinks that Dionysius means “verses in which the effect of high pitch was increased by superadding stress, so as to give it preponderance over mere quantity”; and he points out that E. M. Geldart shows (Journal of Philology 1869, vol. ii. p. 160) that these transformed lines of Homer, if read as modern Greek, would give rather rough στίχοι πολιτικοί, or the usual modern accentual verse [the ‘city verses’ referred to by Gibbon, c. 53]. Though it is perhaps unlikely that Dionysius makes any direct reference to such a change, a stress-accent may, even in his day, have gradually been triumphing over that pitch-accent which was consistent with the observance of metrical quantity. Cp. F. Spencer French Verse p. 70.
5. The metrical difficulties presented by these sections of the C. V. are discussed in Amsel’s de Vi atque Indole Rhythmorum quid Veteres Iudicaverint pp. 32 ff. The unprofitably ingenious efforts of some ancient writers to derive every kind of metre from the heroic hexameter and the iambic trimeter might be capped, and parodied, by an attempt to turn such a line as Il. xxiii. 644 (ἔργων τοιούτων. ἐμὲ δὲ χρὴ γήραϊ λυγρῷ) into an iambic trimeter: the only thing needed being that the ι of γήραϊ should be not adscript but subscript. So Schol. Ven. A (ad loc.) ὅτι ὁ στίχος οὗτος καὶ ἑξάμετρος γίνεται καὶ τρίμετρος παρὰ τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῆς προφορᾶς, and Schol. Townl. ἐπιτέτευκται ὁ στίχος ταῖς κοιναῖς, ὥστ’ ἢν θέλωμεν καὶ ἴαμβος ἔσται, ὡς τὸ “σμύρνης ἀκράτου καὶ κέδρου νηλεῖ καπνῷ” (for the doubtful ascription of this last line to Callimachus see Schneider’s Callimachea ii. 777).
10. For the author of these Priapean verses—Euphorion (or Euphronius) ‘of the Chersonese’—see the long discussion in Susemihl’s Gesch. d. griech. Litt. in der Alexandrinerzeit i. 281, 283. It is Hephaestion (de Metris Enchiridion c. 16, ed. Westphal) who attributes the lines Εὐφορίωνι τῷ Χερρονησιώτῃ.
15. The commentators on Hermogenes secure trochees by changing the order of the words in this line—ἔκειτο καὶ δίφρου τανυσθείς, or τανυσθεὶς κεῖτο καὶ δίφρου.
τοιαῦτ’ ἐστὶ τὰ Σωτάδεια ταυτί·
ἔνθ’ οἱ μὲν ἐπ’ ἄκραισι πυραῖς νέκυες ἔκειντο
γῆς ἐπὶ ξένης, ὀρφανὰ τείχεα προλιπόντες
Ἑλλάδος ἱερῆς καὶ μυχὸν ἑστίης πατρῴης,
ἥβην τ’ ἐρατὴν καὶ καλὸν ἡλίου πρόσωπον. 5
δυναίμην δ’ ἂν ἔτι πολλὰς ἰδέας μέτρων καὶ διαφόρους εἰς τὸν
ἡρωϊκὸν ἐμπιπτούσας στίχον ἐπιδεικνύναι, τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῖς
ἄλλοις ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσι συμβεβηκὸς μέτροις τε καὶ ῥυθμοῖς
ἀποφαίνειν, ὥστε τῆς μὲν ἐκλογῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς αὐτῆς
μενούσης, τῆς δὲ συνθέσεως μόνης μεταπεσούσης τά τε 10
μέτρα μεταρρυθμίζεσθαι καὶ συμμεταπίπτειν αὐτοῖς τὰ
σχήματα, τὰ χρώματα, τὰ ἤθη, τὰ πάθη, τὴν ὅλην τῶν
ποιημάτων ἀξίωσιν· ἀλλ’ ἀναγκασθήσομαι πλειόνων ἅψασθαι
θεωρημάτων, ὧν ἔνια ὀλίγοις πάνυ ἐστὶ γνώριμα. ἐπὶ πολλῶν
δ’ ἴσως καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι 15
τὰ Εὐριπίδεια ταῦτα ἐπενεγκεῖν·
μή μοι
λεπτῶν θίγγανε μύθων, ψυχή·
τί περισσὰ φρονεῖς; εἰ μὴ μέλλεις
σεμνύνεσθαι παρ’ ὁμοίοις. 20
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ κατὰ τὸ παρόν. ὅτι δὲ
καὶ ἡ πεζὴ λέξις τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται παθεῖν τῇ ἐμμέτρῳ μενόντων
μὲν τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως,
πάρεστι τῷ βουλομένῳ σκοπεῖν. λήψομαι δ’ ἐκ τῆς Ἡροδότου
λέξεως τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἱστορίας, ἐπειδὴ καὶ γνώριμός ἐστι 25
τοῖς πολλοῖς, μεταθεὶς τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῆς διαλέκτου μόνον.
Such are the following Sotadean lines:—
There upon the summit of the burning pyres their corpses lay
In an alien land, the widowed walls forsaken far away,
Walls of sacred Hellas; and the hearths upon the homeland shore,
Winsome youth, the sun’s fair face—forsaken all for evermore!94
I could, if I wished, adduce many more different types of measures all belonging to the class of the heroic line, and show that the same thing is true of almost all the other metres and rhythms, namely that, when the choice of words remains unaltered and only the arrangement is changed, the verses invariably lose their rhythm, while their formation is ruined, together with the complexion, the character, the feeling, and the whole effectiveness of the lines. But in so doing I should be obliged to touch on a number of speculations, with some of which very few are familiar. To many speculations, perhaps, and particularly to those bearing on the matter in hand, the lines of Euripides may fitly be applied:—
With subtleties meddle not thou, O soul of mine:
Wherefore be overwise, except in thy fellows’ eyes
Thou lookest to be revered as for wisdom divine?95
So I think it wise to leave this ground unworked for the present. But anyone who cares may satisfy himself that the diction of prose can be affected in the same way as that of verse when the words are retained but the order is changed. I will take from the writings of Herodotus the opening of his History, since it is familiar to most people, simply changing the
1 τοιαῦτα PMV || Σωτάδεια Planudes: σωτάδια libri 2 ἄκραισι FM: ἄκραις PV || ἔγκειντο F 5 ἥβη, suprascr. ν P1 || ἐρατὴν Hermannus: ἐραστὴν F: ἐρατεινὴν PMV 6 δυναίμην PV: ἐδυνάμην FM 7 δὲ PMV || καὶ P: κἂν F: κἀν MV 8 τε om. F 9 ὀμάτων, suprascr. νο P1 10 μεταπιπτούσης (πεσούσης in marg.) F: μεταπεσούσης M: μάλιστα πεσούσης PV 12 τὰ πάθη om. P 13 ἀλλ’ ἀναγκασθήσομαι] ἀναγκασθήσομαι δὲ F: ἀλλ’ ἀν(αν)κασθήσομαι P || ἅπτεσθαι P 14 γνώρισμα F1 15 δὲ PMV || καὶ om. P 19 μέλλοις F 21 οὗν F 22 ἐμμέτρω ὄντων PMV 23 τῶν F: τῶν αὐτῶν E: om. PMV || ἀλλασομένης P: ἀλλασσομένης MV 24 τῶ βουλομέν(ω) P || δὲ PMV et 90 1 25 ἐπειδὴ F: ἐπεὶ PMV
1. These lines of Sotades are quoted by two of the commentators on Hermogenes—by John of Sicily (Walz vi. 243) and by an anonymous scholiast (Walz vii. 985). See further in Glossary, s.v. Σωτάδειος.
7. Palaeographically κἀν (MV) is tempting, since the other readings (κἂν and καὶ) could easily be derived from it. But the difficulty is that Dionysius seems elsewhere to use the simple dative with συμβαίνω, and would probably have expressed the meaning ‘in the case of’ by ἐπί with the genitive. καὶ ἔν γε τῇ ἀρχαίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φωνῇ αὐτὸ συμβαίνει τὸ ὄνομα (Plato Crat. 398 B) is not parallel.
12. Quintil. Inst. Or. ix. 4. 14, 15 “nam quaedam et sententiis parva et elocutione modica virtus haec sola commendat. denique quod cuique visum erit vehementer, dulciter, speciose dictum, solvat et turbet: aberit omnis vis, iucunditas, decor... illud notasse satis habeo, quo pulchriora et sensu et elocutione dissolveris, hoc orationem magis deformem fore, quia neglegentia collocationis ipsa verborum luce deprehenditur.”
21. ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ = omittere mihi placet; cp. Aristoph. Plut. 1186, Aves 671, Vespae 177.
22. Compare the interesting passage in Cic. Orat. 70. 232 “Quantum autem sit apte dicere, experire licet, si aut compositi oratoris bene structam collocationem dissolvas permutatione verborum; corrumpatur enim tota res... perierit tota res... videsne, ut ordine verborum paululum commutato, eisdem tamen verbis stante sententia, ad nihilum omnia recidant, cum sint ex aptis dissoluta?” [Various examples are given in the course of the section.]
23. The Epitome here has μενόντων γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως, καταφανὲς τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ἄμουσόν τε καὶ ἀκαλλώπιστον.
“Κροῖσος ἦν Λυδὸς μὲν γένος, παῖς δ’ Ἀλυάττου, τύραννος δ’
ἐθνῶν τῶν ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ· ὃς ῥέων ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας
μεταξὺ Σύρων τε καὶ Παφλαγόνων ἐξίησι πρὸς βορέαν ἄνεμον
εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον καλούμενον πόντον.” μετατίθημι τῆς λέξεως
ταύτης τὴν ἁρμονίαν, καὶ γενήσεταί μοι οὐκέτι ὑπαγωγικὸν 5
τὸ πλάσμα οὐδ’ ἱστορικόν, ἀλλ’ ὀρθὸν μᾶλλον καὶ ἐναγώνιον·
“Κροῖσος ἦν υἱὸς μὲν Ἀλυάττου, γένος δὲ Λυδός, τύραννος δὲ
τῶν ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ ἐθνῶν· ὃς ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας ῥέων
μεταξὺ Σύρων καὶ Παφλαγόνων εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον καλούμενον
πόντον ἐκδίδωσι πρὸς βορέαν ἄνεμον.” οὗτος ὁ χαρακτὴρ οὐ 10
πολὺ ἀπέχειν ἂν δόξειεν τῶν Θουκυδίδου τούτων· “Ἐπίδαμνός
ἐστι πόλις ἐν δεξιᾷ εἰσπλέοντι τὸν Ἰόνιον κόλπον· προσοικοῦσι
δ’ αὐτὴν Ταυλάντιοι βάρβαροι, Ἰλλυρικὸν ἔθνος.”
πάλιν δὲ ἀλλάξας τὴν αὐτὴν λέξιν ἑτέραν αὐτῇ μορφὴν ἀποδώσω
τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· “Ἀλυάττου μὲν υἱὸς ἦν Κροῖσος, 15
γένος δὲ Λυδός, τῶν δ’ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ τύραννος ἐθνῶν·
ὃς ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας ῥέων Σύρων τε καὶ Παφλαγόνων μεταξὺ
πρὸς βορέαν ἐξίησιν ἄνεμον ἐς τὸν καλούμενον πόντον
Εὔξεινον.” Ἡγησιακὸν τὸ σχῆμα τοῦτο τῆς συνθέσεως,
μικρόκομψον, ἀγεννές, μαλθακόν· τούτων γὰρ τῶν λήρων 20
nature of the dialect: “Croesus was a Lydian by birth and the son of Alyattes. He was lord over all the nations on this side of the river Halys, which flows from the south between Syria and Paphlagonia, and falls, towards the north, into the sea which is called the Euxine.”96 I change the order here, and the cast of the passage will become no longer that of a spacious narrative, but tense rather and forensic: “Croesus was the son of Alyattes, and by birth a Lydian. He was lord, on this side of the river Halys, over all nations; which river from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia runs into the sea which is called the Euxine and debouches towards the north.” This style would seem not to differ widely from that of Thucydides in the words: “Epidamnus is a city on the right as you enter the Ionian Gulf: its next neighbours are barbarians, the Taulantii, an Illyrian race.”97 Once more I will recast the same passage and give a new form to it as follows: “Alyattes’ son was Croesus, by birth a Lydian. Lord over all nations he was, on this side of the river Halys; which river, from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia, falls, with northward run, into the Euxine-called sea.” This affected, degenerate, emasculate way of arranging words resembles that of Hegesias, the high-priest of this kind of nonsense. He
1 κροῖσσος P || ἀλυάττεω E 2 ἄλυος FMV ut 8, 16 infra FPMV 3 ἐξίησιν P 4 μαιτατίθημι P: μάρτυρα τίθημι M 5 γενησετέμοι suprascr. αί P1 || ὑπαγωγικὸν F: ἐπαγ(ω)γικον suprascr. ϋ P: ἐπαγωγικὸν MV 6 οὐδε P,MV 7 ἦν Ἀλυάττου μὲν παῖς E || ἀλυ*άττου P 9 παφλαγόνων καὶ σύρων F 10 ὁ suprascr. P1 11 δόξειε F 12 (εστι) * * P || πρ(οσ)οικοῦσιν P 13 δὲ PV 14 δὲ ἀλλάξας F: διαλλάξας PMV || αὐτῆι add. in margine F1: αὐτὴν PM 16 δ’ om. PV 18 ἐξίησιν FM: ἔξεισιν PV || ἐς F: εἰς PMV ut supra 20 ἀγεννες P,V: ἀγενὲς FMa
3. Hude (following Dionysius) conjecturally restores τε in the text of Herodotus. Usener, on the other hand, thinks that Dionysius has deliberately inserted τε here and in l. 17 while omitting it in l. 9.
10. This rugged re-writing of Herodotus shows a real appreciation of style and should be compared with the remarks which Demetrius (de Eloc. § 48) makes on Thucydides’ avoidance of smoothness and evenness of composition, and on his liking for jolting rhythms (e.g. “from other maladies this year, by common consent, was free,” rather than “by common consent, this year was free from other maladies”): καὶ ὁ Θουκυδίδης δὲ πανταχοῦ σχεδὸν φεύγει τὸ λεῖον καὶ ὁμαλὲς τῆς συνθέσεως, καὶ ἀεὶ μᾶλλόν τι προσκρούοντι ἔοικεν, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς τραχείας ὁδοὺς πορευόμενοι, ἐπὰν λέγῃ ὅτι “τὸ μὲν δὴ ἔτος, ὡς ὡμολόγητο, ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ἐτύγχανεν ὄν.” ῥᾷον μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἥδιον ὧδ’ ἄν τις εἶπεν, ὅτι “ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ὂν ἐτύγχανεν,” ἀφῄρητο δ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν.—Hermogenes (Walz Rhett. Gr. iii. 206) shows how the passage would be changed for the worse by such a πλαγιασμός as the use of a genitive absolute at the start: e.g. Κροίσου ὄντος κτλ.
11. From this point onwards, the less important of the manuscript variants are not recorded in the critical apparatus, except in the case of P which the editor has examined personally.
12. Demetrius (de Eloc. § 199), in quoting this passage, reads ἐσπλέοντι εἰς: and this may be correct reading in Thucyd. i. 24.
19. Hegesias, in the eyes of Dionysius, was a writer whose originality displayed itself in unnatural contortions of language; cp. Introduction, pp. 52-55 supra. The merits of a natural, untutored prose-order have been indicated once for all by Molière (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme ii. 4): “Monsieur Jourdan. Je voudrais donc lui mettre dans un billet: Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour; mais je voudrais que cela fût mis d’une manière galante, que cela fût tourné gentiment... Non, vous dis-je, je ne veux que ces seules paroles-là dans le billet; mais tournées à la mode, bien arrangées comme il faut. Je vous prie de me dire un peu, pour voir, les diverses manières dont on les peut mettre.—Maître de Philosophie. On les peut mettre premièrement comme vous avez dit: Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour. Ou bien: D’amour mourir me font, belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux. Ou bien: Vos yeux beaux d’amour me font, belle Marquise, mourir. Ou bien: Mourir vos beaux yeux, belle Marquise, d’amour me font. Ou bien: Me font vos yeux beaux mourir, belle Marquise, d’amour. [This is, apparently the crowning absurdity.]—M. Jourdain. Mais de toutes ces façons-là, laquelle est la meilleure?—Maître de Philosophie. Celle que vous avez dite: Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour.—M. Jourdain. Cependant je n’ai point étudié, et j’ai fait cela tout du premier coup.”
20. The phrase is perhaps suggested by Aristoph. Nub. 359 σύ τε, λεπτοτάτων λήρων ἱερεῦ, φράζε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅ τι χρῄζεις. Cp. Cic. pro Sestio 17. 39 “stuprorum sacerdos,” and also D.H. p. 169 (note on καὶ πολὺς ὁ τελέτης ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις παρ’ αὐτῷ). ‘Hierophant,’ ‘adept,’ ‘past master,’ will give something of the idea.
ἱερεὺς ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ τοιαῦτα γράφων· “Ἐξ ἀγαθῆς ἑορτῆς
ἀγαθὴν ἄγομεν ἄλλην.” “Ἀπὸ Μαγνησίας εἰμὶ τῆς μεγάλης
Σιπυλεύς.” “Οὐ γὰρ μικρὰν εἰς Θηβαίων ὕδωρ ἔπτυσεν ὁ
Διόνυσος· ἡδὺς μὲν γάρ ἐστι, ποιεῖ δὲ μαίνεσθαι.”
ἅλις ἔστω παραδειγμάτων. ἱκανῶς γὰρ οἴομαι πεποιηκέναι 5
φανερὸν ὃ προὔκειτό μοι, ὅτι μείζονα ἰσχὺν ἔχει τῆς
ἐκλογῆς ἡ σύνθεσις. καί μοι δοκεῖ τις οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτεῖν
εἰκάσας αὐτὴν τῇ Ὁμηρικῇ Ἀθηνᾷ· ἐκείνη τε γὰρ τὸν
Ὀδυσσέα τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα ἄλλοτε ἀλλοῖον ἐποίει φαίνεσθαι,
τοτὲ μὲν μικρὸν καὶ ῥυσὸν καὶ αἰσχρὸν 10
πτωχῷ λευγαλέῳ ἐναλίγκιον ἠδὲ γέροντι,
τοτὲ δὲ τῇ αὐτῇ ῥάβδῳ πάλιν ἐφαψαμένη
μείζονά τ’ εἰσιδέειν καὶ πάσσονα θῆκεν ἰδέσθαι, κὰδ δὲ κάρητος
οὔλας ἧκε κόμας ὑακινθίνῳ ἄνθει ὁμοίας, 15
αὕτη τε τὰ αὐτὰ λαμβάνουσα ὀνόματα τοτὲ μὲν ἄμορφα καὶ
πτωχὰ καὶ ταπεινὰ ποιεῖ φαίνεσθαι τὰ νοήματα, τοτὲ δ’
ὑψηλὰ καὶ πλούσια [καὶ ἁδρὰ] καὶ καλά. καὶ τοῦτ’ ἦν
σχεδὸν ᾧ μάλιστα διαλλάττει ποιητής τε ποιητοῦ καὶ ῥήτωρ
ῥήτορος, τὸ συντιθέναι δεξιῶς τὰ ὀνόματα. τοῖς μὲν οὖν 20
ἀρχαίοις ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσι πολλὴ ἐπιτήδευσις ἦν αὐτοῦ, παρ’
ὃ καὶ καλά ἐστιν αὐτῶν τά τε μέτρα καὶ τὰ μέλη καὶ οἱ
λόγοι· τοῖς δὲ μεταγενεστέροις οὐκέτι πλὴν ὀλίγων· χρόνῳ δ’
writes, for instance, “After a goodly festival another goodly one keep we.” “Of Magnesia am I, the mighty land, a man of Sipylus I.” “No little drop into the Theban waters spewed Dionysus: Oh yea, sweet it is, but madness it engendereth.”98
Enough of examples. I think I have I sufficiently proved my point that composition is more effective than selection. In fact, it seems to me that one might fairly compare the former to Athena in Homer. For she used to make the same Odysseus appear now in one form, now in another,—at one time puny and wrinkled and ugly,
In semblance like to a beggar wretched and eld-forlorn,99
at another time, by a fresh touch of the selfsame wand,
She moulded him taller to see, and broader: his wavy hair
She caused o’er his shoulders to fall as the hyacinth’s purple rare.100
So, too, composition takes the same words, and makes the ideas they convey appear at one time unlovely, beggarly and mean; at another, exalted, rich and beautiful. A main difference between poet and poet, orator and orator, really does lie in the aptness with which they arrange their words. Almost all the ancients made a special study of this; and consequently their poems, their lyrics, and their prose are things of beauty. But among their successors, with few exceptions, this was no longer so.
1 ἀνὴρ libri: cf. D.H. p. 169 5 ἅλις F: ἂν P || ἔστω F: ἔστω τῶν PMV || ἱκαν(ῶς) P1 7 δοκεῖ τις οὐκ ἂν PV: οὐ δοκεῖ τις EFM || ἁμαρτάνειν PMV 10 μὲν μικρὸν καὶ ῥυσὸν EF: μὲν ῥυσὸν καὶ μικρὸν PMV 11 ἠδὲ] ἠδὲ καὶ F || γέροντα P 12 ῥάβδω P 15 ὑακινθίν(ω) P 16 αὕτη Sylburgius: αὐτή libri 17 πτωχὰ καὶ ταπεινὰ PMV: ταπεινὰ καὶ πτωχὰ EF || δὲ PMV 18 καὶ ἁδρὰ delevit Sadaeus || τοῦτ’ ἦν σχεδὸν ὧι PE: τοῦτ’ ἦν ὃ (ᾧ M) FM: τούτῳ V 19 διαλάττει P 20 τὸ EFP: τῷ MV 21 πᾶσιν P || ἐπιτήδευσις Sylburgius: ἐπίδοσις libri 22 τε om. PV 23 οὐκ ἔστι P || χρον(ω) P
2. Possibly Hegesias began one of his books in this grandiloquent fashion, referring to his birth in Magnesia at the foot of Mount Sipylus.
3. μικράν: understand ψακάδα or λιβάδα. Casaubon conjectured μιαρὰν: Reiske, μικρὰν ‹χολὴν›.
4. ἡδύς: sc. ὁ ποταμός. An easy course would be to change ἡδύς to ἡδύ with Reiske; but there is no manuscript variant, and the ambiguity and awkward ellipse may be part of Hegesias’ offence.
13. Vettori suggested the omission here of θῆκεν ἰδέσθαι.
16. Cp. Isocr. Paneg. § 8 ἐπειδὴ δ’ οἱ λόγοι τοιαύτην ἔχουσι τὴν φύσιν, ὥσθ’ οἷον τ’ εἶναι περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πολλαχῶς ἐξηγήσασθαι, καὶ τά τε μεγάλα ταπεινὰ ποιῆσαι καὶ τοῖς μικροῖς περιθεῖναι, κτλ.
17. The antitheses are ὑψηλά)(ταπεινά, πλούσια)(πτωχά, καλά)(ἄμορφα. The order πτωχὰ καὶ ταπεινά in PMV gives a chiasmus. ἁδρά is the gloss of some rhetorician on ὑψηλά (cp. de Demosth. c. 34, where this gloss actually occurs in one of the manuscripts). The word ἁδρός does not belong to Dionysius’ rhetorical terminology; cp. Long. p. 194.
18. ἦν, ‘was all the time,’ ‘is after all’ (cp. 192 8, etc.).
20. Quintil. ix. 4. 16 “itaque ut confiteor, paene ultimam oratoribus artem compositionis, quae quidem perfecta sit, contigisse: ita illis quoque priscis habitam inter curas, in quantum adhuc profecerant, puto. neque enim mihi quamlibet magnus auctor Cicero persuaserit, Lysian, Herodotum, Thucydiden parum studiosos eius fuisse”; Dionys. Hal. de Demosth. c. 36 πολλή τις ἐγένετο ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἐπιθυμία καὶ πρόνοια τοῦ καλῶς ἁρμόττειν τὰ ὀνόματα ἔν τε μέτροις καὶ δίχα μέτρων, καὶ πάντες, ὅσοι σπουδαίας ἐβουλήθησαν ἐξενεγκεῖν γραφάς, οὐ μόνον ἐζήτησαν ὀνομάσαι τὰ νοήματα καλῶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὰ ‹τὰ ὀνόματα› εὐκόσμῳ συνθέσει περιλαβεῖν.
21. The conjecture ἐπιτήδευσις may be illustrated by 70 6, 212 19, 256 18, and also by de Demosth. c. 36 (the sentence preceding that just quoted).—The manuscript reading ἐπίδοσις might possibly be retained and translated “made numerous contributions to it.” Disselbeck suggests δόσις, and compares de Demosth. cc. 18, 48, 51.
ὕστερον παντάπασιν ἠμελήθη καὶ οὐδεὶς ᾤετο δεῖν ἀναγκαῖον
αὐτὸ εἶναι οὐδὲ συμβάλλεσθαί τι τῷ κάλλει τῶν λόγων·
τοιγάρτοι τοιαύτας συντάξεις κατέλιπον οἵας οὐδεὶς ὑπομένει
μέχρι κορωνίδος διελθεῖν, Φύλαρχον λέγω καὶ Δοῦριν καὶ
Πολύβιον καὶ Ψάωνα καὶ τὸν Καλλατιανὸν Δημήτριον 5
Ἱερώνυμόν τε καὶ Ἀντίγονον καὶ Ἡρακλείδην καὶ Ἡγησιάνακτα
καὶ ἄλλους μυρίους· ὧν ἁπάντων εἰ τὰ ὀνόματα
βουλοίμην λέγειν, ἐπιλείψει με ὁ τῆς ἡμέρας χρόνος. καὶ τί
δεῖ τούτους θαυμάζειν, ὅπου γε καὶ οἱ φιλοσοφίαν ἐπαγγελλόμενοι
καὶ τὰς διαλεκτικὰς ἐκφέροντες τέχνας οὕτως εἰσὶν 10
ἄθλιοι περὶ τὴν σύνθεσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων ὥστε αἰδεῖσθαι καὶ
λέγειν; ἀπόχρη δὲ τεκμηρίῳ χρήσασθαι τοῦ λόγου Χρυσίππῳ
τῷ Στωϊκῷ (περαιτέρω γὰρ οὐκ ἂν προβαίην)· τούτου γὰρ
οὔτ’ ἄμεινον οὐδεὶς τὰς διαλεκτικὰς τέχνας ἠκρίβωσεν οὔτε
ἁρμονίᾳ χείρονι συνταχθέντας ἐξήνεγκε λόγους τῶν γοῦν 15
ὀνόματος καὶ δόξης ἀξιωθέντων. καίτοι σπουδάζειν γέ τινες
At last, in later times, it was utterly neglected; no one thought it absolutely indispensable, or that it contributed anything to the beauty of discourse. Consequently they left behind them lucubrations that no one has the patience to read from beginning to end. I mean men like Phylarchus, Duris, Polybius, Psaon, Demetrius of Callatis, Hieronymus, Antigonus, Heracleides, Hegesianax, and countless others: a whole day would not be enough if I tried to repeat the bare names of them all.101 But why wonder at these, when even those who call themselves professors of philosophy and publish manuals of dialectic fail so wretchedly in the arrangement of their words that I shrink from even mentioning their names? It is quite enough to point, in proof of my statement, to Chrysippus the Stoic: for farther I will not go. Among writers who have achieved any name or distinction, none have written their treatises on dialectic with greater accuracy, and none have published discourses which are worse specimens of composition. And yet some of them claimed
1 οὐδεῖσ P 2 τι om. P || τ(ω) P 3 κατέλειπον P 4 φύταρχον PM 5 σάωνα PMV: σφτατωνα F || καλατιανὸν P: καλαντιανὸν MV: καλανδιανὸν F 6 ἀντίγονον F: ἀντίλογον PMV || ἡγησι(α)νακτα P,F: ἡγησίννακτα M: ἡγησίαν μάγνητα V 7 εἰ post ὀνόματα ponunt PMV 9 οἱ F2P: om. F1: οἱ τὴν MV 12 τῶι λόγωι χρυσίππου τοῦ στωικοῦ PMV 13 τοῦτο F 14 οὔτε (ante ἄμεινον) PMV 15 χείρονι ante ἁρμονίᾳ habent PMV || γ’ οὖν F,M: om. PV 16 σπουδάζειν PMV: σπουδάζεσθαι F
1. ᾤετο δεῖν ἀναγκαῖον αὐτὸ εἶναι: pleonasm. Perhaps ᾤετ’ ἀσκεῖν ἀναγκαῖον αὐτὸ εἶναι, or the like.
4. Phylarchus: a native of Athens, or (acc. to some ancient authorities) of Naucratis in Egypt. He flourished under Ptolemy Euergetes (247-222 B.C.), and continued (in 28 books) the historical works of Hieronymus and Duris. The period covered was that from Pyrrhus’ invasion of the Peloponnese to the death of Cleomenes (272-220 B.C.). Remains in C. Müller Fragm. Hist. Gr. i. 334-58.
Duris of Samos: a pupil of Theophrastus. Flourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.); wrote a history which extended from the battle of Leuctra to the year 281 or later. Among his other writings was a Life of Agathocles. Fragments in C. Müller ii. 466-88. He is mentioned in Cic. ad Att. vi. 1. 18: “num idcirco Duris Samius, homo in historia diligens, quod cum multis erravit, irridetur?”
5. Polybius: see Introduction, pp. 51, 52 supra.
Psaon, of Plataea: a third-century historian, who wrote in thirty books. Cp. C. Müller iii. 198 (and ii. 360).
Demetrius (of Callatis, Calatis, Callatia, or Callantia: the town appears under all these names): wrote thirty books of history in the third century. Cp. C. Müller iv. 380, 381.
6. Hieronymus, of Cardia: wrote, in the third century, a history of the Diadochi and the Epigoni. Fragments in C. Müller ii. 450-61.
Antigonus: of uncertain date (probably second century) and country, but apparently identical with the Antigonus mentioned, among writers who had touched on early Roman history, in Antiqq. Rom. i. 6 πρῶτον μέν, ὅσα κἀμὲ εἰδέναι, τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ἀρχαιολογίαν ἐπιδραμόντος Ἱερωνύμου τοῦ Καρδιανοῦ συγγραφέως, ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν Ἐπιγόνων πραγματείᾳ· ἔπειτα Τιμαίου τοῦ Σικελιώτου, τὰ μὲν ἀρχαῖα τῶν ἱστοριῶν ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς ἱστορίαις ἀφηγησαμένου, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς Πύρρον τὸν Ἠπειρώτην πολέμους εἰς ἰδίαν καταχωρίσαντος πραγματείαν· ἅμα δὲ τούτοις Ἀντιγόνου τε καὶ Πολυβίου, καὶ Σιληνοῦ, καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων τοῖς αὐτοῖς πράγμασιν οὐχ ὁμοίως ἐπιβαλόντων· ὧν ἕκαστος ὀλίγα, καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτὰ διεσπουδασμένως οὐδὲ ἀκριβῶς, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἀκουσμάτων συνθείς, ἀνέγραψεν.—In the present passage Ἀντίλογον, Ἀντίλοχον, Ἀντίοχον, and Ἀμφίλοχον are also read or conjectured.
Heracleides: a historian who probably flourished during the reign of Ptolemy Philometor (181-146 B.C.).
Hegesianax: a second-century historian, who seems to have written on the history and legends of Troy (Τρωϊκά). Cp. C. Müller iii. 68-70.
8. Cp. Demosth. de Cor. § 296 ἐπιλείψει με λέγοντα ἡ ἡμέρα τὰ τῶν προδοτῶν ὀνόματα, and Epist. ad. Hebr. xi. 32 καὶ τί ἔτι λέγω; ἐπιλείψει με γὰρ διηγούμενον ὁ χρόνος περὶ Γεδεών, κτλ. So Cic. Rosc. Am. 32. 89 “tempus, hercule, te citius quam oratio deficeret,” and Verr. ii. 2, 21, 52 “nam me dies, vox, latera deficiant, si hoc nunc vociferari velim, quam miserum indignumque sit,” etc.
9. ὅπου γε: cp. Long. de Subl. iv. 4 τί δεῖ περὶ Τιμαίου λέγειν, ὅπου γε καὶ οἱ ἥρωες ἐκεῖνοι, Ξενοφῶντα λέγω καὶ Πλάτωνα, καίτοιγε ἐκ τῆς Σωκράτους ὄντες παλαίστρας, ὅμως διὰ τὰ οὕτως μικροχαρῆ ποτε ἑαυτῶν ἐπιλανθάνονται;
12. The reading τῷ λόγῳ Χρυσίππου τοῦ Στωικοῦ (PMV) would mean “to point, in proof, to the style (τῷ λόγῳ = ‘discourse,’ ‘writing,’ ‘style’; cp. 96 2) of Chrysippus.” With the general estimate compare Cic. de Fin. iv. 3. 7 “quamquam scripsit artem rhetoricam Cleanthes, Chrysippus etiam, sed sic, ut, si quis obmutescere concupierit, nihil aliud legere debeat.”
13. The manuscript reading προβαίην should be retained, as against Usener’s conjecture προβαῖεν, which perhaps could hardly mean ‘none could sink to greater depths than he,’—if that is the sense intended by Usener. Cp. Aesch. Prom. V. 247 μή πού τι προὔβης τῶνδε καὶ περαιτέρω—words which Dionysius may have had in mind; and Plato Phaedr. 239 D ἃ δῆλα καὶ οὐκ ἄξιον περαιτέρω προβαίνειν.
16. σπουδάζειν: Usener adopts F’s reading σπουδάζεσθαι, with the remark “medii rari vestigium servandum erat.” But he quotes no examples; and Dionysius elsewhere uses the active (e.g. σπουδαζόντων, 66 8 supra). The verb is so frequently found in a passive form and signification, that it seems unlikely that forms common to passive and middle would be used in the middle when the active was available. A middle future, σπουδάσομαι, occurs in Plato Euthyphro 3 B and in Demosth. Mid. 213; but the future middle in many verbs stands quite by itself, and in the passage of Demosthenes we have σπουδάσεται... σπουδάσατε, while in the passage of Plato there is an important variation in the reading.
προσεποιήθησαν αὐτῶν καὶ περὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ὡς ἀναγκαῖον
ὂν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τέχνας γέ τινας ἔγραψαν ὑπὲρ τῆς συντάξεως
τῶν τοῦ λόγου μορίων· ἀλλὰ πολύ τι πάντες ἀπὸ τῆς
ἀληθείας ἀπεπλάγχθησαν καὶ οὐδ’ ὄναρ εἶδον, τί ποτ’ ἐστὶ
τὸ ποιοῦν ἡδεῖαν καὶ καλὴν τὴν σύνθεσιν. ἐγὼ γοῦν ὅτε 5
διέγνων συντάττεσθαι ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν, ἐζήτουν εἴ τι
τοῖς πρότερον εἴρηται περὶ αὐτῆς καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς
Στοᾶς φιλοσόφοις, εἰδὼς τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ μικρὰν φροντίδα τοῦ
λεκτικοῦ τόπου ποιουμένους· δεῖ γὰρ αὐτοῖς τἀληθῆ μαρτυρεῖν.
οὐδαμῇ δ’ οὐδὲν εἰρημένον ὑπ’ οὐδενὸς ὁρῶν τῶν γοῦν 10
ὀνόματος ἠξιωμένων οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτ’ ἔλαττον εἰς ἣν ἐγὼ
προῄρημαι πραγματείαν, ἃς δὲ Χρύσιππος καταλέλοιπε
συντάξεις διττὰς ἐπιγραφὴν ἐχούσας “περὶ τῆς συντάξεως
τῶν τοῦ λόγου μερῶν” οὐ ῥητορικὴν θεωρίαν ἐχούσας ἀλλὰ
διαλεκτικήν, ὡς ἴσασιν οἱ τὰς βίβλους ἀνεγνωκότες, ὑπὲρ 15
ἀξιωμάτων συντάξεως ἀληθῶν τε καὶ ψευδῶν καὶ δυνατῶν
καὶ ἀδυνάτων ἐνδεχομένων τε καὶ μεταπιπτόντων καὶ ἀμφιβόλων
καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν τοιουτοτρόπων, οὐδεμίαν οὔτ’ ὠφέλειαν
οὔτε χρείαν τοῖς πολιτικοῖς λόγοις συμβαλλομένας εἰς γοῦν
ἡδονὴν καὶ κάλλος ἑρμηνείας, ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι τὴν 20
σύνθεσιν· ταύτης μὲν τῆς πραγματείας ἀπέστην, ἐσκόπουν
δ’ αὐτὸς ἐπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ γενόμενος, εἴ τινα δυναίμην εὑρεῖν
φυσικὴν ἀφορμήν, ἐπειδὴ παντὸς πράγματος καὶ πάσης ζητήσεως
αὕτη δοκεῖ κρατίστη εἶναι ἀρχή. ἁψάμενος δέ τινων
θεωρημάτων καὶ δόξας ὁδῷ μοι τὸ πρᾶγμα χωρεῖν ὡς ἔμαθον 25
ἑτέρωσέ ποι ταύτην ἄγουσαν ἐμὲ τὴν ὁδόν, οὐχ ὅποι προὐθέμην
to make a serious study of this department also, as being absolutely essential to good writing, and wrote some manuals on the grouping of the parts of speech. But they all went far astray from the truth and never even dreamt what it is that makes composition attractive and beautiful. At any rate, when I resolved to treat of this subject methodically, I tried to find out whether anything at all had been said about it by earlier writers, and particularly by the philosophers of the Porch, because I knew that these worthies were accustomed to pay no little attention to the department of discourse: one must give them their due. But in no single instance did I light upon any contribution, great or small, made by any author, of any reputation at all events, to the subject of my choice. As for the two treatises which Chrysippus has bequeathed to us, entitled “on the grouping of the parts of speech,” they contain, as those who have read the books are aware, not a rhetorical but a dialectical investigation, dealing with the grouping of propositions, true and false, possible and impossible, admissible and variable, ambiguous, and so forth. These contribute no assistance or benefit to civil oratory, so far at any rate as charm and beauty of style are concerned; and yet these qualities should be the chief aim of composition. So I desisted from this inquiry, and falling back upon my own resources proceeded to consider whether I could find some starting-point indicated by nature itself, since nature is generally accepted as the best first principle in every operation and every inquiry. So applying myself to certain lines of investigation, I was beginning to think that the plan was making fair progress, when I became aware that my path of progress was leading me in a quite different direction, and not towards the goal which I
1 αὐτῶι F,M 2 ὂν F: om. P || τ(ω) λογ(ω) P || γε om. PMV || ἔγραψαν PM: ἔγραψεν F: ἐπέγραψαν V || ὑπερ * * P 4 ἀπεπλανήθησαν PMV || οὐδε P, MV 5 ἐγὼ γ’ οὖν F: ἔγωγ’ οὖν PMV || ὅτε διέγνων PMV: ὅτ’ ἔγνων F 9 τόπου] λόγου F || τε ποιημένους P 10 οὐδαμεῖ (suprascr. ηι) P1 || δ’ om. P || εἰρημένον om. PMV || γοῦν om. PV 13 περὶ] οὐ περὶ PM 14 οὐ] καὶ P 16 τε] δὲ PMV 17 ἀμφιλόβων P 18 οὔτ’ ὠφέλειαν om. P 19 συμβαλλομένων PMV 20 καὶ F: ἢ PMV 22 δὲ PMV 24 δοκεῖ] δοκεῖ καὶ P 25 μοι FP: τινι MV || τὰ πράγματα προχωρεῖν F 26 ἐμὲ om. F || προὐθέμην PMV: πρ[ου]θέμην ‘πορευοίμην cum litura F
4. οὐδ’ ὄναρ εἶδον = ‘ne somnio quidem viderunt,’ ‘ne per somnia quidem viderunt.’
6. For ἔγνων (as a v.l. for διέγνων) συντάττεσθαι cp. Antiqq. Rom. i. 1... οὔτε διαβολὰς καθ’ ἑτέρων ἐγνωκὼς ποιεῖσθαι συγγραφέων. The passage which begins here and ends with the words πραγματείας ἀπέστην is quoted under the head Dialectica in von Arnim’s Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta ii. 67.
9 ff. Cic. Brut. 31. 118 “Tum Brutus: Quam hoc idem in nostris contingere intellego quod in Graecis, ut omnes fere Stoici prudentissimi in disserendo sint et id arte faciant sintque architecti paene verborum, idem traducti a disputando ad dicendum inopes reperiantur.”
13. Diogenes Laertius (vii. 192. 3), in enumerating Chrysippus’ logical works, writes: σύνταξις δευτέρα· περὶ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῶν λεγομένων ε′, περὶ τῆς συντάξεως τῶν λεγομένων δ′, περὶ τῆς συντάξεως καὶ στοιχείων τῶν λεγομένων πρὸς Φίλιππον γ′, περὶ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ λόγου πρὸς Νικίαν α′, περὶ τοῦ πρὸς ἕτερα λεγομένου α′.
23. φυσικὴν ἀφορμήν: this suggests the Stoic point of view.
26. The reading of F looks like an attempt to gloss προὐθέμην.
καὶ ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἐλθεῖν, ἀπέστην. κωλύσει δ’ οὐδὲν
ἴσως κἀκείνης ἅψασθαι τῆς θεωρίας καὶ τὰς αἰτίας εἰπεῖν δι’
ἃς ἐξέλιπον αὐτήν, ἵνα μή με δόξῃ τις ἀγνοίᾳ παρελθεῖν
αὐτὴν ἀλλὰ προαιρέσει.
V
ἐδόκει δή μοι τῇ φύσει μάλιστα ἡμᾶς ἑπομένους οὕτω 5
δεῖν ἁρμόττειν τὰ μόρια τοῦ λόγου, ὡς ἐκείνη βούλεται.
αὐτίκα τὰ ὀνόματα πρῶτα ἡγούμην τάττειν τῶν ῥημάτων (τὰ
μὲν γὰρ τὴν οὐσίαν δηλοῦν, τὰ δὲ τὸ συμβεβηκός, πρότερον
δ’ εἶναι τῇ φύσει τὴν οὐσίαν τῶν συμβεβηκότων), ὡς τὰ
Ὁμηρικὰ ἔχει ταυτί· 10
ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον
καὶ
μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά
καὶ
ἠέλιος δ’ ἀνόρουσε λιπών 15
καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια τούτοις· ἡγεῖται μὲν γὰρ ἐν τούτοις τὰ
ὀνόματα, ἕπεται δὲ τὰ ῥήματα. πιθανὸς ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ’ οὐκ
ἀληθὴς ἔδοξεν εἶναί μοι. ἕτερα γοῦν παράσχοιτ’ ἄν τις παραδείγματα
παρὰ τῷ αὐτῷ ποιητῇ κείμενα ἐναντίως συντεταγμένα
ἢ ταῦτα συντέτακται, καλὰ δὲ οὐχ ἧττον καὶ πιθανά. τίνα 20
οὖν ἐστι ταῦτα;
sought and which I felt I must attain; and so I gave up the attempt. I may as well, perhaps, touch on that inquiry also, and state the reasons which led me to abandon it, so that I may not be open to the suspicion of having passed it by in ignorance, and not of deliberate choice.
Chapter V — No Grammatical Order Prescribed by Nature
Well, my notion was that we ought to follow mother nature to the utmost, and to link together the parts of speech according to her promptings. For example, I thought I must place nouns before verbs: the former, you see, indicate the substance, the latter the accident, and in the nature of things the substance takes precedence of its accidents! Thus we find in Homer:—
The hero to me chant thou, Song-queen, the resourceful man;102
and
The Wrath sing, Goddess, thou;103
and
The sun leapt up, as he left;104
and other lines of the same kind, where the nouns lead the way and the verbs follow. The principle is attractive, but I came to the conclusion that it was not sound. At any rate, a reader might confront me with other instances in the same poet where the arrangement is the opposite of this, and yet the lines are no less beautiful and attractive. What are the instances in point?
1 δὲ PV 3 ἀγνοία F 6 ἐκείνηι βεβούληται P 7 πρῶτα post ὀνόματα om. PMV || ἡγούμην PMV: ἠξίουν F || πρὸ ante τῶν add. PMV 8 οὐσίαν FV: αἰτίαν PM || δηλοῖ F 9 δε P, V || τῇ φύσει om. F 10 ταυτί om. PMV 18 παράσχοιτ’ ἄν τις PMV: παράσχοι τις ἂν F 19 τ(ω) αυτ(ω) P 20 δὲ Sauppius: τε libri
5. There seems to be a touch of quiet humour in Dionysius’ retrospection (during this causerie of his) on the simplicity which had led him to think that he could frame a priori rules as to Nature’s Order. Cp. 102 15 in particular.
7. F’s reading, πρῶτα τῶν ῥημάτων, receives some support from 174 18 infra. But cp. Steph. s.v. πρῶτος.—F’s reading ἠξίουν is probably due to some corrector who was unaware that there is good classical authority for ἡγοῦμαι = ἡγοῦμαι δεῖν.
The following passage of Quintilian (ix. 4. 23-27) illustrates this chapter in many ways: “est et alius naturalis ordo, ut viros ac feminas, diem ac noctem, ortum et occasum dicas potius quam retrorsum. quaedam ordine permutato fiunt supervacua, ut fratres gemini; nam si gemini praecesserint, fratres addere non est necesse. illa nimia quorundam fuit observatio, ut vocabula verbis, verba rursus adverbiis, nomina appositis et pronominibus essent priora. nam fit contra quoque frequenter non indecore. nec non et illud nimiae superstitionis, uti quaeque sint tempore, ita facere etiam ordine priora; non quin frequenter sit hoc melius, sed quia interim plus valent ante gesta ideoque levioribus superponenda sunt. verbo sensum cludere, multo, si compositio patiatur, optimum est. in verbis enim sermonis vis est. si id asperum erit, cedet haec ratio numeris, ut fit apud summos Graecos Latinosque oratores frequentissime. sine dubio erit omne, quod non cludet, hyperbaton, et ipsum hoc inter tropos vel figuras, quae sunt virtutes, receptum est. non enim ad pedes verba dimensa sunt, ideoque ex loco transferuntur in locum, ut iungantur, quo congruunt maxime. sicut in structura saxorum rudium etiam ipsa enormitas invenit, cui applicari et in quo possit insistere. felicissimus tamen sermo est, cui et rectus ordo et apta iunctura et cum his numerus opportune cadens contigit.”
8. πρότερον: probably adverbial; cp. Hom. Il. vii. 424 and ix. 551.
15. The completed line (Odyss. iii. 1) is: ἠέλιος δ’ ἀνόρουσε, λιπὼν περικαλλέα λίμνην κτλ.
18. παράσχοιτ’ ἄν τις: for the middle voice cp. 214 6 and 122 14.
20. Usener’s οἷά τινα seems a needless and somewhat violent change for the manuscript reading τίνα οὖν. No doubt οἷά ἐστι ταῦτα is found in 100 27; but (1) Dionysius’ love of μεταβολή in style should be remembered, (2) οἷά τινα is not a usual phrase, (3) the lively rhetorical question is characteristic.
κλῦθί μευ, αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος Ἀτρυτώνη
καὶ
ἔσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι, Ὀλύμπια δώματ’ ἔχουσαι...
μνῆσαι πατρὸς σεῖο, θεοῖς ἐπιείκελ’ Ἀχιλλεῦ.
ἐν γὰρ τούτοις ἡγεῖται μὲν τὰ ῥήματα, ὑποτέτακται δὲ τὰ 5
ὀνόματα· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν αἰτιάσαιτο τὴν σύνταξιν αὐτῶν ὡς
ἀηδῆ.
ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἄμεινον ἐδόκουν εἶναι τὰ ῥήματα πρότερα
τάττειν τῶν ἐπιρρημάτων, ἐπειδὴ πρότερόν ἐστι τῇ φύσει τὸ
ποιοῦν ἢ πάσχον τῶν συνεδρευόντων αὐτοῖς, τρόπου λέγω καὶ 10
τόπου καὶ χρόνου καὶ τῶν παραπλησίων, ἃ δὴ καλοῦμεν
ἐπιρρήματα, παραδείγμασι χρώμενος τούτοις·
τύπτε δ’ ἐπιστροφάδην, τῶν δὲ στόνος ὤρνυτ’ ἀεικής...
ἤριπε δ’ ἐξοπίσω, ἀπὸ δὲ ψυχὴν ἐκάπυσσεν...
ἐκλίνθη δ’ ἑτέρωσε, δέπας δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε χειρός. 15
ἐν ἅπασι γὰρ δὴ τούτοις ὕστερα τέτακται [ἅμα] τῶν ῥημάτων
τὰ ἐπιρρήματα. καὶ τοῦτο πιθανὸν μὲν ὡς τὸ πρῶτον, οὐκ
ἀληθὲς δὲ ὡς οὐδ’ ἐκεῖνο. τάδε γὰρ δὴ παρὰ τῷ αὐτῷ ποιητῇ
ἐναντίως ἢ ἐκεῖνα εἴρηται·
βοτρυδὸν δὲ πέτονται ἐπ’ ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσι... 20
σήμερον ἄνδρα φάοσδε μογοστόκος Εἰλείθυια
ἐκφανεῖ.
ἆρ’ οὖν τι χείρω γέγονε τὰ ποιήματα ὑποταχθέντων ἐνταῦθα
τοῖς ἐπιρρήμασι τῶν ῥημάτων; οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι.
ἔτι καὶ τόδε ᾤμην δεῖν μὴ παρέργως φυλάττειν, ὅπως τὰ 25
πρότερα τοῖς χρόνοις καὶ τῇ τάξει πρότερα λαμβάνηται· οἷά
ἐστι ταυτί·
Hear me, thou Child of the Aegis-bearer, unwearied Power;105
and
Tell to me, Muses, now in Olympian halls that abide;106
and
Remember thy father, Achilles, thou godlike glorious man.107
In these lines the verbs are in the front rank, and the nouns stationed behind them. Yet no one would impugn the arrangement of the words as unpleasant.
Moreover, I imagined it was better to place verbs in front of adverbs, since in the nature of things what acts or is acted upon takes precedence of those auxiliaries, modal, local, temporal, and the like, which we call adverbs. I relied on the following as examples:—
Smote them on this side and on that, and arose the ghastly groan;108
Fell she backward-reeling, and gasped her spirit away;109
Reeled he backward: the cup from his hand-grasp fell to the floor.110
In all these cases the adverbs are placed after the verbs. This principle, like the other, is attractive; but it is equally unsound. For here are passages in the same poet expressed in the opposite way:
Clusterwise hover they ever above the flowers of spring;111
To-day shall Eileithyia the Queen of Travail bring
A man to the light.112
Well, are the lines at all inferior because the verbs are placed after the adverbs? No one can say so.
Once more, I imagined that I ought always most scrupulously to observe the principle that things earlier in time should be inserted earlier in the sentence. The following are examples:—
3 ἕσπετε F || ἔχουσαι. καὶ M 4 σοῖο Hom. 5 τὰ prius om. PMV 6 αὐτῶν PMV: ταύτην F 8 πρότερα τάττειν PMV: προτάττειν F 9 ἐστι πρότερον F 10 πάσχειν F1 12 παραδείγμασιν P 13 ὄρνυτ’ PMV 16 γὰρ δὴ F: γὰρ PMV || ἅμα τῶν FPM: καὶ τῶν V1: τῶν V2 18 οὐδὲ PMV || τάδε γὰρ δὴ F: καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ ταῦτα PMV || αὐτῶι F: om. PMV 19 ἢ ἐκεῖνα PMV: ἐκείνοις F 21 φάος δὲ F: φάωσδε P || εἰλήθυια PM 23 χείρω τι PMV || γέγονεν P || ἐνταῦθα PMV: ἐνθάδε F 24 οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι F: om. PMV 25 τόδε Sylburgius: τάδε libri || ὠιμην F, M: ὠιόμην P, V 26 τῆι τάξει καὶ τοῖς χρόνοις F 27 ταυτί PMV: ταῦτα F
8. πρότερα τάττειν... ἐπειδὴ πρότερον ἐστι: probably this pointed repetition is intentional on the part of Dionysius. πρότερα τάττειν might afterwards be changed to προτάττειν for the sake of brevity.
18. ταῦτα (PMV) may be right, as ταῦτα in Dionysius can be used of what follows as well as of what precedes; cp. n. on 106 5. So in Plato Rep. vi. 510 ῥᾷον γὰρ τούτων προειρημένων μαθήσει, and Xen. Anab. iii. 1. 41 ὡς μὴ τοῦτο μόνον ἐννοῶνται τί πείσονται ἀλλὰ καὶ τί ποιήσουσι. For Thucydides’ usage cp. Shilleto’s note on Thucyd. i. 31 § 4. In 100 16-102 25 (and further) there are several instances in which F’s readings (though given in the text) may emanate from some early Greek editor rather than from Dionysius himself: cp. 100 24 with 112 5.
26. Cp. Ter. Andr. i. 1. 100 “funus interim | procedit: sequimur; ad sepulcrum venimus; | in ignem impositast; fletur.”
αὖ ἔρυσαν μὲν πρῶτα καὶ ἔσφαξαν καὶ ἔδειραν
καὶ
λίγξε βιός, νευρὴ δὲ μέγ’ ἴαχεν, ἆλτο δ’ ὀϊστός
καὶ
σφαῖραν ἔπειτ’ ἔρριψε μετ’ ἀμφίπολον βασίλεια· 5
ἀμφιπόλου μὲν ἅμαρτε, βαθείῃ δ’ ἔμβαλε δίνῃ.
νὴ Δία, φαίη τις ἄν, εἴ γε μὴ καὶ ἄλλα ἦν πολλὰ οὐχ οὕτω
συντεταγμένα ποιήματα οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ ταῦτα καλά·
πλῆξε δ’ ἀνασχόμενος σχίζῃ δρυός, ἣν λίπε κείων.
πρότερον γὰρ δήπου τὸ ἐπανατείνασθαί ἐστι τοῦ πλῆξαι. καὶ 10
ἔτι
ἤλασεν ἄγχι στάς, πέλεκυς δ’ ἀπέκοψε τένοντας
αὐχενίους.
πρῶτον γὰρ δήπου προσῆκεν τῷ μέλλοντι τὸν πέλεκυν
ἐμβάλλειν εἰς τοὺς τένοντας τοῦ ταύρου τὸ στῆναι αὐτοῦ 15
πλησίον. ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἠξίουν τὰ μὲν ὀνοματικὰ προτάττειν
τῶν ἐπιθέτων, τὰ δὲ προσηγορικὰ τῶν ὀνοματικῶν,
τὰς δ’ ἀντονομασίας τῶν προσηγορικῶν, ἔν τε τοῖς ῥήμασι
φυλάττειν, ἵνα τὰ ὀρθὰ τῶν ἐγκλινομένων ἡγῆται καὶ τὰ
παρεμφατικὰ τῶν ἀπαρεμφάτων, καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολλά. 20
πάντα δὲ ταῦτα διεσάλευεν ἡ πεῖρα καὶ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἄξια
ἀπέφαινε. τοτὲ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τούτων ἐγίνετο καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων
αὐτοῖς ἡδεῖα ἡ σύνθεσις καὶ καλή, τοτὲ δ’ ἐκ τῶν μὴ τοιούτων
ἀλλ’ ἐναντίων. διὰ ταύτας μὲν δὴ τὰς αἰτίας τῆς τοιαύτης
θεωρίας ἀπέστην. ἐμνήσθην δ’ αὐτῶν καὶ νῦν οὐχ ὡς σπουδῆς 25
They drew back the beasts’ necks first, then severed the throats and flayed;113
and
Clangeth the horn, loud singeth the sinew, and leapeth the shaft;114
and
The ball by the princess was tossed thereafter to one of her girls;
But it missed the maid, and was lost in the river’s eddying swirls.115
“Certainly,” a reader might reply,—“if it were not for the fact that there are plenty of other lines not arranged in this order of yours, and yet as fine as those you have quoted; as
And he smote it, upstrained to the stroke, with an oak-billet cloven apart.116
Surely the arms must be raised before the blow is dealt! And further:—
He struck as he stood hard by, and the axe through the sinews shore
Of the neck.117
Surely a man who is about to drive his axe into a bull’s sinews should take his stand near it first!”
Still further: I imagined it the correct thing to put my substantives before my adjectives, appellatives before substantives, pronouns before appellatives; and with verbs, to be very careful that primary should precede secondary forms, and indicatives infinitives,—and so on. But trial invariably wrecked these views and revealed their utter worthlessness. At one time charm and beauty of composition did result from these and similar collocations,—at other times from collocations not of this sort but the opposite. And so for these reasons I abandoned all such speculations as the above. Nor is it for any serious value it
3 ἆλτο P 5 ἔρριψεν P 7 εἴ γε μὴ F: εἰ PM || καὶ ἄλλα PMV: οὐχ * F1: ἄλλα suprascr. F2 || ἦν πολλὰ F: πολλὰ ἦν PMa || οὕτως FP1 8 ἢ FV: ἦ M: ἦν P 9 πλῆξε δ’ F: πλῆξεν PMV: κόψε δ’ Hom. || ἣν λίπε] κάλλιπε P || κιών libri 14 προσῆκεν F: προσήκει PMV 16 τούτοις καὶ MVs || ἠξίου P 18 δὲ PMV || ἀντωνομασίας PF2M2: ὠνομασίας M1: ἀντωνυμίας F1V || ῥήμασιν P 19 ἐγκεκλιμένων PMV 20 ἀπαρεμφατικὰ PV || παρεμφατικῶν P 21 διεσάλευσεν MV 22 ἀπέφαινεν P: ἀπέφηνε MV 23 τότε δ’ F: τοτὲ δὲ PV: τὸ δὲ M 24 ἀλλ’] μηδ’ F || τοιαύτης F: om. PMV 25 δὲ PMV
1. In Homer αὖ ἔρυσαν should probably be printed as one word, αὐέρυσαν. Cp. note on 71 21 supra.
7. All this passage is in close correspondence with Quintil. ix. 4. 24, as quoted in the note on 98 7 supra.
9. Homer’s line actually begins with κόψε δ’ ἀνασχόμενος. Here Dionysius gives πλῆξε δ’ ἀνασχόμενος, while in Antiqq. Rom. vii. 62 he has κόψε δ’ ἀπαρχόμενος. In both cases he is, doubtless, quoting from memory.
10. The order actually adopted by Homer in these passages is that which the rhetoricians describe as πρωθύστερον, ὕστερον πρότερον, ὑστερολογία.
16. ἠξίουν τὰ μὲν ὀνοματικὰ προτάττειν τῶν ἐπιθέτων: the Greek adjective (unless emphatic) is usually placed after the noun. But it could easily be shown from the varying usage of the modern European nations that there is no ‘law of nature,’ one way or the other, on the subject. In general, however, these logical notions of grammatical order which Dionysius felt himself prompted to reject on behalf of Greek (which is synthetic in character) tally with the actual practice of the modern analytical languages.
ἀξίων, καὶ τὰς διαλεκτικὰς παρεθέμην τέχνας οὐχ ὡς ἀναγκαίας,
ἀλλ’ ἵνα μηδεὶς δοκῶν ἔχειν τι αὐτὰς χρήσιμον εἰς τὴν
παροῦσαν θεωρίαν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιῆται εἰδέναι, θηρευθεὶς ταῖς
ἐπιγραφαῖς τῶν πραγματειῶν ὁμοιότητά τινα ἐχούσαις καὶ τῇ
δόξῃ τῶν συνταξαμένων αὐτάς. 5
ἐπάνειμι δ’ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπόθεσιν ἀφ’ ἧς εἰς ταῦτ’
ἐξέβην, ὅτι πολλὴ πρόνοια τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἦν καὶ ποιηταῖς καὶ
συγγραφεῦσι φιλοσόφοις τε καὶ ῥήτορσι τῆς ἰδέας ταύτης, καὶ
οὔτε τὰ ὀνόματα τοῖς ὀνόμασιν οὔτε τὰ κῶλα τοῖς κώλοις
οὔτε τὰς περιόδους ἀλλήλαις εἰκῇ συνάπτειν ᾤοντο δεῖν, τέχνη 10
δέ τις ἦν παρ’ αὐτοῖς καὶ θεωρήματα οἷς χρώμενοι συνετίθεσαν
εὖ. τίνα δ’ ἦν τὰ θεωρήματα ταῦτα, ἐγὼ πειράσομαι διδάσκειν,
ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ, ὅσα μοι δύναμις ἐγένετο συνεξευρεῖν,
οὐχ ἅπαντα λέγων ἀλλ’ αὐτὰ τὰ ἀναγκαιότατα.
VI
δοκεῖ μοι τῆς συνθετικῆς ἐπιστήμης τρία ἔργα εἶναι· ἓν 15
μὲν ἰδεῖν, τί μετὰ τίνος ἁρμοττόμενον πέφυκε καλὴν καὶ
ἡδεῖαν λήψεσθαι συζυγίαν· ἕτερον δὲ γνῶναι τῶν ἁρμόττεσθαι
μελλόντων πρὸς ἄλληλα πῶς ἂν ἕκαστον σχηματισθὲν κρείττονα
ποιήσειε φαίνεσθαι τὴν ἁρμονίαν· τρίτον δ’ εἴ τι δεῖται μετασκευῆς
τῶν λαμβανομένων, ἀφαιρέσεως λέγω καὶ προσθέσεως 20
καὶ ἀλλοιώσεως, γνῶναί τε καὶ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν χρείαν
οἰκείως ἐξεργάσασθαι. ὅ τι δὲ τούτων ἕκαστον δύναται, σαφέστερον
ἐρῶ χρησάμενος εἰκόσι τῶν δημιουργικῶν τεχνῶν τισιν
possesses that I recall this mental process now. I have cited those manuals on dialectic not because I think it necessary to have them, but in order to prevent anyone from supposing that they contain anything of real service for the present inquiry, and from regarding it as important to study them. It is easy to be inveigled by their titles, which suggest some affinity with the subject; or by the reputation of their compilers.
I will now revert to the original proposition, from which I have strayed into these digressions. It was that the ancients (poets and historians, philosophers and rhetoricians) were greatly preoccupied with this branch of inquiry. They never thought that words, clauses, or periods should be combined at haphazard. They had rules and principles of their own; and it was by following these that they composed so well. What these principles were, I shall try to explain so far as I can; stating, not all, but just the most essential, of those that I have been able to investigate.
Chapter VI — Three Processes in the Art of Composition
My view is that the science of composition has three functions. The first is that of observing the combinations which are naturally adapted to produce a beautiful and agreeable united effect; the second is that of perceiving how to improve the harmonious appearance of the whole by fashioning properly the several parts which we intend to fit together; the third is that of perceiving what is required in the way of modification of the material—I mean abridgment, expansion and transformation—and of carrying out such changes in a manner appropriate to the end in view. The effect of each of these processes I will explain more clearly by means of illustrations drawn from industrial arts
8 συγγραφεῦσιν et ῥήτορσιν P || φιλοσόφοις τε] καὶ φιλοσόφοις F 10 εἰκῆι sic FP 12 ἐγὼ πειράσομαι FM: πειράσομαι PV 13 ἐξευρεῖν P 16 μετά τινος P || ἁρμοττόμενον PMV: ἁρμοζόμενον EF 19 φαίνεσθαι ποιήσειεν P, V || εἴ τι P: δὲ τί EFMV || κατασκευ(ης) P 20 ἀφαιρέσ(ως) P || λέγω... ἀλλοιώσεως om. P || προσθέσεως EF: προσθήκης PMV 21 τε F: τε πῶς PMV 22 ὅτι F: τί PMV 23 δημιουργῶν PM1V
3. θηρευθείς: cp. Eur. Hippol. 957 θηρεύουσι γὰρ | σεμνοῖς λόγοισιν αἰσχρὰ μηχανώμενοι, and Xen. Cyrop. viii. 2. 2 τούτοις ἐπειρᾶτο τὴν φιλίαν θηρεύειν.
4. ἐπιγραφαῖς: cp. the excerpt from Diog. Laert., 96 13 supra, and Cic. de Or. ii. 14. 61 “in philosophos vestros si quando incidi, deceptus indicibus librorum, qui sunt fere inscripti de rebus notis et illustribus, de virtute, de iustitia, de honestate, de voluptate, verbum prorsus nullum intellego; ita sunt angustiis et concisis disputationibus illigati.”
5. τῶν συνταξαμένων αὐτάς: Zeno and Chrysippus in particular.
6. The statement in 92 21 is here resumed.
13. συνεξευρεῖν: perhaps, ‘to investigate together,’ i.e. by a comparative method.
14. αὐτὰ τὰ ἀναγκαιότατα: as in Demosthenes, e.g. de Cor. §§ 126, 168.
16. Probably ἁρμοττόμενον (rather than ἁρμοζόμενον) should be preferred here, as ἁρμόττεσθαι is used in the next line but one. It seems likely that Dionysius would use the Attic form ἁρμόττω with aorist ἥρμοσα, ἡρμόσθην, etc.; cp. 98 6, 106 6, 7, 110 6, 13, 112 2, 4, 124 19, 198 23, 230 22. Perhaps 106 7 should be changed accordingly.
17. λήψεσθαι after πέφυκε = μέλλει.—συζυγίαν: Dionysius rightly recognizes that a word-order, already settled in the writer’s mind, may influence both his choice of language and grammatical forms he adopts.
20. προσθέσεως (cp. 116 16) seems right. But προσθήκη, though generally used of the part added (114 11, 150 13, 152 12), may (in 212 14, 274 22) refer to the process: cp. N.T. use of βάπτισμα.
ἃς ἅπαντες ἴσασιν, οἰκοδομικῇ λέγω καὶ ναυπηγικῇ καὶ ταῖς
παραπλησίαις· ὅ τε γὰρ οἰκοδόμος ὅταν πορίσηται τῆν ὕλην
ἐξ ἧς μέλλει κατασκευάζειν τὴν οἰκίαν, λίθους καὶ ξύλα καὶ
κέραμον καὶ τἆλλα πάντα, συντίθησιν ἐκ τούτων ἤδη τὸ
ἔργον τρία ταῦτα πραγματευόμενος, ποίῳ δεῖ λίθῳ τε καὶ ξύλῳ 5
καὶ πλίνθῳ ποῖον ἁρμόσαι λίθον ἢ ξύλον ἢ πλίνθον, ἔπειτα πῶς
τῶν ἁρμοζομένων ἕκαστον καὶ ἐπὶ ποίας πλευρᾶς ἑδράσαι, καὶ
τρίτον, εἴ τι δύσεδρόν ἐστιν, ἀποκροῦσαι καὶ περικόψαι καὶ
αὐτὸ τοῦτο εὔεδρον ποιῆσαι· ὅ τε ναυπηγὸς τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα
πραγματεύεται. τὰ δὴ παραπλήσιά φημι δεῖν ποιεῖν καὶ τοὺς 10
μέλλοντας εὖ συνθήσειν τὰ τοῦ λόγου μόρια, πρῶτον μὲν
σκοπεῖν, ποῖον ὄνομα ἢ ῥῆμα ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τι μορίων ποίῳ
συνταχθὲν ἐπιτηδείως ἔσται κείμενον καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἄμεινον
(οὐ γὰρ δὴ πάντα γε μετὰ πάντων τιθέμενα πέφυκεν ὁμοίως διατιθέναι
τὰς ἀκοάς)· ἔπειτα διακρίνειν, πῶς σχηματισθὲν τοὔνομα 15
ἢ τὸ ῥῆμα ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ὅ τι δήποτε χαριέστερον ἱδρυθήσεται
καὶ πρὸς τὰ ὑποκείμενα πρεπωδέστερον· λέγω δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν
ὀνομάτων, πότερον ἑνικῶς ἢ πληθυντικῶς λαμβανόμενα κρείττω
λήψεται συζυγίαν, καὶ πότερον κατὰ τὴν ὀρθὴν ἐκφερόμενα
πτῶσιν ἢ κατὰ τῶν πλαγίων τινά, καὶ εἴ τινα πέφυκεν ἐξ 20
ἀρρενικῶν γίνεσθαι θηλυκὰ ἢ ἐκ θηλυκῶν ἀρρενικὰ ἢ οὐδέτερα
familiar to all—house-building, ship-building, and the like. When a builder has provided himself with the material from which he intends to construct a house—stones, timbers, tiling, and all the rest—he then puts together the structure from these, studying the following three things: what stone, timber and brick can be united with what other stone, timber and brick; next, how each piece of the material that is being so united should be set, and on which of its faces; thirdly, if anything fits badly, how that particular thing can be chipped and trimmed and made to fit exactly. And the shipwright proceeds in just the same way. A like course should, I affirm, be followed by those who are to succeed in literary composition. They should first consider in what groupings with one another nouns, verbs, or other parts of speech, will be placed appropriately, and how not so well; for surely every possible combination cannot affect the ear in the same way—it is not in the nature of things that it should be so. Next they should decide the form in which the noun or verb, or whatever else it may be, will occupy its place most gracefully and most in harmony with the ground-scheme. I mean, in the case of nouns, whether they will offer a better combination if used in the singular or the plural; whether they should be put in the nominative or in one of the oblique cases; or which gender should be chosen if they admit of a feminine instead of a masculine form,
1 ναυτικῆι P, MV 3 λίθοις F 5 δεῖ EV: ex δηῖ P: δὴ FM || ξύλ(ω) et πλίνθ(ω) P 8 κα(τα)κροῦσαι P1 || καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ EF 9 ἑδραῖον P 10 τὰ δὴ] τὰ F: δή PMV ||ποιεῖν om. F 12 ποί(ω) P 14 μετα πάτν sic P 16 ϊδρυθήσεται P: ϊδρυνθήσεται F, EMV 18 πληθυντικῶς] π suprascripto θ̑ P || κρείτω P: κρείττονα E: κρείττο F 19 πότερα FE 20 καὶ τίνα F 21 ἀρρενι(κων) P, M: ἀρ’ ἐνικῶν V: ἀρρενων F, E: ἀρσενικῶν s
2. For comparisons between literary composition and civil or marine architecture cp. C.V. c. 22, Quintil. Inst. Or. vii. 1 (proem.), Cic. de Or. iii. 171. A metaphor from building underlies the rhetorical use in all or most of such words as: κανών, γόμφος, πυργοῦν, ἀντερείδειν, στηριγμός, ἀντιστηριγμός, ἕδρα, τέκτων, ὕλη, κατασκευάζειν, ἐγκατάσκευος.
5. ταῦτα refers forward here, cp. 112 8 with 112 4. In 110 9 ἥδε refers backward—‘the foregoing.’
7. ἐπὶ ποίας πλευρᾶς, ‘on what side,’ i.e. ‘with what attention to stratification or grain.’ A builder likes to place stone in courses as it lay in the quarry: he knows that, if what lay horizontally is set perpendicularly, it will not last so well. Or the reference here may be simply to the difference in general appearance made by laying a stone in one of several possible ways.
10. If ποιεῖν be omitted with F, it must be mentally supplied from the general sense of the verbs that follow. Cp. Plato Gorg. 491 D ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐδὲν δεῖ, αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄρχειν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων; Demosth. de Cor. § 139 καίτοι δυοῖν αὐτὸν ἀνάγκη θάτερον, ἢ μηδὲν ἐγκαλεῖν κτλ., Soph. Philoct. 310 ἐκεῖνο δ’ οὐδείς, ἡνίκ’ ἂν μνησθῶ, θέλει | σῶσαί μ’ ἐς οἴκους, id. Antig. 497 θέλεις τι μεῖζον ἢ κατακτεῖναί μ’ ἑλών;
13. For οὐκ ἄμεινον Usener substitutes εὖ ἢ ἄμεινον. The corruption of εὖ ἢ to οὐκ might easily happen in uncial writing, and the reading οὐκ is as old as the Epitome. But the εὖ comes unexpectedly after ἐπιτηδείως, and the emendation is not convincing. The manuscript reading has, therefore, been kept, though οὐκ ἄμεινον is a difficult litotes.
15. σχηματισθέν: grammatical form, or construction, is clearly meant here.
16. From here to the end of the chapter the general sense is: We must, in the interests of harmonious composition, make the fullest possible use of alternative forms—now a noun, now a verb; now a singular, now a plural; now a nominative, now an oblique case; now a masculine, and then a feminine or neuter; and so with voices, moods, and tenses—with forms such as τουτονί and τοῦτον, ἰδών and κατιδών, χωροφιλῆσαι and φιλοχωρῆσαι, λελύσεται and λυθήσεται,—and with elision, hiatus, and the employment of νῦ ἐφελκυστικόν. Many of these points will be found illustrated in Ep. ad Amm. II., where the subject of some of the characters is as follows: c. 5 use of noun for verb, c. 6 use of verb for noun, c. 7 substitution of passive for active voice, c. 9 interchange of singular and plural number, c. 10 interchange of the three genders, c. 11 use of cases, c. 12 use of tenses. See D.H. pp. 138-49, together with the notes added on pp. 178-81. As Ep. ad Amm. II. shows, Dionysius is fully alive to the dangers of this continual straining of language. Absolutely interchangeable expressions are not common.
18. πληθυντικῶς: cp. the use of the plural in Virg. Aen. 155 “vos arae ensesque nefandi, | quos fugi.”
21. ἐκ θηλυκῶν ἀρρενικά: cf. Quintil. Inst. Or. ix. 3. 6 “fiunt ergo et circa genus figurae in nominibus, nam et oculis capti talpae [Virg. Georg. i. 183] et timidi damae [Virg. Ecl. viii. 28, Georg. iii. 539] dicuntur a Vergilio; sed subest ratio, quia sexus uterque altero significatur, tamque mares esse talpas damasque quam feminas, certum est.” Besides the reason given by Quintilian, the desire to avoid monotony of termination (excessive ὁμοιοτέλευτον) also counts.—The present passage may further be illustrated by Dionysius’ own words in Ep. ad Amm. II. c. 10: “Examples of the interchange of masculines, feminines and neuters, in contravention of the ordinary rules of language, are such as the following. He [Thucydides] uses τάραχος in the masculine for ταραχή in the feminine, and similarly ὄχλος for ὄχλησις. In place of τὴν βούλησιν and τὴν δύναμιν he uses τὸ βουλόμενον and τὸ δυνάμενον.”
ἐκ τούτων, πῶς ἂν ἄμεινον σχηματισθείη, καὶ πάντα τὰ
τοιαῦτα· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ῥημάτων, πότερα κρείττω λαμβανόμενα
ἔσται, τὰ ὀρθὰ ἢ τὰ ὕπτια, καὶ κατὰ ποίας ἐγκλίσεις ἐκφερόμενα,
ἃς δή τινες πτώσεις ῥηματικὰς καλοῦσι, κρατίστην ἕδραν
λήψεται, καὶ ποίας παρεμφαίνοντα διαφορὰς χρόνων καὶ εἴ 5
τινα τοῖς ῥήμασιν ἄλλα παρακολουθεῖν πέφυκε (τὰ δ’ αὐτὰ
ταῦτα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοῦ λόγου μερῶν φυλακτέον, ἵνα
μὴ καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον λέγω)· ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις τὰ ληφθέντα
διακρίνειν, εἴ τι δεῖται μετασκευῆς ὄνομα ἢ ῥῆμα, πῶς ἂν
ἐναρμονιώτερόν τε καὶ εὐεδρότερον γένοιτο· τοῦτο τὸ στοιχεῖον 10
ἐν μὲν ποιητικῇ δαψιλέστερόν ἐστιν, ἐν δὲ λόγοις πεζοῖς
σπανιώτερον· πλὴν γίνεταί γε καὶ ἐν τούτοις ἐφ’ ὅσον ἂν
ἐγχωρῇ· ὅ τε γὰρ λέγων “εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα” προστέθεικέ
τι τῇ ἀντωνυμίᾳ γράμμα τῆς συνθέσεως στοχαζόμενος· ἄρτιον
γὰρ ἦν “εἰς τοῦτον τὸν ἀγῶνα” εἰπεῖν· καὶ πάλιν ὁ λέγων 15
“κατιδὼν Νεοπτόλεμον τὸν ὑποκριτήν” τῇ προθέσει παρηύξηκεν
τοὔνομα, τὸ γὰρ ἰδὼν ἀπέχρη· καὶ ὁ γράφων “μήτ’ ἰδίας
ἔχθρας μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’ ἥκειν” ταῖς συναλοιφαῖς ἠλάττωκε τὰ
or a masculine instead of a feminine, or a neuter instead of either: and so on. With reference to verbs, again: which form it will be best to adopt, the active or the passive, and in what moods (or verbal cases, as some call them) they should be presented so as to receive the best setting, as also what differences of tense should be indicated; and so with all the other natural accidents of verbs. These same methods must be followed in regard to the other parts of speech also; there is no need to go into details. Further, with respect to the words thus selected, if any noun or verb requires a modification of its form, it must be decided how it can be brought into better harmony and symmetry with its neighbours. This principle can be applied more freely in poetry than in prose. Still, in prose also, it is applied, where opportunity offers. The speaker who says “εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα”118 has added a letter to the pronoun with an eye to the effect of the composition. The bare meaning would have been sufficiently conveyed by saying “εἰς τοῦτον τὸν ἀγῶνα”. So in the words “κατιδὼν Νεοπτόλεμον τὸν ὑποκριτήν”119 the addition of the preposition has merely expanded the word into κατιδών, since ἰδών alone would have conveyed the meaning. So, too, in the expression “μήτ’ ἰδίας ἔχθρας μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’ ἥκειν”120 the writer has cut off some of the letters, and has condensed the
2 τε EFMV1 || κρείττω EF: κρείττονα PMV || λαβόμενα ἔσται F: ἔσται λαμβανόμενα EPMV 4 καλοῦσιν P 6 πέφυκεν P || δὲ PMV 8 ἓν om. F 9 δεῖται F: δεῖ PMV || μετὰ κα(τα)σκευ(ης) P, M || πῶς Usener: ὡς libri 12 πλὴν EF: om. PMV || τε PV: om. F1EM || ὅσο*ν F, E: ὁπόσον PMV 14 ἀντ(ω)νυμία P 17 ἀπέχρη καὶ ὁ F: ἀπέχρηκεν ὅ τε P 18 ἔχθρας] ἔχθρας ἐμὲ Demosth. || ἔνεχ’ F: ἕνεκ’ PV || εικειν P1, V || συναλειφαῖς F: συναλιφαῖς P
8. Cp. Batteux Réflexions p. 181: “Cette opération [sc. μετασκευή] ne peut pas avoir lieu en français, parce que nos mots sont faits et consacrés dans leur forme par un usage que les écrivains ne peuvent ni changer ni altérer: la poésie n’a pas sur ce point plus de privilége que la prose; mais cela n’empêche pas que nous ne fassions dans notre langue une grande partie des opérations qu’indique Denys d’Halicarnasse dans le chapitre vi. Nous mettons dans nos verbes un temps pour un autre, l’actif pour le passif, le passif pour l’actif; nous prenons les substantifs adjectivement, les adjectifs substantivement, quelquefois adverbialement, les singuliers pour les pluriels, les pluriels pour les singuliers; nous changeons les personnes; nous varions les finales, tantôt masculines, tantôt féminines; nous renversons les constructions, nous faisons des ellipses hardies, etc. etc. Tous ceux qui font des vers savent de combien de manières on tourne et retourne les expressions d’une pensée qui résiste; ceux qui travaillent leur prose le savent de même que les poëtes.”
9. For Usener’s correction πῶς cp. 106 15, 108 1; and for F’s δεῖται cp. 104 19.
11. Examples in Latin poetry would be ‘gnatus’ for ‘natus,’ or ‘amarunt’ and ‘amavere’ for ‘amaverunt.’
13. We have an English parallel in the dialect form ‘thik’ and ‘thikky,’ both of which stand for this; or ‘the forthcoming’ and ‘the coming’ might be employed in the translation, and ‘syllable’ be substituted for ‘letter.’
14. ἄρτιον: for the meaning cp. ἀπέχρη 108 17. The implication is that τουτονί (as compared with τοῦτον) is περισσόν.
16. Demosth. περὶ τῆς Εἰρήνης § 6, πάλιν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατιδὼν Νεοπτόλεμον τὸν ὑποκριτὴν τῷ μὲν τῆς τέχνης προσχήματι τυγχάνοντ’ ἀδείας, κακὰ δ’ ἐργαζόμενον τὰ μέγιστα τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ παρ’ ὑμῶν διοικοῦντα Φιλίππῳ καὶ πρυτανεύοντα, παρελθὼν εἶπον εἰς ὑμᾶς, οὐδεμιᾶς ἰδίας οὔτ’ ἔχθρας οὔτε συκοφαντίας ἕνεκεν, ὡς ἐκ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτ’ ἔργων γέγονε δῆλον. If κατιδών here means little or nothing more than ἰδών, we might compare ‘entreat’ in the sense of ‘treat’, or Chaucer’s use of ‘apperceive’ for ‘perceive.’ Dionysius’ meaning, however, probably is not that τουτονί and τοῦτον, κατιδών and ἰδών, are actual synonyms, but rather that the shorter form would have sufficed.
17. Demosth. κατὰ Ἀριστοκράτους § 1, μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ μήτ’ ἰδίας ἔχθρας ἐμὲ μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’ ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα τουτουΐ, μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον ἁμάρτημ’ ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειαν, ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἄρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ λογίζομαι καὶ σκοπῶ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χερρόνησον ἔχειν ὑμᾶς ἀσφαλῶς καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς, περὶ τούτου μοί ἐστιν ἅπασ’ ἡ σπουδή. The passage is fully discussed (from the rhythmical, or metrical, point of view) in C.V. c. 25.
μόρια τοῦ λόγου κἀποκέκρουκέ τινα τῶν γραμμάτων· καὶ ὁ
ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐποίησεν “ἐποίησε” λέγων χωρὶς τοῦ ν̄ καὶ “ἔγραψε”
ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔγραψεν λέγων καὶ “ἀφαιρήσομαι” ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀφαιρεθήσομαι
καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὅ τ’ “ἐχωροφίλησε” λέγων τὸ
ἐφιλοχώρησε καὶ “λελύσεται” τὸ λυθήσεται καὶ τὰ τοιουτότροπα 5
μετασκευάζει τὰς λέξεις, ἵν’ αὐτῷ γένοιντο ἁρμοσθῆναι καλλίους
καὶ ἐπιτηδειότεραι.
VII
μία μὲν δὴ θεωρία τῆς συνθετικῆς ἐπιστήμης ἡ περὶ
αὐτὰ τὰ πρῶτα μόρια καὶ στοιχεῖα τῆς λέξεως ἥδε· ἑτέρα
δέ, ὥσπερ καὶ κατ’ ἀρχὰς ἔφην, ἡ περὶ τὰ καλούμενα κῶλα, 10
ποικιλωτέρας τε δεομένη πραγματείας καὶ μείζονος, ὑπὲρ ἧς
αὐτίκα δὴ πειράσομαι λέγειν ὡς ἔχω γνώμης. καὶ γὰρ
ταῦτα ἁρμόσαι πρὸς ἄλληλα δεῖ ὥστ’ οἰκεῖα φαίνεσθαι καὶ
φίλα καὶ σχηματίσαι ὡς ἂν ἐνδέχηται κράτιστα προσκατασκευάσαι
τε, εἴ πού τι δέοι, μειώσει καὶ πλεονασμῷ καὶ εἰ 15
δή τιν’ ἄλλην μετασκευὴν δέχεται τὰ κῶλα· τούτων δ’
ἕκαστον ἡ πεῖρα αὐτὴ διδάσκει· πολλάκις γὰρ τουτὶ τὸ
κῶλον τούτου μὲν προτεθὲν ἢ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τεθὲν εὐστομίαν
τινὰ ἐμφαίνει καὶ σεμνότητα, ἑτέραν δέ τινα συζυγίαν λαβὸν
ἄχαρι φαίνεται καὶ ἄσεμνον. ὃ δὲ λέγω, σαφέστερον ἔσται, 20
εἴ τις αὐτὸ ἐπὶ παραδείγματος ἴδοι. ἔστι δή τις παρὰ τῷ
Θουκυδίδῃ λέξις ἐν τῇ Πλαταιέων δημηγορίᾳ πάνυ χαριέντως
συγκειμένη καὶ μεστὴ πάθους ἥδε· “ὑμεῖς τε, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι,
discourse through the elisions. So again by using “ἐποίησε” (without the ν) in place of ἐποίησεν, and “ἔγραψε” in place of ἔγραψεν, and “ἀφαιρήσομαι” in place of ἀφαιρεθήσομαι, and all instances of the kind; and by saying “ἐχωροφίλησε” for ἐφιλοχώρησε and “λελύσεται” for λυθήσεται, and things of that sort:—by such devices an author puts his words into a new shape, in order that he may fit them together more beautifully and appropriately.
Chapter VII — Grouping of Clauses
The foregoing, then, is one branch of the art of composition which requires consideration: namely, that which relates to the primary parts and elements of speech. But there is another, as I said at the beginning, which is concerned with the so-called “members” (“clauses”), and this requires fuller and more elaborate treatment. My views on this topic I will try to express forthwith.
The clauses must be fitted to one another so as to present an aspect of harmony and concord; they must be given the best form which they admit of; they must further be remodelled if necessary by shortening, lengthening, and any other change of form which clauses admit. As to each of these details experience itself must be your teacher. It will often happen that the placing of one clause before or after another brings out a certain euphony and dignity, while a different grouping sounds unpleasing and undignified. My meaning will be clearer if illustrated by an example. There is a well-known passage of Thucydides in the speech of the Plataeans, a delightfully arranged sentence full of deep feeling, which is as follows: “And we fear, men of Sparta, lest you, our only hope, should
1 κἀποκέκρουκέ Us.: καὶ π(ερι)κέκρ(ου)κέ P,EFM: καὶ παρακέκρουκε V || ὁ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐποίησεν ἐποίησε F: ὁ ἐποίησε ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐποίησεν P: ὃ (τὸ V) ἐποίησεν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐποίησε M, V 2 ἔγραψε ἀντὶ τοῦ ἔγραψεν λέγων καὶ om. EF 4 ἐχωροφίλησε E: χωροφίλησε F: χωροφιλῆσαι PMV 5 φιλοχωρῆσαι PMV || τὸ F: λέγων τὸ PMV 6 ΐνα P, MV || ἁρμοσθεῖσαι PMV || καλλίονες EF 8 συνθετικῆς] συνθέσεως F 9 πρῶτα om. F || καὶ] καὶ τὰ EF || ἥδε EFM: om. PV 10 δέ om. P || ὥπερ P || καὶ κατ’] κατ’ F || ἔφην F: ἔφαμεν PMV 13 ὥστ’ P: ὥστε F: ὡς MV 14 προκατασκευάσαι E 16 μετασκευὴν Schaefer: κατασκευὴν libri 17 ἕκαστα EF 23 ἡμεῖς EF
2. χωρὶς τοῦ ν̄: Dionysius implies that, in his opinion, the so-called νῦ ἐφελκυστικόν is, or has become, an integral part of the verbal termination and is not reserved for use before vowels only. His view has some support in the usage of the best manuscripts.
Usener brackets the words ἔγραψε... καί. But πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα suggests their retention, and their omission in an epitome (E) is natural. Dionysius wishes to indicate that his statement is general and does not apply simply to the particular verb ἐποίησε.
4. φιλοχωρεῖν and χωροφιλεῖν: see Glossary, under φιλοχωρεῖν.
5. Cp. Demosth. περὶ τῶν Συμμοριῶν § 2, πᾶς ὁ παρὼν φόβος λελύσεται.
9. ἥδε = ‘the foregoing,’ cp. n. on ταῦτα p. 106 supra.
10. ὥσπερ καὶ κατ’ ἀρχὰς ἔφην: 72 9, 104 9. The reading ἔφην (rather than ἔφαμεν) accords best with Dionysius’ usage.
23. Cp. Cic. Orat. cc. 63, 66 for similar Latin instances of the effect of a change in word-order.—The complete sentence in Thucyd. iii. 57 runs: καὶ οὔτε τῶν τότε ξυμμάχων ὠφελεῖ οὐδείς, ὑμεῖς τε, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἡ μόνη ἐλπίς, δέδιμεν μὴ οὐ βέβαιοι ἦτε.
ἡ μόνη ἐλπίς, δέδιμεν μὴ οὐ βέβαιοι ἦτε.” φέρε δή τις
λύσας τὴν συζυγίαν ταύτην μεθαρμοσάτω τὰ κῶλα οὕτως·
“ὑμεῖς τε, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, δέδιμεν μὴ οὐ βέβαιοι ἦτε, ἡ
μόνη ἐλπίς.” ἆρ’ ἔτι μένει τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἡρμοσμένων τῶν
κώλων ἡ αὐτὴ χάρις ἢ τὸ αὐτὸ πάθος; οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι. τί 5
δ’ εἰ τὴν Δημοσθένους λέξιν ταύτην “τὸ λαβεῖν οὖν τὰ
διδόμενα ὁμολογῶν ἔννομον εἶναι, τὸ χάριν τούτων ἀποδοῦναι
παρανόμων γράφῃ” λύσας τις καὶ μεταθεὶς τὰ κῶλα τουτονὶ
τὸν τρόπον ἐξενέγκαι· “ὁμολογῶν οὖν ἔννομον εἶναι τὸ λαβεῖν
τὰ διδόμενα, παρανόμων γράφῃ τὸ τούτων χάριν ἀποδοῦναι,” 10
ἆρ’ ὁμοίως ἔσται δικανικὴ καὶ στρογγύλη; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ
οἴομαι.
VIII
ἡ μὲν δὴ περὶ τὴν ἁρμογὴν τῶν κώλων θεωρία τοιαύτη,
ἡ δὲ περὶ τὸν σχηματισμὸν ποδαπή; οὐκ ἔστιν εἷς τρόπος
τῆς ἐκφορᾶς ἁπάντων τῶν νοημάτων, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ὡς 15
ἀποφαινόμενοι λέγομεν, τὰ δ’ ὡς πυνθανόμενοι, τὰ δ’ ὡς
εὐχόμενοι, τὰ δ’ ὡς ἐπιτάττοντες, τὰ δ’ ὡς διαποροῦντες, τὰ
δ’ ὡς ὑποτιθέμενοι, τὰ δὲ ἄλλως πως σχηματίζοντες, οἷς
ἀκολούθως καὶ τὴν λέξιν πειρώμεθα σχηματίζειν. πολλοὶ δὲ
δήπου σχηματισμοὶ καὶ τῆς λέξεώς εἰσιν ὥσπερ καὶ τῆς 20
διανοίας, οὓς οὐχ οἷόν τε κεφαλαιωδῶς περιλαβεῖν, ἴσως δὲ
καὶ ἄπειροι· περὶ ὧν καὶ πολὺς ὁ λόγος καὶ βαθεῖα ἡ θεωρία.
οὐ δὴ τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται ποιεῖν τὸ αὐτὸ κῶλον οὕτω σχηματισθὲν
fail in steadfastness.”121 Now let this order be disturbed and the clauses be re-arranged as follows: “And we fear, men of Sparta, lest you should fail in steadfastness, that are our only hope.” When the clauses are arranged in this way, does the same fine charm remain, or the same deep feeling? Plainly not. Again, take this passage of Demosthenes, “So you admit as constitutional the acceptance of the offerings; you indict as unconstitutional the rendering of thanks for them.”122 Let the order be disturbed, and the clauses interchanged and presented in the following form: “So the acceptance of the offerings you admit as constitutional; the rendering of thanks for them you indict as unconstitutional.” Will the sentence be equally neat and effective? I, for my part, do not think so.
Chapter VIII — Shaping of Clauses
The principles governing the arrangement of clauses have now been stated. What principles govern their shaping?
The complete utterance of our thoughts takes more than one form. We throw them at one time into the shape of an assertion, at another into that of an inquiry, or a prayer, or a command, or a doubt, or a supposition, or some other shape of the kind; and into conformity with these we try to mould the diction itself. There are, in fact, many figures of diction, just as there are of thought. It is not possible to classify them exhaustively; indeed, they are perhaps innumerable. Their treatment would require a long disquisition and profound investigation. But that the same clause is not equally telling in all its various modes of presentation,
1 ἡ μόνη ἐλπίς add. in marg. F || ἡ μόνη] ἡμῶν ἡ EF1M1 || φέρε... (4) ἦτε add. in marg. F 6 δ’ F: δὲ M: δαὶ PV 8 παρανόμον P: παράνομον F || γράφηι· F: γράφηι· εἰ P, MV | τοῦτον PMV 10 παράνομον FP: παρανόμῳ V || ἀποδιδόναι P 14 ποταπή PMV 15 τῆς om. P || ἁπάντων EF: om. PMV: τῶν om. F || ὀνομάτων PMV
2. It is impossible to give real English equivalents in cases like this,—partly because of the fundamental differences between the two languages, and partly because we do not know Dionysius’ own estimate of the exact effect which the changes he introduces have upon the rhythm, emphasis, and clearness of the sentence. The same considerations apply in lines 6-10, where the English principle of emphasis makes it necessary to depart widely from the Greek order in both the original and the re-written form. See Introduction, pp. 17 ff. supra (under Emphasis). A striking instance of effective emphasis in English is Macduff’s passionate out-burst:—
Not in the legions
Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn’d
In ills to top Macbeth.
“If you dispose the words in the usual manner, and say, ‘A more damned devil in the legions of horrid hell cannot come to top Macbeth in ills,’ we shall scarcely be persuaded that the thought is the same,” Campbell Philosophy of Rhetoric p. 496. Biblical instances are: (1) “Nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin” (Nehem. xiii. 26); (2) “Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?” (Zech. i. 5).
8. Sometimes the manuscript testimony is quite clear as between such forms as τουτονί and τοῦτον: cp. 116 9 n. In doubtful cases the -ί form might be adopted—in 64 6 and 84 17 as well as in 112 8 and 178 10.
14. Cp. Quintil. vi. 3. 70 “figuras quoque montis, quae σχήματα διανοίας dicuntur, res eadem recipit omnes, in quas nonnulli diviserunt species dictorum. nam et interrogamus et dubitamus et affirmamus et minamur et optamus, quaedam ut miserantes, quaedam ut irascentes dicimus,” and Hor. Ars. P. 108 “format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem | fortunarum habitum; iuvat aut impellit ad iram | aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit; | post effert animi motus interprete lingua.”
ἢ οὕτως. ἐρῶ δὲ ἐπὶ παραδείγματος· εἰ τοῦτον ἐξήνεγκε
τὸν τρόπον ὁ Δημοσθένης τὴν λέξιν ταύτην “ταῦτ’ εἰπὼν
ἔγραψα, γράψας δ’ ἐπρέσβευσα, πρεσβεύσας δ’ ἔπεισα Θηβαίους,”
ἆρ’ οὕτως ἂν συνέκειτο χαριέντως, ὡς νῦν σύγκειται;
“οὐκ εἶπον μὲν ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔγραψα δέ· οὐδ’ ἔγραψα μέν, οὐκ 5
ἐπρέσβευσα δέ· οὐδ’ ἐπρέσβευσα μέν, οὐκ ἔπεισα δὲ Θηβαίους.”
πολὺς δ’ ἂν εἴη μοι λόγος, εἰ περὶ πάντων βουλοίμην λέγειν
τῶν σχηματισμῶν ὅσους τὰ κῶλα ἐπιδέχεται. ἀπόχρη δὲ
εἰσαγωγῆς ἕνεκα τοσαῦτα εἰρῆσθαι.
IX
ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι γε καὶ μετασκευὰς δέχεται τῶν κώλων ἔνια 10
τοτὲ μὲν προσθήκας λαμβάνοντα οὐκ ἀναγκαίας ὡς πρὸς τὸν
νοῦν, τοτὲ δὲ ἀφαιρέσεις ἀτελῆ ποιούσας τὴν διάνοιαν, ἃς οὐκ
ἄλλου τινὸς ἕνεκα ποιοῦσι ποιηταί τε καὶ συγγραφεῖς ἢ τῆς
ἁρμονίας, ἵν’ ἡδεῖα καὶ καλὴ γένηται, πάνυ ὀλίγου δεῖν οἴομαι
λόγου. τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσαι τήνδε τὴν λέξιν ἣν ὁ 15
Δημοσθένης εἴρηκε προσθήκῃ πλεονάζειν οὐκ ἀναγκαίᾳ τῆς
ἁρμονίας ἕνεκα; “ὁ γὰρ οἷς ἂν ἐγὼ ληφθείην, ταῦτα πράττων
καὶ κατασκευαζόμενος, οὗτος ἐμοὶ πολεμεῖ, κἂν μήπω βάλλῃ
μηδὲ τοξεύῃ.” ἐνταῦθα γὰρ οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου χάριν πρόσκειται
τὸ τοξεύειν, ἀλλ’ ἵνα τὸ τελευταῖον κῶλον τὸ “κἂν 20
μήπω βάλλῃ” τραχύτερον τοῦ δέοντος ὂν καὶ οὐχ ἡδὺ ἀκουσθῆναι
I will show by an example. If Demosthenes had expressed himself thus in the following passage, “Having spoken thus, I moved a resolution; and having moved a resolution, I joined the embassy; and having joined the embassy, I convinced the Thebans,” would the sentence have been composed with the charm of its actual arrangement,—“I did not speak thus, and then fail to move a resolution; I did not move a resolution, and then fail to join the embassy; I did not join the embassy, and then fail to convince the Thebans”?123 It would take me a long time to deal with all the modes of expression which clauses admit. It is enough to say thus much by way of introduction.
Chapter IX — Lengthening and Shortening of Clauses and Periods
I think I can in a very few words show that some clauses admit changes which take the form now of additions not necessary to the sense, now of curtailments rendering the sense incomplete; and that these changes are introduced by poets and prose-writers simply in order to add charm and beauty to the rhythm. Thus the following expression used by Demosthenes indisputably contains a pleonastic addition made for the sake of the rhythm: “He who contrives and prepares means whereby I may be captured is at war with me, though not yet shooting javelins or arrows.”124 Here the reference to “arrows” is added not out of necessity, but in order that the last clause “though not yet shooting javelins,” being rougher than it ought to be and not pleasant to
2 εἰπ(ων) P, MV: εἴπ(ας) F, E 5 οὐκ prim. Dem.: καὶ οὐκ libri 6 δὲ alt om. F 7 δ’ F: om. PMV 14 γένοιτο PMV 15 ὁμολογῆσαι PV: ὁμολογήσηι F || μὲν post τήνδε habet F 19 ἐνταῦθα... (21) βάλλῃ servarunt FM 21 βραχύτερον V: βραχυτέρα ex βραχύτερα P
1. Cicero (Philipp. xii. 3. 7) has the following climax: “Quid enim potest, per deos immortales! rei publicae prodesse nostra legatio? Prodesse dico? quid, si etiam obfutura est? Obfutura? quid, si iam nocuit atque obfuit?” Obviously it would be fatal to re-write this passage thus: “nostra legatio non poterit prodesse rei publicae, immo obfutura est, et iam nocuit.”
2. With εἰπών (rather than εἴπας) cp. line 5 (εἶπον, not εἶπα), though P gives προεῖπα in 280 19. In the Epitome εἴπας is found in V only, the other three MSS. giving εἰπών.—In Hellenistic times the non-sigmatic aorists constantly occur with the -α of the sigmatic aorists; but it is hardly likely that so good an Atticist as Dionysius would attribute εἴπας to Demosthenes, and introduce cacophony.
4. Cp. Demetr. de Eloc. § 270 λαμβάνοιτ’ ἂν καὶ ἡ κλῖμαξ καλουμένη, ὥσπερ Δημοσθένει τὸ “οὐκ εἶπον μὲν ταῦτα, οὐκ ἔγραψα δέ· οὐδ’ ἔγραψα μέν, οὐκ ἔπεισα δὲ Θηβαίους”· σχεδὸν γὰρ ἐπαναβαίνοντι ὁ λόγος ἔοικεν ἐπὶ μειζόνων μείζονα· εἰ δὲ οὕτως εἴποι τις ταῦτα, “εἰπὼν ἐγὼ καὶ γράψας ἐπρέσβευσά τε καὶ ἔπεισα Θηβαίους,” διήγημα ἐρεῖ μόνον, δεινὸν δὲ οὐδέν.
8. Dionysius seems subsequently to have written a special treatise περὶ σχημάτων: cp. Quintil. ix. 3. 89 “haec omnia copiosius sunt exsecuti, qui non ut partem operis transcurrerunt sed proprie libros huic operi dedicaverunt, sicut Caecilius, Dionysius, Rutilius, Cornificius, Visellius aliique non pauci.” The use of νῦν in de Demosth. c. 39 seems to point to an intention of the kind on Dionysius’ part: ἐξαριθμεῖσθαι δὲ νῦν, ὅσα γένη σχηματισμῶν ἐστι τῶν τε κατωνομασμένων καὶ τῶν ἀκατονομάστων, καὶ τίσιν αὐτῶν ἡ τοιαύτη μάλιστα πέφυκεν ἁρμονία χαίρειν, οὐκ ἔχω καιρόν.
10. This sentence of Dionysius himself may serve to show how successfully and conveniently Greek, as compared with English, can make a conjunction depend on words which came long after (viz. πάνυ ὀλίγου δεῖν οἴομαι λόγου in line 14).
16. προσθήκῃ οὐκ ἀναγκαίᾳ: compare, for example, such harmonious redundancies as οἱ δ’ ἐπεὶ οὖν ἤγερθεν ὁμηγερέες τ’ ἐγένοντο (Il. i. 57) and “when we assemble and meet together” (Book of Common Prayer).
20. Quintil. ix. 4. 63 “namque eo fit ut, cum Demosthenis severa videatur compositio, πρῶτον μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῖς θεοῖς εὔχομαι πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις, et illa (quae ab uno, quod sciam, Bruto minus probatur, ceteris placet) κἂν μήπω βάλλῃ μηδὲ τοξεύῃ, Ciceronem carpant in his: Familiaris coeperat esse balneatori, et Non minimum dura archipiratae. Nam balneatori et archipiratae idem finis est qui πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις et qui μηδὲ τοξεύῃ: sed priora sunt severiora.”
21. In τραχύτερον Dionysius is apparently referring to the sound of two spondees (each forming a separate word) at the end of a sentence, and to the improvement effected by the addition of a cretic followed by a spondee.—P and V give βραχύτερον, which is perhaps right, since a clause that is shorter than it ought to be can be improved (cp. 114 16) by extension.
τῇ προσθήκῃ ταύτῃ γένηται χαριέστερον. καὶ ἔτι τὴν
Πλατωνικὴν ἐκείνην περίοδον, ἣν ἐν τῷ ἐπιταφίῳ ὁ ἀνὴρ
γράφει, τίς οὐκ ἂν φαίη παραπληρώματι λέξεως οὐκ ἀναγκαίῳ
προσηρανίσθαι; “ἔργων γὰρ εὖ πραχθέντων λόγῳ καλῶς
ῥηθέντι μνήμη καὶ κόσμος γίνεται τοῖς πράξασι παρὰ τῶν 5
ἀκουσάντων.” ἐνταυθοῖ γὰρ τὸ “παρὰ τῶν ἀκουσάντων” πρὸς
οὐδὲν ἀναγκαῖον λέγεται, ἀλλ’ ἵνα τὸ τελευταῖον κῶλον τὸ
“τοῖς πράξασι” πάρισόν τε καὶ ἐφάμιλλον τοῖς πρὸ αὐτοῦ
γένηται. τί δὲ δὴ τὸ παρ’ Αἰσχίνῃ λεγόμενον τουτί “ἐπὶ
σαυτὸν καλεῖς, ἐπὶ τοὺς νόμους καλεῖς, ἐπὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν 10
καλεῖς,” τρίκωλον ἐν τοῖς πάνυ ἐπαινούμενον, οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς
ἰδέας ἔχεται; ὃ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἦν ἑνὶ κώλῳ περιληφθῆναι τόνδε
τὸν τρόπον “ἐπὶ σεαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν
καλεῖς,” τοῦτο εἰς τρία διῄρηται, τῆς αὐτῆς λέξεως οὐ τοῦ
ἀναγκαίου ἕνεκα, τοῦ δὲ ἡδίω ποιῆσαι τὴν ἁρμονίαν πολλάκις 15
τεθείσης [καὶ προσέτι πάθος τῷ λόγῳ]. τῆς μὲν δὴ προσθέσεως
ἣ γίνεται τοῖς κώλοις οὗτος ὁ τρόπος· τῆς ἀφαιρέσεως
δὲ τίς; ὅταν τῶν ἀναγκαίων τι λέγεσθαι λυπεῖν μέλλῃ καὶ
διοχλεῖν τὴν ἀκρόασιν, ἀφαιρεθὲν δὲ χαριεστέραν ποιῇ τὴν
ἁρμονίαν· οἷά ἐστιν ἐν μὲν τοῖς μέτροις τὰ Σοφόκλεια ταυτί· 20
μύω τε καὶ δέδορκα κἀξανίσταμαι
πλέον φυλάσσων αὐτὸς ἢ φυλάσσομαι·
ἐνταυθοῖ γὰρ ὁ δεύτερος στίχος ἐκ δυεῖν σύγκειται κώλων οὐχ
ὅλων· τελεία γὰρ ἂν ἡ λέξις ἦν οὕτως ἐξενεχθεῖσα “πλεῖον
the ear, may be made more attractive by this addition. Again, the famous period of Plato which that author inserts in the Funeral Speech has beyond dispute been extended by a supplement not necessary to the sense: “When deeds have been nobly done, then through speech finely uttered there come honour and remembrance to the doers from the hearers.”125 Here the words “from the hearers” are not at all necessary to the sense; they are added in order that the last clause, “to the doers,” may correspond with and balance what has preceded it. Again, take these words found in Aeschines, “you summon him against yourself; you summon him against the laws; you summon him against the democracy,”126 a sentence of great celebrity, formed of three clauses: does it not belong to the class we are considering? What could have been embraced in one clause as follows, “you summon him against yourself and the laws and the democracy,” has been divided into three, the same expression being repeated not from any necessity but in order to make the rhythm more agreeable.
In such ways, then, may clauses be expanded: how can they be abridged? This comes about when something necessary to the sense is likely to offend and jar on the ear, and when, consequently, its removal adds to the charm of the rhythm. An example, in verse, is afforded by the following lines of Sophocles:—
I close mine eyes, I open them, I rise—
Myself the warder rather than the warded.127
Here the second line is composed of two imperfect clauses. The expression would have been complete if it had run thus,
1 γεγένηται PMV || χαριέστερα F 6 ἐνταυθοῖ... ἀκουσάντων F, E: om. PMV 7 τὸ ante τοῖς om. EF 11 ἐπαινουμένοις F 15 ἡδείαν F, M 16 καὶ... λόγῳ secl. Us.: προσἔτι F, M: πρόσεστι PV 19 ποιῆι P, M: ποιεῖ EFV: ποιεῖν coni. Reiskius 20 ἁρμονίαν F: ἐρμηνείαν P, MV || οἵα F: οἷάπέρ PMV || μὲν F: om. PMV 21 καὶ ξυνίσταμαι P 22 πλέον... (24) ἐξενεχθεῖσα om. P
2. ὁ ἀνήρ is used by Dionysius with various shades of meaning,—‘the author,’ ‘the Master,’ ‘the worthy,’ etc. Cp. 96 8, 182 2, 184 12, 186 2, 198 4, 228 15, 264 25.
5. In the actual text of Menex. 236 E there is a slight difference of order, viz. τοῖς πράξασι γίγνεται instead of γίνεται τοῖς πράξασι (as Dionysius gives it).
6. The Epitome makes the meaning quite plain by inserting παραπλήρωμα τῆς λέξεως between ἀκουσάντων and πρὸς οὐδέν.
9. Here all MSS. agree in giving the form τουτί. The same agreement will be found in 86 9, 110 17, 116 20, 120 24, 156 15, 158 5, etc.
10. Demetrius, de Eloc. § 268, regards this sentence as an example of three ‘figures,’—anaphora, asyndeton, and homoeoteleuton. He adds, “Were we to write ’you summon him against yourself and the laws and the democracy,’ the force would vanish together with the figures.”—Similarly, “Appius eos [servos] postulavit et produxit” would be less telling than “Quis eos postulavit? Appius. Quis produxit? Appius. Unde? ab Appio” (Cic. pro Milone 22. 59).
11. τῆς αὐτῆς ἰδέας, ‘the same form of expression,’ i.e. the effectively pleonastic.
16. If the words καὶ προσέτι πάθος τῷ λόγῳ are retained, ποιῆσαι (in a slightly different sense) must be repeated in order to govern πάθος: unless some such word as γίγνεται can be supplied.
21. The context of these lines of Sophocles is not known, but the idea may well be that of ‘uneasy lies the head’ or οὐ χρὴ παννύχιον εὕδειν βουληφόρον ἄνδρα (Il. ii. 24). The ‘elliptical’ effect (an ellipse being implied by ἀφαίρεσις, cp. 116 17) is produced by the presence of αὐτός, which suggests that ἑτέρους and ὑφ’ ἑτέρων are to be mentally supplied.—Cp. Cic. in Q. Caec. Divin. 18. 58 “hic tu, si laesum te a Verre esse dices, patiar et concedam: si iniuriam tibi factam quereris, defendam et negabo”; and Racine Andromaque iv. 5 “Je t’aimais inconstant; qu’aurais-je fait fidèle?”
φυλάσσων αὐτὸς ἑτέρους ἢ φυλασσόμενος ὑφ’ ἑτέρων,” τὸ δὲ
μέτρον ἠδίκητο καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἔσχεν ἣν νυνὶ χάριν ἔχει. ἐν δὲ
τοῖς πεζοῖς λόγοις τὰ τοιαῦτα· “ἐγὼ δ’ ὅτι μὲν τινῶν κατηγοροῦντα
πάντας ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τὴν ἀτέλειαν τῶν ἀδίκων ἐστίν,
ἐάσω.” μεμείωται γὰρ κἀνταῦθα τῶν πρώτων δυεῖν κώλων 5
ἑκάτερον· αὐτοτελῆ δ’ ἂν ἦν, εἴ τις αὐτὰ οὕτως ἐξήνεγκεν·
“ἐγὼ δ’ ὅτι μὲν τινῶν κατηγοροῦντα ὡς οὐκ ἐπιτηδείων ἔχειν
τὴν ἀτέλειαν πάντας ἀφαιρεῖσθαι καὶ τοὺς δικαίως αὐτῆς
τυχόντας τῶν ἀδίκων ἐστίν, ἐάσω.” ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐδόκει τῷ
Δημοσθένει πλείονα ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν τῆς ἀκριβείας τῶν 10
κώλων ἢ τῆς εὐρυθμίας.
τὰ δ’ αὐτὰ εἰρήσθω μοι καὶ περὶ τῶν καλουμένων περιόδων·
καὶ γὰρ ταύτας χρὴ τάς τε προηγουμένας καὶ τὰς ἑπομένας
οἰκείως συναρμόττειν, ὅταν ἐν περιόδοις προσήκῃ τὸν λόγον
ἐκφέρειν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ πανταχῇ γε τὸ ἐμπερίοδον χρήσιμον. 15
καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ θεώρημα τῆς συνθετικῆς ἐπιστήμης ἴδιον,
πότε δεῖ χρῆσθαι περιόδοις καὶ μέχρι πόσου καὶ πότε μή.
X
διωρισμένων δή μοι τούτων ἀκόλουθον ἂν εἴη τὸ λέγειν,
τίνα ἐστὶν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι τὸν βουλόμενον συντιθέναι τὴν
λέξιν εὖ καὶ διὰ τίνων θεωρημάτων τυγχάνοι τις ἂν ὧν 20
βούλεται. δοκεῖ δέ μοι δύο ταῦτ’ εἶναι ‹τὰ› γενικώτατα, ὧν
ἐφίεσθαι δεῖ τοὺς συντιθέντας μέτρα τε καὶ λόγους, ἥ τε ἡδονὴ
καὶ τὸ καλόν· ἀμφότερα γὰρ ἐπιζητεῖ ταῦτα ἡ ἀκοή, ὅμοιόν
τι πάσχουσα τῇ ὁράσει· καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνη πλάσματα καὶ γραφὰς
“myself warding others rather than being warded by others.” But violence would have been done to the metre, and the line would not have acquired the charm which it actually has. In prose there are such instances as: “I will pass by the fact that it is a piece of injustice, simply because a man brings charges against some individuals, to attempt to withhold exemption from every one.”128 Here, too, each of the two first clauses is abbreviated. They would have been each complete in itself if worded thus: “I will pass by the fact that it is a piece of injustice, simply because a man brings charges against some individuals and declares them unfit for exemption, to attempt to withhold that privilege from every one—even those who are justly entitled to it.” But Demosthenes did not approve of paying more heed to the exactitude of the clauses than to the beauty of the rhythm.
I wish what I have just said to be understood as applying also to what are called “periods.” For, when it is fitting to express one’s meaning in periods, these too must be arranged so as to precede or follow each other appropriately. It must, of course, be understood that the periodic style is not suitable everywhere: and the question when periods should be used and to what extent, and when not, is precisely one of those with which the science of composition deals.
Chapter X — Aims and Methods of Good Composition
Now that I have laid down these broad outlines, the next step will be to state what should be the aims kept in view by the man who wishes to compose well, and by what methods his object can be attained. It seems to me that the two essentials to be aimed at by those who compose in verse and prose are charm and beauty. The ear craves for both of these. It is affected in somewhat the same way as the sense of sight which,
2 νυνὶ χάριν ἔχει EPMV: νῦν ἔχει χάριν F 4 ἀτέλειαν] δωρειὰν Demosth. 6 ἀτελῆ δὲ F 12 τὰ δ’ αὐτὰ F: ταῦτα δὲ MV: ταῦ(τα) δι’ P 13 ταύτας E: ταῦτα F: ταύταις PMV || ταῖς τε προηγουμέναις καὶ ταῖς ταύταις (ταύταις om. E) ἑπομέναις EPMV 14 ἐν FE: ἐν ταῖς PMV 17 περιόδωι P 18 ὡρισμένων P || τὸ λέγειν PMV: λέγειν F 21 τὰ add. Sauppius || γενικώτατα F, M: τελικ(ω)τατα P, M1V 22 μέτρα FP: εὖ μέτρα MV
4. Dionysius does not appear to feel that τῶν ἀδίκων is in any way ambiguous,—that it might, at first sight, seem to depend on τὴν ἀτέλειαν. In Greek a dependent genitive usually (at any rate in Thucydides; see p. 337 infra) precedes the noun on which it depends; and, in any case, the speaker would here pause slightly between τὴν ἀτέλειαν and τῶν ἀδίκων.
15. οὐ γὰρ δὴ πανταχῇ γε τὸ ἐμπερίοδον χρήσιμον. For an instance of the ‘running’ style, interspersed with the periodic, see Thucyd. i. 9. 2, where Shilleto remarks: “This paragraph seems to me to convey far more than any other which I have read an exemplification of the εἰρομένη λέξις of Aristot. Rhet. iii. 9. 2 (λέγω δὲ εἰρομένην, ἣ οὐδὲν ἔχει τέλος καθ’ αὑτήν, ἂν μὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα λεγόμενον τελειωθῇ). How Thukydides, so great a master of the κατεστραμμένη, ἐν περιόδοις, λέξις, should have written it, is to me a marvel.”
καὶ γλυφὰς καὶ ὅσα δημιουργήματα χειρῶν ἐστιν ἀνθρωπίνων
ὁρῶσα ὅταν εὑρίσκῃ τό τε ἡδὺ ἐνὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ καλόν,
ἀρκεῖται καὶ οὐδὲν ἔτι ποθεῖ. καὶ μὴ παράδοξον ἡγήσηταί
τις, εἰ δύο ποιῶ τέλη καὶ χωρίζω τὸ καλὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς,
μηδ’ ἄτοπον εἶναι νομίσῃ, εἴ τινα ἡγοῦμαι λέξιν ἡδέως μὲν 5
συγκεῖσθαι, μὴ καλῶς δέ, ἢ καλῶς μέν, οὐ μὴν καὶ ἡδέως·
φέρει γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ οὐδὲν ἀξιῶ καινόν· ἥ
γε τοι Θουκυδίδου λέξις καὶ ἡ Ἀντιφῶντος τοῦ Ῥαμνουσίου
καλῶς μὲν σύγκειται νὴ Δία, εἴπερ τινὲς καὶ ἄλλαι, καὶ
οὐκ ἄν τις αὐτὰς ἔχοι μέμψασθαι κατὰ τοῦτο, οὐ μὴν ἡδέως 10
γε πάνυ· ἡ δέ γε τοῦ Κνιδίου συγγραφέως Κτησίου καὶ ἡ
τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ Ξενοφῶντος ἡδέως μὲν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα, οὐ
μὴν καλῶς γ’ ἐφ’ ὅσον ἔδει· λέγω δὲ κοινότερον, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ
καθάπαξ, ἐπεὶ καὶ παρ’ ἐκείνοις ἥρμοσταί τινα ἡδέως καὶ
παρὰ τούτοις καλῶς. ἡ δὲ Ἡροδότου σύνθεσις ἀμφότερα 15
ταῦτα ἔχει, καὶ γὰρ ἡδεῖά ἐστι καὶ καλή.
XI
ἐξ ὧν δ’ οἶμαι γενήσεσθαι λέξιν ἡδεῖαν καὶ καλήν, τέτταρά
ἐστι ταῦτα τὰ κυριώτατα καὶ κράτιστα, μέλος καὶ ῥυθμὸς καὶ
μεταβολὴ καὶ τὸ παρακολουθοῦν τοῖς τρισὶ τούτοις πρέπον.
τάττω δὲ ὑπὸ μὲν τὴν ἡδονὴν τήν τε ὥραν καὶ τὴν χάριν καὶ 20
τὴν εὐστομίαν καὶ τὴν γλυκύτητα καὶ τὸ πιθανὸν καὶ πάντα
τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὑπὸ δὲ τὸ καλὸν τήν τε μεγαλοπρέπειαν καὶ τὸ
βάρος καὶ τὴν σεμνολογίαν καὶ τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ τὸν πίνον καὶ
τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια. ταυτὶ γάρ μοι δοκεῖ κυριώτατα εἶναι καὶ
ὥσπερ κεφάλαια τῶν ἄλλων ἐν ἑκατέρῳ. ὧν μὲν οὖν στοχάζονται 25
πάντες οἱ σπουδῇ γράφοντες μέτρον ἢ μέλος ἢ τὴν
λεγομένην πεζὴν λέξιν, ταῦτ’ ἐστὶ καὶ οὐκ οἶδ’ εἴ τι παρὰ
when it looks upon moulded figures, pictures, carvings, or any other works of human hands, and finds both charm and beauty residing in them, is satisfied and longs for nothing more. And let not anyone be surprised at my assuming that there are two distinct objects in style, and at my separating beauty from charm; nor let him think it strange if I hold that a piece of composition may possess charm but not beauty, or beauty without charm. Such is the verdict of actual experience; I am introducing no novel axiom. The styles of Thucydides and of Antiphon of Rhamnus are surely examples of beautiful composition, if ever there were any, and are beyond all possible cavil from this point of view, but they are not remarkable for their charm. On the other hand, the style of the historian Ctesias of Cnidus, and that of Xenophon the disciple of Socrates, are charming in the highest possible degree, but not as beautiful as they should have been. I am speaking generally, not absolutely; I admit that in the former authors there are instances of charming, in the latter of beautiful arrangement. But the composition of Herodotus has both these qualities; it is at once charming and beautiful.
Chapter XI — General Discussion of the Sources of Charm and Beauty in Composition
Among the sources of charm and beauty in style there are, I conceive, four which are paramount and essential,—melody, rhythm, variety, and the appropriateness demanded by these three. Under “charm” I class freshness, grace, euphony, sweetness, persuasiveness, and all similar qualities; and under “beauty” grandeur, impressiveness, solemnity, dignity, mellowness, and the like. For these seem to me the most important—the main heads, so to speak, in either case. The aims set before themselves by all serious writers in epic, dramatic, or lyric poetry, or in the so-called “language of prose,” are those specified, and I think
1 ἐστιν F: εἰσιν M: om. PV 2 ἐνὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς F: ἐνὸν αὐτοῖς PMV 8 καὶ ἡ PMV: καὶ EF 9 καὶ οὐκ... τοῦτο F: om. PMV 14 ἐπεὶ κἀκείνοις P || καὶ posterius] ὡς καὶ EF: ὡς M 17 γενέσθαι FE 18 κράτιστα PMV: τὰ κράτιστα F 20 τήν τε EFM: τὴν PV 23 τὸν πίνον] τοπι(θα)ν(ον) P, EFM1V: πῖνος suprascr. M 26 μέτρον ἡ μέλος P, MV: μέλος ἢ μέτρον F
2. τὸ καλόν: see Glossary, s.v. καλός.
11. For Ctesias cp. Demetr. de Eloc. §§ 213-16, where a fine passage is quoted from him; also p. 247 ibid. Photius (Bibl. Cod. 72) says of Ctesias: ἔστι δὲ οὗτος ὁ συγγραφεὺς σαφής τε καὶ ἀφελὴς λίαν· διὸ καὶ ἡδονῇ αὐτῷ σύγκρατός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος.
12. Ξενοφῶντος: cp. Diog. Laert. ii. 6. 57 ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ Ἀττικὴ Μοῦσα γλυκύτητι τῆς ἑρμηνείας, and Cic. Orat. 19. 63 “et Xenophontis voce Musas quasi locutas ferunt.”—For τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ cp. Quintil. x. 1. 75 “Xenophon non excidit mihi sed inter philosophos reddendus est.”
14. καθάπαξ, ‘absolutely,’ ‘universally,’ ‘exclusively.’ So in 132 16.
18. Cp de Demosth. c. 47 εὕρισκε δὴ τὰ μὲν αὐτὰ ἀμφοτέρων ὄντα αἴτια, τὰ μέλη καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς καὶ τὰς μεταβολὰς καὶ τὸ παρακολουθοῦν ἅπασιν αὐτοῖς πρέπον, οὐ μὴν κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἑκάτερα σχηματιζόμενα.
25. ἑκάτερον means (here and in 122 1) ἥ τε ἡδονὴ καὶ τὸ καλόν.
ταῦθ’ ἕτερον· οἱ δὲ πρωτεύσαντες ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τε τούτων καὶ
ἐν ἀμφοτέροις πολλοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες· παραδείγματα δὲ
αὐτῶν ἑκάστου φέρειν ἐν τῷ παρόντι οὐκ ἐγχωρεῖ, ἵνα μὴ
περὶ ταῦτα κατατρίψω τὸν λόγον· καὶ ἅμα εἴ τι λεχθῆναι
περί τινος αὐτῶν καθήκει καὶ δεήσει που μαρτυριῶν, ἕτερος 5
αὐτοῖς ἔσται καιρὸς ἐπιτηδειότερος, ὅταν τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τῶν
ἁρμονιῶν ὑπογράφω. νῦν δὲ ταῦτ’ εἰρῆσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν
ἀπόχρη. ἐπάνειμι δὲ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰς διαιρέσεις, ἃς ἐποιησάμην
τῆς θ’ ἡδείας συνθέσεως καὶ τῆς καλῆς, ἵνα μοι καὶ καθ’ ὁδόν,
ὥς φασι, χωρῇ ὁ λόγος. 10
ἔφην δὴ τὴν ἀκοὴν ἥδεσθαι πρώτοις μὲν τοῖς μέλεσιν,
ἔπειτα τοῖς ῥυθμοῖς, τρίτον ταῖς μεταβολαῖς, ἐν δὲ τούτοις
ἅπασι τῷ πρέποντι. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τὴν πεῖραν αὐτὴν
παρέξομαι μάρτυρα, ἣν οὐχ οἷόν τε διαβάλλειν τοῖς κοινοῖς
πάθεσιν ὁμολογουμένην· τίς γάρ ἐστιν ὃς οὐχ ὑπὸ μὲν ταύτης 15
τῆς μελῳδίας ἄγεται καὶ γοητεύεται, ὑφ’ ἑτέρας δέ τινος οὐδὲν
πάσχει τοιοῦτον, καὶ ὑπὸ μὲν τούτων τῶν ῥυθμῶν οἰκειοῦται,
ὑπὸ δὲ τούτων διοχλεῖται; ἤδη δ’ ἔγωγε καὶ ἐν τοῖς πολυανθρωποτάτοις
θεάτροις, ἃ συμπληροῖ παντοδαπὸς καὶ ἄμουσος
ὄχλος, ἔδοξα καταμαθεῖν, ὡς φυσική τις ἁπάντων ἐστὶν ἡμῶν 20
οἰκειότης πρὸς ἐμμέλειάν τε καὶ εὐρυθμίαν, κιθαριστήν τε
ἀγαθὸν σφόδρα εὐδοκιμοῦντα ἰδὼν θορυβηθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ
πλήθους, ὅτι μίαν χορδὴν ἀσύμφωνον ἔκρουσε καὶ διέφθειρεν
τὸ μέλος, καὶ αὐλητὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας ἕξεως χρώμενον τοῖς
ὀργάνοις τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο παθόντα, ὅτι σομφὸν ἐμπνεύσας ἢ μὴ
these are all. There are many excellent authors who have been distinguished in one or both of these qualities. It is not possible at present to adduce examples from the writings of each one of them; I must not waste time over such details; and besides, if it seems incumbent on me to say something about some of them individually, and to quote from them anywhere in support of my views, I shall have a more suitable opportunity for doing so, when I sketch the various types of literary arrangement. For the present, what I have said of them is quite sufficient. So I will now return to the division I made of composition into charming and beautiful, in order that my discourse may “keep to the track,” as the saying is.
Well, I said that the ear delighted first of all in melody, then in rhythm, thirdly in variety, and finally in appropriateness as applied to these other qualities. As a witness to the truth of my words I will bring forward experience itself, for it cannot be challenged, confirmed as it is by the general sentiment of mankind. Who is there that is not enthralled by the spell of one melody while he remains unaffected in any such way by another,—that is not captivated by this rhythm while that does but jar upon him? Ere now I myself, even in the most popular theatres, thronged by a mixed and uncultured multitude, have seemed to observe that all of us have a sort of natural appreciation for correct melody and good rhythm. I have seen an accomplished harpist, of high repute, hissed by the public because he struck a single false note and so spoilt the melody. I have seen, too, a flute-player, who handled his instrument with the practised skill of a master, suffer the same fate because he blew thickly or, through
1 τε om. M || τούτων om. PV 3 αὐτῶν FM: αὐτὴν P || ἑκάστου FM: καθ’ ἕκαστον PV || ἐν τῷ παρόντι om. P 4 εἴ τι V: εἴ τινα F: καὶ εἴ τι P: καὶ εἴ τινα M 6 ἐπιτήδειος F 7 νυνὶ F 9 καὶ καθ’ ὁδόν] καὶ om. PMV 11 δὴ F: δὲ PMV 12 ἐν F: ἐπὶ PMV 14 παρέξω F 18 τούτων δὲ EF 20 ἐστὶν ἁπάντων PMV 24 ἀπὸ F: κα(τὰ) P, MV 25 τὸ αὐτὸ F: καὶ αὐτὸ PV: καὶ αὐτὸν M || σομφὸν F γρ M: ἀσύμφων(ον) P, M1V
9. καθ’ ὁδόν, ὥς φασι, χωρῇ ὁ λόγος. The metaphor here may be rendered ‘keep to the track’ or ‘keep to the path prescribed.’ But possibly it is not felt much more strongly than in Cicero’s “non quo ignorare vos arbitrer, sed ut ratione et via procedat oratio” (de Finibus i. 9. 29). Ratione et via (‘rationally and methodically,’ ‘on scientific principles’) often corresponds to μεθόδῳ in Greek. In 96 25 ὁδῷ χωρεῖν is found, and ὁδοῦ τε καὶ τέχνης χωρίς in 262 21.
13. A clearer rendering might be “the appropriateness which these three require.”
19. παντοδαπός: cp. Hor. Ars P. 212 “indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum | rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?”
20. Probably Dionysius has in mind a Greek theatre. But Roman theatres also contained sensitive hearers: cp. Cic. de Orat. iii. 196 “quotus enim quisque est qui teneat artem numerorum ac modorum? at in eis si paulum modo offensum est, ut aut contractione brevius fieret aut productione longius, theatra tota reclamant. quid, hoc non idem fit in vocibus, ut a multitudine et populo non modo catervae atque concentus, sed etiam ipsi sibi singuli discrepantes eiciantur? mirabile est, cum plurimum in faciendo intersit inter doctum et rudem, quam non multum differat in iudicando”; id. ibid. iii. 98 “quanto molliores sunt et delicatiores in cantu flexiones et falsae voculae quam certae et severae! quibus tamen non modo austeri, sed, si saepius fiunt, multitudo ipsa reclamat”; id. Parad. iii. 26 “histrio si paulum se movit extra numerum aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut longior, exsibilatur, exploditur.” In modern Italy (so it is sometimes stated) the least slip on the part of a singer excites the audience to howls of derision and execration. At Athens, an actor’s false articulation was as fatal as a singer’s false note: cp. the case of Hegelochus (Aristoph. Ran. 303, 304).
25. ἀσύμφωνον (found in P and in other MSS.) is probably an echo from line 23.
πιέσας τὸ στόμα θρυλιγμὸν ἢ τὴν καλουμένην ἐκμέλειαν
ηὔλησε. καίτοι γ’ εἴ τις κελεύσειε τὸν ἰδιώτην τούτων τι ὧν
ἐνεκάλει τοῖς τεχνίταις ὡς ἡμαρτημένων, αὐτὸν ποιῆσαι λαβόντα
τὰ ὄργανα, οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο. τί δήποτε; ὅτι τοῦτο μὲν
ἐπιστήμης ἐστίν, ἧς οὐ πάντες μετειλήφαμεν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ πάθους 5
ὃ πᾶσιν ἀπέδωκεν ἡ φύσις. τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ῥυθμῶν
γινόμενον ἐθεασάμην, ἅμα πάντας ἀγανακτοῦντας καὶ δυσαρεστουμένους,
ὅτε τις ἢ κροῦσιν ἢ κίνησιν ἢ φωνὴν ἐν ἀσυμμέτροις
ποιήσαιτο χρόνοις καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς ἀφανίσειεν. καὶ
οὐχὶ τὰ μὲν ἐμμελῆ καὶ εὔρυθμα ἡδονῆς ἀγωγά ἐστι καὶ 10
πάντες ὑπ’ αὐτῶν κηλούμεθα, αἱ μεταβολαὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ πρέπον
οὐκ ἔχουσι τὴν αὐτὴν ὥραν καὶ χάριν οὐδ’ ὑπὸ πάντων
ὁμοίως διακούονται· ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνα πάνυ κηλεῖ πάντας ἡμᾶς
κατορθούμενα καὶ εἰς πολλὴν ὄχλησιν ἄγει διαμαρτανόμενα·
τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν; τεκμαίρομαι δέ, ὅτι καὶ τῆς 15
ὀργανικῆς μούσης καὶ τῆς ἐν ᾠδῇ καὶ τῆς ἐν ὀρχήσει χάριτος
‹μὲν› ἐν ἅπασι διευστοχούσης, μεταβολὰς δὲ μὴ ποιησαμένης
εὐκαίρους ἢ τοῦ πρέποντος ἀποπλανηθείσης βαρὺς μὲν ὁ κόρος,
ἀηδὲς δὲ τὸ μὴ τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις ἁρμόττον φαίνεται. καὶ οὐκ
ἀλλοτρίᾳ κέχρημαι τοῦ πράγματος εἰκόνι. μουσικὴ γάρ τις 20
ἦν καὶ ἡ τῶν πολιτικῶν λόγων ἐπιστήμη τῷ ποσῷ διαλλάττουσα
τῆς ἐν ᾠδῇ καὶ ὀργάνοις, οὐχὶ τῷ ποιῷ· καὶ γὰρ ἐν
ταύτῃ καὶ μέλος ἔχουσιν αἱ λέξεις καὶ ῥυθμὸν καὶ μεταβολὴν
καὶ πρέπον, ὥστε καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης ἡ ἀκοὴ τέρπεται μὲν τοῖς
μέλεσιν, ἄγεται δὲ τοῖς ῥυθμοῖς, ἀσπάζεται δὲ τὰς μεταβολάς, 25
not compressing his lips, produced a harsh sound or so-called “broken note” as he played. Nevertheless, if the amateur critic were summoned to take up the instrument and himself to render any of the pieces with whose performance by professionals he was just now finding fault, he would be unable to do it. Why so? Because this is an affair of technical skill, in which we are not all partakers; the other of feeling, which is nature’s universal gift to man. I have noticed the same thing occur in the case of rhythms. Everybody is vexed and annoyed when a performer strikes an instrument, takes a step, or sings a note, out of time, and so destroys the rhythm.
Again, it must not be supposed that, while melody and rhythm excite pleasure, and we are all enchanted by them, variety and appropriateness have less freshness and grace, or less effect on any of their hearers. No, these too fairly enchant us all when they are really attained, just as their absence jars upon us intensely. This is surely beyond dispute. I may refer, in confirmation, to the case of instrumental music, whether it accompanies singing or dancing; if it attains grace perfectly and throughout, but fails to introduce variety in due season or deviates from what is appropriate, the effect is dull satiety and that disagreeable impression which is made by anything out of harmony with the subject. Nor is my illustration foreign to the matter in hand. The science of public oratory is, after all, a sort of musical science, differing from vocal and instrumental music in degree, not in kind. In oratory, too, the words involve melody, rhythm, variety, and appropriateness; so that, in this case also, the ear delights in the melodies, is fascinated by the rhythms, welcomes the variations, and craves always
3 ἐγκαλεῖ F 5 πάθους PMV: πᾶθος F 8 φωνὴν PMV: μορφὴν F 10 εὐμελῆ PMV || ἀγωγά F, suprascr. M: μεστὰ PM1V 13 διακούονται V: διοικοῦνται FPM 14 ἁμαρτανόμενα PMV 16 ὠιδῆι F, E: ὠιδαῖς γοητείας P, MV 17 μὲν ins. Us. ex E 19 φαίνεται EF: ἐφάνη PMV 21 διαλλάττουσι τοῖς F 22 ὠιδῆι F: ὠιδαῖς EPMV Syrianus 23 ῥυθμὸν PMV Syrianus: ῥυθμοὺς EF
3. It would weaken the argument to add (as has been suggested) ὀρθῶς or ἄμεινον. The critic may be right, even if he cannot play at all; and the player may retort, ‘Play it yourself, then,’ without adding ‘right’ or ‘better.’
5. ἐπιστήμης: cp. Ov. ex Ponto iii. 9. 15 “non eadem ratio est sentire et demere morbos: | sensus inest cunctis, tollitur arte malum,” and Cic. de Orat. iii. 195 “omnes enim tacito quodam sensu sine ulla arte aut ratione quae sint in artibus ac rationibus recta ac prava diiudicant; idque cum faciunt in picturis et in signis et in aliis operibus, ad quorum intellegentiam a natura minus habent instrumenti, tum multo ostendunt magis in verborum, numerorum vocumque iudicio; quod ea sunt in communibus infixa sensibus nec earum rerum quemquam funditus natura esse voluit expertem. itaque non solum verbis arte positis moventur omnes, verum etiam numeris ac vocibus.”
If πάθος be read, the meaning will be ‘the other is an instinct imparted to all by nature.’
8. With μορφήν the translation will run: ‘when a note on an instrument, a step in dancing, or a gesture (pose, attitude) in dancing, is rendered by a performer out of time, and so the rhythm is lost.’
14. διαμαρτανόμενα, manqué: cp. ἡμαρτημέναι πολιτεῖαι, and the like, in Plato.
16. χάριτος depends on διευστοχούσης (the same construction as with the uncompounded verb εὐστοχεῖν).
20. This passage (μουσικὴ γάρ... οἰκεῖον) is quoted (after Syrianus) in Walz Rhett. Gr. v. 474.
21. ἦν, ‘was all along,’ ‘is after all’: cp. 92 18.
22. For the passage that follows cp. Aristoxenus Harmonics i. 3 πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἁπάντων τὴν τῆς φωνῆς κίνησιν διοριστέον τῷ μέλλοντι πραγματεύεσθαι περὶ μέλους αὐτὴν τὴν κατὰ τόπον. οὐ γὰρ εἷς τρόπος αὐτῆς ὢν τυγχάνει· κινεῖται μὲν γὰρ καὶ διαλεγομένων ἡμῶν καὶ μελῳδούντων τὴν εἰρημένην κίνησιν, ὀξὺ γὰρ καὶ βαρὺ δῆλον ὡς ἐν ἀμφοτέροις τούτοις ἔνεστιν—αὕτη δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ κατὰ τόπον καθ’ ἣν ὀξύ τε καὶ βαρὺ γίγνεται—ἀλλ’ οὐ ταὐτὸν εἶδος τῆς κινήσεως ἑκατέρας ἐστίν.
ποθεῖ δ’ ἐπὶ πάντων τὸ οἰκεῖον, ἡ δὲ διαλλαγὴ κατὰ τὸ
μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον.
διαλέκτου μὲν οὖν μέλος ἑνὶ μετρεῖται διαστήματι τῷ
λεγομένῳ διὰ πέντε ὡς ἔγγιστα, καὶ οὔτε ἐπιτείνεται πέρα
τῶν τριῶν τόνων καὶ ἡμιτονίου ἐπὶ τὸ ὀξὺ οὔτ’ ἀνίεται τοῦ 5
χωρίου τούτου πλέον ἐπὶ τὸ βαρύ. οὐ μὴν ἅπασα λέξις ἡ
καθ’ ἓν μόριον λόγου ταττομένη ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς λέγεται τάσεως,
ἀλλ’ ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς ὀξείας, ἡ δ’ ἐπὶ τῆς βαρείας, ἡ δ’ ἐπ’
ἀμφοῖν. τῶν δὲ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς τάσεις ἐχουσῶν αἱ μὲν κατὰ
μίαν συλλαβὴν συνεφθαρμένον ἔχουσι τῷ ὀξεῖ τὸ βαρύ, ἃς 10
δὴ περισπωμένας καλοῦμεν· αἱ δὲ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ τε καὶ ἑτέρᾳ
χωρὶς ἑκάτερον ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν οἰκείαν φυλάττον φύσιν. καὶ
ταῖς μὲν δισυλλάβοις οὐδὲν τὸ διὰ μέσου χωρίον βαρύτητός
τε καὶ ὀξύτητος· ταῖς δὲ πολυσυλλάβοις, ἡλίκαι ποτ’ ἂν
ὦσιν, ἡ τὸν ὀξὺν τόνον ἔχουσα μία ἐν πολλαῖς ταῖς ἄλλαις 15
βαρείαις ἔνεστιν. ἡ δὲ ὀργανική τε καὶ ᾠδικὴ μοῦσα διαστήμασί
τε χρῆται πλείοσιν, οὐ τῷ διὰ πέντε μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ
τοῦ διὰ πασῶν ἀρξαμένη καὶ τὸ διὰ πέντε μελῳδεῖ καὶ τὸ διὰ
τεττάρων καὶ τὸ διὰ ‹τριῶν καὶ τὸν› τόνον καὶ τὸ ἡμιτόνιον,
ὡς δέ τινες οἴονται, καὶ τὴν δίεσιν αἰσθητῶς· τάς τε λέξεις 20
τοῖς μέλεσιν ὑποτάττειν ἀξιοῖ καὶ οὐ τὰ μέλη ταῖς λέξεσιν,
ὡς ἐξ ἄλλων τε πολλῶν δῆλον καὶ μάλιστα ἐκ τῶν Εὐριπίδου
μέλων, ἃ πεποίηκεν τὴν Ἠλέκτραν λέγουσαν ἐν Ὀρέστῃ πρὸς
τὸν χορόν·
what is in keeping with the occasion. The distinction between oratory and music is simply one of degree.
Now, the melody of spoken language is measured by a single interval, which is approximately that termed a fifth. When the voice rises towards the acute, it does not rise more than three tones and a semitone; and, when it falls towards the grave, it does not fall more than this interval. Further, the entire utterance during one word is not delivered at the same pitch of the voice throughout but one part of it at the acute pitch, another at the grave, another at both. Of the words that have both pitches, some have the grave fused with the acute on one and the same syllable—those which we call circumflexed; others have both pitches falling on separate syllables, each retaining its own quality. Now in disyllables there is no space intermediate between low pitch and high pitch; while in polysyllabic words, whatever their number of syllables, there is but one syllable that has the acute accent (high pitch) among the many remaining grave ones. On the other hand, instrumental and vocal music uses a great number of intervals, not the fifth only; beginning with the octave, it uses also the fifth, the fourth, the third, the tone, the semitone, and, as some think, even the quarter-tone in a distinctly perceptible way. Music, further, insists that the words should be subordinate to the tune, and not the tune to the words. Among many examples in proof of this, let me especially instance those lyrical lines which Euripides has represented Electra as addressing to the Chorus in the Orestes:—
2 καὶ τὸ EF: καὶ PMV 4 πέρα] παρα F 5 τόνων om. P || ἡμιτόνιον P: ἡμιτονίων M 7 ἐπὶ om. PMV 10 συνδιεφθαρμένον FE 11 ἐν ἑτέρῳ τε καὶ ἑτέρῳ MV: ἕτεραί τε καὶ ἕτεραι P 14 ἡλίκαι ποτ’ ἂν Us.: ἡλίκαι ἂν E: εἰ καί ποτ’ ἂν PM: εἰ καί ποτ’ ἡλικἂν F: οἷαί ποτ’ ἂν V 15 ταῖς ἄλλαις EFM: om. PV 19 τὸ διὰ ‹τριῶν καὶ τὸν› τόνον Radermacher: τόνον F: διάτονον P: διὰ τόνον M: τὸ διάτονον EV 22 ἐκ τῶν EF: τῶν PMV
3. μετρεῖται, ‘is measured,’ ‘is confined,’—terminatur, coërcetur.—For various points in this chapter see Introduction, pp. 39-43 supra. With regard to the late Mr. W. E. Gladstone’s oratorical delivery, on a special occasion, Sir Walter Parratt obligingly makes the following communication to the editor: “I heard him make his famous ‘Upas tree’ speech at Wigan, in a wooden erection, and watched with some care the inflection of his voice. Addressing so large a crowd I think he put more tone into the voice than usual. Roughly I found that he began his sentences on, generally ending on, but sometimes falling the full octave to.”
4. ὡς ἔγγιστα, ‘as nearly as possible,’ ‘approximately.’
5. “Which measure a Fifth, C to D one Tone, D to E one Tone, E to F half a Tone, F to G one Tone,—total C to G, or a Fifth, three Tones and half. In Norwegian the interval is said by Professor Storm to be usually a Fourth, and in Swedish it is said by Weste to be about a Third or less,” A. J. Ellis English, Dionysian, and Hellenic Pronunciations of Greek, p. 38. (Under the initial “A. J. E.” occasional quotations will be made from this pamphlet, to which the phonetic studies of its author lend special interest, even when his conclusions cannot be accepted.)
10. “That is, the voice glides from the high to the low pitch, and does not jump from high to low,” A. J. E.
12. “That is, one pitch does not glide into the other, but each is distinctly separated, as the notes on a piano.” A. J. E.
20. δίεσιν: see Gloss., s.v. δίεσις.
23. Line 140 of the Orestes is assigned to Electra (rather than to the Chorus) not only by Dionysus but seemingly also by Diogenes Laert. vii. 5 (Cleanthes). 172 ἐρομένου τινὸς τί ὑποτίθεσθαι δεῖ τῷ υἱῷ, “τὸ τῆς Ἠλέκτρας, ἔφη: σῖγα σῖγα, λεπτὸν ἴχνος.”—If the reading λευκὸν (rather than λεπτὸν) is right, the word may possibly be understood (like ἀργός) of swift, glancing feet, though the notion of rest rather than of movement is prominent here.
24. Reference may be made to Ruelle’s “Note sur la musique d’une passage d’Euripide” in the Annuaire de l’Association des Études grecques, 1882, pp. 96 ff.
σῖγα σῖγα, λευκὸν ἴχνος ἀρβύλης
τίθετε, μὴ κτυπεῖτ’·
ἀποπρόβατ’ ἐκεῖσ’, ἀποπρό μοι κοίτας.
ἐν γὰρ δὴ τούτοις τὸ “σῖγα σῖγα λευκὸν” ἐφ’ ἑνὸς φθόγγου
μελῳδεῖται, καίτοι τῶν τριῶν λέξεων ἑκάστη βαρείας τε τάσεις 5
ἔχει καὶ ὀξείας. καὶ τὸ “ἀρβύλης” τῇ μέσῃ συλλαβῇ τὴν
τρίτην ὁμότονον ἔχει, ἀμηχάνου ὄντος ἓν ὄνομα δύο λαβεῖν
ὀξείας. καὶ τοῦ “τίθετε” βαρυτέρα μὲν ἡ πρώτη γίνεται,
δύο δ’ αἱ μετ’ αὐτὴν ὀξύτονοί τε καὶ ὁμόφωνοι. τοῦ τε
“κτυπεῖτε” ὁ περισπασμὸς ἠφάνισται· μιᾷ γὰρ αἱ δύο συλλαβαὶ 10
λέγονται τάσει. καὶ τὸ “ἀποπρόβατε” οὐ λαμβάνει τὴν τῆς
μέσης συλλαβῆς προσῳδίαν ὀξεῖαν, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τὴν τετάρτην
συλλαβὴν μεταβέβηκεν ἡ τάσις ἡ τῆς τρίτης. τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ
γίνεται καὶ περὶ τοὺς ῥυθμούς. ἡ μὲν γὰρ πεζὴ λέξις
οὐδενὸς οὔτε ὀνόματος οὔτε ῥήματος βιάζεται τοὺς χρόνους 15
οὐδὲ μετατίθησιν, ἀλλ’ οἵας παρείληφεν τῇ φύσει τὰς συλλαβὰς
τάς τε μακρὰς καὶ τὰς βραχείας, τοιαύτας φυλάττει· ἡ δὲ
μουσική τε καὶ ῥυθμικὴ μεταβάλλουσιν αὐτὰς μειοῦσαι καὶ
παραύξουσαι, ὥστε πολλάκις εἰς τἀναντία μεταχωρεῖν· οὐ
Hush ye, O hush ye! light be the tread
Of the sandal; no jar let there be!
Afar step ye thitherward, far from his bed.129
In these lines the words σῖγα σῖγα λευκόν are sung to one note; and yet each of the three words has both low pitch and high pitch. And the word ἀρβύλης has its third syllable sung at the same pitch as its middle syllable, although it is impossible for a single word to take two acute accents. The first syllable of τίθετε is sung to a lower note, while the two that follow it are sung to the same high note. The circumflex accent of κτυπεῖτε has disappeared, for the two syllables are uttered at one and the same pitch. And the word ἀποπρόβατε does not receive the acute accent on the middle syllable; but the pitch of the third syllable has been transferred to the fourth.
The same thing happens in rhythm. Ordinary prose speech does not violate or interchange the quantities in any noun or verb. It keeps the syllables long or short as it has received them by nature. But the arts of rhythm and music alter them by shortening or lengthening, so that often they pass into their opposites: the time of production is not regulated by the
1 σῖγα σῖγα M2: σίγα σίγα cett. (necnon codd. Eur.) || λευκὸν codd. Dionys.: λεπτὸν Eurip. 2 τίθετ(αι) P1: τιθεῖτ(αι) P2: τιθεῖτε FEMV || κτυπῆτε P1: κτυπεῖτε cett. 3 ἀποπρόβατ’ V: ἄπο προβᾶτ’ PM: ἄπο πρόβατ’ FE || ἐκεῖσε libri || ἀποπρόμοι F, EPM: ἀπόπροθι Vs 6 τῆι F, E: ἐπὶ PMV 8 τίθεται FP: τιθεῖτε EMV 9 δ’ αἱ Us.: δὲ libri 11 ἀποπρόβατ’ V: ἄπο*προβᾶτε P: ἄπο πρόβατε EF: ἄπο προβᾶτ’ ἐκεῖσε M 13 καταβέβηκεν PMV 18 καὶ αὔξουσαι PMV
2. τίθετε is clearly right, notwithstanding the strong manuscript evidence (FEMV) for τιθεῖτε.
4. The general sense is that σῖγα is sung upon a monotone, though the spoken word had two tones or pitches (the acute and the grave, the high and the low), and, “indeed, both of them combined in the circumflex accent of its first syllable” (Hadley Essays p. 113).
7. Dionysius clearly means “in speaking,” and “on two successive syllables.” Without the latter addition, the case of an enclitic throwing back its accent on a proparoxytone word seems to be left out of account.
14. D. B. Monro Modes of Ancient Greek Music p. 117 writes: “In English the time or quantity of syllables is as little attended to as the pitch. But in Greek the distinction of long and short furnished a prose rhythm which was a serious element in their rhetoric. In the rhythm of music, according to Dionysius, the quantity of syllables could be neglected, just as the accent was neglected in the melody. This, however, does not mean that the natural time of the syllables could be treated with the freedom which we see in a modern composition. The regularity of lyric metres is sufficient to prove that the increase or diminution of natural quantity referred to by Dionysius was kept within narrow limits, the nature of which is to be gathered from the remains of the ancient system of Rhythmic. From these sources we learn with something like certainty that the rhythm of ordinary speech, as determined by the succession of long or short syllables, was the basis of metres not only intended for recitation, such as the hexameter and the iambic trimeter, but also of lyrical rhythm of every kind.” With this statement should be compared the extract (given below, l. 17) from Goodell’s Greek Metric.
16. τῇ φύσει: cp. Cic. Orat. 51. 173 “et tamen omnium longitudinum et brevitatum in sonis sicut acutarum graviumque vocum iudicium ipsa natura in auribus nostris collocavit.” And with regard to accentuation as well as quantities: id. ib. 18. 57 “est autem etiam in dicendo quidam cantus obscurior... in quo illud etiam notandum mihi videtur ad studium persequendae suavitatis in vocibus: ipsa enim natura, quasi modularetur hominum orationem, in omni verbo posuit acutam vocem nec una plus nec a postrema syllaba citra tertiam; quo magis naturam ducem ad aurium voluptatem sequatur industria.”
17 ff. Cp. Goodell Chapters on Greek Metric p. 52: “We find ample recognition [sc. in these two sentences] of the fact that in Greek lyric metres, so far as they come under what we have seen called μέλη and ῥυθμοί or ‘rhythmi,’ long and short syllables alike were more or less variable. In some way the reader knew in what rhythmical scheme or pattern the poet intended the verses to be rendered. To reproduce the rhythmical pattern which the poet had in mind, the singer, if not also the reader, made some long syllables longer and others shorter than two χρόνοι πρῶτοι, and made some short syllables longer than one χρόνος πρῶτος. It seemed to Dionysius in those cases that one did not so much regulate the times by the syllables, but rather regulated the syllables by the times.”
19. The compound παραύξουσαι, as given by EF, may be compared with παραυξηθεῖσα in 152 18. Dionysius does not avoid hiatus after καί, and so he would not prefer παραύξουσαι to αὔξουσαι on this account, though an early reviser of his text might do so.
εἰς τἀναντία μεταχωρεῖν: e.g., a short syllable will sometimes be treated as if it were long and were circumflexed.
γὰρ ταῖς συλλαβαῖς ἀπευθύνουσι τοὺς χρόνους, ἀλλὰ τοῖς
χρόνοις τὰς συλλαβάς.
δεδειγμένης δὴ τῆς διαφορᾶς ᾗ διαφέρει μουσικὴ λογικῆς,
λοιπὸν ἂν εἴη κἀκεῖνα λέγειν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν τῆς φωνῆς μέλος,
λέγω δὲ οὐ τῆς ᾠδικῆς ἀλλὰ τῆς ψιλῆς, ἐὰν ἡδέως διατιθῇ 5
τὴν ἀκοήν, εὐμελὲς λέγοιτ’ ἄν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐμμελές· ἡ δ’ ἐν τοῖς
χρόνοις τῶν μορίων συμμετρία σῴζουσα τὸ μελικὸν σχῆμα
εὔρυθμος, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἔνρυθμος· πῇ δὲ διαφέρει ταῦτα ἀλλήλων,
κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἐρῶ. νυνὶ δὲ τἀκόλουθ’ ἀποδοῦναι
πειράσομαι, πῶς ἂν γένοιτο λέξις πολιτικὴ παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν 10
σύνθεσιν ἡδύνουσα τὴν ἀκρόασιν κατά τε τὰ μέλη τῶν
φθόγγων καὶ κατὰ τὰς συμμετρίας τῶν ῥυθμῶν καὶ κατὰ τὰς
ποικιλίας τῶν μεταβολῶν καὶ κατὰ τὸ πρέπον τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις,
ἐπειδὴ ταῦθ’ ὑπεθέμην τὰ κεφάλαια.
XII
οὐχ ἅπαντα πέφυκε τὰ μέρη τῆς λέξεως ὁμοίως διατιθέναι 15
τὴν ἀκοήν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὴν ὁρατικὴν αἴσθησιν τὰ ὁρατὰ
πάντα οὐδὲ τὴν γευστικὴν τὰ γευστὰ οὐδὲ τὰς ἄλλας αἰσθήσεις
τὰ κινοῦντα ἑκάστην· ἀλλὰ καὶ γλυκαίνουσιν αὐτήν τινες
ἦχοι καὶ πικραίνουσι, καὶ τραχύνουσι καὶ λεαίνουσι, καὶ
πολλὰ ἄλλα πάθη ποιοῦσι περὶ αὐτήν. αἰτία δὲ ἥ τε 20
τῶν γραμμάτων φύσις ἐξ ὧν ἡ φωνὴ συνέστηκεν, πολλὰς
καὶ διαφόρους ἔχουσα δυνάμεις, καὶ ἡ τῶν συλλαβῶν πλοκὴ
παντοδαπῶς σχηματιζομένη. τοιαύτην δὴ δύναμιν ἐχόντων
τῶν τῆς λέξεως μορίων ἐπειδὴ μεταθεῖναι τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν
οὐχ οἷόν τε, λείπεται τὸ τῇ μίξει καὶ κράσει καὶ παραθέσει 25
συγκρύψαι τὴν παρακολουθοῦσαν αὐτῶν τισιν ἀτοπίαν, τραχέσι
quantity of the syllables, but the quantity of the syllables is regulated by the time.
The difference between music and speech having thus been shown, some other points remain to be mentioned. If the melody of the voice—not the singing voice, I mean, but the ordinary voice—has a pleasant effect upon the ear, it will be called melodious rather than in melody. So also symmetry in the quantities of words, when it preserves a lyrical effect, is rhythmical rather than in rhythm. On the precise bearing of these distinctions I will speak at the proper time. For the present I will pass on to the next question, and try to show how a style of civil oratory can be attained which, simply by means of the composition, charms the ear with its melody of sound, its symmetry of rhythm, its elaborate variety, and its appropriateness to the subject. These are the headings which I have set before myself.
Chapter XII — How to Render Composition Charming
It is not in the nature of all the words in a sentence to affect the ear in the same way, any more than all visible objects produce the same impression on the sense of sight, things tasted on that of taste, or any other set of stimuli upon the sense to which they correspond. No, different sounds affect the ear with many different sensations of sweetness, harshness, roughness, smoothness, and so on. The reason is to be found partly in the many different qualities of the letters which make up speech, and partly in the extremely various forms in which syllables are put together. Now since words have these properties, and since it is impossible to change the fundamental nature of any single one of them, we can only mask the uncouthness which is inseparable from some of them, by means of
3 δὴ τῆς PMV: τῆς F 4 τὸ μὲν] μὲν τὸ F 5 ἐὰν Us.: κἂν PV: ὃ μὲν FM || διατίθησι FM 6 εὐμενὲς P 7 συμμετρία σώζουσα FPM: συμμετριάζουσα V 8 πῆ F: τῆι P || ἀλλήλων om. P 14 ἐπειδὴ δὲ ταῦθ’ F 18 αὐτὴν τινὲς EF: τινες αὐτὴν PMV 20 ἥ τε] ἡ EF 23 δὴ] ἤδη F: δὲ ἤδη E 25 τὸ τῆι F, E: τῆι P, MV 25 καὶ τῆι κράσει F 26 συγκρύπτειν EF || ἀτοπίαν om. F
1. The subject of ἀπευθύνουσι is, of course, ἡ μουσική τε καὶ ῥυθμική.
7. συμμετρία: cp. l. 12 τὰς συμμετρίας τῶν ῥυθμῶν, and 254 10 τεταγμένους σῴζουσα ῥυθμούς.
9. κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρόν: i.e. in cc. 25, 26.
10. παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν σύνθεσιν. With this use of παρά cp. 156 12 παρ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἕτερον ἢ τὰς τῶν συλλαβῶν κατασκευάς, 160 9 παρὰ τὰς τῶν γραμμάτων συμπλοκάς κτλ., 202 11 καὶ παρὰ τί γέγονε τούτων ἕκαστον;—In αὐτὴν τὴν σύνθεσιν the contrast implied is with ἡ ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων: cp. 252 21 κατὰ γοῦν τὴν σύνθεσιν αὐτήν· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων μέγα τι δύναται.
23. If ἤδη be read (with F and E) the meaning will be, “the data being the letters with their invariable qualities.” Cp. the German schon.
25. Quintil. ix. 91 “miscendi ergo sunt, curandumque, ut sint plures, qui placent, et circumfusi bonis deteriores lateant. nec vero in litteris syllabisque natura mutatur, sed refert, quae cum quaque optime coeat.”
λεῖα μίσγοντα καὶ σκληροῖς μαλακὰ καὶ κακοφώνοις εὔφωνα
καὶ δυσεκφόροις εὐπρόφορα καὶ βραχέσι μακρά, καὶ τἆλλα
τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον εὐκαίρως συντιθέντα καὶ μήτ’ ὀλιγοσύλλαβα
πολλὰ ἑξῆς λαμβάνοντα (κόπτεται γὰρ ἡ ἀκρόασις) μήτε
πολυσύλλαβα πλείω τῶν ἱκανῶν, μήδε δὴ ὁμοιότονα παρ’ 5
ὁμοιοτόνοις μήδ’ ὁμοιόχρονα παρ’ ὁμοιοχρόνοις. χρὴ δὲ καὶ
τὰς πτώσεις τῶν ὀνοματικῶν ταχὺ μεταλαμβάνειν (μηκυνόμεναι
γὰρ ἔξω τοῦ μετρίου πάνυ προσίστανται ταῖς ἀκοαῖς) καὶ
τὴν ὁμοιότητα διαλύειν συνεχῶς ὀνομάτων τε τῶν ἑξῆς
τιθεμένων πολλῶν καὶ ῥημάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν τὸν 10
κόρον φυλαττομένους, σχήμασί τε μὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀεὶ
μένειν ἀλλὰ θαμινὰ μεταβάλλειν καὶ τρόπους μὴ τοὺς αὐτοὺς
ἐπεισφέρειν, ἀλλὰ ποικίλλειν, μηδὲ δὴ ἄρχεσθαι πολλάκις ἀπὸ
τῶν αὐτῶν μηδὲ λήγειν εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ ὑπερτείνοντας τὸν ἑκατέρου
καιρόν. 15
καὶ μηδεὶς οἰηθῇ με καθάπαξ ταῦτα παραγγέλλειν ὡς
ἡδονῆς αἴτια διὰ παντὸς ἐσόμενα ἢ τἀναντία ὀχλήσεως· οὐχ
οὕτως ἀνόητός εἰμι· οἶδα γὰρ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν γινομένην πολλάκις
ἡδονήν, τοτὲ μὲν ἐκ τῶν ὁμοιογενῶν, τοτὲ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἀνομοιογενῶν·
ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ πάντων οἴομαι δεῖν τὸν καιρὸν ὁρᾶν· οὗτος 20
γὰρ ἡδονῆς καὶ ἀηδίας κράτιστον μέτρον. καιροῦ δὲ οὔτε
ῥήτωρ οὐδεὶς οὔτε φιλόσοφος εἰς τόδε χρόνου τέχνην ὥρισεν,
οὐδ’ ὅσπερ πρῶτος ἐπεχείρησε περὶ αὐτοῦ γράφειν Γοργίας
mingling and fusion and juxtaposition,—by mingling smooth with rough, soft with hard, cacophonous with melodious, easy to pronounce with hard to pronounce, long with short; and generally by happy combinations of the same kind. Many words of few syllables must not be used in succession (for this jars upon the ear), nor an excessive number of polysyllabic words; and we must avoid the monotony of setting side by side words similarly accented or agreeing in their quantities. We must quickly vary the cases of substantives (since, if continued unduly, they greatly offend the ear); and in order to guard against satiety, we must constantly break up the effect of sameness entailed by placing many nouns, or verbs, or other parts of speech, in close succession. We must not always adhere to the same figures, but change them frequently; we must not re-introduce the same metaphors, but vary them; we must not exceed due measure by beginning or ending with the same words too often.
Still, let no one think that I am proclaiming these as universal rules—that I suppose keeping them will always produce pleasure, or breaking them always produce annoyance. I am not so foolish. I know that pleasure often arises from both sources—from similarity at one time, from dissimilarity at another. In every case we must, I think, keep in view good taste, for this is the best criterion of charm and its opposite. But about good taste no rhetorician or philosopher has, so far, produced a definite treatise. The man who first undertook to write on the subject, Gorgias of Leontini, achieved nothing
2 εὐπρόφορα] εὔφορα F 3 συντεθέντα F 4 πολλὰ... (5) πολυσύλλαβα om. P. 7 μηκυνόμενά τε γὰρ F: μηκυνόμεναί τε γὰρ M 8 προίστανται F 9 τε τῶν Us.: τέ τινων F, E: τινῶν PMV 11 φυλασσομένους EF: φυλαττόμενον s || ἐπὶ FE: om. PMV || ἀεὶ μένειν EF: διαμένειν PMV 14 ὑπερτείνοντας Us.: ὑπερτείνοντα libri 17 τἀναντία FE: τοὐναντίον PMV 19 ὁμοιογενῶν EM: ὁμοίων γενῶν F: ἀνομοίων PV || ἀνομοιογενῶν EFM: ὁμογενῶν PV 22 τόδε χρόνου FMV: τὸ λέγειν P 23 πρῶτον P
2. Compare the scholia of Maximus Planudes on the π. ἰδ. of Hermogenes: τοῦτο γάρ φησι καὶ Διονύσιος, ὅτι δεῖ μιγνύειν βραχέσι μακρὰ καὶ πολυσυλλάβοις ὀλιγοσύλλαβα, τοῦτο γὰρ ἡδέως διατίθησι τὴν ἀκοήν (Walz Rhett. Gr. v. 520).
12. Cp. Anonymi scholia on Hermog. π. ἰδ. (Walz vii. 1049), διὰ τοῦτο κάλλους ἴδιον ὁ ῥυθμός, εἴτε βέβηκεν εἴτε μή· ἐπειδὴ κατὰ Διονύσιον ἡδύνει τὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ ποικίλλει, καὶ μὴ ἄρχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν, μηδὲ λήγειν εἰς αὐτά, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐξ ἁπάντων καλῶν ῥυθμῶν, τουτέστι ποδῶν, συγκεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον· ἀνάγκη γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτω καλὸν εἶναι· τάττει δὲ τὸν σπονδεῖον μετ’ αὐτῶν.
14. ὑπερτείνοντας... καιρόν: lit. ‘exceeding due measure in either case.’ On the whole, Usener is perhaps right in reading the plural here and in l. 11; clearness, and variety of termination, recommend the change. But (1) all MSS. have ὑπερτείνοντα, (2) the singular has been used in ll. 1, 3, 4 supra, and so might as well be maintained to the end, while φυλαττομένους (instead of φυλαττόμενον) might arise from the initial σ of σχήμασι.
20. τὸν καιρὸν ὁρᾶν, ‘to have an eye to (or observe) the rules of good taste,’ is a natural and appropriate expression. The use of θηρατός in 134 3 is no argument for reading θηρᾶν here, but rather tells against the anticipation of so pronounced a metaphor. Moreover, the middle voice is found in this sense in de Demosth. c. 40 τὴν εὐφωνίαν θηρωμένη καὶ τὴν εὐμέλειαν. With ὁρᾶν cp. de Demosth. c. 49 ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῦ καιροῦ τὰ μέτρα ὁρῶν and de Thucyd. c. 1 τῆς προαιρέσεως οὐχ ἅπαντα κατὰ τὸν ἀκριβέστατον λογισμὸν ὁρώσης (where θηρώσης is given in Usener-Radermacher’s text).
21. Quintil. xi. 1. 1 “parata, sicut superiore libro continetur, facultate scribendi cogitandique et ex tempore etiam, cum res poscet, orandi, proxima est cura, ut dicamus apte; quam virtutem quartam elocutionis Cicero demonstrat, quaeque est meo quidem iudicio maxime necessaria. nam cum sit ornatus orationis varius et multiplex conveniatque alius alii: nisi fuerit accommodatus rebus atque personis, non modo non illustrabit eam sed etiam destruet et vim rerum in contrarium vertet.”
22. τόδε χρόνου: Usener reads τόδε γε (without χρόνου), in view of P’s τὸ λέγειν. But τόδε γε is unusual in this sense, whereas ἔτι καὶ εἰς τόδε χρόνου is found in Antiqq. Rom. i. 16. Cp. i. 38 ibid. καὶ παρὰ Κελτοῖς εἰς τόδε χρόνου γίνεται: also i. 61, 68, iii. 31, vi. 13.
ὁ Λεοντῖνος οὐδὲν ὅ τι καὶ λόγου ἄξιον ἔγραψεν· οὐδ’ ἔχει
φύσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰς καθολικὴν καὶ ἔντεχνόν τινα περίληψιν
πεσεῖν, οὐδ’ ὅλως ἐπιστήμῃ θηρατός ἐστιν ὁ καιρὸς ἀλλὰ
δόξῃ. ταύτην δ’ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ πολλῶν καὶ πολλάκις γυμνάσαντες
ἄμεινον τῶν ἄλλων εὑρίσκουσιν αὐτόν, οἱ δ’ 5
ἀγύμναστον ἀφέντες σπανιώτερον καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τύχης.
ἵνα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἴπω, ταῦτ’ οἴομαι χρῆναι
φυλάττειν ἐν τῇ συνθέσει τὸν μέλλοντα διαθήσειν τὴν ἀκοὴν
ἡδέως· ἢ τὰ εὐμελῆ καὶ εὔρυθμα καὶ εὔφωνα ὀνόματα, ὑφ’
ὧν γλυκαίνεταί τε καὶ ἐκμαλάττεται καὶ τὸ ὅλον οἰκείως 10
διατίθεται ἡ αἴσθησις, ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις συναρμόττειν, ἢ τὰ
μὴ τοιαύτην ἔχοντα φύσιν ἐγκαταπλέκειν τε καὶ συνυφαίνειν
τοῖς δυναμένοις αὐτὴν γοητεύειν, ὥστε ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκείνων χάριτος
ἐπισκοτεῖσθαι τὴν τούτων ἀηδίαν· οἷόν τι ποιοῦσιν οἱ
φρόνιμοι στρατηλάται κατὰ τὰς συντάξεις τῶν στρατευμάτων· 15
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἐπικρύπτουσι τοῖς ἰσχυροῖς τὰ ἀσθενῆ, καὶ
γίνεται αὐτοῖς οὐδὲν τῆς δυνάμεως ἄχρηστον. διαναπαύειν
δὲ τὴν ταυτότητά φημι δεῖν μεταβολὰς εὐκαίρους εἰσφέροντα·
καὶ γὰρ ἡ μεταβολὴ παντὸς ἔργου χρῆμα ἡδύ. τελευταῖον
δὲ ὃ δὴ καὶ πάντων κράτιστον, οἰκείαν ἀποδιδόναι τοῖς 20
ὑποκειμένοις καὶ πρέπουσαν ἁρμονίαν. δυσωπεῖσθαι δ’ οὐδὲν
οἴομαι δεῖν οὔτε ὄνομα οὔτε ῥῆμα, ὅ τι καὶ τέτριπται, μὴ
σὺν αἰσχύνῃ λέγεσθαι μέλλον· οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω ταπεινὸν ἢ
ῥυπαρὸν ἢ ἄλλην τινὰ δυσχέρειαν ἔχον ἔσεσθαί φημι λόγου
μόριον, ᾧ σημαίνεταί τι σῶμα ἢ πρᾶγμα, ὃ μηδεμίαν ἕξει 25
χώραν ἐπιτηδείαν ἐν λόγοις. παρακελεύομαι δὲ τῇ συνθέσει
worth mentioning. The nature of the subject, indeed, is not such that it can fall under any comprehensive and systematic treatment, nor can good taste in general be apprehended by science, but only by personal judgment. Those who have continually trained this latter faculty in many connexions are more successful than others in attaining good taste, while those who leave it untrained are rarely successful, and only by a sort of lucky stroke.
To proceed. I think the following rules should be observed in composition by a writer who looks to please the ear. Either he should link to one another melodious, rhythmical, euphonious words, by which the sense of hearing is touched with a feeling of sweetness and softness,—those which, to put it broadly, come home to it most; or he should intertwine and interweave those which have no such natural effect with those that can so bewitch the ear that the unattractiveness of the one set is overshadowed by the grace of the other. We may compare the practice of good tacticians when marshalling their armies: they mask the weak portions by means of the strong, and so no part of their force proves useless. In the same way I maintain we ought to relieve monotony by the tasteful introduction of variety, since variety is an element of pleasure in everything we do. And last, and certainly most important of all, the setting which is assigned to the subject matter must be appropriate and becoming to it. And, in my opinion, we ought not to feel shy of using any noun or verb, however hackneyed, unless it carries with it some shameful association; for I venture to assert that no part of speech which signifies a person or a thing will prove so mean, squalid, or otherwise offensive as to have no fitting place in discourse. My advice is that, trusting to the
1 οὐδὲν F: οὐδ’ MV: om. P || καὶ F: om. PMV 5 αὐτόν FM: om. PV 6 ἀγύμναστον F, γρ M: ἀνάσκητον PM1V || σπανιωτέρ(αν) P, MV 9 ἢ EFM: om. PV 10 ἐκμαλάττεται F: μαλάττεται PMV 15 συντάξεις FM: τάξ[ει]ς cum litura P, V 16 ἐπικρύπτουσι EF: συγκρύπτουσιν P, MV 17 ἄχρηστον FE: μέρος ἄχρηστον PMV 20 κράτιστον EF: ἐστὶ κράτιστον PMV 21 καὶ πρέπουσαν om. F 22 δεῖν om. F || ὅτι καὶ τέτριπται EF: ὅτ’ (οὔτ’ V) ἐπιτέτραπται PMV 23 μέλλον EF: om. PMV 24 ῥυπαρὸν EF: ῥυπαρὸν ἢ μιαρὸν PV: μιαρὸν M || ἔχον om. F 26 δὲ EF: δὲ ἐν PMV
1. For οὐδ’ ὅτι (as read by Schaefer) Dobree suggested a number of alternatives,—οἶδ’ (= οἶδα), οὐδὲν, οὐδ’ ὁτιοῦν.
7. The passage that begins here is, itself, a good example of rhythmical and melodious writing.
10. τὸ ὅλον: cp. Long. p. 207, s.v. σύνολον.
15. The description in Iliad iv. 297-300 may be in Dionysius’ mind. Cp. Cic. Brut. 36. 139 “omnia veniebant Antonio in mentem; eaque suo quaeque loco, ubi plurimum proficere et valere possent, ut ab imperatore equites pedites levis armatura, sic ab illo in maxime opportunis orationis partibus collocabantur”; Xen. Cyrop. vii. 5. 5 ἀναπτυχθείσης δ’ οὕτω τῆς φάλαγγος ἀνάγκη τοὺς πρώτους ἀρίστους εἶναι καὶ τοὺς τελευταίους, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τοὺς κακίστους τετάχθαι.
19. Cp. Dionys. Hal. Ep. ad Cn. Pompeium c. 3 ὡς ἡδὺ χρῆμα ἐν ἱστορίας γραφῇ μεταβολὴ καὶ ποικίλον: Aristot. Eth. vii. 1154 b μεταβολὴ δὲ πάντων γλυκύ, κατὰ τὸν ποιητήν: Eurip. Orest. 234 μεταβολὴ πάντων γλυκύ. Dionysius’ whole-hearted faith in the virtues of μεταβολή (considered in its widest bearings) rests on a basis of permanent truth. If we open Shakespeare at random, we can see how the verbal forms (‘remember,’ ‘bequeathed,’ ‘sayest,’ ‘charged,’ ‘begins’) are varied in the opening sentence of As You Like It; and this though our language is almost wholly analytical. And the words that fall from Lear in his madness (King Lear iv. 6) are full of the most moving μεταβολαί, as well as of the most pathetic variations from τὸ εὐμελὲς to τὸ ἐμμελές.
πιστεύοντας ἀνδρείως πάνυ καὶ τεθαρρηκότως αὐτὰ ἐκφέρειν
Ὁμήρῳ τε παραδείγματι χρωμένους, παρ’ ᾧ καὶ τὰ
εὐτελέστατα κεῖται τῶν ὀνομάτων, καὶ Δημοσθένει καὶ
Ἡροδότῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὧν ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον μνησθήσομαι
καθ’ ὅ τι ἂν ἁρμόττῃ περὶ ἑκάστου. ταῦτά μοι περὶ τῆς 5
ἡδείας εἰρήσθω συνθέσεως, ὀλίγα μὲν ὑπὲρ πολλῶν θεωρημάτων,
ἱκανὰ δὲ ὡς κεφάλαια εἶναι.
XIII
εἶἑν. καλὴ δ’ ἁρμονία πῶς γένοιτ’ ἂν εἴ τις ἔροιτό με
καὶ ἐκ ποίων θεωρημάτων, οὐκ ἄλλως πως μὰ Δία φαίην ἂν
οὐδ’ ἐξ ἄλλων τινῶν ἢ ἐξ ὧνπερ ἡ ἡδεῖα· τὰ γὰρ αὐτὰ 10
ποιητικὰ ἀμφοῖν, μέλος εὐγενές, ῥυθμὸς ἀξιωματικός, μεταβολὴ
μεγαλοπρεπής, τὸ πᾶσι τούτοις παρακολουθοῦν πρέπον.
ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡδεῖά τις γίνεται λέξις, οὕτω καὶ γενναία τις
ἑτέρα, καὶ ῥυθμὸς ὥσπερ γλαφυρός τις, οὕτω καὶ σεμνός τις
ἕτερος, καὶ τὸ μεταβάλλειν ὥσπερ χάριν ἔχει, οὕτω καὶ 15
πίνον· τὸ δὲ δὴ πρέπον εἰ μὴ τοῦ καλοῦ πλεῖστον ἕξει
μέρος, σχολῇ γ’ ἂν ἄλλου τινός. ἐξ ἁπάντων δή φημι
τούτων ἐπιτηδεύεσθαι δεῖν τὸ καλὸν ἐν ἁρμονίᾳ λέξεως ἐξ
ὧνπερ καὶ τὸ ἡδύ. αἰτία δὲ κἀνταῦθα ἥ τε τῶν γραμμάτων
φύσις καὶ ἡ τῶν συλλαβῶν δύναμις, ἐξ ὧν πλέκεται τὰ ὀνόματα· 20
ὑπὲρ ὧν καιρὸς ἂν εἴη λέγειν, ὥσπερ ὑπεσχόμην.
XIV
ἀρχαὶ μὲν οὖν εἰσι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φωνῆς καὶ ἐνάρθρου
effect of the composition, we should bring out such expressions with a bold and manly confidence, following the example of Homer, in whom the most commonplace words are found, and of Demosthenes and Herodotus and others, whom I will mention a little later so far as is suitable in each case. I think I have now spoken at sufficient length on charm of style. My treatment has been but a brief survey of a wide field, but will furnish the main heads of the study.
Chapter XIII — How to Render Composition Beautiful
So far, so good. But, if some one were to ask me in what way, and by attention to what principles, literary structure can be made beautiful, I should reply: In no other way, believe me, and by no other means, than those by which it is made charming, since the same elements contribute to both, namely noble melody, stately rhythm, imposing variety, and the appropriateness which all these need. For as there is a charming diction, so there is another that is noble; as there is a polished rhythm, so also is there another that is dignified; as variety in one passage adds grace, so in another it adds mellowness; and as for appropriateness, it will prove the chief source of beauty, or else the source of nothing at all. I repeat, the study of beauty in composition should follow the same lines throughout as the study of charm. The prime cause, here as before, is to be found in the nature of the letters and the phonetic effect of the syllables, which are the raw material out of which the fabric of words is woven. The time may perhaps now have come for redeeming my promise to discuss these.
Chapter XIV — The Letters: Their Classification, Qualities, and Mode of Production
There are in human and articulate speech a number of first-beginnings
2 χρωμένους EFMV: χρ(ω)μεν(ος) P 4 ὀλίγον F: sed cf. 154 7 7 εἶναι· εἶἑν sic P, FM: εἶεν V 8 με καὶ F: ἢ PMV 9 μὰ PMV: νὴ F 10 οὐδ’] οὐκ PV || ἡ F: om. PMV 13 οὕτω καὶ PMV: οὕτω F 14 ἑτέρα PMV: ἄρα F || σεμνός τις F: σεμνὸς PMV 15 ἔχει P: ἔχει (ἔχειν V) τινὰ FMV 16 πινόν (θ suprascripto) P: πιθανόν V: τὸ πῖνον M: πόνον F 18 δεῖν] δὴ F 20 ὀνόματα PE: ὀνόματα ταῦτα FMV 22 φωνῆς καὶ ἐνάρθρου REF: καὶ ἐνάρθρου φωνῆς αἱ PMVs
6. ὑπέρ = περί: l. 21 infra, 96 2, etc. Reiske’s ἀπό is attractive; but does ὀλίγα really = ὀλίγα θεωρήματα?
8. εἶἑν = “So!” The breathing on the last syllable (as given by the best manuscripts, here and in other authors) helps to distinguish this word from the third pers. plur. optat. of εἰμί.
9. In a negative sentence, μὰ Δία is to be preferred to νὴ Δία.
13. λέξις: μέλος (cp. l. 11 supra) is here in question. Hence Usener suggests μέλισις. Perhaps λέξις (‘the words,’ ‘the libretto’) is here felt to include the music,—‘a passage set to music’: cp. 124 22 καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταύτῃ καὶ μέλος ἔχουσιν αἱ λέξεις (‘the words’) καὶ ῥυθμὸν καὶ μεταβολὴν καὶ πρέπον, and contrast 126 20-1.
16. πίνον, ‘mellowness,’ ‘ripeness’ (see Gloss.). The readings of FPMV seem all to point in this direction. πόνον (F’s reading) might possibly mean either ‘involve trouble’ (to the author) or ‘suggest painstaking’ (to the reader). Usener conjectures τόνον.
22. Chapter xiv., which in some respects is the most interesting in the treatise, might easily be ridiculed by one of those scoffers whom Dionysius elsewhere (252 17) mentions with aversion. In Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (ii. 4) there is much that could serve for a parody of the C. V.—the Maître de Philosophie with his “Sans la science, la vie est presque une image de la mort” (nam sine doctrina vita est quasi mortis imago), his “tout ce qui n’est point prose est vers; et tout ce qui n’est point vers est prose,” and (particularly) his remarks on l’orthographie: “Pour bien suivre votre pensée et traiter cette matière en philosophe, il faut commencer selon l’ordre des choses, par une exacte connaissance de la nature des lettres, et de la différente manière de les prononcer toutes. Et là-dessus j’ai à vous dire que les lettres sont divisées en voyelles, ainsi dites voyelles parce qu’elles expriment les voix; et en consonnes, ainsi appelées consonnes parce qu’elles sonnent avec les voyelles, et ne font que marquer les diverses articulations des voix.” These remarks include descriptions (many of which are taken almost verbatim from De Cordemoy’s Discours physique de la parole, published in 1668) of the mode in which various letters are formed, and (incidentally) M. Jourdain’s exclamation, “A, E, I, I, I, I. Cela est vrai. Vive la science!”
μηκέτι δεχόμεναι διαίρεσιν, ἃ καλοῦμεν στοιχεῖα καὶ γράμματα·
γράμματα μὲν ὅτι γραμμαῖς τισι σημαίνεται, στοιχεῖα δὲ ὅτι
πᾶσα φωνὴ τὴν γένεσιν ἐκ τούτων λαμβάνει πρώτων καὶ τὴν
διάλυσιν εἰς ταῦτα ποιεῖται τελευταῖα. τῶν δὴ στοιχείων τε
καὶ γραμμάτων οὐ μία πάντων φύσις, διαφορὰ δὲ αὐτῶν 5
πρώτη μέν, ὡς Ἀριστόξενος ὁ μουσικὸς ἀποφαίνεται, καθ’ ἣν
τὰ μὲν φωνὰς ἀποτελεῖ, τὰ δὲ ψόφους· φωνὰς μὲν τὰ
λεγόμενα φωνήεντα, ψόφους δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα. δευτέρα δὲ
καθ’ ἣν τῶν μὴ φωνηέντων ἃ μὲν καθ’ ἑαυτὰ ψόφους ὁποίους
δή τινας ἀποτελεῖν πέφυκε, ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἢ 10
τοιούτων τινῶν ἄλλων ἤχων δηλωτικούς· ἃ δ’ ἐστὶν ἁπάσης
ἄμοιρα φωνῆς καὶ ψόφου καὶ οὐχ οἷά τε ἠχεῖσθαι καθ’ ἑαυτά·
διὸ δὴ ταῦτα μὲν ἄφωνα τινὲς ἐκάλεσαν, θάτερα δὲ ἡμίφωνα.
οἱ δὲ τριχῇ νείμαντες τὰς πρώτας τε καὶ στοιχειώδεις τῆς
φωνῆς δυνάμεις φωνήεντα μὲν ἐκάλεσαν, ὅσα καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὰ 15
admitting no further division which we call elements and letters: “letters” (γράμματα) because they are denoted by certain lines (γραμμαί), and “elements” (στοιχεῖα) because every sound made by the voice originates in these, and is ultimately resolvable into them. The elements and letters are not all of the same nature. Of the differences between them, the first is, as Aristoxenus the musician makes clear, that some represent vocal sounds, while others represent noises: the former being represented by the so-called “vowels,” the latter by all the other letters. A second difference is that some of the non-vowels by their nature give rise to some noise or other,—a whizzing, a hissing, a murmur, or suggestions of some such sounds, whereas others are devoid of all voice or noise and cannot be sounded by themselves. Hence some writers have called the latter “voiceless” (“mutes”), the others “semi-voiced” (“semi-vowels”). Those writers who make a threefold division of the first or elemental powers of the voice give the name of voiced (vowels) to all letters which can be uttered, either by themselves or
1 ἃ R: ἃς libri 3 πρώτων F: πρτω P: πρῶτον RMVs 4 τελευταῖα P: τελευταῖον R: τελευταῖαν FVs: τελευταίαν M 9 μὴ φωνηέντων REFM: μὲν φωνηέντων PRb: φωνηέντων Vs 10 σιγμὸν REF: συριγμὸν PMVs || μυγμὸν RE: μιγμὸν F: ποππυσμὸν P: ἀποπτυσμὸν Vs: ποππυσμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν M 11 δηλωτικούς RF: δηλωτικά EPMVs 13 διὸ δὴ REF: om. PMVs || θάτερα] καθάπερ F 14 τῆς φωνῆς RFM: φωνῆς PVs
1. The following note, given in Usener-Radermacher ii. 1, p. 48, is important for its bearing on the text of the C. V.: “Scholiasta Hermogenis Περὶ ἰδεῶν I 6 in Walzii rhet. gr. VII. p. 964, 23 (correctus ex codd. Paris. 1983 = Ra et 2977 = Rb) ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν στοιχείων ἄριστα παραδίδωσιν ὁ Διονύσιος ἐν τῷ περὶ συνθήκης ὀνομάτων συγγράμματι· λέγει γὰρ τί συμβέβηκεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν στοιχείων καὶ ποίαν μὲν δύναμιν ἔχει τὰ φωνήεντα, ποίαν δὲ τὰ σύμφωνα καὶ πάλιν αὖ τὰ ἡμίφωνα· πλὴν ἵνα τι καὶ θαυμάσωμεν τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς δεξιότητος, αὐτὴν παραθώμεθα τὴν λέξιν· Ἀρχαὶ μὲν... εἶναι ἐκεῖνα (p. 969. 18 W.). καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Διονύσιος· οἷς προσέχων οὐκ ἂν διαμάρτοις τοῦ προσήκοντος. εἰ γὰρ σεμνὸν ποιεῖν ἐθέλεις (sic b: ἐθέλοις a Walzius) τὸν λόγον, ἐκλεξάμενος τὰ μακρὰ καὶ ὅσα τεταμένον (τεταγμένον W) λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος λάμβανε· φεῦγε δὲ τὰ βραχέως ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε λεγόμενα καὶ μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης ἐκφερόμενα· τὰ γὰρ μακρὰ τῶν φωνηέντων τῷ σεμνῷ μᾶλλον ἁρμόττει ἅτε (εἴ τε b) μηκυνόμενα κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν καὶ πολὺν ἠχοῦντα χρόνον· ἀνοίκεια (Walzius: ἀνοίκειον a b) δὲ τὰ βραχέως λεγόμενα καὶ σπαδονίζοντα (σπαδωνίζοντα b σπανίζοντα Walzius) τὸν ἦχον. ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ (οὔτε libri) τὰ μακρὰ δεῖ λαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐκφορὰν διογκοῦντα τὸ στόμα καὶ ὅσα λέγεται τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνοιγομένου καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου (ἀναφερομένου b) πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἢ ὅσα περιστέλλει τὰ χείλη καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ποιεῖ περὶ τὸ ἀκροστόμιον. ὥστε δεῖ μάλιστα χρῆσθαι ταῖς λέξεσιν ὅσαι πλεονάζουσι τῷ τε ᾱ καὶ τῷ ω̄.”
2. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. § 6 (Uhlig p. 9) γράμματα δὲ λέγεται διὰ τὸ γραμμαῖς καὶ ξυσμαῖς τυποῦσθαι· γράψαι γὰρ τὸ ξῦσαι παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς.
3. With this passage generally cp. Aristot. Poet. c. 20 στοιχεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς πέφυκε συνετὴ γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν λέγω στοιχεῖον· ταύτης δὲ μέρη τό τε φωνῆεν καὶ τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ ἄφωνον. ἔστιν δὲ φωνῆεν μὲν ‹τὸ› ἄνευ προσβολῆς ἔχον φωνὴν ἀκουστήν, οἷον τὸ Σ καὶ τὸ Ρ, ἄφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς καθ’ αὑτὸ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον φωνήν, μετὰ δὲ τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γιγνόμενον ἀκουστόν, οἷον τὸ Γ καὶ τὸ Δ. ταῦτα δὲ διαφέρει σχήμασίν τε τοῦ στόματος καὶ τόποις καὶ δασύτητι καὶ ψιλότητι καὶ μήκει καὶ βραχύτητι, ἔτι δὲ ὀξύτητι καὶ βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ· περὶ ὧν καθ’ ἕκαστον ἐν τοῖς μετρικοῖς προσήκει θεωρεῖν.
6. Aristoxenus, of Tarentum, the great musical theorist of Greece, lived during the times of Alexander the Great. Dionysius refers to him also in de Demosth. c. 48.
9. Cp. Sext. Empir. adv. Math. i. 102 καὶ ἡμίφωνα μὲν ὅσα δι’ αὑτῶν ῥοῖζον ἢ σιγμὸν ἢ μυγμὸν ἤ τινα παραπλήσιον ἦχον κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν ἀποτελεῖν πεφυκότα, κτλ.
10. ποππυσμόν, the reading of P, might mean ‘a popping sound.’
13. The division into vowels, consonants, and mutes appears in Plato Cratyl. 424 C ἆρ’ οὖν καὶ ἡμᾶς οὕτω δεῖ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ φωνήεντα (‘vowels’) διελέσθαι, ἔπειτα τῶν ἑτέρων κατὰ εἴδη τά τε ἄφωνα (‘consonants’) καὶ ἄφθογγα (‘mutes’); ἄφωνα seems in this passage to mean ‘consonants’; in later times σύμφωνα was often so used. In the Philebus 18 D the originator of an ‘art of grammar’ is attributed to the Egyptian
Theuth.
φωνεῖται καὶ μεθ’ ἑτέρων καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοτελῆ· ἡμίφωνα δ’ ὅσα
μετὰ μὲν φωνηέντων αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν κρεῖττον ἐκφέρεται, καθ’
ἑαυτὰ δὲ χεῖρον καὶ οὐκ αὐτοτελῶς· ἄφωνα δ’ ὅσα οὔτε τὰς
τελείας οὔτε τὰς ἡμιτελεῖς φωνὰς ἔχει καθ’ ἑαυτά, μεθ’
ἑτέρων δ’ ἐκφωνεῖται. 5
ἀριθμὸς δὲ αὐτῶν ὅστις ἐστίν, οὐ ῥᾴδιον εἰπεῖν ἀκριβῶς,
ἐπεὶ πολλὴν παρέσχε καὶ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ἀπορίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα·
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ᾠήθησαν εἶναι τριακαίδεκα τὰ πάντα τῆς φωνῆς
στοιχεῖα, κατεσκευάσθαι δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἐκ τούτων· οἱ δὲ καὶ
τῶν εἰκοσιτεσσάρων οἷς χρώμεθα νῦν πλείω. ἡ μὲν οὖν ὑπὲρ 10
τούτων θεωρία γραμματικῆς τε καὶ μετρικῆς, εἰ δὲ βούλεταί
τις, καὶ φιλοσοφίας οἰκειοτέρα· ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπόχρη μήτ’ ἐλάττους
τῶν κ̅δ̅ μήτε πλείους ὑποθεμένοις εἶναι τὰς τῆς φωνῆς ἀρχὰς
τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐτοῖς λέγειν, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν φωνηέντων
ποιησαμένοις. 15
ἔστι δὴ ταῦτα τὸν ἀριθμὸν ζ̄, δύο μὲν βραχέα τό τε ε̄
καὶ τὸ ο̄, δύο δὲ μακρὰ τό τε η̄ καὶ τὸ ω̄, τρία δὲ δίχρονα
τό τε ᾱ καὶ τὸ ῑ καὶ τὸ ῡ, καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα καὶ
συστέλλεται· καὶ αὐτὰ οἱ μὲν δίχρονα, ὥσπερ ἔφην, οἱ δὲ
μεταπτωτικὰ καλοῦσιν. φωνεῖται δὲ ταῦτα πάντα παρὰ τῆς 20
ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι καὶ τοῦ στόματος ἁπλῶς
σχηματισθέντος τῆς τε γλώττης οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης ἀλλ’
together with others, and are self-sufficing; semi-vowels to all which are pronounced better in combination with vowels, worse and imperfectly when taken singly; mutes to all which by themselves admit of neither perfect nor half-perfect utterance, but are pronounced only in combination with others.
It is not easy to say exactly what the number of these elements is, and our predecessors also have felt much doubt upon the question. Some have held that there are only thirteen elements of speech all told, and that the rest are but combinations of these; others that there are more than even the twenty-four which we now recognize. The discussion of this point belongs more properly to grammar and prosody, or even, perhaps, to philosophy. It is enough for us to assume the elements of speech to be neither more nor less than twenty-four, and to specify the properties of each, beginning with the vowels.
These are seven in number: two short, viz. ε and ο; two long, viz. η and ω; and three common, viz. α, ι and υ. These last can be either long or short, and some call them “common,” as I have just done, others “variable.” All these sounds are produced from the windpipe, which resounds to the breath, while the mouth assumes a simple shape; the tongue takes no part
2 αὐτὰ ἑαυτῶν REF: om. PMVs 4 ἡμιτελεῖς REF: ἡμιτελείας PMVs 5 δὲ ἐκφωνεῖται REFMVs: δὲ καὶ φωνεῖται P 6 ἀριθμὸς RFM: ὁ ἀριθμὸς PVs 11 εἰ δὲ RF: εἰ PMVs 14 τὰ RF: καὶ τὰ PMVs || αὐτοῖς RF: αὐτὴι P, MVs 16 μὲν βραχέα τότε (τὸ R) έ καὶ τὸ ό, δύο δὲ μακρὰ F, ER: μὲν μακρὰ PMVs 18 καὶ γὰρ ἐκτείνεται ταῦτα RFE: ἃ καὶ ἐκτείνεται PMVs 19 καὶ αὐτὰ RF: ἃ PMVs || μὲν] μὲν ἤδη R 20 φωνεῖται RF: ἐκφωνεῖται EPMVs || παρὰ τῆς EF: ἀπὸ τῆς M: τῆς RPVs 21 συνηχούσης R: συνεχούσης libri || τῶι πνεύματι R: τὸ π̅ν̅ι̅ F: τὸ πνεῦμα EPMVs || στόματος] σώματος R
5. “On referring to the treatise of Aristotle περὶ ἀκουστῶν, the notion which underlies all Greek phonetics will be seen to be as follows. Breath is expelled by the lungs through the windpipe into the mouth, whence it passes out. The chief differences of speech-sounds are effected by ‘the strokes of the air’ (αἱ τοῦ ἀέρος πληγαί) and the configurations of the mouth (οἱ τοῦ στόματος σχηματισμοί). On the state of the lungs, their hardness, dryness, thickness, or softness, moistness, freedom, much stress is laid; and also on the amount and strength of the ‘stroke,’ which drives out the air forcibly (ἐκθλίβῃ τὸν ἀέρα βιαίως). Much is said of a long and short windpipe. ‘All that have long necks speak forcibly, as geese, cranes, and cocks. When the windpipe is short, the breath necessarily falls out quickly, and the stroke of the air becomes stronger, and all such persons must speak sharper (ὀξύτερον) because of the rapidity with which the breath is borne on.’ But there is not the least reference to the larynx or vocal chords, to the real organ by which voice proper is formed. No doubt Dionysius was not wiser than Aristotle in these matters. This must be well borne in mind for the full appreciation of what follows,” A. J. E. [But for λάρυγξ cp. the note on l. 21 infra.]
14. αὐτοῖς: στοιχεῖα (cp. ll. 9 and 10), rather than αἱ τῆς φωνῆς ἀρχαί, seems to determine the grammar here. The reference of αὐτά, αὐτό, τοῦτο, etc., is often very general; e.g. Aristoph. Ran. 1025 ἀλλ’ ὑμῖν αὔτ’ [sc. τὰ πολεμικά, to be supplied from τὸν πόλεμον in the previous line] ἐξῆν ἀσκεῖν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦτ’ [sc. τὸ ἀσκεῖν] ἐτράπεσθε, and 1464 εὖ, πλήν γ’ ὁ δικαστὴς αὐτὰ [sc. τὰ χρήματα, implied in πόρος] καταπίνει μόνος; Thucyd. vii. 55 2 τὰ πρὸ αὐτῶν (‘before the late events’). Cp. also note on 198 18 infra.
Dionysius makes no specific reference, here or elsewhere in his treatise, to the diphthongs. The probable inference is that he regarded them as true diphthongs, formed from the simple vowels whose pronunciation is separately described by him.
16. See Introduction, p. 46 supra, as to Sir Thomas Smith on this passage.—It is interesting also to notice the praise which Smith, in the same treatise on Greek pronunciation (Havercamp ii. p. 537), lavishes on Dionysius’ description of various vowels: “Quis Apelles aut Parrhasius faciem hominis penicillo vel coloribus exprimere potuit felicius, differentiamque constituere inter diversos vultus, quam hic verbis vocalium naturam distinxit ac separavit?”
21. With συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα the meaning would be ‘while the windpipe constricts the breath.’ But the reading given by R represents the facts with a fair degree of accuracy, and it may be compared with Aristot. Hist. An. ix. 4 τὰ μὲν οὖν φωνήεντα ἡ φωνὴ καὶ ὁ λάρυγξ ἀφίησιν, τὰ δ’ ἄφωνα ἡ γλῶττα καὶ τὰ χείλη.
ἁπλῶς σχηματισθέντος: “meaning perhaps that the mouth is not continually varied in shape,” A. J. E.
22. οὐδὲν πραγματευομένης: “that is, it does not move about, though it directs the breath,” A. J. E.
ἀλλ’ ἠρεμούσης: “meaning that it does not vibrate as for λ and ρ,” A. J. E.
ἠρεμούσης. πλὴν τὰ μὲν μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ἃ μακρῶς
λέγεται τεταμένον λαμβάνει καὶ διηνεκῆ τὸν αὐλὸν τοῦ πνεύματος,
τὰ δὲ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα ἐξ ἀποκοπῆς τε καὶ
μιᾷ πληγῇ πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ἐπὶ βραχὺ κινηθείσης
ἐκφέρεται. τούτων δὴ κράτιστα μέν ἐστι καὶ φωνὴν ἡδίστην 5
ἀποτελεῖ τά τε μακρὰ καὶ τῶν διχρόνων ὅσα μηκύνεται κατὰ
τὴν ἐκφοράν, ὅτι πολὺν ἠχεῖται χρόνον καὶ τὸν τοῦ πνεύματος
οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον· χείρω δὲ τὰ βραχέα ἢ βραχέως λεγόμενα,
ὅτι μικρόφωνά τ’ ἐστὶ καὶ σπαδονίζει τὸν ἦχον. αὐτῶν
δὲ τῶν μακρῶν πάλιν εὐφωνότατον μὲν τὸ ᾱ, ὅταν ἐκτείνηται· 10
λέγεται γὰρ ἀνοιγομένου τε τοῦ στόματος ἐπὶ πλεῖστον καὶ
τοῦ πνεύματος ἄνω φερομένου πρὸς τὸν οὐρανόν. δεύτερον δὲ
τὸ η̄, διότι κάτω τε περὶ τὴν βάσιν τῆς γλώττης ἐρείδει τὸν
ἦχον ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἄνω, καὶ μετρίως ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος.
τρίτον δὲ τὸ ω̄· στρογγυλίζεται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ στόμα καὶ 15
περιστέλλεται τὰ χείλη τήν τε πληγὴν τὸ πνεῦμα περὶ τὸ
ἀκροστόμιον ποιεῖται. ἔτι δ’ ἧττον τούτου τὸ ῡ· περὶ γὰρ
αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ
στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος. ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων τὸ ῑ· περὶ τοὺς
in the process but remains at rest. But the long vowels, and those common vowels that are pronounced long, have an extended and continuous passage of breath, while those that are short or pronounced as short are uttered abruptly, with one burst of breath, the movement of the windpipe being but brief. Of these the strongest, which also produce the most pleasing sound, are the long ones and those common ones which are lengthened in utterance, the reason being that they are sounded for a long time, and do not cut short the tension of the breath. The short ones, or those pronounced short, are inferior, because they lack sonorousness and curtail the sound. Again, of the long vowels themselves the most euphonious is α, when prolonged; for it is pronounced with the mouth open to the fullest extent, and with the breath forced upwards to the palate. η holds the second place, inasmuch as it drives the sound down against the base of the tongue and not upwards, and the mouth is fairly open. Third comes ω: in pronouncing this the mouth is rounded, the lips are contracted, and the impact of the breath is on the edge of the mouth. Still inferior to this is υ; for, through a marked contraction taking place right round the lips, the sound is strangled and comes out thin. Last of
7 ἠχεῖ R (ut videtur) 8 οὐκ ἀποκόπτει τόνον RF: οὐκ ἀποκόπτει χρόνον E: οὐ κατακόπτει τὸν τόνον PMVs 9 σπαδονίζει PMVs: σπανίζει R (sed vid. n. 138 1) EF 10 πάλιν REF: om. PMs 12 ἄνω φερομένου RaPMVs: ἀναφερομένου RbEF 13 διότι REF: ὅτι PMVs || κάτω τε F: τε κάτω R: κάτω EPMVs 14 ἀλλ’ οὐκ REF: ἀκόλουθον ἀλλ’ οὐκ PMVs || τοῦ στόματος REFM: om. PVs 16 περιστέλλεται REF: περιστέλλει PMVs 17 ἔτι RF: ἔστι EPMVs 18 γινομένης REF: γενομένης PMVs
5. With regard to the euphoniousness of the Egyptian vowels there is an interesting passage in Demetr. de Eloc. § 71: “In Egypt the priests, when singing hymns in praise of the gods, employ the seven vowels, which they utter in due succession; and the sound of these letters is so euphonious that men listen to it in preference to flute and lyre.”
9. σπαδονίζει: see Gloss., s.v.
10. For the effect of the a sound in Latin cp. Cic. Tusc. Disp. ii. 9. 22 “haec dextra Lernam taetram, mactata excetra, | placavit: haec bicorporem afflixit manum: | Erymanthiam haec vastificam abiecit beluam: | haec e Tartarea tenebrica abstractum plaga | tricipitem eduxit Hydra generatum canem” (a translation of Soph. Trach. 1094-99).
11. Cp. Le Bourg. Gent. ii. 4 “la voix A se forme en ouvrant fort la bouche”; and the rest of Molière’s comic phonetics furnish similar points of coincidence with this chapter of Dionysius.
12. “The position of the tongue has to be inferred from the presumed direction of the breath, on which many other writers besides Dionysius have laid stress; for A probably the tongue was depressed, so as to allow the breath to enter the mouth freely, and the sound was either a in ‘father,’ or, with a still more depressed tongue, the French a in ‘passer,’ which is a common Scotch pronunciation of the vowel a,” A. J. E.
13. “The description which Dionysius gives of the production of η and of ε is unfortunately not of such a kind that we can with any certainty infer the distinction of an open or closed sound,” Blass Pronunciation of Ancient Greek p. 36 (Purton’s translation).
14. The καί introduces a specification which is parallel to those which follow κάτω.
15. For the effect of the o sound (notwithstanding any differences in the two languages) cp. Cic. Cat. iv. init. “video, patres conscripti, in me omnium vestra ora atque oculos conversos. video, vos non solum de vestro ac reipublicae, verum etiam, si id depulsum sit, de meo periculo esse sollicitos.” And in Greek, the Homeric lines quoted on 154 23, 156 4 infra.—The question whether ω = ‘open’ or ‘closed’ o depends upon what position of the lips Dionysius’ description is taken to indicate.
17. ἧττον, ‘less,’ might mean inferior either in quality of tone or in the degree of opening of the mouth (A. J. E.).
τὸ ῡ: this vowel can, as in Aristoph. Plut. 895, be so pronounced as to convey the sensations of a sycophant in the presence of roasted meats:—
ἀρνεῖσθον; ἔνδον ἐστίν, ὦ μιαρωτάτω,
πολὺ χρῆμα τεμαχῶν καὶ κρεῶν ὠπτημένων.
ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ ὒ ὗ,
where B. B. Rogers remarks: “This line [ὒ ὗ etc.], as Bentley pointed out, is naso, non ore, efferendus. It represents a succession of sniffings, produced by the nose; and not words or inarticulate sounds spoken with the mouth.”
18. Cp. scholium on Dionysius Thrax p. 691. 27 B: τὸ ῡ τὰ χείλη συστέλλει κατὰ τὴν ἐκφώνησιν. φησὶ γὰρ Διονύσιος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεὺς ἐν τῷ περὶ στοιχείων καὶ συλλαβῶν λόγῳ ὅτι περὶ αὐτὰ τὰ χείλη συστολῆς γινομένης ἀξιολόγου πνίγεται καὶ στενὸς ἐκπίπτει ὁ ἦχος.
19. “So far as the lips are concerned, this description would suit either the French u or the English oo, but the latter part of the description is better suited to French u, and from the Latins having at this time represented this sound by their new sign Y (the usual form of Greek Υ in inscriptions) in place of their own V (which was our oo), we may feel sure that the sound was not English oo, and, if not, that it was most probably French u, as we know that it was so subsequently,” A. J. E.
τοὺς ὀδόντας: “as the lips are not closed, there are only the teeth to limit the aperture,” A. J. E.—The position (ἔσχατον πάντων) assigned to iota is to be noticed: cp. Hermog. π. ἰδ. p. 225 (Walz Rhett. Gr. vol. iii.) τὸ ῑ... ἥκιστα σεμνὴν ποιεῖ τὴν λέξιν πλεονάσαν.
ὀδόντας τε γὰρ ἡ κροῦσις τοῦ πνεύματος γίνεται μικρὸν
ἀνοιγομένου τοῦ στόματος καὶ οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων τῶν
χειλῶν τὸν ἦχον. τῶν δὲ βραχέων οὐδέτερον μὲν εὔμορφον,
ἧττον δὲ δυσειδὲς τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄· διίστησι γὰρ τὸ στόμα κρεῖττον
θατέρου καὶ τὴν πληγὴν λαμβάνει περὶ τὴν ἀρτηρίαν 5
μᾶλλον.
φωνηέντων μὲν οὖν γραμμάτων αὕτη φύσις· ἡμιφώνων δὲ
τοιάδε· ὀκτὼ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντων αὐτῶν πέντε μέν ἐστιν ἁπλᾶ
τό τε λ̄ καὶ τὸ μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄ καὶ τὸ ρ̄ καὶ τὸ σ̄· διπλᾶ δὲ
τρία τό τε ζ̄ καὶ τὸ ξ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ λέγουσιν αὐτὰ 10
ἤτοι διὰ τὸ σύνθετα εἶναι, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ διὰ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ
ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄ συνεφθαρμένων
ἀλλήλοις ἰδίαν φωνὴν λαμβάνοντα, ἢ διὰ τὸ χώραν ἐπέχειν
δυεῖν γραμμάτων ἐν ταῖς συλλαβαῖς παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον.
τούτων δὴ κρείττω μέν ἐστι τὰ διπλᾶ τῶν ἁπλῶν, 15
ἐπειδὴ μείζονά ἐστι τῶν ἑτέρων καὶ μᾶλλον ἐγγίζειν δοκεῖ
τοῖς τελείοις· ἥττω δὲ τὰ ἁπλᾶ διὰ τὸ εἰς βραχυτέρους
τόπους συνάγεσθαι τὸν ἦχον. φωνεῖται δ’ αὐτῶν ἕκαστον
τοιόνδε τινὰ τρόπον· τὸ μὲν λ̄ τῆς γλώττης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ἱσταμένης καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας συνηχούσης· τὸ δὲ μ̄ τοῦ μὲν 20
στόματος τοῖς χείλεσι πιεσθέντος, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ τῶν
ῥωθώνων μεριζομένου· τὸ δὲ ν̄ τῆς γλώττης τὴν φορὰν τοῦ
πνεύματος ἀποκλειούσης καὶ μεταφερούσης ἐπὶ τοὺς ῥώθωνας
τὸν ἦχον· τὸ δὲ ρ̄ τῆς γλώττης ἄκρας ἀπορριπιζούσης τὸ
πνεῦμα καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τῶν ὀδόντων ἀνισταμένης· 25
all stands ι: for the impact of the breath is on the teeth as the mouth is slightly open and the lips do not clarify the sound. Of the short vowels none has beauty, but ο is less ugly than ε: for the former parts the lips better than the latter, and receives the impact more in the region of the windpipe.
So much for the nature of the vowels. The semi-vowels are as follows. They are eight in number, and five of them are simple, viz. λ, μ, ν, ρ, and σ, while three are double, viz. ζ, ξ, ψ. They are called double either because they are composite, receiving a distinctive sound through the coalescence respectively of σ and δ into ζ, of κ and σ into ξ, and of π and σ into ψ; or because they each occupy the room of two letters in the syllables where they are found. Of these semi-vowels, the double are superior to the single, since they are ampler than the others and seem to approximate more to perfect letters. The simple ones are inferior because their sounds are confined within smaller spaces. They are severally pronounced somewhat as follows: λ by the tongue rising to the palate, and by the windpipe helping the sound; μ by the mouth being closed tight by means of the lips, while the breath is divided and passes through the nostrils; ν by the tongue intercepting the current of the breath, and diverting the sound towards the nostrils; ρ by the tip of the tongue sending forth the breath in puffs and rising to the palate
1 κροῦσις R: κρίσις EF: κρότησις PVs 2 οὐκ ἐπιλαμπρυνόντων] οὐκέτι λαμπρυνόντων P 3 εὔμορφον REF: εὔηχον PMVs 4 δυσειδὲς REF: δυσηχὲς PMVs || τοῦ ε̄ τὸ ο̄ Us.: τὸ ε̄ REFMV, τὸ ο̄ Ps 5 καὶ τὴν REF: τὴν δὲ PMVs 8 ὀκτὼ RF: ὀκτὼ γὰρ EPMVs || πέντε] ε̄ PVs 9 διπλὰ δὲ τρία F, RbE: διπλᾶ δὲ καὶ τρία Ra: τρία (γ̄ P) δὲ διπλᾶ PMVs 11 τοῦ δ̄ καὶ τοῦ σ̄ Ra: τοῦ δ̄ καὶ σ̄ Rb 13 ἰδίαν RF: καὶ ἰδίαν PMVs 14 παραλαμβανόμενον ἕκαστον RF: παραλαμβανόμενα. ἑκάστου PMVs 17 βραχυτέρους F: βαρυτέρους R: βραχυτέρους αὐτῶν E, PM 18 τόπους RFM2: τόνους EPM1Vs 20 ἱσταμένης REF: ἀνισταμένης PMVs || συνηχούσης REF: συνηχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα M: συνεχούσης τὸ πνεῦμα PVs 21 διὰ τῶν... (23) πνεύματος REFM: om. P 22 ν̄] π̄ R 23 τοὺς ῥώθωνας RPMs: τὸν ῥώθωνα FE 24 ἀπορριπιζούσης RF: ἀπορραπιζούσης EVs: ἀποραπιζούσης (ρ alt. suprascr.) P, M
1. μικρὸν ἀνοιγομένου: “no limitation is necessary, the lips may be as open for our ee as for our ah, but they may also be slightly open from the centre to the corners, no part being in contact,” A. J. E.
2. “There can be no doubt that our ee is meant, and, although this is usually considered to be a ’bright’ sound, it will be found that if, while singing it, and without moving the tongue, the lips be as much closed as for oo, the result, which will be French u, is much more musical. Whatever doubt may remain from this description of the precise shades of sound, there can be none that η, υ, ι had different sounds, as indeed transcripts of Greek into Latin letters and Latin into Greek letters shew that they had, partially at least, down to the 12th century A.D., although the confusion was complete in the 15th, as it has since remained. Dionysius does not describe the diphthongs ΑΥ, ΕΥ, or the digraphs ΑΙ, ΕΙ, ΟΙ, ΟΥ,” A. J. E.
5. “This would best suit our aw in awn shortened, that is, very nearly our o in on. Short ε is not referred to, nor the short sounds of α, ι, υ,” A. J. E.
11. For the pronunciation of ζ see Introduction, p. 44, and cp. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. § 7 (Uhlig p. 14): ἔτι δὲ τῶν συμφώνων διπλᾶ μέν ἐστι τρία· ζ̄, ξ̄, ψ̄. διπλᾶ δὲ εἴρηται, ὅτι ἓν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἐκ δύο συμφώνων σύγκειται, τὸ μὲν ζ̄ ἐκ τοῦ σ̄ καὶ δ̄, τὸ δὲ ξ̄ ἐκ τοῦ κ̄ καὶ σ̄, τὸ δὲ ψ̄ ἐκ τοῦ π̄ καὶ σ̄.—For the late use of διά (with the genitive) of the means or material by or of which a thing is composed cp. 154 10 and 180 6; also Antiqq. Rom. i. ἐν ὄρεσι τὰ πολλὰ πηξαμένοις διὰ ξύλων καὶ καλάμων σκηνὰς αὐτορόφους.
17. ἥττω... ἦχον: a true phonetic explanation.
20. For m and n in Greek and Latin (especially at the end of clauses) cp. Quintil. xii. 10. 31 “Quid? quod pleraque nos illa quasi mugiente littera cludimus M, in quam nullum Graece verbum cadit: at illi ny iucundam et in fine praecipue quasi tinnientem illius loco ponunt, quae est apud nos rarissima in clausulis.”
25. οὐρανὸν... ὀδόντων. Demosthenes’ difficulty in pronouncing this letter (the trilled palato-dental r) is well known: e.g. Quintil. i. 11. 5 “(rho littera), qua Demosthenes quoque laboravit.”
τὸ δὲ σ̄ τῆς μὲν γλώττης προσαγομένης ἄνω πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν
ὅλης, τοῦ δὲ πνεύματος διὰ μέσων αὐτῶν φερομένου καὶ περὶ
τοὺς ὀδόντας λεπτὸν καὶ στενὸν ἐξωθοῦντος τὸ σύριγμα. τρία
δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ ἡμίφωνα μικτὸν λαμβάνει τὸν ψόφον ἐξ ἑνὸς μὲν
τῶν ἡμιφώνων τοῦ σ̄, τριῶν δὲ ἀφώνων τοῦ τε δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ 5
καὶ τοῦ π̄.
οὗτοι σχηματισμοὶ γραμμάτων ἡμιφώνων. δύναται δ’
οὐχ ὁμοίως κινεῖν τὴν ἀκοὴν ἅπαντα· ἡδύνει μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν
τὸ λ̄, καὶ ἔστι τὼν ἡμιφώνων γλυκύτατον· τραχύνει δὲ τὸ ρ̄
καὶ ἔστι τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον· μέσως δέ πως διατίθησι 10
τὰ διὰ τῶν ῥωθώνων συνηχούμενα τό τε μ̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄
κερατοειδεῖς ἀποτελοῦντα τοὺς ἤχους. ἄχαρι δὲ καὶ ἀηδὲς
τὸ σ̄ καὶ πλεονάσαν σφόδρα λυπεῖ· θηριώδους γὰρ καὶ
ἀλόγου μᾶλλον ἢ λογικῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι δοκεῖ φωνῆς ὁ συριγμός·
τῶν γοῦν παλαιῶν τινες σπανίως ἐχρῶντο αὐτῷ καὶ 15
near the teeth; and σ by the entire tongue being carried up to the palate and by the breath passing between tongue and palate, and emitting, round about the teeth, a light, thin hissing. The sound of the three remaining semi-voiced letters is of a mixed character, being formed of one of the semi-voiced letters (σ) and three of the voiceless letters (δ, κ and π).
Such are the formations of the semi-vowels. They cannot all affect the sense of hearing in the same way. λ falls pleasurably on it, and is the sweetest of the semi-vowels; while ρ has a rough quality, and is the noblest of its class. The ear is affected in a sort of intermediate way by μ and ν, which are pronounced with nasal resonance, and produce sounds similar to those of a horn. σ is an unattractive, disagreeable letter, positively offensive when used to excess. A hiss seems a sound more suited to a brute beast than to a rational being. At all events, some of the ancients used it sparingly and guardedly.
1 προσαγομένης R: προαγομένης EF: προσἀναγομένης P, Vs: προανοιγομένης M 2 ὅλης REF: ὅλως δὲ M: om. PVs || μέσων αὐτῶν R: μέσον αὐτῶν F: μέσουν αὐτοῦ M: μέσου αὐτοῦ EPVs 5 δ̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ REF: κ̄ καὶ τοῦ δ̄ PMVs 13 καὶ πλεονάσαν REF: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσαι PM: καὶ εἰ πλεονάσειε Vs 14 ἀλόγου RPMVs: ἀλάλου EF
2. Perhaps the variations in the readings here (cp. also 148 16) indicate that one or two of the words originally stood in the dual number.—διὰ μέσου αὐτοῦ (EPV) would mean ‘through the middle of the palate.’
9. As in Virgil (Aen. viii. 140: cp. v. 217), “at Maiam, auditis si quicquam credimus, Atlas, | idem Atlas generat caeli qui sidera tollit.”—The same view of l is expressed in Demetr. de Eloc. § 174 πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀκοὴν (sc. ἡδέα ἐστι) “Καλλίστρατος, Ἀννοῶν.” ἥ τε γὰρ τῶν λάμβδα σύγκρουσις ἠχῶδές τι ἔχει, καὶ ἡ τῶν νῦ γραμμάτων (for the effect of the double l and n cp. such words as ‘bella’ and ‘donna’ in Italian).
12. It is well known that the Comic Poets make fun of Euripides’ line ἔσωσά σ’, ὡς ἴσασιν Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι (Med. 476: with Porson’s note). Pericles is said to have led the way in substituting ττ for the less pleasing σσ (see Lucian’s Iudicium Vocalium for the substitution itself). On the other hand, it has been observed (with reference to de Corona § 208 ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἡμάρτετε, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἐλευθερίας καὶ σωτηρίας κίνδυνον ἀράμενοι, μὰ τοὺς Μαραθῶνι προκινδυνεύσαντας τῶν προγόνων καὶ τοὺς ἐν Πλαταιαῖς παραταξαμένους καὶ τοὺς ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχήσαντας καὶ τοὺς ἐπ’ Ἀρτεμισίῳ καὶ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασι κειμένους, ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας, οὓς ἅπαντας ὁμοίως ἡ πόλις τῆς αὐτῆς ἀξιώσασα τιμῆς ἔθαψεν, Αἰσχίνη, οὐχὶ τοὺς κατορθώσαντας αὐτῶν οὐδὲ τοὺς κρατήσαντας μόνους): “in defence of English we may note that this renowned passage, perhaps the most effective ever spoken by an orator, has no less than fifty sigmas in sixty-seven words” (Goodwin’s edition of Demosth. de Cor. p. 148). There is also an interesting article on “Sigmatism in Greek Dramatic Poetry” in the American Journal of Philology xxix. 1 (cp. xxxi. 1). Mr. J. A. Scott there proves by means of examples that Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and the Comic Poets, do not avoid recurrent sigmas; and he adds that “the phrases ὁ φιλοσίγματος and ‘Euripidean sigmatism,’ which rest on the assumption that Euripides in a peculiar way marred his style by an excessive use of sigma, have no basis of truth to support them.” He further remarks, “It is Lasus of Hermione [Athen. 455 c], the so-called teacher of Pindar, who won a certain kind of fame by producing asigmatic verses; but it was evidently a species of poetic gymnastics such as was later achieved by the poets of the Ἰλιὰς λειπογράμματος and the Ὀδύσσεια λειπογράμματος, where the trick was to write the first book of each poem without α, the second without β, and so on.” In Sappho’s Hymn to Aphrodite (C. V. c. 23) there is no lack of sigmas. But we may be sure that neither Demosthenes, nor any good reader of Sappho, would be guilty of undue sibilation in the actual delivery of the speech or of the lines: it is the continual hissing that, as in English, has to be avoided. (For the pronunciation of σ, σβ, σγ, σμ, σσ see Report of Classical Association on Greek Pronunciation, p. 349 infra, and Giles’ Comparative Philology p. 115).—Instances of not unpleasant accumulations of the s sound in Latin are to be found in Virg. Aen. v. 46 “annuus exactis completur mensibus orbis”; Virg. Georg. i. 389 “et sola in sicca secum spatiatur harena”; Cic. Topic. i. 1 “maiores nos res scribere ingressos, C. Trebati, et iis libris, quos brevi tempore satis multos edidimus, digniores e cursu ipso revocavit voluntas tua.” Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 37 “ceterum consonantes quoque, earumque praecipue quae sunt asperiores, in commissura verborum rixantur, ut si s ultima cum x proxima confligat; quarum tristior etiam, si binae collidantur, stridor est, ut ars studiorum. quae fuit causa et Servio, ut dixi, subtrahendae s litterae, quotiens ultima esset aliaque consonante susciperetur; quod reprehendit Luranius, Messala defendit.” An example of the recurrence of the s sound in English poetry is:—
O the golden sheaf, the nestling treasure-armful!
O the nutbrown tresses nodding interlaced!
George Meredith,
Love in the Valley;
or Shakespeare’s
“This precious stone set in the silver sea;”
or many of the lines in Marlowe’s ‘smooth song’ “Come live with me, and be my love.” Of its deliberate elimination an instance is furnished by John Thelwall’s English Song without a Sibilant, entitled “The Empire of the Mind,” in which the last of the four stanzas runs:—
But when to radiant form and feature,
Internal worth and feeling join
With temper mild and gay goodnature,—
Around the willing heart, they twine
The empire of the mind.
πεφυλαγμένως, εἰσὶ δ’ οἳ καὶ ἀσίγμους ὅλας ᾠδὰς ἐποίουν·
δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ Πίνδαρος ἐν οἷς φησι·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινότενειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ διθυράμβω
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
τριῶν δὲ τῶν ἄλλων γραμμάτων ἃ δὴ διπλᾶ καλεῖται τὸ ζ̄ 5
μᾶλλον ἡδύνει τὴν ἀκοὴν τῶν ἑτέρων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ξ̄ διὰ τοῦ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ ψ̄ διὰ τοῦ π̄ τὸν συριγμὸν ἀποδίδωσι ψιλῶν ὄντων
ἀμφοτέρων, τοῦτο δ’ ἡσυχῇ τῷ πνεύματι δασύνεται καὶ ἔστι
τῶν ὁμογενῶν γενναιότατον. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἡμιφώνων
τοσαῦτα. 10
τῶν δὲ καλουμένων ἀφώνων ἐννέα ὄντων τρία μέν ἐστι
ψιλά, τρία δὲ δασέα, τρία δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων· ψιλὰ μὲν τὸ
κ̄ καὶ τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ τ̄, δασέα δὲ τὸ θ̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ χ̄,
κοινὰ δὲ ἀμφοῖν τὸ β̄ καὶ τὸ γ̄ καὶ τὸ δ̄. φωνεῖται δὲ
αὐτῶν ἕκαστον τρόπον τόνδε· τρία μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν χειλῶν 15
ἄκρων, ὅταν τοῦ στόματος πιεσθέντος τὸ προβαλλόμενον
ἐκ τῆς ἀρτηρίας πνεῦμα λύσῃ τὸν δεσμὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ
ψιλὸν μέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν τὸ π̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ φ̄, μέσον δὲ ἀμφοῖν
τὸ β̄· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ψιλότερόν ἐστι, τοῦ δὲ δασύτερον. μία
μὲν αὕτη συζυγία τριῶν γραμμάτων ἀφώνων ὁμοίῳ σχήματι 20
λεγομένων, ψιλότητι δὲ καὶ δασύτητι διαφερόντων. τρία δὲ
ἄλλα λέγεται τῆς γλώττης ἄκρῳ τῷ στόματι προσερειδομένης
κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας, ἔπειθ’ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος
There are writers who used actually to compose entire odes without a sigma. Pindar shows the same feeling when he writes:—
Ere then crept in the long-drawn dithyrambic song,
And san that rang false on the speaker’s tongue.130
Of the three other letters which are called “double,” ζ falls more pleasurably on the ear than the others. For ξ and ψ give the hiss in combination with κ and π respectively, both of which letters are smooth, whereas ζ is softly rippled by the breath and is the noblest of its class. So much with regard to the semi-vowels.
Of the so-called “voiceless letters,” which are nine in number, three are smooth, three rough, and three between these. The smooth are κ, π, τ; the rough θ, φ, χ; the intermediate, β, γ, δ. They are severally pronounced as follows: three of them (π, θ, β) from the edge of the lips, when the mouth is compressed and the breath, being driven forward from the windpipe, breaks through the obstruction. Among these π is smooth, φ rough, and β comes between the two, being smoother than the latter and rougher than the former. This is one set of three mutes, all three spoken with a like configuration of our organs, but differing in smoothness and roughness. The next three are pronounced by the tongue being pressed hard against the extremity of the mouth near the upper teeth, then being blown
1 καὶ REF: om. PMVs || ὅλας [ὠιδὰ]ς cum litura F, E: ὅλας αὐδὰς R: ὠιδὰς ὅλας P, MVs 2 δηλοῖ... (4) ἀνθρώποις om. R || τοῦτο καὶ EF: τοῦτο PVs 3 ἧρπε F: ἦρχε MV: ἤριπε EPs || σχοινοτενεῖ[ατα] οἶδα cum rasura F: σχοινοτονει [-τενὴς ἀδα M] φωνήεντα P, V: σχοινοτενῆ φωνήεντα Es || διθυράμβου F: διθυράμβων EPMVs: om. Athenaeus 4 κίβδηλον EF Athenaeus: κίβδαλον PMVs || ἀνθρώποις EFM: ἄνθρωποι PVs 7 καὶ τὸ ψ̄ RE: τὸ δὲ ψ̄ FPMVs 11 καλουμένων RPMVs: om. EF 14 ἐκφωνεῖται MVs 16 ἄκρων RFM: ἄκρων τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ φ̄ καὶ τὸ β̄ EPVs || τό τε P 17 τὸ πνεῦμα P || θεσμὸν R 18 αὐτῶν] αὐτοῦ P 23 μετεώρους REF: μετεωροτέρους PMVs
1. Athenaeus quotes the lines of Pindar (ll. 3, 4 infra) in x. 455 C and in xi. 467 B. The former passage closely illustrates Dionysius’ remarks: Πίνδαρος δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἀσιγμοποιηθεῖσαν ᾠδήν, ὡς ὁ αὐτός φησι Κλέαρχος, οἱονεὶ γρίφου τινὸς ἐν μελοποιίᾳ προβληθέντος, ὡς πολλῶν τούτῳ προσκρουόντων διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀποσχέσθαι τοῦ σίγμα καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ δοκιμάζειν, ἐποίησε·
πρὶν μὲν εἷρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποις.
ταῦτα σημειώσαιτ’ ἄν τις πρὸς τοὺς νοθεύοντας Λάσου τοῦ Ἑρμιονέως τὴν ἄσιγμον ᾠδήν, ἥτις ἐπιγράφεται Κένταυροι, καὶ ὁ εἰς τὴν Δήμητρα δὲ τὴν ἐν Ἑρμιόνῃ ποιηθεὶς τῷ Λάσῳ ὕμνος ἄσιγμός ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικὸς ἐν τρίτῳ περὶ μουσικῆς, οὗ ἐστιν ἀρχή·
Δάματρα μέλπω Κόραν τε Κλυμένοι’ ἄλοχον.
In Pindar’s own text the right reading possibly is:—
πρὶν μὲν ἕρπε σχοινοτένειά τ’ ἀοιδὰ
διθυράμβων καὶ τὸ σὰν κίβδηλον ἀνθρώποισιν ἀπὸ στομάτων.
Mr. P. N. Ure suggests that Pindar’s real reference was not to the sound of san but to its form, and that κίβδηλον means either ‘misleading’ with reference to the similarity in form of san to mu, or ‘spurious,’ as not being the form for the sibilant employed at Thebes, where letters were introduced into Greece.
3. σχοινοτένεια: unusual feminine of σχοινοτενής, ‘stretched out like a measuring line.’
5. “That the σ in σδ meant z appears from what Dionysius presently says, that ζ is ‘quietly roughened by the breath,’ implying that it was voiced,” A. J. E. p. 44. The statement (p. 43 ibid.) that dz was probably an impossible initial combination to a Greek may be compared with Classical Review xix. 441 as well as with more ancient evidence.
13. Dionysius’ various statements as to the aspirates are discussed in E. A. Dawes’ Pronunciation of the Greek Aspirates pp. 29 ff. (as well as in Blass’s Ancient Greek Pronunciation).
15. Dionysius does not actually use Greek equivalents for the adjectives labial, dental, and guttural; but he clearly knows the physiological facts in which those terms have their origin.
18. As illustrating Dionysius’ own love of variety, compare μέσον ἀμφοῖν here with κοινὰ ἀμφοῖν (l. 14), μεταξὺ τούτων (l. 12), μετρίως καὶ μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν (150 9), μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον (150 4).
23. κατὰ τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας. “The pronunciation of the Greek and Roman t by placing the tongue against the roots of the gums in lieu of the upper teeth is not one of the more serious errors [in the modern pronunciation of Greek and Latin], at least it does not strike our ears as such. But it has always seemed to me that the taunting verses of Ennius,
O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tyranne tulisti, as of Sophocles,
τυφλὸς τά τ’ ὦτα τόν τε νοῦν τά τ’ ὄμματ’ εἶ, lose a good deal of their effect if the t’s are muffled behind the gums instead of being hurled out from the rampart of the teeth,” J. P. Postgate How to pronounce Latin p. 11.
ἀπορριπιζομένης καὶ τὴν διέξοδον αὐτῷ κάτω περὶ τοὺς
ὀδόντας ἀποδιδούσης· διαλλάττει δὲ ταῦτα δασύτητι καὶ
ψιλότητι· ψιλὸν μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐστι τὸ τ̄, δασὺ δὲ τὸ θ̄,
μέσον δὲ καὶ ἐπίκοινον τὸ δ̄. αὕτη δευτέρα συζυγία τριῶν
γραμμάτων ἀφώνων. τρία δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ἀφώνων λέγεται 5
μὲν τῆς γλώττης ἀνισταμένης πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐγγὺς τοῦ
φάρυγγος καὶ τῆς ἀρτηρίας ὑπηχούσης τῷ πνεύματι, οὐδὲν
οὐδὲ ταῦτα διαφέροντα τῷ σχήματι ἀλλήλων, πλὴν ὅτι τὸ
μὲν κ̄ ψιλῶς λέγεται, τὸ δὲ χ̄ δασέως, τὸ δὲ γ̄ μετρίως καὶ
μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν. τούτων κράτιστα μέν ἐστιν ὅσα τῷ πνεύματι 10
πολλῷ λέγεται, δεύτερα δὲ ὅσα μέσῳ, κάκιστα δὲ ὅσα ψιλῷ·
ταῦτα μὲν γὰρ τὴν αὑτῶν δύναμιν ἔχει μόνην, τὰ δὲ δασέα
καὶ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος προσθήκην, ὥστ’ ἐγγύς που τελειότερα
εἶναι ἐκείνων.
XV
ἐκ δὴ τῶν γραμμάτων τοσούτων τε ὄντων καὶ δυνάμεις 15
τοιαύτας ἐχόντων αἱ καλούμεναι γίνονται συλλαβαί. τούτων
δὲ εἰσὶ μακραὶ μὲν ὅσαι συνεστήκασιν ἐκ τῶν φωνηέντων
τῶν μακρῶν ἢ τῶν διχρόνων ὅταν μακρῶς ἐκφέρηται, καὶ
ὅσαι λήγουσιν εἰς μακρὸν ἢ μακρῶς λεγόμενον γράμμα ἢ εἴς
τι τῶν ἡμιφώνων τε καὶ ἀφώνων· βραχεῖαι δὲ ὅσαι συνεστήκασιν 20
ἐκ βραχέος φωνήεντος ἢ βραχέως λαμβανομένου,
καὶ ὅσαι λήγουσιν εἰς ταῦτα. μήκους δὲ καὶ βραχύτητος
back by the breath, and affording it an outlet downwards round the teeth. These differ in roughness and smoothness, τ being the smoothest of them, θ the roughest, and δ medial or common. This is the second set of three mutes. The three remaining mutes are spoken with the tongue rising to the palate near the throat, and the windpipe echoing to the breath. These, again, differ in no way from one another as regards formation; but κ is pronounced smoothly, χ roughly, γ moderately and between the two. Of these the best are those which are uttered with a full breath; next those with moderate breath; worst those with smooth breath, since they have their own force alone, while the rough letters have the breath also added, so that they are somewhere nearer perfection than the others.
Chapter XV — Syllables and Their Qualities
Such is the number of the letters, and such are their properties. From them are formed the so-called syllables. Of these syllables, those are long which contain long vowels or variable vowels when pronounced long, and those which end in a long letter or a letter pronounced long, or in one of the semi-vowels and one of the mutes. Those are short which contain a short vowel or one taken as short, and those which end in such vowels. There is
1 ἀποῤῥιπιζομένης RF: ἀπορραπιζομένης E: ἀποραπιζομένης P: ὑποραπιζομένης M: ὑπορραπιζομένης Vs || αὐτῶν κάτω E: κάτω RF: αὐτῶν PM: αὐτῷ Vs 2 ἀποδιδούσης RF: ἀποδιδούσης τὸ τ̄ καὶ τὸ θ̄ καὶ τὸ δ̄ PMVs 4 τριῶν RFM: om. PVs 6 πρὸς REF: κατὰ PMVs || τοῦ φάρυγγος REF: τῆς φάρυγγος PMVs 7 πνεύματι RF: πνεύματι τὸ κ̄ καὶ τὸ χ̄ καὶ τὸ γ̄ EPMVs || οὐδὲν οὐδὲ Us.: οὐδὲν δὲ οὐδὲ R: οὐδὲν δὲ οὐ F: οὐδενὶ PMVs 10 ἀμφοῖν. τούτων κράτιστα μέν ἐστιν F [E]: ἀμφοῖν τούτοιν (τούτων b)· κράτιστα μὲν οὖν ἐστιν R: τούτων. κράτιστα μὲν οὖν ἐστιν PMVs 11 δὲ REPMVs: δ’ F || μέσω EPMV,s: μ[έσωι] cum rasura F: μέσα R || κάκιστα REF: κακίω PMVs || ψιλῷ] ψιλῶι P, EMVs: ψιλῶ F: ψιλῶς Ra: ψιλά Rb 13 ἐγγύς που R: ἐγγὺς τοῦ libri || τελειότερα REF: τελειότερον P: τελειότατα MVs 14 ἐκείνων P: ἐκεῖνα RFMs, V: om. E 19 ἢ εἴς τι] εἴς τι F: ἤ τι EP: ἤτοι MV 20 τε καὶ EF: ἢ PMV 21 ἢ βραχέος V
11. Usener seems to carry his faith in F to excess when, in one and the same line, he prints δ’ ὅσα and δὲ ὅσα. Dionysius can hardly have extended his love for μεταβολή so far as that.
20. Batteaux (p. 208), when comparing French with the ancient languages in relations to long and short syllables, has the following interesting remarks: “Il n’est pas question de prouver ici que nous avons des syllabes brèves: nous sommes presque persuadés que toutes nos syllabes le sont, tant nous sommes pressés quand nous parlons. Nous traitons de même les syllabes latines; nous les faisons presque toutes brèves, quand nous lisons: il n’y a guère que le ω et les η grecs que nous allongions en lisant. Selon toute apparence, les Grecs and les Italiens anciens, qui, à en juger par les modernes, n’étaient pas moins vifs que nous, ne devaient guère se donner plus de temps pour peser sur leurs syllabes longues. Aussi n’était-ce pas dans la conversation qu’ils mesuraient leurs syllabes; c’était dans les discours oratoires, et encore plus dans leurs vers; c’était là qu’on pouvait observer les longues et les brèves, et c’est là aussi que nous les devons observer dans notre langue.”
συλλαβῶν οὐ μία φύσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ μακρότεραί τινές εἰσι τῶν
μακρῶν καὶ βραχύτεραι τῶν βραχειῶν. ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο
φανερὸν ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων.
ὁμολογεῖται δὴ βραχεῖα εἶναι συλλαβή, ἣν ποιεῖ φωνῆεν
γράμμα βραχὺ τὸ ο̄, ὡς λέγεται ὁδός. ταύτῃ προστεθήτω 5
γράμμα ἓν τῶν ἡμιφώνων τὸ ρ̄ καὶ γενέσθω Ῥόδος· μένει
μὲν ἔτι βραχεῖα ἡ συλλαβή, πλὴν οὐχ ὁμοίως, ἀλλ’ ἕξει τινὰ
παραλλαγὴν ἀκαρῆ παρὰ τὴν προτέραν. ἔτι προστεθήτω
ταύτῃ τῶν ἀφώνων γραμμάτων ἓν τὸ τ̄ καὶ γενέσθω τρόπος·
μείζων αὕτη τῶν προτέρων ἔσται συλλαβῶν καὶ ἔτι βραχεῖα 10
μένει. τρίτον ἔτι γράμμα τῇ αὐτῇ συλλαβῇ προστεθήτω τὸ
σ̄ καὶ γενέσθω στρόφος· τρισὶν αὕτη προσθήκαις ἀκουσταῖς
μακροτέρα γενήσεται τῆς βραχυτάτης μένουσα ἔτι βραχεῖα.
οὐκοῦν τέτταρες αὗται βραχείας συλλαβῆς διαφοραὶ τὴν
ἄλογον αἴσθησιν ἔχουσαι τῆς παραλλαγῆς μέτρον. ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς 15
λόγος καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς μακρᾶς. ἡ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ η̄ γινομένη συλλαβὴ
μακρὰ τὴν φύσιν οὖσα τεττάρων γραμμάτων προσθήκαις
παραυξηθεῖσα τριῶν μὲν προταττομένων, ἑνὸς δὲ ὑποταττομένου,
καθ’ ἣν λέγεται σπλήν, μείζων ἂν δήπου λέγοιτο εἶναι
τῆς προτέρας ἐκείνης τῆς μονογραμμάτου· μειουμένη γοῦν 20
αὖθις καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον τῶν προστεθέντων γραμμάτων τὰς
ἐπὶ τοὔλαττον παραλλαγὰς αἰσθητὰς ἂν ἔχοι. αἰτία δὲ τίς
ἐστι τοῦ μήτε τὰς μακρὰς ἐκβαίνειν τὴν αὑτῶν φύσιν μέχρι
γραμμάτων πέντε μηκυνομένας μήτε τὰς βραχείας εἰς ἓν ἀπὸ
πολλῶν γραμμάτων συστελλομένας ἐκπίπτειν τῆς βραχύτητος, 25
ἀλλὰ κἀκείνας ἐν διπλασίῳ λόγῳ θεωρεῖσθαι τῶν βραχειῶν
καὶ ταύτας ἐν ἡμίσει τῶν μακρῶν, οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῷ
παρόντι σκοπεῖν. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ὅσον εἰς τὴν παροῦσαν ὑπόθεσιν
ἥρμοττεν εἰρῆσθαι, ὅτι διαλλάττει καὶ βραχεῖα συλλαβὴ
more than one kind of length and shortness of syllables: some are longer than the long and some shorter than the short. And this will be made clear by consideration of the examples which I am about to adduce.
It will be admitted that a syllable is short which is formed by the short vowel ο, as, for example, in the word ὁδός. To this let the semi-vowel ρ be prefixed and Ῥόδος be formed. The syllable still remains short; but not equally so, for it will show some slight difference when compared with the former. Further, let one of the mutes, τ, be prefixed and τρόπος be formed. This again will be longer than the former syllables; yet it still remains short. Let still a third letter, σ, be prefixed to the same syllable and στρόφος be formed. This will have become longer than the shortest syllable by three audible prefixes; and yet it still remains short. So, then, here are four grades of short syllables, with only our instinctive feeling for quantity as a measure of the difference. The same principle applies to the long syllable. The syllable formed from η, though long by nature, yet when augmented by the addition of four letters, three prefixed and one suffixed, as in the word σπλήν, would surely be said to be ampler than that syllable, in its original form, that consisted of a single letter. At all events, if it were in turn deprived, one by one, of the added letters, it would show perceptible changes in the way of diminution. As to the reason why long syllables do not transcend their natural quality when lengthened to five letters, nor short syllables drop from their shortness when reduced from many letters to one, the former being still regarded as double the shorts, and the latter as half the longs,—this does not at present demand examination. It is sufficient to say what is really germane to the present subject, namely, that one short syllable
4 δὴ] δεῖ P || βραχεῖα EM: βραχέα F: βραχεῖαν PV || συλλαβὴν PV 5 γράμμα βραχὺ EF: βραχὺ γράμμα V: γράμμα P || προστεθήτω EPV: προστιθέτω M: τίς προσθέτω F 8 ἀκαρὴ P: ἀκαρεὶ MV: om. EF || προστεθήτω EPMV: προσθέτω F 9 ἓν EF: om. PMV 15 ἄλογον EFV: ἀνάλογον PM 19 μείζονα ἂν F 20 μειουμένη] μειουμένης P: μειουμένων M || γ’ οὖν αὖθις P, M: τε οὖν αὖθις F: τε αὖ πάλιν E: δ’ αὖ πάλιν V 21 ἓν PMV: om. EF 22 τοὔλαττον] τὸ λεῖπον PM || τίς ex τί corr. F: ἣ τίς PM, V 23 αὐτῶν F: ἑαυτῶν PMV 24 ε̄ μηκυνομένας... (25) γραμμάτων om. F || πέντε Uptonus, ε̄ Us.: ἑπτὰ PM: δ̄ V
2. Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 84 “sit in hoc quoque aliquid fortasse momenti, quod et longis longiores et brevibus sunt breviores syllabae; ut, quamvis neque plus duobus temporibus neque uno minus habere videantur, ideoque in metris omnes breves longaeque inter sese sint pares, lateat tamen nescio quid, quod supersit aut desit. nam versuum propria condicio est, ideoque in his quaedam etiam communes.”
8. ἀκαρῆ: cp. de Isocr. c. 20 ἀκαρῆ δέ τινα... ἐνθυμήματα.
12. τρισὶν... προσθήκαις: the meaning apparently is that the first prefix increases the length by one augmentation; the second, by two; the third, by three. αὕτη = ἡ συλλαβή στρόφ-.
22. ἐπὶ τοὔλαττον: cp. Aristot. Eth. Nic. ii. 7. 12 ἡ δὲ προσποίησις ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον ἀλαζονεία καὶ ὁ ἔχων αὐτὴν ἀλαζών, ἡ δ’ ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον εἰρωνεία καὶ εἴρων [ὁ ἔχων], iv. 7. 14 οἱ δ’ εἴρωνες ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλαττον λέγοντες χαριέστεροι μὲν τὰ ἤθη φαίνονται; and Long. de Sublim. c. 38 αἱ δ’ ὑπερβολαὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τοὔλαττον.
26. θεωρεῖσθαι here (and in 204 3, 210 9) may perhaps supply a parallel (though not a complete one) of the kind desired in Classical Quarterly i. 41 n. 1.
βραχείας καὶ μακρὰ μακρᾶς καὶ οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει δύναμιν
οὔτ’ ἐν λόγοις ψιλοῖς οὔτ’ ἐν ποιήμασιν ἢ μέλεσιν διὰ μέτρων
ἢ ῥυθμῶν κατασκευαζομένοις πᾶσα βραχεῖα καὶ πᾶσα μακρά.
πρῶτον μὲν δὴ θεώρημα τοῦτο τῶν ἐν ταῖς συλλαβαῖς
παθῶν· ἕτερον δὲ τοιόνδε· τῶν γραμμάτων πολλὰς ἐχόντων 5
διαφορὰς οὐ μόνον περὶ τὰ μήκη καὶ τὰς βραχύτητας ἀλλὰ
καὶ περὶ τοὺς ἤχους, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἴρηκα, πᾶσα
ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰς ἐκ τούτων συνισταμένας συλλαβὰς ἢ διὰ
τούτων πλεκομένας ἅμα τήν τε ἰδίαν ἑκάστου σῴζειν δύναμιν
καὶ τὴν κοινὴν ἁπάντων, ἣ γίνεται διὰ τῆς κράσεώς τε καὶ 10
παραθέσεως αὐτῶν· ἐξ ὧν μαλακαί τε φωναὶ γίνονται καὶ
σκληραὶ καὶ λεῖαι καὶ τραχεῖαι, γλυκαίνουσαί τε τὴν ἀκοὴν
καὶ πικραίνουσαι, καὶ στύφουσαι καὶ διαχέουσαι, καὶ πᾶσαν
ἄλλην κατασκευάζουσαι διάθεσιν φυσικήν· αὗται δ’ εἰσὶ μυρίαι
τὸ πλῆθος ὅσαι. 15
ταῦτα δὴ καταμαθόντες οἱ χαριέστατοι ποιητῶν τε καὶ
συγγραφέων τὰ μὲν αὐτοὶ κατασκευάζουσιν ὀνόματα συμπλέκοντες
ἐπιτηδείως ἀλλήλοις, τὰ δὲ γράμματα καὶ τὰς συλλαβὰς
οἰκείας οἷς ἂν βούλωνται παραστῆσαι πάθεσιν ποικίλως
φιλοτεχνοῦσιν, ὡς ποιεῖ πολλάκις Ὅμηρος, ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν 20
προσηνέμων αἰγιαλῶν τῇ παρεκτάσει τῶν συλλαβῶν τὸν
ἄπαυστον ἐκφαίνειν βουλόμενος ἦχον
ἠϊόνες βοόωσιν ἐρευγομένης ἁλὸς ἔξω·
may differ from another short, and one long from another long, and that every short and every long syllable has not the same quality either in prose, or in poems, or in songs, whether these be metrically or rhythmically constructed.
The foregoing is the first aspect under which we view the different qualities of syllables. The next is as follows. As letters have many points of difference, not only in length and shortness, but also in sound—points of which I have spoken a little while ago—it must necessarily follow that the syllables, which are combinations or interweavings of letters, preserve at once both the individual properties of each component, and the joint properties of all, which spring from their fusion and juxtaposition. The sounds thus formed are soft or hard, smooth or rough, sweet to the ear or harsh to it; they make us pull a wry face, or cause our mouths to water, or bring about any of the countless other physical conditions that are possible.
These facts the greatest poets and prose-writers have carefully noted, and not only do they deliberately arrange their words and weave them into appropriate patterns, but often, with curious and loving skill, they adapt the very syllables and letters to the emotions which they wish to represent. This is Homer’s way when he is describing a wind-swept beach and wishes to express the ceaseless reverberation by the prolongation of syllables:—
Echo the cliffs, as bursteth the sea-surge down on the strand.131
1 οὐ F: οὔτε PMV 2 μέτρων ἢ ῥυθμῶν F: ῥυθμῶν ἢ μέτρων PMV 8 καὶ EF: om. PMV 10 καὶ (posterius) EF: καὶ τῆς PMV 13 πᾶσαν EFM: πᾶσαν τὴν PV 16 δὴ PMV: ἤδη EF 17 αὐτοὶ EF: αὐτοί τε PMV 18 τὰ δὲ FM: τὰ EPV 19 οἰκείας F: δὲ οἰκείας E: οἰκείως PM: δὲ οἰκείως V 20 τῶν EF: om. PMV 21 τὸν om. P 22 ἐκφαίνειν EF: ἐμφαίνειν PMV
1. H. Richards (Classical Review xix. 252) suggests οὔτι, in place of the οὔτε of PMV and the οὐ of F.
3. If this passage (from 152 4 up to this point) be taken in connexion with one from the scholia to Hephaestion and another from Marius Victorinus (see Goodell’s Greek Metric pp. 6, 7), we find the following difference indicated as between the school of the metrici and that of the rhythmici: “The metrici considered the long syllable as always twice the length of the short; whatever variation from this ratio the varying constitution of syllables produced was treated as too slight to affect the general flow of verse. The rhythmici, on the other hand, held that long syllables differed greatly from each other in quantity, and that short syllables differed from each other in some degree, apart from variations in tempo. The doctrine of ἀλογία or irrationality, whereby some syllables were longer or shorter by a small undefined amount than the complete long, was associated by some with this theory, as in a passage of Dionysius Halic. (C. V. c. 17 οἱ δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς... τῶν πάνυ καλῶν οἱ ῥυθμοί: cp. c. 20 ibid.). Some, at least, affirmed also that a single consonant required half the time of a short vowel, and that two consonants or a double consonant required the same time as a short vowel; those writers accordingly set up a scale of measurement for syllables, simply counting the number of time-units required, on this theory, by the constituent vowels and consonants,” Goodell Greek Metric pp. 8, 9.
20. Cp. the use of the long o in such passages as Virg. Aen. iii. 670 ff. “verum ubi nulla datur dextra adfectare potestas | nec potis Ionios fluctus aequare sequendo, | clamorem immensum tollit, quo pontus et omnes | contremuere undae”; v. 244 ff. “tum satus Anchisa cunctis ex more vocatis | victorem magna praeconis voce Cloanthum | declarat viridique advelat tempora lauro, | muneraque in navis ternos optare iuvencos | vinaque et argenti magnum dat ferre talentum.” See also Demetr. p. 42 for A. C. Bradley’s comments on Virgil’s line “tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.”
23. Aristotle (Poetics c. 22) points out that it would be disastrous to substitute the trivial κράζουσιν for βοόωσιν in this passage.—With regard to the sound of the line cp. schol. on Il. xvii. 265 καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν κῦμα μέγα θαλάσσης ἐπιφερόμενον ποταμοῦ ῥεύματι καὶ τῷ ἀνακόπτεσθαι βρυχώμενον, καὶ τὰς ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ ποταμοῦ θαλασσίας ἠϊόνας ἠχούσας, ὃ ἐμιμήσατο διὰ τῆς ἐπεκτάσεως τοῦ βοόωσιν. αὕτη ἡ εἰκὼν Πλάτωνος ἔκαυσε τὰ ποιήματα· οὕτως ἐναργέστερον τοῦ ὁρωμένου τὸ ἀκουόμενον παρέστησεν... τῆς γὰρ ἐπαλλήλου τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκβολῆς ἡ τοῦ “βοόωσιν” ἀναδίπλωσις ὁμοίαν ἀπετέλεσε συνῳδίαν.
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ τετυφλωμένου Κύκλωπος τό τε τῆς ἀλγηδόνος
μέγεθος καὶ τὴν διὰ τῶν χειρῶν βραδεῖαν ἔρευναν τῆς τοῦ
σπηλαίου θύρας
Κύκλωψ δὲ στενάχων τε καὶ ὠδίνων ὀδύνῃσιν,
χερσὶ ψηλαφόων· 5
καὶ ἄλλοθί που δέησιν ἐνδείξασθαι βουλόμενος πολλὴν καὶ
κατεσπουδασμένην
οὐδ’ εἴ κεν μάλα πολλὰ πάθῃ ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων,
προπροκυλινδόμενος πατρὸς Διὸς αἰγιόχοιο.
μυρία ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρ’ αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα, χρόνου μῆκος ἢ 10
σώματος μέγεθος ἢ πάθους ὑπερβολὴν ἢ στάσεως ἠρεμίαν ἢ
τῶν παραπλησίων τι δηλοῦντα παρ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως ἕτερον ἢ τὰς
τῶν συλλαβῶν κατασκευάς· καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις ἐναντίως εἰργασμένα
εἰς βραχύτητα καὶ τάχος καὶ σπουδὴν καὶ τὰ τούτοις
ὁμοιογενῆ, ὡς ἔχει ταυτί 15
ἀμβλήδην γοόωσα μετὰ δμωῇσιν ἔειπεν
καὶ
ἡνίοχοι δ’ ἔκπληγεν, ἐπεὶ ἴδον ἀκάματον πῦρ.
ἐφ’ ἧς μὲν γὰρ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος δηλοῦται συγκοπὴ καὶ τὸ
τῆς φωνῆς ἄτακτον, ἐφ’ ὧν δ’ ἡ τῆς διανοίας ἔκστασις καὶ τὸ 20
τοῦ δείματος ἀπροσδόκητον· ποιεῖ δὲ τούτων ἑκάτερον ἡ τῶν
συλλαβῶν τε καὶ γραμμάτων ἐλάττωσις.
Or again when, after the Cyclops has been blinded, Homer desires to express the greatness of his anguish, and his hands’ slow search for the door of the cavern:—
The Cyclops, with groan on groan and throes of anguish sore,
With hands slow-groping.132
And when in another place he wishes to indicate a long impassioned prayer:—
Not though in an agony Phoebus the Smiter from Far should entreat
Low-grovelling at Father Zeus the Aegis-bearer’s feet.133
Such lines are to be found without number in Homer, representing length of time, hugeness of body, stress of emotion, immobility of position, or similar effects, simply by the manipulation of the syllables. Conversely, others are framed to give the impression of abruptness, speed, hurry, and the like. For instance,
Wailing with broken sobs amidst of her handmaids she cried,134
and
And scared were the charioteers, that tireless flame to behold.135
In the first passage the stoppage of Andromache’s breath is indicated, and the tremor of her voice; in the second, the startled dismay of the charioteers, and the unexpectedness of the terror. The effect in both cases is due to the docking of syllables and letters.
1 τετυφλωμένου E: τετυφωμένου F: τυφλουμένου PMV 2 τὴν διὰ EMV: διὰ τὴν FP 8 πάθῃ EF: πάθοι PMV Hom. 10 εὑρεῖν om. F 11 ἠρεμίαν] ὁμιλίαν FM 15 ὁμοιογενῆ F: ὁμο*γενῆ P: ὁμογενῆ MV 16 δμωιῆισιν P: Τρῴῃσιν Hom. 18 ἔκπληγον PMV 19 ἧς F: ὧν PMV 20 ἔκστασις FM: ἔκτασις PV 21 δείγματος PV
1. ἀλγηδών: a somewhat poetical word, though used by Herodotus and Plato. Its use in a highly figurative passage of Herodotus (v. 18) is censured in the de Sublim. iv. 7 καὶ τὸ Ἡροδότειον οὐ πόρρω, τὸ φάναι τὰς καλὰς γυναῖκας “ἀλγηδόνας ὀφθαλμῶν.”
4. In these lines, and in 154 23, the reiteration of the long ω, and of the long η, is particularly to be noted.
9. προπροκυλινδόμενος: imitated by Ap. Rhod. Argon. i. 386 προπροβιαζόμενοι, and ii. 595 προπροκαταΐγδην. Cp. Odyss. xvii. 524 ἔνθεν δὴ νῦν δεῦρο τόδ’ ἵκετο πήματα πάσχων, | προπροκυλινδόμενος.
10. χρόνου μῆκος: cp. Virg. Aen. i. 272 “hic iam ter centum totos regnabitur annos,” and iii. 284 “interea magnum sol circumvolvitur annum.”
11. σώματος μέγεθος: cp. Virg. Aen. vii. 783 “ipse inter primos praestanti corpore Turnus.”—πάθους ὑπερβολήν: cp. Virg. Aen. ix. 475 “at subitus miserae calor ossa reliquit, | excussi manibus radii revolutaque pensa.”
12. A blending of (1) παρ’ οὐδὲν οὕτως ὡς, (2) παρ’ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἤ.
16. Cp. Virg. Aen. ix. 477 “evolat infelix et femineo ululatu | scissa comam muros amens atque agmina cursu | prima petit,” etc.
18. Batteux (Réflexions pp. 219-21) quotes and analyzes the well-known passage of Racine’s Phèdre (v. 6) which begins: “Un effroyable cri, sorti du fond des flots, | Des airs en ce moment a troublé le repos.” He says: “Dans le dernier morceau de Racine qui peint l’objet terrible, il n’y a pas un vers qui n’ait le caractère de la chose exprimée. Ce sont des sons aigus et perçans, des syllabes chargée de consonnes, et de consonnes épaisses: sorti du fond des flots; notre sang s’est glacé; L’onde approche, se brise; Son front large est armé. Des mots qui se heurtent: effroyable cri; cri redoutable; le crin s’est hérissé. D’autres mots larges et spacieux: Cependant, sur le dos de la plaine liquide, S’élève à gros bouillons (S’élève rejeté à l’autre vers comme celui-ci de Despréaux, S’élève un lit de plume) une montaigne humide; cornes menaçantes; écailles jaunissantes; Indomptable taureau, dragon impétueux. Des syllabes qui se renversent les unes sur le autres: Sa croupe se recourbe en replis tortueux. Ce vers, dans un poëme ancient, eût été célébré de siècle en siècle.”
XVI
καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν δὴ κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ ποιηταὶ καὶ λογογράφοι
πρὸς χρῆμα ὁρῶντες οἰκεῖα καὶ δηλωτικὰ τῶν ὑποκειμένων
τὰ ὀνόματα, ὥσπερ ἔφην· πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν
ἔμπροσθεν λαμβάνουσιν ὡς ἐκεῖνοι κατεσκεύασαν, ὅσα μιμητικὰ
τῶν πραγμάτων ἐστίν· ὡς ἔχει ταυτί 5
ῥόχθει γὰρ μέγα κῦμα ποτὶ ξερὸν ἠπείροιο.
αὐτὸς δὲ κλάγξας πέτετο πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.
αἰγιαλῷ μεγάλῳ βρέμεται, σμαραγεῖ δέ τε πόντος.
σκέπτετ’ ὀιστῶν τε ῥοῖζον καὶ δοῦπον ἀκόντων.
μεγάλη δὲ τούτων ἀρχὴ καὶ διδάσκαλος ἡ φύσις ἡ ποιοῦσα 10
μιμητικοὺς καὶ θετικοὺς ἡμᾶς τῶν ὀνομάτων, οἷς δηλοῦται τὰ
πράγματα κατά τινας εὐλόγους καὶ κινητικὰς τῆς διανοίας
ὁμοιότητας· ὑφ’ ἧς ἐδιδάχθημεν ταύρων τε μυκήματα λέγειν
καὶ χρεμετισμοὺς ἵππων καὶ φριμαγμοὺς τράγων πυρός τε
Chapter XVI — Poetic Skill in the Choice and in the Combination of Words
The poets and prose-writers themselves, then, with their eye on each object in turn, frame—as I said—words which seem made for, and are pictures of, the things they connote. But they also borrow many words from earlier writers, in the very form in which those writers fashioned them—when such words are imitative of things, as in the following instances:—
For the vast sea-swell on the beach crashed down with a thunder-shock.136
And adown the blasts of the wind he darted with one wild scream.137
Even as when the surge of the seething sea falls dashing (On a league-long strand, with the roar of the rollers thunderous-crashing).138
And his eyes for the hiss of the arrows, the hurtling of lances, were keen.139
The great originator and teacher in these matters is Nature, who prompts us to imitate and to assign words by which things are pictured, in virtue of certain resemblances which are founded in reason and appeal to our intelligence. It is by her that we have been taught to speak of the bellowing of bulls, the whinnying of horses, the snorting of goats, the roar of fire, the
1 μὲν F: τε PMV 2 πρὸς χρῆμα PV: πρόσχημα PM 4 μιμητικὰ EF: μιμητικώτατα PMV 5 πραγμάτων] γραμμάτων PM 6 ῥόγχθει F: ῥοχθεῖ PMV 8 μεγάλωι P, EM Hom.: μεγάλα F 11 καὶ θετικοὺς ἡμᾶς EF: ἡμᾶς καὶ θετικοὺς V: καὶ θετικοὺς M: ἡμᾶς P 12 τῆς EF: om. PMV 13 ἧς P: ὧν EFMV 14 φριμαγμοὺς EF: φριγμοὺς P: φρυαγμοὺς V: φρυμαγμοὺς M || τράγων] ταύρων F
2. πρὸς χρῆμα ὁρῶντες: for χρῆμα cp. 160 4. The writer must, in Matthew Arnold’s phrase, have his “eye on the object.” Cp. Aristot. Poet. c. xvii. δεῖ δὲ τοὺς μύθους συνιστάναι καὶ τῇ λέξει συναπεργάζεσθαι ὅτι μάλιστα πρὸ ὀμμάτων τιθέμενον· οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἐναργέστατα ὁρῶν ὥσπερ παρ’ αὐτοῖς γιγνόμενος τοῖς πραττομένοις εὑρίσκοι τὸ πρέπον καὶ ἥκιστα ἂν λανθάνοι τὰ ὑπεναντία: and Long. de Sublim. c. xv. ἆρ’ οὐκ ἂν εἴποις, ὅτι ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ γράφοντος συνεπιβαίνει τοῦ ἅρματος, καὶ συγκινδυνεύουσα τοῖς ἵπποις συνεπτέρωται; οὐ γὰρ ἄν, εἰ μὴ τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἐκείνοις ἔργοις ἰσοδρομοῦσα ἐφέρετο, τοιαῦτ’ ἄν ποτε ἐφαντάσθη.
4. μιμητικά: cp. Aristot. Poet. c. iv. τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστί (καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὅτι μιμητικώτατόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς μαθήσεις ποιεῖται διὰ μιμήσεως τὰς πρώτας), καὶ τὸ χαίρειν τοῖς μιμήμασι πάντας.
6. For the repeated r sound cp. the passage of the Aeneid (i. 108) which begins “talia iactanti stridens Aquilone procella,” and schol. on Odyss. v. 402 τῶν δὲ πεποιημένων ἡ λέξις (sc. ῥόχθει)· τραχὺ γὰρ τὸ ρ, τὸ θ, τὸ χ.
8. Cp. schol. ad Il. ii. 210 συμφυῶς τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ τετράχυνται τὸ ἔπος ταῖς ὀνοματοποιΐαις.—In this line F’s reading μεγάλα accords with a conjecture of Bentley’s.
9. Cp. Virg. Aen. v. 437 “stat gravis Entellus nisuque immotus eodem | corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.”
11. Not all languages, however, have the same powers in this direction: cp. Quintil. i. 5. 72 “sed minime nobis concessa est ὀνοματοποιΐα; quis enim ferat, si quid simile illis merito laudatis λίγξε βιός et σίζε ὀφθαλμός fingere audeamus? Iam ne balare quidem aut hinnire fortiter diceremus, nisi iudicio vetustatis niterentur” (Quintilian has just before, §§ 67 and 70, referred to Pacuvius’ repandirostrum and incurvicervicum: which may be compared with Ἑρμοκαϊκόξανθος, Aristot. Poet. c. 21); and viii. 6. 31 “ὀνοματοποιΐα quidem, id est fictio nominis, Graecis inter maxima habita virtutes, nobis vix permittitur... vix illa, quae πεποιημένα vocant, quae ex vocibus in usum receptis quocunque modo declinantur, nobis permittimus, qualia sunt Sullaturit et proscripturit.” Greek, English and German admit onomatopoeia more readily than Latin and French. Any undue restriction (such as that indicated by Quintilian when defining πεποιημένα) hampers the life of a language. Words should serve their apprenticeship, no doubt; but there should be no lack of probationers. We feel that the language itself is growing when Cicero uses ‘dulcescit’ of the growing and ripening grape, or when Erasmus uses the same word to indicate that England ‘grew’ upon him the more he knew it.—For the general question of the right of coining new words or reviving disused words see Demetr. pp. 255, 297, 298 (and cp. §§ 94, 220 ibid.). Many of Dionysius’ remarks, here and elsewhere, seem to concern the choice or the manufacture of words rather than their arrangement; but, from the nature of the case, he clearly finds it hard to draw a strict dividing-line either in this direction or in regard to the entire λεκτικὸς τόπος as distinguished from the πραγματικὸς τόπος.
13. In giving the singular, P seems clearly right here, and as clearly wrong when giving the plural in 156 19.
βρόμον καὶ πάταγον ἀνέμων καὶ συριγμὸν κάλων καὶ ἄλλα
τούτοις ὅμοια παμπληθῆ τὰ μὲν φωνῆς μιμήματα, τὰ δὲ
μορφῆς, τὰ δὲ ἔργου, τὰ δὲ πάθους, τὰ δὲ κινήσεως, τὰ δ’
ἠρεμίας, τὰ δ’ ἄλλου χρήματος ὅτου δήποτε· περὶ ὧν εἴρηται
πολλὰ τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν, τὰ κράτιστα δ’ ὡς πρώτῳ τὸν ὑπὲρ 5
ἐτυμολογίας εἰσαγαγόντι λόγον, Πλάτωνι τῷ Σωκρατικῷ, πολλαχῇ
μὲν καὶ ἄλλῃ μάλιστα δ’ ἐν τῷ Κρατύλῳ.
τί δὴ τὸ κεφάλαιόν ἐστί μοι τούτου τοῦ λόγου; ὅτι
παρὰ μὲν τὰς τῶν γραμμάτων συμπλοκὰς ἡ τῶν συλλαβῶν
γίνεται δύναμις ποικίλη, παρὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν συλλαβῶν σύνθεσιν 10
ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων φύσις παντοδαπή, παρὰ δὲ τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων
ἁρμονίας πολύμορφος ὁ λόγος· ὥστε πολλὴ ἀνάγκη καλὴν
μὲν εἶναι λέξιν ἐν ᾗ καλά ἐστιν ὀνόματα, κάλλους δὲ ὀνομάτων
συλλαβάς τε καὶ γράμματα καλὰ αἴτια εἶναι, ἡδεῖαν δὲ διάλεκτον
ἐκ τῶν ἡδυνόντων τὴν ἀκοὴν γίνεσθαι κατὰ τὸ παραπλήσιον 15
ὀνομάτων τε καὶ συλλαβῶν καὶ γραμμάτων, τάς τε
κατὰ μέρος ἐν τούτοις διαφοράς, καθ’ ἃς δηλοῦται τά τε ἤθη
καὶ τὰ πάθη καὶ αἱ διαθέσεις καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν προσώπων
καὶ τὰ συνεδρεύοντα τούτοις, ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης κατασκευῆς τῶν
γραμμάτων γίνεσθαι τοιαύτας. 20
χρήσομαι δ’ ὀλίγοις παραδείγμασι τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε τῆς
σαφηνείας ἕνεκα· τὰ γὰρ ἄλλα πολλὰ ὄντα ἐπὶ σαυτοῦ συμβαλλόμενος
εὑρήσεις. ὁ δὴ πολυφωνότατος ἁπάντων τῶν
rushing of winds, the creaking of hawsers, and numerous other similar imitations of sound, form, action, emotion, movement, stillness, and anything else whatsoever. On these points much has been said by our predecessors, the most important contributions being by the first of them to introduce the subject of etymology, Plato the disciple of Socrates, in his Cratylus especially, but in many other places as well.
What is the sum and substance of my argument? It is that it is due to the interweaving of letters that the quality of syllables is so multifarious; to the combination of syllables that the nature of words has such wide diversity; to the arrangement of words that discourse takes on so many forms. The conclusion is inevitable—that style is beautiful when it contains beautiful words,—that beauty of words is due to beautiful syllables and letters,—that language is rendered charming by the things that charm the ear in virtue of affinities in words, syllables, and letters; and that the differences in detail between these, through which are indicated the characters, emotions, dispositions, actions and so forth of the persons described, are made what they are through the original grouping of the letters.
To set the matter in a clearer light, I will illustrate my argument by a few examples. Other instances—and there are plenty of them—you will find for yourself in the course of your own investigations. When Homer, the poet above all others
2 μιμήματα EPM: μιμητικὰ V: μηνύματα F 3 ἔργων E: ἔργα M 4 ἐρημίας F || δήποτε FMV: δὴ P 5 δ’ ὡς F: δε νέμω (νέμων M) ὡς PMV 9, 10, 11 παρὰ] περὶ R || γραμμάτων] πραγμάτων F: cf. 158 5 10 δύναμις RF: σύνθεσις EPV || σύνθεσιν EF: συνθέσεις PMV: θέσεις R 12 λόγος REF: λόγος [γ]ίνεται cum litura P, MV 13 κάλλους REF: καλῶν PV 14 αἴτια RMV: αἰτίαν F: αἴτιον EP 15 κατὰ F: καὶ PMV 20 τοιαύτας Us.: τοιαύτα F, PMV 21 παραδείγμασι F: δείγμασιν P, MV 23 ἁπάντων τῶν MV: ἁπάντων FP
1. Cp. Virg. Aen. i. 87 “insequitur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum”; Ap. Rhod. Argon. i. 725 ὑπὸ πνοιῇ δὲ κάλωες | ὅπλα τε νήια πάντα τινάσσετο νισσομένοισιν.
5. So Diog. Laert. (auctore Favorino in octavo libro Omnigenae historiae): καὶ πρῶτος ἐθεώρησε τῆς γραμματικῆς τὴν δύναμιν (Vit. Plat. 25).
8. The following passage (from ὅτι to καλὰ αἴτια) is quoted in schol. anon. in Hermog. (Walz Rhett. Gr. vii. 1049), with the prefatory words ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ περὶ συνθέσεως ὀνομάτων περὶ λέξεως διαλαμβάνων λέγει ὅτι κτλ.
10. The endless possibilities of these syllabic, verbal, and other permutations had evidently impressed the imagination of Dionysius: together with their climax in literature itself, and in all the great types of literature.
12. “This sentence (ὥστε πολλὴ ἀνάγκη... γράμματα καλὰ αἴτια εἶναι) puts boldly the truth which Aristotle had evaded or pooh-poohed in his excessive devotion to the philosophy of literature rather than to literature itself” (Saintsbury History of Criticism i. 130).
21. παραδείγμασι is perhaps to be preferred to δείγμασι here: cp. 164 16.
22. ἐπὶ σαυτοῦ = per te ipsum, tuopte Marte: cp. 96 21 ἐσκόπουν δ’ αὐτὸς ἐπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ γενόμενος.
23. πολυφωνότατος In this respect Homer’s great compeer is Shakespeare, in whose dramas “few things are more remarkable than the infinite range of style, speech, dialect they unfold before us” (Vaughan Types of Tragic Drama p. 165).—The passage of Dionysius which follows might be endlessly illustrated from Shakespeare; e.g. from Sonnet civ., Romeo and Juliet ii. 2 and v. 3, Antony and Cleopatra ii. 2 (speeches of Enobarbus), Tempest iii. 1. In the scene of the Tempest, correspondence and variety are alike conspicuous. Ferdinand’s address (beginning “Admired Miranda!”) tallies—to the line and even to the half-line—with Miranda’s reply, and the concluding lines are, in the one case,
But you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature’s best;
and, in the other,
But I prattle
Something too wildly, and my father’s precepts
I therein do forget.
In the same scene the lines—
O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father’s crabbed,
And he’s composed of harshness,
would have a very different effect (cp. quotation from Aristotle’s Poetics on 78 9 supra) if written as follows:—
O, she is
Ten times more gracious than her sire is stern,
And he is merely cruel
(‘merely’ being understood, of course, in the Shakespearian sense of ‘absolutely’).
ποιητῶν Ὅμηρος, ὅταν μὲν ὥραν ὄψεως εὐμόρφου καὶ κάλλος
ἡδονῆς ἐπαγωγὸν ἐπιδείξασθαι βούληται, τῶν τε φωνηέντων
τοῖς κρατίστοις χρήσεται καὶ τῶν ἡμιφώνων τοῖς μαλακωτάτοις,
καὶ οὐ καταπυκνώσει τοῖς ἀφώνοις τὰς συλλαβὰς οὐδὲ συγκόψει
τοὺς ἤχους παρατιθεὶς ἀλλήλοις τὰ δυσέκφορα, πραεῖαν δέ 5
τινα ποιήσει τὴν ἁρμονίαν τῶν γραμμάτων καὶ ῥέουσαν ἀλύπως
διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς, ὡς ἔχει ταυτί
ἡ δ’ ἴεν ἐκ θαλάμοιο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια
Ἀρτέμιδι ἰκέλη ἠὲ χρυσῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ.
Δήλῳ δήποτε τοῖον Ἀπόλλωνος παρὰ βωμῷ 10
φοίνικος νέον ἔρνος ἀνερχόμενον ἐνόησα.
καὶ Χλῶριν εἶδον περικαλλέα, τήν ποτε Νηλεὺς
γῆμεν ἑὸν μετὰ κάλλος, ἐπεὶ πόρε μυρία ἕδνα.
ὅταν δ’ οἰκτρὰν ἢ φοβερὰν ἢ ἀγέρωχον ὄψιν εἰσάγῃ, τῶν τε
φωνηέντων οὐ τὰ κράτιστα θήσει ἀλλὰ τῶν ψοφοειδῶν ἢ 15
ἀφώνων τὰ δυσεκφορώτατα λήψεται καὶ καταπυκνώσει τούτοις
τὰς συλλαβάς, οἷά ἐστι ταυτί
σμερδαλέος δ’ αὐτῇσι φάνη κεκακωμένος ἅλμῃ.
τῇ δ’ ἐπὶ μὲν Γοργὼ βλοσυρῶπις ἐστεφάνωτο
δεινὸν δερκομένη, περὶ δὲ Δεῖμός τε Φόβος τε. 20
ποταμῶν δέ γε σύρρυσιν εἰς χωρίον ἓν καὶ πάταγον ὑδάτων
ἀναμισγομένων ἐκμιμήσασθαι τῇ λέξει βουλόμενος οὐκ ἐργάσεται
λείας συλλαβὰς ἀλλ’ ἰσχυρὰς καὶ ἀντιτύπους
many-voiced, wishes to depict the young bloom of a lovely countenance and a beauty that brings delight, he will use the finest of the vowels and the softest of the semi-vowels; he will not pack his syllables with mute letters, nor impede the utterance by putting next to one another words hard to pronounce. He will make the harmony of the letters strike softly and pleasingly upon the ear, as in the following lines:—
Now forth of her bower hath gone Penelope passing-wise
Lovely as Artemis, or as Aphrodite the Golden.140
Only once by the Sun-god’s altar in Delos I chanced to espy
So stately a shaft of a palm that gracefully grew thereby.141
Rose Chloris, fair beyond word, whom Nereus wedded of old,
For her beauty his heart had stirred, and he wooed her with gifts untold.142
But when he introduces a sight that is pitiable, or terrifying, or august, he will not employ the finest of the vowels. He will take the hardest to utter of the fricatives or of the mutes, and will pack his syllables with these. For instance:—
But dreadful he burst on their sight, with the sea-scum all fouled o’er.143
And thereon was embossed the Gorgon-demon, with stony gaze
Grim-glaring, and Terror and Panic encompassed the Fearful Face.144
When he wishes to reproduce in his language the rush of meeting torrents and the roar of confluent waters, he will not employ smooth syllables, but strong and resounding ones:—
2 ἐπαγαγὼν F 3 χρήσεται... μαλακωτάτοις om. F 4 συγκόπτει P 6 ποιεῖ P 12 χλωρὴν F || ἴδον PMV || ἥν F 13 γῆμεν ἑὸν] τημέναιον F || μετα P, M: κατα F: διὰ EV 19 γοργῶι sic F: γοργὼ ceteri || βλοσυρώπις F (metri, ut videtur, gratia) 22 ἐργάσεται Us.: ἐργάζεται F: ἔτι EPMV 23 ἀντιτύπους F: ἀντιτύπους θήσει EPMV
1. κάλλος: cp. scholium in P, ση(μείωσαι) πῶς κάλλος ἡδο(νῆς) ἐπαγωγὸν δείκνυ(σιν) Ὅμ(η)ρ(ος).
3. χρήσεται... καταπυκνώσει... συγκόψει... ποιήσει: general truths expressed by means of the future tense.
8. Cp. Virg. Aen. i. 496 “regina ad templum, forma pulcherrima Dido, | incessit magna iuvenum stipante caterva. | qualis in Eurotae ripis aut per iuga Cynthi | exercet Diana choros,” etc.; and Aen. xii. 67 “Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro | si quis ebur, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multa | alba rosa: tales virgo dabat ore colores.”
13. In Odyss. xi. 282 the textual evidence is reported as follows: “διὰ FHJK, ss. XTU2, Dion. Hal. comp. verb. 16; δια P; μετὰ XDSTUW, An. Ox. iv. 310. 5, Bekker An. 1158, Eust.; μετα G” (Ludwich ad loc.).—In the present passage of Dionysius the reading μετά gives an additional μ in the line: γῆμεν ἑὸν μετὰ κάλλος, ἐπεὶ πόρε μυρία ἕδνα. For some instances in which the authorities vary between μετά and κατά see Ebeling’s Lexicon Homericum, s.v. μετά.
14. In his selection of tragic qualities Dionysius seems perhaps to have in view, once more, the Aristotelian doctrine of two extremes and a mean.—As the epithet ἀγέρωχος so closely follows the quotations from Homer, it is natural to suppose that Dionysius uses the word in the Homeric sense of lordly, august, rather than in the later (bad) sense of haughty, insolent.
15. Sauppe would insert τὰ δυσηχέστατα καὶ between ἀλλὰ and τῶν ψοφοειδῶν.
ὡς δ’ ὅτε χείμαρροι ποταμοὶ κατ’ ὄρεσφι ῥέοντες
ἐς μισγάγκειαν συμβάλλετον ὄβριμον ὕδωρ.
βιαζόμενον δέ τινα πρὸς ἐναντίον ῥεῦμα ποταμοῦ μετὰ τῶν
ὅπλων καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀντέχοντα, τὰ δ’ ὑποφερόμενον εἰσάγων
ἀνακοπάς τε ποιήσει συλλαβῶν καὶ ἀναβολὰς χρόνων καὶ 5
ἀντιστηριγμοὺς γραμμάτων
δεινὸν δ’ ἀμφ’ Ἀχιλῆα κυκώμενον ἵστατο κῦμα,
ὤθει δ’ ἐν σάκεϊ πίπτων ῥόος, οὐδὲ πόδεσσιν
εἶχε στηρίξασθαι.
ἀραττομένων δὲ περὶ πέτρας ἀνθρώπων ψόφον τε καὶ μόρον 10
οἰκτρὸν ἐπιδεικνύμενος, ἐπὶ τῶν ἀηδεστάτων τε καὶ κακοφωνοτάτων
χρονιεῖ γραμμάτων, οὐδαμῇ λεαίνων τὴν κατασκευὴν
οὐδὲ ἡδύνων·
σύν τε δύω μάρψας ὥστε σκύλακας ποτὶ γαίῃ
κόπτ’· ἐκ δ’ ἐγκέφαλος χαμάδις ῥέε, δεῦε δὲ γαῖαν. 15
πολὺ ἂν ἔργον εἴη λέγειν, εἰ πάντων παραδείγματα βουλοίμην
φέρειν ὧν ἄν τις ἀπαιτήσειε κατὰ τὸν τόπον τόνδε· ὥστε ἀρκεσθεὶς
τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐπὶ τὰ ἑξῆς μεταβήσομαι. φημὶ δὴ τὸν
βουλόμενον ἐργάσασθαι λέξιν καλὴν ἐν τῷ συντιθέναι τὰς
φωνάς, ὅσα καλλιλογίαν ἢ μεγαλοπρέπειαν ἢ σεμνότητα περιείληφεν 20
ὀνόματα, εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγειν. εἴρηται δέ τινα περὶ
τούτων καὶ Θεοφράστῳ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ κοινότερον ἐν τοῖς περὶ
And even as Wintertide torrents down-rushing from steep hill-sides
Hurl their wild waters in one where a cleft of the mountain divides.145
When he depicts a hero, though heavy with his harness, putting forth all his energies against an opposing stream, and now holding his own, now being carried off his feet, he will contrive counter-buffetings of syllables, arresting pauses, and letters that block the way:—
Round Achilles the terrible surge towered seething on every side,
And a cataract dashed and crashed on his shield: all vainly he sought
Firm ground for his feet.146
When men are being dashed against rocks, and he is portraying the noise and their pitiable fate, he will linger on the harshest and most ill-sounding letters, altogether avoiding smoothness or prettiness in the structure:—
And together laid hold on twain, and dashed them against the ground
Like whelps: down gushed the brain, and bespattered the rock-floor round.147
It would be a long task to attempt to adduce specimens of all the artistic touches of which examples might be demanded in this one field. So, contenting myself with what has been said, I will pass to the next point.
I hold that those who wish to fashion a style which is beautiful in the collocation of sounds must combine in it words which all carry the impression of elegance, grandeur, or dignity. Something has been said about these matters, in a general way, by the philosopher Theophrastus in his work on Style, where he
2 ὄβριμον FP: ὄμβριμον EM2V 9 στηρίξασθαι F Hom.: στηρίζεσθαι PMV 10 δραττομένων F || περι F, V: παρα P, M 11 ἐπιδεικνύμενος F: ἐνδεικνύμενος PMV 14 ποτι F, MV: προτὶ P: cf. 202 6 infra. 17 κατὰ τὸν τόπον τόνδε ὧν ἄν τις ἀπαιτήσειε (hoc verborum ordine) PV || κατὰ F: καὶ κατὰ PV 20 καλλιλογίαν ἢ F: καλλιλογίαν καὶ PMV 21 τὸ αὐτὸ F: τοῦτο PMV
1. Cp. Virg. Aen. ii. 496 “non sic, aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis | exiit oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, | fertur in arva furens cumulo camposque per omnes | cum stabulis armenta trahit.”
7. Cp. Virg. Aen. x. 305 “solvitur (sc. puppis Tarchontis) atque viros mediis exponit in undis, | fragmina remorum quos et fluitantia transtra | impediunt retrahitque pedes simul unda relabens.”
14. Cp. Virg. Aen. v. 478, “durosque reducta | libravit dextra media inter cornua caestus | arduus, effractoque illisit in ossa cerebro.”—Demetr. (de Eloc. § 219), in quoting this passage of Homer, couples with it Il. xxiii. 116 πολλὰ δ’ ἄναντα κάταντα πάραντά τε δόχμιά τ’ ἦλθον (Virgil’s “quadripedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum,” Aen. viii. 596).—Another good Virgilian instance of adaptation of sound to sense is Georg. iv. 174 “illi inter sese magna vi bracchia tollunt | in numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum.”
18. φημί seems (cp. the legal use of aio) to approximate to the sense of κελεύω (as in Pind. Nem. iii. 28, Soph. Aj. 1108). Either so, or (as Upton suggested) we may insert δεῖν, or the sense may simply be, “I say that the man who aims... does combine, etc. (i.e. when he knows his own business).”
19. For the construction λέξιν καλὴν ἐν τῷ συντιθέναι τὰς φωνάς cp. Fragm. of Duris of Samos, Ἔφορος δὲ καὶ Θεόπομπος τῶν γενομένων πλεῖστον ἀπελείφθησαν, οὔτε γὰρ μιμήσεως μετέλαβον οὐδεμίας οὔτε ἡδονῆς ἐν τῷ φράσαι, αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ γράφειν μόνον ἐπεμελήθησαν.
20. Here, again, the Aristotelian ‘mean’ may possibly be intended.
22. Theophrastus: for other references to Theophrastus in the Scripta Rhetorica of Dionysius see de Lysia cc. 6, 14; de Isocr. c. 3; de Din. c. 2; de Demosth. c. 3. The passage of Theophrastus which Dionysius has in mind here is no doubt that mentioned by Demetr. de Eloc. § 173 ποιεῖ δὲ εὔχαριν τὴν ἑρμηνείαν καὶ τὰ λεγόμενα καλὰ ὀνόματα. ὡρίσατο δ’ αὐτὰ Θεόφραστος οὕτως· κάλλος ὀνόματός ἐστι τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἀκοὴν ἢ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν ἡδύ, ἢ τὸ τῇ διανοίᾳ ἔντιμον.
λέξεως, ἔνθα ὁρίζει, τίνα ὀνόματα φύσει καλά· παραδείγματος
ἕνεκα, ὧν συντιθεμένων καλὴν οἴεται καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῆ γενήσεσθαι
τὴν φράσιν, καὶ αὖθις ἕτερα μικρὰ καὶ ταπεινά, ἐξ ὧν
οὔτε ποίημα χρηστὸν ἔσεσθαί φησιν οὔτε λόγον. καὶ μὰ
Δία οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ ταῦτα εἴρηται τῷ ἀνδρί. εἰ μὲν οὖν 5
ἐγχωροίη πάντ’ εἶναι τὰ μόρια τῆς λέξεως ὑφ’ ὧν μέλλει
δηλοῦσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα εὔφωνά τε καὶ καλλιρήμονα, μανίας
ἔργον ζητεῖν τὰ χείρω· εἰ δὲ ἀδύνατον εἴη τοῦτο, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ
πολλῶν ἔχει, τῇ πλοκῇ καὶ μίξει καὶ παραθέσει πειρατέον
ἀφανίζειν τὴν τῶν χειρόνων φύσιν, ὅπερ Ὅμηρος εἴωθεν ἐπὶ 10
πολλῶν ποιεῖν. εἰ γάρ τις ἔροιτο ὅντιν’ οὖν ἢ ποιητῶν ἢ
ῥητόρων, τίνα σεμνότητα ἢ καλλιλογίαν ταῦτ’ ἔχει τὰ ὀνόματα
ἃ ταῖς Βοιωτίαις κεῖται πόλεσιν Ὑρία καὶ Μυκαλησσὸς καὶ
Γραῖα καὶ Ἐτεωνὸς καὶ Σκῶλος καὶ Θίσβη καὶ Ὀγχηστὸς
καὶ Εὔτρησις καὶ τἆλλ’ ἐφεξῆς ὧν ὁ ποιητὴς μέμνηται, οὐδεὶς 15
ἂν εἰπεῖν οὐδ’ ἥντιν’ οὖν ἔχοι· ἀλλ’ οὕτως αὐτὰ καλῶς
ἐκεῖνος συνύφαγκεν καὶ παραπληρώμασιν εὐφώνοις διείληφεν
ὥστε μεγαλοπρεπέστατα φαίνεσθαι πάντων ὀνόματα·
Βοιωτῶν μὲν Πηνέλεως καὶ Λήϊτος ἦρχον
Ἀρκεσίλαός τε Προθοήνωρ τε Κλονίος τε, 20
οἵ θ’ Ὑρίην ἐνέμοντο καὶ Αὐλίδα πετρήεσσαν
Σχοῖνόν τε Σκῶλόν τε πολύκνημόν τ’ Ἐτεωνόν,
Θέσπειαν Γραῖάν τε καὶ εὐρύχορον Μυκαλησσόν,
οἵ τ’ ἀμφ’ Ἅρμ’ ἐνέμοντο καὶ Εἰλέσιον καὶ Ἐρυθράς,
οἵ τ’ Ἐλεῶν’ εἶχον ἠδ’ Ὕλην καὶ Πετεῶνα, 25
Ὠκαλέην Μεδεῶνά τ’ ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον.
ἐν εἰδόσι λέγων οὐκ οἴομαι πλειόνων δεῖν παραδειγμάτων.
distinguishes two classes of words—those which are naturally beautiful (whose collocation, for example, in composition will, he thinks, make the phrasing beautiful and grand), and those, again, which are paltry and ignoble, of which he says neither good poetry can be constructed nor good prose. And, really and truly, our author is not far from the mark in saying this. If, then, it were possible that all the parts of speech by which a given subject is to be expressed should be euphonious and elegant, it would be madness to seek out the inferior ones. But if this be out of the question, as in many cases it is, then we must endeavour to mask the natural defects of the inferior letters by interweaving and mingling and juxtaposition, and this is just what Homer is accustomed to do in many passages. For instance, if any poet or rhetorician whatsoever were to be asked what grandeur or elegance there is in the names which have been given to the Boeotian towns,—Hyria, Mycalessus, Graia, Eteonus, Scolus, Thisbe, Onchestus, Eutresis, and the rest of the series which the poet enumerates,—no one would be able to point to any trace of such qualities. But Homer has interwoven and interspersed them with pleasant-sounding supplementary words into so beautiful a texture that they appear the most magnificent of all names:—
Lords of Boeotia’s host came Leitus, Peneleos,
Prothoenor and Arcesilaus and Clonius for battle uprose,
With the folk that in Hyrie dwelt, and by Aulis’s crag-fringed steep,
And in Schoinus and Scolus, and midst Eteonus’ hill-clefts deep,
In Thespeia and Graia, and green Mycalessus the land broad-meadowed,
And in Harma and Eilesius, and Erythrae the mountain-shadowed,
And they that in Eleon abode, and in Hyle and Peteon withal,
And in Ocalee and in Medeon, burg of the stately wall.148
As I am addressing men who know their Homer, I do not
1 ἔνθα] καθ’ ὃ F 2 γενήσεσθαι] γίνεσθαι F 3 αὖθις om. F 4 χρηστὸν ἔσεσθαι] χρήσιμον F 5 ἄπο FPMV || εἴρηται τῷ ἀνδρὶ F: τῷ ἀνδρὶ εἴρηται PMV 7 καλλιρρήμονα s 11 ἢ ποιητῶν P: ποιητῶν FM 13 βοιωτίαις PV: βοιωτικαῖς F: βοιωτίας M 15 τᾶλλ’ ἐφεξῆς F: τἄλλα ἑξῆς PM, V 17 συνὕφαγκεν F, EP: συνύφαγγε M: συνύφανεν V 18 μεγαλοπρεπέστερα E || πάντων] τούτων V || ὀνόματα PMV: ὀνομάτων EF 25 ἥδ’ F: οἵδ’ M: ἰδ’ V
1. παραδείγματος ἕνεκα looks like an adscript (possibly on ὁρίζει: to indicate that there were many other topics in Theophrastus’ book), which has found its way into the text.
4. For the distinction between poetry and prose cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 3 (1406 a) ἐν μὲν γὰρ ποιήσει πρέπει γάλα λευκὸν εἰπεῖν, ἐν δὲ λόγῳ τὰ μὲν ἀπρεπέστερα, τὰ δέ, ἂν ᾖ κατακορῆ, ἐξελέγχει καὶ ποιεῖ φανερὸν ὅτι ποίησίς ἐστιν, ἐπεὶ δεῖ γε χρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς, and iii. 4 (1406 b) χρήσιμον δὲ ἡ εἰκὼν καὶ ἐν λόγῳ, ὀλιγάκις δέ· ποιητικὸν γάρ.
5. οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ = ‘haud ab re.’
The minute variations in word-order between F and P are not usually given in the critical footnotes. But the fact that P places (here and in 164 17) the verb at the end of the sentence is noteworthy.
18. Cp. Virg. Georg. iv. 334-44; Aen. vii. 710-21; Milton Par. Lost i. 351-5. 396-414, 464-9, 576-87 (especially 583-7); and see Matthew Arnold (On translating Homer: Last Words p. 29) as to Hom. Il. xvii. 216 ff.
26. Dionysius (here as elsewhere) doubtless intended his remarks to apply to the lines that follow his quotation, as well as to those actually quoted.
27. ἐν εἰδόσι: this expressive phrase is as old as Homer himself (Il. x. 250 εἰδόσι γάρ τοι ταῦτα μετ’ Ἀργείοις ἀγορεύεις). It occurs also in Thucyd. (ii. 36. 4 μακρηγορεῖν ἐν εἰδόσιν οὐ βουλόμενος ἐάσω).
ἅπας γάρ ἐστιν ὁ κατάλογος αὐτῷ τοιοῦτος καὶ πολλὰ ἄλλα, ἐν οἷς ἀναγκασθεὶς ὀνόματα λαμβάνειν οὐ καλὰ τὴν φύσιν ἑτέροις αὐτὰ κοσμεῖ καλοῖς καὶ λύει τὴν ἐκείνων δυσχέρειαν τῇ τούτων εὐμορφίᾳ. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἅλις.
XVII
ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς ἔφην οὐ μικρὰν μοῖραν ἔχειν 5
τῆς ἀξιωματικῆς καὶ μεγαλοπρεποῦς συνθέσεως, ἵνα μηδεὶς
εἰκῇ με δόξῃ λέγειν ῥυθμοὺς καὶ μέτρα μουσικῆς οἰκεῖα θεωρίας
εἰς οὐ ῥυθμικὴν οὐδ’ ἔμμετρον εἰσάγοντα διάλεκτον, ἀποδώσω
καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ τούτων λόγον. ἔχει δ’ οὕτως·
πᾶν ὄνομα καὶ ῥῆμα καὶ ἄλλο μόριον λέξεως, ὅ τι μὴ 10
μονοσύλλαβόν ἐστιν, ἐν ῥυθμῷ τινι λέγεται· τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καλῶ
πόδα καὶ ῥυθμόν. δισυλλάβου μὲν οὖν λέξεως διαφοραὶ τρεῖς.
ἢ γὰρ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἔσται βραχειῶν ἢ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων μακρῶν
ἢ τῆς μὲν βραχείας, τῆς δὲ μακρᾶς. τοῦ δὲ τρίτου τούτου
ῥυθμοῦ διττὸς ὁ τρόπος· ὁ μέν τις ἀπὸ βραχείας ἀρχόμενος 15
καὶ λήγων εἰς μακράν, ὁ δ’ ἀπὸ μακρᾶς καὶ λήγων εἰς βραχεῖαν.
ὁ μὲν οὖν βραχυσύλλαβος ἡγεμών τε καὶ πυρρίχιος
καλεῖται, καὶ οὔτε μεγαλοπρεπής ἐστιν οὔτε σεμνός· σχῆμα
δ’ αὐτοῦ τοιόνδε
λέγε δὲ σὺ κατὰ πόδα νεόχυτα μέλεα. 20
think there is need to multiply examples. All his Catalogue of the towns is on the same high level, and so are many other passages in which, being compelled to take words not naturally beautiful, he places them in a setting of beautiful ones, and neutralizes their offensiveness by the shapeliness of the others. On this branch of my subject I have now said enough.
Chapter XVII — On Rhythms, or Feet
I have mentioned that rhythm contributes in no small degree to dignified and impressive composition; and I will treat of this point also. Let no one suppose that rhythm and metre belong to the science of song only; that ordinary speech is neither rhythmical nor metrical; and that I am going astray in introducing those subjects here.
In point of fact, every noun, verb, or other part of speech, which does not consist of a single syllable only, is uttered in some sort of rhythm. (I am here using “rhythm” and “foot” as convertible terms.) A disyllabic word may take three different forms. It may have both syllables short, or both long, or one short and the other long. Of this third rhythm there are two forms: one beginning in a short and ending in a long, the other beginning in a long and ending in a short. The one which consists of two shorts is called hegemon or pyrrhich, and is neither impressive nor solemn. Its character is as follows:—
Pick up the limbs at thy feet newly-scattered.149
1 αὐτῷ Toupius: αὐτῶν libri 6 μηδεὶς EF: μή κέ (καὶ M2) τις PM: μή μέ τις V 7 με om. PMV 10 καὶ ῥῆμα om. P 12 τέσσαρες E 13 βραχέων FM 20 νεόχυτα EF: νεόλυτα PMV
1. Usener’s αὐτῷ (“all his Catalogue is on the same high level”) is perhaps preferable to the manuscript reading αὐτῶν, which, however, may be taken to refer to πόλεσιν (166 13). Usener’s suggestion has, it should be pointed out, been anticipated by Toup (ad Longin. p. 296).
5. In this chapter Dionysius seems to have specially in view Aristotle’s Rhetoric iii. 8 (cp. note on 255 25 infra) and the Ῥυθμικὰ στοιχεῖα of Aristoxenus. But his general standpoint probably comes nearer to that of Aristophanes of Byzantium and Dionysius Thrax: he is, that is to say, primarily a metrist and a grammarian, and at times looks upon the rhythmists and musicians with some distrust.
11, 12. Dionysius agrees here with Aristoxenus, Ῥυθμικὰ στοιχεῖα ii. 16 ᾧ δὲ σημαινόμεθα τὸν ῥυθμὸν καὶ γνώριμον ποιοῦμεν τῇ αἰσθήσει, πούς ἐστιν εἷς ἢ πλείους ἑνός: and § 18 ibid. ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἐξ ἑνὸς χρόνου ποὺς οὐκ ἂν εἴη φανερόν, κτλ.
17. See Introduction (p. 6 supra) for a classified list of the metrical feet mentioned in this chapter. Voss says as to the πυρρίχιος, “nullum ex eo alicuius momenti constitui potest carmen, cum numero et pondere paene careat. aptus dumtaxat ad celeres motus exprimendos, cuius modi erant armati saltus Corybantum apud Graecos, et Saliorum apud Romanos”; see also Hermog. II. ἰδ. i. (Walz iii. p. 293, lines 1-11). Some sensible remarks on the whole question are made by Quintil. ix. 4. 87: “miror autem in hac opinione doctissimos homines fuisse, ut alios pedes ita eligerent aliosque damnarent, quasi ullus esset, quem non sit necesse in oratione deprehendi. licet igitur paeona sequatur Ephorus, inventum a Thrasymacho, probatum ab Aristotele, dactylumque, ut temperatos brevibus ac longis; fugiat molossum et trochaeum, alterius tarditate alterius celeritate damnata; herous, qui est idem dactylus, Aristoteli amplior, iambus humanior videatur; trochaeum ut nimis currentem damnet eique cordacis nomen imponat; eademque dicant Theodectes ac Theophrastus, similia post eos Halicarnasseus Dionysius: irrumpent etiam ad invitos, nec semper illis heroo aut paeone suo, quem, quia versum raro facit, maxime laudant, uti licebit. ut sint tamen aliis alii crebriores, non verba facient, quae neque augeri nec minui nec sicuti modulatione produci aut corripi possint, sed transmutatio et collocatio.”
20. λέγε δὲ σύ κτλ.: source unknown; perhaps the reference is to the tearing of Pentheus limb from limb.—A similar line in Latin would be: “id agite peragite celeriter,” Marius Victorinus Ars Gramm. iii. 1.
ὁ δ’ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς συλλαβὰς μακρὰς ἔχων κέκληται μὲν
σπονδεῖος, ἀξίωμα δ’ ἔχει μέγα καὶ σεμνότητα πολλήν·
παράδειγμα δ’ αὐτοῦ τόδε
ποίαν δῆθ’ ὁρμάσω, ταύταν
ἢ κείναν, κείναν ἢ ταύταν; 5
ὁ δ’ ἐκ βραχείας τε καὶ μακρᾶς συγκείμενος ἐὰν μὲν τὴν
ἡγουμένην λάβῃ βραχεῖαν, ἴαμβος καλεῖται, καὶ ἔστιν οὐκ
ἀγεννής· ἐὰν δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς ἄρχηται, τροχαῖος, καὶ ἔστι
μαλακώτερος θατέρου καὶ ἀγεννέστερος· παράδειγμα δὲ τοῦ
μὲν προτέρου τοιόνδε 10
ἐπεὶ σχολὴ πάρεστι, παῖ Μενοιτίου.
τοῦ δ’ ἑτέρου
θυμέ, θύμ’ ἀμηχάνοισι κήδεσιν κυκώμενε.
δισυλλάβων μὲν δὴ μορίων λέξεως διαφοραί τε καὶ ῥυθμοὶ
καὶ σχήματα τοσαῦτα· τρισυλλάβων δ’ ἕτερα πλείω τῶν 15
εἰρημένων καὶ ποικιλωτέραν ἔχοντα θεωρίαν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ
ἁπασῶν βραχείων συνεστώς, καλούμενος δὲ ὑπό τινων χορεῖος
[τρίβραχυς πούς], οὗ παράδειγμα τοιόνδε
Βρόμιε, δορατοφόρ’, ἐνυάλιε, πολεμοκέλαδε,
ταπεινός τε καὶ ἄσεμνός ἐστι καὶ ἀγεννής, καὶ οὐδὲν ἂν ἐξ 20
That which has both its syllables long is called a spondee, and possesses great dignity and much stateliness. Here is an example of it:—
Ah, which way must I haste?—had I best flee
By this path? or by that path shall it be?150
That which is composed of a short and a long is called iambus if it has the first syllable short; it is not ignoble. If it begins with the long syllable, it is called a trochee, and is less manly than the other and more ignoble. The following is an example of the former:—
My leisure serves me now, Menoetius’ son.151
Of the other:—
Heart of mine, O heart in turmoil with a throng of crushing cares!152
These are all the varieties, rhythms, and forms of disyllabic words. Those of the trisyllabic are distinct; they are more numerous than those mentioned, and the study of them is more complicated. First comes that which consists entirely of short syllables, and is called by some choree (or tribrach), of which the following is an example:—
Bromius, wielder of spears,
Lord of war and the onset-cheers.153
This foot is mean and wanting in dignity and nobility, and
5 ἢ κείναν κείναν ἢ ταύταν PMV: ἢ κείναν ἢ ταύταν E, F 10 μὲν om. PMV 11 ἐπεὶ σχολὴ EMV: ἐπὶ σχολῆι FP 13 κήδεσι κεκυκώμενε sic F 14 μὲν EPMV: om. F 17 χορεῖος MV: om. FP 18 τρίβραχυς] τροχαῖος F. uncinis includendum vel τρίβραχυς πούς vel χορεῖος tamquam glossema quod, margini olim adscriptum, in textum postea irrepserit 20 καὶ ἀγεννής om. P
2. The high rank assigned to the spondee is noted in schol. anon. ad Hermog. II. ἰδ. (Walz Rhett. Gr. vii. 1049): τάττει (sc. Διονύσιος) δὲ τὸν σπονδεῖον μετ’ αὐτῶν (sc. μετὰ τῶν καλῶν ῥυθμῶν).—For Dionysius’ view of the spondee and other feet see also Walz viii. 980 Διονύσιος μὲν ἐν τῷ περὶ συνθέσεως ὀνομάτων φησὶν ὅτι ὁ δάκτυλος κτλ.
4. Euripides’ Hec. 162-4 runs thus in G. G. A. Murray’s text:—
ποίαν ἢ ταύταν ἢ κείναν
στείχω; †ποῖ δ’ ἥσω; †ποῦ τις θεῶν
†ἢ δαιμόνων †ἐπαρωγός;
As the editor remarks later, “metrum nec in se perfectum,” etc. See also Porson’s note on the same passage of the Hecuba.—For a Latin spondaic line cp. Ennius “olli respondit rex Albai longai” (Annal. Reliq. i. 31 Vahlen).
7. The iambus and the trochee abound in ordinary speech, and must therefore be used in oratory with moderation: cp. Cic. de Oratore iii. 47 “nam cum sint numeri plures, iambum et trochaeum frequentem segregat ab oratore Aristoteles, Catule, vester, qui natura tamen incurrunt ipsi in orationem sermonemque nostrum; sed sunt insignes percussiones eorum numerorum et minuti pedes”; Orator 56. 189 “versus saepe in oratione per imprudentiam dicimus; quod vehementer est vitiosum, sed non attendimus neque exaudimus nosmet ipsos; senarios vero et Hipponacteos effugere vix possumus; magnam enim partem ex iambis nostra constat oratio”; Aristot. Rhet. iii. 8. 4 ὁ δ’ ἴαμβος αὐτή ἐστιν ἡ λέξις ἡ τῶν πολλῶν· διὸ μάλιστα πάντων τῶν μέτρων ἰαμβεῖα φθέγγονται λέγοντες: Poet. iv. 14 μάλιστα γὰρ λεκτικὸν τῶν μέτρων τὸ ἰαμβεῖόν ἐστιν· σημεῖον δὲ τούτου· πλεῖστα γὰρ ἰαμβεῖα λέγομεν ἐν τῇ διαλέκτῳ τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἑξάμετρα δὲ ὀλιγάκις καὶ ἐκβαίνοντες τῆς λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας: Demetr. de Eloc. § 43 ὁ δὲ ἴαμβος εὐτελὴς καὶ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν λέξει ὅμοιος. πολλοὶ γοῦν μέτρα ἰαμβικὰ λαλοῦσιν οὐκ εἰδότες.
9. Cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 8 ὁ δὲ τροχαῖος κορδακικώτερος· δηλοῖ δὲ τὰ τετράμετρα· ἔστι γὰρ ῥυθμὸς τροχαῖος τὰ τετράμετρα.
11. As in Hor. Epod. ii. 1 “Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis.”
13. This line of Archilochus is preserved (together with the six that follow it) in Stobaeus Florileg. i. 207 (Meineke). For a similar Latin trochaic verse see Marius Victorinus i. 12 “Roma, Roma cerne, quanta sit Deum benignitas.”
18. For the effect of tribrachs in Latin cp. Marius Victorinus i. 12 “nemus ave reticuit, ager homine sonat.”
20. καὶ ἀγεννής: these words are absent from P; perhaps rightly. They do not sort well with καὶ οὐδὲν... γενναῖον.
αὐτοῦ γένοιτο γενναῖον. ὁ δ’ ἐξ ἁπασῶν μακρῶν, μολοττὸν δ’
αὐτὸν οἱ μετρικοὶ καλοῦσιν, ὑψηλός τε καὶ ἀξιωματικός ἐστι
καὶ διαβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ πολύ· παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τοιόνδε
ὦ Ζηνὸς καὶ Λήδας κάλλιστοι σωτῆρες.
ὁ δ’ ἐκ μακρᾶς καὶ δυεῖν βραχειῶν μέσην μὲν λαβὼν τὴν 5
μακρὰν ἀμφίβραχυς ὠνόμασται, καὶ οὐ σφόδρα τῶν εὐσχήμων
ἐστὶ ῥυθμῶν ἀλλὰ διακέκλασταί τε καὶ πολὺ τὸ θῆλυ καὶ
ἀγεννὲς ἔχει, οἷά ἐστι ταυτί
Ἴακχε θρίαμβε, σὺ τῶνδε χοραγέ.
ὁ δὲ προλαμβάνων τὰς δύο βραχείας ἀνάπαιστος μὲν καλεῖται, 10 σεμνότητα δ’ ἔχει πολλήν· καὶ ἔνθα δεῖ μέγεθός τι περιτιθέναι τοῖς πράγμασιν ἢ πάθος, ἐπιτήδειός ἐστι παραλαμβάνεσθαι· τούτου τὸ σχῆμα τοιόνδε
βαρύ μοι κεφαλᾶς ἐ πίκρανον ἔχειν.
ὁ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς ἀρχόμενος, λήγων δὲ εἰς τὰς βραχείας 15
δάκτυλος μὲν καλεῖται, πάνυ δ’ ἐστὶ σεμνὸς καὶ εἰς τὸ κάλλος
τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἀξιολογώτατος, καὶ τό γε ἡρωϊκὸν μέτρον ἀπὸ
τούτου κοσμεῖται ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ· παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τόδε
Ἰλιόθεν με φέρων ἄνεμος Κικόνεσσι πέλασσεν.
οἱ μέντοι ῥυθμικοὶ τούτου τοῦ ποδὸς τὴν μακρὰν βραχυτέραν 20
nothing noble can be made out of it. But that which consists entirely of long syllables—molossus, as the metrists call it—is elevated and dignified, and has a mighty stride. The following is an example of it:—
O glorious saviours, Zeus’ and Leda’s sons.154
That which consists of a long and two shorts, with the long in the middle, bears the name of amphibrachys, and has no strong claim to rank with the graceful rhythms, but is enervated and has about it much that is feminine and ignoble, e.g.—
Triumphant Iacchus that leadest this chorus.155
That which commences with two shorts is called an anapaest, and possesses much dignity. Where it is necessary to invest a subject with grandeur or pathos, this foot may be appropriately used. Its form may be illustrated by—
Ah, the coif on mine head all too heavily weighs.156
That which begins with the long and ends with the shorts is called a dactyl; it is decidedly impressive, and remarkable for its power to produce beauty of style. It is to this that the heroic line is mainly indebted for its grace. Here is an example:—
Sped me from Ilium the breeze, and anigh the Ciconians brought me.157
The rhythmists, however, say that the long syllable in this foot
3 διαβεβηκῶς (ῶ suprascripto) P: διαβέβηκεν ὡς M1: διαβεβηκὼς ὡς M2V: διαβέβηκεν F || τοιόνδε F: τόδε PMV 5 δυεῖν P: δυοῖν MV: β F 6 μακρὰν F: μακρὰν ἑκατέρας τῶν βραχειῶν PMV || εὐσχήμων EF: εὐσχημόνων PMV 7 διακεκόλασται F: κέκλασται E 8 ἀγεννες P, M: ἀγενὲς V: ἀηδὲς F 9 θρίαμβε L. Dindorfius: διθύραμβε libri 11 μέγεθός τι F: μέγεθος PV: μεγέθη M || περιτιθέναι F: περιθεῖναι PMV 12 περιλαμβάνεσθαι F 14 κεφαλᾶς E: κεφαλὰς F: κεφαλῆς PMV || ἔχειν P: ἔχει EFMV 16 δάκτυλος EFM: δακτ̑ P: δακτυλικὸς V || τὸ κάλλος τῆς ἑρμηνείας EF: κάλλος ἁρμονίας PMV 17 ὑπὸ R
2. ἀξιωματικός: various modern examples of the rhythmical effect of long and short syllables will be found in Demetr., e.g. p. 219. Here may be added, from George Meredith’s Love in the Valley—
Thicker crowd the shades as the grave East deepens
Glowing, and with crimson a long cloud swells.
Maiden still the morn is; and strange she is, and secret;
Strange her eyes; her cheeks are cold as cold sea-shells.
Here the long syllables in italics may be contrasted with:
Deals she an unkindness, ’tis but her rapid measure, – ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ Even as in a dance; and her smile can heal no less.
9. Virg. Ecl. viii. 68 might be fancifully divided in such a way as to present several feet of this kind:
ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ “[ducite] ab urbe | domum me|a carmin|a, ducit|e Daphnim.”
16. Cp. Long. de Sublim. xxxix. 4 ὅλον τε γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν δακτυλικῶν εἴρηται ῥυθμῶν· εὐγενέστατοι δ’ οὗτοι καὶ μεγεθοποιοί, διὸ καὶ τὸ ἡρῷον, ὧν ἴσμεν κάλλιστον, μέτρον συνιστᾶσιν.
19. This is of course the very start of Odysseus’ adventures as recounted by himself. He sails away from Ilium on as many dactyls as possible.—For dactyls freely used in the Virgilian hexameter cp. Aen. ix. 503 “at tuba terribilem sonitum procul aere canoro [increpuit, etc.]”; Georg. iii. 284 “sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus.”
20. τούτου τοῦ ποδός. “Unless a lacuna be assumed, a rather violent assumption, the phrase [i.e. τούτου τοῦ ποδός] must simply resume the αὐτοῦ just before the hexameter, the τούτου just before that, and the δάκτυλος two lines earlier, which immediately follows the phrase of description,” Goodell Greek Metric p. 172.
εἶναί φασι τῆς τελείας, οὐκ ἔχοντες δ’ εἰπεῖν ὅσῳ, καλοῦσιν
αὐτὴν ἄλογον. ἕτερός ἐστιν ἀντίστροφον ἔχων τούτῳ ῥυθμόν,
ὃς ἀπὸ τῶν βραχειῶν ἀρξάμενος ἐπὶ τὴν ἄλογον τελευτᾷ·
τοῦτον χωρίσαντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναπαίστων κυκλικὸν καλοῦσι
παράδειγμα αὐτοῦ φέροντες τοιόνδε 5
κέχυται πόλις ὑψίπυλος κατὰ γᾶν.
περὶ ὧν ἂν ἕτερος εἴη λόγος· πλὴν ἀμφότεροί γε τῶν πάνυ
καλῶν οἱ ῥυθμοί. ἓν ἔτι λείπεται τρισυλλάβων ῥυθμῶν γένος,
ὃ συνέστηκεν ἐκ δύο μακρῶν καὶ βραχείας, τρία δὲ ποιεῖ
σχήματα· μέσης μὲν γὰρ γινομένης τῆς βραχείας, ἄκρων δὲ 10
τῶν μακρῶν κρητικός τε λέγεται καὶ ἔστιν οὐκ ἀγεννής.
ὑπόδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτον
οἱ δ’ ἐπείγοντο πλωταῖς ἀπήναισι χαλκεμβόλοις.
ἂν δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν αἱ δύο μακραὶ κατάσχωσιν, τὴν δὲ τελευτὴν
ἡ βραχεῖα, οἷά ἐστι ταυτί 15
σοὶ Φοῖβε Μοῦσαί τε σύμβωμοι,
ἀνδρῶδες πάνυ ἐστὶ τὸ σχῆμα καὶ εἰς σεμνολογίαν ἐπιτήδειον.
τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ συμβήσεται κἂν ἡ βραχεῖα πρώτη τεθῇ τῶν
μακρῶν· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος ὁ ῥυθμὸς ἀξίωμα ἔχει καὶ μέγεθος·
παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τόδε 20
τίν’ ἀκτάν, τίν’ ὕλαν δράμω; ποῖ πορευθῶ;
τούτοις ἀμφοτέροις ὀνόματα κεῖται τοῖς ποσὶν ὑπὸ τῶν μετρικῶν
βακχεῖος μὲν τῷ προτέρῳ, θατέρῳ δὲ ὑποβάκχειος. οὗτοι
δώδεκα ῥυθμοί τε καὶ πόδες εἰσὶν οἱ πρῶτοι καταμετροῦντες
is shorter than the perfect long. Not being able to say by how much, they call it “irrational.” There is another foot having a rhythm corresponding to this, which starts with the short syllables and ends with the “irrational” one. This they distinguish from the anapaest and call it “cyclic,” adducing the following line as an example of it:—
On the earth is the high-gated city laid low.158
This question cannot be discussed here; but both rhythms are of the distinctly beautiful sort. One class of trisyllabic rhythms still remains, which is composed of two longs and a short. It takes three shapes. When the short is in the middle and the longs at the ends, it is called a cretic and has no lack of nobility. A sample of it is:—
On they sped, borne on sea-wains with prows brazen-beaked.159
But if the two long syllables occupy the beginning, and the short one the end, as in the line
Phoebus, to thee and the Muses worshipped with thee,160
the structure is exceptionally virile, and is appropriate for solemn language. The effect will be the same if the short be placed before the longs; for this foot also has dignity and grandeur. Here is an example of it:—
To what shore, to what grove shall I flee for refuge?161
To the former of these two feet the name of bacchius is assigned by the metrists, to the other that of hypobacchius. These are the twelve fundamental rhythms and feet which measure all
1 ὅσω F: πόσω PMV 2 ἕτερός ἐστιν F: ἕτερον δὲ PMV || ἔχων F: τινα PMV 3 ἐπὶ τὴν ἄλογον FP1V: ἐπί τιν’ ἄλογον P2: ἐπί τινα λόγον M || τελευτᾶι τοῦτον FM: τοῦτον τελευτᾷ V: τελευτᾶι P 4 κυκλικὸν FM2: κύκλον PM1V 6 ὑψί*πολος cum rasura F: ὑψίπυλον PMV 8 τρισύλλαβον F 9 συνέστηκεν F: συνέστηκε μὲν PMV || δὲ ποιεῖ F: δὲ ἔχει PV 12 τοιοῦτον PM: τοιόνδε FV 13 πρώταις FM2 || ἀπήναισι EP: ἀπήνεσι MV: ἀπήνεσσι F || χαλκεμβόλοις EF: χαλκεμβόλοισιν PMV 14 ἂν F: ἐὰν PMV 15 ἡ F: om. PMV 16 σοὶ EPMV: σὺ F || σύμβωμοι EFMV: συμβῶμεν Ps 17 πάνυ ἐστὶ τὸ EF: δὲ πάνυ τοῦτο PMV || εἰσ σεμνότητα (σ pr. suprascripto) λογίαν P 18 πρώτη τεθῆι P, MV: συντεθῆι F 21 τίν’ ἀκτάν, τίν’ ὕλαν] τίνα γᾶν τινυδἂν F 22 τοῖς ποσὶν FPM: ῥυθμοῖς V 23 παλιμβάκχειος E
1. ὅσῳ: cp. 190 9, where there is the same divergence between F and PMV.
2, 4. See Glossary under ἄλογος and κυκλικός.
13. Usener suggests that this line may possibly come from the Persae of Timotheus, some newly-discovered fragments of which were issued by Wilamowitz-Moellendorff in 1903.—Similarly, in Latin, cretics may be found in such lines of Terence as “tum coacti necessario se aperiunt” (Andr. iv. 1).
16.
– – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ᴗ “O Phoebus | O Muses | co-worshipped”
might give the metrical effect, in a rough and uncouth way. In Latin cp. “baccare, laetare praesente Frontone” (Rufinus de Metris Comicorum).
18. πρώτη τεθῇ τῶν μακρῶν, ‘at the head of’; cp. note on 98 7 supra.
21. After πορευθῶ P has a gap which would contain a dozen letters, and in the middle of the gap the original copyist has written οὐδ(ὲν) λείπ(ει).
ἅπασαν ἔμμετρόν τε καὶ ἄμετρον λέξιν, ἐξ ὧν γίνονται στίχοι
τε καὶ κῶλα· οἱ γὰρ ἄλλοι πόδες καὶ ῥυθμοὶ πάντες ἐκ
τούτων εἰσὶ σύνθετοι. ἁπλοῦς δὲ ῥυθμὸς ἢ ποὺς οὔτ’ ἐλάττων
ἔσται δύο συλλαβῶν οὔτε μείζων τριῶν. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων
οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅτι δεῖ τὰ πλείω λέγειν. 5
XVIII
ὧν δ’ ἕνεκα νῦν ὑπήχθην ταῦτα προειπεῖν (οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὴν
ἄλλως γέ μοι προὔκειτο μετρικῶν καὶ ῥυθμικῶν ἅπτεσθαι
θεωρημάτων, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου ἕνεκα), ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὅτι διὰ
μὲν τῶν γενναίων καὶ ἀξιωματικῶν καὶ μέγεθος ἐχόντων
ῥυθμῶν ἀξιωματικὴ γίνεται σύνθεσις καὶ γενναία καὶ μεγαλοπρεπής, 10
διὰ δὲ τῶν ἀγεννῶν τε καὶ ταπεινῶν ἀμεγέθης τις
καὶ ἄσεμνος, ἐάν τε καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς ἕκαστοι τούτων λαμβάνωνται
τῶν ῥυθμῶν, ἐάν τε ἀλλήλοις κατὰ τὰς ὁμοζυγίας
συμπλέκωνται. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔσται δύναμις ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν
κρατίστων ῥυθμῶν συνθεῖναι τὴν λέξιν, ἔχοι ἂν ἡμῖν κατ’ 15
εὐχήν· εἰ δ’ ἀναγκαῖον εἴη μίσγειν τοῖς κρείττοσι τοὺς
χείρονας, ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν γίνεται (τὰ γὰρ ὀνόματα κεῖται τοῖς
πράγμασιν ὡς ἔτυχεν), οἰκονομεῖν αὐτὰ χρὴ φιλοτέχνως καὶ
διακλέπτειν τῇ χάριτι τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀνάγκην ἄλλως τε
καὶ πολλὴν τὴν ἄδειαν ἔχοντας· οὐ γὰρ ἀπελαύνεται ῥυθμὸς 20
οὐδεὶς ἐκ τῆς ἀμέτρου λέξεως, ὥσπερ ἐκ τῆς ἐμμέτρου.
μαρτύρια δὲ ὧν εἴρηκα παραθεῖναι λοιπόν, ἵνα μοι καὶ
πίστιν ὁ λόγος λάβῃ. ἔσται δ’ ὀλίγα περὶ πολλῶν. φέρε
δή, τίς οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν ἀξιωματικῶς τε συγκεῖσθαι καὶ
language, metrical or unmetrical, and from them are formed lines and clauses. All other feet and rhythms are but combinations of these. A simple rhythm, or foot, will not be less than two syllables, nor will it exceed three. I do not know that more need be said on this subject.
Chapter XVIII — Effect of Various Rhythms
The reason why I have been led to make these preliminary remarks (for certainly it was no part of my design to touch without due cause on metrical and rhythmical questions, but only so far as it was really necessary) is this, that it is through rhythms which are noble and dignified, and contain an element of greatness, that composition becomes dignified, noble, and splendid, while it is made a paltry and unimpressive sort of thing by the use of those rhythms that are ignoble and mean, whether they are taken severally by themselves, or are woven together according to their mutual affinities. If, then, it is within human capacity to frame the style entirely from the finest rhythms, our aspirations will be realized; but if it should prove necessary to blend the worse with the better, as happens in many cases (for names have been attached to things in a haphazard way), we must manage our material artistically. We must disguise our compulsion by the gracefulness of the composition: the more so that we have full liberty of action, since no rhythm is banished from non-metrical language, as some are from metrical.
It remains for me to produce proofs of my statements, in order that my argument may carry conviction. Wide as the field is, a few proofs will suffice. Thus it is surely beyond dispute
4 ἔσται EF: ἐστὶ PMV || δύο EF: δυεῖν P: δυοῖν MV 5 τὰ πλείω FM: πλείω PV 7 μετρικῶν καὶ ῥυθμικῶν F: ῥυθμικῶν (ῥυθμῶν MV) τε καὶ μετρικῶν PMV 10 γενναία F: βεβαία PMV 14 δῆλον post συμπλέκωνται praestant FMV: om. P || ἁπάντων τῶν PMV: ἁπάντων F 17 κεῖται F: ἔκκειται PM: ἔγκειται V 20 οὐ FP: οὐδὲ MV 23 ἔσται FPM: ἔστι V
3. ἁπλοῦς δὲ... μείζων τριῶν. A. J. Ellis (p. 48) says, “This gives a simple and convenient rule for practising the quantitative pronunciation of words of more than three syllables.... The effect of quantity in prose is the most difficult thing for moderns to appreciate. Hence the only easy pronunciation of Greek is the modern, where quantity is entirely neglected, and a force-accent used precisely as in English.”
5. On the subject of metrical feet Aristotle (Rhet. iii. 8) is brief; Cicero (Orator cc. 63, 64) is fuller; while Dionysius in this chapter enters into still further details. Reference may also be made to Quintil. ix. 4. 45 ff. and to Demetr. de Eloc. §§ 38 ff.
6. This passage (down to l. 21) brings out clearly the importance of rhythm in prose-writing.
16. εἴη: the less agreeable alternative is pleasantly treated as though it were the more remote. Cp. εἴη on 166 8 (though there ἐγχωροίη stands in the earlier clause, 166 6).
17. H. Richards (Classical Review xix. 252) suggests ἐπίκειται (or σύγκειται), in order to account for the ἔκκειται of PM and the ἔγκειται of V.
21. Would not ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐμμέτρου (or the like: cp. 100 18) be required if the meaning were “any more than from the metrical”? The author’s point is brought out more clearly in 192 21, 196 8, etc. Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 87, “miror autem in hac opinione doctissimos homines fuisse, ut alios pedes ita eligerent aliosque damnarent, quasi ullus esset, quem non sit necesse in oratione deprehendi” (the passage is more fully quoted on p. 169 supra).
23. περί: no change in the reading is necessary; cp. 200 4 ὀλίγα περὶ πολλῶν, and 136 6 ὀλίγα ὑπὲρ πολλῶν θεωρημάτων.
μεγαλοπρεπῶς τὴν Θουκυδίδου λέξιν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἐπιταφίῳ
ταύτην· “Οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ τῶν ἐνθάδε ἤδη εἰρηκότων ἐπαινοῦσι
τὸν προσθέντα τῷ νόμῳ τὸν λόγον τόνδε, ὡς καλὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς
ἐκ τῶν πολέμων θαπτομένοις ἀγορεύεσθαι αὐτόν.” τί οὖν
ἐστιν ὃ πεποίηκε ταύτην μεγαλοπρεπῆ τὴν σύνθεσιν; τὸ ἐκ 5
τοιούτων συγκεῖσθαι ῥυθμῶν τὰ κῶλα. τρεῖς μὲν γὰρ οἱ τοῦ
πρώτου προηγούμενοι κώλου σπονδεῖοι πόδες εἰσίν, ὁ δὲ
τέταρτος ἀνάπαιστος, ὁ δὲ μετὰ τοῦτον αὖθις σπονδεῖος, ἔπειτα
κρητικός, ἅπαντες ἀξιωματικοί. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον κῶλον
διὰ ταῦτ’ ἐστὶ σεμνόν· τὸ δὲ ἑξῆς τουτί “ἐπαινοῦσι τὸν 10
προσθέντα τῷ νόμῳ τὸν λόγον τόνδε” δύο μὲν ὑποβακχείους
ἔχει τοὺς πρώτους πόδας, κρητικὸν δὲ τὸν τρίτον, εἶτ’
αὖθις ὑποβακχείους δύο καὶ συλλαβὴν ὑφ’ ἧς τελειοῦται τὸ
κῶλον· ὥστ’ εἰκότως σεμνόν ἐστι καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν εὐγενεστάτων
τε καὶ καλλίστων ῥυθμῶν συγκείμενον. τὸ δὲ δὴ 15
τρίτον κῶλον “ὡς καλὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν πολέμων θαπτομένοις
ἀγορεύεσθαι αὐτόν” ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ κρητικοῦ
ποδός, δεύτερον δὲ λαμβάνει τὸν ἀνάπαιστον καὶ τρίτον
σπονδεῖον καὶ τέταρτον αὖθις ἀνάπαιστον, εἶτα δύο τοὺς ἑξῆς
δακτύλους, καὶ σπονδείους δύο τοὺς τελευταίους, εἶτα κατάληξιν. 20
εὐγενὲς δὴ καὶ τοῦτο διὰ τοὺς πόδας γέγονεν. τὰ
that the following passage in the Funeral Speech of Thucydides is composed with dignity and grandeur: “Former speakers on these occasions have usually commended the statesman who caused an oration to form part of this funeral ceremony: they have felt it a fitting tribute to men who were brought home for burial from the fields of battle where they fell.”162 What has made the composition here so impressive? The fact that the clauses are composed of impressive rhythms. For the three feet which usher in the first clause are spondees, the fourth is an anapaest, the next a spondee once more, then a cretic,—all stately feet. Hence the dignity of the first clause. The next clause, “have usually commended the statesman who caused an oration to form part of this funeral ceremony,”163 has two hypobacchii as its first feet, a cretic as its third, then again two hypobacchii, and a syllable by which the clause is completed; so that this clause too is naturally dignified, formed as it is of the noblest and most beautiful rhythms.
The third clause, “they have felt it a fitting tribute to men who were brought home for burial from the fields of battle where they fell,” begins with the cretic foot, has an anapaest in the second place, a spondee in the third, in the fourth an anapaest again, then two dactyls in succession, closing with two spondees and the terminal syllable. So this passage also owes its noble ring to its rhythmical structure; and most of the
2 ἤδη εἰρηκότων EP: ἤδη om. MV: εἰρηκότων ἤδη F (perperam: cf. vv. 6, 7) 3 τὸν (ante λόγον) om. F 9 κριτικός PM || πρῶτον FM: πρῶτον αὐτῶ PV 10 τοῦτο PMV 11 ὑποβακχείους... αὖθις om. P 14 συγγενεστάτων P 21 δὴ PV: δὲ FM
3. τὸν προσθέντα κτλ.: viz. τὸν νομοθέτην, δηλονότι τὸν Σόλωνα (schol. ad Thucyd. ii. 35). Dionysius has this passage of Thucydides in view when he writes (Antiqq. Rom. v. 17) ὀψὲ γάρ ποτ’ Ἀθηναῖοι προσέθεσαν τὸν ἐπιτάφιον ἔπαινον τῷ νόμῳ, εἴτ’ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπ’ Ἀρτεμισίῳ καὶ περὶ Σαλαμῖνα καὶ ἐν Πλαταιαῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποθανόντων ἀρξάμενοι, εἴτ’ ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ Μαραθῶνα ἔργων.—Bircovius illustrates the rhythmical effect of the Greek by a similar analysis of the exordium of Livy’s History, “facturusne operae pretium sim, si a primordio urbis res populi Romani perscripserim, nec satis scio nec, si sciam, dicere ausim, quippe qui cum veterem tum vulgatam esse rem videam, dum novi semper scriptores aut in rebus certius aliquid allaturos se aut scribendi arte rudem vetustatem superaturos credunt.”
6. The first clause is clearly meant to be divided as follows:
– – – – – – ᴗ ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – οἱ μὲν | πολλοὶ | τῶν ἐν|θάδε ἤ|δη εἰ|ρηκότων.
The formation of the anapaest is noticeable, and in other ways the metrical division seems rather arbitrary. For ἐνθάδε ἤδη (without elision of the final ε) cp. n. on 180 8. [Here and elsewhere, no attempt has been made to secure metrical equivalence between the Greek original and the English version.]
Goodell (Chapters on Greek Metric p. 42) says of the analysis which begins here: “It is incredible that the rhetor supposed he was describing the actual spoken rhythm, in the sense of Aristoxenus; he was giving the quantities of the syllables in the conventional way, and his readers so understood him.”
9. Cp. the metrical effect of
– ᴗ – ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – – ᴗ – – “Who is this | that cometh | from Edom | with dyed garm(ents) | from Bozrah?”
10. Second clause:
ᴗ – – ᴗ – – – ᴗ – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ἐπαινοῦ|σι τὸν προσ|θέντα τῷ | νόμῳ τὸν | λόγον τόν|δε.
16. Third clause:
– ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ – – – ᴗ ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ –– – – ὡς καλὸν | ἐπὶ τοῖς | ἐκ τῶν | πολέμων | θαπτομέ|νοις ἀγο|ρεύε|σθαι αὐ|τόν.
It is to be noticed that Dionysius treats the final syllable of ἀγορεύεσθαι as long before αὐτόν, and (more unaccountably) the final syllable of καλὸν as long before ἐπί. The length of the diphthong -αι might, no doubt, be maintained in prose utterance; but it is not easy to see on what principle -ο̆ν could be pronounced -ο̄ν before ἐπί. It might indeed be urged that the final syllable of a rhythmical phrase must (like that of a metrical line) be regarded as indifferent (long or short): cp. Cic. Orat. 63. 214 “persolutas;—dichoreus; nihil enim ad rem, extrema illa longa sit an brevis.” But this is to remind us once more that, though there is a sound general basis for the observations of Dionysius, it is easy for both ancient and modern theorists to frame rules more definite than the facts warrant.
πλεῖστα δ’ ἐστὶ παρὰ Θουκυδίδῃ τοιαῦτα, μᾶλλον δὲ ὀλίγα
τὰ μὴ οὕτως ἔχοντα, ὥστ’ εἰκότως ὑψηλὸς εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ
καλλιεπὴς ὡς εὐγενεῖς ἐπάγων ῥυθμούς.
τὴν δὲ δὴ Πλατωνικὴν λέξιν ταυτηνὶ τίνι ποτὲ ἄλλῳ
κοσμηθεῖσαν οὕτως ἀξιωματικὴν εἶναι φαίη τις ἂν καὶ καλήν, 5
εἰ μὴ τῷ συγκεῖσθαι διὰ τῶν καλλίστων τε καὶ ἀξιολογωτάτων
ῥυθμῶν; ἔστι γὰρ δὴ τῶν πάνυ φανερῶν καὶ περιβοήτων,
ᾗ κέχρηται ὁ ἀνὴρ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἐπιταφίου ἀρχήν· “ἔργῳ
μὲν ἡμῖν οἵδε ἔχουσιν τὰ προσήκοντα σφίσιν αὐτοῖς· ὧν
τυχόντες πορεύονται τὴν εἱμαρμένην πορείαν.” ἐν τούτοις δύο 10
μέν ἐστιν ἃ συμπληροῖ τὴν περίοδον κῶλα, ῥυθμοὶ δὲ οἱ
ταῦτα διαλαμβάνοντες οἵδε· βακχεῖος μὲν ὁ πρῶτος· οὐ γὰρ
δή γε ὡς ἰαμβικὸν ἀξιώσαιμ’ ἂν ἔγωγε τὸ κῶλον τουτὶ ῥυθμίζειν
ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιτροχάλους καὶ ταχεῖς ἀλλ’
ἀναβεβλημένους καὶ βραδεῖς τοῖς οἰκτιζομένοις προσῆκεν ἀποδίδοσθαι 15
τοὺς χρόνους· σπονδεῖος δ’ ὁ δεύτερος· ὁ δ’ ἑξῆς
δάκτυλος διαιρουμένης τῆς συναλοιφῆς· εἶθ’ ὁ μετὰ τοῦτον
σπονδεῖος· ὁ δ’ ἑξῆς μᾶλλον κρητικὸς ἢ ἀνάπαιστος· ἔπειθ’,
ὡς ἐμὴ δόξα, σπονδεῖος· ὁ δὲ τελευταῖος ὑποβάκχειος, εἰ δὲ
βούλεταί τις, ἀνάπαιστος· εἶτα κατάληξις. τούτων τῶν 20
ῥυθμῶν οὐδεὶς ταπεινὸς οὐδὲ ἀγεννής. τοῦ δὲ ἑξῆς κώλου
τουδί “ὧν τυχόντες πορεύονται τὴν εἱμαρμένην πορείαν”
δύο μέν εἰσιν οἱ πρῶτοι πόδες κρητικοί, σπονδεῖοι δὲ
οἱ μετὰ τούτους δύο· μεθ’ οὓς αὖθις κρητικός, ἔπειτα τελευταῖος
ὑποβάκχειος. ἀνάγκη δὴ τὸν ἐξ ἁπάντων συγκείμενον 25
passages in Thucydides are of this stamp; indeed, there are few that are not so framed. So he thoroughly deserves his reputation for loftiness and beauty of language, since he habitually introduces noble rhythms.
Again, take the following passage of Plato. What can be the device that produces its perfect dignity and beauty, if it is not the beautiful and striking rhythms that compose it? The passage is one of the best known and most often quoted, and it is found near the beginning of our author’s Funeral Speech: “In very truth these men are receiving at our hands their fitting tribute: and when they have gained this guerdon, they journey on, along the path of destiny.”164 Here there are two clauses which constitute the period, and the feet into which the clauses fall are as follows:—The first is a bacchius, for certainly I should not think it correct to scan this clause as an iambic line, bearing in mind that not swift, tripping movements, but retarded and slow times are appropriate to those over whom we make mourning. The second is a spondee; the next is a dactyl, the vowels which might coalesce being kept distinct; after that, a spondee; next, what I should call a cretic rather than an anapaest; then, according to my view, a spondee; in the last place a hypobacchius or, if you prefer to take it so, an anapaest; then the terminal syllable. Of these rhythms none is mean nor ignoble. In the next clause, “when they have gained this guerdon, they journey on, along the path of destiny,” the two first feet are cretics, and next after them two spondees; after which once more a cretic, then lastly a hypobacchius. Thus the discourse is composed entirely of beautiful rhythms, and it necessarily follows that it is itself
1 ὀλίγα τὰ F: ὀλίγα PMV 3 καλλίστης P || ὡς] καὶ FMV: om. P || εὐγενείας P: εὐγενὴς MV || ἐπάγων F: ὡς ἐκλέγων τοὺς PMV 4 ταυτηνὶ Us.: ταύτην εἰ F: ταύτην PMV 7 φανερὸν καὶ περιβόητον F 9 οἵδ’ ἔχουσιν P: οἵδ’ ἔχουσι FMV 13 ἰαμβικὸν FP: ἴαμβον MV 15 προσήκει F 16 δ ὁ δεύτερος F: δε ἕτερος P, V: δ’ ἕτερος M 17 εἴθ’ ὁ F: εἶτα PMV 19 ὡς F: ὡς ἡ PMV 25 δὴ] δεῖ F
4. The passage from the Menexenus is quoted by Dionysius in the de Demosth. c. 24, with the remark ἡ μὲν εἰσβολὴ θαυμαστὴ καὶ πρέπουσα τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πράγμασι κάλλους τε ὀνομάτων ἕνεκα καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ ἁρμονίας, τὰ δ’ ἐπιλεγόμενα οὐκέθ’ ὅμοια τοῖς πρώτοις κτλ. It is also given, as an illustration of the musical and other effects of periphrasis, in the de Sublimitate c. 28: ἆρα δὴ τούτοις μετρίως ὤγκωσε τὴν νόησιν, ἢ ψιλὴν λαβὼν τὴν λέξιν ἐμελοποίησε, καθάπερ ἁρμονίαν τινὰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς περιφράσεως περιχεάμενος εὐμέλειαν;—A somewhat similar period in Latin is that of Sallust (Bell. Catilin. i. 1), “omnes homines, qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus, summa ope niti decet, ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora, quae natura prona atque ventri oboedientia finxit.”
8. First clause:
– – ᴗ – – – ᴗ ᴗ – – ⏓ ᴗ – – – ᴗ ⏓ – ἔργῳ μὲν | ἡμῖν | οἵδε ἔ|χουσιν | τὰ προσή|κοντα | σφίσιν αὐ|τοῖς.
Here three points call for comment: (1) οἵδε ἔχουσιν (and not οἵδ’ ἔχουσιν with FPMV) was clearly (cp. l. 16) read by Dionysius: so in the text of Plato himself; (2) the lengthening of τά before προσήκοντα (although the usage of Comedy would seem to show that such lengthening was uncommon in the language of ordinary life) is preferred as giving a cretic; (3) very strangely, it is thought possible to scan the final syllable of σφίσιν as long (cp. 178 17, 184 2, 8).
13. We have a considerable part of an iambic line if we scan thus:
– – ᴗ – – – ᴗ – ᴗ ἔργῳ | μὲν ἡ|μῖν οἵδ’ | ἔχου|σι.
19. For ὡς ἐμὴ δόξα cp. de Demosth. c. 39.
22. Second clause:
– ᴗ – – ᴗ – – – – – – ᴗ – ᴗ –– ὧν τυχόν|τες πορεύ|ονται | τὴν εἱ|μαρμένην | πορείαν.
καλῶν ῥυθμῶν καλὸν εἶναι λόγον. μυρία τοιαῦτ’ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν
καὶ παρὰ Πλάτωνι. ὁ γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἐμμέλειάν τε καὶ εὐρυθμίαν
συνιδεῖν δαιμονιώτατος, καὶ εἴ γε δεινὸς ἦν οὕτως ἐκλέξαι τὰ
ὀνόματα ὡς συνθεῖναι περιττός, καί νύ κεν ἢ παρέλασσεν
τὸν Δημοσθένη κάλλους ἑρμηνείας ἕνεκεν, ἢ ἀμφήριστον 5
ἔθηκεν. νῦν δὲ περὶ μὲν τὴν ἐκλογὴν ἔστιν ὅτε διαμαρτάνει,
καὶ μάλιστα ἐν οἷς ἂν τὴν ὑψηλὴν καὶ περιττὴν καὶ ἐγκατάσκευον
διώκῃ φράσιν, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἑτέρωθί μοι δηλοῦται σαφέστερον.
συντίθησι δὲ τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ ἡδέως καὶ καλῶς νὴ
Δία, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις αὐτὸν ἔχοι κατὰ τοῦτο μέμψασθαι τὸ 10
μέρος.
ἑνὸς ἔτι παραθήσομαι λέξιν, ᾧ τὰ ἀριστεῖα τῆς ἐν λόγοις
δεινότητος ἀποδίδωμι. ὅρος γὰρ δή τίς ἐστιν ἐκλογῆς τε
ὀνομάτων καὶ κάλλους συνθέσεως ὁ Δημοσθένης. ἐν δὴ τῷ
περὶ τοῦ στεφάνου λόγῳ τρία μέν ἐστιν ἃ τὴν πρώτην 15
περίοδον συμπληροῖ κῶλα, οἱ δὲ ταῦτα καταμετροῦντες οἵδε
εἰσὶν ῥυθμοί· “πρῶτον μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῖς
θεοῖς εὔχομαι πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις.” ἄρχει δὲ τοῦδε τοῦ
κώλου βακχεῖος ῥυθμός, ἔπειθ’ ἕπεται σπονδεῖος, εἶτ’ ἀνάπαιστός 20
τε καὶ μετὰ τούτον ἕτερος σπονδεῖος, εἶθ’ ἑξῆς
κρητικοὶ τρεῖς, σπονδεῖος δ’ ὁ τελευταῖος. τοῦ δὲ δευτέρου
κώλου τοῦδε “ὅσην εὔνοιαν ἔχων ἐγὼ διατελῶ τῇ τε
beautiful. Countless instances of this kind are to be found in Plato as well as in Thucydides. For this author has a perfect genius for discovering true melody and fine rhythm, and if he had only been as able in the choice of words as he is unrivalled in the art of combining them, he “had even outstript” Demosthenes, so far as beauty of style is concerned, or “had left the issue in doubt.”165 As it is, he is sometimes quite at fault in his choice of words; most of all when he is aiming at a lofty, unusual, elaborate style of expression. With respect to this I explain myself more explicitly elsewhere. But he does most assuredly put his words together with beauty as well as charm; and from this point of view no one could find any fault with him.
I will cite a passage of one other writer,—the one to whom I assign the palm for oratorical mastery. Demosthenes most certainly forms a sort of standard alike for choice of words and for beauty in their arrangement. In the Speech on the Crown there are three clauses which constitute the first period; and the rhythms by which they are measured are as follows: “first of all, men of Athens, I pray to all the gods and goddesses.”166 A bacchius begins this first clause; then follows a spondee; next an anapaest, and after this another spondee; then three cretics in succession, and a spondee as the last foot. In the second clause, “that all the loyal affection I bear my whole life through to the
1 ἐστιν εὑρεῖν F, E: ἐστι PMV 2 ἐμμέλειαν EFM: εὐμέλειαν PV 3 οὕτως EF: οὗτος PMV 5 δημοσθένην EPV: δημοσθένεα M || κάλλους FMV: καὶ ἄλλους P: κάλλος E 6 ὅτε EF: ἃ PV: ἃ καὶ M 9 συντίθησι δὲ EF: δὲ συντίθησιν P, MV 12 ἑνὸς] ἐν οἷς P 13 ἀποδίδωμι F: καταδίδωμι PMV 16 ταῦτα] κατὰ ταῦτα PV 17 ῥυθμοί F: οἱ ῥυθμοί PMV 18 δὲ τοῦδε V: τοῦδε PM: δὲ F
2. ἐμμέλειαν: cp. 122 21, unless 130 6 should seem to support the reading εὐμέλειαν in the present passage.
5. For Δημοσθένην (as given by some manuscripts) cp. Demetr. de Eloc. § 175 καὶ ὅλως τὸ νῦ δι’ εὐφωνίαν ἐφέλκονται οἱ Ἀττικοί, “Δημοσθένην” λέγοντες καὶ “Σωκράτην.”
7. Cp. Long. de Sublim. c. iii. ὀλισθαίνουσι δ’ εἰς τοῦτο τὸ γένος ὀρεγόμενοι μὲν τοῦ περιττοῦ καὶ πεποιημένου καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ ἡδέος, ἐποκέλλοντες δὲ εἰς τὸ ῥωπικὸν καὶ κακόζηλον.—Dionysius perhaps fails to see that a high-pitched style may sometimes be used μετ’ εἰρωνείας, as Aristotle (Rhet. iii. 7. 11) says in reference to the Phaedrus.
8. ἑτέρωθι: cp. de Demosth. cc. 6, 7, 24-29, and Ep. ad Cn. Pomp. cc. 1, 2.—For the probable order in which the ‘Scripta Rhetorica’ appeared see D.H. pp. 5-7. The de Comp. Verb. is referred to twice in the de Demosth. (cc. 49, 50).—With δηλοῦται (not δεδήλωται, de Din. c. 13, de Demosth. c. 49; nor δηλωθήσεται, de Lysia cc. 12, 14) cp. de Isaeo c. 2, de Demosth. c. 57.
9. Dionysius is fond of the asseveration νὴ Δία, ‘mehercule.’
17. First clause:
– – ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – – πρῶτον μέν, | ὦ ἄνδρ|ες Ἀθη|ναῖοι, | τοῖς θεοῖς | εὔχομαι | πᾶσι καὶ | πάσαις.
—The expression καταμετροῦντες may indicate that Dionysius himself wrote marks of quantity over the syllables in question: such marks are given by F in 178 2-4, 10, 11, 16, 17, and are also found in the Paris Manuscript (1741) of Demetr. de Eloc. §§ 38, 39.—With the rhythmical effect of this passage of Demosthenes, Bircovius compares “Si, patres conscripti, pro vestris immortalibus in me fratremque meum liberosque nostros meritis parum vobis cumulate gratias egero, quaeso obtestorque, ne meae naturae potius, quam magnitudini vestrorum beneficiorum, id tribuendum putetis” (Cic. Post Reditum in Senatu Oratio init.).
22. Second clause:
ᴗ – – –⏓ ᴗ – ᴗ – ᴗᴗ ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ ⏓ – – ⏓ – – ὅσην εὔ|νοιαν ἔ|χων ἐγὼ | διατελῶ | τῇ τε πόλει | καὶ πᾶσιν | ὑμῖν.
—There are fresh difficulties in the “scansion” here. Dionysius speaks as if the last syllable of εὔνοιαν may (and indeed preferably) be counted long: this involves the lengthening of a short vowel before a single consonant, cp. n. on 180 8.—With regard to the paeons, διατελῶ will form a “catalectic” paeon (ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ –), but τῇ τε πόλει will not form a “procatarctic” paeon (– ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ) unless the final syllable of πόλει is reckoned short.—To extract a molossus from καὶ πᾶσιν, the last syllable of πᾶσιν must be lengthened. Strange as it appears, the cumulative evidence seems (if our text is sound) to show that Dionysius would (at any rate, for the purpose of prose rhythm) lengthen a short vowel before a single consonant.
πόλει καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν” πρῶτος μὲν ὑποβάκχειός ἐστι πούς,
εἶτα βακχεῖος, εἰ δὲ βούλεταί τις, δάκτυλος· εἶτα κρητικός·
μεθ’ οὕς εἰσι δύο σύνθετοι πόδες οἱ καλούμενοι παιᾶνες· οἷς
ἕπεται μολοττὸς ἢ βακχεῖος, ἐγχωρεῖ γὰρ ἑκατέρως αὐτὸν
διαιρεῖν· τελευταῖος δὲ ὁ σπονδεῖος. τοῦ δὲ τρίτου κώλου τοῦδε 5
“τοσαύτην ὑπάρξαι μοι παρ’ ὑμῶν εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν
ἀγῶνα” ἄρχουσι μὲν ὑποβάκχειοι δύο, ἕπεται δὲ κρητικός,
ᾧ συνῆπται σπονδεῖος· εἶτ’ αὖθις βακχεῖος ἢ κρητικός, καὶ
τελευταῖος πάλιν κρητικός, εἶτα κατάληξις. τί οὖν ἐκώλυε
καλὴν ἁρμονίαν εἶναι λέξεως, ἐν ᾗ μήτε πυρρίχιός ἐστι ποὺς 10
μήτε ἰαμβικὸς μήτε ἀμφίβραχυς μήτε τῶν χορείων ἢ τροχαίων
μηδείς; καὶ οὐ λέγω τοῦτο, ὅτι τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων ἕκαστος
οὐ κέχρηταί ποτε καὶ τοῖς ἀγεννεστέροις ῥυθμοῖς. κέχρηται
γάρ· ἀλλ’ εὖ συγκεκρύφασιν αὐτοὺς καὶ συνυφάγκασι διαλαβόντες
τοῖς κρείττοσι τοὺς χείρονας. 15
οἷς δὲ μὴ ἐγένετο πρόνοια τούτου τοῦ μέρους, οἱ μὲν ταπεινάς,
οἱ δὲ κατακεκλασμένας, οἱ δ’ ἄλλην τινὰ αἰσχύνην καὶ
ἀμορφίαν ἐχούσας ἐξήνεγκαν τὰς γραφάς. ὧν ἐστι πρῶτός τε
καὶ μέσος καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ Μάγνης ὁ σοφιστὴς Ἡγησίας·
ὑπὲρ οὗ μὰ τὸν Δία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς ἅπαντας οὐκ οἶδα τί 20
χρὴ λέγειν, πότερα τοσαύτη περὶ αὐτὸν ἀναισθησία καὶ παχύτης
ἦν ὥστε μὴ συνορᾶν, οἵτινές εἰσιν ἀγεννεῖς ἢ εὐγενεῖς ῥυθμοί,
ἢ τοσαύτη θεοβλάβεια καὶ διαφθορὰ τῶν φρενῶν ὥστ’ εἰδότα
τοὺς κρείττους ἔπειτα αἱρεῖσθαι τοὺς χείρονας, ὃ καὶ μᾶλλον
πείθομαι· ἀγνοίας μὲν γάρ ἐστι καὶ τὸ κατορθοῦν πολλαχῇ, 25
city and all of you,”167 first comes a hypobacchius; then a bacchius or, if you prefer to take it so, a dactyl; then a cretic; after which there are two composite feet called paeons. Next follows a molossus or a bacchius, for it can be scanned either way. Last comes the spondee. The third clause, “may as fully be accorded by you to support me in this trial,”167b is opened by two hypobacchii. A cretic follows, to which a spondee is attached. Then again a bacchius or a cretic; last a cretic once more; then the terminal syllable. Is not a beautiful cadence inevitable in a passage which contains neither a pyrrhic, nor an iamb, nor an amphibrachys, nor a single choree or trochee? Still, I do not affirm that none of those writers ever uses the more ignoble rhythms also. They do use them; but they have artistically masked them, and have only introduced them at intervals, interweaving the inferior with the superior.
Those authors who have not given heed to this branch of their art have published writings which are either mean, or flabby, or have some other blemish or deformity. Among them the first and midmost and the last is the Magnesian, the sophist Hegesias. Concerning him, I swear by Zeus and all the other gods, I do not know what to say. Was he so dense, and so devoid of artistic feeling, as not to see which the ignoble or noble rhythms are? or was he smitten with such soul-destroying lunacy, that though he knew the better, he nevertheless invariably chose the worse? It is to this latter view that I incline. Ignorance often blunders into the right path: only wilfulness
2 εἶτα κρητικός F: ἔπειτα κρητικός PMV 3 παιᾶνες F: παίωνες PMV 4 ἐκατέρως F: ἑκατέρους PMV || αὐτὸν PV: αὐτῶν FM 5 τοῦδε F: τοῦ PMV 7 ἔπεται δὲ F: ἔπειτα δε P, M: ἔπειτα V 8 καὶ F: καὶ ὁ PMV 11 ἴαμβος F || τροχαίων F: τῶν τροχαίων PMV 17 κατακεκλεισμένας F || καὶ F: ἢ PMV 19 μέσος καὶ τελευταῖος F: τελευταῖος καὶ μέσος PMV || ὁ σοφιστὴς F: σοφιστὴς PMV 20 οἶδα τί F: οἶδ’ ὅ τι PMV 22 ἀγεννεῖς F: εὐγενεῖς PMV || εὐγενεῖς F: ἀγενεῖς PV1: ἀγεννεῖς MV2 25 πολλαχῆι FP, M: πολλαχοῦ V
4. ἐγχωρεῖ γὰρ ἑκατέρως αὐτὸν διαιρεῖν: this statement should be noted, together with the a priori grounds on which Dionysius elsewhere (e.g. 180 12-16) makes his choice between the alternatives which present themselves.
6. Third clause:
ᴗ – – ᴗ – – – ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – ⏓ ᴗ – τοσαύτην | ὑπάρξαι | μοι παρ’ ὑ|μῶν εἰς | τουτονὶ | τὸν ἀγῶ|να.
—If τουτονὶ is a bacchius, it must be scanned
– – ⏓ τουτονὶ:
and if τὸν ἀγῶν(α) is a cretic, it must be scanned
– ᴗ – τὸν ἀγῶν|α!
There are, no doubt, many cases of abnormal lengthening in Homeric versification (e.g. φίλε κασίγνητε at the beginning of a line, Il. iv. 155), but not to such an extent as would satisfy ‘Eucleides the elder’: οἷον Εὐκλείδης ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὡς ῥᾴδιον ποιεῖν, εἴ τις δώσει ἐκτείνειν ἐφ’ ὁπόσον βούλεται, ἰαμβοποιήσας ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ λέξει,—“Ἐπιχάρην εἶδον Μαραθῶνάδε βαδίζοντα” (Aristot. Poet. c. xxii.).
11. μήτε ἰαμβικὸς... τροχαίων μηδείς: it is obvious that we could discover some of these feet in the passage if we were to choose our own way of dividing it. If in Latin, for example, we were to take such a sentence as quonam igitur pacto probari potest insidias Miloni fecisse Clodium? (Cic. pro Milone 12. 32), we could extract dactyls, spondees, trochees, iambi, cretics, anapaests, etc. from the various section into which we chose to divide it: e.g.
– ᴗ ᴗ – – – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ– ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – ᴗ⏓ (1) quonam igi|tur pac|to pro|bari | potest | insi|dias | Milo|ni fe|cisse | Clodium? – ᴗ ᴗ – – – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ– ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – ᴗ⏓ (2) quonam i|gitur | pacto | proba|ri po|test in|sidias | Milo|ni fe|cisse Clo|dium? – ᴗ ᴗ – – – ᴗ – – ᴗ – – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ – – – – ᴗ – ᴗ⏓ (3) quonam igi|tur pac|to proba|ri potest | insidi|as Milo|ni fe|cisse Clo|dium?
And so with several other possible scansions (cp. Laurand Études sur le style de Cicéron p. 138).
19. For Hegesias cp. Introduction, pp. 52-5 supra.
20. μὰ τὸν Δία... λέγειν: reminiscent of Demosth. Philipp. iii. 54, Fals. Leg. 220.
προνοίας δὲ τὸ μηδέποτε. ἐν γοῦν ταῖς τοσαύταις γραφαῖς,
αἷς καταλέλοιπεν ὁ ἀνήρ, μίαν οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις σελίδα
συγκειμένην εὐτυχῶς. ἔοικεν δὴ ταῦτα ὑπολαβεῖν ἐκείνων
κρείττω καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς αὐτὰ ποιεῖν, εἰς ἃ δι’ ἀνάγκην ἄν
τις ἐμπεσὼν ἐν λόγῳ σχεδίῳ δι’ αἰσχύνης θεῖτο φρόνημα ἔχων 5
ἀνήρ. θήσω δὲ καὶ τούτου λέξιν ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας, ἵνα σοι
γένηται δῆλον ἐκ τῆς ἀντιπαραθέσεως, ὅσην μὲν ἀξίωσιν ἔχει
τὸ εὐγενὲς ἐν ῥυθμοῖς, ὅσην δ’ αἰσχύνην τὸ ἀγεννές. ἔστιν δ’
ὃ λαμβάνει πρᾶγμα ὁ σοφιστὴς τοιόνδε. Ἀλέξανδρος πολιορκῶν
Γάζαν χωρίον τι τῆς Συρίας πάνυ ἐχυρὸν τραυματίας 10
τε γίνεται κατὰ τὴν προσβολὴν καὶ τὸ χωρίον αἱρεῖ χρόνῳ.
φερόμενος δ’ ὑπ’ ὀργῆς τούς τ’ ἐγκαταληφθέντας ἀποσφάττει
πάντας, ἐπιτρέψας τοῖς Μακεδόσι τὸν ἐντυχόντα κτείνειν, καὶ
τὸν ἡγεμόνα αὐτῶν αἰχμάλωτον λαβών, ἄνδρα ἐν ἀξιώματι
καὶ τύχης καὶ εἴδους, ἐξ ἁρματείου δίφρου δῆσαι κελεύσας 15
ζῶντα καὶ τοὺς ἵππους ἐλαύνειν ἀνὰ κράτος ἐν τῇ πάντων
ὄψει διαφθείρει. τούτων οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις εἰπεῖν δεινότερα
πάθη οὐδ’ ὄψει φοβερώτερα. πῶς δὴ ταῦτα ἡρμήνευκεν ὁ
σοφιστής, ἄξιον ἰδεῖν, πότερα σεμνῶς καὶ ὑψηλῶς ἢ ταπεινῶς
καὶ καταγελάστως. 20
“ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἔχων τὸ σύνταγμα προηγεῖτο. καί πως
never does. At all events, in the host of writings which the man has left behind him, you will not find one single page successfully put together. He seems, indeed, to have regarded his own methods as better than those of his predecessors, and to have followed them with enthusiasm; and yet anybody else, if he were to be driven into such errors in an impromptu speech, would blush for them, were he a man of any self-respect. Well, I will quote a passage from him also, taken from his History, in order to make clear to you, by means of a comparison, how splendid noble rhythms are, and how disgraceful are their opposites. The following is the subject treated by the sophist. Alexander when besieging Gaza, an unusually strong position in Syria, is wounded during the assault and takes the position after some delay. In a transport of anger he massacres all the prisoners, permitting the Macedonians to slay all who fall in their way. Having captured their commandant, a man of distinction for his high station and good looks, he gives orders that he should be bound alive to a war-chariot and that the horses should be driven at full speed before the eyes of all; and in this way he kills him. No one could have a story of more awful suffering to narrate, nor one suggesting a more horrible picture. It is worth while to observe in what style our sophist has represented this scene—whether with gravity and elevation or with vulgarity and absurdity:—
“The King advanced, at the head of his division. It seems
2 αἷς F: ἃς PMV 3 δὴ F: δε P, MV 4 ἄν τις ἐμπεσὼν PMV: ἐμπεσὼν ἄν τις F 5 θεῖτο F: ἔθετο PMV 6 ἐκ τῆς F: ἐξ PMV 8 ἔστιν δ’ F: τί δὲ PMV 10 ἐχυρὸν] εὐχερῶς F 11 χρόνῳ φερόμενος δ’ F: χρόνῳ φερόμενος ὁ δ’ PMV 12 τε ἐγκαταληφθέντας PMV: τε καταλειφθέντας F 14 αὐτὸν PMV 16 ἐλαύνων MV 17 τούτων F: τοῦτον PMV 18 οὐδὲ ὄψεις φοβεροτέρας (-ωτ- M) PMV 19 πότερα F: πότερον PMV 21 καὶ πῶς F
1-3. Cp. Dryden Mac Flecknoe ll. 19, 20, “The rest to some faint meaning make pretence, | But Shadwell never deviates into sense.” The wilfulness and malice prepense (πρόνοια) of Hegesias’ stupidity may be illustrated by Dr. Johnson’s remark about Thomas Sheridan: “Why, Sir, Sherry is dull, naturally dull; but it must have taken him a great deal of pains to become what we now see him. Such an access of stupidity, Sir, is not in nature” (Boswell’s Life of Johnson i. 453).
4. The reading of PMV seems preferable, since ἄν is not infrequently attached to adverbs or adverbial phrases such as δι’ ἀνάγκην.
5. θεῖτο: τίθεμαι used for ἡγοῦμαι, as in 208 13 and 232 25.—Contrast the active θήσω in the next line.
9. Arrian (Exped. Alexandri ii. 25. 4) thus describes the commencement of Alexander’s siege, and Batis’ defence, of Gaza (332 B.C.): Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ἐπ’ Αἰγύπτου ἔγνω ποιεῖσθαι τὸν στόλον. καὶ ἦν αὐτῷ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τῆς Παλαιστίνης καλουμένης Συρίας προσκεχωρηκότα ἤδη· εὐνοῦχος δέ τις, ᾧ ὄνομα ἦν Βάτις, κρατῶν τῆς Γαζαίων πόλεως, οὐ προσεῖχεν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, ἀλλὰ Ἄραβάς τε μισθωτοὺς ἐπαγόμενος καὶ σῖτον ἐκ πολλοῦ παρεσκευακὼς διαρκῆ ἐς χρόνιον πολιορκίαν καὶ τῷ χωρίῳ πιστεύων, μήποτε ἂν βίᾳ ἁλῶναι, ἔγνω μὴ δέχεσθαι τῇ πόλει Ἀλέξανδρον. In continuing and completing (cc. 26, 27) his narrative of the siege, Arrian makes no mention of the fate of Batis. On this point Plutarch, too, is silent (Vit. Alex. c. 25), and so is Diodorus Siculus xvii. 48. 7. The obviously rhetorical cast of Hegesias’ narrative, and of that of Curtius (Histor. Alexandri Magni iv. 6, 7-30), should cause it to be accepted with greater reserve than Grote (xi. 469 n. 1) thinks needful to maintain.—For the probable share of Cleitarchus in propagating this story about Alexander see C. Müller Scriptores Rerum Alexandri Magni pp. 75, 142; and for his bombast cp. Long. de Sublim. iii. 2 and Demetr. de Eloc. § 304.
11. χρόνῳ: viz. after a two months’ siege (Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ στρατεύσας ἐπὶ Γάζαν φρουρουμένην ὑπὸ Περσῶν καὶ δίμηνον προσεδρεύσας εἷλε κατὰ κράτος τὴν πόλιν, Diod. Sic. xvii. 48. 7).—Batis was supported by only a small force: “modico praesidio muros ingentis operis tuebatur,” Curtius iv. 6. 7.
14. ἡγεμόνα: Curtius iv. 6. 7 “praeerat ei Betis, eximiae in regem suum fidei.” Josephus (Ant. Iud. xi. 8. 3 Naber) gives the name of the governor as Βαβημήσης. Arrian gives Batis. ‘Baetis’ seems the right form in 188 13, and so perhaps in Curtius.
15. εἴδους. It must have been from the point of view of his countrymen that Batis possessed εἶδος (cp. 188 16). Usener suggests ἤθους.
ἐξ ἁρματείου δίφρου: cp. Xen. Cyrop. vi. 4. 9 ταῦτ’ εἰπὼν κατὰ τὰς θύρας τοῦ ἁρματείου δίφρου ἀνέβαινεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἅρμα, where (as here) δίφρος = sella aurigae.
21. τὸ σύνταγμα: no doubt the ὑπασπισταί are meant: Alexander is represented as advancing at the head of his Guards.—In the English translation of the passage that follows no attempt has been made to reproduce all the peculiarities of Hegesias’ style.
ἐβεβούλευτο τῶν πολεμίων τοῖς ἀρίστοις ἀπαντᾶν ἐπιόντι·
τοῦτο γὰρ ἔγνωστο, κρατήσασιν ἑνὸς συνεκβαλεῖν καὶ τὸ
πλῆθος. ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐλπὶς αὕτη συνέδραμεν εἰς τὸ τολμᾶν,
ὥστ’ Ἀλέξανδρον μηδέποτε κινδυνεῦσαι πρότερον οὕτως. ἀνὴρ
γὰρ τῶν πολεμίων εἰς γόνατα συγκαμφθεὶς ἔδοξε τοῦτ’ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ 5
τῆς ἱκετείας ἕνεκα πρᾶξαι. προσέμενος δ’ ἐγγὺς μικρὸν
ἐκνεύει τὸ ξίφος ἐνέγκαντος ὑπὸ τὰ πτερύγια τοῦ θώρακος,
ὥστε γενέσθαι τὴν πληγὴν οὐ καιριωτάτην. ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν
αὐτὸς ἀπώλεσεν κατὰ κεφαλῆς τύπτων τῇ μαχαίρᾳ, τοὺς δ’
ἄλλους ὀργὴ πρόσφατος ἐπίμπρα. οὕτως ἄρα ἑκάστου τὸν 10
ἔλεον ἐξέστησεν ἡ τοῦ τολμήματος ἀπόνοια τῶν μὲν ἰδόντων,
τῶν δ’ ἀκουσάντων, ὥσθ’ ἑξακισχιλίους ὑπὸ τὴν σάλπιγγα
ἐκείνην τῶν βαρβάρων κατακοπῆναι. τὸν μέντοι Βαῖτιν αὐτὸν
ἀνήγαγον ζῶντα Λεόνατος καὶ Φιλωτᾶς. ἰδὼν δὲ πολύσαρκον
καὶ μέγαν καὶ βλοσυρώτατον (μέλας γὰρ ἦν καὶ τὸ χρῶμα), 15
μισήσας ἐφ’ οἷς ἐβεβούλευτο καὶ τὸ εἶδος ἐκέλευσεν διὰ τῶν
ποδῶν χαλκοῦν ψάλιον διείραντας ἕλκειν κύκλῳ γυμνόν.
πιλούμενος δὲ κακοῖς περὶ πολλὰς τραχύτητας ἔκραζεν. αὐτὸ
δ’ ἦν, ὃ λέγω, τὸ συνάγον ἀνθρώπους. ἐπέτεινε μὲν γὰρ ὁ
that the leaders of the enemy had formed the design of meeting him as he approached. For they had come to the conclusion that, if they overcame him personally, they would be able to drive out all his host in a body. Now this hope ran with them on the path of daring, so that never before had Alexander been in such danger. One of the enemy fell on his knees, and seemed to Alexander to have done so in order to ask for mercy. Having allowed him to approach, he eluded (not without difficulty) the thrust of a sword which he had brought under the skirts of his corselet, so that the thrust was not mortal. Alexander himself slew his assailant with a blow of his sabre upon the head, while the king’s followers were inflamed with a sudden fury. So utterly was pity, in the breasts of those who saw and those who heard of the attempt, banished by the desperate daring of the man, that six thousand of the barbarians were cut down at the trumpet-call which forthwith rang out. Baetis himself, however, was brought before the king alive by Leonatus and Philotas. And Alexander seeing that he was corpulent and huge and most grim (for he was black in colour too), was seized with loathing for his very looks as well as for his design upon his life, and ordered that a ring of bronze should be passed through his feet and that he should be dragged round a circular course, naked. Harrowed by pain, as his body passed over many a rough piece of ground, he began to scream. And it was just this detail which I now mention that brought people together. The torment racked him,
1 ἐβεβούλευτο PMV: ἐβουλεύετο F || ἀπαντᾶν om. F || ἐπιόντι Radermacher: ἐπιών F: εἰσιῶν P, MV 2 συνεκβαλεῖν FMV: συνεκβάλλειν Ps 3 εἰς τὸ τολμᾶν PMV: om. F 4 πρότερον ἢ οὕτως F 5 συγκαμφθεὶς PMV: συγκαθίσας F 6 ἰκετείας F || προσέμενος F: προέμενος PMV 7 ὑπὸ PMV: ἐπὶ F 8 τὴν F: καὶ τὴν PMV 10 ἐπίμπρα F: ἐπίμπρατο MV: ἐπὶ παλαιαῖς P || οὕτως ἄρα F: οὕτως γὰρ PMV 11 ἐξέστησεν] ἐξήτασεν F || τολμήματος F: τολμήσαντος PMV 12 εξακισχιλίους F, MV: τετρακισχιλίους P 13 βαῖστ[ϊ]ν cum litura P: βασιλέα FMV || αὐτὸν] Sylburgius: αὐτῶν FM: αὐτοῦ PV 15 καὶ (ante βλοσυρώτατον) F: ὡς PMV || βροσυρώτατον P: βδελυρώτατον FMV || καὶ τὸ χρῶμα PMV: τὸ σῶμα F 17 ψαλ(ιον) P: ψαλλίον V: ψέλιον F: ψέλλιον M 18 ἔκραξεν F
1. Blass (Rhythm. Asian. p. 19) would read εἰσιόντι, comparing intravit in Curtius iv. 6. 23.
3. συνέδραμεν: cp. Propert. iii. 9. 17 “est quibus Eleae concurrit palma quadrigae; | est quibus in celeres gloria nata pedes.”
6. τῆς ἱκετείας: Hegesias may have used the article in order to avoid the hiatus Ἀλεξάνδρῳ ἱκετείας. F omits it (as unnecessary).
7. τὰ πτερύγια τοῦ θώρακος: cp. Schol. Venet. B ad Hom. Il. iv. 132 ἵνα μὴ χαλεπὴ γένηται ἡ πληγή, εἰς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἄγει, καθ’ ὃ ἀλλήλοις ἐπιφερόμενα τὰ πτερύγια τοῦ θώρακος ἐσφίγγετο ὑπὸ τοῦ ζωστῆρος. See also the references given under πτέρυξ in L. & S., and in Stephanus.—Perhaps Hegesias has Il. iv. 132 directly in mind. The meaning will then be (with F’s reading ἐπί), “as his assailant had struck it [the sword] against the skirts of Alexander’s corselet.” But the account in Curtius iv. 6. 15 seems to confirm ὑπό: “quo conspecto, Arabs quidam, Darei miles, maius fortuna sua facinus ausus, gladium clipeo tegens, quasi transfuga genibus regis advolvitur. ille adsurgere supplicem, recipique inter suos iussit. at barbarus gladio strenue in dextram translato cervicem adpetiit regis: qui exigua corporis declinatione evitato ictu in vanum manum barbari lapsam amputat gladio.”
10. ἐπίμπρα: cp. Curtius iv. 6. 24 “inter primores dimicat; ira quoque accensus, quod duo in obsidione urbis eius vulnera acceperat.” The reading of P, ἐπὶ παλαιαῖς, apparently means ‘over and above the ancient ὀργαί,’ and it is possible that Hegesias wrote both this and ἐπίμπρα: or ἐπὶ παλαιαῖς may gloss πρόσφατος.
12. The number, as given by Curtius (iv. 6. 30), was “circa decem milia.”
ὑπὸ τὴν σάλπιγγα ἐκείνην = ὑπὸ τὸ σάλπισμα ἐκεῖνο: cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 6 οἷον τὸ φάναι τὴν σάλπιγγα εἶναι μέλος ἄλυρον.
15. βλοσυρώτατον: cp. Curtius iv. 6. 27 “non interrito modo sed contumaci quoquo vultu intuens regem.” Usener conjectures βλοσυρωπόν, with considerable probability: cp. 162 19 supra.
17. ψάλιον: cp. Hesych. ψάλια· κρίκοι, δακτύλιοι, and Antiq. Rom. ii. 38 καὶ αὐτὴν (Τάρπειαν) ἔρως εἰσέρχεται τῶν ψαλίων, ἃ περὶ τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς βραχίοσιν ἐφόρουν (οἱ Σαβῖνοι), καὶ τῶν δακτυλίων.—Probably here a large curb-chain is meant, rather than a cheek-ring, which would be too small. So Curtius iv. 6. 29 “per talos enim spirantis lora traiecta sunt [cp. Virg. Aen. ii. 273], religatumque ad currum traxere circa urbem equi gloriante rege, Achillen, a quo genus ipse deduceret, imitatum se esse poena in hostem capienda.” In Homer ἱμάντες are employed (190 13).
18. πιλεῖν (‘to pound,’ ‘to knead’) is one of the many forced metaphors in this excerpt from Hegesias.
πόνος, βάρβαρον δ’ ἐβόα, δεσπότην καθικετεύων· γελᾶν δὲ ὁ
σολοικισμὸς ἐποίει. τὸ δὲ στέαρ καὶ τὸ κύτος τῆς σαρκὸς
ἐνέφαινε Βαβυλώνιον ζῷον ἕτερον ἁδρόν. ὁ μὲν οὖν ὄχλος
ἐνέπαιζε, στρατιωτικὴν ὕβριν ὑβρίζων εἰδεχθῆ καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ
σκαιὸν ἐχθρόν.” 5
ἆρά γε ὅμοια ταῦτ’ ἐστὶ τοῖς Ὁμηρικοῖς ἐκείνοις, ἐν οἷς
Ἀχιλλεύς ἐστιν αἰκιζόμενος Ἕκτορα μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν; καίτοι
τό γε πάθος ἐκεῖνο ἔλαττον· εἰς ἀναίσθητον γὰρ σῶμα ἡ
ὕβρις· ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἰδεῖν, ὅσῳ διενήνοχεν ὁ ποιητὴς
τοῦ σοφιστοῦ· 10
ἦ ῥα, καὶ Ἕκτορα δῖον ἀεικέα μήδετο ἔργα·
ἀμφοτέρων μετόπισθε ποδῶν τέτρηνε τένοντε
ἐς σφυρὸν ἐκ πτέρνης, βοέους δ’ ἐξῆπτεν ἱμάντας,
ἐκ δίφροιο δ’ ἔδησε· κάρη δ’ ἕλκεσθαι ἔασεν·
ἐς δίφρον δ’ ἀναβὰς ἀνά τε κλυτὰ τεύχε’ ἀείρας 15
μάστιξεν δ’ ἐλάαν, τὼ δ’ οὐκ ἀέκοντε πετέσθην.
τοῦ δ’ ἦν ἑλκομένοιο κονίσαλος· ἀμφὶ δὲ χαῖται
κυάνεαι πίμπλαντο, κάρη δ’ ἅπαν ἐν κονίῃσι
κεῖτο πάρος χαρίεν· τότε δὲ Ζεὺς δυσμενέεσσι
δῶκεν ἀεικίσσασθαι ἑῇ ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ. 20
ὣς τοῦ μὲν κεκόνιτο κάρη ἅπαν· ἡ δέ νυ μήτηρ
τίλλε κόμην, ἀπὸ δὲ λιπαρὴν ἔρριψε καλύπτρην
τηλόσε, κώκυσεν δὲ μάλα μέγα παῖδ’ ἐσιδοῦσα·
ᾤμωξεν δ’ ἐλεεινὰ πατὴρ φίλος, ἀμφὶ δὲ λαοὶ
and he kept uttering outlandish yells, asking mercy of Alexander as ‘my lord’; and his jargon made them laugh. His fat and his bulging corpulence suggested to them another creature, a huge-bodied Babylonian animal. So the multitude scoffed at him, mocking with the coarse mockery of the camp an enemy who was so repulsive of feature and so uncouth in his ways.”168
Is this description, I ask, comparable with those lines of Homer in which Achilles is represented as maltreating Hector after his death? And yet the suffering in the latter case is less, for it is on a mere senseless body that the outrage is inflicted. But it is worth while, nevertheless, to note the vast difference between the poet and the sophist:—
He spake, and a shameful mishandling devised he for Hector slain;
For behind each foot did he sunder therefrom the sinews twain
From the ankle-joint to the heel: hide-bands through the gashes he thrust;
To his chariot he bound them, and left the head to trail in the dust.
He hath mounted his car, and the glorious armour thereon hath he cast,
And he lashed the horses, and they with eager speed flew fast.
And a dust from the haling of Hector arose, and tossed wide-spread
His dark locks: wholly in dust his head lay low—that head
Once comely: ah then was the hero delivered over of Zeus
In his very fatherland for his foes to despitefully use.
So dust-besprent was his head; but his mother was rending her hair
The while, and she flung therefrom her head-veil glistering-fair
Afar, and with wild loud shriek as she looked on her son she cried;
And in piteous wise did his father wail, and on every side
1 καθικετεύων Schaefer: καὶ ἱκετεύων libri 2 κοῖτος F: κῦτος MV || σαρκὸς F: γαστρὸς PMV 3 ἐνέφαινε MV2: ἀνέφαινε F: ἐνεφαίνετο P || ἀδρὸν F: ἁδρόν MV: ἀνδρος P 9 ἐστιν om. P || ὅσω F: πόσω PMV 12 τένοντε F: τένοντας PMV 14 ἔασεν] ἔδησεν F 16 μάστιξέν ῥ’ Hom. || ἀέκοντε FMV Hom.: ἄκοντε P 18 πίμπλαντο] πίτναντο Hom. 22 τίλλε F Hom.: τῆλε PM: τεῖλε V
1. It is not clear whether the strict distinction between βαρβαρισμός (wrong vocabulary, spelling, or pronunciation) and σολοικισμός (wrong syntax) is here maintained. Possibly Batis may have offended (1) by using a word (δεσπότης) abhorrent to all free men of Greek blood, or (2) by using it in the wrong case, or (3) by mispronouncing it: cp. Sandys History of Classical Scholarship i. 148, for the comprehensiveness of the term σολοικισμός. But if it be held that σολοικισμός cannot occur in one isolated word (cp. Quintil. i. 5. 36), then it may be supposed that the reference here is to grammatical blunders in other words ejaculated by the unhappy Batis.
3. Βαβυλώνιον ζῷον: a comparison suggests itself with the Assyrian bulls represented in reliefs (cp. Tennyson’s Maud, “That oil’d and curl’d Assyrian Bull”).—The reading of P, ἕτερον ἀνδρός, might mean ‘far different from a man’ (viri: not ἀνθρώπου, hominis).
4. Hegesias’ use of στρατιωτικός may be compared with de Lys. c. 12 (of Iphicrates) ἥ τε λέξις πολὺ τὸ φορτικὸν καὶ στρατιωτικὸν ἔχει καὶ οὐχ οὕτως ἐμφαίνει ῥητορικὴν ἀγχίνοιαν ὡς στρατιωτικὴν αὐθάδειαν καὶ ἀλαζονείαν.
7. ἐστιν αἰκιζόμενος: not simply a periphrasis for αἰκίζεται.
8. For Hector’s insensibility cp. Murray’s Rise of the Greek Epic pp. 118, 132.—The savagery of Achilles was, nevertheless, generally felt to need extenuation, as may be seen from the curious explanations proffered in the scholia: e.g. ὁ δὲ Καλλίμαχός φησιν ὅτι πάτριόν ἐστι Θεσσαλοῖς τοὺς τῶν φιλτάτων φονέας σύρειν περὶ τοὺς τῶν φονευθέντων τάφους, κτλ.
11. Cp. Virg. Aen. ii. 268 ff. (the vision of the mangled Hector).
κωκυτῷ τ’ εἴχοντο καὶ οἰμωγῇ κατὰ ἄστυ.
τῷ δὲ μάλιστ’ ἂρ ἔην ἐναλίγκιον, ὡς εἰ ἅπασα
Ἴλιος ὀφρυόεσσα πυρὶ σμύχοιτο κατ’ ἄκρης.
οὕτως εὐγενὲς σῶμα καὶ δεινὰ πάθη λέγεσθαι προσῆκεν ὑπ’
ἀνδρῶν φρόνημα καὶ νοῦν ἐχόντων. ὡς δὲ ὁ Μάγνης εἴρηκεν, 5
ὑπὸ γυναικῶν ἢ κατεαγότων ἀνθρώπων λέγοιτ’ ἂν καὶ οὐδὲ
τούτων μετὰ σπουδῆς, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ χλευασμῷ καὶ καταγέλωτι.
τί οὖν αἴτιον ἦν ἐκείνων μὲν τῶν ποιημάτων τῆς εὐγενείας,
τούτων δὲ τῶν φλυαρημάτων τῆς ταπεινότητος; ἡ τῶν
ῥυθμῶν διαφορὰ πάντων μάλιστα, καὶ εἰ μὴ μόνη. ἐν 10
ἐκείνοις μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ εἷς ἄσεμνος στίχος οὐδ’ ἀδόκιμος,
ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐδεμία περίοδος ἥτις οὐ λυπήσει.
εἰρηκὼς δὴ καὶ περὶ τῶν ῥυθμῶν ὅσην δύναμιν ἔχουσιν,
ἐπὶ τὰ λειπόμενα μεταβήσομαι.
XIX
ἦν δέ μοι τρίτον θεώρημα τῶν ποιούντων καλὴν ἁρμονίαν 15
ἡ μεταβολή. λέγω δὲ οὐ τὴν ἐκ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπὶ τὰ
χείρω (πάνυ γὰρ εὔηθες), οὐδέ γε τὴν ἐκ τῶν χειρόνων ἐπὶ
τὰ κρείττω, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὁμοειδέσι ποικιλίαν. κόρον γὰρ
ἔχει καὶ τὰ καλὰ πάντα, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἡδέα, μένοντα ἐν τῇ
ταυτότητι· ποικιλλόμενα δὲ ταῖς μεταβολαῖς ἀεὶ καινὰ μένει. 20
τοῖς μὲν οὖν τὰ μέτρα καὶ τὰ μέλη γράφουσιν οὐχ ἅπαντα
Through the city the folk brake forth into shriek and wail at the sight.
It was like unto this above all things, as though, from her topmost height
To the ground, all beetling Troy in flame and in smoke were rolled.169
That is the way in which a noble corpse and terrible sufferings should be described by men of feeling and understanding. But after the fashion of this Magnesian they could be described by women only or effeminate men, and even by them not in earnest, but in a spirit of derision and mockery. To what, then, is due the nobility of these lines, as compared with the miserable absurdities of the other passage? Chiefly, if not entirely, to the difference in the rhythms. In the quotation from Homer there is not one unimpressive or unworthy verse, while in that from Hegesias every single sentence will prove offensive.
Having now discussed the importance of rhythm, I will pass on to the topics that remain.
Chapter XIX — On Variety
The third cause of beautiful arrangement that was to be examined is variety. I do not mean the change from the better to the worse (that would be too foolish), nor yet that from the worse to the better, but variety among things that are similar. For satiety can be caused by all beautiful things, just as by things sweet to the taste, when there is an unvarying sameness about them; but if diversified by changes, they always remain new. Now writers in metre and in lyric measures cannot introduce
2 ἂρ FP: ἄρ’ MV 4 εὐγενὲς σῶμα F: εὐγενῶς ἅμα PMV || δεινὰ FPM: δεινῶς V 6 ὑπὸ F: ὡς ὑπὸ PMV 8 ἦν F: om. PMV 10 πάντων FM: om. PV || καὶ εἰ FPM: εἰ καὶ V || ἐν om. P 11 οὐδὲ εἷς P, MV: οὐδεὶς F || οὐδὲ (οὐδ’ V) ἀδόκιμος MV: ἢ ἀδόκιμος F: om. P 12 ἥτις οὐ λυπήσει om. F 13 δὴ F: δὲ PMV 15 δέ] δή F 19 μένοντα PMV: ὄντα EF 20 δὲ EF: δ’ ἐν PMV || ἀεὶ EF: ὡς ἀεὶ MV: om. P 21 τοῖς EF: ἐν τοῖς PV: ἐν οἷς M
5. φρόνημα, ‘pride,’ ‘spirit,’ ‘mettle,’ ‘feeling,’ ‘self-respect’: cp. 186 5.
6. κατεαγότων, ‘enervated,’ ‘effeminate’ (Lat. fractus): cp. Philo Jud. i. 262 (Mangey) ἄνανδροι καὶ κατεαγότες καὶ θηλυδρίαι τὰ φρονήματα, i. 273 πάθεσι τοῖς κατεαγόσι καὶ τεθηλυμμένοις.
8, 9. ἐκείνων refers to the passage last quoted, τούτων to that quoted first. The remoteness implied in ἐκείνων is here that of greatness and antiquity; the nearness in τούτων, that of the commonplace and recent.
10. The reading εἰ καὶ (‘although’) would perhaps be preferable in sense, if only it had better manuscript attestation. [In 198 15 there is a similar fluctuation between καὶ εἰ and εἰ καί.]
13. For various points of rhythm and metre raised in cc. 18, 19, and elsewhere, reference may be made to the Introduction, pp. 33-9.
16. For the importance of variety (especially in relation to rhythm) cp. a well-known fragment of Isocrates’ Art of Rhetoric: ὅλως δὲ ὁ λόγος μὴ λόγος ἔστω, ξηρὸν γάρ· μηδὲ ἔμμετρος, καταφανὲς γάρ. ἀλλὰ μεμίχθω παντὶ ῥυθμῷ, μάλιστα ἰαμβικῷ ἢ τροχαϊκῷ (“prose must not be merely prose, or it will be dry; nor metrical, or its art will be undisguised; but it should be compounded with every sort of rhythm, particularly iambic or trochaic”). The views of Theophrastus on the point are reported in Cic. de Orat. iii. 48. 184 ff. “namque ego illud adsentior Theophrasto, qui putat orationem, quae quidem sit polita atque facta quodam modo, non astricte, sed remissius numerosam esse oportere,” etc.
18. κόρον: cp. Ep. ad Cn. Pomp. c. 3 κόρον δ’ ἔχει, φησὶν ὁ Πίνδαρος [Nem. vii. 52], καὶ μέλι καὶ τὰ τέρπν’ ἄνθε’ ἀφροδίσια, and Hom. Il. xiii. 636 πάντων μὲν κόρος ἐστί, κτλ.
19. μένοντα avoids the awkward hiatus ἡδέα ὄντα. The fact that μένει follows shortly is not a conclusive objection, since Dionysius, and Greek authors generally, were free from the bad taste which avoids, at all costs, repetitions of this kind: cp. λαμβανόμενα... λήψεται (106 18).
ἔξεστι μεταβάλλειν ἢ οὐχ ἅπασιν οὐδ’ ἐφ’ ὅσον βούλονται.
αὐτίκα τοῖς μὲν ἐποποιοῖς μέτρον οὐκ ἔξεστι μεταβάλλειν,
ἀλλ’ ἀνάγκη πάντας εἶναι τοὺς στίχους ἑξαμέτρους· οὐδέ
γε ῥυθμόν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀπὸ μακρᾶς ἀρχομένοις συλλαβῆς
χρήσονται καὶ οὐδὲ τούτοις ἅπασι. τοῖς δὲ τὰ μέλη γράφουσιν 5
τὸ μὲν τῶν στροφῶν τε καὶ ἀντιστρόφων οὐχ οἷόν τε
ἀλλάξαι μέλος, ἀλλ’ ἐάν τ’ ἐναρμονίους ἐάν τε χρωματικὰς
ἐάν τε διατόνους ὑποθῶνται μελῳδίας, ἐν πάσαις δεῖ ταῖς
στροφαῖς τε καὶ ἀντιστρόφοις τὰς αὐτὰς ἀγωγὰς φυλάττειν·
οὐδέ γε τοὺς περιέχοντας ὅλας τὰς στροφὰς ῥυθμοὺς καὶ 10
τὰς ἀντιστρόφους, ἀλλὰ δεῖ καὶ τούτους τοὺς αὐτοὺς διαμένειν·
περὶ δὲ τὰς καλουμένας ἐπῳδοὺς ἀμφότερα κινεῖν ταῦτα
ἔξεστι τό τε μέλος καὶ τὸν ῥυθμόν. τά τε κῶλα ἐξ ὧν
ἑκάστη συνέστηκε περίοδος ἐπὶ πολλῆς ἐξουσίας δέδοται
αὐτοῖς ποικίλως διαιρεῖν ἄλλοτε ἄλλα μεγέθη καὶ σχήματα 15
αὐταῖς περιτιθέντας, ἕως ἂν ἀπαρτίσωσι τὴν στροφήν· ἔπειτα
πάλιν δεῖ τὰ αὐτὰ μέτρα καὶ κῶλα ποιεῖν. οἱ μὲν οὖν
ἀρχαῖοι μελοποιοί, λέγω δὲ Ἀλκαῖόν τε καὶ Σαπφώ, μικρὰς
ἐποιοῦντο στροφάς, ὥστ’ ἐν ὀλίγοις τοῖς κώλοις οὐ πολλὰς
εἰσῆγον τὰς μεταβολάς, ἐπῳδοῖς τε πάνυ ἐχρῶντο ὀλίγοις· οἱ 20
δὲ περὶ Στησίχορόν τε καὶ Πίνδαρον μείζους ἐργασάμενοι τὰς
περιόδους εἰς πολλὰ μέτρα καὶ κῶλα διένειμαν αὐτὰς οὐκ
ἄλλου τινὸς ἢ τῆς μεταβολῆς ἔρωτι. οἱ δέ γε διθυραμβοποιοὶ
change everywhere; or rather, I should say, cannot all introduce change, and none as much as they wish. For instance, epic writers cannot vary their metre, for all the lines must necessarily be hexameters; nor yet the rhythm, for they must use those feet that begin with a long syllable, and not all even of these. The writers of lyric verse cannot vary the melodies of strophe and antistrophe, but whether they adopt enharmonic melodies, or chromatic, or diatonic, in all the strophes and antistrophes the same sequences must be observed. Nor, again, must the rhythms be changed in which the entire strophes and antistrophes are written, but these too must remain unaltered. But in the so-called epodes both the tune and the rhythm may be changed. Great freedom, too, is allowed to an author in varying and elaborating the clauses of which each period is composed by giving them different lengths and forms in different instances, until they complete a strophe; but after that, similar metres and clauses must be composed for the antistrophe. Now the ancient writers of lyric poetry—I refer to Alcaeus and Sappho—made their strophes short, so that they did not introduce many variations in the clauses, which were few in number, while the use they made of the epode was very slight. Stesichorus and Pindar and their schools framed their periods on a larger scale, and divided them into many measures and clauses, simply from the love of variety. The dithyrambic poets used to change the modes also,
8 ὑποθῶνται FE: ὑπόθωνται PMV 9 τε καὶ PMV (cf. l. 6 supra): καὶ EF 11 τὰς ἀντιστροφὰς PM: τοὺς ἀντιστρόφους F: ἀντιστροφὰς V 12 ἐπῳδὰς V || ταῦτά ἐστιν F 14 ἑκάστη συνέστηκεν περίοδος PMV: συνέστηκε περίοδος ἑκάστη E: συνέστηκε περίοδος F 15 αὐτοῖς secl. Usener 16 αὐταῖς PMV: αὐτοῖς EF || ἂν om. F 18 δὲ om. EF 20 εἰσῆγον τὰς PMV: εἰσῆγον EF
5. οὐδὲ τούτοις ἅπασι: e.g. not the cretic, and (strictly) not the trochee.
7. ἐναρμονίους... χρωματικὰς... διατόνους: the distinction between these scales is indicated in Macran’s Harmonics of Aristoxenus p. 6: “Was it then possible to determine for practical purposes the smallest musical interval? To this question the Greek theorists gave the unanimous reply, supporting it by a direct appeal to facts, that the voice can sing, and the ear perceive, a quarter-tone; but that any smaller interval lies beyond the power of ear and voice alike. Disregarding then the order of the intervals, and considering only their magnitudes, we can see that one possible division of the tetrachord was into two quarter-tones and a ditone, or space of two tones; the employment of these intervals characterized a scale as of the Enharmonic genus. Or again, employing larger intervals one might divide the tetrachord into, say, two-thirds of a tone, and the space of a tone and five-sixths: or into two semitones, and the space of a tone and a half. The employment of these divisions or any lying between them marked a scale as Chromatic. Or finally, by the employment of two tones one might proceed to the familiar Diatonic genus, which divided the tetrachord into two tones and a semitone. Much wonder and admiration has been wasted on the Enharmonic scale by persons who have missed the true reason for the disappearance of the quarter-tone from our modern musical system. Its disappearance is due not to the dulness or coarseness of modern ear or voice, but to the fact that the more highly developed unity of our system demands the accurate determination of all sound-relations by direct or indirect resolution into concords; and such a determination of quarter-tones is manifestly impossible.”
18. ἀρχαῖοι: as compared, say, with Pindar.
20. οἱ δὲ περὶ Στησίχορόν τε καὶ Πίνδαρον: the two possible senses of this and similar phrases may be illustrated from Plutarch, viz. (1) the man and his followers, e.g. οἱ περὶ Δημοσθένην (Plutarch Vit. Demosth. 28. 2); (2) the man himself, e.g. τοὺς περὶ Αἰσχίνην καὶ Φιλοκράτην (ibid. 16. 2: cp. 30. 2) = ‘Aeschines and Philocrates.’ So with οἱ ἀμφί and οἱ κατά. But sense (2) needs careful scrutiny wherever it seems to occur; the meaning may simply be ‘men like Aeschines,’ etc.—For the ‘graves Camenae’ of Stesichorus cp. Hor. Carm. iv. 9. 8, and Quintil. x. 1. 62 “Stesichorus quam sit ingenio validus, materiae quoque ostendunt, maxima bella et clarissimos canentem duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinentem.”
21. Such long periods are particularly effective (cp. 196 13) when they include clauses of various lengths and end with an impressive one: e.g. Cic. Catil. ii. 1. 1 “Tandem aliquando, Quirites, L. Catilinam, | furentem audacia, | scelus anhelantem, | pestem patriae nefarie molientem, | vobis atque huic urbi ferro flammaque minitantem, | ex urbe vel eiecimus, | vel emisimus, | vel ipsum egredientem verbis prosecuti sumus”; and similarly Bossuet Oraison funèbre de Henriette-Marie de France: “Celui qui règne dans les cieux | et de qui relèvent tous les empires, | à qui seul appartient la gloire, la majesté et l’indépendance | est aussi le seul qui se glorifie de faire la loi aux rois, | et de leur donner, quand il lui plaît, de grandes et de terribles leçons.”
καὶ τοὺς τρόπους μετέβαλλον, Δωρίους τε καὶ Φρυγίους καὶ
Λυδίους ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ᾄσματι ποιοῦντες, καὶ τὰς μελῳδίας
ἐξήλλαττον, τοτὲ μὲν ἐναρμονίους ποιοῦντες, τοτὲ δὲ χρωματικάς,
τοτὲ δὲ διατόνους, καὶ τοῖς ῥυθμοῖς κατὰ πολλὴν
ἄδειαν ἐνεξουσιάζοντες διετέλουν, οἵ γε δὴ κατὰ Φιλόξενον καὶ 5
Τιμόθεον καὶ Τελεστήν, ἐπεὶ παρά γε τοῖς ἀρχαίοις τεταγμένος
ἦν καὶ ὁ διθύραμβος.
ἡ δὲ πεζὴ λέξις ἅπασαν ἐλευθερίαν ἔχει καὶ ἄδειαν
ποικίλλειν ταῖς μεταβολαῖς τὴν σύνθεσιν, ὅπως βούλεται.
καὶ ἔστι λέξις κρατίστη πασῶν, ἥτις ἂν ἔχῃ πλείστας 10
ἀναπαύλας τε καὶ μεταβολὰς ἐναρμονίους, ὅταν τουτὶ μὲν ἐν
περιόδῳ λέγηται, τουτὶ δ’ ἔξω περιόδου, καὶ ἥδε μὲν ἡ
περίοδος ἐκ πλειόνων πλέκηται κώλων, ἥδε δ’ ἐξ ἐλαττόνων,
αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν κώλων τὸ μὲν βραχύτερον ᾖ, τὸ δὲ μακρότερον,
καὶ τὸ μὲν αὐτουργότερον, τὸ δὲ ἀκριβέστερον, ῥυθμοί τε 15
ἄλλοτε ἄλλοι καὶ σχήματα παντοῖα καὶ τάσεις φωνῆς αἱ
καλούμεναι προσῳδίαι διάφοροι κλέπτουσαι τῇ ποικιλίᾳ τὸν
κόρον. ἔχει δέ τινα χάριν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις καὶ τὸ οὕτω
συγκείμενον ὥστε μὴ συγκεῖσθαι δοκεῖν. καὶ οὐ πολλῶν δεῖν
οἶμαι λόγων εἰς τοῦτο τὸ μέρος· ὅτι γὰρ ἥδιστόν τε καὶ 20
κάλλιστον ἐν λόγοις μεταβολή, πάντας εἰδέναι πείθομαι.
παράδειγμα δὲ αὐτῆς ποιοῦμαι πᾶσαν μὲν τὴν Ἡροδότου
λέξιν, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν Πλάτωνος, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν Δημοσθένους·
ἀμήχανον γὰρ εὑρεῖν τούτων ἑτέρους ἐπεισοδίοις τε πλείοσι
καὶ ποικιλίαις εὐκαιροτέραις καὶ σχήμασι πολυειδεστέροις 25
χρησαμένους· λέγω δὲ τὸν μὲν ὡς ἐν ἱστορίας σχήματι, τὸν
introducing Dorian and Phrygian and Lydian modes in the same song; and they varied the melodies, making them now enharmonic, now chromatic, now diatonic; and in the rhythms they continually showed the boldest independence,—I mean Philoxenus, Timotheus, Telestes, and men of their stamp,—since among the ancients even the dithyramb had been subject to strict metrical laws.
Prose-writing has full liberty and permission to diversify composition by whatever changes it pleases. A style is finest of all when it has the most frequent rests and changes of harmony; when one thing is said within a period, another without it; when one period is formed by the interweaving of a larger number of clauses, another by that of a smaller; when among the clauses themselves one is short, another longer, one roughly wrought, another more finished; when the rhythms take now one form, now another, and the figures are of all kinds, and the voice-pitches—the so-called “accents”—are various, and skilfully avoid satiety by their diversity. There is considerable charm, among efforts of this kind, in what is so composed that it does not seem to be artificially composed at all. I do not think that many words are needed on this point. Everybody, I believe, is aware that, in prose, variety is full of charm and beauty. And as examples of it I reckon all the writings of Herodotus, all those of Plato, and all those of Demosthenes. It is impossible to find other writers who have introduced more episodes than these, or better-timed variations, or more multiform figures: the first in the narrative form, the second in graceful dialogue,
7 καὶ F: om. PMV 8 ἔχει καὶ ἄδειαν PMV: καὶ ἄδειαν ἔχει F: ἔχει E 10 ἔχη F: ἔχει P: ἔχοι EMV 11 ἐναρμονίους EF: ἁρμονίας PMV 14 ᾖ] τι F 15 αὐτουργότερον F: αὐτῶν (om. E) γοργότερον τὸ δὲ βραδύτερον EPMV || τὸ δὲ ἀκριβέστερον om. EF 18 ἐν P2MV: ἐτι P1: om. F 19 καὶ F: om. PMV || δεῖν οἶμαι F: δὲ οἴομαι δεῖν PMV 20 τοῦτο PMV: τουτὶ F 21 μεταβολή FP: ἡ μεταβολή MV 24 ἀμήχανον PMV: ἀδύνατον EF 25 ποικίλαις F || εὐκαιροτέροις EF: εὐροωτέραις PMV 26 μὲν ὡς] μὲν P || ἱστορίαις PMV || σχήματι EF: σχηματισμὸν PM: σχηματισμῷ V
1. For the characteristics of the various modes cp. (besides the Republic and the Politics) Lucian Harmonides i. 1 καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας ἑκάστης διαφυλάττειν τὸ ἴδιον, τῆς Φρυγίου τὸ ἔνθεον, τῆς Λυδίου τὸ Βακχικόν, τῆς Δωρίου τὸ σεμνόν, τῆς Ἰωνικῆς τὸ γλαφυρόν.
3. τοτὲ μὲν... τοτὲ δέ: cp. 132 19, where (as here) F and P have τότε.
5. ἐνεξουσιάζοντες, ‘using full liberty,’ ‘showing their independence.’ Cp. de Thucyd. c. 8... οὔτε προστιθεὶς τοῖς πράγμασιν οὐδὲν ὃ μὴ δίκαιον οὔτε ἀφαιρῶν, οὐδὲ ἐνεξουσιάζων τῇ γραφῇ, ἀνέγκλητον δὲ καὶ καθαρὰν τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀπὸ παντὸς φθόνου καὶ πάσης κολακείας φυλάττων, and c. 24 ibid. ἐν δὲ τοῖς συνθετικοῖς καὶ τοῖς προθετικοῖς μορίοις καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς διαρθροῦσι τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων δυνάμεις ποιητοῦ τρόπον ἐνεξουσιάζων (translated in D.H. p. 135). So Hor. Carm. iv. 2. 10 “seu per audaces nova dithyrambos | verba devolvit numerisque fertur | lege solutis.”
οἱ κατά may refer simply to the individuals mentioned, or to them and their contemporaries: cp. note on 194 20.
For Philoxenus, Timotheus (including the newly discovered Persae), and Telestes see Jebb’s Bacchylides pp. 47-55; Weir Smyth’s Greek Melic Poets pp. 460-7; W. von Christ Gesch. der Griech. Litt.3 pp. 188, 189.
8. ἐλευθερίαν ἔχει καὶ ἄδειαν: it is a mistake to cut out καὶ ἄδειαν on the authority of E alone. An Epitomizer would naturally omit the words, while Dionysius’ liking for amplitude and rhythm would as naturally lead him to use them. Cp. Demosth. Timocr. § 205 εἰ δέ τις εἰσφέρει νόμον ἐξ οὗ τοῖς ὑμᾶς βουλομένοις ἀδικεῖν ἡ πᾶσ’ ἐξουσία καὶ ἄδεια γενήσεται, οὗτος ὅλην ἀδικεῖ τὴν πόλιν καὶ καταισχύνει πάντας. The word ἄδεια is found also in l. 5 supra and 176 20. The repetition within a few sentences is not inconsistent with Dionysius’ practice in such matters: cp. note on 192 19 supra.
δ’ ὡς ἐν διαλόγων χάριτι, τὸν δ’ ὡς ἐν λόγων ἐναγωνίων
χρείᾳ. ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἥ γε Ἰσοκράτους καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου γνωρίμων
αἵρεσις ὁμοία ταύταις ἦν, ἀλλὰ καίπερ ἡδέως καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς
πολλὰ συνθέντες οἱ ἄνδρες οὗτοι περὶ τὰς μεταβολὰς καὶ τὴν
ποικιλίαν οὐ πάνυ εὐτυχοῦσιν· ἀλλ’ ἔστι παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἷς 5
περίοδου κύκλος, ὁμοειδὴς σχημάτων τάξις, φυλακὴ συμπλοκῆς
φωνηέντων ἡ αὐτή, ἄλλα πολλὰ τοιαῦτα κόπτοντα τὴν
ἀκρόασιν. οὐ δὴ ἀποδέχομαι τὴν αἵρεσιν ἐκείνην κατὰ τοῦτο
τὸ μέρος. καὶ αὐτῷ μὲν ἴσως τῷ Ἰσοκράτει πολλαὶ χάριτες
ἐπήνθουν ἄλλαι ταύτην ἐπικρύπτουσαι τὴν ἀμορφίαν, παρὰ 10
δὲ τοῖς μετ’ ἐκεῖνον ἀπ’ ἐλαττόνων τῶν ἄλλων κατορθωμάτων
περιφανέστερον γίνεται τοῦτο τὸ ἁμάρτημα.
XX
εἷς ἔτι καταλείπεταί μοι λόγος ὁ περὶ τοῦ πρέποντος.
καὶ γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις χρώμασιν ἅπασι παρεῖναι δεῖ τὸ πρέπον,
καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο ἔργον ἀτυχεῖ τούτου τοῦ μέρους, καὶ εἰ μὴ 15
τοῦ παντός, τοῦ κρατίστου γε ἀτυχεῖ. περὶ μὲν οὖν ὅλης τῆς
ἰδέας ταύτης οὐχ οὗτος ὁ καιρὸς ἀνασκοπεῖν· βαθεῖα γάρ τις
αὐτοῦ καὶ πολλῶν πάνυ δεομένη λόγων ἡ θεωρία. ὅσα δὲ εἰς
τοῦτο συντείνει τὸ μέρος ὑπὲρ οὗ τυγχάνω ποιούμενος τὸν
λόγον, εἰ μὴ καὶ τὰ πάντα, μηδὲ τὰ πλεῖστα, ὅσα γε οὖν 20
ἐγχωρεῖ, λεγέσθω.
ὁμολογουμένου δὴ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὅτι πρέπον ἐστὶ τὸ τοῖς
ὑποκειμένοις ἁρμόττον προσώποις τε καὶ πράγμασιν, ὥσπερ
ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων εἴη τις ἂν ἡ μὲν πρέπουσα τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις
ἡ δὲ ἀπρεπής, οὕτω δήπου καὶ σύνθεσις. παράδειγμα 25
δὲ τούτου χρὴ λαμβάνειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. ὃ δὲ λέγω, τοιοῦτόν
the third in the practical work of forensic oratory. As for the methods of Isocrates and his followers, they are not to be compared with the styles of those writers. The Isocratic authors have composed much with charm and distinction; but in regard to change and diversity they are anything but happy. We find in them one continually recurring period, a monotonous order of figures, the invariable observance of vowel-blending, and many other similar things which fatigue the ear. I cannot approve that school on this side. In Isocrates himself, it may be conceded, many charms were displayed which helped to hide this blemish. But among his successors, by reason of their fewer redeeming excellences, the fault mentioned stands out more glaringly.
Chapter XX — On Appropriateness
It still remains for me to speak about appropriateness. All the other ornaments of speech must be associated with what is appropriate; indeed, if any other quality whatever fails to attain this, it fails to attain the main essential,—perhaps fails altogether. Into the question as a whole this is not the right time to go; it is a profound study, and would need a long treatise. But let me say what bears on the special department which I am actually discussing; or if not all that bears on it, nor even the largest part, at all events as much as is possible.
It is admitted among all critics that appropriateness is that treatment which suits the actors and actions concerned. Just as the choice of words may be either appropriate or inappropriate to the subject matter, so also surely must the composition be. This statement I had best illustrate from actual life. I refer to
1 ὡς ἐναγωνίων (om. ἐν λόγων) F 2 οὐχ ἥ γε PMV: οὐχ ἡ E: οὐχὶ ἡ F || ἐκείνου EF: ἐκείνω PM: ἐκείνων V 3 ἀλλὰ καὶ περιδεῶσ P 5 εἷς περιόδου om. FE 6 τις post κύκλος add. E (vocabulis εἷς περιόδου omissis) || φυλακὴ EF: φυσικὴ M: λέξις P: om. V 7 ἀλλὰ F 8 αἴρεσιν F: διαίρεσιν P 10 ἄλλαι EF: om. PMV 11 ἀπ’ EPV: οὐκ ἀπ’ F, M || τῶν ἄλλων om. F 12 γίνεται om. F 13 εἷς ἔτι PMV: ἔτι τις F: ἔτι E 14 καὶ Schaefer: ὡς libri || χρώμασι F: σχήμασιν PMV || ἅπασι om. F 15 ἄλλο om. P || καὶ εἰ F: εἰ καὶ PMV 18 αὐτοῦ P: αὕτη FMV || πάνυ δεομένη PMV: δεομένη σφόδρα F 20 τὰ πάντα PMV: πάντα F 21 λεγέσθω] γενέσθω F 23 ἀρμόττον F, E: ἁρμόζον PMV || ὥσπερ F: ὥσπερ ἡ PMV 25 καὶ E: καὶ ἡ FPMV 26 λαμβάνειν F: παραλαμβάνειν PMV
2. The following passage emphasizes in a striking way the supreme importance of variety as an element in excellence of style.
6. φυλακή: P’s reading λέξις may, as Usener suggests, be a relic of φύλαξις.
14. The manuscript reading ὡς suggests the possibility that some such words as εἴρηται πρότερον have been lost after ἀτυχεῖ in l. 16.
18. αὐτοῦ, ‘the matter,’ ‘the question.’ Cp. Eurip. Phoen. 626 αὐτὸ σημανεῖ (res ipsa declarabit). See also note on 140 14 supra.
ἐστιν· οὐχ ὁμοίᾳ συνθέσει χρώμεθα ὀργιζόμενοι καὶ χαίροντες,
οὐδὲ ὀλοφυρόμενοι καὶ φοβούμενοι, οὐδ’ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ πάθει ἢ
κακῷ ὄντες, ὥσπερ ὅταν ἐνθυμώμεθα μηδὲν ὅλως ἡμᾶς ταράττειν
μηδὲ παραλυπεῖν. δείγματος ἕνεκα ταῦτ’ εἴρηκα ὀλίγα
περὶ πολλῶν, ἐπεὶ μυρία ὅσα τις ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι τὰς ἰδέας 5
ἁπάσας ἐκλογίζεσθαι βουλόμενος τοῦ πρέποντος· ἓν δὲ ὃ
προχειρότατον ἔχω καὶ κοινότατον εἰπεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, τοῦτ’
ἐρῶ. οἱ αὐτοὶ ἄνθρωποι ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ καταστάσει τῆς ψυχῆς
ὄντες ὅταν ἀπαγγέλλωσι πράγματα οἷς ἂν παραγενόμενοι
τύχωσιν, οὐχ ὁμοίᾳ χρῶνται συνθέσει περὶ πάντων, ἀλλὰ 10
μιμητικοὶ γίνονται τῶν ἀπαγγελλομένων καὶ ἐν τῷ συντιθέναι
τὰ ὀνόματα, οὐδὲν ἐπιτηδεύοντες ἀλλὰ φυσικῶς ἐπὶ τοῦτο
ἀγόμενοι. ταῦτα δὴ παρατηροῦντα δεῖ τὸν ἀγαθὸν ποιητὴν
καὶ ῥήτορα μιμητικὸν εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων ὑπὲρ ὧν ἂν τοὺς
λόγους ἐκφέρῃ, μὴ μόνον κατὰ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων 15
ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν σύνθεσιν. ὃ ποιεῖν εἴωθεν ὁ δαιμονιώτατος
Ὅμηρος καίπερ μέτρον ἔχων ἓν ὡς καὶ ῥυθμοὺς ὀλίγους, ἀλλ’
ὅμως ἀεί τι καινουργῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ φιλοτεχνῶν, ὥστε μηδὲν
ἡμῖν διαφέρειν γινόμενα τὰ πράγματα ἢ λεγόμενα ὁρᾶν. ἐρῶ
δὲ ὀλίγα, οἷς ἄν τις δύναιτο παραδείγμασι χρῆσθαι πολλῶν. 20
ἀπαγγέλλων δὴ πρὸς τοὺς Φαίακας Ὀδυσσεὺς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ
πλάνην καὶ τὴν εἰς ᾅδου κατάβασιν εἰπὼν τὰς ὄψεις τῶν
ἐκεῖ κακῶν ἀποδίδωσιν. ἐν δὴ τούτοις καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν
Σίσυφον διηγεῖται πάθη, ᾧ φασι τοὺς καταχθονίους θεοὺς
ὅρον πεποιῆσθαι τῆς τῶν δεινῶν ἀπαλλαγῆς, ὅταν ὑπὲρ ὄχθου 25
τινὸς ἀνακυλίσῃ πέτρον· τοῦτο δὲ ἀμήχανον εἶναι καταπίπτοντος
ὅταν εἰς ἄκρον ἔλθῃ πάλιν τοῦ πέτρου. πῶς οὖν
the fact that we do not put our words together in the same way when angry as when glad, nor when mourning as when afraid, nor when under the influence of any other emotion or calamity as when conscious that there is nothing at all to agitate or annoy us.
These few words on a wide subject are merely examples of the countless other things which could be added if one wished to treat fully all the aspects of appropriateness. But I have one obvious remark to make of a general nature. When the same men in the same state of mind report occurrences which they have actually witnessed, they do not use a similar style in describing all of them, but in their very way of putting their words together imitate the things they report, not purposely, but carried away by a natural impulse. Keeping an eye on this principle, the good poet and orator should be ready to imitate the things of which he is giving a verbal description, and to imitate them not only in the choice of words but also in the composition. This is the practice of Homer, that surpassing genius, although he has but one metre and few rhythms. Within these limits, nevertheless, he is continually producing new effects and artistic refinements, so that actually to see the incidents taking place would give no advantage over our having them thus described. I will give a few instances, which the reader may take as representative of many. When Odysseus is telling the Phaeacians the story of his wanderings and of his descent into Hades, he brings the miseries of the place before our eyes. Among them, he describes the torments of Sisyphus, for whom they say that the gods of the nether world have made it a condition of release from his awful sufferings to have rolled a stone over a certain hill, and that this is impossible, as the stone invariably falls down again just as it reaches the top. Now it is
3 μηδὲν ὅλως ἡμᾶς F: καὶ μηδὲν ἡμᾶς ὅλως PMV || πράττειν μηδὲ παραλυπεῖν F: ταράττηι μηδὲ παραλυπηῖ P, MV 4 δείγματος F: δείγματος ἢ παραδείγματος PMV 5 ἐπεὶ μυρία PMV: μυρία ἄλλα ἐστὶν F || ἂν F: αἴτια PMV 10 ἀλλὰ PMV: ἀλλὰ καὶ EF 13 δὴ F: δὲ PMV 17 καίπερ EF: καί τοι P, MV || ἓν ὡς] ἑν(ως) P: ἐν ᾧ M: ἓν V: om. EF 18 αὐτοῖς EF: τούτοις PV: τούτω M 20 παράδειγμα P: παραδείγματι V || πολλῶν F: ἐπὶ πολλῶν PMV 21 δὴ FP: οὖν MV 26 πέτρον F: πέτρον τινά PMV 27 τοῦ πέτρου om. F
1. It is implied that no general rules can be laid down on this point, but we must trust to nature,—to the aesthetic perceptions of the individual author,—on the principle that “tristia maestum | vultum verba decent, iratum plena minarum, | ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu,” Hor. Ars P. 105-7.
3. An early reading may have been ὥσπερ εὐθυμούμεθα ὅταν μηδὲν ὅλως ἡμᾶς ταράττῃ μηδὲ παραλυπῇ.
7. προχειρότατον: lit. ‘readiest to hand.’—The verb προχειρίζεσθαι is used often by Dionysius (76 2, 236 21, 250 13) in the meaning ‘to select.’
13. ταῦτα δὴ παρατηροῦντα: Dionysius would (as the trend of his argument throughout the treatise shows) have an author not only observe, but improve upon, the methods of ordinary people. There is no real discrepancy between this passage and that quoted (78 18 supra) from Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria.
17. ῥυθμοὺς ὀλίγους: the two feet (dactyl and spondee) apparently are meant. Of course, the hexameter line can be so divided as to yield longer feet such as the βακχεῖος (see 206 11) or the molossus; but such divisions are not natural.
18. καινουργῶν... καὶ φιλοτεχνῶν: see D.H. p. 46.
26. Here, and in 202 8, πέτρος is used to represent Homer’s λᾶας: in 202 10, 13, πέτρα. ὄχθος (202 9) = Homer’s λόφος.
δηλώσει ταῦτα μιμητικῶς καὶ κατ’ αὐτὴν τὴν σύνθεσιν τῶν
ὀνομάτων, ἄξιον ἰδεῖν·
καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ’ ἄλγε’ ἔχοντα,
λᾶαν βαστάζοντα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρῃσιν·
ἦ τοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπτόμενος χερσίν τε ποσίν τε 5
λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον·
ἐνταῦθα ἡ σύνθεσίς ἐστιν ἡ δηλοῦσα τῶν γινομένων ἕκαστον,
τὸ βάρος τοῦ πέτρου, τὴν ἐπίπονον ἐκ τῆς γῆς κίνησιν, τὸν
διερειδόμενον τοῖς κώλοις, τὸν ἀναβαίνοντα πρὸς τὸν ὄχθον,
τὴν μόλις ἀνωθουμένην πέτραν· οὐδεὶς ἂν ἄλλως εἴποι. καὶ 10
παρὰ τί γέγονε τούτων ἕκαστον; οὐ μὰ Δί’ εἰκῇ γε οὐδ’
ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου. πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τοῖς δυσὶ στίχοις οἷς
ἀνακυλίει τὴν πέτραν, ἔξω δυεῖν ῥημάτων τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς λέξεως
μόρια πάντ’ ἐστὶν ἤτοι δισύλλαβα ἢ μονοσύλλαβα· ἔπειτα
τῷ ἡμίσει πλείους εἰσὶν αἱ μακραὶ συλλαβαὶ τῶν βραχειῶν 15
ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τῶν στίχων· ἔπειτα πᾶσαι διαβεβήκασιν αἱ τῶν
ὀνομάτων ἁρμονίαι διαβάσεις εὐμεγέθεις καὶ διεστήκασι πάνυ
αἰσθητῶς, ἢ τῶν φωνηέντων γραμμάτων συγκρουομένων ἢ τῶν
ἡμιφώνων τε καὶ ἀφώνων συναπτομένων· ῥυθμοῖς τε δακτύλοις
καὶ σπονδείοις τοῖς μηκίστοις καὶ πλείστην ἔχουσι διάβασιν 20
ἅπαντα σύγκειται. τί δή ποτ’ οὖν τούτων ἕκαστον δύναται;
αἱ μὲν μονοσύλλαβοί τε καὶ δισύλλαβοι λέξεις, πολλοὺς τοὺς
μεταξὺ χρόνους ἀλλήλων ἀπολείπουσαι, τὸ χρόνιον ἐμιμήσαντο
τοῦ ἔργου· αἱ δὲ μακραὶ συλλαβαί, στηριγμούς τινας ἔχουσαι
καὶ ἐγκαθίσματα, τὴν ἀντιτυπίαν καὶ τὸ βαρὺ καὶ τὸ μόλις· 25
τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τῶν ὀνομάτων ψῦγμα καὶ ἡ τῶν τραχυνόντων
worth while to observe how Homer will express this by a mimicry which the very arrangement of his words produces:—
There Sisyphus saw I receiving his guerdon of mighty pain:
A monster rock upheaving with both hands aye did he strain;
With feet firm-fixed, palms pressed, with gasps, with toil most sore,
That rock to a high hill’s crest heaved he.170
Here it is the composition that brings out each of the details—the weight of the stone, the laborious movement of it from the ground, the straining of the man’s limbs, his slow ascent towards the ridge, the difficulty of thrusting the rock upwards. No one will deny the effect produced. And on what does the execution of each detail depend? Certainly the results do not come by chance or of themselves. To begin with: in the two lines in which Sisyphus rolls up the rock, with the exception of two verbs all the component words of the passage are either disyllables or monosyllables. Next, the long syllables are half as numerous again as the short ones in each of the two lines. Then, all the words are so arranged as to advance, as it were, with giant strides, and the gaps between them are distinctly perceptible, in consequence of the concurrence of vowels or the juxtaposition of semi-vowels and mutes; and the dactylic and spondaic rhythms of which the lines are composed are the longest possible and take the longest possible stride. Now, what is the effect of these several details? The monosyllabic and disyllabic words, leaving many intervals between each other, suggest the duration of the action; while the long syllables, which require a kind of pause and prolongation, reproduce the resistance, the heaviness, the difficulty. The inhalation between the words and the juxtaposition
8 μέτρου F 9 ὄχλον F 10 μόλις EF: μόγις PMV || ἄλλος F 11 οὐ μὰ Δί’ Radermacher: οὐκ ἂν F: οὐ γὰρ PMV 12 μὲν ἐν Schaefer: μὲν FMV: ἐν P, E 13 ἀνακυλίει EF: ἀνακινεῖ PV 15 μακραὶ om. F 16 ἔπειτα πᾶσαι F: ἔπειθ’ ἅπασαι PMV || διαβεβλήκασιν F 18 γραμμάτων FP: om. EMV 19 τε (post ῥυθμοῖς) F: τε καὶ EPMV 21 ποτ’ οὖν F: om. PMV 22 τοὺς EF: om. PMV 25 βαρὺ EFM2V: βραδὺ PM1 || μόλις EF: μόγις PMV
6. Cp. Demetr. de Eloc. § 72 ἐν δὲ τῷ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ χαρακτῆρι σύγκρουσις παραλαμβάνοιτ’ ἂν πρέπουσα ἤτοι διὰ μακρῶν, ὡς τὸ “λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε.” καὶ γὰρ ὁ στίχος μῆκός τι ἔσχεν ἐκ τῆς συγκρούσεως, καὶ μεμίμηται τοῦ λίθου τὴν ἀναφορὰν καὶ βίαν. So Eustathius: τὸ δὲ “λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον” ἐπαινεῖται χάριν τῆς συνθήκης. ἐμφαίνει γὰρ τὴν δυσχέρειαν τοῦ τῆς ὠθήσεως ἔργου τῇ τῶν φωνηέντων ἐπαλληλίᾳ, δι’ ὧν ὀγκούντων τὸ στόμα οὐκ ἐᾶται τρέχειν ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ’ ὀκνηρὰ βαίνει συνεξομοιούμενος τῇ ἐργωδίᾳ τοῦ ἄνω ὠθεῖν. The Homeric passage is imitated in Pope’s Essay on Criticism, “When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw, | The line too labours, and the words move slow.”—For the effect of the long unblended vowels cp. the first of Virgil’s two well-known lines, “ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam | scilicet, atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum” (Georg. i. 282).
15. It is not easy to see how this result is reached. Perhaps in l. 5 the last syllable of ἤτοι is counted long for the purpose of the argument. A perception of the difficulty may have led to the omission of μακραί in F.
18. The meaning is: ‘either by repetition of vowels [ἄλγε’ ἔχοντα, λᾶαν] or by the juxtaposition of semi-vowels and mutes [with the semi-vowels first: μὴν Σίσυφον, εἰσεῖδον κρατερά, λᾶαν βαστάζοντα].’—In 204 15 the words πέδονδε κυλίνδετο may be taken to express the ‘bumps’ of the stone as it rolls down.
22. Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 98 “est enim quoddam in ipsa divisione verborum latens tempus, ut in pentametri medio spondeo, qui nisi alterius verbi fine alterius initio constat, versum non efficit.”—The effect of the short syllables in counterfeiting delay may be illustrated by Cic. pro Milone 11. 28 “paulisper, dum se uxor, ut fit, comparat, commoratus est.”
γραμμάτων παράθεσις τὰ διαλείμματα τῆς ἐνεργείας καὶ τὰς
ἐποχὰς καὶ τὸ τοῦ μόχθου μέγεθος· οἱ ῥυθμοὶ δ’ ἐν μήκει
θεωρούμενοι τὴν ἔκτασιν τῶν μελῶν καὶ τὸν διελκυσμὸν τοῦ
κυλίοντος καὶ τὴν τοῦ πέτρου ἔρεισιν. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα οὐ
φύσεώς ἐστιν αὐτοματιζούσης ἔργα ἀλλὰ τέχνης μιμήσασθαι 5
πειρωμένης τὰ γινόμενα, τὰ τούτοις ἑξῆς λεγόμενα δηλοῖ. τὴν
γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς κορυφῆς ἐπιστρέφουσαν πάλιν καὶ κατακυλιομένην
πέτραν οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν ἡρμήνευκε τρόπον, ἀλλ’ ἐπιταχύνας τε
καὶ συστρέψας τὴν σύνθεσιν· προειπὼν γὰρ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ
σχήματι 10
ἀλλ’ ὅτε μέλλοι
ἄκρον ὑπερβαλέειν
ἐπιτίθησι τοῦτο
τότ’ ἐπιστρέψασκε κραταιίς·
αὖτις ἔπειτα πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λᾶας ἀναιδής. 15
οὐχὶ συγκατακεκύλισται τῷ βάρει τῆς πέτρας ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων
σύνθεσις, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔφθακε τὴν τοῦ λίθου φορὰν τὸ
τῆς ἀπαγγελίας τάχος; ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ. καὶ τίς ἐνταῦθα πάλιν
αἰτία; καὶ γὰρ ταύτην ἄξιον ἰδεῖν· ὁ τὴν καταφορὰν δηλῶν
τοῦ πέτρου στίχος μονοσύλλαβον μὲν οὐδεμίαν, δισυλλάβους 20
δὲ δύο μόνας ἔχει λέξεις. τοῦτ’ οὖν καὶ πρῶτον οὐ διίστησι
τοὺς χρόνους ἀλλ’ ἐπιταχύνει· ἔπειθ’ ἑπτακαίδεκα συλλαβῶν
οὐσῶν ἐν τῷ στίχῳ δέκα μέν εἰσι βραχεῖαι συλλαβαί, ἑπτὰ
δὲ μακραί, οὐδ’ αὗται τέλειοι· ἀνάγκη δὴ κατασπᾶσθαι καὶ
of rough letters indicate the pauses in his efforts, the delays, the vastness of the toil. The rhythms, when it is observed how long-drawn-out they are, betoken the straining of his limbs, the struggle of the man as he rolls his burden, and the upheaving of the stone. And that this is not the work of Nature improvising, but of art attempting to reproduce a scene, is proved by the words that follow these. For the poet has represented the return of the rock from the summit and its rolling downward in quite another fashion; he quickens and abbreviates his composition. Having first said, in the same form as the foregoing,
but a little more,
And atop of the ridge would it rest171—
he adds to this,
some Power back turned it again:
Rushing the pitiless boulder went rolling adown to the plain.172
Do not the words thus arranged roll downhill together with the impetus of the rock? Indeed, does not the speed of the narration outstrip the rush of the stone? I certainly think so. And what is the reason here again? It is worth noticing. The line which described the downrush of the stone has no monosyllabic words, and only two disyllabic. Now this, in the first place, does not break up the phrases but hurries them on. In the second place, of the seventeen syllables in the line ten are short, seven long, and not even these seven are perfect. So
1 καὶ τὰς ἐποχὰς EF: ἐποχάς τε PMV 6 τὴν... ἐπιστρέφουσαν... κατακυλιομένην πέτραν EF: τὸν... ἐπιστρέφοντα... κατακυλιόμενον πέτρον PMV 13 τοῦτο EFM1: τούτω PM2V 14 ἐπιστρέψασ κε P, E: ἐπιστέψασ (ρ suprascr.) καὶ F, MV: ἀποστρέψασκε Hom. || κραταὶ· ἲσ P: κραταις F: κραταιὴ ἴς MV 15 αὖθις PMV 16 συγκατακεκύλισται PMV: συγκυλίεται EF 18 ἐμοί τε PM: ἐμοὶ F 19 ταύτην PMV: ταύτης F || ἄξιον ἰδεῖν PV: ἰδεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστιν F 21 οὖν καὶ F(E): οὐκ ἐᾶι P, MV || οὐ διίστησι E: οὐδ’ ἵστησι F: διεστηκέναι PMV 24 δὲ F: δὲ μόναι PMV || οὐδ’ F: καὶ οὐδ’ PMV || αὗται F: αὐταὶ PMV || τέλειοι FPV: τέλειαι M || δὴ F: οὖν PMV || κατασπᾶσθαι F: κατεσπάσθαι PM: κατεσπᾶσθαι V
15. “Downward anon to the valley rebounded the boulder remorseless” (Sandys, in Jebb’s Rhetoric of Aristotle p. 172). Voss marks the contrast between the slow and the rapid line by translating the one by “Eines Marmors Schwere mit grosser Gewalt fortheben,” and the other by “Hurtig mit Donnergepolter entrollte der tückische Marmor.”—For similar adaptations of sound to sense cp. Lucret. iii. 1000 “hoc est adverso nixantem trudere monte | saxum quod tamen e summo iam vertice rursum | volvitur et plani raptim petit aequora campi”; Virg. Aen. vi. 616 “saxum ingens volvunt alii, radiisque rotarum | districti pendent”; id. ib. viii. 596 “quadripedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum” (in imitation of Il. xxiii. 116); id. ib. v. 481 “sternitur exanimisque tremens procumbit humi bos”; id. ib. ii. 304-8 “in segetem... de vertice pastor”; Racine Phèdre v. 6 “L’essieu crie et se rompt: l’intrépide Hippolyte | Voit voler en éclats tout son char fracassé; | Dans les rênes lui-même il tombe embarrassé”; Pope’s “Up a high hill he heaves a huge round stone” (Odyss. xi.) or his “That like a wounded snake drags its slow length along” (Essay on Criticism), as compared with his “Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground” (Odyss. xi.).—It is an interesting question whether Dionysius overstates his case when he makes ‘Homer’ as conscious and sedulous an artist (ἀεί τι καινουργῶν καὶ φιλοτεχνῶν, 200 18) as any later imitator. It is, however, unlikely that even the earliest poets who were late enough to produce consummate music were insensible to the effect of the music they produced. But great poets in all ages have had their ear so attuned by long use and practice to the music of sounds as to choose the right letters, syllables, and words almost unconsciously.
19. ταύτην: Usener reads ταῦτ’ ἦν: but (1) ταύτην refers naturally to αἰτία; (2) with ἄξιον the verb is often omitted, e.g. 186 19, 202 2; (3) if there were a verb, ἐστίν would here be more natural than ἦν.
22. The meaning is that the absence of short words implies the absence of frequent breaks, and this absence contributes to rapid utterance.
24. τέλειοι, ‘perfect longs.’ The diphthongs in αὖτις, ἔπειτα, and ἀναιδής, are simply long by nature; they are not long by position as well. The ο in πέδονδε, and the ι in κυλίνδετο, are long by position but not by nature. The ᾶ in λᾶας, and the η in ἀναιδής, are long by nature but not (in the former case) by position. “Of the seven long syllables not one—except the last—contains more elements than are needful to make it pass for long and at the same time avoid hiatus; that is, no long vowel or diphthong is followed by more than one consonant; two consonants occur only where required to extend a short vowel to a long syllable” (Goodell Greek Metric p. 175). Compare 150 22-154 3, and see also Gloss., s.v. τέλειος.—M here has τέλειαι (not τέλειοι): cp. τελείας in 174 1.
συστέλλεσθαι τὴν φράσιν τῇ βραχύτητι τῶν συλλαβῶν ἐφελκομένην.
ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις οὐδ’ ὄνομα ἀπὸ ὀνόματος ἀξιόλογον
εἴληφεν διάστασιν· οὔτε γὰρ φωνήεντι φωνῆεν οὔτε ἡμιφώνῳ
ἡμίφωνον ἢ ἄφωνον, ἃ δὴ τραχύνειν πέφυκεν καὶ διιστάναι
τὰς ἁρμονίας, οὐδέν ἐστι παρακείμενον. οὐ δὴ γίνεται διάστασις 5
αἰσθητὴ μὴ διηρτημένων τῶν λέξεων, ἀλλὰ συνολισθαίνουσιν
ἀλλήλαις καὶ συγκαταφέρονται καὶ τρόπον τινὰ μία
ἐξ ἁπασῶν γίνεται διὰ τὴν τῶν ἁρμονιῶν ἀκρίβειαν. ὃ δὲ
μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, ῥυθμὸς οὐδεὶς τῶν
μακρῶν οἳ φύσιν ἔχουσιν πίπτειν εἰς μέτρον ἡρωϊκόν, οὔτε 10
σπονδεῖος οὔτε βακχεῖος ἐγκαταμέμικται τῷ στίχῳ, πλὴν ἐπὶ
τῆς τελευτῆς· οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι πάντες εἰσὶ δάκτυλοι, καὶ οὗτοι
παραδεδιωγμένας ἔχοντες τὰς ἀλόγους, ὥστε μὴ πολὺ διαφέρειν
ἐνίους τῶν τροχαίων. οὐδὲν δὴ τὸ ἀντιπρᾶττον ἐστὶν εὔτροχον
καὶ περιφερῆ καὶ καταρρέουσαν εἶναι τὴν φράσιν ἐκ τοιούτων 15
συγκεκροτημένην ῥυθμῶν. πολλά τις ἂν ἔχοι τοιαῦτα δεῖξαι
παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ λεγόμενα· ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀποχρῆν δοκεῖ καὶ ταῦτα, ἵν’
ἐγγένηταί μοι καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἰπεῖν.
ὧν μὲν οὖν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι τοὺς μέλλοντας ἡδεῖαν καὶ
καλὴν ποιήσειν σύνθεσιν ἔν τε ποιητικῇ καὶ λόγοις ἀμέτροις, 20
ταῦτα κατ’ ἐμὴν δόξαν ἐστὶ τὰ γοῦν κυριώτατα καὶ κράτιστα.
ὅσα δὲ οὐχ οἷά τε ἦν, ἐλάττω τε ὄντα τούτων καὶ ἀμυδρότερα
καὶ διὰ πλῆθος δυσπερίληπτα μιᾷ γραφῇ, ταῦτ’ ἐν ταῖς καθ’
ἡμέραν γυμνασίαις προσυποθήσομαί σοι, καὶ πολλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν
ποιητῶν τε καὶ συγγραφέων καὶ ῥητόρων μαρτυρίοις χρήσομαι. 25
νυνὶ δὲ τὰ καταλειπόμενα ὧν ὑπεσχόμην καὶ οὐδενὸς ἧττον
ἀναγκαῖα εἰρῆσθαι, ταῦτ’ ἔτι προσθεὶς τῷ λόγῳ παύσομαι
the line has to go tumbling down-hill in a heap, dragged forward by the shortness of the syllables. Moreover, one word is not divided from another by any appreciable interval, for vowel does not meet vowel, nor semi-vowel or mute meet semi-vowel—conjunctions the natural effect of which is to make the connexions harsher and less close-fitting. There is, in fact, no perceptible division if the words are not forced asunder, but they slip into one another and are swept along, and a sort of great single word is formed out of all owing to the closeness of the junctures. And what is most surprising of all, not one of the long feet which naturally fit into the heroic metre—whether spondee or bacchius—has been introduced into the line, except at the end. All the rest are dactyls, and these with their irrational syllables hurried along, so that some of the feet do not differ much from trochees. Accordingly nothing hinders the line from being rapid, rounded and swift-flowing, welded together as it is from such rhythms as this. Many such passages could be pointed out in Homer. But I think the foregoing lines amply sufficient, and I must leave myself time to discuss the remaining points.
The aims, then, which should be steadily kept in view by those who mean to form a charming and noble style, alike in poetry and in prose, are in my opinion those already mentioned. These, at all events, are the most essential and effective. But those which I have been unable to mention, as being more minute and more obscure than these, and, owing to their number, hard to embrace in a single treatise, I will bring before you in our daily lessons, and I will draw illustrations in support of my views from many good poets, historians, and orators. But now I will go on to add to this work, before concluding it, the remainder of the points which I promised to treat of, and the discussion of which is as indispensable as any: viz. what
1 συστέλεσθαι P: συντελεῖσθαι F 4 διιστάναι F: διιστάνειν PMV 5 διάτασις F 6 διηρτημένη F 10 ἡρωϊκὸν F: ἡρῶιον P, MV 12 οὗτοι F: οὗτοί γε PMV 17 δοκεῖ καὶ FM: ἐδόκει P: εἰδοκεῖ V 19 ἡδεῖαν καὶ καλὴν F: καλὴν καὶ ἡδεῖαν PMV 23 μιᾶι F: μὴ PM: om. V 24 σοι καὶ PMV: καὶ F || ἀγαθῶν καὶ ποιητῶν τε (τε om. M) καὶ P, M 25 μαρτυρίοις F: μαρτυρι(ας) P: μαρτυρίαις MV 26 νυνὶ F: νῦν PMV
1. τῇ βραχύτητι κτλ.: i.e. the utterance must necessarily be rapid when the syllables are short and trip along.
2. “Again, as between words, there is no hiatus, no semi-vowel or mute meets a semi-vowel, there is no rhetorical pause and no elision, the words almost run together into one” (Goodell Greek Metric p. 175).
11. βακχεῖος: see note on 200 17 supra.
13. τὰς ἀλόγους [συλλαβάς]: i.e. the long syllables in πέδονδε and κυλίνδετο.—With Usener’s conjecture παραμεμιγμένας the meaning will be “and these too are such as have irrational syllables incorporated with them.”
14. τροχαίων: Schaefer suggests τριβραχέων, Sauppe χορείων.
18. ἐγγένηται: cp. Antiqq. Rom. vi. 9 ὦ μακάριοι μέν, οἷς ἂν ἐγγένηται τὸν ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου θρίαμβον καταγαγεῖν. In 68 11 σχολή is added, ἐὰν δ’ ἐγγένηταί μοι σχολή: and in 224 22 χρόνος is found in P and V.
23. ἐν ταῖς καθ’ ἡμέραν γυμνασίαις: this is one of the incidental references which show that Dionysius taught rhetoric at Rome.
* * * τίνες εἰσὶ διαφοραὶ τῆς συνθέσεως καὶ τίς ἑκάστης χαρακτὴρ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, τῶν τε πρωτευσάντων ἐν αὐταῖς μνησθῆναι καὶ δείγματα ἑκάστου παρασχεῖν, ὅταν δὲ ταῦτα λάβῃ μοι τέλος, τότε κἀκεῖνα διευκρινῆσαι τὰ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀπορούμενα, τί ποτ’ ἐστὶν ὃ ποιεῖ τὴν μὲν πεζὴν 5 λέξιν ὁμοίαν ποιήματι φαίνεσθαι μένουσαν ἐν τῷ τοῦ λόγου σχήματι, τὴν δὲ ποιητικὴν φράσιν ἐμφερῆ τῷ πεζῷ λόγῳ φυλάττουσαν τὴν ποιητικὴν σεμνότητα· σχεδὸν γὰρ οἱ κράτιστα διαλεχθέντες ἢ ποιήσαντες ταῦτ’ ἔχουσιν ἐν τῇ λέξει τἀγαθά. πειρατέον δὴ καὶ περὶ τούτων, ἃ φρονῶ, 10 λέγειν. ἄρξομαι δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου.
XXI
ἐγὼ τῆς συνθέσεως εἰδικὰς μὲν διαφορὰς πολλὰς σφόδρα
εἶναι τίθεμαι καὶ οὔτ’ εἰς σύνοψιν ἐλθεῖν δυναμένας οὔτ’ εἰς
λογισμὸν ἀκριβῆ, οἴομαί τε ἴδιον ἡμῶν ἑκάστῳ χαρακτῆρα
ὥσπερ ὄψεως, οὕτω καὶ συνθέσεως ὀνομάτων παρακολουθεῖν, 15
οὐ φαύλῳ παραδείγματι χρώμενος ζῳγραφίᾳ· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν
ἐκείνῃ τὰ αὐτὰ φάρμακα λαμβάνοντες ἅπαντες οἱ τὰ ζῷα
γράφοντες οὐδὲν ἐοικότα ποιοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις τὰ μίγματα, τὸν
αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐν ποιητικῇ τε διαλέκτῳ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ πάσῃ
τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὀνόμασι χρώμενοι πάντες οὐχ ὁμοίως αὐτὰ συντίθεμεν. 20
τὰς μέντοι γενικὰς αὐτῆς διαφορὰς ταύτας εἶναι
πείθομαι μόνας τὰς τρεῖς, αἷς ὁ βουλόμενος ὀνόματα θήσεται
τὰ οἰκεῖα, ἐπειδὰν τούς τε χαρακτῆρας αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς διαφορὰς
ἀκούσῃ. ἐγὼ μέντοι κυρίοις ὀνόμασιν οὐκ ἔχων αὐτὰς προσαγορεῦσαι
ὡς ἀκατονομάστους μεταφορικοῖς ὀνόμασι καλῶ τὴν
μὲν αὐστηράν, τὴν δὲ γλαφυράν [ἢ ἀνθηράν], τὴν δὲ τρίτην
are the different styles of composition and what the usual distinguishing mark of each is. I will include some mention of those who have been eminent in them, and will also add examples from each author. When the treatment of these points is completed, I must proceed to dispose of certain difficulties very generally felt: what it can be that makes prose appear like a poem though retaining the form of prose, and verse like prose though maintaining the loftiness of poetry; for almost all the best writers of prose or poetry have these excellences in their style. I must do my best, then, to set forth my views on these matters also. I will begin with the first.
Chapter XXI — Three Modes, or Styles, of Composition
I assert without any hesitation that there are many specific differences of composition, and that they cannot be brought into a comprehensive view or within a precise enumeration; I think too that, as in personal appearance, so also in literary composition, each of us has an individual character. I find not a bad illustration in painting. As in that art all painters from life take the same pigments but mix them in the most diverse ways, so in poetry and in prose, though we all use the same words, we do not put them together in the same manner. I hold, however, that the essentially different varieties of composition are the three following only, to which any one who likes may assign the appropriate names, when he has heard their characteristics and their differences. For my own part, since I cannot find recognized names for them, inasmuch as none exist, I call them by metaphorical terms—the first austere, the second smooth (or florid), the third
1 hiatum indicavit Schottius 2 τε om. F 4 κακεῖνα P, MV: καὶ ταῦτα F || διευκρινήσω V || τοῖς FM: om. PV 5 μὲν F: om. PMV 7 λόγῳ om. PV 9 ἢ om. P 11 δὲ ἀπὸ MV: δὲ κατὰ P 12 εἰδικὰς F (E): ἰδικὰς PMV || διαφορὰς πολλὰς F: πολλὰς διαφορὰς PMV 13 εἰς συλλογισμὸν F 14 ἴδιον ἡμῶν ἑκάστῳ χαρακτῆρα] ἰδιώματα ἑκάστῳ χαρακτῆρι F 16 φαύλω F: φαύλως PMV || ζωγραφία F: ζωγραφιαίω PM 19 πάσῃ Us.: ἁπάση libri 20 ἅπαντες F 22 μόνας EF: om. PMV 25 ἀκατονομάστοις PV 26 ἢ ἀνθηράν om. P
3. As the sentence stands, the infinitives μνησθῆναι, παρασχεῖν and διευκρινῆσαι are without regular government. βουλόμενος may be inserted after μνησθῆναι, or (as Usener prefers to think) something like ἀναγκαῖον γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι πρῶτον μὲν παραστῆσαι may be supposed to have fallen out between παύσομαι and τίνες.
7. Dionysius’ practice of variety in his own style is shown by his use of ἐμφερῆ here, as compared with ὁμοίαν in l. 6.
12. This and the following chapters should be compared carefully with de Demosth. cc. 36 ff.
21. For Greek views as to types of style in general (not simply ἁρμονίαι) reference may be made to Demetr. pp. 28 ff.
24. At this point in the Epitome, the Darmstadt codex has (in the margin) ὁ δὲ Πλούταρχος τὸ μὲν τῆς συνθέσεως ἁδρόν, τὸ δὲ ἰσχνόν, τὸ δὲ μέσον καλεῖ.
26. ἢ ἀνθηράν: cp. 232 25 (where P again omits the second epithet) and 248 9 (with critical note).
εὔκρατον· ἣν ὅπως ποτὲ γίνεσθαι φαίην ἄν, ἔγωγε ἀπορῶ,
καὶ “δίχα μοι νόος ἀτρέκειαν εἰπεῖν,” εἴτε κατὰ στέρησιν
τῶν ἄκρων ἑκατέρας εἴτε κατὰ μῖξιν· οὐ γὰρ ῥᾴδιον
εἰκάσαι τὸ σαφές. μή ποτ’ οὖν κρεῖττον ᾖ λέγειν, ὅτι κατὰ
τὴν ἄνεσίν τε καὶ τὴν ἐπίτασιν τῶν ἐσχάτων ὅρων οἱ διὰ 5
μέσου γίνονται πολλοὶ πάνυ ὄντες· οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐν μουσικῇ
τὸ ἴσον ἀπέχει τῆς νήτης καὶ τῆς ὑπάτης ἡ μέση, τὸν αὐτὸν
τρόπον καὶ ἐν λόγοις ὁ μέσος χαρακτὴρ ἑκατέρου τῶν ἄκρων
ἴσον ἀφέστηκεν, ἀλλ’ ἔστι τῶν ἐν πλάτει θεωρουμένων ὡς
ἀγέλη τε καὶ σωρὸς καὶ ἄλλα πολλά. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐχ οὗτος 10
ὁ καιρὸς ἁρμόττων τῇ θεωρίᾳ ταύτῃ· λεκτέον δ’, ὥσπερ ὑπεθέμην,
καὶ περὶ τῶν χαρακτήρων οὐχ ἅπανθ’ ὅσ’ ἂν εἰπεῖν
ἔχοιμι (μακρῶν γὰρ ἄν μοι πάνυ δεήσειε λόγων), ἀλλ’ αὐτὰ
τὰ φανερώτατα.
XXII
τῆς μὲν οὖν αὐστηρᾶς ἁρμονίας τοιόσδε ὁ χαρακτήρ· 15
ἐρείδεσθαι βούλεται τὰ ὀνόματα ἀσφαλῶς καὶ στάσεις λαμβάνειν
ἰσχυράς, ὥστ’ ἐκ περιφανείας ἕκαστον ὄνομα ὁρᾶσθαι,
ἀπέχειν τε ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων τὰ μόρια διαστάσεις ἀξιολόγους
αἰσθητοῖς χρόνοις διειργόμενα· τραχείαις τε χρῆσθαι πολλαχῇ
καὶ ἀντιτύποις ταῖς συμβολαῖς οὐδὲν αὐτῇ διαφέρει, οἷαι 20
γίνονται τῶν λογάδην συντιθεμένων ἐν οἰκοδομίαις λίθων αἱ
μὴ εὐγώνιοι καὶ μὴ συνεξεσμέναι βάσεις, ἀργαὶ δέ τινες καὶ
harmoniously blended. How I am to say the third is formed I am at a loss to know—“my mind is too divided to utter truth”173: I cannot see whether it is formed by eliminating the two extremes or by fusing them—it is not easy to hit on any clear answer. Perhaps, then, it is better to say that it is by relaxation and tension of the extremes that the means, which are very numerous, arise. The case is not as in music, where the middle note is equally removed from the lowest and the highest. The middle style in writing does not in the same way stand at an equal distance from each of the two extremes; “middle” is here a vague general term, like “herd,” “heap,” and many others. But the present is not the right time for the investigation of this particular point. I must say what I undertook to say with regard to the several styles—not all that I could (I should need a very long treatise to do that), but just the most salient points.
Chapter XXII — Austere Composition
The characteristic feature of the austere arrangement is this:—It requires that the words should be like columns firmly planted and placed in strong positions, so that each word should be seen on every side, and that the parts should be at appreciable distances from one another, being separated by perceptible intervals. It does not in the least shrink from using frequently harsh sound-clashings which jar on the ear; like blocks of building stone that are laid together unworked, blocks that are not square and smooth, but preserve their natural roughness and irregularity.
1 εὔκρατον EF: κοινὴν PMV 2 κατὰ E: κατὰ τὴν FPMV 3 μίξιν F 4 ἦι P: ἦν F || κατὰ τὴν FPMV: κατὰ E 5 τε καὶ τὴν PMV: τε καὶ F: καὶ E 6 ἐν om. P 7 νήτης F: νεάτης PMV 8 χαρακτὴρ om. PV 9 ἴσως F 11 ὥσπερ F: ὡς PMV 12 καὶ F: om. PMV || ὅσα εἰπεῖν codd.: ἂν ins. Schaeferus 13 ἄν μοι F: ἂν οἶμαι PMV || δεήσειε F: δεήσει P: δεήσειν MV 17 περιφερίας F 18 διατάσεις F 20 οἷαι F: οἳ P: οἷον MV 21 αἱ μη F: αἱ μὴτε P, MV 22 καὶ μὴ F: μὴδε P || ἀργαὶ δὲ] γὰρ αἷδε F
1. Here (and in 246 11) it is open to question whether κοινήν does not fit the context better than εὔκρατον.
2. The passage of Pindar is quoted in Cic. Ep. ad Att. xiii. 38 “nunc me iuva, mi Attice, consilio, ‘πότερον δίκᾳ τεῖχος ὕψιον,’ id est utrum aperte hominem asperner et respuam, ‘ἢ σκολιαῖς ἀπάταις.’ ut enim Pindaro sic ‘δίχα μοι νόος ἀτρέκειαν εἰπεῖν.’ omnino moribus meis illud aptius, sed hoc fortasse temporibus.”
3. κατὰ μῖξιν: sc. τῶν ἄκρων. —Cp. de Demosth. c. 36 οἱ δὲ συνθέντες ἀφ’ ἑκατέρας τὰ χρησιμώτατα τὴν μικτὴν καὶ μέσην ἐζήλωσαν ἀγωγήν.
4. μή ποτ’... ᾖ: a favourite Platonic usage, e.g. Gorgias 462 E μὴ ἀγροικότερον ᾖ τὸ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, Apol. 39 A ἀλλὰ μὴ οὐ τοῦτ’ ᾖ χαλεπόν, ὦ ἄνδρες, θάνατον ἐκφυγεῖν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ χαλεπώτερον πονηρίαν.
5. The intermediate, or eclectic, styles are numerous and differ greatly according as they relax or strain the extreme, or pronounced, styles: cp. de Demosth. c. 37 init.
8. A point worth considering is how far this may seem to make for or against the view that the Dionysian doctrine of styles is Peripatetic in origin, being derived from Theophrastus.
10. σωρός: cp. σωρείτης (Lat. acervalis, Cic. de Div. ii. 4. 11), in the sense which it bears in Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 45-47 and Cic. Academ. ii. 16. 49.
15. Batteux (p. 249) would illustrate the austere style from Rousseau’s Ode i. 2 (tirée du Psaume xviii.), “Les cieux instruisent la terre | À révérer leur auteur; | Tout ce que leur globe enserre | Célèbre un Dieu créateur,” etc.—With c. 22 of the C.V. should be compared, throughout, cc. 38, 39 of the de Demosth.
18. ἀπέχειν τε κτλ.: i.e. it (the austere style) aims at dividing its clauses from one another by appreciable pauses.
αὐτοσχέδιοι· μεγάλοις τε καὶ διαβεβηκόσιν εἰς πλάτος ὀνόμασιν
ὡς τὰ πολλὰ μηκύνεσθαι φιλεῖ· τὸ γὰρ εἰς βραχείας συλλαβὰς
συνάγεσθαι πολέμιον αὐτῇ, πλὴν εἴ ποτε ἀνάγκη βιάζοιτο.
ἐν μὲν δὴ τοῖς ὀνόμασι ταῦτα πειρᾶται διώκειν καὶ
τούτων γλίχεται· ἐν δὲ τοῖς κώλοις ταῦτά τε ὁμοίως ἐπιτηδεύει 5
καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς τοὺς ἀξιωματικοὺς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς,
καὶ οὔτε πάρισα βούλεται τὰ κῶλα ἀλλήλοις εἶναι οὔτε
παρόμοια οὔτε ἀναγκαίᾳ δουλεύοντα ἀκολουθίᾳ, ἀλλ’ εὐγενῆ
καὶ λαμπρὰ καὶ ἐλεύθερα, φύσει τ’ ἐοικέναι μᾶλλον αὐτὰ
βούλεται ἢ τέχνῃ, καὶ κατὰ πάθος λέγεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ κατ’ 10
ἦθος. περιόδους δὲ συντιθέναι συναπαρτιζούσας ἑαυταῖς τὸν
νοῦν τὰ πολλὰ μὲν οὐδὲ βούλεται· εἰ δέ ποτ’ αὐτομάτως ἐπὶ
τοῦτο κατενεχθείη, τὸ ἀνεπιτήδευτον ἐμφαίνειν θέλει καὶ
ἀφελές, οὔτε προσθήκαις τισὶν ὀνομάτων, ἵνα ὁ κύκλος
ἐκπληρωθῇ, μηδὲν ὠφελούσαις τὸν νοῦν χρωμένη, οὔτε ὅπως αἱ 15
βάσεις αὐτῶν γένοιντο θεατρικαί τινες ἢ γλαφυραί, σπουδὴν
ἔχουσα, οὐδ’ ἵνα τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ λέγοντος ὦσιν αὐτάρκεις
συμμετρουμένη μὰ Δία, οὐδ’ ἄλλην τινὰ [πραγματείαν] τοιαύτην
ἔχουσα ἐπιτήδευσιν οὐδεμίαν. ἔτι τῆς τοιαύτης ἐστὶν
ἁρμονίας καὶ ταῦτα ἴδια· ἀγχίστροφός ἐστι περὶ τὰς πτώσεις, 20
ποικίλη περὶ τοὺς σχηματισμούς, ὀλιγοσύνδεσμος, ἄναρθρος,
ἐν πολλοῖς ὑπεροπτικὴ τῆς ἀκολουθίας, ἥκιστ’ ἀνθηρά,
μεγαλόφρων, αὐθέκαστος, ἀκόμψευτος, τὸν ἀρχαϊσμὸν καὶ τὸν
πίνον ἔχουσα κάλλος.
ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἁρμονίας πολλοὶ μὲν ἐγένοντο ζηλωταὶ κατά 25
It is prone for the most part to expansion by means of great spacious words. It objects to being confined to short syllables, except under occasional stress of necessity.
In respect of the words, then, these are the aims which it strives to attain, and to these it adheres. In its clauses it pursues not only these objects but also impressive and stately rhythms, and tries to make its clauses not parallel in structure or sound, nor slaves to a rigid sequence, but noble, brilliant, free. It wishes them to suggest nature rather than art, and to stir emotion rather than to reflect character. And as to periods, it does not, as a rule, even attempt to compose them in such a way that the sense of each is complete in itself: if it ever drifts into this accidentally, it seeks to emphasize its own unstudied and simple character, neither using any supplementary words which in no way aid the sense, merely in order that the period may be fully rounded off, nor being anxious that the periods should move smoothly or showily, nor nicely calculating them so as to be just sufficient (if you please) for the speaker’s breath, nor taking pains about any other such trifles. Further, the arrangement in question is marked by flexibility in its use of the cases, variety in the employment of figures, few connectives; it lacks articles, it often disregards natural sequence; it is anything rather than florid, it is aristocratic, plain-spoken, unvarnished; an old-world mellowness constitutes its beauty.
This mode of composition was once zealously practised by
1 εἰς F: ἐκ PMV 2 συλλαβὰς F: συλλαβῆς PMV 3 ποτε καὶ ἡ ἀνάγκη F 5 ὁμοίως Us.: ὁμοίως ἢ οὐχ ἧττον P: οὐχ ἧττον ὁμοίως F: οὐχ ἧττον MV 6 καὶ (alt.) EF: καὶ τοὺς PMV 7 καὶ οὔτε EF: ἐκλέγεται καὶ οὔτε PMV || εἶναι om. P 8 παρ’ ὅμοια F || ἀναγκαίαι P, M: ἀνάγκηι F, E: ἀναγκαῖα V || ἀκολουθίαι ἀλλ’ P, MV: ἀκόλουθα δὲ καὶ EF 9 λαμπρὰ EF: ἁπλᾶ PMV 10 ἡ τέχνη F || λέγεται EF 11 συναπαρτιζούσας E: συναπαρτιζούσαις F: συναρτιζούσας PM: συναρμοζούσας V || ἑαυταῖς EF (coniecerat Uptonus): om. PMV 12 οὐδὲ EF: οὔτε PMV 17 ἔχουσα Sylburgius: ἔχουσαι libri || τοῦ δέοντος P 18 συμμετρουμένη Schaeferus: συμμετρούμεναι libri || πραγματείαν secl. Usenerus 19 ἔχουσα P: ἔχουσαν FM: om. V || ἐπίτηδ’ οὐδεμι(αν) P: ἐπιτηδεύει οὐδὲ FMV || ἔτι Uptonus: ἐπὶ libri || ἐστὶν F: om. PMV 20 καὶ FP: κατὰ MV || ἴδια] δὲ MV || ἀγχίστροφός PM: ἀντίρροπός F 21 ἄναρθρος] ἀναίσθιος F 22 ὑπεροπτικὴ] ὑποδεκτικὴ F 23 ἀκόμψευστον F || τὸν EF: τὸ PMV 24 πῖνον libri || ἔχοντα F || κάλλος om. F 25 δὲ om. EF
8. Perhaps ἀνάγκῃ δουλεύοντα, ἀνακόλουθα δὲ καί: with ἐπὶ (‘in the case of’) retained in l. 19.
11. The meaning is that the austere style does not seek for periods containing a complete thought, and that, if accidentally it stumbles into them, it wishes to emphasize (by means of careful abstention from all artificial means of rounding off the sentence) the absence of premeditation.—With regard to Upton’s conjecture ἑαυταῖς it should be noticed that this is only one of many instances in which his acuteness has since been confirmed by manuscript authority.
18. μὰ Δία: cp. (for the order) νὴ Δία 120 9. μά is here used because of the preceding negatives.
22. ἐν πολλοῖς ὑπεροπτική κτλ.: in other words, such a style delights in anacolutha.
19-24. It is to be noticed, in this and other sentences, that Dionysius often so writes as to reflect the character of the style he is for the moment describing.—Baudat (p. 58) illustrates the style in question by quotations from Malherbe and Boileau, and adds: “Chacun connaît ces vers du Cor d’Alf. de Vigny:
Roncevaux! Roncevaux! dans ta sombre vallée
L’ombre du grand Roland n’est donc pas consolée!
Le son on y revient six fois, le son an trois fois, le son au deux fois; ils sont tous trois sourds et la rime en ée seule est sonore. La succession de ces sons produit une harmonie dure, qui a quelque chose de voilé et de funèbre; on croit entendre le grondement de l’orage.”
τε ποίησιν καὶ ἱστορίαν καὶ λόγους πολιτικούς, διαφέροντες
δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν μὲν ἐπικῇ ποιήσει ὅ τε Κολοφώνιος Ἀντίμαχος
καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ὁ φυσικός, ἐν δὲ μελοποιίᾳ Πίνδαρος,
ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ δ’ Αἰσχύλος, ἐν ἱστορίᾳ δὲ Θουκυδίδης, ἐν δὲ
πολιτικοῖς λόγοις Ἀντιφῶν. ἐνταῦθα ἡ μὲν ὑπόθεσις ἀπῄτει 5
πολλὰ παρασχέσθαι τῶν εἰρημένων ἑκάστου παραδείγματα,
καὶ ἴσως οὐκ ἀηδὴς ἂν ὁ λόγος ἐγένετο πολλοῖς ὥσπερ ἄνθεσι
διαποικιλλόμενος τοῖς ἐαρινοῖς· ἀλλ’ ὑπέρμετρον ἔμελλε φανήσεσθαι
τὸ σύνταγμα καὶ σχολικὸν μᾶλλον ἢ παραγγελματικόν·
οὐ μὲν δὴ οὐδ’ ἀνεξέλεγκτα παραλιπεῖν τὰ ῥηθέντα ἥρμοττεν, 10
ὡς δὴ φανερὰ καὶ οὐ δεόμενα μαρτυρίας· ἔδει δέ πως τὸ
μέτριον ἀμφοῖν λαβεῖν καὶ μήτε πλεονάσαι τοῦ καιροῦ μήτ’
ἐλλιπεῖν τῆς πίστεως. τοῦτο δὴ πειράσομαι ποιῆσαι δείγματα
λαβὼν ὀλίγα παρὰ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων ἀνδρῶν. ποιητῶν μὲν
οὖν Πίνδαρος ἀρκέσει παραληφθείς, συγγραφέων δὲ Θουκυδίδης· 15
κράτιστοι γὰρ οὗτοι ποιηταὶ τῆς αὐστηρᾶς ἁρμονίας. ἀρχέτω
δὲ Πίνδαρος, καὶ τούτου διθύραμβός τις οὗ ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχή·
δεῦτ’ ἐν χορόν, Ὀλύμπιοι,
ἐπί τε κλυτὰν πέμπετε χάριν, θεοί,
πολύβατον οἵ τ’ ἄστεος ὀμφαλὸν θυόεντα 20
ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς Ἀθάναις
many authors in poetry, history, and civil oratory; pre-eminently in epic poetry by Antimachus of Colophon and Empedocles the natural philosopher, in lyric poetry by Pindar, in tragedy by Aeschylus, in history by Thucydides, and in civil oratory by Antiphon. At this point the subject would naturally call for the presentation of numerous examples of each author cited, and possibly the discourse would have been rendered not unattractive if bedecked with many such flowers of spring. But then the treatise would probably be felt to be excessively long—more like a course of lectures than a manual. On the other hand, it would not be fitting to leave the statements unsubstantiated, as though they were obvious and not in need of proof. The right thing, no doubt, is after all to take a sort of middle course, neither to exceed all measure, nor yet to fall short of carrying conviction. I will endeavour to do so by selecting a few samples from the most distinguished authors. Among poets it will be enough to cite Pindar, among prose-writers Thucydides; for these are the best writers in the austere style of composition. Let Pindar come first, and from him I take a dithyramb which begins—
Shed o’er our choir, Olympian Dominations,
The glory of your grace,
O ye who hallow with your visitations
The curious-carven place,
1 ποιητικοὺς F 2 ἐπικῇ Sylburgius: ἐπιεικη F: ἐπιεικεῖ PMV: om. E 5 ποιητικοῖς F 8 ἐαρινοῖς] ἀριθμ(οις) P 10 οὐδ’ ἀνεξέλεγκτα P: οὐδ’ ἀνεξέλεκτα M: οὐδ’ ἂν ἐξέλεγκτα F 12 μέτριον PV: μέτρον FM 13 δὴ F 17 τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἀρχῆι P || ἡ ἀρχὴ E: ἀρχὴ FMV 18 δεῦτ’ EFM2V: ΐδετ’ P, M1 || ἐν χορὸν EFV: ἐν σχορ(ὸν) P 19 πέμπεται P 20 οἵ τ’] οἳ F || ἄστεως F (ἄστεος praestat idem 222 14) 21 ἀθήναις libri: sed cf. n. crit. ad 222 14
2. For Antimachus of Colophon cp. de Imitat. ii. 6 Ἀντίμαχος δὲ εὐτονίας [ἐφρόντισεν] καὶ ἀγωνιστικῆς τραχύτητος καὶ τοῦ συνήθους τῆς ἐξαλλαγῆς: Catullus xcv. 20 “at populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho”: Quintil. x. 1. 53 “contra in Antimacho vis et gravitas et minime vulgare eloquendi genus habet laudem. sed quamvis ei secundas fere grammaticorum consensus deferat, et affectibus et iucunditate et dispositione et omnino arte deficitur, ut plane manifesto appareat, quanto sit aliud proximum esse, aliud parem.” Plato’s admiration for his poetry is said to have been great.
3. For Empedocles as being a physicist rather than a poet see Aristot. Poet. i. 9 καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ φυσικόν τι διὰ τῶν μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν, οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον, διὸ τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ ποιητήν. But on the other side cp. Lucret. i. 731 “carmina quin etiam divini pectoris eius | vociferantur et exponunt praeclara reperta, | ut vix humana videatur stirpe creatus.” The fragments of Empedocles go far to justify Lucretius’ opinion; and the true poetic gifts of Empedocles, as of Lucretius himself, may have been seen in his work as a whole, even more than in its parts.
3, 4. The μεγαλοπρέπεια of Pindar is emphasized in the de Imitat. B. vi. 2.—Similarly, ibid., as to Aeschylus: ὁ δ’ οὖν Αἰσχύλος πρῶτος ὑψηλός τε καὶ τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας ἐχόμενος, κτλ.
5. For other references to Antiphon see de Isaeo c. 20, de Thucyd. c. 51, de Demosth. c. 8, Ep. i. ad Amm. c. 2, and C.V. c. 10. Also Thucyd. viii. 68 Ἀντιφῶν ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναίων τῶν καθ’ ἑαυτὸν ἀρετῇ τε οὐδενὸς δεύτερος καὶ κράτιστος ἐνθυμηθῆναι γενόμενος καὶ ἃ γνοίη εἰπεῖν.—For Thucydides himself see D.H. passim (especially pp. 30-34, 104 ff., 130 ff.).
17. G. S. Farnell Greek Lyric Poetry p. 417: “The excited nature of the rhythm throughout, and the rapturous enthusiasm with which the approach of spring is described, are eminently characteristic of the dithyramb at its best; and it is easy to understand how such a style, in the hands of inferior poets, degenerated into the florid inanity which characterizes the later dithyrambic poets.”
18. δεῦτ’ ἐν χορόν, ‘come ye to the dance.’ “ἐν cum accus. (eight times in Pindar, chiefly in the Aeolic odes) is a relic of the original stage of the language when this preposition had the functions of the Latin in. It is preserved in Boeotian, Thessalian, North-West Greek, Eleian, Arcadian, Cyprian, and perhaps even in the Attic ἔμβραχυ. The accusative use was abandoned on the rise of ἐν-ς (cf. ab-s), which, before a vowel, became εἰς, before a consonant, ἐς” (Weir Smyth Greek Melic Poets p. 359). P’s curious reading ἐν σχορ(ὸν) is to be noticed.
20. ὀμφαλόν: the reference is to the Athenian Acropolis, and the passage suggested a fitting motto to Otto Jahn for his Pausaniae Descriptio Arcis Athenarum.
οἰχνεῖτε πανδαίδαλόν τ’ εὐκλέ’ ἀγοράν,
ἰοδέτων λάχετε στεφάνων τᾶν τ’ ἐαριδρόπων ἀοιδᾶν·
Διόθεν τέ με σὺν ἀγλαΐᾳ
ἴδετε πορευθέντ’ ἀοιδᾶν δεύτερον
ἐπὶ τὸν κισσοδέταν θεόν, 5
τὸν Βρόμιον ἐριβόαν τε βροτοὶ καλέομεν,
γόνον ὑπάτων μὲν πατέρων μέλπομεν
γυναικῶν τε Καδμεϊᾶν [ἔμολον].
ἐναργέα τελέων σάματ’ οὐ λανθάνει,
φοινικοεάνων ὁπότ’ οἰχθέντος Ὡρᾶν θαλάμου 10
εὔοδμον ἐπάγῃσιν ἔαρ φυτὰ νεκτάρεα·
τότε βάλλεται, τότ’ ἐπ’ ἄμβροτον χέρσον ἐραταὶ
ἴων φόβαι, ῥόδα τε κόμαισι μίγνυται
ἀχεῖ τ’ ὀμφαὶ μελέων σὺν αὐλοῖς,
ἀχεῖ τε Σεμέλαν ἑλικάμπυκα χοροί. 15
ταῦθ’ ὅτι μέν ἐστιν ἰσχυρὰ καὶ στιβαρὰ καὶ ἀξιωματικὰ καὶ
πολὺ τὸ αὐστηρὸν ἔχει τραχύνει τε ἀλύπως καὶ πικραίνει
μετρίως τὰς ἀκοὰς ἀναβέβληταί τε τοῖς χρόνοις καὶ διαβέβηκεν
ἐπὶ πολὺ ταῖς ἁρμονίαις καὶ οὐ τὸ θεατρικὸν δὴ
τοῦτο καὶ γλαφυρὸν ἐπιδείκνυται κάλλος ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀρχαϊκὸν 20
ἐκεῖνο καὶ αὐστηρόν, ἅπαντες ἂν εὖ οἶδ’ ὅτι μαρτυρήσειαν οἱ
The heart of Athens, steaming with oblations,
Wide-thronged with many a face.
Come, take your due of garlands violet-woven,
Of songs that burst forth when the buds are cloven.
Look on me—linked with music’s heaven-born glamour
Again have I drawn nigh
The Ivy-wreathed, on earth named Lord of Clamour,
Of the soul-thrilling cry.
We hymn the Babe that of the Maid Kadmeian
Sprang to the Sire throned in the empyrean.
By surest tokens is he manifested:—
What time the bridal bowers
Of Earth and Sun are by their crimson-vested
Warders flung wide, the Hours.
Then Spring, led on by flowers nectar-breathing,
O’er Earth the deathless flings
Violet and rose their love-locks interwreathing:
The voice of song outrings
An echo to the flutes; the dance his story
Echoes, and circlet-crowned Semele’s glory.174
That these lines are vigorous, weighty and dignified, and possess much austerity; that, though rugged, they are not unpleasantly so, and though harsh to the ear, are but so in due measure; that they are slow in their time-movement, and present broad effects of harmony; and that they exhibit not the showy and decorative prettiness of our day, but the austere beauty of a distant past: this will, I am sure, be attested by all readers
2 ιοδέτ(ων) P, MV: ἰαδέτων E: ὅδ’ ἐγὼν F || λαχετε P, EMV: λάχει F (cp. 224 4) || τᾶν τ’ ἐαριδρόπων Us.: ἄντε ἀριδρόπων F: τ’ ἀντ’ ἐαριδρέπων P: τάν τε ἀριδρέπτων E: τ’ ἀντ’ ἐπαριδρέπων M: τῶν ἐαριδρέπτων V || ἀοιδάν EFV: λοιβάν PM 3 Διόθεν τέ με] διατεθέντε F 4 πορευθέντα· οἱ δἂν F: πορευθέντες ἀοιδαὶ (ἀοιδαῖς EV) ceteri 5 κισσοδέταν s: κισσοδόνταν deleto ν priore P (κισσοδόταν leg. Us.): κισσοδαη F, EMV 6 τὸν P: ὃν ceteri || βρόμιον ὃν EFMV: βρόμι(ον). τ(ον) P 7 μὲν P: τε EV: μέν τε FM || μέλπε P: μέλπομεν ceteri 8 ἔμολον P: σεμέλαν EV: σεμέλην FM 9 ἐναργέα τελέων Us.: ἐναργεα νεμέω P, E: ἐν ἄλγεα τεμεῶι F: ἐν ἀργέα νεμέα MV || σάματ’ Us.: τεμάντιν F: μάντιν cett. 10 φοινικοεάνων Kock: φοινικοεάων F: φοίνικος ἐανῶν cett. || οἰχθόντες F || ὧραν F: ὥραν cett. || θάλαμοι F 11 εὐόαμον F || ἐπάγοισιν F: ἐπαΐωσιν cett. 12 τότε om. F || ἄμβροτον χέρσον EFV: ἀμβρόταν (αμσβρόταν P) χθόν’ PM 12-13 ἐραταὶ (ἐρατὰς V) ἴων φόβαι ῥόδατε EV: ἐρατέων φοβερόδατε F: ἐρατὰν· ΐον φοβεράτε P, M 13 κόμισι F || μίγνυται PM: μίγνυνται EFV 14 ἀχεῖ τε F: οἰχνεῖ τ’ EPM: οἰχνεῖτε V: ὑμνεῖτε s || ὀμφᾶι F: ὀμφᾶ E: ὀμφα V: ὀμφαῖς PM 15 ἀχεῖ τε Hermannus: οἰχνεῖ τε libri: ὑμνεῖτε s 18 ἀναβέβληται F: ἀνακέκληται PMV 19 ἐπὶ F: ἐπὶ τὸ PMV || καὶ οὐ τὸ Us.: καὶ οὔτε PMV: οὐ τὸ F 21 καὶ FM: καὶ τὸ PV || εὖ F: om. PMV
2. λαχεῖν would be infinitive for imperative, or (rather) infinitive of purpose after a verb of motion (just as Boeckh, in l. 7 infra, reads μελπέμεν).
λοιβᾶν (λοιβάν PM) might be taken to refer to honey, or to ‘drink-offerings of spring-gathered herbs.’
4. δεύτερον: “post Iovem patrem secundo loco ad Bacchum filium,” Boeckh. Or the reference may be to a previous visit of Pindar to Athens.
9. ‘The clear-seen tokens of his rites are not unnoticed.’ In other words, the return of spring indicates to the god that his festival is at hand: cp. Aristoph. Nub. 311 (Weir Smyth).
12. βάλλεται... ἀχεῖ... ἀχεῖ: schema Pindaricum.
15. “Metre: paeonic-logaoedic as Ol. 10, Pyth. 5. Schmidt (Eurythmie 428) regards the metre as logaoedic throughout. The fragment belongs to the ἀπολελυμένα μέλη, that is, it is not divided into strophes,” Weir Smyth.
21. It is convenient to use ‘readers’ occasionally in the translation. But ‘hearers’ (οἱ ἀκούοντες) would more naturally be used by a Greek: just as λόγους (218 1) is strictly ‘discourse’ rather than ‘literature.’
μετρίαν ἔχοντες αἴσθησιν περὶ λόγους. τίνι δὲ κατασκευασθέντα
ἐπιτηδεύσει τοιαῦτα γέγονεν (οὐ γὰρ ἄνευ γε τέχνης
καὶ λόγου τινός, αὐτοματισμῷ δὲ καὶ τύχῃ χρησάμενα τοῦτον
εἴληφε τὸν χαρακτῆρα), ἐγὼ πειράσομαι δεικνύναι.
τὸ πρῶτον αὐτῷ κῶλον ἐκ τεττάρων σύγκειται λέξεως 5
μορίων, ῥήματος καὶ συνδέσμου καὶ δυεῖν προσηγορικῶν· τὸ
μὲν οὖν ῥῆμα καὶ ὁ σύνδεσμος συναλοιφῇ κερασθέντα οὐκ
ἀηδῆ πεποίηκε τὴν ἁρμονίαν· τὸ δὲ προσηγορικὸν τῷ συνδέσμῳ
συντιθέμενον ἀποτετράχυκεν ἀξιολόγως τὴν ἁρμογήν· τὸ γὰρ
ἐν χορὸν καὶ ἀντίτυπον καὶ οὐκ εὐεπές, τοῦ μὲν συνδέσμου 10
λήγοντος εἰς ἡμίφωνον στοιχεῖον τὸ ν̄, τοῦ δὲ προσηγορικοῦ
τὴν ἀρχὴν λαμβάνοντος ἀφ’ ἑνὸς τῶν ἀφώνων τοῦ χ̄· ἀσύμμικτα
δὲ τῇ φύσει ταῦτα τὰ στοιχεῖα καὶ ἀκόλλητα· οὐ γὰρ
πέφυκε κατὰ μίαν συλλαβὴν τοῦ χ̄ προτάττεσθαι τὸ ν̄,
ὥστε οὐδὲ συλλαβῶν ὅρια γινόμενα συνάπτει τὸν ἦχον, ἀλλ’ 15
ἀνάγκη σιωπήν τινα γενέσθαι μέσην ἀμφοῖν τὴν διορίζουσαν
ἑκατέρου τῶν γραμμάτων τὰς δυνάμεις. τὸ μὲν δὴ πρῶτον
κῶλον οὕτω τραχύνεται τῇ συνθέσει. κῶλα δέ με δέξαι
λέγειν οὐχ οἷς Ἀριστοφάνης ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τις μετρικῶν
διεκόσμησε τὰς ᾠδάς, ἀλλ’ οἷς ἡ φύσις ἀξιοῖ διαιρεῖν τὸν 20
λόγον καὶ ῥητόρων παῖδες τὰς περιόδους διαιροῦσι.
τὸ δὲ τούτῳ παρακείμενον κῶλον τὸ “ἐπί τε κλυτὰν
πέμπετε χάριν θεοί” διαβέβηκεν ἀπὸ τοῦ προτέρου διάβασιν
ἀξιόλογον καὶ περιείληφεν ἐν αὑτῷ πολλὰς ἁρμονίας ἀντιτύπους.
ἄρχει μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ στοιχεῖον ἓν τῶν φωνηέντων τὸ 25
ε̄ καὶ παράκειται ἑτέρῳ φωνήεντι τῷ ῑ· εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ἔληγε
whose literary sense has been tolerably developed. I will attempt to show by what method such results have been achieved, since it is not by spontaneous accident, but by some kind of artistic design, that this passage has acquired its characteristic form.
The first clause consists of four words—a verb, a connective, and two appellatives. Now the mingling and the amalgamation of the verb and the connective have produced a rhythm which is not without its charm; but the combination of the connective with the appellative has resulted in a junction of considerable roughness. For the words ἐν χορόν are jarring and uneuphonious, since the connective ends with the semivowel ν, while the appellative begins with one of the mutes, χ. These letters by their very nature cannot be blended and compacted, since it is unnatural for the combination νχ to form part of a single syllable; and so, when ν and χ are the boundaries of adjacent syllables, the voice cannot be continuous, but there must necessarily be a pause separating the letters if each of them is uttered with its proper sound. So, then, the first clause is roughened thus by the arrangement of its words. (You must understand me to mean by “clauses” not those into which Aristophanes or any of the other metrists has arranged the odes, but those into which Nature insists on dividing the discourse and into which the disciples of the rhetoricians divide their periods.)
The next clause to this—ἐπί τε κλυτὰν πέμπετε χάριν θεοί—is separated from the former by a considerable interval and includes within itself many dissonant collocations. It begins with one of the vowels, ε, in close proximity to which is another vowel, ι—the letter which came at the end of the preceding
1 λόγους... τέχνης καὶ om. F || τινὶ δε P 3 δὲ καὶ F: καὶ PMV || χρησάμενον F 4 ἐγὼ PMV: ὃν ἐγὼ F 5 αὐτὸ F 10 καὶ ἀντίτυπον EF: ἀντίτυπόν τε PMV || εὐεπὲς EF: εὐπετὲς PMV 13 τῆι φύσει P, M in marg. F: om. F1: τῆ ῥύσει V 14 προτάττεσθαι F: προτετάχθε P, MV 15 οὐδὲ PMV: οὔτε F || ὅρια] ὄρια F: δύο (β̄ P) μόρια EPM: δύο τὰ μόρια V || συνάπτει] τύπτει F 16 γενέσθαι EF: γίγνεσθαι P: γίνεσθαι MV || μέσοιν EM 17 ἑκατέρων EF 18 με δέξαι PV: μ’ ἔδοξε FM 19 λέγειν F: νυνὶ λέγειν PMV 22 δὲ τούτω PV: δ’ επι τούτων F, M 23 θεοὶ FM: om. PV || διαβέβηκεν F: βέβηκέ τε PMV 24 αὑτῷ] Sch., αὐτῷ libri 26 ἔληγεν ὁ F: ἔληξεν τὸ P, MV
5. αὐτῷ: sc. in this author, or in this passage. Cp. 168 1, 230 29.
13. Dionysius’ general object is to show that there is a kind of intentional discord or clash in Pindar’s dithyramb.
17. ‘If each of the letters is uttered with its proper quality,’ viz. if we say ἐν χορόν and not ἐγ χορόν.
19. Ἀριστοφάνης: not, of course, the comic poet of Athens, but the grammarian of Byzantium.—From this passage, and from 278 5 infra, it would appear that Aristophanes divided the text of Pindar and other lyric poets into metrical cola. Such cola are found in the recently-discovered Bacchylides papyrus (written probably in Dionysius’ own century—the first century B.C.), which is also the earliest manuscript in which accents are used.
21. ῥητόρων παῖδες: cp. 266 8 ζωγράφων τε καὶ τορευτῶν παισίν, ‘the generation of painters and sculptors.’ So ζωγράφων παῖδες Plato Legg. 769 B, παῖδες ῥητόρων Luc. Anach. 19. The term will include pupils or apprentices, as well as sons: cp. Plato Rep. v. 467 A ἢ οὐκ ᾔσθησαι τὰ περὶ τὰς τέχνας, οἷον τοὺς τῶν κεραμέων παῖδας, ὡς πολὺν χρόνον διακονοῦντες θεωροῦσι πρὶν ἅπτεσθαι τοῦ κεραμεύειν; Earlier still we have the schools of the bards—the Ὁμηρίδαι or Ὁμήρου παῖδες, like ‘the sons of the prophets’ in the Old Testament. As used by later writers, the periphrasis with παῖδες may be compared with οἱ περί, οἱ ἀμφί (cp. note on 194 20 supra).
26. “The passages relating to Ὀλύμπιοι ἐπί, and καὶ Ἀθηναίων (Thuc. i. 1), where the word in each case is said to end in ι, have led some persons to suppose that Dionysius pronounced οι and αι as real diphthongs of two vowels ending in ι. We know, however, that at this time αι was a single vowel ε prolonged, and that it was only called a diphthong because written with two letters, just as ea in each, great are often spoken of as a diphthong, in place of a digraph. We know also that ι subscript was not pronounced, and yet Dionysius speaks of ἀγλαΐᾳ as ending with ι. Consequently there is no need to suppose that οι was a real diphthong either. The language is merely orthographical. As to the amount of pause, we find similar combinations within the same Greek word: οι and ε in οἴεται, ν and δ in ἄνδρα, αι and α in Αἴας; while ν before τ is quite common as in ὄντων, and ν before π, κ becomes μ, γ, as in ἔμπορος, ἐγκρατής. Hence much of this criticism may be fanciful. But it is certain that there is a different feeling respecting the collision of letters which end and begin a word, and those which come together in the same word. Thus in French poetry open vowels are entirely forbidden. It is impossible to say ‘cela ira’ in serious French verse. Yet ‘haïr’ is quite admissible. Hence there may be some foundation for the preceding observations, which, however, like many others in the treatise, ride a theory very hard,” A. J. E. [The observations of the critic, himself, must obviously be accepted with considerable reserve: see, for example, the note on 230 19 infra.]
τὸ πρὸ αὐτοῦ. οὐ συναλείφεται δὲ οὐδὲ ταῦτ’ ἀλλήλοις, οὐδὲ
προτάττεται κατὰ μίαν συλλαβὴν τὸ ῑ τοῦ ε̄· σιωπὴ δέ τις
μεταξὺ ἀμφοῖν γίνεται, διερείδουσα τῶν μορίων ἑκάτερον καὶ
τὴν βάσιν αὐτοῖς ἀποδιδοῦσα ἀσφαλῆ. ἐν δὲ τῇ κατὰ μέρος
συνθέσει τοῦ κώλου τοῖς μὲν ἐπί τε συνδέσμοις ἀφ’ ὧν 5
ἄρχεται τὸ κῶλον, εἴτε ἄρα πρόθεσιν αὐτῶν δεῖ τὸ ἡγούμενον
καλεῖν, τὸ προσηγορικὸν ἐπικείμενον μόριον τὸ κλυτὰν
ἀντίτυπον πεποίηκε καὶ τραχεῖαν τὴν σύνθεσιν· κατὰ τί
ποτε; ὅτι βούλεται μὲν εἶναι βραχεῖα ἡ πρώτη συλλαβὴ
τοῦ κλυτάν, μακροτέρα δ’ ἐστὶ τῆς βραχείας ἐξ ἀφώνου τε 10
καὶ ἡμιφώνου καὶ φωνήεντος συνεστῶσα. τὸ δὲ μὴ εἰλικρινῶς
αὐτῆς βραχὺ καὶ ἅμα τὸ ἐν τῇ κράσει τῶν γραμμάτων
δυσεκφόρητον ἀναβολήν τε ποιεῖ καὶ ἐγκοπὴν τῆς ἁρμονίας.
εἰ γοῦν τὸ κ̄ τις ἀφέλοι τῆς συλλαβῆς καὶ ποιήσειεν ἐπί
τε λυτάν, λυθήσεται καὶ τὸ βραδὺ καὶ τὸ τραχὺ τῆς 15
ἁρμονίας. πάλιν τῷ κλυτὰν προσηγορικῷ τὸ πέμπετε
ῥηματικὸν ἐπικείμενον οὐκ ἔχει συνῳδὸν οὐδ’ εὐκέραστον τὸν
ἦχον, ἀλλ’ ἀνάγκη στηριχθῆναι τὸ ν̄ καὶ πιεσθέντος ἱκανῶς
τοῦ στόματος τότε ἀκουστὸν γενέσθαι τὸ π̄· οὐ γὰρ ὑποτακτικὸν
τῷ ν̄ τὸ π̄. τούτου δ’ αἴτιον ὁ τοῦ στόματος 20
σχηματισμὸς οὔτε κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον οὔτε τῷ αὐτῷ
τρόπῳ τῶν γραμμάτων ἐκφέρων ἑκάτερον· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ν̄
περὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν γίνεται ὁ ἦχος καὶ τῆς γλώττης ἄκροις
τοῖς ὀδοῦσι προσανισταμένης καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τῶν
ῥωθώνων μεριζομένου, τοῦ δὲ π̄ μύσαντός τε τοῦ στόματος 25
clause. These letters, again, do not coalesce with one another, nor can ι stand before ε in the same syllable. There is a certain silence between the two letters, which thrusts apart the two elements and gives each a firm position. In the detailed arrangement of the clause the postposition of the appellative part of speech κλυτάν to the connectives ἐπί τε with which the phrase opens (though perhaps the first of these connectives should rather be called a preposition) has made the composition dissonant and harsh. For what reason? Because the first syllable of κλυτάν is ostensibly short, but actually longer than the ordinary short, since it is composed of a mute, a semi-vowel, and a vowel. It is the want of unalloyed brevity in it, combined with the difficulty of pronunciation involved in the combination of the letters, that causes retardation and interruption in the harmony. At all events, if you were to remove the κ from the syllable and to make it ἐπί τε λυτάν, there would be an end to both the slowness and the roughness of the arrangement. Further: the verbal form πέμπετε, subjoined to the appellative κλυτάν, does not produce a harmonious or well-tempered sound. The ν must be firmly planted and the π be heard only when the lips have been quite pressed together, for the π cannot be tacked on to the ν. The reason of this is the configuration of the mouth, which does not produce the two letters either at the same spot or in the same way. ν is sounded on the arch of the palate, with the tongue rising towards the edge of the teeth and with the breath passing in separate currents through the nostrils; π with the lips closed, the tongue
2 προτάττεται] παρ’ οἷς τάττεται F || τις FM: τις ἡ PV 4 ἀσφαλῆι· ἐν δὴ P 5 τοῦ κώλου F: τῶν κώλων PMV || σύνδεσμον F 6 δεῖ] δὴ F 8 κατα τί ποτε· ὅτι F: κατά τι δήποτε PMV 9 μὲν εἶναι] μένειν F 11 καὶ ἡμιφώνου om. P || ἑστῶσα P 13 δυσεκφόρητον F: δυσεκφώνητον E: δυσέκφορον PMV 14 ποιήσει EF 17 τὸν om. EF 18 ἀνάγκηι P 19 τοῦ στόματος τότε E: το̈́ῦτοτε et in margine στομ(ατος) F: τοῦ π̄ τότε M: τότε V: τούτου Ps 20 αἴτιον EF: αἴτιος PMV || στόματος] σχήματος V. 22 ἐκφέρον F || ἑκάτερον F: ἑκάτερον τὸ π̄ καὶ τὸ ν̄ PMV || νῦ FM: om. PV 23 γίνεται F: τε γίνεται PMV || γλώττης F: γλώσσης PMV 24 προἀνισταμένης F, M 25 τε τοῦ στόματος om. F
15. λυτάν, λυθήσεται: possibly an intentional play on words.
18. Clearly Dionysius does not believe that, in this passage, final ν before initial π was pronounced as μ—κλυτάν as κλυτάμ: though final ν sometimes appears under this form in inscriptions, as also does medial ν in such compounds as συμπόσιον. The literal meaning of the passage seems to be, ‘The ν must be firmly planted [pronounced distinctly, dwelt upon], and κλυτὰν πέμπετε cannot be run together in one word, as κλυταμπέμπετε or the like might be.’
καὶ οὐδὲν τῆς γλώττης συνεργούσης τοῦ τε πνεύματος κατὰ
τὴν ἄνοιξιν τῶν χειλῶν τὸν ψόφον λαμβάνοντος ἀθροῦν, ὡς
καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί μοι· ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταλαμβάνειν τὸ στόμα
σχηματισμὸν ἕτερον ἐξ ἑτέρου μήτε συγγενῆ μήτε παρόμοιον
ἐμπεριλαμβάνεταί τις χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ διίσταται τὸ λεῖόν τε 5
καὶ εὐεπὲς τῆς ἁρμονίας. καὶ ἅμα οὐδ’ ἡ προηγουμένη τοῦ
πέμπετε συλλαβὴ μαλακὸν ἔχει τὸν ἦχον ἀλλ’ ὑποτραχύνει
τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀρχομένη τε ἐξ ἀφώνου καὶ λήγουσα εἰς ἡμίφωνον.
τῷ τε χάριν τὸ θεοὶ παρακείμενον ἀνακόπτει τὸν ἦχον καὶ
ποιεῖ διερεισμὸν ἀξιόλογον τῶν μορίων, τοῦ μὲν εἰς ἡμίφωνον 10
λήγοντος τὸ ν̄, τοῦ δὲ ἄφωνον ἔχοντος ἡγούμενον τὸ θ̄·
οὐδενὸς δὲ πέφυκε προτάττεσθαι τῶν ἀφώνων τὰ ἡμίφωνα.
τούτοις ἐπιφέρεται τρίτον κῶλον τουτί “πολύβατον οἵ
τ’ ἄστεος ὀμφαλὸν θυόεντα ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς Ἀθάναις
οἰχνεῖτε.” ἐνταῦθα τῷ τε ὀμφαλὸν εἰς τὸ ν̄ λήγοντι τὸ 15
θυόεντα παρακείμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ θ̄ ἀρχόμενον ὁμοίαν ἀποδίδωσιν
ἀντιτυπίαν τῇ πρότερον, καὶ τῷ θυόεντα εἰς φωνῆεν
τὸ ᾱ λήγοντι ζευγνύμενον τὸ “ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς” ἀπὸ
φωνήεντος τοῦ ε̄ λαμβάνον τὴν ἀρχὴν διέσπακε τῷ μεταξὺ
χρόνῳ τὸν ἦχον οὐκ ὄντι ὀλίγῳ. τούτοις ἐκεῖνα ἕπεται 20
“πανδαίδαλόν τ’ εὐκλέ’ ἀγοράν”· τραχεῖα κἀνταῦθα καὶ
ἀντίτυπος ἡ συζυγία· ἡμιφώνῳ γὰρ ἄφωνον συνάπτεται τῷ
ν̄ τὸ τ̄ καὶ διαβέβηκεν ἀξιόλογον διάβασιν ὁ μεταξὺ τοῦ τε
προσηγορικοῦ τοῦ πανδαίδαλον καὶ τῆς συναλοιφῆς τῆς
συναπτομένης αὐτῷ χρόνος· μακραὶ μὲν γὰρ ἀμφότεραι, 25
μείζων δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγῳ τῆς μετρίας ἡ συναλείφουσα τὰ δύο
συλλαβή, ἐξ ἀφώνου τε καὶ δυεῖν συνεστῶσα φωνηέντων· εἰ
doing none of the work, and the breath forming a concentrated noise when the lips are opened, as I have said before. While the mouth is taking one after another shapes that are neither akin nor alike, some time is consumed, during which the smoothness and euphony of the arrangement is interrupted. Moreover, the first syllable of πέμπετε has not a soft sound either, but is rather rough to the ear, as it begins with a mute and ends with a semi-vowel. θεοί coming next to χάριν pulls the sound up short and makes an appreciable interval between the words, the one ending with the semi-vowel ν, the other beginning with the mute θ. And it is unnatural for a semi-vowel to stand before any mute.
Next follows this third clause, πολύβατον οἵ τ’ ἄστεος ὀμφαλὸν θυόεντα ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς Ἀθάναις οἰχνεῖτε. Here θυόεντα which begins with θ, being placed next to ὀμφαλὸν which ends in ν, produces a dissonance similar to that previously mentioned; and ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς which opens with the vowel ε, being linked to θυόεντα which ends with the vowel α, interrupts the voice by the considerable interval of time there is between them. Following these come the words πανδαίδαλόν τ’ εὐκλέ’ ἀγοράν. Here, too, the combination is rough and dissonant. For the mute τ is joined to the semi-vowel ν; and the interval between the appellative πανδαίδαλον and the elided syllable which follows it is quite an appreciable gap; for both syllables are long, but the syllable which unites the two letters ε and υ, consisting as it does of a mute and two vowels, is considerably longer than the average. At any rate, if the τ in the syllable
1 γλώττης F: γλώσσης PMV || συνεργούσης] μεριζομένη συνεργούσης F: ἐνεργούσης PV 2 ὡς F: ὡς δὴ PMV 3 δὲ F: δὴ PMV || τὸ στόμα PMV: τὸν F 5 εν ὧι διίσταται P: δι’ οὗ συνίσταται FMV || λεῖόν τε F: λεῖον PMV 6 εὐεπὲς F: εὐπετὲς PV: εὐτελὲς M 7 μακρὸν P 8 ἀρχομένη F: ἄρχουσά PMV 10 ποιεῖ F: ποιεῖ τὸν PMV || διερεισμὸν Us.: ἐρισμὸν P: διορισμὸν FMV 11 τὸ ν̄ Sylburgius: τοῦ ν̄ (νῦ F) FMV: om. P || θῆτα F 14 ἀθάναις F: ἀθήναις PMV 16 θῆτα F 18 ζευγνύμενον F: ἐπεζευγμένον PMV 19 λαμβάνοντος F 20 ἦχον] χρόνον F 21 τραχεῖα κἀνταῦθα om. F 22 συνάπτεται F: συνάπτεται γράμμα PMV 23 διάβασιν FM1: διάστασιν PVM2 25 συναπτομένης F: ἐπισυναπτομένης PMV || χρόνος F: om. PMV || μακρὰ et ἀμφότερα F || μὲν γὰρ] μὲν P: γὰρ F: γάρ εἰσιν MV 26 μετρίας F: συμμετρίας PMV || τὰ δύο συλλαβή Us.: τὰς δύο (β̄ P) συλλαβὰς libri 27 δυεῖν FP: δυοῖν MV
2. ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί μοι: the passages which seem to be meant (144 22 and 148 15) do not exactly tally with the present one.
12. We must supply κατὰ μίαν συλλαβήν, which words are found in 218 14 and 220 2 (cp. 230 4): otherwise we are confronted with such examples to the contrary as ἔνθα and (in this immediate context) μεταλαμβάνειν, ἀρχόμενον, etc.
21. τ’ εὐ- are treated as one syllable. So in 218 22, Dionysius probably intends us to divide as follows:
ᴗ ᴗ – ἐπιτε|κλυτάν, etc.
23. In Dionysius’ own words, it might be said that the interval between the article ὁ and the noun χρόνος with which it agrees is quite an ‘appreciable gap.’ Cp. Introduction, p. 12 supra.
24. τῆς συναλοιφῆς: the fused or blended syllable—τ’ εὐ-.
γοῦν τις αὐτῆς ἀφέλοι τὸ τ̄ καὶ ποιήσειε πανδαίδαλον
εὐκλέ’ ἀγοράν, εἰς τὸ δίκαιον ἐλθοῦσα μέτρον εὐεπεστέραν
ποιήσει τὴν ἁρμονίαν.
ὅμοια τούτοις ἐστὶ κἀκεῖνα “ἰοδέτων λάχετε στεφάνων.”
παράκειται γὰρ ἡμίφωνα δύο ἀλλήλοις τὸ ν̄ καὶ τὸ λ̄, φυσικὴν 5
οὐκ ἔχοντα συζυγίαν τῷ μήτε κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ‹τόπους μήτε
καθ’› ὁμοίους σχηματισμοὺς τοῦ στόματος ἐκφέρεσθαι. καὶ τὰ
ἐπὶ τούτοις λεγόμενα μηκύνεταί τε ταῖς συλλαβαῖς καὶ διέστηκε
ταῖς ἁρμονίαις ἐπὶ πολύ “στεφάνων τᾶν τ’ ἐαριδρόπων”·
μακραὶ γὰρ καὶ δεῦρο συγκρούονται συλλαβαὶ τὸ δίκαιον 10
ὑπεραίρουσαι μέτρον, ἥ τε λήγουσα τοῦ στεφάνων μορίου δυσὶ
περιλαμβάνουσα ἡμιφώνοις φωνῆεν γράμμα φύσει μακρὸν καὶ
ἡ συναπτομένη ταύτῃ τρισὶ μηκυνομένη γράμμασιν ἀφώνῳ καὶ
φωνήεντι μακρῶς λεγομένῳ καὶ ἡμιφώνῳ· διερεισμός τε οὖν
γέγονε τοῖς μήκεσι τῶν συλλαβῶν, καὶ ἀντιτυπία τῇ παραθέσει 15
τῶν γραμμάτων, οὐκ ἔχοντος τοῦ τ̄ συνῳδὸν τῷ ν̄ τὸν ἦχον,
ὃ καὶ πρότερον εἴρηκα. παράκειται δὲ καὶ τῷ ἀοιδᾶν εἰς τὸ
ν̄ λήγοντι ἀπὸ τοῦ δ̄ ἀρχόμενον ἀφώνου τὸ Διόθεν τε καὶ
τῷ σὺν ἀγλαΐᾳ εἰς τὸ ῑ λήγοντι τὸ ἴδετε πορευθέντ’
ἀοιδᾶν ἀρχόμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ ῑ. πολλά τις ἂν εὕροι τοιαῦτα 20
ὅλην τὴν ᾠδὴν σκοπῶν.
ἵνα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν εἰπεῖν ἐγγένηταί μοι,
Πινδάρου μὲν ἅλις ἔστω, Θουκυδίδου δὲ λαμβανέσθω λέξις ἡ
ἐκ τοῦ προοιμίου ἥδε·
Θουκυδίδης Ἀθηναῖος ξυνέγραψε τὸν πόλεμον τῶν 25
be removed and πανδαίδαλον εὐκλέ’ ἀγοράν be read, the syllable, falling into the normal measure, will make the composition more euphonious.
The words ἰοδέτων λάχετε στεφάνων are open to the same criticism as those already mentioned. For here two semi-vowels, ν and λ, come together, although they do not naturally admit of amalgamation owing to the fact that they are not pronounced ‹at the same regions nor› with the same configurations of the mouth. The words that follow these have their syllables lengthened and are widely divided from one another in arrangement: στεφάνων τᾶν τ’ ἐαριδρόπων. For here also there is a concurrence of long syllables which exceed the normal measure,—the final syllable of the word στεφάνων which embraces between two semi-vowels a vowel naturally long, and the syllable linked with it, which is lengthened by means of three letters, a mute, a vowel pronounced long, and a semi-vowel. Separation is produced by the lengths of the syllables, and dissonance by the juxtaposition of the letters, since the sound of τ does not accord with that of ν, as I have said before. Next to ἀοιδᾶν, which ends in ν, comes Διόθεν τε, which begins with the mute δ, and next to σὺν ἀγλαΐᾳ, which ends in ι, comes ἴδετε πορευθέντ’ ἀοιδᾶν, which begins with ι. Many such features may be found on a critical examination of the whole ode.
But in order to leave myself time for dealing with what remains, no more of Pindar. From Thucydides let us take this passage of the Introduction:—
“Thucydides, an Athenian, composed this history of the war
1 ἀφέλοι Us. (coll. 220 14): ἀφέλοιτο libri 2 εὐπετεστέραν PM1V: εὐεπεστέραν M2: εὐεπεστάτην F 4 ἰωδέτων M: ὃ δ’ ἐγὼν F || λάχετε στεφάνων PMV: λάχει F 5 γὰρ F: om. PMV 6 αὐτοὺς ὁμοίους F: ὁμοίους PMV: τόπους μήτε καθ’ ins. Usenerus 9 τᾶν τ’] τ’ αὖτ’ P: τ’ αὖ M: ἄν τ’ F: τῶν τ’ V || ἐαριδρόπων F: ἔαριδρέπων PM: ἐἀριδρέπτων V 13 ἡ] μὴ F || μηκυνομένη FM2: μηκυνθεῖσα PM1V 14 διερισμός M: διορισμός V 17 ὃ F: ὡς PMV || δὲ] τε F || ἀοιδὰν codd.: λοιβὰν s 18 ἀφώνου FM: ἄφωνον PV || διατεθὲν τε F: διόθεν τέ με PMV 19 πορευθέντα· οἱ δε F: πορευθέντες ἀοιδαν (-δὰν M, -δανὶ V) PMV 20 ἀρχόμενον] ἀρχαῖοι μόνον F 22 μοι F: μοι χρόνος PV: μοι χρόνων M 25 τῶν] τὸν P
1. ποιήσειε... ποιήσει: cp. 220 14, 256 23.
6. If Usener’s supplement be not accepted, we might read τῷ μηδὲ κατὰ τοὺς ὁμοίους σχηματισμούς, κτλ.
10. δεῦρο συγκρούονται, ‘meet here with a clash,’ as it were.
17. παράκειται κτλ.: viz. the ν of ἀοιδᾶν comes next to the δ in διόθεν, and the ι at the end of ἀγλαΐᾳ precedes the ι in ἴδετε.—For ν and δ in juxtaposition cp. English and (where the d is often slurred in pronunciation) and, on the other hand, English sound (where the d is not original).
19. The ι at the end of ἀγλαΐᾳ seems, therefore, to have been regarded by Dionysius as a separate letter, and not as an ι ἀνεκφώνητον. Perhaps it was sounded in music; cp. the final e in French. In Dionysius’ time it was not uncommon to omit it even in writing: πολλοὶ γὰρ χωρὶς τοῦ ι γράφουσι τὰς δοτικάς, καὶ ἐκβάλλουσι δὲ τὸ ἔθος φυσικὴν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχον (Strabo xiv. 1. 50).
22. ἐγγένηταί μοι: cp. de Lysia c. 16 ἵνα δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἰδεῶν ἐγγένηταί μοι τὰ προσήκοντα εἰπεῖν, κτλ.
23. Bircovius compares, with the following passage of Thucydides, the opening of Sallust’s Bell. Iug. v. 1: “Bellum scripturus sum, quod populus Romanus cum Iugurtha rege Numidarum gessit, primum quia magnum et atrox variaque victoria fuit, dehinc quia tum primum superbiae nobilitatis obviam itum est; quae contentio divina et humana cuncta permiscuit eoque vecordiae processit ut studiis civilibus bellum atque vastitas Italiae finem faceret.”
24. τοῦ προοιμίου: probably the first twenty-three chapters are meant—as far as the word Ἐπίδαμνός ἐστι πόλις κτλ.
25. In the English translation no attempt has been made to reproduce the style of the original Greek. For this purpose the long sentences employed in early English prose-writers are most suitable; e.g. Francis Bacon’s rendering (Considerations touching a War with Spain iii. 516, in Harleian Miscellany v. 84) of Thucyd. i. 23: “The truest cause of this war, though least voiced, I conceive to have been this: that the Athenians being grown great, to the terror of the Lacedemonians, did impose upon them the necessity of a war; but the causes that went abroad in speeches were these,” etc. Thomas Hobbes’ translation of the opening of the History keeps close to the sentence-structure of the original: “Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the war of the Peloponnesians and the Athenians as they warred against each other, beginning to write as soon as the war was on foot; with expectation it should prove a great one, and most worthy the relation of all that had been before it: conjecturing so much, both from this, that they flourished on both sides in all manner of provision; and also because he saw the rest of Greece siding with the one or the other faction, some then presently and some intending so to do,” etc. Hobbes’ version is well known; but the unpublished translation of Francis Hickes [1566-1631], from which the following extract has been taken by the courtesy of the Librarian of Christ Church, Oxford, is also of much interest: “Thucydides the Athenian hath written the warres of the Peloponnesians and Athenians, with all the manner and fashion of their fight, and tooke in hande to put the same in writinge, as soone as ever the said warres weare begone, for a hope he had, that they would be great, and more worthy of memorie, than all the warres of former tyme have been: conjecturinge so much, because he sawe them both so richlie abound with all provisions thereunto belonginge, and all the rest of the Grecian nations, readie to joyne themselves to the one side or the other; some, presentlie upon their fallinge out, and the rest intendinge to do the like. This, no doubt, was the greatest stirre, that ever was amonge the Grecians, consistinge likewise partly of the Barbarians, and to speake in a word, of many and sundrie nations. As for the acts achieved by them before the tyme of this warre, or former matters yet of more antiquitie, it is impossible to finde out any certaintie, because the tyme is so long past, since they weare performed: but, by these conjectures, which upon due examination of former tymes, I believe to be true, I must thinke they weare of no great moment, either for the course of warre, or any other respect. Now it is most probable, that the country which we now call Grece, had not in old tyme any settled inhabitants, but did often change her dwellers, who weare still easie to be removed from their possessions if they weare urged by any greater forces, for when there was as yet no trade of Merchandise amongst men: no free entercourse of traffique one with another, either by land or sea: none that tilled any more ground, than what would serve to sustaine their present lives: none that had any money in this purse nor any that planted the earth with fruits for they knewe not how soone others would come and bereave them of it, their cities beinge all unwalled and bearing the mind, that they should everie where finde enough to serve their turnes for their dailie sustenance, they weare therefore easie to be driven out of any place; and for that cause, did nether strengthen themselves with great cities, nor warlike furniture for defence.”
Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων ὡς ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους,
ἀρξάμενος εὐθὺς καθισταμένου καὶ ἐλπίσας μέγαν
τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων,
τεκμαιρόμενος ὅτι ἀκμάζοντές τε ᾖσαν ἐς αὐτὸν ἀμφότεροι
παρασκευῇ τῇ πάσῃ, καὶ τὸ ἄλλο Ἑλληνικὸν ὁρῶν 5
ξυνιστάμενον πρὸς ἑκατέρους, τὸ μὲν εὐθύς, τὸ δὲ καὶ
διανοούμενον. κίνησις γὰρ αὕτη μεγίστη δὴ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν
ἐγένετο καὶ μέρει τινὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, ὡς δ’ εἰπεῖν καὶ
ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνθρώπων. τὰ γὰρ πρὸ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτι
παλαιότερα σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν διὰ χρόνου πλῆθος ἀδύνατα 10
ἦν· ἐκ δὲ τεκμηρίων, ὧν ἐπὶ μακρότατον σκοποῦντί μοι
πιστεῦσαι ξυμβαίνει, οὐ μεγάλα νομίζω γενέσθαι οὔτε
κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους οὔτε ἐς τὰ ἄλλα. φαίνεται γὰρ ἡ
νῦν Ἑλλὰς καλουμένη οὐ πάλαι βεβαίως οἰκουμένη, ἀλλὰ
μεταναστάσεις τε οὖσαι τὰ πρότερα καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἕκαστοι 15
τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀπολείποντες βιαζόμενοι ὑπό τινων ἀεὶ
πλειόνων. τῆς γὰρ ἐμπορίας οὐκ οὔσης οὐδ’ ἐπιμιγνύντες
ἀδεῶς ἀλλήλοις οὔτε κατὰ γῆν οὔτε διὰ θαλάσσης,
νεμόμενοί τε τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἕκαστοι ὅσον ἀποζῆν καὶ περιουσίαν
χρημάτων οὐκ ἔχοντες οὐδὲ γῆν φυτεύοντες, ἄδηλον 20
which the Peloponnesians and the Athenians waged against one another. He began as soon as the war broke out, in the expectation that it would be great and memorable above all previous wars. This he inferred from the fact that both parties were entering upon it at the height of their military power, and from noticing that the rest of the Greek races were ranging themselves on this side or on that, or were intending to do so before long. No commotion ever troubled the Greeks so greatly: it affected also a considerable section of the barbarians, and one may even say the greater part of mankind. Events previous to this, and events still more remote, could not be clearly ascertained owing to lapse of time. But from such evidence as I find I can trust however far back I go, I conclude that they were not of great importance either from a military or from any other point of view. It is clear that the country now called Hellas was not securely settled in ancient times, but that there were migrations in former days, various peoples without hesitation leaving their own land when hard pressed by superior numbers of successive invaders. Commerce did not exist, nor did men mix freely with one another on land or by sea. Each tribe aimed at getting a bare living out of the lands it occupied. They had no reserve of capital, nor did they plant the ground with fruit-trees, since it was uncertain, especially as they had
1 καὶ] τε καὶ P 4 τε om. EF || ἦσαν libri: sed apud Thucydidem lectio potior ᾖσαν [“ᾖσαν F g Schol. Plat. Rep. 449 A Suid. Phot.: ἦσαν cett.”] 6 πρὸς... διανοούμενον om. P 9 πλεῖστον EF: πλεῖστων sic P: πλείστων MV || καὶ τὰ EFs: καὶ PMV 10 ἐρεῖν P 11 μακρότερον F 13 πολεμίους P || τὰ ἄλλα PMV: τ’ ἄλλα F 16 ἀπολιπόντες F 17 ἐπιμιγνῦντες ἀλλήλοις (om. ἀδεῶς) F 20 οὐδὲ γῆν φυτεύοντες om. F
4. ᾖσαν: cp. schol. ad Thucyd. i. 1 ᾖσαν] μετὰ σπουδῆς ἐπορεύοντο.
9. τά (before ἔτι) is omitted by the Palatine and the Ambrosian MSS. in de Thucyd. c. 20.
ὂν ὁπότε τις ἐπελθὼν καὶ ἀτειχίστων ἅμα ὄντων ἄλλος
ἀφαιρήσεται, τῆς τε καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀναγκαίου τροφῆς πανταχοῦ
ἂν ἡγούμενοι ἐπικρατεῖν οὐ χαλεπῶς ἀνίσταντο.
αὕτη ἡ λέξις ὅτι μὲν οὐκ ἔχει λείας οὐδὲ συνεξεσμένας
ἀκριβῶς τὰς ἁρμονίας οὐδ’ ἔστιν εὐεπὴς καὶ μαλακὴ καὶ 5
λεληθότως ὀλισθάνουσα διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς ἀλλὰ πολὺ τὸ ἀντίτυπον
καὶ τραχὺ καὶ στρυφνὸν ἐμφαίνει, καὶ ὅτι πανηγυρικῆς
μὲν ἢ θεατρικῆς οὐδὲ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐφάπτεται χάριτος, ἀρχαϊκὸν
δέ τι καὶ αὔθαδες ἐπιδείκνυται κάλλος, ὡς πρὸς εἰδότας
ὁμοίως τοὺς εὐπαιδεύτους ἅπαντας οὐδὲν δέομαι λέγειν, ἄλλως 10
τε καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦτό γε τοῦ συγγραφέως ὁμολογήσαντος, ὅτι
εἰς μὲν ἀκρόασιν ἧττον ἐπιτερπὴς ἡ γραφή ἐστι, “κτῆμα δ’
εἰσαεὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀγώνισμα εἰς τὸ παραυτίκα ἀκούειν
σύγκειται.” τίνα δ’ ἐστὶ τὰ θεωρήματα οἷς χρησάμενος ὁ
ἀνὴρ οὕτως ἀπηνῆ καὶ αὐστηρὰν πεποίηκε τὴν ἁρμονίαν, δι’ 15
ὀλίγων σοι σημανῶ· ῥᾴδιον γὰρ ἔσται μικρὰ μεγάλων εἶναι
δείγματα τοῖς μὴ χαλεπῶς ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ὁμοίου τε καὶ ἀκολούθου
μεταβαίνουσιν θεωρίαν.
no fortifications, when some invader would come and rob them of their property. They also thought that they could command the bare necessities of daily life anywhere; and so, for all these reasons, they made no difficulty about giving up their land.”175
There is no need for me to say, when all educated people know it as well as I, that this passage is not smooth or nicely finished in its verbal arrangement, and is not euphonious and soft, and does not glide imperceptibly through the ear, but shows many features that are discordant and rough and harsh; that it does not make the slightest approach to attaining the grace appropriate to an oration delivered at a public festival or to a speech on the stage, but is marked by a sort of antique and self-willed beauty. Indeed, the historian himself admits that his narrative is but little calculated to give pleasure when heard: “it has been composed as a possession for all time rather than as an essay to be recited at some particular competition.”176 I will briefly point out to you the principles by following which the author has made the arrangement so rugged and austere. Small things will readily serve you as samples of great: you can easily go on noting resemblances and making comparisons for yourself.
3 ἀνίστατο F: ἀπανίσταντο Thucyd. 4 αὕτη EF: αὕτη πάλιν PMV || συνεζευγμένας EV 5 καὶ μαλακὴ EFM: om. PV 6 ὀλισθάνουσα P: ὀλισθαίνουσα FMV 7 καὶ τραχὺ om. EF || στριφνὸν F 11 αὐτοῦ τοῦτό γε PMV: αὐτοῦ τε F: αὐτοῦ E 14 ὁ ἀνὴρ EF: ἀνὴρ PMV 15 ἀπηνῆ M: ἀπεινῆ F: εὐπινῆ PV || διαλόγων F1 16 σοι σημανῶ PM: σημανῶ EFV || ῥᾴδιον Us.: ῥαιδία F: ῥαῖον P, MV || ἐσται F: ἐστι PMV 18 μεταβαίνουσαι F: μεταβαίνουσι MV
3. For estimates of Thucydides’ style in general cp. not only this passage of Dionysius but also D.H. pp. 131-59, 175-82 (Text and Translation of Ep. ii. ad Amm., together with notes and some references to Marcellinus); Croiset Thucydide: Livres i.-ii. pp. 102 ff. and Histoire de la littérature grecque iv. pp. 155 ff.; Girard Essai sur Thucydide pp. 210-19; Blass Att. Bereds. i. pp. 203-44; Norden Kunstprosa i. pp. 96-101; Jebb in Hellenica pp. 306 ff.
4. This long sentence (Il. 4-14) is, itself, a good example of Greek word-order and the lucidity possible to it.
7. Batteux (pp. 250-3) maintains, in detail, that these comments on the style of Thucydides would also apply to a passage of Bossuet (in the Oraison funèbre de Henriette Anne d’ Angleterre, duchesse d’Orléans), which “a tous les caractères d’une composition austère; c’est partout un style robuste, nerveux, âpre même quelquefois, et presque rustique.” The passage is that which describes the abasement of all human grandeur by Death: “La voilà, malgré ce grand cœur, cette princesse si admirée et si chérie; la voilà, telle que la mort nous l’a faite. Encore ce reste tel quel va-t-il disparaître; cette ombre de gloire va s’évanouir, et nous l’allons voir dépouillée même de cette triste décoration. Elle va descendre à ces sombres lieux, à ces demeures souterraines, pour y dormir dans la poussière avec les grands de la terre, comme parle Job; avec ces rois et ces princes anéantis, parmi lesquels à peine peut-on la placer, tant les rangs y sont pressés, tant la mort est prompte à remplir ces places,” etc. Batteux begins his careful and interesting analysis as follows: “Nul choix des sons. Malgré ce grand cœur est dur. Cette princesse si est sifflant: si admirée et si; choc de voyelles. La voilà telle que la mort nous l’a faite: mots jetés plutôt que placés. Encore ce reste tel quel va-t-il dis: pointes de rochers. De cette triste décoration n’est guère plus doux. Et ces trois monosyllables brefs et rocailleux, comme parle Job, etc.
9. αὔθαδες... κάλλος: this happy description of Thucydides’ style shows that Dionysius saw in style a mirror of the man (cp. ἀνδρὸς χαρακτὴρ ἐκ λόγου γνωρίζεται, Menand. Fragm. 72, and Dionys. H. Antiqq. Rom. i. 1 ἐπιεικῶς γὰρ ἅπαντες νομίζουσιν εἰκόνας εἶναι τῆς ἑκάστου ψυχῆς τοὺς λόγους).—The general drift of Dionysius’ phrase is, of course, commendatory: he does not (cp. 120 8, 9) mean ‘but such beauty as it (Thucydides’ style) displays is archaic and perverse.’
12. These well-known words of Thucydides (i. 22. 4) are quoted also in de Thucyd. c. 7.—A scholium on Thucyd. (l.c.) runs: κτῆμα] κέρδος. κτῆμα, τὴν ἀλήθειαν· ἀγώνισμα, τὸν γλυκὺν λόγον. αἰνίττεται δὲ τὰ μυθικὰ Ἡροδότου. The passage is well elucidated by Lucian, and by Pliny the Younger: (1) Lucian de conscribenda historica c. 42 ὁ δ’ οὖν Θουκυδίδης εὖ μάλα τοῦτ’ ἐνομοθέτησε, καὶ διέκρινεν ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν συγγραφικήν, ὁρῶν μάλιστα θαυμαζόμενον τὸν Ἡρόδοτον, ἄχρι τοῦ καὶ Μούσας κληθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὰ βιβλία. κτῆμα γάρ φησι μᾶλλον ἐς ἀεὶ συγγράφειν ἤπερ ἐς τὸ παρὸν ἀγώνισμα, καὶ μὴ τὸ μυθῶδες ἀσπάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῶν γεγενημένων ἀπολείπειν τοῖς ὕστερον, (2) Pliny Ep. v. 8 “nam plurimum refert, ut Thucydides ait, κτῆμα sit an ἀγώνισμα: quorum alterum oratio, alterum historia est.”
13. εἰσαεί: Thucydides himself no doubt wrote ἐς αἰεί: see Marcellinus § 52 for αἰεί (rather than ἀεί) as constituting a mark of ἡ ἀρχαία Ἀτθίς in Thucydides.
14. ὁ ἀνὴρ (divisim) should probably be read: cp. 230 23.
17. The meaning possibly is, “you can easily proceed with the same line of observation right through work which is consistently of a similar character to this.”
αὐτίκα ἐν ἀρχῇ τῷ Ἀθηναῖος προσηγορικῷ τὸ ξυνέγραψε
ῥῆμα ἐφαρμοττόμενον διίστησιν ἀξιολόγως τὴν ἁρμονίαν·
οὐ γὰρ προτάττεται τὸ σ̄ τοῦ ξ̄ κατὰ συνεκφορὰν
τὴν ἐν μιᾷ συλλαβῇ γινομένην· δεῖ δὲ τοῦ σ̄ σιωπῇ καταληφθέντος
τότε ἀκουστὸν γενέσθαι τὸ ξ̄. τοῦτο δὲ τραχύτητα 5
ἐργάζεται καὶ ἀντιτυπίαν τὸ πάθος. ἔπειθ’ αἱ μετὰ τοῦτο
γινόμεναι συγκοπαὶ τῶν ἤχων, τοῦ τε ν̄ ‹καὶ τοῦ π̄› καὶ τοῦ
τ̄ καὶ τοῦ π̄ καὶ τοῦ κ̄ τετράκις ἑξῆς ἀλλήλοις παρακειμένων,
χαράττουσιν εὖ μάλα τὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ διασαλεύουσιν ἀξιολόγως
τὰς ἁρμονίας, ὅταν φῇ “τὸν πόλεμον τῶν Πελοποννησίων 10
καὶ Ἀθηναίων”· τούτων γὰρ τῶν μορίων τῆς λέξεως οὐδὲν
ὅ τι οὐ καταληφθῆναί τε δεῖ καὶ πιεσθῆναι πρότερον ὑπὸ
τοῦ στόματος περὶ τὸ τελευταῖον γράμμα, ἵνα τὸ συναπτόμενον
αὐτῷ τρανὴν καὶ καθαρὰν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ λάβῃ δύναμιν.
ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἡ τῶν φωνηέντων παράθεσις ἡ κατὰ τὴν 15
τελευταίαν τοῦ κώλου τοῦδε γενομένη ἐν τῷ καὶ Ἀθηναίων
διακέκρουκε τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς ἁρμονίας καὶ διέστακεν πάνυ
αἰσθητὸν τὸν μεταξὺ λαβοῦσα χρόνον· ἀκέραστοι γὰρ αἱ
φωναὶ τοῦ τε ῑ καὶ τοῦ ᾱ καὶ ἀποκόπτουσαι τὸν ἦχον· τὸ
δ’ εὐεπὲς οἱ συνεχεῖς τε καὶ οἱ συλλεαινόμενοι ποιοῦσιν ἦχοι. 20
καὶ αὖθις ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ περιόδῳ τὸ προηγούμενον κῶλον
τουτί “ἀρξάμενος εὐθὺς καθισταμένου” μετρίως ἁρμόσας
ὁ ἀνὴρ ὡς ἂν εὔφωνόν τε μάλιστα φαίνοιτο καὶ μαλακόν, τὸ
μετὰ τοῦτο πάλιν ἀποτραχύνει καὶ διασπᾷ τοῖς διαχαλάσμασι
τῶν ἁρμονιῶν· “καὶ ἐλπίσας μέγαν τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ 25
ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων.” τρὶς γὰρ ἀλλήλοις
ἑξῆς οὐ διὰ μακροῦ παράκειται τὰ φωνήεντα συγκρούσεις
ἐργαζόμενα καὶ ἀνακοπὰς καὶ οὐκ ἐῶντα τὴν ἀκρόασιν ἑνὸς
κώλου συνεχοῦς λαβεῖν φαντασίαν· ἥ τε περίοδος αὐτῷ
λήγουσα εἰς τὸ “τῶν προγεγενημένων” οὐκ ἔχει τὴν 30
βάσιν εὔγραμμον καὶ περιφερῆ, ἀλλ’ ἀκόρυφός τις φαίνεται
At the very beginning the verb ξυνέγραψε, being appended to the appellative Ἀθηναῖος, makes an appreciable break in the verbal structure, since σ is never placed before ξ with a view to being pronounced in the same syllable with it. The sound of σ must be sharply arrested by an interval of silence before the ξ is heard; and this circumstance causes roughness and dissonance. Moreover, the interruptions of the voice in what follows, in consequence of the four successive juxtapositions νπ, ντ, νπ, νκ, grate violently upon the ear, and cause a remarkable succession of jolts when he says τὸν πόλεμον τῶν Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων. Of these words there is not one that must not first be checked by the mouth with a stress on the last letter, in order that the next letter to it may be uttered clearly and purely with its own proper quality. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of vowels which is found at the end of this clause in the words καὶ Ἀθηναίων has broken and made a gap in the continuity of the arrangement, by demanding quite an appreciable interval, since the sounds of ι and α are unmingled and there is an interruption of the voice between them: whereas euphony is caused by sounds which are continuous and smoothly blended.
Again, in the second period the first clause ἀρξάμενος εὐθὺς καθισταμένου has been pretty successfully arranged by the author in the way in which it would produce the most smooth and euphonious effect. But he roughens and dislocates the very next clause by sundering its joints: καὶ ἐλπίσας μέγαν τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων. For thrice in close succession vowels are juxtaposed which cause clashings and obstructed utterance, and make it impossible for the ear to take in the impression of one continuous clause; and the period which he ends with the words τῶν προγεγενημένων has no well-defined and rounded close, but seems to be without beginning or
2 ἐφαμαρτόμεν(ον) F: ἐπαγόμενον E 6 μετὰ τούτων F 7 καὶ τοῦ π̄ (post ν̄) ins. Uptonus 8 παρακειμένων Us.: παρακείμεναι libri 11 οὐδὲν PMV: οὐθὲν EF 12 οὖν F: οὐχὶ EPMV: οὐ ‹σιωπῇ› Us. 13 ὑπὸ] ἐπὶ P || τελευταῖαν F, MV: om. P 17 διέστακεν P, MV: διέστηκε EF 18 γὰρ EF: τε γὰρ PMV 21 καὶ αὖτις F: αὖθις PMV || τὸ F: om. PMV 24 ἀποτραχύνει PV: ἐπιτραχύνει FM || διαχαλάσμασιν P: ἀπὸχαλασμασι F 26 τρὶς Sauppe: τρία libri 27 ἑξῆς οὐ] ἐξ ἴσου P 29 λαβεῖν φαντασίαν F: φαντασίαν λαμβάνειν PMV
9. Perhaps an effect analogous to that of syncopation in music is meant.
10, 11. Different words, and a different order, seem hardly possible here. If πόλεμον were put after Ἀθηναίων, the juxtaposed letters would be much the same as in the existing arrangement.
16. τελευταίαν: it may be that some word like συγκοπήν is to be supplied. Or τελευτὴν may be read: or τελευταῖα.
19. The present passage (lines 15-19) shows, as Blass (Ancient Greek Pronunciation p. 66) remarks, that the educated pronunciation of the Augustan period did not confuse αι with ε.
22-5. Here, again, the author would hardly have much choice in the arrangement of the words in question.
26. τρίς: viz. in the words καὶ ἐλπίσας, τε ἔσεσθαι, καὶ ἀξιολογώτατον.
καὶ ἀκατάστροφος, ὥσπερ μέρος οὖσα τῆς δευτέρας ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ
[τῆς πρώτης] τέλος.
τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ πέπονθε καὶ ἡ τρίτη περίοδος· καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνης
ἀπερίγραφός ἐστι καὶ ἀνέδραστος ἡ βάσις τελευταῖον ἐχούσης
μόριον “τὸ δὲ καὶ διανοούμενον”· πολλὰς ἅμα καὶ αὐτὴ 5
περιέχουσα φωνηέντων τε πρὸς φωνήεντα ἀντιτυπίας καὶ
ἡμιφώνων πρὸς ἡμίφωνα καὶ ἄφωνα, ἅσπερ ἐργάζεται τὰ μὴ
συνῳδὰ τῇ φύσει τραχύτητας. ἵνα δὲ συνελὼν εἴπω, δώδεκά
που περιόδων οὐσῶν ἃς παρεθέμην, εἴ τις αὐτὰς συμμέτρως
μερίζοι πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα, κώλων δὲ περιλαμβανομένων ἐν 10
ταύταις οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ τριάκοντα, τὰ μὲν εὐεπῶς συγκείμενα
καὶ συνεξεσμένα ταῖς ἁρμονίαις οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις ἓξ ἢ ἑπτὰ
τὰ πάντα κῶλα, φωνηέντων δὲ συμβολὰς ἐν ταῖς δώδεκα
περιόδοις ὀλίγου δεῖν τριάκοντα, ἡμιφώνων τε καὶ ἀφώνων
ἀντιτύπων καὶ πικρῶν καὶ δυσεκφόρων παραβολάς, ἐξ ὧν αἵ 15
τε ἀνακοπαὶ καὶ τὰ πολλὰ ἐγκαθίσματα τῇ λέξει γέγονε,
τοσαύτας τὸ πλῆθος ὥστε ὀλίγου δεῖν καθ’ ἕκαστον αὐτῆς
μόριον εἶναί τι τῶν τοιούτων. πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν κώλων
ἀσυμμετρία πρὸς ἄλληλα καὶ ἡ τῶν περιόδων ἀνωμαλία καὶ
ἡ τῶν σχημάτων καινότης καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀκολουθίας ὑπεροπτικὸν 20
καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα χαρακτηρικὰ τῆς ἀκομψεύτου τε καὶ
αὐστηρᾶς ἐπελογισάμην ὄντα ἁρμονίας. ἅπαντα γὰρ διεξιέναι
πάλιν ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων καὶ καταδαπανᾶν εἰς ταῦτα
τὸν χρόνον οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον ἡγοῦμαι.
XXIII
ἡ δὲ γλαφυρὰ [καὶ ἀνθηρὰ] σύνθεσις, ἣν δευτέραν ἐτιθέμην
conclusion, as if it were part of the second period and not its termination.
The third period has the same characteristics. There is a lack of roundness and stability in its foundation, since it has for its concluding portion τὸ δὲ καὶ διανοούμενον. Further, it too contains many clashings of vowel against vowel and of semi-vowels against semi-vowels and mutes—discords produced by things in their very nature inharmonious. To sum up, here are some twelve periods adduced by me—if the breathing-space be taken as the criterion for the division of period from period; and they contain no fewer than thirty clauses. Yet of these not six or seven clauses in all will be found to be euphoniously composed and finished in their structure; while of hiatus between vowels in the twelve periods there are almost thirty instances, together with meetings of semi-vowels and mutes which are dissonant, harsh, and hard to pronounce. It is to this that the stoppages and the many retardations in the passage are due; and so numerous are these concurrences that there is one of the kind in almost every single section of it. There is a great lack of symmetry in the clauses, great unevenness in the periods, much innovation in the figures, disregard of sequence, and all the other marks which I have already noted as characteristic of the unadorned and austere style. I do not consider it necessary to waste our time by going over the whole ground once more with the illustrative passages.
Chapter XXIII — Smooth Composition
The smooth (or florid) mode of composition, which I regarded
2 τῆς πρώτης uncis inclusit Usenerus 4 ἐχούσης Us.: ἔχουσα libri 7 καὶ... ἐργάζεται om. F || καὶ ἄφωνα P: om. FMV || ἅσπερ] ἅπερ PMV 8 τραχύτητας F: καὶ τραχύτητας PMV 9 εἴ τις] εἴπερ F 10 δὲ F: δὲ τῶν PMV || περιλαμβανομένων F: ἐμπεριλαμβανομένων PMV 11 ταύταις F: αὐταῖς PMV 12 τις ἑξῆς ἢ πάντα ταῦτα κῶλα F 13 συλλαβὰς F 14 καὶ ἀφώνων καὶ ἀντιτύπων P 17 τοσαύτας Uptonus: τοσαῦτα libri (cf. 160 20) 20 σχημάτων F: σχηματισμῶν PMV 21 τὰ ἄλλα PMV: τἆλλα F || χαρακτηρικὰ F: χαρακτηριστικὰ PV: χαρακτηριστικὰ καὶ M || ἀκομψεύστου FMV 22 αὐστηρᾶς] ἰσχυρᾶς F || ἀπελογησάμην PM2: ἐπελογησάμην M1V || διεξιέναι F: ἐπεξιέναι PMV 25 καὶ ἀνθηρὰ om. P || ἐτιθέμην F: ἐθέμην PMV
1. Dionysius seems to discern three periods in the first sentence of Thucydides, viz. (1) Θουκυδίδης... ἀλλήλους (2) ἀρξάμενος... προσγεγενημένων, (3) τεκμαιρόμενος... διανοούμενον. The general sense here is: ‘as there is no connexion between ἀρξάμενος and τεκμαιρόμενος, we must take the latter as beginning a new period, and yet logically ἀρξάμενος belongs to it.’ If the words τῆς πρώτης are to be retained at all, they might possibly be transported with τῆς δευτέρας: ‘as though it were a part of the first period and not the end of the second.’
4. Usener’s ἐχούσης seems likely, though the words καὶ γὰρ... ἡ βάσις might be regarded as parenthetical and ἔχουσα as in agreement with περίοδος.
18. πολλὴ δὲ καί κτλ.: cp. Cic. Orat. ix. 32. 33 “itaque numquam est (Thucydides) numeratus orator... sed, cum mutila quaedam et hiantia locuti sunt, quae vel sine magistro facere potuerunt, germanos se putant esse Thucydidas.”
25. For ἀνθηρά cp. n. on 208 26 supra.—The whole chapter should be compared with de Demosth. c. 40. In c. 49 of that treatise Dionysius refers expressly to his previously written de Compositione: εἰ δέ τις ἀπαιτήσει καὶ ταῦτ’ ἔτι μαθεῖν ὅπῃ ποτ’ ἔχει, τοὺς ὑπομνηματισμοὺς ἡμῶν λαβών, οὓς περὶ τῆς συνθέσεως τῶν ὀνομάτων πεπραγματεύμεθα, πάντα ὅσα ποθεῖ τῶν ἐνθάδε παραλειπομένων εἴσεται (cp. c. 50 ibid.).
τῇ τάξει, χαρακτῆρα τοιόνδε ἔχει· οὐ ζητεῖ καθ’ ἓν
ἕκαστον ὄνομα ἐκ περιφανείας ὁρᾶσθαι οὐδὲ ἐν ἕδρᾳ πάντα
βεβηκέναι πλατείᾳ τε καὶ ἀσφαλεῖ οὐδὲ μακροὺς τοὺς μεταξὺ
αὐτῶν εἶναι χρόνους, οὐδ’ ὅλως τὸ βραδὺ καὶ σταθερὸν τοῦτο
φίλον αὐτῇ, ἀλλὰ κεκινῆσθαι βούλεται τὴν ὀνομασίαν καὶ 5
φέρεσθαι θάτερα κατὰ τῶν ἑτέρων ὀνομάτων καὶ ὀχεῖσθαι
τὴν ἀλληλουχίαν λαμβάνοντα βάσιν ὥσπερ τὰ ῥέοντα καὶ
μηδέποτε ἀτρεμοῦντα· συνηλεῖφθαί τε ἀλλήλοις ἀξιοῖ καὶ
συνυφάνθαι τὰ μόρια ὡς μιᾶς λέξεως ὄψιν ἀποτελοῦντα εἰς
δύναμιν. τοῦτο δὲ ποιοῦσιν αἱ τῶν ἁρμονιῶν ἀκρίβειαι, 10
χρόνον αἰσθητὸν οὐδένα τὸν μεταξὺ τῶν ὀνομάτων περιλαμβάνουσαι·
ἔοικέ τε κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος εὐητρίοις ὕφεσιν ἢ
γραφαῖς συνεφθαρμένα τὰ φωτεινὰ τοῖς σκιεροῖς ἐχούσαις.
εὔφωνά τε εἶναι βούλεται πάντα τὰ ὀνόματα καὶ λεῖα καὶ
μαλακὰ καὶ παρθενωπά, τραχείαις δὲ συλλαβαῖς καὶ ἀντιτύποις 15
ἀπέχθεταί που· τὸ δὲ θρασὺ πᾶν καὶ παρακεκινδυνευμένον
δι’ εὐλαβείας ἔχει.
οὐ μόνον δὲ τὰ ὀνόματα τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἐπιτηδείως
συνηρμόσθαι βούλεται καὶ συνεξέσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ κῶλα
τοῖς κώλοις εὖ συνυφάνθαι καὶ πάντα εἰς περίοδον τελευτᾶν, 20
ὁρίζουσα κώλου τε μῆκος, ὃ μὴ βραχύτερον ἔσται μηδὲ μεῖζον
τοῦ μετρίου, καὶ περιόδου μέτρον, οὗ πνεῦμα τέλειον ἀνδρὸς
κρατήσει· ἀπερίοδον δὲ λέξιν ἢ περίοδον ἀκώλιστον ἢ κῶλον
as second in order, has the following features. It does not intend that each word should be seen on every side, nor that all its parts should stand on broad, firm bases, nor that the time-intervals between them should be long; nor in general is this slow and deliberate movement congenial to it. It demands free movement in its diction; it requires words to come sweeping along one on top of another, each supported by that which follows, like the onflow of a never-resting stream. It tries to combine and interweave its component parts, and thus give, as far as possible, the effect of one continuous utterance. This result is produced by so nicely adjusting the junctures that they admit no appreciable time-interval between the words. From this point of view the style resembles finely woven stuffs, or pictures in which the lights melt insensibly into the shadows. It requires that all its words shall be melodious, smooth, soft as a maiden’s face; and it shrinks from harsh, clashing syllables, and carefully avoids everything rash and hazardous.
It requires not only that its words should be properly dove-tailed and fitted together, but also that the clauses should be carefully inwoven with one another and all issue in a period. It limits the length of a clause so that it is neither shorter nor longer than the right mean, and the compass of the period so that a man’s full breath will be able to cover it. It could not endure to construct a passage without periods, nor a period
1 ἓν EPM: om. FV 5 κεκινῆσθαι EF: κ[αὶ] κινῆσθαι cum rasura P: καὶ κινεῖσθαι MV 6 φέρεσθαι EFM: φέρεσθαι καὶ PV || τῶν ἑτέρων PMV: τῶν θατέρων F: θατέρων E || καὶ FMV: om. P || ὀχλεῖσθαι F 7 βάσιν om. F || τὰ ῥέοντα EF: τὰ ῥέοντα νάματα PMV 8 συνηλεῖφθαι F: συνειλῆφθ[αι] cum rasura P, MV 9 ὡς E: om. FPMV || μιᾶς EF: τῆς PMV || ἀποτελοῦντα PMV: διατελεῖν E: διατελοῦντα F 11 περιλαμβάνουσαι EFM: λαμβάνουσαι PV 12 τοῦτο τὸ om. EF || εὐκτρίοις PM || ὑφέσιν F: ὑφαίσιν M: ὑφαῖσιν cum rasura P, V: ὑφαῖς Es 13 τάφω τινα (sed suprascripto ε) P || σκιαροις P 14 τὰ EF: om. PMV 16 που... παρακεκινδυνευμένον om. P 17 δι’ EF: καὶ δι’ PMV 20 εὖ E: om. FPMV 21 ὁρίζουσα Schaefer: ὁρίζουσαν EFPM 22 μέτρον EF: χρόνον PMV
1. ‘It does not expect its words to be looked at individually, and from every side, like statues.’ Cp. 210 17 supra.
7. More literally, ‘finding firmness in mutual support.’
9. Cp. de Demosth. c. 40 τὸ γὰρ ὅλον ἐστὶν αὐτῆς βούλημα καὶ ἡ πολλὴ πραγματεία περὶ τὸ συσπασθῆναί τε καὶ συνυφάνθαι πάντα τὰ μόρια τῆς περιόδου, μιᾶς λέξεως ἀποτελοῦντα φαντασίαν, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ περὶ τὸ πᾶσαν εἶναι τὴν λέξιν, ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς μουσικαῖς συμφωνίαις, ἡδεῖαν καὶ λιγυράν. τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν αἱ τῶν ἁρμονιῶν ἀκρίβειαι ποιοῦσι, κτλ.
14, 15. That is to say: the words it uses must be beautiful in sound and smoothly syllabled.
20. εὖ, which Usener adopts from E, helps to balance ἐπιτηδείως supra. At the same time, it could be spared and may have arisen from a dittography of the first two letters in συνυφάνθαι. Similarly, in l. 9 supra, the ὡς which E gives (together with the infinitive διατελεῖν, as it should be noticed) cannot be regarded as indispensable.
22. μέτρον: the reading of PMV (περιόδου χρόνον) may be right, in the sense of periodi ambitum. In the Epitome, μέτρον has possibly been substituted (as a clearer word) for χρόνον. F’s reading is μέτρον οὐκ ἂν ὑπομείνειεν ἐργάσασθαι, with all the four last words dotted out as having been written in error: which suggests that μέτρον may be no more than the last syllable of ἀσύμμετρον.
οὗ πνεῦμα τέλειον ἀνδρὸς κρατήσει: much will, clearly, depend on the person in question, since some men (as Lord Rosebery once said of Mr. Gladstone) have lungs which can utter sentences like “Biscayan rollers.” The Greeks were so rhetorical that they tended to look at a written passage constantly from the rhetorical point of view, and if a ‘period’ was too long for one breath they would try to analyze it into two periods if they could: cp. note on 232 1 supra.
ἀσύμμετρον οὐκ ἂν ὑπομείνειεν ἐργάσασθαι. χρῆται δὲ καὶ
ῥυθμοῖς οὐ τοῖς μεγίστοις ἀλλὰ τοῖς μέσοις τε καὶ βραχυτέροις·
καὶ τῶν περιόδων τὰς τελευτὰς εὐρύθμους εἶναι
βούλεται καὶ βεβηκυίας ὡς ἂν ἀπὸ στάθμης, τἀναντία
ποιοῦσα ἐν ταῖς τούτων ἁρμογαῖς ἢ ταῖς τῶν ὀνομάτων· 5
ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ συναλείφει, ταύτας δὲ διίστησι καὶ ὥσπερ ἐκ
περιόπτου βούλεται φανερὰς εἶναι. σχήμασί τε οὐ τοῖς
ἀρχαιοπρεπεστάτοις οὐδ’ ὅσοις σεμνότης τις ἢ βάρος ἢ πίνος
πρόσεστιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τρυφεροῖς τε καὶ κολακικοῖς ὡς τὰ
πολλὰ χρῆσθαι φιλεῖ, ἐν οἷς πολὺ τὸ ἀπατηλόν ἐστι καὶ 10
θεατρικόν. ἵνα δὲ καὶ κοινότερον εἴπω, τοὐναντίον ἔχει σχῆμα
τῆς προτέρας κατὰ τὰ μέγιστα καὶ κυριώτατα, ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐδὲν
δέομαι πάλιν λέγειν.
ἀκόλουθον δ’ ἂν εἴη καὶ τοὺς ἐν ταύτῃ πρωτεύσαντας
καταριθμήσασθαι. ἐποποιῶν μὲν οὖν ἔμοιγε κάλλιστα τουτονὶ 15
δοκεῖ τὸν χαρακτῆρα ἐξεργάσασθαι Ἡσίοδος, μελοποιῶν δὲ
Σαπφὼ καὶ μετ’ αὐτὴν Ἀνακρέων τε καὶ Σιμωνίδης, τραγῳδοποιῶν
δὲ μόνος Εὐριπίδης, συγγραφέων δὲ ἀκριβῶς μὲν
οὐδείς, μᾶλλον δὲ τῶν πολλῶν Ἔφορός τε καὶ Θεόπομπος,
ῥητόρων δὲ Ἰσοκράτης. θήσω δὲ καὶ ταύτης παραδείγματα 20
τῆς ἁρμονίας, ποιητῶν μὲν προχειρισάμενος Σαπφώ, ῥητόρων
δὲ Ἰσοκράτην. ἄρξομαι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς μελοποιοῦ.
without clauses, nor a clause without symmetry. The rhythms it uses are not the longest, but the intermediate, or shorter than these. It requires its periods to march as with steps regulated by line and rule, and to close with a rhythmical fall. Thus, in fitting together its periods and its words respectively, it employs two different methods. The latter it runs together; the former it keeps apart, wishing that they may be seen as it were from every side. As for figures, it is wont to employ not the most time-honoured sort, nor those marked by stateliness, gravity, or mellowness, but rather for the most part those which are dainty and alluring, and contain much that is seductive and fanciful. To speak generally: its attitude is directly opposed to that of the former variety in the principal and most essential points. I need not go over these points again.
Our next step will be to enumerate those who have attained eminence in this style. Well, among epic poets Hesiod, I think, has best developed the type; among lyric poets, Sappho, and, after her, Anacreon and Simonides; of tragedians, Euripides alone; of historians, none exactly, but Ephorus and Theopompus more than most; of orators, Isocrates. I will quote examples of this style also, selecting among poets Sappho, and among orators Isocrates. And I will begin with the lyric poetess:—
1 χρήσεται P 2 ῥυθμοῖς EFM: ῥυθμῶν PV || μεγίστοις EF: μηκίστοις PMV 3 καὶ om. P 4 ἂν EF: om. PMV 6 ταύτας EV: ταῦτα F: τας αυτας P, M 7 φανεροὺς F 8 ὅσοις F: ὅσοις ἢ PMV || πῖνος PV: τὸ πῖνος M: τόνος F 9 πρόσεστιν PMV: πάρεστιν F || κολακικοῖς FPM: μαλακοῖς V: θεατρικοῖς E 11 δὲ καὶ F: δὲ PMV 12 τῆς προτέρας EFM: τῆι προτέρα P, V || καὶ κυριώτατα FM: om. PV 14 ταύτη F: αυτῆι P, MV 15 ἔμοιγε EF: ἔγωγε PMV || κάλλιστα EFP: κάλλιστα νομίζω M: μάλιστα νομίζω V 16 δοκεῖ EFP: om. MV 17 μετ’ αὐτὴν EF: μετὰ ταύτην PMV 20 ταύτης EF: ταῦτα PMV
6. ἐκ περιόπτου, ‘ex edito loco,’ ‘undique.’
16-20. The list that follows may seem somewhat ill-assorted if it be not remembered that the point of contact between the authors mentioned is simply smoothness of word-arrangement.—For Hesiod cp. de Imitat. B. vi. 2 Ἡσίοδος μὲν γὰρ ἐφρόντισεν ἡδονῆς δι’ ὀνομάτων λειότητος καὶ συνθέσεως ἐμμελοῦς: and Quintil. x. 1. 52 “raro assurgit Hesiodus, magnaque pars eius in nominibus est occupata; tamen utiles circa praecepta sententiae levitasque verborum et compositionis probabilis, daturque ei palma in illo medio genere dicendi.”—In de Demosth. c. 40 Hesiod, Sappho, Anacreon, and Isocrates are (as here) considered to be examples of the ἁρμονία γλαφυρά.
17. Simonides is thus characterized in de Imitat. B. vi. 2: Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων, τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν· πρὸς τούτοις, καθ’ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς. The Danaë (quoted in c. 26) will illustrate the concluding clause of this estimate.
18. Euripides: cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 2 κλέπτεται δ’ εὖ, ἐάν τις ἐκ τῆς εἰωθυίας διαλέκτου ἐκλέγων συντιθῇ· ὅπερ Εὐριπίδης ποιεῖ καὶ ὑπέδειξε πρῶτος, and Long. de Subl. c. xl. διότι τῆς συνθέσεως ποιητὴς ὁ Εὐριπίδης μᾶλλόν ἐστιν ἢ τοῦ νοῦ.
19. With respect to Ephorus the opinions of Diodorus and of Suidas are somewhat at variance: (1) Diodorus Sic. v. 1 Ἔφορος δὲ τὰς κοινὰς πράξεις ἀναγράφων οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν λέξιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἐπιτέτευχεν, (2) Suidas ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἔφορος ἦν τὸ ἦθος ἁπλοῦς, τὴν δὲ ἑρμηνείαν τῆς ἱστορίας ὕπτιος καὶ νωθρὸς καὶ μηδεμίαν ἔχων ἐπίτασιν.
Theopompus: cp. an article, by the present writer, in the Classical Review xxii. 118 ff. on “Theopompus in the Greek Literary Critics: with special reference to the newly discovered Greek historian (Grenfell & Hunt Oxyrhynchus Papyri part v. pp. 110-242).” Reference may also be made to D.H. pp. 18, 96, 120-6, etc. Gibbon (Decline and Fall c. 53) classes Theopompus in high company: “we must envy the generation that could still peruse the history of Theopompus, the orations of Hyperides, the comedies of Menander, and the odes of Alcaeus and Sappho.”
20. Isokrates: see D.H. pp. 18, 20-22, 41, etc., and Demetr. pp. 8-11, 47, etc.
Ποικιλόθρον’, ἀθάνατ’ Ἀφροδίτα,
παῖ Δίος, δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε,
μή μ’ ἄσαισι μηδ’ ὀνίαισι δάμνα,
πότνια, θῦμον·
ἀλλὰ τυῖδ’ ἔλθ’, αἴ ποτα κἀτέρωτα 5
τᾶς ἔμας αὔδως ἀίοισα πήλυι
ἔκλυες, πάτρος δὲ δόμον λίποισα
χρύσιον ἦλθες
ἄρμ’ ὐπασδεύξαισα. κάλοι δέ σ’ ἆγον
ὠκέες στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶς μελαίνας 10
πύκνα διννῆντες πτέρ’ ἀπ’ ὠράνω αἴθε-
ρος διὰ μέσσω.
αἶψα δ’ ἐξίκοντο· τὺ δ’, ὦ μάκαιρα,
μειδιάσαισ’ ἀθανάτῳ προσώπῳ,
ἤρε’, ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττι 15
δηὖτε κάλημι·
κὤττι ἔμῳ μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι
μαινόλᾳ θύμῳ· τίνα δηὖτε πείθω
μαῖς ἄγην ἐς σὰν φιλότατα, τίς σ’, ὦ
Ψάπφ’, ἀδικήει; 20
καὶ γὰρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει,
αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ’, ἀλλὰ δώσει,
αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσει
κωὐκ ἐθέλοισα.
Rainbow-throned immortal one, Aphrodite,
Child of Zeus, spell-weaver, I bow before thee—
Harrow not my spirit with anguish, mighty
Queen, I implore thee!
Nay, come hither, even as once thou, bending
Down from far to hearken my cry, didst hear me,
From thy Father’s palace of gold descending
Drewest anear me
Chariot-wafted: far over midnight-sleeping
Earth, thy fair fleet sparrows, through cloudland riven
Wide by multitudinous wings, came sweeping
Down from thine heaven,
Swiftly came: thou, smiling with those undying
Lips and star-eyes, Blessed One, smiling me-ward,
Said’st, “What ails thee?—wherefore uprose thy crying
Calling me thee-ward?
Say for what boon most with a frenzied longing
Yearns thy soul—say whom shall my glamour chaining
Hale thy love’s thrall, Sappho—and who is wronging
Thee with disdaining?
Who avoids thee soon shall be thy pursuer:
Aye, the gift-rejecter the giver shall now be:
Aye, the loveless now shall become the wooer,
Scornful shalt thou be!”
2 διὸς δολοπλόκε FP 4 θυμὸν FP 5 τυδ’ ἐλθε ποκα κατ ἔρωτα P: τὺ δ’ ὲ|||λ’|||θε||| ποτὲ κατ’ έρωτα F 6 ἀΐοισ ἀπόλυ P 8 χρύσειον FP 9 ἀρμύ πᾶσδευξαισα F: ἁρμα ὑποζεύξασα P 10 γ(ας) P: τὰς F 11 διννῆν τεσ F: δινῆντες P || πτερα· πτωρανω θερος F: πτὲρ’ ἀπ’ ὠρανὼ· θέρο σ P 12 διαμέσω F: δ’ άμεσ πω P 13 αἶψαδ’ F: ἀῖψ’ ἄλλ’ P || τὺ δ’ ὦ μάκαιρα P: συ δῶμα καιρα F 14 ἀθανάτω προσώπω FP sine iota (item vv. 17, 18 F) 15 ἤρε’ ὅττι δ ῆυ (ἦν E) τὸ P, E 16 δ’ ηυτε καλημμι P: δευρο καλλημμι F 17 κωττε μω F: κ’ όττ’ ἐμῶι P 18 μαινολαθυμῶι P: λαιθυμω F || δηϋτε πειθω F: δ’ ἐυτεπεί θω P 19 μαι (βαι corr.) σαγηνεσσαν P: καὶ σαγήνεσσαν FE: μαῖς Bergkius 20 ἀδικήει Gaisfordius ex Etym. Magn. 485. 41: τισ σωψαπφα δίκη· P: τισ ω ψαπφα δίκησ· F 24 κωϋ κεθέλουσα F: κ’ ώυ κ’ ἐθέλοισ, P
1. To Dionysius here, and to the de Sublimitate c. x., we owe the preservation of the two most considerable extant fragments of Sappho’s poetry. The Ode to Anactoria is quoted by ‘Longinus’ as a picture of παθῶν σύνοδος: it is imitated in Catullus li. Ad Lesbiam (“Ille mi par esse deo videtur”). The Hymn to Aphrodite has been rendered repeatedly into English: some eight versions are printed in H. T. Wharton’s Sappho pp. 51-64. Two recent English translations are of special interest: (1) that of the late Dr. Walter Headlam—immatura eheu morte praerepti—in his Book of Greek Verse pp. 6-9; (2) that of Dr. Arthur Way, which is printed in the present volume. Dr. Way has, it will be observed, succeeded in maintaining a double rhyme throughout.
24. “Bloomfeld’s ἐθέλοισαν was strenuously defended by Welcker RM 11. 266, who held that the subject of φιλήσει was a man. No MS. whose readings were known before 1892 settled the dispute. Now Piccolomini’s VL show ἐθέλουσα (Hermes 27),” Weir Smyth Greek Lyric Poets p. 233. Notes on the entire ode will be found in Weir Smyth op. cit. pp. 230-3, and in G. S. Farnell’s Greek Lyric Poetry pp. 327-9, and a few also in W. G. Headlam’s Book of Greek Verse pp. 265-7.
ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλεπᾶν δὲ λῦσον
ἐκ μεριμνᾶν, ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι
θῦμος ἰμμέρρει, τέλεσον· σὺ δ’ αὔτα
σύμμαχος ἔσσο.
ταύτης τῆς λέξεως ἡ εὐέπεια καὶ ἡ χάρις ἐν τῇ συνεχείᾳ καὶ 5
λειότητι γέγονε τῶν ἁρμονιῶν· παράκειται γὰρ ἀλλήλοις τὰ
ὀνόματα καὶ συνύφανται κατὰ τινας οἰκειότητας καὶ συζυγίας
φυσικὰς τῶν γραμμάτων· τὰ γὰρ φωνήεντα τοῖς ἀφώνοις τε
καὶ ἡμιφώνοις συνάπτεται μικροῦ διὰ πάσης τῆς ᾠδῆς, ὅσα
προτάττεσθαί τε καὶ ὑποτάττεσθαι πέφυκεν ἀλλήλοις κατὰ 10
μίαν συλλαβὴν συνεκφερόμενα· ἡμιφώνων δὲ πρὸς ἡμίφωνα ἢ
ἄφωνα ‹καὶ ἀφώνων› καὶ φωνηέντων πρὸς ἄλληλα συμπτώσεις
αἱ διασαλεύουσαι τοὺς ἤχους ὀλίγαι πάνυ ἔνεισιν· ἐγὼ
γοῦν ὅλην τὴν ᾠδὴν ἀνασκοπούμενος πέντε ἢ ἓξ ἴσως ἐν τοῖς
τοσούτοις ὀνόμασι καὶ ῥήμασι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις μορίοις ἡμιφώνων 15
τε καὶ ἀφώνων γραμμάτων συμπλοκὰς τῶν μὴ πεφυκότων
ἀλλήλοις κεράννυσθαι καὶ οὐδὲ ταύτας ἐπὶ πολὺ τραχυνούσας
τὴν εὐέπειαν εὑρίσκω, φωνηέντων δὲ παραθέσεις τὰς μὲν ἐν
τοῖς κώλοις αὐτοῖς γινομένας ἔτι ἐλάττους ἢ τοσαύτας, τὰς δὲ
συναπτούσας ἀλλήλοις τὰ κῶλα ὀλίγῳ τινὶ τούτων πλείονας. 20
εἰκότως δὴ γέγονεν εὔρους τις ἡ λέξις καὶ μαλακή, τῆς ἁρμονίας
τῶν ὀνομάτων μηδὲν ἀποκυματιζούσης τὸν ἦχον.
ἔλεγον δ’ ἂν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς συνθέσεως ταύτης ἰδιώματα,
καὶ ἀπεδείκνυον ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων τοιαῦτα ὄντα οἷα
ἐγώ φημι, εἰ μὴ μακρὸς ἔμελλεν ὁ λόγος γενήσεσθαι καὶ 25
ταυτολογίας τινὰ παρέξειν δόξαν. ἐξέσται γὰρ σοὶ καὶ παντὶ
Once again come! Come, and my chains dissever,
Chains of heart-ache! Passionate longings rend me—
Oh fulfil them! Thou in the strife be ever
Near, to defend me.177
Here the euphonious effect and the grace of the language arise from the coherence and smoothness of the junctures. The words nestle close to one another and are woven together according to certain affinities and natural attractions of the letters. Almost throughout the entire ode vowels are joined to mutes and semi-vowels, all those in fact which are naturally prefixed or affixed to one another when pronounced together in one syllable. There are very few clashings of semi-vowels with semi-vowels or mutes, and of mutes and vowels with one another, such as cause the sound to oscillate. When I review the entire ode, I find, in all those nouns and verbs and other kinds of words, only five or perhaps six unions of semi-vowels and mutes which do not naturally blend with one another, and even they do not disturb the smoothness of the language to any great extent. As for juxtaposition of vowels, I find that those which occur in the clauses themselves are still fewer, while those which join the clauses to one another are only a little more numerous. As a natural consequence the language has a certain easy flow and softness; the arrangement of the words in no way ruffles the smooth waves of sound.
I would go on to mention the remaining characteristics of this kind of composition, and would show as before by means of appropriate illustrations that they are such as I say, were it not that my treatise would become too long and would create an impression of needless repetition. It will be open to you, as to
3 ϊμαρερερει F: ϊμέρει P 4 ἔσο F: ἔστω compendio F 5 συνεχεία EF: συνεπεία PMV 8 τε καὶ ἡμιφώνους om. EF 9 διὰ πάσης EF: δεῖν δι’ ὅλης PMV 10 πέφυκεν... συνεκφερόμενα EF: om. PMV 11 συνεκφερόμενα E: συνεκφέρεσθαι F || ἢ ἄφωνα PM: καὶ ἀφώνων FE 13 ἔνεισιν EF: εἰσίν PMV 14 ἐν F: εὗρον ἐν PMV 15 τοσούτοις Sylburgius: τοιούτοις PMV 16 καὶ ἀφώνων F: om. PMV 18 εὑρίσκω MV: εὑρίσκων F: om. P 19 ἔτι] ὅτι F 21 εὔνους τις F 23 δὲ ἂν F 24 ἀπεδείκνυ F 25 ἐιμιμακρ(ῶς) P 26 παρέξειν δόξαν F: δόξαν παρέχειν PMV
5. W. G. Headlam (Book of Greek Verse p. 265) well says that Dionysius’ comments on the smooth style (especially in relation to Sappho) are worth the attention of those who would gather the effect which Sappho’s language made upon a Greek ear practised in the minute study of expression; and he proceeds: “There is always in the verse of Sappho a directness and unlaboured ease of language, as if every lovely sentence came by nature from the mouth at once; as though she spoke in song, and what she sang were the expression of her very soul, the voice of languorous enjoyment and desire of beauty:
My blood was hot wan wine of love,
And my song’s sound the sound thereof,
The sound of the delight of it.”
22. Dionysius shows good judgement in not subjecting Sappho’s Hymn to a detailed analysis, letter by letter.
24. ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων, ‘in the light of the appropriate examples.’ Cp. 152 3, 232 23. The phrase sometimes indicates ‘familiar,’ ‘stock,’ or ‘previous’ examples; cp. de Demosth. c. 40 ἵνα δὲ μὴ δόξωμεν διαρτᾶν τὰς ἀκολουθίας, τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας ἐπὶ τὰ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ῥηθέντα παραδείγματα κελεύοντες ἀναστρέφειν, κτλ.—In 242 2 infra, ‘with illustrations’ (no article in PMV, though F has τῶν).
ἄλλῳ καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον τῶν ἐξηριθμημένων ὑπ’ ἐμοῦ κατὰ τὴν
προέκθεσιν τοῦ χαρακτῆρος ἐπιλέγεσθαί τε καὶ σκοπεῖν ἐπὶ
παραδειγμάτων κατὰ πολλὴν εὐκαιρίαν καὶ σχολήν· ἐμοὶ δ’
οὐκ ἐγχωρεῖ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἀπόχρη παραδεῖξαι μόνον
ἀρκούντως ἃ βούλομαι τοῖς δυνησομένοις παρακολουθῆσαι. 5
ἑνὸς ἔτι παραθήσομαι λέξιν ἀνδρὸς εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν κατεσκευασμένου
χαρακτῆρα, Ἰσοκράτους τοῦ ῥήτορος, ὃν ἐγὼ
μάλιστα πάντων οἴομαι τῶν πεζῇ λέξει χρησαμένων ταύτην
ἀκριβοῦν τὴν ἁρμονίαν. ἔστι δὲ ἡ λέξις ἐκ τοῦ Ἀρεοπαγιτικοῦ
ἥδε· 10
πολλοὺς ὑμῶν οἴομαι θαυμάζειν, ἥντινά ποτε γνώμην
ἔχων περὶ σωτηρίας τὴν πρόσοδον ἐποιησάμην, ὥσπερ
τῆς πόλεως ἐν κινδύνοις οὔσης ἢ σφαλερῶς αὐτῇ τῶν
πραγμάτων καθεστώτων, ἀλλ’ οὐ πλείους μὲν τριήρεις ἢ
διακοσίας κεκτημένης, εἰρήνην δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν χώραν 15
ἀγούσης καὶ τῶν κατὰ θάλατταν ἀρχούσης, ἔτι δὲ συμμάχους
ἐχούσης πολλοὺς μὲν τοὺς ἑτοίμους ἡμῖν ἤν τι
δέῃ βοηθήσοντας, πολὺ δὲ πλείους τοὺς τὰς συντάξεις
ὑποτελοῦντας καὶ τὸ προσταττόμενον ποιοῦντας. ὧν
ὑπαρχόντων ἡμᾶς μὲν ἄν τις φήσειεν εἰκὸς εἶναι θαρρεῖν 20
ὡς πόρρω τῶν κινδύνων ὄντας, τοῖς δ’ ἐχθροῖς τοῖς ἡμετέροις
προσήκειν δεδιέναι καὶ βουλεύεσθαι περὶ σωτηρίας.
ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν οἶδ’ ὅτι τούτῳ χρώμενοι τῷ λογισμῷ καὶ
any one else, at your full leisure and convenience, to take each single point enumerated by me in describing the type, and to examine and review them with illustrations. But I really have no time to do this. It is quite enough simply to give an adequate indication of my views to all who will be able to follow in my steps.
I will quote a passage of one more writer who has fashioned himself into the same mould—Isocrates the orator. Of all prose-writers he is, I think, the most finished master of this style of composition. The passage is from the Areopagiticus, as follows:—
“Many of you, I imagine, are wondering what can be my view in coming before you to speak on the question of the public safety, as though the State were actually in danger, or its interests imperilled, and as though it did not as a matter of fact possess more than two hundred warships, and were not at peace throughout its borders and supreme at sea, and had not many allies ready to help us in case of need, and many more who regularly pay their contributions and perform their obligation. Under these circumstances it might be said that we have every reason for confidence on the ground that all danger is remote; and that it is our enemies who have reason to be afraid and to form plans for self-preservation. Now you, I know, are inclined on this account
1 τὴν] τ(ων) P 2 πρόθεσιν F 3 παραδειγμάτων PMV: τῶν παραδειγμάτων F || δὲ F 4 ποιεῖ P || παραδεῖξαι Us.: πᾶσι δεῖξαι FM: δεῖξαι PV 5 ἀρκοῦντος F 6 παραθήσομαι F: παραθήσω PMV || αὐτὸν om. F || κατεσκευασμένου P: κατεσκευασμένον FV: κατεσκευασμένην M 7 ὃν] ἡ F 8 πεζῆ F: πεζῆι τῆι P, MV 9 ἀρεοπαγητικου ἡδε F 11 ὑμῶν] τούτων F || οἴομαι] οἶμαι Isocratis libri 12 ὥσπερ EPMV Isocr.: ὡς περὶ εἰ F 14 καθεστηκότων Isocr. 15 εἰρήνης F || καὶ τὰ PMV Isocr.: τὰ EF 16 [ἐ]χούσης cum litura P, MV || ἔτι... ἐχούσης om. F 17 τοὺς om. E 18 τοὺς om. PM 19 ὑποτελοῦντας PMV Isocr.: ἐπιτελοῦντας EF 20 ἡμᾶς PMV Isocr.: ὑμᾶς EF 21 ὑμετέροις F 23 ἡμεῖς PV || οἶδ’] οἵ δ’ F
6. παραθήσομαι: the Middle, as given by F, is to be preferred (cp. 182 12). In 122 14, on the other hand, F gives παρέξω, where the other MSS. supply the right reading παρέξομαι.
11. In the English translation of this passage of Isocrates no attempt has been made to reproduce the effects to which Dionysius calls attention: to do so would involve sacrificing equivalence of meaning to equivalence of letter-combinations.—Bircovius compares, in Latin, the opening passage of Cic. pro Caecina: “si, quantum in agro locisque desertis audacia potest, tantum in foro atque in iudiciis impudentia valeret, non minus nunc in caussa cederet A. Caecina Sex. Aebutii impudentiae, quam tum in vi facienda cessit audaciae. verum et illud considerati hominis esse putavit, qua de re iure decertare oporteret, armis non contendere: et hoc constantis, quicum vi et armis certare noluisset, eum iure iudicioque superare.” Batteux (p. 253) quotes from Fléchier’s oratorical picture of M. de Turenne: “Soit qu’il fallût préparer les affaires ou les décider; chercher la victoire avec ardeur, ou l’attendre avec patience; soit qu’il fallût prévenir les desseins des ennemis par la hardiesse, ou dissiper les craintes et les jalousies des alliés par la prudence; soit qu’il fallût se modérer dans les prospérités, ou se soutenir dans les malheurs de la guerre, son âme fut toujours égale. Il ne fit que changer vertus, quand la fortune changeait de face; heureux sans orgueil, malheureux avec dignité.... Si la licence fut réprimée; si les haines publiques et particulières furent assoupies; si les lois reprirent leur ancienne vigueur; si l’ordre et le repos furent rétablis dans les villes et dans les provinces; si les membres furent heureusement réunis à leur chef; c’est à lui, France, que tu le dois.” Batteux maintains that this passage shows the same qualities of style as Dionysius’ extract from Isocrates.
13. ἢ σφαλερῶς: Koraes would read καὶ σφαλερῶς. His note (Isocr. ii. 102) runs: “οὐκ ἀλόγως ὑπενόησεν ὁ Λάγγιος γραπτέον εἶναι, Καὶ σφαλερῶς· ἔοικε δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰταλὸς μεταφραστής, συμπλεκτικῶς, οὐ διαζευκτικῶς, ἀνεγνωκέναι, ἢ ἀναγνωστέον εἶναι κεκρικέναι, Quasi che la città in alcun pericolo si trovasse, et le cose sue in pessima conditione fossero.”
18. συντάξεις: Koraes l.c. κακῶς τὸ ἐμὸν ἀντίγραφον, Συνάξεις. Συντάξεις δὲ λέγει, κατ’ εὐφημισμὸν Ἀττικόν, τοὺς φόρους, ἐπειδή, ὥς φησιν Ἁρποκρατίων (λέξ. Σύνταξις), χαλεπῶς ἔφερον οἱ Ἕλληνες τὸ τῶν φόρων ὄνομα. ὡσαύτως ἡ τῶν Γαλλῶν φωνή, τὴν πρόθεσιν παραλιποῦσα, Taxe ὠνόμασε τὴν σύνταξιν, τὴν τοῖς Ἰταλοῖς καλουμένην Tassa, καὶ ῥῆμα ἐποίησε Taxer (Ἰταλ. Tassare), ἐπὶ τοῦ τάσσειν καὶ ἐπιβάλλειν τοὺς φόρους· ὅθεν ἡ τῶν Γραικῶν φωνή, τὰ ἴδια παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων λαμβάνουσα, ἐσχημάτισε τὰ χυδαῖα, Τάσσα καὶ Τασσάρω.
τῆς ἐμῆς προσόδου καταφρονεῖτε καὶ πᾶσαν ἐλπίζετε τὴν
Ἑλλάδα ταύτῃ τῇ δυνάμει κατασχήσειν· ἐγὼ δὲ δι’
αὐτὰ ταῦτα τυγχάνω δεδιώς. ὁρῶ γὰρ τῶν πόλεων τὰς
ἄριστα πράττειν οἰομένας κάκιστα βουλευομένας, καὶ τὰς
μάλιστα θαρρούσας εἰς πλείστους κινδύνους καθισταμένας. 5
αἴτιον δὲ τούτων ἐστίν, ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν κακῶν
οὐδὲν αὐτὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ παραγίνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ
συντέτακται καὶ συνακολουθεῖ τοῖς μὲν πλούτοις καὶ ταῖς
δυναστείαις ἄνοια καὶ μετὰ ταύτης ἀκολασία, ταῖς δὲ
ἐνδείαις καὶ ταῖς ταπεινότησιν σωφροσύνη καὶ πολλὴ 10
μετριότης. ὥστε χαλεπὸν εἶναι διαγνῶναι, ποτέραν ἄν
τις δέξαιτο τῶν μερίδων τούτων τοῖς παισὶ τοῖς αὑτοῦ
καταλιπεῖν· ἴδοιμεν γὰρ ἂν ἐκ μὲν τῆς φαυλοτέρας εἶναι
δοκούσης ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τὰς πράξεις
ἐπιδιδούσας, ἐκ δὲ τῆς κρείττονος φαινομένης ἐπὶ τὸ 15
χεῖρον εἰθισμένας μεταπίπτειν.
ταῦθ’ ὅτι συνήλειπταί τε καὶ συγκέχρωσται, καὶ οὐ καθ’
ἓν ἕκαστον ὄνομα ἐν ἕδρᾳ περιφανεῖ καὶ πλατείᾳ βέβηκεν
οὐδὲ μακροῖς τοῖς μεταξὺ χρόνοις διείργεται καὶ διαβέβηκεν
ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων, ἀλλ’ ἐν κινήσει τε ὄντα φαίνεται καὶ φορᾷ καὶ 20
ῥύσει συνεχεῖ, πραεῖαί τε αὐτῶν εἰσι καὶ μαλακαὶ καὶ
προπετεῖς αἱ συνάπτουσαι τὴν λέξιν ἁρμονίαι, τὸ ἄλογον
ἐπιμαρτυρεῖ τῆς ἀκοῆς πάθος. ὅτι δ’ οὐκ ἄλλα τινὰ τούτων
ἐστὶν αἴτια ἢ τὰ προειρημένα ὑπ’ ἐμοῦ περὶ τῆς ἀγωγῆς
ταύτης τῶν λόγων, ῥᾴδιον ἰδεῖν. φωνηέντων μὲν γὰρ ἀντιτυπίαν 25
οὐκ ἂν εὕροι τις οὐδεμίαν ἐν γοῦν οἷς παρεθέμην
ἀριθμοῖς, οἴομαι δ’ οὐδ’ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ λόγῳ, πλὴν εἴ τί με
διαλέληθεν· ἡμιφώνων δὲ καὶ ἀφώνων ὀλίγας καὶ οὐ πάνυ
to make light of my appeal; you expect to maintain supremacy over the whole of Greece by means of your existing forces. But it is precisely on these grounds that I really am alarmed. I observe that it is those States which think they are at the height of prosperity that adopt the worst policy, and that it is the most confident that incur the greatest danger. The reason is that no good or evil fortune comes to men entirely by itself: folly and its mate intemperance have been appointed to wait on wealth and power, self-restraint and great moderation to attend on poverty and low estate. So that it is hard to decide which of these two lots a man would desire to bequeath to his children, since we can see that from what is popularly regarded as the inferior condition men’s fortunes commonly improve, while from that which is apparently the better they usually decline and fall.”178
The instinctive perception of the ear testifies that these words are run and blended together; that they do not individually stand on a broad foundation which gives an all-round view of each; and that they are not separated by long time-intervals and planted far apart from one another, but are plainly in a state of motion, being borne onwards in an unbroken stream, while the links which bind the passage together are gentle and soft and flowing. And it is easy to see that the sole cause lies in the character of this style as I have previously described it. For no dissonance of vowels will be found, at any rate in the harmonious clauses which I have quoted, nor any, I think, in the entire speech, unless some instance has escaped my notice. There are also few dissonances of semi-vowels and mutes, and those not very glaring or
2 ταύτηι (ταύτην M) τῆι δυνάμει P, MV Isocr.: τῆι δυνάμει ταύτη F, E 5 πλείστους κινδύνους PM Isocr.: πλείους κινδύνους V: πλεῖστον κίνδυνον EF 8 πλουσίοις F (cum Isocratis codd. quibusdam) 9 ἄνοια... ἐνδείαις om. F || ἀκολασίαι PMV 10 σωφροσύνη EPMV Isocr.: καὶ σωφροσύνη F 12 δέξαιτο PMV Isocr.: εὔξαιτο EF || τῶν μερίδων τούτων PMV Isocr.: τούτων τῶν μερίδων EF || αὐτοῦ libri 13 καταλιπεῖν PMV Isocr.: om. EF || ἴδοιμεν PV Isocr.: ἴδοι μὲν M: ἴδοι EF || ἂν om. F: ἄν τις E || εἶναι δοκούσης PMV Isocr.: om. EF 17 συνείληπταί τε EPMV: συνήλειπτέται F || οὐ καθ’ ἓν PMV: οὐδὲν EF 18 ἕδρα... πλατεία (sine iota) P 19 οὐδὲ EF: οὐδ’ ἐν PMV 20 φορᾶι P 21 τε... μαλακαὶ om. F 22 προπετεῖς PV: προσφυεῖς FM γρ V 25 ῥαίδιον P 26 εὕροι F: om. PM, post οὐδεμίαν ponit V 27 οὐθ F || ὅλωι τωῖ λόγωι P 28 πάνυ PMV: σφόδρα F
17 ff. When expressing admiration, Dionysius often tends (as here) to reproduce the style admired.—For further estimates of Isokrates’s style reference may be made to Dionysius’ separate essay on Isokrates (in his de Antiq. Or.); Jebb Att. Or. ii. 54 ff.; Blass Att. Bereds. ii. 131 ff.
19. The reading οὐδ’ ἐν is possibly right, viz. ‘at long time-intervals’; cp. 222 5.
ἐκφανεῖς οὐδὲ συνεχεῖς. ταῦτα δὲ τῆς εὐεπείας αἴτια τῇ λέξει
γέγονε καὶ ἡ τῶν κώλων συμμετρία πρὸς ἄλληλα, τῶν τε
περιόδων ὁ κύκλος ἔχων τι περιφερὲς καὶ εὔγραμμον καὶ
τεταμιευμένον ἄκρως ταῖς συμμετρίαις. ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα δὲ
ταῦτα οἱ σχηματισμοὶ πολὺ τὸ νεαρὸν ἔχοντες· εἰσὶ γὰρ 5
ἀντίθετοι καὶ παρόμοιοι καὶ πάρισοι καὶ οἱ παραπλήσιοι
τούτοις, ἐξ ὧν ἡ πανηγυρικὴ διάλεκτος ἀποτελεῖται. οὐκ
ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι δοκῶ μηκύνειν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ διεξιών· ἱκανῶς
γὰρ εἴρηται καὶ περὶ ταύτης τῆς συνθέσεως ὅσα γε ἥρμοττεν.
XXIV
ἡ δὲ τρίτη καὶ μέση τῶν εἰρημένων δυεῖν ἁρμονιῶν, ἣν 10
εὔκρατον καλῶ σπάνει κυρίου τε καὶ κρείττονος ὀνόματος,
σχῆμα μὲν ἴδιον οὐδὲν ἔχει, κεκέρασται δέ πως ἐξ ἐκείνων
μετρίως καὶ ἔστιν ἐκλογή τις τῶν ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ κρατίστων.
αὕτη δοκεῖ μοι τὰ πρωτεῖα ἐπιτηδεία εἶναι φέρεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ
μεσότης μέν τίς ἐστι (μεσότης δὲ ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ βίων καὶ 15
ἔργων [καὶ τεχνῶν], ὡς Ἀριστοτέλει τε δοκεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις
ὅσοι κατ’ ἐκείνην τὴν αἵρεσιν φιλοσοφοῦσιν), ὁρᾶται δ’,
ὥσπερ ἔφην καὶ πρότερον, οὐ κατὰ ἀπαρτισμὸν ἀλλ’ ἐν
πλάτει, καὶ τὰς εἰδικὰς ἔχει διαφορὰς πολλάς· οἵ τε χρησάμενοι
continuous. The euphonious flow of the passage is due to these circumstances, combined with the balance of the clauses and the cycle of the periods which has about it something rounded and well-defined and perfectly regulated in respect of symmetrical adjustment. Above all there are the rhetorical figures, full of youthful exuberance: antithesis, parallelism in sound, parallelism in structure, and others like these, by which the language of panegyric is brought to its highest perfection. I do not think it necessary to lengthen the book by dealing with the points that are still untouched. This kind of composition also has now received adequate treatment on all points where it was appropriate.
Chapter XXIV — Harmoniously-Blended, or Intermediate, Composition
The third kind of composition is the mean between the two already mentioned. I call it harmoniously blended for lack of a proper and better name. It has no form peculiar to itself, but is a sort of judicious blend of the two others and a selection from the most effective features of each. This kind, it seems to me, deserves to win the first prize; for it is a sort of mean, and excellence in life and conduct [and the arts] is a mean, according to Aristotle and the other philosophers of his school. As I said before, it is to be viewed not narrowly but broadly. It has many specific varieties. Those who have adopted it have not all had the same
1 δὲ PMV: δὴ F || εὐπρεπείας P 2 τε om. P 3 ἔχων τι] ἔχοντι P || περιφερὲς F: περιφανὲς PMV || καὶ εὐθύγραμμον F 4 ἄκρως F: ἄκραις PMV 5 πολὺ F: οἱ πολὺ PM: οἱ πολλοὶ V 7 συντελεῖται cum rasura P 8 δοκῶ FP: μοι δοκῶ MV 9 συνθέσεως FP: θέσεως MV 10 τρίτη EF: τρίτη τε PMV || δυεῖν FPM: δυοῖν V 11 εὔκρατον F: κοινὴν PMV || σπάνει τε PMV: ἐγὼ ἀντὶ F: τε delevit Usenerus || τε F: om. PMV 12 δή P || πως PMV: ὡς EF || ἐκείνων] ἐκείνου F 13 ἑκατέραι P || κρατίστων] κρατίστη· ὧν F: κρατίστων· ὧν E 14 αὐτὴ PV 15 τις ἐστὶ E: τις F: ἐστι PMV 16 καὶ τεχνῶν om. FE 17 ὅσοι] οἳ F || αἴρεσιν FP || δὲ PMVE 19 εἰδικὰς EF: ἰδίας PMV
8. καὶ: i.e. ‘by going through details as well (as by taking this general view).’
9. This chapter (c. 23) should be compared throughout with chapter 40 of the de Demosth., which begins ἡ δὲ μετὰ ταύτην ἡ γλαφυρὰ καὶ θεατρικὴ καὶ τὸ κομψὸν αἱρουμένη πρὸ τοῦ σεμνοῦ τοιαύτη, κτλ.
10. The treatment of the third harmony in this chapter seems somewhat curt and vague.
12. The third style (Dionysius means) has no special character of its own: it is a combination of the best things in the two others: this, in fact, constitutes its superiority, since, according to Aristotle, virtue is a mean (Aristot. Eth. Nic. ii. 5, 1106 b 27 μεσότης τις ἄρα ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρετή, στοχαστική γε οὖσα τοῦ μέσου).
13. ἐκλογή τις τῶν ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ κρατίστων: it is interesting to find Homer represented (248 8-10) as a kind of eclectic in style. There are many indications that Dionysius regards him as a diligent literary craftsman. See generally de Demosth. c. 41 init. τῆς δὲ τρίτης ἁρμονίας... ῥήτορες.
16. καὶ τεχνῶν: it may possibly be better to bracket these words, as they are omitted by F as well as by E. But their retention would not be inconsistent with Aristotelian doctrine. Cp. Eth. Nic. ii. 5, 1106 b 8 εἰ δὴ πᾶσα ἐπιστήμη οὕτω τὸ ἔργον εὖ ἐπιτελεῖ, πρὸς τὸ μέσον βλέπουσα καὶ εἰς τοῦτο ἄγουσα τὰ ἔργα (ὅθεν εἰώθασιν ἐπιλέγειν τοῖς εὖ ἔχουσιν ἔργοις ὅτι οὔτ’ ἀφελεῖν ἔστιν οὔτε προσθεῖναι, ὡς τῆς μὲν ὑπερβολῆς καὶ τῆς ἐλλείψεως φθειρούσης τὸ εὖ, τῆς δὲ μεσότητος σῳζούσης, οἱ δ’ ἀγαθοὶ τεχνῖται, ὡς λέγομεν, πρὸς τοῦτο βλέποντες ἐργάζονται), ἡ δ’ ἀρετὴ πάσης τέχνης ἀκριβεστέρα καὶ ἀμείνων ἐστίν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ φύσις, τοῦ μέσου ἂν εἴη στοχαστική. Reference may also be made to Politics iii. 13, 1284 b 7-13, and to Eth. Eud. ii. 1220 b 21 ἐν ἅπαντι συνεχεῖ καὶ διαιρετῷ ἐστιν ὑπεροχὴ καὶ ἔλλειψις καὶ μέσον, καὶ ταῦτα ἢ πρὸς ἄλληλα ἢ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, οἷον ἐν γυμναστικῇ, ἐν ἰατρικῇ, ἐν οἰκοδομικῇ, ἐν κυβερνητικῇ, καὶ ἐν ὁποιᾳοῦν πράξει, καὶ ἐπιστημονικῇ καὶ ἀνεπιστημονικῇ, καὶ τεχνικῇ καὶ ἀτέχνῳ, κτλ.
18. πρότερον: cp. 210 6-10.
19. Batteux (p. 257) well explains Dionysius’ meaning, and suggests the names of certain French authors who may be held to exemplify and adorn the ‘mean’ (‘middle’) style: “Denys d’Halicarnasse observe avec justesse que le mélange des deux extrêmes dans la composition mixte ne se fait pas dans un milieu précis, mais avec une certaine latitude; qu’on ne pouvait être plus près et plus loin de l’un des deux extrêmes; que le même auteur pouvait l’être plus dans une partie de son ouvrage, et l’être moins dans une autre partie. C’est ce que nous venons d’observer dans l’oraison funèbre de M. de Turenne, et qu’ainsi il n’est pas aisé de fixer avec précision la place des auteurs qui tiennent le milieu entre les deux compositions. Avec cette restriction, nous pouvons placer dans le milieu Fénelon, Racine, Despréaux, Molière, La Fontaine, Voltaire, qui ont les deux mérites de la force et de l’élégance, qui ont les nerfs et la grâce, les fruits et les fleurs.”
αὐτῇ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ πάντες οὐδ’ ὁμοίως ἐπετήδευσαν, ἀλλ’
οἱ μὲν ταῦτα μᾶλλον, οἱ δ’ ἐκεῖνα, ἐπέτεινάν τε καὶ ἀνῆκαν
ἄλλως ἄλλοι τὰ αὐτά, καὶ πάντες ἐγένοντο λόγου ἄξιοι κατὰ
πάσας τὰς ἰδέας τῶν λόγων. κορυφὴ μὲν οὖν ἁπάντων καὶ
σκοπός, 5
ἐξ οὗ περ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα
καὶ πᾶσαι κρῆναι,
δικαίως ἂν Ὅμηρος λέγοιτο. πᾶς γὰρ αὐτῷ τόπος, ὅτου τις
ἂν ἅψηται, ταῖς τε αὐστηραῖς καὶ ταῖς γλαφυραῖς ἁρμονίαις
εἰς ἄκρον διαπεποίκιλται. τῶν δ’ ἄλλων ὅσοι τὴν αὐτὴν 10
μεσότητα ἐπετήδευσαν, ὕστεροι μὲν Ὁμήρου μακρῷ παρ’
ἐκεῖνον ἐξεταζόμενοι φαίνοιντ’ ἄν, καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς δὲ εἰ θεωροίη
τις αὐτούς, ἀξιοθέατοι, μελοποιῶν μὲν Στησίχορός τε καὶ
Ἀλκαῖος, τραγῳδοποιῶν δὲ Σοφοκλῆς, συγγραφέων δὲ Ἡρόδοτος,
ῥητόρων δὲ Δημοσθένης, φιλοσόφων δὲ κατ’ ἐμὴν δόξαν Δημόκριτός 15
τε καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Ἀριστοτέλης· τούτων γὰρ
ἑτέρους εὑρεῖν ἀμήχανον ἄμεινον κεράσαντας τοὺς λόγους. καὶ
περὶ μὲν τῶν χαρακτήρων ταῦθ’ ἱκανά. παραδείγματα γὰρ
τούτων οὐκ οἴομαι δεῖν φέρειν, φανερῶν πάνυ ὄντων καὶ οὐδὲν
δεομένων λόγου. 20
εἰ δέ τινι δοκεῖ καὶ πόνου πολλοῦ ταῦτα καὶ πραγματείας
aims nor the same methods; some have made more use of this method, others of that; while the same methods have been pursued with less or greater vigour by different writers, who have yet all achieved eminence in the various walks of literature. Now he who towers conspicuous above them all,
Out of whose fulness all rivers, and every sea, have birth,
And all upleaping fountains,179
is, we must admit, Homer. For whatever passage you like to take in him has had its manifold charms brought to perfection by a union of the severe and the polished forms of arrangement. Of the other writers who have cultivated the same golden mean, all will be found to be far inferior to Homer when measured by his standard, but still men of eminence when regarded in themselves: among lyric poets Stesichorus and Alcaeus, among tragedians Sophocles, among historians Herodotus, among orators Demosthenes, and among philosophers (in my opinion) Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle. It is impossible to find authors who have succeeded better in blending their writings into harmonious wholes. As regards types of composition the foregoing remarks will suffice. I do not think it necessary to quote specimen passages from the authors just mentioned, since they are known to all and need no illustration.
Now if any one thinks that these things are worth much toil
8 ἂν om. F || ὅτου EF: ὅπου M: τὸ οὗ P 9 ἅψοιτο EF || ταῖς γλαφυραῖς] ἀνθηραῖς EF 10 αὐτὴν EF: αὐτὴν ἐκείνωι P, MV 11 μὲν] μέντοι EF 13 Στησίχορος... τραγῳδοποιῶν δὲ om. F 16 γὰρ F: δὲ PMV 19 φέρειν om. F 21 τινι MV (τῳ Demosth.): τι μοι F: τις P
5. Homer is a beacon (a watchtower) set upon a hill.—The close correspondence between Dionysius and Quintilian has often been illustrated in these notes; and with the present page should be compared Quintil. x. 1. 46 “igitur, ut Aratus ab Iove incipiendum putat, ita nos rite coepturi ab Homero videmur. hic enim, quemadmodum ex Oceano dicit ipse amnium fontiumque cursus initium capere, omnibus eloquentiae partibus exemplum et ortum dedit.”
10. Neither here nor elsewhere does Dionysius say anything about the poets of the Epic Cycle. Attention is called to his silence by T. W. Allen in the Classical Quarterly ii. 87.
13. Stesichorus: cp. de Imitat. B. vi. 2 ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, κτλ.; Long. de Sublim. xiii. 3 (as to Stesichorus, Herodotus and Plato, in relation to Homer) μόνος Ἡρόδοτος Ὁμηρικώτατος ἐγένετο; Στησίχορος ἔτι πρότερον ὅ τε Ἀρχίλοχος, πάντων τε τούτων μάλιστα ὁ Πλάτων ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὁμηρικοῦ κείνου νάματος εἰς αὑτὸν μυρίας ὅσας παρατροπὰς ἀποχετευσάμενος.
14. Alcaeus: de Imitat. B. vi. 2 Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετὰ δεινότητος κτλ.; Quintil. x. 1. 63 “Alcaeus in parte operis aureo plectro merito donatur, qua tyrannos insectatus multum etiam moribus confert; in eloquendo quoque brevis et magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis: sed et lusit et in amores descendit, maioribus tamen aptior.”
Sophocles: Σοφοκλῆς δὲ ἔν τε τοῖς ἤθεσι καὶ τοῖς πάθεσι κτλ. (de Imitat., ut supra).
Herodotus: cp. D.H. pp. 10, 11, 12, etc.
15. Demosthenes: cp. D.H. pp. 13, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, etc., and Demetr. pp. 11, 12, etc.
Democritus: cp. Cic. Orat. 20, 67 “itaque video visum esse nonnullis, Platonis et Democriti locutionem, etsi absit a versu, tamen, quod incitatius feratur et clarissimis verborum luminibus utatur, potius poëma putandum quam comicorum poëtarum”; id. de Orat. i. 49 “quam ob rem, si ornate locutus est, sicut et fertur et mihi videtur, physicus ille Demokritus, materies illa fuit physici, de qua dixit, ornatus vero ipse verborum oratoris putandus est”; id. ib. i. 42 “Democritii... ornati homines in dicendo et graves.”
16. Plato: cp. D.H. pp. 16, 19, 27-30, 36, etc. and Demetr. pp. 12, 13, 14, etc.
Aristotle: cp. de Imitat. B. vi. 4 παραληπτέον δὲ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλην εἰς μίμησιν τῆς τε περὶ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν δεινότητος καὶ τῆς σαφηνείας, καὶ τοῦ ἡδέος καὶ πολυμαθοῦς· τοῦτο γὰρ ἔστι μάλιστα παρὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τούτου λαβεῖν.
μεγάλης ἄξια εἶναι, καὶ μάλα ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ κατὰ τὸν
Δημοσθένην· ἀλλ’ ἐὰν λογίσηται τοὺς ἐξακολουθοῦντας αὐτοῖς
κατορθουμένοις ἐπαίνους καὶ τὸν καρπὸν τὸν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὡς
γλυκύς, εὐπαθείας ἡγήσεται τοὺς πόνους. Ἐπικουρείων δὲ
χορόν, οἷς οὐδὲν μέλει τούτων, παραιτοῦμαι· τὸ γὰρ “οὐκ 5
ἐπιπόνου τοῦ γράφειν ὄντος,” ὡς αὐτὸς Ἐπίκουρος λέγει, “τοῖς
μὴ στοχαζομένοις τοῦ πυκνὰ μεταπίπτοντος κριτηρίου” πολλῆς
ἀργίας ἦν καὶ σκαιότητος ἀλεξιφάρμακον.
XXV
τούτων δή μοι τέλος ἐχόντων, ἐκεῖνά σε οἴομαι ποθεῖν ἔτι
ἀκοῦσαι, πῶς γίνεται λέξις ἄμετρος ὁμοία καλῷ ποιήματι ἢ 10
μέλει, καὶ πῶς ποίημά γε ἢ μέλος πεζῇ λέξει καλῇ παραπλήσιον.
ἄρξομαι δὲ πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς ψιλῆς λέξεως, ἕνα
τῶν ἀνδρῶν προχειρισάμενος ὃν ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα οἶμαι τὴν
ποιητικὴν ἐκμεμάχθαι φράσιν, βουλόμενος μὲν καὶ πλείους,
οὐκ ἔχων δὲ χρόνον ἱκανὸν ἅπασι. φέρε δὴ τίς οὐκ ἂν 15
ὁμολογήσειεν τοῖς κρατίστοις ἐοικέναι ποιήμασί τε καὶ μέλεσι
and great effort, he is, according to Demosthenes, decidedly in the right.180 Nay, if he considers the credit which attends success in them and the sweetness of the fruit they yield, he will count the toil a pleasure. I beg pardon of the Epicurean choir who care nothing for these things. The doctrine that “writing,” as Epicurus himself says, “is no trouble to those who do not aim at the ever-varying standard”181 was meant to forestall the charge of gross laziness and stupidity.
Chapter XXV — How Prose Can Resemble Verse
Now that I have finished this part of the subject, I think you must be eager for information on the next point—how unmetrical language is made to resemble a beautiful poem or lyric, and how a poem or lyric is brought into close likeness to beautiful prose. I will begin with the language of prose, choosing by preference an author who has, I think, in a pre-eminent degree taken the impress of poetical style. I could wish to mention a larger number, but have not time for all. Who, then, will not admit that the speeches of Demosthenes
3 τὸν ἀπ’ αὐτῶν F: τῶν ἁπάντων PMV 5 οὐκἐπὶ πόνου P, MV 6 ἐπίπονον F 10 λέξις ἄμετρος] πεζὴ λέξις F || ἄμετρος... πεζῇ om. F 13 ὃν... βουλόμενος om. P
1. κατὰ τὸν Δημοσθένην: cp. de Demosth. c. 52 εἰ δὲ τῷ δοκεῖ ταῦτα καὶ πόνου πολλοῦ καὶ πραγματείας μεγάλης εἶναι, καὶ μάλα ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ κατὰ τὸν Δημοσθένην· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν μεγάλων μικρῶν ἐστι πόνων ὤνιον. ἀλλ’ ἐὰν ἐπιλογίσηται τοὺς ἀκολουθοῦντας αὐτοῖς καρπούς, μᾶλλον δ’ ἐὰν ἕνα μόνον τὸν ἔπαινον, ὃν ἀποδίδωσιν ὁ χρόνος καὶ ζῶσι καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, πᾶσαν ἡγήσεται τήν [τε] πραγματείαν ἐλάττω τῆς προσηκούσης. The reference in both cases is to Demosth. Chers. § 48 εἰ δέ τῳ δοκεῖ ταῦτα καὶ δαπάνης μεγάλης καὶ πόνων πολλῶν καὶ πραγματείας εἶναι, καὶ μάλ’ ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ· ἀλλ’ ἐὰν λογίσηται τὰ τῇ πόλει μετὰ ταῦτα γενησόμενα, ἂν ταῦτα μὴ ’θέλῃ, εὑρήσει λυσιτελοῦν τὸ ἑκόντας ποιεῖν τὰ δέοντα.
4. For the general attitude of Epicurus cp. Quintil. ii. 17. 15 “nam de Epicuro, qui disciplinas omnes fugit, nihil miror,” and ib. xii. 2. 24 “nam in primis nos Epicurus a se ipse dimittit, qui fugere omnem disciplinam navigatione quam velocissima iubet [Diog. Laert. Vit. Epic. 6 παιδείαν δὲ πᾶσαν (i.e. τὴν ἐγκύκλιον παιδείαν), μακάριε, φεῦγε τὸ ἀκάτιον ἀράμενος]”; Cic. de Finibus i. 5. 14 “sed existimo te minus ab eo [sc. Epicuro] delectari, quod ista Platonis, Aristotelis, Theophrasti orationis ornamenta neglexerit.”—Probably the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus is among those who are criticized in the πραγματεία ἣν συνεταξάμην ὑπὲρ τῆς πολιτικῆς φιλοσοφίας πρὸς τοὺς κατατρέχοντας αὐτῆς ἀδίκως (de Thucyd. c. 2).
5-8. Usener (Epicurea, fragm. 230) gave this passage as follows: τὸ γὰρ ἐπίπονον τοῦ γράφειν ὄντως, ὡς αὐτὸς Ἐπίκουρος λέγει, τοῖς μὴ στοχαζομένοις τοῦ πυκνὰ μεταπίπτοντος κριτηρίου πολλῆς ἀργίας ἦν καὶ σκαιότητος ἀλεξιφάρμακον.
5. οὐκ ἐπιπόνου: cp. Sheridan Clio’s Protest: “You write with ease, to shew your breeding; | But easy writing’s vile hard reading”; Quintil. x. 3. 10 “summa haec est rei: cito scribendo non fit, ut bene scribatur; bene scribendo fit, ut cito.”
7. κριτηρίου: for κριτήριον as an Epicurean term cp. Diog. Laert. Vit. Epic. 147 ὥστε τὸ κριτήριον ἅπαν ἐκβαλεῖς. The ‘variable criterion’ or ‘shifting standard,’ in Dionysius’ quotation, is either the judgment of the ear (regarded as a part of sensation generally) or the literary fashion of the day.
8. Chapter 24 may be compared throughout with de Demosth. c. 41.
9. For the relations of Prose to Verse see Introduction, pp. 33-9.
16. The metrical lines which Dionysius thinks he detects in Demosthenes are not more (nor less) convincing than the rude hexameters which have been pointed out in Cicero: latent lines cannot be expected to be obvious. Ad Quirites post reditum 16 “sed etiam rerum mearum gestarum auctores, testes, laudatoresque fuere” [but the better reading here is laudatores fuerunt]. Pro Archia Poëta i. 1 “si quid est in me ingenii, iudices, quod sentio quam sit exiguum, aut si qua exercitatio dicendi, in qua me non infiteor mediocriter esse versatum,” etc. Tusc. Disp. iv. 14. 31 “illud animorum corporumque dissimile, quod animi valentes morbo temptari possunt, ut corpora possunt.” Pro Roscio Amer. i. 1 “credo ego vos, iudices, mirari quid sit quod, cum tot summi oratores hominesque nobilissimi sedeant, ego potissimum surrexerim.” Cp. Livy xxi. 9 “nec tuto eos adituros inter tot tam effrenatarum gentium arma, nec Hannibali in tanto discrimine rerum operae esse legationes audire,” and Tacitus Ann. i. 1 “urbem Romam a principio reges habuere.” In most of these passages except the last, the natural pauses in delivery would destroy any real hexameter effect. See further in Quintil. ix. 4. 72 ff.—Among later Greek writers, St. John Chrysostom, in his de Sacerdotio iii. 14 and 16, is supposed to yield one entire hexameter and part of another: [ἀπ’ ἐκείνου] τοῦ καπνοῦ προέφλεξε καὶ ἠμαύρωσεν ἅπασαν, and βιάζωνται διὰ τὴν τῆς γαστρὸς ἀνάγκην.
τοὺς Δημοσθένους λόγους, καὶ μάλιστα τάς τε κατὰ Φιλίππου
δημηγορίας καὶ τοὺς δικανικοὺς ἀγῶνας τοὺς δημοσίους; ὧν
ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀρκέσει λαβεῖν τὸ προοίμιον τουτί·
“Μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ με μήτ’
ἰδίας ἔχθρας μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’ ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα 5
τουτουί, μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον
ἁμάρτημα ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς
ἀπέχθειαν· ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἆρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ λογίζομαι καὶ
σκοπῶ, περὶ τοῦ Χερόνησον ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς ὑμᾶς καὶ
μὴ παρακρουσθέντας ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς, περὶ 10
τούτου ἐστί μοι ἅπασα ἡ σπουδή.”
πειρατέον δὴ καὶ περὶ τούτων λέγειν ἃ φρονῶ. μυστηρίοις
μὲν οὖν ἔοικεν ἤδη ταῦτα καὶ οὐκ εἰς πολλοὺς οἷά τε ἐστὶν
ἐκφέρεσθαι, ὥστ’ οὐκ ἂν εἴην φορτικός, εἰ παρακαλοίην “οἷς
θέμις ἐστὶν” ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὰς τελετὰς τοῦ λόγου, “θύρας δ’ 15
ἐπιθέσθαι” λέγοιμι ταῖς ἀκοαῖς τοὺς “βεβήλους.” εἰς γέλωτα
γὰρ ἔνιοι λαμβάνουσι τὰ σπουδαιότατα δι’ ἀπειρίαν, καὶ ἴσως
οὐδὲν ἄτοπον πάσχουσιν. ἃ δ’ οὖν βούλομαι λέγειν, τοιάδε
ἐστί.
πᾶσα λέξις ἡ δίχα μέτρου συγκειμένη ποιητικὴν μοῦσαν 20
ἢ μελικὴν χάριν οὐ δύναται προσλαβεῖν κατὰ γοῦν τὴν σύνθεσιν
αὐτήν· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων μέγα τι
δύναται, καὶ ἔστι τις ὀνομασία ποιητικὴ γλωττηματικῶν τε
καὶ ξένων καὶ τροπικῶν καὶ πεποιημένων, οἷς ἡδύνεται ποίησις,
εἰς κόρον ἐγκαταμιγέντων τῇ ἀμέτρῳ λέξει, ὃ ποιοῦσιν ἄλλοι 25
τε πολλοὶ καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα Πλάτων· οὐ δὴ λέγω περὶ τῆς
ἐκλογῆς, ἀλλ’ ἀφείσθω κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ἡ περὶ ταῦτα σκέψις.
περὶ τῆς συνθέσεως αὐτῆς ἔστω ἡ θεωρία τῆς ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς
ὀνόμασι καὶ τετριμμένοις καὶ ἥκιστα ποιητικοῖς τὰς ποιητικὰς
are like the finest poems and lyrics: particularly his harangues against Philip and his pleadings in public law-suits? It will be enough to take the following exordium from one of these:—
“Let none of you, O ye Athenians, think that I have come forward to accuse the defendant Aristocrates with intent to indulge personal hate of my own, or that it is because I have got my eye on some small and petty error that I am thrusting myself with a light heart in the path of his enmity. No, if my calculations and point of view be right, my one aim and object is that you should securely hold the Chersonese, and should not again be deprived of it by political chicanery.”182
I must endeavour, here again, to state my views. But the subject we have now reached is like the Mysteries: it cannot be divulged to people in masses. I shall not, therefore, be discourteous in inviting those only “for whom it is lawful” to approach the rites of style, while bidding the “profane” to “close the gates of their ears.”183 There are some who, through ignorance, turn the most serious things into ridicule, and no doubt their attitude is natural enough. Well, my views are in effect as follows:—
No passage which is composed absolutely without metre can be invested with the melody of poetry or lyric grace, at any rate from the point of view of the word-arrangement considered in itself. No doubt, the choice of words goes a long way, and there is a poetical vocabulary consisting of rare, foreign, figurative and coined words in which poetry takes delight. These are sometimes mingled with prose-writing to excess: many writers do so, Plato particularly. But I am not speaking of the choice of words: let the consideration of that subject be set aside for the present. Let our inquiry deal exclusively with word-arrangement, which can reveal possibilities of poetic grace in common everyday
3 ἀρκέσει] ἀρμόσει F 4 με om. P, Demosth. || μήτε F 5 ἔχθρας ἐμὲ Demosth. || μηδεμιᾶς om. F || ἕνεκα PMV 7 ἐπὶ τούτῳ om. EF 8 ἆρ’ E: ἆρα P: ἄρα M: οὖν V: om. F || ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ EFM: ἐγὼ ὀρθῶς PV 9 περὶ] ὑπὲρ Demosth. || τοῦ EFPM: τοῦ τὴν V || χερόνησον PV1: χερρόνησον FMV2 || ἀσφαλῶς ὑμᾶς PMV: ὑμᾶς ἀσφαλῶς EF, D 11 τούτου] τούτων EF || ἔστι μοι M: νῦν ἐστί μοι P: τοίνυν ἔστι μοι V: ἔστι μοι νῦν E: ἐστὶν F: μοί ἐστιν D || ἡ EPM D.: ἡ ἐμὴ F: om. V 12 cum φρονῶ voce deficit codex Florentinus (F) 16 ἐπίθεσθε PM: ἐπίθεσθαι V || μέλωτ(α) P: γελοῖα MV 18 οὐδὲν] οὐδ’ P 20 συγκειμένη EP: ἐγκειμένη MV || μοῦσαν MV: οὖσαν P: om. E 23 τις ὀνομασίας P: τὴν ὀνομασίαν MV 25 ἐγκατατεταγμένους EPM: ἐγκαταμεμιγμένους V
4-11. In Butcher’s and in Weil’s texts (which are here identical) the opening of the Aristocrates runs as follows: μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ μήτ’ ἰδίας ἔχθρας ἐμὲ μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’ ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα τουτουί, μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον ἁμάρτημ’ ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειαν, ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἄρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ λογίζομαι καὶ σκοπῶ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χερρόνησον ἔχειν ὑμᾶς ἀσφαλῶς καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς, περὶ τούτου μοί ἐστιν ἅπασ’ ἡ σπουδή. The minute differences between this text and that presented with metrical comments by Dionysius deserve careful notice.—The collocation τῆς ἰδίας ἕνεκ’ ἔχθρας is found in de Cor. § 147.
12. Here, with the word φρονῶ, the codex Florentinus Laurentianus (F) unfortunately ends.
24. It is hardly necessary to insert ὀνομάτων before οἷς, since the word may be supplied from l. 22 supra.
χάριτας ἐπιδεικνυμένης. ὅπερ οὖν ἔφην, οὐ δύναται ψιλὴ
λέξις ὁμοία γενέσθαι τῇ ἐμμέτρῳ καὶ ἐμμελεῖ, ἐὰν μὴ περιέχῃ
μέτρα καὶ ῥυθμούς τινας ἐγκατατεταγμένους ἀδήλως. οὐ μέντοι
προσήκει γε ἔμμετρον οὐδ’ ἔρρυθμον αὐτὴν εἶναι δοκεῖν (ποίημα
γὰρ οὕτως ἔσται καὶ μέλος ἐκβήσεταί τε ἁπλῶς τὸν αὑτῆς 5
χαρακτῆρα), ἀλλ’ εὔρυθμον αὐτὴν ἀπόχρη καὶ εὔμετρον φαίνεσθαι
μόνον· οὕτως γὰρ ἂν εἴη ποιητικὴ μέν, οὐ μὴν ποίημά
γε, καὶ ἐμμελὴς μέν, οὐ μέλος δέ.
τίς δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ τούτων διαφορά, πάνυ ῥᾴδιον ἰδεῖν. ἡ μὲν
ὅμοια περιλαμβάνουσα μέτρα καὶ τεταγμένους σῴζουσα ῥυθμοὺς 10
καὶ κατὰ στίχον ἢ περίοδον ἢ στροφὴν διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν σχημάτων
περαινομένη κἄπειτα πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ῥυθμοῖς καὶ μέτροις
ἐπὶ τῶν ἑξῆς στίχων ἢ περιόδων ἢ στροφῶν χρωμένη καὶ
τοῦτο μέχρι πολλοῦ ποιοῦσα ἔρρυθμός ἐστι καὶ ἔμμετρος, καὶ
ὀνόματα κεῖται τῇ τοιαύτῃ λέξει μέτρον καὶ μέλος· ἡ δὲ 15
πεπλανημένα μέτρα καὶ ἀτάκτους ῥυθμοὺς ἐμπεριλαμβάνουσα
καὶ μήτε ἀκολουθίαν ἐμφαίνουσα αὐτῶν μήτε ὁμοζυγίαν μήτε
ἀντιστροφὴν εὔρυθμος μέν ἐστιν, ἐπειδὴ διαπεποίκιλταί τισιν
ῥυθμοῖς, οὐκ ἔρρυθμος δέ, ἐπειδὴ οὐχὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς οὐδὲ κατὰ
τὸ αὐτό. τοιαύτην δή φημι πᾶσαν εἶναι λέξιν ἄμετρον, ἥτις 20
ἐμφαίνει τὸ ποιητικὸν καὶ μελικόν· ᾗ δὴ καὶ τὸν Δημοσθένη
κεχρῆσθαί φημι. καὶ ὅτι ἀληθῆ ταῦτ’ ἐστὶ καὶ οὐδὲν ἐγὼ
καινοτομῶ, λάβοι μὲν ἄν τις καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἀριστοτέλους μαρτυρίας
τὴν πίστιν· εἴρηται γὰρ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ τά τε ἄλλα
περὶ τῆς λέξεως τῆς πολιτικῆς ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ βίβλῳ τῶν ῥητορικῶν 25
τεχνῶν οἵαν αὐτὴν εἶναι προσῆκεν, καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τῆς
εὐρυθμίας ἐξ ὧν ἂν τοιαύτη γένοιτο· ἐν ᾗ τοὺς ἐπιτηδειοτάτους
words that are by no means reserved for the poets’ vocabulary. Well, as I said, simple prose cannot become like metrical and lyrical writing, unless it contains metres and rhythms unobtrusively introduced into it. It does not, however, do for it to be manifestly in metre or in rhythm (for in that case it will be a poem or a lyric piece, and will absolutely desert its own specific character); it is enough that it should simply appear rhythmical and metrical. In this way it may be poetical, although not a poem; lyrical, although not a lyric.
The difference between the two things is easy enough to see. That which embraces within its compass similar metres and preserves definite rhythms, and is produced by a repetition of the same forms, line for line, period for period, or strophe for strophe, and then again employs the same rhythms and metres for the succeeding lines, periods or strophes, and does this at any considerable length, is in rhythm and in metre, and the names of “verse” and “song” are applied to such writing. On the other hand, that which contains casual metres and irregular rhythms, and in these shows neither sequence nor connexion nor correspondence of stanza with stanza, is rhythmical, since it is diversified by rhythms of a sort, but not in rhythm, since they are not the same nor in corresponding positions. This is the character I attribute to all language which, though destitute of metre, yet shows markedly the poetical or lyrical element; and this is what I mean that Demosthenes among others has adopted. That this is true, that I am advancing no new theory, any one can convince himself from the testimony of Aristotle; for in the third book of his Rhetoric the philosopher, speaking of the various requisites of style in civil oratory, has described the good rhythm which should contribute to it.184 He
3 ἀδήλως MV: ἀδήλους EP 5 αὐτῆς PV 6 ἔμμετρον E 9 ῥάιδιον P 10 σωίζουσα P 20 ἄμετρον EPM: ἔμμετρον V 21 μελιχρὸν M || δημοσθένην EM 25 τρίτω P 26 προσηκ(εν) P: προσήκει MV 27 ἂν MV: τίσ P
1. Cp. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. c. 18: “Whatever is combined with metre must, though it be not itself essentially poetic, have nevertheless some property in common with poetry.”
3. So de Demosth. c. 50 οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως γένοιτο πολιτικὴ λέξις παρ’ αὐτὴν τὴν σύνθεσιν ἐμφερὴς ποιήμασιν, ἂν μὴ περιέχῃ μέτρα καὶ ῥυθμούς τινας ἐγκατακεχωρισμένους ἀδήλως. οὐ μέντοι γε προσήκει αὐτὴν ἔμμετρον οὐδ’ ἔρρυθμον εἶναι δοκεῖν, ἵνα μὴ γένηται ποίημα ἢ μέλος, ἐκβᾶσα τὸν αὑτῆς χαρακτῆρα, ἀλλ’ εὔρυθμον αὐτὴν ἀπόχρη φαίνεσθαι καὶ εὔμετρον. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν εἴη ποιητικὴ μέν, οὐ μὴν ποίημά γε, καὶ μελίζουσα μέν, οὐ μὴν μέλος.
4. Cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 8 τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τῆς λέξεως δεῖ μήτε ἔμμετρον εἶναι μήτε ἄρρυθμον... διὸ ῥυθμὸν δεῖ ἔχειν τὸν λόγον, μέτρον δὲ μή· ποίημα γὰρ ἔσται: and Cic. Orat. 56. 187 “perspicuum est igitur numeris astrictam orationem esse debere, carere versibus,” and 57. 195 ibid. “quia nec numerosa esse, ut poëma, neque extra numerum, ut sermo vulgi, esse debet oratio.” So Isocr. (fragm. of his τέχνη preserved by Joannes Siceliotes, Walz Rhett. Gr. vi. 156) ὅλως δὲ ὁ λόγος μὴ λόγος ἔστω· ξηρὸν γάρ· μηδὲ ἔμμετρος· καταφανὲς γάρ. ἀλλὰ μεμίχθω παντὶ ῥυθμῷ, μάλιστα ἰαμβικῷ καὶ τροχαϊκῷ (Isocr. Tech. fr. 6 Benseler-Blass).
5. ἐκβήσεται... τὸν αὑτῆς χαρακτῆρα: cp. the construction of excedere and egredi with the accusative.
6. ἔμμετρον is given not only by E but by Joannes Sicel. (Walz Rhett. Gr. vi. 165. 28) and by Maximus Planudes (ibid. v. 473. 4) καὶ Διονύσιος δέ φησιν, ἀπόχρη τὴν πολιτικὴν λέξιν εὔρυθμον εἶναι καὶ ἔμμετρον.
17. Cp. Cic. de Orat. iii. 44. 176 “nam cum [orator] vinxit [sententiam] forma et modis, relaxat et liberat immutatione ordinis, ut verba neque alligata sint quasi certa aliqua lege versus neque ita soluta, ut vagentur.”
25. The reference is to Aristot. Rhet. iii. 8 (the passage of which part is quoted in the note on l. 4 supra).
27. τοιαύτη: i.e. εὔρυθμος, the subject to γένοιτο being ἡ πολιτικὴ λέξις. The τίσ of P may be due to a dittography of the first syllable of τοιαύτη: or it may originally have stood with τοιαύτη (τοιαύτη τις = talis fere).
ὀνομάζει ῥυθμοὺς καὶ πῇ χρήσιμος ἕκαστος αὐτῶν καταφαίνεται,
καὶ λέξεις παρατίθησί τινας αἷς πειρᾶται βεβαιοῦν
τὸν λόγον. χωρὶς δὲ τῆς Ἀριστοτέλους μαρτυρίας, ὅτι ἀναγκαῖόν
ἐστιν ἐμπεριλαμβάνεσθαί τινας τῇ πεζῇ λέξει ῥυθμούς,
εἰ μέλλοι τὸ ποιητικὸν ἐπανθήσειν αὐτῇ κάλλος, ἐκ τῆς πείρας 5
τις αὐτῆς γνώσεται.
αὐτίκα ὁ κατὰ Ἀριστοκράτους λόγος οὗ καὶ μικρῷ πρότερον
ἐμνήσθην ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ κωμικοῦ στίχου τετραμέτρου δι’
ἀναπαίστων τῶν ῥυθμῶν ἐγκειμένου, λείπεται δὲ ποδὶ τοῦ
τελείου, παρ’ ὃ καὶ λέληθεν· “μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες 10
Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ με”· τοῦτο γὰρ εἰ προσλάβοι τὸ μέτρον
πόδα ἤτοι κατ’ ἀρχὰς ἢ διὰ μέσου ἢ ἐπὶ τελευτῆς, τέλειον
ἔσται τετράμετρον ἀναπαιστικόν, ὃ καλοῦσίν τινες Ἀριστοφάνειον·
μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ με παρεῖναι, 15
ἴσον δὲ τῷ
λέξω τοίνυν τὴν ἀρχαίαν παιδείαν ὡς διέκειτο.
τάχα τις ἐρεῖ πρὸς ταῦτα, ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ ἐπιτηδεύσεως τοῦτο
ἀλλ’ ἐκ ταὐτομάτου ἐγένετο· πολλὰ γὰρ αὐτοσχεδιάζει μέτρα
ἡ φύσις. ἔστω τοῦτο ἀληθὲς εἶναι. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ συναπτόμενον 20
τούτῳ κῶλον, εἰ διαλύσειέ τις αὐτοῦ τὴν δευτέραν
συναλοιφὴν ἣ πεποίηκεν αὐτὸ ἄσημον ἐπισυνάπτουσα τῷ
τρίτῳ κώλῳ, πεντάμετρον ἐλεγειακὸν ἔσται συντετελεσμένον
τουτί
μήτ’ ἰδίας ἔχθρας μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεκα
ὅμοιον τούτοις
κοῦραι ἐλαφρὰ ποδῶν ἴχνι’ ἀειράμεναι.
names the most suitable rhythms, shows where each of them is clearly serviceable, and adduces some passages by which he endeavours to establish his statement. But apart from the testimony of Aristotle, experience itself will show that some rhythms must be included in prose-writing if there is to be upon it the bloom of poetical beauty.
For example, the speech against Aristocrates which I mentioned a moment ago begins with a comic tetrameter line (set there with its anapaestic rhythms), but it is a foot short of completion and in consequence escapes detection: μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ με. If this line had an additional foot either at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, it would be a perfect anapaestic tetrameter, to which some give the name “Aristophanic.”
Let none of you, O ye Athenians, think that I am standing before you, corresponds to the line
Now then shall be told what in days of old was the fashion of boys’ education.185
It will perhaps be said in reply that this has happened not from design, but accidentally, since a natural tendency in us often improvises metrical fragments. Let the truth of this be granted. Yet the next clause as well, if you resolve the second elision, which has obscured its true character by linking it on to the third clause, will be a complete elegiac pentameter as follows:—
Come with intent to indulge personal hate of my own, similar to these words:—
Maidens whose feet in the dance lightly were lifted on high.186
3 ἀναγκαῖον V γρ M: ἂν δίκαιον PM1 6 τ(ις) P, V: τῆς M 8 δι’ MV: δις sic P 11 με παρεῖναι M 15 μηδεὶς] μηδε P 18 τουτω M, E: τοῦτο PV 24 τουτί EP: ἀκριβῶς τουτί MV 27 ἐλαφροποδῶν sic P: ἐλαφροπόδων MV || ἴχνι’ PM: ἴχνεα V
7. πρότερον: viz. 252 3 supra.
9. ἀναπαιστικῶν has been suggested here and in 260 2; but cp. δάκτυλον πόδα 84 21 and ῥυθμοῖς δακτύλοις 202 19.
10. παρ’ ὅ: cp. note on 80 4 supra.
11. νομίσῃ με: this (together with the other remarks that follow) confirms the reading adopted in 252 4 supra.—Dionysius’ metrical arrangement of the clauses may be indicated thus:—
μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίσῃ με
μήτ’ ἰδίας ἔχθρας μηδεμιᾶς ἕνεχ’
[ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα τουτουΐ,]
μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον ἁμάρτημα ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ
προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειαν·
ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἆρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ λογίζομαι [καὶ σκοπῶ,]
περὶ τοῦ Χερόνησον ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς ὑμᾶς
καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας
ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς,
[περὶ τούτου ἐστί μοι ἅπασα ἡ σπουδή.]
Lines, or truncated lines, of verse are thus interspersed with pieces of pure prose,—those here inclosed in brackets. In constituting the verse-lines Dionysius has damaged a rather strong case by overstating it.
21. διαλύσειε: from this it is clear that ἕνεχ’ (rather than ἕνεκα) should be read in 252 5. The verse-arrangement in line 25 infra shows the same thing and also that we must not follow F in reading μήτε (without elision) in 252 4.
27. For this line cp. Schneider’s Callimachea pp. 789, 790, where it is classed among the Fragmenta Anonyma.
καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔτι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ὑπολάβωμεν αὐτοματισμὸν ἄνευ
γνώμης γεγονέναι. ἀλλ’ ἑνὸς τοῦ μεταξὺ κώλου συγκειμένου
λεκτικῶς τοῦ “ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα
τουτουί” τὸ συμπλεκόμενον τούτῳ πάλιν κῶλον ἐκ δυεῖν συνέστηκεν
μέτρων· “μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον 5
ἁμάρτημα, ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ”· εἰ γὰρ τὸ
Σαπφικόν τις ἐπιθαλάμιον τουτί
οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀτέρα πάϊς, ὦ γαμβρέ, τοιαύτα ‹ποτα›
καὶ τοῦ κωμικοῦ τετραμέτρου, λεγομένου δὲ Ἀριστοφανείου
τουδί 10
ὅτ’ ἐγὼ τὰ δίκαια λέγων ἦνθουν καὶ σωφροσύνη ’νενόμιστο
τοὺς τελευταίους πόδας τρεῖς καὶ τὴν κατάληξιν ἐκλαβὼν
συνάψειε τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον
οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀτέρα πάϊς, ὦ γαμβρέ, τοιαύτα ‹ποτα› καὶ 15
σωφροσύνη ’νενόμιστο·
οὐδὲν διοίσει τοῦ “μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον
ἁμάρτημα, ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ.” τὸ δ’ ἀκόλουθον
ἴσον ἐστὶν ἰαμβικῷ τριμέτρῳ τὸν ἔσχατον ἀφῃρημένῳ πόδα
“προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειαν”· τέλειον γὰρ ἔσται 20
πόδα προσλαβὸν καὶ γενόμενον τοιοῦτο
προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειάν τινα.
παρίδωμεν ἔτι καὶ ταῦτα ὡς οὐκ ἐξ ἐπιτηδεύσεως ἀλλ’
αὐτοματισμῷ γενόμενα; τί οὖν βούλεται πάλιν τὸ προσεχὲς
τούτῳ κῶλον; ἰαμβεῖον γάρ ἐστι καὶ τοῦτο τρίμετρον ὀρθόν 25
ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἆρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὼ λογίζομαι,
τοῦ ἄρα συνδέσμου μακρὰν λαμβάνοντος τὴν πρότεραν συλλαβήν,
καὶ ἔτι γε, νὴ Δία, μέσου παρεμπεσόντος τοῦ “καὶ
Let us suppose that this, too, has happened once more in the same spontaneous way without design. Still, after one intermediate clause arranged in a prose order, viz. ἥκειν Ἀριστοκράτους κατηγορήσοντα τουτουί, the clause which is joined to this consists of two metrical lines, viz. μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον ἁμάρτημα ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ. For if we were to take this line from Sappho’s Bridal Song—
For never another maiden there was, O son-in-law, like unto
this one,187
and were also to take the last three feet and the termination of the following comic tetrameter, the so-called “Aristophanic”
When of righteousness I was the popular preacher, and temperance
was in fashion,188
and then were to unite them thus—
οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀτέρα πάις, ὦ γαμβρέ, τοιαύτα ‹ποτα› καὶ σωφροσύνη
’νενόμιστο,
it will precisely correspond to μήτε μικρὸν ὁρῶντά τι καὶ φαῦλον ἁμάρτημα, ἑτοίμως οὕτως ἐπὶ τούτῳ. What follows is like an iambic trimeter docked of its final foot, προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειαν. It will be complete if a foot is added and it takes this shape:—
προάγειν ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀπέχθειάν τινα.
Are we once more to neglect these facts as if they were brought about not on purpose but by accident? What, then, is the significance of the next clause to this? For this too is a correct iambic trimeter line—
ἀλλ’ εἴπερ ἆρ’ ὀρθῶς ἐγὸ λογίζομαι, if the connective ἄρα has its first syllable made long, and if further—by your leave!—the words καὶ σκοπῶ are regarded as
1 καὶ P: εἰ δὲ καὶ M: ἐὰν καὶ V 4 δυεῖν P: δυοῖν MV 5 μέτρων V et suprascr. ῥυθμῶν M: μερῶν P 6 εἰ γὰρ τὸ Sauppius: εἰ γέ τοι P: καὶ τὸ M: γάρ τοι V 7 τις PV: om. M 8 ἦν ἀτέρα] ἑτέρα νῦν PM: ἑτέραν ὗν V: correxit Blomfieldius: ἀτέρα Seidlerus || ποτα add. Usenerus 10-11 τοῦδε τοτ’ P, i.e. τουδεί ὅτ’: τοῦδε ὅτ’ MV 13 τοὺς PM: τούς τε V || ἐκλαβὼν Sauppius: ἐκβαλῶν P: ἐμβαλὼν MV 15 ἑτέρα νῦν PM: ἑτέραν ϋν V: cf. adnot. ad l. 8 supra 21 πόδα προσλαβὸν PM: προσλαβὸν πόδα V || τοιοῦτο P: τοιοῦτον MV 22 τινά PM: τινι V 24 γενόμεν(ον); P 25 ἰάμβιων P: ἰάμβειον MV 26 ἄρ’ P, V: ἄρα M 27 ἄρα compendio P
8. ‘For no other girl, O bridegroom, was like unto her.’—Usener’s insertion of ποτα, here and in l. 15 infra, will secure metrical correspondence between this passage and that of Demosthenes. Blass would attain the same result by reading ἁμάρτημ’ ἰταμῶς in the passage of Demosthenes. If ἁμάρτημ’ ἑτοίμως be read (as in the best texts of Demosthenes), then the choice will be to suppose either (1) that the first syllable of ἑτοίμως is to be suppressed in the ‘scansion’, or (2) that Dionysius has pressed his case too far and that it is just by means of this extra syllable that Demosthenes escapes any unduly poetical rhythm.
26. The scansion here supports those manuscripts which give ἆρ’ in 252 8.
For ἆρα as being “in Poets sometimes much like ἄρα” see L. & S. s.v. (with the examples there quoted).
28. νὴ Δία: cp. μὰ Δία in 260 25. The general sense of the passage is well brought out in the Epitome: καὶ ἔτι τὸ “καὶ σκοπῶ” παρεμπεσὸν ἐπισκοτούμενον τὸ μέτρον ἠφάνισε.
σκοπῶ,” ὑφ’ οὗ δὴ τὸ μέτρον ἐπισκοτούμενον ἠφάνισται. τὸ
δ’ ἐπὶ τούτῳ παραλαμβανόμενον κῶλον ἐξ ἀναπαίστων σύγκειται
ῥυθμῶν καὶ προάγει μέχρι ποδῶν ὀκτὼ τὸ αὐτὸ σχῆμα
διασῷζον
περὶ τοῦ Χερόνησον ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς ὑμᾶς καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας, 5
ὁμοίον τῷ παρ’ Εὐριπίδῃ τῷδε
βασιλεῦ χώρας τῆς πολυβώλου
Κισσεῦ, πεδίον πυρὶ μαρμαίρει.
καὶ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο πάλιν κείμενον τοῦ αὐτοῦ κώλου μέρος 10
τουτί “ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς” ἰαμβικὸν τρίμετρόν
ἐστι ποδὶ καὶ ἡμίσει λειπόμενον· ἐγένετο δ’ ἂν τέλειον οὕτως
ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς ἐν μέρει.
ταῦτ’ ἔτι φῶμεν αὐτοσχέδια εἶναι καὶ ἀνεπιτήδευτα, οὕτω
ποικίλα καὶ πολλὰ ὄντα; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἀξιῶ· καὶ γὰρ τὰ 15
ἑξῆς τούτοις ὅμοια εὑρεῖν ἔστι, πολλῶν καὶ παντοδαπῶν
ἀνάμεστα μέτρων τε καὶ ῥυθμῶν.
ἀλλ’ ἵνα μὴ τοῦτον ὑπολάβῃ τις μόνον οὕτως αὐτῷ
κατεσκευάσθαι τὸν λόγον, ἑτέρου πάλιν ἅψομαι τοῦ πάνυ
ἡρμηνεῦσθαι δαιμονίως δοκοῦντος, τοῦ ὑπὲρ Κτησιφῶντος, ὃν 20
ἐγὼ κράτιστον ἀποφαίνομαι πάντων λόγων· ὁρῶ δὴ κἀν
τούτῳ μετὰ τὴν προσαγόρευσιν τῶν Ἀθηναίων εὐθέως τὸν
κρητικὸν ῥυθμόν, εἴτε ἄρα παιᾶνά τις αὐτὸν βούλεται καλεῖν
(διοίσει γὰρ οὐδέν), τὸν ἐκ πέντε συγκείμενον χρόνων, οὐκ
αὐτοσχεδίως μὰ Δία ἀλλ’ ὡς οἷόν τε μάλιστα ἐπιτετηδευμένως 25
δι’ ὅλου τοῦ κώλου πλεκόμενον τούτου
τοῖς θεοῖς εὔχομαι πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις.
οὐ τοιοῦτος μέντοι κἀκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ῥυθμός
an intermediate excrescence by means of which the metre is obscured and vanishes from sight. The clause placed next to this is composed of anapaestic feet, and extends to eight feet, still keeping the same form:—
πρὸ τοῦ Χερόνησον ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς ὑμᾶς καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας, like to this in Euripides—
O King of the country with harvests teeming,
O Cisseus, the plain with a fire is gleaming.189
And the part of the same clause which comes next to it—ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς—is an iambic trimeter short of a foot and a half. It would have been complete in this form—
ἀποστερηθῆναι πάλιν αὐτῆς ἐν μέρει.
Are we to say that these effects too are spontaneous and unstudied, many and various as they are? I cannot think so; for it is easy to see that the clauses which follow are similarly full of many metres and rhythms of all kinds.
But lest it be thought that he has constructed this speech alone in this way, I will touch on another where the style is admitted to show astonishing genius, that on behalf of Ctesiphon, which I pronounce to be the finest of all speeches. In this, too, immediately after the address to the Athenians, I notice that the cretic foot, or the paeon if you like to call it so (for it will make no difference),—the one which consists of five time-units,—is interwoven, not fortuitously (save the mark!) but with the utmost deliberation right through the clause—
τοῖς θεοῖς εὔχομαι πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις.190
Is not the following rhythm of the same kind—
4 διασωῖζον P 5 χερόνησον P: χερρόνησον MV 7 τῷδε Us.: τῶι P, M: ὦ V 8 βασιλεῦ MV: βασιλεῖ P 9 πεδίον MV: παιδι(ον) P 10 μέρος om. P 11 τρίμετρον MV: μέτρον P 12 λειπόμενον Us.: λεῖπον libri 14 ταῦτ’ ἔτι Us.: ταῦτα τί PMV: ταυτὶ s 15 καὶ πολλὰ om. P 17 ἀνάμεστα MV: ἀναλύεσθαι P 18 οὕτως αὐτῷ Us.: οὕτω MV: αὐτ(ω) P 23 βούλεται αὐτὸν PV 26 τούτου Us.: τοῦτον libri
5. Here, again, is a serious metrical difficulty. We can hardly believe that Dionysius scanned ἀσφαλῶς (or βεβαίως) as an anapaest: it is more likely that he regarded the middle syllable of ἀσφαλῶς as slurred (compare note on 258 8 supra, and also the reading λιποῦσ’ ἀνδρότητα καὶ ἥβην in Il. xvi. 857).—If (against the manuscripts) we should omit ἀσφαλῶς and read περὶ τοῦ τὴν Χερρόννησον ἔχειν ὑμᾶς καὶ μὴ παρακρουσθέντας, the metre would be comparatively normal.
12. A comparison of this line with 256 9 seems to confirm the conjecture λειπόμενον, though λείπω is sometimes intransitive.
13. A rude iambic trimeter of the colloquial kind: cp. 258 26 supra.
26. The metrical analysis of the following passage of Demosthenes should be compared and contrasted with its previous division into feet—on 182 17 ff.
27. A rough metrical equivalent in English might be: ‘Hear me, each god on high, hear me, each goddess.’ Cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 63 (as quoted on 114 20 supra).—Demosthenes’ much-admired exordium in the Crown may be compared with the Homeric invocation—
κέκλυτέ μευ πάντες τε θεοί, πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι.
Κρησίοις ἐν ῥυθμοῖς παῖδα μέλψωμεν;
ἐμοὶ γοῦν δοκεῖ· ἔξω γὰρ τοῦ τελευταίου ποδὸς τά γε ἄλλα
παντάπασιν ἴσα. ἔστω καὶ τοῦτο, εἰ βούλεταί τις, αὐτοσχέδιον·
ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ συναπτόμενον τούτῳ κῶλον ἰαμβεῖόν
ἐστιν ὀρθόν, συλλαβῇ τοῦ τελείου δέον, ἵνα δὴ κἀνταῦθα 5
ἄσημον γένηται τὸ μέτρον, ἐπεὶ μιᾶς γε συλλαβῆς προστεθείσης
τέλειον ἔσται
“ὅσην εὔνοιαν ἔχων ἐγὼ διατελῶ.”
κἄπειτα ὁ παιὰν ἢ ὁ κρητικὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πεντάχρονος ἥξει
ῥυθμὸς ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς τούτοις “τῇ πόλει καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν 10
τοσαύτην ὑπάρξαι μοι παρ’ ὑμῶν εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν
ἀγῶνα.” τοῦτο γοῦν ἔοικεν, ὅ τι μὴ κατακλωμένους ἔχει
δύο πόδας ἐν ἀρχαῖς, κατὰ γοῦν τὰ ἄλλα πάντα τῷ παρὰ
Βακχυλίδῃ
οὐχ ἕδρας ἔργον οὐδ’ ἀμβολᾶς, 15
ἀλλὰ χρυσαίγιδος Ἰτωνίας
χρὴ παρ’ εὐδαίδαλον ναὸν ἐλ-
θόντας ἁβρόν τι δεῖξαι.
ὑφορῶμαί τινα πρὸς ταῦτα καταδρομὴν ἀνθρώπων τῆς
μὲν ἐγκυκλίου παιδείας ἀπείρων, τὸ δὲ ἀγοραῖον τῆς ῥητορικῆς 20
μέρος ὁδοῦ τε καὶ τέχνης χωρὶς ἐπιτηδευόντων, πρὸς οὓς
ἀναγκαῖον ἀπολογήσασθαι, μὴ δόξωμεν ἔρημον ἀφεικέναι τὸν
ἀγῶνα. ἐροῦσι δὴ ταῦτα· ὁ Δημοσθένης οὖν οὕτως ἄθλιος
Cretan strains practising, Zeus’s son sing we?191
In my judgment, at all events, it is; for with the exception of the final foot there is complete correspondence. But suppose this too, if you will have it so, to be accidental. Well, the adjacent clause is a correct iambic line, falling one syllable short of completion, with the object (here again) of obscuring the metre. With the addition of a single syllable the line will be complete—
ὅσην εὔνοιαν ἔχων ἐγὼ διατελῶ.
Further, that paeon or cretic rhythm of five beats will appear in the words which follow: τῇ πόλει καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν τοσαύτην ὑπάρξαι μοι παρ’ ὑμῶν εἰς τουτονὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα. This, except that it has two broken feet at the beginnings, resembles in all respects the passage in Bacchylides:—
This is no time to sit still nor wait:
Unto yon carven shrine let us go,
Even gold-aegis’d Queen Pallas’ shrine,
And the rich vesture there show.192
I have a presentiment that an onslaught will be made on these statements by people who are destitute of general culture and practise the mechanical parts of rhetoric unmethodically and unscientifically. Against these I am bound to defend my position, lest I should seem to let the case go by default. Their argument will doubtless be: “Was Demosthenes, then, so poor a creature
3 παντάπασιν Us.: ἐν ἁπάση PM: ἐν πᾶσιν V || ἴσα ἔστω· PM: ἴσα ὥρισται V 4 ἀλλὰ] μάλα P || ἰαμβι(ον) P: ἰαμβικὸν MV 10 τῇ τε πόλει Demosth. 11 ὑπάρξαί μοι P 12 κατ(α)κλ(ω)μεν(ως) P: κατακλώμενος M: κατακεκλωμένους V: κατακεκλασμένους Sylburgius 13 τῷ V: τὸ PM 15 ἀμβολας P: ἀμβολὰς V 22 ἀναγκαίωνον P: ἀναγκαῖόν μοι M || δόξομ(εν) P || ἀφεικέναι MV: ἀφηκέναι P
1. ῥυθμοῖς: with the first syllable short, as (e.g.) in Aristoph. Nub. 638. As already pointed out, the lengthening of such syllables would be abnormal in prose. Cp. mediocriter in the passage of Cicero on p. 251 supra.
7. Dionysius can surely only mean that we have here the materials, so to say, for an iambic line, and that but one additional syllable is needed (e.g. the substitution of διατελέω for διατελῶ). He can hardly have intended to retain εὔνοιαν in its present position, but must have had in mind some such order as ὅσην ἔχων εὔνοιαν. His language, however, has subjected him to grave suspicion, and Usener reads ἔγωγε in place of ἐγώ, remarking that “Dionysius numerorum in verbo εὔνοιαν vitium non sensit.” This particular insensibility of Dionysius does not seem borne out by 182 22 supra (see note ad loc.), where the last, but not the first, syllable of εὔνοιαν is represented as doubtful.
12. Here, too, there are metrical difficulties. The close correspondence of which Dionysius speaks is not obvious; and, in particular, the reference of ἐν ἀρχαῖς is far from clear. According to Usener, “Dionysius pedes τῇ πόλει καὶ et (τοσαύ)την ὑπάρξαι dicit.” Perhaps the ἀρχαί rather are: (1) τῇ [τε] πόλει (if the τε be added, in l. 10, from Demosthenes), and (2) [καὶ] πᾶσιν ὑμ-.
14. See Long. de Sublim. xxxiii. 3 for an estimate of Bacchylides’ poetry which has been confirmed by the general character of the newly discovered poems (first published by Kenyon in 1897).
15. The prose translation of this hyporcheme, as given in Jebb’s edition (p. 416), is: “This is no time for sitting still or tarrying: we must go to the richly-wrought temple of Itona [viz. Athena Itonia] with golden aegis, and show forth some choice strain of song”: δεῖξαι ‹μέλος›. Jebb’s notes (pp. 415, 416 ibid.) may be consulted.
19. καταδρομήν, ‘vehement attack,’ ‘invective.’ Used in this sense by Aeschines and Polybius, as well as by Dionysius (e.g. de Thucyd. c. 3 ἔστι δὴ τὸ βούλημά μου τῆς πραγματείας οὐ καταδρομὴ τῆς Θουκυδίδου προαιρέσεώς τε καὶ δυνάμεως). Cp. the verb κατατρέχειν, and D.H. p. 194; and our own use of ‘run down.’
22. ἔρημον: cp. de Antiqq. Rom. iv. 4 ἐὰν δὲ ἐρήμους ἀφῶσιν (τὰς κρίσεις), and iv. 11 ibid. τάς τε δίκας ἐρήμους ἐκλιπόντας.
23. With this and the following pages should be compared the later version found in the de Demosth. cc. 51, 52. There ἄθλιος (which in itself as a good prose word, used frequently by Demosthenes himself as well as by Dionysius 94 11 supra) is represented by κακοδαίμων. The Philistine critics of Dionysius’ day, and indeed of that of Demosthenes, regarded the capacity for taking pains as anything but a necessary adjunct of genius: cp. Plut. Vit. Demosth. c. 8 ἐκ τούτου δόξαν ἔσχεν ὡς οὐκ εὐφυὴς ὤν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ πόνου συγκειμένῃ δεινότητι καὶ δυνάμει χρώμενος. ἐδόκει δὲ τούτου σημεῖον εἶναι μέγα τὸ μὴ ῥᾳδίως ἀκοῦσαί τινα Δημοσθένους ἐπὶ καιροῦ λέγοντος, ἀλλὰ καθήμενον ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ πολλάκις τοῦ δήμου καλοῦντος ὀνομαστὶ μὴ παρελθεῖν, εἰ μὴ τύχοι πεφροντικὼς καὶ παρεσκευασμένος. εἰς τοῦτο δ’ ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ τῶν δημαγωγῶν ἐχλεύαζον αὐτὸν καὶ Πυθέας ἐπισκώπτων ἐλλυχνίων ἔφησεν ὄζειν αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐνθυμήματα. The really artistic Athens had, as Dionysius so forcibly indicates in this passage, always considered as a crime not preparation, but the want of preparation.
ἦν, ὥσθ’, ὅτε γράφοι τοὺς λόγους, μέτρα καὶ ῥυθμοὺς ὥσπερ
οἱ πλάσται παρατιθέμενος, ἐναρμόττειν ἐπειρᾶτο τούτοις τοῖς
τύποις τὰ κῶλα, στρέφων ἄνω καὶ κάτω τὰ ὀνόματα, καὶ
παραφυλάττων τὰ μήκη καὶ τοὺς χρόνους, καὶ τὰς πτώσεις
τῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ τὰς ἐγκλίσεις τῶν ῥημάτων καὶ πάντα τὰ 5
συμβεβηκότα τοῖς μορίοις τοῦ λόγου πολυπραγμονῶν; ἠλίθιος
μέντἂν εἴη εἰς τοσαύτην σκευωρίαν καὶ φλυαρίαν ὁ τηλικοῦτος
ἀνὴρ ἑαυτὸν διδούς. ταῦτα δὴ καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια
κωμῳδοῦντας αὐτοὺς καὶ καταχλευάζοντας οὐ χαλεπῶς ἄν
τις ἀποκρούσαιτο ταῦτα εἰπών· πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄτοπον 10
ἦν, εἰ ‹ὁ› τοσαύτης δόξης ἠξιωμένος ἀνὴρ ὅσης οὐδεὶς τῶν
πρότερον ὀνομασθέντων ἐπὶ δεινότητι λόγων, ἔργα συνταττόμενος
αἰώνια καὶ διδοὺς ἑαυτὸν ὑπεύθυνον τῷ πάντα βασανίζοντι
φθόνῳ καὶ χρόνῳ ἐβουλήθη μηδὲν εἰκῇ μήτε πρᾶγμα παραλαμβάνειν
μήτ’ ὄνομα, πολλὴν δ’ ἀμφοῖν ἔχειν τούτων 15
πρόνοιαν τῆς τε ἐν τοῖς νοήμασιν οἰκονομίας καὶ τῆς εὐμορφίας
τῆς περὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, ἄλλως τε καὶ τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων οὐ
γραπτοῖς ἀλλὰ γλυπτοῖς καὶ τορευτοῖς ἐοικότας ἐκφερόντων
λόγους, λέγω δὲ Ἰσοκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος τῶν σοφιστῶν·
ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸν πανηγυρικὸν λόγον, ὡς οἱ τὸν ἐλάχιστον 20
χρόνον γράφοντες ἀποφαίνουσιν, ἐν ἔτεσι δέκα συνετάξατο, ὁ
δὲ Πλάτων τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ διαλόγους κτενίζων καὶ βοστρυχίζων
καὶ πάντα τρόπον ἀναπλέκων οὐ διέλειπεν ὀγδοήκοντα
γεγονὼς ἔτη· πᾶσι γὰρ δήπου τοῖς φιλολόγοις γνώριμα τὰ
περὶ τῆς φιλοπονίας τἀνδρὸς ἱστορούμενα τά τε ἄλλα καὶ 25
δὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν δέλτον, ἣν τελευτήσαντος αὐτοῦ λέγουσιν
that, whenever he was writing his speeches, he would work in metres and rhythms after the fashion of clay-modellers, and would try to fit his clauses into these moulds, shifting the words to and fro, keeping an anxious eye on his longs and shorts, and fretting himself about cases of nouns, moods of verbs, and all the accidents of the parts of speech? So great a man would be a fool indeed were he to stoop to all this niggling and peddling.” If they scoff and jeer in these or similar terms, they may easily be countered by the following reply: First, it is not surprising after all that a man who is held to deserve a greater reputation than any of his predecessors who were distinguished for eloquence was anxious, when composing eternal works and submitting himself to the scrutiny of all-testing envy and time, not to admit either subject or word at random, and to attend carefully to both arrangement of ideas and beauty of words: particularly as the authors of that day were producing discourses which suggested not writing but carving and chasing—those, I mean, of the sophists Isocrates and Plato. For the former spent ten years over the composition of his Panegyric, according to the lowest recorded estimate of the time; while Plato did not cease, when eighty years old, to comb and curl his dialogues and reshape them in every way. Surely every scholar is acquainted with the stories of Plato’s passion for taking pains, especially that of the tablet which they say was found after his
1 ὥσθ’] ὥστ’ ἔστιν M || ὅτε compendio P: ὅταν MV || γράφη MV 4 τὰ μήκη... ὀνομάτων om. P 8 διδουσα· P 10 ᾱ μὲν P 11 ὁ inseruit Sadaeus (coll. commentario de adm. vi dic. in Dem. c. 51) 13 διδοῦσ(ιν) P || ἑαυτὸν EM: αὐτὸν PV 14 φθόνω καὶ χρόνω PMV: χρόνῳ E || ἠβουλήθη E: om. PMV || εἰκῆι P 20 μὲν γὰρ MV: μέν γε EP 21 ἀποφαίνουσιν, ἐν MV: om. EP || συνετάξαντο V 23 διέλειπεν PM: διέλιπεν EV 24 γνώριμα PV: γνώρισμα E: γνωρίσματα M
4. τὰ μήκη: we cannot (for example) imagine Thucydides as anxiously counting the long syllables that find a place in his striking dictum οὕτως ἀταλαίπωρος τοῖς πολλοῖς ἡ ζήτησις τῆς ἀληθείας (i. 20). But they are there, all the same, and add greatly to the dignity of the utterance.
6. ἠλίθιος: a slight word-play on ἄθλιος in 262 23 supra may be intended.
14. φθόνῳ καὶ χρόνῳ: the word-play might be represented in English by some such rendering as “submitting himself to the revision of those scrutineers of all immortality, the tooth of envy and the tooth of time,” or (simply) “envious tongues and envious time.” To such jingles Dionysius shows himself partial in the C.V. (cp. note on 64 11 supra). It may be that, in his essay on Demosthenes, he omits the words φθόνῳ καί deliberately and on the grounds of taste; but the later version differs so greatly from the earlier that not much significance can be attached to slight variations of this kind.
18. γραπτοῖς, ‘mere mechanical writing,’ ‘scratching,’ ‘scribbling.’
21. For this period of ten years cp. Long. de Sublim. iv. 2, and also Quintil. x. 4. 4. Quintilian writes: “temporis quoque esse debet modus. nam quod Cinnae Smyrnam novem annis accepimus scriptam, et Panegyricum Isokratis, qui parcissime, decem annis dicunt elaboratum, ad oratorem nihil pertinet, cuius nullum erit, si tam tardum fuerit, auxilium.” In using the words “qui parcissime” Quintilian may have had the present passage of the C.V. in mind.
26. δέλτον, ‘tablet’: originally so called because of its delta-like, or triangular, shape.
εὑρεθῆναι ποικίλως μετακειμένην τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Πολιτείας
ἔχουσαν τήνδε “Κατέβην χθὲς εἰς Πειραιᾶ μετὰ Γλαύκωνος
τοῦ Ἀρίστωνος.” τί οὖν ἦν ἄτοπον, εἰ καὶ Δημοσθένει
φροντὶς εὐφωνίας τε καὶ ἐμμελείας ἐγένετο καὶ τοῦ μηδὲν
εἰκῇ καὶ ἀβασανίστως τιθέναι μήτε ὄνομα μήτε νόημα; πολύ 5
τε γὰρ μᾶλλον ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ προσήκειν ἀνδρὶ κατασκευάζοντι
λόγους πολιτικοὺς μνημεῖα τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως αἰώνια μηδενὸς
τῶν ἐλαχίστων ὀλιγωρεῖν, ἢ ζῳγράφων τε καὶ τορευτῶν
παισὶν ἐν ὕλῃ φθαρτῇ χειρῶν εὐστοχίας καὶ πόνους ἀποδεικνυμένοις
περὶ τὰ φλέβια καὶ τὰ πτίλα καὶ τὸν χνοῦν καὶ 10
τὰς τοιαύτας μικρολογίας κατατρίβειν τῆς τέχνης τὴν ἀκρίβειαν.
τούτοις τε δὴ τοῖς λόγοις χρώμενος δοκεῖ μοί τις ἂν οὐδὲν
ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἀξιοῦν καὶ ἔτι ἐκεῖνα εἰπών, ὅτι μειράκιον
μὲν ὄντα καὶ νεωστὶ τοῦ μαθήματος ἁπτόμενον αὐτὸν οὐκ
ἄλογον πάντα περισκοπεῖν, ὅσα δυνατὰ ἦν εἰς ἐπιτήδευσιν 15
death, with the beginning of the Republic (“I went down yesterday to the Piraeus together with Glaucon the son of Ariston”193) arranged in elaborately varying orders. What wonder, then, if Demosthenes also was careful to secure euphony and melody and to employ no random or untested word or thought? For it appears to me far more reasonable for a man who is composing public speeches, eternal memorials of his own powers, to attend even to the slightest details, than it is for the disciples of painters and workers in relief, who display the dexterity and industry of their hands in a perishable medium, to expend the finished resources of their art on veins and down and bloom and similar minutiae.
These arguments seem to me to make no unreasonable claim; and we may further add that though when Demosthenes was a lad, and had but recently taken up the study of rhetoric, he naturally had to ask himself consciously what the effects attainable
3 Ἀρίστωνος] κεφάλου P 4 εὐμελείας M1 5 εἰκῆι P || νόημα Schaeferus (dittographiam suspicatus et coll. 264 16, 66 5): μήτ’ (μήτε V) ἐννόημα MV: om. P 9 ἀποδεικνομένοις Us.: ὑποδεικνυμένοις libri 10 φλέβια PMV: φλεβία E 12 τούτοις τε PM: τούτοις V || τις ἂν PM: τις V
2. Demetrius (de Eloc. § 21) calls attention to the studied ease and intentional laxity of the opening period of the Republic: “The period of dialogue is one which remains lax, and is also simpler than the historical. It scarcely betrays the fact that it is a period. For instance: ‘I went down to the Piraeus,’ as far as the words ‘since they were now celebrating it for the first time.’ Here the clauses are flung one upon the other as in the disjointed style, and when we reach the end we hardly realize that the words form a period” (see also § 205 ibid.). In the passage of Dionysius it may well be meant that the words whose order was changed by Plato were not merely κατέβην... Ἀρίστωνος, but the sentence, or sentences, which these introduce. (Usener suggests that P’s reading Κεφάλου points to a longer quotation than that actually found in existing manuscripts; and Persius’ Arma virum, and Cicero’s O Tite, i.e. the De Senectute, may be recalled.) Quintilian, however, seems to think that the first four words only, or chiefly, are meant: though the possible permutations of these are few and would hardly need to be written down. He says (Inst. Or. viii. 6. 64): “nec aliud potest sermonem facere numerosum quam opportuna ordinis permutatio; neque alio ceris Platonis inventa sunt quattuor illa verba, quibus in illo pulcherrimo operum in Piraeeum se descendisse significat, plurimis modis scripta, quam quod eum quoque maxime facere experiretur.” Diog. Laert. iii. 37 makes a more general statement: Εὐφορίων δὲ καὶ Παναίτιος εἰρήκασι πολλάκις ἐστραμμένην εὑρῆσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Πολιτείας. But be the words few or many, the main point is that trouble of this kind was reckoned an artistic (and even a patriotic) duty. Upton has stated the case well, in reference to Cicero’s anxiety to express the words ‘to the Piraeus’ in good Latin: “Quod si Platonis haec industria quibusdam curiosa nimis et sollicita videtur, ut quae nec aetati tanti viri, nec officio congruat: quid Cicero itidem fecerit, quantum latinitatis curam gravissimis etiam reipublicae negotiis districtus habuerit, in memoriam revocent. is annum iam agens sexagesimum, inter medios civilium bellorum tumultus, qui a Caesare Pompeioque excitarentur, cum nesciret, quo mittenda esset uxor, quo liberi; quem ad locum se reciperet, missis ad Atticum litteris [ad Att. vii. 3], ab eo doceri, an esset scribendum, ad Piraeea, in Piraeea, an in Piraeum, an Piraeum sine praepositione, impensius rogabat. quae res etsi levior, et grammaticis propria, patrem eloquentiae temporibus etiam periculosissimis adeo exercuit, ut haec verba, quae amicum exstimularent, addiderit: Si hoc mihi ζήτημα persolveris, magna me molestia liberaris.” Nor was Julius Caesar less scrupulous in such matters than Cicero himself: their styles, different as they are, agree in exhibiting the fastidiousness of literary artists. Compare the modern instances mentioned in Long. p. 33, to which may be added that of Luther as described by Spalding: “non dubito narrare in Bibliotheca nostrae urbis regia servari chirographum Martini Lutheri, herois nostri, in quo exstat initium versionis Psalmorum mirifice et ipsum immutatum et subterlitum, ad conciliandos orationi, quamquam salutae, numeros.” See also Byron’s Letters (ed. Prothero) Nos. 247-255 and passim, and Antoine Albalat’s Le Travail du style enseigné par les corrections manuscrites des grands écrivains, passim.
8. τῶν ἐλαχίστων: an interesting addition is made in the de Demosth. c. 51 πολιτικὸς δ’ ἄρα δημιουργός, πάντας ὑπεράρας τοὺς καθ’ αὑτὸν φύσει τε καὶ πόνῳ, τῶν ἐλαχίστων τινὸς εἰς τὸ εὖ λέγειν, εἰ δὴ καὶ ταῦτα ἐλάχιστα, ὠλιγώρησε.
9. ἐνδεικνυμένοις may perhaps be suggested in place of ἀποδεικνυμένοις: cp. de Demosth. c. 51 οὐ γὰρ δή τοι πλάσται μὲν καὶ γραφεῖς ἐν ὕλῃ φθαρτῇ χειρῶν εὐστοχίας ἐνδεικνύμενοι τοσούτους εἰσφέρονται πόνους, ὥστε κτλ. If, on the other hand, ὑποδεικνυμένοις be retained, we may perhaps translate ‘pupils who have exercises in manual dexterity, and studies of veins, etc., given them to copy (cp. ὑπόδειγμα).’—With χειρῶν εὐστοχίας cp. χερὸς εὐστοχίαν (‘well-aimed shafts’) in Eurip. Troad. 811.
10. τὸν χνοῦν: cp. Hor. Ars P. 32 “Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues | exprimet et molles imitabitur aere capillos, | infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum | nesciet.” χνοῦς is the ‘lanugo plumea.’ Cp. de Demosth. c. 38 χνοῦς ἀρχαιοπινής.
11. κατατρίβειν κτλ. = κατατήκειν εἰς ταῦτα τὰς τέχνας, de Demosth. c. 51.
15. After ἄλογον, ἦν may be inserted with Sauppe, who compares de Demosth. c. 52 ὅτι μειράκιον μὲν ἔτι ὄντα καὶ νεωστὶ τοῦ μαθήματος ἁπτόμενον αὐτὸν οὐκ ἄλογον ἦν καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τἆλλα πάντα διὰ πολλῆς ἐπιμελείας τε καὶ φροντίδος ἔχειν. But the verb may have been omitted in the C.V. in order to avoid its repetition with ὅσα δυνατὰ ἦν.
ἀνθρωπίνην πεσεῖν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡ χρόνιος ἄσκησις ἰσχὺν
πολλὴν λαβοῦσα τύπους τινὰς ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ παντὸς τοῦ
μελετωμένου καὶ σφραγῖδας ἐνεποίησεν, ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου τε
καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἕξεως αὐτὰ ἤδη ποιεῖν. οἷόν τι γίνεται κἀν
ταῖς ἄλλαις τέχναις, ὧν ἐνέργειά τις ἢ ποίησις τὸ τέλος· 5
αὐτίκα οἱ κιθαρίζειν τε καὶ ψάλλειν καὶ αὐλεῖν ἄκρως εἰδότες
ὅταν κρούσεως ἀκούσωσιν ἀσυνήθους, οὐ πολλὰ πραγματευθέντες
ἀπαριθμοῦσιν αὐτὴν εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ὀργάνων ἅμα
νοήσει· μανθάνοντες δέ γε χρόνῳ τε πολλῷ καὶ πόνῳ τὰς
δυνάμεις τῶν φθόγγων ἀναλαμβάνουσιν, καὶ οὐκ εὐθὺς αἱ 10
χεῖρες αὐτῶν ἐν ἕξει τοῦ δρᾶν τὰ παραγγελλόμενα ἦσαν, ὀψὲ
δέ ποτε καὶ ὅτε ἡ πολλὴ ἄσκησις αὐταῖς εἰς φύσεως ἰσχὺν
κατέστησε τὸ ἔθος, τότε τῶν ἔργων ἐγένοντο ἐπιτυχεῖς. καὶ
τί δεῖ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων λέγειν; ὃ γὰρ ἅπαντες ἴσμεν, ἀπόχρη
καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτῶν διακόψαι τὴν φλυαρίαν. τί δ’ ἐστὶ τοῦτο; 15
τὰ γράμματα ὅταν παιδευώμεθα, πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ὀνόματα
αὐτῶν ἐκμανθάνομεν, ἔπειτα τοὺς τύπους καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις,
εἶθ’ οὕτω τὰς συλλαβὰς καὶ τὰ ἐν ταύταις πάθη, καὶ μετὰ
τοῦτο ἤδη τὰς λέξεις καὶ τὰ συμβεβηκότα αὐταῖς, ἐκτάσεις
τε λέγω καὶ συστολὰς καὶ προσῳδίας καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια 20
τούτοις· ὅταν δὲ τὴν τούτων ἐπιστήμην λάβωμεν, τότε
ἀρχόμεθα γράφειν τε καὶ ἀναγινώσκειν, κατὰ συλλαβὴν
‹μὲν› καὶ βραδέως τὸ πρῶτον· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὁ χρόνος ἀξιόλογος
προσελθὼν τύπους ἰσχυροὺς αὐτῶν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς
ἡμῶν ἐμποιήσῃ, τότε ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥᾴστου δρῶμεν αὐτὰ καὶ πᾶν 25
ὅ τι ἂν ἐπιδῷ τις βιβλίον ἀπταίστως διερχόμεθα ἕξει τε
καὶ τάχει ἀπίστῳ. τοιοῦτο δὴ καὶ περὶ τὴν σύνθεσιν τῶν
ὀνομάτων καὶ περὶ τὴν εὐέπειαν τῶν κώλων ὑποληπτέον
γίνεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς ἀθληταῖς τοῦ ἔργου. τοὺς δὲ τούτου
by human skill were, yet when long training had issued in perfect mastery, and had graven on his mind forms and impressions of all that he had practised, he henceforth produced his effects with the utmost ease from sheer force of habit. Something similar occurs in the other arts whose end is activity or production. For example, when accomplished players on the lyre, the harp, or the flute hear an unfamiliar tune, they no sooner grasp it than with little trouble they run over it on the instrument themselves. They have mastered the values of the notes after much toiling and moiling, and so can reproduce them. Their hands were not at the outset in condition to do what was bidden them; they attained command of this accomplishment only after much time, when ample training had converted custom into second nature.
Why pursue the subject? A fact familiar to all of us is enough to silence these quibblers. What may this be? When we are taught to read, first we learn off the names of the letters, then their forms and their values, then in due course syllables and their modifications, and finally words and their properties, viz. lengthenings and shortenings, accents, and the like. After acquiring the knowledge of these things, we begin to write and read, syllable by syllable and slowly at first. And when the lapse of a considerable time has implanted the forms of words firmly in our minds, then we deal with them without the least difficulty, and whenever any book is placed in our hands we go through it without stumbling, and with incredible facility and speed. We must suppose that something of this kind happens in the case of the trained exponent of the literary profession as regards the arrangement of words and the euphony of clauses. And it is not unnatural that those who
1 πεσεῖν EP: ἐλθεῖν MV 3 σφαγίδας P: σφραγίδας V 4 ᾔδει ποιεῖν E 8 ἅμα Us.: ἀλλὰ PMV1: ἀλλὰ καὶ V2 21 δὲ EM: τε PV 23 μὲν inseruit Sadaeus coll. comment. de Demosth. c. 52 || ἐπειδὰν E: ἐπεὶ PV: ἔπειτα M 25 ποιήση EM1: ποιήσει PM2V 27 τοιοῦτο EM: τοιούτω P: τοιοῦτον V 29 τοὺς... ἀπείρους E: τοῖς... ἀπείροις PMV
3. ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου: cp. ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥᾴστου l. 25 infra.
5. Dionysius is thinking of Aristot. Eth. Nic. i. 1 διαφορὰ δέ τις φαίνεται τῶν τελῶν· τὰ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐνέργειαι, τὰ δὲ παρ’ αὐτὰς ἔργα τινά. ὧν δ’ εἰσὶ τέλη τινὰ παρὰ τὰς πράξεις, ἐν τούτοις βελτίω πέφυκε τῶν ἐνεργείων τὰ ἔργα.
8. If ἀλλὰ νοήσει be retained, the meaning will be ‘not with much trouble, but by means of their acquired skill.’ But ἅμα νοήσει derives support from the parallel passages in de Demosth. c. 52 ἅμα νοήσει [νοήσει Sylburg, for the manuscript reading νοήσεις] and ὥστε ἅμα νοήσει κεκριμένον τε καὶ ἄπταιστον αὐτῆς εἶναι τὸ ἔργον.
16. Referring to this description in the Cambridge Companion to Greek Studies p. 507, the late Dr. A. S. Wilkins remarks: “Some have supposed that Dionysius here describes the method of acquiring the power of reading, not by learning the names of the letters first, but by learning their powers, so combining them at once into syllables. But this is hardly consistent with his language, and is directly contradicted by a passage in Athenaeus, which tells how there was a kind of chant used in schools:—βῆτα ἄλφα βα, βῆτα εἶ βε, etc. A terracotta plate found in Attica, doubtless intended for use in schools, contains a number of syllables αρ βαρ γαρ δαρ ερ βερ γερ δερ κτλ.”
26. ἀπταίστως: Usener reads ἀπταίστῳ. But the adverb goes better with διερχόμεθα than the adjective would with ἕξει τε καὶ τάχει. Cp. de Demosth. c. 51 (the later version of the present passage) ἀπταίστως τε καὶ κατὰ πολλὴν εὐπέτειαν, and Plato Theaet. 144 B ὁ δὲ οὕτω λείως τε καὶ ἀπταίστως καὶ ἀνυσίμως ἔρχεται ἐπὶ τὰς μαθήσεις τε καὶ ζητήσεις μετὰ πολλῆς πρᾳότητος, οἷον ἐλαίου ῥεῦμα ἀψοφητὶ ῥέοντος (these last words are echoed in the de Demosth. c. 20).
29. ἀθληταῖς: cp. de Demosth. c. 18 καίτοι γε τοῖς ἀθληταῖς τῆς ἀληθινῆς λέξεως ἰσχυρὰς τὰς ἁφὰς προσεῖναι δεῖ καὶ ἀφύκτους τὰς λαβάς, and de Isocr. c. 11 fin.; also δεινοὺς ἀγωνιστάς 282 3 infra.
ἀπείρους ἢ ἀτριβεῖς ἔργου ὁτουοῦν θαυμάζειν καὶ ἀπιστεῖν,
εἴ τι κεκρατημένως ὑφ’ ἑτέρου γίνεται διὰ τέχνης, οὐκ ἄλογον.
πρὸς μὲν οὖν τοὺς εἰωθότας χλευάζειν τὰ παραγγέλματα τῶν
τεχνῶν ταῦτα εἰρήσθω.
XXVI
περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐμμελοῦς τε καὶ ἐμμέτρου συνθέσεως τῆς 5
ἐχούσης πολλὴν ὁμοιότητα πρὸς τὴν πεζὴν λέξιν τοιαῦτά
τινα λέγειν ἔχω, ὡς πρώτη μέν ἐστιν αἰτία κἀνταῦθα τὸν
αὐτὸν τρόπον ὅνπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀμέτρου ποιητικῆς ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων
αὐτῶν ἁρμογή, δευτέρα δὲ ἡ τῶν κώλων σύνθεσις, τρίτη
δὲ ἡ τῶν περιόδων συμμετρία. τὸν δὴ βουλόμενον ἐν τούτῳ 10
τῷ μέρει κατορθοῦν τὰ τῆς λέξεως μόρια δεῖ πολυειδῶς στρέφειν
τε καὶ συναρμόττειν καὶ τὰ κῶλα ἐν διαστήμασι ποιεῖν
συμμέτρως, μὴ συναπαρτίζοντα τοῖς στίχοις ἀλλὰ διατέμνοντα
τὸ μέτρον, ἄνισά τε ποιεῖν αὐτὰ καὶ ἀνόμοια, πολλάκις δὲ
καὶ εἰς κόμματα συνάγειν βραχύτερα κώλων, τάς τε περιόδους 15
μήτε ἰσομεγέθεις μήτε ὁμοιοσχήμονας τὰς γοῦν παρακειμένας
ἀλλήλαις ἐργάζεσθαι· ἔγγιστα γὰρ φαίνεται λόγοις
τὸ περὶ τοὺς ῥυθμοὺς καὶ τὰ μέτρα πεπλανημένον. τοῖς μὲν
οὖν τὰ ἔπη καὶ τοὺς ἰάμβους καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ὁμοειδῆ μέτρα
κατασκευάζουσιν οὐκ ἔξεστι πολλοῖς διαλαμβάνειν μέτροις ἢ 20
ῥυθμοῖς τὰς ποιήσεις, ἀλλ’ ἀνάγκη μένειν ἀεὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ
σχήματος· τοῖς δὲ μελοποιοῖς ἔξεστι πολλὰ μέτρα καὶ
ῥυθμοὺς εἰς μίαν ἐμβαλεῖν περίοδον· ὥσθ’ οἱ μὲν τὰ μονόμετρα
are ignorant of this or unversed in any profession whatsoever should be surprised and incredulous when they hear that anything is executed with such mastery by another as a result of artistic training. This may suffice as a rejoinder to those who are accustomed to scoff at the rules of the rhetorical manuals.
Chapter XXVI — How Verse Can Resemble Prose
Concerning melodious metrical composition which bears a close affinity to prose, my views are of the following kind. The prime factor here too, just as in the case of poetical prose, is the collocation of the words themselves; next, the composition of the clauses; third, the arrangement of the periods. He who wishes to succeed in this department must change the words about and connect them with each other in manifold ways, and make the clauses begin and end at various places within the lines, not allowing their sense to be self-contained in separate verses, but breaking up the measure. He must make the clauses vary in length and form, and will often also reduce them to phrases which are shorter than clauses, and will make the periods—those at any rate which adjoin one another—neither equal in size nor alike in construction; for an elastic treatment of rhythms and metres seems to bring verse quite near to prose. Now those authors who compose in epic or iambic verse, or use the other regular metres, cannot diversify their poetical works with many metres or rhythms, but must always adhere to the same metrical form. But the lyric poets can include many metres and rhythms in a single period. So that when the writers of monometers break up
1 ἀτριβεῖς Reiskius: ἀτριβέσιν libri 2 κεκρατημένως PM: κεκροτημένως V 5 συνθήκης M 10 συμμετρία M: ἐμμετρία EPV 17 ἀλλήλαις EM: ἀλλήλοις PV
2. κεκρατημένως, ‘vigorously’: cp. Sext. Empir. p. 554 (Bekker) οὐ κεκρατημένως ὑπέγραψαν οἱ δογματικοὶ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν τοῦ τε ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ. The other reading κεκροτημένως would mean ‘with tumult of applause’; or perhaps ‘in a welded, well-wrought way.’
5. For the relation of Verse to Prose see Introduction, pp. 33-9.
8. Other references to poetical prose occur in 208 5, 250 10, 16 supra.
13. μὴ συναπαρτίζοντα τοῖς στίχοις, ‘not allowing the sense of the clauses to be self-contained in separate lines,’ lit. ‘not completing the clauses together with the lines.’ Dionysius means that verse-writers must (for the sake of variety) practise enjambement, i.e. the completion of the sense in another line. It is the neglect of this principle that makes the language of French classical tragedy [with exceptions, of course; e.g. Racine Athalie i. 1 “Celui qui met un frein,” etc.] so monotonous when compared with that of the Greek or Shakespearian tragedy. Besides the examples adduced by Dionysius, compare that quoted from Callimachus in the note on 272 4 infra and, in English, Tennyson’s Dora and Wordsworth’s Michael. Such English poems without rhyme might be written out as continuous prose, and their true character would pass unsuspected by many readers, pauses at the ends of lines being often studiously avoided; e.g. the opening of Tennyson’s Dora: “With farmer Allen at the farm abode William and Dora. William was his son, and she his niece. He often look’d at them, and often thought, ‘I’ll make them man and wife.’ Now Dora felt her uncle’s will in all, and yearn’d toward William; but the youth, because he had been always with her in the house, thought not of Dora.” Similarly Homer’s “ἀλλά μ’ ἀνήρπαξαν Τάφιοι ληίστορες ἄνδρες ἀγρόθεν ἐρχομένην, περάσαν δέ με δεῦρ’ ἀγαγόντες τοῦδ’ ἀνδρὸς πρὸς δώμαθ’· ὁ δ’ ἄξιον ὦνον ἔδωκε” (Odyss. xv. 427-9) might almost be an extract from a speech of Lysias. Some remarkable examples of enjambement (or ‘overflow’) might also be quoted from Swinburne’s recent poem, The Duke of Gandia.
17. Cp. Cic. de Orat. i. 16. 70 “est enim finitimus oratori poëta, numeris astrictor paulo, verborum autem licentia liberior, multis vero ornandi generibus socius, ac paene par.”
συντιθέντες ὅταν διαλύσωσι τοὺς στίχους τοῖς κώλοις
διαλαμβάνοντες ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, διαχέουσι καὶ ἀφανίζουσι τὴν
ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ μέτρου, καὶ ὅταν τὰς περιόδους μεγέθει τε καὶ
σχήματι ποικίλας ποιῶσιν, εἰς λήθην ἐμβάλλουσιν ἡμᾶς τοῦ
μέτρου· οἱ δὲ μελοποιοὶ πολυμέτρους τὰς στροφὰς ἐργαζόμενοι 5
καὶ τῶν κώλων ἑκάστοτε πάλιν ἀνίσων τε ὄντων καὶ ἀνομοίων
ἀλλήλοις ἀνομοίους τε καὶ ἀνίσους ποιούμενοι τὰς διαιρέσεις,
δι’ ἄμφω δὲ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐῶντες, ἡμᾶς ὁμοειδοῦς ἀντίληψιν
λαβεῖν ῥυθμοῦ πολλὴν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς λόγους ὁμοιότητα κατασκευάζουσιν
ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν, ἔνεστί τε καὶ τροπικῶν καὶ 10
ξένων καὶ γλωττηματικῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ποιητικῶν ὀνομάτων
μενόντων ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασιν μηδὲν ἧττον αὐτὰ φαίνεσθαι
λόγῳ παραπλήσια.
μηδεὶς δὲ ὑπολαμβανέτω με ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι κακία ποιήματος
ἡ καλουμένη λογοείδεια δοκεῖ τις εἶναι, μηδὲ καταγινωσκέτω 15
μου ταύτην τὴν ἀμαθίαν, ὡς ἄρα ἐγὼ κακίαν τινὰ ἐν ἀρεταῖς
τάττω ποιημάτων ἢ λόγων· ὡς δὲ ἀξιῶ διαιρεῖν κἀν τούτοις
τὰ σπουδαῖα ἀπὸ τῶν μηδενὸς ἀξίων, ἀκούσας μαθέτω. ἐγὼ
τοὺς λόγους τὸν μὲν ἰδιώτην ἐπιστάμενος ὄντα, τὸν ἀδολέσχην
τοῦτον λέγω καὶ φλύαρον, τὸν δὲ πολιτικόν, ἐν ᾧ τὸ πολὺ 20
κατεσκευασμένον ἐστὶ καὶ ἔντεχνον, ὅ τι μὲν ἂν τῶν ποιημάτων
ὅμοιον εὑρίσκω τῷ φλυάρῳ καὶ ἀδολέσχῃ, γέλωτος ἄξιον
τίθεμαι, ὅ τι δ’ ἂν τῷ κατεσκευασμένῳ καὶ ἐντέχνῳ, ζήλου
καὶ σπουδῆς ἐπιτήδειον τυχάνειν οἴομαι. εἰ μὲν οὖν
διαφόρου προσηγορίας τῶν λόγων ἑκάτερος ἐτύγχανεν, ἀκόλουθον 25
ἦν ἂν καὶ τῶν ποιημάτων ἃ τούτοις ἔοικεν διαφόροις
ὀνόμασι καλεῖν ἑκάτερον· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὅ τε σπουδαῖος καὶ ὁ
τοῦ μηδενὸς ἄξιος ὁμοίως καλεῖται λόγος, οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτάνοι
τις τὰ μὲν ἐοικότα τῷ καλῷ λόγῳ ποιήματα καλὰ ἡγούμενος,
the lines by distributing them into clauses now one way now another, they dissolve and efface the regularity of the metre; and when they diversify the periods in size and form, they make us forget the metre. On the other hand, the lyric poets compose their strophes in many metres; and again, from the fact that the clauses vary from time to time in length and form, they make the divisions unlike in form and size. From both these causes they hinder our apprehension of any uniform rhythm, and so they produce, as by design, in lyric poems a great likeness to prose. It is quite possible, moreover, for the poems to retain many figurative, unfamiliar, exceptional, and otherwise poetical words, and none the less to show a close resemblance to prose.
And let no one think me ignorant of the fact that the so-called “pedestrian character” is commonly regarded as a vice in poetry, or impute to me, of all persons, the folly of ranking any bad quality among the virtues of poetry or prose. Let my critic rather pay attention and learn how here once more I claim to distinguish what merits serious consideration from what is worthless. I observe that, among prose styles, there is on the one side the uncultivated style, by which I mean the prevailing frivolous gabble, and on the other side the language of public life which is, in the main, studied and artistic; and so, whenever I find any poetry which resembles the frivolous gabble I have referred to, I regard it as beneath criticism. I think that alone to be fit for serious imitation which resembles the studied and artistic kind. Now, if each sort of prose had a different appellation, it would have been only consistent to call the corresponding sorts of poetry also by different names. But since both the good and the worthless are called “prose,” it may not be wrong to regard as noble and bad “poetry” that which
1 διαλύσωσι P: διαλείπωσι M: διαλίπωσι V 3 μεγέθη P 5 τὰσ τροφὰς P 6 ἑκάστοτε Us.: ἑκάστου libri || τε ὄντων M: ὄντων PV 8 ἄμφω δὲ M: ἄμφω PV 11 τῶν ἄλλων Us.: τῶν ἄλλων τῶν libri 15 καλουμένη om. M || τις] τησ P || καταγινωσκέτω MV: καταγιγνωσκέτω P (sed cf. 278 7 et alibi) 17 κ’ ἂν P 19 τοὺς λόγους Schaeferus: τοῦ λόγου libri || ἁδολέσχην P 20 τὸ πολὺ PM: πολὺ τὸ V 21 ποιημάτων PM: ποιητῶν V 22 ἁδολέσχηι P || ἄξιον P: ἄξιον αὐτὸ MV 28 ὁμοίως compendio P: om. MV
4. εἰς λήθην ἐμβάλλουσιν: the following Epigram of Callimachus will illustrate Dionysius’ meaning:—
ἠῷοι Μελάνιππον ἐθάπτομεν, ἠελίου δέ
δυομένου Βασιλὼ κάτθανε παρθενική
αὐτοχερί· ζώειν γὰρ ἀδελφεὸν ἐν πυρὶ θεῖσα
οὐκ ἔτλη. δίδυμον δ’ οἶκος ἐσεῖδε κακόν
πατρὸς Ἀριστίπποιο, κατήφησεν δὲ Κυρήνη
πᾶσα τὸν εὔτεκνον χῆρον ἰδοῦσα δόμον.
(The text is that of Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Callimachi Hymni et Epigrammata p. 59. Upton, who quotes the epigram, adds: “En tibi ea omnia, quae tradit Dionysius, accurate praestita: sententiae inaequales, disparia membra: ipsi adeo versus dissecti, nec sensu, nec verborum structura, nisi in sequentem usque progrediatur, absoluta. quibus factum est, ut prosaicae orationi, salva tamen dignitate, quam proxime accedatur.” Compare also the first eight lines of Mimnermus Eleg. ii.)
6. ἑκάστοτε: Upton here conjectures ἑκάστης, Schaefer ἑκάστων.
15. τις to be connected with κακία. In the next line κακίαν τινά come close together.
19. μαθέτω: supply πᾶς τις, or the like, from μηδείς in l. 14. Cp. Hor. Serm. i. 1. 1 “qui fit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem | seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, illa | contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentes?”
τὰ δὲ τῷ μοχθηρῷ πονηρά, οὐδὲν ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ λόγου ὁμοειδείας
ταραττόμενος. κωλύσει γὰρ οὐδὲν ἡ τῆς ὀνομασίας ὁμοιότης
κατὰ διαφόρων ταττομένης πραγμάτων τὴν ἑκατέρου φύσιν
ὁρᾶν.
εἰρηκὼς δὴ καὶ περὶ τούτων, παραδείγματά σοι τῶν 5
εἰρημένων ὀλίγα θεὶς αὐτοῦ κατακλείσω τὸν λόγον. ἐκ μὲν
οὖν τῆς ἐπικῆς ποιήσεως ταῦτα ἀπόχρη·
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ’ ἐκ λιμένος προσέβη τρηχεῖαν ἀταρπόν·
ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο κῶλον. ἕτερον δὲ
χῶρον ἀν’ ὑλήεντα 10
ἔλαττόν τε τοῦ προτέρου καὶ δίχα τέμνον τὸν στίχον. τρίτον
δὲ τουτί
δι’ ἄκριας
ἔλαττον κώλου κομμάτιον. τέταρτον δὲ
ᾗ οἱ Ἀθήνη 15
πέφραδε δῖον ὑφορβόν
ἐξ ἡμιστιχίων δύο συγκείμενον καὶ τοῖς προτέροις οὐδὲν
ἐοικός. ἔπειτα τὸ τελευταῖον
ὅ οἱ βιότοιο μάλιστα
κήδετο οἰκήων οὓς κτήσατο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς 20
ἀτελῆ μὲν τὸν τρίτον ποιοῦν στίχον, τοῦ δὲ τετάρτου τῇ
προσθήκῃ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἀφῃρημένον. ἔπειτ’ αὖθις
τὸν δ’ ἄρ’ ἐνὶ προδόμῳ εὗρ’ ἥμενον
οὐ συνεκτρέχον οὐδὲ τοῦτο τῷ στίχῳ.
ἔνθα οἱ αὐλὴ 25
ὑψηλὴ δέδμητο
resembles noble and contemptible prose respectively, and not to be in any way disturbed by mere identity of terms. The application of similar names to different things will not prevent us from discerning the true nature of the things in either case.
As I have gone so far as to deal with this subject, I will end by subjoining a few examples of the features in question. From epic poetry it will be enough to quote the following lines:—
But he from the haven went where the rugged pathway led.194
Here we have one clause. Observe the next—
Up the wooded land.
It is shorter than the other, and cuts the line in two. The third is—
through the hills:
a segment still shorter than a clause. The fourth—
unto where Athene had said
That he should light on the goodly swineherd—
consists of two half-lines and is in no way like the former. Then the conclusion—
the man who best
Gave heed to the goods of his lord, of the thralls that Odysseus
possessed,
which leaves the third line unfinished, while by the addition of the fourth it loses all undue uniformity. Then again—
By the house-front sitting he found him, where once more the words do not run out the full course of the line.
there where the courtyard wall
Was builded tall.
1 οὐδὲν... ταραττόμενος MV: om. P 3 ταττομένης Sauppius: ταττομένη libri 5 εἰρηκὼς... θεὶς Us.: καὶ περὶ τούτων [μὲν add. MV] ἅλις. ὧν δὲ προυθέμην τὰ παραδείγματα θεὶς PMV 8 ὅ γ’] ὁ Hom. 11 τέμνον EV: τέμνοντος PM 14 τέταρτον δὲ E: om. PMV 15 ᾗ Hom.: ἧ V: οἷ [fort. οἷ] PM, E 22 ἔπειτ’... ἥμενον om. P 25 ἔνθά οἱ PM
3. κατὰ... ταττομένης: cp. Ven. A Schol. on Il. xv. 347 ὅτι Ζηνόδοτος γράφει ἐπισσεύεσθον. συγχεῖται δὲ τὸ δυϊκὸν κατὰ πλειόνων τασσόμενον.
6. αὐτοῦ, ‘here,’ ‘on the spot.’ Cp. Diod. Sic. ii. 60 ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς βίβλου γεγενημένην ἐπαγγελίαν τετελεκότες αὐτοῦ περιγράψομεν τήνδε τὴν βίβλον.—With κατακλείσω cp. Antiq. Rom. vii. 14 τελευτῶν δ’ ὁ Βροῦτος, εἰς ἀπειλήν τινα τοιάνδε κατέκλεισε τὸν λόγον, ὡς κτλ.
7. In Latin, Bircovius well compares Virg. Aen. i. 180-91.
8. Dionysius’ point will be better appreciated if the passage of the Odyssey (xiv. 1-7) be given not bit by bit but as a whole:—
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ’ ἐκ λιμένος προσέβη τρηχεῖαν ἀταρπὸν
χῶρον ἀν’ ὑλήεντα δι’ ἄκριας, ᾗ οἱ Ἀθήνη
πέφραδε δῖον ὑφορβόν, ὅ οἱ βιότοιο μάλιστα
κήδετο οἰκήων, οὓς κτήσατο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
τὸν δ’ ἄρ’ ἐνὶ προδόμῳ εὗρ’ ἥμενον, ἔνθα οἱ αὐλὴ
ὑψηλὴ δέδμητο, περισκέπτῳ ἐνὶ χώρῳ,
καλή τε μεγάλῃ τε, περίδρομος.
15. Compare (in Latin) the opening of Terence’s Phormio, if written continuously: “Amicus summus meus et popularis Geta heri ad me venit. erat ei de ratiuncula iam pridem apud me relicuom pauxillulum nummorum: id ut conficerem. confeci: adfero. nam erilem filium eius duxisse audio uxorem: ei credo munus hoc corraditur. quam inique comparatumst. ei qui minus habent ut semper aliquid addant ditioribus!”
ἄνισον καὶ τοῦτο τῷ πρότερῳ. κἄπειτα ὁ ἑξῆς νοῦς ἀπερίοδος
ἐν κώλοις τε καὶ κόμμασι λεγόμενος· ἐπιθεὶς γὰρ
περισκέπτῳ ἐνὶ χώρῳ,
πάλιν ἐποίσει
καλή τε μεγάλη τε 5
βραχύτερον κώλου κομμάτιον, εἶτα
περίδρομος
ὄνομα καθ’ ἑαυτὸ νοῦν τινα ἔχον. εἶθ’ ἑξῆς τὰ ἄλλα τὸν
αὐτὸν κατασκευάσει τρόπον· τί γὰρ δεῖ μηκύνειν;
ἐκ δὲ τῆς ποιήσεως τῆς ἰαμβικῆς τὰ παρ’ Εὐριπίδου 10
ταυτί
Ὦ γαῖα πατρὶς ἣν Πέλοψ ὁρίζεται,
χαῖρ’,
τὸ πρῶτον ἄχρι τούτου κῶλον.
ὅς τε πέτραν Ἀρκάδων δυσχείμερον 15
‹Πὰν› ἐμβατεύεις
τὸ δεύτερον μέχρι τοῦδε.
ἔνθεν εὔχομαι γένος.
τοῦτο τρίτον. τὰ μὲν πρότερα μείζονα στίχου, τοῦτο δὲ
ἔλαττον. 20
Αὔγη γὰρ Ἀλέου παῖς με τῷ Τιρυνθίῳ
τίκτει λαθραίως Ἡρακλεῖ·
μετὰ τοῦτο
ξύνοιδ’ ὄρος
Παρθένιον, 25
οὐθέτερον αὐτῶν στίχῳ συμμετρούμενον. εἶτ’ αὖθις ἕτερον
στίχου τε ἔλαττον καὶ στίχου μεῖζον
This, too, does not balance the former. Further, the order of ideas in the continuation of the passage is unperiodic, though the words are cast into the form of clauses and sections. For, after adding
In a place with a clear view round about, we shall find him subjoining:
Massy and fair to behold, which is a segment shorter than a clause. Next we find
Free on every side, where the one Greek word (περίδρομος) by itself carries a certain meaning. And so on: we shall find him elaborating everything that follows in the same way. Why go into unnecessary detail?
From iambic poetry may be taken these lines of Euripides:—
Fatherland, ta’en by Pelops in possession,
Hail!195
Thus far the first clause extends.
And thou, Pan, who haunt’st the stormy steeps
Of Arcady.195
So far the second extends.
Whereof I boast my birth.195
That is the third. The former are longer than a line; the last is shorter.
Me Auge, Aleus’ daughter, not of wedlock
Bare to Tirynthian Heracles.195
And afterwards—
This knows
Yon hill Parthenian.195
Not one of these corresponds exactly to a line. Then once more we find another clause which is from one point of view less than a line and from the other longer—
1 καὶ V: κατὰ PM 4 ἐποίει P 5 καλήν τε μεγάλην τε PM 9 μηκύνειν P: μηκύνειν τὸν λόγον MV 10 παρ’ εὐριπδι sic P: εὐριπίδου MV 15 ὅς τε s: ὥστε PMV || δυσχείμερον ἀρκάδων PMV: transposuit Sylburgius 16 Πὰν inseruit Musgravius 19 μείζονα om. P || στίχου MV: στχι P: στίχον s 21 αὐγὴ M: αὐτὴ PV 24 ξύνοιδ’ s: ξύνοιδε P: ξυνοὶδὲ MV 26 οὔθ’ ἕτερον PM: οὐδέτερον V
12. ὁρίζεται: sibi vindicat, ‘annexes.’—The fragment of Euripides, taken as a whole, runs thus in Nauck’s collection:—
ὦ γαῖα πατρίς, ἣν Πέλοψ ὁρίζεται,
χαῖρ’, ὅς τε πέτρον Ἀρκάδων δυσχείμερον
‹Πὰν› ἐμβατεύεις, ἔνθεν εὔχομαι γένος.
Αὔγη γὰρ Ἀλέου παῖς με τῷ Τιρυνθίῳ
τίκτει λαθραίως Ἡρακλεῖ· ξύνοιδ’ ὄρος
Παρθένιον, ἔνθα μητέρ’ ὠδίνων ἐμὴν
ἔλυσεν Εἰλείθυια.
25. Παρθένιον: cp. Callim. Hymn. in Delum 70 φεῦγε μὲν Ἀρκαδίη, φεῦγεν δ’ ὄρος ἱερὸν Αὔγης | Παρθένιον, together with the scholium ὄρος Ἀρκαδίας τὸ Παρθένιον, ἔνθα τὴν Αὔγην τὴν Ἀλεοῦ θυγατέρα, ἱέρειαν τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ἔφθειρεν Ἡρακλῆς.
ἔνθα μητέρ’ ὠδίνων ἐμὴν
ἔλυσεν Εἰλείθυια
καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τούτοις παραπλήσια.
ἐκ δὲ τῆς μελικῆς τὰ Σιμωνίδεια ταῦτα· γέγραπται δὲ
κατὰ διαστολὰς οὐχ ὧν Ἀριστοφάνης ἢ ἄλλος τις κατεσκεύασε 5
κώλων ἀλλ’ ὧν ὁ πεζὸς λόγος ἀπαιτεῖ. πρόσεχε δὴ τῷ μέλει
καὶ ἀναγίνωσκε κατὰ διαστολάς, καὶ εὖ ἴσθ’ ὅτι λήσεταί σε ὁ
ῥυθμὸς τῆς ᾠδῆς καὶ οὐχ ἕξεις συμβαλεῖν οὔτε στροφὴν οὔτε
ἀντίστροφον οὔτ’ ἐπῳδόν, ἀλλὰ φανήσεταί σοι λόγος εἷς
εἰρόμενος. ἔστι δὲ ἡ διὰ πελάγους φερομένη Δανάη τὰς 10
ἑαυτῆς ἀποδυρομένη τύχας·
ὅτε λάρνακι ἐν δαιδαλέᾳ
ἄνεμός τε μιν πνέων ‹ἐφόρει›
κινηθεῖσά τε λίμνα,
δείματι ἤριπεν οὐκ ἀδιάντοισι παρειαῖς 15
ἀμφί τε Περσέϊ βάλλε φίλαν χέρα
where the Travail-queen
From birth-pangs set my mother free.196
And similarly with the lines which follow these.
From lyric poetry the subjoined lines of Simonides may be taken. They are written according to divisions: not into those clauses for which Aristophanes or some other metrist laid down his canons, but into those which are required by prose. Please read the piece carefully by divisions: you may rest assured that the rhythmical arrangement of the ode will escape you, and you will be unable to guess which is the strophe or which the antistrophe or which the epode, but you will think it all one continuous piece of prose. The subject is Danaë, borne across the sea lamenting her fate:—
And when, in the carved ark lying,
She felt it through darkness drifting
Before the drear wind’s sighing
And the great sea-ridges lifting,
She shuddered with terror, she brake into weeping,
And she folded her arms round Perseus sleeping;
5 ἄλλός τις P || κατεστεύασε P 6 ἀπετεῖ P || δὴ PM: δὲ V 7 κατὰ P: ταῦτα κατὰ MV 9 ἀντίστροφον PM: ἀντιστροφὴν V || λόγος εἰσειρόμενος P: λόγος οὑτωσὶ διειρόμενος MV 10 Δανάη] δ’ ἀν ἡ P 13 τέ μιν Schneidewinus: τε μὴν PM: τ’ ἐμῇ V || ἐφόρει ante μιν Bergkius inseruit, post πνέων Usenerus 14 τε Brunckius: δὲ PMV 15 ἤριπεν Brunckius: ἔριπεν P: ἔρειπεν MV || οὐκ Thierschius: οὐτ’ P: οὔτ’ MV
4. Bircovius points out that Hor. Carm. iii. 27. 33 ff. might be printed as continuous prose, thus: “quae simul centum tetigit potentem oppidis Creten: ‘Pater, o relictae filiae nomen, pietasque’ dixit ‘victa furore! unde quo veni? levis una mors est virginum culpae. vigilansne ploro turpe commissum, an vitiis carentem ludit imago vana, quae porta fugiens eburna somnium ducit?’” etc. The short rhymeless lines of Matthew Arnold’s Rugby Chapel might be run together in the same way, e.g. “There thou dost lie, in the gloom of the autumn evening. But ah! that word, gloom, to my mind brings thee back, in the light of thy radiant vigour, again; in the gloom of November we pass’d days not dark at thy side; seasons impair’d not the ray of thy buoyant cheerfulness clear. Such thou wast! and I stand in the autumn evening, and think of by-gone evenings with thee.” The word-arrangement from line to line is such that this passage might almost be read as prose, except for a certain rhythm and for an occasional departure from the word-order of ordinary prose.
5. Aristophanes: cp. note on 218 19 supra.
8. Compare, for example, the last two stanzas, printed continuously, of Tennyson’s In Memoriam cxv.: “Where now the seamew pipes, or dives in yonder greening gleam, and fly the happy birds, that change their sky to build and brood, that live their lives from land to land; and in my breast spring wakens too; and my regret becomes an April violet, and buds and blossoms like the rest.”
11. ἀποδυρομένη: probably the Danaë was a θρῆνος, and in any case it illustrates, to the full, the “maestius lacrimis Simonideis” of Catullus (Carm. xxxviii. 8), or Wordsworth’s “one precious, tender-hearted scroll | Of pure Simonides.” Cp. also de Imitat. ii. 6. 2 καθ’ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς: and Quintil. x. 1. 64 “Simonides, tenuis alioqui, sermone proprio et iucunditate quadam commendari potest; praecipua tamen eius in commovenda miseratione virtus, ut quidam in hac eum parte omnibus eius operis auctoribus praeferant.”
12. Verse-translations of the Danaë will be found also in J. A. Symonds’ Studies of the Greek Poets i. 160, and in Walter Headlam’s Book of Greek Verse pp. 49-51. Headlam observes that the Danaë is a passage extracted from a longer poem, and that the best commentary on it is Lucian’s Dialogues of the Sea 12. Weir Smyth (Greek Lyric Poetry p. 321) remarks: “It must be confessed that, if we have all that Dionysius transcribed, he has proved his point [viz. that by an arrangement into διαστολαί the poetical rhythm can be so obscured that the reader will be unable to recognize strophe, antistrophe, or epode] so successfully that no one has been able to demonstrate the existence of all three parts of the triad. Wilamowitz (Isyllos 144) claims to have restored strophe (ἄνεμος... δούρατι), epode (χαλκεογόμφῳ... δεινὸν ἦν), and antistrophe (καὶ ἐμῶν...); ὅτε... δαιδαλέᾳ belonging to another triad. To accept this adjustment one must have faith in the extremely elastic ionics of the German scholar. Nietzsche, R. M. 23. 481, thought that 1-3 formed the end of the strophe, 4-12 the antistrophe (1-3 = 10-12). In v. 1 he omitted ἐν and read τ’ ἐμάνη πνείων with ἀλεγίζεις in 10, but even then the dactyls vary with spondees over frequently. By a series of reckless conjectures Hartung extricated strophe and antistrophe out of the lines, while Blass’ (Philol. 32. 140) similar conclusion is reached by conjectures only less hazardous than those of Hartung. Schneidewin and Bergk, adopting the easier course, which refuses all credence to Dionysius, found only antistrophe and epode; and so, doubtfully, Michelangeli; while Ahrens (Jahresber. des Lyceums zu Hannover, 1853), in despair, classed the fragment among the ἀπολελυμένα. Since verses 2-3 may = 11-12, I have followed Nietzsche, though with much hesitation. The last seven verses suit the character of a concluding epode.”
15. ἤριπεν = ἐξεπλάγη (same sense as Usener’s conjecture φρίττεν).
εἶπέν τ’· ὦ τέκος,
οἷον ἔχω πόνον, σὺ δ’ ἀωτεῖς·
γαλαθηνῷ δ’ ἤθεϊ κνοώσσεις
ἐν ἀτερπέι δούρατι χαλκεογόμφῳ δίχα νυκτὸς ἀλαμπεῖ
κυανέῳ τε δνόφῳ σταλείς. 5
ἅλμαν δ’ ὕπερθεν τεᾶν κομᾶν βαθεῖαν
παριόντος κύματος οὐκ ἀλέγεις
οὐδ’ ἀνέμου φθόγγον, πορφυρέᾳ
κείμενος ἐν χλανίδι πρὸς κόλπῳ καλὸν πρόσωπον.
εἰ δέ τοι δεινὸν τό γε δεινὸν ἦν, 10
καί κεν ἐμῶν ῥημάτων λεπτὸν ὑπεῖχες οὖας·
κέλομαι, εὗδε βρέφος,
εὑδέτω δὲ πόντος, εὑδέτω ἄμετρον κακόν.
μεταβουλία δέ τις φανείη,
Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἐκ σέο· 15
ὅ τι δὴ θαρσαλέον ἔπος εὔχομαι
νόσφι δίκας, σύγγνωθί μοι.
τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς καλοῖς λόγοις μέτρα καὶ μέλη,
διὰ ταύτας γινόμενα τὰς αἰτίας ἃς προεῖπόν σοι.
τοῦθ’ ἕξεις δῶρον ἡμέτερον, ὦ Ῥοῦφε, “πολλῶν ἀντάξιον 20
ἄλλων,” εἰ βουληθείης ἐν ταῖς χερσί τε αὐτὸ συνεχῶς ὥσπερ
And “Oh my baby,” she moaned, “for my lot
Of anguish!—but thou, thou carest not:
Adown sleep’s flood is thy child-soul sweeping,
Though beams brass-welded on every side
Make a darkness, even had the day not died
When they launched thee forth at gloaming-tide.
And the surf-crests fly o’er thy sunny hair
As the waves roll past—thou dost not care:
Neither carest thou for the wind’s shrill cry,
As lapped in my crimson cloak thou dost lie
On my breast, little face so fair—so fair!
Ah, were these sights, these sounds of fear
Fearsome to thee, that dainty ear
Would hearken my words—nay, nay, my dear,
Hear them not thou! Sleep, little one, sleep;
And slumber thou, O unrestful deep!
Sleep, measureless wrongs; let the past suffice:
And oh, may a new day’s dawn arise
On thy counsels, Zeus! O change them now!
But if aught be presumptuous in this my prayer,
If aught, O Father, of sin be there,
Forgive it thou.”197
Such are the verses and lyrics which resemble beautiful prose; and they owe this resemblance to the causes which I have already set forth to you.
Here, then, Rufus, is my gift to you, which you will find “outweigh a multitude of others,”198 if only you will keep it in
1 τέκος Athen. ix. 396 E: τέκνον PMV 2 σὺ δ’ ἀωτεῖς Casaubonus: οὐδ’ αυταις P: σὺ δ’ αὖτε εἷς Athen. (l.c.) 3 ἐγαλαθηνωδει θει P, V: γαλαθηνῷ δ’ ἤτορι Athen.: corr. Bergkius || κνοώσσεισ P, V: κνώσσεις Athen. 4 δούρατι Guelf.: δούνατι PM: δούναντι V || δίχα νυκτὸς ἀλαμπεῖ Us.: δενυκτι λαμπεῖ P, MV 5 σταλείς Bergkius: ταδ’ εἰσ P, MV 6 ἅλμαν δ’ Bergkius: αὐλεαν δ’ P, V: αὐλαίαν δ’ M 9 πρὸς κόλπῳ κ. πρ. Us.: πρόσωπον καλον πρόσωπον P: πρόσωπον καλὸν MV 10 ἦν Sylburgius: ἦι P: ἦ M: ἢ V 11 καί M: κἀί V: κε cum litura P || λεπτὸν s: λεπτῶν PMV 14 μαιτ(α)βουλία (i.e. μεταβουλία: cp. 90 4 supra) P: μαιτ(α)βουλίου M: ματαιοβουλία V 17 νόσφι δίκας Victorius: ηνοφι δικασ P: ἣν ὀφειδίασ MV 19 προεῖπά PMV (cf. εἴπειεν P, Aristot. Rhet. 1408 a 32) 21 αὐτὸ Sylburgius: αὐτὰ PMV
4. δίχα νυκτός: cp. δίχα μελέτης τε καὶ γυμνασίας (282 4), which may be an unconscious echo of this passage. “To me the expression seems to indicate that Simonides took a view of the story different from the ordinary one, and imagined that the chest was not open or boat-like but closed over,—a ‘Noah’s ark.’ This would not have suited the vase-painters, but there is nothing inconsistent with it in the poem. Danaë does not speak of seeing the waves, nor of the wind ruffling the child’s hair, but only of ἀνέμου φθόγγον—she heard it. Hence I think the words imply—‘which, even apart from its being night, would be gloomy, and thou wert so launched forth in the darksome gloaming.’ She makes no reference to seeing the stars” (A. S. Way).
5. Schneidewin reads ταθείς.
7. ἀλέγεις: rarely constructed with the accusative case.
11. ἐμῶν ῥημάτων: constructio ad sensum with ὑπεῖχες οὖας (= ὑπήκουες).
12. εὗδε βρέφος: the βαυκάλημα (‘cradle-song, lullaby’) was familiar to the Greeks, and the mother does not forget it amid the perils of the sea. Cp. Theocr. xxiv. 7-9—
εὕδετ’ ἐμὰ βρέφεα γλυκερὸν καὶ ἐγέρσιμον ὕπνον·
εὕδετ’ ἐμὰ ψυχά, δύ’ ἀδελφεώ, εὔσοα τέκνα·
ὄλβιοι εὐνάζοισθε καὶ ὄλβιοι ἀῶ ἵκοισθε.
20. From Hom. Il. xi. 514, 515—
ἰητρὸς γὰρ ἀνὴρ πολλῶν ἀντάξιος ἄλλων
ἰούς τ’ ἐκτάμνειν ἐπί τ’ ἤπια φάρμακα πάσσειν.
‘For more than a multitude availeth the leech for our need,
When the shaft sticketh deep in the flesh, when the healing salve must be spread.’
τι καὶ ἄλλο τῶν πάνυ χρησίμων ἔχειν καὶ συνασκεῖν αὑτὸν
ταῖς καθ’ ἡμέραν γυμνασίαις. οὐ γὰρ αὐτάρκη τὰ παραγγέλματα
τῶν τεχνῶν ἐστι δεινοὺς ἀγωνιστὰς ποιῆσαι τοὺς βουλομένους
γε δίχα μελέτης τε καὶ γυμνασίας· ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς
πονεῖν καὶ κακοπαθεῖν βουλομένοις κεῖται σπουδαῖα εἶναι τὰ 5
παραγγέλματα καὶ λόγου ἄξια ἢ φαῦλα καὶ ἄχρηστα.
your hands constantly like any other really useful thing, and exercise yourself in its lessons daily. No rules contained in rhetorical manuals can suffice to make experts of those who are determined to dispense with study and practice. They who are ready to undergo toil and hardship can alone decide whether such rules are trivial and useless, or worthy of serious consideration.
1 αὑτὸν ταῖς Us.: αὐτὸν ταῖσ P: αὐτὸ ταῖς M: αὐταῖς V 3 ἀγωνιστὰς Sylburgius: δεινοῦσ αν ταγωνιστασ sic P: ἀνταγωνιστὰς etiam MV 4 γε Us.: τε P: om. MV 5 βουλομένοις PM: om. V || σπουδαῖαν εἶναι (sic) P: ἢ σπουδαῖα εἶναι MV 6 Διονυσίου αλικαρνα(σεως) πε(ρὶ) συνθέσεως ὀνομάτων: ~ litteris maiusculis subscripsit P
2. The training meant would consist chiefly in that general reading of Greek authors which is indicated in this treatise or in the de Imitatione, and in Quintilian’s Tenth Book: it would carry out the precept “vos exemplaria Graeca | nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.” Afterwards would follow the technical and systematic study of style or eloquence, regarded as a preparation for public life.
3. ἀγωνιστάς: cp. note on 268 29 supra and Plato Phaedr. 269 D τὸ μὲν δύνασθαι, ὦ Φαῖδρε, ὥστε ἀγωνιστὴν τέλεον γενέσθαι, εἰκός—ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἀναγκαῖον—ἔχειν ὥσπερ τἆλλα· εἰ μέν σοι ὑπάρχει φύσει ῥητορικῷ εἶναι, ἔσῃ ῥήτωρ ἐλλόγιμος, προσλαβὼν ἐπιστήμην τε καὶ μελέτην, ὅτου δ’ ἂν ἐλλείπῃς τούτων, ταύτῃ ἀτελὴς ἔσῃ.
4. The best Greeks and Romans at all times believed in work, and in genius as including the capacity for taking pains. Compare (in addition to the passage of the Phaedrus) Soph. El. 945 ὅρα· πόνου τοι χωρὶς οὐδὲν εὐτυχεῖ: Eurip. Fragm. 432 τῷ γὰρ πονοῦντι χὠ θεὸς συλλαμβάνει: Aristoph. Ran. 1370 ἐπίπονοί γ’ οἱ δεξιοί: Cic. de Offic. i. 18. 60 “nec medici, nec imperatores, nec oratores, quamvis artis praecepta perceperint, quidquam magna laude dignum sine usu et exercitatione consequi possunt”: Quintil. Inst. Or. Prooem. § 27 “sicut et haec ipsa (bona ingenii) sine doctore perito, studio pertinaci, scribendi, legendi, dicendi multa et continua exercitatione per se nihil prosunt.” See also note on page 264 supra.