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

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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

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 _p_erfect and so _p_eerless, are created Of every creature’s best;

and, in the other,

But I _p_rattle Something too wildly, and my father’s _p_recepts 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’).

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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

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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

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. XTU^2, 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: γῆ=μ=εν ἑὸν =μ=ετὰ κάλλος, ἐπεὶ πόρε =μ=υρία 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.

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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:—

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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

2 ὄβριμον FP: ὄμβριμον EM^2V   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.

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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

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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.

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).

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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

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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

1 αὐτῷ Toupius: αὐτῶν libri   6 μηδεὶς EF: μή κέ (καὶ M^2) 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.

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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.