NEW

TRANSLATION
This volume brings together the three
most original and influential ancient Greek
treatises on literature.

Aristotle's Poetics contains his treatment of

Greek tragedy: its history, nature, and
conventions, with details on poetic dic-
tion. Stephen Halliwell makes this seminal
vvork newly accessible with a reliable text
"
and a translation that is both accurate and
readable. His authoritative introduction
traces the \vork's debt to earlier theorists
(especially Plato), its distinctive argument,
and the reasons behind its enduring rele-
vance.

The essay On the Sublime, usually attributed

to "Longinus" (identity uncertain), was
probably composed in the first century
A.D.; its subject is the appr~ciation of
greatness ("the sublime") in writing, with
analysis of illustrative passages ranging
from Homer and Sappho to Plato and
Genesis. In this edition, Donald Russell has
judiciously revised and newly annotated
the text and translation by W. Hamilton
Fyfe and provides a new introduction.

The treatise On Style, ascribed to an (again

unidentifiable) Demetrius, \vas perhaps
composed during the second century B.c.
It seems to reflect the theoretical energy
of Hellenistic rhetorical works now lost,
and is notable particularly for its theory
and analysis of four distinct styles (grand,
elegant, plain, and fprceful). Doreen Innes'
Continued on back flap
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB

EDITED BY

G. P. GOOLD
PREVIOUS EDITORS

T. E. PAGE E. CAPPS

W. H. D. ROUSE L. A. POST

E. H. WARMINGTON

ARISTOTLE
XXIII

LCL 199
 sl, ·--~ ~'\ ~
~-~-·~ ~ ~ ,'
--------------------------------~

ARISTOTLE
POETICS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY
STEPHEN HALLIWELL

LONGINUS
ON THE SUBLIME
TRANSLATION BY W. H. FYFE
REVISED BY DONALD RUSSELL

DEMETRIUS
ON STYLE
'
EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY
DOREEN C. INNES
BASED ON W. RHYS ROBERTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
LONDON, ENGLAND
1995

Jl!JliJI~ J!JJ!lUllU!Jillll
 Copyright © 1995 by the President and Fellows
of Harvard College
All rights reserved

Libra-ry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Aristotle.
[Poetics. English]
Poetics I Aristotle; edited and translated by Stephen Halliw·ell.
On the sublime I Lon gin us; edited and translated by
'\iV. Hamilton Fyfe; revised by Donald Russell.
On style I Demetrius; edited and translated
by Doreen C. Innes; based on the translation by W. Rhys Roberts.
p. em.- (Loeb classical library; Ll99)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-674-9956.3-5
_ 1. Greek literature-Translations into English.
2. Greek literature-History and criticism-Theory) etc.
3. Style, Literary-Early works to 1800.
4. Literary forn1-Early works to 1800.
5. Aesthetics, Ancient. 6. Sublime, The.
PA362l.A75 1995 94-5113 808.2-dc20

Typeset by Chiron, Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Printed in Great Britain by St Edm,undsbury Press Ltd,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on acid-free paper.
Bound by Hunter & Foulis Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.
 CONTENTS

POETICS 1
Introduction 3
Text and Translation 27
ON THE SUBLIME 143
Introduction 145
Text and Translation 159

ON .STYLE 309
Introduction 311
Text and Translation 343

INDEX TO POETICS 527

INDEX TO ON THE SUBLIME 530
INDEX TO ON STYLE 532
 ARISTOTLE
POETICS

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY

STEPHEN HALLIWELL
 INTRODUCTION

Aristotle's Poetics occupies a highly special, indeed

unique, position in the long history of Western attitudes
to literature. It is, in the first place, the earliest surviving
work to be exclusively concerned with the discussion and
analysis of poetry as an art, and this fact has turned it into
a document standing apparently near the very beginning
of, and effectively inaugurating, an entire tradition of lit-
erary theory and criticism. In part, this is the result of
considerable ~ontingency, since there had been earlier
Greek authors who had devoted writings (now lost) to the
subject of poetry, as well as thinkers, above all Plato, who
had examined literary wor.ks in relation to differently
defined sets of concerns (philosophical, historical, bio-
graphical, etc.). Moreover, if the Poetics inaugurated a
tradition of thought, it is far from obvious that it did so in
virtue of any direct or persistent influence upon subse-
quent critics of antiquity. In the ancient world itself, the
treatise seems never to have been widely known or read,
though that is not to deny the existence of recurrent ele-
ments of Aristotelianism within the development of
Greco-Roman literary criticism. 1 What may now look to

1 This Aristotelianism may have stemmed partly from Ar. 's

published dialogue On Poets, as well as from the writings of Peri-
patetics such as Theophrastus and Neoptolemus ofPariurn.

3
 INTRODUCTION

our retrospective gaze to be the "inaugural" significance

of the Poetics owes much to the way in which the work
was rediscovered, disseminated, and established as
canonical by certain sixteenth-century Italian theorists
and their successors elsewhere in Europe. In that sense,
the book's uniqueness is far from being a pure reflection
of its original creation or purpose, and is intimately bound
up with its involvement in the construction of competing
views of literary criticism since the Renaissance.
Yet it would, for all that, be superficial to suppose that
the status of the Poetics is irredeemably a consequence of
historical accident and arbitrariness. We need only con-
sider that even since its decline from the preeminence
and authority with which, as late as the eighteenth cen-
tury, it had been endowed by neoclassicists, it has contin-
ued tenaciously to provide a valuable point of reference
within the debates of literary criticism and theory-even,
often enough, for those . who have found its contents
uncongenial. At the very least, therefore, we need to
recognise that the work's own character, despite the many
difficulties which it has always posed for interpreters,
lends itself with peculiar force to use (and abuse) in
urgent, continuing disputes about the nature, form, and
value of literature. To try to understand this character,
we need to approach it against the background of the
work's historical setting.
The Poetics, like virtually all the extant works of Aris-
totle, represents something in the nature of teaching
materials or "lecture notes," produced not as a text for
private reading by anyone interested, but for instructional
use in an educational context. In view of this circum-
stance, with its implication of a less than tidy occasion of

4
 INTRODUCTION

composition (still less, ~~publication"), it is not surprising

that we cannot safely date the work to a single point in
Aristotle's career. An indefinite amount of revision and
redrafting is readily conceivable, especially given some of
the work's many loose ends; and certain sections may
originally have been compiled at appreciably different
times from one another. Chs. XX-XXII, for example,
which discuss "diction," lexis, in terms that are more lin-
guistic than stylistic, are closely related to bk. III of the
Rhetoric and to De I nterpretatione, both of which there is
some reason to suppose were of relatively early date. But
other elements in the Poetics, such as the views on the
relation between action and character in ch. VI, might
suggest a more mature stage of Aristotle's thinking-in
this particular case, a stage reflected in some of the ideas
of the ethical treatises. We can be fairly confident that
the Poetics was mostly compiled later than both the dia-
logue On Poets (to which 54bl8. is probably a reference)
and the six-book discussion of interpretative difficulties in
Homer, Homeric ProblemS (of which Poetics ch. XXV
appears to provide a summary). All in all, it is highly plau-
sible that the Poetics, whatever its history of composition,
was at any rate available for use during the final phase of
Aristotle's career, after the founding of his own school,
the Lyceum, at Athens in 335.2
Why should Aristotle, whose supreme intellectual
interests lay elsewhere, have concerned himself philo-
sophically with poetry? We can identify, to begin with,
both a general and a more specific impetus behind his
2
Halliwell (1986), appendix 1, collects views and evidence on
the date of the Poetics.

5
 INTRODUCTION

decision to address (and, indeed, to help define) the sub-

ject: the first, a response to poetry's vital, long established
importance within Greek culture and education, and its
consequent interest for a philosopher widely concerned
with the forces influencing the life and mind of his soci-
ety; the second, a reaction to the passionate critique-by
turns, moralistic, psychological, political, and religious-
which Plato had directed, especially in bks. 2-3 and 10 of
his Republic, against both Homeric epic and Athenian
drama. Within the immediate context of Athenian cul-
ture, where he was first a member of Plato's Academy
(367-47) and later the head of the Lyceum (335-23),
Aristotle even came to develop a documentary interest in
the history of Attic drama. Whatever the relationship of
the Poetics to the works which he compiled on theatrical
records, 3 it is clear that he discerned an importance in
drama: which prompted him to make it, together with the
two great Homeric epics,. the basis of a fresh and distinc-
tive approach to "poetry in general" (47a8 )-an approach
which expresses not 'only his divergences from Plato=-s and
other earlier thinkers' views on the subject, but also the
concepts, methods, and tendencies of his own philosophi-
cal outlook.
In attempting to characterise what was distinctive
about the Poetics, we cannot do better than concentrate
on what might be called its "foundational" strategy. By
this I mean its explicit attempt to scrutinise poetry in a
systematic and analytic manner-beginning, in typical
Aristotelian fashion, from what are taken to be the most
fundamental propositions about the field of enquiry

3 Details in DFA 2, pp. 70-71.

6
 INTRODUCTION

("first principles," 47al2-13); developing an argun1ent

whose main stages are carefully signalled, often by the
introduction and definition of key tenns, and whose pro-
gressive plan is highlighted by a large number of cross ref-
erences; and striving, if less than perfectly (at any rate in
the surviving state of the text), to make the connections
between its basic tenets and its individual judgements as
tight as possible. This foundational quality, with its
implicit faith in a rational procedure of criticism, has
elicited admiration in some readers, and discomfort in
others. What is pertinent here is that it is this aspect
more than any other which, so far as we can tell, marked
off Aristotle's undertaking from those of his predecessors,
and which has made the Poetics an abiding paradigm of
the application of intellectual method and conceptual
precision to the interpretation of literature.
If we see·k to clarify what is entailed by Aristotle's
attempt to construct a stable fr-amework for the under-
standing of Greek poetry, at least three essential elerrtents
in his perspective can be isolated. The first is the placing
of poetry, alongside the visual arts, music, and dancing,
within a general category of artistic n1imesis or represen-
tation. This dimension of the work, which gives its
thought a breadth of reflectiveness that was not lost on
post-Renaissance developers of n1imeticist aesthetics, is
initially prominent in the principles and distinctions set
out in chs. I-IV. But it recurs at a number of later points,
including the repeated analogies between poetry and
painting, and the pregnant remarks on the multiple rela-
tionship of mimetic art to "life'' in ch. XXV. Ideas of
mimesis had been active in a great deal of earlier Greek
thinking about poetry and other arts. Aristotle has debts

7
 INTRODUCTION

to this tradition; his account of mimetic modes in ch. III,

for example, is closely related to Plato Republic 3.392d ff.
But unlike Plato, or indeed any other predecessor of
whom we know, Aristotle perceives a function for mime-
sis which does not threaten to reduce it to a static or
inflexible model of artistic activity. Without ever offering
a definition of the term (a perhaps sagacious reticence),
Aristotle employs mimesis as a supple concept of the
human propensity to explore an understanding of the
world-above all, of human experience itself-through
fictive representation and imaginative "enactment" of
experience. His views are sketched, not fully elaborated,
but we can see that they hope to connect art to a vital part
of human nature (48b5 ff) and that they discern in poetry
a capacity to convey ideas whose depth Aristotle regards
as reaching towards the significance of the ''universar,
(ch. IX).
The second distinctive element in the Poetics, per-
spective is the recognition that poetry has a history of its
own, and that this history is indispensable for the inter-
pretation of certain conventions and possibilities of poetic
practice. Literary criticism and literary history are here
simultaneously delineated and conceptually intertwined.
This aspect of Aristotle,s approach is particularly obvious
in chs. IV-V, where he reconstructs the patterns of cul-
tural evolution which saw tragedy and comedy emerge
from the earlier branches of serious and humorous
poetry. It must be added that, somewhat ironically (given
his own comments, in chs. IX and XXIII, on the chroni-
cle-type character of history), Aristotle,s perspective on
poetic history is hardly straightforward or ne~trally fac-
tual. It is, on the contrary, permeated by an interpretative

8
 INTRODUCTION

vision-a VISion of poetic history as an area in which

"nature," working of course through human nature
(48b4-5) yet promoting practices which have a dynamic
of their own (49al5, 24, 60a4), brings into being the dis-
tinct cultural forms, the poetic kinds or genres, which
count as the primary material for Aristotle's analysis of
poetry.
The mention of genres brings us to the third, and in
some ways the most important, element of the Poetics
which deserves to be highlighted in an introduction. The
establishment and deployment of a concept of genre lies
at the basis of Aristotle's enquiry; the main purpose of the
scheme of mimetic media, objects, and modes in chs.
I-III is precisely to suggest how genres can be delimited
in terms of their particular combinations of these fea-
tures. It is also the steadiness of focus upon genres which
was to be subsequently responsible for a large part of the
work's appeal to, and influence <Jn, neoclassical trends of
thought. By organising discussion around juxtaposed and
interlinked consideration ·of his chosen "species" of
poetry, Aristotle aims to ensure that the judgement of
particular poems is controlled by standards which refer to
the character and goals of a shared generic "nature" (cf.
49al5).
This quasi-naturalistic framework, which we have
already seen to be associated with Aristotle's view of liter-
ary history, is reinforced by a central emphasis on form
and structure as fundamental to the understanding of
poems as "objects" in their own right. This point, which
contrasts so strongly with the overtly moral and political
approach to poetry typically urged by Plato, should be
perceived on a theoretical not a practical level. Aristotle

9
 INTRODUCTION

does not in fact undertake anything like a close analysis of

any individual work; uexplication de textes~~ is scarcely
glimpsed in the Poetics. What he does do, in a way which
itself epitomises what I have called his foundational strat-
egy, is to assert the significance of formal design and unity
for both the co1nposition and the appreciation of literary
works, and to offer a conception of artistic form which
relates it to the organic forms crucial to his understanding
of nature (50b34-5la6).
In one sense, therefore, it might seem tempting to call
the Poetics' perspective ~~formalist." But this term inevi-
tably brings with it implications of views which treat form
as guaranteeing a self-sufficient and autonomous nature
for literary works. This, indeed, is the kind of view which
has often been overtly ascribed to Aristotle. Yet it
rernains vital to see that the formal emphases of the trea-
tise are coupled with concepts which make it hard to sus-
tain such a reading of its author~s position: such concepts
include the "necessity and/or probability" which provide
criteria of what makes coherent sense in the dramatic
depiction of human life (5lal2-13, etc.); the "universals~'
which poetry has the potential, according to ch. IX, to
convey or intimate; and the emotions, pity and fear in the
case of tragedy (and epic too), which help to define the
essential nature of particular genres. Given all this, it
seen1s appropriate to suggest that Aristotle's concern with
form is with nothing less than the shaping and structuring
of poetic meaning.
In each of the three respects I have picked out-the
general or "aesthetic" category of artistic mimesis; the
sense of poetry's history/evolution; the centrality of con-
cepts of genre and form-there were partial antecedents

10
 INTRODUCTION

in Plato and others for Aristotle's attitudes and empha-

ses. 4 But the Poetics combines these and other salient
concerns with a new argumentative firmness and detail,
and the result is a work which demarcates poetry as an
independent subject for study, and does so in a manner
copious, if sometimes frustratingly unclear, in philosophi-
cal and conceptual implications. Aristotle's original plan
(49b21-2) was evidently to elaborate his argument by
concentrating on each of three genres: epic, whose sur-
passing Homeric achievements made it an inescapable
focus of attention; and both of the branches of Attic
drama, tragedy and cornedy. But this intention has, from
the point of view of modern readers, been overshadowed
by two factors: one, the loss of the discussion of comedy,
which belonged to what some ancient critics called the
Poetics' "second book";5 the other, Aristotle's decision to
make the treatment of epic (chs. XXIII-XXV) subordi-
nate to that of tragedy, on the grounds that tragedy could
be judged to have carried to superior fulfiln1ent certain
goals which had been powerfully adumbrated, but not
wholly crystallised, in the poetry of Homer. 6 The com-
bined result of these two factors, one contingent and one
conceptual, is that the Poetics now stands as above all a
treatise on tragedy; and it is to the discussion of this genre
4 Lucas pp. xiv-xxii and Halliwell (1986) pp. 6-27 summarise
the Poetics' relation to earlier Greek writings on poetry.
·5 The most recent attempt to reconstruct parts of the second
book is that of Janko (1987) pp. 43-55 (\vith notes, pp.159-74),
building on the more specialised treatment in Janko (1984). The
subject re1nains inevitably speculative and controversial.
6
See esp. 49b9-20, and the comparison of the two genres in
ch. XXVI.

11
 INTRODUCTION

(VI-XXII) that some further introductory remarks must

therefore be devoted.
Modern attitudes to tragedy, especially in the wake of
such German theorists as Hegel, Schopenhauer, and
Nietzsche, have been predominantly influenced by meta-
physical and existentialist inclinations to identify a dark
essence, an irreducible conception of "the tragic," at the
heart of the matter. Such attitudes were in a sense prefig-
ured by Plato, who, as an opponent of the psychological
power of tragedy (within which, like Aristotle after him,
he sometimes included Homeric epic), saw in it an
expression of corrosive despair over the possibility of true
happiness. 7 Aristotle's distance from this Platonic view,
as well as from many later theories of tragedy, can per-
haps best be regarded as part of a more general disincli-
nation to discover a single core of significance in Greek
tragic· drama. Aristotle's treatment of tragedy has many
facets, and is not the formulation of one dominant insight
into the genre. It combines, as does the whole work,
descriptive and prescriptive elements. It brings to bear,
above all in identifying the six "components" of tragedy
(ch. VI), the analytic method which functions throughout
Aristotle's approach to poetry. It contains many princi-
ples-such as the priority of action over character (ch.
VI), the requirements of structural unity (chs. VII-VIII),
and the criteria of necessity and probability (e.g. ch.
IX)-whose applicability is much wider than tragedy as
such. We should not, therefore, expect the Poetics to
yield a neatly circumscribed account of the quintessen-
tially tragic.
7 See esp. Republic 10.605c-6b.

12
 INTRODUCTION

Rather than the identification of a hard kernel of tragic

meaning, Aristotle's goal can best be seen as the progres-
sive demarcation of an area of possibilities which simulta-
neously codifies existing achievements of the tragedians,
and legislates for the ideal scope of tragedy. This demar-
cation is initially embodied in the definition of the genre
(49b24-8), which accentuates two features peculiar to
tragedy (and to its Homeric adumbration): the structure
of an "elevated" action, and the arousal of ''pity and fear."
The first of these features, both of which are elucidated
and refined in the subsequent chapters, represents partly
a generic gravity of tone, but also (or at the same time) a
matter of ethical intensity. "Elevated," spoudaios, is the
term used to denote the typical level of characterisation
found in tragedy and epic (chs. II-III); the subject matter
of serious in contradistinction to comic poetry (48b34,
49bl0); and · the quasi-philosophical universality of
poetry, as opposed to history's particularity (51b6). As the
definition indicates, the elevation of tragedy is a quality
principally of its action, and a quality which will arise, in
Aristotle's terms, from events involving and determining
the lives of characters who can be generally regarded as
striving for both practical success and ethical virtue. 8
But "elevation," with its implications for tone and ethi-
cal interest, delimits the range of tragic action in only the
broadest fashion. Aristotle narrows this range further
by employing a model-deeply embedded in Greek
8 Ar.'s views leave no real room for tragedies that hinge
around seriously corrupt characters: this is the cumulative impli-
cation of 48al6-18, 52b36 ff, 54al6-17. Only 56a21-23, a very
obscure passage, appears to contemplate plays whose central fig-
ures have substantial vices.
13
 INTRODUCTION

tragedy~s own language of human experience-- of n1ove-

ment or "transformation" (metabasis) 9 between extreme
poles of fortune: "prosperity" (eutuchia) and ccadversity"
(atuchia, dustuchia). This polarity, first mentioned at the
end of ch. VII (5lal3--14), provides a formula which
attempts to capture the crucial life-affecting shifts in the
status of tragedy's central characters. One striking fact
about Aristotle's use of the formula is that he more than
once appears to leave open the direction in which a tragic
transforn1ation may take place. 10 But although this
involves him in the perhaps problematic preference for
plays of averted catastrophe in ch. XIV (54a4-9), its gen-
eral import is not as paradoxical as might at first appear.
Aristotle assumes that any tragic transformation frotn
adversity to prosperity rr1ust give prominence to the first
of these extremes, and will take place in the context of
events entailing, or threatening, great suffering: at
54al2-13 the 'cfamilies· which such sufferings have
befallenn include those whose life histories contain the
plots of averted catastrophe vvhich have just been singled
out for praise. Whatever one may feel about the fore-
grounding of such plots, they are not an invention of the
Poetics but a fact about the established possibilities of
9Ar. applies metabasis (52al6-18), vvith its cognate verb, to
the movement of fo1tune \Vhich he reganls as essential to all
tragedy; 1netabole (52a23, 31), "change," also \Vith its cognate
verb (51a14 being an exception), is reserved for the more abrupt
twists which characterise the elernents of the "co1nplex" plot.
But what Ar. means by rnetabasis is often expressed, in tragedy
itself and elsewhere, bvmetabole .
.I
10 See 51a13-14, 52a31 (perhaps), 55b27-8, as well as ch.

XIV's preference for averted catastrophe.

14
 INTRODUCTION

Greek tragedy itself.

The centrality of ''transformation,, in Aristotle,s con-
ception of tragedy links up with his estimation of the
"complex', plot (chs. X-XI etc.) as the ideal for the genre.
The elements of the complex plot-recognition and
reversal-are themselves defined in ter1ns of dramatic,
sharp twists in the action. They are, in other words,
hinge-like junctures at which the general tragic pattern of
transformation is encapsulated in a particularly intense
and decisive manner. Accordingly, they exemplify in a
special degree the way in which, within the Poetics,
account of tragedy, the idea of a change of fortune is
closely related to two further elements: on the one hand,
pity and fear; 11 on the other, the exhibition of human fal-
libility, for which ha1nartia is Aristotle,s chosen expression
inch. XIII.
Pity and fear were traditionally held to be the combi-
nation of emotions appropriately -evoked by tragedy, in
life as well as fiction. Aristotle gives his own definitions of
them in Poetics XIII, and much more fully in Rhetoric
11.5 and 11.8. He takes them to be felt for the undeserved
· afflictions of those "like ourselves, (53a5-6), and this con-
clition implies a response to sufferings of kinds to which
we can, implicitly at any rate, imagine ourselves too as
vulnerable. The combination of pity and fear therefore
represents tragedy as tapping a deep and quasi-univer-
sai12 sense of human vulnerability-a vulnerability which
11 Both 52a3-4 and 52a36-b3 allude, in effect, to the special
capacity of complex plots to arouse the tragic emotions.
12 Part of the importance of tragic fear, which is focussed on

the dramatic characters (53a4-5) but contains a tacitly self-

regarding element, lies in its connection with the "universals,
15
 INTRODUCTION

is dramatically projected by events in which transforma-

tions of fortune, and thus great swings in the potential
happiness 13 of the central agents, are dominant. Tragedy,
on this view, contains patterns of suffering which explore
the experience of limitations upon human control of life.
But it enlarges and heightens this experience by focussing
it upon events that are typically ''awesome" 14 in scope
and impact, and by connecting it with characters who,
while "like us" in their basic nature, are nonetheless "bet-
ter than our normal lever~ (48a4) in the heroic scale and
sweep of their lives.
When, therefore, in Poetics XIII Aristotle prescribes
that the tragic agent should fall into adversity not
"because of evil and wickedness, but through some kind
of error (hamartia)" (53a8-10), it is not easy to see how
hamartia, repeated a few lines later, can serve as much
more than a token for the various sources of fallibility
which could activate a tr-agic calamity, while still falling
short of serious ethical culpability on the character~s own
part. Hamartia can perhaps most readily be construed as
involving a piece of profound ignorance, particularly
given the requirements of a complex plot (for reversal

that poetry has the power to intimate (5lb6-7): to regard tragic

agents as "like ourselves" is to move towards perceiving the uni-
versal significance latent in their stories.
13 Ar. does not take tragedy to be concerned with all the

details of "happiness," eudaimonia, which he examines in his own

ethical writings. But he does see it as concerning itself with the
decisive impingement of material circumstances, "prosperity"
and "adversity," upon the possibilities for realising happiness in
action: see esp. 50al6-20.
14 See on 52a4.

16
 INTRODUCTION

and recognition) which Aristotle has in mind in this con-

text (cf. 52b30-32). But neither the larger shape of the
argument, nor the list of examples at 53a20-21, allows
one to restrict hamartia to matters of factual ignorance;
elements of limited culpability on the agenfs part, includ-
ing certain deeds of passion, cannot be ruled out. 15
Rather, in any case, than a precise formula for a quint-
essential tragic causality, hamartia can best be under-
stood as designating a whole area of possibilities, an area
unified by a pattern of the causal yet unintended implica-
tion of tragedy's characters in the pitiable and terrible
"transformation'' of their own lives. Hamartia, in short,
embraces all the ways in which human vulnerability, at its
extremes, exposes itself not through sheer, arbitrary mis-
fortune (something inconsistent with the intelligible plot
structure which Aristotle requires of a good play), but
through the erring involvement of tragic figures in their
own sufferings.
The Poetics repeatedly emphasises that the exhibition
of tragic vulnerability or mutability is the ground of pity
and fear. Only once, yet that in the definition of the
genre, does Aristotle add that the experience of these
emotions conduces to catharsis ("through pity and fear
accomplishing the catharsis of such emotions,'' 49b27-8).
In these circumstances, it is not surprising that the Greek
term katharsis, whose senses include "cleansing," ~~purifi­
cation," and "purgation," has long been the most vexed in
the entire work. Opinion has been divided over the
extent to which interpretative help can be found in Poli-
15 See Stinton's article, the most thorough and cogent mod-
em contribution to the longstanding argument over hamartia; cf.
also Nussbaum (1986), pp. 382-3.
17
 INTRODUCTION

tics VIII. 7, where Aristotle mentions catharsis in connec-

tion with certain kinds of music, associates it with both
religious and medical forms of experience, and promises
further elucidation of it "in my treatment of poetry.'' It is
not inconceivable that this cross reference is to part of the
lost second book of the Poetics, but more likely that it is to
the early dialogue On Poets, where Aristotle may have
explicitly introduced catharsis to block the Platonic
charge that the arousal of en1otions by tragedy tended
dangerously to increase susceptibility to the same emo-
tions in life.l6 If catharsis was conceived in anything like
this spirit, then we should expect its function to empha-
sise resistance both to the idea of emotions as dangerous
and to the notion of increased susceptibility.
Such dissension from Plato's position would draw on
Aristotle's general and positive view, as revealed espe-
cially in his ethical writings, that emotions are cognitively
based responses to exper.ience, and can correspondingly
be justified if the judgements which occasion and under-
lie them are the1nselves appropriate to the objects of the
emotions. 17 It is evident throughout the Poetics that pity
and fear are regarded as apt and indeed necessary emo-
tions to be felt towards the suffering characters of
tragedy. This alone makes it difficult to sustain what was
for long the dominant modern view that catharsis is
purely a matter of emotional outlet and release (the
16The attribution of a statement on catharsis to On Poets is
accepted by e.g. W. D. Ross, Aristotelis Fragmenta Selecta
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), p. 69, fr. 5. The Platonic doc-
trine in question is developed especially at Republic 10.603c-6d.
17 This aspect of Ar.'s moral psychology is discussed by N uss-

baum (1992).
18
 INTRODUCTION

extreme "purgation'' view) . 18 Such a function would be a

contingent by-product of tragedy, not the essential ele-
ment which ought to explain its presence within ch. VI's
definition. While, in the absence of an Aristotelian eluci-
dation of the term for tragedy, the significance of catharsis
cannot be conclusively established, we are more likely to
approximate to the truth if we keep in view the ethical
importance of emotions for Aristotle, the Poetics' treat-
ment of tragic pity and fear as the basis of a special form
of pleasure (53bl0-13), and, finally, the wider principle
that the pleasure derived from mimetic works of art rests
on an underlying process of comprehension. This config-
uration of factors allows us, however tentatively, to make
of catharsis a concept which is interconnected with vari-
ous co1nponents in Aristotle's theory of tragedy, and
which in some sense completes his account of the genre
by fra1ning the experience of it as psychologically reward-
ing and ethically benencial. Tragedy, on this reading, may
revolve around the exhibition of sufferings which sten1
from profound human fallibility, yet by engaging the
understanding and the emotions in contemplation of
· these phenomena it succeeds in affording an experience
which deeply fulfils and enhances the whole mind.
The selective and highly compressed survey of some
major features of the Poetics has taken us from an initial
concern with the systematic and "foundational" strategy
of the work, to the discussion of ideas-most notably>
hamartia and catharsis-which, not least by their intrigu-
ing elusiveness, provide material for ongoing controversy.
It may now be worth drawing the explicit moral that this
18 For this and other interpretations of catharsis, see Halli-
well (1986) ch. 6 and appendix 5.
19
 INTRODUCTION

combination of the methodical and the suggestive, the

analytic and the elliptical, is surely one of the main rea-
sons why the treatise has recurrently stimulated such
interest and such sharp reactions, both positive and nega-
tive, from literary critics and theorists between the
sixteenth century and the present. Partly because of its
frequent terseness, partly on account of the damaged
state in which it has reached us, the Poetics is a document
which somewhat offsets its intellectually orderly and pro-
gressive approach with elements which have the effect of
encouraging an indefinite process of reflection and rein-
terpretation. For this and other reasons the treatise has,
since its late Renaissance "rediscovery'' in Italy, main-
tained a persistent status as a conspicuous point of refer-
ence-a repeatedly cited model (whether for good or
bad, depending on the interpreter's own allegiances) of
certain kinds of assumptions and judgements about the
nature of literary works,· yet a model which never quite
permits the reading of its arguments to reach a point of
equilibrium. ·
No other document has had a history parallel to that of
the Poetics: a canonical text for neoclassical thinkers, and
in fields beyond those of literature itself, over a period of
two and a half centuries; a locus of keenly contested
debate, as well as a certain amount of revisionist interpre-
tation, during the rise of Romantic conceptions of art; and
a sporadically cited work even in the heavily ideological
era of modern hermeneutics and literary theory.l9 It is
19 I have discussed aspects of the Poetics' reception in three
publications: Halliwell (1986) ch. 10, (1987) pp. 17-28, and the
Epilogue in Rorty (1992), pp. 409-424.

20
 INTRODUCTION

tempting to say that this long, sometimes fraught story

has left its scars on the work's standing. But it has also
marked it out as a somewhat indomitable "survivor,"
whose historically formative role and continued salience
no one interested in the development of Western atti-
tudes to literature can afford to ignore.

Text and translation

The text printed has been broadly based on the edition by
Rudolf Kassel, Aristotelis de Arte Poetica Liber (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1965; corr. repr., 1968). But as well as
sometimes preferring different readings from Kassel's, I
have occasionally repunctuated the text and introduced
some additional paragraph divisions. I have also deliber-
ately printed as "clean" a text as possible, minimising such
things as editor-ial brackets.
In keeping with the aims of th~ Loeb series, the appa-
ratus criticus is highly selective; its guiding purpose is not
to give full information about the textual tradition, but to
notify (or remind) interested readers of salient elements
of textual uncertainty. The apparatus is accordingly
limited largely to those contexts where a conjectural
emendation is printed, or where the manuscript evidence
contains variants with substantive implications for the
sense. It should be noted, additionally, that I do not men-
tion places where readings taken from recentiores involve
a practically certain correction of the medieval manu-
scripts; I do not record differences between A and B
which are inconsequential for the meaning, even where
they may be important for understanding the textual tra-
dition as such; and I cite the medieval Latin translation

21
 INTRODUCTION

and the Arabic translation only for a few striking points,

not as supplementary evidence to the manuscripts.
The following abbreviations are used in the apparatus;
the introduction to Kassel's edition should be consulted
for further details:
A: lOth cent. ms., Parisinus gr. 1741.
Arab.: readings implied by the lOth cent. Arabic trans-
lation from an earlier Syriac translation of the Poetics.
B: 14th cent. rns., Riccardianus gr. 46 (which has sub-
stantial lacunae at 1447a8-48a29, and 146lb3-62al8).
Lat.: readings implied by the Latin translation of
William of Moerbeke, completed in 1278.
rec.: readings of one or more Renaissance ms.
(15th/16th cent.)
The translation printed here was drafted without refer-
ence to the version which I published in 1987 (see Bibli-
ography). While subsequent comparison of samples
yielded some silnilarities of wording between the two, in
most cases I have n·ot taken any active steps to remove
these. The present translation aims to give a somewhat
closer rendering than the earlier, though I have continued
to follow the principle of preferring, wherever reason-
able, intelligibility in English to a literalness which
requires knowledge of Greek to decode.
The following conventions in the translation should be
noted:
< > = words deemed to be missing from the Greek text
and conjecturally supplied by editors.
( ) =parts of the text conveniently rendered as paren-
theses; round brackets are used more often in the transla-
tion than in the Greek text.

22
 INTRODUCTION

[ ] = transliterated Greek terms or translations of such

terms, included to clarify verbal points.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following abbreviated references are used in the

notes to the translation (abbreviations for ancient authors
and works generally follow the Oxford Classical Dictio-
nary, see belo"', though I use Ar. not Arist. for Aristotle).
DFA 2 : Pickard-Cambridge, Arthur. The Dramatic Fes-
tivals of Athens, rev. J. Gould and D. M. Lewis. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1968.
DK: Diels, H., and vV. Kranz edd. Die Fragmente der
Vorsokratiker. 7th ed. Berlin: Wiedmann, 1954.
Gigon: Gigon, 0. ed. Aristotelis Opera Ill: Librorum,
Deperditorum Fragntenta. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1987.
Nauck: Nauck, August. Tragicorum Graecorum Frag-
menta. 2nd ed. Leipzig: Teubner,J889.
OCD: The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. N. G. L.
Hammond & H. H. Scullard. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1970.
PCG: Kassel, R., and C. Austin edd. Poetae Comici
Graeci. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1983-.
PMG: Poetae Melici Graeci, ed. D. L. Page. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1962.
P. Oxy.: The Oxyrynchus Papyri. J_Jondon: Egypt
Exploration Society, 1898-.
TrGF: Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, ed. B.
Snell et al. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971--.
Rose: Rose, V. Aristotelis qui ferebantur libronun
fragmenta. Leipzig: Teubner, 1886.
West: vVest, M. L. Iambi et Elegi Graeci. 2nd ed.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989-92.

23
 INTRODUCTION

The following selection of publications is restricted to

writings in English; works in other languages can be
traced through the bibliographies in many of the items
listed here.

Commentaries
Bywater, Ingram. Aristotle on the Art of Poetry. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1909.
Else, Gerald F. Aristotle~s Poetics: the Argument. Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957.
Lucas, D. W. Aristotle Poetics. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1968.

Monographs
Belfiore, Elizabeth S. Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Plot
and Emotion. Princetop.: Princeton University Press,
1992.
Halliwell, Stephen. Aristotle~s Poetics. London: Duck-
worth, 1986.
House, Humphrey. Aristotle"s Poetics. London: Rupert
Hart-Davis, 1956.

Translations
The following contain extensive annotation or commen-
tary.
Golden, Leon, and 0. B. Hardison. Aristotle"s Poetics: a
Translation and Commentary for Students of Litera-
ture. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1968.

24
 INTRODUCTION

Halliwell, Stephen. The Poetics of Aristotle: Translation

and Commentary. London: Duckworth, 1987.
Hubbard, Margaret. <"Aristotle: Poetics." in D. A. Russell
and M. Winterbotto1n. Ancient Literary Criticism.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
Hutton, James. Aristotle>s Poetics. New York: Norton,
1982.
Janko, Richard. Aristotle Poetics. Indianapolis: Hackett,
1987.
Other works
Cave, Terence. Recognitions: A Study in Poetics. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1988.
Gallop, David. "Animals in the Poetics.'' Oxford Studies in
Ancient Philosophy (Oxford), 8 (1990), 145-171.
Halliwell, Stephen. "The Importance of Plato and Aristo-
tle for Aesthetics." in J. J. Cleary (ed.) Proceedings of
the Boston Area Colloquium ih Ancient Philosophy,
vol. 5. Lanham: University. Press of America, 1991, pp.
321-348.
- - "Aristotelian Mimesis Reevaluated." Journal of
the History of Philosophy (Chicago), 28 (1990),
487-510.
Heath, Malcolm. <<Aristotelian Comedy." Classical Quar-
terly (Oxford), 39 (1989), 344-354.
--"The Universality of Poetry in Aristotle's Poetics."
Classical Quarterly (Oxford), 41 (1991), 389-402.
Janko, Richard. Aristotle on Comedy: Towards a Recon-
struction of Poetics II. London: Duckworth, 1984.
Kennedy, George A., ed. The Cambridge History of Liter-
ary Criticism val. 1: Classical Criticism. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989.
25
 INTRODUCTION

Lear, Jonathan. ''Katharsis.~~ Phronesis (Oxford), 33

(1988), 297-326.
Nussbaum, Martha C. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck
and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy. Cam-
bridge: Ca1nbridge University Press, 1986.
- - "Tragedy and Self-Sufficiency: Plato and Aristotle
on Fear and Pity." Oxford Studies in Ancient Philoso-
phy (Oxford), 10 (1992), 107-159.
Richardson, Nicholas. "Aristotle~s Reading of Homer and
Its Background." in Lamberton, R. W., and J. Keaney
edd. Homer s Ancient Readers. Princeton: Princeton
7

University Press, 1992, 30-40.

7
Rorty, Amelie Oksenberg, ed. Essays on Aristotle s Poet-
ics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Stinton, T. C. W. "Hamartia in Aristotle and Greek
Tragedy." Classical Quarterly (Oxford), 25 (1975),
221-254.

26
 ITEPI ITOIHTIKH~

-~
JllJJliiiJJJJ!JU!llJLIIli~Jl
- ·- -- . - .
 ITEPI ITOIHTIKH~

1447a ITEpt 1TOLYJ'TLK~~ av'T~~ 'TE Kat TWV El8wv av'T~~' ijv I

I
~/
TLVa OVVafLLV e/
EKaO"'TOV >I
EXEL, KaL' 1TW~
'"" ~'""
DEL /
O"VVLO"'TaO" aL e
TOV~
' fLV'8 OV~ '
EL
/\ \
f.LEJ\1\EL \ '""
Kai\W~ E~
e/ (:
ELV 'Y]~ /
7TOLYJO"L~,
>I
E'TL ~'
OE

10 , 7TOO"WV
EK ...
KaL' 7TOLWV
... , ' fLOpLWV,
EO"'TL ... ~ ...
OfLOLW~
~'
OE KaL' 7TEpL'
TWV a'A.'A.wv oa-a 'T~~ av'T~~ EO"TL fLE8o8ov, 'A.€ywfLEV

aptaf.LEVOL Ka'Ta cPVO"LV 1TpW'TOV a1TO 'TWV 7TpW'TWV.

E7T07TOLLa 8~ Kat ~ T-Yj~ TpayqJ8£a~ 7TOLYJO"L~ E'TL 8€
KWfL([J~La Kat ~ 8L8vpaf.Lf307TOLYJ'TLK~ Kat T~~ aVAYJTL-
15 K-Yj~ ~ 1r AEtO"TYJ Ka'i Kt8apta-rtK1j~ traa-at rvyxavova-tv
ofJa-aL fL"fL~O"EL~ TO a-vvo'A.ov· 8~,a¢>€pova-L 8€ d'A'A ~'A.wv
TpLa-tv, ~ yap T~ €v 1 ETEpoL~ fLLfLEta-8aL ~ T~ ETEpa ~
T([J,....~,.
E'TEpW~ KaL fLY} 'TOV aV'TOV 7p01TOV.
' ' ' '' /
W0"1TEp
e/
yap
'
KaL'
XPWfLaO"L Kat a-x~fLaO"t 7TOAAa fLLfLOVV'TaL 'TLVE~ a1TEL-
KU,OVTE~ ( ol fLEV 8La TEXVYJ~ ol 8€ 8ta O"VVYJ8Eta~)'
20 ETEpot 8€ 8ta T-Yj~ ¢>wv~~' ovTw Kav Tat~ ElpYJfLEVat~
/ e/ ' '"" ' / '
TEXVaL~ a1Taa-aL fLEV 1TOLOVVTaL TYJV fLLfLYJO"LV EV

pv8fL~ Kat AoyqJ Kat apfLOVLft, 'TOV'TOL~ 8' ~ xwpt~ ~

1 €v Forchhammer: y€vEL A

A major genre of choral lyric, performed in honour of

a
Dionysus; cf. 49al0-ll for its relation to tragedy.

28
 POETICS

I We are to discuss both poetry in general and the

capacity of each of its genres; the canons of plot construc-
tion needed for poetic excellence; also the number and
character of poetry~s components, together with the other
topics which belong to the same enquiry-beginning, as
is natural, from first principles.
Now, epic and tragic poetry, as well as comedy,
dithyramb,a and most music for aulosh and lyre, are all,
taken as a whole, kinds of mimesis. c But they differ from
one another in three respects: namely, by producing
mimesis in different media, of different objects, or in dif-
ferent modes. Just as people (some by formal skill, others
by a knack) use colours and shapes to render mimetic
images of many things, while others again use the voice,d
· so too all the poetic arts mentioned produce mimesis in
rhythm, language, and melody, whether separately or in

bA reed pipe (akin to an oboe) used to accompany parts of

drama and some other forms of poetry, but also for purely instru-
mental music; cf. 48a9, 6lal8, b31.
c The foundational aesthetic concept of the Poetics; my trans-
lation generally retains the Greek noun, but sometimes, to avoid
awkwardness, I use the verb "represent." See the Introduction.
d For vocal mimicry, including that of actors; cf. Rh.
· 1404a21-3.

29
 ARISTOTLE

fLEfLtyp.ivotc;• oiov apfLOVLC?: fLEV KaL pv()!Lfi? XPWfLEVat

/
fLOVOV YJ~~ 'TE a VI\
' \
Y}'TtKY)' Kat' YJe Kt {) apUT'TtKY)' KaV
.,,
Et~~ 'TtVEc;
E'TEpat rvyxavwa-tv oila-at 'TOtavrat 1 'TTJV 8vvaJ.LtV,
25 otov ~ rwv a-vpiyywv, avrfi? 8€ rfi? pv()J.Lfi? 2 xwptc;
app.oviac; ~ 3 'TWV opxYJ(T'TWV ( KaL yap O~'TOt Dta 'TWV
a-XYJJ.La'Tt,OJ.LEVWV pv{)p.wv fLtfLOVV'Tat KaL ~{)YJ Kat
naOYJ KaL npa~Etc;). ~ 8€ 4 J.LOVOV 'TOLe; 'Aoyotc; t./-nAoLc; Tj
'TOLe; p.i.rpotc; KaL 'TOV'TOtc; llrE J.Ltyvva-a J.LE'T' aAA rr}Awv
1447b Et~'(}' EVt
e /
'TtVt yEvEt / /
XPWfJ-EVYJ '"'
TWV /
J.LErpwv ' /
avwVVJ.LOc; 5

rvyxavEt oila-a 6 J.LEXPt 'TOV vvv· ov8f.v yap av exot-

'
J.LEV ovoJ.Laa-at /
Kotvov ' '~/.rh
rove; '~--«
~w~povoc; Kat t:::..Evapxov
/
10 p.tp.ovc; Kat' rove;
/ ' ~ ~wKpartKovc; ' 1\0yovc:;,
\/ '~'
ovoE Et~~ rtc; ota~'

rptp.erpwv Tj EAEYELWV Tj 'TWV aAAwv 'TtVWV 'TWV 'TOtOV-

rwv nototro '"' ' J.LLJ.LY)a-tv.
TYJV / \ ' ote~'(}
7ri\Y)V av pwnot/ yE a-vv-
anrovr~c; rfi? fLE'TpqJ 'TO 7rOtELV EAEyEt07rOtovc; rove; 8€
E7r07T"Otovc; OVOJ.LU,OV(TtV, . ovx we; Ka'Ta 'TTJV J.LLfJ-Y)(TtV
15 ' al\1\a
7rOtY)'Tac; '\ \ '
KOLVYJ'"' Ka'Ta' 'TO' fLE'TpOV npoa-ayopEVOV-
/ /

'TEc;· KaL yap av larptKOV Tj cpva-tKOV 7 'TL 8ul. 'TWV

/ '.rh/ ~~ \'"' '/(} ,~, ~'
fLE'TpWV EK~Epwa-tV, OV'TW Kai\ELV ELW aa-tv• OVOEV OE

Kotvov ea-rtv eOJ.LrrJP(fJ Kat 'EJ.LnE8oKAEL nAT]v ro

1 rotavrat rec.: om. A
2
pvOfL<i! fLLfLOVvrat A: fLLfL. del. Spengel (om. Arab.)
3 ·~ rec.: oi A
4 8€ enonotia A: en. del. Ueberweg (om. Arab.)
5 aVWVVfLO~ add. Bernays (Arab.)
6 rvyxavEt o-oa-a Suckow: rvyxavova-a A
7 cPVO"tKov Heinsius (Arab.): fLOVa-tKov A

30
 POETICS 1

combinations. That is, melody and rhythm alone are used

by music for aulos and lyre, and by any other types with
this capacity, for example music for panpipes; rhythm on
its own, without melody, is used by the art of dancers
(since they too, through rhythms translated into move-
ments, create mimesis of character, emotions, a and
actions); while the art which uses either plain language or
metrical forms (whether combinations of these, or some
one class of metres) remains so far unnamed.b For we
have no common name to give to the mimes of Sophron
and Xenarchusc and to Socratic dialogues; nor even to any
mimesis that might be produced in iambic trimetersd or
elegiac coupletse or any other such metres. Of course,
people attach the verbal idea of "poetry" [poiein] to the
name of the metre, and call some ~~elegiac poets," others
"epic poets.,, But this is not to classify them as poets
because of mimesis, but because of the metre they share:
hence, if writers express something medical or scientific
in metre, people still usually apply these terms. But
Homer and Empedoclesf have nothing in common except

a Or perhaps "sufferings."
h Ar. notes the lack of a collective name for mimesis in prose
or metre, and rejects the standing equation of "poetry" with
verse.
c Sicilian authors, father (late 5th cent.) and son, of prose
mimes, i.e. comic sketches; cf. Ar. On Poets, fr. 15 Gigon/72
Rose. Sophron allegedly influenced Plato's dialogues: e.g. D. L.
3.18, P. Oxy. XLV 3219 fr. 1.
d The metre both of some "iambic" poetry (e.g. Archilochus;
cf. 48b31-2) and of dialogue in drama (49a21-28).
e Used mostly in "elegiac" poetry such as that ofTheognis.
f E. (c. 495-35) composed two philosophical!scientific works,
On Nature and Purifications, in hexameters.
31

rI
 ARISTOTLE
~ ~/ ~~
f.LE"TpOV, OtO
/
TOV f.LEV 1TOt'Y}TYJV OtKatOV
'
Kai\EtV, TOV
' ' ' \ !". '
o~

,./.,. \ ' ""' \ \ .,, / e ' ~ ' .,, ''

\f'Vo-tOI\OYOV f.Lai\1\0V YJ 1T0t'Y}TYJV. Of.LOtW~ 0€ KaV Et Tt~
~I ' / / ""' ' /
20 a1TaVTa 'Ta JL€7pa f.LtYVVWV 1TOtOtTO TYJV f.Ltf.L'Y}o-tV
Ka (} a1T€p
, X atp'Y}f.LWV
' ' '
€1TOt'Y}o-E K'EVTavpov '
f.LtK'TYJV
e .It ~/ 'C e ' ""' '
pao/rpotaV €~ a1TaV'TWV 'TWV f.LETpWV, Kat' '
1TOt'Y}'T'Y}V
/
1Tpoo-ayop€VT€0V. 1T€pt' J.LEV
' ";'
OVV /
TOVTWV ~ '(} W
OtWpto-
!". ' / , '~/ (.\ !". !".
'TOV'TOV 'TOV Tp01TOV. Eto-t 0€ TtV€~ at 1Tao-t XPWVTat
ro'i~ ElpYJf.LEVOt~, A.f.yw 8€ oiov pvOf.Lfi! Kat f.LEAEt Kat
25 f.LE7prp, wo-1T€p ij 7€ 'TWV 8tOvpaJL/3tKWV 1TOLY](Jt~ Kat ~
""' / ' ~~ ~/ ' e ~/ ~ ,/... /
'TWV VOf.LWV Kat YJ T€ rpayq_Jota Kat YJ KWJLq_JOta• Ota\{-1€-
povo-t 8€ OTt at f.LEV af.La 1Tao-tv at 8€ KaTa f.LEpo~.
II
ravra~ f.LEV o.Ov AEyw ra~ 8tacpopa~ TWV TEXVWV EV
oi~ 1 1TotovvTat 'TTJV f.LLf.L'Y}o-tv.
II 'E1rEt 8€ f.Ltf.Lovvrat 1rpaTTovra~, ot f.Ltf.LOVf.LEvot
1448a avayK,YJ 8€ TOVTOV~ ~ o-1Tov8aiov~ ~ cpavAov~ Elvat
( ra yap ~(}YJ o-XEOov a~t 'TOVTOt~ aKoAov8Et f.LOVOt~,
KaKLft yap Kat a pEri} Ta ~(}YJ Otacpf.povo-t 1TaVT€~)'
~rot /3EATiova~ ~ K·a(}' ~/La~ ~ XEipova~ ~ Kat Totov-
5 'TOV~,
~~
Wo-1T€p Ot
c
ypao/Et~·
A-.""' II\'
. 01\VYVWTO~
,
f.LEV yap KpEt'T-
' ,
rov~,
/
IT avo-wv ~'
oE XEtpov~,
/ A /
utovvo-to~
~'
oE
e /
Of.LOtov~

EtKa,Ev. 8-ryA.ov 8€ oTt Kat Twv AEX0Eto-wv EKao-TYJ

f.Ltf.L~o-EWV E~Et ravTa~ ra~ 8tacpopa~ Kat EO"Tat ETEpa
rfi! ETEpa f.Ltf.LE'ia-Oat rovTov Tov rp61rov. Kat yap E.v

1
oi~ Vettori: ai~ A

4th cent. tragedian (Rh. 1413bl3, TrGF I no. 71); Centaur

a
was probably a polymetric dran1a, perhaps meant only for recital
(hence "rhapsody," elsewhere used of epic recitals). Cf. 60al-2.

32
 POETICS 2

their metre; so one should call the former a poet, the

other a natural scientist. Equally, even if someone should
produce mimesis in a medley of all the metres (as
Chaeremona did in composing his Centaur, a hybrid
rhapsody containing all the metres), he ought still to be
called a poet. In these matters, then, we should make dis-
criminations of this kind. There are also some arts which
use all the stated media-rhythm, melody, metre-as do
dithyramb and nomes,b tragedy and comedy. They differ
in that some employ all together, others use them in cer-
tain parts. So these are the distinctions between the arts
in the media in which they produce mimesis.
II Since mimetic artists represent people in action, and
the latter should be either elevatedc or base (for charac-
ters almost always align with just these types, as it is
through vice and virtue that the characters of all men
vary), they can represent people better than our normal
level, worse than it, or much t.he same. As too with
painters: Polygnotus depicted superior people, Pauson
inferior, and Dionysius those like ourselves.d Clearly,
each of the kinds of mimesis already mentioned will man-
ifest these distinctions, and will differ by representing

b N omes were traditional styles of melody, for string or wind

instrument, to which various texts could be set; by Ar.'s time the
term covered elaborate compositions closely related to dithy-
ramb: cf. 48al5.
c See on 49b24.
d Polygnotus: major mid-5th cent. wall painter; cf. 50a27,
with OCD s.v. Pauson (cf. Pol. 1340a36): identity uncertain; a
painter of caricatures? Dionysius: more than one painter of this
name is known; perhaps D. of Colophon (Ael. VH 4.3).

33
 --
ARISTOTLE

opxf]cret Kat av'A TJCTEt Kat Kt8aptCTEt ECT'TL yev€a-8aL

10 ' ,
TaVra~ ra~ aVOJ.LOtO'TYJTa~, Kat 1TEpt 'TOV~ 1\0')IOV~ 0€
/ / ' ' ' \ / ~'

Kat' 'TYJV ' ,f~ \

\f'ti\OfLE'TpLaV, / OLOV 'e' ~'0
J.LYJpO~ J.LEV fJEJ\'TtOV~,
' Q \ /
\ ,../..,..., 0€
K 1\€0\{JWV ~' e /
OJ.LOtOV~,
eHYYJJ.LWV / ~'
0€ 0
e S aa-to~ / e '
0 Ta~
~/
1rapcpota~ 1TOLYJCTa~ 1rpwro~
/ ,. ., Kat' N tKoxapYJ~ / oe TYJV '

A \ /~ / e / ~' ' ' ' ~ f) /

Ll.Eti\Laoa XELpov~· OJ.LOLW~ oE Kat 1TEpL rov~ oL vpaJ.L-

Q ' '
tJOV~ Kat 1TEpt TOV~ VO!J-OV~, WCT1TEp yap
' / "' ' 1 K/ \
VKJ\W1Ta~

15 Tt~-to8Eo~ Kat <Pt'Ao~EVO~ p.,tp.,Tjcratro av 'Tt~. EV avriJ

8€ ri} tnacPopfi- Kat T] rpaycpSia 1rpo~ rT]v KWJ.LcpSiav
~ / e ~' Q \ / ,...,
otECTTYJKEV" YJe J.LEV '
yap ' /
XEtpov~ YJ oe tJEA'TLOV~ J.LLJ.LEL-

cr8at (3ov'AeraL rwv vvv. III

~' ~ e "' /
III !)/E
rt oE rovrwv /
rptrYJ
/
ot-ao/opa,../.. '
ro' w~ EKacrra rov-
/ !)/
TWV J.LtJ.LY}CTatTO av 'Tt~. Kat' yap ' , ,....
EV 'TOL~ aV'TOt~ Kat ra
, ,.... ' '

' ' ,. . f) !)/ e ' ' ' /\ \ .,, ~~

20 avra J.LLJ.LEta- at ECT'TtV O'TE J.LEV a1TayyEJ\J\OV'Ta YJ E'TE-

pov 'Tt YLYVOJ.LEVOV WCT1TEp "'OJ.LYJPO~ 1TOtEL, ~ w~ 'TOV

' '
avrov Kat' J.LTJ' J.LETatJaAI\OVra, Q /\ \
YJ.,, 1ravra~ / e
w~ 1Tparrov-
/

ra~ Kat E:vepyovvra~ rov~ J.LLJ.LOVJ.LEVov~. E:v rpta-t 87]

/ ~ ,../.. ,.... ' e / /' e !)/ ,
TaVTaL~ Otao/opat~ YJ J.LtJ.LY}CTt~ ECT'TtV, W~ EL1TOJ.LEV KaT

25 ' / '
apxa~, EV OL~ 'e' 'TE Kat' "a' Kat' "W~. ' WCT'TE
"' 'TYJ,.... J.LEV ' e0 aV'TO~ ''
av ELY] J.Lt!J-Y]'TTJ~ eOJ.LTjpcp ~OcPOKAfj~, J.LtJ.LOVV'TaL yap
!), ,..~.. ~
/ ,.... ~ , 'A ,..~.. / /
a~-to/W CT1TovoaLov~, TYJ oE ptcrroo/avet, 1rparrovra~
yap '
J.LtJ.LOVVTaL,....
Kat' opwvra~ ~ ,.... !)/
aJ.Lo/W. ,../..
o~'f) ev Kat' opa- ~ /

~-tara
\'"'f)/
Kai\Etcr at TLVE~ avra , /,../.. o/acrtv, O'Tt p.,tJ.LOVV'Tat
~~ ,....

8pwvra~. Sto Kat avrt1TOtovvrat rfj~ 'TE rpaycp8ia~

1 yap Vahlen: yiis A: raA.are[a~ Kat Eden

Minor tragic poet; cf. 58a20 and Rh. 1408al5.

a
b Probably late 5th cent.; cf. OCD s.v.

34
 POETICS 3

different objects in the given sense. In dancing too, and

in music for aulas and lyre, these variations can occur, as
well as in prose writings and metrical works without
melody: for example, Homer represented superior peo-
ple, Cleophona those like ourselves, Hegemon of Thasosh
(the first composer of parodies) and Nicocharesc (author
of the Deiliad) inferior characters. Likewise with di thyra-
mbs and names: for one could represent Cyclopses as did
Timotheus and Philoxenus.d This very distinction sepa-
rates tragedy from comedy: the latter tends to represent
people inferior, the former superior, to existing humans.
I There is, beside these, a third distinction-in the
mode of mimesis for these various objects. For in the
same media one can represent the same objects by com-
bining narrative with direct personation, as Homer does;
or in an invariable narrative voice; or by direct enactment
of all roles. These, then, are the three distinctions under-
lying mimesis, as we said at the qutset: media, objects,
modes. Accordingly, in one respect Sophocles could be
classed as the same kind of mimetic artist as Homer, since
both represent elevated characters, but in another the
· same as Aristophanes, since both represent people in
direct action. Hence the assertion some people make,
that dramas are so called because they represent people
in action. e Thus, the Dorians actually lay claim to

c Probably late 5th cent.: Deiliad is a mock-epic title (cf. e.g.

Iliad), "tale of a coward."
d Timotheus, c. 450-360; his Cyclops: PMG nos. 780-83.
Philoxenus, roughly contemporary; see PMG nos. 815-24. Both
were musico-stylistic innovators.
e The noun drama derives from the verb dran, "do" or "act"
(cf. 48bl).

35
 ARISTOTLE

30 Kat r-YJ~ Kw,..uySia~ ol ~wptEt~ ( T-Yj~ fLEV yap KWfLq_JOta~

OL MEyapEt~ OL TE EVTavOa w~ E1Tt T-Yj~ 1Tap' aVTOt~
DYJfLOKpaTta~ YEVOfLEVYJ~ Kat ol EK '!.tKEAta~, EKEt0Ev
yap ~v 'E1TtXapfLO~ 1TOt'Y}T~~ 1TOAAfl? 1TpoTEpo~ CiJv o
X _tWVtOOV Kat lV ayV'YJTO~· Kat\ T'YJ~
1\:' \ l\1
,-., I \:'I :!/
Tpayq_Jota~ EVtOt

""
TWV )
EV II€1\01TOVV'Y}(T'Cf)
\ 1TOtOVfLEVOt Ta OVOfLaTaI ) I ' ' I

"" ' \1 \ \ I \ 1\:'

35 (T'TjfLEtOV" aVTOt fLEV yap KWfLa~ Ta~ 1TEpLOLKLOa~

KaAEtV cpao-tv, , A0YJVatov~ 2 S€ D'YjfLOV~, w~ KWfLq_JOOV~

OVK a1TO TOV KWfLU,EtV AEx0€vTa~ a'A'Aa Tfj KaTa
1448b
I \1 '
KWfLa~ 1TI\aVYJ aTLfLa~::,OfLEVOV~ EK TOV ao-TEW~· Kat TO
r I' ' -":II \\

1TOLEtV aVTOt fLEV Spav, , AO'Y]vaiov~ S€ 1TpaTTELV

1Tpoo-ayopEvEtv. 1TEpt p.,f.v oiJv Twv Dtacpopwv Kat
I' \I "" I' 'I(} ""
1roo-aL KaL TLVE~ T'YJ~ f.LLf.LYJo-Ew~ ELpYJo- w TavTa. _IV
IV 'EotKao-L S€ yEvv-Y}o-aL fLEV o'Aw~ T~V 1TOLYJTLK~V
) I \:'1' \ \ 'e' rf..._ I I' \ ""
aLTLaL OVO TLVE~ KaL avTaL 'PV(TLKaL. TO TE yap f.LLfLEL-
5 a-OaL o-vp.,cpvTOV TOt~ av0pw1TOL~ EK 1Tai8wv E(TTL KaL
TOVTqJ OLacpf.povo-L TWV a'A'Awv '~wv OTL fLLf.L'YJTLKWTa-
TOV f.o-Tt Kat Ta~ ·fLaO'Yja-Et~ 1TotEtTat Sta fLLfL'Yja-Ew~
\ I' \\ I' ,-., I I'
Ta~ 1TpWTa~, KaL TO xaLpELV TOL~ fLLfLYJfLaO"L 1TaVTa~.

(TY]fLEtOV S€ TOVTOV TO o-vfLf3a'ivov E1Tt TWV E.pywv· a

10 yap avTa AV1TYJPW~ opwfLEV, TOVTWV Ta~ ElKova~ Ta~
fLUALo-Ta ~Kpt{3WfLEVa~ XatpOfLEV 0EwpovvTE~, oiov
(}'Y]ptwv T€ fLOpcpa~ TWV aTLfLOTUTWV Kat VEKpwv.

l avro'i Spengel: O'VTOt AB

2
'AOYJvaiovc; anon. Oxon., Spengel: -a'Lot AB

Mid-6th cent., much earlier than the introduction of com-

a
edy into dramatic festivals at Athens (cf. 49bl-2).

36
 POETICS 4

tragedy and comedy (comedy being claimed by the

Megarians both here on the mainland, contending it
arose during their democracy, a and in Sicily, the home-
land of the poet Epicharmus, a much earlier figure than
Chionides and Magnes;h and tragedy being claimed by
some of those in the Peloponnese) ;c and they cite the
names as evidence. They say that they call villages komai,
while the Athenians call them demoi; their contention is
that comic performers [komadoi] got their name not from
revelling [komazein] but from wandering through villages
when banned from the city. And they say their own word
for acting is dran,d while the Athenians~ is prattein. So
much, then, by way of discussion of the number and
nature of the distinctions within mimesis.
IV It can be seen that poetry was broadly engendered by
a pair of causes, both natural. For it is an instinct of
human beings., from childhood, to engage in mimesise
(indeed, this distinguishes them from other animals: man
is the most mimetic of all, and it is through mimesis that
he develops his earliest understanding); and equally natu-
ral that everyone enjoys mimetic objects. A common
occurrence indicates this: we enjoy contemplating the
most precise images of things whose actual sight is painful
to us, such as the forms of the vilest animals and of

b C. and M. were, between them, active at Athens in the 480s

and 470s (see on 49b3); E.'s dates are disputed: his career proba-
bly spanned the late 6th and early 5th cent.
c Cf. the "tragic choruses" at Sicyon, Hdt. 5.67.
d See on 48a28.
e Here a genus of activities including imitative behaviour and
artistic "image-making" as two of its species.

37
 ARISTOTLE
3/ ~E' ' , 1 ('/ (} , ' , 1'"1
at/TtOV V Kat TOVTOV, OTt fLaV aVEtV OV fLOVOV TOt~

cPLAOO"OcPOL~ 7}8ta-TOV aA.A.a Kat TOL~ aA.A.ot~ OfLOLW~,

d'AA.' E7Tt (3paxv KOtVWVOVO"tV aVTOV. Ota yap TOVTO
/ ' 3/ ~ Q' (j
xatpOVO"t Ta~ EtKOVa~ opWVTE~, OTt O"VfLfJatVEt
1'"1 ('/
15 EW-

poVVTa~ fLaveavEtv Kat a-vA.A.oyi,Ea-(Jat TL EKaa-Tov,

'?' ('/ '?' '
OtOV OTt OVTO~
1'"1
EKEtVo~·
'
E7TEL
'
EaV fLY} TVXYJ 1TpOEwpa-
' ' ' /

KW~, ovx 2 Yi fLLfLYJfLa 1TOt-r}a-Et TTJV Y,8oVTJV aA.A.a 8ul

TTJV U1TEpyaa-iav ~ TTJV xpotav ~ Ota TOtaVTYJV TtVa
3/\ \ ' /
aAAYJV atTtav.
Kara cPVa-tv 8€ ovro~ iJfL'iv Tov fLLfLE'ia-(Jat Kat T-i]~
20 apfLOVLa~ Kat TOV pv(JfLOV ( Ta yap fLETpa OTt fLOpta
TWV pv(JfLWV EO"Tt cpavEpov) E~ apx-ry~ oi 3 1TEcPVKOTE~
1Tpo~
' 4 avTa
' ' fLal\tO"Ta
'\ KaTa' fLtKpov
' 1rpoayovTE~
/ ' /
EYEV-
' / '1'"1 ' ~ / ~
VYJO"aV TYJV 1TOLYJO"LV EK TWV aVTOO"XEOtaO"fLaTWV. OLE-
, (j YJ
0"1TaO: ~'
OE KaTa' Ta' OLKEta
' YJ3/(jYJ YJ~ 1'"1 /
1TOLYJO"t~·
'
Ot~ fLEV
25 yap O"EfLVOTEpot ra~ ~aA.a~ EfLLfLOVVTO 1Tpa~ElS KaL
'
Ta~ TWV TOLOVTWV, Ot~
1'"1 / ~'
OE EVTEI\EO"TEpOt
' \ /
Ta~
'
TWV o.paV-
1'"1 ..,./.... /

AWV, 1TpwTov lfloyo·v~ 1TotovvTE~, wa-1TEp ETEpot vfLVov~

Kat EYKWfLLa. TWV fLEV oilv 1Tpo ~OfL-r}pov ovOEvo~
EXOfLEV EL1TELV TOLOVTOV 1TOLYJfLa, ELKO~ OE Eivat 1TOA-

A.ov~, U1TO OE ~OfL-r}pov ap~afLEVOt~ EO"TtV, oiov EKELVOV

30 0 MapyLTYJ~ Kat TU TOtavra. EV or~ KaTa TO apfLOT-
TOV Kat TO lafL{3E'Lov ~A.(JE fLETpov-Oto Kat lafL{3E'Lov

1 TOVTOV Lat.: TOVTO A 2 ovx DEllebodius: ovxt AB

3 oi B: om. A 4 1rpo~ B: Kat A

I.e. in a portrait-a deliberately rudimentary instance of an

a
interpretative process which could take more complex forms.

38
 POETICS 4

corpses. The explanation of this too is that understanding

gives great pleasure not only to philosophers but likewise
to others too, though the latter have a smaller share in it.
This is why people enjoy looking at images, because
through contemplating the1n it comes about that they
understand and infer what each element means, for
instance that ''this person is so-and-so."a For, if one hap-
pens not to have seen the subject before, the image will
not give pleasure qua mimesis but because of its execu-
tion or colour, or for some other such reason.
Because mimesis comes naturally to us, as do melody
and rhythm (that 1netres are categories of rhythms is
obvious), in the earliest timesh those with special natural
talents for these things gradually progressed and brought
poetry into being from improvisations. Poetry branched
into two, according to its creators, characters: the more
serious prod1,1ced mimesis of noble actions and the
actions of noble people, while the more vulgar depicted
the actions of the base, in the first place by composing
invectivesc (just as others· produced hymns and en-
comia).d Now, we cannot name such an invective by any
poet earlier than Homer, though probably many poets
produced them; but we can do so from Homer onwards,
namely the latter,s Margitese and the like. In these
poems, it was aptness which brought the iambic metre too

b Lit. "from the beginning": the point is a priori rather than

strictly historical.
c Satirical lampoons on individuals.
d Poems in praise of gods and outstanding humans.
e A (lost) burlesque epic, named after its crass "hero," com-
posed in a mixture of hexameters and iambic trimeters. It is not
now, and was not always in antiquity, attributed to "Homer."

39
 ARISTOTLE

Ka'AliraL vvv, OTL f.v r0 p.,irpq_J TOVTq_J lap.,{3L,OV a'A'A"f/-

'Aov~. Kat f.yivovTo rwv 1TaAatwv ol p.,f.v T]pwtKwv ol
~'
OE , / (3WV 1TOLYJTaL./ W0"1TEp
Lap_, ~' ~'
OE KaL' Ta' 0"1TOVOaLa ~ ,. .

p.,a'Ata-Ta 1TOLYJT~~ ~'Op.,YJpo~ ~v (p.,6vo~ yap ovx art EV

35 '\ \ '
a/\1\a KaL' P.,LP.,YJO"EL~ opap_,aTLKa~
/ ~ ' E1TOLYJO"EV
' / ), OVTW~ ~'
KaL'
ra 1 rij~ KWp_,qJ8ta~ a-x"f/p.,ara 1Tpwro~ V1TEDELtEv, ov
t/Joyov a'A'Aa TO yEAOLOV 8pap_,aT01TOL"f/a-a~· 0 yap
MapytTYJ~ ava'Aoyov EXEL, W0"1TEp 'I'Ata~ Kat Y]
1449a '0 OVO"O"ELa
~ / ' Ta~
1rp0~ ' rpayq_JoLa~, ~/ OVTW ~' KaL' OVTO~ 'e' '
1rp0~
'
Ta~ KWP.,q_JOLa~.
~/ ,../.... /
1Tapa'PaVELO"YJ~ OE TYJ~ rpayq_JoLa~ KaL
~' ,.... ~/ '
KWp_,qJ8ta~ oi f.cp' EKaTipav TTJV 1TOLYJO"LV opp.,wvTE~
KaTa ri}v olKEtav cpva-Lv oi p.,f.v avTt Twv lap.,{3wv
~ ' ' / ~'
KWP.,q_J001TOLOL E'YEVOVTO, OLc OE '
aVTL '
TWV ,.... ' ,....
E1TWV Tpayq_J-
5 8o8t8aa-KaAot, 8ta To p.,Ei'w Kat f.vrtp.,orEpa Ta a-x"f/-
1' ,..... ' /
p_,ara ~LVaL TaVTa EKELVWV.
TO J.LEV oilv E1TUYK01TE~V Et apa EXEL ~DYJ T] rpayq_J-
~ / ,.... 3/~ c ,.... .,, 3/ ' / iJ' c '
OLa TOL~ ELOEO"LV LKaVW~ YJ OV, aVTO TE Kau aVTO
KptvaL 2 Kat 1Tp0~ ra Oiarpa, aAAo~ Aoyo~. YEVO-
P.,EVYJ3 8' oVv a1r' apxi}~ avToa-xE8LaO"TLKij~ (Kat aVTTJ
, c ~, , c , , ' ,.... 'C ' '
10 KaL YJ KWP.,q_JOLa, KaL YJ P.,EV a1TO TWV Es apxovTWV TOV
8t0vpap.,{3ov, Y] 8€ U1TO TWV Ta cpaAALKa a ETL Kat vvv

1 TU' . . . a-xYJ/ fLU TU AL at.: TO' . . . a-xYJ"' fLU B

2
Kp'ivat- Forchhammer: KptvETat- ~ va[ A: KptvETat- Eivat- B
3
YEVOfLEVYJ rec.: -EVYJ<; AB

Cf. on 47bll.
a
b See on 49b24.
c I.e. containing tnuch direct/personative speech; cf. 48a21-
2, 60a5-ll.

40
 POETICS 4

into use-precisely why it is called ~~iambicn now, because

it was in this metre that they lampooned [iambizein] one
another. a Of the older poets some became composers of
epic hexameters, others of iambic lampoons. Just as
Homer was the supreme poet of elevatedh subjects (for
he was preeminent not only in quality but also in compos-
ing dramaticc mimesis), so too he was the first to delineate
the forms of comedy, by dramatising not invective but the
laughable: thus Margites stands in the same relation to
comedies as do the Iliad and Odyssey to tragedies. And
when tragedy and comedy had been glimpsed,d those
whose own natures gave them an impetus towards either
type of poetry abandoned iambic lampoons to become
comic poets, or epic to become tragedians, because these
newer forms were grander and more esteemede than the
earlier.
To consider whether or not tragedy is even now suffi-
ciently developed in its types-judging it intrinsically and
in relation to audiences-is a separate matter. f Anyhow,
when it came into being from an improvisatory origin
(that is, both tragedy and comedy: the former from the
leaders of dithyramb,g the other from the leaders of the

d I.e. potentially, within the nature of Homer's poetry.

e This applies principally to Athens, and to creation of new
works rather than abstract estimation of poems.
fA curious remark, in view of 14-15 below; but the emphasis
here may fall on "types" (cf. 55b32) rather than tragedy's essen-
tial "nature."
g See on 4 7a14. Ar. probably assun1es that the Athenian
Thespis took the crucial step, c. 534 B.C., of adding an individual
voice (the first actor) to the traditional chorus of dithyramb: cf.
TrGF I 62, T6.

41
 ARISTOTLE

EV 1TOAAais TWV 1TOAEWV s~ap.i.vE~ VOfL~'OfLEVa), KaTa

fL~Kpov YJV~~(}YJ 1TpoayovTWV oa-ov f.yiyvETO cpavEpov
avTij~· Kat 1TOAAa~ fLETaj3oAa~ fLETaj3aAova-a i} Tpa-
~/ , / , ' :J/ ' ( ,... ,../... / ' /
15 ycpo~a E1Tava-aTO, E1TE~ Ea-XE TYJV aVTYJ~ 'f'va-~v. Ka~ TO
rE Twv v1ToKp~Twv 1r'Aij8o~ €~ f.vo~ El~ 8vo 1rpwTo~
Ala-xv'Ao~ ~yayE Kat ra TOV xopov TjAaTTW(TE Kat TOV
A.6yov 1TpwTaywv~a-TE'iv 1 1TapEa-Kevaa-Ev· TpE'i~ 8€ Kat
a-KYJvoypacpiav '!.ocpoKAij~. ET~ 8€ TO fLEYEOo~· EK
,... "(} ' \ (; \ ~ ' ' ,
fL~KpWV f.LV WV Ka~ 1\E~ EW~ YEI\O~a~ o~a TO EK a-aTVp~-
/ /

20 KOV fLETa{3aAELV ol/J€ a1TE(TEfLVVV8YJ, TO TE fLETpov EK

rErpafLETpov laf.Lf3E'iov f.yf.vETo. To f.LEV yap 1rpwTov
TETpafLETPCf? f.xpwVTO 8~a TO a-aTvp~KTJV Kat opxYJa-T~-
/ .-;- ' " \ "C ~' "
KWTEpav E~Va~ TYJV 1TO~'Y](T~V. 1\E~ EW~ OE YEVOfLEVYJ~

aVTTJ Y] cpva-~~ TO olKELOV fLETpov EfJpe f.LaA~a-Ta yap

AEKT~Kav Twv fLETpwv To laf.Lf3E'iov ea-T~v· a-YJfLELOV 8€
25 TOVTOV,
/ \""' ' ' (.}""' \ ' ' ,...~
1TI\E~a-Ta yap ~Uf.LfJE~a 1\EYOf.LEV EV TYJ O~a-

AEKTC!} Ti]1Tp0~ d'AA~Aov~, f.~afLETpa 8€ oA.~yaK~~ Kat

'f3 a~VOVTE~
EK / ,. . \ ,. . ( /
TYJ~ 1\EKT~KYJ~ apf.LOV~a~.
~'
ET~ OE E1TE~(T-
:J/ ,

1 Trpwraywvurrliv Sophianus: -urriJv AB

aSung to accompany processional carrying of phallic icons in

ritual contexts; normally obscene and scurrilous: cf. Aristoph.
Ach. 241-79.
b Not consistently, as his surviving plays show, but in broad
relation to his predecessors.
c The third actor was probably introduced in the 460s, early
in Soph.'s career; it is required in Aesch. Oresteia of 458. Scene
painting: decoration of the stage building (skene), to give it an
active dramatic status.

42
 POETICS 4

phallic songsa which remain even now a custom in many

cities), it was gradually enhanced as poets developed the
potential they saw in it. And after going through many
changes tragedy ceased to evolve, since it had achieved its
own nature. Aeschylus innovated by raising the number
of actors from one to two, reduced the choral compo-
nent,b and made speech play the leading role. Three
actors and scene painting came with Sophocles. c A fur-
ther factor was grandeur: after a period of slight plots and
laughable diction, owing to development from a sa-
tyricd ethos, it was at a late stage that tragedy acquired
dignity, and its metre became the iambic trimeter instead
of the trochaic tetrameter. e To begin with they used the
tetrameter because the poetry was satyric and more asso-
ciated with dancing; but when spoken dialogue was
introduced,f tragedy's own natureg discovered the appro-
priate metre·. For the iambic trimeter, more than any
other metre, has the rhythm of speech: an indication of
this is that we speakh many trimeters in conversation with
one another, but hexameters only rarely and when diverg-
ing from the colloquial register. Further changes con-

d I.e. with the tone of a satyr play. Did Ar. connect this tone
with the early dithyrambs from which tragedy developed
(49al0-ll)?
e Trimeter: see on 47bll; trochaic tetrameter: apparently the
main metre of early tragedy, used sporadically by later tragedi-
ans; cf. 59b37, Rh. 1404a30-31.
fAr. seems to imply that in the earliest tragedy everything
was musically accompanied.
g Cf. 49al5 above; see 60a4 for "natural" appropriateness of
metre to genre.
h Sc. unintentionally.

43
 ARISTOTLE

o8iwv 7rA~8TJ. Kat Ta a'A'A' w~ EKa(J"Ta KO(J"JL'Y}Oi]vat

' .,, :Jf
AeyETat E(J"TW T,JLLV ELPYJJLEVa · 7roAv yap av t(J"W~

30 Epyov Et'Y} OtEs tEVat Ka (j' EKa(J"TOV.

3/ ~' 3/ ~ (; /

v ~H 8€ KWJL(f)8ia E(J"Ttv W(J"7rEp EL7rOJLEV JLLf.LT}(J"t~

,./.... \ / / ' / '1"1 /
'PaVI\OTEpwv f.LEV, OV JLEVTOt KaTa 7ra(J"aV KaKtaV,
aAAa TOV al(J"xpov f(J"Tt TO yEAo'iov f.LOptov. TO yap
yEAo'iov f(J"TtV Uf.LUPTTJf.LU Tt Kat ai(J"xo~ avw8vvov Kat
35
,
OV 'P apTtKOV,
,.~..e , OtOlJ EV
'e' , e, V~
, \ 1"1
TO YEI\OLOV 7rp0(J"W7TOV
,

' / '~ / 3/ ,~, ~ '

at(J"xpov Tt Kat OtE(J"Tpaf.Lf.LEVOV aVEV OOVVTJ~· at f.LEV
ovv Tij~ Tpay(f)8ta~ f.LETa{3a(J"Et~ Kat 8t' &v f.yivovTo
ov AE'A~Oa(J"tv, r, 8€ KWf.L(f)8ia 8ta To f.LiJ (J"7rov8a,E-
1449b (J"Oat E~ apxi]~ €'Aa8Ev· Kat yap xopov KWf.L(f)8wv olf;€
7TOTE 0 apxwv €8wKEV, d'A'A' €8EAOVTat ~(J"aV. ~8TJ 8€
(J"X~f.LaTa Ttva avTij~ EXOV(J"'Y}~ OL AEYOf.LEVOt avTij~
' ~' ' /~ .,,
/
7TOt'Y}Tat f.LVTJJLOVEVOVTat. Tt~ OE 7rp0(J"W7Ta a7rEOWKEV TJ
/ /

\ / ~"'~ ~"'~
7Tp01\0YOV~ TJ'' 7TI\'Y}
\ '(} r
TJ V1TOKptTWV Kat' O(J"a
r:f
TOtaVTa,
5 ~YVO'Y}Tat. TO 8€ f.L~Oov~ 7TOtELv 1 TO f.LEV E~ apxi]~ EK
'ItKEAia~ ~ABE, Twv 8€ 'AO~v'Y}(J"tv KpaTTJ~ 7rpwTo~
~p~EV acpEf.LEVO~ Tij~ laf.L{3tKij~ l8ea~ Ka8oAov 7rOtELV
\ ' '(}
1\0yov~ Kat f.LV ov~.
/

1
1TOLELV 'E1Ttxap!J-O') Kat ifJ6pfLL') AB: 'E. K. ifJ. secl.
Susemihl (om. Arab.)

Early tragedy's plots were shorter, less complex (cf. "slight

a
plots," 49al9).
h 48al 7-18; cf. 48b26.
c Aischros, "shameful," also covers "ugly," and is so translated
in the next sentence.

44
 POETICS 5

cemed the number of episodes.a And we shall take as

read the ways in which other features of tragedy are said
to have been embellished; it would no doubt be a large
task to discuss them individually.
V Comedy, as we said, b is mimesis of baser but not
wholly vicious characters: rather, the laughable is one cat-
egory of the shameful.c For the laughable comprises any
fault or mark of shame which involves no pain or destruc-
tion: most obviously, the laughable mask is something
ugly and twisted, but not painfully. Now, tragedy,s stages
of development, and those responsible for them, have
been remembered, but comedy,s early history was forgot-
ten because no serious interest was taken in it: only at a
rather late date did the archon grant a comic chorus;d
previously performers were volunteers. It is from a timee
when the genre already had some formal features that the
first named .poets of comedy are remembered. Who
introduced masks, prologues, v~rious numbers of actors,
and everything of that kind, has been lost. The composi-
tion of plots originally came from Sicily; of Athenian
poets Crates was the first to relinquish the iambic manner
and to create stories and plots with an overall structure. f

d The archon (a major magistrate) chose plays, and arranged

funding, for official production at the City Dionysia festival: this
happened first for comedy only in 48 7/6; tragedies had been so
performed since the late 6th century.
e The 480s/70s, the era of e.g. Chionides and Magnes; see on
48a34.
f Sicily was home of Epicharmus (see on 48a33). Crates was
active in the 440s and 430s; "iambic manner" implies satire of
individuals (cf. 48b31-2). "Overall structure," katholou, is the
same term used for "universals" at 51 b 7.

45
 ARISTOTLE

~ p.,f.v ovv E1T01Totta TV Tpay4}8iq.. fLEXPt p.,€v 1 Tov

fLETa 2 fLETpov A.6y4} p.,ip.,YJa-tc; Eivat a-1rov8aiwv i}Ko-
10 A.ovOYJa-Ev· rep 8€ TO fLETpov U1TAovv EXELV KaL a1Tay-
yEAiav Eivat, TaVTYJ 8tacP€pova-tv· ETt 8€ T[i> p.,~KEt" iJ
p.,f.v ort p.,aA.ta-Ta 1TEtpaTat v1ro p.,iav 1TEpio8ov ~A.iov
Eivat ~ p.,tKpov E.~aA.AaTTEtv, ~ 8€ E1To1roda dopta-roc;
Tip xp6v4/ Ka'i TOVT4J 8tacP€pEt, KaiTot To 1rpwTov
15 op.,oiwc; EV TaLc; Tpayq}8iatc; TOVTO E1TOLOVV KUL EV TOLe;
E1TE(TLV. fLEpYJ 0~' E(TTL Ta fLEV TUVTa, Ta OE
:)/ / 3 ' ' ' ~' :)/~
3
LOLa TYJ'l
/ ' ,...,

Tpay4}8iac;· 8L01TEp oa-TLc; 1TEpL Tpay4}8iac; oi8E a-1TOV-

8aiac; KUL cPaVAYJc;, oi8E Ka'i 1TEpL E1TWV" fLEV yapa
E1T01TOtLa EXEL, V1TapxEL TV Tpayq}8iq..,
/ 3 ,..., 3 /
a
8€ avrv, ov
20 1TUVTa EV TYJ E1T01TOLLq_...
VI ITEpL p.,f.v oiJv Tijc; E.v E.~ap.,€rpoLc; fLLp.,YJ·TLKijc; KaL
1TEpL K(J)fL4}8iac; va-rEpov E.povp.,Ev· 1TEpL 8€ rpay4}8iac;
AE'}'W/LEV avaA.af3ovTEc; 3 p:vTijc; EK TWV ELPYJfLEVWV TOV
YLVOfLEVOV opov Tijc; ova-iac;. E(TTLV ovv Tpayq}8ia
p.,ip.,YJa-Lc; 1rpa~Ewc; ·a-1Tov8aiac; KaL TEAEiac; p.,EyEOoc;
25 EXOV(TYJ'l, ~8va-p.,EV4} A.oyq} xwp'ic; EKU(TTq} 4 TWV El8wv
EV TOLe; p.,opioLc;, 8pwvTWV KaL ov 8L' a1TayyEALac;, 8L'
€A.€ov KaL cP6f3ov 1TEpaivova-a TTJV TWV TOLOVTWV
1Ta0YJp.,aTwv 5 KaOapa-Lv. A.E.yw 8€ ~8va-p.,E.vov p.,f.v
1
fLEV TOV Tyrwhitt: fLOVOV AB
2 fLETa' fLET
' pov Aoycp
\' Kasse1: fLET
' pov fLETa' \Aoyov
' B: '
fLET pov

fLEya'Aov A
3 ava'Aaf3ovTEt;; Bernays: U1TO- AB
4 EKU(J"TW Reiz: -ov AB
•
5 TrafJYJfLUTwv B: fLafJYJfLUTwv A Lat.

46
 POETICS 6

Epic matches tragedy to the extent of being mimesis

of elevated mattersa in metrical language; but they differ
in that epic has an unchanging metre and is in narrative
mode.b They also differ in length: tragedy tends so far as
possible to stay within a single revolution of the sun, or
close to it, while epic is unlimited in time span and is dis-
tinctive in this respect (though to begin with the poets fol-
lowed this same practice in tragedy as in epic). Epic and
tragedy have some components in common, but others
are peculiar to tragedy. So whoever knows about good
and bad tragedy knows the same about epic, as epic's
resources belong to tragedy,c but tragedy's are not all to
be found in epic.
VI We shall later discuss the art of mimesis in hexa-
meters,d as well as comedy.e But let us now discuss
tragedy, taking up the definition of its essence which
emerges fro~ what has already been said. Tragedy, then,
is mimesis of an action which is elevated,£ complete, and
of magnitude; in language embellished by distinct forms
in its sections; employing the mode of enactment, not nar-
rative; and through pity and fear accomplishing the

a Or "characters"; for "elevated" see on 49b24.

b Cf. the distinctions in chs. I-III; Homer's combination of
narrative with personation (48a21-2) is here left aside.
c Cf. 62al4-15.
d I.e. epic; cf. 59al7.
e The discussion of comedy is lost; cf. on 62bl9, and see the
Introduction at n. 5.
f Spoudaios, the same adj. used for characters at e.g. 48a2; it
denotes ethical distinction and gravity of tone. Cf. the Introduc-
tion.

47
 ARISTOTLE
\ /
1\0yov '
TOV 3/
EXOVTa e (}
pv '
fJ-OV KaL' e /
apfJ-OVLav, 1 TO' o~E'
' "" 3/~ ' ~ ' / 3/ / /
XWPL~ TOL~ ELOEO""L TO OLa fJ-ETpWV EVLa fl-OVOV 7TEpaLVE-
~ ' ~'
30 a- () aL KaL' 1Tai\L1J
/\ t!/
ETEpa OLa fJ-EJ\OV~.
/\ )
E7TEL OE
' /
1TpaTT01J-
TE~ 1TOLOVJJTaL T~JJ fJ-LfJ-YJO""LV, 1TPWT01J fJ-EV E~ avayKYJ~
av ELYJ TL fJ-OpLOJJ rpayqJDLa~ 0 Tij~ otj;Ew~ KOO""fJ-0~·
-;-
ELTa f1-EJ\01TOLLa KaL
\ / ' \
1\ES
/(;
L~,
)
Ell
/
TOVTOL~ yap 7TOLOVJJTaL
' ""

rT]v fl-Lfl-YJO""LV. A.E.yw 8€ AE~Lv fJ-EV avTT]v ri]v TWV

/ / () \ / ~ ' c.\ ' ~ /
fJ-ETpWV O""VV EO""LV, fJ-€1\01TOLLaV OE 0 TYJV OVVaf.LLV
35 cpavEpav EXEL 1raa-av. E7TEt 8€ 1rpa~Ew~ ea-TL fl-Lfl-YJO""L~,
/ ~' e ' "" / c.\ ' /
1TpaTTETaL OE V1TO TLVWJJ 1TpaTT01JTW1J OV~ avayKYJ 1TOL-
OV~
/
TLJJa~
-;-
ELVaL KaTa/ TE TO' YJ-;-() 0~ KaL' TYJV
' OLaJJOLaV
~ /

( oLa yap TovTwv Kat Ta~ 1rpa~EL~ Etvai cpafl-Ev 1ToLa~

1450a TLva~,
2 KaL' KaTa' Tavra~
/ KaL' Tvyxavova-L
/ KaL' ,
a1To-
/ / ) 3/ ~' "" ' /(; e
TvyxavoVa-L 1Ta1JTE~ , EO""TLV OE TYJ~ fJ-EV 1Tpas EW~ 0

!LiJ()o~ .iJ f.LLfl-YJa-L~, A.E.yw yap !LiJ()ov TovTov TTJV a-vv-

8Ea-Lv Twv 1rpayf.Larwv,. Ta
-;- /A,. ' /
8E ~(}YJ, Ka8'
~ /
o 1ToLo-v~
~/ ,
5 TLVa~ ELVaL 'Paf.LEV TOV~ 1TpaTTOVTa~, OLaJJOLaV OE, EJJ
t!l \/ , ~ / / .,, ,, A,./
OO""OL~ 1\EYOVTE~ a1TOOELKJJVaa-LJJ TL YJ KaL a1TO'PaLJJOVTaL
yvwfl-YJV. dvayKYJ o~v 1raa-YJ~ rij~ 3 TpayqJ8ia~ fl-EPYJ
~/ ~'
-;-
ELJJaL Es,
t!l(;
Ka (}' c.\
0 1TOLa/ TL~
' '
EO""TLJJ YJe rpayqJOLa. ""
TaVTa 0

EO""Tt f.LV()o~ Kat Tj()YJ Kat AE~L~ Kat OLaVOLa Kat otj;L~
10 Kat f.LEAo1ToLia. oi~ f.LEV yap f.LLf.LOVVTaL, ovo fl-EPYJ
' / e ~' "" t!l c.\~' "" / '
EO""TLV, W~ OE f.LLf.LOVJJTaL, EV, a OE fJ-LfJ-OVVTaL, TpLa, KaL
1Tapa TaVTa OVOEJJ. TOVTOL~ fJ-EV oilv OVK oA.[yoL

1
apfJ-OVtav KUL fJ-tAoc; AB: KUL fJ-· del. Tyrwhitt
2
post TLvac; seq. 1rec/JvKEV atTLa 8vo Twv 7rpatEwv Eivat,
Otavota [ -av, A] KaL ~(}oc; in AB: 1rEcPVKEv ... ~(}oc; sed. Else
3 T-ryc; B: om. A

48
 POETICS 6

catharsis a of such emotions. I use uembellished~~ for lan-

guage with rhythm and melody, and udistinct forms" for
the fact that some parts are conveyed through metrical
speech alone, others again through song. Since actors
render the mimesis, some part of tragedy will, in the first
place, necessarily be the arrangement of spectacle;b to
which can be added lyric poetry and diction, for these are
the media in which they render the mimesis. By
"diction"c I mean the actual com~osition of the metrical
speech; the sense of "lyric poetry" is entirely clear. Since
tragedy is mimesis of an action, and the action is con-
ducted by agents who should have certain qualities in
both character and thought (as it is these factors which
allow us to ascribe qualities to their actions too, and it is
in their actions that all men find success or failure), the
plot is the mimesis of the action-for I use ccplot" to
denote the .construction of events, cccharacter" to mean
that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to the
agents, and ccthought" to cover the parts in which, through
speech, they demonstrate something or declare their
views. Tragedy as a whole, therefore, must have six com-
ponents, which give it its qualities-namely, plot, charac-
ter, diction, thought, spectacle, and lyric poetry. The
media of the mimesis are two components, its mode one,
and its objects three;e there are no others. Now, these

a The term (the most controversial in the work) is never

defined; cf. the Introduction. b I.e. the visual aspects of the
action, esp. the appearance of the agents; cf. the end of ch. VI
and the start of ch. XIV. c Lexis: see chs. XIX-XXII.
d Melopoiia covers the sung parts of tragedy. e This matches
the components with chs. I-III's scheme: media = diction, lyric
poetry; mode = spectacle (i.e. enactment); objects =plot, charac-
ter, thought.
49
 ARISTOTLE
, "" 1 KEXPYJVTaL
avTwv / TOL~
"" "'~
ELoEa-tv· Kat' yap
' "',J~
o'-PEL~
2 EXEL
"'

1rav W~ El1TELV 1 Kat ~{)o~ Kat f.LV{)ov Kat AE~ LV Kat

/\
f.LE/\0~ Kat' OLaVOLaV
~ / ~
wa-aVTW~.
/ /
f.LEYLO"TOV /
OE TOVTWV
"''
' ' e "" / / e ' ~/
15 EO"TLV YJ TWV 1Tpayf.LaTwv a-va-Taa-t~. YJ yap Tpaycpota
/ / .) ' '() / '\\' /(: 3 '
f.LLf.LYJO"L~ EO"TLV OVK av pW1TWV al\1\a 1Tpas EW~ KaL
/
/3 LOV, ' '"'
Kat EVOaLf.LOVLa KaL / ' ~
KaKOOaLf.LOVLa EV 1Tpasc EL / ' /
.)
EfTTLV, Kat TO
/ ' ' /\
TE/\0~ 1rpas L~
1"1 c/ TL~
.)
EO"TLV, OV
/ .) 1TOLOTYJ~·
/
' OE
ELfTLV
.)~ ' Kara' f.LEV
' Ta' YJ"'() YJ 1TOLOL/ TLVE~, KaTa' OE' "' Ta~ '
1rpas EL~
/c .) "' /
EVOaLf.LOVE~
.,,
YJ TOVVaVTLOV.
.) / "' OVKOVV
~'
01TW~ Ta
'
'\ \ '
20 ''() YJ f.LLf.LYJfTWVTaL
YJ / /
1TpaTTova-tv, aAAa Ta' YJ''() YJ a-Vf.L1TEpt-
\ /3/avova-tv
Aaf.L ~'
ota Ta~
' ~' /(:
1rpas Et~· wa-TE Ta 1Tpayf.LaTa ' /
' ~ ""() /\ 1"1 ~ / ' ~' /\ /
KaL 0 f.LV 0~ TE/\0~ TYJ~ Tpaycpota~, TO OE TE/\0~ f.LEYL-
~ / ,, ,, ' /c ' .,, /
a-Tov a1ravTwv. ETL avEv f.LEV 1rpas Ew~ ovK av yEvotTo
"'/ ,, ~ ' .) ( ) 1"1 / ' ,, ~ ' 1"1 /
rpaycpota, avEv oE YJ wv YEVOLT av· at yap rwv vEwv
~/ ~'\
aYJ EL~ 01\W~
1"1 \ / .) /() .) / '
25 TWV 1TAELO"TWV TpaycpotaL ELO"LV, KaL
1TOLYJTaL' 1TOI\I\OL
\\' .....
TOLOV'TOL,, 1'
OLOV Kat' " "
TWV ,..~.,./
ypao/EWV Z""
EV-
St. L~ 1rp0~
' I I01\VYVWTOV
\/ /
1TE1TOV () EV" ~'
0
' I I01\V-
f.LEV yap \/
yvwro~ ayaOo~ T]O~ypacpo~, ~ S€ ZevttSo~ ypacpT]
ovSev EXEL ~eo~. ETL €av TL~ EcpEti}~ OfJ pf}a-EL~ T]Ot-
' ' \ /(: 4 ' ~ / ;;- / ' /
Ka~ Kat AES EL KaL OLaVOU!: EV 1TE1TOLYJf.LEVa~, OV 1TOLYJ-
30 a-Et
~
o ~v ~
rij~ TpaycpS[a~ €pyov, aAAa 1roAv f.LaAAov
/ / / <;:.'-/
YJ KaTaoEEO"TEpot~ TOVTOL~ KEXPYJf.LEVYJ Tpaycpota,
,,
EXOVa-a ~ ' ""() ' / /
oE f.LV ov Kat a-va-Taa-Lv 1Tpayf.LaTwv. 1rpo~
'

1 ' '"'
avrwv ~
w~ ' '"' AB :
Et/TTEtv ~
w~ ' '"' post 1rav
Et1TEtV '"' (a 13) transpos.
Bywater
2
ol/Jet~ rec.: ol/Jt~ AB
3 1rpagew~ A: -ewv B
4 A.€get Ka'i Dtavo[q, Vahlen: A.€get~ Ka'i Dtavo[a~ AB

50
 POETICS 6

have been used by a majority of poets as their basic

elements, a since practically every drama has items of
spectacle, character, plot, diction, lyric poetry, and
thought, alike. The most important of these things is the
structure of events, because tragedy is mimesis not of
personsh but of action and life; and happiness and unhap-
piness consist in action, and the goalc is a certain kind of
action, not a qualitative state: it is in virtue of character
that people have certain qualities, but through their
actions that they are happy or the reverse. So it is not in
order to provide mimesis of character that the agents act;
rather, their characters are included for the sake of their
actions. Thus, the events and the plot are the goal of
tragedy, and the goal is the most important thing of all.
Besides, without action there could be no tragedy, but
without character there could be: in fact, the works of
most of the recent poets are lacking in character, and in
general there are many such po~ts (as with Zeuxis' rela-
tionship to Polygnotus among painters: Polygnotus is a
fine depicter of character, while Zeuxis' painting contains
no character). d Again, if someone lays out a string of
speeches that express character and are well composed in
diction and thought, he will not achieve the stated func-
tion of tragedy; much more successful will be a tragedy
which, though deficient in these other elements, has a
plot and structure of events. In addition, tragedy's most

a Text and sense are here greatly disputed; cf. 52bl4.

b I.e. not of personal qualities per se.
c Of either drama or life: Ar. may mean both.
d Zeuxis (late 5th cent.) pioneered new techniques of realism;
cf. 6lbl2 (idealisation of human form). Polygnotus: see on 48a5.

51
 ARISTOTLE

TOV~ f.LV'{) OV f.LEPTJ

/ ' /
f.(T'TtV, at~' 'Tf. 1T€pt1Tf.'Tf.tat
/ '
Kat' avayvw-

~~ ~
5 (T {) at Ta' ' '
f.VOVTa Kat' Ta
' e /
apf.LO'T'TOV'Ta, 01T€p ''
f.1Tt 'TWV
'A6ywv r-ry~ 1To'AtrtKij~ Ka'i pYJroptKij~ f.pyov f.a-riv· ol
f.LEV yap apxatot 1TOAt'T~KW~ E1TOLOVV A.iyovra~, OL 8€
vvv PTJTOptKw~. E.a-rtv 8€ ~{)o~ f.LEV ro rotovrov o
DYJAOL 'TTJV 1Tpoaip€a-tv, 01TOta 1 'Tt~ EV or~ OVK f(T'Tt
8ij'Aov T] 7rpoatpE'irat T] ¢EvyEt ( Dto1TEp ovK E.xova-tv
~{)o~ TWV 'Aoywv EV or~ f.LYJD' o'Aw~ f(T'TtV 0 'Tt 1Tpoat-
lo
.
~ .,, A. / e \ ' ) ~ / ~ ' '
pEtTat TJ 'PEVJIEt 0 Af.JIWV , OtaVOta OE f.V
'e'
Ot~
'
a1TOO€t-
~

, / e :.1 .,, e ' '' .,, {) / \

KVVOV(Tt Tt W~ f.(T'TtV TJ W~ OVK E(T'TtV TJ Ka 01\0V 'Tt
' A. / / ~' ~ ' \ / e \ 'C
a1To'Patvovrat. TEraprov of. rwv f.LEV Aoywv TJ AEs t~·
'A€yw 8€, wa-1TEp 7rporEpov llpYJrat, A.ittv Eivat rT]v
~' ~' ' e ' (.\ ''' ~' /
Ota TTJ~ OVOf.Laa-ta~ Epf.LYJVf.taV, 0 Kat €1Tt 'TWV Ef.Lf.L€-
rpwv Kat' E1Tt
' ' rwv
~ \/
Aoywv ,,
EXEt ' aVTYJV
TTJV ' ' ~/
ovvaf.LtV.
15 rwv 8€ 'Aot1Twv ~ f.LE'Ao1Totia f.LEyta-rov rwv ~8va-f.La-

1 017"0La
( "'' TL') AB : 017"0La
( ' 71.8 L at.
52
 POETICS 6

potent means of emotional effect are components of plot,

namely reversals and recognitions.a A further pointer is
that apprentice poets can achieve precision in diction and
characterisation sooner than structure the events, as like-
wise with almost all the early poets.
Plot, then, is the first principle and, as it were, soul of
tragedy, while character is secondary. (A similar principle
also holds in painting: if one were to cover a surface ran-
domly with the finest colours, one would provide less
pleasure than by an outline of a picture.) Tragedy is
mimesis of action, and it is chiefl~ for the sake of the
action that it represents the agents. Third in importance
is thought: that is, the capacity to say what is pertinent
and apt, which in formal speeches is the task of politics
and rhetoric. The earliest poets made people speak polit-
ically, present day poets make them speak rhetorically.
Character is .that which reveals moral choice-that is,
when otherwisec unclear, what ~inds of thing an agent
chooses or rejects (which is why speeches in which there
is nothing at all the speaker chooses or rejects contain no
character); while thought covers the parts in which they
demonstrate that something is or is not so, or declare a
general view. Fourth is the diction of the spoken sec-
tions: as stated earlier, I define diction as expression
through choice of words-something which has the same
capacity in both verse and prose. Of the remainder, lyric
poetry is the greatest embellishment, while spectacle

a See ch. XI for definitions.

b The same principle as 50al6-17.
c Sc. from the action; cf. 54al7-19.

53
 ARISTOTLE
~' :)'.1. .1. ' / ' / ~'
TWV, YJe OE O'PlS 'PvxaywytKOV f1-EV, aTEXVOTaTOV OE Kat'
i}Kurra olKEtov rf}~ 1TOtYJTtKf}~· T] yap rf}~ rpaycp8ia~
~ / ' :)/ ' "' ' e "' :)/ :)/ ~'
ovvap..t~ Kat aVEV aywvo~ Kat V1TOKptTWV EO"TtV, E'Tt OE

Kvptwr€pa 1TEp'i T~V a1TEpyaa-iav TWV ot/JEWV T] TOV

20 (TKEV01TOtOV"' TEXVYJ TYJ~ / "' "'
TWV 1TOtYJTWV "' ,
Elf'TtV.
A / ~' / \ /
VI
VII utwptlfJ1-EVWV OE TOVTWV, I\EYWJ1-EV J1-ETa' TaVTa "'

1roiav rtva DE"i rT]v crvlfracrtv Eivat rwv 1rpayp..arwv,

E1TEt8T] rovro Ka'i 1rpwrov Ka'i p..€ytlfTOV rf}~ rpaycp-
8ia~ €crriv. KEtTat DT] 1 T]p..'iv rT]v rpaycp8iav TEAEia~
Ka'i oAYJ~ 1rpatEw~ Eivat p..ip..YJa-tv €xovlfYJ~ Tt p..€yE-
25 () o~· ECTTtv
:)/
yap' OI\OV~~\
Kat' p..YJoEv
~'
EXOV p..EyE () o~. OI\OV
:)/ /~~\

8€ €crrtv ro E.xov dpxT]v Ka'i J1-Elfov Ka'i TEAEvr1}v.

dpx~ 8€ Elf'TtV 0 avro f1-EV 11-~ €t dvayKYJ~ p..Er' aAAo
ElfTtv, p..Er' EKEtvo 8' ETEpov 1TEcpvKEV Eivat ~ yivE-
\
(T (J at • . TEI\EVTYJ ' OE~' TOVVaVTtOV
' / 0 aVTO f1-EV f1-ET
t.\ ' ' ' \o
a:)'\1\1\ '

1TEcPVKEV Elvat ~ E~ dvayKY]~ ~ w~ E1TL TO 1TOAV, J1-ETa

~ ' "' :)/ \ \~ , / ~
/ ' t.\ ' , ' ' :)/ \ \
30 OE TOVTO al\1\0 OVOEV" J1-EO"OV OE 0 Kat aVTO f1-ET al\1\0

KaL p..Er' EKELVO ETEpov. DEL apa TOV~ (TVVECTTWTa~ EiJ

p..vOov~ p.-1}8' 01T00Ev ETVXEV apxEcrOat p.-1}0' 01TOV
ETVXE rEAEVTaV, dAAa KEXpfJa-Oat Tat~ ELpYJp..Evat~
,~ / :)/ 0~' E1TEt
, ' TO' Kai\OV \ , Kat' «::,Cf!OV
r....
toEat~. E'Tt Kat' a1TaV
~~

"' t.\ / , "' , / "'

1rpayp..a 0 lfVVEO"TYJKEV EK TtVWV OV J1-0VOV TaVTa
35 rErayp..€va DE"i EXEtv dAAa Ka'i p..€yE0o~ v1rapXEtv p..T]
TO' TVXOV" / TO' yap
' \ ' EV
Kai\OV , f1-EYE/() Et Kat' Tac;
/ t. Et EO"TtV,
, /
~' :)/ / :)/ / \' 7"'
OtO OVTE 1Tap..p..tKpov av Tt YEVOtTO Kai\OV «::,Cf!OV
(lfVYXEtTat yap T] ()Ewpia €yyv~ rov dvatlf81}rov
xpovov ytvop..EVYJ) OVTE 1Tap..p..EyE()E~ ( ov yap ap..a T]
· 145la ()Ewpia yivErat dA.A.' o'ixErat ro'i~ ()Ewpova-t ro €v Ka'i

54
 POETICS 7

is emotionally potent but falls quite outside the art and is

not integral to poetry: tragedy,s capacity is independent of
performance and actors, and, besides, the costumier,sa art
has more scope than the poefs for rendering effects of
spectacle.
nr Given these definitions, let us next discuss the
required qualities of the structure of events, since this is
the principal and most important factor in tragedy. We
have stipulated that tragedy is mimesis of an action that is
complete, whole, and of magnitude (for one can have a
whole which lacks magnitude). A whole is that which has
a beginning, middle, and end. A beginning is that which
does not itself follow necessarily from something else, but
after which a further event or process naturally occurs.
An end, by contrast, is that which itself naturally occurs,
whether necessarily or usually, after a preceding event,
but need not pe followed by anything else. A middle is
that which both follows a preceding event and has further
consequences. Well-constructed plots, therefore, should
neither begin nor end at an arbitrary point, but should
make use of the patterns stated. Besides, a beautiful
object, whether an animal or anything else with a struc-
ture of parts, should have not only its parts ordered but
also an appropriate magnitude: beauty consists in magni-
tude and order, which is why there could not be a be auti-
ful animal which was either minuscule (as contemplation
of it, occurring in an almost imperceptible moment, has
no distinctness) or gigantic (as contemplation of it has no
cohesion, but those who contemplate it lose a sense of

a Responsible, above all, for mask-making.

1 8~ Bywater: 8€ AB
55
 ARISTOTLE

70 oAov EK ri}~ 8Ewpia~ ), oiov El fLVpiwv a-ra8iwv li'Y}

y.-. ~' ~ .-. L}' , ' .-. '
f::,qJOV' WffTE O€L Kaua1T€p €1TL TWV ffWfLaTWV KaL' €1TL
, '

... r, ,, , ' n ... ~' , ,

TWV sqJWV EXELV fLEV fLEYEUO~, TOVTO 0€ EVffVV01TTOV
5 ElvaL, ovrw Kat E1Tt rwv fLVOwv EXELV fLEV fLTJKO~,
TOVTO 8€ EVfLV'Y}fLOV€VTOV ElvaL. TOV 8€ fLrJKOV~ opo~
o1 fLEV 1Tpo~ TOV~ dywva~ Kat TTJV afa-O'Y}a-LV ov Tij~
' , ' , ' ,,~ c ' ~' , '
TEXVYJ~ Ea-TLV' EL yap EOEL EKaTov TpaycpvLa~ aywvL-
'Ea-8aL, 1Tpo~ KA€l/Jv8pa~ av i}ywvi,ovro, W(T1TEp 1TOTE
~'
Kat' a/\1\0TE
,,\ \ ' ,/.,.
'-Paa-LV. 0
c
OE KaT ' aVT'Y}V
, ' '
T'Y}V ,/.,. '
'-PV(TLV TOV,....
10 1TpayfLaTO~ opo~, U€t fLEV 0 fLEL,WV fLEXPL TOV a-vv8'Y}-
\ '";' \\' , ' c ~'
1\0~ ELVaL Ka/\1\LWV E(TTL KaTa' TO' ' L}
fLEYEVO~' W~ 0€
a1TAW~ tnopia-avTa~ El1T€LV, EV oa-cp fL€YE8€t KaTa TO
ElKo~ ~ To dvayKa'iov €¢E~ij~ ytyvofLEVwv a-vfLf3aivEL
EL~ E'UTVXtav EK 8va-Tvxia~ ~ E~ E'UTVXta~ El~ 8va-TV-
15 x£av ~€Ta(3aAA€LV, LKavo~ opo~ E(TTtV TOV fLEyf.Oov~.
VIII ~Iv8o~ 8' €a-T'iv Ei~ 9 vx
w0"7TEp rtv€~ olovrat €av '
1T€pt l.va ir 1TOAAa yap Kat a1T€tpa T~ EVt CTVfL{3atV€L,
E~ ~v EVLWV ov8E.v Ea-TLV l.v· OVTW~ 8€ Kat 1Tpa~EL~
c' \\ ' , 'c 1' ' '~ ' ' ..... c
EVO~ 1TOI\I\at EL(TLV, Es WV fLLa OVOEfLLa YLV€TaL 1Tpas L~.
~' ' ,, ' ~' ,....
(
OLO 1TaVTE~ €0LKaa-LV afLapTaV€LV O(TOL TWV 1TOLYJTWV
.-.

20 (HpaKA'Y}t8a 8Y]a-'Y}t8a Kat Ta TOLaVTa 1TOL1}fLaTa

1TE1Tot'Y}Kaa-tv· ofovrat yap, E1TEt Ei~ ~v o CHpaKA.ij~,
€va Kat rov fLVOov ElvaL 1rpoa-1}KELV. o 8' ~'OfLYJPO~
W0"1TEp Kat Ta aAAa 8ta¢epEt Ka'i rovr' EOLK€V KaAw~
1 o add. Ellebodius
The ref. is obscure, but Ar.'s rejection of contingent conven-
a
tions is clear.

56
 POETICS 8

unity and wholeness), say an animal a thousand miles

long. So just as with our bodies and with animals beauty
requires magnitude, but magnitude that allows coherent
perception, likewise plots require length, but length that
can be coherently remembered. A limit of length refer-
ring to competitions and po\vers of attention is extrinsic
to the art: for if it were necessary for a hundred tragedies
to compete, they would perform them by water clocks, as
they say happened once before.a But the limit that con-
forms to the actual nature of the matter is that greater
size, provided clear coherence remains, means finer
beauty of magnitude. To state the definition plainly: the
size which permits a transformation to occur, in a proba-
ble or necessary sequence of events,h from adversity to
prosperity or prosperity to adversity, c is a sufficient limit
of magnitude.
VIII A plot is not unified, as some think, if built round an
individual. d Any entity has invumerable features, not all
of which cohere into a unity; likewise, an individual per-
forms many actions which yield no unitary action. So all
those poets are clearly at fault who have composed a Her-
acleid, a Theseid, and similar poems: they think that,
since Heracles was an individual, the plote too must be
unitary. But Homer, in keeping with his general superior-
ity, evidently grasped well, whether by art or nature, this

b Probability and necessity: Ar.'s recurrent criteria of what

makes "natural" sense within human lives.
cOn alternative directions of "transformation," see esp. chs.
XIII-XIV.
d I.e. unity of "hero" is not a sufficient (or even necessary)
condition for unity of plot.
eSc. of H.'s life.

57
 ARISTOTLE
,~ 1"\ ,, ~ ' / .,, ~ ' ,./.,. / '0 <:::- / '
toEtv, YJTOt ota TEXVYJV YJ ota 'Pva-tv· ova-a-Etav yap
25 1TOtWV OVK E1TOLYJCTEV aJTavra oa-a avr~ a-vv€f3YJ ( otov
1TAYJyf/vat fLEV €v T~ IIapvaa-a-~, ~-tavfjvat S€ 1Tpoa--
l (} ' ~"'~) 1' '~' (} I
1TOtYJa-aa- at ev Tlp ayEpfLlp , wv ovoev 1"\ '
arepov yevo-
1 ' "' 'i' .,, ' ' () / I (} ' \ \ '
fLEVOV avayKatov YJV YJ EtKo~ arepov yevea- at, aAAa
1TEpt '
fLLaV '
1rpas LV 1"\ ( ; ~'
Otav 1\EYOfLEV
\ /
TYJV ' '0 OVCTCTEtaV
<:::- '

a-vv€a-TYJCTEV, OfLOtw~ S€ Kat rT]v 'IA.ufSa. XPTJ ofJv,

30 Ka0a1TEp Kat EV TaL~ aAAat~ fLLfLYJ'TtKaL~ 7} ~-tta fLLfLYJ-
CTL~
e
EVO~
' '
ECT'TLV, ~~
OV'TW Kat' 'TOV
' "'(}
fLV ' '
OV, E1TEt '(;
1Tpas EW~

'
fLtfL'Y]CTt~
' ,
ECT'Tt, f-tta~
,....,
'TE
-;-
EtVat Kat' TaVTYJ~
' ~'\
01\Y]~, Kat' Ta'
~' ~'
fLEpYJ
/
CTV~'ECTTaVat
'
'TWV 1TpayfLaTWV
1"\ '
OV'TW~ WCT'TE fLETa-
'Tt(}EfLEVOV Ttvo~ fLEpov~ ~ acpatpOVfLEVov Stacp€pea-Oat
~'
'
Kat KtVEta- at TO OAov· o yap 1rpoa-ov YJ fLYJ 1rpoa-ov
1"\ () ' \ (.\ ' ' .,, ' '
IX
<:::-' 1"\ , -'<:::- \ , <:::-' / 1"\ ~'\ , /
35 fLYJOEV 1TOtEt E1TLOYJAOV, OVOEV fLOptOV 'TOV 01\0V ECT'TtV.
IX <I>avepov 8€ EK rwv elpYJfLEvwv Kat ore- ov ro ra
' \ / 1"\ ,...., ,, ' / ' \ \ '
yevOfLEVa 1\Eyetv, TOVTQ 1TOtYJTOV epyov ea-rtv, al\1\
1' .,, ' ''~ ' ' ' ,, .,, '
ota av yevoe-ro Kat ra ovvara Kara ro EtKo~ YJ ro
' "'
avayKatov. oe yap
' e
ta-roptKo~
'
Kat' oe 1TOtYJTYJ~
'
ov' rep
"' .,,
YJ
145lb Ef.Lf.LETpa A.E.yetv ~ Uf.LETpa StacpE.pova-tv• ELYJ yap av
'Ta' eH pOOO'TOV
<:::- /
Et~
' '
f.LETpa (} "' ' ' <:::- ' 1' .,,
'TE YJVat Kat OVOEV 'YJ'T'TOV av
'' e '
EtYJ ta-ropta Tt~ f.LETa' fLE'Tpov
' .,,
YJ ''
avev '
f.LETpwv· ' \ \ '
aAAa
~
'TOVT(f) ota'Pepet,
'
Tlp rov fLEV ra yevofLEVa AEYEtv, rov
,./.,. ' 1"\ ' ' ' ' \ / '

5 8€ ota av yf.vot'TO. Sto Kat cptAoa-ocpwrepov Kat

~ / / e / ' ' e' '
CY1TOVOatOTEpov 1TOtYJCTt~ tCTTOpta~ ECT'TtV" YJ fLEV yap
' ,... \ \ ' (} / \ e <:::-, e / ' (}'
1TOtYJCYt~ f-tai\1\0V Ta Ka 01\0V, YJ 0 tCTTOpta Ta Ka
~' \ ' ,, <:::-' () -'\ ' 1"\ ' '
EKaCT'TOV AEYEL ECT'TtV OE Ka 01\0V f.LEV, Tq> 1TOtq> Ta

1TOta arra a-v~-tf3atVEL A.€yetv ~ 1TpaTTEtV Ka'Ta TO

58
 POETICS 9

point too: for though composing an Odyssey, he did not

include every feature of the hero~s life (e.g. his wounding
on Parnassus, or his feigned madness in the call to arms),a
where events lacked necessary or probable connections;
but he structured the Odyssey round a unitary action of
the kind I mean, and likewise with the Iliad. Just as,
therefore, in the other mimetic arts a unitary mimesis has
a unitary object, so too the plot, since it is mimesis of an
action, should be of a unitary and indeed whole action;
and the cornponent events should be so structured that if
any is displaced or removed, the sense of the whole is dis-
turbed and dislocated: since that whose presence or
absence has no clear significance is not an integral part of
the whole.
IX It is also evident from what has been said that it is not
the poet's function to relate actual events, but the kinds of
things that might occur and are possible in terms of prob-
ability or necessity. The differenc~ between the historian
and the poet is not that between using verse or prose;
Herodotus' work could be versified and would be just as
much a kind of history in verse as in prose. No, the differ-
ence is this: that the one relates actual events, the other
the kinds of things that might occur. Consequently,
poetry is more philosophical and more elevatedh than his-
tory, since poetry relates more of the universal, while his-
tory relates particulars. c "U niversar~ means the kinds of
things which it suits a certain kind of person to say or do,

a Wounding: described, but only as recollection, at Od.

19.392-466. The Od. never mentions Odysseus' madness,
feigned to avoid joining the Trojan expedition.
h Of greater ethical import (by philosophical standards); see
on 49b24. cOn history and particulars cf. 59a21-9.
59
 ARISTOTLE

EtKO~ TJ TO avayKaLOV, ofJ CTTOXU,ETaL 7] 1TOt'Y}CTL~ ovo-

10 J.LaTa E1TLTL
::1 8EJ.LEV'Y}"
/ ' ~' ()' EKaCTTOV,
70 OE Ka
~~
TL/ 'A\1\KLtJLa-
Q /

O'Y}~ E1Tpa~Ev TJ ri E1Ta0Ev. E1Tt J.LEV ovv T~~ KWJ.LqJOta~

~O'Y} TOVTO o~'Aov y€yovEV" CTVCTT~CTaVTE~ yap TOV
I"\() ~ ' I"\ ' / ~I ' / ' /
J.LV OV OLa TWV ELKOTWV OVTW Ta TVXOVTa OVOJ.LaTa
~I {.J '
('
V1TOTL ()/
EaCTtV, KaL' OVX
'
WCT1TEp OL( 'tafLtJ01TOLOL
'
1TEpL' TOV
'

KaO' EKao-Tov 1TOtovcrtv. E1Tt 8€ T~~ rpaycp8ia~ TWV

I ' / ' / :>! ~' ~~ ()
15 YEVOJ.LEVWV OVOJ.LaTWV aVTEXOVTaL. atTLOV 0 OTt 1TL a-
VOV ECTTt ro 8vvar6v· ra J.LEV ovv J.LTJ YEVOJ.LEVa ov1rw
1TLCTTEVOJ.LEV
/ ~
ELVat OVVaTa,
/
Ta' OE
~' /
YEVOJ.LEVa ,./..."'
'
'f'avEpov
OTt 8vvaTa. OV yap av €y€vE70, Et -ljv a8vvaTa. ov
J.LTJV a'A'Aa Kat EV TaL~ Tpaycp8iat~ EV f.viat~ J.LEV EV TJ
~ ~'
20 OVO
/
TWV yvwptfLWV 1'"'1 /
ECTTLV OVOJ.LaTWV, Ta
' ' ' / '
OE a/\1\a
''\ \

/
1TE1TOL'Y}fLEVa, EV EVtat~ OE OV EV, OLOV EV TqJ
,
ya W-
' / ~' ::1 ( ) / ~ ::1 1'"'1 'A /()
VO~ ::1 Av8EL· 1 oJ.Loiw~ yap f.v TovTcp Ta TE 1rpayJ.LaTa
' ' ' / / ' ::1~, ~ >,.t. /
KaL Ta OVOJ.LaTa 1TE1TOL'YJTaL, Kat OVOEV 'YJTTOV EV'f'pat-
VEL. WCTT' ov 1TUVTW~ Elvat ''Y}T'Y}TEOV TWV 1Tapa8E8o-
/ /() ., (.\ (' ~ / ' / ::1 /
J.LEVWV J.LV WV, 1TEpt OV~ at Tpaycpotat ELCTLV, aVTEXE-
25 a-Oat. Kat yap yE'AoLov TovTo ''YJTELv, E1TEt Kat Ta
yvwptJ.La o'Aiyot~ yvwptfLU ECTTLV, d'A'A' OJ.LW~ Evc/Jpai-
VEL /
1TaVTa~.
~ ~'"'~\
O'Y}I\OV ";'
OVV '
EK ~'
TOVTWV OTt / '
TOV '
1TOL'Y}T'Y}V
J.La'A'Aov Twv J.LV8wv Elvat DEL 1TOLTJTTJV TJ Twv fLETpwv,
oo-cp 1TOLTJTTJ~ KaTa TTJV fLLfLTJCTiv f.o-Ttv, fL"fLELTat 8€
'
Ta~ 1Tpa~ EL~.
/ (; .,, ,,
KaV apa CTVJ.LtJYJ YEVOJ.LEVa 1TOLELV,
Q 1'"'1 / 1'"'1 8 '
OV EV
::1

30 7}rTOV 1TOL'Y}T~~ ECTTL. TWV yap YEVOJ.LEVWV EVta ov8€v

1 'Av8li Welcker: av8H AB

a Names denote particulars.

60
 POETICS 9

in terms of probability or necessity: poetry aims for this,

even though attaching namesa to the agents. A "particu-
lar" means, say, what Alcibiades did or experienced. In
comedy, this point has by nowh become obvious: the
poets construct the plot on the basis of probability, and
only then supply arbitrary names; they do not, like iambic
poets, write about a particular person. c But in tragedy
they adhere to the actuald names. The reason is that the
possible seems plausible: about the possibility of things
which have not occurred we are not yet sure;e but it is evi-
dent that actual events are possible-they could not oth-
erwise have occurred. Yet even in some tragedies there
are only one or two familiar names, while the rest are
invented; and in certain plays no name is familiar, for
example in Agathon~s Antheus/ in this work, events and
names alike have been invented, yet it gives no less plea-
sure for that.. So adherence to the traditional plots of
tragedy should not be sought at all costs. Indeed, to seek
this is absurd, since even the familiar subjects are familiar
only to a 1ninority, yet nonetheless please everyone. It is
clear from these points, then, that the poet should be
more a makerg of plots than of verses, in so far as he is a
poet by virtue of mimesis,h and his mimesis is of actions.
So even should his poetry concern actual events, he is no
less a poet for that, as there is nothing to prevent
b Some time in the mid-4th cent.: see the Introduction.
c See on 49b8.
d I.e. supplied by the traditional myths (cf. 5lb24-5); Ar.
treats this, by simplification, as synonymous with historical fact.
e The sentence characterises an ordinary mentality.
f Nothing else is known about this work (TrGF I 161-2);
Agathon was active c. 420-400. g Poietes means both
"maker" and "poet." h Cf. 47bl5.
61
 ARISTOTLE
'? .,, ' ' / ()
KWI\VEt TOtaVTa EtVat
\ / ";>
Ota 1"\
av EtKO~ YEVECT at Kat'
8vvaTa yEv€o-()at, Ka()'
,
EKE'ivo~ avTwv 1TOtYJT~~ o
ECTTtV.
TWV 8€ a1TAwv 1 JLV()(t)V Kat 1TpatEwv al E1TEt-o-o8u~-
8Et-~ Elo-tv XEtpt-o-Tat- · A.€yw 8' E1TEt-o-o8uv8'Y} JLV()ov E.v
({> Ta E1TEto-o8ta JLET' aAAYJAa ovT' ELKO~ OVT' avayK'Y}
35 Eivat. rotavrat 8€ 1TotovvTat v1To JLEV Twv cpavA.wv
1TOt'Y}TWV
"" ~' aVTOV~,
Ot ' /
V1TO
e ' ~' TWV
OE ""
aya
'
WV Ota
{)"" ~ ' '
TOV~

e
V1TOKptTa~·
/2' /
aywvtCTJLaTa yap ' ""
1TOtOVVTE~ Kat' 1Tapa'
1452a r~v 8vvaJLtV 1TapaTEivovTE~ rov JLV()ov 1TOAAaKt-~ 8t-a-
/"'
CTTp6pELV ' /r
avayKasOVTat TO' 6~ES '"' c""YJ~· ' ' OE
E1TEt ~, OV' JLOVOV/
TEAEta~ ECTTt 1Tpa~EW~ Yj JLLJL'Y}CTt~ aAAa Kat cpo{3Epwv
~ '3 /
Kat- €1\EEtVWV, TaVTa OE
' '\ 1"\
yt-VETat 1"\
Kat' jLal\tCTTa
/\ 4
OTaV t:!

YEVYJTat 1Tapa T~V 86~av Dt' aAAYJAa. TO yap eavJLa-

' t:! t:!(; 1"\ \ \ .,, , , ' 1"\ , / '
CTTOV. OVTW~ Ec.:, Et jLai\1\0V TJ Et a1TO TOV aVTOfLaTOV Kat
5 TYJ<; TVXYJ<;, E1TEt Kat 'TW"': U1TO TVXYJ<; ravra ()avJLaCTt-W-
~ 1"\f!/ ~ f!/ ,/ "'/ /
raTa OOKEt OCTa WCT1TEp E1TtTYJOE~ '-PatVETat YEYOVEVat,
oiov w~ 0 avDpta~. 0 TOV MtTVO~ EV ,, ApyEt U1TEKTEtVEV
TOV' atTtOV
,, TOV"" () avaTOV
/ T([!"" M/tTVt, () EWpOVVTt "" ,
EfL1TE-
CTWV" EOtKE yap Ta TOtavra OVK EtKYJ ytVECT at• WCTTE
/ ,, ' ' 1"\ ' ' " " / () t:!

10 avayKYJ 'TOV~ 'TOtOVTOV~ Eivat KaAALOV~ fLVOov~.

X Elo-t 8€ TWV JLV()wv OL fLEV a1TAOL ol 8€ 1TE1TAEYJLE-
vot• Kat yap al 1Tpa~Et~ CiJv fLtJL~a-Et~ ol JLVOoi Ela-tv
V1Tapxovo-tv Evev~ ova-at 'TOtavrat. A.€yw 8€ a1TAYJV
1 a1rAwv AB (om. Arab.): arEAwv Essen
2 v1ToKptrac; AB: Kptrac; rec.
3 8€ A: om. B
4
fLaA.urra Ka'i fLaA.A.ov AB: Ka'i fL· del. Ellebodius

62
 POETICS 10

some actual events being probable as well as possible, and

it is through probability that the poet makes his material
from them.
Of simplea plots and actions, the episodic are worst.
By "episodic'' I mean a plot in which the episodes follow
one another without probability or necessity. Such plays
are composed by bad poets through their own fault, and
by good poets for the sake of the actors: for in composing
show pieces,h and stretching the plot beyond its capacity,
they are often forced to distort the continuity. Given that
the 1nimesis is not only of a complete action but also of
fearful and pitiable matters, the latter arise above all
when events occur contrary to expectation yet on account
of one another. The awesomec will be maintained in this
way more than through show of chance and fortune,
because even among chance events we find most awe-
some those which seem to have happened by design (as
when Mitys' statue at Argos killed the murderer of Mitys,
by falling on him as he looked at it:d such things seem not
to occur randomly). And so, such plots are bound to be
finer.
X. Plots can be divided into the simple and complex,
since the actions which plots represent are intrinsically of
these kinds. I call «sin1ple" an action which is continuous,

a The term is defined in ch. X; its occurrence here has been

questioned.
b Works designed to lend themselves to histrionic brilliance.
c Awe (or "wonder") will be aroused by something astonish-
ing and suggestive of deeper significance: cf. 60all-18.
d Or "when he was visiting the festival"; the story is otherwise
unknown, but M. (if the same) is mentioned at Dem. 59.33.

63
 ARISTOTLE

f.LEV 7Tpa~LV ,ryr:; YLVOf.LEVYJr:; WfT7TEp wpta-TaL a-vvExovr:;

''"'>I I "l\' I"\~ I
15 Kat f.LLar:; avEv 7TEpL7TETELar:; YJ avayvwpLa-f.LOV YJ f.LETa-
{3aa-Lr:; yivETaL, 7TE7TAEYf.LEVYJV DE €~ ,ryr;; f.LETa dvayvw-
pta-J.LOV ~ 7TEpt-7TErEiar:; ~ aJ.Lcpo~v ~ J.LEra{3aa-i~ f.a-r~.-v.
TaVTa DE DEL yivEa-OaL E~ aVTlJ~ r1]~ a-va-raa-Ewr:; TOV
f.LVOov, wa-rE EK TWV 7TpoyEyEVYJf.LEVWV a-vf.Lf3aivELV T]
20 E~ dvuyKYJr:; T] Kara TO ELKOr:; yiyvEa-OaL ravTa. Dtacp€-
pEL yap 7ToA.v To yiyvEa-Oat TuDE Dta TuDE T] f.LETa X
TUDE.
XI "''Ea-rL DE 7TEpL7TETELa f.LEV ~ El~ ro f.vavTiov rwv
7TpaTTOf.LEvwv f.LETa{3oA.T] Ka0u7TEp ELPYJTaL, Kat rovro
DE wa-7TEp 'A.f.yof.LEV KaTa To ElKor:; T] dvayKa'Lov, otov
EV 7~ OlDL7TODL f.'A.Owv wr:; Evcppavwv TOV 0lDL7TOVV Kat
25 a7TaAA.u~wv TOV 7Tpor:; TTJV f.LYJTEpa cf>6{3ov, DYJAWa-ar:;
(.\ ";' ' I ' I ,, '"'A I"\!:'
Or; YJJJ_, TOVVaVTLOV E7TOLYJfTEV" KaL EV rep VYKEL 0 f.LEV
e ' () e ~' A ' ' \
ayOJ.LEVOr:;
' 1
Wr:; a7TO UVOVJ.LEVOr:;,
I
0 OE uavao~ UKOI\OV-

f}wv wr:; a7TOKTE~1 WV, TO~ f.LEV a-vv€f3YJ EK TWV 7TE7Tpa-

Yf.LEVWV a7To0avELV, TOZJ DE a-w01]vaL. dvayvwpta-Lr:;
DE, wa-7TEp Kat TOVVOf.La fTYJfJwaLVEL, €~ dyvo[ar:; Elr:;
30 yvwa-tv f.LEra{3oA.~, T] Elr:; cpt-A.tav T] E.xOpav, rwv 7Tpor:;
' I "l\ ~ I e I \\I ~' '
Evrvxtav YJ ova-TVXLav wpLa-f.LEVwv· Kai\1\LfTTYJ oE ava-
yvwpLa-Lr:;, orav Uf.La 7TEpL7TETELCf.- 1 YEVYJTaL, otov EXEL ~
' rep'"' 0 LOL7TOOL.
EV '~I ~
ELfTLV
' '
f.LEV
'
OVV
";'
KaL' al\1\aL
-'I\ \
avayvwpL-
' I

fTEtr;;• KaL' 2 yap

' '
7Tpor:; _,,' It ' '
a~vxa KUL Ta TVXOVTU EfTTLV
I >I 3

1 1TEp~1TETELCf
" "
YEV1JTa~ G ornperz: "
1TEp~1TETE~a

"
1TEp~1TETELa~ y~vovTa~ " A
2 '
Ka~ '
yap , "
. .. avayvwpura~ om. B
3 EO"T~V w~ 01TEp Spengel: EO"TtV W0"1TEp A

64
r
i' POETICS 11

in the sense defined, a and unitary, but whose transfor-

mationh lacks reversal and recognition; "complex," one
whose transformation contains recognition or reversal or
both. And these elements should emerge from the very
structure of the plot, so that they ensue from the preced-
ing events by necessity or probability; as it makes a great
difference whether things happen because of, or only
after, their antecedents.
XI Reversal is a change to the opposite direction of
events, as already stated,c and one in accord, as we insist,
with probability or necessity: as when in the Oedipus the
person who comes to bring Oedipus happiness, and
intends to rid him of his fear about his mother, effects the
opposite by revealing Oedipus, true identity. d And in the
Lynceus,e the one figure is led off to die, while Danaus
follows with the intention of killing him, yet the upshot of
events is Danaus, death and the other,s survival. Recogni-
tion, as the very name indicates_, is a change from igno-
rance to knowledge, leading to friendship or to enmity, f
and involving matters which bear on prosperity or adver-
sity. The finest recognition is that which occurs simulta-
neously with reversal, as with the one in the Oedipus .g
There are, of course, other kinds of recognition too, since
what has been statedh occurs, after a fashion, in

a Inch. VII's schema of beginning, middle, end.

h Between prosperity and adversity; see on 51a13-14.
c An unclear back ref.: 52a4, "contrary to expectation," is the
likeliest point. d Soph. OT 924-1085; Ar. refers to two stages
in the scene (cf. 989 ff, esp. 1002-3). e Probably Theodec-
tes'; see on 55b29. f See on 53bl5. g Unclear: the rever-
sal begins at Soph. OT 924 (cf. 52a24-6); Jocasta sees the truth
by 1056, Oedipus only in the lead-up to 1182. h I.e. in the
preceding definition.
65
 ARISTOTLE

35 w~ 01rEp ELPYJTat a-v!Lf3atvEL, Ka'i EL 1rE1rpay€ 'TL~ ~ ILTJ

1rE7rpayEv
I
Ea-rtv
''
avayvwpta-at.
' I
a/\1\
' \ \ '
YJe fLal\ta-ra
I\
rov,...,
!Lv()ov Ka'i 7] !La)ua-ra rij~ 1rpa~Ew~ 7] ELPYJ!LEVYJ €a-r[v·
e \ I ) I \ I .,, -'I\
YJ yap TOLaVTYJ avayvwpta-t~ Kat 1rEpt1rE'TEta YJ EI\EOV
1452b E~Et ~ cp6{3ov, oZwv 1rpa~Ewv ~ rpaycp8[a !LL!LYJCTL~
~'
V'TrOKELTaL·
e 1
ETL 1 OE Kat' 'TO' aTVXELV
'' ' ,. ., Kat' 'TO\ EVTVXELV ' ,. ., E'TTL
' \

'TWV TOLOV'TWV CTV/L{31

,..., I ' \ OYJ
YJCTE'Tat. E'TTEL ~\
YJe avayvwpta-L~
' I

TLVWV,..., '
ECT'TLV ' I
avayvwptCTlS, ate /LEV I '
ELCTL () I
arEpov 1rp0~
\

TOV E'TEpov !LOVOV, OTaV iJ 8ijA.o~ arEpo~ TL~ ECT'TLV, O'TE

5 DE d/Lcporf.pov~ DEL dvayvwpia-at, oiov 7] !LEV 'Icptyf.-
VEta T(i> 'Opf.a-rn avEyvwp[a-()YJ EK rij~ 1rE!Ll/JEw~ rij~
E'TrLCTToAij~, EKEtvov 2 DE 7rpo~ 'TTJV 'IcpLyEVEtav aAAYJ~
EDEL dvayvwpta-Ew~.
8vo !LEV ofJv TOV !LV(}ov !LEPYJ ravr' ECT'TL, 1rEpt1rE-
~ \ ~ \
TELa .Kat' avayvwpta-t~·
' I I
rptrov I(}
oE 1ra o~. rovrwv oE
I

I \ \ ) I -'I I() I ~
10 1rEpt1rETEta !LEV Kat av.ayvwpta-t~ EtpYJrat, 1ra o~ oE
ECTTL 1rpa~~-~ cp()aprtKTJ ~ oDVVYJpa, oiov OL 'TE EV r(i>
cpavEp(i> eava'TOL Ka'i al 1rEpLwDvvtaL Ka'i rpwa-Et~ Ka'i ~I
~~ ,...,
oa-a rotavra.
XII MEpYJ 8€ rpaycp8[a~ oi~ !LEV w~ ELDEa-t DEL xpij-
I 'I \ ~\ \ \ t.\ \ '
(T aL 1rp07Epov EL'lrO/LEV, Kara OE 'TO 'TTOCTOV KaL EL~ a
()

~ ,..., I I~ ' I 1\ '

15 otatpEtTat KEXWPLCT!LEVa raoE Ea-rtv, 7rpol\oyo~ E'TTELCT-
~~ -'I(; ~ I \ I \ \ I \ ~
OOLOV Es 000~ xoptKOV, Kat 'TOV'TOV 'TO /LEV 1rapooo~ 'TO
~ \ I e \ \ I ''~
,..., ~ \ \
OE CT'TaCTL/LOV, KOLVa /LEV a1raV'TWV ravra, LOLa OE Ta

a'TTO rij~ CTKYJVij~ Ka'i KO!L!LO[. ECT'TLV DE 7rpoA.oyo~ ~LEV

!LEPO~ oA.ov rpaycp8[a~ TO 1rp0 xopov 7rapo8ov, E'Tr-

1 ETt 8€ AB: E1TELD~ Vahlen

2 EKEivov Bywater: -w AB

66
r
I POETICS 12

relation to inanimate and even chance things, and it is

also possible to recognise that someone has or has not
committed a deed. But the kind most integral to the plot
and action is the one described: such a joint recognition
and reversal will yield either pity or fear, just the type of
actions of which tragedy is taken to be a mimesis; besides,
both adversity and prosperity will hinge upon such cir-
cumstances. Now, because recognition is recognition
between people, a some cases involve only the relation of
one party to the other (when the other,s identity is clear),
while in others there is need for double recognition: thus,
Iphigeneia was recognised by Orestes through the send-
ing of the letter, but for Iphigeneia to recognise his rela-
tion to herself required a further recognition. b
These, then, are two components of the plot-reversal
and recognition. A third is suffering. Of these, reversal
and recognition have been explained, and suffering is a
1
: destructive or painful action, such as public deaths, physi-
1 cal agony, woundings, etc.
~II We spoke earlierc of the components of tragedy that
must be used as basic elements; but its formal and dis-
crete sections are as follows: prologue, episode, exodos,
choral unit (further divisible into parodos and stasimon).
These are common to all plays, but actors, songs and kom-
moi are special to some. The prologue is the whole por-
tion of a tragedy prior to the chorus, parodos; an episode

a Ar. ignores recognition of inanimate objects, mentioned

above.
b Eur. IT 727-841.
c Cf. esp. 50a9-14.

67
 ARISTOTLE

20 EUTODLOV DE fLEpoc; oA.ov rpaycpDtac; TO fLETa~v oAwv

xopLKWV J.LEAWV, E~oDoc; DE fLEpoc; oAov TpaycpDtac;
fLE()' 0 OVK EO"'TL xopov J.LEAoc;· xopLKOV DE 1TapoDoc;
J.LEV ~ 1TpWTYJ A.E.f,c; OAYJ 1 xopov, O"TaO"LfLOV DE J.LEAOc;
,...., '~~ ) I ' I ' ~'
xopov 'TO aVEV aVa1TaLO"TOV KaL TpoxaLOV, KOJ.LfLOc; OE
()pY]voc; KOLVOc; xopov Kat a1TO O"KYJViJc;. fLEPYJ DE Tpa-
25 ycpDiac; oic; J.LEV wc; 2 ELDEO"L DEL xpiJa-{)at, 1Tp07Epov
~~
EL7TafLEV, oE TO' 7TOa-ov
KaTa'~' ' KaL' ELc;
' a(.\ oLaLpELTaL
~ ,....,
KEXW-
1 ,....,,, I ·X
pLO"fLEVa TaVT EO"'TLV. !

XIII ~nv DE
DEL O"Toxa,Ea-{}at, Kat DEL EVAa/3ELa-{}at, a
I
O"VVLO"TaVTac; '
TOVc; fLVI() OVc; KaL' 11'0I() EV EO"TaL
~~
'TO' T'Y]c;
,. . ,

7paycpDtac; epyov, EcpE~Y}c; av ELY] AEKTEOV TOLe; vvv

30 ElpYJfLEVoLc;. E1TELD~ ollv DE'i T~v a-vv()Ea-Lv EivaL TYJc;
KaAALO"T'Y]c; rpaycpDiac; fL~ a7TA Y]v aAAa 1TE7TAEYJ.LEVYJV
Kat -ravTYJV ~oj3Epwv KaL eAEELvwv EivaL fL"fL'YJTLK~v
( rovTo yap tDLov T~c;. ToLaVTYJc; fL"J.L~a-Ewc; €a-rLv),
7TpW'TOV J.LEV DYJAOV OTL OVTE TOVc; E1TLELKELc; avDpac; DEL
J.LEra{3aA.A.ovrac; c/)aivEa-()a, €~ EvTvxiac; Elc; Dva-Tv-
35 XLav,
I
ov' yap
' .J.. f3 Epov
'Po ' ovoE
' ~ ' EAEELvov
'\ ' TOVTO
,. . , aAAa
' \ \ ' J.LLa-
~~
1
pov '
EO"TLV" OVTE '
TOVc; fLOX () YJpOVc;
'
Es
'(; ' I
aTVXLac; ELc;
' '
EVTV-
~~ '~'
XLav,
1
arpaycpooTaTov
'
yap
'
TOVT
,...., '
EO"TL
' '
1TaVTWV,
I
ovoEv
yap exE" J>v DEL, ovTE yap ~,A.ave pw1Tov ovTE eAEEL-
1453a vov OVTE cpo{3Epov EO"TLV" ovD' all TOV a-~oDpa 1TOVYJ-
'
pov '(; EVTVXLac;
Es ' I ' ova-TVXLav
ELc; ~ I I
fLETa1TL1TTELV" TO' J.LEV
'
' .J..\1() ~~ ,, ~ I I
yap 'fJLAav pw1rov EXOL av YJ TOLaVTYJ a-va-Taa-Lc;

1
oAYJ Susemihl: oA.ov AB 2 w~ EtOEo-L rec.: om. AB

a Usually accompanying their entrance onto the scene.

68
 POETICS 13

is the whole portion of a tragedy between complete

choral songs; the exodos is the whole portion of a tragedy
following the final choral song. Of choral units, the paro-
dos is the first complete utterancea of the chorus; a stasi-
mon is a choral song without anapaestic and trochaic
rhythms;h a kommos is a dirge shared between chorus
and actors. We spoke earlier of the components of
tragedy that must be used as basic elements, while its for-
mal and discrete sections are the ones given.
XIII Next, after the foregoing discussion, we must consider
what should be aimed at and avoided in the construction
of plots, and how tragedy's effect is to be achieved. Since,
then, the structure of the finest tragedy should be com-
plex not simple, c as well as representing fearful and
pitiable events (for this is the special feature of such
mimesis), it is, to begin with, clear that neither should
decent men be shown changing from prosperity to adver-
sity, as this is not fearful nor yet pitiable but repugnant, d
nor the depraved changing from adversity to prosperity,
because this is the least tragic of all, possessing none
of the necessary qualities, since it arouses neither
fellow-feelinge nor pity nor fear. Nor, again, should
tragedy show the very wicked person falling from pros-
perity to adversity: such a pattern might arouse fellow-
feeling, but not pity or fear, since the one is felt

h Both do in fact occur in stasima; Ar. may be thinking of

"recitative" units, such as the marching anapaests of choral paro-
doi, or trochaic tetrameters (see on 49a21).
c In the senses defined in ch. X. d Cf. 53b39, 54a3.
e Philanthri5pia: a disputed concept; it may entail either a
broadly humane sympathy (even with some forms of merited suf-
fering), or a basic sense of justice~ Cf. 56a21.

69
 ARISTOTLE
'\ \ ' ,, ''\ ,, ,/... / Q (: ' '
a/\1\ OVTE E/\EOV OVTE 'POtJOV, 0 fLEV yap 7TEpL' TOV
' ' /
ava-
~ ~.-6v Ea-T LV 8va-TvxovvTa, o 8€ 7TEpt TOV OfLOLov
5 ( €AEo~ 1 fLEV 7TEpt Tov dva~ ~.-ov, cp6{3o~ 8€ 7TEpt Tov
~~
OfLOLOV , W<JTE OVTE
) ~~ :J/ '\ ' ,,
OVTE 'PO Epov E<J'Tat TO
E/\EELVOV
,/... f3 ' :J/ '

<IVfLtJULVOV.
Q I"\
0
l: t: ' ,, / \ /
fLE'TU~ V apa 'TOV'TWV 1\0L7TO~.
,, 8'
E<J'TL E
TOLOVTO~ 0 fLrrJTE apEri} 8~.-acpepwv Kat 8t-KaLO<JVVYJ
fLrrJTE 8ul. KaKtav Kat fLOX(}YJptav fLETa{3aAAwv El~ T~v
8va-rvxiav aAAa 8~.-' dJ.LapTtav TLVa, 'TWV EV fLEyaAYJ
10 / t:YJ OVTWV
80~ ,, Kat' EVTVXLq_,
, / ~
OLOV 0 L'8 L7TOV~
/ KaL' 8 VE<ITYJ~
/
Kat ol EK TWV 'TOLOVTWV YEVWV E7TLcpavE'i~ av8pE~.
dvayKY) apa TOV KaAw~ €xovra fLV(}ov a7TAOVV ElVaL
fLaAAov ~ 8t-7TAovv, wa-7TEp Tt-v€~ cpaa-~.-, Kat fLETa{3aA-
\
1\ELV OVK
, ,
EL~
,
EVTVXLaV EK
/ , 8V<J'TVXLa~
/ a/\1\a
'\ \' ,
TOVVaVTLOV
/
E~ E'VTVXLa~ EL~ 8va-rvxiav fL~ 8~.-a fLOX(}YJpLav aAAa
15 8~.-' dfLapriav fLEyaA YJV ~ otov ELPYJTaL ~ {3EA Ttovo~
fLUAA~v ~ XELpovo~. ( <IYJfLEtov 8€ Ka'i TO y~.-yvofLEVov·
7rpwrov fLEV yap oi 7T~LYJTat Tov~ TvxovTa~ fLV(}ov~
a7TYJpL(}fLOVV, vvv 8€ 7TEpt oA[ya~ OLKLa~ at KaAALa-TaL
rpaycp8[a~.- a-vvTL(}EvTaL, oiov 7TEpt 'AAKfLEWva Kat
20 Ol8[7Tovv Kat 'Opea-TYJV Kat MEAeaypov Kat 8vea-TYJV
Kat Trr}AEcpov Kat O<JOL~ aAAoL~ <IVJ.L/3E/3YJKEV ~ 7Ta(}E'iv
8Et-va ~ 7Tot-ija-a~.-.) ~ fLEV oilv KaTa T~v TEXVYJV KaAA[-
<ITYJ Tpaycp 8La EK
/ , TaVTYJ~/ I"\
TYJ~ <JV<JTa<JEW~ E<JTL.
8LO' / / ,

Kat- OL
' l: EVpL7TL
' /8 YJ EyKai\OVVTE~
' \ ""' TO' aVTO
' ' afLapTaVOV<JLV l: /

lN\ ~
€1\EOS' . . . OfLOLOV Om.
B

Ha-martia: the term, repeated at 53a16, could cover a range

a
of possible factors in tragic agency. See the Introduction.

70
 POETICS 13

for the undeserving victim of adversity, the other for one

like ourselves (pity for the undeserving, fear for one like
ourselves); so the outcome will be neither pitiable nor
fearful. This leaves, then, the person in-between these
cases. Such a person is so1neone not preeminent in virtue
and justice, and one who falls into adversity not through
evil and depravity, but through some kind of error;a and
one belonging to the class of those who enjoy great
renown and prosperity, such as Oedipus, Thyestes, b and
eminent men from such lineages. The well-made plot,
then, ought to be singlec rather than double, as some
maintain, with a change not to prosperity from adversity,
but on the contrary from prosperity to adversity, caused
not by depravity but by a great error of a character either
like that stated, or better rather than worse. (Actual prac-
tice too points to this. Originally, the poets recounted any
and every sto!y, but nowadays the finest tragedies are
composed about only a few families, such as Alcmaeon,
Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus,d and as
many others as have suffered or perpetrated terrible
things.) So the finest tragedy of which the art permits fol-
lows this structure. Which is why the same mistakee is

h T., King of Mycenae, was deceived by his brother, Atreus,

into eating his own children; he also committed unwitting incest
with his daughter, Pelopia. Cf. OCD s.v. Atreus.
c The same Greek adj. as "simple" in ch. X; but the context
dictates a separate sense here. d Alcmaeon: see on 53b24.
Oedipus and Orestes: see e.g. ch. XI. Meleager: killed by the
agency of his mother, Althaea, after he had killed her brother( s).
Thyestes: see on 53all. Telephus: Ar. may have in mind his
unwitting killing of his uncles; cf. OCD s.v.
e As made by those who prefer double plots (53al3).

71
 ARISTOTLE

25 ort rovro Dp(j. €v rat~ rpaycpDtat~ Kat 1 ai 7roAAat

avrov El~ Dvo-rvxiav TEAEvrwo-tv. TOVTO yap Eo-TtV
wo-7rEp ELPYJTat op06v· (TY}f.LELOV DE fLEyto-rov· E7rt yap
,... ,...
TWV o-KYJVWV Kat' , .TWV
.. ' '
aywvwv '
rpaytKWTaTat ate TOt-
aVTat cpatvovrat, av KaropOwOwo-tv, Kat 0 Evpt7rLDYJ~,
El Kat ra aAAa f.L~ eO olKOVOfLEL, aAAa rpaytKWTar6~
30 yE rwv 7rOtYJTWV cpaivErat. DEvrf.pa D' T] 7rpWTYJ AEyo-
p.ivYJ v7ro rtvwv €o-rtv o-vo-rao-t~, T] Dt7rAi}v rE r~v
~~
o-vo-rao-tv
'
EXOVo-a Ka (} a7rEp
'
YJe 'Q ova-a-Eta
\:' ' Kat' TEI\.EV-
\

rwo-a €t €vavr£a~ TOt~ {3EATLO(Tt Kat XEtpoo-LJJ. DoKEL

DE Eivat 7rpCVTYJ Dul T~V TWV 0Earpwv do-Of.vEtav· aKO-
AovOovo-t yap oi 7rOtYJTat Kar' E·ux~v 7rotovvrE~ ro'i~
35 0Eara'i~. Eo-TtV DE ovx aVTYJ a7ro rpaycpDta~ T]8ov~
dAAa f.LaAAov rfj~ KWf.Lq_JOta~ olKELa. EKEL yap ot 2 av
€x0to-rot 6Jo-tv €v r(i> f.LV()Cf?, oiov 'Opf.o-rYJ~ Kat Afyt-
o-Oo~, cpiAot YEVOfLEVot E?Tt rEAEvrij~ €tf.pxovrat, Ka'i
a'TTO
' (} VYJCTKEt
' '~ '
OVOEt~ V7r
e ' OVOEVO~.
'\:' '

1453b ~'Eo-rLv f.LEV oilv ro f/Jo{3Epov Ka'i EAEELvov EK rfj~

XIV otjJEw~ yivEa-8aL, EfTTLV o€ Ka'i €g avrij~ rij~ a-va-ra-
""' , ~'
(JEW~ TWV 7rpayf.LaTWV, 07rEp EfTTL 7rp07Epov Kat 7rOtY}-
' ' , '
TOV af.LELVOVO~. DEL yap Kat avEV TOV opav OVTW a-vv-
Eo-ravat , ' fLV""'() OV Wo-TE
TOV ~~
TOV ' aKOVOVTa
/ ' ,
Ta' 7rpayfLaTa
5 ytVOfLEVa Kat cppirrEtv Kat EAEE'iv EK rwv o-vf.Lf3atv6v-
1 Kat ai Knebel: Kat A: ai B
2 OL av Bonitz: av oi AB

72
 POETICS 14

made by those who complain that Euripides does this in

his plays, and that mosta end in adversity. For this, as
explained, is the right way. And the greatest indication of
this is that in theatrical contests such plays are found the
most tragic, if successfully managed; and Euripides, even
if he does not arrange other details well, is at least found
the most tragic of the poets. Second-best is the structure
held the best by some people: the kind with a double
structure like the Odyssey and with opposite outcomes
for good and bad characters. It is thought to be best
because of the weakness of audiences: the poets follow,
and pander to the taste of, the spectators. Yet this is not
the pleasure to expect from tragedy, but is more appropri-
ate to comedy, where those who are deadliest enemies in
the plot, such as Orestes and Aegisthus,h exit at the end as
new friends, and no one dies at anyone's hands.
XIV Now, what is fearful and pitiable can result from
spectacle,c but also from the .actual structure of events,
which is the higher priority and the aim of a superior
poet. For the plot should be so structured that, even
without seeing it performed, the person who hears the
events that occur experiences horrord and pity at what

a Or, on a different textual reading, "many"; it is anyway

unclear why Eur. should be singled out for such criticism.
b Lover of Clytemnestra, Orestes' mother, with whom he
plotted to kill her husband, Agamemnon. Ar. envisages a bur-
lesque treatment which avoids the usual revenge killing of
Aegisthus by Orestes.
c See on 49b33.
d Here, and only here, Ar. uses a verb which literally means to
"shudder" with fear.

73
 ARISTOTLE
~'
TWV" a1rEp .,,
av 1ra'f) Ot Tt~ aKOVWV
,
TOV TOV 0 t0t1TOV
,~, I' ' 1"1

f.LV()ov. TO DE Dul Tij~ olf;Ew~ TOVTO 1Tapaa-KEVa,EtV

aTEXVOTEpov Kat xopY]yia~ DEOf.LEVOV Ea-TtV. OL DE f.LTJ
TO cP0/3Epov Dul Tfj~ ot/JEw~ aAAa TO TEpaTWDEc; f.LOVOV
'Y '~' ~~
7Tapaa-K€VasOVTE~ OVOEV TpayqJOtft KOtVWVOVCFtv• OV 1"1 ,

10 yap 7Taa-av DEL 'YJTELV i}DOVTJV a7TO Tpayq>Dia~ aAAa

\ 3 ~ I ' rh '(3
\ ~ \
\ \ 3 \ 3\ I \
TYJV OtKEtaV. E7TEt OE TYJV a7TO EJ\EOV Kat 'PO OV Ota
f.Ltf.LTJa-Ew~ DEL i}DovTJv 1Tapaa-KEva,Etv Tov 7TOtYJTTJV,
cpavEpov we; TOVTO EV TOL~ 1Tpayf.Laa-tv Ef.L7TOtYJTEOV.
1"1 '";' ~ ,,, 1"1 ' ',./...' 1"1
7TOta OVV OEtVa YJ 7TOta OtKTpa 'PatVETat TWV a-Vf.L-
7Tt7TTOVTWV, A.af3Wf.LEV. avayKY] DTJ 1 ~ cpi'Awv Eivat
15 7Tpoc; aAATJAOV~ Tac; TOtaVTa~ 7TpatEt~ ~ f.x{)p/Jv ~
~ I
f.LYJOETEpwv. ''
av \
f.LEV '";'
ovv EX f) poe;
\ EX-' f) pov,
I ~
ovoEv EJ\EEt-
3 3 \ -'\

VOV OVTE 7TOtWV OVTE f.LEJ\J\WV, 7TJ\Y}V KaT aVTO TO

' :)/ 1"1 :)/ '\ \ \ ' ' ' ' '

7Ta'f) o~·- ovv

' ~' ')\ ~ I
av f.LYJVETEpwc; :)/
EXOVTE~·
~I
oTav o~' EV
-'
Tat~
1"1

cPtAtatc; E.yyEVYJTat Ta 7Ta.eYJ, otov ~ aDEAcPO~ aDEAcPOV

.,, e' 1 e' .,,
.,, e' 1 1 '
20 YJ VtO~ 7Ta7Epa YJ f.LYJTYJp VtOV YJ VtOc; f.LYJTEpa a7TO-
KTELVY/ ~ f.LEAAn ~ T~ aAAo TOtOVTOV Dp(j., TaVTa ,YJTYJ-
TEOV. TOV~ f.LEV OVV 7TapEtJ\Y}f.Lf.LEVOV~ f.LV'f) ovc; J\VEtV
1 \ \ '";' \ \ I I

, :)/
OVK Ea-TtV, J\EYW OE ~' 'e'
OtOV '
\I
TYJV K\J\VTatf.LYJCFTpav a7TO f) a- I ,

VOVa-av v1ro TOV 'Op€a-Tov Kat TTJV 'EptcpvAYJV V7TO Tov

'A\J\Kf.LEWVO~,
1
aVTOV
' ' ~' e ~ ~"~
OE EVpta-KEtV OEt Kat TOL~ 7TapaoE-
1 ' ~ 1"1

25 DOf.LEVOt~ xpi}a-eat KaAw~. TO DE KaAw~ TL AEYOf.LEV,

:)/ rh I \ \ I f) ~I ~I
Et7TWf.LEV a-a'PECFTEpOV. Ea-Tt f.LEV yap OVTW ytvEa- at
~"~ (; '~ 1
TYJV '
7Tpa':, el
LV, W(J"7TEp OLe 7TaJ\atOL
\ ' ' 1
E7TOLOVV ELOOTa~ Kat
'

1 8~ Spengel: DE AB

Soph. OT, as usual; Ar. may have in mind recitation (a com-

a
mon Greek practice), rather than mere plot summary.

74
 POETICS 14

comes about (as one would feel when hearing the plot of
the Oedipus). a To create this effect through spectacle has
little to do with the poet's art, and requires material
resources.h Those who use spectacle to create an effect
not of the fearful but only of the sensational have nothing
at all in common with tragedy, as it is not every pleasure
one should seek from tragedy, but the appropriate kind.
And since the poet should create the pleasure which
comes from pity and fear through mimesis, obviously this
should be built into the events.
Let us, then, take up the question of what sorts of inci-
dents strike us as terrible or pitiable. Now, such actions
must occur between friends,c enemies, or neutrals. Well,
if enemy acts towards enemy, there is nothing pitiable in
either the deed or the prospect of it, except for the
sufferingd as such; nor if the parties are neutrals. What
tragedy must.seek are cases where the sufferings occur
within relationships, such as brotper and brother, son and
father, mother and son, son and mother-when the one
kills (or is about to kill) the other, or commits some other
such deed. Now, one cannot break up the transmitted
stories (I mean, e.g., Clytemnestra's death at Orestes'
hands, e and Eriphyle's at Alcmaeon's), f but the poet
should be inventive as well as making good use of tradi-
tional stories. Let me explain more clearly what I mean
by "good use." First, the action can occur as in the early
b Cf. the final sentence of ch. VI.
c Philoi, "friends," here embraces all (esp. kin) who share
strong personal or social ties.
d Defined at the end of ch. XI.
e See on 53a37.
fA. killed his mother (in different versions) either acciden-
tally (in Astydamas, 53b33), or to avenge his father, Amphiaraus.

75
 ARISTOTLE

ytyvwa-Kovra~, KaOO._,-rrEp Ka'i EvpurriOYJ~ €rroiYJa-Ev

, /
a1TOKTELVOVa-av '
TOV~
"'~
1TaLoa~
' M YJOELav·
TYJV /~ 1 f(JTLV
~' ~,
OE

rrpa~aL fLEV, dyvoovvTa~ o€ rrpa~at To OEtvov, Ei8'

t:/ ' ' ' ,/... \ / et c ~ ,/...
30 VCTTEpOV avayvwptCTaL TYJV lfJLJ\LaV, WCT1TEp 0 40'-fJO-
\ ,
KJ\EOV~
0 LOL1TOV~·
,~ / "' '
TOVTO fLEV OVV E<.:, W TOV
';"' ~' c "' ~ /
opafLaTO~,

EV o' avTiJ TV TpayqJOLf!: otov 0 ,AAKfLEWv 2 0 ,Aa-Tv-

Oa!LaVTO~ ~ o TYJAeyovo~ o f.v T~ TpavfLaTiq.. 'Oovrr-
"' ~' ~' /
CTEL. ETL OE rpLTOV rrapa' TaVTa
"' TO' 3 fLEJ\J\OJJTa
/\ \ "'
1TOLELV
35 TL TWV UVYJKECTTWV OL' ayvotav avayvwpirraL rrp'iv
"' ' ' "' , ,, "''\ \ .,, '
1TOLYJCTaL. KaL 1rapa TaVTa OVK Ea-TLV aJ\J\W~· YJ yap
1rpata" dvayKYJ ~ IL~ Ka'i ElOoTa~ ~ IL~ ElOoTa~. rov-
rwv 8€ TO fLEV ytvwrrKovTa fLEAAija-at Ka'i IL~ 1rpa~aL
/ / '
XELptrrTov· TO TE yap fLLapov EXEL, Kat ov TpaytKov·
' _,, ' , '
' (}' ' ~ / '~ '
a1ra E~ yap. oL01TEp ovoEL~ 1TOLEL"' e /
OfLOLW~, EL' fLYJ' OJ\L-
'\

1454a '
yaKL~,. ~
OLOV ,
EV 'A VTLYOVYJ
/ '
TOV K pEOJJTa
' 0e At:'LfLWV. TO'
OE 1TpataL OEVTEpov. {3i.ATLOV OE TO ayvoovvra fLEV
"'(:.
1rpac.:,aL, /(:.
1Tpac.:,avTa ~' , / ' '
oE avayvwpta-at· TO TE yap fLLa-

pov ov 1rpoa-ErrTtv ·Ka'i -ry dvayvwpta-L~ EK1TAYJKTLKov.

KpaTLCTTOV 8€ TO TEAEVTatov, Aeyw o€ otov EV T~

1 post
M1}8ELav lacunam stat. Gudeman (cf. "quod non faciat
... ubi cognoscunt," Arab.)
2
'AAKfLULWV 0 Vettori: aAKfLULWVOr; AB
3 To Theod. Rentius, Bonitz: Tov AB

Medea's deliberate killing of her children, in Eur.'s play, was

a
probably an innovation in the myth.
h Astydamas junior, active 370s-340s; OCD s.v., TrGF I no.
60.
c Apparently a variant title of Soph.'s Odysseus Akanthoplex,

76
 POETICS 14

poets who made the agents act in knowledge and cogni-

sance (as Euripides too made Medea kill her children).a
Alternatively, the agents can commit the terrible deed,
but do so in ignorance, then subsequently recognise the
relationship, as with Sophocles' Oedipus: here, of course,
the deed is outside the play, but cases within the tragedy
are, for instance, Alcmaeon in Astydamas,h or Telegonus
in Odysseus Wounded. c This leaves a thirdd possibility,
when the person is on the point of unwittingly commit-
ting something irremediable, but recognises it before
doing so. These are the only patterns; either the action is
or is not executed, and by agents who either know or do
not know its nature. Of these, the worst is for someone to
be about to act knowingly, and yet not do so: this is both
repugnante and untragic (since it lacks suffering). That is
why no one makes such plots, or only rarely, for instance
with Haemon.and Creon in Antigone/ Next worst is exe-
cution of the deed.g Better is the act done in ignorance,
and followed by recognition: there is nothing repugnant
here, and the recognition is· thrilling. But best is the last
option:h I mean, for example, in Cresphontesi Merope is

in which Telegonus, son of Odysseus by Circe, unwittingly killed

his father in combat.
d But Ar.'s first possibility, at 27-9, concealed another (about
to act in ignorance, yet failing to do so: see 37-8), yielding four
types altogether. e Cf. 52b36.
fAt Soph. Ant. 1226-34 the messenger relates Haemon's
abortive attempt to kill his father.
g I.e. in full knowledge.
h Often thought to contradict ch. XIII; yet Ar. sees great
scope for pity and fear in narrowly averted catastrophes.
i Eur.'s: M. recognised her son when on the very point of
killing him in his sleep.
77
 ARISTOTLE
,.~.. / ( M Ep01T'Y}
/ /\ \ ' (' ' /
5 K pEa-'POV'TYJ 'Y} fLE/\1\EL TOV VLOV a1TOK'TELVELV,
, /
a1TOK'TELVEL ~
OE
' OV,
~~ ' \ \ ' aveyvwpta-E,
a/\1\ , / Kat' EV
' TYJ,. . , 'Irl..
\{-JLYE-
/
VEL(/: , ~ \ A. '
'Y(} aOEI\'f''Y} '
'TOV ' ~ \ ...L /
aOEI\tpOV, Kat' EV
' \ \ 0( VLO~
TYJ,. . , ~'E 1\1\YJ ('
' fL'Y}TEpa
'TYJV / '
EKOLOOVaL/ /\ \
fLE/\1\WV , ""
avEyvwptO"EV.
/
OLa' yap
' "
,...., ~~ /
'TOV'To, 01TEp Tral\at ELP'YJTat, ov 1TEpt 1TOI\I\a YEV'Y} at
\ ~~ ' ' \ \ ' / (

10 'TpayqJDLaL EtO"LV. ''Y}'TOVVTE~ yap OVK a·rro 'TEXV'YJ~

d'A'A' a1ro TVX'YJ~ EtJpov To TotovTov Trapaa-KEva,Etv f.v
'TOL~
,. , fLV
/e Ot~·
, /r
avayKaf::,OV'TaL OVV E1TL
1' , ' /
TaV'Ta~ Ta~ OLKLa~
' , /

aTraVTav oa-at~ Ta TOLaV'Ta O"VfL/3E/3'YJKE 1TU0'YJ. 1TEpL

' .-;- ,. . , ,. . , / / ' / X
fLEV OVV T'Y}~ TWV 1TpayfLaTWV O"VCTTaCTEW~ Kat 1TOLOV~

15 'Ttva~ Eivat DEL Tov~ fLVOov~ ELP'YJTat tKavw~.

xv IIEp'L DE Ta ~()'YJ 'TET'Tapa f.a-Ttv CfJv DEL a-Toxa,E-
a-Oat, ev fLEV Ka'L 1rpwTov, o1rw~ XP'YJO"Ta i]. E~Et DE
,ryoo~ fLEV E.av wa-1rEp E.'A€x8'YJ 1roti} cpavEpov o 'Aoyo~ T]
~ 1Tpatt~ 1TpoatpEa-tv 'TLVa ij 1 TL~ av ij, XP'YJO"TOV DE
E:av XP'YJCT'T~v. Ea-T tv D€. f.v €Kaa-'TCfJ yf.vEt · Ka'i yap
20
, / ' ' ~ ""\ ~~
yvv'Y} ECTTLV XP'YJCT'T'YJ Kat OOVI\O~, Kat'TOL JIE ta-w~ TOV-
/ /

'TWV TO fLEV XELpov, .TO DE o'Aw~ cpav'Aov EO"TLV. DEVTE-

pov ~'
OE TO' apfLOTTOVTa
/ ( ~~
• EO"TLV ' avopELOV
yap , ~ ,...., ' TO'
fLEV
~()o~, a'A'A' ovx apfLO'TTOV yvvaLKL OVTw~ 2 avDpEiav T]
DEtv~v Eivat. TpiTov DE To OfLOtov. TovTo yap ETEpov
'TOV XP'YJCTTOV TO ,ryoo~ Kat apfLOTTOV 1Toti}a-at w~ 1Tp0-
25 ELP'YJTat. 'TETapTov D€ To OfLa'Aov. Kav yap avwfLa'Ao~
TIS ij oT~v fLLfL'YJO"LV 1rap€xwv Kat TotovTov i}Oo~ v1To-
'TE0fj,""3 OfLW~ OfLa'Aw~ avwfLa'Aov DEL Eivat. Ea-Ttv DE
1 ij Tl8 av add. Vahlen: om. AB
2 ovTw~ Vahlen: ov Tw B: **Twt A: To rec.
3 1nTOTE8fj B: lJ7TOTL8Et8 A

78
 POETICS 15

about to kill her son, but recognises him in time; likewise

with sister and brother in Iphigeneia;a and in Helleb the
son recognises his mother when about to hand her over.
Hence, as I said previously, not many families provide
subjects for tragedies. In their experiments, it was not art
but chance that made the poets discover how to produce
such effects in their plots; thus they are now obliged to
tum to the families which such sufferings have befallen.
Enough, then, has now been said about the structure of
events and the required qualities of plots.
XV As regards characters, four things should be aimed
at-first and foremost, that they be good. c Characterisa-
tion appears when, as said earlier, d speech or action
reveals the nature of a moral choice; and good character
when the choice is good. Good character exists in each
class of person: there is a good woman and good slave,
even if the first of these is an inferior class, the other
wholly paltry~ The second aim is appropriateness: there is
courage of character, but it is inappropriate for a woman
to be courageous or clever~ in this way. The third aim is
likeness, f which is distinct from making the character
good and appropriate as indicated. Fourth is consistency:
even if the subject represented is someone inconsistent,
and such character is presupposed, he should still be con-

a Eur. IT 727 ff. b Play unknown.

c Since "elevated" characters are a defining feature of
tragedy; cf. esp. 48al6-18.
d 50b8-10; in fact, the earlier definition was narrower, men-
tioning only "speech."
e Character encompasses intellectual virtues; cf. Eth. Nic. VI.
f As the rest of the sentence suggests, likeness in basic
humanity: cf. "like us" at e.g. 48a5-6.

79
 ARISTOTLE

1TapaDELYf.La 'lTOVYJp[a" p.,E.v rf}fJov" f.LTJ avayKa[a" 1 oiov

l\1 EVE/\aO"
0~ n 1\
0e EV
'
T([J"" 'o pEO"TYJ,
I ~' '
TOV"" OE a1TpE1TOV"
""
Kat'
30 f.LTJ dpf.LOTTOVTO" o TE Opi]vo" '08va-a-€w" E.v Tfj
~ I\ \
..z..KVAI\YJ Kat' YJe TYJ"
"" l\ \ I e "" "" ~ ' '
1v1EAaVL1T1TYJ" PYJO"t", TOV oE aVWtJ-a-
I

\
1\0V ' A Vl\tOt
YJ~ EV '\ I~ 'JA...
'PtYEVELa
1 '~'
• OVOEV yap
'
EOtKEV
''
YJe tKE-
e

TEVOVO"a Tfj VO"TEPf!:· XPTJ 8E. Kat E.v TOL" 7}8Ea-tv

~I t:/ ' ' """" I I
Of.LOtW" W0"1TEp KaL EV TYJ TWV 1Tpayp.,aTWV O"VO"TaO"Et
aEL 'YJTELV ~ TO avayKa'iov ~ TO ELKO", WO"TE TOV TOt-
35 OVTOV Ta TOtaVTa AEyEtV ~ 1TpaTTEtV ~ avayKa'iov ~
EtKO" Kat TOVTO fJ.-ETa TOVTO y[vEa-Oat ~ avayKa'iov ~
( ...J.. ' ';"
' I
EtKO". 'PaVEpov OVV t:/ I
OTt Kat Ta" 1\VO"Et~
' '""
TWV fJ.-VI(J WV Es
\ '(;

avTov DEL TOV f.LV8ov 2 O"Vf.L{3aivEtv, Kat f.LTJ W0"1TEp E.v

1454b TV ~1YJDE[f!: a1ro 11-YJxavf}" Kat E.v TV 'I'Ata8" Ta 1TEpt
TOV U1T01TAOVV. aAAa f.LYJxavv XPYJO"TEOV E'lTL Ta E~W
TOV 8paf.LaTo~, ~ oa-a 1Tp0 TOV y€yovEV ovx oi6v TE a
av8pw1TOV El8€vat, ~ oa-a. VO"TEpov, a
DEtTaL 1Tpoayo-
5 pEVO"EW" KaL ayyEALa"· U1TaVTa yap U1To8i8op.,Ev TOL~
fJEOL~ opiiv. aAoyov· 8E. p.,YJDEV ELVat EV TOL~ 1Tpayp.,a-
O"LV, Et 8E. f.LTJ, E.~w Tfj~ Tpay<p8ia~, oiov TO E.v T~
Ol8i1roDt T~ to~oKAEov~.) E'lTEL 8E. fJ.-LfJ.-YJO"L~ EO"TLV iJ
1 avayKata~ Thurot: -a'iov AB
2
fJ.:uOov AB: ~Oov~ Arab.

Eur. Or. 3.56 ff, 1554 ff.

a
b A dithyramb by Timotheus (see on 48al5), on the theme of
Scylla the sea n1onster (Hom. Od. 12.85 ff); 6lb32 may refer to
the same work.

80
 POETICS 15

sistently inconsistent. An example of unnecessary

wickedness of character is Menelaus in Orestes;a of inapt
and inappropriate character, Odysseus' dirge in Scylla,b
and the speech of Melanippe;c of inconsistency, the Iphi-
geneia at Au lis (since the girl who beseeches bears no
resemblance to her later self). d With character, precisely
as in the structure of events, one should always seek
necessity or probability-so that for such a person to say
or do such things is necessary or probable, and the
sequence of events is also necessary or probable.
e( Clearly the denouementsf of plots should issue from the
plot as such, and not from a deus ex machina as in Medeag
and the scene of departure in the Iliad. h The deus ex
machina should be employed for events outside the
drama-preceding events beyond human knowledge, or
subsequent events requiring prediction and announce-
ment; for we .ascribe to the gods the capacity to see all
things. There should be nothing _irrationaF in the events;
if there is, it should lie outside the play, as with Sophocles'
OedipusJ) Since tragedy is mimesis of those superior

c In Eur. Melanippe the Wise, frs. 480-88 Nauck; the hero-

ine's speech showed knowledge of intellectual matters (cf.
"clever," 54a24). d Eur. IA 1211 ff, 1368 ff.
e I place in parenthesis some remarks which are, at the least,
digressive, and perhaps misplaced.
f The term lusis will be technically defined in ch. XVIII; its
use here is comparable, though perhaps not identical.
g Medea escapes in the Sun's chariot: Eur. Med. 1317 ff.
h Il. 2.155 ff: Athena's intervention prevents the Greeks from
abandoning the war.
i I.e. grossly contrary to what is plausible or intelligible.
jAr. alludes to Oedipus' ignorance about the death of Laius:
cf. 60a29-30.
81
 ARISTOTLE

rpaycp8ia j3EAru)vwv ~ TJJLELS, DE'i JLtJLE'ia-Oat TOV~

'
aya {) ov~' ' /,1.. ' ' '
EtKovoypa'Pov~· Kat yap EKEtvot a1Tootoov-
"" ' ~ ~/

10 'TE~ r~v l8iav JLOpcp~v OJLOtov~ 1TOtO'VVTE~ KaAA.iov~

/ ,/...
ypa'POVO"tV" ~'
OVTW Kat' TOV ' 1TOtYJTYJV ' jLtJLOVJLEVOV Kat'
/

' /\ ' {) ' .-;- \ \

opyti\OV~ Kat PC!: VfLOV~ Kat Tai\Aa Ta Totavra EXOV-
( / ' "" ,,
ra~ E1TL Twv T]Owv Totovrov~ ovTa~ E1TtEtKE'i~ 1TOtE'iv,
otov rov 'AxtA.A.€a dya0ov 1 Kat. 1TapaDEtyJLa 2 a-KAYJ-
porYJTO~ ~'OJLYJpo~. TavTa 8~ 8taTYJpE'iv, Kat. 1rpo~
15 /
rovrot~ Ta' 3 1rapa' Ta~ ' '(: avayKYJ~
Es ' / ' \
aKOI\OV {) ova-a~
/

ata-' {) YJO"Et~ TYJ"" 1TOtY}'TtKYJ"

/ "" Kat' yap ' KaT ' aVTa~
' ' EO"TtV,,
dJLapravEtV 1TOltltaKt~· ELPYJTat 8€ 1TEpL aVTWV EV 'TOL~
'~~ / \/ ( ""
EKOEOOJLEVOt~ 1\0yot~ tKaVW~.

XVI 'A vayvwpta-t~

/ ' 'Tt/ JLEV
~
oE
/ EO"TtV,
' ,,
EtpYJTat /
1TpOTEpov·
EL8YJ 8€ dvayvwpia-Ew~, 1TpW'TYJ JLEV Tj aTEXVOTUTYJ KaL
20 n 1Tlt€UrTYJ XPWVTat 8t' a1Topiav, ~ 8ul. TWV O"YJJLELWV.
rovTwv 8€ ra JLEV CFVJLcPVTa, oiov eeltoyxYJv ~v
cpopova-t rYJYEVE'i~" ~ aa-TEpa~ OLOV~ EV T~ 8vEO"TYJ
/
K apKtVO~, Ta' 0€
~' ' ./
E1TtK'TYJTa, Kat' TOVTWV
/ Ta' JLEV
' EV' TCfJ""
/ 1' '\ / ~' ' ~/
a-WJLa'Tt, OtOV OVI\at, Ta' OE / 1' '
EK'TO~, OtOV Ta 1TEptoEpata

25 KaL. otov €v TV Tvpo'i 8ul. ri}~ a-KacpYJ~. Ea-T tv 8€ KaL.

'TOVTOt~ xpi}a-Oat ~ f3€ATtOV ~ XE'ipov, otov '08va--

1 ayaOov B: ayaOwv A: 'AyaOwv rec.

2
7Tapa8Hyf.La a-KAYJp. ante oiov habent AB: transpos. Lobel
3 Ta
rec.: Tas-AB

a See 48al7-18.

82
 POETICS 16

to us,a poets should emulate good portrait painters, who

render personal appearance and produce likenesses, yet
enhance people,s beauty. Likewise the poet, while show-
ing irascible and indolent people and those with other
such character traits, should make them nonetheless
decent, as for example Homer made Achilles good though
an epitome of harshness. These things are to be watched,
as also are points arising from the perceptions necessarily
attending the art of poetry: b one can commit many errors
in respect of these; I have discussed them sufficiently in
my published discourses.c
XVI The definition of recognition was stated earlier. d As for
its kinds, first is the least artistic and the one used the
most from uninventiveness: recognition through tokens.
Some tokens are congenital, as with ~~the spear the Earth-
born bear,,e or stars like those Carcinusf uses in Thyestes;
others are acquired, and can be divided into the bodily,
such as scars, and external, suc;h as necklaces or the boat
in Tyro .g Even these things can be put to better or worse

b The sense of this obscure clause has never been cogently

elucidated; "points arising from" might alternatively mean "con-
traventions of."
c Presumably in the dialogue On Poets: cf. the Introduction.
d Ch. XI.
e Quotation from an unknown tragedy (fr. adesp. 84 Nauck):
the "spear" is a birthmark of the "earthborn" men sown from
dra?on's teeth by Cadmus.
The 4th-cent. tragedian of this name, OCD s.v. (2); the ref.
may be to a play elsewhere called Aerope: TrG F I 210-11.
gIn Soph.'s Tyro, T. identified her children by the boat in
which they had been placed as infants.

83
 ARISTOTLE

CTEV~ 8u! rij~ ovA.ij~ aAAw~ aveyvwptCTO?'] V1TO ri}~

rpocpov Kat aAAw~ V1TO TWV CTv{3orwv· ELCTL yap at
' / ~~ , /
f.LEV 1TUTTEW~ EVEKa aTEXVOTEpat, Kat' atc: TOLUVTat 1"'1

~'
7TaCTat, atc: OE
1"'1 '
EK /
1TEpt1TETEta~,
t:/
WCT1TEp ?'c} EV'
TOt~
1"'1

30 /
N t1TTpOtS, f3 EI\TtOV~.
\ / ~ /
OEVTEpat ~' c: /
OE at 1TE1TOL?Jf.LEVat V1TO
c: '

TOV 1TOLTJTOV, Dto arexvot. oiov 'OpECTT?'J~l EV rfj 'Icpt-

yeve£q.. aveyvwptCTEV OTL 'OpECTTTJ~· EKELV?J f.LEV yap
8u! ri}~ E1TUTToAij~, EKELVO~ 8€ avro~ A.€yet a
{3ovAE-
Tat o 1TOL?JTTJ~ aAA' OVX o f.LV(}o~· Du) Tt f.yyv~ rij~
35 ELP?Jf.LEV?J~ af.Laprta~ ECTTLV, f.~ijv yap av EVLa Kat
E.veyKe'iv. Ka'i E.v r(i> !ocpoKA€ov~ T?JpE'i i} rij~ KEpKt-
8o~ cpwv~. i} 2 TPLTTJ Ota f.LV~f.L?J~, r(i> alcr0€cr8at rt
l86vra, WCT1TEp i} f.v Kv1rptot~ ro'i~ ~tKatoy€vov~,
1455a l8wv yap ri}v ypacpi}v EKAavcrev, Ka'i i} E.v 'AA.Kivov
a1ToAo.y<p, aKOVWV yap TOV KtOaptCTTOV Kat f.LV?'}CT0Et~
EDaKpVCTEV, oOev aveyv(J)ptCTfJT]crav. 'TE'TUPT?'J 8€ i} EK
CTvAAoytCTf.LOV, oiov E.v Xo?Jcpopot~, ort Of.LOto~ rt~
5 EA~Av8ev, Of.LOLO~ 8€ ov8e'i~ dA.A.' ~ 'OpECT'TTJ~, OV'TO~
apa EA~AvOev. Ka'i i} IToA.v£8ov 'TOV crocptcr'TOV 1TEpt
1 'Op€a-rYJ~ A: om. B
2
1] rptTYJ Spengel (rptTYJ 1] rec.): 1}rot ri} AB

Od. 19.386 ff (Eurycleia sees the scar when washing Od.),

a
21.205 ff (Od. shows it to the swineherds for proof).
b I.e. the case of Odysseus and Eurycleia (last note); .. Bath
Scene" was a standard title for this episode (cf. 60a26): the
Homeric poems were not yet divided into books.
c See on 52b6.

84
 POETICS 16

use (e.g. through his scar Odysseus was differently recog-

nised by his nurse and the swineherds),a since recogni-
tions for the sake of proof, and all of this type, are less
artistic, but those linked to reversal, like the one in the
Bath Scene, b are superior. The second kind are those
contrived by the poet, and hence inartistic. For example,
Orestes in Iphigeneia causes recognition of his identity;
Iphigeneia reveals herself by the letter, but Orestes him-
self says what the poet, not the plot, wants him to:c so it is
close to the fault I described, as he might even have car-
ried some tokens. Also the voice of the shuttle in Sopho-
cles' Tereus. d The third kind is through memory, when
the sight of something brings awareness, like the case in
Dicaeogenes'e Cyprians (on seeing the painting he
cried), and the one in Odysseus' tale to Alcinous (on hear-
ing the singer he was reminded and wept)/ whence they
were recognised. Fourth is recognition by reasoning-
such as the inference in Choephori that someone like her
has come, no one is like her except Orestes, therefore he
has come.g And the recognition used by Polyidush the

d Philomela used her weaving to reveal to her sister, Procne,

that she had been raped by the latter's husband, Tereus.
e A late 5th cent. tragedian (TrGF I no. 52): work and context
unknown.
f Od. 8.521 ff: Od. weeps on hearing Demodocus sing of the
sack of Troy.
g Electra's reasoning at Aesch. Cho. 168 ff.
h Identity obscure; a dithyrambic or tragic poet of the same
name is known (TrGF I 248-9). P.'s work may have been a show-
piece oration discussing or fictionalising the reunion of Orestes
and Iphigeneia; cf. 55b10-11.

85
 ARISTOTLE

rfj~ 'Icf>uyEvEia~· ElKo~ yap EcPYJ 1 rov 'Opia-TYJV a-v'A-

'Aoyia-aa-Oat OTt ij r' d8E'Ae/>~ ETV0YJ Ka'i avT~ O"VJ.L-
{3aivEt OvEa-Oac Ka'i €v T~ 8Eo8EKTov Tv8EZ, oTt
E/\ wv w~ EVpYJa-Wv Tov vt.ov avTo~ a1TOI\I\VTat.. Kat. YJ
'\(}' t t / ' t' ' ' ' '\ \ ' (

10 €v roZ~ <PtvEi8at~· l8ova-aL yap Tov To1rov a-vvEAoyi-

a-aVTO TYJV , ELJ.LapfLEVYJV
( / ~'
OTL ' / ~'
EV TOVTq} ELfLapTO a7TO a-
' (J
,., , ,. ., , , , c 'O , ~e !>/ ~ ,
VELV aVTat~, KaL yap Es ETE YJCTaV EVTaV a. Ea-TtV OE
Tt~ Ka'i a-vv0ET~ EK 7TapaA.oyLa-fLOV Tov 0EaTpov, 2 oiov
€v rf!! '08va-a-Et rf!! l/JEv8ayy€'Acp· To J.LEV yap To To~ov
' / 3 ''\ \ ~' ~ / / ( '
EVTELVELV, a/\1\0V OE fLYJOEVa, 7TE7TOLYJJ.LEVOV V7TO TOV~
7TOtYJTOV~ Kat' V7TO ( '{) ' ,,
Ea-t~, Kat Et yE TO ros ov 6yYJ yvw-
' /c .rh
!1/ /

O"EO" () at 4 0c.\ OVX '

EwpaKEt.
( /
TO' OE~'
W~ Ot
( ~ '5 ' /
EKEtVOV '
ava-
15 yvwptovvro~ 8ta TovTov 7Totfja-at 7Tapa'Aoyta-J.L6~.
7Taa-wv 8€ {3E'Aria-TYJ dvayvwpta-t~ ~ €~ avTwv Twv
7Tpayp_,aTwv, Tfj~ EK7TA~~Ew~ ytyvoJ.LEVYJ~ 8t' ElKoTwv,
oiov f.v T~ ~ocf>oKAEov~ Ol8£7To8t Ka'i TD 'Ie/>tyEvEiq_ ·
' ' ' Q '\ (J
EtKO~ yap fJOVf\E(J" at, E7Tt EtVat ypafLJ.LaTa.
' (J ,. ., / at( yap '
~
TOtaVTaL fLOVat aVEV TWV
""' I ''·
7TE7TOtYJfLEVWV CTYJfLEtWV Kat
/ / '

20 7TEpt8Epa[wv. 8evrEpaL 8€ al EK a-vA.A.oyta-J.LOV.

A ""' ~ '
1 1
XVII uEL oE TOV~ '
J.LV'{) ov~ a-vvta-Tavat Kat TYJ AEsC Et a-vv-
' ""' \

' r (J ~, '\
a7TEpya~:;,EO" at OTt fLal\tCJTa 7Tp0 OJ.LJ.LaTWV Tt EfLEVOV"
' ' , (J,

OVTW~'
yap ' av .,, EVapyEa-TaTa
' / (
opwv ,..., ~'
W0"7TEp 7Tap ' aVTOt~
' ~

1
ecpYJ B Arab.: om. A
2 (JeaTpov AB: OaTepov Hermann
3 EV'TELVELV
' I 'C OV B: Om. A
••• 'TO~
4 yvwa-ea-Oat A: evTeivetv B
5 8t' AB: 8-ry Tyrwhitt

86
 POETICS 17

sophist in Iphigeneia's case: it was probable, he said, that

Orestes should reason that his sister had been sacrificed,
and his fate was to be sacrificed too. Also in Theodectes'a
Tydeus, the reflection that having come to find his son he
was doomed himself. Again, the instance in the
Phineidae:b when the women saw the place, they inferred
it was their destiny to die there, where they had also been
exposed. There is also compound recognition which
depends on the audience's mistaken reasoning, as in
Odysseus the False Messenger:c that he and no one else
could bend the bow is contrived by the poet and a
premise, even if he said he would recognise the bow
which he had not seen; but to have him recognised by this
means~ when he was expected to cause recognition in the
other way, involves false reasoning. Best of all is recogni-
tion ensuing from the events themselves, where the emo-
tional impa.ct comes from a probable sequence, as in
Sophocles' Oedipus and the Iphigeneia (where it is proba-
ble she should want to entrust a letter).d For only such
recognitions do without contrived tokens and necklaces.
Second-best are those by reasoning.
XVII One should construct plots, and work them out in dic-
tion, with the material as much as possible in the mind's
eye. In this way, by seeing things most vividly, as if pre-
sent at the actual events, one will discover what is appo-

a Rhetorician, tragedian, and friend of Ar.'s; OCD s.v. Noth-

ing is known of this play (TrG F I 233).
b I.e. the sons of Phineus (subject of tragedies by Aesch. and
Soph.); but the ref. is opaque (TrGF II 22), and we cannot iden-
tify the women mentioned.
c Apparently an unknown tragedy (TrGF II 15), related to the
events of Hom. Od. bk. 21; the following clauses are irre-
deemably dark. d Eur. IT 578 ff.
87
 ARISTOTLE
r
25 Kat' YJKtCTTa
~~ .,,
av \
1\aV (} /
avot Ta' V7rEVaVTta.
~ / ""
lJ'Y}fLEtOlJ ~E'
0

Tovrov o f.nETtfLaTo KapKivcp. o yap 'AfLcf>uipao~ f.~

tEpov dvriEL, 0 IL~ opwvTa l f.AavOavEv, E71"L 8€ T1j~
CTKYJV~~ f.~f-rrEa-Ev 8va-xEpavavTwv Tovro rwv 0EaTwv.
~~
ocra
~'
oE
~
ovvaTov KaL
, ' ""
TOL~
/
CTXYJ!Laa-tv crvvanEpya~.::,OfLE-
r/
30 vov· 7rL0avwTaTOL yap dno Tfj~ 2 avrfj~ cf>va-Ew~ Ot EV
TOt~ naOEcriv ELCTLV, Kat XELfLaLVEt 0 XELfLa'OfLEVO~ Kat
xaAE7raLVEL 0 opyL,OfLEVO~ aAY]OtvwTaTa. DLO Evc/>v-
ov~ TJ 71"0tYJTLKTJ ECTTtV ~ 3 fLaVLKOV" TOVTWV yap OL fLEV
~~ \ ~ ~ ' ' ' \ /
EV7rl\aCTTOL Ot OE EKCTTaTLKOL ELCTLV. TOV~ TE 1\0yov~
/ /

KaL'TOV~
' 7rE1TOLYJfLEVOV~
/ ~I"\'''
OEL KaL aVTOV 7rOLOVVTa EKTL- I"\ ' /

1455b 0Ecr0aL KaOoAov, ElO' ovTw~ E7rELcro8tovv Kat napa-

~ ~~
1\EYW OE
, \ / ' .,, (} 1"'\ (} ' (} / \
TEtVELV. OVTW~ av EWpEL(J at TO Ka 01\0V,
oiov Tfj~ 'Ic/>LyEvEia~· Tv0ELCTYJ~ TLVO~ KOPYJ~ Ka'i dcf>a-
vLcrOE(CTYJ~ a8T]Aw~ TOt~ OvcracrLV, i8pvv0Eia-YJ~ 8€ EL~
aAAYJV xwpav, EV
~ ~'
nVOJ.!-0~ ~v TOV~ ~EVOV~ OvELV Tij
~~
5 (}
ECf?, TaVTYJV ElJXE TYJV LEpWCTVVYJV"
1"'\ / "
XPOVC!} OE VCTTEpov
' / /

T~ d8EAc/J~ crvv€{3YJ f.AOEtV Tfj~ tEpEia~, TO 8€ OTt

avEtAEV 0 0Eo~ 4 f.AOEtV EKEL Kat f.c/>' 0 Tt 8€ E~W TOV

opwvra TOV Beari}v AB: TOV e. sed. Butcher

1

r1}~ avr1}r; AB: avr1}r; r1}r; Tynvhitt

2
3 ~ AB: 11-aAAov ~ Tyrwhitt
4 post Beo~ seq. 8uf rt-va alriav E.gw rov Ka86A.ov in AB: Sui

. . . KaB. sed. Christ

See on 54b23. Both play and situation referred to are

a
unknown; TrGF I 211-12.
b The Greek verb implies that the work was hissed off stage;
cf. 56a18-19, 59b31.

88
 POETICS 17

site and not miss contradictions. An indication of this is

the criticism that was made of Carcinus:a Amphiaraus was
returning from a shrine, which was n1issed by one who
failed to visualise it; in performance the audience was
annoyed at this and the play foundered. b So far as possi-
ble, one should also work out the plot in gestures, since a
natural affinity makes those in the grip of emotions the
most convincing, and the truest distress or anger is con-
veyed by one who actually feels these things.c Hence
poetry is the work of a gifted person, ord of a rnanic: of
these types, the former have versatile imaginations, the
latter get carried away. With both ready-made stories and
his own inventions, e the poet should lay out the generalf
structure, and only then develop the sequence of
episodes. For what I mean by contemplating the general
structure, take the Iphigeneia.g A girl was sacrificed, and
vanished without trace from her sacrificers; settled in a
different country, where it wa~ a custom to sacrifice
strangers to the goddess, she became priestess of this rite.
Later, the priestess> brother happened to arrive there
(that the god>s oracle told him to go there, and for what

cAr. implies that acting out a role will help to induce the con-
comitant feelings.
d A textual emendation would make this .. rather than," on the
grounds that .. manic" sounds too passionate for the psychology of
composition posited by Ar.
e Cf. 5lbl5-26.
f K.atholou, the same term as .. universal" at 5lb8-9: the sense
is not different here (it refers to the kinds of event), though its
emphasis is more limited than in ch. IX.
g Eur. IT.

89
 ARISTOTLE

10 (J'EV, Ka'Ta' 'TO

' '
ELKO~
' ' '
EL1TWV ~'
O'TL '
OVK !)/
apa /
J.LOVOV '
'T'Y}V
'~ \ A.. '
aOEJ\'f''Y}V '\ \ ' Kat' aV'TOV
al\1\a ' ' ,,~ () 1"1 ' ' 1"\()
EOEL 'TV 'Y}VaL, Kat EV'TEV EV
e / ' 1"1 ~' !)/~ e (} / ' ' /
'Y} (J'W'T'Y}pta. fLE'Ta 'TaV'Ta OE 'YJO'Y} V1TO EV'Ta 'Ta OVO-
' ~ ,... ~' ~' !)/ ' ,... ' '
fLa'Ta E1TEL(J'00LOVV" 01TW~ OE Ea-'TaL OLKELa 'Ta E1TEL(J'-
o8ta, otov EV 70 'OpEa-'TYJ ~ JLavia 8t' ,ry~ €'Aij¢0YJ Ka'i
15 ~ a-wTYJpia 8u1 Tij~ KaOapa-Ew~. f.v fLEV o?Jv To'L~ Spa-
' ' / ~ / e ~' ' / /
JLaa-LV 'Ta E1TEL(J'OOLa (J'VV'TOfLa, 'Y} 0 E1T01TOUa 'TOV'TOL~

fL'Y}KVVE'TaL. 'Tij~ yap 'Q8va-a-Eia~ ov 1 JLaKpo~ 0 ltoyo~

' / ' ~ ,... / !)/ \\' '
f(J''TLV" a1TOO'Y}fLOVV'TO~ 'TLVO~ E'T'Y} 1TOJ\J\a Kat 1Tapa-
A.. \
'f'VJ\a'T'TOfLEVOV V1TO 'TOV
/ e '
O(J'ELOWVO~ Kat fLOVOV OV'TO~,
,... IT ~,... ' / !)/
!)/ ~ ' ,... !)/ ~' ' / ~' ' /
E'TL oE 'TWV OLKOL OV'TW~ EXOV'TWV wa-TE Ta XP'YJfLaTa
20 e
V1TO ' /
fLV'Y}(J''T'Y}pWV ' \ /
aVaJ\L(J'Kf(J' (}
at Kat' 'TOV
' e'
VLOV '
E1TL {3 OV-
\ / (j
AEVEa- at, avTo~ oE a'f'LKVEL'Tat XELJLaa-
' ' ~' 'A.. ,... () EL~,
/ Kat' ava-
'
,
yvwpta-a~ 'TLVa~
' ' () EfLE..VO~
E1TL / ' '
aV'TO~
' f(J'W
fLEV ' / () 'Y} 'TOV~
' 0~'

f.xO pov~ cn€¢0EtpE. 'TO fLEV ofJv LDLOV 'TOV'TO, 'Ta 8'
a'A'Aa E1TELa-OCLa.
XVIII !)'Ea-Tt 8€ 1raa-'YJ~ Tpaycp8ia~ To fLEV 8€a-t~ To 8€
\ / ' ' !)/(; (} ' !)/ ,... !)/ (} \ \ /
J\V(J'L~, 'Ta fLEV Es W EV Kat EVLa 'TWV f(J'W EV 1TOJ\J\aKL~

e ~/ ' ~' \ ' e \ / \/ ~' ~/ '

25 'Y} OE(J'L~, 'TO OE J\OL1TOV 'Y} J\V(J't,~· 1\EYW OE OE(J'LV fLEV
'5' ' ' ' ' ,... / / ,... / ..,
ELVaL 'T'Y}V a1T apxYJ~ fLEXPL 'TOV'TOV 'TOV fLEpov~ 0

ea-xa'TOV E(J''TLV E~ ol5 fLE7a{3aivEL EL~ EV'Tvxiav :ry EL~

a'Tvxiav, ltva-LV 8€ 'T~V a1TO 'Tij~ apxi}~ 'Tij~ JLE7a{3a-
a-Ew~ JLEXPL TE'Aov~· wa-1TEp f.v 70 AvyKEL 70 8Eo-

OEK70V 8€a-t~ fLEV Ta TE 1Tpo1TEnpayJL€va Ka'i T] Tov

30 1Tatoiov 'A -i}t/Jt~ Ka'i 1Talttv ~ aV'TWV *** 'A va-t-~ 2 8' ~
1 ov Arab.: om. AB
90
 POETICS 18

purpose, is outside the plot). Captured after his arrival,

and on the point of being sacrificed, he caused his recog-
nition-whether as in Euripides, or as Polyidusa designed
it, by saying (as was probable) that it was not just his sis-
ter's but his own fate too to be sacrificed-and hence was
rescued. The next stage is to supply names and devise the
episodes; but care must be taken to keep the episodes
integral: thus, in Orestes' case, the mad fit that caused his
capture, and his rescue by purification. b Now, in plays the
episodes are concise, but epic gains length from them.
The Odyssey's story is not long: a man is away from home
many years; he is watched by Poseidon, and isolated;
moreover, affairs at home are such that his property is
consumed by suitors, and his son conspired against; but
he returns after shipwreck, allows some people to recog-
nise him, and launches an attack which brings his own
survival and his enemies' destruction. That is the essen-
tial core; the rest is episodes.
II Every tragedy has both a complicationc and denoue-
ment: the complication comprises events outside the play,
and often some of those within it; the remainder is the
denouement. I define the complication as extending
from the beginningd to the furthest point before the
transformation to prosperity or adversity; and the de-
nouement as extending from the beginning of the trans-
formation till the end. Thus, in Theodectes' Lynceuse
the complication covers the preceding events, the

a See on 55a6. hIT 281 ff, 1029 ff.

c Not to be confused with the "complex" plot of ch. X etc.
d Of the imagined "action," not necessarily of the play.
e TrGF I 232; cf. 52a27-9. Theodectes: see on 55a9.

2 Ava-ts 8' T] rec., Arab.: 8T) (om. Ava-ts) AB

91
 ARISTOTLE
r
a1ro r~~ alrtacrEw~ rov 8avarov fLEXP" rov rf.Aov~.
rpaycp8ia~ 8€ EL81J ELCTt 'TECTCTapa ( rocravra yap Kat
ra fLEP1J EAEX()1J ), ~ fLEV 7TE7TAEYJ.LEV1J, ~~ 'TO oAov
' '
ECT'TLV /
7TEpt7TE'TELa Kat' ' /
avayvwptCTL~,
~'
1Je OE 7Ta 8'YJ'TLK1J,
/
~
OLOV OL~I 'TE A~'
LaV'TE~ Kat' OLc 'I ~LOVE~,
C/ ~ '
1Jc OE 1J' () LK1J,
/ ~
OLOV atc
1456a m() LW'TLOE~
'¥
/ ~ Kat' c
0
II 1}1\EV~·
\ / 'TO' OE
~ ' /
'TE'Taprov 1Jc 1 a'lTI\1],
c \ ""'

oiov aL 'TE <I>opKi8E~ Kat 0 ITpop.,1]8Ev~ Kat ocra EV

~8ov. p.,alttcrra fLEV oilv a1Tavra 8Et 7TEtpacr8at EXELV,
~' ~'\ \ c
EL OE
'
fL1J, 'Ta fLEYLCT'Ta Kat 1TI\ELCT'Ta,
/ ' / ' \ 1'"\
ai\1\W~ 'TE Kat '
W~
1'"\ ,./.,. 1'"\ ' / / '
VVV CTVKOtpaV'TOVCTLV 'TOV~ 7TOL1J'Ta~· YEYOVO'TWV yap
5 Ka()' EKacrrov p.,f.po~ dya()wv 7TOL1Jrwv, EKacrrov rov
l8iov dya{)oiJ a~LOVCTL 'TOV EVa V7TEp{3aAAELV. 8iKaLOV
~'
OE Kat' rpaycpotaV
~/ ~'\ \
ai\1\'Y]V Kat' 'T'Y]V
' , '
aV'T'Y]V \
1\EYELV /

ov8Evt 2 w~ r0 p.,v{)qJ· 'TOV'TO 8f., 6Jv ~ avr~ 1TAOK~ Kat

Avert~-. 1roAAot 8€ 1TAf.tavrE~ Ell Avovcrt KaKw~· 8E'L 8€
10 '1 ,./.,. 3 aEt
ap.,'f'w ""' 0at . . XP1J' oE
' ' KparEtcr ~ ' ~I }/
07TEp ELP1JTat \ \ /
'lTOI\1\a-
KL~ fLEJ.LV~cr()at Ka.t p.,~ 7TOLELV E1T01TOttKov crvcrr1Jp.,a
~/ , '
rpaycpotaV-E7T01TOLLKOV ~'
OE \/
1\EYW 'TO' 1TOAVfLV
\ / 8OV-
oiov EL 'TL~ 'TOV 'T~~ 'IA.ta8o~ oAov 7TOLOL p.,v8ov. EKEL
fLEV yap 8La 'TO fL~KO~ Aap.,f3avEL ra fLEP1J 'TO 7rpE7TOV

~ U1TAij Bursian: OYJ~ B: OYJ~ A: ol/Jts Bywater

1

ovDEVL w~ Zeller: ovSev L(TW~ AB

2
3 af.Lcpw aEt KporEt(J"Oat A (KparEt(J"Oat Vahlen): Uf.LcpOrEpa

aVTtKpOTEL(J"Oat B: afL~OrEpa aprLKpOTEt(TOat Immisch

This claim (perhaps spurious) does not match the enumera-

a
tion of components at 50a7-14. Cf. 59b8-9.
b "Suffering" as defined in ch. XI. Plays about Ajax, such as
Soph.'s, would centre on his suicide; those about lxion, on his
punishment on the wheel in Hades.

92
 POETICS 18

seizure of the child, and again their * * * , while the

denouement runs from the accusation of murder to the
end. There are four types of tragedy (as that is the num-
ber of components we mentioned) :a the complex, whose
essence is reversal and recognition; the kind rich in
suffering,h such as those about Ajax and Ixion; the char-
acter-based, such as Phthiotidesc and Peleus;d and, fourth,
<the simple>,e such as Phorcides, Prometheus, and those
set in Hades. Now, ideally one should strive to have all
qualities; failing that, the best and the most, especially in
view of current censure of the poets: because there have
been poets good in various respects, people expect the
individual to surpass the special quality of each of them.
It is right to count plays as different or the same princi-
pally by plot: that is, "the same" means having the same
complication and denouement. Many poets handle the
complication 'Yell, the denouement badly: but constant
proficiency in both is needed. As noted several times, the
poet must remember to avoid turning a tragedy into an
epic structure (by "epic,, I mean with a multiple plot), say
by dramatising the entire plot of the Iliad. In epic,
because of its length, the sections take on an apt magni-
tude, but in plays itf goes quite against expectation.

c Women of Phthia, perhaps Sop h.'s play of this name: its sub-
ject is unknown; TrGF IV 481-2.
d Both Soph. and Eur. wrote plays about P., father of Achilles.
e The text is badly damaged here; the passage needs a ref. to
the "simple" tragedy (ch. X, cf. 59b9). Phorcides, "Daughters of
Phorcys" (guardians of the Gorgons), may be Aesch.'s work of
that name (TrGF III 361: a satyr play?), as may Prometheus: but
we cannot be sure.
f I.e. a plot of epic scope.

93
 r
ARISTOTLE
/ {) ' ~' ,... ~ / \ ' ' ' e /\
p.eyE 0~, EV 0€ TOt~ opap.acrt 1TOI\V 1Tapa TYJV V1TOAYJ-

15 ,o.ytV , a /
', a1TOfJatVEt. ,. . 0€,
O"YJfLELOV ~ / t:l
OO"OL 1TEpcrtV 'I\1\LOV
/ / 01\Y]V
t:l \

€7ToL7Jcrav Kat p.~ KaTa p.epo~ W(J1TEp Evpt1TLDYJ~, ~ 1

N u5{3YJV Kat fL~ W(J1T€p Al(JxvA.o~, ~ EK1TL1TTOV(JtV ~
,. . ' /r
KaKW~ aywvL~OVTaL, €7T€t Kat
' ' ' 'A ya/() WV Es 'C €7T€(JEV
/ EV'
/ / , ,...
~'
'TOV'Tcy f.LOV<f!. EV 0€ TaL~ 1TEpt1TE'TELat~ Kat EV TOt~
/ ' , ,...

a1TAOL~ 1rpayp.acrL (JTOXcL,OVTat ~V {3ovAovTaL Tct> 2

20 8avp.acrTct>· TpayLKov yap TovTo Kat cPtAav8pw1rov.
~~ ~' e A...' ' ' / ~'
€(J'TLV 0€ TOVTO, OTaV 0 (JO'o/0~ fLEV fLETa 1TOVY]pta~ 0
,... t:/

E.~a1TaTYJ8fJ, W(J1T€p !L(J"VcPO~, Kat 0 avDpELO~ fLEV aDL-

KO~ DE ~TTYJ8fl. EcrTtv 8E TOVTO Kat EtKo~ wcr1TEp
'A ya/() WV 1\EYEL, \ / , ' ' / ()
ELKO~ yap ytV€0" at 1TOI\I\a KaL 1rapa
\\ ' ' '
25 70 ELKO~.
' , /
Kat TOV xopov 0€
' ' ' ~'
EVa OEt
t:l ~,... e \ a/
V1TOI\afLfJaVELV
'TWV V1TOKpLTWV, Kat p.optov EivaL TOV oAov Kat crvv-
aywv~'E(J{}at., p.~ W(J1TEp EvpL1TLDYJ dA.A.' W(J1TEp !ocPo-
KAE'i. TOL~ DE AOL1TOL~ Ta ~OOf.LEVa 3 OV0Ev 4 p.aAAov
'TOV p.vfJov ~ aAAYJ~ 7p~ycyDta~ E(J'TtV" Dto €p.{3oALp.a
~~~
([-OOV(JtV /
1TpWTOV ~'
aps c aVTO~ 'A_ya/() WVO~ 'TOV,. . TOLOVTOV. /
IX
30 Kat'TOL Tt DLacPEPEL ~ €p.f36A.t-p.a 1/:DEtv ~ El pi}crLv €~
~~ \ \ ' ~~
\ \ e / .,, ' / ~ t:l \
a/\1\0V Et~ a/\1\0 apfLOTTOt YJ €1T€t(JOOtOV 01\0V;

XIX ITEpt fLEV o:Ov 'TWV aAAwv El8wv 5 ELPYJTaL, Aot1TOV 8E

1
~add. Vahlen
2
r<r Bav11-aa-r<r Castelvetro: Bav11-aa-rwc; AB
3 cJ,8ofLEVa Arab.: 8t8ofLEVa AB
4 ov8€v Arab. (Vahlen): om. AB
5 El8wv B: -ry8' A

94
 POETICS 19

An indication of this is that those who have treated the

entire fall of Troy, rather than part of it (like Euripides), a
or Niobe's whole story (instead of what Aeschylus did),b
either founderc or do badly in competition; even Agathon
foundered through just this flaw. d In reversals and simple
structures of events, poets aim for what they want by
means of the awesome:e this is tragic and arouses
fellow-feeling. f This occurs when an adroit but wicked
person is deceived (like Sisyphus),g or a brave but unjust
person is worsted. These things are even probable, as
Agathon puts it,h since it is probable that many things
should infringe probability. The chorus should be treated
as one of the actors; it should be a part of the whole and
should participate,i not as in Euripides but as in Sopho-
cles. With the other poets, the songs are no more integral
to the plot than to another tragedy-hence the practice,
started by Agathon, of singing interlude odes. Yet what is
the difference. between singing interlude odes and trans-
ferring a speech or whole episode from one work to
another?
JX The other components have now been discussed; it

a In Trojan Women.
h We do not know what was distinctive about Aesch.'s treat-
ment of Niobe's suffering (cf. OCD s.v.); TrGF III 265-80.
c Cf. on 55a28.
d Ref. unknown; for Agathon, see 51 b21.
e A difficult sentence; but Ar. apparently allows that "awe"
(see on 52a4) can be achieved by simple as well as complex plots.
f Cf. on 52b38.
g We cannot identify the stories/plays about Sisyphus (OC D
s.v.) which Ar. has in mind.
h Fr. 9 TrGF (I 164); see Ar.'s quotation at Rh. 1402a9-13.
i Sc. "in the action.''

95
 r

ARISTOTLE
~
1TEpL' 1\E~
\ /(; EW~ KaL'1 OLaVOLa~
/ '
EL1TELV. 1"'1
Ta fJ.-EV OVV 1TEpL
' ' '";' '

r~v 8uivot-av E.v TOt~ 1TEpt PYJTOpt-Kij~ KEia-()w· TOVTO

35 yap r8t-ov p.,aA.A.ov EKELVYJ~ Tij~ p.,E()68ov. ea-TL 8€ KaTa
T~V 8ufvoLav TUVTa, oa-a V1TO TOV Aoyov OEL 1Tapa-
l"'' / ~' / / ' ~ /
CTKEVaa- YJVUL. ()
fJ.-EpYJ OE TOVTWV TO TE a1TOOELKVVVaL
~~ \
KaL' TO' 1\VELV
\ /
KaL' TO' 1Ta/ () YJ 1Tapaa-KEVal:,ELV
/ '( ( '?
OLOV E/\EOV
1456b ~ cp6(3ov ~ opy~v Kat oa-a TOLaVTa) Kat ETL p.,eyEOoc;
Kat fLLKPOTYJTa~. DijAov DE oTL Kat E.v TOL~ 1rpayp.,aa-t-v
U1TO TWV avTWV lDEWV DEL xpija-()aL OTav ~ EAEELVa ~
DE t-va ~ fLEyaA.a ~ ElKoTa DEYJ 1Tapaa-KEva,Et-v· 1T A~v
TOO"'OVTOV Dt-acpepEL, OTL Ta fJ.-EV DEL cpatvEa-OaL avEV
5 Dt-Daa-KaAia~, ra De E.v Tip A.oycp v1ro Tov A.eyovTo~
/'( (} ' ' ' \ (}
1Tapaa-KEva~:,Ea- at- KaL 1rapa TOV Aoyov yt-yvEa- at-.
/ /

TL yap av ELYJ TOV A.eyovTO~ €pyov, EL cpatVOLTO

~ ~ ~'
n 2

OEOL
/
Kf!L fl-Y} OLa TOV 1\0yov; TWV OE
' '
1TEpL TYJV
' ' \ / 1"'1 ' ' \
1\E~
/(;
LV EV
(.\

fLEV ECTTLV Ei8o~ 0Ewp£a~ TU a-x~p.,aTa Tij~ AEtEw~, a

EO"'TLV ElDevaL Tijc; V1ToKpLTLKij~ Kat TOV T~v TOLaVTYJV
10 EXOVTO~ apxLTEKTOVLK~V, oiov TL EVTOA~ Kat TL EVX~
Kat DL~YYJO"'Lc; Kat a1TELA ~ Kat E.pwTYJO"'L~ Kat a1ToKpLa-Lc;
Kat EL~~ TL a/\1\0
' ~'\
TOLOVTOV. 1Tapa yap TYJV TOVTWV yvw-
\ 1"'1 ' ' ' / 1"'1

O"'LV ~ ayvoLav ovDEV ELc; T~V 1TOLYJTLK~V E1TLTLP.,YJP.,a

¢€pETaL 0 TL Ka'i a~LOV 0"1TOVDij~. TL yap av Tl8 V1T0-
15 A.a{3oL TJfLapTija-()aL a IIpwTayopa~ E1TLTLfLfi-, OTL EVXE-
~~ ~' ~
0"' ( } at E1TLTaTTEL EL1TWV fl-YJVLV aELOE Ea ; TO
' / ' / ' ' 1"'1 (} /" '
OLOfLEVO~

yap KEAEva-at, cpYJa-iv, 1TOLELv Tt ~ p.,~ E1TtTa~i~ E.a-TLv.

OLO 1TapE£a-()w w~ aA.A. YJ~ Ka'i ov rij~ 1TOLYJTLKijc; ov
0EWPYJfLa.

1 KaL Hermann: ~ AB 2 fJ 8€ot Vahlen: i]8€a AB

96
 POETICS 19

remains to speak about diction and thought. The discus-

sion of thought can be left to my discourses on rhetoric, a
for it is more integral to that enquiry. "Thought" covers
all effects which need to be created by speech: their ele-
ments are proof, refutation, the conveying of emotions
(pity, fear, anger, etc.), as well as enhancement and be lit-
tlement. It is clear that the same principles should also
be used in the handling of events, when one needs to cre-
ate impressions of what is pitiable, terrible, important, or
probable-with this difference, that the latter effects
must be evident without direct statement, while the for-
mer must be conveyed by the speaker in and through
speech. For what would be the point of the speaker, if the
required effects were evident even without speech? As
for matters of diction, one type of study concerns forms of
utterance (knowledge of which belongs to the art of
deliveryb and the person with this mastery )-namely,
what is a command, prayer, narrative, threat, question,
reply, and all the like. Knowledge or ignorance of these
things can support no serious criticism of poetry. Why
should anyone think it is a fault where Protagoras criti-
cises Homer for purporting to pray but giving a command
by saying "Sing, goddess, of the wrath ... "?c (To bid
someone do or not do something, says Protagoras, is a
command.) So, let this study be put aside as part of some
other art, not poetry.

a Whether or not this means the surviving Rhetoric,

"thought" (dianoia) certainly denotes the general sphere of argu-
mentation in that work (Rh. 1403a36).
b The vocal art of the actor (hupokrites) and orator: cf. 57 a21,
with Rh. 111.1.
c We do not know where P. (c. 490-20) made his pedantic
criticism of Il. 1.1.

97
 ARISTOTLE
~'
XX TYJ~ 1"1
OE 1\ES EW~ a'1TafFYJ~
\ / (; t: /
Tao~' EfFTt Ta /LEpYJ, fFTOt-
/ ' ' ' /
XX
20 XELOV a-v'A'Aaf3~ a-vv8Ea-!LO~
OVO!La PiJILa apOpov
'3' ' A.. ' '~ /
1"1
7TTWfFt~ 1\0yo~.
\ /
fFTOtXEtOV /LEV OVV EfFTtV
1"1
o/WVYJ aotat- '

pETO~, OV 7Taa-a 8€ aAA' E~ -YJ~ 7TEcpVKE a-vv8ET~ l

/
ytyvEa- f) at o/WVYJ"
A.. / Kat' yap
' Twv f) YJptwv
/ ' ' aotatpE-
Eta-tv '~ / 1"1

A... / '1' '~ / \ / ~' 1"1 /

TOt o/WVat, WV OVOE/Ltav 1\EYW fFTOtXEtOV. TaVTYJ~ OE
/
25 /LEPYJ TO/ TE o/WVYJEV
A..
Kat TO YJ/Lto/WVOV Kat'!)/,/.,.
1"1 '
ao/WVOV. ' t: /,/.,.

EfFTtV 8€ TaVTa cpwvfJEv ~LEV To 2 avEV 7rpoa-{3o'A-YJ~

!)/ A.. ' ' / ~'
EXOV o/WVYJV aKova-TYJV, YJ/Lto/wvov oE TO ~LETa 7rpoa--
t: /,/.,. ' '

{3o'A-YJ~ €xov cpwv~v aKOVfFTryJV, otov TO ~ KaL TO P,

3/ A..
ao/WVOV ~' TO
OE ' /LETa' 7rpoa- f3 01\Yj~
\ Ka aVTO /LEV OVOE-'~ 1"1 (}' t: ' '

/ !)/ A.. / ' ~' 'A.. '

~Ltav EXOV o/WVYJV, ~LETa oE TWV EXOVTWV Ttva o/WVYJV
1"1 ' /

30
/ ,
ytVO/LEVOV aKOVfFTOV, OtOV TO
/ '1' , r Kat, TO, .u.
A
TaVTa OE
1"1 ~,

8tacpepEt a-x1}1Laa-iv TE Tov a-To/LaTo~ Kat T07Tot~ Kat

~ /
oaa-VTYJTt Kat' ·'· \ / ' /
~ti\OTYJTt Kat /LYJKEt Kat
' f3 paXVTYJTt
/ ETt
3/

~' ' (; /
OE OS VTYJTt Kat' f3 apVTYJTt
/ Kat' T(f! /LEa-cp· 7TEpt WV
'1'
Ka (}' 1"1 / '

EKaa-Tov €v To'i~ IL~TptKo'i~ 7rpoa-1}KEt 0EwpE'iv. a-v'A-

35 'Aaf3~ 8€ Ea-Ttv cpwv~ aa-YJILO~ a-vv8ET~ €~ dcpwvov KaL
Kat yap TO rP avEv TOV A a-VJ\- \
3 3
A.. '
o/WVYJV EXOVTo~· ' ' ' ' ' 1"1

'Aaf3~3 KaL /LETa TOV A, otov TO rP A. d'A'Aa KaL TOV-

TWV 0EwpiJa-at Ta~ 8tacpopa~ TTJ~ ~LETptKTJ~ €a-Ttv.
a-vv8Ea-1Lo~ 8€ €a-Ttv cpwv~ aa-YJILO~ ~ ovTE KwAvEt

1 (J"vv8Er~ Arab.: (J"VVET~ AB

2 ro
add. Reiz
3 (J"vA.A.a/3~ KaL AB: (?)ov (J"v'AA.af31}, (J"vA.A.a/3~ DE Arab.

What follows, in chs. XX-XXI, is not "stylistics" but an out-

a
line of grammatical/linguistic categories.

98
 POETICS 20

XX The components of all diction are these:a element,

syllable, connective, noun, verb, conjunction, inflection,
statement. An element is an indivisible vocal sound, but
only one from which a compound sound is naturally
formed: for animals too produce indivisible sounds, none
of which do I term an "element. "h The classes of soundc
are vowel, continuant, d and stop. A vowel is an audiblee
sound without oral contact; a continuant an audible sound
with contact (e.g. s and r); while a stopf (e.g. g and d)
involves contact but in itself produces no sound, and
becomes audible by combination with elements that do
produce a sound. Elements are distinguishable by the
mouth shape and the points of contact; by aspiration
and lack of it; by length and shortness;g and also by
acute, grave, and intermediate accent:h detailed study
of these things belongs to discourses on metre.i A syllable
is a non-significantj sound, compounded of a stop and a
voicedk element: gr is a syllable without a, and also with a
(i.e. gra). But the study of these distinctions too belongs
to metrics. A connective is anon-significant sound which
neither prevents nor creates a single semantic utterance

h I.e. animals make some vocal sounds, but these do not com-
bine to produce the syllables and words of language.
c From now on "sound," phone, denotes speech sounds.
d Sometimes termed "semi-vowel."
e Sc. in itself (unlike a stop).
f Also known as "mute." g Of vowels.
h Pitch accent, not dynamic stress.
i Works which treated phonology within analysis of metrical
patterns; cf. Part. An. 660a8.
j I.e. not a semantic unit.
k I.e. (apparently) vowel or continuant.

99
 ARISTOTLE

1457a OVTE 1TOtEt cpwv-ryv fLLav O"YJfLaVTtKTJV EK 1TAeu5vwv

,./... ,. ., ,./... ,. ., 1 '() () ' , ' ,. ., ,,
'f'WJJWV, 1TE'f'VKVta O"VJJTt €0" at Kat E1Tt TWJJ aKpwv
Kat E1TL TOV fLEO"OV, ~v 2 ILTJ apfLOTTEt EV apxfl Aoyov
'
Tt () EJJat Ka ()' aVTYJV,
e ' ~
3 OtOV '
fLEV ~ '4 TOt'
OYJ ~'
0€. YJ"' o/WVYJ
,./... '

aa-YJfLO~ ~ EK 1TAEtovwv fLEV cpwvwv fLtos O"YJf.LaVTtKwv 5

5 8€ 1TOtEtV 1TEcPVKEV fLLav O"YJfLaVTtKTJV cpwvr}v. ap8pov
8' EO"TL cpwv-ry UO"YJf.LO~ ~ Aoyov apxTJV ~ TEAO~ ~ 8to-
' ~ \ ,. ., ~
pto-f.LOV OYJI\.Ot. OtOJJ TO' af.L'f't
, ,./... '6 Kat' TO' 1TEpt, Kat' Ta'

aAAa. ~ cpwv-ry UO"YJfLO~ ~ OVTE KWAVEt OVT€ 1TOtEL

cpwv-ryv f.Ltav O"YJfLaVTtKTJV EK 1TAEtovwv cpwvwv, 1TEcpv-
,.., '() () ' , ' ,..., ,, ' , ' ,...,
KVta Tt EO" at Kat E1Tt TWV aKpWV Kat E1Tt TOV fLEO"OV.
,
10
,, ~,, ,./... ' () ' ' ,,
OVOfLa 0€ EO"Tt 'f'WVYJ O"VJJ ETYJ (}"YJfLaVTtKYJ aJJEV xpo-
,
JJOV il~ fLEpo~ ov8€v EO"Tt Ka8' aVTO O"YJfLaVTtKov· EJJ
yap TOt~ 8t1TAo'i~ ov XPWf.LEOa w~ Kat aVTO KaO' aVTO
lfYJfLa'ivov, otov f.v T~ 8eo8wpo~ 7 TO 8wpo~ ov O"YJ/Lai-
vet. PTJ!La 8€ cpwv-ry a-vvBETTJ O"YJfLaVTtKTJ fLETa xpovov
~
YJ~
'~'
OVOEV '
fLEpo~
'
O"YJ.fLatJJEt Ka ()' aVTO,
e '
W0"1TEp
-:!
Kat' E1Tt
' '

15 TWJJ OVOfLUTWJJ" TO fLEV yap avO pw1TO~ ~ AEVKOV ov

o-YJfLaivEt To 1TOTE, To 8€ (3a8i,Et ~ {3E{3a8tKEv 1rpoa--
,
lfYJfLatVEt ' TOJJ
TO' fLEV ,
' 1TapOVTa ,
XPOVOJJ TO' ~'
0€
'
TOJJ

1 1TE4>vKvta B: -av A
2 ijv ... fLEa-ov (57a3-10) om. B
3 avTr]v TylWhitt (Lat.): avTov A
4 8r] To[ Bywater: YJTOt A
5 a-YJfLUVTtKwv Robortelli: -ov A
6
afL4>£ Hartung: cP·fL·t. A
7 8Eo8wpo<; To 8wpo<; Ritter (Arab.): fJEoDwpcp To 8wpov AB

I.e. connective particles, though the definition is corrupt.

a
Cf. Rh. 1407a20 ff.
100
 POETICS 20

from a plurality of sounds, usually placed at the ends or in

the middle of a statement, but not on its own at the start
of one: e.g. men, de, toi, de.a Or a nonsignificant sound
which naturally produces a single semantic utterance
from a plurality of sounds that have a single significance.
A conjunction is a non-significant sound which indicates
the beginning, end, or division of a statement: e.g. amp hi,
peri,b etc. Or a nonsignificant sound which neither pre-
vents nor creates a single semantic utterance from a plu-
rality of sounds, normally placed either at the ends or in
the middle. c A nound is a compound, e significant, non-
temporal sound, no part of which is independently signifi-
cant; for in double nounsf we do not employ any part as
independently significant: e.g. in CCTheodorus" the
"-dorus" part has no meaning.g A verb is a compound, sig-
nificant sound with a temporal force, but no part of which
is independently significant (as with nouns): ccman" or
"white>> does riot signify time, but ccis walking" or cchas
walked"h additionally signify present and past time,

h Exx. of prepositions, which do not at all fit the definition.

This is one of several acute difficulties in the passage.
c The baffling replication of the first definition of «connec-
tive" points to further textual corruption.
d The term covers adjs. too; cf. 57al6.
e As in the following definitions of verb and statement, "com-
pound" qua consisting of more than one phonological "element";
cf. 56b35.
f Cf. 57a32.
g I.e. no functional meaning (as opp. to etymology, from
doran, "gift") in the use of the name; cf. 57a33 f.
h In Greek, both verbs are single-word inflected forms.

101
 ARISTOTLE

1TapEAYJAv06Ta. 1TTWO""t8 8' Eo-TtV OVOf.LaTo~ ~ PTJ~La­

TO~ ~ f.LEV KaT a 1 To TovTov ~ TovTcp D""YJf.La'ivov Kat
20 oo-a TOtaVTa, ~ 8€ KaTa TO EVL ~ 1TOAAols, oiov
av0pw1TOL ~ av0pw1TO~, ~ DE KaTa Ta V1TOKptTtKa,
~ ' ' / .,, ' / (; ' ' 'Q ~~ .,,
OLOV KaT EpWTYJO""LV YJ E1TtTas LV" TO yap EfJaOtO""EV; YJ
f3a8t'E 1TTWO""t~ PrrJf.LaTO~ KaTa TaVTa Ta EL8YJ EO""TLV.
'Aoyo~ 8€ cpwvT] a-vvfJETTJ D""YJf.LaVTtKTJ 71~ €vta f.LEPYJ
f)' e ' 1 ' ' ~~ \ 1 ' e 1
Kau avTa D""YJf.LatvEt Tt · ov yap a1ra~ J\Oyo~ EK PYJf.La-
25 TWV Kat OVOf.LUTWV o-vyKEtTat, otov 0 TOV avO pw1TOV
optO""fLO~, dA.'A' €v8EXETat UVEV PYJf.LUTWV Eivat 'Aoyov,
f.LEpo~ f.LEVTOt aE[ Tt O""YJf.Latvov E~Et, otov E.v T~ (3a8£-
'Et K'A€wv o KA.€wv. Et~ 8€ €o-Tt A.6yo~ 8txw~, ~ yap
e t.\ 1 .,, e ' \ 1 ~ 1 1' e
0 EV O""YJf.LaLVWV, YJ 0 EK 1TI\EtOVWV O""VVOEO""f.L(f), OtOV YJ
'XX1
'I'Ata~ f.LEV a-vv8€a-f.Lcp Et~, o 8€ Tov dvfJpw1rov T~ ~v
I

/
30 O""YJf.La~VEtV.

XXI 'Ov6fLaTo~ 8€ EL8YJ TO fLEV a1rAovv, a1rAovv 8€

'A€yw of.LTJ EK O""YJf.Latvov~wv o-vyKEtTat, otov yij, To 8€
~ ~'
Ot1TI\OVV" TOVTOV
\ I"\ /
OE TO f.LEV
' ' '
EK O""YJf.LatVOVTO~
/
Kat aO""YJ-
' ' /

\ ' OVK
f.LOV, 1TI\Y}V '' '"'' /
EV T(f) OVOf.LaTt
2 O""Y}f.LatVOVTO~
/ Kat' ' /
aO""YJ-
~ ~'
f.LOV, TO' '
OE EK
' /
O""YJf.LatVOVTWV /
o-vyKEtTat. :>/
EtYJ 0
.,,
av Kat'
Tpt1TAovv Kat TETpa1TAovv ovof.La Kat 1ToAAa1TAovv,
35 otov Ta 1TOAAa TWV Mao-o-aAtWTWV, 3 eEpf.LOKatKO~av-
1457b JJ
UO~
* * * . 4 a1TaV ~~ ~
OE
' :>/ / '
OVOf.La EO""TLV YJ KVptOV YJ y 1\WTTa
.,, / .,, \ I"\

1 Kara ro
Reiz: ro Kara AB
Vahlen: -ro~ AB
2 ovofLaTL
3 Maa-ua.A.uvrwv Diels (ex Arab.): fLeyaJuwrwv AB
4 lacunam stat. edd. (cf. Arab.: "supplicans domino caelo-

rum")

102
 POETICS 21

respectively. An inflection is the feature of a noun or verb

which signifies case C<of him,~~ «to him," etc.), or singular
and plural (e.g. ''man,~~ "men"), or aspects of delivery,a
such as question or command ("did he walk?" or "walk!"
are verbal inflections in this classification).b A statement
is a compound, significant utterance, some of whose parts
do have independent significance. Not every statement
consists of verbs and nouns, e.g. the definition of '<man,~~c
but one can have a statement without verbs; yet it will
always have a part with separate significance, e.g. «Cleon"
in "Cleon is walking." A statement can be unitary in two
ways, by signifying one thing or by being combined from
a plurality: e.g. the Iliad is unitary by combination, d but
the definition of "man~~ by signifying one thing.
XXI Nouns can be classed as "single" (by which I mean
those not comprising significant parts, e.g. ge ["earth"])
and "double." The latter can be subdivided into those
formed from both significant and nonsignificant parts
(though this is not their function within the noun),e and
those comprising only significant parts. One could fur-
ther distinguish "triple," «quadruple," and «polysyllabic"
(e.g. most Massaliotef terms: Hermocalcoxanthus * * * ).

a See on 56bl0. hAll exx. in this para. again involve sin-

gle-word inflected forms in Greek.
c I.e. a verbless phrase such as «rational, bipedal animal."
d «Combination," sundesmos, is the same term as "connec-
tive" at 56b38 ff: the word cannot have quite the same sense in
both places, though the second use may imply the first.
e Cf. 57all-14.
f Belonging to the dialect of Massilia (Marseilles): "Hermo-
ca1coxanthus" fuses the names of three rivers in the region of
Phocaea, motherland of Massilia.

103
 r

ARISTOTLE
,, ,./.. ,.,, , .,, , .,,_, ,
TJ f.LE'Ta'Popa TJ KOO"fLO~ TJ 7ff.1TOtTJf.LEVOV TJ f.1Tf.K'Tf.Taf.LE-
vov ~ VcPYJPTJf.LEVov ~ €~TJAAayf.L€vov. A.€yw 8€ Kvptov
f.LEV ~ xpwvrat EKaO"'TOt, y Awrrav 8€ ~ ETEpot. WO"'Tf.
c/JavEpov ort Kat yA.wrrav Kat Kuptov Eivat 8vvarov
5 TO' avro,
, , f.LTJ' "" aVTOt~
'TOt~ , "" Of."
~"
'TO' yap
' O"tYVVOV
" K V1Tptot~
,
f.LEV Kvptov, TJf.LLV 8€ yA.wrra.
f.LETac/Jopa 8€ EO"'TtV OVOf.LaTo~ aAAorpiov E1Ttc/>opa
~ U1TO 'TOV yevov~ E1TL E18o~ ~ U1TO rov f.t8ov~ E1TL 'TO
/ .,, ' ' 1"'1 _,,~ ' ' -;-~ .,, ' ' ' "\
YEVO~ TJ a1TO 'TOV f.tOOV~ f.1Tt f.tOO~ TJ KaTa 'TO aVal\0-
yov. A.€yw 8€ a1ro y€vov~ f.LEV E1TL E18o~ oiov ~~VTJV~
~, (',~, ('/ _, ' ' ~ 1"'1 ) ~ /

10 Of. f.LOt TJO f.O"TTJKf.V " 'TO yap Opf.LEtV f.O"'TtV f.O"'TaVat 'Tt.
a1T' f.t8ov~ 8€ E1TL yevo~ e~~ 8~ f.LVpi' '08va-a-ev~
€a-OA.a €opyEv" · ro yap f.Lvpiov 1roAv €a-rtv, ({> vvv
dvrt rov 1roAAov KEXPTJTat. a1r' Et8ov~ 8€ E1TL EL8o~
oiov e.~xaAKCi> U1TO lfivx~v apva-a~" 1 KaL e~'TEf.LWV
rava~Kf.t xaAKCi>" · €vrq.,v8a yap ro f.LEV apva-at
15 raf.LELV, 'TO 8€ Taf.LELV apva-at f.LPTJKf.V" CLf.LcPW yap
-'A-.. \ ~' ~
a'Pf.l\f.tv Tt f.O"TtV. ro
1"'1 / ' "
of. aval\oyov 1\Eyw, orav
) "\ \ / ('/ /
Of.LOtW~

~
EXYJ ro oEvrEpov
_,, ' /
1rpo~
'
ro 1rpwrov Kat ro Tf.raprov
' 1"'1 ' ' ,

7rpo~ ro rpirov· €pEt yap UV'TL 'TOV 8Evr€pov 'TO rerap-

.,,)' 1"'1 / '~/ ' ) /
rov TJ avrt rov Tf.raprov ro of.vrEpov. Kat f.VtO'Tf.
7rpoa-rt8€aa-tv avO' oil AEyEt 1Tp0~ 0 EO"'Tt. A.iyw 8€
20 oiov Of.LOLW~ EXEt c/JufATJ 7rpo~ ~tovva-ov KaL aa-1TL~
7rpo~ "'' ApTJ· €pEt roivvv r~v c/JufATJv aa-1ri8a ~tovv-
Ka~ TEfLWV Tyrwhitt (rec.): aEpva-aa-KETEfLWV A:
1 apva-a<;

E.pva-aa-KE rEfLwv B

Onoma, used above for "noun," but here carrying the wider
a
sense; cf. e.g. 57b7, 25.

104
 POETICS 21

Every warda is either a standard term, loan word,

metaphor, ornament, neologism, lengthening, contrac-
tion, or modification. By "standard term" I mean one
used by a community, by "loan word" one used by out-
siders; obviously, then, the same word can be both a loan
word and a standard term, though not for the same
groups: sigunon ["spear''] is standard for Cypriots, a loan
word for us.h
A metaphorc is the application of a word that belongs
to another thing: either from genus to species, species to
genus, species to species, or by analogy. By "from genus
to species" I mean, e.g., "my ship stands here'':d mooring
is a kind of standing. Species to genus: "ten thousand
noble deeds has Odysseus accomplished" ;e ten thousand
is many, and the poet has used it here instead of <<many."
Species to species: e.g. "drawing off the life with bronze,"f
and "cutting .with slender-edged bronze" ;g here he has
used <'drawing off'' for "cutting". and vice versa, as both
are kinds of removing. I call "by analogy" cases were b is
to a as dis to c: one will then speak of d instead of b, orb
instead of d. Sometimes people add that to which the
replaced term is related. I mean, e.g., the wine bowl is to
Dionysus as the shield to Ares: so one will call the wine

b For Ar. a ..loan word" cannot be a naturalised borrowing,

but must be perceived as exotic (cf. Rh. 1410b12-13).
c As definition and exx. reveal, .. metaphor" includes things
which might now be classed as synecdoche or metonymy. Cf. Rh.
1405a3 ff.
d Horn. Od. 1.185. e Hom. Il. 2.272.
f Empedocles fr. 138 DK; image is the killing of an animal.
g Empedocles fr. 143 DK; the ref. is to filling a bronze vessel
with water.

105
 ARISTOTLE

(TOV Kat TTJV aa-1Tt8a ¢ufAYJV :J/ ApEw~. ~ 0 y'FJpa~

1rpo~ f3iov, Kat €a-1r€pa 1rpo~ ~fLE.pav· f.pli Toivvv TTJV
Ea-1TEpav y'FJpa~ ~fLEpa~, ~ wa-1TEp 'EfL1TE8oKAYJ~ Ka'i
To yfJpa~ €a-1r€pav f3iov ~ 8va-f.La~ f3iov. f.viots 8'
25 OVK E(TTt,V OVOfLa KELfLEVOV TWV avaA.oyov, aA.A.' ov8€v
~TTov OfLOtw~ AEX{)ry}a-ETal- · oiov To Tov Kap1rov fLEV
'.rl-.. / / ~' .r/...\ / ' '
ao/l-EVat, (T1TEl-pEl-V, TO' OE
'
TYJV o/1\0ya a1TO C:\/
TOV YJIHOV f"\

' / ' \ \ ' c: / :J/ f"\ ' ' ('/\

avwVVfLOV" a/\1\ OfLOl-W~ EXEl- TOVTO 1rpo~ TOV Y}l\l-OV
~ ' c:c: /
Kat' TO' (T1TELpELV
/
1Tp0~
' '
TOV /
Kap1TOV, OLO :J/
El-pYJTaL (T1T€l--
/ .r/...\ / " :J/ ~'
pwv {) EOKTL(TTaV o/1\oya .
f"\ / /
€(TTL OE TqJ Tp01TqJ TOVTqJ
30 TTJ~ fLETa¢opu~ xp'FJa-{)aL Kat aAAw~, 1Tpoa-ayopEv-
a-aVTa TO' a/\1\0TpLOV
'\ \ / ' .r/...
a1TOo/YJ(Tat, TWV OLKELWV TL, OLOV
f"\ 1' f"\ ' /

, ' , / ~ :J/ .r~-.. / \ ' :J'ApEW~ a/\1\

' \ \ ' 1 :J/
EL TYJV aa-1TLOa EL1TOL o/Lai\Y}V fLYJ aOLVOV.
* * * 1TE1TOLYJfLEVOV
/ 0~' E(TTLV
' ' 0 t.\ ('/\
01\W~ fLYJ' Kai\OVfLEVOV
\ /

V1TO TLVWV aVTO~ TL{)ETaL 0 1TOLYJTrrJ~· 8oKEL yap EVLa

..,.
ELVaL '"'
TOLaVTa, 1'
OLOV Ta' K6paTa
/ ''
Epvvya~
2 Kat,' TOV
' e /
LEpEa
35 apYJTfJpa. E1TEKTETafLEVOV 8€ E(TTLV ~ a¢YJPYJfLEVOV TO
1458a p.,ev f.av ¢wvrr}EvTL fLaKpoTE.pcp KEXPYJfLEVov Yi Tov
OLKELOV ~ a-vA.A.af3fJ €p.,f3E/3AYJfLEVYJ, TO 8€ av a¢YJPYJ-
fLEVOV TL y;
aVTOV, E1TEKTETafLEVOV fLEV oiov TO 7TOAEW~
1TOAYJO~ Kat TO ITYJAEt8ov 3 ITYJAYJLa8Ew, a¢YJPYJfLEVOV
~ ' 1' ~ .r/... /
OE Ol-OV TO' KpL Kat TO OW
f"\ '
KaL ' f"\ ' c:c: /
p_,t,a /
'Yl-VETal- '
af.Lo/OTEpwv

1 &A.A.' aOLVOV Vettori: aA.A.a OtVOV AB

2 epvvyac; Vettori: E.pvvyac; A: E.pLvvyac; B
3 1T'YJAe£8ov rec.: 7T'YJAEoc; A: 1T'YJA€wc; B

Fr. 152 DK, but it is disputed which phrase Ar. ascribes to

a
E.; for "evening of life" cf. Alexis fr. 230 PCG, "life's sunset" Pl.
Laws 770a6.

106
 POETICS 21

bowl "Dionysus' shield," and the shield "Ares' wine bowl."

Or old age is to life as evening to day: so one will call
evening ~~the day's old age," or, like Empedocles, a call old
age "the evening of life" or "life's sunset." In some cases
of analogy no current term exists, but the same form of
expression will still be used.h For instance, to release seed
is to "sow," while the sun's release of fire lacks a name; but
the latter stands to the sun as does sowing to the seed, c
hence the phrase "sowing his divine fire."d This type of
metaphor can further be used by predicating the bor-
rowed term while denying one of its attributes: suppose
one were to call the shield not "Ares' wine bowl" but "a
wineless wine bowl."
* * * e A neologism is a term without existing usage but
coined by the poet himself; some words seem to be of this
kind, e.g. emuges for kerata ["horns"] and areter for
hiereus ["priest"].f A lengthening uses a longer vowel than
the standard form, or an extra syllable; a contraction has
had some part removed: lengthenings are e.g. poleos for
poleos, and Pelei'adei5 for Peleidou;g contractions, e.g. kri,
do,h and ~~a single vision [ops] comes from both."i A
b A usage sometimes known as "catachresis": e.g. Quint. Inst.
8.6.34-5. c Strictly, to the sower.
J
\
d Unidentified quotation, from tragedy or lyric poetry.
'I

e It is assumed that an explanation of "ornament," kosrnos,

has dropped out here; see 57b2, and cf. Rh. 1408al4.
f The second occurs 3x in the Iliad; the first is not found in
extant literature.
g Genitive forms of, respectively, polis (city/citadel) and
Peleides (son ofPeleus, i.e. Achilles); the first form in each case is
epic.
h Shortened epic forms of krithe (barley) and doma (house).
i Empedocles fr. 88 DK.

107
 ARISTOTLE

5 otfJ''. 1 E~1JAAayp.-f.vov 8' f(T'TtlJ OTaV TOV OVOJLa'OJLEVOV

TO
'
fJ-EV
'
KaTai\El/lTTJ
\ /
TO
' ~'
OE 1TOLYJ,
""
OLOV
'e'
TO
' (( ~
OE~
t. LTEpov
'

KaTa p.-asOV
' r/,,aVTL, ""~
TOV DEC::, LOV.
t. /
' ""
aVTWV ~'
OE ""
TWV ' /
OVOJLaTWV '
Ta '
JLEV ~~
appEva '
Ta 0~E'
/\
() 1'}1\Ea ' ~'
Ta OE f.LETa~ V,
t. / ,,
appeva JLEV ocra TEI\EVTq.
' (:/ \ "" EL~
, TO
'

N KaL'p KaL''""' 't:' , / /

~ KaL OCTa EK TOVTOV CTV/'KELTaL
(""
TaVTa

10 8' EO"TtV 8vo, 'It Kat S), Orrj'AEa 8€ ocra EK TWV ~WVYJ-
/
EVTWV
,,
EL~ TE ,
Ta aEL JLaKpa, OLOV
, ' / 'e' ,
EL~
H KaL
' r\
~L, KaL TWV
' ""

,
E1TEKTELVOfJ-EVWV
/
EL~
, A t:l
• WCTTE
,,
LCTa CTVJLtJaLVEL 1TI\Y}
a / \ /() EL
EL~
'

/ ()
t:l
oa-a '
Ta ''
appEva KaL' Ta
'

/2 , , ~ ' ,, ,./-.
() / \ '
Y}I\Ea. TO '
yap
, ~ ' ,,
'\TI'
':l' KaL' TO
'

\
=
,......

""
CTVV ETa ECTTLV. EL~ OE a'f'WVOV OVOEV OVOJLa TEI\EVTq.,

15 ov8€ EL~ ~wvi}Ev {3paxv. EL~ 8€ TO I Tpta JLOVOV, JLEAL

/
KOJLJLL /
1TE1TEpL. ,
EL~
' T 7TEVTE
~' TO
OE / 3 * ** ' OE
Ta ~'
X
fJ-ETa~v El~ TavTa Kat N Kat !.
XXII AE~-EW~ 8€ apET~ cra~ij Kat JL~ Ta1TELV~V ElVaL.
,./..,. / ' .,. , ( , "" / , /
cra...,...,ECTTaTYJ JLEV OVV ECTI:LV YJ EK TWV KVpLWV OVOJLa-

TWV, d'A'Aa8€ iJ KA.Eo~wvTo~ Ta1TELvrr}· 1Tapa8E"YJLa

20 1TOLYJCTL~ Kat T] !OEve'Aov. crEJLV~ 8€ Kat €~aA.'AaT-

Tovcra To l8LwTLKov T] To'i~ tEvLKo'i~ KEXPYJJLEVYJ" tEvL-

KOV
' ~'
OE \ / \""
1\E/'W /' 1\WTTaV KaL f.LETa...,...,opav KaL E1TEKTaCTLV
' ,./-. ' ' , /

' "" ' ' ' / , \ \ ' ,, t:l

KaL 1Ta1J TO 1rapa TO KVpLOV. al\1\ av TL~ a1TaVTa TOL-
"" / .,, ,, ,, .,, Q Q / ')\
avTa 1TOLYJCTYJ, YJ aLVL/'JLa EO"TaL YJ fJapfJapLCTJLO~· av

1
ot/J Vettori: OYJ~ A: DYJ~
B
2 frvvOera Arab.: TavTa AB: TavTa rec., Lat.
3 post 1TEVTE add. nomina quinque Arab.

a Hom. Il. 5.393.

b Alpha, iota, upsilon.

108
 POETICS 22

modification is one where part of the form is kept, part

added: e.g. "in his right [dexiteron] breast,na instead of
dexion.
Of nouns, some are masculine, some feminine, some
neuter: masculine, those which terminate in nu, rho,
sigma, or letters containing sigma (there are two: psi and
xi); feminine, those which end in vowels that are always
long (i.e. eta and omega), or in alpha (of the vowels that
can be lengthened).b So the number of masculine and
feminine terminations is the samec (as psi and xi are com-
pound sounds). No noun terminates in a stop, nor in a
short vowel. Three alone end in iota: meli, kommi,
peperi. d Five end in upsilon * * *. e Neuter nouns have
these endings, f as well as nu and sigma.
1 XXII Excellence of diction means clarity and avoidance of
banality. Now, clearest is the diction that uses standard
terms, but this is banal: the poetry of Cleophong and
Sthenelush exemplifies this. Impressive and above the
ordinary is the diction that' uses exotic language (by
"exoticn I mean loan words, metaphors, lengthenings, and
all divergence from the standard). But if one composes
entirely in this vein, the result will be either a riddle or
barbarism-a riddle, if metaphors predominate; bar-

c This ignores a nun1ber of feminine nouns which end in the

same consonants as masculines.
d "Honey," "gum," "pepper"; there were in fact others, all of
them rare.
e astu, gonu, doni, napu, pou.
fAr. may mean alpha as well as iota and upsilon; but he omits
neuters ending in rho (e.g. nektar).
g See on 48al2.
h Tragedian of later 5th cent.; TrGF I no. 32.

109
 ARISTOTLE

25 fLEV oiJv EK fLETacropwv, atvtyfLa, €av OE EK yAwTTWV,

/ '~ ~I :1 / / ' / :1 / '
{3 ap{3 aptcrfLO~. atvtyfLaTO~ T€ yap tOEa aVTYJ ECJ"Tt, TO
'~ / ',It
\ I
J\EyovTa (' I
V1TapxovTa aovvaTa crvva\f'at· KaTa' fLEV
' ';"
ovv
T~V TWV aA.A.wv 1 OVOfLaTWV crvvOEcrtv ovx oiov T€
TovTo 1Totfjcrat, KaTa T~v fLETacropwv 2 E.voiXETat, o€
oiov ('('avop' ElOov 1TVpt xaAKOV E1T' avipt KOAA~-
30 cravTa n , Kat' Ta' TotavTa.
,..., ~' '
Ta' o€ ,...,
EK TWV \ ,...,
YAWTTWV a
fJap-
{3aptcrfLO~. OEL apa K€Kpacr0a[ 1T(J)~ TOVTOt~· TO fLEV
yap To fL~ lotwTtKov 1Tot'Y}crEt fLYJOE Ta1TEtvov, oiov Y]
y AWTTa Kat Y] fLETacropa Kat 0 KOCJ"fLO~ Kat TdAAa Ta
' / 31~ ~' A-. / '
EtpYJfLEVa EtOYJ, TO' o€ /
Kvptov '
TYJV cra'PYJVEtav. ovK
E.ltaxtcrTOV OE fLEpo~ CI"VfL{3aAA€Tat €L~ TO cracr€~ Tfj~
1458b \ /c
J\€S €W~ Kat' fLYJ' tOtWTtKOV
'~ ' at(' €1T€KTacr€t~
' / Kat' a1TOK01Tat
' '
Kat E~aAAayat TWV OVOfLaTwv· Ota fLEV yap TO aAAw~
31
EXEtv
.,,
~
e
w~
' I
TO Kvptov 1Tapa TO Etw
' ' f)'o~ ytyvofLEVov
:1 I
TO
'

' :1~
fLYJ tVtWTtKOV 1TOtYJCI"€t,
' / ~ '
o~a
~'
0€
' f) I
TO KOtVWV€tV TOV EtW 0-
,..., ,..., :1

' A-.' _,, ~1

,lt 1 e
TO~ TO cra'P€~ €(TTat. W~ \f'EYOVCJ"tV Ot
' '(},...,
5 WCJ"T€ OVK op
E1TtTtfLWVTE~ T~ ToioVTCfJ TP01TqJ Tfj~ OtaAEKTov Kat
OtaKwfLcpOovvTE~
!I ,..., (' ('I~
Tov
.,,
1TOtYJT'Y}v,
,..., 3/
oiov
~I
EvKAEtOYJ~
:1 I
o
apxato~, W~ pq.otOV OV 1TOt€tV Et Tt~ OWCJ"Et €KT€tV€tV
€cr' {3ovAETat, lafL{301TOt~cra~ EV avT'fi TD
01TOCJ"OV
AE~Et ('(''E1TtxapYJv 3 Etoov MapaOwvaoE {3ao[,ovTa",
10 Kat ('('ovK €yKEpafLEVo~ 4 Tov EKEtvov €1tlt€{3opov". To
fLEV oiJv cratVEcrOai 1T(J)~ XPWfLEVOV TOVT(f) T~ Tp01T(f)

1 ({A.Awv
Twining (Arab.): om. AB
2
p.,eTacPopwv Bywater: -av AB
3 _,E1TtXrLPYJV Bursian CH- Tyrwhitt): ~ E1TtxapYJv B: YJTEL

xaptv A

110
 POETICS 22

barism, if loan words. For this is the nature of a riddle, to

attach impossibilities to a description of real things. One
cannot do this by composing with other terms, but one
can with metaphors (e.g. "I saw a man welding bronze on
a man with fire,',a and such things). Passages of loan
words constitute barbarism. One needs, then, a certain
blend of these components: one kind (loan words,
metaphor, ornaments, and the other classes listed) will
create an impression that is neither ordinary nor banal,
while standard terms will ensure clarity. A major contri-
bution to clarity and unusualness of diction is made by
lengthenings, shortenings, and modifications of words:
contrast with the standard, and divergence from the
usual, will create an out-of-the-ordinary impression; but
the presence of some usual forms will preserve clarity. So
those who criticise such usage, and mock the poet for it,
are wrong to carp-like Eucleides the elder,b who, sup-
posing it easy to write poetry if one is allowed to lengthen
words at whim, lampooned Homer in his very diction ("I
saw Epichares walking to Marathon,,, and ''not mixing his
hellebore,,).c Now, the blatant use of such a manner is

Cleobulina fr. 1 West, a hexameter. The ref. is to medical

a
use of a cupping glass; cf. Rh. 1405bl-4.
b Otherwise unknown.
c Both quotations (the second very uncertain), using absurd
vowel-lengthenings to satisfy hexameter rhythm, parody metrical
licences in Homer. Epichares was a very common Athenian
name; its choice here is probably arbitrary.

4
EYKEpafLEVO~ coni. Kassel: av yepafLEVO~ A: av YE apafLE-
vo~ B

111
 ARISTOTLE
\ "' ~E' ~
YEI\OLOV" TO' 0
,
f.LETpov '
KOLVOV ,
a1TaVTWV ' ' TWV
ECTTL ""'

f.LEpwv· Kat yap J.LETacpopa'i<; Kat y 'AwTTaL<; Kat To'i<;

aA.AoL<; ELOEO"L XPWJ.LEVO<; a1TpE1TW<; Kat E1TLTYJOE<; E1Tt Ta
ye'Ao'ia TO aVTO av a1TEpyaa-aLTO. TO OE apJ.LOTTOv 1
15 ocrov OtacpE.pet E1Tt TWV E1TWV 8ewpe[cr8w EVTL8EJ.LEVWV
Twv Kvpiwv 2 ovoJ.LaTwv el<; To J.LETpov. Kat E1Tt Tij<;
y'AwTTYJ<; o€ Kat E1Tt TWV J.LETacpopwv Kat E1Tt TWV
a'AA.wv loewv J.LETaTL8Et<; av TL<; Ta KVpta OVOJ.LaTa
KaTLOOL OTt dA.YJ{}iJ A.E.yoJ.LEV" oiov TO avTO 1TOt~craVTO<;
laJ.Lf3e'iov Alcrxv'Aov Kat Evpt1Ttoov, €v S€ J.L6vov
20 OVOJ.La
!J/
f.LETa { }EVTO<;,
'
aVTt
' '
KVptOV
,
EtW
'
OTO<; YI\WTTaV,
{}' \
TO 1"1 '

' 'PaLVETat
J.LEV ,~.... , \ ' TO' o~'
Kai\OV ,
EVTEAE<;.
\ , A,tcrxvAo<;
'\ '
J.LEV
yap <l>tAOKT~TY1 E1TOLYJCTE
EV T/i>
cpay€oatvav 3 ij J.LOV a-apKa<; €a-8iet 1ToOo<;,
~ ~
0 OE
'
aVTL TOV
, ' 1"1 '
ECT LEt TO
{}, ' {}
OLVaTaL
1"1
f.LETE
'{}
YJKEV. Kat '

~i' ',, '\~' ' , ~ ' ', i'

f.L EWV 01\Lyo<; ~E KaL OVTLOaVO<; Kat aEtKYJ<;,
1"1
25 VVV OE
:J/ \i'
Et Tt<; 1\Eyot Ta' KVpta
i'
f.LETaTt { }Et<;
'

1"1 ~i' ' ,, i' ' , {} ' ' , ~,

VVV OE f.L EWV f.LtKpo<; TE Kat acr EVtKO<; Kat aEtOYJ<;"
Kat'
Otcppov aEtKEALOV KaTa8EtS oAty'Y}V TE Tpa1TE,aV,
30 o[cppov J.LOX{}YJpOv KaTa8Et<; f.LtKpav TE Tpa1TE,av·
Kat TO
' ' ee , i'
'YJLOVE<;
{3 OOWO"tV
i' , ,
, 'Y}tOVE<;
i' r i'
KpasOVO"tV.
!J/
ETt OE
~ '

'AptcppaOYJ<; TOV<; TpayqJOOV<; EKWJ.L~OEt OTt a OVOEt<;

av EL1TEtEV EV
Ti] OtaAEKTqJ TOVTOt<; XPWVTaL, oiov TO
~ i'
OWJ.LaTWV :J/
a1TO , \ \
a/\1\a '
f.L'Y'J a1TO
, ' ~ i'
OWJ.LaTWV, Kat' TO' erEi'{} EV

lr r
ap/LOTTOV rec.: ap/LOTTOVTO~
i'
: ap/LOTTOV 1TW~ B
Ar' i'

2 Kvp[wv add. Vahlen

3 cpay€8atvav Hermann: -a rec.: cpaya8atva B: cpaya8Eva A

112
r
POETICS 22

ridiculous; moderation applies equally to all components.

By using metaphors, loan words, and the other classes
inaptly one could achieve the same result as by deliberate
comic distortion. But the difference it makes to use them
fittingly in epic should be studied by introducing the stan-
dard words into the verse. Likewise with loan words,
metaphors, and the other classes, one could observe the
truth of my argument by substituting the standard terms.
For instance, Aeschylus and Euripides composed the
same iambic line, but the latter replaced just one word,
using a loan word instead of the familiar standard term;
one of the lines strikes us as beautiful, the other as
tawdry. Aeschylus, in his Philoctetes,a wrote:'' ... the can-
cer which eats the flesh of my foot.n Euripides changed
"eats,, to "feasts on.''h Likewise with "but now one lowly,
paltry, and unseemly ... ,nc if one were to substitute the
standard terms, ''but now one small, weak, and ugly .. .n
And compare "setting out an unsightly chair, and a lowly
table ... nd with "setting out a bad chair, and a small table
•• • n Or "the headlands clamour"e with "the headlands
bawl." Again, Ariphradesf ridiculed the tragedians for
using expressions which no one would ever say in conver-
sation, such as "the palace from" instead of "from

a Fr. 253 TrGF (III 357).

b Fr. 792 N auck; here and below, translation cannot capture
the pertinent nuances of tone.
c Hom. Od. 9.515 (Cyclops' description of Odysseus); in mss.
of Homer the third adj. is different again (akikus, "feeble").
d Hom. Od. 20.259.
e Hom. Il. 17.265.
f Very likely, given the name's rarity, the comic poet men-
tioned several times by Aristophanes (e.g. Knights 1280 ff).

113
 ARISTOTLE

KaL' TO' eyw

' ' ~ i'
oE VLV KaL' TO' 'AXLJ\1\.EW~
\ \ i' 7TEpL
i' a' 1\.1\. II.,;.
\ \a' ,.,
1459a 7T€pt 'AxLAAEw~, Kat oo-a a'A'Aa TOLaVTa. 8ul yap TO
J.L~ ElvaL E.v TOL~ KvpioL~ 7TOLEL TO IL~ l8LwTLKOV E.v Tfj
AE~EL a7TaVTa Ta TOLaVTa 0
EKELVO~ 8€ TOVTO T]yvoEL.
'' ~' i' ' e
ECTTLV oE f.LEya f.LEV TO' EKaCTT(f!
i' ""
TWV ' i'
ELPYJf.LEVWV i'
7TpE7TOV-
TW~ xpijo-fJaL, Kat 8L1TAOL~ OVOf.LaCTL Kat yAwTTaL~,
~'
5 \'
7TOJ\.V i' ' ,./..., ' ";'
0€ f.LEYLCTTOV TO f.LETa\f-'opLKOV ELVaL.
i'
f.LOVOV '
yap
TOVTO OVT€ 7Tap' aAAov EU"TL Aaj3ELV E'V~v"ta~ T€

U"YJf.LE'iov ea-TL · To yap E-D f.LETa~f.pELv To To of.LoLov

"" , "" ~' , i' ~
(} EWpELV EU"TLV. TWV 0 OVOf.LaTWV Ta' '
f.LEV \ ""
OL7TJ\.a
f.LaALa-Ta apf.LOTTEL TOL~ 8c,fJvpaf.Lf30L~, at 8€ yAwTTaL
10 TOL~ i}pwLKOL~, at 8€ f.LETa~opat TOL~ laf.L/3ELOL~. Kat
' ' "" e "" ~~ i' ' ' i'
EV f.LEV TOL~ YJPWLKOL~ a1ravTa XPYJCTLf.La Ta ELPYJf.LEVa,
E.v 8€ To'i~ laf.Lf3EioL~ 8La To oTL f.LaALo-Ta 'Af.~tv IL"fLE'i-
o-fJaL ravTa apf.LOTTEL TWV OVOf.LaTWV Q(JOL~ Kav EV
\ i' i' ,, ~ ' ' "" ' i'
Aoyot~ TL~ XPYJU"aLTO" ECTTL oE Ta TOLavTa TO KvpLov
KaL' f.LETa\f-'opa
,./..., '
KaL' i'
KQU"f.LO~. X
7TEpt f.LEV o-Dv Tpaycp8ia~ Kat TYJ~ E.v T(i> 1rpaTTELV
15 f.LLfLYJU"EW~
i' ''
EU"TW e"'
YJf.LLV e ' ' '
LKava i'
Ta ELPYJf.LEVa.
XXIII IlEpt 8€ TYJ~ 8LYJYYJf.LaTLKYJ~ Kat E.v f.LETPCf! f.LLf.LYJTL-
Ki}~, OTL 8Et TOV~ f.LVfJov~ KafJa7TEp EV TaL~ Tpaycp8taL~
i' ~ ' ~i'\
CTVVLCTTaVaL opaf.LaTLKOV~ KaL' 7T€pL' f.LLaV
i'
1rpa~
""(;
LV 01\.Y}V
~'
Kat' TEAELav
\ i' ,,
Exovo-av , '
apxYJv KaL' f.LECTa
i'
KaL' i' \
TEJ\.O~, LV '
20 WCT7T€p 'fi>ov EV oAov 7TOLfj T~V olKEtav i]8ovrr}v, 8ijA.ov,

Two of Ar. 's exx. are of anastrophe (placing of a preposition

a
after its noun), and two of predominantly poetic pronominal
forms.

114
 POETICS 23

the palace," and ''of thee," and ''I him ... ," and "Achilles
round" instead of "round Achilles,~~ etc. a Because absent
from standard speech, all such expressions make an out-
of-the-ordinary impression; but Ariphrades failed to
realise that. It is important to use aptly each of the fea-
tures mentioned, including double nouns and loan words;
but much the greatest asset is a capacity for metaphor.
This alone cannot be acquired from another, and is a sign
of natural gifts: because to use metaphor well is to discern
similarities.h Of word types, double forms particularly
suit dithyramb, c loan words suit epic, and metaphors suit
iambic verse.d In epic, everything mentioned has some
use, but in iambic verse, because of the very close relation
to ordinary speech, e suitable words are those one would
also use in prose-namely, standard terms, metaphors,
ornaments.
Let that, then, count as sufficient discussion of tragedy
and enactivef mimesis. .
XXIII As regards narrative mimesis in verse,g it is clear that
plots, as in tragedy, should be constructed dramatically,
that is, around a single, whole, and complete action, with
beginning, middle, and end, so that epic, like a single and
whole animal, may produce the pleasure proper to it. Its

b Cf. Rh. 1405a8-10, Top. 140a8-ll.

c Because dithyramb tends towards linguistic virtuosity: cf.
Rh. 1406bl-2.
d See on 47bll.
e Cf. 49a23-8.
f Cf. ch. III's third mode of mimesis, 48a24-5.
g The periphrasis places epic (loosely) in Ar.'s scheme of
media and modes (chs. I, III).

115
 ARISTOTLE

Kat IL~ OfLOLac; l.crroptats 1 ras crvv{}f.crEtc; Eivat, EV aic;

avayK'Y} OVXL f.Ltfic; 7Tpa~Ewc; 7TOtE'icr(}at D~AWCTLV aAA'
~ ' I t:/ ' I I(.} ' t:/ 'l\ \ I
EVOc; XPOVOV, OCTa EV TOVTlp CTVVEfJ'YJ 7TEpt EVa 'Y} 1TI\Et-
ovc;, 6Jv EKacrrov we; ETVXEV EXEt 1Tpoc; aAAYJAa.
t:/ ' ~\
W(T1T€p yap KaTa' TOVc;
' aVTOVc;
' ' XPOVOVc;
I
'Y}t:/ T ' '
EV """'al\a-
25 fL'ivt €y€vEro vav!Lax£a Kat2tKEAtq, KapxYJDo- iJ €v
~
1
VtWV fLaXYJ OVOEV 1rpoc; TO aVTO lfVVTEtVOVlfat T€1\0c;,
I ' ' ' ' ' ' I 1\

OVTW Kat EV TOte; EcPE~1}c; xpovotc; EVtOTE YLVETat ear€-

' {} I '(; ~ ~' I 1\t.\ '
pov fLETa UTEpov, Es WV EV OVOEV ytVETat T€1\0c;.
a-xE8ov 8€ oi 1roAAot rwv 1TOtYJrwv Tovro 8pwcrt. s,o
30 wa-1TEp Et1TOfLEV ~DYJ Kat TaVTYJ {}Elf7TElftOc; av <PavEtYJ
t:/OfLYJpOc; 1Tapa rove; a'A'Aovc;, rfi> fLYJDE TOV 1TOAEfLOV
KaL7TEp €xovra apx~v Kat TEAoc; E7TtXEtp1}crat 1TOt€tV
t:/\ \ I ' .,, I ' ' ' I !)/ \
01\0V" 1\taV yap av fLEyac; Kat, OVK €VCTVV07TTOc; EfL€1\-
AEV €crEa-{}at o2 fLV{}oc;, T) T(i> fLEyf.{}Et fLETpta,ovra
\ I I ' ~ \ I ~ ~' t.\
KaTa1T€1TI\EYJLEVOV TYJ 1TOtKtl\tf!:. EV fLEpoc; U1T0- VVV 0
35 'Aa{3wv E7TEuro8£otc;. KEXPYJTat avrwv 1ToAAo'ic;, oiov
VEWV Kara'Aoycp Kat a'A.Aotc; E1TEtcroDtotc; oic; 3 DtaAafL-
(.} I ' I ~ ~' !)/\ \ ' t:/ ~ '
fJaVEt TYJV 1TOtY}lftV. Ot 0 ai\1\0t 1T€pt EVa 1TOtOVlft Kat
7TEpt EVa XPOVOV Kat fLLaV 7rpa~tv 7TOAVJLEp1}, oiov o
145gb ra'K V1Tpta 4 1TOtYJcrac; Kat TYJV f.LtKpav 'I\Ataoa.
I I~~ rotya- ' ' '

~
povv ' fLEV
EK ' 'I\1\taooc;
I ~
Kat' '0 OVlfa"ELac;
~ I I
fLtU ~I
Tpaycpota
~ ~
7TOt€tTat EKaTEpac; YJ OVO fLOVat, EK
I .,, ~ I I ' ~ '
0€
K V1TptWV I \
1TOI\-

1
ia-ropiats ras crvv()f.cretc; Sophianus, Dacier (i. T. crvve~-
(TElS B): tcrropiac; ras crvvr]Oetc; A
2
o11-vOo~ B: om. A
3 oic; rec.: Dtcr (sed erasum) A: om. B
4 Kv1Tpta Castelvetro: Kv1TptKa AB

116
 POETICS 23

structures should not be like histories, which require an

exposition not of a single action but of a single period,
with all the events (in their contingent relationships) that
happened to one person or more during it.a For just as
there was chronological coincidence between the sea bat-
tie at Salamis and the battle against the Carthaginians in
Sicily, b though they in no way converged on the same
goal, so in a continuous stretch of time event sometimes
follows event without yielding any single goal. Yet proba-
bly most poets do this. That is why, as I said earlier,c
Homer's inspiredd superiority over the rest can be seen
here too: though the war had beginning and end, he did
not try to treat its entirety, for the plot was bound to be
too large and incoherent, or else, if kept within moderate
scope, too complex in its variety. Instead, he has selected
one section, but has used many others as episodes, such as
the catalogue of ships and other episodes by which he
diversifies the composition. But the others build their
works round a single figure or single period, hence an
action of many parts, as with. the author of the Cypria and
the Little Iliad.e Accordingly, with the Iliad and the
Odyssey a single tragedy, or at most two, can be made
from each; but many can be made from the Cypria, and

a Cf. 5la38-bll; Ar. reductively equates history with a chron-

icle narrative.
b The battles of Salamis and Himera took place on the same
day in 480 (Hdt. 7.166).
c 5la22-30.
d The term thespesios is itself Homeric-a deliberate
allusion. e Two poems from the so-called Epic Cycle (OCD
s.v.), dealing respectively with antecedents to the Trojan War and
its earlier years, and with its later parts and aftermath.

117
 ARISTOTLE

Aat Kat Tij~ fLLKpas 'IA.ufDo~ 1rAeov ~ oKTw, oiov

5 ~, \ / rr-.. \ /
01TI\WV KpUFL~, '-J:!'LI\OKTYJTYJ~,
N E01TTOI\EfLO~,
/\ E'vpV1TV-
/
\ / A aKaLVaL,
1\0~, 1TTWXELa,
/ 'I\1\LOV
/ 1TEpa-L~
/ KaL' a1T01TI\OV~,
' / \
KaL'""/
4LVWV KaL'T pqJaOE~.
/~

XXIV ''ETL DE Ta ELDYJ TaVTa DEL EXELV TTJV E1T01TOLLav TD

X
TpaycpDtq.-, ~ yap a1rAijv ~ 1TE1TAEYfLEVYJV ~ f}8LKTJV ~
10 / ' ' /
7Ta (} YJTLKYJV" KaL Ta fLEpYJ E~ W fLEI\01TOUa~ KaL O'rEW~
,, c \ / ' '',/ t

TaVTa. Kat yap 1TEpL1TETELWV DEL Kat avayvwpta-EWV

' (} / ,, ' ~ / ' ' \ /(; ,,
KaL 7Ta YJfLaTWV" ETL Ta~ OLaVOLa~ KaL TYJV 1\E~ LV EXELV
KaAw~. oi~ a1TaO"LV ~'OfLYJPO~ KEXPYJTaL Kat 1TpWTO~
't: ,... ' ' ,... / t: / /
KaL LKaVW~. KaL yap TWV 1TOLYJfLaTWV EKaTEpOV O"VVE-
()TYJKEV YJt: fLEV
' 'I /\La~
\ ' a1TI\OVV
t: \ ,...,
KaL' 1Ta (} YJTLKOV,
/
YJt: ~
OE
'

15 'ODva-crELa 1TE1TAEYfLEVOV ( avayvwpLa-L~ yap Du)A.ov)

~' 1 ' ~
KaL' YJ'(} LKYJ"
/ 1rp0~
' OE / \ /(; / /
TOVTOL~ 1\E~ EL KaL OLaVOLf!: 1TaVTa

V7TEpf3~f3AYJKEV.
~LacpepEL DE KaTa TE Tij~ crvcrTacrEW~ TO fLiJKo~ 7]
,E7T01TOUa KaL' TO' fLETpov.. TOV,..., fLEV
/ ' OVV
";'
/ ~'
fLYJKOV~ opo~
/

iKavo~ o ElpYJfLEVo~· Dvvaa-8aL yap DEL crvvopaa-8aL

' ,
TYJV apxYJV KaL TO
' ' ' / \
TE/\0~.
,,
ELYJ
~
0
' av
.,, ,...,
TOVTO, EL TWV fLEV
, ,... '
20 apxa£wv EAaTTOV~ ai crva-raa-EL~ EiEv, 1Tpo~ 8€ TO
7TAij8o~ TpaycpDLWV TWV EL~ fLLav aKpoaa-LV TL8EfLEVWV

1 DE rec.: yap AB

aAesch. wrote a play with this title, on the contested award of

Achilles' arms, after his death, to Odysseus rather than Ajax
(TrGF III 288). b P. was fetched from Lemnos to Troy, for
the sake of his bow (once Heracles'); cf. Soph. Phil.
c N., son of Achilles, was brought to fight at Troy after his
father's death.

118
 POETICS 24

more than eight from the Little Iliad-namely, Judge-

ment of Arms,a Philoctetes,b Neoptolemus,c Eurypylus,d
Begging Episode,e Spartan Women/ Sack of Troy, and
The Fleefs Departure, as well as Sinong and Trojan
Women.h
XXIV Moreover, epic should encompass the same types as
tragedy,i namely simple, complex, character-based, rich in
suffering; it has the same components, except for lyric
poetry and spectacle, for it requires reversals, recogni-
tions, and scenes of suffering, as well as effective thought
and diction. All of which Homer was the first to employ,
and employed proficiently. Of his poems, the Iliad's
structure is simple and rich in suffering, while the
Odyssey is complex (it is pervaded by recognition) and
character-based. In addition, each excels all epics in dic-
tion and thought.
Epic is distinct in its size of structure and its metre. As
for length~ the definition already givenj is adequate, since
it should be possible for beginning and end to be held in a
coherent view. This will be feasible with plot structures
shorter than the early epics, but equivalent to the length

d A Trojan ally killed by N eoptolemus; possibly a Sophoclean

subject (TrGF IV 195).
e Odysseus entered Troy disguised as a beggar; cf. Hom. Od.
4.244 ff.
f Helen and her maids, who helped Odysseus and Diomedes
steal the Palladium from Troy; a Sophoclean title (TrGF IV 328).
g S. was the Greek who tricked the Trojans into taking the
Wooden Horse into the city; Soph. wrote a Sinon (TrGF IV 413).
h Cf. Eur. Tro.
i Cf. 55b32-56a3, with nn.
j See ch. VII, esp. 51a9-15.

119
 ARISTOTLE
,
1TapYJKOtEV. ,,
EXEt ~' ' ' ' , () ' ,
oE 1rpor; TO E1TEKTEtVEo- at To J.LeyE-
LJ
uor; \ ' 'Tt YJe E1T01TOtta
11'01\V ' ' ''~ ~ ' 'TO
tOtOV ota '
EV
'
J.LEV
'
'TYJ"" Tpa-
yq>DLft J.L~ f.v8ixEo-0at aJ.La 1TpaTTOJ.LEVa 1ro'A'Aa J.LEPYJ
25 J.LLJ.LELo-Oat a'A'Aa 'TO E1TL Tijr; O"'KYJVi}~ KaL 'TWV V1TOKpt-
TWV fLEpor; J.LOVOV" EV 8€ TV E1T01TOtiq. Ota 'TO Dt~YYJO"'tV
Elvat EO"''Tt 7To'A'Aa J.LEPYJ aJ.La 1TOtELV 1TEpatVOJ.LEVa, vcp'
WV
1' OtKEtWV
' / OV'TWV
'' avs
'' (; E'Tat 0e 'TOV"" 1TOtYJJ.LaTOr;
' oyKor;.
''

~' "" ' ,, ' ' LJ' , \ / '

wo-TE rovr EXEt TO ayauov Etr; J.LEyai\01TpE1TEtav Kat
TO' fLE'TafJa/\1\EtV
Q '\ \ '
'TOV ' ,
aKOVOV'Ta ~
Kat' E1TEtO"'OOtOVV
' "" '
avo-
30 fLOLOtr; E1TEt0"'00LOtr;• TO yap OfLOtOV Taxv 1TAYJpovv
'
EK1Tt7T'TEtV
/
1TOtEt"" Tar; ' Tpayq>otar;. ~,
'TO' OE ~' ,
fLE'TpOV TO'
~~
YJpWtKOV
e '
a1TO
' '
TYJr;
""
1TEtpar;
'
YJPJ.LOKEV. Et' yap'
'Ttr; EV
'

a'A.'A.q> 'TtVL J.LETpq> DtYJYYJJ.La'TtK~V J.LLJ.LYJO"'tV 1TOtOL'TO ~ EV

\ \ ""
11'01\1\0tr;, ' ' av
a1TpE7TEr; .,, 'PatVOt'TO"
A-. ' 'TO' yap
' e
YJpWtKOV'
O"'Ta-
,
(JtjLW'Tc;t'TOV Kat' ,oyKWOEa-Ta'TOV
~, ""
'TWV ,
fLE'TpWV ' , (~'
EO"''TtV OtO
35 Kat' yi\WTTar;
\, Kat' J.LET_a'Popar;
A-. ' ~,
oEXETat '\
J.Lal\ta-Ta ·
1TEptrr~ yap Ka'i ravrn 1 i} DtYJYYJJ.LaTtK~ J.LLJ.LYJO"'t~ Twv
a'A'Awv ), TO 8€ lafi{3E'iov Kat 'TETPUJ.LETpov KtVYJ'TtKa
Kat' TO' J.LEV
' opxYJa-TtKOV
' ' TO' OE~'
1TpaK'TtKOV. , ,, OE
E'Tt ~' '
aT0-
1460a 1TW'TEpov el jLtyvvot 'Ttr; avTa, W(J1TEp Xatp~J.LWV. Dto
'~ '
OVOEtr; J.LaKpav ,
' O"'Va-TaO"'tV EV' a/\1\q>
''\ \ ,
1TE1TOtYJKEV YJ.,, Tq>""
i}p~q>, d'A'A' W0"'1TEp Et1TOJ.LEV avT~ T] cpva-tr; 8t8aa-KEt
ro apJ.Lorrov avrfl alpe'ia-Oat. 2
~'0 ~ ' ,, \ \ \ \ ' as ,, (; to~ E1TatVEta-uat
' "" LJ Kat'
5 J.LYJpor; oE a/\1\a TE 11'01\1\a
8~ KaL OTt J.LOVO~ 'TWV 7TOLYJ'TWV OVK ayvoEt 0 DEL 1TOt-

1 ravrn add. Twining

2 atpE~a-Oat Bonitz: Otatp- AB

120
 POETICS 24

of a group of tragedies offered at one hearing. a But epic

has special scope for substantial extension of size,
because tragedy does not allow multiple sections of action
to be represented as they occur, but only the one on stage
involving the actors; whereas in epic, given the narrative
mode, it is possible for the poem to include many simulta-
neous sections, which, if integral, enhance the poem,s
dignity. So this gives epic an asset for the development of
grandeur, variety for the hearer, and diversity of episodes,
whereas sameness soon cloys and causes tragedies to
founder.h As for metre, the hexameter has proved apt by
experience. If one were to compose a narrative mimesis
in some other metre, or in several, the incongruity would
be plain, since the hexameter is the most stately and dig-
nified of metres (hence its great receptivity to loan words
and metaphors:c in this respect too narrative mimesis is
exceptional), while the iambic trimeter and trochaic
tetrameter are rhythms for movement, the latter suiting
dancing, the former action. d Still more absurd would be a
mixture of these metres, as in Chairemon. e This is why no
one has composed a long epic structure other than in the
hexameter; but as I said, f the genre,s own nature teaches
poets to choose what is apt for it.
Homer deserves praise for many other qualities, but
especially for realising, alone among epic poets, the place

a This suggests an epic of about 4,500 lines, much shorter

than the Homeric poems, which must be meant by ..early epics."
b See on 55a28. c Cf. 59a9-ll.
d Cf. 49a21-7. e See 47b21-2.
f The point was made for tragedy's metre at 49a24; .. experi-

I· ence" at 59b32 above may imply the same point.

121
 ARISTOTLE

ELV aVTOV. aVTOV yap DEL TOV 1TOLYJTTJV €'AaxurTa

AEYELV" ov yap EO"TL KaTa TaVTa fLLfLYJT~~- oi fLEV oilv
"''\ \ , ' , ~ ' . .,\ , /r ,. . ~,
aAAOL aVTOL fLEV OL OAOV ayWVLsOVTaL, fLLfLOVVTaL OE
'\ / ' '\ / c ~' '\ / ,./.. /
OALya KaL OALyaKL~· 0 OE OALya 'PPOLfLLaO"afLEVO~

10 Evev~ Eta-ayEL av8pa ~ yvvaLKa ~ aAAo TL ~eo~, Ka'i

ov8€v' arr}eYJ aAA' €xovTa ~eo~. 8EL fLEV o15v EV TaL~
Tpayq>8iaL~ 1TOLELv To eavp.,aa-Tov, p.,aAAov 8' €v8€xE-
, ,.... ' / ' -'I\ 1 ~ ' (.\ (.:} /
TaL EV TYJ €1T01TOLL(/;- TO aAoyov, OL 0 O"VP.,tJaLVEL
/\ ~ ' c ,.... , '
p.,aALa-Ta TO' L} /
uavp.,aa-Tov, oLa TO' p.,YJ' opav EL~ TOV
/
1TpaTTOVTa , ' Ta' 1TEpL' TYJV
• €1TEL ' . .,E KTOpO~ ~/ t
OLWs , '
LV E1TL
15 O"KY]Vi]~ OVTa yEAOLa av cpavELYJ, oi fLEV EO"TWTE~ Ka'i
, ~ / c ~' , / , ~' ,.... .)/ \
OV OLWKOVTE~, 0 OE avaVEVWV, EV OE TOL~ E1TEO"LV AaV-
fJ/ ' ~' L} ' C~/ ,.... ~/ /
uaVEL. TO 0€ uavp.,aa-TOV YJOV" O"YJfLELOV OE, 1TaVTE~

yap 1Tpoa-TLeEVTE~ a1Tayyf.AAova-LV W~ xapL,OfLEVOL.

8E8i8ax€v 8€ p.,aALa-Ta '-"'Op.,YJpO~ Ka'i TOV~ aAAov~
l/-JEv8ij AEYELV w~ 8EL. f('TTL 8€ TOVTO 1Tapa'AoyLa-p.,6~ .
.)/ ' c .)/ L} ..., ~' .)/ ~' 9 .,,
20 OLOVTaL yap OL avu pW1TOL, OTaV TOVOL OVTO~ TOOL YJ YJ
/ / , , ..., _,, '' /
yLvop.,Evov YLVYJTaL, EL TO va-TEpov Ea-TLV, KaL TO 1Tpo-
TEpov ElvaL ~ yivEa-eaL· TOVTo 8€ €a-TL l/-JEv8o~. 8Lo
8EL, av TO 1TpWTOV l/-JEv8o~, aAAo 2 8€ TOVTOV OVTO~
avayKYJ ElVaL ~ YEVEa-eaL ij, 3 1Tpoa-eELVaL· 8La yap TO
TOVTO EtOEVat aAYJeE~ ov 1TapaAoyt,ETaL ~p.,wv ~ lf;vxTj
' ' ,.... c .)/ /~ ~' , ' ,
25 KaL TO 1TpWTOV W~ OV. 1TapaoEtyp.,a OE TOVTOV TO EK
,. . N/ ,. . n / ~ ,. . , ~ / , /
TWV L1TTpwv. 1TpOaLpELa-uaL ,TE OEL aovvaTa ELKOTa

1 aA.oyov Vettori: avaA.oyov AB

2 aA.A.o 8E cod. Robortelli: aA.A.ov 8E A: dA.A.' ov8E BA 2
3 {J Jortin: Y, AB

122
 POETICS 24

of the poefs own voice. For the poet should say as little as
possible in his own voice, as it is not this that makes him a
mimetic artist. a The others participate in their own voice
throughout, and engage in mimesis only briefly and occa-
sionally, whereas Homer, after a brief introduction, at
once "brings onto stage~~b a man, woman, or other figure
(all of them rich in character). In tragedy one needs to
create a sense of awe, but epic has more scope for the
irrational (the chief cause of awe), because we do not
actually see the agent. The entire pursuit of Hector, c if
put on stage, would strike us as ludicrous-with the men
standing and refraining from pursuit, and Achilles forbid-
ding them-but in epic this goes unnoticed. Awe is plea-
surable: witness the fact that all men exaggerate when
relating stories, to give delight. It is above all Homer who
has taught other poets the right way to purvey falsehoods:
that is, by fal~e inference. When the existence or occur-
rence of b follows from that of a, people suppose that, if b
is the case, a too must exist or be occurrent; but this is
false. So, if the antecedent .is false, but were it true some
further fact would necessarily exist or occur, the poet
should supply the latter: because it knows the truth of the
consequent, our mind falsely infers the truth of the
antecedent too. One example of this comes from the
Bath Scene. d Things probable though impossible should

a This passage appears, through overstatement, to deny (con-

tra 48a22-3) that narrative is a mode of mhnesis.
bAr. uses a theatrical term to highlight Homer's «dramatic"
quality; cf. 48b35-6. c Il. 22.131 ff (esp. 205-6).
d Cf. on 54b30; Ar. may mean Penelope's false inference, at
Od. 19.249-50 (cf. 215-19), that the stranger had really seen
Odysseus.

123
 ARISTOTLE
r
"" \ \
f.Lai\1\0V YJ.,, ovvaTa
~ ' a1Tt/() ava · TOV~ TE 1\0yov~
) / \ /
J.LYJ' crvv-
ia-Taa-Oat EK J.LEpwv aA.6ywv, aAAa J.LaAtCT'Ta fLEV
J.LYJDEV EXEtV aAoyov, El 8€ f.L~, €tw 'TOV J.LVOE'vJ.La'TO~,
~~
W(J"1TEp 0 t0t1TOV~
'~ /
'TO' fLY}' EtOEVat
'~ / "" ( A atO~
1TW~ 0
/ ' /() a-
a1TE
30 VEV, aAAa J.LTJ EV 7cp Dpap_,aTt, WCT1TEp EV 'HAEK7p~ oi
Ta ITvlha a1Tayy€AAOV'TE~ ~ EV MvcroL~ 0 acpwvo~ EK
T EyEa~ / ) ' 1\..4" /
Et~ 'TY}V J.nVa-taV YJKWV.
~' ~'
WCT'TE 'TO' 1\EyEtV
\ / ~/
O'Tt
aviJpYJ'TO av 0 J.LV()o~ yEAOLOV" €t apxfJ~ yap ov DEL
a-vvia-Tao-Oat 'TOtOV'TOV~. av 8€ Ofl Ka'i cpaiVYJ'Tat 1
~~
EVJ\OYWTEpW~ EVOEXECT at, Kat a'T01TOV" E7TEt Kat Ta EV
'\ ' ) () ':J/ , ' ' ')

35 '0 OVCTCTEt~
~ ' al\oya "' \ Ta' 1TEpt' TYJV
' E"' K{) Ea-tV W~ e
OVK
'
av
.,,
YJV
-;-

aVEK'Ta DfjAov av y€vot'TO, Ei aVTa cpavAo~ 1TOtY]'TTJ~

1460b 7TOt~CTEtE" vvv DE 'TOL~ aAAot~ aya0oL~ o
1TOtYJTTJ~
acpavt,Et ~Dvvwv 'TO a'T01TOV. Ti] 8€ AEtEt DEL Dta1TO-
VELV El! 'TOL~ apyoL~ J.LEpEa-tv Ka'i J.L~'TE i}OtKOL~ J.L~'TE
DtaVOY]'TtKOL~· a1ToKpV1T'T~t yap 1TaAtv ~ A.iav Aap,1Tpa
5 \ / ct~ Ta/ TE YJ"' () YJ Kat' Ta~
1\E~ ' otavota~.
~ '
XXV IIEp'i 8€ 1Tpof3A.'YjJ.LaTwv Ka'i A.vo-Ewv, EK 1rocrwv TE
)~"" 1" ~' .,,
Kat' 1TOtwv '
Etowv ,
ECT'TtV, wo av () Ewpovcrtv"" /
yEvotT ' .,,
av
cpavEpov. €1rE'i yap €o-Tt p,tf.LYJTTJ~ 1TOtYJTTJ~ wa-1TEpa- o
vE'i 'wypacpo~ 1} Tt~ aAAo~ EiKOV01TOtO~, avayKYJ
J.LLJ.LELCT0at 7ptwv OV'TWV 'TOV aptOJ.LOV EV 'Tt UEL, ~ yap
10 ota ~v ~ ECTTtv, ~ ota cpacrtv Kat DoKEL, ~ ota Eivat
1 DE Ofl BA 2: De8fl A: DE Te8fl cod. Robortelli

a OT 112-13; cf. 54b6-8.

Soph. El. 680 ff; the objection may be to the anachronism of
h
Pythian Games in the mythological setting.

124
 POETICS 25

be preferred to the possible but implausible. Stories

should not comprise irrational components; ideally there
should be no irrationality, or, failing that, it should lie out-
side the plot (as with Oedipus> ignorance of how Laius
died),a not inside the drama (as with those who report
events at Delphi in Electra, b or the silent figure who
comes from Tegea to Mysia in the Mysians).c The excuse
that the plot would have been ruinedd is ridiculous; one
should not construct plots like this in the first place. If a
poet posits an irrationality, and a more rational alternative
is apparent, this is an absurdity. Even the irrational
details in the Odyssey about the putting ashoree would
patently be intolerable if an inferior poet were to handle
them; as it is, Homer uses his other qualities to soften and
disguise the absurdity. The poet should elaborate his dic-
tion especially in quieter passages which involve no char-
acterisation or thought; a highly brilliant diction, on the
other hand, obscures characte~ and thought.
XXV With problemsf and their solutions, the following con-
siderations will clarify their number and their types.
Since the poet, like a painter or any other image-maker, is
a mimetic artist, he must represent, in any instance, one
of three objects: the kind of things which were or are the
case; the kind of things that people say and think; the kind

c A ref. to the long period of silence endured by Telephus in

the Mysians of either Aesch. or Soph.
d Sc. without one of these elements.
e Of Odysseus by the Phaeacians: 13.116 ff.

I f Ch. XXV may summarise points from Ar.'s (lost) Homeric

Problems in six books.
I
I

I 125
 ARISTOTLE
r
DEL. ravra 8' E~ayy€AAE7at AE~Et €v 1 n Kat y'Awrrat 2
Kat' f.LE'Tao/opat
,./.,. ' Kat' 1TOI\I\a
\ \ ' 1Ta/() 'Y} "" \ / c
'T'Y}~ /\€~ EW~
/ '
E(J"''Tt.
8£8of.LEV yap ravra ro'L~ 1TOt7Jra'L~. 1rpo~ S€ rovrot~
OVX TJ aVTTJ opfJOT'Y}~ Ea-TtV r..q~ 1TOAt'TtK..q~ Kat r..q~
1TOt'Y}'TtK..q~ ov8€ a'AA 'Y}~ TEXV'YJ~ Kat 1TOt'Y}'TtK..q~. avr..q~
15 8€ r..q~ 1TOt'Y}TtK..q~ 8trr7} af.Lapria, 1] f.LEV yap Ka8'
~ /
aV'T'Y]V, 'Y~J OE
<;:- '
KaTa' (J"'VfL(3 E(3 YJKO~.
/ Et' fLEV
' yap
' 1Tp0Eti\E'TO
/\
f.Ltf.1/rl(J"'aa-8at * * *3 aOvVaf.Ltav, avr..q~ 1] Uf.Laprta. el
<;:-' ~I
OE 'TO' 1Tp0Ef\E(J"'uat
\ / {)
fLY}' ' {)""
opuw~,
'\ \ '
a/\1\a '
'TOV 31 ,./.,.
t1T1TOV afLo/W
ra OE~LCX 1Tpof3ef3AYJKO'Ta, ~ 'TO Ka()' EKU(J"''T'Y}V TEXVYJV
20 Uf.LUPTYJf.La, oiov 'TO Kar·' larptKTJV ~ aAAYJV TEXVYJV 4
~ {)' ~ ~I <;:- ""
Ta' E1Tt'TtfLY}fLaTa
' /
""
01TOtaVOVV, OV' Kau
/
EaVTYJV. W(J"''TE OEt
'
EV ""
'TOt~ 1rp0{3\1\Y}f.Laa-tV
/ ' 'TOV'TWV
EK / ' ""
E1Tt(J"'K01TOVV'Ta \ /
1\VEtV.
1TpWTOV f.LEV Ta 1Tpo~ avr~v 'T~V TEXVYJV" aovvara
a'A'A' op8w~ EXEt, el rvyxavEt
1TE1TOt'Y}'Tat, TJf.LUPTYJTat•
rov"" TEI\OV~
/\
rov"" aVTYJ~
e ""
. ( TO' yap
' /\
TEI\O~ EtpY}Tat , Et :!II ) '

25 OV'TW~ EK1T A'Y}K'TtKWTEpov ~ avro ~ a'A'Ao 1TOtEL fLEpo~.

1Tapa8etyfLa roD ~~EKropo~ 8iw~t~. el fLEVTot ro
1]
rE.'Ao~ Tj fLUAAov 5 ~ fLTJ -Y]rrov EVEOEXETo V1Tapxetv Kat
1 '
EV Y11'B : 'Y}~'A
2
yA.wrrat KaL fLEracpopaL Menardos: -a KaL -a B: yA.wrratc;
KaL fLETacpopals A
3 lacunam stat. et opfJwc;, YJfLUpTE o' EV 7~ jLtjLi}o-ao-fJat
suppl. Vahlen
4
post rexvYJV seq. ~ dovvara 1TE1TOiYJrat in AB: secl. Duen-
tzer (~ dovva ra non vertit Lat.)
5 fLOwAAov ~ fL~ .ryTTOV Ueberweg: fLOwAAov av ~ .ryTTOl' B:
fLaAAov ,.qrrov A

126
r POETICS 25

of things that oughta to be the case. These are conveyed

in a diction which includes loan words, metaphors, and
many stylistic abnormalities: we allow poets these. More-
over, poetry does not have the same standard of correct-
ness as politics,b or as any other art. In poetry as such,
there are two kinds of fault: one intrinsic, the other inci-
dental. If the poet chose to represent <correctly, but
failed through>c incapacity, the fault lies in his art. But if
the choice is not correct, but (say) to show the horse with
both right legs thrown forward,d or a technical mistake
(e.g. in medicine or any other art), the fault is not
intrinsic. e So it is on these principles that one should
examine and resolve the criticis1ns contained in problems.
First, cases involving the art itself. Say a poem con-
tains impossibilities: this is a fault. But it is acceptable if
the poetry achieves its goal (which has been stated),f that
is, if it makes this or some other part of the work more
thrilling. An example is the purs.uit of Hector.g But if the
goal could be achieved better, or no less well, without

a In moral or ideal terms; cf. 60b33 ff.

h Politike, Ar.'s general term for the ethics of both public and
private life; cf. 50b6-7.
c Without some such supplement, the passage's sense is lost.
d Not, in fact, a physical impossibility, ctr. Ar. De incessu
anim. 712a24-30.
e Contrast Pl. Ion 537a ff.
fAr. probably means various remarks about plot-construction
(e.g. 50a22-3) and emotional qualities of both tragedy and epic.
g I.e. the scene (cf. 60al4-16) is dramatically thrilling,
despite allegedly "irrational" elements.

127
 T

ARISTOTLE

KaTa T~V 1TEpt TOVTWV TEXVYfV, OVK 1 op8w~· 8e'i yap EL

€v8€xeTat o'Aw~ fL'YJ8aJ.LiJ ~J.LapT~a-eaL. ETL 1TOTEpwv
EU"TL TO UfLUPT'YJJ.La, 'TWV KaTa T~V TEXV'YJV ~ KaT' aAAo
~ ,, \ ' ' ' ,, ~ ~~ ,, \ ,. /.,.
30 U"VfL f3 Ef3 TJKO~; €1\aTTOV yap EL fLTJ Y70EL OTt €1\a'PO~

(}T]A.eta KEpaTa OVK EXEL ~ EL afLLfLTJTW~ €ypatf;ev.

1Tpo~ 8€ TOVTOL~ €av E1TLTLfLU'Tat OTt OVK aA'YJB-ry, d'AA.'
ta-w~ w~ 2 8e'i, oiov Kat !oc/JoKA -ry~ EcPTJ aVTO~ fLEV
OLOV~
~I ~ ,...,
OEL 1TOLELV,
""' E,vpt1TLOYJV
~~ 3 ~' "e' , ~ ~
OE OtOt EUTtV, TaVTY7
\ ~ '~' ~ ~ t':l ~I ,../.,. ~ "e' '
1\VTEOV. Et OE fL'YJOETEpW~, OTt OVTW 'PaU"tV, OtOV Ta
35 1TEpt' (} EWV"
""' ''tU"W~ yap
' OVTE
-'I f3 €/\\ TtOV
~ ~~
OVTW \
/\EyE tV
I -'I '
OVT
'\
aA'YJ (}""' '\\'
YJ, a/\1\ Et' - 'ETVXEV
I t':/
wa-1rep - ,../.,.~
:=.evo'Pavet· '\\'
aAI\ "'4
ovv
146la ,. /.,.
'Paa-t. Ta ' ~'
OE tU"W~
,, OV ' f3 €/\TLOV
~\ ~
fLEV, a/\1\ OVTW~
t':/ ,\ \ '
Et"' XEV,
"e' ' ' ""' t':l \ (( ,, ~ ~ ,../.,. ,, (}' , '
OLOV Ta 1TEpt TWV 01TI\WV, eyxea OE U"'PtV op E1Tt
,..., ,, t':l ' ~ ' , ~ '/ t':l '
a-avpWT'YJPO~ • OVTW yap TOT EVOfLt«::,OV, WU"1TEp Kat
vvv 'IA.A.vptoL. 1rep'i 8€ Tov Ka'Aw~ ~ fL~ Ka'Aw~ el 5
,, ~ .,, ~ , ~ ~ ,
Etp'Y]Tat TLVL 'Y} 1TE1TpaKT.at, ov fLOVOV a-KE1TTEov EL~

5 avTo TO 1TE1TpayJ.LEVOV ~ ELPYJJ.LEVOV {3Ae1TOVTa EL

~ ""' .,, ,../.,. ""'\ . ' \ \ ' ' , ' ~ .,,
U"1TOVOaLOV 'YJ 'PaVI\OV, a/\1\a Kat Et~ TOV 1TpaTTOVTa TJ
A.f.yovTa 1rpo~ ov ~ oTE ~ OT<fJ ~ oil evEKEv, oiov el
I 'f -' (} ""' t':/ ~ .,, ~ 'f ""' t':/
fLEtsovo~ aya ov, tva yEVYJTat, 'Y} fLEtsovo~ KaKov, tva
' ~
a1TOYEVTJTaL.

1 ante ovK habent iJJLaprYja-8at (riJJL- B, f.Lapr- A 1) AB: del.

Ussing
2
w~ add. Vahlen
3 Evpt1TL?)YJv Heinsius: -DYJ~ AB
4 ovv Tyrwhitt: ov AB
5 el Spengel: T] A: om. B

128
 POETICS 25

infringing the relevant art, it does matter: since, if possi-

ble, there should be no faults. Next, ask what the fault
pertains to-the realm of poetic art, or something inci-
dental? For it is less serious not to know that a female
deer has no horns, than to depict one unconvincingly.a In
addition, if the criticism is that something is false, well
perhaps it is as it oughth to be, just as Sophocles saidc he
created characters as they ought to be, Euripides as they
really are. If neither solution fits, there remains the prin-
ciple that people say such things, d for example in religion:
perhaps it is neither ideal nor true to say such things, but
maybe it is as Xenophanese thought; no matter, people do
say them. Other details may not be ideal, but were once
like this; for instance, in the case of the weapons, ''their
spears stood erect on the butt-spiken :f this was then their
custom, as it still is among Illyrians. When the question is
whether or not someone has spoken or acted well, one
should examine not only whether. the actual deed or utter-
ance is good or bad, but also the identity of the agent or
speaker, to whom he acted or spoke, when, with what
means, and for what end-namely, whether to occasion
greater good, or avert greater evil.

a Lit. «unmimetically," which implies (again) that mimetic

standards are irreducible to factual fidelity.
h See 60b11.
c Where or when is unknown.
d Cf. 60b10.
e Polemical philosopher-poet, c. 570-475: see frs. 11-16 DK
for satire of anthropomorphic beliefs, fr. 30 for denial of religious
knowledge.
f Hom. Il. 10.152; cf. Ar. fr. 383 Gigon/ 160 Rose.

129
 r
ARISTOTLE

Ta DE 1Tpo~ TTJV AE~LV opwvTa DEL DtaAVELV, oiov

10 y'AwTTYJ TO eeovp1]a~ fLEV 1TpWTov''. ta-w~ yap ov TOV~
e / \ / '\ \ ' ' ,./.... ~'\ ' ' A~'\
TJfLLOVOV~ 1\EYEL al\1\a TOV~ o/VJ\aKa~· Kat TOV uOJ\WVa,
(( t:l (' .-;- .-;- ~ ' 3/ / " ' ' ""' ' /
0~ p TJ TOL ELOO~ fLEV ETJV KaKO~ , OV TO a-WfLa aa-VfL-
fLETpOV d'A'Aa TO 1Tpoa-W1TOV ala-xpov, TO yap EVELDE~
ot
e K PTJTE~
,. ., '
TO
' "
EV1Tpoa-w1Tov Kai\OVa-t· Kat TO
\ ,. ., r /'
, ee swpoTE-
15 ~'
pov OE /
KEpatE "
OV' TO' aKpaTOV
"'
W~
( ' ~'A.,.\
OLVOo/1\V~ c LV al\1\a
'\ \' TO'
Ll ""' ~' A... ' "'
uaTTOV. TO' OE KaTa' fLETao/opav ELpTJTat, 'e'
OLOV (( /
1TaV-
TE~l fLEV pa fJEoL TE KaL avEpE~ 2 EilDov 1Tavvvxtot".
cl
afLa oE o/TJa-tv
~ / ,./.... ee -';'
TJ Tot oT
cl ' '
E~ 1TEOtov TO
~/ ' ' a' 0pTJ-
T pwtKov /
'\""' / Cl ~ )) ' ' /
a-ELEV, aVJ\WV a-vptyywv TE OfLaOOV . TO yap 1TaVTE~

' ' TOV

avTt ""' 1TOJ\J\OL
\ \ / KaTa' fLETao/opav
A... ' "'
ELPTJTaL, TO' yap
'

20 1TaV 1TOAV TL. KaL TO ((OLTJ D' afLfLOpo~" KaTa fLETacP0-

1 ~'
pav, TO' yap
' /
yvwptfLWTaTOV /
fLOVOV. KaTa' OE 1TpOa-qJ-
~/
OLaV, (J!(J1TEp
cl el 1T1Tta~
/ EJ\VEV
"' \ 0
e 8 aa-to~,
/ TO
' <:e OLOOfLEV
~ /~ ~
OE
/
e -;-
OL EVXO~

"' f3 PCfJ " .

OfL
~' Ll / '
OE UVTJT

1 1ravrE~ Graefenhan: ([A.'A.ot AB

2 avEpE~ AB: dv. L7T7TOKOpVO"TUL Arab., Lat.

Hom. Il. 1.50; the issue was why Apollo would have sent the
a
plague first upon animals. But oureis, unlike ouroi, does mean
"mules," as also at 10.84.
b Hom. Il. 10.316; the "problem" stemmed from the continu-
ation, "but was swift of foot."
c Hom. Il. 9.203; Greeks rarely drank undiluted wine.
d Hom. Il. 10.1-2, garbled (but cf. 2.1-2), and 10.11, 13: "he
marvelled at" is in Homer but not Ar.'s quotation.

130
 POETICS 25

Some problems should be resolved by reference to

diction, such as the use of a loan word in "first against the
oureis .. .":a perhaps he does not mean the mules, but the
guards. And with Dolan, "who in form [eidos] was poor,,,h
perhaps he does not mean his body was misshapen, but
his face was ugly, since the Cretans call facial beauty euei-
des. And "mix it stronger"c may not imply neat wine for
topers, but mixing faster. Other points involve metaphor;
for instance, ~~an gods and men slept through the night,,,
yet at the same tirne he says ~~whenever he gazed at the
Trojan plane, he marvelled at the din of reed pipes and
panpipes" :d ~~air' has been said metaphorically for ~~many,"
as all is a kind of multiplicity.e Likewise "alone without a
share"f is n1etaphorical, since "alone" means ~~best
known."g Accentuation, as in Hippias of Thasus' solu-
tions, affects ~~we grant him to achieve his prayer,"h and
"the part rot:ted by rain.,'i Others are solved by punctua-
tion, such as Empedocles, ~~at OJ?-Ce things became mortal

e Cf. 57b11-13, metaphor ~'from species to genus."

f Hom. Il. 18.489, Od. 5.275 (the Bear constellation, which
"alone" never sets).
g Metaphor from species ("unique") to genus ("notable"); cf.
57b11-13.
h Cf. Hom. Il. 21.297, but the ref. is to 2.15 (see Soph. El.
166b6-8); a change of accent makes "we granf' into (imperative)
"grant": the (tortuous) aim is to exculpate Zeus of deception at Il.
2.15. Hippias cannot be identified with confidence.
i Hom. Il. 23.328: change of accent (and breathing) produces
a preferable negative, "which is not rotted by rain"; cf. Sop h. El.
166b3-6.

131
 T

ARISTOTLE

25 r ' 1 TE 1Tptv
swpa ' KEKPTJTO
' ~'
" . 2 ra' oE ' ,.~.... Q
ap."-t-'LfJOJ\.L~,
\ ' ee '
1Tapcp-
~ ' \ / / (;" ' ' \ / , ,./.. / Q \ / ,
XYJKEV oE 1T1\.EW vvc; • ro yap 1T1\.ELW afL'f-'LtJO"-OV Ea-T LV.
Ta' ~'
OE KaTa' '
TO 'If) 0~
E TTJ~
'"' \ / (; Ew~·
1\.Ec; '
TOV /
KEKpafLEVOV
"' / ,.1..
OLVOV '1-'aa-LV ELVaL, 0
"' ~:1(}
EV 1TE1TOLTJTaL
/ ee
KVTJfLL~
'
VEOTEV-
/

'
KTOV Kaa-a-LTEpOLO " • KaL' \ /
xai\.KEa~ TOV~
' ' (.TLOTJpOV
TOV /~

f.pya'OfLEVOV~, of)Ev ELPTJTaL 0 raVVfL~DTJ~ Lltt olvoxo-

30 '
EVELV, OV' 1TLVOVTWV
' "'
OLVOV. '1 0~' a.,' v TOVTO
ELTJ '"' ' YE Kai" 3

Ka ra fLEra¢o pav.
~'"' ~' ' ~I 'I / <: / / ~ '"'
OEL OE KaL OTaV OVOfLa TL V1TEVaVTLWfLa TL OOKYJ
/ , '"' '"' .,, / '"'
(.TT}fLaLVELV, E1TL(.TK01TELV 1TOa-axw~ av (.TT}fLTJVELE TOVTO
EV ret> ElpYJfLEVC[), oiov rii>
4 e<:TD Ea-XETO xaAKEOV p'
€yxo~" ro ravrn KwAvf)iJvaL 1roa-axw~ €v8€xEraL,
e ~' .,, <: ~ / e /\ ' 'I <: \ / Q ' '
WOL TJ WOL, W~ fLaJ\.L(.TT av TL~ V1TOJ\.afJOL. KaTa TTJV
35 KaTaVTLKpV TJ
, .,, <:
W~
r 1\.aVKWV
\ , \,
1\.EYEL,
~~
OTL EVLOL
'I s al\.oyw~
,\ ,
146lb 1TpOV1TOAafLf3avova-t TL Kat avrot KaratfJTJ¢La-afLEVOL
a-vAAoyt,OVTaL, Kat w~ ElpYJKOTO~ 0 TL DOKEL E1TLTLfLW-
.,, <: / "' ""' <: '"' , / '"' ~ '
a-LV, av V1TEVaVTLOV YJ TYJ aVTWV OLTJ(.TEL. TOVTO OE

1TE1TOV()E Ta 1TEpt . 'IKapLOV. OLOVTaL yap aVTOV

,
A aKWVa "' ,I "' ' , , ""'
ELVaL" aT01TOV OVV TO fLTJ EVTVXELV TOV
' T T}J\.E-
\,
5 , '"' , A aKEOaLfLOVa
fLaXOV aVTC[) EL~
~ , '\() ,
€1\. OVTa.
' ~' ,ILa-W~
TO 0

1
2
'wpa Vettori ex Athen. 423F: '~a AB
KEKP'YJTO A: KEKptTO BA 2
3 add. Heinsius (Arab.)
Kat 4 T~ Bywater: To AB
5 Evtot Vettori (Arab.): Evta AB

Fr. 35.14-15 DK (text disputed): the ambiguity is between

a
taking "previously" with "unmixed" or the verb.
h Hom. Il. 10.252; the context is "more ... than two thirds,
but a third is still left": it is uncertain whether Ar. wished "more

132
 POETICS 25

that previously had known immortality, and unmixed pre-

viously were mixed."a Others by ambiguity: in "more of
the night has passed,"h "more,, is ambiguous. Others
involve usage of diction. People still speak of "wine"
when it is mixed; so too with the phrase "a greave of new-
forged tin.,,c And as we call iron workers ~~bronzesmiths,~~
so too Ganymede is described as ~~pouring wine for
Zeus,~~d even though gods do not drink wine. The last
could also be a case of metaphor. e
When the sense of a word seems to entail a contradic-
tion, one should consider how many senses it could have
in the context: as in "by which the bronze spear was
stopped,~~f how many senses are possible for its being
blocked at this point, choosing the best assumption
between alternatives. This is the reverse of what
Glaucong describes, that some people adopt an unreason-
able premise, base inferences on their prejudgement,
and, if something contradicts their opinion, blame the
poet as though he had said what they merely suppose.
The issue of Icarius is a case in point: people think he was
a Laconian, so it is absurd Telemachus did not encounter
him when he went to Sparta.h But perhaps it is as the

than" to mean "the greater part of' or "full"; cf. fr. 385 Gigon/161
Rose.
c Hom. Il. 21.592: i.e. "tin" means "tin alloyed with copper."
d Cf. Hom. Il. 20.234; gods drink nectar.
e "By analogy": 57b16 ff.
f Hom. Il. 20.272; the problem is how a spear, having pene-
trated two layers of bronze, could be stopped by a presumably
outer layer of gold. Ar. gives no solution.
g Unidentifiable, but cf. Pl. Ion 530d. h In Hom. Od. bk.
4, where Icarius (Penelope's father) does not appear.

133
 ARISTOTLE

t:/
OVTW Kat' OTt
TE
t:l
1TOTE' OVK
' -'I\ I
al\oyov '
E(TTU'" ' '
EtKO~ yap
'

15 Kat' 1Tapa' TO' EtKO~

' ' ytvEa-
I f) at. Ta' 0~' V1TEVaVTtW~
1: I 3 EtpYJ-
'

fLEVa ovTw a-Ko1TEtv wa-1rEp oi f.v Tot~ 'Aoyot~ EAEyxot

Et'TO
'
avTo
' '
Kat' 1rpo~ ro avTo
' ' ' '
Kat' 1wa-avTw~,
: I
wa-TE
t:l
Kat'
avTov 4 :ry 1Tpo~ a aVTO~ AEyEt :ry 0 av cppoVtfLO~ V1TO-
'"'
f) YJTat. · op YJ
3 (}' ~' 3
0
I
E1TtTtfLY](Tt~ Kat' ai\OYLCf
3 \I 5 Kat' fLOX f) YJ-

pLCf, OTav fLTJ dvayKYJ~ •OV(TYJ~ fLYJOEv XPrrJ(TYJTat T~

20 d'Aoycy, wa-1TEP Evp.t1TLDYJ~ T~ AlyEt, ~ TV 1TOVYJpiq,,
W(T1TEp f.v 'Opf.a-TYJ T'fi 6 TOV MEvEAaov. Ta fLEV ofJv
E1TLTtfLrrJfLaTa EK 1TEVTE ELDWV cpE.pova-tv• :ry yap w~
' ~ I
aovvaTa YJ
.,, 1:
w~
-'/ \
aAoya YJ
.,, 1:
w~
f3 Aa
\ f3 Epa' YJ.,, 1:
w~
1:
V1TEvavTta
I

~ w~ 1Tapa TTJV op80TYJTa TTJV KaTa TEXVYJV. ai 8€

1
8,'a!LaPT'YJP-a Maggi (Lat.): 8"a11-apr'YJILa A
2
lacunanl stat. Vahlen: Ka~ 'la-w<; aovvarov suppl. Gomperz
(ex Arab.)
3 V1TEvavr[w<; Twining: V1TEvavria w<; A
4 avrov AB: A.vr€ov M. Schmidt
5 aA.oy[q- Ka~ !LOX{)'YJpLC[- Vahlen: -a ... -a A
6 rfj add. Vahlen

134
 POETICS 25

Cephalleniansa maintain: they say it was one of their peo-

ple Odysseus married, and the father's name was Icadius
not Icarius. That the problem is due to a mistake seems
likely. In general, impossibility should be referred to
poetic needs, to the ideal, or to popular belief. Poetic
needs make something plausible though impossible
preferable to what is possible but implausible. <It may be
impossible> that people should be as Zeuxish painted
them, but it is ideal, since a paragon should be of higher
stature. Refer irrationalities to what people say;c and
there is also the defence that they are sometimes not irra-
tional, since it is probable that improbable things occur. d
Contradictions should be scrutinised as with refutations
in argument, e to see whether the same is meant, in the
same relation, and in the same respect, so that the poet
himself contradicts either his own words or what an intel-
ligent person would assume. But criticism of both irra-
tionality and depravity is right w~en they are unnecessary
and no purpose is served by the irrationality (as with
Aegeus in Euripides)f or the wickedness (as with
Menelaus' in Orestes) .g So then, people make criticisms
of five types: that things are impossible, irrational,
harmful,h contradictory, or contrary to artistic stan-

a Cephallenia: island s.w. of (Odysseus') Ithaca.

b See on 50a27.
c Cf. 60bl0.
d Cf. 56a24-5.
e The subject of Ar.'s Sophistici Elenchi.
fEur. Med. 663 ff.
g Eur. Or. 356 ff, 1554 ff; cf. 54a29.
h This was implicit at 6la4-9; cf. e.g. Pl. Rep. 3.39lb4.

135
 ARISTOTLE

A.va-El8 EK Twv elp'YJP-EVUJV apLO P-WV a-KE7TTEaL. ELO"LV , '

25 8€ 8w8eKa.
(
XXVI IToTepov 8€ {3eA.Tiwv i} E7T07TOLLKTJ ILLIL'YJO"L~ ~ i}
I I~ }/ ' \ C'e' ,/....
TpayLK'YJ, OLa7TOp'YJO"€L€V av TL~. EL yap 'YJ 'YJTTOV o/op-
TLKTJ {3eA.Tiwv, ToLaVT'YJ 8' i} 7rpo~ {3eA.Tiov~ OeaTa~
EO"TLV aet, 1 1\Lav
' \ ~ ~\
'
O'Y}I\OVI ~~
OTL I ~~
'YJ a7ravTa C
1-LLP.,OVP.,EV'Y} 'Pop- I ,/....

c 1 \ ' '(} I .,, \ )\

TLK'YJ • UJ~ yap OVK aLa- aVO/LEVUJV av JL'YJ aVTO~
30 7rpoa-Ofl, 7TOAAT]v KLV'YJO"LV KLvovvTaL, oiov oi ¢avA.ot
'\ \ \ I .,, ~I ~I ~ (} \
aVI\'Y}TaL KVI\LOP.,EVOL av oLa-Kov VEYJ ILLP-Eta- aL, KaL
~~\ ' ,./... .,, ~
1\ \ , \ ~ ~
€1\KOVT€~ TOV Kopvo/aLOV av ~KVI\1\aV aVJ\UJO"LV. 'YcJ P.,EV
'

oilv Tpaycp8ia TOLaVT'Y} EO"TtV, w~ Kat Ot 7rp07€pov

TOV~ VO"TEpov~ aVTWV qJOVTO V7TOKpLTa~· w~ Atav yap
v7repf3aA.A.ovra 7Tt0'Y}Kov Mvvvia-Ko~ rov KaAAL7T7TL- o
35 8'YJv EKaAeL, roLaVT'YJ 8€ 86ga Kat 7rept ITLv8apov ~v·
w~ 8' OVTOL €xova-L 7rpo~ aVTOV~, i} OA'YJ TEXV'YJ 7rpo~
1462a ri}v E7T07ToLiav €xeL. TTJV. JLEV oilv 7rpo~ Oeara~ E7TLEL-
Ke'i~ cPaO"LV eivaL oi 2 ov8€v 8€ovTaL TWV O"X'YJJLclTUJV,
TTJV 8e TpayLKTJV 7TrJO~ cpavAov~· EL OfJV ¢opTLKTJ, XEL-
pwv 8i}A.ov OTL av EL'YJ. 7rpWTOV JLEV ov Ti}~ 7TOL'YJTLKi}~
5 T] KaT'Y}yopta dA.A.a Ti}~ v7ToKptTLKi}~, E7TEt €a-TL 7TEpL-
epya,ea-0aL To'i~ O"'YJP.,Etot~ Kat pat{lcp8ovvTa, o7rep 3
I ~ ~
~wa-La-rparo~, KaL ouz.,oovra, 07TEp E7TOLEL
"" ~I
' I M vaa-L eo~ , I I(}

0
'0 7TOVVTLO~.
C I
f.LTU OVO€ ~ I>;' ~I
' \ ,
KLV'Y}(JL~ a7raa-a U7TOOOKLp.,a-
~

1 de[, A.[av Vahlen: OELALav A

2ot Vettori (Arab.): om. A
3•' ' ' A: 'HTTL'diD
011'Ep HYTL e . Uentzer
a Attempts to make sense of this number have proved incon-
clusive.

136
 POETICS 26

dards. Solutions should be sought from the categories set

out, of which there are twelve. a
CXVI One might reasonably ask whether epic or tragic
mimesis is superior. If the less vulgar art is superior, and
if this is always the one addressed to a superior audience,
evidently the art which representsb everything is utterly
vulgar: here, in the belief that the spectators do not notice
anything unless the performer stresses it, they engage in
profuse movement (e.g. crude aulas playersc rolling
round to represent a discus, and mauling the chorus
leader if their music concerns Scylla).d Well, tragedy is
like this, just as with the earlier actors' views of their suc-
cessors: it was for an excessive style that Mynniscus
dubbed Callippides an "ape," and the same opinion was
also held about Pindarus. e As the later actors stand to the
earlier, so does tragic art as a whole to epic. People say
that the lat~er is addressed to decent spectators who have
no need of gestures, but tragedy to crude spectators; if,
then, tragedy is vulgar, it will evidently be inferior. Now,
in the first place, this charge applies not to poetry but to
acting, since one can overdo visual signals both in an epic
recital, like Sosistratus/ and in a singing display, as
Mnasitheusg the Opountian used to do. Secondly, not all

b Mimeisthai here implies full enactment; cf. Pl. Rep. 3.397a.

c See on 47a15.
d The musicians elaborate poetic themes with grotesque
movements; Scylla: see on 54a31.
e Mynniscus acted for Aesch., but also as late as 422 (DFA 2
pp. 93, 105, 112); Callippides belongs to the later 5th cent. (Xen.
Symp. 3.11, DFA 2 p. 94), as probably does Pindarus.
fAn unknown rhapsode.
gunknown.

137
 ARISTOTLE

dA.A.' ~ ¢avAwv, 01TEp Kat

O"TEa, EL1TEp f.J/Y)8' opxYJO"lS,
KaAAt1T1TL8YJ E1TETtfLaTO Kat vvv aAAot~ w~ OVK EAEV-
10 O€pa~ yvvatKa~ fLtfLOVfLEVWV. ETt ~ TpayqJ8ia Kat
"'
aVEV ' ,. . ' e .... r:t e'
KtVYJO"EW~ 7TOtEt TO aVTYJ~, W0"7TEp YJ E7T07TOUa •
'
~ '
ota ' TOV..... avaytvWO"KEtv
yap ' , ,/...
'PavEpa , EO"Ttv·
, Tt~
' 07Tota '(

EL o-Dv EO"Tt Ta y' aAAa KpELTTWV, TOVTO YE OVK

dvayKaLOV avTiJ V1TapxEtV. E1TEtTa 8toTt 1TaVT' EXEt
OO"a1TEp ~ E1T01TOtLa (Kat yap T/i> fLETP4J E~EO"Tt xpfj-
15 0"0at), Kat ETt ov fLtKpov fLEpo~ TTJV fLOVO"tKTjv Kat Ta~
"'·'·
O'PEt~, ~ '
Ot (~
1 at( YJOOVat
c.\
a~ ' O"VVtO"TaVTat
, ' ,
EVapyEO"TaTa.
EtTa Kat To f.vapy€s EXEt Kat f.v TV dvayvwO"Et 2 Kat
E1TL TWV epywv· ETt T/i> EVf.AaTTOVt fLrrJKEt TO TEAo~ Tfj~
fLtfLrrJO"Ew~ Etvat (To yap dOpowTEpov ij8tov 3 ~ 1roAA(i>
, ... , \ , ~' 1' :J/ ' 0 ,~,
1462b KEKpafLEVov T([J xpovqJ, 1\Eyw o otov Et Tt~ TOV tot-
1TOVV ()
EtYJ
'
TOV
'
~O'POKI\EOV~
""" ,/... \ '
EV
'
E1TEO"tV
"'
OO"Ot~
t:/
YJe 'J 1\ta~
\ ' )•
ETt i]T~ov fLLa 4~ fLLfLYJO"t~ ~ TWV E7T07Totwv ( O"YJfLEtov
8€, EK yap oTrotaO"ovv /LtfLrrJO"Ew~ TrAEiov~ TpayqJ8iat
5 ,
ytVOVTat ) t:/
, WO"TE ' '
EaV fLEV' t:/
EVa fLV""() OV 1TOtWO"tV,
.....
YJ.,, pa- f3
XEW~
, ~ , , ,/...' ()
oEtKVVfLEVOV fLVovpov 'PatVEO" at, YJ aKOI\OV-
.,, ' \
OovvTa T/i> TOV fLETpov fLrrJKEt v8apfj· A.€yw 8€ oiov f.av
EK 1TltEtOVWV 1Tpa~EWV nO"VYKEtfLEVYJ, W0"1TEp ~ 'IA.ta~
1 as coni. Vahlen: ,ry~ A
2 avayvwa-Et Maggi: avayvwpia-EL A
3 i}otov ~ Maggi: fotov ~ B: ~oovT] A
4
f.LLa ~ Spengel: ~ f.LLa AB

The point concerns acting style, not choice of roles; Callip-

a
pides: see 61b35.
bAr. probably thinks of reading aloud; cf. 50b18-19, 53b3-6.

138
1 POETICS 26

movement (any more than all dancing) should be

eschewed, but only that of crude performers, as with the
complaint levelled against Callippides and now other
actors, regarding portrayals of low women. a Besides,
tragedy achieves its effect even without actors, move-
ments, just like epic; reading makes its qualities clear. b So
if tragedy is otherwise superior, this defectc need not
adhere to it. Add the fact that tragedy possesses all epic,s
resources (it can even use its metre),d as well as having a
substantial role for musice and spectacle, which engender
the most vivid pleasures/ Again, tragedy has vividness in
both reading and performance. Also, tragedy excels by
achieving the goal of its mimesis in a shorter scope;
greater concentration is more pleasurable than dilution
over a long period: suppose someone were to arrange
Sophocles, Oedipus in as many hexameters as the Iliad.
Also, the mi~esis of epic poets is less unified (a sign of
this is that any epic yields several tragedies) ,g so that if
they compose a single plot, it will seem either truncated
(if its exposition is brief) or diluted (if it comports with
the length that suits epic metre).h By the latter I mean a
structure of multiple actions,i in the way that the Iliad

c I.e. vulgar performance practices.

d Hexameters are in fact infrequent in tragedy.
e Mousike must here be equivalent to melos, .. melody," at
47b25, and to melopoii'a, ..lyric poetry," at 49b33 etc.; epic
recitals were accompanied by music of a plainer kind.
f Cf. and contrast 50bl5-20.
g But cf. 59b2-7.
h Epic's hexatneter suits its nature, incl. its length: cf.
59b30-60a5.
i Cf. 59bl.

139
 ARISTOTLE

EXEL 1TOAAa TOLaVTa pi.pYJ Kat 7} 'Oova-<TELa Kat a

' ' ,, , (} , ,..., ' ,
Ka (} eavTa EXEL J.LE'YE o~· KaLTOL TavTa Ta 1TOLYJJ.LaTa
(

, ( ' ~ , ,, ' t:/ , \

10 CTVVE<TTYJKEV W~ EVOEXETaL apta-Ta Kat OTL jLaJ\UJ"Ta
,. ., 'C , ' 1' , ~ .J..'
p.,ta~ 1Tpal:::, EW~ J.LLJ.LYJCTL~. EL OVV TOVTOL~ TE OLa'f'EpEL
1Tiia-tv Kat ETL Tfi> Tij~ TEXVYJ~ €py 41 (8e~ yap ov T~v
Tvxova-av T]oov-Y]v 1TOLE~V avTa~ aA.A.a T~V ELPYJfLEVYJV ),
cf>avepov OTL KpELTTWV av ELYJ J.LUAAov TOV TEAov~
, ,..., ' ,
15 Tvyxavova-a TYJ~ E1T01Toua~.

1TEpt J.LEV o:Ov TpayqJ8ia~ Kat E1T01Totia~, Kat avTwv

' ,..., '~ ,..., ' ,..., "' ' , ' , ~ .,./...,
Kat TWV ELOWV Kat TWV fLEpWV, Kat 1TOCTa Kat TL OLa'f'E-
TOV EV"'"'
pEL, Kat',..., YJ fLY}' , ,, ' '' ,
Tt,VE~ aLTLaL, Kat 1TEpL E1TLTLJ.LYJ-

CTEWV Kat AVCTEWV, ELprrja-fJw TOCTaVTa. 1 ***

1 seq.
vestigia obscura in B, uncle 1rep'i 8€ (?)lafLf3wv Kat'
KWfLcp8£a~ restitui potest

140
 POETICS 26

and Odyssey have many such parts of individual magni-

tude. Yet these poems are structured as well as could be,
and are as close as possible to mimesis of a single action.
If, then, tragedy excels in all these respects, as well as in
the function of the art (for these genres should produce
no ordinary pleasure, but the one stated),a it will evi-
dently be superior to epic through greater success in
achieving its goal.
As regards tragedy and epic, the number and distin-
guishing features of their varieties and components, the
reasons for success and failure in them, and criticisms and
their solutions, let this count as sufficient discussion.
* * *b
a At 53bl0-13 (for tragedy).
h There originally followed a discussion of comedy in the
work's ..second book"; cf. 49b21-2.

141
 LONGINUS
ON THE SUBLIME

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY

W. HAMILTON FYFE

REVISED BY
DONALD RUSSELL
T
 INTRODUCTION

Date and authorship

Both date and authorship of this famous and impor-
tant book remain a matter of controversy. The only evi-
dence for the author's name is given by the conflicting
statements of the tenth-century manuscript (Parisinus
2036, hereafter P) on which alone our text depends. P
has, in the title, LitovvCTtov Aoyy[vov; in the table of
contents, LitovvCTtov ~ Aoyy[vov. Which represents
ancient tradition? If the~ (''or") is original, and its omis-
sion in the title an accident, we ~learly have two guesses
at the author, presumably by Byzantine scholars: he was
either the Augustan Dionysius of Halicarnassus or the
third-century Cassius Longinus, a pupil of Plotinus, but a
scholar and statesman rather than a philosopher. Neither
guess is at all probable. Dionysius' numerous works are
quite different from our book in style and in general
approach. It is true that both he and our author (39.1)
wrote on word arrangement (CFvv8eCTt~), but Dionysius'
treatise is in one book, and our author says he has written
two.
Cassius Longinus has been a much more popular
choice; indeed, this identification was undisputed until
. the early nineteenth century, and the lofty tone of On the
I Sublime was seen as the natural reflection of the heroic

1 145
 INTRODUCTION

temper of the minister of Queen Zenobia, who was put to

death after the fall of Palmyra in A.D. 273 (Gibbon, ch. xi).
Moreover, there are actually some overlaps between On
the Sublime and the fragments of Cassius Longinus,
rhetorical treatise (conveniently printed in A. 0.
Prickard,s edition of On the Sublime, Oxford 1906, as in
many early editions); and the eleventh-century rhetori-
cian John of Sicily (Rhetores graeci 6.211, 6.225 Walz)
actually refers to Longinus, <I>tAoAoyot OfLtAiat for opin-
ions which coincide with points made in On the Sublime
3.1 and 9.9 (see now G. Mazzucchi, Aevum 64 (1990)
153-63). But there is no reason why any of this should be
taken as proving Longinian authorship. Indeed there are
even differences in the details of style and language,
which surely make identification impossible: to take a
small but notable matter, On the Sublime regularly has
1ravrE~ €~-ry~ for ~~absolutely all,,, whereas Longinus has
EcPE~-ry~ in the same idiom (Russell, 1964, xxv n.1). There
'
are powerful arguments also in matters of content. In On
the Sublime, no writer later than Cicero, Caecilius, and
Theodorus is named; the real Longinus-if these frag-
mentary texts are to be trusted-spoke favourably of
Aelius Aristides. Again, our author is an admirer of Plato,
and much of his argument is directed to defending Plato
against unappreciative critics like Caecilius; Longinus
himself seems to have criticized Plato,s «poetic,, style in
terms very like those of our author,s opponents (R 7-10, S
23-25 Prickard).
The principal argument against Cassius Longinus is
also a general argument against any date later than about
A.D. 100, namely that derived from the closing chapter
(44). Here, a "philosopher" presents the view that the

146
 INTRODUCTION

"decline" of oratory is due to the loss of free speech and

political liberty, while the author represents himself as
countering this by attributing the decline to a moral col-
lapse rather than external circumstances. There are
indeed a lot of ambiguities and difficulties in this little
dialogue; it is not easy to be sure whether the author is
thinking of the contrast between the free cities of Greece
in the age of Demosthenes and their subsequent subjec-
tion to Macedon and later to Rome, or of the contrast
between Cicero,s republican liberty and the principate of
Augustus and his successors. The setting and tone of the
book, however, suggest that it is primarily this second set
of circumstances that is meant. After all, the addressee,
Postumius Terentianus, is a young Roman of some stand-
ing; and our author is prepared to venture an opinion
about Cicero. It is all relevant to Rome. But if this is so,
parallels in other authors-the two Senecas, Tacitus,
Pliny-strongly suggest a date in the first century A.D. It
is harder to be more precise. Good arguments have been
advanced for an Augustan date (G. P. Goold, American
Journal of Philology 92 (1961) 168-192), the age of
Tiberius (H. Selb, ~'Probleme der Schrift 7rep'i vt./Jov~"
diss. Heidelberg 1957), and the end of the century (e.g.
K. Heldmann, Antike Theorien iiber Entwicklung und
Veifall der Redekunst, Munich 1982, 286-293, making
the book a response to Tacitus, Dialogus). The third-
century date still has advocates (G. W. Williams, Change
and Decline, Berkeley 1978, 17-25; G. Luck, Arctos 5
(1967) 97-113; and, tentatively, G. M.A. Grube, Greek
and Roman Critics, Toronto 1965, 340-352), but the case
is not strong.
So what are we to call the author? He is either anony-

147
 INTRODUCTION

mous, the Great Unknown, or, if we assume that the title

of P has authority, he is Dionysius Longinus; the name
is not impossible after all. It is tantalizing that his
addressee, Postumius Terentianus, cannot be identified;
he may, of course, be the Terentianus who served in
Egypt A.D. 85/6 (Martiall.86), or the man whose name is
on a lead water pipe of the second century (C.I.L.
XV.2.7373). But who these people were, and what circle
they moved in, are less important questions than what the
book says, and what place it holds in the history of criti-
cism.

Analysis
Analysis of the treatise is rendered difficult by the dam-
age which P has suffered; there are six long lacunae, and
something missing at the end. We have lost about a third
of the book. Nevertheles.s, we can see the author,s plan
clearly enough, except in one important respect, the
treatment given to 1Tal}oc;. We can also see that some of
his central theses are presented not in the course of the
argument as he advertises it in chapter 8, but in the elo-
quent and powerful digressions. He is a sophisticated
artist, both in his style and in his economy. This has
always been recognized. Pope,s famous remark (Essay on
Criticism 675-680) that he is ~~himself the great sublime
he draws,, has antecedents in the earliest period of
Longinian criticism: Francesco Porto (1569) says of him:
"non solum docet sed etiam rapit, et quodammodo vim
affert lectoribus,-exactly what "Longinus, says himself
of the writers he admires.
Let us set out the analysis as far as we can.

148
 INTRODUCTION

1-2: A formal preface, in which Caecilius of Caleacte (a

friend of Dionysius, it seems: ad Pompeium 3) is criti-
cized, Terentianus flattered, the subject defined, and
the objection that vtjlo~ is a matter of nature, not art,
raised and answered.
3-5: Following the first lacuna, we find ourselves in the
midst of a discussion of faults consequent on inade-
quate or misconceived attempts to achieve sublimity:
turgidity, frigid conceits, inappropriate emotiveness.
This helps to define the subject by contrast.
6-7: A positive account of the true sublime follows, but in
very general terms. It is something which stands
repeated reading, and makes a powerful and lasting
impression on readers of different backgrounds. It will
endure.
8: There are five sources of sublimity: (i) great thoughts
(9-15); (ii) strong emotion-something Caecilius left
out; (iii) certain figures of thought and speech (16-29);
(iv) noble diction (30-38, 43); (v) dignified word ar-
rangement (39-42).
But where is emotion (ii) discussed? This is the problem
that has most exercised critics; see, for a good discus-
sion, J. Bompaire, REG 86 (1973) 323-343. We are
told at the very end (44.12) that 1ra8YJ are to be the
subject of a special treatment to follow next; on the
other hand, there are many references throughout
the book to emotion, seen as an integral element in
sublimity, and associated with all the other four
sources. The safest conclusion is that some explanation
of this procedure was given in the long passage lost fol-
lowing 9.4.

149
 INTRODUCTION

(i)
9.1-4: Beginning of the discussion of great thoughts.
9.5-15: Homer~s greatness of thought, with a remark
(9. 9) on the beginning of Genesis, seen as a worthy rep-
resentation of the divine, and a comparison (9.11-15)
of Iliad and Odyssey.
10: Selection and accumulation of detail as a means to
sublimity; including an analysis of a poem by Sappho
( 4>aivera[ fLOL Kijvo~ ... )
12.4-13.1: Following the lacuna, we find the author still
discussing amplification, with a comparison between
Cicero and Demosthenes, and an example of Plato~s art
of combining abundance with sublimity.
13.2-14: The mention of Plato raises the question of imi-
tation as a means of attaining sublin1ity, since Plato
drew on Homer, and we should draw on, and try to
think like, the great men of the past.
15: Phantasia-visualization or imagination-as a means
to sublimity; the difference between rhetorical and
poetical visualization.
(iii)
16-17: General introduction to the discussion of figures
(16-29), including a detailed examination of the
Marathon oath in Demosthenes (de corona 208), and
advice on concealing one's ingenuity, so as not to be
suspected of trickery: the best concealment is sublimity
and emotion.
18: Rhetorical questions. A lacuna follows.
19: Asyndeton.
20-21: Anaphora and asyndeton.
22: Hyperbaton, including a detailed analysis of a passage
in Herodotus.

150
 INTRODUCTION

23-24: Polyptoton, singular for plural, plural for singular.

25: Historic present.
26-27: Vivid second person; abrupt introduction of
direct speech.
28-29: Periphrasis.
29.2: Summary, emphasizing again the close links
between emotion and sublimity.
(iv)
30: Introduction to the section on language. A lacuna
follows.
31: The discussion is now about metaphor, and especially
vivid and idiomatic examples.
32: Criticism of Caecilius' rule that one should not use
more than two or three metaphors on any one theme:
examples from Demosthenes, Xenophon, and Plato's
Timaeus. Caecilius' criticism of Plato and excessive
enthusiasm for Lysias are seen to be motivated by con-
tentiousness. .
33-35: A "digression," to which Wilamowitz gave the title
Regel und Genie. (It is the most eloquent part of the
book, and central to its message.) Genius, even when it
makes mistakes, is preferable to impeccable medi-
ocrity. Mechanical criticism would prefer Hyperides to
Demosthenes, and we see this to be absurd; the gap
between Plato and Lysias is infinitely wider. Our admi-
ration goes to the greatest works of nature, not to mere
prettiness, and hence also to the products of natural
genius, which all ages admire.
37: Beginning of a discussion of similes. A lacuna fol-
lows.
38: Hyperbole.

151
 INTRODUCTION

(v)
39-42: Word arrangement: examples of the ways in
which rhythm is decisive in producing sublime effects,
and common words can be given grandeur by skilful
placing. Dangers of excessive rhythmization and brevity.
43.1-5: seems to belong under ~~choice of words'' not
under ~~arrangement." We have a lengthy discussion of
a passage of Theopompus, in which the effect of a
grand situation is marred by the intrusion of common-
place words and details.
43.6: In general, the opposites of the devices that pro-
duce sublimity will produce its opposite, lowness of
style.
44.1-11: The deeper causes of failure are examined in a
dialogue, in which an unnamed philosopher makes the
case that it is loss of liberty that produces the current
dearth of lofty writing, and the author attributes it
rather to moral decline ..
44.12: Transition to the promised discussion of 7raO'YJ,
broken off short in our text.

A little about the background

"The appearance of this unknown Greek ... has some-
thing miraculous about it." Ernst Curtius (Latin Litera-
ture and the European Middle Ages, 399 [E.T.]), in
company with many, exaggerates. It is Longinus' elo-
quence, and the fact that no similar work survives, that
have led people to think him more mysterious than he
really is. In fact he represents a tradition.
The basic division between grand and ordinary styles
goes back a long way in Greek thinking: the aywv
152
r
I

INTRODUCTION

between Aeschylus and Euripides in Aristophanes' Frogs

is a classical expression of the contrast. Indeed, later
rhetoricians even found it in Homer, who contrasts
Menelaus' rapid, clear speech with Odysseus' "winter
snows'' (Iliad 3.214). A third manner-the smoothness of
!socrates, or the honeyed words of Nestor (Iliad
1.243)-was, it seems, added later; and the resulting
three-style theory is canonical in Cicero, Quintilian, and
much later criticis1n. This development is not really rele-
vant to Longinus, who is concerned only to identify the
characteristics that mark out the emotionally intense and
elevated from the merely pleasing and soothing. Nor is it
precisely a style-a xapaKr-r}p Or genus dicendi-that is
his subject: this is better described as a tone of writing,
attainable only as a consequence of a developed intellec-
tual and emotional response to life. This is not to say that
his vt/Jo~ is co.nceptually unique in ancient criticism; but it
resembles not so much the genera dicendi as what Diony-
sius calls ''additional virtues" (epithetoi aretai), the pos-
session of which lends a particular character to writers
who already possess the "necessary virtues" of purity,
clarity, and brevity. Even closer, perhaps, are certain of
the ideai-forms or tones of speech-identified by the
second-century rhetor Hermogenes and others of the
same period. According to Hermogenes, all these ideai
could be found in Demosthenes; but once detected and
isolated, they could become patterns for imitation.
Among these ideai were (TEfJ-VOTYJ ~ and (T~o8 porYJ ~,
solemnity and vehemence; and these, and others like
them, were sharply opposed to the ideai of charm and
delicacy, in a general contrast very like that which Longi-
nus draws between Hyperides and Demosthenes. (The

153
 INTRODUCTION

translation of Hermogenes by Cecil Wooten, Chapel Hill,

1988, may be consulted to form a notion of this theory
and its implications.) But not even in Hermogenes is
there so detailed, comprehensive, and enthusiastic a dis-
cussion of the high tone as in our treatise. Moreover, it is
sharply distinguished from anything Hermogenes wrote
by its firm moral basis. For Hermogenes, anyone could
choose to write grandly if he selected his subject appro-
priately and followed the suggestions laid down about
vocabulary, figures, sentence structure, and rhythm; for
our author, it is only possible if you really develop your
intellect and your emotions, by the study of the classics, to
the point when high thoughts and their due expression
come more or less instinctively to mind. This kind of atti-
tude is quite common in the imperial period, and seems
to have appealed especially to Romans. It is primarily a
response on the part of teachers of rhetoric to accusations
made by philosophers that their art was amoral, and could
be used indifferently for' good or bad ends. Longinus'
warm defence of Plato against Caecilius (and indeed
Dionysius) and his assignment of the moral argument in
chapter 44 to himself rather than to any philosopher point
in the same direction; he wishes to commend himself to
Terentianus not only as a technical teacher but as a guide
to right attitudes in life. Only thus can his concern with
Homer and classical poetry and his insistence on the need
to look to posterity be seen to be uuseful to public men,"
dvopacrt- 7TOALTLKot~ XP~CTLfLOV, as he puts it in the pref-
ace (1.2).

154
~
I

INTRODUCTION

Influence
Parisinus 2036 was copied for Bessarion in 1468, and at
least once again later in the century. Other copies of
these copies were also made, and Latin translations circu-
lated in manuscript before the first printed editions
(1554-5) and printed Latin translations (1566, 1572). But
the work made little impact on the literary world at large
until much later. The Italian translation of Niccolo da
Falgano (1560) remained in manuscript; the first pub-
lished English version is by John Hall (1652). All was
changed in 1674 by Boileau's Traite du sublime ou du
merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du grec de Longin.
This made "Longinus" a central text in European criti-
cism throughout the eighteenth century. In England, its
influence was first advanced by John Dennis' Advance-
ment and Reformation of Poetry (1701), and Grounds of
Criticism in Poetry (1704). No·doubt the book's moral
stance was congenial to a t;hinker who regarded religion
and "enthusiastic passion" as the natural subjects of
poetry. But Dryden and Addison were also familiar with
it, Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses on Painting adapt
many of its ideas, Gibbon and Dr. Johnson both admired
it, and Burke at least used it as a starting point of specula-
tion, though the main contentions of The Sublime and the
Beautiful go far beyond Longinus' scope. This eigh-
teenth-century admiration faded with the coming of
Romanticism, when that liberty of thought and compara-
tive freedom from rule which Longinus authorized came
1
to be taken for granted and no longer needed special
j· defence. The eloquence of the book, however, has always
1 continued to earn it enthusiastic readers and a wide
1
155
1
I
I
I
I

'
 INTRODUCTION
l
response; the wealth of learned work on its text and inter-
pretation, and the special place it always holds in histories
of criticism, are testimony to its enduring significance.

Text
The text rests on Parisinus 2036 (P), supplemented by the
apographa in two places where P was damaged after the
primary copies were taken (viz. w~ Kav ... TJpKeo-0YJV
[8.1-9.4] and TO E1T' ovpavov ... l8€a-Oat [9.4-9.10])
and also by two miscellanies (Parisinus 985 and its copy
Vaticanus 285) which alone preserve the "fragmentum
Tollianum,'' viz. q,vo-t~ ... Oewp[av (2.3). Our brief and
very selective apparatus mentions also (as CCK marg.")
some variants (conjectures, no doubt) in the margin of
Cantabrigiensis KK.VI.34, a copy of Bessarion's copy,
made by Francesco Porto, apparently in connection with
the preparation of the Aldine edition of 1555.

Translation
This is a revision of W. Hamilton Fyfe's version, and I
have tried not to tamper with it where it did not seem
positively misleading. Thus I have left the poetical quota-
tions for the most part as they were, though their style is
now very dated, and made even more artificial by Fyfe's
attempt to render Greek hexameters into English hexam-
eters. I have also left some of Fyfe's notes, but have
replaced or supplied others. The text and punctuation
have also been revised.

156
 INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The literature on On the Sublime is vast. Apart from the
bibliographies in the principal editions (see below), there
are bibliographies by D. S. Marin (Bibliography of the
Essay on The Sublime, privately printed, 1967) and by
D. Tavani (La .filologia recente di fronte al Peri Hypsous,
Rome 1971), and a survey article by G. Martano in
ANRW II, 32.1 (1984), 364-403.
Of older editions, those of J. Toll (Utrecht 1694),
J. Toup (Oxford 1778), B. Weiske (Leipzig 1809, Oxford
1820) are especially worth consulting. The fullest appara-
tus and list of conjectures is to be found in 0. Jahn-
J. Vahlen, Dionysii Longini de sublimitate liber, 4th ed.
(1910), re-issued with index by H. D. Blume (1967).
The principal modern editions with commentary are
those ofW. Rhys Roberts (Cambridge, 2nd ed. 1907; con-
tains also a translation), D. A. Russell (Oxford 1964), and
C. M. Mazzucchi (Milan 1992; especially useful for its
study of the Renaissance tradition of the text). A. Ros-
tagni's edition (Milan 194 7) is also of importance.
Translations are innumerable. Boileau's was well
edited by C.-H. Boudhors (Paris 1942). Contemporary
English versions include those by G. M.A. Grube (New
York 1957), T. S. Dorsch (in Penguin Classical Literary
Criticism 1965), D. A. Russell (in Ancient Literary Criti-
cism, Oxford 1972, and World's Classics Classical Liter-
ary Criticism, Oxford 1985). The version of W. Smith
(London 1739) is a good example of an eighteenth-
century rendering.
Brief general interpretations are to be found in most
manuals of the history of criticism: e.g. G. M.A. Grube,
157
 INTRODUCTION

The Greek and Roman Critics, London 1965, 340-353;

G. A. Kennedy, The Art of Rhetoric in the Roman World,
Princeton 1972, 369-377; D. A. Russell in G. A. Kennedy
(ed.), Cambridge History of Literary Criticism i (1990)
306-311.
Other contributions to interpretation which should be
specially noted are: W Buhler, Beitriige zur Erkliirung
der Schrift vom Erhabenen, 1964; J. Bompaire, "Le
pathos dans le traite du Sublime," Revue des Etudes
Grecques 86 (1973) 323-343; D. A. Russell, "Longinus
Revisited," Mnemosyne IV34 (1981) 72-86; E. Matelli,
''Struttura e Stile del 1rep't vlf;ov~,', Aevum 61 (1987)
137-207.
On Longinus, influence, see especially: S. H. Monk,
The Sublime, New York 1935; M. H. Abrams, The Mirror
and the Lamp, New York and London 1953; T. R. Henn,
Longinus and English Criticism, Cambridge 1934;
A. Rosenberg, Longinus it?: England his zum Ende des 18.
Jahrhunderts, diss. Berlin, 1917; J. Brody, Boileau and
Longinus, Geneva 1958; K. Maurer, "Boileaus Ueber-
setzung,, in Le Classicisme a Rome', (Entretiens Hardt
XXV, 1979) 213-257.

158
r
I

IIEPI T'I'OT~
 TIEPI T'l'OT~

1. T 0' fLEV
, TOV,. . . K atKLI\.LOV
\" "
a-vyypap.,p.,aTLOV, (., '
0 1TEpt

vt/Jov~ a-VVETa~aTO, avaa-K01TOVfLEVOL~ TJfLLV W~ oia-f}a

Kotvfj, IToa-TOVfLLE TEpEvrtav€ 1 cpiATaTE, Ta1TEtvorEpov
',/.,. / ,. . . ~'\ ~ f) / ' t:! ,..... /
E'flaVYJ TTJ~ 01\Y]~ V1TO Ea-EW~, Kat YJKLa-Ta TWV KatptWV
€cpa1TTOfLEVOV ov 1TOAArr}v TE wcp€Aetav, ,ry~ p.,aAta-Ta
DE'i a-Toxa,Ea-8at Tov ypacpovTa, 1TEpt1Totovv To'i~
' / ,, '2 ' ' / \ / ~ ,. . .
Evrvyxavova-tv, ELY E1TL 1raa-YJ~ TEXVOI\oyta~ ovEtv
, /
a1TaLTOVfLEVWV, 1TpOTEpOV fLEV TOV
/ ' ..., ~ ,.....(;
OELS at
/
TL TO V1TOKEL-
' ~ /

fLEVOV~ DEvT€pov 8€ rfj ra~Et, rfj SvvafLEL 8€ Kvptwr€-

pov, 1TW~ av TJfLLV aVTO TOVTO Ka'i St' 6JvTLVWV p.,E8-
/ ~
OOWV '
KTYJTOV "
'YEVOL'TO, t:!
OfLW~
~
0
K atKLI\LO~
"\ ,. . . fLEV
1TOLOV " TL
V1TUPXEL TO vt/JYJAOV 8ul p.,vpiwv oa-wv w~ dyvoova-t
,..... ~ / ' ~' ~' t:! / ' e ,.....
1TEtpaTaL OELKVVVat, TO OE OL OTOV Tp01TOV Ta~ EaVTWV
cpva-EL~ 1TpoayEtV L(JXVOLfLEV UV EL~ 1TO(J~V fLE'YE(}ov~
E1TLDoa-tv, OVK oi8' 01TW~ w~ OVK dvayKaLOV 1Tap€At-
\' ,, ' ' ',,~ , t:!
2 1TEV• 1TI\.Y]V L(JW~ TOVTOVL fLEV TOV avopa OVX OVTW~

alrtaa-8at TWV EKAEAELfLfLEVWV w~ avrij~ Tij~ E1Ttvoia~

Kat
' (J1TOVOYJ~
~,..... ,, c ,
as LOV E1TaLVELV.
,. . . ,
E1TEL
' ~'
0
, \ /
EVEKEI\EV(JW Kat
'
T]p.,a~ Tt 1TEp'i vtfiov~ 1TclVTW~ EL~ (J~V V1TOfLVYJp.,aria-a-

1 iPA.wpEvTLav€ P, corr. Manutius.

2 Ely' Spengel: ELT'.

160
 ON THE SUBLIME

1. You know, my dear Postumius Terentianus, that

when we were studying together Caecilius'a little treatise
on the Sublime it appeared to us to fall below the level of
the subject and to fail to address the 1nain points, or ren-
der its readers very much of that assistance which should
be an author's chief aim, seeing that there are two requi-
sites in every systematic treatise: the author must first
define his subject, and secondly, though this is really
more importaJ?-t, he must show us how and by what means
we may reach the goal ourselves. Caecilius, however,
endeavouring by a thousand instances to demonstrate the
nature of the sublime, as though we know nothing about
it, apparently thought it unnecessary to deal with the
means by which we may be enabled to develop our
natures to some degree of grandeur. Still, we ought per-
haps rather to praise our author for the mere conception
of such a treatise and the trouble spent upon it than to
blame him for his omissions. But since you have now
asked me in my tum to prepare some notes on the sub-
lime for your own sake, let us then see whether my

a Caecilius of Caleacte in Sicily was a noted rhetorician and

historian, contemporary with Dionysius of Halicamassus, and
said to have been a Jew. See E. Ofenloch, Caecilii Fragmenta
(1907) for a full (but uncritical) collection of material.

161
 LONGINUS
r
()Oat xaptv, cpepE, Et TL 8iJ DOKOVfLEV dv8pa(JL 7TOALTL-
KOL~ TE8EWPYJKEVaL XP~()LfLOV E7TL(JKEtf}(.VfLE8a. avro~

1 8€ Faber, perhaps rightly.

162
 ON THE SUBLIME 1

obseiVations have any value for public speakers; and you

yourself, my friend, will, I am sure, do what duty and your
heart alike dictate and give me the benefit of your unbi-
ased judgement in detail. For he spoke well who, in
answer to the question, uwhat have we in common with
the gods?>> said <<Beneficence and Truth.»a Further, writ-
ing for a man of such education as yourself, dear friend, I
almost feel freed from the need of a lengthy preface
showing how the Sublime consists in a consummate
excellence and distinction of language, and that this alone
gave to the greatest poets and prose writers their preemi-
nence and clothed them with immortal fame. For the
effect of genius is not to persuade the audience but rather
to transport them out of themselves. Invariably what
inspires wonder, with its power of amazing us, always pre-
vails over what is 1nerely convincing and pleasing. For
our persuasions are usually under our own control, while
these things exercise an irresistible power and mastery,
and get the better of every listener. b Again, experience in
invention and the due disposal and marshalling of facts do
not show themselves in one or two touches but emerge
gradually from the whole tissue of the composition, while,
on the other hand, a well-timed flash of sublimity shatters
everything like a bolt of lightning and reveals the full

a This saying is attributed to Pythagoras (Aelian, VH 12.59)

but also to Aristotle and Demosthenes and others (see
Gnomologium Vaticanum, p. 25 Sternbach).
b A listener is also a reader; ancient literary criticism often
favours the vocabulary of listening and speaking over that of
reading and writing, because the literature was thought of as pri-
marily oral, and the sense of speeches and poems as auditory
experiences was never lost.

163
 LONGINUS
\ ,
1T1\TJCTLa,
T EpEVTLaVE' (''~
TJOUTTE, KaV
.,, , '
aVTO~ EK
, ,
1TELpa~

vcp1Jy~a-aLo.
2. ('HfLLV 8'
EKELVO 8La1TOPYJTEOV EV apxfl, EL ECTTtV
t'l,/, '' '() 1 / -' / t'/\ :>I
Vo.rOV~ Tt~ 1J 1Ta OV~ TEXVTJ, E1TEt TLVE~ 01\W~ OtOVTaL
0LTJ1TaTija-Oat TOV~ Ta TOtaVTa ayovTa~ EL~ TEXVLKa
7rapayy€AfLaTa. yEvvaTaL yap, cpTJa-i, Ta fLEyaA.ocpvij
Kat' ov, oLoaKTa
~~ ' 7rapaytvETaL,
/
Kat' fLLa
/ /
TEXVTJ '
7rpo~
, '' ,/... / / 'A... '3/ ('
avTa TO 1TE\f'VKEvat· XEtpw TE Ta \f'va-tKa Epya, w~
!)/ ~
OLOVTaL, KaL' TqJ
""'
1TaVTL' OELI\OTEpa
\ /
Ka ( )ta-TaTaL
'
Tat~
""'

2 TEXVOI\oyLaL~
\ / \
Karaa-KEAETEVOfLEVa. Eyw oE EAEYX
/ , ' ~' '\ () 17-
/
""' {) '
a-Eo- () aL TOV (' ' :.t A... ' ' '.I,
ETEpW~ EXOV \f'TJfLt, Et E1TLCTKEo.raLTO
' TL~

oTL ~ cf>va-L~, wa-1TEP Ta 1ro'A'Aa E.v To'i~ 1Ta0YJTLKo'i~ Kat

~
OLTJpfLEVOL~
/ '
aVTOVOfLOV,
/
OVTW~
('/
OVK
' '
ELKaLOV
""' /
TL
'
KaK
1TaVTO~
' ' '() ~ ;;-
afLE OOOV ELVaL \f'ti\Et. KaL OTL aVTYJ fLEV 7rpW-
,/... \ ""' ' ('/ ('/ ' ""'

/
TOV TC Kat' ' /
apXETV1TOV YEVECTEW~
/ ""'
CT'TOtXEtOV ''
E1Tt /
1TaV-
t',J...' ' ~' /
TWV Vo/ECTTTJKEV, Ta~ OE 1TO(TO'TTJTa~ Kat' '
'TOV ',/.,.'
E\f'
(' / ' !)/ ~ ' ' ' \ / !)/ /
EKaa-TOV Katpov ETL OE TTJV a1TI\aVECTTaTTJV aCTKTJCTtV
TE Kat xpiJa-tv LKav-q 1Topia-at
2 Kat (TVlJEVEYKELV ~

flE
'f) 000~·
~
KaL' W~
(' E1TtKtlJOVVOTEpa
' ~ / ' ' E\f'
avTa 'A..' aVTWV ~/
(' ""' otxa

E'1TL(TT~fLTJ~ aa-T~pLKTa Kat avEpfLUTta-Ta E.aOevTa Ta

fLEyaA.a, E1Tt p.,6vv Tfl cpopfi. Kat dfLaOEt TOAfLYI AEt1To-
fLEVa• OEL yap
~ ""' ' ,
aVTOL~
""'
W~
(' /
KEVTpOV
\\ /
TT0/\1\aKL~,
('/
OVTW OE
~'

3 Kat xaALvov· 07rEp yap 0 il1JfLOa-0€vYJ~ E1Tt TOV KOtVOV

""' ' () / ' A.. / (.}' /
TWV aV pw1TWV a1TO\f'aLVETaL fJLOV, fLEYLCTTOV fLEV
'

EivaL Twv dyaOwv To EVTVXE'iv, 8EvTEpov 8€ Kat ovK

1 1ra8ovr;
is an old conjecture, presupposed by the translation
of G. da Falgano (1575) and found in many later editions: P has
{3a0ov~.
2 1ropicrat P marg., for 1rapopicrat.

164
 ON THE SUBLIME 1-2

power of the speaker at a single stroke. But, as I say, my

dear Terentianus, these and other such hints you with
your experience could supply yourself.
2. We must begin now by raising the question
whether there is an art of sublimity or emotion, a for some
think those are wholly at fault who try to bring such mat-
ters under systematic rules. Genius, it is said, is born and
does not come of teaching, and the only art for producing
it is nature. Works of natural genius, so people think, are
spoiled and utterly demeaned by being reduced to the dry
bones of rule and precept. For my part I hold that the
opposite may be proved, if we consider that while in mat-
ters of elevation and emotion Nature for the most part
knows no law, yet it is not the way of Nature to work at
random and wholly without system. In all production
Nature is the first and primary element; but all matters of
degree, of the happy moment in each case, and again of
the safest rules of practice and !JSe, are adequately pro-
vided and contributed by system. We must remember
also that mere grandeur runs the greatest risk if left to
itself without the stay and ballast of scientific method and
abandoned to the impetus of uninstructed temerity. For
genius needs the curb as often as the spur. Speaking of
the common life of men Den1osthenesb declares that the
greatest of all blessings is good fortune, and that next

a This translates the emendation pathous for the manuscript

reading bathous, which has been interpreted as "profundity" or
"bath OS. "
b Oration 23.113.

165
 LONGINUS

'(}/ /"\ / /"\,.,, ,,, /"\

O"VVaVatpEL 1TaVTW~ KaL aTEpov, TOVT av KaL E1TL TWV

A.oywv EL1TOLJJ-EV, w~ T] JJ-EV 1 cf>va-L~ TTJV T-ry~ EVTvxia~
Tas LV E1TEXEL, YJ TEXVYJ OE TYJV TYJ~ EV'{3 OVI\La~·
/ (: ' / t: \/ TO' OE
/ '\:''
'\:'' ' /"\

KVpLWTaTOV, OTL/~'
KaL'aVTO
' ' TO' ' ;ELVaL
'
TLVa TWV EV '\/
1\0YOlS / /"\

E1Tt JJ-OVYJ Ti] cf>va-EL OVK a'AA.oOEv TJJJ-U~ ~ 1Tapa T-ry~

TEXVYJ~ EKJJ-aOEtV DEL" El rav8', w~ EcPYJV, E1TLAoyia-aLTO
Ka8' f.avrov o
Tot~ XPYJCTTOJJ-a8ova-tv E1TLTLJJ-WV, ovK
.,, !J/ '~ /"\ ' \!J/ ' , , /"\
av ETL, JJ-OL OOKW, 1TEpLTTYJV KaL axpYJCTTOV TYJV E1TL TWV
/ (}
7rpOKELJJ-EVWV YJYYJO"aLTO EWptav.
~ / /

3. . .. KaL' KaJJ-LVOV a-xwa-L JJ-aKLO"TOV 0"€1\a~.

/\ / /"\ /

EL yap Ttv' ECTTLovxov olJioJJ-aL JJ-OVOV,

/ \ / / /
JJ-Lav 7rapEtpa~ 1TI\EKTaVYJV XELJJ-appoov,
a-TEYYJV 7rvpwa-w Kat KaTavOpaKwa-oJJ-aL·
vvv 8' ov KEKpaya 1TW TO yEvvatov JJ-EAo~.
ov TpaytKa ETL TavTa, d'AA.a 1TapaTpaycp8a,
\ /
1TI\EKTaVaL KaL' TO' 1rp0~
' ' '
ovpavov 't EJJ-ELV
Es ""' KaL' TO' TOV '
/
B opEaV '\ ' 1TOLELV,
aVI\YJTYJV ""' KaL' Ta' al\1\a
3/\ \
Es YJ~· TE 01\W-
t: ( : " " {} /\

TaL yap riJ cf>paa-EL Kat TE8opvf3YJTaL Tat~ cf>avTaa-iat~

JJ-UAAov ~ DEDELVWTaL, Kav EKaCTTOV aVTWV 7rpo~
avya~ dvaa-Ko1Tfj~, EK TOV cf>o{3Epov KaT' o'Aiyov V1TO-
VOO"TEL"" 7rp0~
' 70' EVKaTa'PpOVYJTOV.
' ...I.. / ~'
01TOV 0'\:'' EV
' Tpaycp-

DLft, 7rpayJJ-aTL oyKYJPfiJ cf>va-EL Kat E1TLDEXo11-€vcp a-ToJJ--

cf>ov, o11-w~ To 1Tapa JJ-EAo~ ol8Etv da-vyyvwa-Tov,
2 a-xo'Afj y' av oiJJ-aL Aoyot~ aAYJ(}LVOt~ apJJ-OCTELEV.
1 At
this point, two pages of P have been lost; two of the later
manuscripts (A and B) preserve the passage crvO"t8 . . . fJEwpiav.

166
 ON THE SUBLIME 3

comes good judgement, which is indeed quite as impor-

tant, since the lack of it often completely cancels the
advantage of the former. We may apply this to literature
and say that Nature fills the place of good fortune, Art
that of good judgement. And above all we must remem-
ber this: the very fact that in literature some effects come
of natural genius alone can only be learned from art. If
then, as I said, whose who censure students of this subject
would lay these considerations to heart, they would not, I
fancy, be any longer inclined to consider the investigation
of our present topic superfluous and useless.
[Two pages of the manuscript are missing here.]
3.... and they check the chimney~s towering blaze.
For if I see one hearthholder alone,
I'll weave one torrent coronal of flame
And fire his homestead to a heap of ash.
But not yet have I blown the noble strain. a
All this has lost the tone of tragedy: it is pseudo-tragic-
the "coronals~:> and "spe~ng to heaven" and making
Boreas a piper and all the rest of it. The phrasing is tur-
bid, while the images make for confusion rather than
forcefulness. Examine each in the light of day and it
gradually sinks from the terrible to the ridiculous. Now
seeing that in tragedy, which is essentially a majestic mat-
ter and admits of bombast, misplaced tumidity is none
the less unpardonable, it is even less likely to suit real

aProbably from Aeschylus' Orithyia (fr. 281 Radt). The

speaker is Boreas.

167
 LONGINUS

TaVTY/ Kat Ta TOV AEOVTLVOV ropyiov yeAaTaL ypa-

cpovTo~ t:t:Sf.ptTJ~ o Twv Ilepa-wv Zev~,n Kai t:t:yv1rE~
Ef-tt/JVXOL racpot,'' Kat TLVa TWV KaAAurOf.vov~ OVTa
ovx Vt/JTJAa aAAa f-tETEwpa, Kat ETL ttaA.A.ov Ta KAEt-
rapxov· cpAou!J8TJ~ yap av.ryp Kat cpva-wv KaTa TOV
!ocpoKAEa eef-ttKpot~ f-tEV avAta-Kota-L, cpop{3eLii~ 8'
arep". Ta YE f-tTJV )Af-tcpLKpaTovc; TOLaVTa Kat t:HyTj-
/ 'l\Jf/ ~ \\ t:
O"LOV KaL 'J.aTpLooc;· 1TOAI\axov yap EVUOVO"LaV EaV-
I"\ ' ) {) I"\

TOtc; DOKOVVTEc; ov {3aKXEVOVO"LV aAAa 1Tat,OVO"LV.

3 oAwc; 8' EOLKEV eivaL TO ol8etv EV TOte; f-tUALa-Ta
8va-cpvAaKTOTaTOV. cpva-EL yap a1TaVTEc; OL f-tEyf.fJovc;
EcpLEf-tEVOL, cpevyovTEc; aa-Oeveiac; Kat gTJpOTTJTO~ KaTa-
, -;-~, ~I ' ' t: rh / {) / I"\{)'
YVWO"LV, OVK OLO 01TW~ E1TL TOVU V1TO'YEpOVTaL, 1TELUO-
f-tEVOL T/i> t:t:f-tEyaAwv a1ToAurOatVELV Of-tWc; evyevf.~
4 attaPTTJf-ta.n KaKOL 8€ oyKoL Kat E1TL O"Wf-tlLTWV Ka'i
\ / t: I"\ .1{) '
' / ) \
1\0YWV OL xaVVOL KaL .aVai\TjUELc; KaL f-tTJ1TOTE 1TEpL-
/ t: I"\ ) A.,
) .I / ,~, /

LO"TaVTEc; TJf-tac; ELc; TOVVaVTLOV" OVOEV yap, 'Yaa-L,

tTJPOTEpov v8pw1TL~ov.
'A\1\.1\.a
\ ' TO' f-tEV
' OLOOVV
'~ t: /
V1TEpaLpELV
I"\ /3 OVAETaL
/\ Ta'
1
~ .lr
V'PTJ,
TO 8€ f-tELpaKLW8Ec; avTLKpvc; V1TEVaVTtOV TOte; f.LEYE-
{)
UE(TL. ' yap
Ta1TELVOV ' )c.
E~
~I\
01\.0V /.I.
KaL' f.LLKpO'PVXOV Kat' T({J I"\

)I ' ) / / ' -;- ' I"\

OVTL KaKOV ayEVVEa-TaTOV. TL 1TOT OVV TO f.LEtpaKLW-
~ / ) .,, ~ 1"'\\ t: \ ' .I t: '
OEc; Ea-TtV; YJ OY)I\OV We; a-xol\aa-TLKYJ VOYJO"Lc;, V1TO
1TEpLEpytac;
/ \
A TJYOVa-a
.I
EL~
)
'PVXPOTTJTa;
·'· /
01\.L(T
) \ ()
atVOV(TL
/ ~'
0

aGorgias fr. B 5a Diels-Kranz (Fragmente der Vorsokra-

tiker6). b Nephew of Aristotle and historian of Alexander.
c Historian of Alexander, writing in the reign of Ptolemy II
(285-2,46 B.C.).

168
 ON THE SUBLIME 3

speeches. Thus it is that people laugh at Gorgias ofLeon-

tini for calling Xerxes "the Persian Zeus,, and vultures
"living sepulchres,, ;a also at certain phrases of Callis-
thenesh which are not sublime but highfalutin, and still
more at some of Clitarchus'sc efforts, an affected crea-
ture, blowing, as Sophocles says, ~~on scrannel pipes, yet
wasting all his wind. ,d You find the same sort of thing in
Amphicrates too, and in Hegesias and Matris.e For often
when they think themselves inspired, their supposed
ecstasy is merely childish folly. Speaking generally,
tumidity seems one of the hardest faults to guard against.
For all who aim at grandeur, in trying to avoid the charge
of being feeble and arid, fall somehow into this fault, pin-
ning their faith to the maxim that ~~to miss a high aim is to
fail without shame., Tumours are bad things whether in
books or bodies, those empty inflations, void of sincerity,
as likely as -not producing the opposite to the effect
intended. For, as they say, "there's naught so dry as
dropsy.,,
But, while tumidity seeks to outdo the sublime, pueril-
ity is the exact opposite of grandeur; utterly abject, mean
spirited, and in fact the most ignoble of faults. What then
is puerility? Is it not obviously an idea born in the class-
room, whose overelaboration ends in frigid failure? Writ-

d Cicero (Ad Atticum 2.16.2) quotes a different version of this

passage ( =fr. 768 Radt), and Longinus perhaps adapts it to his
own purpose.
e These Hellenistic writers were all despised by classicizing
critics of the Augustan and later periods. Amphicrates fled from
Athens to Seleucia in 86 B.c. Hegesias of Magnesia dates from
the third century B.C. Matris of Thebes wrote hymns and enco-
mia. For Hegesias' style, see E. Norden, Antike Kunstprosa
134ff.
169
 LONGINUS
, 1"1 ' , , , ' 1"1 1"1 '
El8 TOVTO TO J'EVO~ opEJ'Of.LEVOt f.LEV TOV 7TEptTTOV Kat
, ' , \ 1"1 c~ , , (; '\ \ 1
7TE7TOtTjf.LEVOV Kat f.LUI\tCTTU TOV TJOEO~, E~ OKE/\1\0VTE~
~' , ' c ' ' 'Y \ , ,
5 OE Et~ TO pW7TtKOV Kat KUKO«:,Tji\OV. TOVT(f> 7TapaKEtTat

rptTov Tt KUKLa~ ELOo~ f.v Tot~ 1Ta()T}TtKot~, 07TEp o

8 EOowpo~ ,~ , () , '\
7TUpEV vpcrov EKUI\Et.
:>/
ECTTt OE 7TU
~' '()
0~
:>/
aKat-
' ' :>/ () ' ~ 1"1 , () .,, :>/ :>/ ()
pov Kat KEVOV EV a f.LTJ OEt 7TU OV~, TJ Uf.LETpov EV a
f.LETpiov oe'i. 1ro'A'Aa yap wa-1rep eK f.LEeTJ~ Ttv£s el~ Ta
,
f.LTJKETt TOV 7TpUJ'f.LUTO~, tota
1"1 , :>/~
<o > 2~' c
EUVTWV Kat crxo-
1"1 '

\ '
1\tKa 7Tapa'PEPOVTUL 7TU YJ, EtTa
,../...., '() -';'
7Tp0~
' , ~'
OVOEV 7TE7TOV O-
() ,

ra~ aKpoaTa~ aCTXTJf.LOVOVCTtV EtKOTW~, E~ECTTTJKOTE~

1rpo~ ovK f.~ea-TYJKOTa~. 1r'AiJv 1rep'i f.LEV Twv 7TaeTJTt-
l"l "''\ \ c 1"1 , , ,
KWV U/\1\0~ Tjf.LtV U7TOKEtTat T07TO~.

4. 8aTepov 8€ JJv EL1TOf.LEV, 'Aeyw 8€ Tov tfivxpov,

7TA~pTJ~ 0 Ttf.LUtO~, dviJp ra f.LEV a'A'Aa LKUVO~ Ka'i
7Tp0~ A.6ywv EVLOTE f.LEJ'Eeo~ OVK ac/Jopo~, 7To'Avta-Twp,
,
E7TtVOT}TtKO~,
, 7TI\T}V
\ ' ,\
Uf\J{OTptWV
\. , f.LEV
' ,
\
€1\EJ'KTtKWTUTO~
,
c , , , () ~' ,~, c ' ~' :>/
Uf.LUpTTJf.LUTWV, averratcr TJTO~ OE tOtWV, V1TO OE Epw-
70~ TOV teva~ VO~CTEt~ aE'i KtVELV 7TOAAaKt~ EK7TL1TTWV
2 el~ To 1Tatoaptwoea-TaTov. 7Tapa()~a-of.Lat 8€ Tavopo~
(.' .,,
EV TJ
, , ~'
~
OVO, E1TEtOTj
'
TU
\ ,
7TI\EtW
'\ {3
7TpOEI\U EV 0
c K UtKtl\LO~.
'\
E7Tatvwv , A'Aetavopov TOV f.LEJ'UV cc()~ TTJV , Acriav

1 EgoKE'AAovTE~ Wilamowitz, for E7TOKEAAovTE~.

2 <8'> add. Faber.

Probably a rhetorician from Gadara, one of whose pupils

a
was the emperor Tiberius, and who taught that, so long as the
argumentation of a case was sound, the orator need not hold

170
 ON THE SUBLIME 3-4

ers fall into this fault through trying to be uncommon and

exquisite, and above all to please, and founder instead
upon the rock of cheap affectation. Closely allied to this
is a third kind of fault peculiar to emotional passages,
what Theodorusa used to call the pseudo-bacchanalian.
This is emotion misplaced and pointless where none is
needed, or unrestrained where restraint is required. For
writers often behave as if they were drunk and give way to
outbursts of emotion which the subject no longer war-
rants, but which are private to themselves and conse-
quently tedious, so that to an audience which feels none
of it their behaviour looks unseemly. And naturally so, for
while they are in ecstasy, the audience is not. However
we have reserved another place in which to treat of emo-
tional subjects.h
4. The second fault of which we spoke above is Frigid-
ity, of which ·there are many examples in Timaeus, in
other respects a capable writer and sometimes not at all
badly endowed for greatness of style, learned, and full of
ideas. Yet while keenly critical of others' faults, he is
blind and deaf to his own, and his insatiable passion for
starting strange conceits often lands him in the most
puerile effects. I will quote only one or two examples
from Timaeus,c as Caecilius has forestalled me with most
of them. In his eulogy of Alexander the Great he speaks

religiously to the traditional arrangement of prooemium, narra-

tive, argument, counterargument, and peroration.
b If this refers to the present treatise, and not to a separate
work (see Introd.), it must be to a passage now lost.
c A Sicilian historian (from Tauromenium), who died c. 260
B.C.; he is adversely criticized by Polybius for inaccuracy and bad
taste.

171
 LONGINUS

o'AYJv" cPYJU"LV ~~EV E.'AaTTOa-t<v ETEU"t> 1 Trap€'Aa{3ev ~

oa-ot~ Tov vTr€p Tov Trpo~ IT€pa-a~ Tro'A€f.Lov TravYJyv-
ptKov 'Aoyov 'Ia-oKpaTOV~ €ypal/Jev." (}av~aa-T'Yj ye
'TOV
,. . M aKEOOVO~
~, ~
YJ Trpo~
' '
TOV U"O'PtU"TYJV
rl.... ' ,
a-vyKpLa-t~·

Sfj'Aov yap, (jJ Ttf.Lat€, w~ OL AaKEOat~OVtOL Du1 TOVTO

\ '
'TrOJ\.V
,. .
TOV
'I U"OKpa'TOV~
, KaT
, ~ , ,\ ,
avopEtaV €1\.Et'TrOVTO,
, ~ ' ~ '
E'TrEtOYJ Ot f.LEV
, 2 ~,
TptaKOVTa ETEU"t
M EU"U"YJVYJV
, -'\
Trap€1\.a-
Q ~ ~' ' ' ) , ~, ,
tJOV, 0 0€ 'TOV TraVYJyVptKOV EV ~OVOlS OEKa U"VVETa-
3 ~a'TO. 'TOL~ DE )A(JYJVatot~ a'Aova-LV TrEpt '2.tKE'Aiav 'TLVa
TPOTrOV ETrtcPWVEL; O'Tt ~~EL~ 'TOV ~Epf.LfjV aa-e{3-r}a-aVT€~
Kat ' TrEptKO~aVT€~
,.'t ) ,. . ' ) ,\
aV'TOV Ta ayaJ\.~a'Ta,
~ '
Ota ~' ~
TOVT EOW- ,. . '
KaV OLKYJV ovx YJKta-'Ta Ot' Eva avopa, 0~ aTrO TOV
TrapavOf.LYJ(}EvTo~ Du1 TraTepwv ,ryv, ~Epf.LoKpaTYJ Tov
~'E pf.LWVO~. " ~'
wa-TE 'r
(} avf.Lat:,Etv f.LE, T epevTtave' ~' ~
YJOta-TE,
Trw~ oiJ Kat el~ ~tovva-tov ypacPEt Tov Tvpavvov· ~~f.Tre'i
yap
'
Et~
) '
TOV u.La Kat TOV
A , ' ' ~H
paKAEa
\, ~ Q '
OVU"U"EfJYJ~
) ,
eye-
VETO, oul. TOVT' avToV ~LWV Kat ~HpaK'AELOYJ~ Tfj~
4 TvpavviDo~ UcPEt'AovTo." <Kat> 3 Tt De'L TrEpt Tt~aiov
\ , ~' ' ~ ~' ) ,.... t--1 rl.... ,. . .
AEYEtV, O'TrOV ye Kat Ot YJPWE~ EKELVOt, t:::!.EVO'PWVTa
\,
AEYW Kat
' II\AaTwva,
, ,
KatTotye EK
, ,. . ""
TYJ~ ~wKpaTov~ OVTE~
, ~'

Tra'Aaia-Tpa~, Of.LW~ ou1 Ta ovTw~ ~tKpoxapfj TroTe

~ ,. . .
eavTwv ETrtAav avovTat; o f.LEV
, \
ev TYJ
(}'
aKeoatf.LO-
~ , ye
, ,...A ~

, , rl.... \ , ~~ ) , ,. . . 4 '?' ' .,,

VtWV ypa'PEt 'TrOJ\.tTEUf • EKEtVWV yovv YJTTOV f.LEV av

1 add.
Spengel.
2 EtKoa-t
Faber.
3 <Kat> added by early editors.
4 P has JLEV before yovv, but this is incorrect Greek, and is

not in our text ofXenophon (Resp. Laced. 3.5).

172
 ON THE SUBLIME 4

of "one who subdued the whole of Asia in fewer years

than !socrates took to write his Panegyric urging war on
Persia.''a Surely this is an odd comparison of the Macedo-
nian to the sophist, for it is obvious, friend Timaeus, that
on this showing !socrates was a far better man than the
Spartans, since they spent thirty years in subduing
Messene,h while he composed his Panegyric in no more
than ten! Again, take his final comment on the Athenian
prisoners in Sicily: "Having committed sacrilege against
Hermes and mutilated his statues they were therefore
punished, mainly owing to the action of a single man, who
was kin on his father's side to the injured deity,
Hermocrates the son of Hermon."c This makes me won-
der, my dear Terentianus, why he does not write of the
tyrant Dionysius that "Having shown impiety towards
Zeus and Heracles, he was therefore deprived of his
tyranny by -Dian and Heracleides.''d But why speak of
Timaeus when those very demi-gods, Xenophon and
Plato, for all their training in the school of Socrates, yet
sometimes forgot themselves in their fondness for such
cheap effects? In his Constitution of Sparta Xenophon
says, "Certainly you would hear as little speech from these

a !socrates is said to have spent the decade c. 390-380 B.C.

working over this famous speech.
b The Spartan war of conquest in the eighth century B.C. is
usually said to have taken 20 years, but there were later conflicts
also. It is unsafe to emend Longinus' figure.
c See Plutarch, Nicias 1.
d The conceit depends on the fact that the oblique cases of
Zeus are Via, Dios, Dii, so that a pun similar to that on Her-
mes/Hermocrates is produced.

173
 LONGINUS
,./. . ' ,
o/WVYJV aKOVCTalS YJ TWV 1\L LVWV, TJTTOV
/ ., "" \ 8/ 'e' ~'
0
.,,
av OJ.LJ.LaTa
!>/

a-TpEt/JaL~ ~ TWV xaAKWV, aiDYJJ.LOVECTTEpov~ 8' llv

aVTOV~ rryrr}a-aLO Kat avTWV TWV EV TOL~ o~8aAfLOL~
/
1rap 0EVWV. H 'AfL'PLKpaTEL
,./... / KaL' OV' 1--1 ,./... ""
t:;:::;EVO'o/WVTL E1rpE1TE
!>/

Ta~ EV TOL~ o4>0aAJ.LOL~ TJJ.LWV Kopa~ AEYELV 1TapOE.-

VOV~
,~ /
aLOYJJ.LOVa~· OLOV
'e' ~
OE
, ~H / \
paKI\EL~
, ' /
TO Ta~ a'1TaVTWV
~

E.tij~ Kopa~ ala-xvVTYJAa~ ELvaL '1TE1T'Eta-0aL, 0'1TOV

,./...
o/aCTLV OVOEVL
' ,~ '
OVTW~
t:/ , 0
EVCTYJJ.LaLVECT aL
/ /
TYJV TLVWV
, /
avaL-
~
OELaV
~
W~
,
EV TOL~
"" , ,J...O al\fLOL~·
0'-{-J
\ "" , '
LTaJ.LOV
~~ ,
OLVOf-.JapE~,
a /
5 KVVO~
' !>/
OJ.LJ.LaT
' !>/
EXWV
" ,./...
o/YJCTLV.
/ 1 ~:
0
/
J.LEVTOL
T/LJ.LaLO~, e
W~
,./... / ' ',./... / ,~, "" 1--1 ,./..."" '
o/WpLOV TLVO~ Eo/a'TTTOJ.LEVO~, OVOE TOVTO t:;:::;EVO'PWVTL TO
tfivxpov KaTEAL'TTEv. 1>YJa-t yovv E'1Tt Tov 'Aya8oKAE.ov~
~ ~
KaTa'2 TO' TYJV
' ' ,f, ' e / / ' "" '
avE~LaV ETEp(f! OEOOJ.LEVYJV EK TWV ava-
\ /
Kai\V'TTTTJPLWV ap'1Taa-aVTa a'TTEI\ ELV,
e / ' \0 "" ee ._,
0
/
TL~
.,,
av E'TTOLYJ-
' /

6 CTEV EV .o~OaAJ.LOL~ Kopa~, J.LTJ '1Topva~ exwv;" TL 8€ 0

TaA.A.a Oe'io~ ITAaTwv; 7U~ DEATOV~ OE.A.wv EL'TTEtV
e~ypatfiavTe~" crYJa-iv ~~E.v Tot~ lepo'i~ Orr}a-ova-Lv KV'1Ta-
PLTTtva~ J.LVrrJJ.La~" • ·Kat '1TaALv ~f:'TTEpt 8€ TELxwv, &
ME.yLAAE, eyw tvfLcPEPOLfLYJV llv Tfj !.'1TapTYJ TO KaOev-
1 DELV E.av EV Tfj yfj KaTaKELJ.LEVa Ta TELXYJ Kat J.LTJ
' /
E1T'aVLCTTaa- 0aL. " KaL' TO' ~:H pOOOTELOV
~ / OV' '1T0ppw,
/ TO'

1
Kayser deleted lrafLOV ... cf>YJcriv. The introduction of the
Homeric parallel is very abrupt.
2 Kara Reiske, for Kat.

174
 ON THE SUBLIME 4

Spartans as from marble statues, and could as easily catch

the eye of a bronze figure; indeed you might well think
them as modest as the maidens in their eyes.,,a It would
have better suited Amphicrates than Xenophon to speak
of the pupils in our eyes as modest maidens. And fancy
believing that every single man of them had modest
pupils, when they say that people show their immodesty
in nothing so much as their eyes! Why, a violent man is
called ''Heavy with wine, with the eyes of a dog.,,b How-
ever, Timaeus, laying hands as it were on stolen goods,
could not leave even this frigid conceit to Xenophon. For
example, speaking of Agathocles when he carried off his
cousin from the unveiling ceremonyc although she had
been given in marriage to another, he says, "Who could
have done such a thing, had he not harlots instead of
maidens in his eyes?,, And what of the otherwise divine
Plato? "They will inscribe and store in the temples,,, he
says, "cypress memorials,,, meflning wooden tablets: and
again, "As for walls, Megillus, I would consent with
Sparta to let the walls lie slumbering on the ground and
never rise again. ,,d Herodotus, phrase for fair women

a The manuscript tradition of Xenophon, Resp. Lac. 3.5 has

"maidens in their chambers" (rwv ev ro't~ Oa'Aa!Lo~~ 1rap8€vwv),
but Stobaeus (Flor. CXLIV.2.23 Hense) has the same reading as
Longinus, which involves a pun on the two meanings of KDp'YJ,
"girl," and "pupil of the eye" (pupula)-a sense presumably
derived from the fact that, if you look into someone's pupil
closely, you see a doll-like image of yourself. b Achilles to
Agamemnon, Iliad 1.225. c I.e. on the third day after the
marriage, when the bride first appeared unveiled. Agathocles
ruled Syracuse, 317-287 B.C.; this story is not mentioned
elsewhere. d Laws 5.741C, 6.778D, freely quoted.

175
 LONGINUS

' i"'' ' ' 'i"''

aa-xTJf.LOVELV 7rpo~ Tov atwva.
5. ~'A1TaVTa '
f.LEVTOL Ta' ~'
OVTW~
3/
aO"Ef.LVa ~ '
OLa '
f.LLaV
',./.,.' i"'' \/ ~'
'/ ' ' ' /
Ef.L\f'Vf.TaL TOL~ J\OYOL~ aLTLaV, OLa TO 1TEpL Ta~ VOTJO"f.L~

Katvoa-1Tov8ov, 1TEp'i o 8i} f.LcLALa-Ta Kop~{3avTLWa-Lv ol

vvv. acp' fhv yap ~f.LLV raya{)a, a-xEDov a1T' avTwv
/ ' ' ' i"'' {) ,./.,. \ i"'' ~'{) ' / ,./.,.
TOVTWV KaL Ta KaKa YEVVaO" aL \f'LJ\f.L. 0 f.V f.1TL\f'OpOV
f.L~ O"VVTaYf.LcLTWV Kar6p{)wa-LV Ta Tf. KaAATJ Tij~ EPf.LTJ-
/ ' ' ~',f, ' ' / ~ ~ ~ / '
VELa~ KaL Ta V'YTJ KaL 1Tp0~ TOVTOL~ aL 'YJOOVaL, KaL
avTa TaVTa, Ka{)a1TEp rij~ E1TLTvxia~, OVTW~ apxa'i
KaL' V1TO
c {) /
f.O"f.l.S KaL' TWV f.VaVTLWV Ka LO"TaVTaL. i"'' ' / {)'
TOL-
OVTOV
i"'\ /
1TW~ KaL aL~ f.LETatJOJ\aL
' Q \ ~
'1 KaL' V1TEpfJOJ\aL
Q \ '
KaL' Ta'
\ {)
1T J\ T} VVTLKa • Of.Ls Of-LEV 0 ,f.V
/ ~ /t ~' ' TOL~
i"'' 3/
E1Tf.LTa TOV KLVOVVOV,
' / ~

ov EXELV EOLKaO"LV. DL01TEp avayKaLOV 1J8TJ DLa1TOpELV

KaL' V1TOTL
~ '{) EO" {) at, OL
~ ~'
OTOV /
T po1TOV ,. '
Ta~ avaKEKpaf.LEVa~
' /

KaKia~ TOL~ vtfiTJAOL~ EKcpevyELV DVVcLf.LE{)a.

3/E ~ I -;- ,./.,. / \ 3/ I {)' '
6. O"TL Of., W \f-'LJ\0~, f.L TLVa 1TEpL1TOLTJO"aLf.LE EV

1TpWTOL~
/
Ka apav TOV KaT
{) ' i"'' '
ai\T} f.LaV
'\ '{) ~',f,
V'YOV~
' I
f.1TLO"TTJ-
' ' / / ' i"'' ~~ \ ~
f.LT}V KaL f.1TLKpLO"LV. KaLTOL TO 7rpayf.La OVO"J\T}1TTOV" T}
yap rwv 'A6ywv Kpia-t~ 7ToA'A ij~ f.a-TL 1TEipa~ rEAEv-
raZov E1TLYEVVT}f.La. ov f.LTJV a'A'A'' w~ El1TELV EV 1Tapay-
yEAf.LaTL, EVTf.v{)E.v 1TO{)Ev LO"W~ TTJV Dtayvwa-LV aVTWV
' ,~1 l'f ()
ovK aovvaTov 1TOPL'=>Ea- at.

1
tJ-ETacpopa'i Wilamowitz

176
 ON THE SUBLIME 4-7

is not much better: "torments for eyes" he calls them. a Yet

he has some excuse, for in Herodotus this is said by the
barbarians, who are, moreover, in their cups. Yet even in
the mouths of such characters as these it is not right to
display the triviality of one's mind before an audience of
all the ages.
5. However, all these lapses from dignity in literature
spring from the same cause, namely that passion for nov-
elty of thought which is the particular craze of the present
day. For our virtues and vices spring from much the same
sources. And so while beauty of style, sublimity, yes, and
charm too, all contribute to successful composition, yet
these same things are the source and groundwork no less
of failure than of success. And we must say the same, I
suppose, about variety of construction, hyperbole, and
the use of plurals for singulars. We will show laterh the
danger which they seem to us to involve. We are thus
bound at this stage to raise and propose the answer to the
question how we can avoid the faults that go so closely
with the elevated style. ·
6. And this, my friend, is the way: first of all to obtain a
clear knowledge and appreciation of what is really sub-
lime. But this is not an easy thing to grasp: judgement in
literature is the ultimate fruit of ripe experience. How-
ever, if I must speak of precept, it is perhaps not impossi-
ble that a true discernment in such matters may be
derived from some such considerations as the following.

aHerodotus 5.18, in an amusing account of the way the

1 Macedonians entertained the Persian invaders of Greece.
I. h In chapters 23 and 38.

177
 T

LONGINUS

7. El8€vat xp~, cptA'TU'TE, 8to'Tt, Ka8a7TEp Kav Tip

KOtvip f3£4! ov8€v V7Tapxet fLEya, oil 'TO Ka'TacppovELV
~ / c
,
E(J"'TtV /
fLE'ya, 'e'
OtOV \ ""'
7TI\OVTOt 'TtfLaL' OOS /~
aL TVpaVVLOEc; KaL'
:>/ c
~'
O(J"a O'~Y'J UI\1\U
:>/ \ \ !1/
EXEL \ '
7TOI\V TO' Es w (} ev 7TpO(J"TpayqJoOVfLE-
~ /

vov ov8' 1 av Tip YE cppoVLfLqJ 8o~EtEV dya8a V7TEp{3a'A-

rl-. ""' , (}'
\
1\0VTa, 'e'
WV , '
UV'TO 'TO' 7TEpt"PpOVELV aya OV OV, /
fLE-
Tptov-8aVfLU,OV(J"L yovv 'TWV EXOVTWV avra f.La'A'Aov
' ~ / !1/ ~ ' I. / e
TOVc; OVVafLEVOVc; EXELV Kat' OLa fLEyai\O~VXLaV
\ •
V7TEp-
opwvTac;-rf18E 7Tov Kat E7Tt rwv 8t'Y]pfL€vwv E:v 7TOL~-
f.La(J"t
' \ / ,
KUL 1\0yotc; E7TL(J"KE7T'TEOV,
/
fL'Y}
/
TLVa
/(}
f.LEYE OVc;
cpavTa(J"tav €xot TotaV'T'Y}V fJ 7To'Av 7Tpo(J"KEL'Tat 'TO elK-ij
\
7TpO(J"aVa7TI\a'T'TOfLEVOV,
/ ,
ava7TTV'T'TOfLEVa
/ ~'
OE
"''\
ai\1\Wc;
\

EVpL(J"KOtTO xavva, 6Jv 'TOV OaVfLU,EtV 'TO 7TEptcppovELV

2 EVYEVE(J"7Epov. cpv(J"EL yap 7TWc; V7TO 'Ta'A'Y]Oovc; vt/Jovc;
€:7Tatpera£ TE TJfLWV T] t/JvxiJ Kat yavpov Tt 7Tapa-
(J"T'Y}f.La 2 Aaf.Lf3avov(J"a 7T~ 'YJPOV'TaL xapac; Kat fLEya-
\ / e '' / ~~ :>/ ~~
3 Aavxtac;, we; aVT'Y} yevV'Y}(J"a(J"a 07TEp 'Y}KOV(J"EV. orav
oiJv v7r' dv8poc; Ef.Lcppovoc; Kat EfL7TEtpov 'Aoywv 7TOA-
\ / , / / ' \ rl-. / '
1\aKLc; UKOVOfLEVOV TL 7Tpoc; fLEyai\O!.ppO(J"VV'Y}V T'YJV
t/Jvxi}v f.LiJ o-vv8taTt8fJ f.L'Y/8' E:yKa'TaAEL7TYJ rfl 8tavotq.,
7TAELOV rov 'AeyofLEVOV TO dvaOewpoVfLEVOV, 1Tt7T'TYJ 8',
.,, , '3 ' , ""' , , /(; , .,,
av aVTO (J"VVEXEc; E7Tt(J"K07TYJc;, Etc; a7TaVs 'Y}(J"LV, OVK av
ET' d'A'Y]8Ec; vtjlo~ EL'Y} fLEXPL fLOYJV~ 71}~ aKor}~ (J"qJ,OfLE-
vov. 'TOV'TO yap Tip OV'T t fLEya, oil 7TOAA ,ry fLEV T]
dvaOewpYJ()t~, 8v(J"Ko'Aoc; 8€, f.La'A'Aov 8' d8vva'To~ T]
KaTe~ava(J"Ta(J"tc;, l(J"xvpa 8€ T] fLV~fLYJ Kat 8v(J"e~aA.et-
1 ov8' Reiske, for OVK.

178
r ON THE SUBLIME 7

7. We must realize, dear friend, that as in our every-

day life nothing is really great which it is a mark of great-
ness to despise, I mean, for instance, wealth, position,
reputation, sovereignty, and all the other things which
possess a very grand exterior, nor would a wise man think
things supremely good, contempt for which is itself emi-
nently good-certainly men feel less admiration for those
who have these things than for those who could have
them but are big enough to slight them-well, so it is with
the lofty style in poetry and prose. We must consider
whether some of these passages have merely some such
outward show of grandeur with a rich layer of casual
accretions, and whether, if all this is peeled off, they may
not tum out to be empty bombast which it is more noble
to despise than to admire. For the true sublime naturally
elevates us: uplifted with a sense of proud exaltation, we
are filled iwth joy and pride, as if we had ourselves pro-
duced the very thing we heard.. If, then, a man of sense,
well-versed in literature, after hearing a passage several
times finds that it does not affect him with a sense of sub-
limity, and does not leave behind in his mind more food
for thought than the words at first suggest, but rather that
on consideration it sinks into the bathetic, then it cannot
really be the true sublime, if its effect does not outlast the
moment of utterance. For what is truly great bears
repeated consideration; it is difficult, nay, impossible, to
resist its effect; and the memory of it is stubborn and

2
1TapaUTYJfLU Manutius, for avaUTYJfLU.
3'' ' ' Pearce, .cror avEv
av avTo ,, '
TO.

179
 r

LONGINUS

4 1TTO~.
c.'/\
01\W~
~'
OE
\ '
Kal\a / r V'f'TJ
VOfLt«:;,E ('',t~ '\ 0 tVa' Ta' Ota
Kat' ai\T} ~ '

I
1TaVTO~
' 3
apECTKOVTa Kat' TraCTtV.
"" c.'/
OTaV '
yap TOt~
"" 3 '
aTrO
8tacp6pwv ETrtTTJDEVjLaTwv {3£wv ~rr}Awv T]AtKtwv
'A6ywv 1 EV Tt Kat TaVTOV a!La 7TEpt TWV avTWV aTraa-tV
~
OOKYJ, TO
"" /0' c.'
TJ
3 (; 3
aCTVfLtpWVWV W~ Kpta-t~ Kat a-vyKaTa-
E~
,../... I t I ' I

0f.(Tt~ ' 'E7Tt

TTJV ' TqJ""O aVfLa«:;,OjLEVqJ
Y I I
7TtCTTtV ta-xvpav
3 ' \
l\ajL-
{3avEt Kat aVajLcptAEKTOV.
8. 'E1Tf.t' ~ '
OE 7TEVTE,
/ e
W~
.,,
av Et1TOt
~~
Tt~, 1TTJ'Yat
I /
TtVE~

ela-tv al T-ry~ vlfiTJYOPta~ yoVtfLWTaTat, 1TpOV1TOKEtjLE-

VTJ~ wa-Trep €8acpov~ Ttvo~ Kotvov Tat~ 7TEVTE TavTat~
l8€at~ T-ry~ EV T(i> 'AE.yetv 8vvafLEW~, 17~ o'Aw~ xwpt~
3~1 "" '
OVOEV, TrpWTOV /l-EV Kat' KpaTtCTTOV
I
TO' 7TEpt' Ta~
' /
VOTJ-
CTEt~ a8pe7r1}{3o'Aov, w~ Kav TOt~ 1TEpt SevocpwVTO~
wptCTajLEOa. DEVTEpov 8€ TO a-cpo8pov Kat €v0ova-ta-
' Tra10 o~· al\1\
a-TtKOJ:J '\\' ate fLEV
' ~~
ovo 'e'
avTat Tov""('',/, '
v'f'ov~ KaTa
'
TO Tri\EOV av
\ 1 ' 0tyevet~
"" a-Vff"Taa-et~,
/ e \
at I\Ot1Tat o TJOTJ Kat
, ~, :J/ ~ ,

8u1 TEXVTJ~, iJ ~e 1Tota Twv a-xTJ~LaTwv Tr'Aa-

a-t~-ota-a-a
~ ' oe
~~ ""
7TOV TavTa, Ta' jLEV
' VOTJCTEW~,
/ 01aTepa
~' \ 1(: ' ' ~' / e 1 ,../... 1 'e'
Of. 1\E~ EW~-E7Tt Of. TOVTOt~ TJ yevvata 'Ppaa-t~, YJ~
1 /\ ' / ' \ ' ' e ' '
f.LEPTJ Tral\tV OVOfLaTWV TE EKI\O'YTJ Kat TJ Tp07TtKTJ Kat
I \ I(; / ~ ' /() 3 / '
7TE7TOtTJfLEVYJ 1\E~ t~· 1TEjL1TTTJ Of. f.LE'YE OV~ atTta Kat
\ / ' ' e "" ~~ e ' 'C /
a-vyKI\ELOVCTa Ta 1rp0 EaVTTJ~ aTraVTa, YJ EV a~ tWf.LaTt
'
Kat otapa-Et a-vv
~ I / 0€CTt~· ,.1...1
'PEPE
~'
OTJ Ta
' 3
Ef.LTrEptEX0/1-f.Va
/

'~ /
Ka () ' f.KaCTTYJV
t I
toEaV I
TOVTWV ' ,/, /
f.7TLCTKE'f'WfLE () ""
a, TOCTOVTOV
1TpOEL1TOVTf.~,
/ ~I
OTt TWV 1T€VTf. f.LOpLWV
..... / / t
0
K atKLJ\tO~
1\ ~~
ECTTtV

1 xpovwv Richards, TPO'Tf'WlJ Morus.

180
T
(
'
ON THE SUBLIME 7-8

indelible. To speak generally, you should consider that to

be beautifully and truly sublime which pleases all people
at all times. For when men who differ in their pursuits,
their lives, their tastes, their ages, their languages,a all
agree together in holding one and the same view about
the same writings, then the unanimous verdict, as it were,
of such discordant judges makes our faith in the admired
passage strong and indisputable.
8. There are, one may say, some five most productive
sources of the sublime in literature, the common ground-
work, as it were, of all five being competence in speaking,
without which nothing can be done. The first and most
powerful is the power of grand conceptions-! have
defined this in my book on Xenophonh-and the second
is the inspiration of vehement emotion. These two con-
stituents of the sublime are for the most part congenital.
But the other three come partly from art, namely the
proper construction of figures-. these being of course of
two kinds, figures of thought and figures of speech-and,
over and above these, nobility of language, which again
may be resolved into choice of words and the use of
metaphor and elaborated diction. The fifth cause of
grandeur, which gives form to all those already men-
tioned, is dignified and elevated word-arrangement. Let
us then consider all that is involved under each of these
heads, merely prefacing this, that Caecilius has omitted

aText unsure: the suggested emendations mean "dates" or

"manners."
h This book is lost.

181
 r
LONGINUS
c.\ "\ 1: ' ' i' L} , i'\ , \ \ ' , ' 1:
2 a 1TapEI\I/lTEV, W~ KaL TO 1Tauo~ afLEI\EL. al\1\ EL J.LEV W~
~'
EV TL TaVT !"'. ' .rl..
aJ.Lo/W,
:Jt
TO" ~"1 I r
TE V~O~ n " KaL'
KaL' TO' 1TaU'YJTLKOV,
:J/~ (; , !"'. i' i' , \ \ i' \ '
EOOS EV aVTqJ 1TaVT'YJ a-VVV1TapXELV TE ai\1\'Y}I\OL~ KaL
,./... / ~ / ' ' /L} ' ~
crVJ.L1TEo/VKEVaL, OLaJ.LapTaVEL" KaL yap 1TaU'YJ TLVa OLE-

a-TWTa vl/Jov~ Kat Ta1TELVU EVpLa-KETaL, KafJa1TEp OlKTOL

.rl.. '{3 OL, KaL' EJ.L1Tai\LV
:Jt \ \ \ ' ~' Ir ~" ' n
I\V1TaL o/0
\ !"'.
1TOI\I\a V~'YJ OLXa 1TaUOV~,
1

W~
~:
1rp0~
'
J.LVpLOL~
, :J/\ \
ai\1\0L~ KaL' Ta' 1TEpL' TOV~
' 'A\1\Waoa~
,~
7~ 1TOLTfj1TapaTETOAJ.LYJJ.LEVa •
:J/0
a-a-av E1T
, ' 0 VI\VfL1TqJ
,\ i' /
J.LEJ.Lacrav uEJ.LEV" avTap
L} / , '

€1r' :J/ Ocr a-n

IT'ljALOV Elvoa-ic/JvAAov, tv' ovpavo~ aJ.Lf3aTO~
:J/
ELY]"

KaL TO
' '
TOVTOL~
, :JI
ETL J.LEL~.:,OV
!"'. r , ,~..
E1TLo/EpOJ.LEVOV
"

KaL" ·vv" KEV Es

'C ETEI\Ea-a-av.
"\

i' ' 1:/ ', i' ' '

3 1rapa yE J.LYJV TOL~
!"'.
PYJTOpa-L Ta EYKWJ.LLa KaL Ta 1TOJ.L-
~
1TLKa' KaL' E1TLOELKTLKa
, ' '
TOV '
J.LEV :J/
oyKOV KaL' TO' 1: 1,
V~'Y}I\OV
t \ '
Es
, (;

~' i' /L} ~' i'

a1ravTo~ 1TEpLEXEL, 1rauov~ oE X'YJPEVEL KaTa' To' 1TI\EL-
\ !"'.

a-Tov· oOEv i]KLa-Ta TWV PYJTOpwv Ot 1TEpL1Ta0E'i~ eyKw-

' .,, :J/ \ 1: , ' L} !"'. , ~'
4 J.LLaa-TLKOL 'YJ EJ.L1Tai\LV OL E1TaLVETLKOL 1TEpL1TaUEL~. EL 0

aV-;- 1Tai\LV
"\ 'C ~ \ ' , /
Es 01\0V J.L'YJ EVOJ.LL(F'EV
< 01 : > 1 K aLKLI\LO~
"\ TO'
1

, L}' , 2 ' ~1 1ft ' \

EJ.L1TaUE~ <EL~> Ta V~'YJ 1TOTE a-VVTEI\ELV KaL OLa TOVT
~ !"'. ' ' !"'. '

, 1: i' / :J/(; i' ~ / L}

OVX 'YJY'YJa-aTO J.LV'YJJ.L'YJ~ as LOV, 1TaVV OL'YJ1TaT'Y}TaL· uap-
pwv yap ac/JoptcraLJ.LYJV av, w~ J.LEyaA'ljyopov, wa-1TEp
1:' i' ' ' i' 'L} !"'.
V1TO J.LaVLa~ TLVO~ KaL 1TVEVJ.LaTO~ EVUOVa-Laa-TLKW~

E1TL1Tvf.ov 3 Ka'i olovE'i c/Jot{3a,ov Tov~ A.oyov~.

9. Ov J.LTJV dA.A.' E1TEt TTJV KpaTia-T'YJV J.Lo'ipav e1r-

1 <o> add. Manutius. 2 add. Faber.

182
 ON THE SUBLIME 8-9

some of these five classes, one obvious omission being

that of emotion. Now if he thought that sublimity and
emotion were the same thing, and that one always essen-
tially involved the other, he is wrong. For one can find
emotions that are mean and devoid of sublimity, for
instance feelings of pity, grief, and fear. On the other
hand, many sublime passages are quite without emotion.
Examples are countless: take for instance the poefs dar-
ing lies about the Aloadae:a
Ossa then up on Olympus they strove to set, then
upon Ossa
Pelion, ashiver with leaves, to build them a ladder
to Heaven;
and the still greater exaggeration that follows,
And t~ey would have done it as well.
Then again in the orators theil: eulogies and ceremonial
speeches and show pieces always include touches of dig-
nity and sublimity, yet are usually void of emotion. The
result is that emotional orators excel least in eulogy, while
panegyrists equally lack emotional power. If, on the other
hand, it never entered Caecilius~ head that emotion
sometimes contributes towards sublimity, and he there-
fore omitted it as undeserving of mention, then great
indeed is his mistake. I would confidently lay it down that
nothing makes so much for grandeur as genuine emotion
in the right place. It inspires the words as it were Vlith a
fine frenzy and fills them with divine spirit.
9. Now, since the first, I mean natural, greatness plays

a Odyssey 11.315.
3 Morus, for EK7Tv€ov.
183
 LONGINUS
r
, ,.... "''\ \
EXEL 'TWV ai\1\WV TO 1rpwTov, 1\eyw oE TO
' ,.... \ , ~' ' \ ,./.,.
f.LE'yal\o"+'vE~,
,
XP~ KavTav8a, Kat El owpYJTOv To 1rpO..-yf.La f.Lii'A'Aov ~
,
K'T'Y}'TOV, "'
Of.LW~ Ka ()' "'
0(]"0V ~ , 'TE Ta~
OLOV ' ~vxa~ ' avaTpE-
, , ·'·
2 .J..
"+'ELV '
1rpo~ Ta' f.LEYE'8 YJ Kat' wa-1rEp
el
EYKVf.LOVa~
' I
aEL
' '
1TOL-
,.... I I I .J..I I
ELV yEvvatov 1Tapaa-TYJf.LaTo~. 'Ttva, "f''YJa-EL~, Tpo1rov;
y€ypa4>a 1TOV Kat E'TEpw8L 'TO 'TOLOV'TOV" vlfio~ f.LEya'Ao-
4>poa-VVYJ~ a1T~XYJf.La. o8Ev Kat 4>wvfj~ oixa 8avf.La,E-
'TaL, 1TO'TE ,/, \ '
~LI\ 'Y} Ka (}' EaV'T'Y}V
e '
EVVOLa
"'' ~ ' aV'TO
OL ' '
'TO' f.LEya-
Aoc/Jpov, w~ T] 'TOV AtavTO~ EV N EKviq- (J"LW1T~ f.LEya
3 Kat 1TaVTO~ vl/JYJAOTEpov 'Aoyov. 1TpW'TOV oilv 'TO E~ oiJ
yivETaL 1TpOV1TO'Tt8Ea-8at 1TcLV'TW~ dvayKa'iov, w~ EXELV
8E'i TOV d'AYJB-ry p~Topa f.L~ Ta1TEtvov c/JpoV'Y}f.LU Kat
ayEVVE~. OVOE yap oiov f.LLKpa Kat 00VA01TpE1T-ry
'TE
,./.,.
"f'POVOVV'Ta~
,.... ' ~ I
Kat' E1TL'TYJOEVOV'Ta~ 1Tap ' 01\0V
el\ '
'TOV {3'LOV

8avf.Laa-Tov 'TL Kat Tov 1rav'To~ alwvo~ E~EVEYKE'iv

~ ~
!1/ (;
a~
I \
LOV" f.LEyai\OL OE
'
OLe 1\QYOL
\ I I
'TOV'TWV Ka'Ta' 'TO' '
ELKO~
'
WV
4 av Ef.L{3pt8li~ Ci.>a-tv ai EVVOLaL. TaVTYJ Kat EL~ 'TOV~
f.La'A.ta-Ta 4>pov'YJf.La~ia~ Ef.L1Tt1T'TEL Ta v1TEpc/Jvii • o yap
'T(f),. . ITapf.LEVLWVL
1 ,./.,. 1
"f'YJa-avTL ee '
Eyw
' '
f.LEV ' 1
YJPKEa- 8YJV ... 1

. . . 'TO E7T' ovpavov a1TO yij~ Otaa-TYJf.La. Kat 'TOV'T'

alJ EL1TOL 'TL~ ov f.LUAAov Tij~ "''EptOo~ Tj "Of.L~pov

1
p lost a whole quaternion (8 pages) after a8perrYJf3o'Aov
(above, 8.1); but the two outer pages are preserved in copies
made when the damage was less; these however fail us at this
point. presumes at EV 8€ c/>aEL Kat o'AEa-a-ov (9.10).

a Odyssey 11.543-67. Ajax, summoned from Hades, refuses

184
 ON THE SUBLIME 9

a greater part than all the others, here too, even if it is

rather a gift than an acquired quality, we should still do
our utmost to train our minds into sympathy with what is
noble and, as it were, impregnate them again and again
with lofty thoughts. "How?" you will ask. Well, else-
where I have written something like this, "Sublimity is the
echo of a noble mind." And so even without being spoken
the bare idea often of itself wins admiration for its inher-
ent grandeur. How grand, for instance, is the silence of
Ajax in the Summoning of the Ghosts, a more sublime
than any speech! In the first place, then, it is absolutely
necessary to state whence greatness comes, and to show
that the thought of the genuine orator must be neither
small nor ignoble. For it is impossible that those whose
thoughts and habits all their lives long are petty and
servile should produce anything wonderful, worthy of
immortal life. No, a grand style is the natural product of
those whose ideas are weighty. This is why splendid
remarks come particularly to men of high spirit. Alexan-
der's answer to Parmenio when he said ~~For my part I had
been content ... "h
[Six pages are lost here.]
. . . the distance between earth and heaven. One
might say too that this measured the stature not of Strife

to speak to Odysseus, because he is still angry at the award of

Achilles' armour to Odysseus rather than to himself.
b The story (told in most of the historians of Alexander: see
e.g. Plutarch, Alexander 29), and perhaps derived from Callis-
thenes, is that Darius offered Alexander territory and one of his
daughters in marriage; Parmenio said "If I were Alexander, I
should have accepted," and Alexander replied .. If I were Parme-
nio, so should I."

185
 LONGINUS

5 /
fLETpov. cp'? aVOfLOLov
' / / /~
yE TO' ~H crtooEtov , '
E1TL TYJc;
i"\

'A XJ\VOc;,
\ / "' ~H crtooov
ELYE /~ Kat' TYJV
' 'A CT1Ttoa
/ ~ (} ETEov,
/

' OELVOV
OV' yap ~ ' E1TOL
' / YJCTE TO' ELOWJ\OV,
"'~ \ '\ \ '
aJ\J\a /LLCTYJTOV.
/
0~
~'
OE 1TWc; fLE'YE VVEL Ta'~
i"\
oaLfLOVLa;
(}/ /

t:/ '
YJfLEVOc; EV CTK01TLYJ, J\EVCTCTWV E1TL OLV01Ta 1TOVTOV,
i"\ \ / ' ' "' /

Tocrcrov e1rtO pwcrKovcrt 0Ewv vlfiYJXEEc; t1T1TOL.

T~V opfL~V avTWV KOCTfLLK(i> OLaCTTrJfLaTL KaTafLETpli.

/ '";' '.,, '/ ~''
TLc; OVV OVK av ELKOTWc; OLa TYJV V1TEp OJ\YJV TOV fLE'YE-
~ {3\' i"\ /

Oovc; E1TupOE.y~aLTO, OTL av OLe; E~ijc; oc/JopfLrJCTWCTLV OL

i"\ (} i"\ t:/ ' /(}' ~ / ' / /
TWV EWV L1T1TOL, OVKE EVpYJCTOVCTLV EV KOCTfL(fJ T01TOV;
6 V1TEpc/Jvii Kat Ta E1TL Tijc; 0Eo!Lax[ac; c/JavTacrJ.LaTa ·

CtfLcPL S€ craA1TL'Y~~v fLEyac; ovpavoc; 0vAV!L1TOc;

TE.

EOOELCTEV S' V1TEVEp()Ev ava~ f.vE.pwv 'Ai"owvEvc;,

OEtcrac; 8' EK ()p6vov aATO Kat raxE, !Lrl OL
"'
E1TELTa

a Evidently Iliad 4.442:

Small is the crest that she rears at the first, but behold her
thereafter
Planting her head in the skies, while she treads with her
feet on the earth.

186
 ON THE SUBLIME 9

so much as of Homer.a Quite unlike this is Hesiod~s

description of Gloom, if indeed we are right in adding the
Shield to the list of Hesiod~s works:h
Mucus from her nostrils was running.
He has made the image not terrible, but repulsive. But
see how Homer magnifies the powers of heaven:
Far as a man can see with his eyes in the shadowy
distance,
Keeping his watch on a hilltop, agaze o~ er the wine-
dark ocean,
So far leap at a bound the high-neighing horses of
heaven.c
He uses a cosmic interval to measure their stride. So
supreme is the grandeur of this, one might well say that if
the horses of heaven take two consecutive strides there
will then be no place found for·them in the world. Mar-
vellous too is the imaginat~ve picture of his Battle of the
Gods:
Blared round about like a trumpet the firmament
vast and Olympus;
Shuddering down in the depths, the king of the
dead, Aldoneus,

b Shield of Heracles 267. Aristophanes of Byzantium was

among the ancient scholars who regarded the Shield as perhaps
not Hesiod's, but Apollonius and others took it to be genuine.
c Iliad 5.770-2.

187
 LONGINUS

ya'iav avapp~gEtE IToo-EtDawv f.voo-1-xOwv,

,
OLKta /~' () ""' ' '() ,../..
0€ V1JTOto-t Kat a avaTOL(Tt o/aV€t1],
/ /

\ , ~ /' / () / / /
o-p..EpoaA€ EvpwEvTa, Ta T€ o-TvyEovo-t Eot 1T€p.

E1Tt{3Ae1T€t~, ETatp€, w~ avapp1JYVVJJ-EV1J~ p..E.v EK

a /() pwv 'Y1J~,
fJa ""' avTov, ""' oE~' /
yvp..vovp..Evov TapTapov,/ ,
ava-
TP01T1JV' o€ ~' ""'\
OI\OV Kat' otao-Tao-tv
~ /
TOV""' Koo-p..ov
/ \ a/
Aap..fJa-
~
vovTo~, 1rav ap..a, ovpavo~ q,o1]~, Ta V1JTa Ta a a-
/ ()' <"/ , ' <"/ ' () ' ' , () /

vaTa, ap..a Tfj TOT€ o-vp..1TOA€p..€t Kat o-vyKtVDVV€'V€t

7 p..axn; a'A'Aa TavTa cpo{3Epa p..iv, 1r'A~v a'A'Aw~, Et p..~
KaT ' aAA1J'YOptav
,\ \ / Aap..fJavotTo,
\ a/ /
1TaVTa1Tao-tv a:!>'() Ea Kat'
ov o-cf>,ovTa To 1rpE1rov. ""'Op..1Jpo~ yap p..ot DoKEt
~~'
1rapaotoov~ Tpavp..aTa ()""' EWV o-Tao-Et~ Ttp..wpta~
/ / /

~
oaKpva
/ ~
oEo-p..a ' 1ra/() 1J 1rap..o/vpTa
,../.. ' ' , ' ""'
TOV~ p..Ev €1Tt TWV
/

'I'AtaKWV avO pw1TOV~ oo-ov E1Tt Tfj Dvvap..Et 0Eov~

1T€0t1]KEVat, TOV~ 0EoV~ S€ av0pw1TOV~. a'A'A' rf]p..tv p..E.v
Svo-Datp..ovovo-tv a1TOKEiTat 'Atp..T]v KaKwv OavaTo~, o
TWV 0Ewv 8' ov TTJV cpvo-tv, a'A'Aa TTJV aTvxiav E1TOt1]-
8 ,
(T€1J atWVtOV. / \'
1TOI\V ~' ""'
0€ TWV 1T€pt T1JV
' ' () Eop..axtaV /

ap..EtVW 'Ta oo-a a:!>/ xpaVTOV

, / ' <"//
Tt Kat' p..Eya /
'TO' oatp..OVtOV
~ /

w~ a'A1J()W~ Kat aKpaTOV 1Tapto-T1]CTtV, ota ( 1roAAot~

S€ 1rpo rf]p..wv o
To1To~ f.tEipyao-Tat) Ta €1rt Tov
IToo-EtDwvo~·

rpEp..€ 8' ovpEa p..aKpa Kat VAl]

Kat Kopvcpa'i T pwwv TE 1ro'At~ Ka'i vfjE~ 'Axatwv

A conHation of Iliad 21.388 and 20.61-5.

a
b A proverbial image, cf. (e.g.) [Plutarch] Consolation to
Apollonius 10, Epictetus 4.10.27, Seneca, Agamemnon 592 (with
R. J. Tarrant's note).

188
T
ON THE SUBLIME 9

Sprang from his throne with a shuddering cry, for

fear the earthshaker, Poseidon,
Might soon splinter asunder the earth, and his
mansions lie open,
Clear to the eyes of immortals and mortals alike all
uncovered,
Grim and dreary and dank, which the very gods see
with abhorrence.a
You see, friend, how the earth is split to its foundations,
hell itself laid bare, the whole universe sundered and
turned upside down; and meanwhile everything, heaven
and hell, mortal and immortal alike, shares in the conflict

I
I
and danger of that battle. Terrible as these passages are,
they are utterly irreligious and breach the canons of pro-
priety unless one takes them allegorically. I feel indeed
I
I that in recording as he does the wounding of the gods,
their quarrels, vengeance, tears, imprisonment, and all
their manifold passions Homer has done his best to make
the men in the Iliad gods and the gods men. Yet, if we
mortals are unhappy, death is the ~~harbour from our
troubles,''b whereas Homer has given the gods not only
immortal natures but immortal sorrows. The Battle of
the Gods, however, is far surpassed by those passages
which represent the divine nature as truly uncontami-
nated, majestic, and pure. Take, for instance, the lines
about Poseidon, though they have been treated fully
enough by others before us:
Trembled the woods, and trembled the long-lying
ranges
Yes, and the peaks and the city of Troy and the
ships of Achaia

189
 LONGINUS r
1TOCTCTLV ' e ''(}
V1T /
a avaTOLCTL IT OCTELOaWVO~
~/ '/
LOVTO~.

f3 YJ""' o~' EAaav

'\ / ' ' Kvp.,ar,
E1TL / , araAI\E
3/ \ \ ~' / , e
oE KYJTE V1T
,

' ""'
avrov
1TclVTO(}Ev EK KEv(}p.,wv, ov8' TJYVOLYJCTEV avaKra·
'YYJ(}ocrvvn 8€ (}ciA.acrcra 8d:crraro, rot 8€
/
1T€TOVTO.
9 raVTYJ Kat 0 TWV 'Iov8aiwv 8Ecrp.,o8€rYJ~, ovx 0 rvxwv
'
aVYJp,
/ ' ~'
€1T€LOYJ ' TOV""' (} ELOV OVVaf-1-LV
TYJV ~ /
Kara' TYJV
/ ' a~, (;/LaV
EXWPYJCT€ Ka~EcPYJVEV, Ev8v~ EV rfj Elcrf3o'Afj ypatfia~
""' / (( -;- ( (} , ,./....
/ /(} ,./.... ""'
/ (( /
rwv vop.,wv EL1TEV o Eo~, \fJYJCTL" rt-; YEVECT w \fJw~,
Kat f.yivEro· yEvicrOw yij, Kat f.yivEro."
10 OvK ox'A.YJpO~ av L(TW~, ETaLp€, 86~aLf.LL, EV ETL TOV
1TOLYJTOV Kat TWV ave pw1TLVWV 1Tapa(}€p.,EVO~ TOV
f.La(}ELV xapt-v, W~ El~ ra TJPWLKa f-1-E'YE(}YJ CTVVEp.,{3at-
'{)/ r , \, 3/ ,.~.... c , , 3/ , ,.... ,
VEtV € L'='EL. ax 1\V~ a\{JVW KaL VV~ a1ropo~ aVTqJ TYJV
TWV eE'A.'A.~vwv E1TEXEL f.L4XYJV" €v(}a 8~ 0 Ata~ Uf.LYJxa-
,....
vwv
eez EV,. . 1Ta7Ep,
/ , \fJYJCTLV,
,./. . / (( a/\1\a
' \ \ ' CTV' pvcraL
e,. . ( '
V1T
T]E.po~ ota~ 'Axa~.-wv,
/
1TOtYJCTOV o~' at-3/(} PYJV, oo~
~' ',./....(} aAf.LOLCTtv
o~' o\fJ \ ""'
l8€cr8a~.-·
,
EV \{JaEL KaL' '01\ECTCTOV.
~',./..../
0€
'\ ,,

aAnother conflation: Iliad 13.18, 20.60, 13.19, 27-9. In view

of Longinus' comment, the passage was perhaps put together
by earlier critics, and is not simply a confused quotation from
memory.
h This loose quotation of Genesis 1.3-9 has often been sus-
pected of being an interpolation, and indeed the argument runs
on without it perfectly well. But there is no reason why Longinus

190
T
l
I ON THE SUBLIME 9

Under the feet immortal and the oncoming march

of Poseidon.
He set him to drive o, er the swell of the sea, and
the whales at his coming
Capering leapt from the deep and greeted the
voice of their master.
Then the sea parted her waves for joy, and they
flew on the journey. a
Soo, too, the lawgiver of the Jews, no ordinary man, hav-
ing formed a worthy conception of divine power and
given expression to it, writes at the very beginning of
his Laws: CCGod said,-what? clet there be light,' and
there was light, CLet there be earth,' and there was
,,b
earth .
Perhaps you will not think me boring, my friend, if I
insert here another passage from the poet, one that treats
of human affairs, to show you his habit of entering into
the sublimity of his heroic them~. Darkness and helpless
night suddenly descend upon his Greek army. At his wits,
end Ajax cries:
Zeus Father, rescue from out of the mist the sons of
Achaia,
Brighten the heaven with sunshine, grant us the
sight of our eyes.
Just so it be in daylight, destroy us.c

should not have known it; and the tradition that Caecilius may
have been a Jew suggests a possible source. The syntax of the
sentence is controversial; see now Mazzucchi, pp. 172-4. For
the considerable influence of the passage in the eighteenth cen-
tury, see esp. Boileau, Reflexions sur le Sublime X, and Robert
Louth's Oxford lectures De sacra poesi Hebraeorum (1753).
c Iliad 17.645-7.

191
 T

LONGINUS

EU"'TtV w~ aAY]fJW~ 'TO 7Tai)o~ AtaVTO~, ov yap 'ijv

evxeTat ( ~v yap To atTYJfLa Tov i}pwo~ Ta7TEtVOTEpov ),
'\\' , ,~' , / ' , /
a/\1\ E7TEtOYJ EV a7TpaKT<f! o-KOTEt TYJV avopEtaV Et~
, ~ /

ov8€v yevvaLOV e'lxe 8tafJ€a-Bat, Ota TavT' ayavaKTWV

OTt 7Tpo~ TTJV fLaXYJV apyet, cpw~ OTt Taxta-Ta alTELTat,
W~ 7TaVTW~ 71}~ apET1}~ EVp~a-WV EVTacptOV a~tOV, KaV
11 avT(i> Zev~ UV'Tt'TaTTYJTat. aAAa yap ~'OfLYJPO~ fLEV
€vfJa8e ovpto~ (TVVEfL7TVEL 'TOL~ aywa-tv Kat OVK aA.A.o
Tt avTo~ 7TE7Tov0ev ~

,....
7TVp
ovpEa-t fLaLVYJTat, f3a0EYJ~ EV TapcpEa-tv vA. YJ~'
',./.,.\ ' ~' '
a'f'I\OtU"fLO~ OE 7TEpt U"'TOfLa ytyVE'Tat•
/ /

8eiK~va-t 8' OfLW~ 8ta T1]~ '08va-a-Eia~ (Kat yap TavTa

7ToA.A.wv f.vEKa 7Tpoa-.E7Tt0EwpY]r€ov ), oTt fJ-EyaA.YJ~
c/Jva-Ew~ v7Toc/JepofLEVYJ~ ~sYJ r8t6v E.a-Ttv E.v y~pq.. TO
12 cptAOfLVOov. 87}A.o~ yap EK 7TOAAwv 'TE a'AA.wv (J"VVTE-
'
() EtKW~ TaVTYJV OEVTEpav
/ ~ / ' V7TO
TYJV ~ , ' OYJ
'() EU"tV, aTap ~ ' ,
KaK
Tov 'AEitj.Java Twv 'IA.taKwv 7Ta()YJfLaTwv 8ta Tij~
'0 ova-a-Eta~
~ / ~ ,
W~ E7TEt(J"OOta TtVa
/~ / 1 ,./.,. /
7TpOa-E7TEt(J"'f'EpEtV Kat'
~~ ~
VYJ' u.L
A /' '
EK TOV,.... Ta~' ' \ ,./.,. / '
01\0'f'Vpa-Et~ Kat 'TOV~ OLKTOV~ W~
'

7TaAat 7Tov 7TpoEyvwa-fL€vov~ 2 Tot~ i}pwa-tv E.vravOa

~ ~ , , ' , \ \ ' .,, ,. . 'I\ , ~ , ,
7Tpoa-a7TOOLOOVat• OV yap a/\1\ YJ TYJ~ 1\Laoo~ E7Tt-
Aoyo~ €a-T tv T] '08va-a-Eta ·

1
The manuscripts here add rov Tpwi:Kov noAEJLOV, but these
words spoil the sense, and are perhaps a gloss on rwv 'IA.taKwv
naBruuirwv.

192
 ON THE SUBLIME 9

These are the true feelings of an Ajax. He does not plead

for his life: such a prayer would demean the hero: but
since the disabling darkness robbed his courage of all
noble use, therefore, distressed to be idle in battle, he
prays for light on the instant, hoping thus at the worst to
find a burial worthy of his courage, even though Zeus be
ranged against him. Here indeed the battle is blown
along by the force of Homer's writing, and he himself
Stormily raves, as the spear-wielding War-god, or
Fire, the destroyer,
Stormily raves on the hills in the deep-lying thick-
ets of woodland;
Fringed are his lips with the foam-froth. a
Yet throughout the Odyssey, which for many reasons we
must not exclude from our consideration, Homer shows
that, as genius ebbs, it is the love of storytelling that char-
acterizes old age. There are indeed. many indications that
he composed this tale after the Iliad; for example,
throughout the Odyssey he introduces as episodes rem-
nants of the adventures at Ilium; yes, and does he not in
this poem render to his heroes their meed of lamentation
as if it were something long known? In fact the Odyssey
is simply an epilogue to the Iliad:

a Iliad 15.605.
2 1rpoeyvwapi.vot.s Reiske (i.e. it is the heroes, not the
lamentations, which are "long known").

193
 LONGINUS

ev8a JLEV Ata~ KEtTat dp~"io~, €v8a 8'

'AxtAAEv~,
E.v8a 8€ ITarpoKA.o~, 8EocPtV f.L~a-rwp
, /\
araAavro~,

~'
EV a
,, (}
0
, ' ,../.,/\
Ef.LO~ o/t/\0~ VtO~.
f: /

13 dno 8€ rij~ avrij~ alria~, oif.Lat, rij~ f.LEV 'IA.ta8o~

ypacPOJLEV'Y}~ EV aKJLD 'lrVEVJLa'TO~ oA.ov 'TO CYWJLUTtOV
~ ' e , ~E'
opaf.LaTtKOV V'lrECYT'YJCYaTO Kat' EVaywvtOV,
, , '"'
T'YJ~ 0

'08va-a-Eia~ To n'Aeov 8t'YJY'YJJLaTtKov, onEp t8tov

y~pw~. o8Ev EV TD '08va-a-Eiq. napEtKaa-at Tt~ av
KaTa8voJLEVCf! Tov <:'OJL'Y]pov -ryA.icp, o~ 8ixa Tij~ a-cPo-
8poT'YJTO~ napaJLEVEt TO f.LEYE8o~. ov yap ETt TOt~
'I\1\taKOt~ EKEtVOt~ 'lrOt'Y}f.LaCYtV ta-OV EVTaV a CY(f!sEt
1'"1 , , r TOV , , ~' , '"'(} ,

/
TOVOV, OVO'~' '(; Wf.Lal\tCYfLEVa
Es \ / Ta' V~'Y}
<:1,1, Kat' e ts'Y}f.LaTa
y/

f.L'Y}8af.LOV AaJLf3avovTa, ov8€ T~V npoxva-tv OfLOLav

TWV €naA.A.~A.wv na8wv, ov8€ TO dyxia-TPOcPOV Ka'i
rl. /
'lrOI\tTtKOV Kat Tat~ EK T'Y}~ a/\ 'Y} Eta~ o/aVTaa-tat~
\ ' ' 1'"1 , 1'"1 '\ (} /

KaTa'lrE'lrVKVWJLEVOV, a)\)\' otov V'lrOXWPOVVTO~ EL~ EaV-

TOV 'f!KEavov Ka'i nEp'i Ta t8ta fLETpa TJfLEpovJL€vov 1
TO' 1\0t'lrOV
\ ' rl. /
o/atVOVTaL. TOV f.LE/'E OV~ afL'lrWTtOE~ ~
KaV 1'"1 '(} , / ,

/~ ~'
14 TOt~ f.LV WOECYt Kat a'lrtCYTOt~ 'lrl\aVO~. 1\EYWV OE TaVT
1'"1 (} ' , / \ / \ / 1'"1 '

ovK €ntA.€A. YJCYf.Lat TWV €v TV '08va-a-Eiq. XEtfLWVWV Ka'i

TWV 1rEpt TOV K VKI\W'lra
1'"1 , \
'
Kat, TtVWV a/\1\WV,
' ~'\ \ ,\ \ '
a/\1\a
yijpa~ 8t'Y}YOVJLat, yijpa~ 8' Of.LW~ eOJL~pov· nA.~v €v

1
So John Price (a seventeenth-century scholar, professor at
Pisa: quoted by Toup) for P's EPYJJJ-OVJJ-Evov ("made desolate").

194
T
ON THE SUBLIME 9

There then Ajax lies, great warrior; there lies

Achilles;
There, too, Patroclus lies, the peer of the gods in
counsel;
There, too, my own dear son. a
It was, I hnagine, for the same reason that, writing the
Iliad in the heyday of his genius he made the whole piece
lively with dra1natic action, whereas in the Odyssey narra-
tive predominates, the characteristic of old age. So in the
Odyssey one may liken Homer to the setting sun; the
grandeur remains without the intensity. For no longer
does he preserve the sustained energy of the great Iliad
lays, the consistent sublimity which never sinks into flat-
ness, the flood of moving incidents in quick succession,
the versatile rapidity and actuality, dense with images
drawn from real life. It is rather as though the Ocean had
retreated into itself and lay quiet within its own confines.
Henceforth we see the ebbing tine of Homer's greatness,
as he wanders in the realm of the fabulous and incredible.
In saying this I have not forgotten the storms in the
Odyssey and such incidents as that of the Cyclops-I am
describing old age, but the old age of a Homer-yet the

a Odyssey 3.109-11. Both opinions about the order of Iliad

and Odyssey were held in antiquity: Seneca (De brevitate vitae
13) regards it as a typical example of the useless questions raised
by literary scholars.

Other possibilities include Toup's TJ1T'Et.povfLEVov ("becoming dry

land") and, e.g., Tjpef.La KEXVfLEVov ("quietly flowing").

195
 LONGINUS
,...., ,....,
€~71~
<:/ /
a1TaCTL TOVTOL~ TOV 1TpaKTLKOV TO'
f.LV0tKov.
ITapE~E/3YJV o' Et~
, 1"'.0' ,
Tav w~ EcpYJV, tva Of.t~atfLL w~
el~ Afjpov E.vtoTE pq.crTov KaTa' TYJV
' , ' 1 Ta'
a1TaKfLYJV
"e'
JLeyaAocPvfi 1TapaTpE1TETat, Ota Ta' 7T€pt' TOV
' ~ '
aCTKOV
KaL TOV~ EK KtpKYJ~ CTVOfLOpcpoVfLEVOV~, ov~ 0 ZwtA.o~
:>/ ,./.,. /~ \ / ' ' ~ ' ,...., \ / ~
6f'YJ XOLptota KA.aLOVTa, Kat TOV V1TO TWV 1Tf.J\.f.LaOWV
~ ' ,J,./ A/
W~ Vf.OCTCTOV 1TapaTp6f'OfL€VOV uta Kat' TOV
' ' '
€1TL TOV,....,
/ ~/' ~ / :>/ / ' '
vavaytov oex YJfLEpa~ acrtTov Ta TE 1TEpt TYJV fLVYJ-
,.~.,. /
CTTYJPO'f'ovtav a1Tt ava. TL yap av aA.A.O 'f'YJCTatfLEV
' /0 / ' ., ~I\ \ ,./.,. /

,...., .,, 1"'.>/ ,...,A,'/

TaVTa YJ T(f? OVTL TOV u.LO~ f.VV1TVta;
A / ~'
15 u.f.VTEpOV .:1 / () ' ' '
Of. f.LVEKa 1TpOCTLCTTOp€tCT W Ta KaTa TYJV

~08vcrcrf.tav, 01TW~ ij CTOL yvwptfLOV, w~ TJ a1TaKfL~ TOV

1raOov~ E.v Tot~ fLEyaA.ot~ crvyypacpevcrt KaL 1TOLYJTat~
el~ -ftOo~ eKAverat. rotavra yap 1rov Ta 1TEpL T~v Tov
~0 ~
OVCTCTEW~
/ , () LKW~
YJ
,. . , , ,. . ,
aV"l:(f?
f3 LOJ\.OYOVfLEVa
\ / ,/
OLKLaV,
~
OLOVEL
'
KWf.L(f!OLa
~/ / ,
TL~ f.CTTL~
'0 \
YJ 01\.0YOVfLEVYJ.
/
10. ci>epe vvv, er Tt KaL ETEpov €xotfLEV vl/JYJAov~
1TOLEtv TOV~ A.6yov~ 8vvafLEVov, E1TLCTKEo/WfLE0a.
ovKovv e1Tet8~ 1racr" Tot~ 1TpayfLacrt c/Jvcret crvve8pevet
' / ,...., c:-t\ / 'C , /
TLVa fLOpta TaL~ VAaL~ CTVVV1TapxovTa, f.~ avayK'Y}~

/ ' "' ~ ,...., c:-t, Ir '

1 ' ,...., ' ,./.,. / 2
yevotT av YJfLLV v'rov~ atrtov TO rwv EfL'f'EPOfLEVwv

1 Manutius, for P's aKfL~V.

2 So Toll for P's eKcpEpofLEvwv.

Aeolus imprisoned the winds in a wineskin: Odyssey

a
10.19-22.

196
 ON THE SUBLIME 9-10

fact is that in every one of these passages the mythical

element predominates over the real.
I have been led into this digression to show you, as I
said, that great genius with the decline of vigour often
lapses very easily into nonsense-there is the story of
the wineskina and the men whom Circe turned into
swineb-zoilus called them ''porkers in tears"-there is
the nurturing of Zeus like a nestling by the doves,c
Odysseus> ten days without food on the wrecked ship,d
and the incredible story of the suitors' slaying. e Can one
call these things anything but veritable dreams of Zeus ?f
There is another justification for our considering the
Odyssey as well as the Iliad. I wanted you to realize how,
in great writers and poets, declining emotional power
passes into character portrayals. For instance, his charac-
ter sketches of the daily life in Odysseus' household con-
stitute a sort _of comedy of character.
10. Well, then, let us see whether we can find any-
thing else that can make style' sublime. Since with all
things there are associated certain elements, inherent in
their substance, it follows of necessity that we shall find

b Odyssey 10.237. Zoilus of Amphipolis-nicknamed

Homeromastix, Scourge of Ho1ner-was a fourth-century sophist
and moralist who criticized improbable and inappropriate fea-
tures in the epic.
c Zeus supplied with ambrosia by doves: Odyssey 12.62.
d Odyssey 12.447.
e Odyssey 22.
fAn obscure phrase, probably suggesting that, Homer being
Zeus of poets (cf. Quintilian 10.1.46), he sometimes dozes and
dreams (bonus dorrnitat Homerus, Horace, Ars Poetica 359).

197
 r

LONGINUS
'\/
EKI\EYELV ' 'Ta
aEt ' KatpuvTaTa
/
Kat' ""'
TaVTa TYJ""' '
1Tpoc;
''\ \ \ ' () / ~I
al\1\ 'Y}I\a E1TUTVV €(TEL Ka () a1TEp
/
EV ""'
TL (TUJ{-La ""'
1TOLELV
o
8vvaa-Oat• 1 f-LEV yap Ti} EKAoyiJ TOV aKpoaTT]v TWV
AYJf-Lf-LcLTwv, o 1 8€ Ti} 1TVKvwa-Et Twv EKAEAEYf-LEVWV

1Tpoa-ayETaL. oiov ~ '!.a1TcpW Ta (TV{-L{3atVOVTa Tate;

€pwTtKa'ic; 1-Laviatc; 1Ta0-r}{-LaTa EK TWV 1TapE1TOf-LEVWV
Kat EK T-ijc; aAYJOEiac; avT-ijc; EKaa-TOTE Aaf-Lf3avEL. 1TOV
~'
OE TYJV ' ' a1TOOELKVV'Tat;
' apETYJV ' ~ / ~'
OTE ,,
Ta' aKpa ' ""' Kat'
aVTWV
~ /
V1TEpTETaf-LEVa ~ ' Kat' EKI\ES
OELVYJ ' \ / (; at Kat' Etc;
' al\1\
''\ \ 'Y}I\a
\
(TVV-
8-ija-aL.

2 cpaivETai f-LOL K-ijvoc; ta-oc; O€ota-tv

,, ,,, ,, )/ /
Ef-Lf-LEV WVYJp, O'TTLc; EVaVTLOc; 'TOL
'7 / ' \ / .,..~ ,/.... /
Ll:,aVEL Kat 1Tf\a(TLOV aov o/WVEL-
' /
a-ac; V1TaKOVEL
· Kat' YEI\ata-ac;
\ / ' /
Lf-LEpoEv, TO/ 1-L ' YJ'3' f-LaV
'

~/
KapotaV EV '
' (TTY)/() Ea-LV E1TTOata-EV.
/

we; yap <€c;); a-' t8w f3poxE' we; f-LE cpwvac;

,~, ,,, ,,
OVOEV €7 ELKEL.
aA.A.a Kaf-L {-LEV yA.wa-a-a €aye AE7TTOV 8'
avTtKa XP~ 1TVp V1To8E8p6f-LaKEV
, / ~' , ~' ,, ' ' /
01T1TaTEa-a-t o ovoEv opYJf-LIL , E1Ttpo{-L-
/3Eta-t 8' CLKOVat•
' ~ / ' ,,~ 2 / / ~'
a oE 1-L topwc; KaKXEETat, TPOf-LOc; oE

1Ta'ia-av aypEt, X A.wpoTEpa 8€ 1TOLac;

Ef-Lf-LL. TEOvaKYJV 8' oA.iyw '1Tt8EVYJc;
cpaivo!L' <Ef-LaVTq_>·
'\ \' 1TaV
al\1\a ""' TOI\f-LaTOV,
/\ ' 't Kat' 1TEVYJTa
E7TEL / t3

198
 ON THE SUBLIME 10

one factor of sublimity in a consistently happy choice of

these constituent elements, and in the power of combin-
ing them together as it were into an organic whole. The
first procedure attracts the reader by the selection of
ideas, the second by the density of those selected. Sap-
pho, for instance, never fails to take the emotions incident
to the passion of love from its attendant symptoms and
from real life. And wherein does she show her excel-
lence? In the skill with which she selects and combines
the most striking and intense of those symptoms.
I think him God's peer that sits near you face to
face, and listens to your sweet speech and
lovely laughter.
It's this that makes my heart flutter in my breast. If
I see you but for a little, my voice comes no
more and my tongue is broken.
At once a delicate flame runs through my limbs; I
see nothing with my eyes, and my ears thun-
der.
The sweat pours down: shivers grip me all over. I
am grown paler than grass, and seem to
myself to be very near to death.
But all must be endured, since ...

a Sappho fr. 31, in D. A. Campbell (ed.), Greek Lyric I (Loeb

Classical Library).

1 So Pearce for P's oin both places.

2 P has tJ;vxpo~ after iopw~ (so accented).
3 We have not sought to reproduce P's text here in detail.

199
 LONGINUS

3 /r
OV' (} aVf.LasEtS, ~
W~, ~ <'0 TO>
V1T ' 1 aVTO
' ' TYJV
' .1. '
'f'VXYJV TO'
lfWf.La TQS aKoa~ T~V yA_wo-o-av Ta~ oljJEtS T~V xpoav,
/ ()'
1rav w~
~ '\\ /
a/\.1\0Tpt-a ~ /
OLOLXOf.LEVa ' r . . . Kat-' Ka ()'
E1TLsYJTEL
~
V1TEVaVTLWCTEL~ af.La
-:1
'f'VXETaL Kf!:ETaL,
/
·'· / '
ai\Oyto-TEL
' \
t.ppO-
..... ,/...

VEL [ ~ yap c/Jo{3ELTat ~ 1Tap' oA.[yov TE0VYJKEV] 2 tva

~'
f.LYJ' EV
-:1
'TL 1TEpL' aVTYJV
' '
1Ta' ( ) 0~ t.paLVYJTaL,
,/... /
1Ta () WV
.....
OE /
lfVV-
~
ooo~.
'
1ravra ' TOLavTa
f.LEV ..... '
yt-vETaL 1TEpL'rov~
' Epwvra~,
, .....
~ Aijlji~.-~ 8' w~ EcPYJV TWV aKpwv KaL ~ EL~ TaVTO o-vv-
atpEo-L~ a1TEt-pyao-aro r~v €tox~v. ov1TEp oif.LaL KaL
E1TL TWV XELf.LWVWV rpo1TOV 0 1TOLYJT~~ EKAaf.Lf3avEt 'TWV
4 1TapaKOKOV () OVVTWV
/
Ta' xai\E1TWTaTa.
\ / ~' '
0 f.LEV yap Ta
'
'Aptf.Lao-1TELa 1rot~o-a~ EKE'iva otETaL 8Etva •

eavf.L' ~f.LLV KaL TOVTO f.LEYa cppEo-LV ~f.LETEPYJCTLV.

~~ ~ ('/~ ' ' ' () ' ' \ '
avopE~ vowp vat-ova-t-v a1ro X ovo~ EV 1TEAayEcrcrt ·

8v&rYJvoi rtvf.~ Ela-tv, €xova-L yap €pya 1TOVYJpa,

~' ' EV ~~
' ao-rpoto-L, ,'f'VXYJV
I. ' ~' ' ' 1TOVT(f!
' ~~
Of.Lf.LaT 0 EVL EXOVCTLV.
~ 1TOV 1TOAAa ()EQL(JL cp[A.a~ ava XELpa~ EXOVTE~
EVXOVTaL lf1TAayxvoLo-L KaKw~ ava{3aAAOf.LEVOL(JL.

5 1TaVTL oif.LaL 8ijA.ov, w~ 1TAEOV aveo~ EXEL Ta AEYOf.LEVa

~ 8€o~. o 8€ (''Of.LYJpo~ 1rw~; €v yap a1ro 1roA.A.wv

1 Toll: P has 1nr' avro.

2 [~ . . .
r€BvYJKEv] ("she is either afraid or at the point of
death") deleted by Weiske. Fyfe conjectured ~ yap cPot,{3arat- ~
. . . r€0vYJKEv ("she who is at the point of death is surely beside
herself').

200
 ON THE SUBLIME 10

Is it not wonderful how she summons at the same time,

soul, body, hearing, tongue, sight, skin, all as though they
had wandered off apart from herself? She feels contra-
dictory sensations, freezes, burns, raves, reasons, so that
she displays not a single emotion, but a whole congeries
of emotions. Lovers show all such symptoms, but what
gives supreme merit to her art is, as I said, the skill with
which she takes up the most striking and combines them
into a single whole. It is, I fancy, much in the same way
that the poet in describing storms picks out the most
alarming circumstances. The author of the Arimaspeia, a
to be sure, thinks these lines awe-inspiring:
Here is another thing also that fills us with feelings
of wonder,
Men that dwell on the water, away from the earth,
on the ocean.
Sorrowful wretches they are, and theirs is a
grievous employment:
Fixing their eyes on the stars, their lives they
entrust to the waters.
Often, I think, to the gods they lift up their hands
and they pray;
Ever their innermost parts are terribly tossed to
and fro.
Anyone can see, I fancy, that this is more elegant than
awe-inspiring. But how does Homer do it? Let us take

a Aristeas ofProconnesus (see J.D. P. Bolton, Aristeas ofPro-

connesus, Oxford 1962, 8-15) wrote an epic description of the
peoples of the far North: Herodotus (4.27) interprets Arimaspi
as derived from Scythian words meaning one-eyed. This passage
is fr. 1 Kinkel, fr. 7 Bolton, fr. 11 Bernabe.
201
 LONGINUS

Aeyf.a-()w •

EV 8' E7TEa-', w~ OTE KVf.La {}ofl EV VTJi" 1TECYYJCYL

'A.af3pov v1ra'i vEcpf.wv av€f.LOTp€cp€~, iJ 8€ TE
,.....
1raa-a
axvn V1TEKpvcp()TJ, aVEf.LOLO 8€ 8ELVO~ a-r}TTJ~
e /
LCYTL([J
'
Ef.L
/3 pEf.LETaL,
/ / A.. /
TPOf.LEOVa-L oE TE '+'pEva
~/

,.....
vavTaL
~ ~ / A../
OELOLOTE~· TVT {)'OV yap
' e '
V1T€K {) /
avaTOLO '+'€pOVTaL.

,.....
K€LV"
,\ / ~' ~ ' t /\ !>/··~, , /
01\L')IOV 0€ OLa S VJ\OV aLO €pVK€L.

7TATJV f.LLKpov aVTO Kat y'Aacpvpov E1TOLTJCYEV UVTL

A.. f3 ,. . . :v ~' / ' / ~ , /
'+'0 €pov· ETL OE 1TapwpLa-E TOV KLVOVVOV EL1TWV
et: C /\ !>/•·~' ' / 1" ' ""' ' / 2 t: ~' '
S VJ\OV aLO EpVKEL • OlJKOVV a1TELp')IEL • 0 OE 1TOLTJTTJ~

OVK
' '
EL~
c
a1Tas
t:/
1TapopL~::,EL
/r TO' OELVOV,
~ / aJ\1\a
'\ \ ' TOV~
' ' ' KaL'
aEL
f.Lovovovx'i KaTa 1rnv Kvf.La 1To'A'AaKL~ a1ToAAvf.Lf.vov~
, A.. ,. . .
ELKOVO')Ipa'+'EL. KaL' f.LTJV
' '
Ta~ 1rp0 () EO"EL~
/ ,
aa-vv () /
ETOV~
!>/ / ' A.. / ' , ,\ \ /\
ova-a~ a-vvavayKaa-a~ 1rapa '+'va-Lv KaL EL~ a AA T}Aa~
a-vf.Lf3Laa-af.LEvo~ [ v1reK 8avaToLo] 3 T~ f.LEV a-vvEf.L-
/
1TL1TTOVTL 1Ta/ { ) EL TO' !>/
E7TO~
e /
Of.LOLW~ E
'{3 aa-aVLCYEV,
/ TTJ,. . . ~'
OE

TOV E1TOV~ a-vv()'A.il/JEL TO 1Taeo~ aKpw~ U1TE1TAaa-aTO

1
Manutius: P has a1TEipyEL.
2
OVKOVV a1TELPYEL (omitted by Robortello) may be a gloss on
€pvKEL (so Ruhnken, Mazzucchi).
3 [ v1TEK Oavarot-o] deleted by "G.S.A." (1811).

202
 ON THE SUBLIME 10

one example of many:

He fell on the host as a wave of the sea on a hurry-
ing vessel,
Rising up under the clouds, a boisterous son of the
storm-wind.
The good ship is lost in the shroud of the foam, and
the breath of the tempest
Terribly roars in the sails; and in their heart trem-
ble the sailors,
By the breadth of a hand swept out from under the
jaws of destruction. a
Aratus, too, tried to adapt this same idea:
Only the tiniest plank now bars them from bitter
destruction. b
But he has demeaned the idea and made it pretty instead
of awe-inspiring. Moreover, he dismisses the danger
when he says, "The plank bars them from destruction."
Why then, it keeps it of( Homer, on the other hand,
instead of dismissing the danger once and for all, depicts
the sailors as being all the time, again and again, with
every wave on the very brink of death. Moreover, by forc-
ing into an abnormal union prepositions not usually
compoundedc he has tortured his language into confor-
mity with the impending disaster, magnificently figured
the disaster by the compression of his language, and

aIliad 15.624-8.
h Aratus, Phaenomena 299.
c I.e.1nreK is a compound of 1nro ('under') and EK ('from').

203
 LONGINUS
' / , , / ,... \ /l; ,... ~ / '
Kat fLOVOV OVK EVETV7TWCTEV TYJ 1\E~ Et TOV KLVOVVOV TO
'~ / ee e ' f) / rf.... / " ' 3/ \ \ e
7 tOtWJ.La V7TEK avaTOtO 'YEPOVTat. OVK ai\1\W~ 0
'Apxi'Aoxo~ E7Tt
Tov vavayiov, Kat E7Tt Til 1Tpoa-ayye-
\ I e A f) / tt t / ' ' 1' " rf.... /
1\tf!- 0 U.'YJfLOCT EVTJ~· ECT7TEpa fLEV yap TJV o/TJCTtV.
'\ \ ' ' 'C ' e ~' 1 Et7TOt
3/ ' ~
Ta~ E~ ox a~ W~ <av> Tt~ apta-TtVOTJV
1
al\1\a
EKKafJ-r}pavTE~ E7TtCTVVEfJ1]Kav, ovS€v cpA.otWDE~ ~
3/ ~' \ ' , / ~' /
aCTEfLVOV 'YJ CTXOI\tKOV EyKaTaTaTTOVTE~ Ota fLECTOV.
e ' ,fr /
\ I
1\VfLatVETat yap TavTa TO OI\OV, wa-avet
' ""' ' ('/\
~vyJ.LaTa 17~\
apatWJ.LaTa EfL7TOtOVVTa <el~> 2 fLEYEf)TJ CTVVOtKOOO-
fLOVfLEVa 3 Ti7 1rpo~ aA_A_'YJA_a CTXECTEt CTVVTETEtXtCTfLEVa.
11. ~vveSp6~ ECTTt Tat~ 7TpOEKKEtfLEVat~ apETTJ Kat
~v KaAova-tv avfTJa-tv, OTaV DEXOfLEVWV TWV 7TpayJ.La-
' , ' /~ , / \ \ '
TWV Kat aywvwv KaTa 7TEptooov~ apxa~ TE 7TOI\I\a~
/

' ' / \ ('/ e 1 ' \ /

Kat ava7TaVI\a~E7TEtCTKVKI\OVfLEVa ETEpa ETEpot~

2 J.Ley€f)'rJ a-vvexw~ E7TEta-ayTJTat KaTa E7TtTaa-tv. 4 TovTo

~' 3/ ~' / 3/ ~I ~\ /
OE EtTE Ota T07TTJYOptav,. EtTE OEtVWCTtV, 'YJ 7TpayJ.LaTWV
~ KaTaa-KEvwv E7Ttppwa-tv, EtT' E7TOtKoDofLiav 5 €pywv
T] 1rafJwv (J.Lvptat yap tOEat TWV av~-r}a-ewv) yivotTO,
' / ('/ ' e 1 e '~' ~' /
XP'YJ ytvwa-KEtv OfLW~ Tov PTJTOpa, w~ ovoev av Tov-
TWV Ka f) ' aVTO ('1,fr 1
e ' CTVCTTat'Y]
/ xwpt~
' V~OV~ \
TEI\EtOV, \ '
7TI\1]V '
Et

fL~ EV OLKTOt~ apa v~ ilia ~ EV EVTEA.tCTfLOL~, TWV 8'

1 <av> add. Ruhnken.
2
<El~> add. Roberts.
3 a-vvoLKoDofLOVfLEVa K marg., Manutius: P has a-vvoLKovo-
,
fLOVfLEVa.
4 E7rtraa-Lv Wilamowitz, for E7rt{3aa-Lv.
5 E7rotKoDof.Ltav K marg., Portus: P has E7rOLKovofLtav.

204
 ON THE SUBLIME 10-11

almost stamped on the diction the precise form of the

danger-''swept out from under the jaws of destruction.'=-
Comparable to this is the passage of Archilochus about
the shipwrecka and the description of the arrival of the
news in Demosthenes. "Now it was evening," etc.b What
they have done is to clean up, as it were, the very best of
the main points, and to fit them together, allowing noth-
ing affected or undignified or pedantic to intervene.
These things ruin the whole, by introducing, as it were,
gaps and crevices into masses which are built together,
walled in by their mutual relationships.
11. Closely allied to the merits set out above is what is
called amplification. Whenever the subject matter and
the issues admit of several fresh starts and halting-places
from section to section, then one great phrase after
another is wheeled into place with increasing force. This
may be dol}e either by the development of a common-
place, or by exaggeration, or by laying stress on facts or
arguments, or by careful build-up of actions or feelings.
There are indeed countless kinds of amplification. Still
the speaker must recognize that none of these methods
can achieve its goal on its own, without sublimity. One
may indeed very well make an exception where the effect
required is one of commiseration or depreciation, but in

a Archilochus frr. 105-6 West.

b De corona 169: "Now it was evening, and there came one
with a message for the prytaneis, that Elatea had fallen"; there
follows a vivid description of the ensuing panic at Athens. Elatea
fell to Philip late in 339.

205
 LONGINUS
~'\\
aJ\J\WV
'l:.
av~
I'"\ ~'
'Y}TtKWV OTOV 1TEp av TO V'fJ'Y}J\OV
,, '~,,t \' ',.1.,.1\
a'PEJ\YJ~, W~
~

tPVXTJV E~atprrJa-Et~ a-Wf.LaTo~· Ev(}v~ yap aTOVEt Kat

KEVOVTat TO Ef.L1TpaKTOV aVTWV 1-LTJ TOt~ vt{lEa-t a-vv-
3 E1TtppwvVVf.LEVOV. iJ f.LEVTOL (na¢€pEt TOV apTLW~ ELp'Y}-
f.LEVOV TU VVV 1TapayyEAAOf.LEVa ( 1TEptypa¢Tj yap Tt~
~v EKEtVO TWV aKpwv A'YJf.Lf.LaTWV Kat EL~ EVOT'Y}Ta a-vv-
Ta~ t~) Kat TLVt Ka86'A.ov TWV avtrr}a-EWV 1Tapa'A'AaTTEt
TU vtfi'YJ, Tij~ a-a¢'YJVELa~ avTij~ EVEKa a-VVTOf.LW~ (nopt-
I
a-TEOV.
12. ~0 f.LEV oilv TWV TExvoypa¢wv opo~ Ef.LOty' OVK
' ~~ I (; I ' ,./.,. I \ I I {}
a pEa-TO~. av~ 'Y}a-t~ Ea-Tt, 'Paa-t, J\Oyo~ f.LEYE 0~ 1TEpt-
~ I ~ I ' ' 1\
Tt {}
Et~
' I'"\
TOt~ V1TOKEtjLEVOt~· OVVaTat yap af.LEJ\Et Kat'
vt{lov~ Kat 1Ta8ov~ Kat Tp01TWV Elvat KOtVO~ OVTO~
opo~, E1TEtDTj KaKEtva T~ 'Aoy([) 1TEptTL8'Y}a-t 1TOtOV Tt
f.LEYEe~~- EjLOt 8€ <PatVETat TaVTa a'A'Arr}'Awv 1Tapa'A-
'AaTTEtV, iJ KEtTat TO f.LEV .vtfio~ EV 8tapf.LaTt,
~ 8' aV~'Y}-
' ' \ I{} ~ ' c.\
a-t~ Kat EV 1TJ\'Y} Et" Ot
I ~ '
0 KEtVO f.LEV KaV VO'Y}f.LaTt EVt
I'"\ ' '

1TOAAaKt~, ~ 8€ 1TaVTW~ f.LETU 1T0(]"0T'Y}TO~ Kat 1TEptOV-

I ' ~,./.,.I ' ~~ <: ~~ (; ~
2 a-ta~ TtVO~ V'Pta-TaTat. Kat Ea-TtV 'YJ av~ 'Y}(J"t~, W~

TV1T([) 1TEpt'A.a{3EtV, (J"VjL1T'Arr}pwa-t~ a1TO 1TaVTWV TWV

Ef.L¢Epof.L€vwv Tot~ 1rpayf.Laa-t f.Lopiwv Kat To1rwv,
' I'"\ I'"\ ' I'"\ ' I
ta-xvpo1TOtOVa-a TYJ E1Ttf.LOVYJ TO KaTEa-KEVaa-f.LEVOV,
TaVTYJ Tij~ 1T"ta-TEW~ 8tEa-Twcra, OTt ~ f.LEV TO ''YJTOVjLE-
vov a1To8Et<KVVCTtv> 1 ...

1 The completion of the word is due to Manutius.

206
 ON THE SUBLIME 11-12

all other forms of amplification to remove the touch of

sublimity is like taking soul from body. For their practical
effect instantly loses its vigour and substance if it is not
reinforced by the strength of the sublime. But what is the
difference between this topic of advice and what we dis-
cussed just now, namely the delimitation and unifying
arrangement of vital points? What in general is the dis-
tinction between instances of amplification and those of
sublimity? I must define these matters briefly in order to
make my position clear.
12. The definition given by writers on the art of
rhetoric does not satisfy me. Amplification, they say, is
language which invests the subject with grandeur.a Now
that definition could obviously serve just as well for the
sublime, the emotional, and the metaphorical style, since
these also invest the language with some quality of
grandeur. J?ut in my view they are each distinct. Sublim-
ity lies in elevation, amplification rather in amount; and so
you often find sublimity in a single idea, whereas amplifi-
cation always goes with quantity and a certain degree of
redundance. To give a rough definition, amplification
consists in accumulating all the aspects and topics inher-
ent in the subject and thus strengthening the argument
by dwelling upon it. Therein it differs from proof, which
demonstrates the required point ...
[Two pages are lost here.]
a Aristotle (Rhetoric 1.9.1368a27) makes the point that
amplification is most appropriate to epideictic speeches, because
the facts are already admitted, and what remains as the speaker's
task is to add grandeur and beauty.

207
 LONGINUS

3 \
. . . 1TJ\OVCTLWTaTa, Ka () a7rEp TL
/ / /\
1TEJ\ayo~,
'
EL.~
'
ava-
1TE1TTapi.vov KEXVTat 1TOAAaxiJ fLEYE()o~. oeEv OtfLaL
KaTa A.6yov 0 fLEV P~TWP aTE 1Ta()YJTLKWTEpo~ 1TOAV TO
8ui1rvpov EXEL Kat ()vfLLKw~ EKcPAEYOfLEvov, o S€ Ka{}E-
a-Tw~ EV oyKcp Kat fLEyaAo1TpE1TEL CTEfLVOTYJTL OVK
4 E..rVKTaL
"'· ' ·
fLEV,
/
aJ\1\
' \ \ '
OVX
' ~!
OVTW~ E1TECTTpa1TTaL.
' / 1 OV' KaT '
aAAa 8€ TLVa :q TavTa, EfLOt 8oKEL, cPLATaTE TEpEv-
TL.aVE, (A.€yw 8€, <El> 2 Kat ~fLLV w~ ~'EAAYJCTLV EcPELTaL
/
TL YLVWCTKELV ) Kat' K LKEpwv
/ ~
0 TOV. . . UYJfLOCT
A ()/ '
EVOV~ EV

'"'
TOL~ fLEYE/() ECTL 1TapaJ\J\aTTEL.
\\ / ~ ' ' ' ~'.1.
0 fLEV yap EV V'f'EL TO
'
\ / , /
1TJ\EOV a1TOTOfLqJ,
~
0
~'
OE
K LKEpWV
/ ,
EV
/
XVCTEL" KaL
' 0
~ '
fLEV
~fLETEpo~ 8ul TO fLETa f3£a~ EKaa-Ta ETL 8€ Taxov~
pWfLYJ~ 8ELVOTYJTO~ oiov KaLEtv TE &./La Kat 8Lap1Ta,ELV
CTKYJ1Tp(i> TLVL 1TapELKcL,OLT' UV ~ KEpavv(i>· 0 8€ KtKE-
pwv ws UfLcPLAacP~~ TL~ EfL1TPYJCTfLO~ OtfLaL 1TcLVTYJ
VEfLETaL KaL avELAELTaL, 1!oAv E.xwv KaL E1TLf.J-OVov aEL
TO' KaLOV
'"'
KaL' OLaKJ\YjpOVOf.J-OVfLEVOV
~ \ / ,, \ \ ' aJ\1\0LW~
aJ\1\0T '\ \ / '
EV
5 avT(i> Kat KaTa 8ia8oxas avaTpEcPOfLEVOV. aAAa
TavTa f.J-EV VfLEL~ av afLELVOV E1TLKPLVOLTE, KaLpo~ 8€
TOV LlYJfLOCT()EVLKOV fLEV vlj.Jov~ Kat V1TEpTETafLEVOV EV
TE Ta'i~ 8Etvwa-Ea-L Kat To'i~ a-cPo8po'i~ 1Ta()Ea-L Kal,
E.v()a 8EL TOV aKpoaT~V TO a-vvoA.ov EK1TAij~aL, Tij~ 8€
xvo-Ew~ 01TOV XP~ KaTavTA ija-aL.. T01TYJYOPLaL.~ yap TE

KaL.' E1TLJ\OYOL~
' \ / KaTa' TO' 1TJ\EOV
\ / KaL.' 1TapEKf3 aCTECTL
/ KaL'
'"',./... '"'~~ ~
TOL~ o/paa-TLKOL~ a1TaCTL KaL' ' '"'e /
E1TLOELKTLKOL~, LCTTOpLaL~

TE KaL' ,./... \ /
o/VCTLOJ\OyLaL~, KaL' OVK
' '\ / "'\ \
01\LYOL~ aJ\1\0L~
/
fLEpECTLV
~ /~
apfLOOLO~.

13. ~'OTL J.LEVTOL o rrA.aTwv ( E1TaVEL.fLL yap) TOL.ovTcp

208
T
I ON THE SUBLIME 12-13

very rich indeed: like a sea, often flooding a vast

expanse of grandeur. I should say then that in point of
style the orator, being more emotional, has abundant
warmth and passionate glow, whereas Plato, steady in his
majestic and stately dignity, is less intense, though of
course by no means frigid. It is in the very same
respect-so I feel, my dear Terentianus, if indeed we
Greeks may be allowed an opinion-that Cicero differs
from Demosthenes ·in his grand effects. Demosthenes,
strength is usually in rugged sublimity, Cicero's in diffu-
sion. Our countryman with his violence, yes, and his
speed, his force, his terrific power of rhetoric, burns, as it
were, and scatters everything before him, and may there-
fore be compared to a flash of lightning or a thunderbolt.
Cicero seems to me like a widespread conflagration,
rolling along and devouring all around it: his is a strong
and steady .fire, its flames duly distributed, now here, now
there, and fed by fresh supplies of fuel. You Romans, of
course, can form a better judgement on this question, but
clearly the opportunity for Demosthenes' sublimity and
nervous force comes in his intensity and violent emotion,
and in passages where it is necessary to amaze the audi-
ence; whereas diffuseness is in place when you need to
overwhelm them with a flood of rhetoric. The latter then
mostly suits the treatment of a commonplace, a perora-
tion, a digression, and all descriptive and epideictic pas-
sages, as well as historical and scientific contexts, and
many other types of writing.
13. However, to return to Plato, though the stream of
I

I, . 1 Bentley conjectured a7Taa-rpa7TTEL, "flashes like lightning."

2 <el> add. K marg., Manutius.

209
 LONGINUS

, ' , , ,. ., II \ / , / , , ,. .,
aveyvwKWt; Ta EV TYJ 01\tTEU/: TOV TV1TOV OVK ayvoEtt;.
((OL apa crpov~a-Ewt;," cPYJCYL, ((KaL apET1j~ U1TEtpot
' / ~'
' ' / ' / e ""' /
EVWXtat~ OE Kat
aEt U"VVOVTE~ KaTW W~
TOt~ TOtOV'TOt~

,, A.../ ' / \ ""' ~ ' (.)/ '

EOtKE \f-'EpOVTat Kat TaVTYJ 1TI\aVWVTat Ota fJtOV, 1rp0~
~,

OE TO a/\ YJ
, ,\ e, avw
, OV'T,, , aVEfJI\E.f'aV
, /(.)\ ,,t 1TW1TOTE
E~
/ ,, , ,
OVT aVYJ-
VEX8YJa-av Ka8apa~ rofJDov1j~
OVDE {3e(3a£ov TE KaL
' / '\ \ ' (.) / ~/ ' ' (.)\ /
eyeva-aVTO, al\1\a fJOU"KYJfLaTWV OtKYJV KaTW aEt fJAE-
/

1TOVTE~ Kat' KEKV\f-'O'TE~

,.1.,./
Et~
' ""'
')'YJV Kat' Et~
'
Tpa1TE~:,a~
/'f

Q/ 'f/ ', / '(/

fJOU"KOVTat xopTa~:,OfLEVOt Kat OXEVOVTE~, Kat EVEKa
rij~ TOVTWV 1TAEovet£a~ AaKTL,OVTE~ KaL KVptTTOVTE~
d'A'A~'Aov~ a-tDYJpots KEpaa-t KaL o1TAats a1TOKTtvvv-
~ ' a1TAYJU"TtaV.
OVU"t Ot ' \ " /

2 'EvDELKVVTat 8' TJfLLV O~TO~ av~p, el (3ov'AoLfLE8a

fLY] Karo'AtywpELV, w~ KaL aAAYJ 'Ttt; 1Tapa Ta ELPYJfLEVa
e ~' ' ' ' e,fr \ ' / / ~' ' / (/ ""'
OOOt; E1Tt Ta V~Yjl\a TEtV6L. 1TOta OE Kat Ttt; aVTYJ; TWV

EfL1Tpoa-8ev fLEya'Awv a-vyypacr€wv KaL 1TOtYJrwv

/ / ' '1 /\ / / A.../\
fLtfLYJU"t~ TE Kat «:,Yji\WU"tt;. Kat ')'E TOVTOV, \f-'ti\TaTE,
a1TpLt EXWfLEOa TOV U"K01TOV" 1TOAAoL yap a'A'AoTpL(f!
eEO\f-'OpOVVTat
A...
/ \/
""'
1TVEVfLaTt 'TOV aVTOV Tp01TOV, OV Kat TYJV
,, / \ /r ,, e
/ ' '' / t.\ ' '

IIv etav
~
Tpt1TOOt 1TAYJU"ta~:,ova-av, ev a
1\0')'0t; EXEt

piJyJ.La EU"Tt yijt; ava1TVEov 1 Wt; craa-tv UTfLOV E.v8eov,

avr68ev E')'KVfLOVa rij~ 8atfLOVLOV Ka8ta-TafLEVYJV
~ /
ovvafLEWt; 1TapavrtKa
/
XPYJCYfL(f!OEtV
~""'
KaT
' 'E1Tt1Tvotav·/

OVTWt; U1TO T1jt; TWV apxaiwv fLE')'a'Aocrvtat; ELt; Tat;

1 dva1rvf.ov Manutius for dva7TvE'iv P.

a Theaetetus 144B.

210
 ON THE SUBLIME 13

his words flows as noiselessly as oil, a he none the less

attains sublimity. You have read the Republic and you
know the sort of thing. "Those who have then no experi-
ence," he says, "of wisdom or of goodness, living always
amid banquets and other such festivities, are seemingly
borne downwards and there they wander all their lives.
They have never yet raised their eyes to the truth, never
been carried upwards, never tasted true, abiding plea-
sure. They are like so many cattle; stooping downwards,
with their eyes always bent on the earth and on their din-
ner tables, they feed and fatten and breed, and so greedy
are they for these enjoyments that they kick and butt with
hooves and horns of iron and kill each other for insatiate
desire."h
Here is an author who shows us, if we will condescend
to see, that there is another road, besides those we have
mentioned, -which leads to sublimity. What and what
manner of road is this? Zealuus imitation of the great
prose writers and poets of the past. That is the aim, dear
friend; let us hold to it with all our might. For many are
carried away by the inspiration of another, just as the
story runs that the Pythian priestess on approaching the
tripod where there is, they say, a rift in the earth, exhaling
divine vapour, c thereby becomes impregnated with the
divine power and is at once inspired to utter oracles; so,
too, from the natural genius of those old writers there

b Republic 9.586A, with some changes and omissions.

c The theory that the prophetic power of Delphi was due to
such an intoxicating vapour or pneuma was widely held in antiq-
uity, but the geology of Delphi lends it no support and no «rift in
the earth" has been identified.

211
 LONGINUS

1
3
el8wv Toll. 2~ Jahn: ~ P: nFyfe.
lrrav0£a-at BUhler.

a Stesichorus' lyrics were largely epic in theme and language,

while Archilochus' vigorous iambics had been compared with
Homer by earlier critics (Heraclides Ponticus wrote on "Homer
and Archilochus," but the contents of the book are not known).

212
 ON THE SUBLIME 13

flows into the hearts of their admirers as it were an ema-

nation from those holy mouths. Inspired by this, even
those who are not easily moved to prophecy share the
enthusiasm of these others' grandeur. Was Herodotus
alone Homeric in the highest degree? No, there was
Stesichorus at a still earlier date and Archilochus too, a
and above all others Plato, b who drew off for his own use
ten thousand runnels from the great Homeric spring. We
might need to give instances, had not people like
Ammoniusc drawn up a collection. Such borrowing is no
theft; it is rather like the reproduction of good character
by sculptures or other works of art. d So many of these
qualities would never have flourished among Plato's
philosophic tenets, nor would he have entered so often
into the subjects and language of poetry, had he not
striven, with heart and soul, to contest the prize with
Homer, like ~ young antagonist with one who had already
won his spurs, perhaps in too keen emulation, longing as
it were to break a lance, and yet always to good purpose;
for, as Hesiod says, "Good is this strife for mankind."e
Fair indeed is the crown, and the fight for fame well
worth the winning, where even to be worsted by our fore-
runners is not without glory.

b Ancient critics saw resemblances between Plato and Homer

in grandeur, character-drawing, and psychological theory. It is
curious that the third-century Longinus (Fl5 Prickard) actually
says: "Plato is the first who best transferred Homeric grandeur
(oyKov) into prose." Cf. Introduction.
c A pupil of Aristarchus, who wrote on Plato's debt to Homer.
d Or (reading T] for 7]): "an impression taken from good char-
acters, sculptures, or other works of art."
e Hesiod, Works and Days 24.

213
 rI
l

LONGINUS
,
14. 0 VKOVV 1"\ ' (
Kat 'Y}fLac;, 'Y}VtK
1"\ ( / ' .,, ~
av ota7TOVWfLEV V..,_,YJ-
1"\ ('I I

, '
yoptac; 'Tt Kat fLE'Yai\O'Ppoa-VVYJc;
\ ,../... / ~ /
OEOfLEVOV, Kai\OV
\'

ava7rAarrEa-fJat ra'ic; t/Jvxa'ic;, 7TWc; av El rvxot ravro

rovfJ' <:/OfLYJpOc; El7TEV, 7TWc; 8' av IIA.arwv ~ ilYJfLOO"fJE-
VYJc; vl/Jwa-av ~ EV ta-ropiq. 8ovKv8i8YJc;. 7rpoa--
/ ' e ,.... ' Y,....\ , ,. . ' ,
7Tt7rrovra yap 'Y}fLtV Kara s'Y}I\OV EKEtva ra 7rpoa-w7ra
Kat' otov
'e' ~ /
ota7rpE7rovra '
rae; ,,1 ' avota-Et
..,.,vxac; , / '
7TWc; 7rpoc;
' ' ~ \ / / >I ~' ,....\ \ '
2 ra avEtOWI\07TOtOVfLEVa fLETpa • E'Tt OE fLa/\1\0V, Et
KUKELVO riJ 8tavoiq. 7rpOO"V7ToypacpOtfLEV, 7TWc; av r68e
rt v7r' EfLov AEyofLEvov 7rapwv <:IOfLYJpoc; -Y}Kova-Ev ~
ilYJfLOO"fJEVYJc;, ~ 7TWc; av E7Tt rovrcp 8tETEfJ'Y}a-av; TCfJ
yap' >I
OV'Tt I'
fLEya TO' aywvtO"fLa,
' I' ,....
TOtOVTOV e '(}
V7TOTt (}
EO" at
1"\ ,~,. \' ~ I' ' ()' ' ,
'TWV tOtWV 1\0'YWV OtKaO"TYJptOV Kat Earpov Kat EV
\ / <:I ,. . ' / e /
TYjl\tKOVTOtc; YJpWa-t Kptratc; 'TE Kat fLaprva-tv V7TEXEtV
3 rwv ypacpOfLEVWV evfJvvac; 7TE7ra'ixfJat. 1 7rAEov 8€ rov-
rwv ~apopfLYJTtKOV, El 7rpoa-rtfJELYJc; 7TWc; av EfLOV
ravra ypalfiavroc; 0 fLE;' EfLE 7Tac; UKOVO"EtEV alwv; EL
8f. Ttc; avrofJEV cpo{3otTO, fL,ry TOV t8toV {3toV Kat xpo-
rl-..f) / C / e
vov 'P EYs atro rt V7rEPYJfLEpov, avayK'Y} Kat ra O"VI\-
/ ' / ' ' \

AafLf3avofLEVa V7TO ri}c; TOV'TOV t/Jvxi}c; arEA i] Kat

rvcpA.a W0"7TEp UfL{3Aova-fJat, 7rpoc; TOV ri}c; va-rEpOcpYJ-
/ <:1\ ' \ ,../... / /
fLtac; 01\.Wc; fL'Y} 'TEI\EO"'PopOVfLEVa XPOVOV.
15. >IOyKoV Kat fLEyaAYJyop[ar; Kat aywvoc; E7Tt
/ 1' / ' ( ,../... /
rovrotc;, w vEavta, Kat at 'Pavraa-tat 7rapaa-KEvaa-rt-
Kwrarat · ovrw yovv <iJfLE'ic;> 2 El8wAo7rottac; <8'> 3
' ' Evtot
avrac; >I \1'
1\Eyova-t. \,....
Kai\Etrat '
fLEV '
yap ,....
Kotvwc; ,../...
'Pav-
raa-ia 7rav ro o7rwa-ovv EVVOYJfLa YEVVYJTtKov A.6yov
/ >I~ ~' ' ' / / >I
7rapta-TafLEVOV, 'YJOYJ 0 E7Tt TOVTWV KEKpaTYJKEV TOV-

214
T ON THE SUBLIME 14-15

14. We too, then, when we are working at some pas-

sage that demands sublimity of thought and expression,
should do well to form in our hearts the question, .:.:How
might Homer have said this same thing, how would Plato
or Demosthenes or (in history) Thucydides have made it
sublime?'' Emulation will bring those great characters
before our eyes, and their shining presence will lead our
thoughts to the ideal standards of perfection. Still more
will this be so, if we also try to imagine to ourselves: .:.:How
would Homer or Demosthenes, had either been present,
have listened to this passage of mine? How would that
passage have affected them?" Great indeed is the ordeal,
if we suppose such a jury and audience as this to listen to
our own utterances and make believe that we are submit-
ting our work to the scrutiny of such heroes as witnesses
and judges. Even more stimulating would it be to add, .:.:If
I write this, how would all posterity receive it?" But if a
man shrinks· at the very thought of saying anything that is
going to outlast his own life ana time, then must all the
conceptions of that man's mind be like some blind, half-
formed embryo, all too abortive for the life of post-
humous fame.
15. Weight, grandeur, and urgency in writing are very
largely produced, dear young friend, by the use of "visual-
izations" (phantasiai). That at least is what I call them;
others call them "image productions." For the term
phantasia is applied in general to an idea which enters the
mind from any source and engenders speech, but the
word has now come to be used predominantly of

1 1TE1TE'ia-OatReiske.
2,3 These changes are by Russell (1964).

215
 T
J
LONGINUS
~I
VOfLa, orav a(.\ AE'}'ELS
\ I ~
V1T ' '
EV 8ovaertaerfLOV,. . , KaL' 1Ta18 ov~
{3AE1TELV 8oKfj~ KaL V1T' ot/Jtv TL8fj~ TOL~ aKO'VOVerLV.
2 w~ 8' ETEpov TL ~ PYJTOPLK~ cpavTaer[a f3ovAETaL KaL
E7Epov ~ 1Tapa 1TOLYJTaL~, OVK av 'Aa8oL erE, ov8' OTL
r-q~ fLEV f.v 1Totr}erEL re'Ao~ f.err'iv EK1TAYJ~L~, T-q~ 8' f.v
'Aoyot~ f.vapyEta, dfLcpoTEpat 8' OfLW~ To TE <1Ta8YJTL-
Kov>1 E1TL,YJToverL Kat ro ervyKEKLVYJfLEvov.
-;- ,...., ~ I ' ' I I
W fLYJTEp, LKETEVW erE, f1/Y} 1TLerEL€ J.LOL
~
'
Ta~ aLfLaTW1TOV~
'
KaL'~ ~~
opaKOVTWOEL~
I
Kopa~·
"e' I "e' \ I I I
aVTaL yap, aVTaL 1T1\ YJerLOV 8pwerKOVerL fLOV.

KaL'
~~ ""' ,...., ~I
OLfLOL, KTaVEL fLE" 1TOL o/V'}'W;

EVTa~8' 0 1TOLYJT~~ avTo~ 2 Ei8Ev 'Eptvva~, 0 8€ f.cpav-

Taer8YJ fLLKpov 8E'iv 8E_aa-aer8at Kat TOV~ aKOVOVTa~
3 ' I
YJVa'}'KaerEV. ,,
EerTL '
fLEV "'
OVV ~ \
o/LJ\01TOVWTaTO~
I
0
~ E'VpL1TL- I

~
OYJ~
~ I
OVO TaVTL' 1Ta18YJ, I
fLaVLa~ T€ KaL' ''
EpWTa~, EKTpayq>-
'

~,...., ' I ~ ' -;-~, '' ~ I

OYJeraL, KaV TOVTOlS W~ OVK OLO EL TLerLV ETEpOL~

'
€1TLTVXEerTaTO~,
I
OV' fLYJV
'
UJ\1\a
' \ \ '
KaL' TaL~
,...., '' \
ai\1\aL~
\
€1TLTL-
' I

~
8Eer8aL o/aVTaerLaL~
I '
OVK ''
aTOJ\fLO~.
\ t:l I
YJKLerTa '}'€
I
TOL
fLEya'Aocpv~~ wv OfLW~ T~v avro~ avrov cpvert-v f.v
7TOAAot~ '}'EVEer8at- rpa'}'LK~V 1TpOerYJVU'}'KUerEV KUL
1Tap' EKaerTa E1TL TWV fLE')'E8wv, w~ 0 1TOLYJTrJ~,
1
add. Kayser.
2
Manutius added <ovK>: "the poet did not see Furies."

a Euripides, Orestes 255-7, from the classic scene in which

216
 ON THE SUBLIME 15

passages where, inspired by strong emotion, you seem to

see what you describe and bring it vividly before the eyes
of your audience. That phantasia means one thing in ora-
tory and another in poetry you will yourself detect, and
also that the object of the poetical form of it is to enthral,
and that of the prose form to present things vividly,
though both indeed aim at the emotional and the excited.
Mother, I beg you, do not drive against me
These snake-like women with blood-reddened
eyes.
See there! See there! They leap upon me close. a
And
Ah, she will slay me, whither shall I flee ?h
In these passages the poet himself saw Furies and com-
pelled the audience almost to see what he had visualized.
Now Euripides makes his greatest efforts in presenting
these two emotions, madness and love, in tragic guise,
and succeeds more brilliantly with these emotions than, I
think, with any others; not that he lacks enterprise to
attack other forms of visualization as well. While his nat-
ural genius is certainly not sublime, yet in many places he
forces it into the tragic mould and invariably in his grand
passages, as the poet says,

Orestes has a madman's vision of Clytemnestra sending the

Erinyes against him.
b Euripides, lphigenia in Tauris 291: a herdsman describes to
Iphigenia the mad behaviour and words of the man he has seen
on the beach, who turns out to be Orestes, who is experiencing
the same delusion of attack by the Erinyes avenging his mother.

217
 LONGINUS

ovpfl 8€ 1TAEvpac; 7E Ka'i la-xiov Uf.LcpOTEpwOev

/
JLaa-TLETat, e' ~' ' ' ' / / (}
EE 0 aVTOV E1TOTpVVEL f.Laxea-aa- at.

''\ ~,
EJ\a OE f.L'Y}TE
_, a , at'() Ep
A LtJVKOlJ _, ' ELa-fJaJ\WlJ"
, a \ _,
Kpaa-tv yap vypav OVK exwv alfl'i8a a-T]v
Katwv 1 8trr}a-et .

~~
tEL o~' E\f-'
'.r/....' E1TTa
e ' IT\1\Etaowv
/~ ''
exwv ~ /
opOf.LOV.
roa-avT' aKova-ac; 1Tatc; Ef.Laplflev ~viae;·
/
Kpova-ac; ~' \ ' ,/....-' ' /
oE 1TAEvpa 1TTEpo\f-'opwv OXYJf.LaTwv
,..,
f.LE () YJKEV, ate 0~' E1TTaVT
" ' ' ' '(} / /
E1T at Epoc; 1TTVXac;.
' ~' ,, () ,.., / Q Q'
1TaT'Y)p 0 01TLa- E VWTa a-Etptov fJEfJWc;
~~ ,.., ~
· L1T1TEVE 1Tatoa lJOV ETWV" EKELa- EAa,
() ,.., ' ,.., ' ''\

TfJ8e a-Tpecp' apf.La, TfJ8e.

~p' OVK av EL1TOtc;; OTt ~ lflvxT] TOV ypacpovToc; a-vv-

E1Tt/3atVEt TOV apJLaroc; Ka'i a-vyKtv8vvevova-a TOLe;
~~ ' ' ,,
t1T1TOtc; a-vvE1TTEpwTat; ov yap av,
/ ' f.L'Y}' Tote;
Et
,.., ' /
ovpavt-
otc; EKEtlJOLc; €pyote; la-oDpOf.LOVa-a E.cpepETO, TOtavT' av
'A... , () ~~ ' ' , ' ,.., K , ~
1TOTE E\f-'avraa- 'YJ· OJLOLa Kat ra E1Tt T'Y)c; aa-a-avopac;
aVTW
' ,..,

t.

1 Richards, for P's Karw.

218
 ON THE SUBLIME 15

His tail at his ribs and his flanks now lashes on this,
now on that side,
Ever he spurs himself on to share in the joys of the
battle.a
For instance, when Helios hands over the reins to
Phaethon:b
"And do not drive into the Libyan sky.
Its torrid air with no damp humour tempered
Will burn your wheel and melt it."
And he goes on,
''But toward the seven Pleiads hold your course."
This heard, young Phaethon caught up the reins,
Slashed at the flanks of his wing-wafted team,
And launched them flying to the cloudy vales.
Behind, his sire, astride the Dog-star's back,
Rode, schooling thus his son. "Now, drive on there,
Now this way wheel yo~r car, this way."
Would you not say that the writer's soul is aboard the car,
and takes wing to share the horses' peril? Never could it
have visualized such things, had it not run beside those
heavenly bodies. You find the same sort of thing in his
Cassandra's speech:

a Iliad 20.170, describing a wounded lion.

b The following passages are from Euripides' Phaethon (fr.
779 Nauck2, see J. Diggle, Euripides> Phaethon, Cambridge
1970, lines 168-77). They come from a messenger's speech
relating Phaethon's fatal ride in the Sun god's chariot.

219
 LONGINUS
r
i

, \ \ ' -;- ,..~.,.

al\1\ W \.{.JLJ\L7T7TOL
"\ T pwEc;.
""'

5 Tov Ala-xvA.ov ~aV'raa-iat-c; E7TLTOAf.LWVToc; T]pw"iKw-

8'
TaTats, wa-7TEp Kat <oi> 1 CE7TTa E7TL 8r}f3ac; 7Tap'
) ""'
aVTW
L

,, ~ (,../.,. / ) c ' () / \ /
avopEc; \.f.JYJO"LV E7TTa OVpLOL 1\0XaJIETaL,
Tavpoa-~ayovVTEc; ELc; fLEAavDETOV a-aKoc;
' () ' / ,../.,.
KaL t-yyavovTEc; XEPO"L TavpEt-ov \.f.Jovov
/ /

''APYJ T' 'E vvw' Kat-' 'PLAaLf.LaTov

,..~.,. \ " .if'~. "{3 ov
':1-'0
e /
opKWfLOT'YJO"aV

' '' ~ e ""' 2 ' ' \ \ /\ ~/ ''

TOV LOLOV aVTWV 7Tpoc; ai\1\Yji\OVc; OLXa OLKTOV O"VV-
OfLVVf.LEVOL
, ()" '/ / ' / '
avaTOV, EVtOTE fLEVTOt aKaTEp)laO"TOVc; Kat
c ' ~""' ' ) /
OtOVEL 7TOKOELOEtc; Tac; EVVOLac; Kat' ' \/
af.Lal\aKTOVc; ,../.,."
o/Epov-
~~ c , c E, ,~ , , ( , ,..~.,. \
TOe;, OfLWc; EaVTOV 0 vpt7TtOYJc; KaKEtVOtc; V7TO \.f.Jti\OTt-
6 ILiac; ·To'ic; Ktv8vvotc; 7Tpoa-{3t{3a~Et. Kat 7Tapa f.LEV
Ala-xvA.~ 7Tapa86~wc; ia Tov AvKovpyov f3aa-iAEta
KaTa TTJV E7Tt~avEt-av Tov ~tovva-ov ()Eo~opE'iTat,

c
0
~'
0
E'vpL7TtOYJc;
/~
TO' aVTO
' ' TOV""'{)' ETEpwc;
e / ',../.,. ~ /
E\.f.JYJOVVac; 'C E-
E~

~WVYJO"E,
""'~' {3" ,,,
7TaV OE O"VVE aKXEV opoc;.

1
add. Morus; K marg. has wa-7TEp oi.
2 Faber: P has avrwv.

Euripides fr. 935 Nauck2. This may come from the Alexan-
a
dros, and may have to do with Cassandra's warning against the

220
 ON THE SUBLIME 15

0 you horse-loving Trojansa

And whereas when Aeschylus ventures upon heroic imag-
inings, he is like his own "Seven against Thebes,>) where
Seven resistless captains o'er a shield
Black-bound with hide have slit a bullock's throat,
And dipped their fingers in the bullock's blood,
Swearing a mighty oath by War and Havoc
And Panic, bloodshed's lover _b
and all pledge themselves to each other to die ~~apart from
pity," and though he sometimes introduces unworked
ideas, all woolly, as it were, and tangled, Euripides' com-
petitiveness leads him also to embark on the same per-
ilous path. Aeschylus uses a startling phrase of Lycurgus's
palace, magically possessed at the appearance of Diony-
sus,
The palace is possessed, the roof turns bacchanal. c
Euripides expressed the same idea differently, softening
it down,
And all the mountain
Turned bacchanal with them.d

Trojan Horse; if so, "horse-loving" is an apt taunt. Presumably

Longinus means us to recall more of the speech than these open-
ing words. b Seven against Thebes 42-6: "apart from pity"
comes from the same passage (51). c Aeschylus fr. 58 Radt,
from the Lycurgeia, the trilogy dealing with Lycurgus' resistance
to the cult of Dionysus in Thrace, a parallel theme to that of
Euripides' Bacchae, where Pentheus of Thebes vainly resists the
god. d Euripides, Bacchae 726.

221
 LONGINUS r
7 aKpwc; 8€ Kat 0 Io~oKA -rye; E1Tt 'TOV 8vricrKOV'TOc; Ol8i-
~
1TOV Kat' EaVTOV c '
J.LE'Ta' OLOCTYJJ.LELac;/
'TLVOc;
'
a1T'TOV'TOc;
{)/

A.. /
1T6paVTaCTTat, Kat' Ka'Ta' 'TOV ' ' / 1\0VV
a1T01T \ 'TWV CE 1\1\
\ \ YJVWV
/
1"'1

E1Tt TUXtAAE.wc; 1Tpo~atVOJLEVOV 'TOte; avayoJLEVOLc;

V1TEp 'TOV Ta~ov, ~v OVK oi8' EL 'Ttc; ot/Jtv evapyE.crTE-
pov el8wAo1TOLYJCTE "!.tJ.Lwvi8ov· 1ravTa 8' dJ.LiJxavov
8 /e e , ' ,\ \ ' ' '
1TapaTt ECT at. ov J.LYJV aAAa ra J.LEV 1rapa Tote; 1TOLYJ- ' 1"'1

ra'ic; J.LV8tKW'TEpav EXEL 'TTJV V1TEpEK1T'TWCTLV, we; E~YJV,

~'
Kat' 1TaVTYJ
/
TO' 1Ttcrrov ' c /
V1TEpatpovcrav, TYJc; oE c
PYJTOpt-
1"'1

K-ryc; ~avTacriac; KaAAtCT'TOV UEt 'TO EJ.L1TpaK'TOV Kat €va-

AYJ8Ec;. 8etvat 8€ Kat EK~vAot ai 1Tapa{3acretc;, T]viK'
av fJ 1TOLYJ'TLKOV 'TOV Aoyov Kat J.LV8w8ec; 'TO 1TAUCTJLa
Kat elc; 1TUV 1Tp0EK1TL1T'TOV 1 'TO a8vvaTOV, we; 1J8YJ vT]
A / , c , c ~
uta Kat OL Ka 8 YJJ.Lac; OELVOL pYJTOpEc;, Ka 8a1TEp OL
1"'1 c / , / c

~ / (3\J\E1TOVCTLV
/ 'E ptvvac;
/
rpayq>?OL, Kat' OVOE , ~' EKELVO
' 1"'1

J.La8e'iv oi yevva'iot 8vvavTat, . oTt AE.ywv 'OpE.crTYJc; o

J.LE8ec;· J.Li' ova:a 'TWV EJ.LWV 'Eptvvwv
J.LECTOV J.L' OXJ.LU,Etc;, we; {3aAnc; Ec; TapTapov

~avra,eTat Tav8' art J.LaiveTat.

9 ";' YJc PYJTOptKYJ
T t/ ovv c ' A.. /
'PavTacrta ~ /
ovvaTat; \ \ '
1TOJ\J\a '
J.LEV
tcrwc; Kat aAAa 'TOLe; Aoyotc; evaywvta Kat EJL1Ta8-ry
A.,./ / / 1"'1

1TpOa-EtCT'¥EpEtV, Ka'TaKtpVaJLEVYJ JLEV'TOL Tate; 1TpayJ.La-

'TtKatc; E1TLXELPTJCTECTLV ov 1TEL8Et 'TOV aKpoaTYjv J.LOVOV
~ cc A.. /
al\1\a Kat OOVJ\OV'Tat.
' \ \ ' ' \
Kat' J.LYJV
1"'1 '
EL,, 'Ttc;, " o/YJCTLV,
cc ' / ~ ' / \ ~
aV'TtKa OYJ fLal\a KpavyY}c; aKOVCTELE 1rp0 'TWV OtKa-
1"'1 ' / ' 1"'1

1 So Morus, for 1rpoa-EK1Tt1Trov

a Oedipus at Colonus 1586-1666.

222
r
ON THE SUBLIME 15

Sophocles too describes with superb visualization the

dying Oedipus conducting his own burial amid strange
portents in the sky;a and Achilles at the departure of the
Greeks, when he appears above his tomb to those
embarking,h a scene which nobody perhaps has depicted
so vividly as Simonides.c But to give all the instances
would be endless. However, as I said, these examples
from poetry show an exaggeration which belongs to fable
and far exceeds the limits of credibility, whereas the most
perfect effect of visualization in oratory is always one of
reality and truth. Transgressions of this rule have a
strange, outlandish air, when the texture of the speech is
poetical and fabulous and deviates into all sorts of impos-
sibilities. For instance, our wonderful modern orators-
god help us !-are like so many tragedians in seeing
Furies, and the fine fellows cannot even understand that
when Oreste~ says,
Let go! Of my own Furies. you are one
And grip my waist to cast me down to Hell, d
he only imagines that, because he is mad.
What then is the use of visualization in oratory? It
may be said generally to introduce a great deal of excite-
ment and emotion into one's speeches, but when com-
bined with factual arguments it not only convinces the
audience, it positively masters them. Take Demosthenes:
"And yet, suppose that at this very moment we were to
hear an uproar in front of the law courts and someone

b In Polyxena, fr. 523 Radt.

c D. A. Campbell (ed.), Greek Lyric III (Loeb Classical
Library) Simonides fr. 557 ( = fr. 52 Page).
d Euyripides, Orestes 264-5.

223
 LONGINUS r
/ ";", :)/ t!) / '~ /
CTTYJptWV, Et'T Et1TOt aVEqJK'Tat 'TO OECTf.LWTYJptOV, 'Tt~, W~
e ~' ~ ""' ,./..,. / 'f) ' t:l :)/ /
Ot OE OECTf.LWTat '+'EVYOVCTtV, OV Et~ OV'TW~ OV'TE yepwv
:)/ / , \ / / ) c.\ , ' (.} f) / f)'
OVTE veo~ Ol\tywpo~ ECTTtV, o~ ovxt JJOYJ YJCTEt Ka
t:l ~ 1 ' ~ ' ~ 1 :)/ \{) / e e /
OCTOV OVVaTat• Et OE OYJ Tt~ Et1TOt 1TapEI\ <VV, W~ 0 TOV-
',.1..,. ' 'e' / , ,~, \ / ' / '
TOV~ a'+'Et~ OVTO~ ECT'TtV, OVOE 1\0YOV TVXWV 1TapaV'TtK
10 '' a1TOI\Ot'TO.
av ' /\ " W~
e VYJ' uta
A /
Kat' 0
t eT 1TEpEtOYJ~
~~
KaTYJYO-
pOVf.LEVO~, E1TEt8T] rov~ 8ovAov~ f.LETa ri}v -ryrrav €Aev-
f)f.pov~ Et/JYJcptcraro, t!t!'TOV'TO TO t/J~cptcrf.La," Ei1TEV, eeovx
0 p~rwp €ypat/Jev aAA' ~ EV Xatpwveiq. f.LaXYJ·, af.La
yap r~ 1Tpayf.LaTtKw~ E1TtXEtpliv o p~rwp 1TEcpavra-
~ ' e (.} / (.} ""'
CTTat, OtO Kat' TOV
'
'TOV""' 1TEt'{) EtV opov
t:l
V1TEpfJEfJYJKEV 'T!p
\I ,.1..,.1 ~~ ' ""' / t:l ''
11 1\Y}f.Lf.La'Tt. '+'VCTEt OE 1TW~ EV 'TOt~ 'TOtOV'TOt~ a1TaCTtV aEt
TOV KpEt'T'TOVO~ aKOVOf.LEV, of)ev a1TO 'TOV a1T00EtK'TtKOV
\ / f) , ' ' ,./..,. / , \ / 'e'
1TEptEI\KOf.LE a Et~ 'TO KaTa '+'aVTaCTtaV EK1TI\YjK'TtKOV, qJ
' ,EyKpV1T'TETat
TO' 1Tp_ayf.La'TtKOV / \ /
1TEptl\af.L1TOf.LEVOV. Kat'
'TOV'T' OVK a1TEtKO'TW~ 1Tacrxof.LEV" DVELV yap CTVV'TaTTO-
/
f.LEVWV t! ,./..,.'
V'+' t.\
EV ,
aEt'
TO' KpEtT'TOV
""' , t! ' '
Et~ EaVTO TYJV
f) aTEpov
/

8vvaf.Ltv 1TEpta-1Tf?:. ·
12 Toa-avra 1TEp'i rwv Kara ra~ vo~a-Et~ vt/JYJAwv Ka'i
V1To f.LEyaAocppoa-vvYJ~ <1]> 1 f.Ltf.L~a-ew~ 1] cpavraa-ia~
, / , /
a1TOYEVVWf.LEVWV apKECTEt.

,
16. Avroet f.LEvrot Kat
, , ,
o 1Tep'i
..... ' .,,
a-xYJf.Larwv E.cpetf}~
c.\ ~ ""' , r
TETaKTat T01To~· Kat yap TaVT, av OV OEt CTKEVasYJTat
rpo1TOV, w~ EcpYJV, OVK av ~ rvxovCTa f.LEyf.f)ov~ ELYJ
I ~
f.LEpt~. OV' f.LYJV
' '\ \'
a/\1\ '
E1TEt
'
TO' 1TaVTa
/ (.}
OtaKptfJOVV""' \'
11'01\V
€pyov 2 EV 'T~ 1TapovTt, f.LaAAov 8' a1TEptoptCT'TOV,

1 add. Manutius: <T] 8u1> Vahlen.

2 Buhler, for 1roA:vEpyov.

224
 ON THE SUBLIME 15-16

were to tell us, 'The prison has been broken open and the
prisoners are escaping,' there is no man, old or young, so
unheeding that he would not run to give all the assistance
in his power. But suppose someone were to come and
actually tell us that this was the man who set them free,
he would be killed on the moment without a hearing."a
And then, to be sure, there is H yperides on his trial, when
he had moved the enfranchisement of the slaves after the
Athenian reverse. "It was not the speaker that framed
this measure, but the battle of Chaeronea. "b There,
besides developing his factual argument the orator has
visualized the event and consequently his conception far
exceeds the limits of mere persuasion. In all such cases
the stronger element seems naturally to catch our ears, so
that our attention is drawn from the reasoning to the
enthralling effect of the imagination, and the reality is
concealed in a halo of brilliance. And this effect on us is
natural enough; set two forces. side by side and the
stronger always absorbs the virtues of the other.
This must suffice for our treatment of sublimity in
ideas, as produced by nobility of mind or imitation or
visualization. c
16. The topic of figures comes next, for these too, if
rightly handled, may be, as I said, d an important element
in the sublime. However, since it would be a long, and
indeed an interminable task to treat them all in detail
a Demosthenes, Oration 24.208. b After Philip's victory
at Chaeronea (338 B.C.), Hyperides proposed the enfranchise-
ment of slaves, and defended this panic 1neasure, it is said, in
these terms: see Rutilius Lupus 1.19, [Plutarch] Lives of the Ten
Orators, 849A. c This summary is puzzling: it omits the con-
tents of chap. 10. d In chap. 8.

225
 LONGINUS
r
oA.iya TWV oa-a p.,eyaAYJyopiac; U1TOTEAEa-TLKa TOV
1TL(JTWa-aa-() aL TO' 1TpOKELP.,EVOV EVEKa
/ / ~'
KaL' OYJ
~' ~ /(;
OLEs LP.,EV.
2 U1TODEL~LV 0 ~YJp.,oa-()EVYJc; V1TEp TWV 1TE1TOALTEVP.,EVWV
ela-cpEpEL. TLc; D' ~v 7] KaTa cpva-Lv xpi}a-Lc; avrijc;;
eeovx Y]p.,apTETE, 6J TOV V1TEp rijc; TWV eEA.A.1}vwv EAEV-
()epiac; aywva apap_,EVOL" EXETE DE OLKELa TOVTOV
1rapaDeiyp.,ara · ovDE yap oi ev Mapa()wvL ijp.,aprov
OVO '~' OLe EV ' ~al\ap_,LVL OVO
""' \ '"' '~' OLe EV ' II\1\aTaLaLc;. '"' " al\1\ '\ \,
E1TELDTJ Ka()a1TEp ep.,1Tveva-()e'ic; e~aicpvYJc; v1ro ()eov Ka'i
e ' A.. (.} /\ / ' '"' ' / '"'
OLOVEL 'POLJJOAYJ1TTOc; YEVOP.,EVOc; TOV TWV apta-TEWV T'YJc;
eEAAaDoc; opKOV E~EcpWVY](JEV eeOVK Ea-TLV 01TWc; 1-jp.,ap-
TETE, p.,a rove; EV Mapa()wvL 1TpOKLVDVVEva-avrac;,"
cpaiveraL Dt' E.voc; rov op.,orLKov a-x1}p.,aroc;, o1rep
f.v()aDE U1TOa-Tpocpi}v eyw KaAw, rove; P.,EV 1Tpoy6vovc;
'{)/ ~~ ~'"' ' ~~ '{) / e
a1ro Ewa-ac;, OTL oEL rove; ovrwc; a1ro avovrac; we;
() EOVc; ,
' OP.,VVVaL /
1Tapta-TC4VWV, TOLe;
/ '"' ~'
OE KpLVOV(JL TO' TWV
/ '"'

EKE'i 1rpoKtvDvveva-avrwv evrt()e'ic; cpp6vYJp.,a, ri}v DE

rijc; U1TODEL~Ewc; cpva-LV p_,E()Ea-TaKwc; elc; V1TEpj3aA.A.ov
~'.1.
V~Oc; KaL' 1Ta/{) oc; KaL' S(;/EVWV KaL' V1TEp'PVWV e A..'"' ~~
opKWV
' (; /
as L01TL(JTLaV, KaL' ap_,a
~'
1TaLWVELOV/ /
TLVa KaL' aAES ' \ (; rl.. /
L'Pap-
p_,aKOV ELc; ' Tac; ·'·
' ~vxac; ' TWV '"' '
aKOVOVTWV / Ka () LELc; ' 1\0yov,
\/

e r1.. y / e ' '"' ' / ~ ' "''\

we; Kov'PLsOJ.LEVovc; v1ro rwv EYKWJ.LLWV J.LYJOEV EI\UTTOV
rfj p.,axv rfj 1Tpoc; <l>LAL1T1TOV ~ E1TL TOLe; KaTa Mapa-
()wva Ka'i 2aA.ap.,'iva vLKYJTYJpiotc; 1Tapia-raa-()aL cppo-
3 ve'iv· oic; 1TU(JL rove; aKpoarac; DLa TOV a-xYJp_,aTLa-p.,ov
a-vvap1Taa-ac; cfJXETO. KaLTOL 1Tapa rfi> Ev1TOALDL TOV
opKOV TO (J1TEpp.,a cpaa-'iv evpija-()aL.

226
 ON THE SUBLIME 16

at this point, we will by way of confirmation of our thesis

merely run through a few of those which make for
grandeur. Demosthenes is producing an argument in
defence of his political career. What was the natural way
to treat it? "You were not wrong, you who undertook that
struggle for the freedom of Greece, and you have proof of
this at home, for neither were the men at Marathon mis-
guided nor those at Salamis nor those at Plataea.''a But
when in a sudden moment of inspiration, as if possessed
by the divine, he utters his great oath by the champions of
Greece, "It cannot be that you were wrong; no, by those
who risked their lives at Marathon," then you feel that by
employing the single figure of adjuration-which I here
call apostrophe-he has deified the ancestors by suggest-
ing that one should swear by men who met such a death,
as if they were gods; he has filled his judges with the spirit
of those who risked their lives there; he has transformed a
demonstrative argument into a passage of transcendent
sublimity and emotion, giving it the power of conviction
that lies in so strange and ·startling an oath; and at the
same time his words have administered to his hearers a
healing medicine, with the result that, relieved by his
eulogy, they come to feel as proud of the war with Philip
as of their victories at Marathon and Salamis. In all this
he is enabled to carry the audience away with him by the
use of the figure. True, the germ of the oath is said to
have been found in Eupolis:

a De corona 208. The passage was much admired in antiquity

(Quintil. 9.2.62; 12.10.24; Hermogenes, De ideis p. 267 Rabe),
and Longinus' discussion was highly praised by Dr. Johnson (Life
of Dryden p. 299, World's Classics edition).

227
 LONGINUS
[
ov yap !La T~v MapaOwvt T~v €/L~v ~LaxYJv
xaipwv Tt~ aVTWV TOV~LOV dA. yvvEt KEap.

ECTTL 8' ov TO cnTWCTOVV TLVa OJLOCTat JLEya, TO OE 7TOV

Kat 7TW~ Kat''rl..'
'
6f-J WV KatpWV Kat TtVO~ EVEKa.
'e'
I"\ a'\\'
1\1\
I"\ ' / t:/

EKEt !LEV ov8€v ECTT' EL IL~ opKo~, Kat 7Tpo~ EVTVXOVV-

3/ ~ , , / 'Af) / / '
Ta~ ETt Kat OV 0€0/LEVOV~ 7TapYJyopta~ TOV~ YJVat-
ov~· ETt o
~ !)' '
ovxt TOV~ avopa~ ~
a1ra f) avaTura~
, ' '/
oc 7TOtYJ-
!)/ ,

' 3/ t:/ I"\ , / , 1"\ 1"\ , /

TYJ~ W/LOCTEV, tVa TYJ~ EKEtVWV apETYJ~ TOt~ aKOVOVCTtV

EVTEKYJ A.oyov a~tOV, dA.A.' a7TO TWV 7TpOKLV0VV€VCTaV-

TWV E7Tt TO atfivxov a7T€7TA.av~OYJ, T~V JLUXYJV. 7Tapa
8€ T~ 6.YJJLOCT0evEt 7TE7TpayJLaTEvTat 1rpo~ TJTTYJJLEvov~
0 opKo~, w~ IL~ XatpwvEtav ET' ,AOYJVatot~ aTVXYJJLa
,../.. /
o/atVECT f) at, Kat' TaVTOV,
' / e /~
(J)~ Eo/YJV, a/La a7TOOEts t~ ECTTt
!)/ ,../.. <:/ ' {:/ '

TOV f.L.YJOEV iJ!LaPTYJKEVat, 7Tapa0€t'Y!La, opKwv 1 7TtCTTt~,

4 eyKWJLtov, 7TpoTpo7T~. Ka7TEt0~7TEp v1r~vTa T~ p~ropt
ccA.€yEt~ iJTTav 7ToA-tTEv~a!LEvo~, EtTa vtKa~ D~LVVEtc:;;"
Ota TavO' E.~ijc:; Kavovt,Et Kat Ot' aCT¢aA.Eta~ ayEt Kat 2
, / ~ f3
~ / /
OVO/LaTa, OtOaCTKWV OTt KaV aKXEVJLaCTL VYJo/EtV ava-
/,..1..
t:/ , ,

yKatOV. cc TOV~
1"\ ' ~ /
7TpOKtVOVV€VCTaVTac:;, ,
o/YJCTt,/ CCM apa-
,../..

Owvt Kat Tov~ !aA.a!LtVt Kat e1r' 'ApTE~Ltcrtcp vav!La-

X~CTavTa~ Ka'i TOV~ ev ITA-aTatat~ 7TapaTafaJLEVOV~."
ovOa!LOV CCVtK~cravTa~" Et7TEV, dA.A.d 7TUVTYJ TO TOV
TEA-ov~ OtaKEKA-o¢Ev OVOJLa, E7TEt0~7TEp ~v EVTVXfS Kat
TOt~ KaTa
1"\ ' XatpWVEtaV
/ c
V7TEVaVTtOV./ ~/
OL07T€p Kat' TOV
'

aKpoaT~V ¢0avwv EvOvc:; V7To¢ep€t. cc ov~ a7TaVTac:;

1
opKWV deleted by Kayser.
2 KaL <KaT'> Mazzucchi.

228
 ON THE SUBLIME 16

No, by the fight I fought at Marathon,

No one of them shall vex me and go free. a
But the mere swearing of an oath is not sublime: we must
consider the place, the manner, the circumstances, the
motive. In Eupolis there is nothing but an oath, and that
addressed to Athens, when still in prosperity and needing
no consolation. Moreover, the poefs oath does not
immortalize the men so as to beget in the audience a true
opinion of their worth, but instead he wanders from those
who risked their lives to an inanimate object, namely the
fight. In Demosthenes the oath is carefully designed to
suit the feelings of defeated men, so that the Athenians
should no longer regard Chaeronea as a disaster; and it is,
as I said, at the same time a proof that no mistake has
been made, an example, a sworn confirmation, an
encomium, and an exhortation. The orator was faced
with the objection, "You are speaking of a reverse due to
your policy and then you go swearing by victories," and
therefore in the sequel he measures his every word and
keeps on the safe side, inculcating the lesson that "in the
wildest rite" you must stay sober.b "Those who risked
their lives,~~ he says, "at Marathon and those who fought
on shipboard at Salamis and Artemisium and those who
stood in the line at Plataea"-never "those who won the
victory." Throughout he cunningly avoids naming the
result, because it was a happy one, and the opposite of
what happened at Chaeronea. So before his hearers can
raise the objection he promptly adds, ''To all of these the

a From the Demes (fr. 106 Kassel-Austin).

b A reminiscence of Euripides, Bacchae 317.

229
 LONGINUS f
€0alfie 8TJJ.Loa-ic!/' cpTJa-iv ((~ 1roAts, Ala-xivTJ, ovxL Tov~
,
KaTop () wa-avTa~ fLOVov~.
, "

17. OvK a~tOV E1TL TOVTOV TOV T01TOV 1TapaAt1TELV

EV Tt TWV ~fLLV TE()EWPTJJ.LEVWV, cpiATaTE, EU"Tat 8€
1TUVV U"VVTOJ.LOV, OTt cpva-Et 7TW~ U"VfLJ.LaXEL TE TcfJ vljJEt
Ta a-xrr}J.LaTa KaL 1TaAtv avTtU"VJ.LJ.LaXELTat OavJ.LaU"TW~
( ' -' ..... ..... ~' ' ..... ' ' ,./.... , t:/ ,
V1T avTov. 7TYJ oE Kat 7TW~; eyw o/paa-w. V1T07TTOV
'
Ea-Ttv ,~, ' ~ ' ,
totw~ TO ota U"XYJJ.LaTwv 1ravovpyetv Kat 1Tpoa--
..... '
f3aAAov v1rovotav €vf.8pa~ E7Tt{3ovA.fj~ 1TapaAoyta-fLOV,

~' ' Tvpavvov~

n
KaL TavO' OTaV 1Tpo~ KptTTJV KVptov 0 Aoyo~, fLUAt-
, a \, c , '
a-Ta oE 7Tpo~ fJaU"ti\Eac; TJYEfLOVa~ ev
V7TEpoxaZ~· ayavaKTEL yap ev()vc;, el w~ 1TaL~ acppwv
e ' , e, , ri..'Y
V1TO TEXVtTov PTJTOpo~ U"XTJJ.LaTtot~ KaTaa-o'f-Jt&:,ETat,
Kat' Et~ ' ,./.... ,
KaTao/povT}a-tv (
eavTov ..... \
1\afLtJavwv Q' '
TOV 1Tapa-
\ ' , , '-'
1\0Yt?"fLOV EVtOTE fLEV a1TO () YJptOVTat .....
TO' U"VVOI\OV,
, \ •J\
KaV
e7TtKpaTrr}a-n 8€ Tov ~vJ.Lov, 7Tpoc; TT]v 1retew Twv
\ ,
1\0YWV , '
7TaVTW~ aVTtOtaTt ETat.
~ '() ~ ,
Ot01TEp Kat' TOTE , apt- ,,
U"TOV 8oKEL TO a-xfJJ.La, OTav avTo TOVTO 8taAavOavn
2 OTt a-xfJJ.La EU"TtV. TO TOLVVV vlfio~ KaL 7Taeo~ Tfj~ E7TL
TcfJ U"XTJJ.LaTL,EtV V1TOVOLa~ aAE~TJJ.La KaL eavJ.LaU"TrrJ Tt~
E7TtKovpia KaOia-TaTat, KaL 1TW~ 1TEptAaJ.Lcp()el-a-' ~ 1
Tov 1ravovpyel-v TEXVYJ Tot~ KaAAEa-t KaL fLEyf.Oea-t To
AotJTov 8E.8vKEV KaL 1raa-av vJToljiiav EK1TEcpevyEv.
LKavov 8€ TEKJ.LrrJptov TO 1TpOEtpT}fLEVOV eefLa TOV~ EV
Mapa()wvt." TLVt yap EVTavO' 0 PrrJTWP a1TEKpvlfie TO
a-xfJJ.La; 8fjA.ov OTt TcfJ cpwTL avT(iJ. a-xe8ov yap WU"7TEp
KaL TafLv8 pa cpf.yyT} €vacpavi,eTat T~ ~A.£41 7TEpt-
avyovfLEVa, OVTW Ta Tfj~ PTJTOptKfj~ a-ocpLU"fLaTa

230
 ON THE SUBLIME 16-17

country gave a public funeral, Aeschines, not only to

those who were successful."
17. While on this topic I must not omit to mention a
view of my own, dear friend, which I will state, however,
quite concisely. Figures seem to be natural allies of the
sublime and to draw in turn marvellous reinforcement
from the alliance. Where and how? I will tell you. There
is an inevitable suspicion attaching to the sophisticated
use of figures. It gives a suggestion of treachery, craft, fal-
lacy, especially when your speech is addressed to a judge
with absolute authority, or still more to a despot, a king,
or a ruler in high place. He is promptly indignant that he
is being treated like a silly child and outwitted by the fig-
ures of a skilled speaker. Construing the fallacy as a per-
sonal affront, he sometimes turns downright savage; and
even if he controls his feelings, he becomes conditioned
against being persuaded by the speech. So we find that a
figure is always most effective when it conceals the very
fact of its being a figure. Sublimity and emotional inten-
sity are a wonderfully helpful antidote against the suspi-
cion that accompanies the use of figures. The artfulness
of the trick is no longer obvious in its brilliant setting of
beauty and grandeur, and thus avoids all suspicion. A suf-
ficient instance is that mentioned above, "By those at
Marathon." In that case how did the orator conceal the
figure? By its very brilliance, of course. Much in the
same way that dimmer lights vanish in the surrounding
radiance of the sun, so an all-embracing atmosphere of
grandeur obscures the rhetorical devices. We see some-

1 7rEptAafL¢8lia-' 7] Bury for 7rapaA. YJcp8E~a-av P.

231
 LONGINUS r
3 E.~af.Lavpo'i 1TEptxv{}€v 1TavTo{}ev
/ ~' :>I /
1T0ppw 0 UTW~ TOVTOV Kat' E1Tt
' '

/ ,, '
crvf.L(3 at vEt·
1"'1, 1"'1

E1Tt yap Tov avTov

1rapaAA~Awv €v T~~
1"'1 ' 1"'1
XPWf.Lacrt a-Kta~ TE Kat TOV
cpwTo~, Of.LW~ 1TpOV1TavTfi- TE TO cpw~ Tat~ ot/Jecrt Kat ov
/ "'C ,\ \ ' ' , / ' \ ' ,./.,. /
f.LOVov Es oxov a/\1\a Kat eyyvTepw 1rapa 1TOI\V '+'atvE-
~'.1.
Tat. OVKOVV Kat TWV 1\0YWV Ta 1Ta YJ Kat Ta
' 1"'1 ' 1"'1 \ / ' /() ' '
V~YJ,

Tat~ tflvxat~ ~f.LWV €yyvT€pw KELf.LEVa, Dta TE cpvcrtK~v

/ '~'\ / ,, 1"'1

TtVa crvyyevEtaV Kat ota l\af.L1TpOTYJTa aEt TWV crxYJ-

/ ,.~.,. /r ' , / , ""' ,
f.LaTwv 1TpOEf.L'f'avtsETat Kat TYJV TEXVYJV avTwv a1To-
a-Kta,Et Kat oiov E.v KaTaKaAvt/Jet TYJpEt.
18 . T t/ ~'
0
, ""'
EKEtVa 'f'Wf.LEV,
,./.,. 1"'1 '
Ta~ 1TEVcrEt~
/
TE Kat EpWTYJ-
' , /

(]"Et~; apa OVK avTat~ Tat~ TWV crxYJf.LUTWV ELD01TOttat~

'
1Tapa 1TOI\V Ef.L1TpaKTOTEpa Kat (]"0
\', / ' (3 apWTEpa
/ (]"VVTEtVEt
/
Ta 'A~y6f.Leva; ~~~ {3ovXea-Oe, el1r€ f.LOt, 1TEpt"iovTe~
,\ \ / \ () / {} \ /
a/\1\Y)/\WV 1TVV avecr at·. 1\EYETat Tt Katvov; Tt yap av
/ / / ' .,,
/ / / .,, M ~, , '
YEVOtTO TOVTOV KatVOTEpov YJ aKEOWV aVYJp KaTa1TO-
\
1\Ef.LWV TYJV
1"'1 ' ~E\ \ /~
1\1\aOa; TE VYJKE
/() <1>/\
tl\t1T1TO~;
,
OV f.La ut
' A /'

, \ \ ' , () 1"'1 / ~' ~ ""' ~ ,./.,. / ' ' .,, "e' /

a/\1\ acr EVEt. Tt 0 Vf.LtV Ota'f'EpEt; Kat yap av OVTO~
/() / ~ 1"'1 ~/ <1>/\ / ,,
Tt 1ra YJ, TaXEW~ Vf.LEt~ ETEpov tl\t1T1TOV 1TOtYj(]"ETE.
' /\ ~~ \ / , ' M ~ / , ,.~.,. / ~~ ""'
Kat 1Tal\tV 1TI\EWf.LEV E1Tt 1 aKEOOVtaV, 'f'YJcrt. 1TOt
8~ 1Tpoa-opf.Lt0Vf.LE()a; ~pETO TIS. eup~a-Et Ta a-a0pa
TWV <l>tAL1T1TOV 1Tpayf.LaTwv avTo~ o 1TOAEf.LO~." -ryv 8€
a1r'Aw~ pYJOEv TO 1rpuyf.La T~ 1TaVTt KaTa8e€a-Tepov,
~' , c /
VVVt' OE TO' EV
:>I ()
OVV Kat' 0«; vpp01TOV TYJ~
1"'1 /
1TEV(]"EW~ Kat '

' / ~ ~ ~I
a1TOKptcrEW~ Kat' TO' 1rp0~
' '
EaVTOV W~ 1rp0~
'
ETEpov
av0v1TaVTUV ov f.LOVOV Vt/JYJAOTEpov E1TOLY)(]"E T~ a-xYJ-
2 f.LaTt(J"jL~ TO pYJ{}Ev aAAa Kat 1Tt(J"TOTEpov. ayEL yap
~I
ra' 1ra () YJTtKa' TOTE
/ ""'\\
f.La/\1\0V, oTav ' '
avTa ,./.,. /
'+'atV'Y}Tat f.LYJ'

232
 ON THE SUBLIME 17-18

thing of the same kind in painting. Though the highlights

and shadows lie side by side in the same plane, yet the
highlights spring to the eye and seem not only to stand
out but to be actually much nearer. So it is in writing.
What is sublime and moving lies nearer to our hearts, and
thus, partly from a natural affinity, partly from brilliance
of effect, it always strikes the eye long before the figures,
thus throwing their art into the shade and keeping it hid
as it were under a bushel.
18. Now what are we to say of our next subject, the
figures of inquiry and interrogation? Is it not just the spe-
cific character of these figures which gives the language
much greater realism, vigour and tension? "Tell me, my
friend, do you all want to go round asking each other 'Is
there any news?,a For what stranger news could there be
than this of a Macedonian conquering Greece? 'Is Philip
dead?, 'No, not dead but ill., What difference does it
make to you? Whatever happel}.s to him, you will soon
manufacture another Philip for yourselves.,, Or again:
"Let us sail to Macedon. Someone asks me, 'Where on
earth shall we land?, Why, the mere course of the war will
find out the weak spots in Philip,s situation." Here a bare
statement would have been utterly inadequate. As it is,
the inspiration and quick play of the question and answer,
and his way of confronting his own words as if they were
someone else,s, make the passage, through his use of the
figure, not only loftier but also more convincing. For
emotion is always more telling when it seems not to be

a This and the following passage are loose quotations from

the First Philippic (Demosthenes, Oration 4.10 and 44).

233
 LONGINUS

E1Tl/TY]DEVELV avroc; 0 'A.f.ywv a'A.'A.a yEvvav 0 Katpoc;, i}

8' EpW'T'Y)O"Lc; i} Elc; f.avrov Kat a1TOKpta-Lc; fLLfLEL'TaL 'TOV
/() ' ) / ~' 'Crh' C C C /
1ra ovc; To E'lTLKatpov. a-xEoov yap we; ot v\f' ErEpwv
€pwrwfLEVOL 7rapo~vvO€vrEc; EK rov 1Tapaxp-ryf-ta 7rpoc;
TO 'AEx0€v €vaywviwc; Kat a1T' avr-ryc; r-ryc; d'A.YJ(}Eiac;
av0v1TaV'TWO"LV, ovrwc; 'TO a-x-ry~-ta r-ryc; 1TEVO"EWc; Kat
a1TOKpLa-Ewc; Elc; TO DOKELV EKaa-rov 'TWV EO"KEf-tfLEVWV
E~ V1Toyvov KEKLv-rya-Oai TE Kat 'A.€yEa-0aL 'TOV aKpoa-
' ) / ' \ '7 ,, / ((.' /
'T"f}V a1rayov KaL 1Tapai\OYLt:,E'TaL. E'TL 'TOLVVV EV yap
TL Twv vt/JYJ'AoTarwv ro CHpo8orEtov 1TE1Tia-rEvrat) El
~' ,, 1
ovrwc; E •••
) / \
19 . . .. <aO"VfL>1TJ\OKa 2 ) / ' c '
EK1TL1T'TEL KaL OLOVEL 7rp0-
"'
XELTaL ra' 1\EYOfLEVa,
\ / )\ /
OJ\tyov ~ ""
OELV rl..() / ' ) '
\f' avovTa Kat avrov
'
TOV \ /
1\Eyovra. cc
KaL' O"Vf-t ai\OV'TEc;, f3 \ / , \f''YJO"LV
,/.,. ' 0 c ,...... ,/.,. ""
:;::.EVO\f'WV,
ccrac; aa-1TLDac; €w0ovvro EfLUXOV'TO a1TEK'TELVOV a1TE-
2 () VYJO"Kov. , Kat' ra' rov"'E'vpvl\oxov
\'

T]A.OofLEV, we; fKE'AEVEc;, ava DpVfLU, ¢ai8t~-t'

'08va-a-Ev.
ELDOf-tEV €v {3-r}a-a-na-t rErvy~-tf.va 8w~-tara Ka'A.a.
' ' '\ \ /\ ~ / ' ,~, 'e'
Ta yap ai\1\'Y}J\WV OLaKEKOfLJLEVa KaL OVOEV 'YJO"O"OV
/ ,/.,. / "" ) / ,, ,/.,. t:/ '
KaTE0"1TEVO"fLEVa \f'EpEL T'Y}c; aywvtac; EfL\f'aO"LV a~-ta Kat
' ~ r '
EJL1T00Lt:,OVO"'Y)c; TL KaL' O"VVOLWKOVO"'Y)c;.
~ , 3 'TOLaV""(}' 0c 'lTOL'Y}-

1
Perhaps €<ypalfie>, if Longinus was about to compare
Herodotus' actual use of the figure with the ineffective alterna-
tive of doing without it. Cf. chap. 21.
2 So K marg., Manutius.
3 So Faber for P's fTvv8t-oLKOVfT'YJ~·

234
 ON THE SUBLIME 18-19

premeditated by the speaker but to be born of the

moment; and this way of questioning and answering one's
self counterfeits spontaneous emotion. People who are
cross-questioned by others in the heat of the moment
reply to the point forcibly and with utter candour; and in
much the same way the figure of question and answer
actually misleads the audience, by encouraging it to sup-
pose that each carefully premeditated argument has been
aroused in the mind and put into words on the spur of the
moment. Moreover-for this passage of Herodotus has
always been reckoned one of the most sublime-if in this
way ... a
[Two pages are missing here.]
19.b ... the phrases tumble out unconnected in a sort
of spate, almost too quick for the speaker himself. ''And
locking their shields," says Xenophon, "they pushed,
fought, slew, fell."c And take the words ofEurylochus,
We came, as you told us to·come, through the oak-
coppice, shining Odysseus.
I Built in the glades we beheld habitations of won-
l derful beauty.d
l The phrases being disconnected, and yet none the less
l rapid, give the idea of an agitation which both checks the
utterance and at the same time drives it on. This is the

a The passage of Herodotus cannot be identified, but may be

7.21, which has notable rhetorical questions.
b The subject is now asyndeton, i.e. the omission of conjunc-
tions.
c Xenophon, Hellenica 4.3.19 ( =Agesilaus 2.12).
d Odyssey 10.251-2.

235
 LONGINUS

T~~ E~rrJVEYKE 8u1 TWV ao-vvDETWV.

~'A ~' ' ~: , ' , ' ~ , '"'
20 . KpW~ OE KaL YJ E1TL TaVTO o-VVOOO~ TWV o-xYJ-
, ~I 0
p.,aTWV ELW E KLVELV, OTaV OVO YJ TpLa OLOV KaTa o-vp.,-
'"' "' ~/ ., / 'e' '

' , , , \ \ '\ , 'Y ' ' '

p.,opLav avaKLpvap.,Eva a/\1\ YJAOL~ EpavLsYJ TYJV Lo-xvv
' 1TEL 0'W TO'
TTJV Ka/\1\0~,
'\ \ ~: '"' KaL' Ta'
01TOLa EL~
' '
TOV M ELOLaV,
~,

TaL~ avac{>opa'L~ op.,ov Kat TD DLaTV1TW(TEL o-vvava1TE-

\ , ' , , ~ 1:1: \ \ ' ' .,, , 1:
1TAEYfLEVa ra ao-vvoEra. 1TOAI\a yap av 1TOLYJo-ELEV o
TV1TTWV,
/ 'e'
WV 0
~:
1Ta WV
0' ~I
EVLa OVO
'~' .,,
av
'
a1TayyELI\aL
'"'\

8vvaLro ETEp~, r~ a-xrr}p.,aTL, r~ f3'A€p.,p.,aTL, TD c{>wviJ."

2 EIO' Zva 1-L~ E1TL TWV aVTWV 0 Aoyo~ lwv o-Ti} ( EV o-ra-
'
(TEL yap TO' YJ, pEfLOVV,
'"' , a, Ta~t.'Lf!: OE
EV ~'
TO' 1Ta'0 0~, E1TEL
, '
,./. .
o/opa
' ,,, '"'
-yVXYJ~ KaL
' o-vyKLVYJ(TL~
, , E(TTLV
, ), EV
, 0'V~ E1T
, ' ~'\
a/\1\a
\
p.,EOrr}'Aaro ao-vvDETa KaL E1Tavac{>opa~· I:I:T~ o-xrr}p.,aTL,
T~ f3'A€p.,p.,aTL, TD c{>wviJ, OTav w~ vf3pi,wv, OTav w~
, 0por;,
EX , "'
oTav KOVOVI\OL~,
~ '\ "'
oTav w~
1: ~ '"'\
ooVAOV. " , ~'
ovoEv
~~\ \ ~ ' , 1: 1: , .,, f!/ 1: , , , y
a/\1\0 ota rovTwv o PYJTWP YJ 01TEp o TV1TTWV EpyasE-
TaL, T~v DLavoLav Twv DLKaa-Twv TD €r.a'A'Arr}'A~ 1TArrJT-
3 TEL c{>opfi,. EiT' E~TEV0Ev 1TUALV w~ ai KaTaLytDE~
~'\ \ , , f3 \ , ~ '\
a/\1\YjV 1TOLOVfLEVO~ EfL 01\YjV
1:1: "'
OTaV KOVOVI\OL~,
"'
OTaV
, ' , " ,./.... , 1:1: '"' '"' '"' , t.,
E1TL KoppYJ~ o/YJ(TL. TaVTa KLVEL, TaVTa E~ L(TTYj(TLV
av0pw1TOV~, arr}OEL~ OVTa~ TOV 1Tp01TYJAaKL,Ea-0aL·
'~ ' .,, 1"1 , '\ \ ~ , ' ~ '
OVOEL~ av TaVTa a1TayyEI\I\WV OVVaLTO TO OELVOV
1Tapao-TYJo-aL.
'"' " , '"'
OVKOVV TYJV fLEV o/V(TLV TWV E1TaVao/O-
' ' ,./....' '"' , ,./....

pwv Kat ao-vvDETWV 1TUVTYJ c{>v'AaTTEL TD (TVVEXEL

\'"'
fLETa f3 01\YJ' "'
OVTW~
' '"' KaL'
aVT~
'(; L~ aTaKTOV
YJ~: Ta~ ~I
KaL'
Ep.,1TaALV ~ ara~ia 1TOLUV 1TEpLAap.,f3avEL TU~LV.

236
 ON THE SUBLIME 20

effect the poet has achieved by his use of asyndeton.

20. The combination of several figures often has an
exceptionally powerful effect, when two or three com-
bined cooperate, as it were, to contribute force, convic-
tion, beauty. Thus, for instance, in the speech against
Midias the asyndeta are interwoven with the figures of
repetition and vivid presentation.a ''For the aggressor
may do many injuries, some of which the victim could not
even describe to anyone else-by his manner, his look, his
voice." Then to prevent the speech coming to a halt by
running over the same ground-for immobility expresses
inertia, while emotion, being a violent movement of the
soul, demands disorder-he leaps at once into further
asyndeta and anaphoras. "By his manner, his looks, his
voice, when he strikes with insult, when he strikes like an
enemy, when he strikes with his knuckles, when he strikes
you like a slaye." Here the orator does just the same as
the aggressor, he belabours the minds of the jury with
blow after blow. Then at this point he proceeds to make
another onslaught, like a tornado. "When ifs with his
knuckles, when ifs a slap on the face," he says, "this
rouses, this maddens a man who is not accustomed to
insult. Nobody could convey the horror of it simply by
reporting it.~~ Thus all the time he preserves the essence
of his repetitions and asyndeta through continual varia-
tion, so that his very order is disordered and equally his
disorder involves a certain element of order.

a Demosthenes, Oration 21.72 (with some variations from

our text).

237
 T
I

LONGINUS

21. 4l€pE ovv, 1rpoa-OEc; rove; o-vv8E.a-il'ovc;, El

'\
() EI\OlS, ~:
We; '"'
1TOLOVO""LV OL~: 'I O""OKpaTELOL, ~:~:
Kat' /LYJV
' OVOE , ~'
TOVTO XP~ 1Tapa'At1TELV, we; 1TOA'Aa av 1TOLrrJO""ELEV 0
TV1TTwv, 1rpwrov ~LEV rep o-xrr7~-LaTt, Etra 8€ rep {3'AE.~L­
/LaTt, EtTa YE /L~V avrfj Tfj cPWVfj," KaL ELO""YJ KaTa
TO €tijc; OVTWc; 1TapaypacPWV, we; TOV 1Ta0ovc; TO
~ ~ , ' , , ,, '"'
O""VVOEOLWY/LEVOV Kat a1TOTpaXVVO/LEVOV, EaV TOLe;
~, 'C \ , , \ , 3/ ,
o-VVOEO""/LOLc; E~ O/Lai\LO""YJc; Etc; J\ELOTYJTa, aKEVTpov TE
2 1rp0o-1TL1TTEL Kat EV Vc; EO""{3 Eo-TaL. W0""1TEp
, ' '()' 3/ ~' ' EL TLc;
yap 3/

o-vv8rr}a-EtE rwv 0Eovrwv Ta o-w/Lara r~v cPopav avrwv

~' ~
a'f'YJPYJTaL, OVTWc;
, ,./... ,
Kat TO 1Ta oc; V1TO TWV O""VVOEO""/LWV
' ' '() !: ' '"' ,

KaL TWV a'A'Awv 1Tpoo-0YJKWV E!L1T08t,O~LEVOV aya-

vaKTEL" T~V yap EAEv0Eptav a1To'A'AvEt 1 TOV 8po/LOV
~
Kat' TO' we; , ',
a1r opyavov , '
Ttvoc; ',.!...'
a'f'tEo- ()
at.
22 . , T YJc;'"' OE~' , '"' LOEac;
aVTYJc; ,~ , Kat' Ta' V1TEp {3 aTa' () E'TEOV.
!: ,
f(J"TLV 8€ 'AitEwv ~ VOrrJCfEWV EK TOV KaT' aKo'AovO[av
KEKLVYJ~LEVYJ TU~Lc; Kat OtOVEt xapaKrTjp E.vaywv[ov
1Ta0ovc; a'AYJOEo-TaToc;. we; yap Ot r(i> OVTL opyt,O~LE-
.,, ,./...{3, .,, , '"' .,, 'y \ !:
VOL YJ 'f'O OV/LEVOL YJ ayavaKTOVVTEc; YJ V1TO ~ Y]I\OTV-
1TLac; ~ V1TO a'A'Aov TLVOc; ( 7TOA'Aa yap Kat avap[()/LYJTa
1Ta YJ Kat OVO~' av EL1TELV TLc; 01TOO""a OVVaLTO
'() ' , .,, , '"' !: ,~ ,
EKaO""TOTE ) !: ,

1Tapa1TL1TTOVTE~ aA.A.a 1Tpo0E~LEVOL 1TOAAaKL~ E1T' a'A'Aa

~'"'
/LETa1TYJOWO""L, ,
/LEO""a TLVa' 1TapE/L{3 ai\OVTEc; \-' '\'
al\oywc;, ELT'3',

a-DOte; E1TL Ta 1Tpwra avaKVKAOVVTEc; Kat 1TUVTYJ 1Tpoc;

rijc; aywv[ac;, we; V1T' ao-TaTOV 1TVEV~LaToc;, rfj8E
KaKEL(J"E ayxto-TpOcPWc; avTL0""1TW!LEVOL rae; AE~ELc; rae;
1 So Finck for P's a:1roA:vEL.

238
 ON THE SUBLIME 21-22

21. Now insert the connecting particles, if you care to

do so, in the style of Isocratesa and his school. ~~And yet
one must not overlook this too, that the aggressor may do
much, :first by his manner, then by his looks, and then
again by his mere voice.n If you thus paraphrase it sen-
tence by sentence you will see that if the rush and
ruggedness of the emotion is levelled and smoothed out
by the use of connecting particles, b it loses its sting and its
fire is quickly put out. For just as you deprive runners of
their speed if you bind them up, emotion equally resents
being hampered by connecting particles and other
appendages. It loses its freedom of motion and the sense
of being, as it were, catapulted out.
22. In the same category we must place hyperbaton.
This :figure consists in arranging words and thoughts out
of the natural sequence, and is, as it were, the truest mark
of vehement. emotion. Just as people who are really angry
or frightened or indignant, or are carried away by jealousy
or some other feeling-there are countless emotions, no
one can say how many-often put forward one point and
then spring off to another with various illogical interpola-
tions, and then wheel round again to their original posi-
tion, while, under the stress of their excitement, like a
ship before a veering wind, they lay their words and

a !socrates was the principal proponent and model of the

periodic style which articulates every clause carefully and avoids
hiatus.
b The word for "conjunction" or ~'connecting particle," sun-
desmos, literally means "bond."

239
 LONGINUS
, ' ' ,... ' A...' c ,... ,
VO'Y}O*El8 T'Y}V EK TOV KaTa 'PVO*LV ELpf.LOV 1TaVTOLWc;
' , ' ' \ \ , , (; t:l '
1rp0~ f.LVpLa~ rpo1ra~ EVal\.1\.aTTOVO*L Tas LV, OVTW 1rapa
'TOL~ apia-TOL~ a-vyypacf>eva-L 8u1 TWV V1TEp{Jarwv ~
f.LLJLYJO*L~ €1r'i Ta Tijc; c/Jvo-Ewc; €pya ¢€pETaL. roTE yap
~ 'TEXV'Y} TEAELO~, ~viK' av cpvo-Lc; EivaL OoKi}, ~ o' av
cf>vo-L~ E1TL'Tvx-rJ~, OTav Aaveavova-av 1TEpLEXYJ TTJV
, t:l \' C,:n 'A , ',...
TEXV'Y}V. wo-1TEp 1\.EYEL o "-¥WKaEvc; uLovva-Loc; 1rapa rep
CHpo86rcp· CCE7TL ~vpov yap aKf.Lijc; EXETaL ~f.LLV Ta
1Tpayf.LaTa, avOpE~ ~'IwvE~' EivaL EAEv{)f.poL~ ~ oov-
AoL~ Ka'i 'TOVTOLc; w~ 8pa1TETYJO*LV. vvv JJv Vf.LELc; ~v
f.LEV f3ovA'YJo-{)E raAaL1rwpia~ €v8€xEa-{)aL, 1TapaxpiJf.La
f.LEV 1rovoc; Vf.LLV, oioi TE 8€ Eo-Eo-{)E V1TEpf3aA.f.a-{)aL
2 '
'TOV~ \ '
1TOI\.Ef.LLOVc;. " ' '"'{)' 'Y}V
EVTaV -;- TO' KaTa' Tas
'(; LV" ec W
-;-

~~
avopE~
~ ~'I
WVE~,
,. . KaLpoc;
VVV ' EO*'TLV
' e ,...
Vf.LLV '
1TOVOV~
'
E1TLOE-
~ '

XEo-{)a~· E1TL ~vpov yap aKf.Lijc; EXETaL ~f.LLV Ta 1Tpay-

f.La'Ta. " e ~'
0 OE TO' f.LEV
' ec ~/ ~
avopEc; ''J WVE~ " V1TEpEtJLtJaO*EV"
e Q' Q

1TpOELa-Ej3aAEV ovv 1 Eve~~ a1TO 'TOV ¢6{Jov, w~ f.L'Y}O'

, ' A...() , '
apx'YJv 'P avwv 1rpo~ ro' E'PEa-rwc;
, A... ' ~
oEo~
, ,...
1Tpoa-ayopEv-
o-at TOVc;
, ' ,
aKOVOVTa~·
,,
€1T€LTa
~'
0€
' ,...
T'Y}V TWV VO'Y}f.LaTWV
,
a1TEa-rp€t/J€ TU~LV" 1Tp0 yap 'TOV cpija-aL OTL avrovc; OEL
1rovE'iv ( rovro yap €a-rLv o 1TapaKEAEvEraL) Ef.L-
1Tpocr(}Ev a1To8i8wcrL TTJV alTiav OL' ~v 1TOVELV OEL,
eeE7TL ~vpov aKf.LiJ~" ¢-r]a-ac; CCEXETaL ~f.LLV ra 1Tpay-
f.LaTa," w~ f.LTJ OOKELV EO*KEf.Lf.LEVa AEYELV &.A.A.'
3
,
'Y}VayKaCTf.LEVa.
, ,,
E'TL
~'
OE
,... \ \
f.Lai\.1\.0V
c
0
8 OVKVVLV'Y}~
~ ,~ ' '
KaL Ta
A...' , c , ''~ , t:/ ,...
'PVO*EL 1TaV'TW~ 'Y}VWf.LEVa KaL aoLaVEf.L'Y}Ta Of.LW~ TaL~
c Q , ' ' ,\ \ '\ ~~ ~ , c ~'
V1TEpfJaa-€0*LV a1T ai\.1\.'Y}I\.WV ayELV OELVOTaTO~. 0 OE

~'Y}JLOo-fJf.v'Y}c; ovx OVTW~ f.LEV avfJaO'Y}c; WCT1TEp OfJTO~,

240
 ON THE SUBLIME 22

thoughts first on one tack then another, and keep altering

the natural order of sequence into innumerable varia-
tions-so, too, in the best prose writers the use of hyper-
bata allows imitation to approach the effects of nature.
For art is only perfect when it looks like nature and
Nature succeeds only when she conceals latent art. Take
the speech of Dionysius the Phocaean, in Herodotus.a
"Our fortunes stand upon a razor's edge, men of Ionia,
whether we be free men or slaves, aye, and runaway
slaves. Now, therefore if you are willing to endure hard-
ship, at the moment there is toil for you, but you will be
able to overcome your enemies." Here the natural order
was, "0 men of Ionia, now is the time for you to endure
toil, for our fortunes stand upon a razor's edge." He has
transposed ~~men of Ionia" and started at once with his
fears, as though the terror was so immediate that he could
not even address the audience first. He has, moreover,
inverted the order of ideas. Before saying that they must
toil-for that is the point of his exhortation-he first gives
the reason why they must 'toil, by saying, "Our fortunes
stand upon a razor's edge." The result is that his words do
not seem premeditated but rather wrung from him.
Thucydides is even more a master in the use of hyperbata
to separate ideas which are naturally one and indivisible.
Demosthenes, though not indeed so wilful as Thucydides,

a Herodotus 6.11.

1
yap Spengel.

241
 I
i

LONGINUS

TraVTWV
/ ,
o~' EV T(f;J
"" /
YEVEL TOVTCf:J KaTaKopECTTaToc;
/ /
KaL
'
\' ', ', ""~:: QQ/Y ':J' '
1TOI\V TO aywVUTTLKOV EK TOV V1TEpfJLfJa«:,ELV KaL ETL V'Y}
A / ' '(; ~:: / \ / ,./... / ' '
uLa TO Es V1TOYVOV 1\EYELV CTVVEJ1"-tJaLVWV KaL 1rpoc;
TovToLc; Etc; Tov Kiv8vvov Twv fLaKpwv V1TEp{jaTwv
4 ' , /
TOVc; aKOVOVTac; CTVVE1TLCT1TWfLEVoc;· 1TOI\I\aKLc; yap TOV
/ \\/ ' '
vovv ov WPfL'YJCTEV Et1TELV avaKpEfLUCTac; Kat fLETa~v
Trwc; 1 Etc; aAAocpv'Aov Kat U1TEOLKVLav TU~LV a'A'A' E1T'
:J/ \ \ ~ ' / ' :JI (; () / () 3 \ "" 3
ai\1\0Lc; OLa fLECTOV KaL Es W EV 1TO EV E1TELCTKVKI\WV ELc;

cpo{jov EfLfla'Awv TOV aKpoaTT]v we; E1Tt 1TaVTEAEL TOV

\/ ~ / ' ~ / ~::,, /
1\0yov OLa1TTWCTEL KaL CTVVa1TOKLVOVVEVELV V1T aywvLac;

T~ 'A€yovTL CTvvavayKaCTac;, ElTa 1rapa'A6ywc; 8ul

"" ,
fLaKpov TO
/\ r / , / , ,
Tral\aL «:,'YJTOVfLEVOV EVKaLpwc; E1TL
/\
TEI\EL 1TOV
~ / ' "" "" ' ' 1:: (.}/
1TpOCTa1TOOOVc;, aVTCf:J T(f;J KaTa Tac; V1TEpfJaCTELc; 1Tapa-
{joAcp Kat aKpoCTcpaAEL 1TOAV fLUAAov EK1TA'YjTTEL.
cpELDw 8€ TWV TrapaDELYfLUTWV ECTTW 8ul TO 1TATjfJoc;.

23. Ta YE fLTJV 1TOAV<rrTWTa AEYOfLEVa, afJpoLCTfLOt

' (.} \ ' ' \/ / , / 1::
KaL fLETafJOI\aL KaL. KI\LfLaKEc;, 1TaVV a~yWVLCTTLKa, We;
"' (} a, KOCTfLOV
OLCT / TE KaL' 1TaVTOc;
' ~'.It
V'rOVc; KaL' 1Ta/(} OVc; CTVV-
/ / ~' e "" / / /
Epya. TL OE aL TWV 1TTWCTEWV XPOVWV 1TpOCTW1TWV
apLfJfLWV YEVWV f.vaAAa~ELc;, 1TWc; 1TOTE KaTa1TOLKLA-
\ ' , / ' 1:: / A... ' ~' ""
2 1\0VCTL KaL E1TEYELpovCTL Ta EPfLYJVEVTLKa; 'f''YJfLL oE TWV

KaTa' TOVc;
' '
apL (} '
fLOVc; OV' fLOVa
/ ""
TaVTa ""
KOCTfLELV, e /
01TOCTa
""/ e ':JI ""~ / ' ' '(}/
TOLe; TV1TOLc; EVLKa OVTa TYJ OVVafLEL KaTa T'YJV ava EW-
\ (} ' e /
PYJCTLV 1TA'YJ VVTLKa EVPLCTKETaL·

avTiKa ( cpYJCTi) 'Aaoc; aJTEipwv

/
()VVVOV 2, ' ' / ~ / \ /~
E1T YJLOVECTCTL OLLCTTafLEVOL KEI\aOYJCTav·

1 So Wilamowitz, for P's fLETa~v w~.

2 {}vvvov Vahlen for P's evvvwv.

242
 ON THE SUBLIME 22-23

is the most lavish of all in this kind of use and not only
employs hyperbata to give a great effect of vehemence,
and indeed of improvisation, but also drags his audience
along with him to share the perils of these long hyperbata.
For he often suspends the sense which he has begun to
express, and in the interval manages to bring forward one
extraneous idea after another in a strange and unlikely
order, making the audience terrified of a total collapse of
the sentence, and compelling them from sheer excite-
ment to share the speaker>s risk: then unexpectedly, after
a great interval, the long-lost phrase turns up pat at the
end, so that he astounds them all the more by the very
recklessness and audacity of the transpositions. But there
are so many examples that I must stay my hand.
23. Again, accumulation, variation, and climax, the so-
called ''polyptota,n are, as you know, very powerful, and
contribute to· ornament and to sublimity and emotion of
all kinds. And consider, too, what variety and liveliness
is lent to the exposition by changes of case, tense,
person, number, or gender~ In the category of number,
for example, not only are those uses ornamental where
the singular in form is found on consideration to signify a
plural-take the lines:
And straightway a numberless people
Scatter the length of the beaches and thunder, "the
Tunny, the Tunny! »a

a The source of this quotation is not known. If the text here

printed is right, the reference is to tunny-fishing, when the
approach of a shoal is watched for and eagerly announced to the
fishermen.

243
 LONGINUS

dA.A.' EKELVa p.JlA.A.ov 1TapaTYJPTJO"EW~ a~La, O'TL la-O'

01TOV 1T poa-7Ti1TTEL Ta 1T A'Y}(}VV'TLKa f.LeyaAoppTJf.LOVE-
a-TEpa Kat avT(i> 8o~OK01TOVV'Ta r/i> ox Aq> 'TOV apt-0 f.LOV.
3 rot-avTa 1rapa T/i> !.ocpoKAE'i Ta E1Tt rov Ol8i1rov·
.-;- / /
W yaf.LOL, yaJkOL,
'rl-./ (}'
Eo/VO"a e '"'
'Y}f.La~ KaL'rl,. / /\
o/V'TEVO"aVTE~ 1Tai\LV

avEL'TE TaVTO 0"1TEpf.La Ka1TEDEi~a'TE

1Ta7Epa~ aDEAcpov~ 1TatDa~, aifL' Ef.LcpVALOV,
VVf.Lcpa~ yvva'iKa~ fLTJTEpa~ TE xw1Toa-a
:J/ ' ' ' () / :J/ /
at-a-xt-a-T EV av pw1ToLa-Lv Epya yt-yvETaL.

e ' '"' \ /
W~ EKE'LVa 1TE1TI\EOVaO"TaL,

4 KaL' 'TO' IT\1\a'TWVLKOV,

/ 0t.\ e /
KaL' ETEpw (}
L 1TapE'TE (} ELf.LE
/ (} ' '
a, E1TL
rwv 'A()YJvatwv· eeov yap II€Ao1rE~ ov8€ KaDf.LOL ov8'
'~' 'rl,./
A :.tL'YV1T'TOL/ 'TE KaL' AuaVaOL' OVO ''\\
a/\1\0L \\
1TOI\I\OL o/VO"EL
f3apf3apoL O"VVOLKOVO"LV TJfLLV, aAA' aVTOt ("'EA. AYJVE~,
OV fLLtof3ap{3apoL OtKOVfLEV" Kat ra €t-ry~. cpva-EL yap
'C / ' / ~/ , \ ~'
E~ aKOVETaL Ta 1Tpayf.LaTa K0f.L1TWOE0"7Epa ayEI\YJOOV
OV'TW~ 'TWV OVOf.LU'TWV E1TLO"VVTL0Ef.LEVWV. ov f.LEV'TOL DEL
'"' avTo
1TOtELV ' ' E1T
' ' a/\1\WV
''\ \ EL' f.L'Y'J Eo/
'rl-.' wv
"e' ~ /
OEXETat e
ra' V1TO-
KEifLEva1 av~YJa-Lv ~ 1TAYJ0vv ~ V1TEp{3oA.T]v ~ 1raOo~,

244
 ON THE SUBLIME 23

-but it is still more worthy of notice that plurals some-

times make a grander impression, courting favour by the
sense of multitude given by the grammatical number.
This is the case with Sophocles, lines about Oedipus:
Curse on the marriages
That gave us birth and having given birth
Flung forth the selfsame seed again and showed
Fathers and sons and brothers all blood-kin,
And brides and wives and mothers, all the shame
Of all the foulest deeds that men have done. a
These all mean one person, Oedipus, and on the other
side Jocasta, but the expansion into the plural serves to
make the misfortunes plural as well. There is the same
sense of multi~lication in "Forth came Hectors and
Sarpedons too,,, and in the passage of Plato about the
Athenians, which we have also quoted elsewhere: "For no
Pelopses nor Cadmuses nor Aegyptuses and Danauses
nor any other hordes of born barbarians share our home,
but we are pure Greeks here, no semi-barbarians,"c and
so on. The facts naturally sound more imposing from the
accumulation of names in groups. This device should not,
however, be employed except where the subject invites

a Oedipus Tyrannus 1403-8.

b Source unknown: see Kannicht-Snell, Tragicorum Graeco-
rum Fragmenta II (Adespota 1 fr. 289).
c Plato, Menexenus 245D. "Elsewhere" presumably refers to
another book.

245
 LONGINUS
~I / 'l\' \/ ' / ' ,..,
Ell TL TOVTWV YJ Ta 1TI\ELOVa, E1TEL TOL TO 1TaVTaXOV
KwOwva\; f.~ijljJ(}aL 'Aiav crol/JurTLKOV.
24 . 'A\1\1\a
\ ' ' KaL' TOVVaVTtOV
fLYJV , , Ta' EK
, TWV
,. , 1TI\7}
\ (} VV-
,.., ' e, lr \ ,./.... '
TtKWV Et\; Ta' EVtKa
e ' ' '
E1TtCTVVa)IOfLEVa ' '
EVtOTE V'rYJI\O"PaVE-
CTTaTa.
ee 'I
E1TEt
(}' e
YJ
IT EI\01TOVVYJCTO\;
\ / ~~
a1TaCTa OtELCTTYJKEt
~ ' "
l/JYJcri. eeKaL 87}
Mt'A'Y}Tov a'AwCTLV ci>pvvix4! opilfLa
OLOa~avTt el\; oaKpva E1TECTE To (}f.YJTpov." 1 To EK Twv
OLYJPYJfLEvwv el\; Ta i}vwiLE.va E1TtcrvcrTpel/JaL Tov dpte-
2 fLOV CTWfLaTOEtOECTTEpov. aLTLOV o' E1T' dfLl/JOLV TOV
'
KOCTfLOV ''
TaVTOV '3'
OtfLat ~~
• 01TOV ' eEVtKa' e
TE yap '
V1Tapxet Ta'
, , ' \\' 1"'1 ' ' ' ~'(; '
OVOfLaTa, TO 1TOI\I\a 1TOtEtv avTa 1rapa oo~ av EfL1Ta-
(}ov\;, o1rov Te 1T'AYJevvTtKa, To el\; lv Tt evYJxov
,./....""
CTV'}'KOPV"POVV Ta' \ '
1T 1\EtOVa ~''
OLa TYJV '
Et\; ' ,
TOVVaVTtOV
fLETafLopl/JwcrLV TWV 1TpayfLaTWV EV T[iJ 1Tapa'Aoy(f!.
25.. ~~OTav ye fLTJV Ta 1Tape'AYJ'Av(}oTa TOL\; xpovoL\;
elcrayYJ\; w\; ytvofLEVa ~<._a'i 1rapovTa, ov ot'Y}yYJcrtv ETt
' \ / ' \ \ , ' ' ,..., ' ee
TOV 1\0'}'0V a/\1\ evaywvtov 1rpayfLa 1TOtYJCTEL\;. 1TE-
1TTWKW\; 0€ Tt\;,
' ~ / " ,./....·
"PTJCTLV 0
' e ,_...
t;::.EVO"PWV,
,./.... ,..., ee e '
V1TO Tlf!
,.., K vpov
'
~I ' / / ,.., / ' '
t1T1T{f! Kat 1TaTOVfLEVO\; 1TatEt TYJ fLaxatpq_ Et\; TYJV
/ ' ~I
yacrTEpa TOV L1T1Tov· o oE cr"Paoq.swv a1TOCTEtETat TOV
e ~ ' ,./.... ~ / r ' / '
,. ,
K vpov, e
0
~'
OE
/
1Tt1TTEt.
" ,...,
TOtOVTO\; EV TOt\; 1TI\EtCTTOL\; 0
' ,., \ / e

8ovKvDtDYJ\;.
26 . 'E Va'}'WVLO\;
' 0~' OfLOtW\;
e '
KaL' YJe TWV
,.., '
1Tp0CTW1TWV
, '(} ' \ \ , , , ,., , ~
aVTtfLETa ECTt\; KaL 1TOI\I\aKL\; EV fLECTOt\; TOt\; KtVOVVOL\;
1TOtO'VCTa TOV aKpoaT~V OOKELV CTTpel/Jecr(}at.

1'' '(}/E"f]TpOV rr
E7TEO"E 'TO ~0
II£!Of E7TEO"OV
,, rf) EWfLEVOL.
OL
/

246
 ON THE SUBLIME 23-26

amplification or redundance or exaggeration or emotion,

either one or more of these. To have bells hung all over
you is the mark of a sophist.
24. Yet again, the converse of this, the contraction of
plurals to singulars, sometimes gives a great effect of sub-
limity. ''Moreover, the whole Peloponnese was split," says
Demosthenes.a Again, "when Phrynichus produced his
Capture of Miletus the theatre burst into tears."h To com-
press the number of separate individuals into a unified
whole gives more sense of solidity. The ornamental effect
in both is due to the same cause. Where the words are
singular, to make them unexpectedly plural suggests emo-
tion: where they are plural and you combine a number of
things into a well-sounding singular, then this opposite
change of the facts gives an effect of surprise.
25. Again, if you introduce events in past time as hap-
pening at the _present moment, the passage will be trans-
formed from a narrative into a vivid actuality. "Someone
has fallen,>> says Xenophon, "under Cyrus> horse and, as
he is trodden under foot, is .striking the horse>s belly with
his dagger. The horse, rearing, throws Cyrus, and he
falls."c Thucydides uses such effects very often.
26. Change of person gives an equally powerful effect,
and often makes the audience feel themselves set in the
thick of the danger.
a De corona (Oration 18) 18.
b Herodotus 6.21.
c Xenophon, Cyropaedia 7.1.37.

247
 LONGINUS

~'A
Kat' o
t:
paroc;

fl./'f}' KEtV4}
/ ' '
EVL fl./'f}VL' 1TEpLKI\VC:::,OLO
\ /'f (} \ /
aAaCTa-YJ.

3 ' ' rwv

aKpoaTYJV """'EvEpyovfLEVwv.
/ Kat-'<:'
orav we;
t:
ov' 1rpoc;
'

a1rav1'ac; aAA' we; 1rpoc; fLOVOV TLVa AaAflc;,

~ /~ ~' ' .,,
. / / /
T VOELOYJV 0 OVK av YVOLYJc; 1TOTEp0L(JL fLETELYJ,

' /
aVT01TpOa-W1TOV ,
aVTLfLE () La-TaTaL,
/
KaL' f(JTL
~~ ' TOLOV'TOV
TO """

EiDoc; f.K{3oA. ~ rt-c; 1raOovc;.

a Iliad 15.697-8.
b Aratus, Phaenom,ena 287.

248
 ON THE SUBLIME 26-27

... You would say that unworn and

with temper undaunted
Each met the other in war, so headlong the rush of
their battle. a
And Aratus' line:
In that month may you never be found where the
sea surges round you.b
Herodotus does much the same: ''You will sail up from
the city of Elephantine and there come to a smooth plain.
And when you have passed through that place you will
board again another ship and sail two days and then you
will come to a great city, the name of which is Meroe."c
Do you see, friend, how he takes you along with him
through the country and turns hearing into sight? All
such passage~ with a direct personal address put the
hearer in the presence of the action itself. By appearing
to address not the whole audience but a single individ-
ual-
OfTydeus' son you could not have known with
which of the hosts he was fighting-d
you will move him more and make him more attentive
and full of active interest, because he is roused by the
appeals to him in person.
27. Again sometimes a writer, while speaking about a
person suddenly turns and changes into the person him-
self. A figure of this kind is a sort of outbreak of emotion:

c Herodotus 2.29.
d Iliad 5.85.

249
 LONGINUS

~'EKTWP 8€ T pwEcrcr~v EKEKAETO 1-LaKpov aVera~

'
VYJVCT~V E1T~CTCTEVECT
'
EaV 0~' Evapa
:>! Q '
tJPOTOEVTa • ' ()
a~,
'1"1

OV 0~' av eywv a1TaVEV E VEWV E EI\OVTa VOYJCTW,

t.\ .,, ' ' ' ' () 1"1 '() ' \ '

aVTOV oi 8avaTOV /LTJTLCTO/La~.

'~"~ ' '~~ ~~ / e '
OVKOVV TTJV /LEV O~TJYTJCT~V aTE 1rperrovcrav 0 1TO~TJTTJ~

1Tpocrijtj;Ev eavTfP, T~V 8' a1TOTO/LOV a1TE~A ~V TfP ()v/Lcr

TOV ~YE!LOVO~ E:~a1TLVYJ~ ov8€v 1Tp08YJAWcra~ 1TEp~€8TJ-
',Ir' ~'
KEV" 6yVXETO yap, E~ 1TapEVET~ E~ ee:.t\ I
EAEYEV OE '
TO~a T~Va
'(} 1"1/

Ka~ TOta 0
' e e'E KTWp, " VVV~' 0~' E'P
1"1 rl..() aKEV a'PVW TOV /LETa- :.t :.t ,./... '

2 {3aivovTa ~ Tov A.6yov !LETa{3acr~~. 8~o Kat ~

1TpocrxpYJcr~~l TOV crx~/LaTO~ TOTE, ~VtK' av o~v~ 0
Ka~po~ wv 8~a!L€AAE~v Tcf> ypa4>ovT~ 1-L~ 8~8cf> dA.A.'
EV'()'V~ E1TavayKa«:,YJ
' ''1 Q '
/LETafJa~VE~V '
EK 1TpOCTW1TWV
' E~~'
1
1rpocrw1Ta · w~ e Ka~, 1rapa' Tq>~"~ eE KaTa~cp· eeKTJVC::, ~"~ (; oE ~ ' 1

TavT~ 8E~va 1TO~OV!LEvo~ avTtKa EKEAEvE Tov~ [eHpa-

KAEi8a~] 2 e1r~y6vov~ eKX_wpliv· ov yap v!L'iv 8vvaTo~
EL!L~ ap~yEtV. w~. 1-L~ &v aVTOL TE a1TOAEECT8E Ka!LE
3 TPWCTETE, E~ aAAov T~va 8f11Lov a1TOLXECT8E." 0 !LEV
yap ~TJ!LOcr8€vTJ~ KaT' aAAov T~Va Tp01TOV E1Tt TOV
'Ap~crTOYE~TOVO~ , ,
E/L1Ta () E~
' TO, 1TOI\V1TpOcrW1TOV
\ , Ka~
'
ayxia-Tpo4>ov 1TapEa-TaKEV. eeKat ov8Et~ V!LWV xo-
A~v," 1>TJCTLV, eeov8' opy~v exwv EVpE8~crETa~ €:4>' oi~
0 {38EAvpo~ o-DTo~ Kat ava~8~~ f3~a,ETa~, o~, 6J 1-L~a­
pwTaTE a1TaVTWV, KEKAEtCT/LEVYJ~ cro~ Tij~ 1TappYJCTLa~
'~'()' 'C
OV K~YKI\~CT~V OVOE
' \'
vpa~~, a Ka~ 1rapavo~C::, E~EV av T~~
:.t t.\ '

~ 'C a~ Ka~' /LOVOV '

. . . EV aTE/\€~ Tq> Vq> Taxv O~a/\1\a'::,
" ' ' \ 1"1 1"1 1"1 ' \ \

1 1TpocrxpYJcrts Man utius for 1rpoxpYJcr~~ P.

2 [rHpaKAEtDa~J del. Russell (1964).

250
 ON THE SUBLIME 27

Hector lifted his voice and cried afar to the Trojans

To rush back now to the galleys and leave the
blood-spattered booty.
Whomsoever I see of his own will afar from the
galleys,
Death for him there will I plan. a
There the poet has assigned the narrative to himself as his
proper share, and then suddenly without any warning
attached the abrupt threat to the angry champion. To
insert ''Hector said so and so'' would have been frigid. As
it is, the change of construction has suddenly run ahead of
the change of speaker. So this figure is useful, when a
sudden crisis will not let the writer wait, and forces him to
change at once from one character to another. There is
an instance in Hecataeus: "Ceyx took this ill and immedi-
ately bade the descendants be gone. For I cannot help
you. So to prevent perishing yourselves and hurting me,
away with you to some other people."b By a somewhat
different method Demosth~nes in the Aristogeiton has
used variety of person to suggest rapid shifts of emotion.
"And will none of you," he says, "be found to feel anger
and indignation at the violence of this shameless rascal,
who-oh you most accursed of villains, who are cut off
from free speech not by gates and doors which one might
very well open ... "cLeaving his sense incomplete he has

a Iliad 15.346-9.
b Hecataeus fr. 30 (FGrHist 1). By descendants, Hecataeus
means the descendants of Heracles, as the intrusive gloss indi-
cates: Ceyx, king ofTrachis, is unable to help them, and so sends
them away. See Diodorus Siculus 4.57.2.
c [Demosthenes] Or. 25.27-8.

251
 LONGINUS
r
ov fLLav A.e~tv 8u1 Tov fJvfLov Els 8vo 8ta(rrra<Ta~
1rpo<Tw1Ta ~~o~, 6J fLtapwraTE, EiTa 1Tpo~ Tov 'Apt<TTo-
yEirova TOV Aoyov 1 U1TO<TTpet/Ja~ KaL a7TOAt7TEL1J
~ ""'
OOKWV, ~'
OfLW~
~ ' TOV
Ota \ ' 1TI\EOV
""' 1Ta'() OV~ 1TOI\V \ , ·'·
E1TE<TTp6yEV. / /

4 OVK aAAw~ 1] Il'Y}VEA07T'Yf

K-ijpv~, TL1TTE 8€ <TE 1TpoE<Tav fLV'Y}<TTTJPE~

, /
ayavot;
EL1TEfLEVat 81-Lwfi<Ttv '08v<T<TTJO~ fJEioto
E.pywv 1Tav<Ta<TfJat, <Tcpt<Tt 8' avTois DatTa
7TEVE<TfJat;
fL'Y}
' fLV'Y}<TTEV<TalJTE~,
/ ~'
fL'YJO a/\1\0
_,, \ \ (}' ~ \
OfLtl\ 'Y}<TalJTE~,
/

t:l ' / t"\ , (} /~ ~ /

V<TTaTa Kat 1TVfLaTa VVV EV aoE OEt1TlJ'Y}<TEtaV,
Ot
(.\ (} afL
/ ' ayEtpOfLEVOt
, / {3'LOTOV KaTaKEtpETE 1TOI\I\OV,
/ \\ /
, ~ / t"\

••• OVOE Tt 1TaTpWV

VfLETEpwv TWV 1TpocrfJEv aKOVETE, 1Tat8E') EOVTE'),

oio') '08v<TCTEV') E<TKE:

28. Kal, fLEVTO~ 1TEpicppa<Tt') W') ovx vtfi'YJA01Totov,

,~' ,, -;- ~ / ~ ' , t"\ ~'
OVOEt') av OtfLat Ot<TTa<TEtEV. W') yap EV fLOV<TtKYJ Ota
rwv 1rapacpwvwv KaAovfLevwv o Kvpto') cpfJoyyo')
~ ~/ , \ t"\ t:l ~ /A.. \ \ /
'Y}OtWlJ a1TOTEI\EtTat, OVTW~ 'Y} 1TEpt'Ppa<Tt~ 1TOI\I\aKt~
A..() / "" \ / ' , / , '
CTVfL'P EYYETat TYJ Kvptol\oytq. Kat Et') KO<TfLOV E1Tt
\ ' "" ' /\ ' .,, ' _,, A.. ""~ /
1TOI\V <TVV'Y}XEt, Kat fLaAt<TT , av fL'Y} EXYJ 'PV<TWOE') Tt
2 Kat
'_,,
afLOV<TOV
'\\'
a/\1\
~~/
'YJOEW') KEKpafLEVOlJ.
/ ~
tKalJO~
' ~'
OE
"" TEKfL'Y}ptW<Tat
TOVTO ,. , Kat' II\1\aTWV
/ KaTa' T'Y}V
' Et<T
, f3 01\'Y}V
\'
So Weiske, for rov 1rpo~ rov 'Apta-royEirova A.oyov. Edi-
1

tors have also proposed a lacuna before a1roAt1TELV, supplying,

252
 ON THE SUBLIME 27-28

made a sudden change and in his indignation almost a

split a single phrase between two persons-"who-oh
you most accursed"- and thus, while swinging his speech
round on to Aristogeiton and appearing to abandon the
jury, he has yet by means of the emotion made his appeal
to them much more intense. Penelope does the same:
Herald, oh why have they sent you hither, those
high-born suitors?
Is it to tell the hand-maidens that serve in the
house of Odysseus
Now to desist from their tasks and make ready a
feast for the suitors?
Would that they never had wooed me nor ever met
here in our halls,
Would they might make in my house their last and
latest of banquets,
You that meet often together and utterly ravage our
substance!
... Nor yet from your fathers
Heard you ever at hoine long ago in the days of
your childhood
What manner of man was Odysseus. a
28. That periphrasis can contribute to the sublime, no
one, I fancy, would question. Just as in music what we call
accompaniment enhances the beauty of the melody, so
periphrasis often chimes in with the literal expression and
gives it a far richer note, especially if it is not bombastic or
tasteless but agreeably blended. A sufficient proof of this
a Odyssey 4.681-9.
e.g., <rov~ Kp~ra~>. The translation assumes this sense. See
Buhler (1964), 130.
253
 LONGINUS

TOV E1TLTacpiov· f:f:epycp p...E.v vp...tv ot8' exovo-L Ta

1rpoo-~KOVTa CTcPLCTLV avTOt':;, &v TVXOVTE':; 1TOpEvovTaL
TTJV ELp...app...Ev'Y}V 1TOpEtav, 1Tpo1TEp...cp8€vTE':; KoLvfj p...ev
e ' "" 1\ '~I ~' el e ' "" 1
V1TO T'YJ':; 1TOI\€W':;, LOLCf: 0€ EKaCTTO':; V1TO TWV 1TpOCT'YJKOV-
TWV." ovKovv Tov 8avaTov El1TEV ELp...app...€v'YJv
I
1TOpELav, TO' ~'
oE /
TETVX'YJKEVaL ""
TWV r
vop...L~::,op...Evwv
I
1Tpo-
1TOP..,1T~V TLVa D'Y}p...oo-iav V1TO Tij':; 1TaTptDO':;. apa s,ry
I
TOVTOL':; I
P..,ETpLW':; !>/
WYKWCT€ '
T'Y}V I
VO'Y}CTLV, 'Y.,,} 'It \ ' \
~LI\ 'Y}V 1\a WV f3 '
' \ 1(; ' \ I ()I I ' ' f:
T'Y}V /\ES LV EP..,EI\01TOL'YJCT€ Ka a1TEp app...ovLaV TLVa T'Y}V
' 1"'\ ,./... I I ' 1\ '
3 EK T'YJ':; 1TEpL\f-Jpaa-EW':; 1TEPLXEap...EVO':; EVP.,€1\ELav; Kat
SEvocPwv f:f:1rovov 8€ Tov 'i}v Y]8€w':; i}yEp.,ova vop.,t,ETE,
1\ \ ~' I ' \ I 1"'\ '
Ka/\1\LCTTOV 0€ 1TaVTWV KaL 1TOI\€P.,LKWTaTOV KT'Y}p_,a EL':;
' ,It ' I () , I ' ""\ \
Ta':; ~vxa':; CTVYKEKOP.,LCT €" €1TaLVOVP.,EVOL yap p_,a/\1\0V

~ TOt':; aAAOL':; 1TUCTL xaipETE" aVTL TOV f:f:1TOV€tlJ

()€AETE" ee1Tovov i}yEp.,ova TOV 'ijv i}DEW':; 1TOtEta-8E''
' '
€L1TWV Kat' Tal\/\
9\\' f: I
OP.,OL(tJ':;
' I
E1TEKTEtVa':; 1\
p_,Eyal\ 'Y}V TLVa'
!>/ , I I , I
KaL' TO' ap_,Lp_,'Y}-
1"'\

4 EVVOLaV T(f! €1TaLV(f! 1TpOCT1TEpLWpLCTaTO.

,
TOV EKELVO TOV f:HpoDoTov •
1"'\ 1"'\ f:f:
TWV
1"'\

8€ "!.Kv8€wv TOL':;
1"'\

o-vA ~CTaCTLV TO' ' ()~AELav

f: f:
LEpov €v€{3aAEv 'Y} 8Eoc;
1"'\ "
VOVCTOV.
29. 'E1TLK'YJpov p.,€vToL To 1rpayp.,a, Y] 1TEpicppaa-L':;,
1"'\ !>/ \ \ \ I ' ' ' I 1 ' \ {.) I
TWV a/\1\WV 1TI\EOV, Et P.,'Y} CTVV P.,ETplp TtVt 1\ap_,fJa-
VOLTO" Ev()v':; yap a{3AEp_,E':; 1TpOCT1TL1TTEt, KOVcPOAoyta':;
TE o'ov KaL 1TaXVT'YJTO':;. 2 o8Ev KaL TOV IIAaTwva (DEL-
VO':; yap aEL 1T€pL a-xi}p.,a Kav TtCTLV aKaipw':;) EV TOt':;

1
a·vv pi.rplfJ Morus for CTVf.Lf.LETpwc;.
2
1TaXVTYJTOc; Manutius, for 1raxvrarov.

254
I
I ON THE SUBLIME 28-29

is the opening of Plato's Funeral Oration: HFirst then in

deeds we have given them their due reward, and, this
won, they travel now their destined journey, escorted all
in common by their country and each man severally by his
kinsmen."a Here he calls death a destined journey and
their enjoyment of due rites a sort of public escort by
their country. Is it a trivial dignity that he thus gives to
the thought, or has he rather taken the literal expression
and made it musical, wrapping it, as it were, in the tuneful
harmonies of his periphrasis? Again Xenophon says, ''You
hold that hard work is a guide to the pleasures of life and
you have stored in your hearts the noblest and most war-
rior-like of all treasures. For nothing pleases you so much
as praise."h By saying HYou make hard work a guide to liv-
ing with pleasure" instead of HYou are willing to work
hard," and by similarly expanding the rest of his sentence,
he has invested the eulogy with a further grand idea.
Then there is that inimitable phrC"!se in Herodotus: HUpon
those Scythians that sacked her ten1ple the goddess sent a
female malady. ''c
29. However it is a risky business, periphrasis, more
so than any of the other figures, unless used with a due
sense of proportion. For it soon falls flat, smacking of
triviality and grossness. So that critics have even made
fun of Plato-always so clever at a figure, sometimes

a Plato, Menexenus 236D.

b Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.5.12.
c Herodotus 1.105.4.

255
 LONGINUS
r
NOfJ-018 'A.E.yovTa 1:\v~ OVTE apyvpovv DEL 1TAOVTOV OVTE
xpva-ovv EV 1TOAEL iDpVfJ-EVOV E:iiv OLKE'iv'' 8taXAEva-
'ova-tv, w~ El 1Tpo{3aTa, ¢YJa-LV, EKWAVE KEKTija-Bat,
8ij'A01/ OTt 1Tpo{3aTEtOV av Ka'i {3oEtOV 1TAOVTOV EAEyEv.
2 'A'A.'A.a yap a'A.t~ V1TEp Tij~ EL~ Ta Vt/JYJAa TWV a-xYJ-
fJ-cLTWV xp~a-Ew~ EK 1TapEv8~K'YJ~ TOa-avTa 1TE¢t'A.o'A.o-
yi]a-Bat, TEpEVTtavf. ¢i'ATaTE" 1TcLVTa yap TaVTa
L) , ' , ' \""'
1TaU'YJTLKWTEpOV~ Kat a-vyKEKLV'YJfJ-EVOV~ a1TOTEI\Et TOV~
\ , , Ll ~' ~~.,. , I"\ <: ,
1\0yov~· 1rauo~ OE V~OV~ fJ-ETEXEL TOa-OVTOV, 01TO(JOV

~Bo~ Y,8ovi]~.
30 . 'E1TELO'~Y'J fJ-EVTOt , 'Y~:J TOV"" 1\0yov
\ , ,
VO'Y}(Jt~ 'YJ TE ~pa-
~~ .rl.... ,

a-t~ Ta 1TAELW 8t' EKaTEpov DtE1TTVKTat, tOt 8~, [av] 1

Tov ¢paa-TtKov fJ-Epov~ Et 2 Ttva 'A.ot1Ta ETt, 1Tpoa-E1Tt-
n , n ~~ , , ""
~: , ,
uEaa-WfJ-Eua. OTt fJ-EV TOtVVV 'YJ TWV KVptWV Kat fJ-Eya-
Ao1TpE7TWV OVOfJ-cLTWV EKAoy~ Bav/1-aa-Tw~ ayEt Ka'i
KaTaKYJAEL TOV~ UKO'Vovr.a~ KaL w~ 1Tiia-t TOL~ P~Topa-t
Ka'i a-vyypa¢Eva-t . KaT' aKpov E1TtT~DEVfJ-a, fJ-EYEBo~
~I
a11-a Kai\1\0~ EV1TtVEtav
'\ \ ' ' f3'apo~ ta-xvv
' ' KpaTo~ ' ~I
ETt ~'
oE
~I
yavwa-tv
' '
Ttva rot~ ""
Aoyot~ wa-1TEp ayaA/1-aa-t Kal\1\t-
\ ' ' '\ \ \ '

a-Tot~ Ot' avTij~ E1Tav8ELV 1Tapaa-KEVa,ova-a Ka'i OLOVEL

tfivx~v rtva ro'i~ 1rpay11-aa-t ¢wv'YJTLKTJV €vTt8E'ia-a, 11-TJ
Kat' 1TEptTTOV '
YJ.,. 1rp0~
' '~ ,
EtOOTa~ OLE~ tEVat.
~ (; , .rl....
~W~ yap T(f!
I"\ ' I"\

,, ,,~ I"\ I"\ ' \ ' , , 1: ,

2 ovTt totov TOV vov Ta KaAa OVOfJ-aTa. o fJ-EVTOt YE
oyKo~ aVTWV ov 1TcLVT'YJ XPEtWDYJ~, E1TEL TOL~ fJ-tKpo'i~
1TpayfJ-aTtOt~ 1TEptTtUEVat fJ-Eyal\a Kat a-EfJ-Va OVOfJ-aTa
, L)' '\ ' ' ' '

TaVTOV'' ~'
av .rl....' 1:
~atVOtTO, W~ EL TL~ TpaytKOV 1TpOa-W1TEtOV
31 ' I"\

1 [av] del. Russell (1964).

256
 ON THE SUBLIME 29-30

unseasonably so-for saying in his Laws ''that we should

not let silvern treasure nor golden settle and make a home
in a city.~~a Had he been forbidding people to possess
sheep, says the critic, he would clearly have said "ovine
and bovine treasure."
But, my dear Terentianus, this digression must suffice
for our discussion of the use of figures as factors in the
sublime. They all serve to lend emotion and excitement
to the style. But emotion is as much an element of the
sublime, as characterization is of charm.b
30. Now, since thought and diction are generally
closely involved with each other we must further consider
whether there are any elements of diction still left
untouched. It is probably superfluous to explain at length
to someone who knows, how the choice of the right word
and the fine word has a marvellously moving and seduc-
tive effect upon an audience and how all orators and
prose writers make this their suP.reme object. For this of
itself gives to the style at once grandeur, beauty, old-
world charm, weight, force; strength, and a sort of lustre,
like the bloom on the surface of the most beautiful
bronzes, and endows the facts as it were with a living
voice. Truly, beautiful words are the very light of thought.
However, their majesty is not for common use, since to
attach great and stately words to trivial things would be

a Plato, Laws 7.801B

h Cf. the comparison between Iliad and Odyssey, above
9.11-15.

2 Spengel reads i], retaining av.

257
 LONGINUS
r
I ~\ () I I
fLeya 1TatOL 1TEpt ELTJ VTJ1TL(f!.
Kat' L.
(: 1
~'2
31 . () pE1TTLKWTaTOV
yoVLfLOV, TO 0
I
Kat
\ I \

'A JJaKpeovro'}
I (:(: , I
ovKETt
8 pT]tKtT}'}
I I \ 3 , I
<1TWI\.ov> E1Ttcrrpe-
,.~.,. n I \ \ 1'\ 8 I \
o/OfLaL. TaVTYJ Kat TO TOV E01TOfL1TOV KatVOV
' I 4 ~ \ \ ' 1\ :)/ I
E1TatVETOV -ota TO aVal\.oyov EfLOL YE CFTJfLaVTLKW-
:)1 ~ '"' r:l (: K "\ , -;-~, t:l
Tara EXELV OOKEL-01TEp 0 atKLI\.LO'} OVK OLO 01TW'}
KaTafLEfLo/ETat.
/ ,./.,. (:(: ~
OELVO'}
' :)/
WV,
, ,./.,.
o/TJCFLV,
/ (:(: (:
0
"""'"\
'-¥LI\.L1T1TO'}
dvayKoc/>ayija-at 1TpayfLaTa." E(TTLV ap' 0 lDtWTL-
' , / 1'\ / ' \ ' , ,./.,. /
(TfLO'} EVLOTE TOV KO(TfLOV 1Tapa 1TOI\.V EfLo/aVt(TTLKWTE-
pov· E1Ttytvwa-KETat yap avroeev EK TOV KOLVOV {3iov,
TO 8€ a-VVTJ()E'} 1/DTJ 1TL(TTOTEpov. OVKOVV E1Tt TOV ra
ala-xpa Kat pv1Tapa TATJfLOVW'} Kat fLE()' iJSovij'} EVEKa
2 7TAEOVE~La'} KaprepoVVTO'} TO dvayKoc/>aye'iv ra
1TpayfLara f.vapyf.a-rara 1TapetATJ1TTat. ~8€ 1TW'} exet
'
Kat
' (:H poOOTEta"
Ta
~ I tt t
0
K 1\.EOfLEVTJ'},
\ / " o/TJ(TL,
,./.,. / tt
fLaVEL'}
'

ra'} €avrov a-apKa'} ~tc/>t8icp KareTEfLEV el'} Ae1rra,

t:l <:/\ ~ I (: \ ~ / ,./.,.() n / (:t (:
EW'} OI\.OV Karaxopoevwv eavrov oteo/ Etpev, Kat o
ITv()T}'} EW'} rov8e E1Tt rij'} VEW'} EfLUXETO, EW'} U1Ta'}
KaTEKpeovpyTj()TJ., ravra yap f.yyv'} 1Tapa~VEL TOV
'~ / '\ \ ' ' '~ I '"' '"'
LOLWTTJV, al\.1\. OVK LOLWTEVEL T(f! (TT}fLaVTLKW'}.

1
ia-ropiq, (Toll) must be the word that is broken off.
Perhaps ro ravaKpeovro~ (Russell 1964); but it is possible
2

that ovKETt is not part of the quotation, and that the writer means
that Anacreon's phrase (by contrast with something just men-
tioned, and lost to us) is not admirable.
3 <7rwAov> supplied by Bergk.
4 So Vahlen; Kat rov E7r7}verov P.

258
 ON THE SUBLIME 30-31

like fastening a great tragic mask on a little child. How-

ever in poetry and history ...
[Four pages are lost here.]
31. ... is most nourishing and productive; so, too, with
Anacreon's ~~No more care I for the Thracian :6lly."a In the
same way the novel phrase used by Theopompus is com-
mendable; it seems to me extremely expressive because
of the analogy, though Caecilius for some reason :finds
fault with it. ~~Philip," he says, "had a wonderful faculty of
stomaching things."b Thus a common expression sotne-
times proves far more vivid than elegant language. Being
taken from our common life it is immediately recognized,
and what is familiar is there by the more convincing.
Applied to one whose greedy ambition makes him glad to
endure with patience what is shameful and sordid, ustom-
aching things" forms a very vivid phrase. It is much the
same with Herodotus' phrases: Uin his madness," he says,
"Cleomenes cut his own flesh. into strips with a dagger,
until he made mincemeat of himself and perished," and
"Pythes went on fighting in the ship until he was chopped
to pieces."c These come perilously near to vulgarity, but
are not vulgar because they are so expressive.

a Anacreon, fr. eleg. 5 (D. A. Campbell, Greek Lyric II

p. 148).
h Theopompus fr. 262 (FGrHist 115 F 262).
c Herodotus 6.75, 7.181.

259
 T

LONGINUS

32. IlEpt 8€ 1T'AT]f)ov~ [Kat] 1 J-Leracpopwv o f-LEV

'\
K at..KLJ\LO~ ,,
EOLK€ a-vyKaTaTL'f) €(T f) at.. TOL~ ,. ., OVO ~ ,
'Y.,,} TO'
1TAELCTTOV TpEt~ E1Tt TavTov VOJ-Lof)ETova-t.. TUTTEa-f)at..· o
yap ~'Y}f-LOCT()Ev'Y}~ opo~ Kat TWV TOLOVTWV" 0 T-ry~
, ~' , ,, f) ' 'f) , ~,
XPEt..a~ o€ Kat..po~, EV a Ta 1Ta 'Y} XELJ-Lappov ot..K'Y}V

€1\aVVETat..,
'\ '
Kat..' T'Y)V '
1TOJ\V1TJ\'Y}
\ \ '{)
Et..aV aVTWV' ,...,
W~ avay-
e '

, ' ,..., {) ,./... ' \ ee '' {)

2 Kat..aV EVTaV a CTVVEo/€1\KETat... av pw1TOL, " o/'YJCTL ,./... '

eef-Lt..apot Kat KOAaK€~, i}KpWT'Y}pt..aCTJ-LEVOL TQS EaVTWV

t: f ,~ ' '\ f) , ,
EKaCTTOL 1TaTpt..oa~, T'Y}V €1\EV Ept..aV 1Tp01T€1TWKOT€~
1TpoTEpov iPt..At1T1T4), vvvt 8€ 'AA.E~avDp(f), TV yaa-Tpt
f-LETpovvTE~ Kat TOL~ ala-xta-Tot..~ T~v EvOat..f-LOVtav, T~v
~' ' \ f) , ' ' ~ , ,, ~ , t.\ ,...,
o €1\EV Ept..av Kat.. TO J-LYJOEva EXELV oEa-1TOTYJV, a TOt..~
1Tp0T€pov t::/EAAYJCTLV opot.. TWV dyaf)wv ~a-av Kat
KavovE~, dvaTETpocpoTE~." €vTavf)a T(i> 7TATJ()Et.. Twv
Tpo1Tt..Kwv o KaTa Twv 1rpo8oTwv E1Tt..1Tpoa-f)E'i Tov pf]-
3 TOpO~ f) Vf-LO~. ' ~ '
OL01T€p 0( fJcEV ' 'Apt..a-TOT€1\'Y}~'\ Kat..' 0c: 8 €0- '
cppaa-TO~ f-LELAtyf-LaTa cpaa-t Tt..va Twv f)paa-Et..wv Etvat..
TaVTa f-LETacpopwv, TO eeW(T1T€p€t" cpavat.. Kat eeOLOVEt"
Kat C:(El XP~ TovTov EL1TELv Tov Tpo1rov" Kat C:(El DEL
1TapaKt..v8vvEvTt..KWTEpov 'AE.~at..." Tj yap V1TOTtf-LYJCTL~,
4 cpaa-tv, laTaL Ta TOAJ-LYJPU. f.yw 8€ Kat TavTa f-LEV a1T0-
8E.xoJ-LaL, Of-LW~ 8€ 7TA~f)ov~ Kat TOAJ-LYJ~ f-LETacpopwv,
o1rEp E.cpYJv Ka1Tt 2 Twv a-xYJJ-LaTwv, Ta evKat..pa Kat
a-cpo8pa 1TU()'Y} Kat TO YEVVaLOV vt/Jo~ Etvat cp'Y)f-LL tOt..a
Tt..Va aAE~t..cpapJ-LaKa, OTL T(i> pof)tq} T-ry~ cpopa~ TaVTL
1 Kat deleted by Robortelli.
2, 'Pearce IOf
KU1TL
£ ,,
KU1TEUTa.

260
 ON THE SUBLIME 32

32. As to the proper number of metaphors, Caecilius

seems on the side of those who rule that not more than
two or at the most three may be used together. Demos-
thenes assuredly is the canon in these matters too. And
the occasion for their use is when emotion sweeps on like
a flood and carries the multitude of metaphors along as an
inevitable consequence. "Men,"' he says, "of evil life, flat-
terers, who have each foully mutilated their own country
and toasted away their liberty :first to Philip and now to
Alexander, men who measure happiness by their bellies
and their basest appetites, and have overthrown that lib-
erty and freedom from despotism which to Greeks of
older days was the canon and standard of all that was
good.,'a Here it is the orator's indignation against the
traitors which screens the multitude of metaphors.
Accordingly, Aristotle and Theophrastus say that bold
metaphors -are softened by inserting "as if' or "as it were',
or "if one may say so" or "if one may risk the expression."b
The apology, they tell us, mitigates the audacity of the
language. I accept this, but at the same time, as I said in
speaking of :figures, the proper antidote for a multitude of
daring metaphors is strong and timely emotion and gen-
uine sublimity. These by their nature sweep everything

a De corona (=Or. 18) 296.

b See Aristotle fr. 131 Rose, with Rhet. 3.7.1408b2, Cicero,
De oratore 3.165, Theophrastus fr. 690 Fortenbaugh.

261
 LONGINUS

1TEcpVKEV a1TaVTa Tii'AA.a 1Tapaa-vpEtV Kat 1Tpow(}ELV,

pJi'A.A.ov 8€ Kat W~ avayKata 1TUVTW~ Ela-1TpUTTEa-(}at
Ta' 1Tapa'/3 01\a, \ Kat' OVK ) Eq- )~ TOV ' aKpOaT7JV
) ' CTXOI\at::,EtV
\ /7
1TEp'i Tov Tov 1T A. ry}{}ov~ €A.Eyxov 8ul To a-vvEv{}ovcrtav
,.., \
/
T(f! 1\E)'OVTt.
5 'AA.A.a J.L~V €v '}'E ra'i~ T01T1J)'Opiat~ Ka'i 8taypa-
...J..
~ ) 3/\ \ ~I ' e e
\flat~ OVK a/\1\0 Tt OVTW~ KaTacr7JJ.LaVTtKOV W~ OL CTVV-

~ '
,.., ' ) '\ \
EXEt~ Kat E1Tal\l\ 1}1\0t Tpo1Tot.
\ /
ot 'F'
wv Kat' 1rapa' =Evo-
1--i

cpwvTt TJ Tav(} pw1TLVOV a-KrrJVOV~ avaTOJ.L~ 1TOJ.L1TtKW~

Ka'i ETt J.LUA.A.ov ava,wypacpELTat {}Eiw~ 1Tapa T~
IIA.aTWVL. T~V J.LEV KEcpaA. T]v aVTOV cp7]crtv aKp01TOA.tv,
lcr{}J.Lov 8€ J.LEcrov 8tqJKo8oJ.LiJcr{}at J.LETa~v Tov crTTj-
Oov~ TOV avxE.va, a-cpov8vA.ov~ TE V1TECTT1]p'ix{}ai
cp7]crtv oiov a-Tpocptyya~ KaL T~V J.LEV T]8ov~v av(}pw-
1TOt~ Eivat KaKwv 1 8f.A.Eap, y'A.wa-a-av 8€ '}'EVCTEW~
8oKLJ.LtOV" avaJ.LJ.La 8€ TWV cp'AE{3wv T~V Kap8iav Kat
1T1J'}'TJV rov 1TEptcpEpo.J.LE.vov a-cpo8pw~ atJ.LaTo~, El~ TTJV
8opvcpoptK~v o'iK7Jcrtv KararErayJ.LEV1JV" Ta~ 8€ 8ta-
8poJ.La~ TWV 1Topwv OVOJ.LU,Et (JT€VW1TOV~· eeTi} 8€
1T1]8rr}a-Et Tij~ Kap8ia~ f.v Ti} Twv 8Etvwv 1Tpoa-8oKiq-
Ka'i TD Tov {}vJ.Lov E1TEy€pa-Et, E1TEt8~ 8ta1Tvpo~ ~v,
' / / " ...J..
E1TtKOVptaV J.L7JXaVWJ.LEVOt, \.f-'7Jcrt,/ ee T1JV
'
TOV~ 1TI\EVJ.LOVO~
\ /

'<::' /
tOEaV ) ...J.. /
EVE\.f-'VTEVa-av, \
fLal\aK7JV ' Kat' avatJ.LOV
3/
Kat'
a-~payya~ EVTO~ €xova-av o1ro'iov J.LaA.ayJ.La, Zv' o
{}VJ.LO~ 01TOT' EV avTi} 'Ea-YJ, 1T1]8wa-a El~ 1J1TELKOV J.L~
A.vJ.LaLV1]Tat." Ka'i T~v J.LEV Twv E1Tt{}VJ.LtWV OLK7Jcrtv
1Tpoa-EL1TEV w~ yvvatKWVLTtV, 'T~V 'TOV {}VJ.LOV 8€ W(J1T€p
av8pwv'iTtV" 'TOV YE J.L~V CT1TA.ijva 'TWV EVTO~ J.LayE'iov,

262
 ON THE SUBLIME 32

along in the forward surge of their current, or rather they

positively demand bold imagery as essential to their
effect, and do not give the hearer time to examine how
many metaphors there are, because he shares the excite-
ment of the speaker.
Moreover in the treatment of a commonplace and in
descriptions there is nothing so expressive as a sustained
series of metaphors. It is thus that in Xenophona the
anatomy of the human tabernacle is magnificently
depicted, and still more divinely in Plato. b The head he
calls the citadel of the body, the neck is an isthmus built
between the head and chest, and the vertebrae, he says,
are planted beneath like hinges; pleasure is evirs bait for
man, and the tongue is the touchstone of taste. The heart
is a knot of veins and the source whence the blood runs
vigorously round, and it has its station in the guardhouse
of the body. The passageways of the body he calls alleys,
and «for the leaping of the heary: in the expectation of dan-
ger or the arising of wrath, since this was due to fire, the
gods devised a support by implanting the lungs, making
them a sort of buffer, soft and bloodless and full of pores
inside, so that when anger boiled up in the heart it might
throb against a yielding surface and suffer no damage."
The seat of the desires he compares to the women's apart-
ments and the seat of anger to the men's. The spleen

a Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.4.5.

h Plato, Timaeus 65C-85E, quoted selectively and with con-
siderable freedom; see Russell (1964) pp. 153-5.

1 KaKwv K rnarg., Manutius (cf. Cicero de Senectute 44,

escammalorum): KaKov P.

263
 LONGINUS

tt oBev 7T AYJPOVJ.LEVOc; TWJJ a'TTOKaBatpOJ.LEVWV J.LEyac; Kat

~I
V'TTOVJ\.Oc; \ 3/ c
av~ ETat.
,, tt f.LETa' OE' TaVTa ~ ,..., C'
crap~ t 7TaJJTa,
/ ,

cPYJfJL, eeKaTEfJKLacrav, 7rpo(3oA.~v TWV E.twBev TTJV

/ 'e' l 7rp0 ()'EJ.LEVOt. , ' ~'
crapKa, OtOJJ Ta' 7TtJ\.T}f.LaTa,
\ /
VOJ.LYJV OE

crapKWJJ EcPYJ TO aiJ.La. eeTijc; 8€ Tpoc/Ji}c; EVEKa,, cP'YJfJL,

ee8tWXETEvcrav TO fJWJ.La, TEJ.LVOVTEc; W(J7TEp EV KrrJ7TOtc;
' / e3/ / ' / ' ,..., 3/
OXETOVc;, we; EK TtJJOc; VaJ.LaToc; E7TtOVTOc;, apatOV OVTOc;
'\,..., (.}~"'~
aVJ\.WJJOc; TOV,..., fJWJ.LaTOc;,
/
Ta' TWV ,..., ,./....\
o/"-EtJWV e /
pEOt /
VaJ.LaTa. "

T]viKa. 8€ T] TEAEvT~ 7rapacrrfl, AvecrBai ¢YJcrt Ta Tijc;

,/, ,..., e ' ' /
~VXYJc; OtOVEt VEWc; 7TEtfJf.LaTa, J.LE {) EtfJ ,..., {)
at/ TE aVTYJV ' '

'\ () / ,..., ' ' \ / ,, 3/

6 EJ\.EV epav. Tavra Kat Ta 7rapa7rJ\.T}fJta J.LVpt aTTa
EfJTtlJ €ti]c;· a'TTOXPYJ 8€ Ta 8e8YJAWJ.LEVa, we; J.LeyaAat
,./.... / ' '
TE o/vcrtv Etcrtv ate Tpo7rtKat,/ Kat' we; e e ,/, \
V~YJ"-O'TTOtov at
' e

J.LETao/opat, ,./.... /
Kat'~' OTt Ote 7Ta {) YJTtKOt' ' Kat , . I .o/pacrTtKOt . ' KaTa '

7 TO 7TAELfJT01J avTats xaipovcrt TO'TTOt. OTt J.LEVTOt Kat

T] xpi}crtc; TWJJ Tp07TW1J, &cr7TEp TctAAa 7TUVTa KaAa EV
Aoyotc;, 7rpoaywyov aEt 7rpoc; TO aJ.LETpov, 8i]A.ov 1J8YJ,
Kav eyw J.L~ A.€yw. E7Tt yap TOVTOtc; Kat TOJJ IIAaTwva
ovx ijKtcrTa 8tacrvpovcrt, 7ToAAaKtc; wcr7rep v7To
a
fJaKXEtac; ' TtVOc; ' TWV ,. ., J\.OYWV
\' Etc; ', aKpaTOVc;, Kat' 'a7TYJVEtc; ,. .,
fLETac/Jopac; Kat elc; aAAYJyoptKOV fJTOJ.LcPOV EKcPEPOJ.LE-
ee , ' e /
~ ' ,..., n ,./.... / ee tl / \
vov. ov yap pf!:otov E7Ttvoetv, o/YJcrtv, OTt 1TOJ\.tV
eivat <8eL> 2 8iKYJV Kpari]poc; KEKEpacrJ.LEVYJV, oil J.Lat-
VOJ.LEVoc; J.LEV oivoc; eyKEXVJ.LEVoc; 'EL, KoAa,OJ.LEVoc; 8'
e ' ',.I.. e / {) Q'
V'TTO VYJo/OVTOc; ETEpov EOV,..., KaJ\.\YJV '
KOtlJWVtaJJ / \
J\.afJWV
ayaBov 1TOJ.La Kat J.LETptov U1TEpya,ETat., vrr}c/JovTa

264
 ON THE SUBLIME 32

again is the towel for the entrails, "with whose off-

scourings it is filled and becomes swollen and fetid.n
"After this," he goes on, ''they shrouded the whole in a
covering of flesh, like felt, to shield it from the outer
world." Blood he calls the fodder of the flesh, and adds,
"For purposes of nutriment they irrigated the body, cut-
ting channels as one does in a garden, and thus, the body
being a conduit full of passages, the streams in the veins
were able to flow as it were from a running stream.', And
when the end comes, the soul, he says, is loosed like a ship
from its moorings and set free. These and thousands of
similar metaphors occur throughout. Those we have
pointed out suffice to show that figurative writinga has a
natural grandeur and that metaphors make for sublimity:
also that emotional and descriptive passages are most glad
of them. However, it is obvious without my stating it, that
the use of metaphor, like all the other beauties of style,
always tempts writers to excess._ Indeed it is for these pas-
sages in particular that critics pull Plato to pieces, on the
ground that he is often carried away by a sort of Bacchic
possession in his writing into harsh and intemperate
metaphor and allegorical bombast. "It is by no means
easy to see,'' he says, "that a city needs mixing like a wine
bowl, where the mad wine seethes as it is poured in, but is
chastened by another and a sober god and finding good
company makes an excellent and temperate drink. ''h

a This translation understands A.E.gets with rpo7rtKaL

b Plato, Laws 6.773C.

2 add. K marg., Manutius.

265
 LONGINUS
/ ,,.,. / (} ' ' C'/~ \ / '\ ~' '
yap, ~a<Tt, EOV TO Vowp 1\EYELV, KOI\a<JLV 0€ TYJV
1"'1 1"'1 1"'1 !J/ ~ ' /,,.,. / ~
Kpaa-tv, 1TOLYJTOV TLVO~ TC[) OVTL OVXL VYJ~OVTO~ €<TTL.
8 Tot~ TotovTot~ €AaTTwp.,aa-tv E1TLXEtpwv op.,w~ avTo
Kat' 0r K atKLI\LO~
/\ '
EV TOL~
,. , r '
V7T€p AV<TLOV
1 1
a-vyypap.,p.,a<TLV
~ (}
a1TE appYJ<TEV TC[) 1TaVTL
/ 1"'1 ' AV<JLaV
/ ~ /
ap.,ELVW
II\1\aTWVO~ I

a1Tocprr}vaa-Oat, 8va-t 1Ta8Ea-L XPYJ<TcLf.LEVO~ aKpLTOt~·

,~..,. \ ,. , , , A , ( ~ ~' ' ( , ~ C'/
~LI\WV yap TOV V<JLaV W~ OVO aVTO~ aVTOV, Of.LW~

p.,a'A.A.ov p.,ta-Et T~ 1ravTt ITAaTwva ~ Ava-iav cptAEt.

\' 'e' ' ( ' ,,.,. \ / ~~'
1TI\Y}V OVTO~ f.LEV V1TO ~LI\OVELKLa~ OVO€ Ta' (}'
Ef.LaTa
1: \
Of.LOI\OYOVJLEVa, Ka a1TEp C[)YJ YJ·
I 0/ ~ 10 r
W~
'
yap aVaJLapTYJ-
~ 1
TOV Kat Ka8apov Tov pf]Topa 1rpocpepEt 1To'AA.axn
8tYJp.,apTYJJLEVOV TOV ITAaTwvo~· TO 8' 7}v apa ovxt
1"'1 ~~' ~\ / ~ 1"'1
TOLOVTOV, OVO€ 01\tyov OEL.
33. <Pep€ 87}, A.af3wJLEv T~ ovTt Ka8ap6v Ttva
a-vyyp.acpE.a Kat aveyKAYJTOV. 6wp' OVK attov E<TTL
~
OLa1TOpYJ<Tat 1T€pt aVTOV, TOVTOV Ka
""' '~ 1"'1 I 0\
01\LKW~,
1"'1
1TOT€pov
/ I

1TOTE KpliTTov €v 1Totf]p.,aa-t Kat A.oyot~ p.,eyE8o~ €v

~/ ~ ,. 1''' I '~ 1"'1
EVLOL~ OLYJp.,apTYJJLEVOV YJ TO <TVJLf.LETpOV JLEV EV TOL~

KaTop wp.,aa-tv 0/ e '

vytE~
~'
oE ~~
1TaVTYJ Kat aota1TTWTov; I
Kat ' / '

:!1/
ETL VYJ uta, 1TOTEpov 1TOT€ at
'A' ' / c: \
1TI\€LOV~
/ ~
apETat TO 1TpW-
' '

,.., ~ \ / 17 ~ / '' ,,.,.

TELOV EV 1\0'YOL~ YJ'' at
c:
JLELf::,OV~ OLKaLW~ av
I
~EpOLVTO;
et,/ t
€<TTL yap TaVT OLKELa TOL~ 1T€pt V~OV~ <TKEJLJLaTa Kat
:!1/ ' """ ' ) I '
2 1"'1 """ '

E1TLKPL<T€W~ €t a1TaVTO~ 8EOJL€Va. €yw 8' oi8a f.LEV, w~

at V1TEPJLE'YE8Et~ cpva-EL~ i}Kt<TTa Ka8apa[· TO yap EV
' ~ Q' / ~ I ~ ~' 1"'1 I
1TaVTL aKpLfJE~ KLVOVVO~ f.LLKpOTYJTO~, EV 0€ TOL~ f.LEYE-
0EO"LV, W<T1T€p EV TOt~ ayav 1TAOVTOL~, Eiva[ TL XPTJ

266
 ON THE SUBLIME 32-33

To call water "a sober god" and mixing ''chastisement,"

say the critics, is the language of a poet who is far from
sober.
Caecilius too, in attacking like defects, has actually
had the face to declare in his book on Lysias that Lysias is
altogether superior to Plato. Here he has given way to
two confused emotions: for though he loves Lysias even
better than himself, yet his hatred for Plato altogether
outweighs his love for Lysias. However he is moved by a
spirit of contentiousness and even his premises are not
agreed, as he supposed. For he prefers his orator on the
ground that he is immaculatea and never makes a mistake,
whereas Plato is full of mistakes. But the truth, we find, is
different, very different indeed.
33. Suppose we illustrate this by taking some alto-
gether immaculate and unimpeachable writer, must we
not in this very connection raise the general question:
Which is the better in poetry .and in prose, grandeur
flawed in some respects, or moderate achievement
accompanied by perfect soundness and impeccability?
And again: is the first place in literature rightly due to the
largest number of excellences or to the excellences that
are greatest in themselves? These inquiries are proper to
a treatise on the sublime and on every ground demand
decision. Now I am well aware that the greatest natures
are least immaculate. Perfect precision runs the risk of
triviality, whereas in great writing as in great wealth there

a Katharos, i.e ...pure," in language, possessing one of the

basic stylistic virtues.

267
 LONGINUS

Kat 1TapoAt/)IWpOVfLEVOV" fLTJ1TOTE 8€ TOVTO Kat avay-

""'
KaLOV .-;- TO'
YJ, '
Ta~
'
fLEV Ta1TELVa~
' KaL' ,
fLEO"a~
A...'
'f'VO"EL~
~'
OLa
TO fLYJ8afL~ 1TapaKLv8vvEVELV fLYJ8E E.cpiea-OaL TWV
t ' ' A.,. \
!J/
aKpwv '
aVafLapTYJTOV~
,
W~ E1TL TO' 1TOI\V
\ '
KaL' aa-\f'ai\E-
3

O"TEpa~
' ~ ,
OLafLEVELV, Ta' OE
~' fLE')'al\a
'\ ' ..,../... \ ""' ~ '
E1TLO"'-{Jai\Y} ' '
OL aVTO
3 yivea-Oat- TO fLE')'EOo~. aAAa fL~V ov8€ EKELVO ayvow
TO'~, t:l
OEVTEpov, OTL .J..' ,
o/VO"EL 1TaVTa Ta' ' L} ,
avupW1TELa ''
a1TO TOV""'
xeipovo~ aEt fLUAAov E1TL')'LVWO"KETaL Kat TWV fLEV
UfLapTY]fLUTWV avE~aAEL1TTO~ Y] fLVTJfLYJ 1TapafLEVEL, TWV
4 Ka'Awv 8€ TaxE.w~ a1Toppe'i. 1TapaTE0ELfLEVO~ 8' OVK
oAiya Kat aVTO~ UfLapTTJfLaTa KaL eOfL'Yjpov Kat TWV
!>/\ \ t:l , ' t:l ""' ,
ai\1\WV OO"OL fLE')'LO"TOL, KaL YJKLO"Ta TOL~ 1TTaLO"fLaO"LV
apEa-KOfLEVO~, OfLW~ 8€ ovx UfLapTTJfLaTa fLUAAov
) ' t , \ ""' .,, , ~ ' ' /\
avTa eKova-La Kai\WV YJ 1TapopafLaTa OL afLEI\ELav
EtKfj 1TOV Kat w~ ETVXEV V1TO fLEyaAocpvta~ UV€1TLO"Ta-
, '~' 'e' .-;- ' ''I
TW~ 1TapEVYJVE')'fLEVa, OUOEV YJTTOV OLfLaL Ta~ fLEL~:,OVa~

apETa~, 1 el Kat fLTJ EV 1TUO"L 8LOfLaAt,OLEV, TTJV TOV

1TpWTEtov tfi1JcPov fLUAAov aet cpipea-OaL, Kav el fL~ 8,_'
EVO~ ETEpov, Tfj~ fLEyaAOcPPOO"VVYJ~ avT-ij~ EVEKa. E7TEL-
TOL')'E KaL' !J'
a1TTWTO~
e
0
'A1TOI\I\WVLO~
\\ , ,
EV TOL~
""' 'Apyovav-
,
TaL~ 1TOLYJT~~ Kav TOL~ {3ovKOALKOL~ 1TA~v o'Aiywv TWV
E~wOev 0 8eoKpLTO~ E1TLTVXEO"TaTo~· ap' ofJv t:IOfLYJPO~
.,, ""' \ \ .,, ,A \\ , ,n , \ , n , , ~
5 av p.ai\1\0V YJ 1TOI\I\WVLO~ EUEI\OL~ ')'EVEO"uaL; TL OE;
'EpaToa-Of.vYJ~ E.v Tij 'HpLyovn ( 8t-a 1TavTwv yap afLw-
p.YJTOV TO' 1TOLYJp.aTLov
, ) 'A PXLI\oxov
\ , \ \ ' Kat-' avoLKO-
1TOI\I\a _,
vop.YJTa 1Tapaa-vpovTo~, KUKELVYJ~ Tfj~ EKj3oA1j~ TOV

1 apErac;
' , p etra, .cror atrtac;.
' ,

268
 ON THE SUBLIME 33

must needs be something overlooked. Perhaps it is

inevitable that humble, mediocre natures, because they
never run any risks and never aid at the heights, should
remain to a large extent safe from error, while in great
natures their very greatness spells danger. Not indeed
that I am ignorant of the second point, that whatever men
do is always inevitably regarded from the worst side:
faults make an ineradicable impression, but beauties soon
slip from our memory. I have myself cited a good many
faults in Homera and the other greatest authors, and
though these slips certainly offend my taste, yet I prefer
to call them not wilful mistakes but careless oversights, let
in casually almost and at random by the heedlessness of
genius. In spite, then, of these faults I still think that the
greatest excellences, even if they are not sustained
throughout at the same level, should always be voted the
first place, if for nothing else, for the greatness of mind
they reveal. Apollonius, for ins~ance, is an impeccable
poet in the Argonautica, and Theocritus-except in a few
extraneous mattersh-is supremely successful in his pas-
torals. Yet would you not rather be Homer than Apollo-
nius? And what of Eratosthenes in his Erigone ?c Wholly
blameless as the little poem is, do you therefore think him
a greater poet than Archilochus with all his disorganized
flood and those outbursts of divine inspiration, which are

a Presumably in other works. b This refers either to the

parts of Theocritus which are not pastoral or (more probably) to
slips of factual detail noted by grammarians.
c A learned elegiac poem by the astronomer-poet (third cen-
tury B.c.), in which was related the Attic myth of the death of
Icarius and the suicide by hanging of his daughter Erigone, the
principal characters being all translated into stars. See J. U.
Powell, C ollectanea Alexandrina 64ff.
269
 T

LONGINUS
~ ' / ._, e ' / '(; ~ / \
oatfLOVtOV 1TV€VfLaTO~ YJV V1TO VOfLOV ras at OVcrKOI\OV,
';" '
~ ,r , , , '
~ '\ r'l \ \ .,,
apa OYJ fLEt~::,WV 1TOtYJTYJ~; Tt OE; EV fL€J\€(J"t fLai\1\0V av
Elvat BaKXVALDYJ~ EAoto ~ IIivDapo~ Kat f.v rpayqJDtq-
''1WV 0e X"tO~ YJ'' uta A ' ~
40'POKI\Yj~; €1T€tOYJ Ot fLEV aota-
,/.... \ ,.... ' ~ ' e ' ' ~ '

1TTWTOt Kat f.v r~ yA.acpvp~ 1ravrYJ KEKaAAtypacpYJfLE-

vot, o DE IIivDapo~ Ka'i o 2ocpoKAij~ orE fLEV oiov
1Tavra E1TtcpA.€yovcrt ri} cpopfi., cr{3€vvvvrat D' aAoyw~
\ \ , ' ,
1TOI\I\aKt~ Kat 1Tt1TTOVcrtV arvxEcrrara.
' , ' ' .,,
YJ.,, OVO€t~
~
av EV';"
cppovwv EVO~ DpafLaTO~, TOV OlDt1TODo~, EL~ ravro
' ra' ''I wvo~ <a1ravra>
crvv (} Et~ et 1 avrtTtfLYJcratro
' ' e C ro.
E~ YJ~·

34. El D' aptO fL~, fLTJ T~ fLEYE8Et KptVOtTO ra

'
Karop f) WfLaTa, et
OVTW~ av.,,
Kat' eT 1TEp€tOYJ~ '~
T(f!,. . 1TaVTt'
1TpOEXOt' U'YJfLOcr
A f) EVOV~.
' ''
Ea-TtV yap' aVTOV ' ro. 1TOI\V'PWVO-
\ ,/.... '

rEpo~ Kat 1TI\€tOV~ apEra~ EXWV, Kat crxEoov V1TaKpo~

' \ / ' ' '' ' ~' e/

EV 1T0.crtv w~ 0 1TEVra8A.o~, wa-r€ TWV fLEV 1TpWT€LWV EV

a1Tacrt TWV aAAwv ay(J)vtcrrwv AEL1TEcr0at, 1TpWTE'V€tV
2 DE TWV lDtwrwv. 0 fLEV ')"€ eT1TEpELDYJ~ 1Tp0~ T~ 1Tavra
f.gw YE ri}~ crvvOea-Ew~ fLtfLELa-Oat ra LlYJfLOa-0€vEta
Karop (} WfLara, Kat' ra~ ' A vcrtaKa~ ' EK , 1TEptrrov 1TEptEt- r'l ,

AYJcpEv apEra~ T€ Kat xaptra~· Kat yap AaAEL fLETa

acpEAELa~, f.vOa xp~, Kat ov 1Tavra f.gij~ [Kat] 2 fLOVO-
TOVW~, w~ 0 LlYJfLOa-OEvYJ~ AEyErat, TO T€ T]OtKOV EXEt
fLETa y AVKVTYJTO~ [i}Dv] 3 AtTW~ EcpYJDVVOfLEVOV" acparoi
T€ 1TEpt avrov ELcrtv acrrEi'crfLOL, fLVKTTJP 1TOAtTtKWTa-
' , ' ' '
ro~, EVYEVEta, ro Kara ra~ EtpwvEta~ EV1Tal\atcrrpov,
' , ' '\

1
add. Toup.
2 del. Schurzfleisch.
3 del. Weiske: viJ ~[a Richards.

270
 ON THE SUBLIME 33-34

so troublesome to bring under any rule? In lyrics, again,

would you choose to be Bacchylides rather than Pindar,
or in tragedy Ion of Chiosa rather than Sophocles? In
both pairs the first named is impeccable and a master of
elegance in the smooth style, while Pindar and Sophocles
sometimes seem to fire the whole landscape as they
sweep across it, though often their fire is unaccountably
quenched and they fall miserably flat. The truth is rather
that no one in his senses would give the single tragedy of
Oedipus for all the works of Ion together.
34. If achievements were to be judged by the number
of excellences and not by their greatness, Hyperides
would then be altogether superior to Demosthenes. He
has greater variety of voice and his excellences are more
numerous. He may almost be said to come a good second
in every competition, like the winner of the Pentathlon. b
In each contest he loses to the professional champion, but
comes first of the amateurs. Besides reproducing all the
virtues of Demosthenes, except his skill in word arrange-
ment, Hyperides has embraced all the excellences and
graces of Lysias. He talks plainly, where necessary, does
not speak always in the same tone, as Demosthenes is said
to do, and has the power of characterization, seasoned
moreover by simplicity and charm. Then he has an
untold store of polished wit, urbane sarcasm, well-bred

a Ion of Chios (mid-fifth century B.C.) was better known for

his prose works ("Memoirs" and "Visits of Famous Men"), but a
number of his tragedies were known in Hellenistic times (TGF i
pp. 95ff; A. von Blumenthal, Ion von Chios (1939)).
b The best result in all five contests taken together-jumping,
· running, discus, javelin, wrestling-would doubtless be achieved
by an athlete who was not an outstanding performer in any one.
271
 T

LONGINUS
, ' :!>/ '~' ' ,
O"KWfLfLaTa OVK afLOVO"a OVO avaywya, KaTa' TOV~
'

'ATTLKOV~ EKEtVOV~ a'A.ac; 1 E1TLKEtfLEVa, 8taa-VpfLO~ TE

' ~'(; LO~
E1TLOEs Kat 1TOJ\.V TO KWfLLKOV Kat fLETa
' \' ' ' ' '
1TatoLa~
~ 1"1

eva-Toxov KEvTpov, afLtfLYJTov 8€ el1re'iv To €v 1raa-t

TOVTotc; E1Tacpp68tTov· olKTta-aa-Oai TE 1Tpoa-cpv€a-Ta-
To~, ETL fLVOo'Aoyf}a-at KEXVfLEVw~ 2 Kat EV vypfi>
8€
1TVEVfLaTL DLE~o8eva-ai TL 3 EVKafL1TiJ~ aKpw~, W0"1TEp
' '\
UfLEI\EL Ta' fLEV
' 1TEpt' TYJV
' '
l.\_ YJTW ,
1TOLYJTLKWTEpa, '
TOV 0~'
' , ,./... ' ~ 1"1 ( ' -;--~, :!>/ :!>/\ \ ~ ,
3 E1TLTa'PLOV E1TLOELKTLKW~, W~ OVK OLD EL TL~ a/\1\0c;, OLE-
(}ETO. 0 8€ £lYjfL00"0EvYJ~ UVYJ001TOLYJTO~ a8ufxvTo~,
~' ( ' .,, ' ~ , ( , ( ( ; 1"1 1"1
YJKLO"Ta vypo~ YJ E1TLOELKTLKO~, a1TaVTWV Es YJ~ TWV
1TpoetpYJfLEvwv KaTa To 1r'A€ov afLotpo~, €v0a fLEV
ye'Ao'io~ eivat f3ui,ETaL Kat aa-TELO~, ov y€'AwTa KLVEL
fLa'A.'A.ov ~ KaTaye'AaTat, oTav 8€ €yyi,etv OE.'AYJ T(i>
' , ";'
E1Ttxapt.8 ELVaL, TOTE 1TI\EOV a'PLO"TaTaL.
, \, ',./...' ,
TO /'E TOL
,
1rep'L iPpVVYJ~ ~ 'AOY)voy€vov~ 'Aoyi8tov E1TLXEtprr]a-a~
4 ypacpEtV ETL fLa'A..'Aov av (T1Tepet8Y}V O"VVEO"TY)O"EV.
U/\1\ ' ~ ,
' \ \ ' E1TELOYJ1TEp, -;--
OLfLaL, Ta' fLEV ,
' (} aTEpov \ ,
Kal\a, Kat' EL'
1TOA'A.a OfLW~ UfLEYEOY], Kap8iv vrr]cpovTo~ apya Kat

1 ({Aa~ Tucker for aAAa.

2
Kexvpi.vw~ Blass, for KEXVfLEVo~.
3 TL Buecheler, for ETL.

aHyperides' lost Deliacus (frr. 67-75 Kenyon; the date is

about 343 B.c.) upheld the Athenian claim to the presidency of
the temple at Delos, where Leto gave birth to Apollo and
Artemis.
b The Funeral Oration (Oration 6) 322 B.C., on those who fell
in the Lamian War, is extant on a papyrus first published in 1858.

272
T ON THE SUBLIME 34

elegance, supple turns of irony, jests neither tasteless nor

ill-bred, well-dressed with wit like the Attic masters,
clever satire, plenty of pointed ridicule and well-directed
fun, and in all this a quite indescribable charm. Nature
endowed him fully with the power of evoking pity and
also with a superb flexibility in narrating myths copiously,
and pursuing a theme with fluency. His story ofLeto,a for
instance, is in a more poetical vein, while his Funeral
Orationb is as good a piece of epideictic composition as
anyone could produce. Demosthenes, on the other hand,
has no gift of characterization or of fluency, is far from
facile, and no epideictic orator. In fact he has no part in
any one of the qualities we have just mentioned. When
he is forced into attempting a jest or a witty passage, he
rather raises the laugh against himself; and when he tries
to approximate charm, he is farther from it than ever. If
he had tried. to write the little speech on Phrynec or
Athenogenes, d he would have be~n an even better adver-
tisement for Hyperides. But nevertheless I feel that the
beauties of H yperides, many as they are, yet lack
grandeur; ~~inert in the heart of a sober man,~~e they

c Hyperides' defence of the courtesan Phryne (frr. 171-80

Kenyon) is lost, but was famous for the peroration, in which
Phryne's charms were displayed to the court (Athenaeus
13.590E).
d Against Athenogenes (Oration 3, a large part of which sur-
vives in a papyrus published in 1892) concerns a contract for the
purchase of slaves; it is lively and full of character, but the case is
a complicated one.
e Proverbial and perhaps a verse quotation.

273
 LONGINUS

'TOV aKpoarT]v TJPEP.,ELV f.wvra ( OVDEt~ yovv ~T1TEpELDYJV

dvaytvwa-Kwv ~o{3E'irat ), 8€ €v()Ev f.A.wv rov p.,Eya- o
\A... / ,,,:), ' ' \ /
1\0\.f-IVEG"TaTOV Kat €1T aKpOV apEra~ G"VVTET€1\EG"P.,EVa~,
~,I , I
V'rYJyopta~ rovov, Ep.,'rvxa 1ra YJ, 1TEptova-tav ayxt-
r ' ;,t ' r '{) ' ' '

IJOtaV raxo~, EV a OYJ ~'

,
KatptOV, 1 TYJV '
;,f ()
a1TaG"LV a1TpOa-t- / t:l ' /

~ A.. /
rov oEtVOTYJTa Kat'~/ ovvap.,tv, E1TEtO'Y}
/ ~'
ravra, \.f-IYJP.,t, ~
w~
' 1"'\

()Eo1TEp.,1Tra rtva 2 8wprr}p.,ara ( ov yap Ei1TEtv ()Ep_,trov

~ 'e'
av pw1rtva a poa E~ Eavrov Ea-1Taa-Ev, ota
' () / ) ' () /
rovro ot~
' I! ' ;,f ' 1"'\

EXEt Ka'Ao'i~ CL1Tavra~ aEt VtKfi- Kat V1TEp &v OVK EXEt
Kat' WG"1T€p€t
e ' a
KaTafJpOVTft ""' Kat' KaTa'f-IEYYEt
A..' '
TOV~ a1T
' '

aiwvo~ prrJTOpa~· Kat {)fiTTOV UV Tt~ KEpaVVOL~ ~Epo-

, ., ""'C , :)' , .,, , A..() \ ~
p.,Evot~ avravot~ at ra op.,p.,ara ovvatro YJ avro'-f-1 aA-

p.,ija-at ro'i~ E1TaA.A.rr}A.ot~ EKEivov 1Ta()Ea-tv.

35 . 'E1Tt' P.,EV'TOt
' 'TOV II\1\aTWVO~' Kat' al\1\
:)'\ \ YJ Tt~ ' EG"TtV,
' 1"'1

ill~ €cpYJv, 8ta~opa. ov yap p.,EyeeEt rwv apErwv dA.A.a

Kat Tlp 1T A YJ Et 1TOI\V A€L1TOP.,EVo~ avrov A va-ta~
' ""' \ '() ,
\ ' \
op.,w~
3 , ' 1"'1 1:/

1TAELOV ETt TOL~ ap.,aprrr}p.,aa-tv 1TEptTTEV€t :ry ra'i~ ap€-

2 ra'i~ AEL1TETat. r{ 1ror' ollv ElDov oi la-o()Eot EKEtvot
Kat rwv p.,Eyia-rwv E1TopE~ap.,Evot rij~ a-vyypa~ij~, rij~
0
~' '
EV a1Taa-tv aKptfJEta~ t:l a , e A.. ,
V1TEP'f-IPOVYJG"aVTE~;
, '
1rpo~

1TOAA.o'i~ aA.A.ot~ EKELVO, O'Tt ~ c/Jva-t~ ov Ta1T€tVOV ~p.,a~

r
'='lfJOV
1"'\ '~'
OVO ayEVIJ€~ EKptV€
:J/ 4 '
,
TOV av
:J/ ()
pW1TOV, al\1\
' '\ \ ' e
W~ Et~
'

p.,EyaA.YJV rtva 1ravrr}yvptv Ei~ rov {3iov Kat Ei~ rov

/ , ' / () , 1"'1
a-vp.,1ravra Koa-p.,ov E1Tayova-a Eara~ rtva~ rwv
1 Kaiptov Richards for Kvptov: ei(}', o8~ Kvptov Rohde.
2 rtva Manutius for oetva.
3 o~-twc; Toup foro 11-ev.
4 EKrure Seager.

274
T
i

ON THE SUBLIME 34-35

do not trouble the peace of the audience. No one feels

frightened while reading Hyperides. But Demosthenes
no sooner "takes up the tale,,a than he shows the merits of
great genius in their most consummate form, sublime
intensity, living emotion, redundance, readiness, speed-
where speed is in season-and his own unapproachable
vehemence and power: concentrating in himself all these
heaven-sent gifts-it would be impious to call them
human-he thus uses the beauties he possesses to win a
victory over all others that even compensates for his
weaknesses, and out-thunders, as it were, and outshines
orators of every age. You could sooner open your eyes to
the descent of a thunderbolt than face his repeated out-
bursts of emotion without blinking.
35. There is, as I said, b a further point of difference as
compared with Plato. Lysias is far inferior to him both in
the greatness and number of his excellences; yet the
abundance of his faults is still greater than his deficiency
in excellences. What then was the vision of those
detnigods who aimed only at what is greatest in writing
and scorned detailed accuracy? This above all: that
Nature has judged n1anc a creature of no mean or ignoble
quality, but, as if she were inviting us to some great gath-
ering, she has called us into life, into the whole universe,
there to be spectators of her games and eager competi-

a A Homeric phrase (Odyssey 8.500).

b In chap. 32.
c If this reading is right, Nature ''admits" men as spectators
and competitors in the games of life: but Seager's conjec-
ture-" created"-may well be right.

275
 T

LONGINUS

a0A.wv 1 a1n·fj~ EO"Of.LEVOV~ Kat cptAOTtf.LOTUTOV~ dywvt-

O"Ta~, Ev()v~ af.Laxov Epwra f.vf.cpvO"EV ~f.LWV Tat~
lfivxa'i~ 1TaVTO~ aEt TOV f.LEyaA.ov Kat w~ 1Tp0~ ~f.La~
~ / ~/ ~(} / '~ / I"\
3 Oatf.LOVtWTEpov. Ot01TEp TYJ EWpt(/: Kat OtaVOt(/: TYJ~
dv0pw1TLVYJ~ E1Tt{3oA.fj~ ov8' 0 O"Vf.L1Ta~ KOO"f.LO~ apKEt,
' \ \ ' ' ' I"\ / \ \ / ~~ '
a/\1\a Kat TOV~ TOV 1TEptEXOVTO~ 1TOI\J\aKt~ opov~ EK-

{3atVOVO"tV ai E1Ttvotat • Kat Tt~ 1TEpt{3'Af.l/JatTo f.v EL

/ \
KVKI\Cf> '
TOV {3'tOV, OO"(f>
~~ \ /
1TI\EOV :J/ ' ' ' ~
EXEt TO 1TEptTTOV EV 1TaO"t
' / ' \ / / :J/ ' (.\ /
Kat f.LE)Ia Kat Kai\OV, TaXEW~ EtO"ETa!- 1Tpo~ a )IEJIOVa-
4 f.LEV. '' (} EV
EV ,./... ~
o/VO"tKW~ 1TW~ ' /
a)IOf.LEVOt f.La' ut
A ' ' OV
' Ta'
f.LtKpa pE'iOpa Oavf.LU,Of.LEV, EL Kat Dtavyfj Kat xrrr7-
IO"rpov ~ ePY}vov, 1TOAV
31
0"tf.La, d'AA.a TOV N EtAov Kat
~' :.1 ~ \ \ ' 'll / '~ / ' e ,./...' e ,..,
0 ETt f.La/\1\0V TOV ~liKEaVOV, OVOE )IE TO Vo/ YJf.LWV
',./...\ , , , , ' {) ' 'Y '
TOVTt o/1\0)ItOV avaKatOf.LEVOV, E1TEt Ka apov O"(f>&;,Et TO
cpf.yyos, EK1TAYJTTOf.LE0a TWV ovpav[wv f.Lii'A'Aov, KaLTOt
1TOAAaKt~ E1TtO"KOTOVf.LElJ.WV, ov8€ TWV TYJ~ ALTVYJ~
KpaTrr}pwv atto0avf.LaO"TOTEpov VOf.LL,Of.LEV, r}~ ai ava-
xoat 1TETpov~ TE EK. f3v0ov Kat o'Aov~ oxOov~ dvacp€-
povO"t Kat 1TOTaf.LOV~ f.vtoTE rov YYJJIEvov~ 2 EKEtvov Kat
5 '
aVTOf.LaTOV
/ 3
1TpOXEOVO"tV
/
1TVpo~.
/ '\\','
a/\1\ E1Tt TWV TOtOV-
1"1 /

e / '~,.,, '' e '/ '

TWV a1TaVTWV EKEtV av Et1TOtf.LEV, W~ EV1TOptO"TOV f.LEV
, (} / ' ""'~ .,, ' , 1"1 (} '
av pw1rot~ TO XPEtWOE~ YJ Kat avayKatov, avf.LaO"TOV
o~' t:l
Of.LW~
, '
aEt TO 1rapaoos ov.
' / ~ (;

36. OvKovv €1r[ JIE rwv f.v A.oyot~ f.LEyaA.ocpvwv,

',./...'
Eo/ wv ovKET
~ ' / ' ''(;
Es w
~ /
TYJ~ XPEta~ Kat
' ',./... \ /
w'PEI\Eta~
/
1Tt1TTEt TO
'
f.LE)IE0o~, 1TpOO"rrJKEt O"VV0EwpEtV avTo0Ev, OTL TOV dva-
f.LapTrrJTOV 1TOAV acpEO"TWTE~ oi TYJAtKOVTOt Of.LW~ 1TaV-
TO~
/ 4 ELO"LV
' ' /
E1TaVW TOV~ () VYJTOV"
~
Kat' Ta' f.LEV
' 3/\ \
a/\1\a '
TOV~

276
T ON THE SUBLIME 35-36

tors; and she therefore from the first breathed into our
hearts an unconquerable passion for whatever is great
and more divine than ourselves. Thus the whole universe
is not enough to satisfy the speculative intelligence of
human thought; our ideas often pass beyond the limits
that confine us. Look at life from all sides and see how in
all things the extraordinary, the great, the beautiful stand
supreme, and you will soon realize what we were born for.
So it is by some natural instinct that we admire, not the
small streams, clear and useful as they are, but the Nile,
the Danube, the Rhine, and above all the Ocean. The lit-
tle fire we kindle for ourselves keeps clear and steady, yet
we do not therefore regard it with more amazement than
the fires of Heaven, which are often darkened, or think it
more wonderful than the craters of Etna in eruption,
hurling up rocks and whole hills from their depths and
sometimes shooting forth rivers of that earth born, sponta-
neous fire. But on all such matters I would only say this,
that what is useful or necessary is easily obtained by man;
it is always the unusual which wins our wonder.
36. In dealing, then, with writers of genius, whose
grandeur is of a kind that comes within the limits of use
and profit, we must at the outset observe that, while they
are far from unerring, yet they are above all mortal range.

l (JJ)'Awv Reiske for o'Awv.

2
'Y'YJYEvov~ Markland, for y€vov~.
3 a1rrofLaTov Haupt, for avTov fLOvov.
4 1ravTo~ Pearce, for 7TavTe~.

277
 LONGINUS

XPWJLEVOVc; dv0pw1TOVc; f.A.E.yxeL, TO 8' vlfloc; f.yyvc;

\,..h / ()""
3/
aLpEL JLEyai\O'Ppoa-VVTJc; EOV. KaL' TO
' '3/
JLEV a1TTaLO"TOV
,f~ / ~'
2 ov' 'f'eyeTaL, TO' JLEya
/ oE KaL' () avJLa~:,ETaL.
/ '/ TL/ XPTJ' 1rpoc;
'

TOVTOLc; ETL A.eyELV we; EKELVWV TWV dv8pwv EKaO"TOc;

a1TaVTa TU a-¢aA.JLaTa EVL E~WVELTaL 1ToA.A.aKLc; vl/JEL
' ()/ ' ' / ( 3/ 1,
KaL KaTop WJLaTL, KaL TO KVpLWTaTOV, we;, EL TLc; EK-
\ / c ac; Ta' (0 JLYJpov,
/\E~
/ Ta' uYJJLOO"
A
evovc;, Ta' II\1\aTwvoc;,
() / /
TWV aA.A.wv OO"OL 8T] JLEYLO"TOL, 1Tapa1TTWJLaTa 1TUVTa
( / () / '\ / 3/ ""\ \ ~'
OJLOO"E a-vva pot..a-ELEV, El\axLa-Tov av TL, JLa/\1\0V o
ov8€ 1ToA.A.oO"TTJJLOPLOV av EVpEOEtY] TWV EKEtVOLc; TOLe;
ifpwa-L 1TaVTTJ KaTopOoviLevwv. 8t..a TavO' o 1rO.s
, "" aLWV
aVTOLc; , ' Kat' (3/LOc;, OV, OVVaJLEVOc;
~ / ( ' TOV"" 'P
V1TO ,..h() /
OVOV
/ ( \ "" ,..h / ' /~ ' /
1Tapavotac; ai\WVaL, 'PEPWV a1TEOWKEV Ta VLKTJT'Y]pta
Kat axpt vvv ava¢atpETa ¢vA.aTTEL Ka'i EOLKE TTJPTJ-
O"ELV,

Ea-T' av v8wp TE PEYJ Ka'i 8E.v8pea JLaKpa

TE{)TJA_YJ. ·

' / ' /,..h ( ( \ ' (

3 1rpoc; JLEVTOL ye TOV ypa'PovTa, we; o KOI\Oa-a-oc; o
( / , / .,, ~: II \ \ / ~ ,..t. /
TJJLapTTJJLEVOc; OV KpELTTWV TJ 0 01\VK/\ELTOV oopv'Po-
/ ' \\ ,.., , "" t:/ '' '
poe;, 1TapaKELTaL 1rp0c; 1TOI\I\Otc; EL1TEtV, OTL E1TL JLEV
/ {) /'( ~'
TEXVTJc; avJLa~:,ETaL TO' ' Q/
aKpLfJEO"TaTov, ' '
E1TL oE
""
TWV
,..h "" 3/ ,..h/ ~' \ ' (
'PVO"LKWV epywv TO' JLEYE
/ ()
oc;, 'PVO"EL OE 1\0YLKOV 0

avO pw1Toc;· Ka1TL JLEV avDpt..aVTWV 'TJTELTaL TO OJLOLOV

' () / ' '~' ""\ / ' ( "" ( 3/,..t.
av pW1T(f?, E1TL OE TOV 1\0yov TO V1TEpatpov, We; E'PYJV,

1 rts K marg., Manutius for ye.

a Quoted in Plato (Phaedrus 264C) as part of an epitaph said

278
r
ON THE SUBLIME 36

Other qualities prove their possessors men, sublimity lifts

them near the mighty mind of God. Correctness escapes
censure: greatness earns admiration as well. We need
hardly add that each of these great men again and again
redeems all his mistakes by a single touch of sublimity
and true excellence; and, what is finally decisive, if we
were to pick out all the faults in Homer, Demosthenes,
Plato, and all the other greatest authors and put them
together, we should find them a tiny part, not the smallest
fraction, of the true successes to be found everywhere in
the work of these heroes. That is why the judgement of
all ages, which no jealousy can convict of mental incom-
petence, has awarded them the crown of victory, guards it
as their irremovable possession, and is likely to preserve
it,
So long as the rivers run and the tall trees flourish
and grow. a
As to the statement that the faulty Colossush is no better
than the Doryphorus of Polyclitus,c there are many obvi-
ous answers to that. For one thing, we admire accuracy in
art, grandeur in nature; and it is Nature that has given
man the power of using words. Also we expect a statue to
resemble a man, but in literature, as I said before, we

to have been written for Midas. See Anthologia Palatina 7.153.

b Perhaps the Colossus of Rhodes, damaged in an earthquake
when it had stood for sixty years; but more probably any colossal
statue: cf. Strabo 1.1.23, who speaks of kolossoi in which the total
effect is all-important, and the accuracy of the detail insignifi-
cant.
c The statue of the boy with a lance by Polyclitus of Argos was
regarded as a model of beautiful proportions (Pliny, Natural His-
tory 34.55).
279
 LONGINUS

4 ra av pw1Ttva. 1TpOCTYJKEt o~' OfLWc;

\ ' (} e/
I ( '
avaKaJ.L1TTEL ya~~-. I I \

' ' \ ' \ ( I " \ e I"\( I I i

E1TL T'YJV apxYJV 'YJJ.LLV 'TOV V1TOfLV'YJJ.LaTOc; 'YJ 1TapatVECTL'} ·'
E1TEt8i} 'TO J.LEV a8UL1T'TW'TOV we; E1Tt TO 1TO'Av r€xv-r,· i
'
ECT'TL'
Karop1 (}
WJ.La, 'TO\ 0~' EV' e
V1TEPOXYJ r 1
1TA'YJV OVX OJ.LOT(•:t' · •

.
1"\ \ \ '

-~f

vov J.LEya'AocPvtac;, {3orr}(}'Y}J.La rfl cPVCTEL 1TUV'T'Y} 1TOpt{::

\ e \ ' \ \
I \ I I '' ..
CT at T'YJV TEXVYJV" 'Y} yap aAA"fJAOVXta rovrwv LCT~:··i
(}

I ' .,, \ 1\ e 1"\ ";' ' 1"\

YEVOLT av 'TO 'TEJ\ELOV. 'TOCTaVTa 'Y}V avayKatOV V1T
TWV 1TporE8EV'TWV E1TtKpLvat CTKEJ.LfLUTWv· xatp€rw 0
e/ -1' e/ ~
EKaCTTOc; OLe; "fJOE'TaL.
37. TaLc; 8€ J.LETacPopaLc; yEtrvu~JCTtv ( E1TaVt'TE
yapI)
ate 1Tapaf-JOAaL{.)\\\'I 'I
Kat ELKOVEc;, EKELVYJ I
fLOVOV 1rapal\-\

L
A.arrovCTat . . . oJ
\ '1 \ e 1"\ ee , , , rr
38. <KarayEJ\a>CTTOL Kat at 'TOLaVTat. EL J.L'YJ 'Tf.t.V
' I,J... \ ' I I
1
EYKEt.pai\OV EV Tate; 1TTEpVatc; KaTa1TE1Ta'T'YJJ.LEVl'_.·'
1"\

lJ
cPOPELTE. '' 8t<J1TEp Et8€vat XPTJ ro J.LEXPL 1TOV 1TapOfft~,
I et \ \ ' I I I
CT'TEOV EKaCTTOV" 'TO yap EVLO'TE 1TEpatTEpw 1TpOEK1T:H¥
1TTELV dvatpEL 'TTJV V1TEp{3oA. i}v Kat ra 'TOtavra V1TEpU
TELVOfLEVa xaA.arat,' ECT8' O'TE 8€ Kat Etc; V1TEVaVTLWCTE~l;: 0

2 aVTL1TEpttCTrarat. 0 yovv 'ICToKpaT'Y}c; OVK oi8' 01Tu.:~\~:

b
1Tat8oc; 1TpayfLa E1Ta8Ev 8ta 'TTJV 'TOV 1Tavra avg'Y}'TLKW·~
'(} 1\ \ I ,/... \ I '' \ \ e I(}
g
E EAELV AEYELV 'PLJ\OTLJ.LLaV. ECT'TL J.LEV yap V1TO ECTL~
~l

avr~ 'TOV 1TaV"fJYVPLKOV 'Aoyov, we; T] 'A8'Y]vaiwv 1TO'At ~

TaLc; Etc; rove; e/EAA'Y}Vac; EVEPYECTLatc; V1TEp{3a'A'AEt 'TTJl'
AaKe8atJ.LOVLWV, 0 8' ev8vc; EV rfl EtCT{3oA.fl ravra.
~ I
TtI(} 'Y}CTtv· ee E1TEL '' (}' \ I
ote Aoyot. I
TOCTaVT"fJV ''
exovCTt ovvafLtV, . \

e/ (} -1' I ' ";' \ \ I\ \ 1"\

WCT OLOV 'T Etllat Kat Ta jLEyaAa Ta1TELVa 1TOt'Y}CTal
KaL TOLe; fLLKpoLc; 1TEpt8ELVat fLEYE8oc; KaL ra 1TaAaux
1"\ '1"\ \ \ 1"\ \ I
KatVWc; Et1TEtV Kat 1TEpt TWV VEWCT'Tt YEYEVTJJLEVWV

280
 ON THE SUBLIME 36-38

'Jk for something greater than human. However (this

vice reverts to something with which we began our
~atise), since impeccable correctness is, generally
,eaking, due to art, and the height of excellence, even if
.-ratic, to genius, it is proper that art should always assist
· J.ture. Their cooperation may well result in perfection.
• ·tis much had to be said to decide the questions before
:-· But everyone is welcome to his own taste.
· ·- 37. Closely akin to metaphors (to return to them) are
.:nparisons and similes. The only difference is ...
[Two pages are lost here.]
38. . .. Laughablea also are such things as "If you do
L t carry your brains trodden down in your heels."b One
must know, then, where to draw the line in each case.
Tne hyperbole is sometimes ruined by overshooting the
y,;·;:trk. Overdo the strain and the thing sags, and often
t ')duces the .opposite effect to that intended. For
1---~tance, !socrates fell into uqaccountable puerility
~~_1.rough his ambition to amplify everything. The theme
of his Panegyric is that Athens surpasses Sparta in her
benefits to Greece. But at the very outset he puts this:
1\1oreover words have such power that they can make
great things humble and endue small things with great-
~less, give a new guise to what is old, and describe recent

a This assumes Reiske's supplement.

b [Demosthenes] Oration 7.45.

1 Reiske.

281
 T

LONGINUS
, / ~ \ n 1"1 , , 1"1 r~.. / 'I /
apxatW~ OtEI\UEtV -OVKOVV, 'f'YJO""t Tt~, O""OKpaTE~,

t!/
OVTW~ fLEI\1\Et~
/\ \
Kat' Ta' 1TEpt' A aKEOatp.,OVtWV
~ / Kat' 'AnUYJ-
/ , \\/ ~' ' ' 1"1 \/ , /
VatWV EVal\1\aTTEtV; O""XEOOV yap TO TWV 1\0YWV EYKW-
' / 1"1 il' ~ 1"1 1"1 , / /
fLtOV a1TtO""Tta~ TTJ~ Kau aVTOV TOt~ aKOVOVO""t 1Tapay-
3 yEAfLa Kat 1TpOOLfLtOV ete0YJKEV. fL~1TOT' oiJv apta-Tat
TWV V1TEp{3o'Awv, w~ Kat E1Tt TWV O""XYJfLUTWV 1TpOEL1TO-
~ , ' 1"1 ~ \ L)/ t!/ , ' ~
fLEV, at aVTO TOVTO Otal\aVuavova-at OTt EtO""tV V1TEp-
Q \ / / ~ ' ' / ~ , ~ ' ~ ' , n· /
fJOI\at. ytVETat OE TO TOtOVOE, E1TEtOaV V1TO EK1TauEta~
/L) ' ,/.,. 1"1 / t!/ ~
fLEYEVEL TLVL O""VVEK'+'WVWVTat 1TEpta-TaO""EW~, 01TEp 0

8ovKv8i8YJ~ E1TL TWV ev 'itKEAtq- cpOetpOfLEVWV 1TOLEL.

~~ t!l ' ""-" / , ,/.,. / ~~ , Q /
OL TE yap 'f'YJO""tV,
~vpaKOVO""LOL,
E1TtKaTafJaVTE~
, , 1"1 rl.. r ' ' t!l~ 1"1 /\ ,,

rov~ ev T(f! 1TOTafLcp fLaAta-Ta ea-'f'a':,ov, Kat TO vowp

evOv~ DtecpOapTo, d'A'A' ov8€v ,f}a-a-ov E1TLVETO OfLOV T/j>
1TYJA/j> iJfLaTWfLEvov Kat Tot~ 1ro'A'Ao't~ ETt ,ryv 1TEptp.,a-
XYJTov., aT !La Kat 1TYJAOV 1TtVOfLEVa op.,w~ Etvat 1TEpt-
/ '' ~"~ ' e ~"~ /L) e ' '
ILaXYJTa ETt 1TOtEt 1Tta-Tov YJ TOV 1rauov~ VTTEPOXYJ Kat
4 /
1TEpta-Taa-t~. Kat' TO
' ~H pooOTEtOV
~ / ' ' TWV EV
E1TL 1"1 ' 8 EpfLO-
/\ t!/ ~~, / , ,/.,. / ~( , \ c /
1TVI\at~ OfLOtOV. EV TOVT(f! 'f'YJO""tV ai\E~ OfLEVOV~

1 Add. Manutius, from Herodotus.

282
~
'i

ON THE SUBLIME 38

events in the style of long ago"a_"Why, !socrates," one

may say, ~~do you intend by this means to reverse the posi-
tions of the Spartans and the Athenians?" For his praise
of the power of words has all but issued a prefatory warn-
ing to the audience that he himself is not to be believed.
Perhaps then, as we said above of figures, b the best hyper-
bole is the one which conceals the very fact of its being a
hyperbole. And this happens when it is uttered under
stress of emotion to suit the circumstances of a great cri-
sis. This is what Thucydides does in speaking of those
who were killed in Sicily. "For the Syracusans went down
and began to slaughter chiefly those in the river. The
water was immediately tainted but none the less they kept
on drinking it, foul though it was with mud and gore, and
most of them were still ready to fight for it.''c That a drink
of mud and gore should yet still be worth fighting for is
made credible only by the height of the emotion which
the circumstances arouse. It is the same with Herodotus'
description of those who fought at Thermopylae. ~~on
this spot," he says, "while they defended themselves with
daggers, such as still had daggers left, and with hands and
teeth, the barbarians buried them under a shower of
missiles."d Here you may well ask what is meant by actu-
ally ~~fighting with teeth" against armed men or being
"buried" with missiles; yet it carries credence in the same
way, because Herodotus does not seem to have intro-
duced the incident to justify the hyperbole, but the
hyperbole for the sake of the incident. As I am never
tired of saying, to atone for a daring phrase the universal

a!socrates, Panegyricus 8.
b See chap. 17. c Thucydides 7.84.
d Herodotus 7.225.

283
 LONGINUS
r
, , ~'()
aKELa TL~ Ta' '
eyyv~ EKCTTaO"EW~
' ' , 3/
Epya KaL' 1ra, () 'YJ· 0 EV

KaL' Ta
' KWfLLKa' ,
KaLTOLY ' EL~
'' ,
a7rLCTTLaV ',
EK1rL1r'TOVTa
nteava ota To yE'Ao'-ov·
' '
aypov
E.a-x' €'AaTTw yijv E.xovT' €nta-To'Aij~
<AaKWVLKij~>l

6 Kat' yap
' o( YEAW~
'\ na'() o~ EV
' 'YJOOVYJ.
(~ 1"'1
at o~' V1rEPtJOAaL
( ( (.} \ '

I ' ' '"''f ~I

Ka () U1rEp E1TL TO' fLELsOV, OVTW~ KaL' E1TL
' ' -'I\
TOVI\aTTOV,
' ~' ' ' ,./..,. 1"'1 ( ' , , ( ~
E1TELO'YJ KOLVOV ap...o/OLV 'YJ E1rLTaCTL~· KaL 1TW~ 0 OLaa-vp-
' , , ' ''C
fLO~ Ta1TELVOT'YJTO~ ECTTLV aVs 'YJCTL~.

39. (H 1rEfl-1rT'YJ p...ol_pa Twv a-vvTEAova-wv El~ To

vlfio~' iJJv YE EV dpxiJ npov()€p...E()a, €.()' i}p...LV AEL1rETaL,
KpaTLCTTE, ljv 8€ 2 TWV Aoywv aVT'YJ 1rOLa a-vv()E(TL~.
e ' '? ' ~ ' ' I ' ~ ~ I
V1rEp ''Y]~ EV OVCTLV anoxpwV'TW~ a1TOOEOWKOTE~ CTVV-
Tayp...aCTLV, oa-a YE Tij~ ()Ewpia~ ~v i}p...tv €¢tKTa,
'TOCTOV'TOV €~ dva.YKYJ~ npoa-()ELYJfLEV av EL~ T~V
'"' e '{) e
1rapova-av V1r0 ECTLV, W~ OV' fLOVOV
1
ECTTL
' '
1TEL {) OV~
'"'
KaL'
i}oovij~ i} apfLOVLa ¢va-LKOV av{) pwnoL~ aAAa Kat
p.,EyaA'Y}yopia~ Kat na{)ov~ {)avp...aa-TOV TL opyavov.
2 OV yap
' '
aV/\0~
' \ '
fLEV EVTL 'YJCTLV TLVa 1ra 'YJ
' ' '() , , ()
TOL~
1"'1
aKpOW-
'

fLEVOL~ Ka'i oiov EK¢pova~ Ka'i Kopv{3avTtaa-p...ov nA.rr}-

pEL~ dnoTEAEL, Ka'i {3aa-LV EVOov~ TLVa pvOp...ov npo~
TaVTYJV dvayKa,EL 3 {3aivELv ev pvOp.,fi! Ka'i a-vvE~op...ot­
ova-()aL Tfi! p.,EAEL TOV aKpoaTry}v, Kav ap...ova-o~ i7 nav-
Tanaa-L, Ka'i v~ Ilia ¢()6yyot KL()apa~, ovo€v a1rAw~

1 Add. Portus ( 1569).

284
 ON THE SUBLIME 38-39

specific is found in actions and feelings that almost make

one beside oneself. Thus, too, comic expressions, even if
they result in the incredible, yet sound convincing
because they are laughable:
His field was shorter than a Spartan letter. a
Laughter indeed is an emotion based on pleasure.
Hyperbole may tend to belittle as well as to magnify: the
common element in both is a strain on the facts. In a
sense too vilification is an amplification of the low and
trivial.
39. Of those factors of sublimity which we specified at
the beginning,b the fifth one still remains, good friend-
this was the arrangement of the words themselves in a
certain order. On this question I have in two books given
a sufficient account of such conclusions as I could reach,
and for our present purpose I need only add this, that
men find in melody not only a natural instrument of per-
suasion and pleasure, but also a marvellous instrument of
grandeur and emotion. The flute, for instance, induces
certain emotions in those who hear it. It seems to carry
them away and fill them with divine frenzy. It sets a par-
ticular rhythmic movement and forces them to move in
rhythm. The hearer has to conform to the tune, though
he may be utterly unmusical. Why, the very tones of the

aThe brevity of Spartan messages was proverbial. The line is

perhaps from comedy (cf. fr. adesp. 417-19 Kock).
bIn chap. 8.

2 Russell (1964), for iJ 8ul.

3 avayKa'Et. Manutius, for avayKaCTEt..

285
 LONGINUS r
UYJf.LatvovTEr;, Tatr; Twv 1Jxwv f.LETa{3oA.a'ir; Kat Tfj
1Tpor; aAA-r}Aovr; Kpaa-EtJ Kat f.LLtEL Tfjr; U"Vf.LcPWVLar;
' -'I \\1 (' -'I
3 (} aVf.LaU"TOV E1TayoVU"L 1TOJ\J\aKLr;, Wr; E1TLU"TaU"aL,
1\ ( I """ V~ \ ' I I(}
(} EJ\YYJTpov KaLTOL TaVTa ELOWJ\a KaL f.LLf.LYJfl-aTa VO a
-' ' :~lA.._
EU"TL 1TEL (}""" -''
ovr;, OVXL """
TYJr; -'
av (} I
pw1TELar; A.._l
'Pva-Ewr;, ('
wr; E'PYJV,
EVEPY-r7fl-aTa yv-r}a-La), OVK OLOf.LE8a 8' apa TTJV a-vv8E-
(JLV, apf.LOVLav TLVa oi)a-av Aoywv av8pw1TOLr; Ef.LcpV-
TWV Kat Tfjr; tfivxf7r; avTfjr;, ovxt Tfjr; aKofjr; f.LOVYJr;
-',/..,. I 1\ """ '~I -' I
E'Pa1TTOf.LEVWV, 1TOLKtl\ar; KtVOVU"aV tOEar; OVOf.LaTWV
I I 1\ \ -' \ I I
VOYJU"EWV 1Tpayfl-aTWV Kai\1\0Vr; EVf.L€1\Etar;, 1TaVTWV
TJf.LLV E.vTpocpwv Kat a-vyyEvwv, Kat af.La Tfj f.LLtEL Kat
1ToAvf.Lopcp[q.. Twv f.avTfjr; cp86yywv To 1TapEa-Twr; T(i>
1
1\EYOVTt
\ I
1Ta (} or; ELr;
'
Tar;
' tit '
'Yvxar; """
TWV /\
1TEJ\ar; 1TapELU"-
I
ayova-av Kat' ELr;
' I
f.LETOVU"LaV -'"""''I
aVTOV -''
TOVr; aKOVOVTar; aEt
1Ta8ur:Taa-av, Tfj Twv A.€tEwv E1TotKoDof.L-r}a-EL Ta
TE

f.LEYE(}YJ a-vvapf.Lo,ova-av., 8t' avTwv TOVTWV KYJAEtv 2 TE

(' """ I ' ~',It '
Of.LOV Kat' 7rpor;
' :1/
oyKov ' '(;
TE Kat a~ tWf.La Kat v'Yor; Kat

1TUV 0 EV avTfj 3 JrEpLAaf.Lf3avEL Kat TJf.LUr; EKUU"TOTE

~ (}' I (' """ """ ~ I -'
U"VVOLaTL EVaL, 1TaVTOLWr; YJf.LWV TYJr; OLaVOtar; E1TLKpa-
~~ e \
4 TOVU"av;
""'
al\1\
' \ \ '
EL' KaL' f.LaVLa
I
TO' 1TEpL' TWV
"""
OVTWr; Of.LOJ\0-
yoVf.LEVWV ( a1Toxpwa-a yap T] 1TEtpa
8ta1TopE'iv
I ) ('.It \ I I ~ ""'4 I ' :1/ """
1TLU"Ttr; , V'YYJJ\OV yE 1TOV ooKEt VOYJf.La Kat EU"TL TC[J
ovTt 8avf.LaU"Lov, o T(i> tfiYJcpLa-f.LaTL o ilYJf.LOU"8EvYJr; E1Tt-
A... I ('(' """ ' tit I,/..,. ' I ""' 1\
'PEpEt TOVTO TO '-f-JYJ'PtU"f.La TOV TOTE TYJ 1TOJ\Et 1TEpt-
' I ~ \ ( } ""' ' I ~~ I A.._ '-'
U"TaVTa KtVOVVOV 1TapEJ\ EtV E1TOtYJU"EV WU"1TEp VE'Por;,
aAA' avT-ryr; T-ryr; DLavo[ar; OVK EAaTTOV Tfj apf.LOVtq..
1TEcpWVYJTaL. oAov TE yap E1Tt TWV DaKTVAtKWV ELPYJTat
pv8f.Lwv, EvyEvEa-TaTot 8' oiJTot Kat fLEYE8o1ToLoi, Dto

286
 ON THE SUBLIME 39

harp, themselves meaningless, by the variety of their

sounds and by their combination and harmonious blend-
ing often exercise, as you know, a marvellous spell. (Yet
these are only a bastard counterfeit of persuasion, not, as
I said above, a genuine activity of human nature.) Must
we not think, then, that composition, which is a kind of
melody in words-words which are part of man's nature
and reach not his ears only but his very soul-stirring as it
does myriad ideas of words, thoughts, things, beauty,
musical charm, all of which are born and bred in us, and
by the blending of its own manifold tones, bringing into
the hearts of the bystanders the speaker's actual emotion
so that all who hear him share in it, and by piling phrase
on phrase builds up one majestic whole-must we not
think, I say, that by these very means it casts a spell on us
and always turns our thoughts towards what is majestic
and dignified and sublime and all else that it embraces,
winning a complete mastery ov~r our minds? Now it may
indeed seem lunacy to raise any question on matters of
such agreement, since experience is a sufficient test, yet
surely the idea which Demosthenes applies to his decree
strikes one as sublime and truly marvellous: ''This decree
made the peril at that time encompassing the country
pass away like as a cloud."a But its effect is due no less to
the harmony than to the thought. Its delivery rests wholly
on the dactyls, which are the noblest of rhythms and

a De corona 188.

1 K marg., Pearce, for Kpova-Et.

2 Kr(AEZv K marg., Manutius, for KaAEZv.
3 avT'O Toll, for avT'O.
4 1rov DoKEL Reiske, for Tov DoKELV.

287
 LONGINUS
r
I
Kat To ~p~ov ~v tO"fJ-EV KaAALa-Tov fJ-ETpov a-vv-
[TO/ ]1 €7T€LTOLYE
, / , ,. .,
,..., 3~/ , ' /
LO"TaO"L • T€ EK TYJ~ LOLa~ aVTO xwpa~
~I ~ ' ~~ ~I
fJ-ETafJE~ 07TOL OYJ
'(} / \ ,..., ' ,/ 1 / ,./.,.
€ €/\EL~ TOVTO TO ~YJo/LO"fJ-a W0"7T€p
VEo/0~
/ ,./.,. ' / ' / / ~ \(} ,..., " .,,
€7TOLYJO"€ TOV TOTE KLVOVVOV 7rap€1\ ELV, YJ VYJ
'
Liia 11-iav a7roKot/Jov a-vAAaf3~v 11-ovov ~~E7TOLYJO"E
\ (} ,..., ~ / ,./.,. " ' 'I / ~ ~ / ,...,
7rap€1\ €LV W~ VEo/0~, KaL ELO"YJ, 7TOO"OV YJ apfJ-OVLa T~

vt/JEL O"VVYJXEL. aVTO yap TO ~~W0"7T€p v€cpo~" E7Tt

fJ-aKpov Tov 7rpwTov pvfJ11-ov f3€f3YJKE, TETpaa-L KaTa-
fJ-ETpov/1-€vov2 xpovoL~· f.~aLpEfJELO"YJ~ 8€ T-Yj~ fJ-LU~
a-vAAa/31]~ ~\v~ v€cpo~" EVfJv~ aKpWTYJpLa,EL Tfj a-vy-
K07Tll TO fJ-EYEfJo~, w~ EfJ-7TaALV, f.av E7TEKTELVYJ~
~~ \(} ,. ., , / ~ '3 / ,./.,. " ' , '
7rap€1\ €LV €7TOLYJO"€V W0"7T€p€L VEo/0~, TO aVTO
/ ' ' ' ' ~ ' 'I / ~I ,..., /
O"YJfJ-aLVEL, OV TO aVTO 0€ ETL 7rp00"7TL7TTEL, OTL T~ fJ-YJKEL
TWV aKpwv XPOVWlJ O"VVEKAVETaL Kat 8LaxaAuTaL TO
~.,,
V~O~
' ,
T.O a7TOTOfJ-OV.
/

40. 'Ev 8€ To'i~ 11-a/:tLa-Ta f.1-EYEfJo7ToLE'i Ta AEyo-

fJ-Eva, KafJa7TEp Ta a-wfJ-aTa ~ Twv fJ-EAwv E7TLa-vvfJEa-L~,
~v EV fJ-EV ov8€v T,J.YJfJEv acp' ETEpov KafJ' EaVTO a~LO­
Aoyov EXEL, 7TUVTa 8€ fJ-ET' aAA'Y}Awv EK7TAYJpo'i TEAELOV
/ ~I ~
O"VO"TYJfJ-a • OVTW~ Ta' fJ-Eyal\a
/\
O"KEOaO" (} / '
EVTa fJ-EV '
a7T '

aAA'Y}Awv aAAoa-' aAAYJ CLfJ-a EaVTOL~ a-vv8Lacpopli Kat

~1 .1 t ~ 1
TO' V~O~,
/
O"WfJ-aT07TOLOVfJ-EVa 0€
'
TYJ,..., KOLVWVLf!:
/
Kat' ETL
'

DEa-fJ-{iJ Tij~ dpfJ-OVLa~ 7TEpLKAELOf.1-EVa, avT(iJ T(iJ KVKA~

,I... / / ' ~' , ,..., /~ 'I
o/WVYJEVTa yLvETaL • KaL a-xEoov Ev TaL~ 7rEpLoooL~ Epa-
2 v6~ EO"TL 7TA'YjfJov~ Ta fJ-EYEfJYJ. aAAa fJ-~V OTL YE 7TOA-

1
Manutius omitted ro rE; Pearce and others propose a
lacuna to follow it, e.g. TO TE <TEA.EvraZov KOf.Lf.La Bavf.Laa-rwr;;
a-vvreTaKrat> Mazzucchi.

288
 ON THE SUBLIME 39-40

make for grandeur-and that is why the most beautiful of

all known metres, the heroic, is composed of dactyls.
Change the position of the phrasea to any place you like-
"' ~~
TOVTO TO',/,',./...
\f-'YJ'PLO"f.La W0"7T€p ',I.. ' ' ' '
V€'-{JO~ €7TOLYJCT€ TOV TOTE

Kiv8vvov 7TapEA0E'iv-or simply cut off a single sylla-

ble-E7TOLYJO"E 7TapEA0ELV w~ VE~O~-and you will real-
ize how truly the harmony chimes in with the sublimity.
Indeed the actual phrase wa-·7rEp vf.cpo~ rests on its long
first rhythmical element, equivalent to four beats. Cut
out the one syllable-w~ vf.cpo~-and the curtailment at
once mutilates the grandeur. So again if you lengthen
it-7TapEA0E'iv E7TOLYJa-Ev wa-7TEpE'i vf.~o~-the meaning
is the same, but it does not strike the same upon the ear,
because the sheer sublimity is broken up and loosened by
the breaking up of the longs in the final syllables.h
40. Nothing is of greater service in giving grandeur to
what is said -than the organization of the various mem-
bers. It is the same with the human body. None of the
members has any value by itself apart from the others, yet
one with another they all constitute a perfect system.
Similarly if these effects of grandeur are separated, the
sublimity is scattered with them: but if they are united
into a single whole and embraced by the bonds of rhythm,
then they gain a living voice just by being merely rounded
into a period. In a period, one might say, the grandeur

a I.e. the words wcrrrep vf.¢o~.

b I.e. both the proposed changes involve losing the effect of
wcr;rep as two longs.

2
KaTafLE'Tpovpivov Toll for KaTafLETpOVfLEVov.
'K marg. !Of
3 W(J"1TEpEL
( .c W(J"1TEp.
.,

289
 LONGINUS
I
I
\ ' KaL' a-vyypa'f"EWV
rf-.. / e I~ \
1\0L KaL' 1TOLYJTWV
""' '
OVK !>/
OVTE~
'
V'f''Y}J\OL
1

rl-.. /
'f"VCYEL, fLYJ1TOTE OE KaL afLE'YE
/ ~ ' ' ) /f) EL~, <:/
OfLW~ KOLVOL~
1"'1
KaL
'

8YJfLW8Ea-L TOL~ OVOfLaCYL Kat ov8€v E1Ta'YOfLEVOL~

'e
1TEpLTTOV ' \\' / ~' / ""'
W~ Ta 1TOJ\J\a CYV'YXPWfLEVOL, OLa fLOVOV TOV

a-vvfJE'ivaL Kat apfLOCYaL ravra 8Eovrw~ 1 oyKov Kat

~
OLaCYTYJfLa KaL TO fLY] Ta1TELVOL'~
/
OOKELV ELVaL 1TEpLE a- ' ' ' 1"'1 ";' /3/
AOVTO, KafJa1TEp a'A'Aot TE 7TOA'Ao'i Kat <I>['Ata-To~, , Apt-
CYTO'f"aVYJ~
rl-.. /
EV
!>/
TLCYLV, EV
,
TOL~
""' \
1TJ\ELCYTOL~
/ E vpt1TLOYJ~,
, / ~

3 iKavw~ ~fL'-v 8E8~A.wrat. fLETa y€ rot r~v rEKvoKro-

v[av eHpaKAf}~ cpYJa-L

a-cp68pa 8YJfLW8E~ TO AEYOfLEVOV, a'A'Aa yeyovEv Vt/JYJ-

\ ' 1"'1 \ / , \ 1"'1 ) ~' !>/\ \ ' '
1\0V TYJ 1TAaa-EL avaAoyovv· EL o ai\1\W~ avro a-vvap-
/ rl-.. / / ~ / 1"'1 f)/ '
fLOCYEL\;, 'f"aVYJCYETaL CYOL, OLOTL T'YJ~ CYVV ECYEW~ 1TOLYJT'YJ~

4 0 EvpL1TL8'YJ~ f.La'A.'A6v EU"TLV ~ TOV vov. E1Tt 8€ ri}~

a-vpOfLEVYJ~ V1TO TOV. ravpov i1LpKYJ~,
, ~ / /
1TOV TVXOL EL OE
1reptg €'A.[ga~, ElAKE <1ravfJ'> 2 Of.Lov 'Aaf3wv
1"'1 / ~ 1"'1 \\/ ) /
yvvatKa 1TETpav opvv fLETaAAaa-a-wv aEL,

ECYTL fLEV yEvva'iov Kat TO 'A iJf.Lf.La, a8porEpov 8€

yeyovE ref> T~V apfLOVLav fL~ KaTECY1TEva-fJaL fLYJ8' oiov
EV a1TOKVALa-fLaTL cpepEa-fJaL, a'A'Aa CYTYJPL'YfLOV~ TE

1
8eovTws- von Amim for 8' op.,ws-; but it may be best to make
a lacuna after 8' (Mazzucchi).
2 Add. Bergk.

290
 ON THE SUBLIME 40

comes from the multitude of contributors. We have

indeed abundantly showna that many writers both in
prose and poetry, who are not by nature sublime, perhaps
even the very opposite, while using for the most part cur-
rent vulgar words, which suggests nothing out of the com-
mon, yet by the mere arrangement and fitting together of
these properly have achieved dignit~ and distinction and
a reputation for grandeur; Philistus, for instance, among
many others, Aristophanes occasionally, Euripides almost
always. After the slaughter of his children Heracles says:
I am loaded with woes and have no room for more.c
The phrase is exceedingly ordinary, yet becomes sublime
by being apt to the situation. If you put the passage
together in any other way, you will realize that Euripides
is a poet of word arrangement more than of ideas. Speak-
ing ofDirce being torn apart by the bull, he says,
Andifperchanceithappened
To twist itself around, it dragged them all,
Woman and rock and oak, and juggled with them.d
The idea itself is a fine one, but it gains additional force
from the fact that the rhythm is not hurried along or, as it

a Presumably in the (lost) work in two books referred to at

39.1.
h Sicilian historian of the fourth century, imitator of Thucy-
dides: FGrHist 556.
c Euripides, Hercules Furens 1245.
d From Antiope (fr. 221 Nauck2): Amphion and Zethus, hav-
ing discovered that Antiope was their mother, inflict on the cruel
queen Dirce the punishment she had intended for Antiope.

291
 LONGINUS
I
(
\

EXEtV 1Tpo~ aAAYJAa ra OVOf.LaTa KaL f.tEpELCTf.LaTa rwv

xpovwv 1Tpo~ €8patov 8ta{3E{3'Y}KOTa f.LEYE(}o~.
41. MtKp01TOtOVV 8' ov8€v ovrw~ f.v rot~ tn/JYJAOL~
w~ pvfJf.LO~ KEKAaCTf.LEVO~ A.oywv KaL (J"f.(J"Of3'YJf.LEVO~,'
oiov Si} 1Tvpp£xtot KaL rpoxatot KaL StxopEtot, rEAEov
Et~
) ) '
opxYJcrrtKov crvvEK1Tt1TrovrE~.
/ ' 1ravra
EV'(}'v~ yap /

c/JatVETat ra Karappv(} f.La KOf.Lt/Ja KaL f.LtKpoxapfJ

2 [ KaL] 1 a1Ta(}€crrara 8ta riJ~ Of.LOEt8Eia~ E1Tt1TOAa,ovra·
' ,, /
Kat ETL TOVTWV TO XEtptCTTOV OTt, WCT1TEp ra q_Joapta
' / ~' ~' ' ) ~ /

TOV~
' ,
aKpoara~
' )
a1TO TOV ' 1"'1 /
1Tpayf.LaTO~ a'-PEAKEt Kat E'-P
, ,./... ' \ ' , ,./...'

/y
~ '
avra Q
fJta~.:,Erat, ovrw~
~'
Kat' ra' KarEppv (} f.LLCTf.LEVa
/
rwv 1"'1

\ / ) ' 1"'1 \ / /(} ) ~ /~ 1"'1

1\EYOf.LEVWV OV TO TOV AOYOV 1Ta 0~ EVOtOW(J"L TOL~

aKOVOVCTt, TO 8€ TOV pv(}f.LOV, w~ EVLOTE 1Tp0Et-86ra~

' ',./... \ / \ /(; ) ' ~ / 1"'1
Ta~ 0'-PELJ\Of.LEVa~ KaTal\ 'YJC:, EL~ aVTOV~ V1TOKpOVELV TOL~

A.€yovcrt KaL c{JfJavovra~ w~ f.v xopfi> TLVL 1TpOa1To8t-86-

3 '
VaL T'Y}V Q /
fJaCTLV. ~
Of.LOLW~
/ ~'
OE ,
af.LE'}'E/f) 'YJ KaL' Ta' 1\LaV
\/
crvyKELfLEVa KaL El~ fLLKpa KaL {jpaxvcrvAAa{ja
crvyKEKOfLfLEVa KaL wcravEL YOfLcPOL~ TLCTLV E1TaAA -r}AoL~
KaT
,:~
E'}'K01Ta~
' '
KaL
\ /
CTKJ\'Y}pOT'Y}Ta~
,
E1TLCTVVOEOEfLEVa.
~~ /

42. ''ErL YE fL~V vtfiov~ fLELWTLKOV KaL T] ayav rfj~

c/Jpaa-Ew~ crvyKo1T-r}· 1T'YJpOt yap TO fLEYEeo~, orav El~
\/ / Q / , / (} ~'
1\tav crvvay'Y}rat tJPaxv· aKovEcr w oE vvv f.L'YJ ra
1"'1 ' '

[ ov] 2 8Eovrw~ (J"VVEcrrpafLfLEVa, dA.A.' ocra avrtKpv~

fLtKpa' KaL' KaTaKEKEpfLaTLCTfLEVa • CTV'}'K01T'YJ' fLEV
' yap
' /

2 KOAOVEL rov vovv, (J"VVTOf.LLa S' E1T' evev. 8fj'Aov 8' w~

1 [Kat] del. Russell (1964).

2 Manutius omitted ov.

292
 ON THE SUBLIME 40-42

were, running on rollers, but the words prop one another

up and are separated by intenrals, so that they stand firm
and give the impression of stable grandeur. a
41. Nothing damages an elevated passage so much as
effeminate and agitated rhythm, pyrrhics ( v v ) , for
instance, and trochees (- v or v v v ) , and dichorees
( - v - v ), which fall into a regular dance rhythm. For all

over-rhythmical passages at once become merely pretty

and cheap, recurring monotonously without producing
the slightest emotional effect. Moreover, the worst of it is
that, just as songs divert the attention of the audience
from the action and forcibly claim it for themselves, so,
too, over-rhythmical prose gives the audience the effect
not of the words but of the rhythm. Thus they sometimes
foresee the due ending themselves and keep time with
their feet, anticipating the speaker and setting the step as
if it were a dance. Equally deficient in grandeur are those
passages which are too close-paqked and concise, broken
up into tiny fragments and short syllables. They give the
impression of being bolted together, as it were, at fre-
quent intenrals with rough and uneven joins.
42. Extreme conciseness of expression also tends to
diminish sublimity. The grandeur is mutilated by being
too closely compressed. You must understand here not
proper compression, but sentences which are, in absolute
terms, small and fragmented. For extreme conciseness
cripples the sense: true brevity goes straight to the point.

a The point is that combinations of consonants delay the

smooth running of the words: note especially perix helixas and
petran drun in the passage just quoted.

293
 LONGINUS
I
I
i

Ep.7TaALV Ta EKra8YJV a7Tol/Jvxa Ta 7Tap' 1 aKatpov

f.LYJKOc; avaxaAWf.LEVa.
2

43. flEtvT] 8' ala-xvvaL ra p.eye(}YJ KaL TJ f.LLKpOTYJc;

'"' ovop.arwv.
rwv ~ , 7rapa' yovv
'"' rep,. . ~H ~ '
pooorcp Kara' p.Ev
' ra,
~ 'A,. ~'
\
A
/
YJP.f.LaTa /
oatp.ovtwc; ot XELf.LWV
'
7TE~paa-rat, rtva' oE VYJ'
ilia 7TEpLEXEL ri}c; v'A YJc; d8otorEpa. KaL 'TOV'TO f.LEV
ta-wc; tt 'E(TUU"Yjc; 8€ ri}c; Oa'Aaa-a-YJc;,, we; 'TO tt 'EU"UU"YJc;"
~ 2ft 1
'"' ~ ' ~ \ \ '
\ '
7TOAV ro' v~oc; 7TEpLU"7TCf:, ota ro' KaKoa-rop.ov·
/
aAA
tt t ,, , A,. / t~ ~ / , / tt ' ' '
0 avEp.oc; ~YJU"LV EK07TLaU"EV, Kat 'TOVc; 7TEpL 'TO
/ ~ / ~ t. ~ / '\ ,, ,
vavaytov opaa-a-op.Evovc; E~ EOEXE'TO 'TE/\Oc; axapt.
,,
aU"Ef.J.VOV ' TO' K07TLaa-aL
yap / ,,~ '
LOLW'TLKOV < OV,
,, >3 TO' ~'
0
, / \ / '(} , / t /
2 axapta-'TOV 'TYJALKOV'TOV 7Ta OVc; aVOLKELOV. Of.LOLWc;
KaL' 0~: 8 E07TOfJ-7TOc;
' t
V7TEp~vwc;
,.~,. ,...
U"KEVaa-ac;
'
'TYJV
'
'TOV'"' II'Ep-
' Q
a-ov KaTafJaa-tv , '
E7T A''LYV7T'TOV ovop.artotc;
, ' TLa-L' ra' OAa
~~ \

8t€{3a'AEv. tt7Tota yap 7ToAtc; ~ 7To'iov E.Ovoc; rwv Kara

,
'TYJV'A a-LaV
' OVK ' E7TpEO:fJEVE'TO
' Q ' '
7Tpoc; Q \ '
fJaU"LI\Ea; ~,
'TL, OE
'"' , '"' "' .,, "' '
rwv EK TYJc; y'Y}c; yEvvwp.Evwv YJ rwv Kara TEXVYJV E7TL-
' / /

TEAovp.evwv KaAw~ ~ TLf.LtWV OVK EKOp.ta-OYJ 8wpov we;

,
avrov; ov, 7TOAAaL
\\ / ' p.Ev
' Kat' 7TOAV'TEAELc;
\ \"'
a-rpwp.vat' Kat'
\ ~~ ~' ~'
XAaVLOEc;, Ta' f.LEV
' t \ "'
ai\OVpyYJ, Ta' OE \ /
7TOLKLI\'Ta, Ta' OE
\ /
1\EVKa, \\ '~'
7TOI\I\aL ' '"' /
OE U"KYJVaL xpva-aL Ka'TEU"KEVaa-p.EVaL
"'
7Taa-t '"' XPYJU"Lf.LOLc;,
rotc; / \ \ ' oE
7TOAAaL ~'
Kat' t.
~ va-rtoEc;
~~
Kat'
\'"' \ \ '"'
KI\LVaL 7TOI\VTEI\ELc;; E'TL OE KaL KOLI\Oc; apyvpoc; Kat
,, ~' ' "'\ ,, '
'' /
xpva-oc; a7TEtpyaa-p.EVOc; Kat EK7TWf.LaTa KaL KpaTYJpEc;,
,, / ' '"'

1 1Tap' aKatpovPearce, for yap aKatpov.

2
avaxaAWfLEVa Toup, for avaKaAOVfLEVa.
3 <ov> add. Wilamowitz.

294
T
!

ON THE SUBLIME 42-43

It is plain that the opposite holds of fully extended expres-

sions; what is relaxed by unseasonable length is dead.
43. The use of trivial words also has a terribly debas-
ing effect on a grand passage. The storm in Herodotus,
for instance, is, as far as the ideas go, wonderfully
described, but it includes certain things which are
beneath the dignity of the subject. One might instance
perhaps "the sea seething,:a the word seething is so
cacophonous that it takes off a great deal of the sublimity.
But he does worse. "The wind,, he says, "flagged,, and
"For those who were clinging to the wreck there awaited
an unpleasant end.''h ~~Flagged, is too colloquial a word to
be dignified, and "unpleasant, ill befits so terrible a
disaster. Similarly Theopompus, c after fitting out the Per-
sian king's descent into Egypt in the most marvellous
manner, discredited the whole description by the use of
some paltry_ words. "For what city or what people of
those in Asia did not send envoys to the king? What was
there of beauty or of value whether born of the earth or
perfected by art that was not brought as an offering to
him? Were there not many costly coverlets and cloaks,
some purple, some embroidered, some white; many
pavilions of gold furnished with all things needful, many
robes of state and costly couches? Then, moreover, there
was plate of beaten silver and wrought gold, cups, and

a Herodotus 7.188.
b Herodotus 7.191, 8.13.
c Fr. 263a (FGrHist): the passage is quoted by Athenaeus
(2.67F), but somewhat differently. It refers to the expedition of
Artaxerxes Ochus against Egypt in the middle of the fourth cen-
tury (cf. Diod. Sic. 16.44ff).

295
 LONGINUS

6Jv TOV~ fLEV AtOoKoAATjrov~, rov~ 8' aAAw~ aKpt/3w~

Kat 1TOAVTEAW~ ei8e~ av EK1TE1TOVYJfLEVOV~. 1Tpo~ 8€
TOVTOt~ avapUJfLYJTOt fLEV 01TAWV fLVpu£8e~ TWV fLEV
CEAAYJVtKWV, rwv 8€ f3apf3aptKWV, V1TEpj3aA.A.ovra 8€
ro 1rAijOo~ v1To,vyta Kat 1rpo~ KaraKo1T~v 1-eplia
(TtTEVTa, Kat' 1TOI\I\Ot
/ \ \ ' fLEV ' apTVfLaTWV
' / /~
fLEOtfLVOt, \ \
1TOI\I\Ot '
8€ 8vAaKOt Kat a-aKKOt Kat xvrpat f3vf3A.iwv 1 Kat TWV
a'A.Awv U1TUVTWV XPYJ(TLfLWV. roa-avra 8€ KpEa rerapt-
XEVfLEVa 1Tavro8a1TWV tEpELWV, w~ a-wpov~ avrwv
~~
yevea- I(} \
at TYJAtKovrov~, I
wa-re '
rov~ 1rpoa-tovra~ 1Top-
I I

pw0ev V1TOAafLf3avEtV oxOov~ Etvat Kat A.6cpov~ avrw-

I n ) """ c ,/. \ / .) ' I
3 (} OVfLEVOV~. EK TWV V'f'YJI\OTEpwv Et~ ra ra1TEtVOTEpa
' ~ ~ I ~I / (} ' ~1(; ~I
a1TOOtopaa-KEt, OEOV 1TOtYJa-aa- at TYJV avs Yj(TtV EfL1Ta-

Atv• aA.A.a ri} Oavi-Laa-ri} rij~ oAYJ~ 1rapaa-Kevij~ dyye-

\ / 1TapafLts
Atf!: 't: a~ rov~ ' (} VAaKov~ \ / Kat' ra' aprvfLaTa ' / Kat'
Ta' a-aKKta /
fLayetpEtOV. I
TtVa'.,./... 'f"avraa-taV I ' I
E1TOtYj(TEV.
~~ '~I '' '""" '/ """
W(T1TEp yap Et Tt~ E1T aVTWV EKEtVWV TWV 1TpOKO(TfLTJ-

fLUTWV fLEratv TWV xpva-[wv Kat AtOoKoAATjrwv Kpa-

r-r}pwv Kat apyvpov KOLAov (TKYJVWV TE oA.oxpva-wv
Kat' EK1TWfLaTWV
, / .,./... I
'f"EPWV /
fLEa-a 'I(}
E YJKEV
e\ Vl\aKta I Kat'
I ' ' .,, ;;" """ /.It ' ~I ~I
a-aKKta a1TpE1TE~ av YJV TYJ 1rpoa-o'f'Et ro epyov, ovrw

Kat' TYJ~ """ c / '

EPfLYJVELa~ ra rot.avra OVOfLaTa ata-XYJ Kat
""" .)
I :J/ '

otovet
c '
a-rtyfLara
/
Ka (}'ta-rarat 1rapa' Katpov '
eyKara-
'

4 TaTTOfLEVa. 1TapEKEtTO 8' w~ oA.oa-xepw~ E1TEA0liv Kat

ov~ oxOov~ Aeyet a-v!-Lf3ef3A. ija-Oat Kat 1TEpt rij~ aAA YJ~
1Tapaa-Kevij~ OVTW~ aA.A.ata~ EL1TELV KafL-r}Aov~ Kat
1rAijOo~ v1ro,vyiwv cpopraywyovvrwv 1ravra ra 1rpo~
.,~..., , ' 1\ r""" I .,,
TPV'f"YJV Kat a1TOAava-tv rpa1TE«:,WV XOPYJYYJI-Lara, YJ

296
 ON THE SUBLIME 43

bowls, some of which you might have seen studded with

jewels and others embellished by some other means both
cunning and costly. Besides these there were countless
myriads of weapons, some Greek, some barbarian; bag-
gage animals beyond number, and victims fatted for
slaughter; many bushels of spice, and many bags and
sacks and pots of papyrusa and of all other things needful;
and such a store of salted meat of every kind that it lay in
heaps so large that those who approached from a distance
took them for mounds and hills confronting them." He
descends from the sublime to the trivial, where he needs
rather a crescendo. As it is, by introducing bags and
spices and sacks in the middle of his wonderful descrip-
tion of the whole equipage he has almost given the effect
of a cook shop. Suppose that in all this show itself some-
one had brought bags and sacks and set them in the mid-
dle of the gold and jewelled bowls, the beaten silver, the
pavilions of solid gold and the drinking cups-that would
have presented an unseemly sight. In the same way the
untimely introduction of· such words as these disfigures
the style, and puts a brand on it, as it were. He might
have given a comprehensive description both of what he
calls the heaped-up mounds and of the rest of the
equipage by altering his description thus: ''camels and a
multitude of baggage animals laden with all that serves
the luxury and pleasure of the table"; or he might

a Or onions, if we accept Toup's conjecture.

1 Athenaeus (2.67£) has 1roAAot SE cniKKot- Kat 8vAaKot- {3t--

{3A.£wv; p has 7TOAAot S' oi 8vAaKOL Kat craKKOL Kat xaprat-
{3vf3A.£wv. Toup proposed xvrpat- {3oA.{3wv, "jars of onions," and
the reference below to fLayELpliov perhaps supports this.
297
 LONGINUS

crwpovc; ' 'OVOf.LaCTaL 7TaVTOLWV CT7TEpf.LaTWV KaL' "TWV

/ / / "
U7TEp 8tacpEpEL 7Tpoc; ol/Jo7TOLtac; KaL Tj8v7Ta0eiac;, ~
"" 1 (} ""
'Q /\ ' '
EL7TEp 7TavTwc; EJJOVI\ETO avTa Kat PYJTWc;
3/ / ' e
ELVaL, Kat'
ocra Tpa7TE,OKOJLWV EL7Tliv KaL ol/J07TOLWV Tj8vcrfLaTa.
5 ov yap 8e'i KaTaVTUV EV TOLe; vl/JECTLV ELc; Ta pv7Tapa
KaL E~v{3ptcrfLEVa, av fL~ o-cp68pa V7TO TLVOc; avayKYJc;
~
CTVVOLWKWfLE () a, a/\1\a
/ '\ \ ' ""
'TWV /
7TpayfLaTWV 7TpE7TOL av / .,, KaL'
' A-. ' ~
rae; o/wvac; EXELV
3/
a~ Lac; Kat fLLfLELo- at TYJV OYJfLLovp-
'(;/ ' "" () '

y~cracrav cpvo-Lv TOV avO pw7TOV, ijTLc; EV TJfLLV Ta fLEPYJ

'Ta' a7ToppYJTa
, / , E3/()YJKEV EV
OVK ' 7TpOCTW7T([!
/ ,~'
OVOE Ta TOV
' ""
7TaV'TOc; oyKov 7TEPLYJ0ryJJ.LaTa, 2 a7TEKpvlfiaTO 8€ we; f.v-ryv
' ' ' A-. ""
KaL KaTa TOV t:::.tEVOo/WVTa
1--1
TOVc; ' TOVTWV
/ ~~
OTL 7TOppwTaTW/

OXETOVc; a7TEo-TpEl/JEv, ov8aJ.LiJ KaTaLo-xvvao-a TO TOV

6 ~'\
01\0V r / Ka/\1\0c;.
s([!OV /\ \ '\ \ ' yap
a/\1\a ' OVK
' E7T
' ' ELOOVc;
'~ 3
3 E7TELYEL
' /

ra fLLKp07TOLa 8tapt0fLEtv· 7Tpov7To8e8ELYfLEVWV yap

'TWV ocra evyeve'ic; KaL' vlfJYJA.ovc; f.pya,ETaL TOVc;
\ / ~""\ e
1\0yovc;, OYji\OV we; Tq_' EVaVTLa
' / /
TOVTWV '
Ta7TELVOVc; /
7TOLYJ-
CTEL KaTa' 'TO ' 7TI\ELCT'TOV
\""
KaL' '
aCTXYJfLOVac;.
/

44. 'EKe'ivo fLEVTOL A.ot7Tov EVEKa Tijc; o-Tjc; XPYJo-To-

J.LaOeiac; ovK oKV~CTOfLEV E7TL7Tpoo-0E'ivat 4 <KaL> 5 Ota-
€'
cracpijcrat, TepEVTLav€ cpiA. TaTE, 07TEp ryJTYJo-E TLc; TWV
cptA.ocrocpwv 7Tpoc; <EJ.LE> €vayxoc;, 6 eeOavJ.La J.L' EXEL,"
\ / ee e ' /\
1\EYWV, we; afLEI\EL KaL' ETEpovc;
e / \ \
7TOI\I\OVc;,/ ""
7TWc; 7TOTE

Kara' TOV' YJfLETEpov

e / atwva
' "" 7TL (} avat' fLEV
' '
E7T ' aKpov
'' Kat'
7TOltLTLKai, 8ptfLE'iai TE KaL EVTPEXE'ic; KaL fLUltto-Ta
7Tpoc; Tj8ovac; A.oywv EvcpopoL, vlfJYJAaL 8€ Aiav KaL

So Richards for avrapKYJ OVTW~ P; perhaps avra aKptJ3w~

1

(cf. TUVTU aKpt,f3ij OVTW~' Mazzucchi).

298
i
l

ON THE SUBLIME 43-44

have called them ''heaps of every kind of grain and of all

known aids to cookery and good living,,; or, if he must at
all hazards be explicit, "all the dainties known to caterers
and cooks., One ought not in elevated passages to
descend to what is sordid and contemptible, except under
the severe pressure of necessity, but the proper course is
to suit the words to the dignity of the subject and thus
imitate Nature, the artist that created man. Nature did
not place in full view our dishonourable parts nor the
drains that purge our whole frame, but as far as possible
concealed them and, as Xenophon says, a thrust their
channels into the furthest background, for fear of spoiling
the beauty of the whole creature. There is, however, no
immediate need for enumerating and classifying the fac-
tors of mean style in detail. As we have already laid down
all the qualities that make our utterance noble and sub-
lime, it obviously follows that the opposite of these will
generally make it trivial and ungainly.
44. One problem now remains for solution, my dear
Terentianus, and knowing your love of learning I will not
hesitate to append it-a problem which a certain philoso-
pher recently put to me. "It surprises me,,, he said, "as it
doubtless surprises many others too, how it is that in this
age of ours we find natures that are supremely persuasive
and suited for public life, shrewd and versatile and espe-
cially rich in literary charm, yet really sublime and tran-

a Memorabilia 1.4.6.

2
trEpt/ryfJT,ILara Pearce, for trEpdJT,/LaTa.
3 etr' EtDov') Toll, for EtrLDov').
4
E1TLtrpolffJE'ivaL Manutius for E1TL7TpolffJijvaL.
5 <Ka'i> add. K marg., Manutius.
6
trpo') <elL€> €vayxo') Cobet, for trpolfEvayxo').

299
 LONGINUS
( /{}
V1TEpfLeyE ElS, 11'1\'Y]V Et fLYJ Tt 0"1TaVtOV, OVKETt YEVVWV-
\ ' , / / , / ,...
rl. / / \ / / , / '
Tat o/VO"Et~. TOO"aVTYJ 1\0YWV KOO"fLtKYJ Tt~ E1TEXEt TOV
2 {3iov d¢opia. ~ vT] di'" EcP'YJ ((1Tta-TEVTEOV EKEtvcp T(i>
fJpvAOVfLEVCf, w~ "' 8'Y}fLOKparia TWV fLEya'Awv dyafJT]
rtfJYJv6~, ii
fLOVYJ a-xE8ov Kat a-vv~KfLaa-av oi 1TEpt
'Aoyov~ 8Etvo'i Kat a-vva1T€fJavov; fJp€l/Jat rE yap,
¢aa-iv, iKavT] Ta ¢povf}fLaTa TWV fLEya'Ao¢p6vwv T]
'\ {} / ' , \ / ' (/ ~ / 1 ' /
EJ\EV Epta Kat E1TEJ\1Tta-at Kat afLa otEYELpEtv TO 1Tpo-

fJVfLOV Tij~ 1Tp0~ d'A'A~Aov~ Ept8o~ Kat Tij~ 1TEpt ra

,... ,/...\ / :J/ '~'' /
3 1TpWTELa 'Pti\OTLfLLa~. ETL yE fLYJV oLa Ta 1TpOKELfLEVa
'
EV ,...
TaL~ 11'01\LTELaL~
\ /
E1Ta
:J/
1\U EKaO"TOTE
{} \ ( /
Ta' •\f'VXLKa
'· '
7Tp0-
7EpTJfLaTa TWV PYJTOpwv fLEAETWfLEVa aKOVaTaL Kat
oiov EKTpt{3ETaL Kat TOL~ 1TpayfLaO"L KaTa TO EiKo~
€'AEvfJEpa a-vvEKAafL1TEt. oi 8€ vvv €oiKafLEv" €¢YJ
~:~:1Tat86fLafJE'i~ Eivat 8ovAEta~ 8tKaia~, ro'i~ avTo'i~
:>/{} ' ' ~ / ' (: :JI ,/... / 1: \ ,...
E EO"L Kat E1TLTYJOEVfLaO"LV Es a1Tai\WV ETL 'PPOVYJfLaTWV
/ , , / ':J/ \\/
fLOVOV OVK EVE0"1TapyaVWfLEVOt Kat ayEVO"TOL Kai\1\L-
O"'TOV Kat yoVLfLWTaTOV 1\0YWV
, / \ /
VafLUTO~,
/ '
T'Y]V EJ\EV E-
'\ {}

ptav" EcPYJ (('A€yw, 8t01TEp ov8€v OTL fLTJ KOAaKEc; EK-

4 {3aLVOfLEV fLEya'Ao¢ve'i~." 8ta TOVTO Ta~ fLEV a'A'Aa~
t:l(: ' ' , / / :J/ ,/... ~ "'\ ~'
Es EL~ Kat 1Tt1TTELV Eo/aO"KEV, OOVJ\OV OE fL'Y]-
EL~ OtKETa~

~ / / {} at pYJropa
~: /
oEva ytvEa- · EV'{}'v~ yap
' avasEtv
' r ,. . 2 To' a1Tap-
'

pYJa-iaa-Tov Kat oiov EfL¢povpov V1TO O"VVYJfJEiac; aEt

~ \ / (( t:l / ' , ,... , ' '
KEKOVOVJ\LO"fLEVOV" YJfLLO"V yap 7 apETYJ~ KaTa TOV
5 ('OfLYJpov ((a7Toaivvrat 8ov'Atov ~fLap." ((wa-1TEp oilv,
Ef yE" crYJa-i ((TovTo 1TLO"Tov €a-TLV <o> 3 aKovw, Ta

1 Morus, for CnEA.(}{iv.

2 ava,ELV Weiske, for ava,EL.

300
 ON THE SUBLIME 44

scendent natures are no longer, or only very rarely, now

produced. Such is the universal dearth of literature that
besets our times. Are we really to believe the hackneyed
view that democracy is the kindly nurse of genius and
that-speaking generally-the great men of letters flour-
ished only with democracy and perished with it? Free-
dom, they say, has the power to foster noble minds and to
:fill them with high hopes, and at the same time to rouse
our spirit of mutual rivalry and eager competition for the
foremost place. Moreover, thanks to the prizes which a
republic offers, an orator's intellectual gifts are whetted
by practice, burnished, so to speak, by friction, and share,
as is only natural, the light of freedom which illuminates
the state. But in these days we seem to be schooled from
childhood in an equitable slavery, swaddled, I might say,
from the tender infancy of our minds in the same servile
ways and practices. We never drink from the fairest and
most fertile source of eloquenqe, which is freedom, and
therefore we turn out to be nothing but flatterers on a
grand scale. n This is the reason, he alleged, that, while all
other faculties are granted even to slaves, no slave ever
becomes an orator. According to him, the inability to
speak freely, and the sense of being as it were in prison,
immediately assert themselves, the product of the
repeated beating of habit. As Homer says: "Surely half of
our manhood is robbed by the day of enslavement."a ''And
so," he adds, "if what I hear is true that not only do the

a Odyssey 17.322.
3 <o> add. Pearce.

301
 T

LONGINUS

yAwTTOKOf.ta, EV or~ oi 1TV'Yf.taLOt, KaAOVfLEVOt 8€

1"\ /,./... ' / \ / 1"\ ' \ /
vavot, TPEo/ovTat, ov fLOVOV KWJ\VEt TWV EYKEKJ\ECTfl.,E-
'
vwv Ta~ ' l: YJCTEt~
avs / aJ\J\a ~ ' Tov
' \ \ ' Kat' a-vvapatot 1 ota ' 1TEpt- 1"\

/ 1"\ / ~ / <:1 <:/ ~

KEtfLEVOV TOt~ CTWf.taCTt OECTfLOV, OVTW~ a1raa-av OOV-
AELaV, Kav Yi 8tKatoTaT'YJ, lfivx~~ y'AwTTOKOf.tov KaL
6
' ,,
KOtVOV av Tt~
' ,./... / ~ /
a1TOo/TJVatTO OECTfLWT'Y}ptOV.
" ' '
E'YW fLEVTOt
/

~ \ t:l / 2 cc ~ /~ " ,, ,./... cc ";' t:l /\ ' ,,~

ye V1TOJ\afJwv pq.otov, Eo/YJV w fJEJ\TtCTTE, Kat totov
'(} /
av pw1rov TO' KaTafLEf.to/Ea-
/,./... (}
at Ta' ' '
aet /
1rapovTa <:/
• opa
8€ f.t~ 1TOTE ovx T] T~~ olKOVfLEVYJ~ elp~VYJ 8ta4>(}eipet
' /\ ,./.../ \' ~' 1"\\\ c /
Ta~ fLEyaJ\a~ o/VCTEt~, 1TOJ\V OE f.taJ\1\0V 0 KaTEXWV
c 1"\ ' ' (} / ' / c ' /\
YJfLWV Ta~ E1Tt Vf.tta~ a1TEptopta-TO~ OVTOCTt 1TOJ\Ef.t0~,

{.:l/
Kat' VYJ' uta
A / '
1rp0~
/
TOVT(f! Ta' o/povpoVVTa
,./...
TOV VVV fJtOV 1"\ ' 1"\

' ' ,, ,, ' ,./... / ' /(} c

Kat KaT aKpa~ ayovTa· Kat o/epovTa TaVTt 1ra 'YJ· YJ
yap cptAOXP'YJf.taTLa, 1rp0~ i}v U1TaVTE~ a1TA~CTTW~ 7}8'Y}
voa-OVfLEV, KaL Y] cpt'AYJ8ovia 8ov'Aaywyova-t, f.ta'A'Aov
8€, w~ av EL1T0t Tt~, KaTa{3v(}i,ova-tv avTav8pov~ ~8'YJ
TOV~ fJtOv~·
' Q/ ,./... \ /
o/tJ\apy"!pta '
fLEV <yap
' >3 VOCTTJf.ta
/ f.ttKp0-
7 1TOtov, cptAYJ8ov£a 8' ayevvEa-TaTov. ov 8~ exw 'Aoyt-
'OfLEVO~ EVpELV, w~ oi6v TE 1TAOVTOV dopta-TOV EKTtfl.,f,-
a-aVTa~, TO 0~' aJ\'Y} ElfTEpOV Et1TEtV, EK
' '\ (} / ' 1"\ ' (}
Etaa-aVTa~,
/
Ta '

.It ' ~
,./...
lfVf.to/V'YJ TOVT(f! KaKa 1"\ / ' '
Et~ Ta~ 'rvxa~
'
'YJfLWV 1"\
E1TEtlftOVTa ' /

fl.,~ 1Tapa8€xea-(}at. aKo'Aov(}el, yap Tip afLETPCf!

\/ ''
1TJ\OVT(f! Kat aKOJ\alfT(f! lfVV'Y}f.tfLEVYJ Kat to-a, o/aa-t,
\/ / ,,, ,./... /

{.:l / \ /\ ' <:I ' / ' /

fJatvova-a 1TOJ\VTEJ\Eta, Kat af.ta avotyovTo~ EKEtvov
/~ 4 Ef.tfJatVEt
' t:l /
1"\
TWV 1TOJ\EWV Kat OtKWV /\ ' ,,
Ta~
' '
EtCTOOOV~ EV '(}'
V~

Kat
' lfVVOtKt~ETat.
/r XPOVtlfaVTa
/ ~'
OE TaVTa
1"\ '
EV TOt~ fJtOt~
1"\ a/

1 o-vvapatot Schmidt for o-vvapot.

302
 ON THE SUBLIME 44

cages in which they keep the pygmies or dwarfs, as they

are called, stunt the growth of their prisoners, but enfee-
ble them by the bonds applied to their bodies, on the
same principle all slavery, however equitable, might well
be described as a cage for the soul, a common prison. n
However I took him up and said, "It is easy, my good
friend, and it is characteristic of human nature always to
find fault with things as they are at the moment. But con-
sider. Perhaps it is not the world's peace that corrupts
great natures but much rather this endless warfare which
besets our hearts, yes, and these passions that garrison
our lives in present days and make utter havoc of them. It
is the love of money, that insatiable sickness from which
we all now suffer, and the love of pleasure, that enslave
us, or rather one might say, sink our ship of life with all
hands; for love of gold is a withering sickness, and love of
pleasure utterly ignoble. Indeed, I cannot discover on
consideration how, if we valu~ boundless wealth, or to
speak more truly, make a god of it, we can possibly keep
our minds safe from the intrusion of the evils that accom-
pany it. In close company with vast and unconscionable
Wealth there follows, cstep for step,' as they say, a Extrava-
gance: and no sooner has the one opened the gates of
cities or houses, than the other comes and makes a home
there too. And when they have spent some time in our

a Cf. Demosthenes, Oration 19.314.

2 1nroA.af3wv Buhler, for 1nroAafLf3avw.

3 <yap> add. Spengel.
4 evOvc; Mathews, for elc; ac;.

303
 LONGINUS
r
I

""'
VEO'T'T07TOtEt'Tat Ka'Ta' 'TOV~ ' A..' '
CTO'POV~ Kat TaXEW~ YEVO-
/ /

fLEVa 7TEpt 'TEKV07Tottav aAa,OVEtav 'TE YEVVWCTt Kat

Tvcpov Kat Tpvcprr}v, ov v6()a f.avTwv yEvvry}f.LaTa dA.A.a
Kat' 7TaVV YVYJCTta. EaV
/ / ,, OE ~'
Kat' 'TOV'TOV~ 'Tl8 'TOV""' 7TI\OV-
/ \ /

'TOV Tov~ €Kyovov~ El~ ~AtKiav €A.()liv €acrn, Tax€w~

8ECT7TO'Ta~. TaL~ lflvxa'i~ EV'TLK'TOV(TtV a7Tapat'TrrJ'TOV~,
8 v~'(3 ptv Kat' 7TapaVOf.Ltav / Kat' 'avatcrxvvTtav. / Tav'Ta""' yap '
ovTw~ dvayKYJ yivEcr()at Kat f.LYJKE'Tt Tov~ dv()pw7Tov~
dvaf3 AE7TEtv fL YJ8' VCT'TEpocpYJ fLLa ~ 1 'TEAEcr tov pyE'icrO at
Ka'T' oA.[yov 'T~V 'TWV {3iwv 8tacp0opav, cpOivEtV 8€ Kat
/ (}
Ka'Taf.LapatVECT at 'Ta' .I.
'rVXtKa' f.LEYE/(} 'YJ Kat' as
3/ I \
'YJAa /
ytVE-
cr(}at, ~VLKa 'Ta ()VYJ'Ta f.av'TWV f.LEPYJ Kat aVOYJ'Ta 2 EK-
9 eav/La,OtEV, 7TapEV'TE~ av~ELV Taeava'Ta. ov yap E7Tt
/ / ~ () ' ' .,, 3/ ~
""' / '
KptCTEL f.LEV 'TL~ OEKaCT EL~ OVK av E'TL 'TWV OtKatWV Kat

KaAwv. EAEv0Epo~ Kat vy~-~~ av Kpt'T~~ YEVOL'TO

( dvayKYJ yap Tip 8wpo86.K4J Ta olKE'ia f.LEV cpaivEcrOat
Kal\a\ ' Kat' OLKata ~/ 3) , 07TOV
~~ ~' e ""' e /
OE YJfLWV EKaCT'TOV 'TOV~
,

oAov~ ~8'YJ {3iov~ 8'EKaCTfLOt {3pa{3EVOV(Tt Kat d'AA.o-

TPLWV ()T]pat eava'TWV Kat €v€8pat tua()YJKWV, 'TO 8' EK
TOV 7TavTo~ KEp8aivEtv wvovfLEOa TTJ~ lflvxf}~ EKacrTo~
7Tpo~ 71}~ <cptAOXP'YJf.La'Tta~> 4 ~v8pa7To8tcrf.LEVOt, dpa
8~ €v Ti] 'TOCTaVTYJ AOtf.LtKi} 'TOV {3iov 8tacp0opii: 8oKov-
fLEV E'Tt €A.Ev()Epov 'Ttva KptTi}v Twv fLEyaA.wv T] DtYJ-
KovTwv 7Tpo~ 'TOV alwva Ka8EKaCTTov 5 a7TOAEAEtcp0at
Kat IL~ KaTapxatpEcrta,EcrOat 7Tpo~ Ti]~ Tov 7TAEovE-
""' ' (} / ' \ \ ' / / '? /
10 K'TELV E7Tt VfLLa~; a/\1\a f.LYJ7TO'TE 'TOtOV'TOl8, OLOL 7TEp

304
 ON THE SUBLIME 44

lives, philosophers tell us, they build a nest therea and

promptly set about begetting children; these are Swagger
and Conceit and Luxury, no bastards but their true born
issue. And if these offspring of wealth are allowed to
grow to maturity, they soon breed in our hearts inexorable
tyrants, Insolence and Disorder and Shamelessness. This
must inevitably happen, and men no longer then look
upwards nor take any further thought for future fame.
Little by little the ruin of their lives is completed in the
cycle of such vices, their greatness of soul wastes away
and dies and is no longer something to strive for, since
they value that part of them which is mortal and foolish,
and neglect the development of their immortal part. A
man who has been bribed for his verdict can no longer
give an unbiased and sound judgement on what is just and
fair (for the corrupt judge inevitably regards his own
interest as fair and just). So, seeing that the whole life of
each one of us is now governed. wholly by bribery and by
hunting after other people's deaths and laying traps for
legacies, and we have sold our souls for profit at any price,
slaves that we all are to our greed, can we then expect in
such pestilential ruin of our lives that there is left a single
free and unbribed judge of the things that are great and
last to all eternity? Are we not all corrupted by our pas-
sion for gain? Nay, for such as we are perhaps it is better

a Cf. Plato, Republic 9.573C.

2 Kat aVOYJTa Toup, for KWTTaVYJTa.

3 Spengel, with reason, suspected a lacuna here: the sense
of the missing words would be "but other people's interests
improper." 4 <cptA.oxpYJfJ-aTia~> add. Toll.
5 KaDEKacrTov Toll, for Ka0€KacrTov

305
 LONGINUS
r
EO"fLEV ~fLElS, afLEtVOV apxEa-eat ~ EAEv(}€pot~ Etvat•
, ' , .r/... (} Eta-at
""' ~ ~
E7TEt70t/'E ao/E TO' O"VVOI\OV,
' \ W~ Es
'C EtpKTYJ~
""' '' .r/...
ao/E-
' ""' \ , ~ \ C' .,, ' \ ,
TOt, KaTa TWV 1TI\Y}O"tOV at 7T/\EOVEs tat KaV E1TtKI\V-
~'\ ~' ~ /
11 O"EtaV l ""'
TOt~ KaKOt~
""' '
TYJV ' /
OtKOVfLEVYJV. 01\W~ OE oa1Ta-
VOV2 E.cpYJv Eivat rwv vvv yEvvwfL€vwv cpva-Ewv T~v
pfJ:(}VfLtav, Yl 1TA~v oAtywv 1TUVTE~ f.yKaTaj3tOVfLEV,
OVK ' ,, \ \a/\1\W~ 1TOVOVVTE~
""' ., ' \ f3 /
YJ aVal\afL aVOVTE~ Et
' fLY}' E1Tat-
' /
VOV KaL ~8ov-ry~ f.vEKa, dA.A.a IL~ T-ry~ '~A.ov KaL TtfL-ry~
12 d~ia~ 1TOTE wcpEAEta~." ~~KpaTtO"TOV ELK-ry TavT' E.av,"
E1TL 8€ Ta O"VVEX-ry xwpE'iv· ljv 8€ TaVTa Ta 1TU(}YJ, 1TEpL
Cbv E.v l8i 41 1rpoYJyovfL€vw~ v1TEa-xofLEea ypalj;Etv v1To-
fLV~fLaTt, UTE 3 T~V TE TOV aAAov Aoyov KaL aVTOV TOV
~',It ~ ~ ""'
v._,.,ov~
""'
fLOtpav ' '
E1TEXOVTWV, wr; Y}fLtV . ... 4

1 E7TLKAl)(TEtav Markland, for E7TLKUVO"Etav

2 8a1ravov Toll, for Da1ravwv
3
aTEMazzucchi foro.
4 The next few words can only be guessed; perhaps ELPYJTaL,
/
KpaTLO"TYJV ...

306
 ON THE SUBLIME 44

to have a master than to be free. Were it given complete

liberty, like released prisoners, as it were, to prey on our
neighbours, greed would swamp the world in a deluge of
evils. In fact," I said, "what wastes the talents of the pre-
sent generation is the idleness in which all but a few of us
pass our lives, only exerting ourselves or showing any
enterprise for the sake of getting praise or pleasure out of
it, never from the honourable and admirable motive of
doing good to the world.,, ''Ifs best to let this be,,a and
pass on to the next question, which is that of the Emo-
tions, a topic on which I previously undertook to write a
separate treatise, for they seem to me to form part of the
general subject of literature and especially of sublimity

[The rest is lost. ]

a Euripides, Electra 379.

307
r
 DEMETRIUS
ON STYLE

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY

D 0 R E E N C. I N N E S

BASED ON THE TRANSLATION BY

W. RHYS ROBERTS
r
I
!
 INTRODUCTION

On Style may well be the earliest post-Aristotelian

treatise on literary theory to survive complete; and even if
it is not, it is an important early source on an exceptionally
wide range of topics. In contrast to the more stimulating
but idiosyncratic Aristotle>s Poetics and Longinus> On the
Sublime, it is not likely to be highly innovative, 1 but that
in itself makes On Style a particularly useful introduction
and guide to our understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of classical literary criticism.
The author· gives us our most extensive surviving
account of the theory of styles, ·a particularly popular
framework for critical analysi~ and judgment, and he does
so in a complex theory of four styles for which we have no
exact parallel. He also gives succinct, clear, and usually
· perceptive accounts of standard topics such as sentence
theory and metaphor, and shows a more personal interest

NoTE. I thank Donald Russell and Rudolf Kassel for their

benevolent and helpful comments on this introduction and the
text respectively.
1 See § 179, where Demetrius is .. forced" to be original

because no one else has treated the subject before; he also fails
to integrate some of his disparate sources, especially in the ele-
. gant style. His strength is in analysis of individual topics and
examples.

311
 INTRODUCTION

in less usual topics, such as the letter, music, and acting,

and in less usual authors, such as Sophron, Ctesias, and
Demades. Theory is consistently illustrated with typically
brief and well-chosen examples, and in contrast to many
of our other sources, particularly in Latin, there is no bias
towards oratory.

Date and authorship

The author of On Style is conventionally called Deme-
trius. The most famous critic by this name is Demetrius
of Phaleron (ca. 360-280 B.C.), the student of Aristotle
who governed Athens 317-307 B.C. and wrote on anum-
ber of literary and rhetorical subjects, 2 and On Style is
mistakenly attributed to him in the superscription of the
tenth-century manuscript P. 3 But this attribution is a
later _addition, as we can see from the simpler version in
the subscription of the same manuscript, UDemetrius On
Stylen (~YJfLYJTpiov 7TEpt EPfLYJVELac;). This will be the
original text. Demetrius is also the form in the few earlier
references to name the author of On Style. 4 The eventual

2
The fragments are edited by F. Wehrli, Die Schule des Aris-
toteles vol. 4 [Basell968]).
3
o
AYJJLYJTpiov <l>aAYJpEw~ 7TEp'i EPJLYJVEta~, E(JT~ 7TEp'i £/Jpa-
(JEW~ (so also N and H; on the manuscripts see below).
Manuscript attributions are in any case unreliable, as we can see
from P's misattribution of Aristotle's Rhetoric to Dionysius and
the similar problem of "Longinus".
4 Probably first in the fourth to fifth centuries in Syrianus, In

Hermog. com,m. 1.99-100 Rabe; then in the sixth century by

Ammonius' commentary on Aristotle's De Interpretatione
(Comm. 'in Arist. Graeca 4.5), p. 4 Busse, and Phoebammon,

312
 INTRODUCTION

identification of a Demetrius with the most famous critic

by that name was probably inevitable (and may well have
ensured the work,s survival), but it has no authority, and
seems in any case inconsistent with the way in which
Demetrius of Phaleron is cited in§ 289. We cannot even
be sure that the author was called Demetrius; if so, it was
a common name, and no identification with any specific
Demetrius is possible.
The date of the work is equally uncertain, and contro-
versy continues. For much of this century scholars
favoured a date in the first century A.D. (especially
Roberts and Radermacher), but more recently scholars
have argued for an earlier date; so ca. 270 B.C. (Grube),
second century B.C. (Morpurgo Tagliabue), late second or
early first century B.C. (Chiron), and a reworking in the
first century A.D. of contents reflecting the second or early
first century B.C. ( Schenkeveld). I would agree with this
growing consensus that the contents at least do not pre-
clude and may best reflect the second century B.C. Firm
evidence is, however, hard to find since we have no com-
plete texts and only fragmentary knowledge of literary
and rhetorical theory between Aristotle and authors of
the first century B.C., a period including Theophrastus,
On Style (1TEp'i AE~Ew~) and the development of the
theories of styles, tropes, and figures which we see in the

Proleg. Syll. 377 Rabe. More frequently authorship is vaguely

ascribed to "the ancients". Grube 53-54 suggests that the report
of Demetrius of Phaleron's criticism of the long periods of
!socrates' followers in Philodemus, Rhet. 1.198 Sudhaus = F 169
Wehrli refers to On Style § 303, but !socrates is not mentioned
there, and we have similar contexts in other surviving fragments
of Demetrius ofPhaleron (cf. F 161-68 Wehrli).
313
 INTRODUCTION

works of Cicero and his contemporaries. 5 Textbooks are

also prone to conservatism, so that early material may not
prove early date, and "updating" revisions 6 may produce
isolated later references which prove nothing about the
rest of the work.
The latest known persons 7 to be named in On Style
are roughly of the first half of the third century B.C.: Prax-
iphanes, Sotades, Demetrius of Phaleron, and Clitarchus
(§§57, 189, 289, and 304), and the references to Deme-
trius and Sotades both suggest a date after their deaths.
Grube stresses the number of quotations from authors
of the fourth and early third century B.C., but we may
compare two other texts with an unusual range, the Anti-
atticist and Rutilius Lupus. 8 Equally striking, and to be
5 Particularly Ad Herennium IV (probably 86-82 B.c.), and
Cicero, especially De Oratore (54 B.c.) and Orator (46 B.C.).
6
A possible example: § 38 ovTrep vvv Aoytov ovof.La,ovcrtv.
On Aoyto~ see note 22. ·
7 But likely to be somewhat later are Archedemus and Arte-

mon (§§ 34-35, 223), both perhaps second century B.C.; see Chi-
ron, p. xxxiii and J. M. Rist, "Demetrius the Stylist and Artemon
the Compiler," Phoenix 18 (1964) 2-8. Reference to the Augus-
tan critic Theodorus of Gadara, in § 237, is very doubtful, and
the context suggests a historian, not a critic. Chronological
deductions in general depend also on whether Demetrius cited
contemporaries, as Aristotle did, or followed the usual later prac-
tice of citing earlier authors.
8 Text of the former in Anecdota Graeca 1.77-116 Bekker

(Berlin 1814) and of the latter in Rhetores Latini Minores 3-21

Halm (Leipzig 1863), also ed. E. Brooks (Leiden 1970); Rutilius
based his treatise on figures of speech on the Greek critic Gor-
gias the Younger, who lived in the late first century B.C. and early
first century A.D.

314
 INTRODUCTION

explained by Demetrius' Peripatetic sympathies, is the

focus on examples from the circles of Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle. 9
The claim in § 179 to be the first to discuss elegant
composition, y'Aacpvpa (ruvfJE(TtS, implies ignorance of
the treatment of this topic in Dionysius, De Camp. Verb.
23, written some time after 30 B.C. This fits the absence
of other standard later material. In particular, there is no
mention of a three-style theory in the defence of four
styles against those who allow only two (§§ 36-37); 10 and
Demosthenes is virtually restricted to the forceful style in
contrast to his later preeminence as the master of all
styles, a position generally acknowledged by the time of
Cicero (e.g. De Or. 3.199; cf. e.g. DH. Dem. 8). This
partly results from Demetrius' recognition of indepen-
dent grand and forceful styles and the parallel virtual
restriction of political oratory to the forceful style, but
even there Demosthenes is givep no special praise com-
parable to that of Thucydides for the grand style, the
"divine" Sappho for charm, and Aristotle for the letter
(§§ 40, 127, and 230).
Perhaps most tantalising of all is the question of De-
metrius' relationship to Aristotle and the early Peripatos.
Is it exceptionally close, does it have implications for the
9 Cf. §§ 296-98 with the choice of three philosophical styles
from Aristippus, Xenophon, and Socrates in contrast to Zeno,
Diogenes, and Socrates in Epictetus 3.21.19 and 23.33; and per-
haps the interest in Demades (§§ 282-86, cf. Theophr. F 706
Fortenbaugh).
10 See further below. But conversely the silence about four

styles in Cicero, Dionysius, and others proves nothing, since they

also ignore the (different) four-style theory mentioned in
Philodemus, Rhet. 1.165 Sudhaus.
315
 INTRODUCTION
I
I

date, and did Demetrius know Aristotle's writings direct-

ly, or through intermediaries? A Peripatetic debt is to
some extent inevitable, since the early Peripatos, espe-
cially Aristotle and Theophrastus, was exceptionally influ-
ential in the development of critical theory; 11 but it is
striking that the only critics named in On Style are either
Peripatetics (Aristotle, Theophrastus, and Praxiphanes),
or appear in contexts closely linked to Aristotle (Archede-
mus and Artemon). It seems also a sign of special admira-
tion that the Peripatetics head the authors praised for
elegance (§ 181), while Aristotle himself is supreme at
letter-writing ( § 230), and, if the text is sound, heads the
authors illustrating comic charm ( § 126). Yet the refer-
ence to the Peripatetics also suggests that Demetrius was
not himself one, and could look back on the early Peri-
patos as an identifiable group with a shared elegance of
style (cf. Cic. Orator 127).
Aristotle's influence is .particularly strong in the discus-
sion of the clause and period ( §§ 1-35), prose rhythm
(§§ 38-43), metaphor ( §§ 78ff), frigidity ( § 116, where the
text of the Rhetoric even allows us to fill a lacuna), and
clarity ( §§ 191ff, including the distinction between writ-
ing and oral delivery). But it is not clear that Demetrius
had read Aristotle. None of the four apparently direct
quotations ( §§ 11, 34, 38, 116) is verbally exact, and
though the usual practice of quotation from memory and
adaptation to the new context may explain the discrepan-
cies, it is troubling that the quotation in § 38 distorts Ar.
Rhet. 1408b32ff in a way that implies later theory on the
11 E.g. Cic. De Or. 1.43. See F. Solmsen, "The Aristotelian
Tradition in Ancient Rhetoric," American Journal of Philology 62
(1941) 35-50 and 169-90 (on style especially 43ff and 181ff).
316
 INTRODUCTION

grandeur of the paean (cf. Cic. Orator 197, a contrast of

the iamb of the plain style with the grander paean, «paean
autem in amplioribus").
Demetrius has been accused of a fundamental misun-
derstanding of Aristotle's theory of the period (§§ 10ff),
but this depends on a doubtful and controversial inter-
pretation of Aristotle. More plausibly, Demetrius may
confuse a detail (see on § 12, a confusion of terminology),
but he rightly interprets Aristotle, 12 while also following
later theory. There is agreement on the fundamental
point, that a period is a unit of thought, a structured
whole where thought and form end together. The differ-
ences are that Aristotle confined the period to one or two
clauses (a restriction Demetrius explicitly rejects in § 34),
and favoured periods with antithesis and/or assonance,
typically illustrated from !socrates. Demetrius first
defines and illustrates the period in accordance with post-
Aristotelian theory (§ 10), 13 with focus on the ending and
an example which is from Demosthenes and shows con-

12 See R. A. Fowler, "A~istotle on the Period," Classical

Quarterly 32 (1982) 89-99, and D. C. Innes, "Period and Colon:
Theory and Example in Demetrius and Longinus," Rutgers Uni-
versity Studies in Classical Humanities VI, New Brunswick
(1994). For a contrary view, that for Aristotle it is not the
thought but prose-rhythm that shapes a period, see J. Zehet-
meier, "Die Periodenlehre des Aristoteles," Philologus 83 (1930)
192-208, 255-84, 414-36, and Schenkeveld, Ch. II, especially
pp. 28ff.
13 E.g. Hermogenes 178 Rabe, "A period is an independent

(av7o7EA€s) shaping of a whole thought in verbal form, succinctly

brought to a conclusion ((J"VJJTOfJ-W~ a1TYJPTL(J"fJ-EVov), and suc-
cinct hyperbata in it shape periods well."

317
 INTRODUCTION r
spicuous hyperbaton. Only then does he bring in Aristo-
tle ( § 11). Aristotelian influence is then seen particularly
in periods with parallelism of structure (§§ 22ff), in some
of the terminology (e.g. § 12 KaTecrrpafLf-LEVYJ) and in the
inclusion of the one-clause period ( § 17). 14 Yet other
vocabulary is post-Aristotelian (e.g. a1TYJpTtCTf-LEVoc;, Kv-
KAoc;, 1TEptaywyTj), as is the upper limit of four clauses,
and the three types of period (§§ 16 and 19-21).15 So too
"enthymeme>> in §§ 30-33 has the Aristotelian meaning,
but some of the terminology is later, as is the possible
confusion with the epiphoneme in § 109 (we may com-
pare Quint. 8.5.11, where the enthymeme may be used
for decorative purpose, added "epiphonematis modo").
Demetrius also gives strong personal endorsement in§ 15
to a moderate use of periods, a formulation which sug-
gests the Peripatetic mean but is not in Aristotle.
This combination of material from Aristotle modified
by later theory is typical. In §§ 78ff, for example, the the-
ory of metaphor16 shows' strong Aristotelian influence,
14 A type unimportant in later theory, but cf. Quint. 9.4.124,
with the same criteria of length and rounding, "simplex, cum
sensus unus longiore ambitu circumducitur." See also Hermo-
genes in the next note.
15 In itself a triad found only here, but compare the looser
style of philosophy and the distinction of periods for history and
rhetoric in Cic. Orator 62ff. For the number of clauses, cf. Her-
mogenes 180 Rabe, "There are single-clause periods; there are
also two-clause and three-clause periods, formed from <two or>
three clauses, and a four-clause period formed from four clauses;
and a clause is a thought brought to a conclusion." Cic. Orator
221 and Quint. 9.4.125 allow more than four.
16 For a more detailed analysis see Schenkeveld, Ch. IV;

D. C. Innes, "Cicero On Tropes," Rhetorica 6 (1988) 307-25;

318
 INTRODUCTION

but adds material which is found elsewhere in later the-

ory, especially on the simile and dead metaphors; and
metaphor from adding a privative adjective ( § 85) is
unimportant in later theory and so likely to reflect a spe-
cial interest in Aristotle, who provides the example: yet
Demetrius adds the author's name, Theognis. In similar
minor modifications Aristotle provides the theory and
some but not all the examples in§§ 22ff and 116.
Some of these adaptations may derive from Theo-
phrastus, for example the grandeur of the paean (cf. § 41).
There are four explicit references to him(§§ 41, 114, 173,
and 222). He is also the likely source for the analysis of
wit and charm in the elegant style, and he or other early
Peripatetics for the interest in delivery, and the recurrent
sequences of topics analysed under diction and compo-
sition.l7
The theory of figures and tropes in On Style is less
developed than that found in Ad Herennium and in
Cicero, who dismissively assumes a familiarity with end-
less lists of figures (De Or. .3.200). Some specifically Stoic
influence is likely here, perhaps especially in the figures
in the forceful style, the only style in which Demetrius
distinguishes figures of speech and thought, §§ 263ff). 18

Marsh McCall, Ancient Rhetorical Theories of the Simile and

Comparison, Cambridge, Mass. 1969. For an interesting Peri-
patetic fragment of ca. 200 B.C. see Pap. Hamburg 128, discussed
by D. M. Schenkeveld, Zeitschrift fiir Papyrologie und
Epigraphik 97 (1993) 67-80.
17 See F. Solmsen, "Demetrios 1rep'i epp..'YJVELa~ und sein peri-
patetisches Quellenmaterial," Hermes 66 (1931) 241-67;
Schenkeveld, pp. 21ff.
18 See Schenkeveld, Chs. V and VI. Given the Stoic praise of

319
 INTRODUCTION

The Stoics also influence his theory of neologism, the

vocabulary for some terms of grammar in §§ 60, 201, and
214, and possibly the use of da-rEto<; = "good" in § 114
and p.,Era¢opa 1TAEova,ova-a, the definition of the simile
in § 80.19 Archedemus ( § 34) may well be the Stoic
Archedemus, and Chrysippus (280-207 B.C.) may be the
source of the proverbs in § 172. But these Stoic traces are
superficial or in language theory, an area where the Stoics
influenced all later theory. What we have, then, in On
Style is a work showing unusually strong and evident
Peripatetic influence, but an influence often adapted and
supplemented to fit standard later theory. As we shall
see, it is also set into a very different conceptual frame-
work of four styles.
Finally, there is linguistic evidence, an uncertain
guide since we know too little about standard, educated
Hellenistic prose, in particular the beginnings of linguis-
tic Atticism, the conscious imitation of classical Attic
Greek. But in terms of our current state of knowledge
such Atticism is less .likely as early as the second century
B.C.; yet some signs of it are to be seen in Demetrius, as in

brevity, Stoic origin may also lie behind the second series of
items on arrangement in§§ 103-5 and 253-.58, brevity, aposiope-
sis, and cacophony. But much about Stoic theory of style
remains obscure and controversial: see C. Atherton, "Hand over
Fist: the Failure of Stoic Rhetoric," Classical Quarterly 38
(1988) 392-427.
19 On grammar see Schenkeveld, p. 137 (but Peripatetic

interest in connectives is seen in Theophr. F 683 Fortenbaugh

and Praxiphanes, quoted in §55). For ao-TELO~, cf. e.g. SVF
iii.674 (Chrysippus), and for the definition of the simile, cf. opfL~
1TAEova,ovo-a, the Stoic definition of emotion, e.g. SVF iii.130.

320
 INTRODUCTION

the use of the dual for forms other than ovo

and af-Lcpw, 20
and the preposition af-Lcf>L,21 in § 288. Vocabularly, how-
ever, is in general not decisive, since many forms which
used to be thought "late" have been found to have early
instances or comparable forms (see the valuable lists in
Grube, Appendix I; Schenkeveld, p. 145, n. 1). The most
interesting are the few terms specifically said to be recent
usages, Aoyto~ of grandeur in § 38, 22 and the group
KaKO,YJAo~, KaKO,YJAia, and ( § 239) ~'YJPOKaKO,YJAia.
The last is attested only here, and it is tempting to relate it
to the "novum genus cacozeliae" which a hostile contem-
porary attributes to Virgil (Donatus, Vit. Virg. 44), a new
affectation said to be neither swollen nor arid but pro-
duced from ordinary words and so less obvious. There
may then be a few points of language to suggest a date of
composition as late as the early first century B.C.
20 Particularly striking in Demetrius are the examples in
§§ 36 (two verbs) and 235 (genitives); see Chiron, p. xxiii,
Schenkeveld, p. 140. Aristotl~ has only one dual involving a
verb, Polybius has none, and seems the last to use the genitive
dual. Later use of the dual was a choice artificial revival, to our
knowledge first in the second half of the first century B.C. There
are two examples of rw xeZpe in the scholarly Parthenius, verbs
and genitives seem to occur first in Dionysius, and verbal forms
are rare even in Atticist authors.
21 See Schenkeveld, p. 144. It has disappeared already from

Aristotle, Parthenius has one example, Dionysius about thirty.

22 See E. Orth, Logios, Leipzig, 1926; Grube, p. 150. It is

first securely used meaning "eloquent" in Philo, and linked with

grandeur perhaps first in the period of Plutarch, e.g. Mor. 350c.
But see also note 6.

321
 INTRODUCTION
I
I

Structure
The overall structure of On Style is clear and methodical,
a preliminary account of sentence theory(§§ 1-35), fol-
lowed by analysis of four styles: the grand, elegant, plain,
and forceful ( §§ 36-304). In the absence of any formal
introduction or conclusion, these may seem two indepen-
dent accounts, but there are links and cross references
(e.g. §§ 6 and 121, §§ 7-9 and 241-42), and the first, a
useful preliminary to a topic common to all the styles in
the second part, is too long to fit within any one style: con-
trast, for example, the inclusion of general remarks on
prose rhythm, metaphor, and neologism on their first
occurrence within the grand style ( §§ 38 and 78ff), clarity
and vividness within the plain style ( §§ 191 and 209ff),
and forms of open and oblique rebuke in the forceful
style(§§ 287ff).
Clauses and periods are analysed in an orderly text-
book progression of top'ics (§§ 1-35). 23 The unusually
detailed account of the clause (§§ 1-9) moves from origin
and definition to appropriate use of long and short
clauses, while the period is analysed under definition, ori-
gin and history, length, and subtypes, with remarks inter-
spersed on use. Finally, there are two appendices, revert-
ing to definition ( §§ 34-35), just as additional topics tend
to follow the main analysis in the individual styles.
After a preliminary defence of the four-style theory,
Demetrius analyses each of the four styles in turn. Each.
ends with a brief discussion of its faulty counterpart, the
23
Cf. e.g. Cic. Orator 174. The sequence of definition and
use is natural and common, cf. §§ 22-29, M. Fuhrmann, Das sys-
tematische Lehrbuch, Gottingen 1960.
322
 INTRODUCTION

frigid, affected, arid, and unpleasant, and, with the partial

exception of the elegant style, each is analysed under the
same three aspects of diction, composition, and con-
tent. 24 This basic structure is seen at its simplest in the
brief accounts of the faulty styles, in the grand style, and,
if we remove the digressions, the plain style (§§ 190-91
and 204-8). In the forceful style the three headings are
covered in §§ 240-76, but then comes a ragbag of extras:
further figures of speech, Demades, forms of rebuke, and
disapproval of hiatus. The elegant style is more compli-
cated and in part confused by the immediate subdivision
of two types of charm, the gracefully poetic and the wit-
tilycomic (§§ 128-31), and-an intrusion from traditional
accounts of wit-analysis under two headings of style and
content (§§ 132-62, cf. Cic. De Or. 2.248). Af.tts, nor-
mally diction, now includes some topics of arrangement
(and then in §.§ 142-45 is confusingly restricted to single
words). At this point the main. discussion seems con-
cluded, since appendices follow on the differences
between charm and laughter, appropriate and inappropri-
ate use of gibes(§§ 163-72), and on Theophrastus~ defini-
tion of beautiful words and musical theory (§§ 173-78). 25
But then we find elegant arrangement, y A.acf>vpa crvv0E-
o-ts (§§ 179-85), as if Demetrius had noticed a gap and
wished to complete his usual structure of three aspects.
24 The three headings are traditional, and all appear in the
context of the styles in Ad Herennium 4.8.11 and Cic. Orator 20.
1
Further use of traditional material appears in the recurrent
l series of items found under diction and arrangement, where at
I
i
least the opening items show Peripatetic influence (see note 17).
25 This amplifies the reference to beautiful words in § 164, a
·
good example of how appendices would often be footnotes in
modern texts.
323
 INTRODUCTION

This final section apologises for originality, and reintro-

duces the generic term for the style, yAacpvpo~, which
with one exception ( § 138) had been OUSted by xapL~ and
cognates. Taken together with the other structural pecu-
liarities, it confirms that Demetrius adopted and modified
an aCCOUnt of xapL~ because he had no detailed model
for his elegant style.

The four styles

The early history of the theory of styles, xapaKTijpE~, is
obscure and controversial, particularly the contribution of
Theophrastus, but the fundamental criterion is propriety,
TO TrPETrov: certain subjects fit certain styles, and viola-
tion of this is normally a fault (e.g. § 120). A division into
two styles, grand and plain, is found already in Aristo-
phanes~ Frogs, where Euripides is accused of using an
unsuitably plain style, tpough "great ideas and thoughts
must father equally great WOrds" (1058-59, aVU')IKYJ
JLE"yaAwv '}'VWJLWV Kat 8LaVOLWV La-a Kat Ta pf]JLaTa
TLKTELV). This match of content and form is why the the-
ory of styles regularly gives content an integral place, as in
Cicero, Orator 100, an example of a three-style theory,
the standard number in the Roman period: ccthe true ora-
tor can express humble subjects in a plain style, elevated
subjects in a weighty style, and intermediate subjects in a
middle style." The emphasis is however on style, and
Demetrius, discussion of suitable subject matter is always
brief. Since the choice of style depends on appropriate
context, all the styles are equally valid, and though he
rather scorns the plain style ( § 207), Demetrius expresses
no preference (nor does Ad Herennium 4.8.llff; contrast

324
 INTRODUCTION

the supremacy of the grand style for the orator in Cic.

Orator97).
The analysis of styles has two functions: to evaluate
existing writers and to instruct the future writer. Both are
normally present, though one may predominate. Deme-
trius is primarily prescriptive (he uses many imperatives
and futures), whereas, for exa1nple, Dionysius' Demos-
thenes is analytic. Individual authors may also be classi-
fled under a specific style, as Demetrius may implicitly
classify Thucydides under the grand style, while other
authors such as Homer and Plato will control and mix
more than one style (§ 37; compare Demosthenes' mas-
tery of all three styles in Cic. Orator 26). But these two
functions are difficult to disentangle when past authors
are analysed to provide models for the present.
Demetrius' formulation of four styles is in itself unusual,
but its nature and use are not essentially different from
the formulations of other critics. 26
We can distinguish various strands in the development
1
of the styles found in De:q1etrius. The theory of two
styles, grand and plain, remained influential (e.g. Cic.
Brutus 201), and as he almost admits in §§ 36-37, this is
where Demetrius derives his four styles, by subdividing
grand into grand and forceful, and plain into plain and
elegant. He ignores the three-style theory, first securely
! attested in Ad Herennium 4.8.11ff and Cicero, De Or.
3.177, 199, 210-12 (cf. Orator 20ff), and it concerns us
here only because this silence is very curious if it was
, known to Theophrastus. 27 Probably, however, Theo-
1 26Contrast the view of Schenkeveld, Ch. III.
I. 27Cf. D. C. Innes, "Theophrastus and the Theory of Style,"
j Rutgers University Studies in Classical Humanities II, New
1 325
 INTRODUCTION r
phrastus recognised only one good style (or diction), a
mean between excessive plainness and elaboration, while
defining this mean with vocabulary which was later asso-
ciated with a specifically grand style. This at any rate fits
the few surviving fragments: he recognised three types of
diction, recommending as a mean the type blended from
the other two, he discussed grandeur in diction, 70 fLEya
Ka'i a-EfLVOv Ka'i 1TEpL77ov (DH. Dem. 3 and Isoc. 3 = F
685 and 691 Fortenbaugh), and he defined frigidity as
what exceeds (70 V1TEp{3a'A'Aov) the appropriate form of
expression ( § 114), a definition suggesting a single fault of
excess. If so, Theophrastus developed what was in
essence already in Aristotle, who advised appropriate
diction, neither low nor too elaborate, and illustrated
excess diction under 70 l/Jvxpov (Rhet. 1404b3-4 and
1405b35ff).
Another strand in the Demetrian styles is the theory of
qualities or virtues (ap€7at). To simplify yet another con-
troversial issue, 28 Arisfotle's one good style or diction, a
single virtue blenqing clarity and distinction, was turned
by Theophrastus into a list of four necessary virtues,
purity, clarity, propriety, and pleasing stylistic elabora-

Brunswick 1985, pp. 251-67; and G. M.A. Grube, "Theophras-

tus as a Literary Critic," Transactions of the American Philologi-
cal Association 83 (1952) 172-83.
28 See previous note; add D. A. Russell, Criticism in Antiq-

uity, London 1981, Ch. IX; S. F. Bonner, The Literary Treatises

of Dionysius of Halicamassus, Cambridge 1939; and on the later
and more elaborate theory of Hermogenes, ITept 'I8ewv,
C. Wooten, Hermogenes on Types of Style, Chapel Hill 1987
(with translation). This theory of qualities also influenced Longi-
nus' concept of the sublime.

326
1 INTRODUCTION

tion, ''omatum illud suave et affluens" (Cic. Orator 79).

But later critics added to the list and already by the time
of Cicero and Dionysius (who notes in Thuc. 22 that oth-
ers had elaborated the theory before him), it is divided
into necessary and additional virtues. The latter no
longer allow a single pack of simultaneously required
qualities, and an author may be strong in one and weak in
another. Distinctions between styles and qualities now
become inevitably blurred, since any style, for example
the grand style, is speech shaped to embody a specific
quality, for example grandeur, and Demetrius, like other
later critics, moves freely between vocabulary of styles
and qualities (e.g. § 240, "forcefulness ... like all the pre-
vious styles,,). But the list of qualities also provides our
closest parallel for the stylistic categories which
Demetrius distinguishes as separate styles, since for
Dionysius ~he additional virtues form three groups,
grandeur, force, and charm (cf. DH. lmit. 3, Thuc. 22, Ad
Pomp. 3). The plain style can then be seen to use only the
necessary virtues, while the grand, forceful, and elegant
styles show the qualities of grandeur, force, and charm.
The grand style is appropriate for great battles and big
natural phenomena ( § 75), 29 and the examples show a
preference for epic and history, Homer and Thucydides,
figures such as Ajax (e.g. § 48) and set pieces of historical
narrative and description, such as the plague at Athens,
the river Achelous, and the sea battle at Pylas ( §§ 39,
45-46, and 65); this is very much Cicero,s view of history
as literature, "et narratur ornate et regia saepe aut pugna
describitur,, (Orator 66). Oratory is absent, save for an
29 Cf. Cic. Part. Or. 56, Hermogenes 242-46 Rabe.

327
 INTRODUCTION

atypical descriptive passage from Antiphon ( § 53) and a

metaphor from Demosthenes ( § 80), which is cited more
aptly in § 272 for its force. Oratorical grandeur will often
mix force and grandeur, and it would seem that
Demetrius prefers to concentrate on what is basic to the
style. This at least would explain why emotion is in gen-
eral almost excluded. Allegory (§§ 99-102) evokes awe
and To cpo{3Epov, but this aspect, 30 usually prominent in
theories of grandeur, is not developed, probably because
of the overlap with the forceful style where the same
examples reappear(§§ 241-43).
The elegant style has a much less satisfactory unity, as
is clear from the initial division into two types, dignified
charm and comic gibes. Homer's simile of Artemis and
Lysias' toothless hag seem to have little in common
(§ 128-29). These are, however, the two extremes, where
charm. edges into the grand and forceful styles respec-
tively, and in practice Demetrius moves the main focus to
a more unified area, the elegant wit of a Sappho or
Xenophon. As we have seen, Demetrius probably lacked
any better source and tried to modify an account of wit,
xapt.s. Thus this section has its own unity and perceptive
comments, and shares a common tradition with Cicero
and Quintilian. 31 But though xapt.s means both charm
30
In §§ 57-58 particles are said to evoke emotion as \vell as
grandeur: this is a digression, and emotion is distinct from
grandeur.
31 Cf. Cic. De Or. 2.216-90, Quint. 6.3. The common source

is probably Theophrastus. Cf. E. Arndt, De ridiculi doctrina

rhetorica, Bonn 1904, M.A. Grant, The Ancient Rhetorical Theo-
ries of the Laughable in the Greek Rhetoricians and Cicero,
Madison, 1924, and especially the commentary on Cicero's De

328
 INTRODUCTION

and wit, and both concepts are part of T]Sovf], the pleasur-
able, in contrast to grandeur and force, 32 they do not
always coincide, and it is charm, not wit, that is suggested
by the subject matter recommended in §§ 132-33, gar-
dens of the nymphs, wedding songs, love, birds, and
spring.
Within Demetrius the elegant style has closest links
with the plain style (note how ''small" birds and flowers
contrast great battles in § 76), and classification of it as
part of the plain style, its probable origin (cf. § 36), may
be compared to Cicero, Orator 20, where the plain style
has two subdivisions, the first deliberately like ordinary
speech (cf. Demetrius § 207), but the second "more ele-
gant and witty, even given a brightness and modest orna-
mentation." Yet when exemplified by the smoothly
euphonious Isocratean type of sentences, elegance may
also both be in polar contrast to forcefulness (§§ 258,
300-301) and combine with. grandeur ( § 29). Since
Demetrius is struggling to express this style, parallels in
other authors are hard to find, but we find a more unified
concept of charm in the later quality of sweetness, yA.v-
K'VTYJ~, with its beautiful landscapes and themes of love
(Hermogenes 330-39 Rabe), and the importance of
charm as an independent element of style is already clear
in the first century B.C. from its place in the theory of
qualities and from the varying attempts to add it to the
theory of styles, as part of the middle style (Cic. Orator

Oratore, Vol. III, ed. A. D. Leeman, H. Pinkster, and E. Rabbie,

Heidelberg 1989.
32 As in the theory of qualities. Compare Longinus 34.3,

where Demosthenes lacks both charm and wit.

329
 INTRODUCTION

69), or as an independent style, y'Aa¢vporYJc; (Philode-

mus, Rhet. 1.165 Sudhaus).
The account of the plain style is brief and traditional:
simple subjects, diction, and arrangement. To judge from
the few examples, it fits private speeches and domestic
scenes (as in Lysias) and Socratic dialogues, and we can
compare the similar range of subjects which the plain
style illustrates in Dionysius, Demosthenes 2 and Ad
Herennium 4.10.14 (an incident in a bathhouse, a forensic
narrative, with dialogue), and Ps.Plutarch, Vit. Hom. 72
(the domestic scene of Hector and his son in Hom. Il.
6.466ff). Since he has little to say, Demetrius adds more
general discussions of clarity, vividness, and persuasive-
ness. He is here adapting the virtues of narrative (these
were traditionally clarity, brevity, and persuasiveness, but
some added vividness, Quint. 4.2.63-64), and much is
standard later theory: compare on clarity e.g. Cic. De Or.
3.49 and Quint. 8.2; on vh(idness Quint. 8.3.61-71; and on
persuasiveness Quint. 4.2.52-60. Demetrius also has the
same two types of vividness which Quintilian recognises,
the use of every detail and good circumstantial detail
e'tota rerum imago,>> "etiam ex accidentibus,), but origi-
nality is seen in the examples, where quick allusion to
familiar passages of Homer is followed by a more detailed
excursus on the much less usual figure of the historian
Ctesias ( §§ 212-16), including a powerful analysis of the
dramatic tension as a mother is told of her son,s death.
Demetrius concludes the plain style with an example
of a mixed style, the combination of charm and simplicity
suited to the letter. This is our earliest extant analysis of
letter-writing, and perceptively explores the differences
between the letter and dialogue and letters to friends and

330
 INTRODUCTION

kings, emphasising the importance of character in the let-

ter of friendship, since the letter mirrors the writer,s soul.
In terms of classical prose theory this is a rare extension
beyond the usual limits of history, philosophy, and
oratory. 33
The forceful style fits the expression of strong emotion,
particularly anger and invective, 34 and the main source of
examples is oratory, especially Demosthenes and, in an
appendix, Demades ( §§282-86). Appendices continue
the focus on accusation but dilute the unity of the style by
including milder forms of oblique and even tactful cen-
sure. In the three-style theory such force falls under the
grand style, and in Ad Herennium 4.8.12 it is an invective
passage which illustrates the grand style. But indepen-
dent concepts of force and grandeur were recognised in
the theory of qualities (see above), and forcefulness
already interested the early Peripatetics, particularly the
distinction between a smooth. unemotional epideictic
style and a more vigorous forensic style of oral delivery:
note the A.E.tts dywvurTLk-r} in Ar. Rhet. 1413b3ff, the
recognition of Demosthenes, boldness (Dem. Phal. F 163
Wehrli), and !socrates, lack of such vigour (Hieronymus F
52 Wehrli).
The faulty styles: each style has a neighbouring faulty
33 But much was probably traditional, if we compare the brief
remarks in e.g. Cic. Ad Fam. 2.4.1, Quint. 9.4.19, Theon, RG
2.115. See H. Koskenniemi, Studien zur Idee und Phraseologie
des griechischen Briefes his 400 n. Chr., Helsinki 1956; K.
Thraede, Grundziige griechisch-romischer Brieftopik, Munich
1970.
34 But not the softer emotions of pity and lament, cf. § 28,

and Russell (ed. 1964) on Lon gin us 8.2.

331
 INTRODUCTION

counterpart. This is a familiar theory, e.g. Ad Herennium

4.10.15-11.16 and Longinus 3-5. Yet despite their tradi-
tional nature, Demetrius' faulty styles are not entirely
convincing. The affected and unpleasant styles seem an
agglomerate of points derived from their correct styles,
and though the frigid and arid styles have more unity,
they complement each other rather than their corre-
sponding correct style. The arid style is a great theme
given trivial language, the frigid style a trivial theme
given rich language(§§ 114, 119, and 237). The arid style
is also not a fault of excess like the other faults-we
should expect something like the excessively plain style of
the bathhouse quarrel in Ad Herennium 4.10.16. It is
then an attractive deduction that there were originally
faults for only the grand and plain styles, and that the
nature of the arid style in Demetrius reflects an earlier
stage when good style was a Peripatetic mean located
between faults of excess and deficiency (v7rEp{3oA~ and
EAAELl/Jts), frigidity and aridity. 35 .

Text and manuscripts

The text is based on Parisinus gr. 1741 (P), a manuscript
of the tenth century which is of great importance for
other texts, including Aristotle's Poetics. 36 Corrections in
35 Compare Aristotle's ethical theory of JLEyaA.ot/Jvx[a as a
mean between xavvoTYJ~ and f.LLKpotfivx[a (Eth. Nic. 1125al7-
18), and see Russell (ed. 1964) on Longinus 3.4. Use of the term
tfivxpo~ may itself suggest Peripatetic influence since the usual
term is the swollen, To oloovv, "tumidus," "sufflatus."
36 D. Harlfinger, D. Reinsch, "Die Aristotelica des Parisinus

Gr. 1741," Philologus 114 (1970) 28-50.

332
T
'

INTRODUCTION

a later hand (P 2 ) seem to show in at least some cases

access to a second (lost) manuscript. 37 There are a fur-
ther forty-four manuscripts, some of them fragmentary, 38
but virtually all derive fro1n P, and where the reading in P
is not followed, the apparatus criticus reports significant
differences.
For the very beginning, §§ 1-3 fLEV, two manuscripts
of the fourteenth century, Matritensis 4684 (H) and
Neapolitanus II E 2 (N), give some readings independent
ofP.39
Closely resembling Pis Marcianus gr. 508 (M), of ca.
1330-1380. Chiron argues that it is independent ofP and
cites its readings fully in his apparatus criticus. M offers
variOUS linguistically more "correcf' readings (e.g. U1TO-
KaTEO"TYJO"EV and aVEfLVYJO"EV in §§ 196 and 298 eliminate
the only two examples in P of the double augment), and it
includes so1pe more accurate and fuller versions of pas-
sages quoted (e.g. §§ 4, 21, 61, 199, and 250). Most strik-
ingly, it adds one extra lengthy quotation, but, quite inde-
pendently of the question of the relationship of M to P,
this addition seems to derive from a scribal marginal
annotation (see note on § 53). In various places M seems
to aim to improve the faulty text in P (not always success-
fully, e.g. § 287 Dta1TAE'vO"avra~ <lDE'iv> ), and I suspect
M is ultimately an idiosyncratic descendant of P, 40 subse-

37 Radermacher, pp. vff.

38 Chiron, p. cviii.
39 For Has copy of N in the text of the Alexander Rhetoric,

see M. Fuhrmann, Untersuchungen zur Textgeschichte der

pseudoaristotelischen Alexander-Rhetorik, Mainz, 1965.
40 This is also the view of H. Gartner and R. Kassel (private

correspondence). ForM as a copy of P for the text of Dionysius

333
 INTRODUCTION

quent to the corrections in P 2 (examples of readings

shared with P 2 : §§ 28, 66, 89, 122, 194, 229, 237, 288, and
291). In the apparatus criticus I give some of the more
interesting readings, and I also give it precedence for
readings accepted in the text but conjectured previously
by various scholars. Collations of other manuscripts
might well produce further conjectures or reattribu-
tions. 41
There is also a thirteenth-century medieval Latin
translation (Lat.) published by Wall in 1937. 42 It is often
more of a paraphrase, and it omits many passages, in par-
ticular the less usual material (especially all mention of
the fourth style, since it conflicted with the medieval tra-
dition of a theory of three styles; much of the discussion
of wit; and poetic examples). It is close to P, but has a few
"better" readings which may suggest independence (e.g.
§ 194) ..
Finally, in the indirect tradition, 43 there are some sub-

of Halicarnassus, see G. Aujac, "Recherches sur la tradition du

7TEp'i a-vvOea-Ewc; de Denys d'Halicarnasse," Revue d"Histoire des
Textes 4 (1974) 1-44.
41 H. Gartner gives a few examples in "Demetriana Varia,"

Hermes 118 (1990) 213-36. See especially p. 214, n. 6 (on con-

jectures wrongly attributed to Victorius ); p. 216, n. 12 for Vati-
canus gr. 1904, of the early fifteenth century and the oldest
known descendant ofP; and p. 221, n. 29 for Dresdensis Da 4, of
the earlier fifteenth century.
42
B. V. Wall, A Medieval Latin Version of Demetrius" De elo-
cutione, Washington 1937.
43
H. Gartner, "Zur byzantinischen Nebeniiberlieferung von
Demetrios, IlEp'i EPfLYJVELac;," Kyklos, Festschrift Rudolf Keydell,
ed. H. G. Beck, A. Kambylis, and P. Moraux, Berlin, 1978.

334
 INTRODUCTION

stantial quotations in the commentaries on Hermogenes

by Gregory of Corinth (Greg.), Byzantine scholar of ca.
1070-1156. No excerpt is verbally exact, some are para-
phrases, but their common archetype seems a close but
independent relative of P.

SYNOPSIS
1-35: Sentence Structure
1-9: clause (kolon)
1-3: definition of clause
4-8: length and use of clause
9: definition of short clause or phrase (komrna)
10-35: period and combinations of clauses
10-11: definition of period
12-15: periodic and unperiodic; origin and use
16-18: length of period: number of clauses
19-21: t)pes of period: historical, dialogue, rhetorical
22-29: periods with symmetrical clauses
22-24: antithesis
25-26: assonance
27-29: their use
31-33: period and enthymeme: the difference
34-35: definition of clause in Aristotle and Archede-
mus

36-304: The Four Styles, xapaKrijpec;

Each is analysed under subject, diction and composi-
tion (1Tpayp.ara, A.e~t_c;, (rvvOea-ts), each with its
neighbouring faulty style.
36-37: introductory: the grand, elegant, plain, and
forceful styles

335
 INTRODUCTION
J
38-127: the grand style, f-LeyaAo7Tperr~c;
38-74: composition: series I
38-43: rhythm
44: length of clauses
45-47: period
48-49:cacophony
50-52: word order
53-58: connectives and particles
59-67: figures
68-74: hiatus
75-76: subjects: battles; earth and heaven
77-102: diction
77: introduction
78-90: metaphor and simile
91-93: compounds
94-98: neologisms: onomatopoeia and derivatives
99-:-102:allegory
103-5: composition: series II
103: brevity and repetition
104: oblique construction
105:cacophony
106-11: the epiphoneme (appendix I)
112-13: poetic words in prose (appendix II)
114-27: the frigid style, lfivxpoc;
114: definition
115: subjects
116: diction
117-18: composition
119-23: propriety
124-27: appendix on hyperbole
128-89: the elegant style, yA.acpvpoc;
128-35: introductory: the types of charm
336
 INTRODUCTION

128-31: two types

132-35: two sources
136: introduction to the two sources (T07TOL) of charm
137-55: diction/style
137-41: composition: brevity, word order, figures
142-45: single words: metaphor, compounds,
idiosyncratic words and neologisms
146-55: comparison, change of direction, allegory,
the unexpected, assonance, innuendo
156-62: subjects: proverb, fable, groundless fear, com-
parison, and hyperbole
163-72: comparison of laughter and charm
173-78: beautiful words
176-78: digression on types of word in musical theory
179-85: elegant composition: rhythm, length of
clauses, cacophony
186-89:-the affected style, KaKo' YJAO~
subjects, diction, composition
190-239: the plain style, lcrxv6~
190: subjects
191: diction: no metaphor, compounds or neologisms
192-203: clarity
204-8: composition
209-20: vividness
221-22: persuasiveness
223-35: the letter style (a mixed style): difference from
dialogue, character of writer, brief and unperiodic
composition, subjects, addressee
236-39: the arid style, ~YJp6~
subjects, diction, composition; mixture of the arid
and affected

337
 INTRODUCTION

240-304: the forceful style, DEtvo~

r
240: subjects
241-71: composition
241-52: series 1: length of clauses, period,
cacophony, word order, frequency of period
253-58: series II: brevity, cacophony
259-62: digression on forceful wit of the Cynics
263-71: figures (series I): of speech, of thought
272-76: diction
272-74: metaphor and simile
275-76: compounds and matching words
277-301: appendices
277-81: figures (series II)
282-86: forceful wit of Demades
287-95: innuendo
296-98: styles of Aristippus, Xenophon, and
·Socrates
299-301: composition: hiatus
a
302-4: the unpleasant style, xapL~
subjects, composition, diction; link with frigid
style

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Select editions
Aldus Manutius, Venice 1508 (editio princeps)
Victorius, P., Florence 1552 (with Latin translation and
commentary, 1562)
Gale, T., Oxford 1676 (ed. Glasg. = revised reprint, Glas-
gow, 1743)
Schneider, J. G., Altenburg 1799
Goeller, F., Leipzig 1837
338
 INTRODUCTION

Spengel, L., Leipzig 1856

Radermacher, L., Leipzig 1901
Roberts, W. Rhys, Cambridge 1902
Roberts, W. Rhys, 1927 (Loeb, based on 1902 edition)
Wall, B. V., Washington 1937 (editio princeps of medieval
Latin translation)
Grube, G. M. A., Toronto 1961 (English translation with
substantial introduction, notes and appendices)
Chiron, P., Paris 1993 (Bude edition)

Books and articles

Brief general interpretations are to be found in most
surveys of classical criticism, e.g. G. A. Kennedy, Cam-
bridge History of Literary Criticism, Vol. I, Cambridge
1990, pp. 196-98; G. M. A. Grube, The Greek and Roman
Critics, Toronto 1965; and D. A. Russell, Criticism in
Antiquity, London 1981, pp. 129~7. See also:
Gartner, H., "Demetriana varia," Hermes 118 (1990)
213-36
Grant, M. A., The Ancient Rhetorical Theories of the
Laughable in the Greek Rhetoricians and Cicero, Univ.
ofWisconsin Studies 21, Madison 1924
Grube, G. M. A., <<Theophrastus as a Literary Critic,"
Transactions of the American Ph,ilological Society 83
(1952) 172-83
Hendrickson, G. L., "The Peripatetic Mean of Style and
the Three Stylistic Characters'' and ''The Origins and
Meaning of the Ancient Characters of Style," American
Journal of Philology 25 (1904) 125-46 and 26 (1905)
249-70
Innes, D. C., "Theophrastus and the Theory of Style,"

339
 INTRODUCTION

Rutgers University Studies in Classical Humanities II,

New Brunswick 1985, pp. 251-67
Innes, D. C., "Period and Colon: Theory and Example in
Demetrius and Longinus," Rutgers University Studies
in Classical Humanities VI, New Brunswick 1994, pp.
36-53
Kroll, W., RE. Suppl. VII, Rhetorik, coli. 1039-1138,
Stuttgart 1940
Morpurgo-Tagliabue, G., Demetrio: della stile, Rome
1980
Schenkeveld, D. M., Studies in Demetrius On Style,
Amsterdam 1964
Solmsen, F., "Demetrios 1T'Ep'i E.p~YJVEtac; und sein peri-
patetisches Quellenmaterial," Hermes 66 (1931)
241-67
Solmsen, F., "The Aristotelian Tradition in Ancient
Rhetoric,'' American Journal of Philology 62 (1941)
35-50 and 169-90

ABBREVIATIONS
Ar. Aristotle
Art. Scr. Artium Scriptores (Reste der
voraristotelischen Rhetorik), ed.
L. Radermacher, Vienna 1951
DH. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (CV =
On Composition ofWords)
Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,
ed. H. Diels, W. Kranz, revised edi-
tion, Berlin 1951-52
EGF Epicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. M. Davies, Gottingen 1988

340
 INTRODUCTION

FGrHist Die Fragrnente der Griechischen

Historiker, ed. F. Jacoby, Berlin
1923-30, Leiden 1940-58
Giannantoni Socraticorurn reliquiae, ed. G. Gian-
nantoni, Naples 1983-8.5
Kaibel Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
Vol. I (Doriensium comoedia), ed.
G. Kaibel, Berlin 1899
Kock Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta,
ed. T. Kock, Leipzig 1880-88
L-P Poetarum Lesbioru,m Fragmenta, ed.
E. Lobel, D. Page, Oxford 1955
Overbeck Die antiken Schriftquellen zur
Geschichte der bildenden Kunst bei
den Griechen, ed. J. Overbeck,
Leipzig 1868
Paroem. Gr. Corpus Paroemiographorum
Graecorum, ed. E. L. Leutsch, F. G.
Schneidewiil, Gottingen 1839-51
PCG Poetae .Comici Graeci, ed. R. Kassel,
C. Austin, Berlin 1983-
PLG Poetae Lyrici Graeci, ed. T. Bergk,
revised edition Leipzig 1882
PMG Poetae 1nelici Graeci, ed. D. Page,
Oxford 1962
P.Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Powell Collectanea Alexandrina, ed. J. U.
Powell, Oxford 1925
RE Real-Encyclopiidie der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft, ed. A. Pauly,
G. Wissowa, Stuttgart/Munich,
1894-1978

341
 T
i

INTRODUCTION

RG Rhetores Graeci, ed. L. Spengel,

Leipzig 1853-56 (Sp.-H. =Vol. 1.2,
revised edition, 1894, L. Spengel,
C. Hammer)
Sauppe Oratorum Atticorum Fragmenta, ed.
H. Sauppe, Turici 1845
Supp. Com. Supplementum comicum, ed. J.
Demiaficzuk, Cracow 1912
SVF Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ed.
J. von Arnim, Leipzig 1905
TGF Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. A. Nauck, 2d ed., Leipzig 1889
TrGF Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta,
ed. B. Snell, R. Kannicht, S. Radt,
Gottingen 1971-
Wehrli Die Schule des Aristoteles, ed.
F. Wehrli, Basel1967-78
West Iambi et Elegi Graeci, ed. M. L.
Wes't, Oxford 1971-72

342
ITEPI EPMHNEIA~
 IIEPI EPMHNEIA~

(1) ~'llo-7TEp ~ 1TOtYJo-ts DtatpEtTat Tot~ pi.Tpot~,

oTov ~f-LtfLETpot~ ~ E~afLETpot~ ~ TOL~ a'A.'A.ot~, OVTW
KaL rT]v EPJ.LYJVEtav TTJV 'A.oytKTJV DtatpEt KaL DtaKptvEL
Ta' KaAOVJ.LEVa
\ /""'\
KWAa, ,
Ka ()/a1TEp ava1TaVOVTa TOV
/'
AEYOVTa TE Kat Ta AEYOJ.LEVa 1 avTa,
\/ I ' ' \ ' / Kat' EV
/ ' 1TOAJ\Ot~
\\ ""'
~~ ~ '/ / ' \ , / / ' .,, ,, '
opot~ opt&:,OVTa TOV 1\0yov, E7TEt TOt J.LaKpo~ av EtYJ Kat

a1TEtpo~ Ka'i aTExvw~ 1rviywv Tov 'Aeyovra. (2) f3ovAE-

/ ~ / , /'j
Tat J.LEVTOL otavotav a1TapTtsEtv Ta' KWAa ""'\ ""'
TavTa, 1TOTE'
J.LEV o'A YJV 8uivotav, otov 2 w~ eEKaTato~ cPYJo-tv EV Ti}
dpxiJ Ti]~ to-ropia~, eeeEKaTaLO~ Mt'A.~o-to~ (£8E J.LVBEt-
Tat , • o-VVEtAT}1TTat.
/\
yap ' OtaVOta
~
T([J""' KWA([J
/ \ ~~\ / ~~\
OA([J OAYJ,

KaL UJ.LcPW o-vyKaTa'A-r}yovo-tv. E.vioTE J.LEVTOt TO

KWAov oAYJv 3 J.LEV ov o-VJ.L1TEpatot 8ufvotav, J.LEpo~ 8€
OAYJ~ o'A.ov· w~ yap ri]~ XEtpo~ OVo-YJ~ o'A.ov TtVO~
J.LEPYJ avTi]~ o'A.a OAYJ~ 4 E.a-riv, otov DaKTVAot 5 KaL
1ri}xv~ 6 ( l8iav yap 1TEptypacPT]v EXEt rovTwv Twv
1 1\E"YOVTa
\ I I ' ' \ I
TE Kat Ta 1\E"YOfLEVa
F'lllCkh : 1\0"fOV
\I
TaI TE KaTa-
AE"fOfLEVa PNH.
2 olav om. NH.
3 oAYJV P: o'Aov NH (tatum Lat.).

4 o'ATJ~ Hp.c.: o'ATJ PNHa.c.

5 8aKrv'Aot PN (digiti Lat.): 8aKrv'Ao~ H.

344
 ON STYLE

(1) Just as poetry is organised by metres (such as

half-lines,a hexameters, and the like), so too proseh is
organised and divided by what are called clauses. Clauses
give a sort of rest to both the speaker and what is actually
being said; and they n1ark out its boundaries at frequent
points, since it would otherwise continue at length with-
out limit and simply run the speaker out of breath. (2) But
the proper function of such clauses is to conclude a
thought. Sometimes a clause is a complete thought, for
example Hecataeus at the beginning of his History:
"Hecataeus of Miletus speaks as· follows."c Here a com-
plete clause coincides with .a complete thought and both
end together. Sometimes, however, the clause marks off
not a complete thought, but a complete part of one. For
just as the armd is a whole, yet has parts such as fingers
and forearm which are themselves each a whole, since

a For half-lines cf. § 180, and see note on § 5 where a half-

hexameter illustrates short metres.
h More literally "prose expression," implying formal prose.
Elsewhere "style" most often translates E.pp.,ryveia.
c FGrHist 264 Hecataeus, F 1A (cf. § 12).
d Since kolon or clause is literally a limb of the body (cf. Latin
membrum), comparisons from the body are common.

6
1TTJXV~ H: 1r-r}XH~ PN (cubiti Lat.).
345
 DEMETRIUS
1"1 ~I ' ~~~ / ) ~/ ' ~ / 1
fLEpwv EKaa-TOV, Kat LOLa fLEp'Y} , OVTW Kat otaVOLa~

TLVO~ oA 'Y}~ OV(J"'Y}~ fLeyaA 'Y}~ EfL7TEptAafLf3avotT' av

/
fLEp'Y} TtVa
' '
aVT'Y}~
1"1 I:\ / \
01\0K/\'Y}pa OVTa Kat avTa·
~~ ' , / (3) ~~
Wa-7T€p
EV rfj apxfi T1j~ 'Ava{3aa-Ew~ T1j~ 2 SEVOcPWVTO~ TO
~"~
TOLOVTOV, c:e A
uapEtOV'
Kat' II apva-aTLOO~
' ~ " fLEXPL
I
TOV,..,
~::~:: /
VEWTEpo~
~
oE
' K vpo~,
,. , , \ /
a-vvTET€1\Ea-fLEV'Y} 1raa-a otavota
1"1 <;:< / /

E(J"Ttv• Ta 8' EV avTfj KWAa 8vo fLEP'YJ fLEV avT1j~ EKaT€-

/ , <;:<
/ ~' , I: / \ 3 1"1 /
pov €(TTL, otaVOta 0€ EV EKaTEp(f! 7TI\'Y}pOVTat TL~,
T8tov €xova-a 1repa~, otov c:c:LlapEtov KaL ITapva-aTt8o~
/ ,..,<;:< "4 '' / c: \ \ / e <;:< /
ytvovTat 7TatoE~. EXEL yap Ttva OI\OKI\'Y}ptav 'Y} ota-
~~ A /
VOLa ' '
aVT'Y} Ka (}' c: /
aVT'Y}V, OTL ' '
EYEVOVTO uapEtqJ Kat'
/ <;:<
II apva-aTLOL '"'~
Kat wa-aVTW~ TO ETEpOV KWI\OV,
7TaLO€~.
'5 c: / ' ~I '"'\

oTt c:c:7TpEa-{3vTEpo~ fLEv 6 'ApTa~ep~'YJ~, vEwTEpo~ 8€

'"'
K vpo~. " ~I
wa-rE TO fLEV
' ' '"'\
KWI\OV, w~
c: ,/..,.
-.p'Y}fLL,
/ <;:<
otavotav
/

7T€pte~€" Ttva 7TaVTTJ 1ravTw~, 1]Tot oATJv ~ fLEpo~ o'A.TJ~

~1\
01\0V.
(4) LlEZ 8€ ovTE 1ravv fLaKpa 7TotEt7J Ta KwAa, E7TEt
Tot yivETatafLETP~~ ~ a-vvOEa-t~ ~ 8va-7TapaKoAovO'Y}-
To~· ov8€ yap ~ 7TOL'Y}TLK~ V7TEp €~afLETpov ~A0Ev, EL
IL~ 7TOV EV oA.iyot~· yEAOLOV yap TO fLETpov UfLETpov
Elvat, KaTaA~yovTo~ TOV fLETpov E7TtAEAija-Oat
KaL
~!La~ 7TOTE 1}p~aTo. ovTE 8~ 7 To fL1JKo~ Twv KwAwv
~"~ ~'''
1
7Tp€7TOV \/
TOt~ 1\0yot~ Ota /
T'Y}V afLETptaV, ''
OVT€ 'Ye} fLLKpo-
1

' I / ,.,, I:\ / (;' /(}

T'YJ~, €7T€L TOt ytVOLT av 'Y} 1\EYOfLEV'Y} ~ 'Y}pa a-VV Ea-t~,

otov ~ TOta8E ~:eo {3io~ {3paxv~, ~ TEXV'YJ fLaKpa, 0

1 DLavo[a~ P: 8ufvoLav NH. 2 rfj~ PN: rov H.
3
rL~ P: rfj~ N: ro H. 4 8vo add. M, codd. Xen.

346
 ON STYLE 2-4

each of these has its own shape and indeed its own parts,a
so too a complete thought, when it is extensive, may sub-
sume within it parts which are themselves whole, (3) as at
the beginning of Xenophon's Anabasis in the words ''Dar-
ius and Parysatis" down to "the younger Cyrus."h This is a
fully completed thought, yet it contains two clauses, each
is a part of it, and in each part a thought is completed
within its own limits. Take the words "Darius and
Parysatis had sons": the thought that Darius and Parysatis
had sons has its own completeness. In the same way the
second clause has the complete thought, "the elder was
Artaxerxes, the younger Cyrus." So a clause will, I main-
tain, in all cases and circumstances form a thought, either
a complete one or a complete part of a whole one.
(4) You should not produce very long clauses; other-
wise the composition has no limitsc and is hard to follow.
Even poetry only rarely goes beyond the length of the
hexameter, since it would be ab.surd if metre had no lim-
its, and by the end of the line we had forgotten when it
began. But if long clauses are out of place in prose
because they have no limit, so too are brief clauses, since
their use would produce what is called arid composition,
as in the words "life is short, art long, opportunity

a I.e. sub-parts, such as fingernails, cf. Quint. 7.10.7. Clauses

may similarly contain sub-clauses or phrases, as in the bipartite
second clause of the Xenophon example in § 3.
h Xen. Anab. 1.1 (cf. § 19).
c The Greek is more pointed, since metron/metre means also
limit or measure.

5 KaL om. NH. 6 post fLEV des. NH.

7 S~ Victorius: Sf. P.
347
 DEMETRIUS
' ' ( ; / "1 / ':)/ e /{)
Katpoc; Os Vc;. KaTaKEKOfLfLEVYJ yap EOLKEV YJ a-vv E-
a-Le; KaL' KEKEp/-LaTLa-1-LEVYJ,
/
KaL' ) ,./... /
EVKaTa'PpOVYJTOc; ~''
oLa TO
1-L'-Kpa a-v!-L7TavTa EXELV. (5) yivETaL !-LEv ovv 7TOTE Kat
1'"'1 I \ I 1' l 1'"'1 I() c C
/-LaKpov KWI\OV Kat-poe;, OLOV EV TOLe; /-LEYE Ea-LV, We; 0
\ /
II 1\fLTWV ,./. . / ccTO' yap
'PYJa-L, ' ~ '
OYJ I ~
7TaV TOO€ ' ' 2 :l '
TOTE /-LEV aVTOc;
1'"'1

o BEoc; 7TopEvo!-LEvov a-VfL7T08YJyEt 3 Kat a-vyKvKAEt."

a-xE8ov yap T~ /-LEy€BEt- TO'v KwAov a-vvEtijpTaL Kat o
'A6yoc;. 8t-a TovTo Kat <To> 4 E.ta~-LETpov ~p~6v TE
, /r c ' "" / ' / ~, ,
OVO/-La<::,ETaL V7TO TOV /-LYJKOVc; KaL 7TpE7TOV YJpWa-LV, KaL
, .,
OVK av TYJV
' co /-LYJPOV
I 'I\1\Laoa
I~ / /
7TpE7TOVTWc; TLc; ypa-
t/JELEVS TOLe; 'Apxt-'Aoxov (3pax€a-t-v, oiov Ct:axvv!-LEVYJ
/\ " ' t:C / ' / ,./... / " )~ ' 1'"\
a-KVTal\ YJ KaL TLc; a-ac; 1TapYJELpE 'PPEVac;; OVOE TOLe;
, AvaKpEOVTOc;, <wc;> 6 TO t:Ccp€p' v8wp, cp€p' oivov, 6J
7Tat" • 1-LE()vovToc; yap o pv()1-Loc; aTEXvwc; y€povToc;, ov
/ ~'
/-LaXO/-LEVOV YJpwoc;.
(6) l\1aKpov 1-Lf.v 8~ ISWAov Kat-poe; YLVOLT av 7TOTE
' I ' :!J/

8t-a TaVTa. yivoLTO 8' av 7TOTE Kat (3pax€oc;, oiov 7/ToL

!-LLKpov TL TJfLWV AEyovTWV, we; 0 SEvocpwv cpYJa-Lv, OTL
' ,.~... /
a'PtKOVTO Ott: e'E 1\1\
\ \ YJVEc; E7TL
' ' TOV \ a/
' TY}I\EfJOaV /
7TOTa/-LOV"
,....
TYJ yap
'

1 T] 8€ 1rlipa a-c/JaAEp~ add. M (cf. § 238).

2
TOTE fLEV cod d. Plat.: TO fLEV P.
3 1TopEvOfLEvov a-VfL1TOOYJyE'i codd. Plat.: 1TopEvOfLEVo~ 1TOOYJ-
yE'i P.
4 To add. Radermacher.
5 ypat/JHEv Victorius: scriberet Lat.: ypat/JH €.v P.
6 w~ add. Roberts.

348
 ON STYLE 4-6

fleeting.''a For the composition here seems chopped up

and minced fine, and it fails to impress because all its
parts are minute. (5) Occasionally, however, a long clause
is appropriate, for example in elevated passages, such as
Plato's sentence, "Sometimes God himself helps to escort
and revolve this whole universe on its circling way."b The
elevation of the language virtually corresponds to the size
of the clause. That is why the hexameter is called heroic, c
because its length suits heroes. Homer's Iliad could not
be suitably written in the brief lines of Archilochus, for
example "staff of grief"d or "who stole away your mind ?"e
nor in those of Anacreon, for example ~~bring water, bring
wine, boy. "f That is plainly the rhythm for a drunk old
man, not for a hero in battle.
(6) Sometimes, then, a long clause may be appropriate
for the reasons given, at other times a short one, for
instance whep. our subject is small, as in Xenophon's
account of the Greeks' arrival at the river Teleboas, "this
river was not large, it was beautiful however."g The short,

a Hippocr. Aphorism. 1.1. In § 238 the quotation continues

with a further clause, which appears here in M but not P.
b Pl. Pol. 269c. c See on§ 42.
d Archil. 185.2 West. The staff is the Spartan staff used for
messages in cipher, and the phrase became proverbial for a mes-
sage of grief, e.g. Plu. Mor. 152e (cf. Paroem. Gr. ii.323). It is
half a hexameter, and the other two examples are dimeters: short
clauses or phrases are similarly like half-lines and less than a
trimeter(§§ 1, 205).
e Archil. 172.2 West.
f PMG 396 Anacreon 51.1.
g Xen. Anab. 4.4.3 KaAo~ fLEV, fLEYa~ S' ov. Here and in
§ 121 Demetrius misquotes, but retains the abruptness.

349
 DEMETRIUS

fJ-tKpoTrrrt Kat a7ToKo7Tfj Tov pvOf.l-ov crvvavEcpavYJ Kat

YJ~ fJ-tKpOTYJ~
/
TOV,.., 7TOTafJ-OV,.., Kat' xapt~·
/ ~ '
Et' OE ~I
OVTW~ EK-
'

'TEtVa~ avTo El7TEV, ~~OVTO~ 8€ f.J-EYE(}Et f.J-EV i}v f.AaTTWV

rwv 7To'A'Awv, Ka'A'A.Et 8€ v7TEpE{ja'A'AEro 1ravTa~," Tov
1TpE7TOVTO~ a7TETvyxavEV av, Kat f.yiyvETO 0 AEYOfJ-E-
vo~ t/Jvxpo~· a'A.'Aa 7TEpt t/JvxpoTYJTO~ f.J-EV VCTTEpov
AEKTEOV.
(7) Twv 8€ fJ-tKpwv Kw'Awv Kav 8EtvoTYJTt xpiJcri~
,
ECTTt. ~ /
OEtVOTEpov yap ' 'TO' EV , OJ\ty<p
'\ / \ ' , ,./...
7TOJ\V EfJ-~atVOfJ-EVOV
/

Kat crc/Jo8poTEpov, 8to Kat ol AaKWVE~ {3paxv'Aoyot

~
V7TO '~ '' ',
OEtVOTYJTO~· Kat TO f.J-EV E7TtTaCTCTEtV CTVVTOfJ-OV Kat
/ / / '
{jpaxv, Kat 1ra~ 8Ecr7ToTYJ~ 8ov'A.<p f.l-ovocrv'A'Aa{jo~, To
~' tKE'TEVEtV
OE ~ / fJ-aKpov ' Kat' TO' OOVpECT
,~ / (} at. < Kat' yap ' >1 at~
A tTat' Ka (}' ~'0 fJ-YJpov Kat' XWJ\at \ ' Kat' pvcrat
~ ' V7TO
~ ' fJpa- (.)
~,.., / ~' \ / '~ /
OVTYJ-r:O~, 'TOVTECTTtV V7TO fJ-aKpOJ\Oyta~, Kat Ot yEpOV-

TE~ f.l-aKpo'Aoyot 8ta T~v dcrOE.vEtav. ( 8) 1Tapa8Etyf.La

8€ {jpaxEia~ crvvOE.crEw~ To ~~AaKE8atfJ-OVtot c:I>tAt7T7T<f!"
A /
o.tOVVCTtO~ EV
, K optv /. (} <f!· , 7TOJ\V
\ ' yap ' OEtVOTEpOV
~ / ,./. . /
~atVE-

1 Kat yap addidi (Kat iam Richards).

aIn§§ 114-27.
h §§ 241-42 repeat the same advice and the example in § 8.
For Spartan brevity cf. e.g. Hdt. 3.46.
c Strongly iambic, perhaps from comedy (Adesp. 538 Kock).
Later citation as a proverb derives from Demetrius (Paroem. Gr.
ii.606).

350
r ON STYLE 6-8

broken rhythm brings into relief both the smallness of the

river and its charm. If Xenophon had expanded the idea
to say, "this river was in size inferior to most rivers, but in
beauty it surpassed them all," he would have failed in pro-
priety, and would have become what is called the frigid
writer-but frigidity is to be discussed later. a
(7) Short clauses should also be used in forceful
passages,h for there is a greater force and vehemence
when a lot of meaning is packed into a few words. So it is
because of this forcefulness that the Spartans are brief in
speech. Commands too are always terse and brief, and
every master is monosyllabic to his slave, c but supplica-
tion and lament are lengthy. For the Prayers in Homerd
are represented as wrinkled and lame in allusion to their
slowness-that is, their length in speech. Old men too
speak at length, because they are weak. (8) Take this
instance of brevity in composition, "The Spartans to
Philip: Dionysius in Corinth.,,e These brief words have a
.
d Hom. Il. 9.502-3:
Kat yap rE Atrai Elcrt. Llto~ Kovpat tJ-EyaA.oto,
xwA.a[ 'TE pvcra[ TE napa{3Aw7rE~ r' ocp8aAtJ-W.

Allegorical interpretation of the Prayers refers elsewhere to the

physical appearance of suppliants, not their speech, e.g. Ps. Her-
aclitus, Hom. Alleg. 37. The sequence of examples suggests that
Demetrius intends the aged Phoenix, whose long suppliant
speech in Iliad 9 includes the Prayers passage.
e Cf. §§ 102, 241. It is a stock tag (e.g. Plu. Mar. 511e). The
tyrant Dionysius was expelled in 344 B.C., and his retirement into
private life in Corinth attracted apocryphal detail, such as the
I version in§ 241 that poverty forced him to become a schoolmas-
I.
l
ter, cf. Ovid, Ex Pont. 4.3.39-40 (for an alternative motive, the
wish to rule, see e.g. Cic. AdAtt. ix.9).

351
 DEMETRIUS T
TaL pYJ()€v OVTW (3pax€w~, ~ ELTTEP avTO f.LaKpw~ EK-
/ -;- ~~ ~ A , / / .,,
TELVaVT€~ EL'TTOV, OTL 0 u.LOVVCTLO~ 7TOT€ f.Leya~ WV
,
TVpavvo~
~'
WO"TTEp O"V' ~'
Of.LW~
"" LOLWTEVWV
VVV '~ , , ""
OLKEL K opLV-
,
0ov. ov yap €rt 8ta TTo'A'Awv pYJOf.v ETTLTT'ATjtEt €c[JKEt
d'A'Aa DLYJYTJf.LaTL, Kat f.La'A'Aov TLvt 8L8aa-KovrL, ovK
',./...(.}""
€K'¥0tJOVVTL ~'
• OVTW~ ' /
€KT€LVOf.LEVOV '\"
€KI\V€TaL TOV""\"
1\0yov
To Ovf.LLKov Kat a-cpo8p6v. wa-TTep <yap> 1 Ta f)YJpia
/' II ~ ' / / .,, ~I
o-vo-Tpe'fJavTa EavTa !LaXETaL, TOLaVTYJ TL~ av ELYJ
,./...'
O"VO"TPO'¥YJ KaL' 1\0yov
\/
Ka ()" , /
aTTEp €0"7T€Lpaf.LEVOV 7rpo~
'
DELvorYJra. (9) T] 8€ ToLaVTYJ (3paxvTYJ~ KaTa TTJV
/ f) / , /7 ~ /7 ~' , ' 'e' ~
O"VV fO"LV KOf.Lf.La OVOf.Laf:JE.TaL. opLf:JOVTaL 0 aVTO WOE,
/ ' ' ~'\
KOf.Lf.La EO"TLV TO' KWJ\OV
/ \
€1\aTTOV, 'e'
OtOV TO' 7TpOELpYJf.LE-
/

VOV, TO' [ T€ ] 2 ~~ A /
.u.LOVVCTLO~
,
EV / 0cp, ,
K opLV KaL' TO' ~~ "" 0L
yvw
/ , KaL' TO'
O"EaVTOV, 0E(f),
"" , Ta' TWV""
~~ ~'
€7TOV ,./. . ""
CTO'¥WV. ~'
EO"TL
'
yap KaL' aTTO'¥
, ,./...0EYf.LaTLKOV
' YJ~ tJPaXVTYJ~
(.} )' KaL' YVWf.L0/\0-
\
, . ' ,./... / ' ' '\ / \\' ~ /
'}'tKOV, KaL O"Oo/WT€pOV TO €V 01\t'}'(f) 'TT0/\1\T}V OLaVOLaV
~f) po'io-f)aL, Kaf)aTTep €v· To'i~ o-TTEpf.Lao-Lv 8E.v8pwv
o'Awv OVVUf.LEL~· EL S' EKTELVOLTO TL~ TTJV YVWf.LYJV EV
fLaKpo'i~, DLDao-KaA[a yivETai Tt~ Kat PYJTOpEia avTt
/

'}'VWfLYJ~·

(10) Twv / /\
fLEVTOL KWJ\WV KaL KOfLfLaTWV TOLOVTWV
' / /

o-vvTL()EfLEVWV 7rpo~ aAAYJAa o-vvio-TavTaL at TTEpioDoL

, 7" ~~ ' ~ / ~ / ,
OVOf.Lal:JOfLEVaL. ECTTLV yap YJ 7TEpLOOO~ CTVCTTYJfLa EK
/ \
KWJ\WV YJ KOfLfLaTwv
.,, / ,
EVKaTao-Tpoo/w~
/ ,./...
TTpo~
' '
TYJV oLa-
~ /

voLav TTJV VTTOKELfLEVYJV UTTYJPTLCTfLEVov, oiov ~~fLaALo-ra

1 yap add. Markland.

2
TE del. Hahne.

352
r ON STYLE 8-10

much more forceful impact than if the Spartans had

expanded the sentence at great length to say HAlthough
once a mighty tyrant like yourself, Dionysius now lives in
Corinth as an ordinary citizen." This lengthened version
no longer seems a rebuke but a piece of narrative, and it
suggests a wish to instruct rather than intimidate. With
this expansion the passion and vehemence of the words
are dissipated, and just as a wild beast gathers itself
together for an attack, speech should similarly gather
itself together as if in a coil to increase its force. (9) Such
brevity in composition is called a phrase.a A phrase is gen-
erally defined as ~~what is less than a clause," for example
the words already quoted, HDionysius in Corinth," and
the sayings of the sages, "know yourself' and Hfollow
God."b For brevity characterises proverbs and maxims;
and the compression of a lot of meaning into a small space
shows more skill, just as seeds contain the potential for
whole trees. Expand a maxim at great length and it
becomes a piece of instruction or rhetoric.
( 10) From the combination of such clauses and
phrases are formed what are called periods. The period is
a combination of clauses and phrases arranged to con-
elude the underlying thought with a well-turned ending.
For example: ~~Chiefly because I thought it was in the

a Literally a cut segment or chip (cf. Latin incisum), the

komma or phrase is a short clause, independent, as here, or part
of a complex (§ 10). On its length see note on§ 5.
h Cf. e.g. Cic. De Fin. 3.73, Paroem. Gr. ii.19 and 40.

l
l.

I
1
353
I
 DEMETRIUS
'
f.J--EV ELVEKa 'TOV
<:I ,-. I r
VOf.J--L~::,ELV
..,./...I ,-.
O"Vfl--'PEPELV 'T"[J 1TOAEL 1\.EAV-
1\ \ \ I

' I ')' ' ,-. ~' <:I ,-.

(J () aL TOV VOf.J--OV, EL'Ta KaL 'TOV 1TaLOO~ ELVEKa 'TOV
e e ''
X(3
a pLOV,
1 \1
Wf.J--01\.0YYJO"a
1
TOVTOL~, W~ av OLO~
'e'l
'TE W, O"VV-
')'

EpELVH · avTYJ yap ~ 1Tep[o8o~ EK rpLwv KwAwv o-3a-a

I I ' ..,./... ' ~~ ' ' 1\
Kaf.J--1TYJV 'TE 'TLVa KaL a-va-TpO'PYJV EXEL Ka'Ta To TEAO~.

(11) 'ApLa-'TO'TEAYJ~ 8€ opL,ETaL TY]v 1TEp[o8ov OV'TW~,

ee1TEpio86~ EO"TL AE~L~ apxY]v EXOVO"a KaL 'TEAEV'T~v,"
1\ \ ,.... ' 1 e 1 '{)' ' e
fl-'aAa Kai\.W~ KaL 1TpE1TOV'TW~ OpLO"af.J--EVO~· EV V~ yap 0

TY]v 1TEpio8ov Aeywv Ef.J--cpaiveL, O'TL rfjpKTai 1roOev KaL

' \ I '1 ' I 'I 1\ t::l
a1TOTEAEVTYJO"EL 1TOL KaL E1TELYETaL EL~ 'TL 'TEJ\.0~, W0"1TEp
oi 8pof.J--EL~ dcpeOevTe~· Kat yap eKeivwv a-vvefl--cpaive-
TaL rf} dpxfl Tov 8pof.J--OV 'TO 'TEAo~. EvOev Ka'i 1TEpi-
o8o~ WVOf.J--aO"BYJ, a1TELKaa-0ELa-a 'TaL~ ODOL~ 'TaL~
KVKAOELOEO"L Kat 1TEpLw8EVf.J--EVaL~. Kat Ka06Aov 2 ov8€v
~ 1repio86~ ea-TL 1rAY]v 1TOLa a-vvOea-L~. ei yovv AvOeiYJ
' ,-. ~
aV'TYJ~ 'TO' 1TEpLWOEVf.J--EVOV
I
KaL' f.J--E'TaO"VV'TE (} EtYJ,
I
'Ta' f.J--EV
'

I I ' ' I I~ ~' ' 'I

1Tpayfl--aTa f.J--EVEL 'Ta aVTa, 1TEpLOOO~ OE OVK EO"'TaL,
oiov ei TY]v 1TpOELPYJf.J--EVYJV TL~ Tov ilYJf.J--Oa-OE.vov~ 1TEpi-
o8ov avaa-Tpel/Ja~ EL1TOL &8€ 1TW~, eea-vvepw 'TOV'TOL~,
6J av8pe~ 'AOYJVaLOL. cpiAo~ yap f.J--OL EO"'TLV 0 VLO~
Xa{3piov, 1roAv 8€ f.J--UAAov TOV'TOV ~ 1TOAL~, Ti a-vvEL-
1TELV f.J--E 8[KaLOV EO"'TLv." ov yap E'TL ov8af.J--OV ~ 1TEpL-
~ e 1
000~ EVpLa-KETaL.

1 a7rOTEAEVT~CTEt, TrOt, Kat H. Stephanus: aTrOTEAEvTija-aL

TrOLEL,. ., KaL'p.
2 Kat Ka06A.ov Radermacher: Ka06A.ov P.

354
r ON STYLE 10-11

I interest of the state for the law to be repealed, but also for
the sake of Chabrias' boy, I have agreed to speak to the
best of my ability in their support."a This three-clause
period has a sort of backward bend and compactness at
the end. (11) Aristotle gives this definition of the period,
"a period is a portion of speech that has a beginning and
an end."h His definition is excellent and apt. For the very
use of the word "period" implies that it has had a begin-
ning at one point, will end at another, and is speeding
towards a definite goal, like runners sprinting from the
starting place. For at the very beginning of their race the
end of the course is already before their eyes.c Hence the
name "period," an image drawn from paths which go
round and are in a circle. In general terms, a period is
nothing more nor less than a particular arrangement of
words. If its circular form should be destroyed and the
arrangement changed, the subject matter remains the
same, but there will be no period: Suppose, for example,
you were to invert the period I have quoted from Demos-
thenes to say something like this, "I will speak in their
support, men of Athens. For Chabrias' son is dear to me,
and much more so is the state, whose cause it is right for
me to support. "d No longer is there any trace of the
period.

aDem. Lept. 1 (cf. §§ 11, 20, 245).

h Ar. Rhet. 1409a35-bl.
c Demetrius intends the diaulos, the two-lap race where the
runner ran back along the same or parallel track to the starting
point. The period is literally a path which goes round (cf. Latin
l ambitus, circuitus), and so at its end returns us to its beginning,
i. just as the period bends back on itself by hyperbaton or the com-
' pletion of some pattern such as antithesis. d Cf. § 10.

l 355
 DEMETRIUS
T
( 12) rf.vEO"lS 8' avTfj~ ij8E· Tfj~ EP!LYJVEta~ T] !LEV
' ''1 / 'e' ~ ' /~
OVO/La~::,ETaL KaTEO"Tpa/L/LEVYJ, OLOV YJ KaTa 1TEpLOOOV~

E.xova-a, w~ T] TWV 'Ia-oKpaTELWV PYJTOpEtwv 1 Kat rop-

YLOV / KaL' 'A\1\KLOa/-LaVTO~·
~ , ~'\
01\aL yap' ~ '
OLa ,~
1TEptOOWV
ELO"tV O"VVEXWV ov8f.v TL EAaTTOV ~1TEp T] f:OIL~POV
1TOLYJO"L~ 8t' E:~a/LETpwv· T] 8€ TL~ 8tYJPYJ!LEVYJ EP!LYJVEta
KaAliTaL, T] EL~ KWAa AEAV!LEVYJ ov 1-LaAa aAA ~AOL~
O"VVYJPTYJ/LEVa, w~ T] f:EKaTaiov Kat ra 1TAELO"Ta TWV
f:Hpo8oTOV Kat oAw~ T] apxaia 1Taa-a. 1Tapa8ELY!La
avTfj~, f:f: f:EKaTaLO~ MtA~O"LO~ &8E !LV()ELTaL" Ta8E
ypa¢w, w~ !LOL 8oKEL UAYJ0Ea Elvat• OL yap ~EAA~vwv
A,./
1\0YOL 11'01\1\0L TE KaL YEI\OLOL, (J)~ E/LOL '1-'aLVOVTaL,
\/ \\ / ' \ '"' f: ' '

'
ELO"LV.
/ , W0"1TEp
~' ' O"EO"WpEV/LEVOL~ E1T
yap , ' a/\1\
, \ \ Y}I\OL~
\
/
Ta' /

KWI\a'"' \ ,,
EOLKEV Kat' E1TEPPL!L!LEVOL~
' Kat' ovK/ "
' EXOVO"LV a-vv- /

8Ea-Lv ov8' avTEpEta-tv, ov8€ f3oYJ0ovvTa aAA~Aot~

~'
W0"1TEp , TaL~
EV '"' 1TEpLOO,OL~.
/~ ( 13) EOLKE
,, yovv '"' Ta' /LEV '
1TEpto8LKa KwAa TOL~ A.iOoL~ TOL~ UVTEpEi8ova-L Ta~
1TEpt¢EpEL~ O"TEya~ Kat O"VVEXOVO"L, Ta 8€ Tfj~ 8taAE-
AV!LEVYJ~ EP!LYJVEta~ 8tEppt!L!LEVOL~ 1TAYJa-iov A.iOot~
1-Lovov Kat ov a-vyKEL!LEVOL~. (14) 8to Kat 1TEpLE~EO"~LE-
,, f: f: / f: ' ' , \ / t:l
vov EXEL TL YJ EP/LYJVELa YJ 1Tptv Kat EVO"TaAE~, W0"1TEp
Kat Ta apxata ayaA/LaTa, &v TEXVYJ €8oKEL T] O"VO"-
TOATJ Kat la-xvOTYJ~, T] 8€ TWV /LETa TaVTa EP!LYJVELa
Tot~ <l>Et8iov E.pyot~ ~8YJ E.otKEv E.xova-a TL Kat 1-LEya-

1
friJTOpEdrlv Weil: PYJTWJJ P.

a The source is Aristotle (see Rhet. 1409a26ff), but the term

356
T
I ON STYLE 12-14

(12) The origin of the period is as follows. There are

two types of style. The first is called the compact style, a
namely that which consists of periods, as in the rhetorical
displays of !socrates, Gorgias, and Alcidamas,h where
period succeeds period no less regularly than the hexam-
eters in Homer's poetry. The second style is called the
disjointed style, since it is divided into clauses which are
not closely attached to each other, as in Hecataeus,
Herodotus for the most part, and the older writers in gen-
eral. Here is an example: ''Hecataeus of Miletus speaks as
follows. I write these things as they seem to me to be
true. For the stories told by the Greeks are, as it appears
to me, many and absurd. "c Here the clauses seem thrown
one on top of the other in a heap without the connections
or buttressing or mutual support which we find in peri-
ods. (13) The clauses in the periodic style may in fact be
compared to the stones which support and hold together
the roof which encircles them, and the clauses of the dis-
jointed style to stones which are simply thrown about
near one another and not b:uilt into a structure.d (14) So
the older style has something of the sharp, clean lines of
early statues,e where the skill was thought to lie in their
succinctness and spareness, and the style of those who
followed is like the works of Phidias, since it already to

for the nonperiodic style, the "disjointed," seems a confused

memory of Rhet. 1409b32 where it refers to the nonantithetical
form of period.
b For Alcidamas, pupil of Gorgias, cf. § 116.
c FGrHist 264 Hecataeus F 1A (cf. § 2).
d A traditional comparison, cf. DH. CV 22.
e For comparisons to the parallel development of style and
sculpture, cf. DH. Isoc. 3, Quint. 12.10.7-9.

357
 DEMETRIUS

e ~/
,./.... \
K6yal\aL '
pq.ounc:; e ""
ECrraaTV, e
we; ' '
E1TL TWV"" ' /
OLVWf.LEVWV, OL~~
, "" ~ ' ' , )'(}
TE aKOVOV'TEc:; VaVTLWCTL OLa TO a1TL aVOV, TOTE OE Kat.,
)' ' ~' '
, ,./.... "" ' )'\
EK'PWVOVCTL Ta TEI\Y} TWV 1TEpLOOWV 1TpOELOOTEc:; Kat.,
"" )'~ ~ )' '
1Tpoava{3owcrL.
( 16) Twv 8€ 1TEpu58wv ai f.LLKpoTEpaL f.LEV EK 8vo'iv
/ \ ~ '
KWI\OLV CTVVTL/(} EVTaL, aLe f.LEYLCTTaL
/
OE
'
EK /
TETTapwv· TO'
8' V1TEp TETTapa OVKET' av EVTOc:; ELY] 1TEpLo8LKijc:; CTVjL-
f.LETp(ac:;. ( 17) y[vovTaL 8€ Ka'i TptKwAo[ TLVEc:;· Ka'i
f.LOVOKWAOL 8€, as KaA(?'VCTLV a1TAOS 1TEpLoDovc:;. OTav
yap To KwAov f.LiJKoc:; TE €xn Ka'i Kaf.L1TTJV KaTa To
TEAoc;, TOTE f.LOVoKwAoc:; 1TEpio8oc:; yivETaL, Ka0a1TEp i]
/ ~ eeeH ~ / eA \ "" e / ' /
TOLaoE, poooTov 1\LKapvaCTYJOc:; LCTTOPLYJc:; a1To-
~ C ~~~ , , /\ ee e ' ,./.... ' ,./.... / \ '
OES Lc:; YJOE . Kat., 1Tai\LV, YJ yap CTao/YJc:; 'Ppaa-Lc:; 1TOI\V
,./...."" / "" "" ' / ~ / " e '
o/Wc:; 1TapEXETaL TaLc; 'TWV aKOVOVTWV OLaVOLaLc:;. V1T
df.Lcf>o'iv f.LEVTOL CTVVLCT'TaTaL -ry a1TAij 1TEptoDoc:;, KaL V1TO
TOV f.L'Y}Kovc:; Ka'i V1TO Tijc:; Kaf.L1Tijc:; Tijc:; 1TEp'i TO TEAoc;,
V1TO 8€ OaTEpov ov8€ 1TOTE. ( 18) EV 8€ TaLc; crvvOETOLc:;
1TEpLo8oLc:; TO TEAEV'TaLOV KwAov f.LaKpOTEpov xpT]
-;-
ELVaL, Kat.,' WCT1TEp
~'
1TEpu:xov Kat.,' 1TEpLELI\
\ ,./.... '
YJo/Oc:; ,, \ \
)'
Ta/\1\a.
ovTw yap f.LEyaAo1TpE1TT]c:; ea-TaL Ka'i CTEf.LVTJ 1TEpio8oc:;,

358
 ON STYLE 15-18

some degree unites grandeur and finish. (15) My own

personal view is that speech should neither, like that of
Gorgias, consist wholly of a series of periods, nor be
wholly disconnected like the older style, but should
rather combine the two methods. It will then be simulta-
neously elaborate and simple, and draw charm from the
presence of both, being neither too ordinary nor too arti-
ficial. Those who crowd periods together are as light-
headed as those who are drunk, and their listeners are
nauseated by the implausibility; and sometimes they even
foresee and, loudly declaiming, shout out in advance the
endings of the periods.
(16) The smaller periods consist of two clauses, the
largest of four. Anything beyond four would transgress
the boundaries for a period. (17) There are also periods
of three clauses, and others of one clause, which are
called simpJe periods. Any clause which has length and
also bends back at the end forms the one-clause period, as
in this example, "The History of Herodotus of Halicarnas-
sus is here set out,,,a and again "Clear expression sheds
much light on the listeners, thoughts.,,h For the simple
period these are the two essentials, the length of the
clause and the bending back at the end. In the absence of
either there is no period. (18) In compound periods the
last clause should be longer than the rest, and should as it
were contain and envelop them all. This is how a period

a Hdt. 1.1 (cf. § 44).

h Author unknown. The "bend" is probably the completion of
the antithesis of word and thought provided by the first and last
word-groups.

1 8€ Schneider: TE P.
359
 T
I

DEMETRIUS
' \ \ \ \ I "'\ ' ~\ I
ElS O"EfJ.-VOV Kat p.,aKpOV 1\'Y}yova-a KWI\OV" EL 0€ fl-'YJ,
a1TOK€KOf1-f1-EV'Y} KaL xw'Aij op.,ota. 1Tapa8Etyp.,a 8'
av'T-ry~ 'TO 'TOLOV'TOV, ccov yap 'TO EL1T€LV Ka'Aw~ Ka'A6v,
' \ \ \ ~
a/\1\a TO\ EL1TOV'Ta
' I
opaa-at I
Ta Etp'Y}p.,Eva. " 1"1 \ '

(19) Tpia 8€ y€v'Y} 1TEpu58wv Ea-Ttv, ta-ToptK~, 8ta-

'AoytK~, P'YJTOptK~. ta-ToptKTJ p.,€v Y, p.,~TE 1TEP'-'YJYf1-EV'Y}
fl-~'T' aVELfJ.-EV'Y} a-cpo8pa, aAAa fJ.-E'Ta~v ap.,cpotv, W~
I C \ ~1(; \ ' l{j ~ \ \
fl-'Y}'TE P'YJTOptK'Y} oos ELEV Kat a1Ttuavo~ ota 'T'Y}V 1TEpt-
I \ I '' \ c \ ' 1"1
aywy'Y}V, TO O"EfJ.-VOV T€ EXOVO"a Kat LO"'TOpLKOV EK 'T'YJ~
c \ I
a1TI\O'T'YJ'TO~,
1'
OLOV 'Y} 'TOLaOE,
c I ~ cc A
uapELOV Kat
I ' II apva-a'TL- I

8o~ yiyvovTat" fJ.-EXP'- Tov ccvEwTEpo~ 8€ Kvpo~."

€8paiq- yap 'TLVL Ka'i aa-cpaAEL KaTaA ~~EL EOLKEV av'T-ry~
r, a1To0Ea-L~. ( 20) 'T-ry~ 8€ P'YJTOPLK-ry~ 1T€pt68ov a-vv-
1 \ ";'~ \ \ \ \ ~ I
Ea-Tpap.,p.,EVOV 'TO ELOO~ Kat KVKI\LKOV Kat OEOfJ.-EVOV
a-Tpoyyv'Aov a-Top.,aTo~ Ka'i xetpo~ a-vp.,1reptayop.,€v'YJ~
T[i> pvfJp.,(i>, oiov Tij~ ccp.,~'Ata-Ta fJ.-EV ELVEKa 'TOV vop.,i-
'ELV a-vp.,cp€petv Tij 1ro'Aet 'AeA.va-Oat Tov v6p.,ov, EtTa
Ka'i TOV 1Tat8o~ ELVEKa 'TOV Xaf3piov, wp.,o'A6y'Y}a-a
'TOV'TOL~, w~ av oio~ TE tiJ, a-vvEpELV., a-x€8ov yap
evOv~ EK T-ry~ apxij~ r, 1TEpto8o~ r, TOta8e O"VV€0"Tpap.,-
f1-EVOV 'TL EXEL Ka'i f.p.,cpa'ivov O'TL OVK av a1TOA TJ~ELEV el~
a1T'Aovv 'TEAo~. (21) 8taA.oyLKTJ 8€ EO"'TL 1TEpto8o~ r, E'TL
<p.,a'A'Aov> 1 avELfJ.-EV'Y} Ka'i a1TAOVO"'TEpa 'T-ry~ LO"'TOpL-
1"\ 2 \ 1\ ' rf... I ~~ I ~ I '
K'YJ~, Kat fJ.-01\L~ Efl-'-PaLVOVa-a, O'TL 1TEpLOOO~ EO"'TLV,
W0"1TEp r, 'TOta8e, CCKaTE/3'Y}V xfJ€~ el~ [ 'TOV] 3 ITetpata"

1
fLUAAov add. Goeller.
2
io-ToptK~~ Victorius: PYJTOptK~~ P.
3 Tov add. P: om. M Plat. codd.

360
 ON STYLE 18-21

will be imposing and impressive, if it ends on an impos-

ing, long clause; otherwise it will break off abruptly and
seem to limp. Here is an example: "For it is not to speak
nobly that is noble, but after speaking to perform what
has been spoken."a
(19) There are three kinds of period, the historical, the
dialogue, and the rhetorical. The historical period should
be neither too carefully rounded nor too loose, but
between the two, in such a way that it is not thought
rhetorical and unconvincing because of its rounding, but
has the dignity and aptness for history from its simplicity,
as in the period "Darius and Parysatis" down to ''the
younger Cyrus.,,b Its closing words resemble a firm and
securely based ending. (20) The form of the rhetorical
period is compact and circular; and it needs a well-
rounded mouth and hand gestures to follow each move-
ment of the rhythm. For example: "Chiefly because I
thought it was in the interest o( the state for the law to be
repealed, but also for the sake of Chabrias, boy, I have
agreed to speak to the· best of my ability in their
support. "c Almost right from the very beginning such a
period has compactness, and shows that it will not stop on
a simple ending. (21) The dialogue period is one which is
still looser and simpler than the historical period, and
scarcely shows that it is a period. For instance: "I went
down yesterday to Piraeus" as far as the words ''since they

a Author unknown.
b Xen. Anab. 1.1 (cf. § 3).
c Dem. Lept. 1 (cf. §§ 10-11, 245).

361
 DEMETRIUS
1
/ 1"'1 cc t:l 1"'1 1"'1 :v ,, , /
fLEXpt TOV arE VVV 1TpWTOV ayovTE~. E1TEppt-1TTaL
' , \ \ /\ ' 1"'1 \ 'A..' c / 1 <:/ <:/ ,
yap a/\1\ Y}I\Ot~ Ta KWI\a E'P ETEpqJ ETEpov, W0"1TEp EV
TOt~ 8t-aAEAVfLEVOL~ 'Aoyot~, Kat a1To'A'Y}~avrE~ fLOAL~
av EVVOYJ ELfLEV 2 KaTa' TO'
,, ' () 1"'1 /\
TE/\0~,
~'
OTL TO' 1\EYOfLEVOV
\ /

1TEpio8o~ ~v. 8Et yap f.LETa~v 8'-YIPYJfLEVYJ~ rE Kat

KarEa-rpafLfLEVYJ~ AE~Ew~ rT]v 8t-a'AoyLKTJV 1TEpio8ov
ypa¢Ea-0at-, Kat fLEfLLf'f.LEVYJV OfLOLav df.L¢or€pot~.
1TEpt68wv fLEV EL8YJ roa-a8E.
(22) r LVOJJTaL 8€. Kat E~ dvrtKEtf.LEVWV Kw'Awv 1TEpL-
o8oL, aJJTLKEtfLEVWV 8€_ lJTOL TOt~ 1TpayfLaO"LV, otov
cc1TAEWV fLEV 8t-a TYJ~ TJ1TELpov, 1TE,E'Vwv 3 8€ 8t-a TYJ~
Oa'Aaa-a-YJ~," ~ dfLcporf.pot-~, ri] rE AE~EL Kat rot~
1TpayfLaO"tV, W0"1TEp 7] avrT] 1TEpio8o~ 6>8E EXEL. (23)
KaTa
' ~'
OE
' , /
Ta OVOfLaTa fLOVOV aVTLKELfLEVa KWI\a TOLaOE
/ , / ~"'~\ /~

,
EO"TtV, .OtOV
/ ~
W~
c c
0 TYJV
' CE1\EVYJV
\ / 1rapa ai\WJJ T4_)
{3 \ ' 1"'1 CH pa-
\ 1"'1 ,/... ~I CC 1"'14 \ l I \ \ / ~
KI\EL 'PYJO"LV, OTt TOV fLEP E1TL1TOVOV KaL 1TOI\VKLVOVVOV
'
TOV {3/tOV E1TOLYJO"EV,
, / TYJ~
1"'1 ~'
OE 1TEpL/{3\I\E1TTOV KaL' 1TEptfLa-
/
XYJTOV rT]v cpva-Lv Karf.a-rYJa-Ev." dvriKELraL yap Kat
ap() pov ap() p4_), Kat a-vv8EO"fLO~ a-vv8EO"fL4_), Of.LOta
e / ~'
OfLOLOL~, KaL' Ta/\1\a
''\ \
OE KaTa' TOV
' ' '
aVTOV /
rpo1TOV, T([J fLEV 1"'1 '

cc ' / " ~
E1TOLYJO"EV TO' ce /
KaTEO"TYJO"EV, ''
T([J 1"'1
OE
' ee ' /
E1TL1TOVOV "
TO'
ec
1TEpL I\E1TTOV,
/{3 \ " T4_)
1"'1 ~
OE
' ee
1TOI\VKLVOVVOV
\ / ~ "
TO
' ee
1TEpLf.LaXYJ-
/

" ' <:/\ (.\ ' <:/ t:l ' t:l c

TOV, KaL 01\W~ EV 1Tp0~ EV, OfLOLOV 1Tap OfLOLOV, YJ
dvra1To8oa-L~. (24) EO"TL 8€ Kw'Aa, a fLTJ dvrLKELf.LEVa

1
ETEPCf! edd.: EKaTepw P.
2
€vvoYJ8ELfLEV Spengel: €vvoYJ8WfLEV P.
3 7TAE'vcrat ... 7TE,evcrat codd. Isoc.

362
 ON STYLE 21-24

were now celebrating it for the first time."a The clauses

are flung one on top of the other, as in the disjointed style,
and when we reach the end we can hardly realise that the
words formed a period. For the dialogue period should
be a form of writing midway between the disconnected
and the compact style, compounded of both and resem-
bling both. This concludes my account of the different
kinds of period.
(22) Periods are also formed from antithetical clauses.
The antithesis may lie in the content, for example ~~sailing
across the mainland and marching across the sea,"b or it
may be twofold, in content and language, as in this same
period. (23) There are also clauses which have only ver-
bal antithesis, as in the comparison drawn between Hera-
cles and Helen, ~~The man~s life he created for labours and
dangers, the woman~s beauty he formed for admiration
and strife."c Here article is in antithesis to article, connec-
tive to connective, like to lik~, everything in parallel,
"formed~~ to ~~created,~~ "admiration" to "labours," and
"strife" to "dangers.~~ There is correspondence through-
out of each detail, like with like. (24) There are some

a Pl. Rep. 327a (cf. §§ 205-6): KUTE{3Y]V xeE~ Et~ liHpaLa

f.LETa r'AaVKWVO~ TOV 'AptUTWVO~ 1TpocrevtoJLEVO~ TE Ti} ()e~
' <I ' < ' Q \ / () / () / /
Kat Uf.La T?JV eopTYJV fJOVI\OfLEVo~ eacracr aL TLva TP01TOV
1TOLf,crovcrLV aTE vvv 1TPWTOV ayovTE~. The last three verbs all
take the same object, returning us to the festival (all underlined).
h Isoc. Panegyr. 89. Xerxes bridges the Hellespont and digs a
canal through Mount Athos.
c Isoc. Helen 17.

4
Tov scripsi, cum codd. I soc.: T~ P.

363
 DEMETRIUS
' .rl,. / ~ '
E/l""f'aLVEL TLVa' aVTLUEO"LV
' ILJ
OLa TO' Tcp O"XYJfLaTL aVTLUE- 1"'1 / ' {]/

TW~ yeypa¢0aL, Ka0a1TEp To 1Tap' 'E7TLxapfLcp TcV

1"'1 / ~I ~~ / ' ' / ' '
7TOLYJTYJ 7TE1TaLYfLEVOV, OTL TOKa fLEV EV TYJVOL~ EYWV
1' / ~' ' / , / , ' , ' ' '
YJV, TOKa OE 1Tapa TYJVOL~ EYWV. TO aVTO fLEV yap
, ~ ' ~ ~ ' ~
ELPYJTaL, KaL ovoEv EvavTLov· o oE Tpo1To~ TYJ~ EPfLYJ-
'I ' , / / 1"'1

VELa~ fLEfLLfLYJfLEVO~ 1 avTt0Ea-iv TLva 1T AavwvTL EOLKEV.

dA.A.' O~TO~ fLEV 'ta-w~ yEAWT01TOLWV OVTW~ avTE8YJKEV,
' ~~ 1 ' e 1
KaL a/La a-KW1TTWV TOV~ PYJTOpa~.

(25) 'IE O"TL ~'

OE KaL' 1TapOfLOLa
' '"'\
KWI\a, ~~
aTLVa '
1Tapo-
fLOLa ~TOL 2 TOt~ E7T' apxij~, oiov eeSwpYJTOL TE 7TEAOVTO,
1TapappYJTOL T' E1TEEO"O"Lv". ~ w~ E1TL TEAov~, w~ T] TOV
IlaVYJYVPLKOV apx-rJ, ee7ToAAaKL~ €8avfLaO"a TWV TQS
/ / ' ' ' , 1"'\
1TaVYJYVPEL~ a-vvayayovTwv KaL TOV~ YVfLVLKov~ ayw-
va~ KaTaO"TYJa-avTwv." Ei8o~ 8€ Tov 7rapofLoiov To
, /
LO"OKWI\OV, E7Tav
\ , ' 'I
Lo-a~
'I
EXYJ Ta KWI\a
' 1"'\ \
Ta~
'
O"V/\1\a
\ \ f3 / a~,
r:l ~ 1~ ~e e 'I 1' {] 1 ,
W0"7TEp 8 OVKVOLOYJ, W~. OVTE WV 1TVVuaVOVTaL a1Ta-
~LOVVTWV TO €pyov, oi~ TE
3
E7TLfLEAE~ ELYJ El8€vaL ovK
ovEL8L,ovTwv" • la-oKwAov fLEV 87] TovTo. ( 26) OfLOLOTE-
\ ~ / , ' , t:l \ / 'I ,
1\EVTa OE EO"TL Ta EL~ OfLOLa KaTal\ YJYOVTa, YJTOL EL~
, / , / 4 t:l 'I ' ' 1"'\ ~~ ' ~' , '
OVOfLaTa TaVTa, W0"7TEp EXEL E1TL TOV O"V 0 aVTOV
KaL' ':;,WVTa
r n ' 5 ypa-
'
1
1"'1
€/\EYE~
' \
KaKW~,
'"'
KaL' VVV
'"'
a7TOuaVOVTa
'

.rl..
'f'EL~ KaKW~
'"'" .,,
• YJ OTaV
t:l
EL~
, \\{3'
O"V/\1\a YJV KaTal\ YJYYJ TYJV
\/ '
aVTrrJV, W0"7TEp Ta EK TOV IlaVYJYVPLKOV 7TpOELPYJfLEVa.

1
Muretus: fLEfLLYfLEVO{) P.
fLEfLLfLYJfLivo{)
TJTOL Lockwood: 8~ P.
2
3 TE M, Thuc.: To (sic) P. 4 TavTa P: corr. edd.
5 a1To8avovTa Orth (cf. § 211): BavovTa P: omittitur apud Ar.
Rhet. 1410a34-35.

364
'4

ON STYLE 24-26

clauses which are not really antithetical but suggest an

antithesis because of the antithetical form in which they
are written, like the playful joke in the poet Epicharmus,
"at one time I was among them, at another time with
them."a The same idea is repeated, and there is no con-
trast. But the stylistic manner, with its imitation of an
antithesis, suggests an intent to deceive. Epicharmus
probably used the antithesis to raise a laugh, and also to
mock the rhetoricians.
(25) There are also clauses with assonance. The asso-
nance is either at the beginning, for example ''giving gifts
could win them, making pleas could move them,"b or at
the end, as in the opening passage of the Panegyric: "I
have often wondered at those who convened the assem-
blies and instituted the athletic contests."c Another form
of assonance is the isocolon, which is when the clauses
have an equal number of syllables, as in this sentence of
Thucydides: "since neither do ~hose who are questioned
disown the deed, nor do those who are concerned to
know censure it."d This then is isocolon. (26) Homoeote-
leuton is when clauses end similarly, either with the same
word, as in the sentence, "you are the man who when he
was alive spoke to his discredit, and now that he is dead
write to his discredit,"e or with the same syllable, as in the
passage I have already quoted from !socrates' Panegyric.

a Epicharmus 147 Kaibel, an unusual example, deriving from

Ar. Rhet. 1410b3-5. Aristotle strongly influences both theory
and examples in §§ 22-26.
h Hom. Il. 9.526, with assonance of -retoi.
c Isoc. Panegyr. 1, with assonance of -ont8nl-ant8n.
d Th. 1.5.2.
e Author unknown (cf. § 211, Ar. Rhet. 1410a34-35).

365
 DEMETRIUS

(27) XpY}a-ts 8€ rwv TOLO'VTWV KwAwv E7na-c/Ja'AT)r;.

:J/ ' ~ 1"'1 \ / , /~ , \ / ' '
OVTE yap OELVWr; 1\EYOVTL E17LTYJOELa • EKI\VEL yap TYJV
~ / e ' ' ' {) I' '.,./..,. / ~~"'~\
oELVOTYJTa YJ 17Ept avTa TEP pEta Kat 'PPOVTLr;. OYJAOV
8' ~p.-tv TovTo 170LEL 8Eo17op.-17or;. KaTYJyopwv yap Twv
<PtAt17170V c/JtAwv cPYJO"LV, eeavOpoc/JovoL DE T~V c/Jva-LV
:J/ ,~ / ' / '5' ,, \ 1"'1
OVTEr;, avop0170pVOL TOV Tp0170V YJO"av· KaL EKai\OVVTO
p.-€v ETatpot, ~a-av 8€ ETatpat." ~ yap op.-otOTYJr; ~
~ ~
17EpL Ta KWI\a KaL aVTL EO"Lr; EKI\VEL TYJV OELVOTYJTa
' ' 1"'1 \
OLa ' , "() , \ / ' / '

' / () ' ' / , ~ 1"'1 , \ \ '

TYJV KaKOTEXVLav. vp.-or; yap TEXVYJr; ov oELTaL, al\1\a
DEL Tp0170V TLVU E17t TWV TOLOVTWV avToc/Jva EivaL
KaTYJYOPLWV Ka'i a17Aa Ta AEyop.-Eva. (28) OVTE DY}Ta EV
OELVOTYJTL XPTJO"Lp.-a TU TOLaVTa, wr; EOEL~a, 1 OVTE EV
"{) e \ ~"'~ yap
17a EO"L KaL YJ EO"LV" a171\0VV ' ELVaL
'5' j3OVI\ETaL
~'\
'
KaL'
:J/{)

U170LYJT01J TO 17a()or;, op.-otwr; 8€ Kat TO i}()or;. EV yovv

TOLr; .'A pta-TOTEI\OVr;
1"'1"\ 17EpL' OLKaLOO"VVYJr;
~ " 0e TYJV
' 'A() YJ-
, ~'\ , ~ / ' ' t:l "' t:/
VaLWV 1701\LV OOVpO!J-EJ!Or; EL !J-EV OVTWr; EL170L OTL
ee170tav TOLaVTYJV 170ALV EtAov TWV €x()pwv, OLav T~V
loiav 170ALV U17WAE'a-av," Ep.-17a()wr; av ELPYJKWr; ELYJ Kat
, ~
OOVpTLKwr;·
1"'1 , ~ '
EL OE 17apO!J-OLOV aVTO 170LYJO"EL •
/ ' ' / ee170La1J
/
'
yap 1701\LV TWV
I' \ ~"'~
EX
' {) 1"'1
pwv TOLaVTYJV El\a
/ :J/ \ j3 ov, e
0170Lav TYJV
/ '

'~I'
LOLaV a17E
' "/3 ai\OV,
\ " OV' p.-a' TOV
' A I'
uta 17a" ( ) or; KLVYJO"EL
I' '~'
OVOE
:J/\ , \ \ ' ' \ / \ ~'\ ' '
E/\EOV, al\1\a TOV Kai\OV!J-EVOV Kl\aVa-LyEI\WTa. TO yap
,
EV 17EV ( ) OVO"L
1"'1 "7
17aLsELV, KaTa' TYJV
' /
17apotp.-LaV, TO' Ta' TOL-
avTa EV TOLr; 17a()Ea-L KaKOTEXVELV EO"TL. ( 29) ytvETaL
p.-ivToL YE xpiJa-tp.-a 170TE, wr; 'Apta-ToTi'A YJr; cf>YJa-iv,
ee€yw EK ~J-EV , A()YJVWV ELr; !.TayEtpa i}A.()ov Ota

1 Wlil eoELta p2 in mg.: om. pl.

366
T
I
l ON STYLE 27-29
I
(27) The use of such clauses is full of risk. They do not
suit the forceful speaker, since their studied artifice dissi-
pates the force. Theopompus proves our point in his
invective against the friends of Philip when he says,
"men-slayers by nature, they were men-harlots in
behaviour; they were called companions but were
concubines."a The assonance and antithesis of the clauses
dissipate the force by their artificiality. For anger needs
no artifice; in such invectives what is said should be, in a
way, spontaneous and simple. (28) Such clauses are of no
use for force, as I have shown, nor yet for the expression
of emotion or character. For emotion is properly simple
and unforced, and the same is true of character. In Aris-
totle's dialogue On Justice, for instance, a speaker weeps
for the city of Athens. If he were to say, "what city had
they taken from their enemies as great as their own city
which they had lost,"h he would have spoken with emo-
tion and grief; but if he creates assonance, "what city from
their enemies had they takeri as great as their own city
which they had forsaken," he will certainly not evoke
emotion or pity, but rather the so-called "tears of
laughter."c For artificiality of this kind in emotional con-
texts is no better than the proverbial "fun at a funeral."
(29) Assonance is however sometimes useful, as in the
following passage of Aristotle: "I went from Athens to

a FGrHist 185 Theopompus F 225(c) (cf. §§ 247, 250).

b Ar.fr. 82 Rose.
c Xen. Hell. 7.2.9. Demetrius' glossing proverb is otherwise
unknown.

367
 DEMETRIUS

TOV {3aa-LAEa 'TOV JLEyav, EK 8€ ~rayeipwv el~ 'A{}rr}-

va~ 8u1 TOV XELJLWVa 'TOV JLEyav". el yovv ac/>EAOL~ 'TO
ETEpov ~~JLEyav," 1 a-vvac/>atprr}a-v Kat 'TTJV xaptv• ri}
8€ 2 JLEyaAY}yopiq. a-vvEpyo'i av 3 ra 'TOLavra KWAa,
~
07TOLa " " rwv " " r opytov / ra' 7TOI\I\a \ \ ' avrt' Era Kat TWV 'Ia-o- /e ' ""
Kparov~. 7TEpt JLEV 8T] 'TWV 7TapOJLOLWV ravra.
( 30) fltac/>epEL 8€ €v(}vfLYJJLa 7TEpt68ov ri}8E, ort Y]
JLEV 7TEpio8o~ a-vv(}Ea-L~ TL~ EO"'TL 7TEPLYJYJLEVYJ, ac/>' ,ry~
Kat WVOJLaa-TaL, TO 8€ €v(}vfLYJJLa €v TCfJ Dtavorr}JLarL
EXEL TYJV ovvaJLLV
"' ' ~/ Kat a-va-raa-tv· Kat EO"'TLV YJ~ JLEV
' I' '"' '

7TEpio8o~ KVKAo~ rov €v(}VJLrrJJLaro~, wa-1rep Kat rwv

"' \ \
a/\1\WV 7TpayJLa'TWV, 'TO' 0~ ' EV
/ ' (} VfLYJJLa OLaVOLa
/ ~ "'
'TL~ Y)'TOL
/ /

EK JLUXYJ~ AEYOJLEVYJ <~> 4 EV aKoAoveia~ O"XrrJJLU'TL.

(31) O"YJJLELOV 8€· EL yap 8taAVO"ELa~ rT]v a-vveea-Lv 'TOV
' (} VJLYJJLU'TO~, TYJV
EV / ' JLEV ' 7TEpLOOOV ~ / ',./...
YJ'PaVLO"a~,
/
TO' 0~'
€v(}VJLYJ~a Tavrov JLEVEL, oiov EL 'TL~ 'TO 7Tapa flYJJLO-
~
I'
0" EVEL OLai\VO"ELEV
(}
\ / '
EV VfLYJJLa 'TO 'TOLOV'TOV, ~~ W0"7TEp
(} / • ' ~'
"""

/ ~' ~' 'It

yap '
EL"' TL~ EKELVWV' /
E'UI\W,
e / \
CTV' 'TUO OVK '
av "'
Eypa~a~·

~' ~' ' """ ~ \ """ "' \ \ ' /, I. " ~ \ /

ovTw~ av a-v vvv aAcp~, U/\1\0~ ov ypa~EL · otai\V-

O"ELEV OE ~ ' ~~
OVTW" ~~
fLY}' E7TLTpE7TETE
' / """ '
TOL~ ra 7TapaVOJLa
/

ypac/Jova-tv• el yap EKWAVOV'TO, OVK av vvv oilro~

Tavra f.ypac/JEv, ov8' E'TEpo~ E'TL ypal/JEL 'TOV'TOV vvv
~ \
ai\OV'To~·
/ " EV'TaV
' """(} a 'TY}~ """
7TEpLOOOV ~ /
JLEV' 0~ KVK/\0~ \ ' \
EKI\E-/ /

AVTaL, TO 8' €v(}VJLYJJLa EV ravrifJ JLEVEL. (32) Kat Kae-

/\
01\0V ~' ' ' ' (}
OE 'TO JLEV EV VJLYJJLU O"V/\1\0YLO"JLO~ 'TL~ EO"'TL
/ \ \ /' /

1 ro ETEpov pi.ya P: corr. edd. 8€ Solmsen: yap P. 2

3
a-vvEpyot av Goeller: a-vvEpyotEV P. 4 ~ add. Finckh.

368
T
ON STYLE 29-32

Stagira because of the great king, and from Stagira to

Athens because of the great storm."a If you take away the
second ugreat," you will at the same time take away the
charm. Such clauses may also contribute towards an
imposing grandeur, like the many antitheses of Gorgias
and !socrates. This concludes my discussion of asso-
nance.
(30) The enthymeme differs from the period. The lat-
ter is a rounded structure (hence its name in fact), the for-
mer has its meaning and constitution in the thought. The
period circumscribes the enthymeme in the same way as
any other subject matter, the enthymeme is a thought,
expressed either controversially or in the form of a logical
consequence.h (31) In proof of this, if you were to break
up the verbal structure of the enthymeme, you have got
rid of the period but the enthymeme remains intact. Sup-
pose, for instance, the following enthymeme in Demos-
thenes were broken up: "Just a~ you would not have made
this proposal if any of them had been convicted, so if you
are convicted now, no one will make it in future.''c Let it
be broken up: "Show no leniency to those who make ille-
gal proposals; for if they were regularly checked, the
defendant would not be making these proposals now, nor
will anyone make them in future if he is convicted now."
Here the rounded form of the period has been destroyed,
but the enthymeme remains where it was. (32) In gen-
eral, the enthymeme is a rhetorical syllogism, while the

a Ar.fr. 669 Rose= 14 Plezia (cf. § 154).

b For the two types of syllogism, refutation of an opponent
and demonstration of a point off agreed premisses, see Ar. Rhet.
1396b23ff. The terminology is later, e.g. Quint. 5.10.2, RG 1.285
Sp-H. c Dem. Aristocr. 99 (cf. § 248).

369
 DEMETRIUS

PYJTOptKoc;, TJ 1TEpio8oc; 8€
crv'A'Aoyt,ETat fLEV ov8€v,
/
crvyKEtTat ~'
OE fLOVOV"
/
Kat' 1TEptOOOVc;
/~ ' EV
fLEV ' TraVTt'
fLEpEt rov 'Aoyov riOEfLEV, otov f.v ro'ic; TrpootfLtOtc;,
'(}
EV VfLYJfLaTa
/ ~'
OE TraVTt"/
Kat' TO' fLEV
'
WCT1TEp
t!l
OVK
'
E1Tt-
' '
EV
\ /
1\EYETat, TO' EV
' (}VfLYJfLa,
/
YJ~ 1TEptoooc;
/ ~ ~ ' ' /(} \ /
OE aVTO EV /\EyE-

Tat• Kat'TO
' '
fLEV 'e'
OtOV \\ /
CTVJ\1\0ytcrfLOc; '
ECT'TtV ' \/
aTEAYJc;, 'Y~J ~'
OE

OVTE o'Aov Tt OV'TE arEAEc; crv'A'Aoyi,Erat. ( 33) CTVfL/3E-

f3YJKE fLEV oiJv T~ f.v(}VfLTJfLaTt Kat 1TEpto8cp Etvat, 8u5Tt
~ ...... / / ~ ~' ' ~~ t!/
1TEptoOtKWc; crvyKEt'Tat, 1TEptoooc; 0 OVK ECT'TtV, WCT1TEp
T~ olKo8ofLOVfLEVqJ crvfLf3€f3'YJKE fLEV Kat AEVK~ Etvat,
.,, \ ' ';" ' ' ~ ~' ' ~~ \
av 1\EVKOV YJ, TO OtKOOOfLOVfLEVOV 0 OVK ECT'Tt 1\EVKOV.
/ /

TrEpt fLEV 87, 8tacpopac; f.vOvfLTJfLaroc; Kat TrEpto8ov

~~

Etp'Y}rat.
(34) To 8€ Kw'Aov 'AptcrTOTEA 'Y}c; OVTWc; opt,E'Tat,
~~ ...... \ / ' ' t!l / / ~ " ';" ' A-. /
KWJ\OV. ECT'Tt TO ETEpov fLEpoc; 1TEptOOOV • EtTa E1T'to/E-
ee / ~ ' ' e \ ,. . . / ~ " t!l e /
pEt" ytvErat oE Kat aTr,\'Y} TrEptoooc;. ovrwc; optcra-
fLEVoc;, ~~To ErEpov fLEpoc;," 8tKw'Aov €{3ov'AEro Etvat
rY,v TrEpto8ov 8YJ'Aov6rt. o 8' 'Apx€8'YJfLOc;, crv'A'Aaf3wv
'
TOV t!l
opov 'TOV...... 'AptcrTOTEJ\OVc;
/\ Kat' TO' E1Tto/EPOfLEVOV
' ,.~.,. , ...
TqJ
t!l ,./.,. / ' \ / t!l e /
opcp, crao/EcrrEpov Kat TEAEWTEpov ovrwc; wptcraTo,
e~ "" \ / ' ~~ ~ \ "" / ~ .,, {) /
KWJ\OV ECT'TtV 'YJTOt aTrAYJ 1TEptoooc;, 'YJ CTVV E'TOV 1TEpt-
o8ov fLEpoc;." (35) 'TL fLEV oilv aTr'Aij 1TEpio8oc;, ELP'YJTat•
/ ~' A-. / /~
' ' TrEptooov / ~
crvv (} Erov oE o/'YJcrac; avro fLEpoc;, ov' overt
'
'\ \ '
/\
KWJ\Otc; ' 1TEptOOOV
'T'YJV / ~ ~ /'( ~~
EOtKEV
opt~::,EtV al\1\a Kat' Tptcrt'
KaL' 1TJ\ELOCT"tV"
\ / ~ ......
'YJfLELc; ~'
OE
/
fLETpov ' 1TEptOOOV
fLEV /~ ' (} /
EKTE Et-

fLE(}a, vvv 8€ 1TEpt 'TWV xapaKrf]pwv rijc; EPfL'YJVELac;

1
AEYWfLEV •

1 A.f.yop.ev P: corr. edd.

370
 ON STYLE 32-35

period is not a form of reasoning but purely a combina-

tion of words. Moreover, we use periods in every part of a
speech, for example in introductions, but we do not use
enthymemes everywhere. The enthymeme is, as it were,
added to the verbal form, the period is exclusively verbal.
The former is a sort of imperfect syllogism, the latter is no
syllogism at all, perfect or imperfect. (33) Sometimes the
enthymeme has the accidental property of periodicity,
because its construction is periodic, but it is not a period,
just as a building, if it is white, has the accidental property
of whiteness, but a building is not by definition white.
This concludes my account of the difference between the
enthymeme and the period.
(34) This is Aristotle's definition of the clause, "a
clause is one of the two parts of a period." He then adds,
"a period may also be simple."a The reference in his
definition to ~'one of the two parts" makes it clear that he
preferred the period to have hyo clauses. Archedemus
combines Aristotle's definition and its supplement, and
produces his own clearer and fuller definition, "a clause is
either a simple period or part of a compound period."h
(35) The simple period has already been described. In
saying that a clause may be part of a compound period, he
seems to limit the period not to two clauses but to three
or more. We have now set out the limits of the period; let
us now describe the types of style.

a Ar. Rhet. 1409bl6-17 (but his term for simple is acpEAf,~).

b Unknown, often identified with the second-century Stoic
Archedemus of Tarsus (see SVF iii. Archedemus 7) or the
rhetorician Archedemus of Quint. 3.6.31-33.

371
 DEMETRIUS

(36) El<:rt 8€ TErrapE~ oi a17AOt xapaKrfjpE~,

la-xvo~, f.LeyaAo17pE17TJ~, yAa~vpo~, 8ELvo~, Kat AoL-
17ov oi EK TOVTWV f.LLYVVf.LEVOL. f.LLYVVVTaL 8€ ov 1708
1
17avrL, '\\'
al\1\ oe y 1\a'+'vpo~
\ ,./.,. ' '
f.LEV KaL' rep
"" ' ""
La-xvep KaL' rep
""

\ """ ' e ~ ' ~' e

f.LEyai\017pE1TEL, KaL 0 OELVO~ OE 1
Of.LOLW~
' ,./.,.
af.L'+'OTEpOL~·
1

f.LOVO~ 8€ o f.LEyaAo77pE77~~ r~ la-xv~ ov f.LtyvvraL,

' \ \ ' ~~ ' (} I
al\1\ W(T17Ep av Ea-raTOV KaL' aVTLKELa-
' I (} '
OV EVaVTLW-
TUTW. 8Lo 1 8~ Kat f.LOVOV~ 8vo xapaKrfjpa~ TLVE~ a~L-
1"'\
OV(TLV ELVaL -;-
TOVTOV~,
I
TOV~
' ~'
OE \
I\OL170V~
' ~I
OVO f.LETasC'
V
I ' ' \ ,./.,.' """' 1"'1 I
TOVTWV, TOV f.LEV yl\a'+'vpov rep La-xvep 17pOa-VEf.LOVTE~

f.LUAAov, 7~ 8€ f.LEyaAo77pE17EL TOV 8ELVOV, w~ TOV yAa-

,.1.,. """ ' I I ' ,/ 1 I ~~ """
'+'vpov f.LEV f.LLKpOTYJTa TLVa KaL KOf-L'f'ELaV EXOVTO~, TOV
8ELVOV 8€ oyKoV Kat f.LEYEOo~. (37) YEAOLO~ 8' 0 TOLOV-
70~ Aoyo~. opWf.LEV yap 1TA~v TWV ELPYJf.LEVwv
2
xapa-
I ' I I I """ "? '
KTYJpWV EVaVTLWV 17avra~ f.LLYVVf.LEVOV~ 17aa-LV, OLOV ra
eo f.LYJPOV I
7€ E17YJ
,,
KaL . TOV~
' ' IT\1\aTWVO~ I \
1\0yov~
I
KaL
'

SEvO~WVTO~ Kat eHpo8orov Kat aAAwv 170AAwv 170A-

A~v f.LEV f.LEyaAo17pE17ELav KaTaf.LEf.LLYf.LEVYJV €xovra~,
\\' ~' ~ I I ' I ~~ ' ' \"""
1701\1\'Y}V 0€ OELVOTYJTa 7€ KaL xapLV, Wa-TE TO f.LEV 171\'Y}-
(}o~ TWV xapaKr7}pwv roa-ovrov av ELYJ oa-ov A€-
\ e I ~' e I I I ' .,,
1\EKraL. EPf.LYJVELa o EKaa-rep 17pE17ova-a yEvoLr av
TOLa8E TL~·
(38) ~~ Ap~of.LaL 8€ a17o rov f.LEyaAo17pE170V~, OV17Ep
"""\1
VVV 1\0YLOV OVOf.La«:,OVa-LV.
, ~r ,
EV rpLa-L OYJ TO f.LEyai\017pE-
'~'' \

17E~, 8Lavoiq,, AE~EL, rc8 a-vyKEta-OaL 77poa-~opw~.

a-vvOEa-L~ 8€ f.LEyaAo17pE1TTJ~, w~ ~YJ(TLV 'ApLa-TOTEA YJ~,
e I I ~' ~~~ ~ I ' '
YJ 17aLWVLKYJ. 17aLWVO~ 0€ ELOYJ OVO, TO f.LEV 17pOKarap-
l "? ~~ ' I \I ~' 1"'1 {.)
KTLKOV, OV apXEL f.LEV f.LaKpa, AYJYOVa-L OE rpEL~ ppa-
""' "? ' 1 C' ee.=! (;"' "'C'G, , C'' \
XELaL, oLov ro roLovoE, YJPs aro oE, ro oE KaraAYJKTL-

372
1 ON STYLE 36-38

(36) There are four simple styles, the plain, the grand,
the elegant, and the forceful. In addition there are their
various combinations, though not every style can combine
with every other. The elegant combines with the plain
and the grand, and the forceful similarly with both. Only
the grand and the plain cannot combine, but the pair
stand, as it were, in polar opposition and conflict. For this
reason some writers maintain that only these two styles
exist, and the other two are subsumed within them; and
instead they assimilate the elegant to the plain, and the
forceful to the grand, as though the first contained some-
thing slight and refined, the second something massive
and imposing. (37) Such a theory is absurd. We can see
for ourselves that, with the exception I have mentioned of
the two polar opposites, any style may combine with any
other. In the poetry of Homer, for example, as well as in
the prose of Plato, Xenophon, Herodotus, and many
other authors·, considerable grandeur is combined with
considerable forcefulness and cliarm. Consequently the
number of the styles is as I. have already indicated. The
form of expression appropriate to each will be as follows.
(38) I shall begin with grandeur, which men today
identify with true eloquence. Grandeur has three
aspects, thought, diction, and composition in the appro-
priate way. According to Aristotlea composition with
paeans is grand. There are two kinds of paean, the initial
paean, beginning with a long syllable and ending with
three shorts (e.g. erxato de, "it originated~~b), and the final

a Cf. Ar. Rhet. 1408b32ff. b Th. 2.48.1.

1 s~o Victorius: 8E 0 P.
2
ElpYJfLEVWV Victorius: opWfLEVWV P.

373
 T!
DEMETRIUS
I
I

Kov Oarepcp dvria-rpocpov, olJ rplis fLEV (3paxliat

apxova-tv,
...,
A.-r}yEt 8€ fLLa fLaKpa, W0"7TEp TO
eo Apa(3'ia." ( 39) DEL 8€ €v roLe; KwAotc; rov fLeyaA.o-
7rpE1Tovc; A.oyov rov 1TpoKarapKrtKov fLEV 1raiwva
~I
.apxEtV ""'
TWV 1\
KWI\WV, '
TOV \ '
KaTai\'Y}KTtKOV ~' ~I 0
0€ €1TEO" aL.

7TapaDEtyfLa 8' avrwv TO 8ovKVDLDEtOV 700€, t:t:~p~aTO

' ' ' , ,
8€ 70 KUKOV "Et A""i0'io1Ttac; ." TL 7T07'
/
o:Ov , Apta-TOTEA'Y}c;
~~ ~ 'C ~~ ~""' ' ' ' Q \' ""' /\
OVTW OtETa~aro; OTt OEt Kat T'Y}V EfLtJOI\ 'Y}V TOV KWI\OV
Kat apxT]v fLEyaAo7Tp€7TTJ EvOvc; Elvat Kat <ro> 1
7EAoc;, TOVTO 8' EO"Tat, f.av a1TO fLaKpac; dpxwfLEOa
Kat Etc; fLaKpav A-r}ywfLEV. cpva-Et yap fLEyaAELOV TJ
/ Kat' 7rpOI\EYOfLEV'Y}
fLaKpa, \ / 7€ 7TI\'Y}O"O"Et
\ / EV'0'
Vc; Kat' a7TO-
,
\ / , /\
1\'Y}YOVO"a EV fLEyal\q_J TtVt KaTai\Et7TEt TOV aKOVOVTa.
' \ / ' , /

/ I"\ ,~, I"\ / / '

7TaVTEc; yovv tOtWc; TWV 7€ 7rpWTWV fLV'Y}fLOVEVOfLEV Kat

"' ( , ,(,
TWV l!O"TaTWV, Kat V7TO TOVTWV KtlJOVfLE a, V7TO 0€ TWV
, , o (, ~, "'
(;' ~1\ ~I , / .,, , rl.. I
fLETa~ v El\aTrov W0"7TEp EYKPV1TTOJ.LEVWV 'Y} Eva'-{-Javtso-

fLEVwv. ( 40) 8i]A.ov 8€ r~vro f.v roLe; 8ovKv8i8ov· a-xE-

8ov yap oAwc; 70 J.LEyaAo7rp€7TEc; EV 7Taa-tv avr~ 7TOtEL
i} rov pvOJ.LoV J.LaKpOT'YJc;, Kat Ktv8vvevEt T~ dv8pt
rovrcp 7TavroDa7Tov ovroc; rov fLEyaAo7rpE1Tovc; aVT'Y} T]
,o , ., '\ "' , ,
O"VV EO"tc; fLOV'Y} 'Y} fLal\tO"Ta 7TEpt7TOt€tV TO fLEYtO"TOV.
(41) ~EL fLEVTOL A.oyi,Ea-Oat, OTt KUV ILTJ aKpt{3wc;
~ , o TOLe;" ' KWI\Otc;
OVVWfLE a '\ 7TEpt7t O'€Vat TOVc;' 7TaLWVac;
'
~~o , o , , ~~ , ,
EV EV Kat EV EV afL'f'OTEpovc;, 7TatwvtK'Y}V yE 7Tavrwc;
r~..

7TOt'Y}O"OfLE0a TTJV a-vvOEa-LV, otov EK fLaKpwv dpxofLE-

VOt Kat Etc; fLaKpac; KaraA.-r}yovrEc;. rovro yap Kat
'Apta-TOT€1\'Y}C)
'\ '\ \
1TapayyEI\I\€tlJ ~~
EOLKEV, ~~ \ \
ai\1\WC) ~'
0€ ' OtT-
70 ~

' ""' / \ / ' {.:J/ ~I

TOV TOV 1TaLWVOc; TETEXVOI\OY'YJKEVaL aKpLtJELac; EVEKa.

374
 ON STYLE 38-41

paean, the converse of the other, beginning with three

shorts and ending with one long (e.g. Arabia). (39) In the
grand style the clauses should begin with an initial paean
and be followed by a final paean, as in this passage of
Thucydides, erxato de to kakon ex Aithiopias ecEthiopia
was where the evil originated"a). Why then did Aristotle
give this advice? It was because the opening and begin-
ning of a clause should be instantly impressive, and so
should its close; and this will result if we begin with a long
syllable and end with a long syllable. For a long syllable
has in its very nature something grand, and its use at the
beginning is immediately striking, while as a conclusion it
leaves the listener with a sense of grandeur. Certainly we
all uniquely rem em her and are stirred by words which
come first and last, while those in the middle have less
impact, as though they were obscured or hidden among
the others. (40) This is clearly seen in the case of Thucy-
dides, whose verbal dignity is in every instance almost
entirely due to the long syllables in his rhythms. While he
has the full range of grandeur, it is perhaps this power of
organisation which alone or chiefly secures his greatest
grandeur.
(41) We must, however, bear in mind that even if we
cannot position the two paeans with precision at either
end of each clause, we can at least make the composition
roughly paeonic, by beginning and ending with long sylla-
bles. This seems to be what Aristotle recommends,b and
it was only to be precise that he went into technical detail

a Th. 2.48.1; "the evil" is the plague of 430 B.C.

b Cf. Ar. Rhet. 1408b31.

1 roM: om. P.

375
 DEMETRIUS

8to1rep 8e6¢pao-Toc; 1rapa8ety~a EKTE()ELTaL ~eyaA.o-

1TpE1TEtac; To TotovTov KwAov, t:t:Twv ~€v 1rept Ta ~TJ8E-
' :J/ t ,./.,. \ ,./.,. / ,, , ' , / ,
VOc; a~ La \f-'LJ\0(1"0\f.JOVVTWV.
OV yap EK 1TaLWVWV aKpL-
""' a/\1\a
(3 We;, , \ \ ' 'TTatWVLKOV
/ Tt/ ECTTt.
, \ "(3 1 /
1Tapal\a WfLEV ~EVTOt
' /
TOV 1TatWVa ELc; TOVc;
, ' \/
1\0yov~,
)

E7TELOTJ
~'
~tKTOc;
/ /
TIS ECTTL
,
KaL' , ,./.,.\"
acro/af\E(YTEpoc;, TO' \
~EYO..I\01TpE1TEr:;
' ' ,EK TT}c;
~EV
""'

~aKpac; A.a~{3avwv, To A.oyt-Kov 8€ €K Twv f3paxEt-wv.

(42) oi 8' aAAot, 0 ~EV T]p~oc; CTE~voc; Kat ov AoytKoc;,
'\\', /~ 2 ,~, ,, f)
3 ' \ \ ' :J/
al\1\ TJXWOT}c;· < ... > OVOE EVpV ~0~, 0..1\J\ apv -
()

~oc;, 4 wa-1rep o Tot6a-8E EXEt, 5 t:t:ijKwv T]~wv Elc; T~v

/ ,, t: ' / ""' ""' t: /
xwpav· T} yap 'TTVKVOTT}c; TWV ~aKpWV V1TEp1Tt1TTEt
Tov Aoyt-Kov ~ETpov. ( 43) o 8€ La~(3oc; EVTEA~c; Kat TV
Twv 1roAAwv o~otoc;. 7ToAAo'i yovv ~f.Tpa la~-
A.f.tet-
a ' 1\a/\OV(T"LV
fJLKa \ \ ""' ,
OVK ,~ "
ELOOTEc;. 0
t: OE
~' "
1TatWV , .rl.. ""'
a~o/OLV
/ '/ 't:""' / t:
~Eo-Oc; Kat- ~ETpt-oc;, KaL O'TTOLOc; crvyKEKpa~EVOc;. T}
~EV s~ 7TaLWVLK~ EV TOLe; ~EyaAo1TpE1TECTL a-vv8Ea-ts
(£8' av 7TWc; Aa~{3avoLTO:
(44) ITote"i S€ Kat Ta ~~KTJ Twv KwAwv ~f.ye()oc;,
otov r:r:8ovKvDt8T}c; 'A8T}va"ioc; tvvf.ypat{lE TOV 7TOAE~ov

1 7TapaA.af3wtJ-EV Tot iam Victorius: 7TapaA.af3wv P (Aa supra

versum scrip to).
2 lacunam mihi iam statuenti prop. Kassel <El 8€ 8u1 7TavTwv
tJ-aKpav (vel tJ-aKpa.;;) exH,> (cf. § 117).
3 evpvfJtJ-O<;; edd.: evpvfJtJ-O<;; P.
4 apv() fl-O<;; Victorius: avapvfJfl-O<;; P.
5 EXH Radermacher: EKE'i P.

376
 ON STYLE 41-44

on the two sorts of paean. On the same principle Theo-

phrastusa illustrated grandeur with the following clause,
ton men peri ta medenos axia philosophounton (ccthose
who are philosophers about what is worthless.''b It is not
formed from paeans with any precision, yet it is roughly
paeonic. Let us then adopt the paean in prose, since it is
a mix of long and short, and so safer, deriving grandeur
from the long syllable and suitability for prose from the
shorts. (42) As for the other rhythms, the heroic is solemn
and not suitable for prose. It is too sonorous, nor is it
even a good rhythm but it has no rhythm< ... >,cas in the
following words, hekon hem8n eis ten choran C'arriving
inside our land").d Here the accumulation of long sylla-
bles goes beyond the limits of prose. (43) The iamb by
contrast is ordinary and like normal speech. In fact, many
people speak in iambics without knowing it. e The paean is
a mean between the two extremes and a sort of compos-
ite. Paeonic composition may tpen be used in elevated
passages in this sort of way.
(44) Long clauses also produce grandeur, for example
"Thucydides the Athenian wrote the history of the war

a Theophr. F 703 Fortenbaugh.

b Author unknown. Runs of short syllables give a paeonic
effect.
c Since herous describes the heroic hexameter ( §§ 5 and 204),
it regularly includes the dactyl, as in e.g. Ar. Rhet. 1408b32ff,
which Demetrius closely follows. The transmitted text anoma-
lously restricts it to the spondee, and I posit a lacuna, e.g. <"if it
is wholly spondaic">, a supplement suggested by R. Kassel.
d Author unknown (cf. § 117).
e Cf. Ar. Rhet. 1408b33, Po. 1449a24, and often later, e.g.
Quint. 9.4.88.

377
 T
I

DEMETRIUS
,. , II \
TWV EI\01TOVVY](J"LWV Kat
_, , :)A(} _,
YJVaLWV, Kat
33 , ee ~:H
pooOTOV
~ _,
eA 1\LKapvaa-EW~
\ / e
L(J"TOpLYJ~
/ ' / ~ (;
a1TOOEc.:, L~ YJOE. el ~ "
TO' yap '

Tax€w~ a1TO(J"LW1Tav El~ KWAov (3paxv KaTaa-JLLKpVVEL

' ""'\-' / .,, t!~ / ~/
TYJV TOV 1\0yov a-EJLVOTYJTa, KaV YJ V1TOKELJLEVYJ OLaVOLa
JLeyaAo1TpE1T~~ Y/, Kav Ta ovoJLaTa. (45) JLEyaAo7TpE-
, ~' ' ' ,
7TE~ OE Kat TO EK 1TEptaywyYJ~ TYJ a-vv Ea-EL AEYELV,
""' ""' (}" \ /

oiov w~ 8ovKv8i8YJ~· eeo yap AxEA~o~ 1TOTafLO~ p€wv

3

EK II/LVOOV
3 ~ ~I ~ ' A
opov~ OLa uOI\01TLa~ Kat
\ / ' 'A yptaVWV ,. , 1 Kat'
, AJL¢t'Aoxwv, avwfJEv <JLEV> 2 1Tapa !.TpaTOV 7TOALV €s
fJaA.aa-a-av 8tE~tEis 3 1rap' Olv~.-a8a~, Kat. T~v 1roAtv
aVTOl8 1TEptALJLVU,WV a1Topov 1TOLEt V1TO TOV v8aTO~ EV
""'
XELJLWVL a-TpaTEVEa- / (} at. " a-VJL1Taa-a
/ yap' YJe TotaVTYJ /
JLEyaAo7TpE7rEta EK T~~ 1TEptaywy~~ y€yovEv, KaL EK
,.., / , ,.., !1/ ' ' , /
TOV JLOYL~ ava1Tava-at aVTOV TE Kat TOV aKOVOVTa.
(46) EL 8' OVTW el 8Lai\Va-a~
\/ aVTO ' ' EL1TOL ~~
TlS" ee 0e yap '

'A XEA(f!O~
\ ""' ' e ,.... ' ' II_,LV 8ov opov~,
7T'OTafLO~ pEL .JLEV EK
'' ' CJ _, \
EKpaA-
AEL 8€ 1rap' Olv~.-a8a~ €~ fJaA.aa-a-av· 1rpo 8€ T~~ €K{3o-
A.~~ TO Olvta8wv JrE8iov ALJLVYJV 1TOtli, wa-T' aVTOt~
1rpo~ Tas XELJLEptva~ €cf>68ov~ Twv 1ToAEJLtwv €pvJLa
Kat' 1Tp0pl\ / (.}\
YJJLa YLVEa- / (}
at TO' vowp el~ "
. EL 8YJ/ TL~ OVTW
3 el

{.)\' e / '/ \\' ' ' /

JLETapaAWV EPJLYJVEVa-ELEV avTo, 1TOAI\a~ JLEV ava1Tav-

Aa~ 1rap€~EL T~ Aoycp, To fLEYEfJo~ 8' dcf>atp~a-ETat.

(47) KafJanEp yap TQS fLUKpa~ OOOV~ aL a-VVEXEt~
KaTaywyal. fLLKpa~ 1Totova-tv, ai 8' EPYJJLLat Kav Tat~
fLLKpa'i~ o8o'i~ EJLcf>aa-iv TLVa €xova-L JLTJKOV~, TaVTO
8YJ' Ka1TL
' ' TWV ,. , KWI\WV -'\ .,, YLYVOLTO.
av /
1 'Aypawv Thuc.

378
 ON STYLE 44-47

between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians"a and

"The History of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is here set
out."b A sudden drop into silence on a short clause lessens
the dignity of a passage, despite any grandeur in the
underlying thought or vocabulary. (45) The use of peri-
odic form is also impressive, as in the following passage of
Thucydides: "For the river Achelous, flowing frorr1 Mount
Pindus through Dolopia and the land of the Agrianians
and Amphilochians, passing inland by the city of Stratus
on the way into the sea near Oeniadae, and surrounding
that town with a marsh, by its floods makes a winter expe-
dition impossible.''c All this impressiveness has come
from the periodic form, and from the fact that Thucy-
dides hardly allows any pause to himself and the reader.
(46) If you were to break the sentence up to say, "For the
river Achelous flows from Mount Pindus and makes its
way into the. sea near Oeniadae; but before reaching its
outlet it turns the plain of Oeniadae into a marsh, so that
the floods form a defence and protection against enemy
attack in winter," if you vary and rephrase it in this way,
you will give the passage many pauses but destroy its
grandeur. (4 7) Inns at frequent intervals make long jour-
neys shorter, while desolate roads, even when the dis-
tances are short, give the impression of length. d The same
principle applies to clauses.

a Th. 1.1.1.
b Hdt. 1.1 (cf. § 17).
c Th. 2.102.2 (cf. §§ 202, 206).
d See on§ 202.

2
fLEV addidi ex§ 202, Thuc.
3 OLE~LEtS Thuc.: OLe~[eurL P.

379
 DEMETRIUS

( 48) ITo tEL 8€ Kat 8vO"cpwvia O"vv0EO"Ewc; E.v 7TOA-

Aotc; fLEYEOoc;, oiov TO eeAlac; 8' 0 fLEyac; alf.v €¢'
~'EKTOPL xaAKOKOpVO"TfJ.~' aAAwc; fLEV yap LO"Wc;
8vO"~Kooc; ~ rwv ypafLfLcLTWV O"VfL7TAYJtLc;, V7TEpj3oA.fl 1
8' EfLcpaivovO"a To fLEYEOoc; rov ijpwoc;· AEUJTYJc; yap
Kat TO EV~KOOV ov 7TcLVV EV fLEyaAo7TpE7TELC?: xwpav
~~
EXOVO"LV, EL fLY] 7TOV EV 01\tyotc;. Kat 0e 8 OVKVOLOYJc;
' I ~ '~ ~'
OE ' ' \ I '

7TavTaxov O"XE8ov cpEvyEt ro AEZov Kat ofLaAec; Tijc;

~'"~\\' ~~
O"VV EO"EWc;, Kat aEL f-Lai\1\0V
()
I ' ' '
TL 7TpOO"KpOVOV'TL EOLKEV, '

~~ e~ '
W0"7TEp OLe Tac;
' 1
TpaXELac; OOOVc; 1
7TOpEVOfLEVOL, ' '
E7TaV
AEyYJ, eeO'TL 'TO fLEV 8~ ETOc;, we; WfLOAOYYJTO, aVOO"OV Ec;
rae; aAAac; a0"0EvEiac; ErvyxavEv ov." pfi,ov fLEV yap
' ~~ ~ 1' ~, :)/ -;- ~~ ee ~~ ' ' ~~ \ \
Kat YJOLOV WO av 'TLc; EL7TEV, O'TL aVOO"OV Ec; Tac; al\1\ac;
a0"0EVELac; ov ETvyxavEv," d¢nPYJTO 8' aVTOV T~V
fLEyaAo7TpE7TEtav. ( 49) w0"7TEp yap ovofLa Tpaxv
/ (} ' 'Y e/ / (} ' I ~'
fLEYE oc; Epya«:,ETaL, OVTW O"VV EO"Lc;. OVOfLaTa OE Tpa-
XEa 'TO eeKEKpaywc;"
cLV'Tt 'TOV eef3owv," Kat TO
7E

eePYJYVVfLEVov" avTt. 'TOV eecpEpOfLEVOv," OLOLc; 7TUO"tv 2 0

8ovKv8i8YJc; XPiJTat, Of-LOLa AafLf3avwv Ta TE ovofLaTa
TYJ O"VV E(TEL, TOLe; 'TE OVOfLaO"L TYJV O"VV EO"LV.
1'"1 ()' 1'"1 , ' ' ' ()

(5o) TaO"O"Etv 8€ Ta ov6fLaTa XP~ rov8E Tov 7po-

7Tov· 7rpwra fLEV rtfJ€vat Ta fL~ fLcLAa E.vapyij, 8EvTEpa
~'
OE KaL' eVO"TaTa
/
Ta' EvapyEO"TEpa.
' '
OV'TW
t:l
yap
'
Kat' 'TOV 1'"1

1 1nrep{3o'Afl Gale: 1rrrep{3o'A~ P.

2
ototc; 1Tcurtv Hammer: otov a-1Taa-tv P.

380
 ON STYLE 48-50

(48) In 1nany passages grandeur is produced by a

series of ugly sounds, for example by the line, "'mighty
Ajax aimed always at bronze-helmeted Hector" (Aias d"'
ho megas aien eph"' Hektori chalkokorustei).a In other
respects the ugly clash of sounds is perhaps unpleasant to
the ear, but by its very excess it brings out the greatness of
the hero, since in the grand style smoothness and
euphony find only an occasional place. Thucydides
almost invariably avoids a smooth, even structure. He
seems rather to be for ever stumbling, like men going
along rough roads, as when he says: "this year from other
diseases, by common consent, was as it happened free"
( ... etunchanen on).b It would have been easier and
more euphonious to say, "from other diseases happened
to be free" ( . . . on etunchanen). But this would have
destroyed the grandeur. (49) Harsh composition creates
grandeur, just -as a harsh word does. Instances of harsh
words are "shrieking" instead of. "crying out" (kekragos
and boon), and "bursting ouf' instead of "charging"
(rhegnumenon and pheromenon). They are the sort of
words Thucydidesc uses everywhere, matching the words
to the composition and the composition to the words.
(50) Word order should be as follows: place first those
that are not specially vivid, next or last the more vivid. In
this way what comes first will sound vivid to us, and what

a Hom. Il. 16.358. The whole line is harsh, but the focus is on
Ajax and§ 105 specifies a clash of two sounds, so note either Aias
and aien, with their internal hiatus, or the "irregular" lengthen-
ing ofho mmegas (see note on of!E_hin in§ 255).
b Th. 2.49.1. It ends on a monosyllable.
c He does not in fact use these particular examples.

381
 DEMETRIUS

npwrov aKOVO"OfLEBa w~ Evapyov~, Kat 'TOV f.LE'T avro

w~ €vapyea-r€pov. el 8€ f.L~, 86gOfLEV EgYJO"fJEVYJKEVat
, , ,, , (}
ta-xvporepov E1Tt aa- E-

'TO, 1rapa' rep

""' II\Aa'TWVt
,
'AeyofLEvov, f:f:€1Tav 2 fLEv rt~ fLOva-tKfJ 1rap€xn
ort
KaTaVAELV Ka'i Karaxe'iv 3 8ta 'TWV wrwv". 1TOAV yap
' ~ , ,
TO oevrepov evapyea-repov rov 1rporEpov· Kat 1Tal\tV
, ""' , ' '\

1Tpo"iwv ¢YJa-tv, f:f:orav 8€ Karax€wv 4 fLTJ dvfJ, aAAa

KYJA.fJ, ro 8T] fLEra rovro 1J8YJ r~KEt Kat 'Aei{3et." ro
yap f:f:Aei{3Et" rov f:f:T~KEt" EfL¢artKwrepov Kat €yyv-
, , , ~' (;, , , , (} ,
'TEpw 1TOtYJf.LaTO~. Et OE 1TpOEc.:, YJVEYKEV avro, aa- EVE-
O"'TEpov av 'TO f:f:T~KEt" E1n¢epOfLEV01/ €¢avYJ. (52) Kat
t:/OfLYJPO~ 8€ E7Tt 'TOV KvKAW1TO~ aEt E1TaVgEt 'T~V V1TEp-
{3oA.~v, Kat E1TaVtOV'Tt E7T' avri]~ <EotKEv>, 5 oiov
' ,
' ECf!KEt
OV' yap
' ~ / • .,../.... / '\ \ ' 1:/ 1:\ /
avopt ye a-tro'f'ayep, aAJ\a ptep VAYJEVTt,

Kat' 1TpOO"E'Tt
, 1: · ' t
V~Y}J\OV
\ ""' ,,
opov~
1: .,../.... ,
Kat' V1TEp'f'atVOfLEVOV ""'
'TWV
,, \ \
ai\1\WV opwv.
' ""' , ' ' ,
aEt yap KatTOt fLEYaAa OVTa Ta 1TpO'TE-
,\ ,, ' /

pov ijrrova ¢atVETat, fLEt,OVWV avro'i~ 'TWV f.LE'Ta

""'
Tavra ' .,../.... ,
E1Tt'f'EPOfLEVWV.
(53) Xp~ 8€ Kat rov~ a-vv8€a-fLOV~ fL~ f.LaAa dvra-
~ /~ (} , Q""' ~ ""' 1:1: ' , ~ / '
1TOOtOOO" at aKptfJW~, OtOV rep fLEV O"VVOEO"fLep 'TOV
~:~:8€"· f.LtKpo1TpE1TE~ yap TJ aKpt{3Eta· aAAa Kat ara-
KTorf.pw~ 1TW~ xpi]a-Bat, KafJa1TEp 1TOV 0 ,Avrt¢wv
1
del. Radermacher. 2 oTav Plat. codd.
3 KaTaxliv Tfjc; tf;vxf}c; Plat. 4 KaTaxE.wv P: E.1rexwv Plat.
5 EotKEV edd.: om. P.

382
T
ON STYLE 50-53

follows more vivid still. Otherwise we will seem to have

lost vigour.a (51) An example is this passage fron1 Plato,
"when a man lets music play over him and flood through
his ears.»b Here the second verb is far more vivid than the
first. And further on he says, "but when the flood fails to
stop and enchants him, at that point he melts and lique-
fies." The word "liquefies" is more striking than the word
"melts,» and is closer to poetry. c If he had reversed the
order, the verb ''melts," coming later, would have
appeared weaker. (52) Homer similarly, in describing the
Cyclops, keeps augmenting his hyperbole and seems to
climb higher and higher with it: "for he was not like men
who eat bread but like a wooded summit,» and what is
more, the summit of a high mountain~. one towering
above all the others. d For however big they are, things
which come first always seem less big "'hen bigger things
follow.
(53) Connectivese should not ~orrespond too precisely
(e.g. men and de, "on the one hand» and "on the other
hand''), since there is something trivial about exact preci-
sion. Use them with rather more freedom, as in Antiphon

a Here the transmitted text adds "and as it were collapsed

from strength into weakness."
b Pl. Rep. 411a.
c Pl. Rep. 411b (cf. §§ 183-85, from the same passage). The
verb A.e£{3et is poetic and rare in prose.
d Hom. Od. 9.190-92, with paraphrase of the last line, vt/JYJ-
'Awv opewv, 0 'TE 4>aiverat oiov a1r' aAAWV.
e Since it covers both, I translate (ruv8eap.o<; as connective or
particle as fits each case.

383
 DEMETRIUS

AEyEt" ee-ry <f1-EV> 1

yap vija-o~ ~v EXOf1-EV 2 DrrJAYJ fivEV
Kat rroppw()EZJ <ort> 3 Ea-TtV Vt/JYJATJ Kat rpaxE'ia. Kat
'' , ,, , ''"",
Ta fivEV XPYJa-tfiva Kat Epyaa-tfiva fivtKpa aVTYJ~ Ea-Tt, ra
'
~'
OE , ' \\' "" , "" ,,
apya 1TOI\I\a (Tf.JvtKpa~ aVTYJ~ OV(TYJ~·
" Tpta-t' yap
'
"" ee fl-EV
TOt~
' " a-VVOE(TfJ-Ot~
~ ' 1'
Et~
e ee OE
0
~ '" ' ~ '~
avTa1TOOtOOTat. 4

(.54) 1ro'A'AaKt~ fl-Evrot rEeivrE~ 1rw~ €4>Eti}~ a-vv-

~
OE(TfJ-Ot Kat' Ta' f.JvtKpa' '\
fl-Eyal\a ""
1TOtOVa-tV, e
W~ 1Tap '
e0fiv~P4! TWV BotWTtaKWV 1TOAEWV ra OVOfivaTa EVTEAij
~~ ' ' )/ ' ,, ' , () ~ ' '
OVTa Kat f.JvtKpa oyKOV TtVa EXEL KaL fJ-EYE 0~ OLa TOV~
a-vv8€a-f1-0V~ E~Etij~ roa-ovrov~ rE()El1 Ta~, otov E.v T~
ee"'..::..XOtVOV
"" ' TE ..:..KWI\OV
"'' "" \ ' TE, 1TOI\VKVYJf.JvOV
\' ' T ' 'ETEWVOV.
' "
(55) To'i~ 8€ 1Tapa7rAYJpWfivaTtKot~ a-vv8€a-f1-0t~
XPYJ(TTEOV, ovx w~ 1Tpoa-(}TjKat~ KEVaL~ Kat otov
rrpoa-~vfivaa-tv ~ 1Tapa~va-fivaa-Lv, wa-1TEp TtVE~ r~
eeOTJ". XPWVTat 1rp0~ OVOEV Kat T~ eevv" Kat T~ eetrrpo-
TEpovt ," 5 dA.A.' av a-vf1<f3aA.A.wvra[ Tt T~ f.JvEYE(}Et TOV
'Aoyov, (56) Ka()a1TEp 1Tapa II'AaT(dVt, eeo fJ-EV 8Tj

1 p.,f.v add. Capperonerius: quidern Lat.

2
E:xop.,EVYJ edd.: €xop.,Ev P.
3 art add. Sauppe.
4 longum exemplum Platonis (Grg. 465e2-466a3) praebet M

(crucibus inclusum), suspicor ex margine in textum deductum.

5 1rporEpov P, vix recte: 1TEp Roshdestwenski.

a Antiph.fr: 50 Blass.

384
 ON STYLE .53-56

somewhere: "For on the one hand the island which we

inhabit is clearly on the one hand even from a distance
high and rugged; and the part of it which is on the one
hand cultivated and useful is small, on the other hand the
uncultivated part is large, though the island itself is
small. "a There is only one "on the other hand" to answer
the three examples of "on the one hand."b (54) Yet an
unbroken chain of connectives can often make even small
things great, like the names of the Boeotian towns in
Homer: they are ordinary and small, but they acquire a
certain dignity and greatness from the long chain of con-
nectives, for example "and Schoenus and Scolus and
mountainous Eteonus."c
(55) Expletive particlesd should not be used as super-
fluous extras and, as it were, excrescences or fillings, as
"indeed" and "now" and "tearliert" are sometimes aim-
lessly used .. Use them only if they contribute to the
grandeur of what is being sai~, (56) as in Plato, "and

b M adds a passage, enclosed within cruces and probably an

intrusion from a marginal annotation: "Another example is Plato
in the Gorgias [465e-466a]: 'Perhaps on the one hand I have
done something extraordinary in not allowing you to make long
speeches, while I myself have spoken at length. It is on the one
hand right to excuse me; for when I was speaking briefly, you did
not understand me, nor were you able to follow the reply I gave
you, but you needed an explanation. So on the one hand, if I too
am unable to follow your reply, deliver a long speech yourself in
turn. But otherwise let me use one, for that is only fair."'
c Hom. Il. 2.497 (cf. § 257).
d These were a recognised grammatical category of particles
added for reasons of rhythm or style (e.g. Dion. Thrax, Ars
Gramm. p. 96 Uhlig). The third example is corrupt, concealing
e.g. the intensifier 7TEp, "truly."
385
 DEMETRIUS
I
I

!1-Eya~ 1 EV ovpavfiJ ZEv~''. Kat 1Tap' eOILTJPq>, eedAA' OTE

8~ 1TOpov Itov E:vppELO~ 1TOTa/LOLO." apKTLKO~ yap

' e / ~ 2 '"' /
TE (} EL~ 0 KaL' a1TOCJ1Tacra~
' /
CJVVOE0"/1-0~ TWV 1TpOTEpWV
Ta EX0/1-EVa !1-EyaAELOV TL ElpyacraTO" ai yap 1TOAAa'i
apxat CTE/1-VOTYJTa E:pya,ovTaL. El 8' cb8E El7TEV, eeaAA'
OTE E1TL TOV 1TOpov a\{JLKOVTO TOV 1TOTa/LOV, /1-LKpOJ\0-
<:/ ' ' ' / ',./.,. / 1"'1 1"'1 '' \

yoVVTL
'"' ' /
Eq>KEL KaL' ETL
''
W~
e
1TEpL' EVO~
e ' /
1Tpay/LaTO~

A..€yovTL.
(57) Aa!Lf3avETaL 8€ Kat 1rafJYJTLKw~ 3 1roAAaKL~ o
crvv8Ecr!LO~ oilTo~, WCJ1TEp E1Tt Tfj~ KaAvt/Jov~ 1Tpo~ TOV
'08vcrcr€a,

dtoyEvE~ AaEpTta8YJ, 1ToAv~L7Jxav' '08vcra-Ev,

ovTw 8~ olKov8E cptAYJV €~ 1TaTpt8a yaZav;

El yoi}v TOV crvv8Ecr!LOV E:t€AoL~, crvvEtatp1}crEL~ Kat

To 1ra8o~. Ka06A..ov yap, wcr1rEp o
ITpattcpavYJ~
cpYJcriv, avTt !1-VY/1-WV 1TapEAa!Lf3avovTo oi TotovToL
crvv8Ecr/LOL Kat CJTEvay/1-WV, WCJ1TEp TO eeai at," Kat TO
\{JEV, KaL' ee t 1TOLOV
ee ,./.,.. '"' ' ' '"' / TL/ ECJTLV
' t ,"4 W~
e ' / ,./.,. '
aVTO~ \fJYJCTL, TO

eeKaL vv K' o8vpo!LEVOLCJLV" E7TpEt/JEv, E/1-cpacriv TLVa

E.xov olKTpov OV0/1-aTO~. (58) oi 8€ 1Tpo~ ov8€v dva-
1TAYJpOVVTE~, cpYJCTL, TOV crvv8ECT/LOV EOtKaCJLV TOL~
1
fLE'Ya'; TJ'YEfLWV Plat. codd.
2 a1roo-1Tao-a'; Finckh: a1Too-1Tao-Oels P.
3 1Ta0YJTLKW'; Greg.: 1Ta0YJTtKots P.
4 locus corruptissimus, e.g. W'; yap pro Wo-1TEp et wo-aVTW';

pro w'; avTo'; Radermacher

386
 ON STYLE 56-58

indeed mighty Zeus in his heaven,"a and in Homer, "but

when indeed they came to the ford of the fair-flowing
river."h Placed near the beginning and severing what fol-
lows from what precedes, the particle makes a dignified
impression. For the use of many opening words has an
imposing effect. If Homer had said, "but when they ar-
rived at the ford of the river," he would have seemed to be
using trivial language and speaking of only one particular
event.
(57) The particle "indeed,, is also frequently used to
add emotion, as in Calypso,s words to Odysseus,
<<Born of Zeus, son of Laertes, Odvsseus of the
.I

manvwiles,
.I

do you indeed wish so much to go home to your

own dear land ?,,c
Remove the particle, and you will simultaneously remove
the emotion. In general, as Praxtphanes says, d such parti-
cles were used as substitutes for moans and laments, like
"ah ah,, and "alas,, and tin the sort of wayt, as he himself
says, <'and so now grieving,,e was appropriate, since to
some degree it suggests a word of mourning. (58) But
those who use expletive particles aimlessly are, as Praxi-

a Pl. Phdr. 246e. b Hom. Il. 14.433, 21.1.

c Hom. Od. 5.203-4; and cf. Od. 16.220, 21.226.
d Praxiphanes 13 Wehrli.
e The text is corrupt, but particles and interjections are pre-
sumably compared, as in § 58, and the particle vv (or the cluster
Kat vv KE) is said to have the same piteous effect as "ah ah', and
"alas." For the last phrase, illustrating how Kat vv KE emphasises
a verb of mourning, cf. e.g. Hom. Il. 23.154 "and as indeed they
mourned the sun set on them."

387
 DEMETRIUS
e ""
V7TOKpLTaLc; ""
'TOLe; TO' KaL' 'TO
' ' \'
E7TLI\E'Y0V(TLV l\ '
1\E'YOV(TLV,
oiov Et rLc; 6J8E Aeyo~,;,

' ' / f) ~ ,, ,, ' '~ / ,, ,,

EV avTL7TOp fLOlS 7TEOL EXOVa- EvoaLfLOVa, at, ac

we; yap 7TapeAKEL TO at at KaL TO E.v0a8E, OVTW ¢Ev

Ka'i o 7TavTaxov fLUTYJV EfLf3a'AAofLEvoc; a-vv8Ea-fLoc;. 3
(59) Oi fLEV 8-Y] a-vv8Ea-fLOt ri}v a-vvOEa-tv fLEya'Ao-
7TpE7TTJ 7TOtOV(TtV, we; ELPYJTat, Ta a-xrr}fLaTa ri]c; 8€
\ / cEWe;
/\Ec; / E(T'Tt
' ' Kat' avra
fLEV ' ' (TVV f)/E(TEWc;
/ 'Tt Etooc;·
';'~
'TO'4
yap 8-Y] Ta avra AeyEtV 8'ic; dva8t7TAovvra 5 ~ E7Tava-
¢€povra ~ dvOv1raAAaa-a-ovra 8tararTOfLEVCf? Ka'i
/ ,, ~ / ~ ' ' / A.
fLETaa-VV'Tt f) EVTt EOLKEV. OtaTaK'TEOV OE Ta 1rp0a-o/opa
aVTWV xapaKri}pt EKaa-TqJ, oiov r0 fLEyaAo7TpE7TEt fLEV
7TEp'i .oil 7TpoKEtTat, ravTa · ( 60) 1rpwrov fLEV ri}v dv0v-
7TaA'Aayrr}v, we; "'OfLYJpqc;, eeoi 8€ 8vo a-K07TEAot o fLEV
' ' ' ' e / " \ ' ' t:l \ /
ovpavov Evpvv tKaVEt " 7TOI\V yap OV'TW fLEyai\EtOTE-
pov E.va'A'AayEt(TY}~ <ri]c;> 6 7T'TW(TEWc;, ~ EL7TEp ovrwc;
''A. ee "" ~ ' ~ / / \ e ' ' ' ' / "
Eo/YJ, 'TWV OE OVO (TK07TEI\WV 0 fLEV ovpavov EVpVV "

(TVVYJ'() We; yap

' E/\EYETO.
'\ / "" OE
7TaV ~'
TO' (TVVYJ
/ f) Ec; fLtKp07TpE-
, oto
7TEc;, ~ '
Kat' a'() av11-aa-rov.
/

(61) ~'
""f'ov oE NLpEa,
A. ' ' ' TE ovTa
avrov '' ' Kat' ra'
fLtKpov
7TpayfLaTa avrov fLtKporEpa, rpEtc; vavc; Ka'i oAtyovc;

1 E1TtAf.yovcn,v N auck: E7To~ A.f.yovo-tv P

2
IleAo1ria~ (cf. Ar. Rhet. 1409bl0): IleAo7TEta~ P
3
o-vv8eo-fLo~ Greg.: om. P
4 ro Dresd.: rwv P
5 ava8L1T Aovvra Solmsen: 8t1T Aovvra P

388
T
l
ON STYLE 58-61

phanes says, like actors who add this or that exclan1ation

without purpose, as though you were to say,
''This land of Calydon, of the land ofPelops (alas!)
the facing shore, with its fertile plains (ah! ah!).na
For just as in this passage the "ahl ah!" and the ''alas!" are
superfluous, so is any particle which is inserted indiscrim-
inately and without reason.
(59) Connectives then, as has been said, give grandeur
to the composition. Next, figures of speech: these are
themselves a form of composition, since it is practically a
matter of rearrangement and redistribution when you say
the same thing twice, through repetition or anaphora or
anthypallage.h Each style must be assigned its appropri-
ate figures, in the case of the grand style, our present con-
cern, the following: (60) First, anthypallage, as in
Homer's line, "the two rocks, one of them reaches up to
the wide heaven."c With this ~hange from the normal
genitive, the line is far more imposing than if he had said,
"of the two rocks one reaches up to the wide heaven."
That would have been the usual construction, but any-
thing usual is trivial and so fails to impress.
(61) Again, take Nireus, who is personally insignificant
and his contingent still more so, three ships and a few

a TGF Eur. Meleager Jr. 515. The interjections make it seem

that Calydon is in the Peloponnese.
h Anthypallage is a change of grammatical case, subdividing a
plural into its parts (a type of Ot-Aoy[a, cf. § 103).
c Horn. Od. 12.73.

6 rfj~ add. Kroll.

389
 DEMETRIUS
,, ~
avopac;, /
fLeyav 1 KaL' J.Leyal\a
/\ ' /
E1TOLYJa-Ev KaL' 1TOJ\J\a
\ \ ' avT
' '

oA.iywv, TcfJ a-xiJJ.LaTL 8L1TAcfJ KaL fLLKT(jJ XPYJ(J"cLfLEVOc;

'(; '
Es rl.. ,. . .
E1TaVa'f'opac; TE KaL' OLaJ\V(}"EWc;.
~ \ / CCN ' yap,
. LpEVc; / "
cpYJa-L, CCTplic; v-i]ac; ayEv,
NLpEvc; 'AyA.atYJc; vioc;,
N LpEvc;, oc; KaAALa-Toc; avi}p". 2 ij 'TE yap E1Tavac/Jopa
,. . . \ /c
TYJc; 1\Es EWe; E1TL 'TO aVTO OVOJ.La 'TOV
, ' ' , ' ,, ' N LpEa
/ KaL' 'YcJ OLa-
~ /

\ \ ""'() / ' rl.. / / / ~ / .,,

J\V(J"L<; 1TJ\Y} oc; 'TL EfL"{JaLVEL 1TpayJ.LaTWV, KaLTOL OVO 'YJ
TPLWV OVTWV. ( 62) Kat a-xE8ov a1Tat 'TOV N Lpewc; 0110-
J.Laa-OevToc; EV T(jJ 8pafLaTL fLEfLVTJfLEOa ov8€v ,ry'T'TOV T]
TOV""' 'A XLJ\1\EWc;
\\ / KaL' TOV""' '0 ova-a-Ewe;,
~ / /
KaLTOL KaT ' E1Toc;
''
~~ 3 \ \ / ~ / ' / ~' c ,..... /
EKaa-TOV 1\ai\OVJ.LEVWV a-xEoOV. aLTLa 0 'YJ 'TOV a-xYJ-
fLaTOc; 8v~'afLLc;· El 8' ovTwc; Ei1TEv, CCN LpEvc; o
'AyA.atac; vioc; EK !VJ.LYJc; Tplic; v-i]ac; ~YEl'," 1Tapaa-E-
(J"LW1TYJKOTL
/ ,/
EqJKEL 'TOV
' N LpEa
/ • W(J"1TEp yap
' ~~
EV
, ,. . .
TaLc;
E(J"TLcL(TE(J"L Ta oA.iya 8LaTaxOevTa 1TWc; 1TOAAa cpaivE-
TaL, ovTw Kav To'Lc; A.oy<nc;. ( 63) 1roA.A.axov fLEVToL To
,
EVaVTLOV TYJ
/ ,..... \ /
1\Va-E.L,
c
YJ
/
(J"VVatpELa,
..~... /e
fLEYE ovc; aLTLOV
,,
/
YLVETaL f.Lai\1\0V, OtOV OTL
,..... \ \ 1' ~~ cc ,
Ea-TpaTEVOV'TO
/ ~'E \\ /
1\1\'Y}VEc; 'TE
Kat KapEc; Kat AvKLoL Kal, ITaJ.Lc/Jv'AoL Kal, <I>pvyEc;." Yj
yap Tov avTov a-vv8E.a-J.Lov Oea-Lc; EJ.LcpaivEL TL a1TELpov
1TAfj8oc;. (64) To 8€ ToLovTo CCKvpTa, c/JaA.YJpLowvTa,"
Tfj E.taLpEa-EL Tov ccKa'i" a-vv8€a-J.LOV J.LEyaAELOTEpov

1
f.LEyav edd.: f.LEya P.
2 1nro ''I}uov ,ryA.Oev add. Greg. M.
3 EKaa-Tov edd. EKaa-Twv P.

390
~
l
!

ON STYLE 61-64

men. But Homer has made him and it impressive, and

has multiplied the small contingent by using the two com-
bined figures of anaphora and absence of connectives.
"Nireus," he says, ''brought three ships, Nireus, son of
Aglaia, Nire us the most handsome rnan .... ~'a The verbal
anaphora of the same word, Nire us, and the absence of
connectives give an impression of a huge contingent, even
though it is only two or three ships. (62) Nireus is men-
tioned barely once in the course of the action, b but we
remember him no less than Achilles and Odysseus, the
subjects of alrnost every line. The impact of the figure is
the cause. If Homer had said, "Nireus, the son of Aglaia,
brought three ships from Syrne,~~ he might just as well
have passed over Nireus in silence. Speech is like a ban-
quet: a few dishes may be arranged to seem many. (63) In
1nany passages, however, linking with connectives, the
opposite of asyndeton, tends to increase the grandeur, for
example "to the war marched. Greeks and Carians and
Lycians and Pamphylians and Phrygians.~'c The use of the
same connective suggests 'infinite numbers. (64) But in a
phrase such as "high-arched, foam-crested"d the omission
of the connective "and" makes the language more impres-

a Hom. Il. 2.67lff, a traditional exmnple, e.g. Ar. Rhet.

1414a2-7 and Ps.Plu. Vit. Hom. 33. The name Nireus begins
three successive lines:
N t.pevc; a-D !Vfl/Y]{}Ev ayE rpEtc; vijac; E1:(J'ac;,
N t.pevc; Ay'AatYJc; viae; Xap07TOUJ r' avaKroc;,
3

N tpEvc; oc; KaAAL(J'TOc; dv~p V7TO ''I'ALOV :qA.eEv.

b For 8pafLa of nondramatic genres, compare the mimes of
Sophron in § 156, and Plato's Menexenus in § 266 (in both
because of the use of direct speech).
c Author unknown. d Hom. Il. 13.799 (cf. § 81).

391
 DEMETRIUS
I
I

/ ,
ptowvTao
(65) [To] 2 fLEyaAELOV fLEVTOt EV TOL~ crx~fLaCFtV TO
fLYJDE E1TL Tfj~ avTfj~ fLEVEtV 1TTWCFEW~, w~ 8ovKVDLDYJ~,
ee Kat' 1TpWTO~
""' , {3 atVWV
a1TO / ' ' TYJV
E1Tt ' a1TO, {3 a/{).pav EJ\Et1TO-
-'\
l/JvxYJCFE TE, Kat 1TEcrovTo~ avTov €~ T~v 1TapE~EtpEcriav
0 0 1roAv yap ovTw~ fLEyaAEtOTEpov, ~ li1rEp E1Tt Tfj~
0,

avTfj~ 1TTWCFEW~ OVTW~ €4>YJ, OTt eeE'lTECFEV E~ TTJV

1TapE~EtpEcriav Kat a1TE/3aAE TTJV acr1TiDao, (66) Kat
' ~/ \
avaot'lTJ\WCFt~ 0
~' ''
E1TOV~
3 EtpyacraTO
' / / () 0~, W~
fLEYE e cH po-
DOT0~4 eeSpaKOVTE~ SE. 1TOv," 4>YJCFLV, ee~crav EV T~
KavKacrcp < > 5 fLEYEfJo~, Kat fLEYEfJo~ Ka'i 1TAfj-
0 0 0

fJo~ 0" S'i~ pYJfJEv TO eefLEYEfJo~" oyKov TtVa Ti} EPfLYJVELq_

1TapE.crxEvo (67) xpf]crfJat fLEVTOt TOL~ crx~fLaCFt fL~
1TVKVO'L~· a1TEtpoKaAov yap Kat 1TapEfL4>a'iv6v Ttva TOV
Aoyov aVWJ.LaAiavo OL yovv apxa'iot 1TOAAa crx~fLaTa
EV TOL~ Aoyot~ TLfJE-pTE~ CFVVYJfJECFTEpot TWV acrxYJfLaTi-
~ '
CFTWV EtCFtV, ota .)
TO' EVTEXVW~ Tt ()/EVato
/ .) /

( 68) IlEpt SE. crvyKpovcrEw~ 4>wvYJEVTWV V1TEAa{3ov

aAAot aAAW~o 'lcroKpaTYJ~ fLEV yap f.4>vAaTTETO CJV}L-
\ / .) / ~ /
1TJ\YJCFCFEtV avTa, Kat' Otc a1T
' ' .)
aVTOV, ""' ,, \ \
aJ\1\0t OE TtVE~ W~
c

,,
ETVXE CFVVEKpovcrav Kat' 1TaVTa1TaCFt. OEt
/ / ~""' ~' ,,
OE OVTE

TJXWDYJ 1TOtELV TTJV crvvfJEcrtv, aTEXVW~ avTa CFVfL-

1TA ~CFCFOVTa Kat w~ ETVXE" Dtacr1TaCFfL~ yap TOV
A.oyov To TotovTov Kat DtappiljJEt eotKEv· ovTE fL~V
1 ei:rrep Radermacher: el Greg.: om. Po
2 rodel. Radermacher et Roberts.
3 dvaDL1TAwa-ts S' e1rov~ p2: dvaDt1TAwa-a~ S' e1ro~ pl.

392
~
I
j
j
I ON STYLE 64-68
I
i
l
j
j
j
s1ve than if Homer had said "high-arched and foam-
crested."
(65) Grandeur in figures is also produced from variety
in the use of cases, as in Thucydides, ~'the first to step on
the gangway, he fainted, and in his falling on the oars, his
shield ... "a This is far more striking than if he had kept to
the same case and said, "he fell on the oars and dropped
his shield.~~ (66) Repetition of a word is also imposing, as
in this passage of Herodotus, "there were serpents in the
Caucasus, <vast> in size, yes in size and number."b The
repetition of the word "size" adds weight to the style. (67)
Do not, however, crowd figures together. That is tasteless
and suggests an uneven style. The early writers, it is true,
use many figures in their works, but they position them so
skilfully that they seem less unusual than those who avoid
figures altogether.
(68) Next; hiatus, on which opinions have differed.
!socrates and his school avoided any clash of vowels,
while others admitted it wholesale wherever it happened
to occur. You should, however, neither make your compo-
sition too sonorous by a random and unskilful use of hia-
tus (for that produces a jerky and disjointed style), nor yet

a Th. 4.12.1. The sentence continues, "" aCT'7Tt~ 1TEpteppvYJ fS

r~v BaA.a(J(Jav, "his shield slipped off into the sea."
b Text uncertain and perhaps a memory of Hdt. 1.203.1, eov
opewv Kat 1TATJBEL fLEYL(JTOV Kat p..eye8EL V~YJAOTaTOV. But the
parallel is not close, there are no snakes, and Orth, Philologische
Wochenschrift 45 (1925) 778-83, attractively suggests Hero-
dorus ofHeraclea (FGrHist 31 F 63 addenda, p.*12 Jacoby).

4 rHpo8oro~ P: rHpo8wpo~ Orth.

5 lacuna subest, e.g. <Oavp..a(JTOt ro> Kroll.

393
 DEMETRIUS
1
1ravrEAw~ cpvAacrcrEcr()aL rT]v crvvexELav rwv ypafLfLU-
\ / ' ' ~~ :J/ :J/ e /{)
TWV" 1\ELOTEpa fLEV yap OVTW~ ECTTaL LCTW~ YJ CTVV E-
, / ~' ' rl..' , "" \\'
CTL~, afLOVCTOTEpa OE KaL KW'-PYJ aTEXVW~, 1T'OI\I\YjV
evcpwviav dcpat-pE()licra TTJV YLVOfLEVYJV EK r1}~
crvyKpOVCTEW~.
/ ""(69) CTKE1TTEOV
1rpWTOV / OTL
fLEV, t!//KaL' ~'
OE
' 1
YJe CTVVYJ/{) ELa aVTYJ
' ' \ /
CTVfL1T'I\YjTTEL Ta' ypafLfLaTa
/
Ta' EV
TOL~
"" , / /
OVOfLaCTLV, KaLTOL CTTOXasOfLEVYJ fLai\LCTTa EV'-PW-
r / /\ 'rl..

/
VLa~,
'?
OLOV EV
' ""A'LaKO~
Tcp ' KaL' XUJJV.
/ 1T'OI\I\a
\ \ ' OE
~' KaL'~'
OLa
fLOVWV rwv cpwvYJEVTWV crvvr[()YJa-Lv OVOfLaTa, otov
, / KaL' E VLO~,
A LaLYJ ,, ,~ / ~ r~.. / "" ''\ \
OVOEV TE OVCT'-PWVOTEpa TWV a/\1\WV
ECTTt ravra, dAA' LCTW~ Kat fLOVCTLKWTEpa. (70) Ta YE
fLTJV 1T'OLYJTLKa, otov ro ~eALo~, 8LYJPYJfLEvov Kat
/ , / ~ 'rl.. / / ' ""
crvyKpOVOfLEVOV E1T'LTYJOE~, EV'-PWVOTEpov ECTTL TOV
ijALO~ Kat TO opewv TOV opwv. EXEL yap TLVa T] AVCTL~
'~'
KaL' YJe /
crvyKpOVCTL~
'?
OLOV cpoYJV ' /
E1T'LYLVOfLEVYJV. \\'
1T'OI\I\a
8€ Kat aAAa EV crvvaALcpfl fLEV AEYOfLEVa 8vcrcpwva 2
~v, 8t-aLpE()f.vra 8.€ Kat crvyKpovcr()E.vra evcpwvorEpa,
e ~,
W~
/
TO'
1T'aVTa '
fLEV ee
Ta' VEa
/
KaL' Kal\a
\ / '
ECTTLV. "
EL, OE
crvvaAEtt/Ja~ EL1T'OL~ eeKaA' ECTTLv," 3 8vcrcpwvorEpov
€crraL AEYOfLEVov Kat evrEAecrrEpov. (71) E:v
ro
' /
A LYV1T'Tcp ~' KaL' TOV~
OE ' {) EOV~
' VfLVOVCTL
e "" ~ ' TWV
OLa "" e '
E1T'Ta
cpWVYJEVTWV OL tEplis, €cpE~1j~ ~XOVVTE~ avra, Kat dvrt
avAov Kat aVTt KL()apa~ TWV ypafLfLUTWV TOVTWV 0
~xo~ aKOVETaL V1T'' Evcpwv[a~, WCTTE 0 E~aLpwv TTJV

1 Ta EV Roshdestwenski: ravra P.
2
8vu-cpwva edd., 8vcrcpopa P.
3 KaA' E.crr[v (sic) Ahrens: KaA.a 'crrt-v P.

394
 ON STYLE 68-71

avoid hiatus altogether, since your composition will then

perhaps be smoother but it will be less musical and quite
flat when robbed of much of the euphony produced by
hiatus. (69) Note :first that ordinary usage itself aims
above all at euphony, yet it has a clash of vowels within
such words as Aiakos and chion ("snow"), and it even
forms many words exclusively from vowels, e.g. Aiaie and
Euios,a and these words are no less pleasant than any oth-
ers and possibly even more musical. (70) Poetic formsb
where the resolution and hiatus are deliberate have more
euphony, for example eelios for helios ("sun") and oreon
for oron ("mountains"), since the separate sounds pro-
duced by the hiatus add a sort of singing effect. Many
other words would be harsh if the sounds were run
together, but are more melodious when they are sepa-
rated in hiatus, for example kala estin (at the end of the
sentence "all that is young is beautiful"c). Running the
vowels together, kar estin, will make the phrase harsher
and more ordinary. (71) In Egypt when the priests sing
hymns to the gods, they sing the seven vowels in
succession, d and the sound of these vowels has such
euphony that men listen to it instead of the flute and the
lyre. The removal here of hiatus simply removes the

a I.e. god of the bacchant cry, euoi (Dionysus).

b Both examples (the first recurs in § 207) show epic forms, as
do those in § 73.
c Author unknown (cf. § 207).
d The seven vowels are a e e i o u o. Such vowel songs appear
in Egyptian/Greek magical texts. See H. D. Betz, The Greek
Magical Papyri in Translation, Chicago 1986, e.g. pp. 172-95.

395
 T
I
DEMETRIUS \
!

crvyKpovcrtv ov8€v aAAo ~ fLEAoc; aTexvwc; E.~atpe'i Tov

\I
1\0'}'0V Kat' f.LOVCTaV.
"" '\ \ '
al\1\a 1TEpt' TOVTW·v
I '
f.LEV OV' Katpoc;
'

f.LYJKVVEtV
I
tCTWc;.
''

(72) 8£ T~ f.LE'}'aAo1TpE1TEL xapaKTijpt crvyKpov-

'Ev
crts \ {3'avotT '~\av 1TpE1Tovcra YJTOt ota
1TapaAafL ~'
fLaKpwv, I '' ""

we; TO ~~A.aav avw w8EcrKE,. Kat yap 0 CTTLXOc; JLiJKoc;

Tt ecrxev
''
EK
'
TYJc;
""
crvyKpovcrewc;,
I
Kat' fLEfLtfLY}Tat
I
TOV""
\ '() ov TYJV
1\t ' , A. '
ava'Popav Kat' {3'tav· ~ /
wcravTwc; Kat' TO' ~~
fLY}'
~1TEtpoc; eivat" To 8ovKv8£8etov. crvyKpovovTat Kat
8£cp()oyyot Cncp8oyyotc;, ~~TaVTYJV KaT<{>KYJCTaV fLEV
""
K EpKvpatOt" ' ' OE
OtKtCTTYJc; ' I
~' E'}'EVETO. . . .n (73) 1TOtEt"" fLEV
'
oVv Kat Ta avTa JLaKpa CTV'}'KpOVOJLEVa f.LE'}'E{)oc; Kat
at avTat 8£cp8oyyot. at 8€ EK 8tacpepovTWV crvyKpov-
~ ""
CT€18 Of.LOV Kat' f.LE'}'E
/ {) I
oc; 1TOtOVG"tV Kat' 1TOtKtl\tav
\/ '
EK ""
TYJc;
1TOAVYJ)(_[ac;, 1 oiov ~~i}wc;," E.v 8€ T~ ~~OLYJv" ov f.LOvov
~ A.,.l ' I I' '\\' ' ~ ";' ~
ota'PEpovTa Ta ypafLfLaT'a EG"TtV, al\1\a Kat Ot YJXOt 0
' ~ I ~ ~ ' 1 It \ I t:l \ \ ' , / ";'
f.LEV oacrvc;, 0 OE ..,_,t.J\Oc;, WCTTE 1TOI\J\a aVOf.LOta EtVat.
(74) Kat E.v cf>8a'ic; 8€ ra JLEAtcrf.LaTa E1Tt [Tov] 2 f.voc;
'}'LVETat <Kat> 3 TOV aVTOV f.LaKpov ypafLfLaToc;, oiov
cf>8wv E1TEJLf3aA.A.oJLf.vwv cf>8a'ic;, wa-Te T] Twv o!Lo[wv
crvyKpovcrtc; fLtKpov ECTTat Tt ~8ijc; fLEpoc; Kat
'\ ~ ' e
f.L€1\tCTfLa. 1TEpt' f.LEV
'
OYJ 1
CTV'}'KpOVCTEWc;, Kat' We; 1
'}'tVOtT ,

~'
av \ ' crvv
JLE'}'aAo1TpE1TYJc; \ \ ' ( ) w TocravTa.
'() Ecrtc;, AEAEX ""

(75) ''EcrTt 8€ Kat E.v 1Tpayf.Lacrt To fLEyaAo1TpE1TEc;,

1 rij~ ov P: ov del. Victorius.

2 ern
' ' [ rov,... ] e dd .: a1ro
' ' ve1 a1ro
' ' TOV codd. rec.: a1TO TOV vel
fort. Kara P.
3 KaL add. Gartner.

396
 ON STYLE 71-75

music and harmony of the song. But perhaps this is not

the time to enlarge on this subject.
(72) In the grand style the appropriate hiatus to use
would be between long vowels, for example "o" + (( o" in
laan ana otheske ('(he kept pushing the stone up"). a The
line has been lengthened by the hiatus and has repro-
duced the stone~s upward movement and the effort
needed. Thucydides has a similar example, "e" + ((e~~ in
me epeiros einai ("not to be mainland").b Diphthongs too
may clash with diphthongs, for example "or~ + ((oi'~ in
Kerkuraioi oikistes ("its colonists were Corcyrean, its
founder was ... ").c (73) Hiatus then between the same
long syllables and the same diphthongs creates grandeur.
Yet so does hiatus between different vowels, producing
variety as well as grandeur from the change of sound, for
example eos ("dawn"); and in the case of hoien ("such")
not only are the vowels different but also the breathings,
rough followed by smooth, so there is considerable vari-
ety. (74) In songs, too, a note can be prolonged on one
and the same long vowel, d a sort of song within a song, so
that hiatus from similar vowels will produce a tiny part of
a song, a prolonged note. But let this be enough on hiatus
and the kind of composition appropriate to the grand
style.
(75) Grandeur also comes from the subject, for exam-

a Hom. Od. 11.596. It is given detailed and sensitive analysis

in DH. CV20.
b Th. 6.1.2.
c Th. 1.24.2.
d On the text and meaning (a prolonged note, not a trill), see
H. Gartner, Hermes 118 (1990) 214-19.

397
 DEMETRIUS
I
l
llv f.LeyaAYJ Ka'i 8tanperrTjc; 'TTE,Of.Laxia 1} vavf.Laxia, 1}
'TTEp'i ovpavov 1} 'TTEp'i y-ryc; Aoyoc;· 0 yap TOV f.LEya'Aov
aKOVWV npayf.LaTO<; EvOvc; Ka'i <Tov> 1 'A€yovTa OLETaL
f.LEya'Awc; A.€yEtv, n'Aavwf.LEvoc;· 8E'L yap ov Ta 'AEyo-
,..,
f.LEVa o-KO'TTELV, ' \ \ ' 'TTW<;
al\1\a ,.., \ /
1\EYETat• ,,
Eo-TL '
yap Kat'
f.LEyaAa f.LLKpwc; AEyovTa anpE'TTE<; <rt> 2 'TTOLEtV T(iJ
~'
,
npayf.La'TL. OLO Kat'~ /
OELVOV<; /
TLVa<; .r/. ,
'Pao-LV, ~'
Wo-'TTEp Kat'
8eonof.Lnov, DELva ov DELvwc; 'A€yovTac;. 3 (76) N tKtac;
8' 0 'wypacpoc; Ka'i TOVTO EvOvc; EAEyEv ElVaL r-qc;
ypacptK7}c; TEXVYJ<; ov f.LLKpov f.LEpoc; To 'Aa{3ovTa vAYJl'
'
EVf.LEYE , .,./..,.
'(} YJ ypa'PELV, Kat' f.LYJ' KaTaKEpf.LaTL«:,ELV
, '( '
TYJV
TEXVYJV ElS f.LLKpa, otov opviOta 1} avOYJ, d'A'A' L'TT'TTOf.La-
/ ' ,, (}
/ \\' ' , ~,
xtac; Kat vavf.Laxtac;, Ev a 'TTOI\1\a f.LEV o-xYJf.LaTa oEL-
cELEV av
~
,, TL<; ~'L'TT'TTWV TWV
,. , f.LEV
' (} EOVTWV,
/ ,. , OE
TWV ~ ' ' (} to-Ta-
av
f.LEVWV opBwv.. a'A'Awv 8€ OKAa,OVTWV, 1TOAAovc; 8'
aKOVTL,OVTa<;, 'TTOAAov'c; 8€ KaTa'TTt'TTTOVTa<; TWV
L'TT'TTEWV" q)ETO yap Ka'i TTJV vnoBEo-LV avT~V fLEpoc;
Elvat T7jc; 'wypacptK7}c; TEXVYJ<;, wo-nEp TOV<; f.LVBovc;
TWV 'TTOLYJTWV. ov8€v oiJv Bavf.Lao-TOV, EL Ka'i EV TOt<;
'Aoyotc; [Ka'i] 4 EK npayf.Larwv f.LEya'Awv 5 f.LEya'Aonp€-
/
'TTELa YEVYJTaL.
(77) TTjv 8€ AE~LV EV T~ xapaKT-qpt TOVTq> 'TTEpLT-
TTJV ElVaL DEL Ka'i E~YJAAayf.LEV"fJV Ka'i ao-vvfJBYJ f.LfiA-
\ ~~ ' ~~ (; ' '' ~'
1\0lJ" OVTW yap EL TOV
E~ oyKOV, YJe OE /
KVpta Kat' (]"'VVYJ-
'

{)YJ<; a-acpTjc; f.LEV aE'i, rf} 6 8€ Ka'i EVKaTacppOVYJTO<;. (78)

npwTa f.LEV oiJv f.LETacpopa'Lc; XPYJa-TEov· a~Tat yap

1 rov add. edd. 2 rL add. Goeller.

3 A.€:yovrac; Hammer: AEyovra P.

398
 ON STYLE 75-78

ple when the subject is a great and famous battle on land

or sea, or when earth or heaven is the theme. For the
man who listens to an impressive subject imn1ediately
supposes that the speaker too is impressive-Inistakenly,
for we must consider not what but how he says it, since an
unin1pressive treatment of an impressive topic produces
inappropriateness. Hence some writers like Theopom-
pus are said to be forceful, but it is their subject, not their
style that is forceful. (76) The painter Niciasa used to
maintain that no small part of the painter's skill was the
choice at the outset to paint an imposing subject, and
instead of frittering away his skill on 1ninor subjects, such
as little birds or flowers, he should paint naval battles and
cavalry charges \vhere he could represent horses in many
different poses, charging, or rearing up, or crouching low,
and many riders hurling javelins or being thrown. He
held that the theme itself was a part of the painter's skill,
just as plot was part of the poe(s. So it is no surprise that
in prose similarly grandeur comes from grandeur in the
subject.
(77) The diction in the grand style should be dis tin-
guished, distinctive and the less usual. It will then have
weight, while the normal, usual words may always be
clear but are in certain cases uniinpressive. (78) In the
first place, we should use metaphors, for they more than

a Nicias 1825 Overbeck, an Athenian painter of the later

fourth century. No cavalry battle is attested for him, but he was
famed for his paintings of animals, e.g. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 35.133.

4
Kat del. Spengel.
5 f.Leya'Awv M: tnagnis Lat.: f.LEya'AYJ P.
6 aEt rij P: semper et Lat.: AEtTTJ Spengel.

399
 DEMETRIUS

fLaAurTa Ka'i i}8ov~v a-vfLf3a'AA.ovTat To'i~ Aoyot~ Ka'i

fLEYEOo~, fL~ fLEVTot TrvKva'i~, E7rEt Tot 8tOvpaJ.Lf3ov
avTL Aoyov ypacPOfLEV" fL'YjTE fL~V 7roppw0Ev J.LETEVYJ-
/
VEYfLEVat~, al\1\
' \ \ '
aVTO ' '(}
EV Kat' EK ' ~
TOV"" OfLOtOV, /
OtOV
1'

EOtKEV aAA'YjAot~ a-TpaTrryo~, KV{3Epv'Y}TYJ~, i}vioxo~·

7rcLVTE~ yap oilTot apxovTE~ ELCTtV. aa-cPaAw~ o-Dv EpE'i
o
Ka'i TOV a-TpaTYJYOV Kv{3Epv'YjTYJV A.€ywv TYJ~ 1TOAEw~,
Ka'i ava1TaAtV 0 TOV KV{3Epv'Y]TYJV i}v£oxov 1 rij~ VYJO~.
(79) ov 1Taa-at fLEVTOt avTa1To8£8ovTat, WCT1TEp ai
7rpoEtpYJJ.LEVat, E1TEL r~v V1TWpEtav fLEV rij~ ''I8YJ~ TroDa
'C"' ' ,.., ' , ' ~' "" ' (} , ,~
Es YJV Et7rEtV TOV 1TOtYJTYJV, TOV OE 'TOV av pW1TOV 7rOOa
' / c I ' ,..,
OVKE'Tt V1TWpEtaV Et1TEtV.
(80) 'E1Tav fLEvrot Ktv8vvw8YJ~ i} fLETacPopa 8oKi},
fLETaAaJ.Lf3av€a-Ow EL~ ELKaa-iav· OVTW yap aa-cPa-
1\ECTTEpa ytyvotT av. EtKaa-ta 0~ 2 ECT'Tt fLETao/opa
\ / I ' !>/ ' I rf.... ' ' l '

\ I'(
17"1\EOVa':,OVCTa, 1'
OtOV Et,, TtS < 74_)"">3 cc TOTE
/ ,.., II '()
74_) V WVt T4_)""
p'Y}ropt pE.ovTt KaO' VfLwv" 1Tpocr0Et8 EL7rot, ccWCT1TEp
p€ovTt Ka()' VfLwv.'' ovTw J.LEV yap ElKacr[a y€yovEv
rf.... ~ ~' rf.... ' '
Kat aa-o/ai\ECTTEpO~
' 3 \I
0 1\0yo~, EKEtVW~ OE fLETao/opa Kat
\I ' I

Ktv8vvw8€a-TEpo~. 8to Ka'i ITAaTwv E1Tta-cPaA€~ Tt

DoKE'i 1TOtE'iv fLETacPopa'i~ J.LaAAov XPWfLEVo~ :ry ElKaa-[-
c I r/...."'
1--« ' I "'\\
at~, 0 fLEVTOt t::::.EVO'PWV EtKaCTtat~ fLai\1\0V.

(81) 'ApicrTYJ 8€ 8oKE'i fLETacPopa T~ 'Apta-ToTEAEt

~' It '
YJc KaTa' EVEpyEtaV' I
Kai\OVJ.LEVYJ, OTaV \
Ta a'Yvxa
I
EVEp- ' !>/'

yoVVTa ELCTcLYYJTat Ka0a1TEp EfLlfivxa, w~ TO E1TL TOV

{3€A.ov~·

1
~v£oxov Finckh: apxovra P. 2 8' Victorius: dA.A.' P.
3 rfiJ add. Gale.

400
 ON STYLE 78-81

anything make prose attractive and impressive, but they

should not be crowded together (or we write a dithyramb
instead of prose), nor yet far-fetched but from the same
general area and based on a true analogy. For instance,
general, pilot, and charioteer are similar in ruling over
something. So it will be safe to say that a general is ccthe
city's pilot" and conversely a pilot ccthe ship's charioteer."a
(79) But not all metaphors are reciprocal, like the above.
Homer could call the lower slope of Ida its footh but
never a 1nan's foot his slope.
(80) When a metaphor seems bold, convert it into a
simile for greater safety. A simile is an expanded meta-
phor. For example instead of saying ccthe orator Python
was then a rushing torrent against you,''c expand it and say
"was like a rushing torrent against you." The result is a
simile and a less risky form of expression, while the for-
mer was a metaphor and more dangerous. This is why
Plato's use of metaphor in pref~rence to simile is thought
risky. Xenophon by contrast prefers the simile.
(81) Aristotled thought that what is called the personi-
fying metaphor is the best, in which the inanimate is
introduced personified as animate, for example in the

a For "charioteer of the ship" cf. EGF '1-Iomerus' F19 and 20

( = Ps.Plu. Vit. Ho1n. 2.20, RG 3.228). The change of text from
"ruler" to "charioteer" provides a traditional example of
metaphor, and preserves the focus on analogical metaphor (on
which cf. Ar. Po. 1457b6ff).
b Cf. Hom. Il. 2.824; 20.59 and 218. Like other later critics,
e.g. RG 3.228, he rejects Aristotle's advice that metaphors should
always be reciprocal (Rhet. 1407a14-15).
c Dem. De Cor. 136 (cf. § 272).
d Nowhere explicitly, but cf. Ar. Rhet. 1410b35, 1411b32ff,
which includes both the examples here.

401
 DEMETRIUS
., (; Q \ '
OS VfJ€1\Y}~ Ka ()' Of.LLI\OV
t:l \ ., I
€1TL1TT€CT () I
aL fLEVEaLVWV,

KaL' TO' (( KVpTa' 'f'aAYJpLOWVTa.

,./.,. \ I .,., I
1TaVTa '
yap TaVTa, TO t"'' '

((cpaAYJpt6wvTa"" KaL TO ((fLEVEaivwv,"" {wTLKa'i~ evep-

yeiat~ EOLKEV. ( 82) E.vta fLEVTOL a-acpEa-TEpov ev TaL~
fLETacpopa'i~ A.f.yeTaL KaL KvptwTepov ~1Tep 1 ev avTo'i~
TOL~ KVptoL~, w~ TO ((E.cppt~EV 8€ !LaXYJ·"' ov yap av
TL~
., '
aVTO Q \'
fLETafJai\WV ~ '
OLa I
KVpLWV :1/'
OVT "\
a/\ YJ ()IECTTEpov
:1/ :1/ ,./.,. I ' ' ., t"'' ~ I
EL1TOL OVTE a-a'f'ECTTEpov. TOV yap EK TWV oopaTWV
KAovov <Ka'i Tov> 2 ytvofLEvov TO'VTOL~ 1Jp€fLa ~xov
a-vvexw~ cppia-a-ova-av fLaXYJV 1rpoa-YJy6peva-ev, Ka'i
afLa E1TEtAYJ1TTat 1TW~ Tij~ KaT' evf.pyetav fLETacpopO.s
TfJ~ 1TpoELPYJfLEVYJ~, TTJV fLaxYJv ¢pia-a-eLv el1rwv wa-1rep
{wov.
(83) ~e'i fLEVToL fLTJ A.av()avetv, oTt E.vtaL fLETacpopa'i
fLLKpoirpE1TEtav 1Totova-t f.LaAAov ~ f.LEye()o~, KatToL
Tfj~ fJ.,ETacpopa~ 1Tpo~ oyKov AafLf3aVOfLEVYJ~, w~ TO
((dJ.Lcp'i o' €a-aA1Tty~ev J.LEya~ ovpav6~"" · ovpavov yap
oAov TJXOVVTa OVK €xp1Jv 1TpOCTELKaa-aL YJXOVCTYJ a-a'A.-
1Ttyyt, 1T AT]v EL /LrrJ TL~ apa 3 a1TOAoyoLTO V1TEp TOV
(OfLT]pov A.f.ywv, w~ OVTw~ 4 iJXYJCTEV fLEya~ ovpav6~,
(
W~
.,, ., I
av YJXYJCTELEV CTai\1TL«:,WV
\ I r t:/\
01\0~ ovpavo~.
., I (84) ETEpav
( I

oilv E1TtvoT]a-wfLEV fLETacpopav fLLKpOTYJTO~ alTtav

ytvofLEVYJV fLa'A.A.ov ~ fLEyf.()ov~· oe'i yap eK Twv f.LEt{6-
vwv fJ.,ETacpEpELV EL~ Ta fLLKpa, ov TO evavTtOV, oiov w~
<: ,..... ,./.,. t"'' ,./.,. ( ( ., ' ~ ' I ) (; I I
0 t::!.tEVO'f'WV 'f'YJCTLV, E1TEL OE 1TOpEVOfJ.,EVWV Es EKVJ.LYJVE

1 1]1rep edd.: EL1TEp P. 2 Kat Tov add. Spengel.

3 apa
'' e dd .: Uf.La
., p. 4•
W~ OVTW~
., G reg.: WCTUVTW~
• p. I

402
 ON STYLE 81-84

passage describing the arrow, ~~sharp-pointed, eager to

shoot into the crowd,, and in the words ~~high-arched,
foam-crested."a All such expressions as ~'foam-crested"
and "eager,, activate a personification. (82) Some things
are, however, expressed more clearly and properly by
metaphor than by the actual proper terms, for example
"the battle shuddered."h No change of phrasing to intro-
duce the proper terms could convey the meaning with
greater truth or clarity. Homer has renamed as "shudder-
ing battle,, the clash of spears and the low, continuous
sound they make. In so doing he has simultaneously
exploited the personifying metaphor of our earlier discus-
sion when he represents the battle shuddering as if alive.
(83) We must, however, keep in mind that some
metaphors produce triviality rather than grandeur, even
though the metaphor is intended to impress, for example
"all around the mighty heaven trumpeted.,'c The whole
heaven resounding ought not to have been compared
to a resounding trumpet-unless perhaps a defence of
Homer could be made that the mighty heaven resounded
in the way in which the whole heaven would resound if it
were trumpeting. (84) So let us consider a second exam-
ple of metaphor which has a trivial rather than grand
effect. Metaphors should compare the smaller to the
greater, not the reverse. Xenophon, for example, says,

a Hom. Il. 4.126 and 13.799 (cf. § 64, illustrating asyndeton).

b Hotn. Il. 13.339.
c Hom. Il. 21.388, a controversial metaphor, cf. Longinus 9.6,
Pliny, Epist. 9.26.6. Since it may be defended, Demetrius adds a
second example, which incontrovertibly trivialises.

403
 DEMETRIUS

TL TYJ~l cpaAayyo~." TTJl' yap TYJ~ Ta~EW~ 1TapEKTpo-

' ,EKKVJ.LaLVOV()YJ (af\a()()YJ
1TYJV / )\' ,,
ELKa(J"EV KaL' 1Tp0(J"WVO- /

J.La(J"EV. El 8€ TL~ J.LETa{3aAwv EL1TOL EKcpaAayyi(J"a(J"av

' ()'\
TYJV af\a(J"(J"aV, raxa / ' OV'8'E OLKELW~
J.LEV ' / /
J.LETOL(J"EL,
1TUVTYJ 8€ 1TUVTW~ J.LLKpo1TpE1TW~.
(85) ''EvLOL 8€ KaL a(J"¢aAL,OVTaL Ta~ J.LETa¢opa~
E1TL()ETOL~ E1TLcpEpOJ.LEVOL~, orav aVTOL~ KLv8vvw8EL~
~ ,.... e e / '{) ,-. / (; ee ,.l.. /
OOKW(J"LV, W~ 0 8 EOYVL~ 1TapaTL ETaL T~ TOs ~ 'Pop-
J.LLyya 2 axop8ov" E1Tt TOV T~ TO~~ {3aAAovro~· TJ J.LEV
yap ¢6pfL"Y~ KLv8vvw8E~ E1TL rov r6~ov, r~ 8€ 3
axop8~ i}(J"cpaAL(J"TaL.
( 86) IIavrwv 8€ Kat TWV aAAwv TJ (J"VV~()ELa Kat
J.LaAL(J"Ta J.LEracpopwv 8~,8a(J"KaAo~· J.LLKpov yap [(J"XE-
8ov] 4 1ravra J.LEracp€pov(J"a Aav()avEL 8~,a ro a(J"cpa'Aw~
J.LETa~EpELV, AEVK~V 7€ cpwvi}v A€yov(J"a Kat o~vv
av{)pW1TOV Kat rpaxv ~{)o~ Kat J.LaKpov p~ropa Kat
raAAa, O(J"a OVTW J.LETacp€pETaL J.LOV(J"LKW~, W(J"T€ OJ.LOLa
8oKEtv roZ~ KvpioL~. (87) rovrov <ovv> 5 f.yw Kav6va
ri()EJ.LaL ri}~ f.v A6yoL~ fLETacpopa~, ri}v rij~ (J"VVYJ()Eia~
/ '' ,.t.. / ~~ ,. . '' /
TEXVYJV ELTE 'PV(J"LV. OVTW yovv EVLa fLETYJVEYKEV YJe
(J"VVYJ () ELa Kai\W~,
/ \ ,.... ~'
W(J"'T€ OVOE~, ' /
KVpLWV ETL ,, EOEYJ
, ~ /()
YJJ.LEV,
dAAd J.LEJ.LEVYJKEv -ry J.LEracpopa Kar€xov(J"a rov rov
1 TL Greg., Xen. codd.: om. P.
2
ref> r6~cp ¢6PIL'-'Y'Ya N auck: rov ro~OcPDPIL'-Y'Ya P.
3 TW ""M :TO'p
0
..
4 crxE8ov del. Roberts.

5 oiJv addidi: autem Lat.

404
 ON STYLE 84-87

"on the march a part of the phalanx surged out.,a He

compared a swerve from the line of march to a surging of
the sea, and gave it that name. But if conversely you were
to say that the sea swerved from its line of march, the
metaphor would possibly not even fit; in any case it would
be utterly and completely trivial.
(85) When they consider their metaphors risky, some
writers try to make them safe by adding epithets; for
example Theognis refers to the bow as a "lyre with tune-
less strings,"h when describing an archer in the act of
shooting. The image of the bow as lyre is bold, but it is
made safe by the qualification "with tuneless strings."
(86) Usagec is our teacher everywhere, but particularly
in the case of metaphors. Usage, in fact, expresses almost
everything in metaphors, but they are so safe that we
hardly notice them. It calls a voice pure, a man sharp, a
character harsh, a speaker long, and so on. All are applied
so harmoniously that they pass .for the proper terms. (87)
So my own rule for the use of metaphor is the art-or nat-
ural instinct-of usage. Metaphors have in some cases
been so well established by usage that we no longer need
the proper tenns, and the metaphor has usurped the

a Xen. Anab. 1.8.18.

b TrGF i. Theognis F 1; cf. Ar. Rhet. 1413al.
c For appeal to usage, cf. §§ 69, 91, and 96; for its role as
otoaaxaA.o~ or Kavwv, cf. Quint. 1.6.3 loquendi magistra, Hor.
Ars Po. 72 norma loquendi.
§§ 86-87 discuss metaphors of ordinary speech, examples of
usage so apt that we no longer try to find a proper term. Com-
pare the necessary metaphor in Cic. De Or. 3.155 and Quint.
8.6.6, both with similar examples, e.g. durum hominem and gem-
mare vites.

405
 DEMETRIUS

KVptov 707TOV, w~ ~~0 7f}~ d/L7TEAov ocp(}aA./Lo~n Kat EL

Tt E7Epov rotovTov. ( 88) a-cpov8vA.o~ ~LEVTot Kat KAEt~
Ta' E7Tt ' ' 70V'"' CTW/LaTO~ Kat' K7E7JE~ OV' Ka7a' /LETa'Popav
/ / ,./.. '
WlJO/LaCTTat,
' /
ai\Aa
' \ \ '
Ka (}' O/LOt07YJ7a
e 1 ~ ' 70
Ota '
EOtKEVat
' 1
70'

' ' '~' \

/LEV KTEVt /LEPO~, 70 OE KI\EtOt, 70 OE CT'POVOVJ\Cf>.
/ ~/ '~' ,./.. ~/\

(89) 'E7Ta1J ' /LEV70t / '

EtKaCTtalJ / '"'
7TOtW/LEV 7YJV' /LETa'PO- ,.~..

/
pav, W~ ~ \ /\
7TpOJ\EI\EKTat, CTTOXaCTTEOV 70V'"' CTVVTO/LOV, Kat'
/ /

TOV ~LYJOEV 7TAEOV 7ov 1 ~~WCT7TEpn 7Tport(}€vat, E7TEL TOt

-
dvr' ElKaa-[a~ 1rapaf3oA.~ Ea-Tat 7TOtY]7tKrr}, otolJ 70 TOV
,./.. '"'
t=.Evo'PwvTo~,
((

A..
~'
WCT7TEp ~' / '"'
oE Kvwv yEvvato~ a7TpOVOYJTW~
' /

, , 1
E7Tt Ka7Tpov 'PEpE7at,
1 n
Kat' ~~ WCT7TEp
~~ f!/ \
t7T7TO~ 1\V Et~ ota
(} ' ~ '

7TEOLOV yavptwv Kat a1ToAaK7L,WVn. TaVTa yap OVK

' / :1/ :1/ ' \ \ ' (.:} \ '"' '"'
EtKaa-talS E7t EOtKEV, a/\1\a 7TapafJOAat~ 7TOtYj7tKat~.

(90) Ta~ 8€ 7Tapaf3oA.a~ ravTa~ OV7E pq.8[w~ EV 70L~

7TE,OL~. Aoyot~ 7t(}€vat OEt, OV7E avEV 1TAELCT7YJ~ cpvAa-
Kij~. Kat 7TEpt ~LE7acpopa~ ~LEV <Toa-avTa> 2 w~ 7V1T(f>
' '"'
Et7TEtV.
(91) Kat a-vveETa ovo~LaTa, ov Ta
AYJ7T7Eov 8€
Ot(}vpct/L/3tKW~ a-vyKEL~LEVa, otov ~r:(}Eo7Epa70V~ 7TAa-
n ' ~ ' ~e :11 ~ 1 1 n ' \ \ , '
va~, ovoE aa-7pwv oopv1rvpov a-7pa7ov, aAA Eot-
'
K07a '"' ~ ' '"' (} / 3 CTVYKEt/LEVOt~·
70L~ V7TO 7YJ~ CTVVYJ Eta~
/ Ka (} 01\0V
/\
'
yap /
TaVTYJV KalJOVa 7TOtOV/Lat '"' /
7TaCTYJ~
'
OVO/LaCTta~,
/ /

1
Tov ILYJDE To P 1: ILYJDEv 7rAEov Tov P 2 in mg.
2 Toa-avTa add. Schneider.
3 a-vvYJfJE[a~ Finckh: dA. YJfJE[a~ P.

The eye is normal Greek for the bud of a plant or tree, e.g.
a
Xen. Oeconomicus 19.10.

406
1 j

ON STYLE 87-91

place of the proper term, for example the eye of the vine, a
and so forth. (88) The parts of the body,b however, which
are called the ~~disk~~ (vertebra), the ~~key" (collarbone),
and the "combs" (back of the hand) derive their names
not from metaphor but from the physical resemblance.
(89) When we turn a metaphor into a simile in the way
I described,c we must aim at conciseness, and do no more
than prefix ~~like,~~ or else we shall have a poetic compari-
son instead of a simile. Take, for example, "like a gallant
hound which recklessly charges a boar" (from Xeno-
phon)d and "like a horse let loose, kicking and proudly
prancing over the plain. "e Such descriptions no longer
seem similes but poetic comparisons, (90) and poetic
comparisons should not be used freely in prose nor with-
out the greatest caution. This concludes my outline on
the subject of metaphor.
(91) Next, we should use compound words, but not
those in dithyrambic formations, for example ~~god­
prodigied wanderings" or "the fiery-speared army of the
stars. "f They should be like those formed by usage. In
l
l general, in all word formation I regard usage as the
l
l b The connection of thought is unclear, but the term
metaphor is now restricted to analogical metaphor (cf. § 78).
I' c See§ 80.
d Xen. Cyrop. 1.4.21 (cf. § 274).
e Author unknown, an imitation of a famous simile in Hom.
Il. 6.506ff.
r ~' o/ ' o/ ' / ' ' ,/.,. /
Wr; 0 OTE TIS O"'TUTOr; L1T1TOr;, UKOO"TYJO"Ur; E1TL 'o/aTVYJ~
~ ' '
OEO"fLOV U1ToppYJs ar;
/(; () / ~/ /
ELYJ 1TEOLOLO KpoaLVWV •••
Kv8u5wv.
f PMG Adesp. 962(a) and (b).

407
 DEMETRIUS

VOfL00ETa~ A.€yovo-av Kat apxtTEKTOVa~, Ka'i TOULDE

1ro'AA.a ETEpa do-c/Ja'Aw~ o-vvTtOlio-av. (92) €~Et fLEVTot
To o-vvOETov ovofLa OfLOV Ka'i 1TotKt'Aiav Ttva EK T'l]~
/ ~I
O""VV (} EO""EW~ Kat' /
fLEYE
(}
0~, Kat' afLa Kat' /
O""VVTOfLtav
TtvcL OVOfLa yap TEO~o-ETat aVTL o'Aov TOV A.6yov,
oiov av T~V TOV O""LTOV KOJ.LtD~v o-tT07TOfL1TLav A.€yn~·
~I ""' f / ~' .,,
\ '
1TOJ\V '
yap OVTW fLEtsOV. Taxa 0 av Kat' 1\V
\ (} /
EVTO~

ovofLaTo~ El~ A.6yov ETEpov Tpo1rov fLEt,ov y€votTo,

oiov O""LTOV 1TOfL1T~ aVTL o-tT07TOfL1TLa~. ( 93) OVOfLa 8'
' ' \ / '(} 1' c e ~---< A. ,... A. ~~
aVTt 1\0yov Tt ETat, OtOV W~ 0 ::;:.EVO'fJWV lfJYJO""tV OTt
OVK ~v A.aj3ELV ovov ayptov, EL fLiJ oi L1T1TEL~ Dtao-Tav-
TE~ OYJp/iJEv DtaDEXOfLEVOt, OVOJ.LaTt DYJAwv 1 OTt oi fLEV
"' (} ' ~/ ~'
01Tt0"" EV EOtWKOV, Otc 0
' /
a1TYJVTWV c \ /
V1TEJ\aVVOVTE~

/
1TpOo-W, ~I
WO""TE '
TOV "I
OVOV '
EV /
fLEO""qJ ' \
a1TOJ\afL{3'a~'EO"" (} at.
<{Jv'AaT'TEo-Oat fLEVTOt DEL Tt0€vat Ta Dt1T Aa 7TOAAa 2
' , c 3 \ , '/ ';"~
1"1 ' ,, 1"1 '
OVOfLaTa. TOVTO yap E£ E'o-t 1\0yov 1TEsOV TO EtOO~.
(94) Ta 8€ 1TE1TO.tY)J.LEVa OVOJ.LaTa opi,ovTat J.LEV Ta
' / ' A. / '(} .,, /
KaTa fLtfLY)O""tV EK'fJEPOfLEVa 1Ta OV~ YJ 1TpayfLaTO'l,
( S)
1'
OtOV TO' cc O""tsE
''/" c
Kat' TO' cc\J\a1TTOVTE'l,
W~
/ "
9 1TOtEt,. . OE
~'

[fLaAto-Ta] 4 J.LEya'Ao1TpE1TEtav Dta To oiov lfio<{Jot'l E.ot-

/ ' /\
KEVat Kat fLal\tO""Ta TqJ S EVqJ" OV yap OVTa OVOfLaTa
,. . c / ' ' :JI ' /

\ / '\ \ ' / / ' C/ A./ ,./.. /

1\EyEt al\1\a TOTE ytVOfLEVa, Kat af.La 0""0'-fJOV Tt lfJatVE-
' / "" / 1' (} / :JI
Tat OVOJ.LaTO~ KatVOV YEVEO""t'l, OtOV O""VVYJ Eta~· EOtKEV

1 8r(A.wv Roberts: otov P. 2 DE'i 1roA.A.a Spengel: Dt1T A. a P.

3 EtEurL Victorius: EtEL P. 4 1u£A.urTa del. Richards.

A rare meaning of 1TOJ1-1T~, e.g. Th. 4.108.1.

a
b Xen. Anab. 1.5.2. The text is uncertain but concerns the
terse effect of the compound verb, DtaDEXOJl-EVoL, ..in relays."
408
 ON STYLE 91-95

arbiter, usage which speaks of "lawgivers" and "master

builders," and forms many other such safe compounds.
(92) A compound word will usually, from the very fact
that it is composite, have variety, grandeur, and simulta-
neously conciseness. One word will stand for an entire
phrase. For instance, you might speak of "grain convoy"
instead of "the transport of grain," using a much more
striking expression. Still, the greater impact may some-
times result from the converse process of resolving a
word into a phrase, "convoya of grain," for instance,
instead of ''grain convoy." (93) An example of a word
replacing a phrase is Xenophon's sentence: "It was not
possible to capture a wild ass unless the mounted men
separated and hunted in relays."b By the single word
"relays" he says that some horsemen gave chase from
behind, while others rode forward to n1eet them, so that
the wild ass was caught in the middle. The use, however,
of many compoundsc should be. avoided, since it over-
steps the limits of prose.
(94) Onomatopoeic words are defined as those which
are uttered in imitation of an emotion or action, for exam-
ple "hissed" and "lapping" (size and laptontes ).d (95) They
create grandeur by their resemblance to inarticulate
sounds, and above all by their novelty. The speaker is not
using existing words but words which are only then com-
ing into existence, and at the same time the creation of a
new word is thought clever, as though it were the creation

c Cf. e.g. Ar. Rhet. 1404b23. Less probably, keeping the text
of the mss, translate "The doubling of double compounds ... ," a
warning against triple compounds, cf. Ar. Po. 1457a34.
d Hom. Od. 9.394; Il. 16.161 (cf. § 220).

409
 DEMETRIUS

yovv <o> 1 ovop.,arovpywv TOL~ 1TpWTOl8 fJep.,EVOl8 Ta

, / 2
ovop.,ara. < ... >
(96) !roxacrreov <o-Dv> 3 1rpwrov p.,€v rov cracf>ov~
, ""' / , / ' /() !)/ ""'
EV TC[) 1TOtOVfLEVC[) OVOfLaTt Kat (TVVYJ OV~, E1TEtTa TYJ~
~ / ' '/ , / ~ '.rl.. /
op.,otOTYJTO~ 1rpo~ ra KEtfLEVa ovop.,ara, w~ p.,YJ 'f'pvyt-
'Etv ~ crKvBi,ELV TL~ 8o(Et p.,era(v EAAYJVL,WV TOL~
ovop.,acrt. 4 ( 97) 1TOtYJTEOV fLEVTOL -Y}roL ra ILTJ wvop.,acr-
fLElJa, otov 0 Ta TVfL1TaJ--'a Ka'i raAAa TWV p.,a'AfJaKWV
!)'
opyava KLVaLOta~
~/ 5 Et1TWV
, ' Kat' 'A pLcrTOTEAYJ~
/\ ' EAE-
TOV '\
c/>avTtcrT-r}v· ~ 1Tapa ra KELfLEVa 7Tapovop.,a,ovra
, / '? ~ ' ..,./.,. / !)/ ..,./.,. ' ' /
aVTOV, OtOV W~ TOll crKa'f'LTYJV TlS E'f'YJ TOV TYJV crKa-
,/.... , / , 'A /\ ' , / '?
'f'YJV EpEcrcrovra, KaL pLcrTOTEA YJ~ TOV aVTLTYJV OtOV
TOV p.,ovov avrov ovra. ( 98) Sevocf>wv 8€ ~~YJAEAt(€" 6
cf>YJcrtv ~~o crrparo~," 7 rT]v rov EAEAEv dvaf36YJcrLv ~v
, Q/ ~ ' 8 ""' / , /
aVEfJOa 0 crrparo~ (TVVEXW~ 1Tapa1TOLYJcra~ OVOfLaTL.

1 aadd. Rutherford.
2
lacunam statui, ut transeamus ad conficta et declinata, cf.
etiam § 98 ws- Ef/>YJv.
3 oilv addidi.
4 eAAYJVt,wv To"is- ovoJLaa-t Lockwood: eAAYJVLKo"is- ovoJLao-t

P: eAAYJVLKwv ovoJLaTwv Dresd.

5 an Ktva£8ta?
6
~AEAt~E Victorius: ~AAa~Ev P.
7 o-TpaTos- Victorius: o-TpaTYJyos- P.
8
o-TpaTos- Victorius: o-TpaTYJ'YDS' P.

a §§ 94-95 recognise only onomatopoeic neologism, §§ 97-98

410
 ON STYLE 95-98

of a new usage. So the creator of new words is like those

who originally created language. < ... >a
(96) The first aim in the formation of neologisms is to
be clear and Rt usage; the next, to follow the analogy of
established words, in order to avoid the appearance of
introducing Phrygian or Scythian speech in our Greek.
(97) Neologisms should be either newly invented forms,
as was done by the person who described the drums and
other musical instruments of the effeminate priests as
"lecheries,''h or by Aristotle when he invented "ele-
phanteer" ;c or the writer may create secondary meanings
from existing words, for example when someone gave the
name ''boatman"d to someone rowing a boat, and Aristo-
tle called a man who lived alone by himself''selnsh.''e (98)
Xenophon similarly says, ''the army hurrah'd,"f denoting
by the derivative the shout ''hurrah" which the army

abruptly introduce neologism from .compounds and derivatives,

and in § 98 "as I said" lacks reference. I posit a lacuna, with the
general sense, ''There are also derivative neologisms; they are
full of risk, even in poetry." For the three types, cf. fingere, con-
fingere, declinare in Varro, Ling. Lat. 5. 7, a classification of the
Alexandrians.
b Author unknown.
cAr. Hist. Anim. 497b28.
d Author unknown, cf. Strabo 17.1.49. The form could alter-
natively (though it is not attested) have the meaning "digger" (cf.
a-KacpEv~).
e Ar.fr. 668 Rose (cf. §§ 144, 164). The translation attempts a
similar pun on self(ish)/being by one's self. Elsewhere avTLTYJ~
refers to homemade wine, i.e. wine made by one's self.
fXen. Anab. 5.2.14. Here (also Anab. 1.8.18) it refers to the
cry eleleu, but normally it means "to whirl around, cause to
vibrate."

411
 DEMETRIUS

E1Turc/JaAES ~EVTOL ToiJpyov, w~ 1 EcPYJV, Kat aVTOLc; TOL~

1TOLYJTaL~. Kat TO 0L1TAovv ~EVTOL ovo~a ELOo~ av liYJ
1TE1TOLYJ~EVOV OVOfLaTo~· 1TaV yap TO CT"VVTL E~EVOV EK
/ ' / ""' ' ' (}/ !>I

Ttvwv yE.yovEv DYJAOVOTL.

( 99) l\lEyaAEtov SE. Tt EcrTL Kat ~ dA.A.Y}yopia, Kat
/ \ ' ""' ' \ ""' 'e' ~ ~ A / ttl
~aJ\LCTTa EV TaL~ a1TELJ\aL~, OLOV W~ 0 uLOVVCTLOc;, OTL
~~ OL~ TETTtyEc;
/
aVTOL~ q_..crOVTaL
' ""' !>I 2 xa~O/(} EV. " 3 (100) EL' 0~'
ttl ~ \ ,... .-;- ttl ,... , A /~ /
OVTW~ a1TJ\W~ EL1TEV, OTL TE~EL TYJV OKptoa xwpav,
Kat opytAWTEpo~ av f.c/JaVYJ Kat EVTEAEcrTEpo~. vvv 8€
WCT"1TEp crvyKaAVfL~aTL TOV Aoyov Tfj aAAYJyop[q..
KEXPYJTat· 1rav yap To v1rovoovfLEvov c/Jof3EpwTEpov,
Kat aAAo~ ELKU,EL aAAo TL" 0 S€ crac/J€~ Kat c/JavEpov, 4
KaTac/JpovELcreaL ELKO~, WCT1TEp TOV~ a1TODEOVfLEVOV~.
(101) OLO Kat Ta ~VCTT~pta EV aAAYJyopiat~ AEYETaL
'!>/ \ t
1rp0~. EK1TAYJS LV Kat 'f'PLKYJV,
',../.,./ ttl
WCT1TEp EV CTKOTcp 5 Kat'
' /

VVKTL./ EOLKE :JI ~'

OE Kat' YJ~ UJ\1\ '\ \
YJYOpta /
Tcp""' CTKOTcp
/ 6 Kat' TYJ""'

VVKTL. ( 102) cf>vA.cf-TTEcrOat fLEVTOL Ka1Tt TaVTYJ~ TO

CTVVEXE~, we; ~T] alvty~a 0 Aoyo~ ~~LV YEVYJTat, oiov
To E1Tt Tij~ crtKva~ Tij~ laTptKij~· f:~avSp' EtDov 1rvpt
\ '
xai\KOV ' ' avEpt
E1T ' / KOJ\1\\\ YJCTaVTa.
/ " Kat' OL~ A/ aKWVE~

7TOAAa EV aAAYJyoptaL~ EAEyov EKc/Jof3ovVTE~, oiov TO

~~LlLOVVCTLO~ EV Kop[v(}cp" 1Tp0~ <t>iA.t1T1TOV, Kat aA.A.a
TOLaVTa ""' OVK ' 01\tya.
'\ /

1 w~ Victorius: Kat w~ P.
2
~U'OV'Tat edd.: apwvTat P.
3 xaJLo8Ev M (cf. § 243): xaJLa0Ev P.
4
~avEpov Goeller: ~o{3Epov P.

412
 ON STYLE 98-102

kept continuously shouting. The practice is, however, as I

said, a full of risk even for the poets themselves. Note too
that any compound is a form of neologism, for anything
which is composite must, of course, derive from preexist-
ing parts.
(99) Allegory is also impressive, particularly in threats,
for example that of Dionysius, "their cicadas will sing
from the ground."b (100) If he had said openly that he
would ravage the land of Locris, he would have shown
more anger but less dignity. As it is, he has shrouded his
words, as it were, in allegory. What is implied always
strikes more terror, since its meaning is open to different
interpretations, whereas what is clear and plain is apt to
be despised, like men who are stripped of their clothes.
(101) This is why the mysteries are revealed in allegories,
to inspire the shuddering and awe associated with dark-
ness and night. In fact allegory is not unlike darkness and
night. (102) Here again in the c~se of allegory we should
avoid a succession of them, or our words become a riddle,
as in the description of the surgeon's cupping glass: "I saw
a man who had with fire welded bronze to a man."c The
Spartans too often spoke in allegory to evoke fear, as in
the message to Philip, <<Dionysius in Corinth,''d and many
other similar threats.

a See note on§ 95.

b Stesichorus according to Ar. Rhet. 1395al-2 and
1412a22-23 ( = PMG 28l(b)); cf. § 243.
c Cleobulina 1.1 West; cf. Ar. Rhet. 1405bl.
d Cf. §§ 8, 241.

5 (TKOTW Victorius: avrw P.

6 a-Kor:U
~
Victorius: avrw (sic) P.

413
 DEMETRIUS

( 103) (H CTVV'Top.J.a 8€ 7Tij f.LEV f.LEyaAo7TpE7TryJ~, Kat

i' \ ( ' i' 3/ ' ' ( f) i' i'
f.Lai\LCT'Ta YJ a7TOCTLW7TYJCTL~· EVLa yap fLY] PYJ EV'Ta f.LEL-
'ova ~aiveTaL Kat V7TOVOY]fJEvTa f.LaAAov· 1rij 8€
f.LLKp07TpE7TYJ~·
i'
KaL' yap
' '
EV
~
OLI\OyLaL~
\ i' i'
YLVE'TaL i' f)
f.LEYE 0~,
oiov w~ Sevocpwv, (('Ta 8€ apf.La'Ta €cpepE'TO,'' ~YJCTL,
~ i' ~' ~ '
((
'Ta f.LEV OL
' ' '
aV'TWV 'TWV
' 1"\ 1"\ ,./.,.
~LI\LWV,
\
'Ta' OE KaL' OL '
aV'TWV 1"\

'TWV 7TOAEfLLWV., 1ro'Av yap ov'Tw fLEL,ov, ,ry EL7TEP 6>8'

';" (( ' ~ ' 1"\ ,./.,. \ i' ' ~ ' 1"\ \ i'
EL7TEV, KaL OLa 'TWV ~LI\LWV KaL OLa 'TWV 7TOI\Ef.LLWV
avTwv." (104) 7TOA'Aaxov 8€ Kat 'TO 7TAayLov f.LEL,OV
'TOV evfJ€o~, oiov ((~ 8€ YVWf.LYJ ~v, w~ EL~ 'Ta~ 'Ta~EL~
'TWV
1"\ (E\1\1\\ YJVWV
, '\ , 1 , ~ ·'·, , , ,
€1\WV'TWV KaL OLaKO'f'OV'TWV aV'TL 'TOV
1"\

((8LevoovvTo €'AaCTaL Kat OLaKol/JaL." (105) CTvf.Lf3€f3'AYJ-

~' ' ( ( i' 1"\ ' i' ' ( ~ ,./.,. i'
TaL OE KaL YJ Of.LOLO'TYJ~ 'TWV OVOf.La'TWV KaL YJ OVCT~WVLa
( ,./.,. i' ' ' '~/ A.. \\ 1"\'
YJ ~aLVOf.LEVYJ" KaL yap 'TO OVCT~WVOV 7TOI\I\axov OYKYJ-
" _WCT7TEp
pov, ~~ ((A''La~ 0~' 0( f.LEya~
" ''
aLEV E~
',.~...' ~'E K'TOpL. "

1ro'Av yap f.LUAAov Tov -A-"avTa f.LEyav €v€~YJVEv ~ Twv

~ i' i' \ t f3 i' ' /~
OVO CTVf.L7TI\Y}C:, L~ 'TYJ~ E7T'Ta OELOV aCT7TLOO~.
1"\ (

( 106) To 8€ E7Ti~WVYJf.La KaAOVf.LEVOV opt,OL'TO f.LEV

3/
av 'TL~
\ "t '
1\Ef:, LV E7TLKOCTf.LOVCTaV, ECT'TL OE 'TO f.LEyai\07TpE7TE-
1"\ 3/ ~' ' \ i'

CT'Ta'TOV €v ToZ~ 'AoyoL~. Tij~ yap 'A€tew~ 7] f.LEV V7TYJpE-

'TEL, iJ S€ E7TLKOCTfLEL. V7TYJPE'TEL f.LEV iJ 'TOLa8e,
~I ' ( i' f) ' 3/ i' 3/ ~
OLaV 'TaV VaKLV OV EV OVpECTL 7TOLf.LEVE~ avopE~

7TOCTCTt Ka'TaCT'TEt{3ovCTLV,

1 f.A.wvTwv Xen. codd.: f.A.BovTwv P.

a Xen. Anab. 1.8.20. Compare anthypallage in § 60.

414
 ON STYLE 103-106

(103) In certain cases conciseness, and especially apo-

siopesis, produce grandeur, since some things seem more
significant when they are not openly expressed but only
implied. In other cases, however, triviality is the result.
In fact, grandeur may result from repeating words, as in
Xenophon, ''The chariots rushed on, some of them right
through the ranks of their friends, some right through the
ranks of their enemies.~~a This wording is far more striking
than if he had said, "right through the ranks of both
friends and enemies alike.~~ (104) Often too an indirect
construction is more impressive than the direct, for exam-
ple "the intention was that of charging the ranks of the
Greeks and cutting their way through,~~ rather than "they
intended to charge and cut their way through.n (105) The
assonance of the words and a conspicuous lack of
euphony have also contributed to its impact. For
cacophony is often impressive, as in the words, "mighty
Ajax aimed always at Hector,~~c where the clash of the two
sounds brings out the greatness of Ajax more vividly than
his famous shield with its seven layers of oxhide.
( 106) What is called the epiphoneme may be defined
as additional decorative detail. It is the most imposing
kind of verbal grandeur. Language can be functional; it
can also be decorative. It is functional in a passage like
this, "as the hyacinth in the mountains is by shepherds
trampled underfoot,n but what comes next adds decora-

h Xen. Anab. 1.8.10. Indirect construction is at least primar-

ily the use of subordinate participial constructions, cf. § 198.
The example (so § 105) also illustrates assonance (from the end-
ings, -on/-on/-onton/-onton, cf. § 25) and clashing sounds (includ-
ing hiatus of long syllables, cf. § 72).
c Hom. Il. 16.358 (cf. § 48).

415
 DEMETRIUS

cpvpov aveo~"· E1TEV~VEKTaL yap TOVTO TOL~ 1TpOE~­

EVYJVEYfJ.i.voL~1 Koa-1-Lo~ a-acpw~ Kat Ka'A'Ao~. ( 107)
fLEa-Try DE TOVTWV Kat ~ f:()fL~pov 1TOtYJa-L~, oiov
, ...... /() ' , ' , ""' , / /
EK Ka1TVOV KaTE YJK , E1TEL OVKETL TOL(JLV Eq>KEL,
1'
OL~ TO' /
1Tapo~
T pOLYJVOE
/ ~ KLWV
' KaTE1\EL1TEV
/\
'08va-a-Ev~.
1Tpo~ 8' ETL Ka'L TODE fLEL,ov E1TL cppEa-'Lv EfL{3aAE
DaLfLWV,
fL~1Tw~ olvw()ivTE~, €ptv a-T~a-avTE~ E.v VfLLV,
aAA ~Aov~ Tpwa-YJTE.
EiTa E1TLcpwvEL, (t:aVTO~ yap EcpEAKETaL av8pa a-tDY]-
po~." ( 108) Kat Ka()6A.ov TO E1TtcpwVYJfLa TOL~ TWV
\ / ,,
1TJ\0V(JLWV EOLKEV E1TLOELYfLaa-tV,
, ~ / /
YEL(JOL~
\ /
1\EYW Kat
'
rptyA.vcpot~ Kat 1Topcpvpat~ 1TAaTEtat~· oiov yap TL
Kat avTo Tov E.v 'Aoyot~ .1r'Aovrov a-YJfLEtov E.a-rtv.
( 109) Llo~ELEV 8' av Kat TO f.v()Vfi./Y}fLa E1TtcpwV~fLa­
TO~ Ei86~ TL Eivcu, ovK ov fLEv ( ov yap Koa-fLov
EVEKEV, aAAa U1TODEL~EW~ 1TapaAafLf3avETat), 1TATJV
E1TLAEYOfLEVOV YE E1TtcpWVYJfLaTLKW~. ( 110) wa-aVTW~ DE

1 1TpoetevTJVE'}'fLEVOL'l Lockwood: 1TpOEVYJVE'}'fLEVOL'l P.

a Sappho 105(c) L-P.

416
--r
l
I

ON STYLE 106-111

tive detail, <<and on the ground the purple flower. . . .>>a

For this addition to the preceding lines clearly adds deco-
ration and beauty. (107) Homer's poetry is full of exam-
ples, for example
«I have put the weapons away, out of the smoke,
since they no longer look
like those which Odysseus left behind earlier when
he went to Troy.
Moreover a god has put this yet greater fear in my
heart,
that you may become drunk, start up a quarrel
and wound each other.»
Then he adds the detail, «for iron of itself draws men to
fight.»b (108) In general, the epiphoneme resembles the
things which only the rich display-cornices, triglyphs,
and broad bands of purple.c For it is in itself a sort of rich-
ness in speech.
(109) The enthymeme might be thought to be a kind
of epiphoneme. But it is not, since it is used for proof, not
decoration-though admittedly it may come last in the
manner of an epiphoneme. (110) Similarly a maxim
resembles in some ways a detail added to a previous state-
ment, but it in its turn is not an epiphoneme, since it
often comes first and only sometimes takes the final posi-
tion of an epiphonerne. (Ill) Again, take the line «the
fool! he was not going to escape hard fate»:d that would
b Hom. Od. 16.288-94 = 19.7-13 (with omissions).
c In juxtaposition to cornices and triglyphs, the broad bands
of purple will be an architectural feature, such as bands of paint
on metopes or walls. Less probably, it is purple cloth, as in the
"purple patch>' ofHor. Ars Po. 15-16. d Hom. Il. 12.113.

417
 DEMETRIUS 1
\
!

'
ELYJ" ov yap E1TtAEYETat ov8€ E1TtKOCYfLEL, ov8' OAW~
E1Tt¢wv~fLaTt EOtKEV aA.A.a 1Tpoa-¢wv~fLaTt ~ E1TtKEp-
/
TOfL'Y}fLaTt.
(112) To ~'
OE
' EV
1TOt'Y}TtKOV , 1\0yot~
\ / t:l
OTt ' fLEyai\0-
fLEV \

1TpE1TE~, Kat Tv¢A.ip 8ijA.6v ¢aa-t, 1TATJV OL fLEV J'VfLVii

1ravv xpwvTat Tfj fLtfL~a-et Twv 1TOt'Y}Twv, fLaA.A.ov 8€
OV' fLtfL'Y}CYEt
/ ' \ \ ' fLETa (} ECJ"Et,
al\1\a / Ka (} a1TEp
/ eH poOOTO~.
/~
( 113) 8ovKv8i8TJ~ fLEVTot Kav A.af3n 1rapa 1TOtYJTov Tt,
i8[w~ avTip XPWfLEVO~ t8tov TO ATJ4>0€v 1TOtEL, oiov 0
fLEV 1TOt'Y}TTJ~ E1TL Tij~ Kp~T'Y}~ €¢TJ,
Kp~T'Y} Tt~ yaZ' Ea-Tt 1 fLECY([) E.v'L OtV01Tt 1TOVT(f),
Kai\'Y}
\ '
Kat' 1TtEtpa,
/ I
1TEptppVTO~.

0 fLEV 8Tj E1Tt TOV fLEyeOov~ E.xp~a-aTO Tip ee1TEptppv-

TO~,
"
. 0
e ~'
OE
S OVKVOtO'Y}~
~ /~ e ,....
OfLOVOEtV
,
TOV~
~ \ /
.£..ttKEI\tWTa~

Ka'Aov otETat eivat, yij-~ ovTa~ fLta~ Kat 1TEptppvTov,

Kat' TavTa
' '2 1ravTq.,
/ ' /
Et1Twv, Y'YJV "" ' ' V'Y}CYOV
TE avTt I
Kat'
/ e / t:l t::l \1 ~ 1"'1~/
1TEptppvTOV WCYaVTW~, OfLW~ ETEpa 1\EyEtJJ OOKEt, OtOTt
ovx w~ 1Tp0~ fLEyeOo~ aAAa 1Tpo~ OfLOVOtav aVTOL~
exp~a-aTO. 1TEpt fLEV 8Tj fLEyaAo1TpE1TEta~ Toa-avTa.
(114) t::'f!a-1TEp 8e 1TapaKEtTat ¢avAa TtVa aa-TELOt~
Tta-tv, oiov Oappet fLEV TO Opaa-o~, T] 8' ala-xvv'Y} Tfj
al8oZ, Tov avTov Tpo1rov Kat Tij~ E.pfLYJVEta~ To'i~
1"'1 / ~ I / ""
xapaKT'Y}pCYtJJ 1TapaKEtVTat Ot'Y}fLapT'Y}fLEVOt TtVE~. 1rpw-

1 yat,..,, EO"'Tt
'' co dd . H om.: y ' EO"'Tt
' ' P•
2 ravra P.

418
i i
1

ON STYLE 111-114

not be an epiphoneme either. For it is not a later addi-

tion, nor is it decorative, nor is it in any way like an epi-
phoneme, but rather an exclamatory address or a rebuke.
( 112) Poetic vocabulary in prose adds grandeur, as, in
the words of the proverb, even a blind man can see. a Still,
some writers imitate the poets quite crudely, or rather,
they do not imitate but plagiarise them, as Herodotus has
done. (113) Contrast Thucydides. Even if he borrows
vocabulary from a poet, he uses it in his own way and
makes it his own property. Homer, for instance, says of
Crete: "There is a land of Crete, in the midst of the wine-
dark sea, beautiful, fertile, wave-surrounded.~~b Now
Homer used the word "wave-surroundedn to be im-
pressive. Thucydides, for his part, thinks it right that
the Sicilians should act in unity, as they belong to one
single "wave-surrounded land.nc He uses the same
words as Homer, "land~~ instead of "islandn and "wave-
surrounded,n yet he seems to be saying something differ-
ent. The reason is that he uses the words not to impress
but to recommend unity.· This concludes my account of
the grand style.
(114) But just as in the sphere of ethics certain bad
qualities lie close to certain good ones (rashness, for
example, next to bravery, and shame to modest respect),
so too the types of style have neighbouring faulty styles.

a Cf. § 239, Paroem. Gr. ii.156.

b Hom. Od. 19.172-73.
c Th. 4.64.3 (the speaker is Hermocrates of Syracuse) To 8€
t / / ,, ' t / ,. ., , '
s VfL1TaV YELTOVa~ OVTa~ Kat s VVOtKOV~ fLta~ xwpa~ Kat 1TEptp-
/
pvTOV Kat' " OVOfLa EV~' \'
KEKI\'Y}fLEVOV~
~ \'
.::.;tKEJ\tWTa~.
The USe 0 f
1TEptppvro~ in Hdt. 4.42.2 and 4.45.1 may make the general ref-
erence to Herodotus in § 112 more pointed.

419
 DEMETRIUS
I
l

ra 8€ 1TEpt rov yEtTvtwvro~ T~ fLEyaA.o7TpE1TEt A.E.~o­

fLEV. OVOfLa fLEV oilv avT~ lfivxpov, opL,ETat 8€ 70
tfivxpov 8Eocppaa-To~ ovTw~, lfivxpov €a-Tt To v7TEp-
(3aA.A.ov TTJV OtKELaV a1TayyEA.iav, otov eea1Tvv8aKWTO~
OV rpa1TE,OVTat KVA.tt," avTt TOV a1TVBfLEVO~ E1Tt Tpa-
7TE'YJ~ KvA.t~ ov TiBErat. To yap 1TpayfLa a-fLtKpov ov
ov 8E.XETat oyKov Toa-ovrov A.E.~Ew~.
(115) rivETat f-LEVTOt Kat TO lfivxpov EV Tpta-iv,
~'
W(J"7TEp Kat' TO' fLEyaJ\07TpE7TE~·
\ /
YJ.,, yap ' , ~
EV OtaVOUf,
/

KaBa7TEp E1Tt TOV KvKA.W7TO~ A.tBo{3oA.ovVTO~ TTJV vavv

TOV '08va-a-E.w~ EcPYJ Tt~, eecPEPOfLEVOV TOV A.iBov aiyE~
EVEfLOVTO EV avT~., EK yap TOV V1TEp{3E{3A. YJfLEVOV T1j~
8tavoia~ Kat d8vvaTov ~ lfivxpoTYJ~. (116) €v 8€ A.E.~Et
0 ,Apta-TOTEA.YJ~ cpY]a-t yivEa-Bat TETpaxw~, < ... > 1 w~
'A\1\KtOUfLa~
~ / ee e
vypov ' e~
topwTa ""' ''
• YJ.,, EV '
(J"VV (} ET(f),
/ ~~
OTaV
8tBvpafLf3w8YJ~ a-vvTEBfJ ·TJ 8i7TA.wa-t~ rov OVOfLaTo~,
'' ,1.. ' '' 2 '' \ \ ~~
W~ TO 6-pYJ Tt~, Kat Et Tt ai\J\0
e ' ee ' \ / "
EpYJfL01TJ\aVo~. OVTW~

~' ~1. /
V1TEpoyKOV.
e /
ytVETat
/
OE Kat EV fLETa'f'opq_ TO ~vxpov,
' ' ,/... ""' '

eeTpEfLOVTa Kat wxpa Ta 1Tpayf-LaTa. 3" TETpaxw~ f-LEV

ovv KaTa TTJV A.E.~tV OVTW~ av yiyvotTO. (117) a-vvBE-
(J"t~ 8€ lfivxpa i] fLTJ EvpvBfLO~, 4 dA.A.a apvBfLO~ oila-a
Kat' ota
~ ' /
1Tavrwv fLaKpav ' 5 Exova-a, ,, ~'
wa-7TEp YJ( TotaoE,/~

1 Iacunam stat. Victorius.

2 el add. edd.
3 1rpayfLara Victorius (cf. Ar. Rhet. 1406b9): ypafLfLUTa P.
4 evpvfJ/LO~ Finckh: eppvfJfLO~ (sic) P.
5 fLaKpav Schneider: fLaKpov P.

420
 ON STYLE 114-117

We will discuss first the faulty style which is adjacent to

the grand style. Its name is the frigid style, and frigidity is
defined by Theophrastusa as "that which exceeds its
appropriate form of expression," for example "an unbased
cup is not tabled," instead of "a cup without a base is not
put on a table."h The trivial subject does not allow such
magniloquence.
(115) Frigidity, like grandeur, has three aspects. It
may be in the thought, as in one writer~s description of the
Cyclops throwing a rock at Odysseus' ship, ccas the rock
was rushing along, goats were browsing on it.~~c This is
frigid because the thought is exaggerated and impossible.
(116) In diction, Aristotled lists four types, < ... >, for
example Alcidamas~ c'moist sweat" ;e from compounds,
when the words are compounded in a dithyrambic man-
ner, for example ccdesert-wandering~'f in one writer, and
any other .similarly pompous expressions; and from
metaphors, for example ccthe situation was trembling and
pale."g These then are the four types of frigidity in dic-
tion. (11 7) Composition· is frigid when it lacks good
rhythm, or has no rhythm when it has exclusively long syl-

a Theophr. F 686 Fortenbaugh.

h TrGF iv.Soph. Triptolemus F 611.
c Author unknown, a grotesque elaboration on Hom. Od.
9.481 ,ryKE 8' U7Toppf,~ar;; Kopvcp~v opEor;; fLeyaAOLO.
d Cf. Ar. Rhet. 1405b34ff for the four types of frigid diction:
compounds, glosses, epithets, and metaphors. Aristotle helps us
to fill the lacuna in our text, which will have covered glosses and
introduced epithets. e Alcidamas, Jr. 15 Sauppe, the first
example of frigid epithet in Ar. Rhet. 1406a21.
f Author unknown, not one of Aristotle's examples.
g Gorgias B16 D-K; cf. Ar. Rhet. 1406b8-10 xA.wpa Kat
~ ' ,
avat-11-a ra 7rpayfLaTa.
421
 DEMETRIUS
I
l

~~i}Kwv Y]J.LWV EL~ TTJV xwpav' 7TUCTYJ~ TJJ.LWV opfJT]~

OVCTYJ~·, ov8€v yap EXEt A.oytKOJJ ov8€ acrcpaAE~ 8u1
TTJV CTVVEXEtav TWJJ J.LaKpwv crv'AA.a{jwv. (118) l/Jvxpov
~\ \ \ I ()I ""' ()I I \
OE Kat TO J.LETpa Tt EJJat CTVVEXYJ, Ka a7TEp TtVE~, Kat
\ \ I ~
\""' I I \
fLY] KI\E7TTOfLEVa V7TO TYJ~ crvvEXEta~· 7TOtYJfLa yap
aKatpov l/Jvxpov, WCT7TEp Ka'i TO V7TEpJ.LETpov. ( 119)
' () ""\ ~
Kat Ka 01\0V 07TOt01J Tt ECTTtJJ YJ al\a':,OVEta,
..... .... .... !) r ~ !) \
TOtOVTOV I '""

KaL TJ l/JvxpOTYJ~· 0 TE yap aAa,WV Ta J.LTJ 7TpOCTOVTa

""'<:1 ~ / <:/ ""'
aVTlp aVXEt OJ.LW~ W~ 7TpOCTOJJTa, 0 TE J.LtKpOt~
'""' !)

7TpayJ.LaCTt1J 7TEpt{jaA.A.wv oyKoJJ Ka'i aVTO~ EV J.LtKpois

!)\ r I ~,
al\a':,OVEVOJ.LEVlp EOtKEJJ. Kat 07TOt01J Tt TO EJJ TYJ 7Tapot-
'~ ......... '!) .....

I / <:1 ""'/ /!) \ \!)

J.Ltft KOCTJ.LOVJ.LEVOJJ V7TEpov, TOtOVTOV Tt ECTTt Kat TO EV

TD E.pJ.LYJVELft E.~YJPJ.LEvov E.v J.LtKpois 7rpayJ.Lacrtv.
( 120) KaLTOt TtJJE~ cpacrt OELV Ta J.LtKpa J.LEyaA.w~
AEyEtJJ,. Ka'i CTYJJ.LELOJJ TOVTO i}yovvrat V7TEp{jaA.A.ovCTYJ~
~ ~' IJ \ e 1
I
ovvaJ.LEW~.
'
Eyw oE
'
OI\VKparEt 1
J.LEV'
Tip""' PYJTOpt crvy-
xwpw EYKWJ.LUL,OJJTt < ... > 1 w~ 'AyaJ.LEJ.LVOVa EV
avrtfJETOt~ Ka'i J.LETa¢opa'L~ KaL 7TaCTt TOL~ EYKWJ.Lta-
'"' ' ~' r
CTTtKOt~ Tp07TOt~· E7Tat':,€1J yap, OVK ECT7TOVOa':,E1J, Kat
I ' ~~ r
!) ,
aVTO~ TTJ~ ypacpi]~ 0 oyKo~ 7Taiyvt6v ECTTt. 7TaL,Et1J
' ~' 'C ECTTW, W~ e ...f... ~'
J.LEV OYJ Ec; 1
o/YJJ.Lt, TO OE 1
7Tp€7TOV EV 7TaJJTt
' 1 ' '

I ...f... \ I ""' ' ~~ ...f... I e

7rpayJ.LaTt 'PVI\aKTEov, TOVT ECTTt 7rpocr'Popw~ EPJ.LYJ-
1 \ \ \ ""' \ /\ I ~\
JJEVTEOV, Ta J.LEV J.LtKpa J.LtKpW~, Ta J.LEyal\a OE J.LEya-
1 lacunam stat. Victorius, e.g. 8EpcrtTYJV Maass.

Author unknown (cf. § 42); the second phrase lacks a sub-

a
ject, e.g. "city."

422
 ON STYLE 117-120

lables, for example "arriving inside our land, since it now

is all stirred up" (hekon hernan eis ten chorlin, plises
hem8n orthes ouses). a Owing to the unbroken succession
of long syllables, this sentence is quite unlike good prose
and finds no safe footing. (118) It is also frigid to intro-
duce, as some do, continuous metrical phrases, since
their continuity makes them obtrude. A line of verse in
prose is out of place, and as frigid as too many syllables to
the line in verse.b (119) In general, there is a sort of anal-
ogy between boastfulness and frigidity. The boaster pre-
tends that qualities belong to him even if they do not,
while the writer who adds pomp to trifles is himself like
the man who boasts about trifles. The use of a heightened
style on a trivial subject recalls the proverbial ''orna-
mented pestle."c
(120) There are, however, people who hold that we
should use grand language on slight themes, and regard it
as a sign of exceptional skill. For my own part, I excuse
the rhetorician Polycratesd who eulogised < ... > like an
Agamemnon with antithesis, metaphor, and every artifice
of eulogy. He was being playful and not in earnest; the
very inflation of his writing is part of the play. So play, as I
say, is legitimate, but otherwise preserve propriety, what-
ever the subject; or in other words, use the relevant style,

b Or alternatively "as metre which is too regular."

c Paroem. Gr. i.459.
d Polycrates, Art. Scr. B.xxi.11; he specialised in paradoxical
encomia of villains and trifles such as pots, pebbles, and mice. In
the lacuna add a name such as Busiris, the wicked king who was
the subject of his most famous encomium, or the ugly Thersites
(cf. § 163). For an extant 1Tatyvtov see Gorgias' Helen (cf. Hel.
21 tE\J\EVYJ~
, ' , , ' ' ~' , )
fLEV E')IKWfLtOV, EfLOV OE 1TatyVtOV .

423
 DEMETRIUS
1
i
l
i
'Awe;, (121) Ka8a7TEp 5Evo¢wv E7Tt Tov TYJAE{3oa 7TOTa-
JLOV JLLKpov OVTOc; Kat KaAov cPYJO"LV, ~~oiJToc; 8€ 7TOTa-
JLOc; ~v JLEyac; JLEV ov, KaAoc; 8€·'' TV yap f3paxVTYJTL
ri}c; a-vvBEa-Ewc; Kat TV a7To'Arr}fEt riJ ELc; TO ~~8€'' JLOVOV
ovK E7TEOEtfEv TJJLtV JLLKpov 7TOTaJL6v. ETEpoc; 8€ Ttc;
EPJLYJVEVWV OJLOLOV T0 TYJAE/30(/: 1TOTaJLOV 1 f.¢YJ, we;
~~a7TO TWV AavptKWV opf.wv OPJLWJLEVOc; EK8t8ot Ec;
,\
(} al\aa-a-av, , Ka () a7TEp, rov ' N ELI\OV EPJLYJVEvwv
~""~\ ~ , KaTa-
r"
KPYJJLVL~.::,OJLEVov YJ rov
.,, ' ~'I
a-rpov EJL , f3 a/\1\0VTa.
"\ \ "
7TavTa
olJv Ta rotavTa lfivxporYJc; KaAEtTat. ( 122) yivETat
/ ' ' /\ ~I / ~
JLEVTOL Ta JLLKpa JLEyal\a ETEpov Tp07TOV, OV ota !I '
TOV
1""1

a7TpE7TOVc; d'A'A' EVLOTE V7T' avayKY}c;" oiov OTaV JLLKpa

KaTopBwa-avTa '"itva a-TpaTYJyov E.faipEtv f3ovAWJLEBa
we; JLEya'Aa KaTwpBwKOTa, <~> 2 oiov OTL €¢opoc; EV
' /
A aKEO(LLJLOVL TOV 7TEptEpywc; Kat OVK E7TLXWPLWc;
~/ ' , , /
,./... / , / / 3 ' , "()
O"'Patpta-avTa EJLaO"Tty~a-EV" TOVTq> yap aVTO EV

JLLKP0 aKova-Bijvat OVTL E7TLTpaycp8ovJLEV, we; oi TU

JLLKpa 7TOVYJPU f.()YJ. EWVTEc; o8ov TOte; JLEL,OO"L 7TOVYJ-
1""1, / '~' ,, 1""1 1""1
potc; avotyvvova-tv, Kat OTt E7TL Tote; JLLKpotc; 7Tapavo-
JLrrJJLaa-tv XPTJ Ko'Aa,Etv JLa'A'Aov, ovK e1rt Tote; JLEya-
\
/\OLe;. Kat' TYJV
'
7TapOLJLLaV / , /
E7TOLO"OJLEV, 4 ~~ ,
apxYJ' OE ~ /
TOL
iJJLLO"V 7TaVTOc;," we; EOLKVtav TOVTq> 5 T0 O"JLLKP0 KaK0,
YJ.,, Kat'6 OTL ~/ , ~ ' KaKOV
OVOEV ' JLLKpov / EO"TLV.
, ( 123) OVTWc;
~/ '
JLEV
~, 't, , , , , 'C , ,
OYJ Es EO"TW Kat TO JLLKpov KaTop 8WJLa Es atpEtV JLEya,
1 rroTap.,ov Schneider: flu men Lat.: rroTap.,i{J P.
2 ~ add. Roberts. 3 TDlJTlp edd.: TO'VTo P.
4 Erroia-op.,Ev Hemsterhuys: Errot/r}a-ap.,Ev P.
5 TovTw Tw p2: TOVTo pl. 6 YJ'' p2, om. pl.
L L

424
r
ON STYLE 121-123

slight for slight themes, grand for grand themes, (121)

just as Xenophon does when he describes the small and
beautiful river Teleboas, "this was not a large river; it was
beautiful, however.na Through the conciseness of the con-
struction and the final position of "however" he makes us
all but see a small river. Contrast another writer who
describes a river similar to the Teleboas, saying that it
"rushed from the hills of Laurium and disgorged itself
into the sea,"b as though he were writing about the
cataracts of the Nile or the mouth of the Danube. All
such language is called frigid. (122) Minor themes, how-
ever, may be magnified in another way, a way which is not
inappropriate and sometimes necessary, for instance
when we wish to praise a general for some small victory as
though he had actually won a major victory; or the ephor
in Sparta who scourged a man who played ball with
extravagant gestures and not in the local manner. The
offence in itself sounds trivial, sp we wax eloquent on its
gravity, pointing out that men who permit minor bad
l1 habits open the way to more serious ones, and that we
I'
II ought to punish minor offences against the law rather
I" than major ones; and we will introduce the proverb,
i' "work begun is half-done,"c arguing that it fits this minor
~

t offence, or even that no offence is minor. (123) In this

' way, then, we may legitimately magnify a small success,

a Xen.Anab. 4.4.3, cf. § 6.

b Author unknown.
c Hesiod, Op. 40, cf. Paroem. Gr. i.213.

425
 DEMETRIUS
1
ov ~~v W<TTE a1TpE1TES Tt 1TOtliv, aAA' W<T1TEp Kat TO
/ / / \\/ t:/
~eya KaTa<T~tKpvvETat XPYJ<Tt~w~ 'lTOI\1\aKt~, ovTw~
.,, ' ' ' 'C ,
av Kat TO ~tKpov E~ atpotTO.
(124) MaAta-Ta S€ iJ v1TEp{3oA~ 1./JvxpoTaTov
1TaVTWV.
/
TptTTTJ 0€ E<TTtV" YJ yap Ka
' ~ / , .,, ' ()' (
O~OtOTTJTa
, EK-
,
,./... / ( ' ((() / ~' , / ( 1"'1 , .,, ()'
'PEPETat, W~ TO EEtV 0 avE~Ot<TtV O~OtOt, YJ Ka
( , ( ' (( \ , , , .,, ' '
V1TEPOXYJV, w~ TO 1\EVKOTEpot xtovo~, YJ KaTa TO
a8vvaTOV, w~ TO ((ovpavfi! E<TT~pttE KUPYJ·, ( 125)
1rao-a1"'1 '
~Ev oilv V1TEp{3oA ~ aSvvaTO~ E<TTtV" OVTE yap
,, / \ / , 3/ ' .,, , , (} /
av XtOVO~ 1\EVKOTEpov '}'EVOtTO, OVT av avE~~ EEtV
o~otov. aVTYJ ~EVTOt [ i]Tot]
1
V1TEp{3oA~ ELPYJ~EVYJ iJ iJ
'C
E~ atpETW~ ovo~asETat aovvaTo~.
' ' '7 '~' ~ ' OYJ
oto ~' Kat' '\
~ai\L<TTa
,,, ' ~ 1"'1 1"'1 ( r:J \ , ~ / , ~ , 3/
'rvxpa OOKEt 1Ta<Ta V1TEpfJOI\"f}, OtOTt aovvaTqJ EOtKEV.
( 126) 8ta TovTo 8€ ~aAta-Ta Kat ol Kw~~8o1rotot
XPWVTat avTfJ, OTt EK TOV a8vvaTOV f.cpeAKOVTat TO
'}'EAOLOV, W<T1TEp E1Tt TWV IIEpo-wv T1]~ a1TATJ<TTta~
e a \\ , , 3/ r1.. t:l (( ~, , c ,
7 t:l \ ,
V1TEpfJai\I\O~Evo~ Tt~ E'PYJ, oTt 1TEota E~ EXEsov Ol\a,
Kat oTt (({3ov~ f.v Tat~ yvaOot~ f.cpEpov." (127) Tov 8€
, 1"'1 3/~ , ' ' ' (( ,./... \ , , ~, , '
aVTOV EtOOV~ E<TTt Kat TO 'Pal\aKpOTEpo~ EVota~ Kat
TO ((KOAOKVVTYJ~ V'}'tE<TTEpo~." TO 8€ ((xpvo-w xpvo-o-
TEpa
/ , ,
TO
~
~a1T'PtKOV
A.. ' , (
EV V1TEpfJOI\YJ 1\E'}'ETat Kat aVTO
a \ 1"'1 \ , ' , '

' ,~ / \' , 1"'1 1"'1 ,~ / / ,,

Kat aovvaTw~, 1TI\"f}V avT~ '}'E T~ aovvaT~ xaptv EXEt,
, ,,, , t.\ ~' ' , \ () , 3/
OV 'rVXPOTYJTa. 0 OYJ Kat ~al\t<TTa av~a<TEtEV av Tt~

~a1Tcpov~ T1]~ 0Eta~, OTt cpvo-Et Ktv8vvw8Et 1Tpay~aTt

' ~
Kat ovo-KaTop
() / , , , , ' ' WT~ EXPTJ<TaTo E1TtxaptTw~. Kat 1TEpt
~ev 1./JvxpoTYJTO~ Kat v1TEp{3oA 11~ Too-avTa.

1 1}rot- del. edd.

426
 ON STYLE 123-127

but without doing anything unsuitable. Just as major

themes can often be usefully depreciated, so can minor
themes be magnified.
(124) The most frigid of all devices is hyperbole,
which is of three kinds. It is expressed either in the form
of a likeness, for example ~~like the winds in speed"; or of
superiority, for example ''whiter than snow" ;a or of impos-
sibility, for example "with her head she reached the sky.''b
(125) Admittedly every hyperbole is an impossibility.
There could be nothing "whiter than snow," nothing "like
the winds in speed.'' But this last kind is especially called
impossible. And so the reason why every hyperbole
seems particularly frigid is that it suggests something
impossible. (126) This is also the chief reason why the
comic poets use it, since out of the impossible they create
laughter, for example when someone said hyperbolically
of the voracity of the Persians that "they excreted entire
plains"c and that "they carried oxen in their jaws."d (127)
Of the same type are the expressions "balder than a
cloudless sky" and ~~healthier than a pumpkin."e Sappho's
phrase, "more golden than gold"f is also in form a hyper-
bole and impossible, but by its very impossibility it is
charming, not frigid. Indeed, it is a most marvellous
achievement of the divine Sappho that she handled an
intrinsically risky and intractable device to create charm.
This concludes my account of frigidity and hyperbole.

a Hom. Il. 10.437 (of horses). hHom. Il. 4.443 (of Strife).
c Author unknown; cf. Arist. Achamians 82 KaXE,ov oKrw
JL~Va~ l-rrl. xpvuwv opwv. dAuthor unknown, a proverb
(Paroem. Gr. ii. 749). In§ 161 it describes a Thracian.
e Sophron 108 and 34 Kaibel (cf. § 162).
f Sappho 156 L-P (cf. § 162 for a longer citation).

427
 1
!
!

DEMETRIUS

Nvv 8€ '1TEpt 'TOV y'Aacpvpov xapaKT'ijpo~ AE~OJLEV,

(128) <o~> xapLEVTL(J"fLO~ E(J"TL Kat 1 'Aoyo~ i'Aapo~.
"" /
TWV ~'
OE xapL'TWV aL( JLEV
/ ,
EL(J"L '7 ' /
JLEL~:,OVE~ KaL (J"EfLVOTEpaL,

ai Twv 7TOLYJTWV, at 8€ E'VTEAli~ JLUAAov Ka'i KWJLLKWTE-

pat, (J"KWJLJLa(J"LV EOLKv'iat, oiov ai 'Apt(J"TOTEAov~
xapLTE~ Kat !wcppovo~ Kat AV(J"LOV" TO yap ((17~ pfl:ov
~'
av , () / ' ,~ / .,, ' ~
'TL~ apt fLYJ(J"ELEV TOV~ OOOVTa~ YJ 'TOV~ OaK'TVI\.OV~,
'\ ,
'TO E1Tt Tij~ 1TpE(J"{3VTL8o~, Kat TO eeO(J"a~ a~LO~ ijv
'Aaf3liv 1TAYJya~, TO(J"avTa~ lt'AYJcpEv 8paxJLa~," oi ToL-
ovToL a(J"TEL(J"JLOL ov8€v 8tacpf.poV(J"LV (J"KWJLJLUTWV,
ov8€ 1Toppw )'EAWT07Tod·a~ EL(J"i. ( 129) 'TO 8€

Tfj 8€. ()' aJLa N VfLcpaL

1Tat,OV(J"L · yf.yYJ{}E 8€ 2 TE cppf.va AYJTW"

KaL'

[Kat] 3 ailTat EL(J"LV at AE)'OJLEVaL (J"EfLVat xapLTE~ Ka'i

JLEya'AaL. (130) XPiJTaL 8€ avTats ~'OJLYJPO~ Ka'i 1Tpo~
8EtVW(J"LV EVLOTE Ka'i EfLcpa(J"LV, Ka'i 1Tat,wv cpo{3EpW'TE-
po~ f(J"TL, 1TpWTO~ TE EVPYJKEVaL 8oKEL cpo{3Epa~ xapL-
~' ' , ' "" ,
Ta~, W(J"1TEp TO E1TL 'TOV axapLTWTaTOV 1Tp0(J"W1TOV, TO
/ ' /

' ' 'TOV"" K VKI\W1TO~,

E1TL ' \ 'TO' [OVV
'3' ] 4 eeO VTLV
'3' '
E)'W ' 1TVfLa'TOV
'

~~~
EOOJLaL, ' ~-' \ ' ,
'TOV~ OE I\OL7TOV~ 1TpWTOV~,
, TO' 'TOV"" K VKI\.W1TO~
, \

1 t\
<o~> xaptEVTUTfLO~
, ,
ECTTt Kat
' \ ,
1\0)10~
e\ ,
tl\apo~
KasseI : '
Kat
om. P: 0 yA.acpvpo~ A.oyo~ xaptEVTUTfLO~ Ka~ I.A.apo~ A.oyo~ in
mg. P. 2 OE om. P.
3 Kat del. Schneider.

428
 ON STYLE 127-130

We will next discuss the elegant style, (128) which is

speech with charm and a graceful lightness. Some kinds
of charm, those of the poets, are more imposing and dig-
nified, others are more ordinary, closer to comedy and
resembling gibes, like those of Aristotle, a Sophron, and
Lysias. Such witticisms as "whose teeth could be counted
sooner than her fingers" (of an old woman) and "he has
taken as many coins as he has deserved beatings"h are
exactly like gibes, and come close to buffoonery. ( 129)
Contrast the lines, ~~At her side the nymphs play, and Leto
rejoices in her hearf' and ~~she easily outshone them all,
yet all were beautifui."c This is the charm that can be
called imposing and dignified. (130) Charm is also used
by Homer sometimes to make a scene more forceful and
intense. His very jesting adds to the terror, and he seems
to have been the first to invent the grim joke, as in the
passage describing that least charming of figures, the
Cycl1s: "No-man I will eat, last, the rest before
him" -the Cyclops' gift of hospitality. No other detail

A surprising choice for comic wit ( § 164 is also suspect), and

a
Aristophanes has been proposed.
b Lys.fr. 1 (cf. § 262) and 93 Thalheim.
c Hom. Od. 6.105ff (of Artemis).
d Hom. Od. 9.369-70 (cf. §§ 152, 262),
015TtV eyw 1TV!LUTOV €8o!LaL /LETa or~ ETapourt,
TOV~ 8' aA.A.ov~ 1Tpo0"0Ev, TO 8€ TOt t€tv~'iov EO"Tat.

4 ovv P, om. edd.: fort. delenda sunt verba omnia To E1TL ...
ro o15v Roberts.

429
 DEMETRIUS
~'
~EVLOV" OV yap
, ' , ' , / ,./.,. c;::- ' , ""'
OVTW~ aVTOV EV6pYJVEV OEtVOV EK TWV
~~ c;::- / c;::- ""' e / 'c;::-, ' '
a'AA.wv, OTaV OVO OEl/lTVYJ ETatpov~, OVO a7TO TOV""'
(}vpEov YJ.,, EK '
TOV""' po7Tai\OV, e / \
W~
e '
EK TOVTOV
/
TOV""'
aa-TELCTf.LOV. ( 131) XPiJTat 8€ Tit> TOtOVT(f) ELOEL KaL
- ,./.,.""'
t=.EVO'PWV, Kat' aVTO~ , ' c;::- /
OEtVOTYJTa~ EUTayEt EK xaptTWV,
, / , /

oiov E7TL Tij~ EV07TAOV opxYJcrTpi8o~, eeEPWTYJ(}EL~ V7TO

Tov Tla~A.ayovo~ El KaL al yvvatKE~ avTo'L~ crvvE7To-
\ /
1\Ef.LOVV, ~' ,./.,.
E'PYJ" avTaL 'C'
yap ' ~'
Kat' ETp6yaV , I,
TOV' {3 aCTti\Ea.\ / ''
OtTTTJ yap Ef.L~aLVETat 7] OELVOTYJ~ EK Tij~ xaptTO~, 7]
f.LEV oTt ov yvva'LKE~ avTo'L~ Et7TOVTo d'A'A' 'Af.La,ovE~,
c;::- '
YJe OE KaTa' {3 aCTti\EW~, \/ ' ~~ '";' ' (} / e e '
Et OVTW~ YJV aCT EVYJ~ W~ V7TO

yvvatKWV ~VYELV. ( 132) Ta f.LEV o?Jv ELOYJ TWV xapi-

/ c;::-
TWV TOCTaOE Kat' TOtaOE. / c;::-

Ela-LV 8€ al f.LEV EV TOL~ 7Tpayf.LaCTL xaptTE~, oiov

VVf.L~_a'Lot Kij7Tot, Vf.L€-t'atot, f.pwTE~, OAYJ 7} ~a7T~ov~
7TOLYJO"L~. Ta yap TO~avTa, Kav V7TO el7T7TWVaKTO~
\ /
1\EYYJTat, 1 xaptEVTa / / ECTTL,
' Kat' aVTO ' ' Ll\apov e\ '
TO' 7Tpayf.La ""'

€t EaVTOV" OVOEL~ . yap av Vf.LEVaLOV /foot 2 opyt,Of.LE-

vo~, ovoE TOV
, c;::- ' ' ~'E
pwTa 'E ptvvv ' 7TOLYJCTELEV / 3 TYJ""' EPf.LYJVEL(/:
e /

~ yiyavTa, ov8€ TO YEAiiv KAaLEtV. ( 133) WCTTE 7] f.LEV

Tt~ EV 7Tpayf.Lacrt 4 xapt~ ECTTL, Ta 8€ KaL 7] AE~t~ 7TOLEL
, / 'C'
E7TtxapLTWTEpa, OtOV

w~ 8' OTE Tlav8ap€ov 5 KOVpYJ, XAWpYJL~ dYJOWV,

\ ' ' /~ ~~ / e /
Kai\OV aELOYJCTLV, Eapo~ VEOV LCTTaf.LEVOtO"

1
AeyeTat P: AE')'YJTat edd.
2 aOoL Schneider: aOEL P.
L

430
 ON STYLE 130-133

reveals so clearly the grimness of the monster-not his

eating two of Odysseus' companions for supper, nor his
door made from a rock, nor his club-as this piece of wit.
1
(131) Xenophon is also familiar with this type, and he too
uses charm to grim effect, as in the passage describing the
dancing girl in armour: "A Greek was asked by the
Paphlagonian whether their women accompanied them
to war. 'Yes,' he replied, 'in fact they were the ones who
routed the king.' "a This witticism is tellingly forceful in
two ways, the implication that it was not mere women but
Amazons who accompanied them, and the implied insult
to the king that he was so feeble that he was put to flight
by women. (132) This, then, is the number and variety of
the forms of charm.
The charm may lie in the subject matter, such as gar-
dens of the nymphs, marriage songs, loves, or the poetry
of Sappho generally. Such themes, even in the mouth of a
Hipponax, b have charm, and the subject has its own
graceful lightness. No one could sing a marriage song in
frenzied anger, nor could style change Love into a Fury or
a Giant, or laughter into tears. (133) There is, then, charm
in the theme itself, but sometimes diction can give an
added charm, as in the lines:
"Just as Pandareus' daughter, the pale nightingale,
sings beautifully at the beginning of spring."c

aXen. Anab. 6.1.12-15.

b Cf. § 301. cHom. Od. 19.518-19.

3 7TOL~CTELEv Hammer: 7TOL~CTEL E.v P.

4 1rpayp.,acrt Victorius: 1rpayp.,aTt P.
5 Ilav8apeov codd. Hom: ITav8ap€1J P.

431
 T
i

DEMETRIUS

E.vravea yap Kat T] d'Y}8wv xaptEV opvi()tov, Kat TO

E.ap c/Jva-EL xaptEV, 1TOAV 8€ E1TLKEKOCT~'Y}Tat rfl E:p~'Y]­
VEtq,, Kat €a-rt xaptECTTEpa 'T~ 'TE ~~X Awp'Y]L'~" Kat rip 1
~~1Iav8ap€ov 2 KOVp'Y]'' EL1TELV E1Tt opvtOo~, a1TEp rov
,.... 'I~ I '
1TOL'YJ'TOV LOLa ECT'TLo
(134) IloAAaKL~ 8€ Kat Ta ~EV 1Tpay~ara arEp1Tfj
~ '~'
Ea-Tt
'
'Pva-Et
,J.,.I
Kat' a-rvyva, I
V1TO oE rov 1\Eyovro~ ytvErat
,.... \ I /

~\ I ~' ,.... .rk ,. . ~ '"' /

' - c ,....
LJ\apao TOV'TO OE 1rapa =EVO'PWV'TL OOKEL 1TpWT<f} EVp'Y]-
a- at· 1\af--lwv yap ayEJ\ao-rov 1rpoa-w1Tov Kat a-rv-
() \ {.)' ' ' /\ I '

yvov, rov 'Ay'A.al:ra8av, rov IT€pa-'Y}v, y€A.wra Ei5pEv

E~ avrov xaptEVTa, O'TL c~p~6v 3 ECTTL 1TVP EK'Tptl/Jat a1TO
a-ov ~ y€A.wrao" ( 135) avr'Y} 8€ E. a-rt Kat T] 8vvarwrar'Y}
xapt~, Kat ~aAta-Ta EV rep A.€yovrto TO ~EV yap
1rpay~a Kat cpva-Et a-rvyvov ~V Kat 1TOAE~LOV xaptrt
[wa-1rEp Kat 'Ay'A.al:ra8a~J, 4 8' wa-1rEp E.v8EiKvvrat o
~I I r c '
O'TL Kat' a1TO ' '
TWV
,....
'TOLOVq""WV
I
1TaL4:,ELV ECT'TLV,
'I
WCT1TEpEt Kat'
1nro ()Ep~ov lfivx_Ea-()at, 0Ep~aivEa-0at 8€ v1ro rwv
lfivxpwv.
( 136) 'E7TEt 8€ ra Et8'Y} 'TWV xapirwv 8€8EtKrat, riva
~
ECTTL Kat EV TLCTLV, VVV Kat TOV~ 'T01TOV~ 1TapaoEL~
' ' ' ' I '"'
0-' ' I 1(;

f.LEV, 5 dc/J' 6Jv ai xaptTE~o ~a-av 8€ iJf.LLV ai f.LEV EV rfl

AE~Et, ai 8€ E.v rot~ 1rpay~aa-tvo 1rapaOEt~o~Ev ovv
c ~
Kat rov~ T01TOV~ Ka EKarEpa
' ' I
· 1rpwrov~ OE ()' I
rov~ T'Y}~
I ' ' '"'

AE~EW~.
( 137) Evev~ ovv 1TpWT'Y} ECT'Tt xapt~ T] EK a-vvro-
I ~I ' ' ' I 'I I C'
fLLa~, orav TO avro fL'Y}KVVO~EVOV axapt YEV'Y}Tat, V1TO

1 TW"' TE
~
KUL' TW
"' o o o
~
FolllCkh : TO I
TE o o o KUL' TO
' p o

2 ITav8apE7J Po

432
 ON STYLE 133-137

This passage refers to the nightingale, which is a delight-

ful little bird, and to spring, which is of its nature a
delightful season of the year, but the style has made it
much more beautiful, and the whole has added charm
from "pale" and the personification of the bird as Pan-
dareus' daughter. Both these touches are the poet's own.
(134) Often subjects which are naturally unattractive
and sombre acquire a lighter tone from the writer's skill.
~ This secret seems to have been discovered first by
Xenophon, who took the gloomy and sombre figure of the
Persian Aglaitadas and exploited him for a charming joke,
"it would be easier to strike fire from you than laughter."a
(135) This is, indeed, the most effective kind of charm,
1
and one which most depends on the writer. The subject
was in itself sombre and hostile to charm,h but the writer
virtually gives a demonstration that even with such
unpromising material jokes are possible, just as cold can
heat and heat can cool.
(136) Now that we have set out the varieties of charm
and where it is found, we will next list its sources. As we
have already said, it lies partly in the style and partly in
the subject. So we will list the sources under both cate-
gories, beginning with those from style.
(137) The very first source of charm is brevity, when a
thought which would lose its charm if it were expanded is

a Xen. Cyrop. 2.2.15.

b The Greek text adds "as Aglaitadas certainly was."

3 pftov codd. Xen.: patnov P.

4 del. Schenkeveld.
5 1rapa8eifoJLEV Gale: 1rapa8eifo11-a~ P.

433
~ ' / /
DEMETRIUS
~~ ' ~--< ,./.. ,... ee ,. . !)/
l
OE TaXOV~ xapLEV, W(J"7rEp 1rapa t:::J.EVO'f..IWVTL, T(f) OVTL
TOVTcp 1 ov8€v p.i.TE(J"TL Tf]~ eEAAa8o~' E7r€t €yw aVTOV
Et8ov W(J"7rEpEt Av86v afLcpOTEpa Ta 6JTa TETPV1rYJfLE-
2 ' ,. ~' ,, ' ' , \ / '
VOV" KaL EL XEV OVTW~. TO yap E7rLI\EYOfLEVOV TO
ee ')' ~~ " e ' ,. . / ' / ,. . ,
EL XEV OVTW~ V7r0 TYJ~ (J"VVTOfLLa~ TYJV xaptv 1TOLEL, EL
~'
OE
, /e
EfLYJKVV YJ OLa 11"1\ELOVWV,
~ ' \ / ~' ee !)/\
OTL E/\EYEV TaVTa ai\Yj YJ,
e,... ,... , \

a-ac/Jw~ yap ETETPV7rYJTo," 8tiJYYJfLa llv t/JtAov €yevETo

aVTt xapLTO~. ( 138) 1roAAaKL~ 8€ Kat 8vo cppa,ETaL 8t'
EVO~ 7rpo~ TO xapLEV, otov E7rt Tf]~ , AfLa,ovo~ Ka8Ev-
~ / !)/ ,./.. ~~ ee ' / (; ' / !)/
OOV(J"Yj~ E'f..IYJ TL~, OTL TO TOs OV EVTETafLEVOV EKELTO,
Kat iJ cpapeTpa 7rAi}pYJ~, To yeppov €1rt TD KEcpa'Ai]·
Tov~ 8€ 'wa-Tf]pa~ ov AvovTat." €v yap TovTcp Kat o
VOfLO~ ELPYJTaL o 7rEpt TOV 'wo-Tf]po~, Kat OTL ovK
€'Avo-E Tov 'wa-Tf]pa, Ta 8vo 1rpayfLaTa 8ta fL"ii~
EPfLYJVELa~. Kat a7ro Tf]~ (J"VVTOfLLa~ TaVTYJ~ y Aacpvpov
/ ,
TL f(J"TL.
(139) ilEvTEPo.~ 8€ To1ro~ €a-Ttv a1ro Tf]~ TatEw~.
TO yap aVTO 7rpWTOV fLEV TE8€v ~ fLE(J"OV axapL yivE-
, ' ~' ,... /\ / -? e e ~--< ,./.. ,...
TaL. €1TL OE TOV TEI\OV~ xapLEV, OLOV W~ 0 t:::J.EVO'f..IWV
,./..
'f..IYJ(J"LV E1TL TOV
' ' ,. . K vpov,
/ ee ~ / ~
OLOW(J"L OE aVT(f) KaL owpa,
~ ' , ,... ' ~ ,...

~'
L7r1TOV \'
(J"TOI\YjV KaL'
KaL' o-TpE7rTOV,
/ ' xwpav
KaL' TYJV /

/ e /y
fLYJKETL ap7ra~::,Eo- aL. EV yap TOVTOL~ TO fLEV TE/\EV-
e " , ' / ' ' \
,... / ' ' ' / ,... ' ee ' /
TaLOV f(J"TL TO TYJV xapLV 1TOLOVV TO TYJV xwpav
fLYJKETL
eat" OLa' TO' S(;/EVOV TOV,. owpov
/ e
ap7ra~::,Eo-
/ KaL' TYJV'
/y ~ ~

'~ / :J/ ~' e / ,... / ' ,...

LOLOT'Y)Ta" aLTLO~ EL yovv OE 0 T07r0~ T'YJ~ xapLTO~.
,. , / e , / ,.
7rpWTOV ETaX YJ, axapLTWTEpOV YJV, OLOV OTL OLOW(J"LV
-? ~' ee ~ / ~

1
TovTw M: istius Lat.: TOVTo P.
L

434
 ON STYLE 137-39

given charm by a quick mention, as in Xenophon: ~CThis

man has really nothing Greek about him, for he has (and I
saw it myself) both his ears pierced like a Lydian; and so
he had."a The ending, "and so he had," has charm from its
brevity, but if it had been expanded at greater length,
"what he said was true, since he had evidently had them
pierced," it would have become a bald piece of narrative
instead of a flash of charm. (138) Often too the conflation
of two ideas in one sentence gives a delightful effect. A
writer once said of a sleeping Amazon: ~CHer bow lay
strung, her quiver full, her shield by her head; but they
never loosen their belts.,,b In one and the same phrase the
general custom about their belts is indicated, and so is the
fact that she had not loosened her belt-two things at
once. There is a touch of elegance in this brevity.
( 139) The second source is word order. The very
thought which would have no charm if it is put at the
beginning or middle of a sentenoe, is often full of charm if
it comes at the end, for example Xenophon on Cyrus, "He
gives him gifts too-a horse, a robe, a torque, and the
assurance that his country would no longer be plun-
dered."a It is the last item in the sentence Ccthe assurance
that his country would no longer be plundered,,) that cre-
ates the charm, from the novel and unique nature of the
gift. And the charm is due to its position. If it had been
put first, it would be less attractive, for example, c~He

a Xen.Anab. 3.1.31. hAuthor unknown. The Amazon

custom was to remain virgins. c Xen. Anab. 1.2.27.

2
TErpV1TYJJli.vov codd. Xen.: peiforatas Lat.: TETPLfLfLEVov P.

435
 DEMETRIUS

avT{iJ 8wpa, Tl}v T€ xwpav fLYJKETt ap7ra,Ea-0at, Kat

~I c;;:- ' '
t1T1TOV Kat' O"TOJ\Y}V \ '
Kat' O"Tp€7rTOV. / n
VVV
'"'
0€ 7Tp0€t'1T"WV

Ta' €t'(} tO"fLEVa

/ c;;:- '"'
owpa, \
T€1\EVTatOV '"' ' /
E7TYJVEYKEV TO' ~cEVOV /
Kat aYJ(}E~, Eg ftv a7raVTWV O"VV1jKTat TJ xapt~.
(140) Ai 8€ a1TO TWV O"XYJfLUTWV xaptT€~ 8~'Aa[
Eia-Lv Kat 7TA{ia-Tat 1rapa 2.a1Tc/Jo"i, oiov EK T~~ dva8t-
\'
1TJ\WO"EW~, 07TOV
~~ 1 ,,.~,. , ,
VVfL'f'YJ 1rp0~ TYJV 7rap EVtaV 'f'YJO"t,
e, ,.~,.,

~~ o , e , '"'
Trap EVta, 7rap EVta, 7TOt fLE J\L'1TOVO"a Ot XYJ; YJ OE
\ ,. . ,, , c;;:- , ~

'
a1TOKptVETat / ' ' ' '"'
7rp0~ aVTYJV TqJ aVTqJ O"XYJfLaTt,
' '"' / ~~ '
OVKETt /

i}gw 7rpo~ a-€, OVKETL i}gw·" 7TAELWV yap xapt~ EfLc/Ja[-

VETat, ~ €L7rEp !Lrrag f.'A€x0YJ Kat avEV TOV a-x-rJfLaTO~.
KatToL T] dva8i7r'Awa-L~ 7rpo~ 8EtVOTYJTa~ fLUAAov 8oKEL
Evp~a-OaL, T] 8€ Kat To"i~ 8EtVOTaTots KaTaxp~Tat E1Tt-
xap[Tw~. 2 (141) xaptEVTL,ETat 8€ 7TOT€ Kat Eg avac/Jo-
'"' ~ ' '
pa~, (()~ E7TL TOV
'"' ~E 0"1TEpov, ' ~~~~E
(J"7TEpE, 1TaVTa ' ,.~,. '
'+'€pEt-~,
"
cPYJa-i, ~~cPEPE'-~ o"iv, 3 cpEpEt-~ alya, cPEPE'-~ fLaTEpt-
1Tat8a." Kat yap . EVTavOa T] xapt-~ Ea-T tV EK T~~
A.€gEw~ T1j~ ~~¢€pEt-~" E7rt TO avTo dvac/JEpOfLEVYJ~·
(142) 7TOAAa~ o' av TIS Kat aA.A.a~ EKc/JEpot xaptTa~.
/
r t-yvovTaL c;;:-'
OE Kat-' a1TO
' ' \ '(; /
1\E~ EW~ xaptTE~, YJ EK fLETa-
~' '

c/Jopa~, w~ E7rt TOV TETTtyo~, ~~'1T"TEpvywv 8' V'1T"OKaKXEEt

\ , , c;;:- , ~~ ,
1\t-yvpalJ aotoav, OTt 1TOT av '+'1\oytov Ka ETav E7rt-
~, ,.~,.
\ , t e, ,
1 ''
01TOV e dd .: 1TOV""P.
2
E1TLxap£rw~ Finckh: E7Tf., (sic) xapLTO~ P.
3 ol:v Paulus Manutius: oivov P.

a Sappho 114 L-P.

h Sappho 104(a) L-P. The text has some uncertainties and

436
 ON STYLE 139-142

gives him gifts, the assurance that his country would no

longer be plundered, a horse, a robe, and a torque.n As it
is, he listed the customary gifts first, and then added last
the novel and unusual gift, and all this combines to give
charm.
(140) There is obvious chann from the use of figures,
preeminently in Sappho, for example the use of repetition
when a bride addresses her own virginity, <<virginity, vir-
ginity, why have you gone and left me ?n and it replies to
her with the same figure, «never again shall I come to you,
never again shall I come. na The idea has clearly more
charm than if it had been expressed only once, without
the figure. Repetition, it is true, is thought to have been
invented more particularly to add force, but Sappho
exploits even the most forceful features for charm. (141)
Sometimes too she makes attractive use of anaphora, as in
the lines on the evening star,
«Evening star, you bring everything home,
you bring the sheep, you bring the goat, you bring
the child to its mother.'~
Here the charm lies in the repetition in the same position
of the phrase, «you bring.n (142) Many other examples of
this could be cited.
Charm also comes from the use of a single word, for
example from metaphor, as in the passage about the
cicada,
«from under his wings
he pours out a stream of piercing song, as

the second line may contrast the bride who does not return home
to her mother.
437
 DEMETRIUS

TTTafLEvovt Karav'Ali," (143) 7} 1 EK O"vv(}€rov [rov] 2

ovofLaro~ KaL 8t(}vpafL{3tKov, cc8EO"TTora ITAovrwv 3
\ / '~ / / 4
fLEJ\aVOTTTEpvywv-TOVTt OEtVOV, TTVppOTTTEpvywv
' ' / " ~' ~
aVTO TTOtYJO"OV. at.\ /\
fLal\tO"Ta OYJ '
KWfL(f!OtKa /
TTatyvta/

EO"rt Kat O"arvptKa. 5 (144) Kat E.t l8twrtKov ovofLa- 8€

/ c c 'A /\ cc ~' A.. // ,
TO~ ytyVETat, W~ 0 ptO"TOTEJ\Yj~, 00"([! yap, \f'YJO"t,
eefLOVWTYJ~ ELJLL, cptAOfLVeorEpo~ y€yova". KaL EK
/ e e ' ' ' "" ' "" ee ~~ '
TTETTOtYJfLEVOV, W~ 0 avro~ EV T(f! aVT(f!, 00"([! yap
'/ ' / '/ rl..\ (}/ / "
aVTtTY}~ Kat fLOVWTYJ~ EtfLt, 'f'ti\OfLV OTEpo~ yEyova.
' ' ' cc / '' '~ / ,, ~ 6 ,, ~
TO fLEV yap fLOVWTYJ~ tOtWTtKWTEpOV ELOOV~ YJOYJ
, / ' ~ ' ee ' / " / ' "" , /
EO"Tt, TO 0€ aVTtTY}~ TTETTOtYJfLEVOV EK TOV aVTO~.

(145) TToAAa 8€ ovofLara Kal- TTapa r~v (}€O"tv r~v ETTt

/ / ' 1' cc c ' ,, 1' / \ (;
TtVO~ xaptEVTa EO"TtV, OtOV 0 yap opvt~ OVTO~ KOJ\a~
' ' Kat' KO/{3 ai\O~.
EO"Tt \ " 7 EVTaV
' ""(} a YJc xapt~
/ ' '
aTTO TOV"" O"KW-
""

.1~ ' ~I
'-rat T.OV >/
opvtV Ka (} aTTEp
/ >/ (}
av pWTTOV, Kat' OTt ra' fLY}'
O"VVYJ/(} YJ E' ' ( } ETO OVOfLaTa
' / ""
,T(f! !J/
opvt (}
L. atc fLEV
' -;-
OVV ""
TOtaV-
rat xaptTE~
/
Trap ' ' '
\ /(;
avra~ ra~ 1\€~ Et~.
'

corruptus, at recte KaTavA.li· ~ Finckh: KaTavDEt'Y] P.

1 locus
2 Tov del. Finckh.
3 ITA.ovTwv M 2 Bergk: 1r A.ovTov P.
4 1rvppo1rTEpvywv Wilamowitz (qui et personas distinxit):

1rpo' 1T'TEpvywv
, p.
5 a-aTvpLKa Gale: a-aTvpLa P.
6 et8ovs- Orth: E.Oovs- P.
7 Ko{3aA.os- Wilamowitz: KoAaKos- P.

Alcaeus 347 (b) L-P. The text is corrupt, the metaphor

a
probably the attractive conjecture, KaTavA.li, ''flutes.~' The

438
 ON STYLE 142-145

in the blazing t heat of summer he flies and t

flutes,.a
'
(143) or from dithyrambic compounds, '''Pluto, lord
of the sable-winged'-'that is terrible, make it red-
winged.' ,b Such freaks of language are best suited for
comedy and satyr drama. (144) Idiosyncratic language is
another source, as in Aristotle: "the more I am a solitary,
the more I have become a lover of stories. ,c So too are
neologisms, as in the same author and passage: "the more
I am a solitary and selfish, the more I have become a lover
of stories., The word "solitary, is already of a rather
idiosyncratic type, and "selfish, is coined from "self."
(145) Many words owe their charm to their application to
a particular object, for example: "this bird is a flatterer
and a rogue."d Here there is charm because the author
mocked the bird as though it were a person, and applied
words not usually applied to a bird. These then are the
types of charm from single words.

author is likely to be Alcaeus," since like 347 (a) L-P it imitates

Hesiod, Op. 582ff.
b Author unknown, presumably comedy (Supp. Corn. Adesp.
1) rather than lyric (PMG 963). The text is corrupt, but parodies
tragic compounds in "-winged," and is probably a dialogue.
cAr. Jr. 668 Rose (cf. §§ 97, 164). The surrounding context
involves unusual words and uses, and f.LOVWTYJ~ is rare outside
Aristotle, so l8twTtKo~ should here mean "idiosyncratic." If the
text of§ 164 were sound (see note), the meaning must be ''ordi-
nary," as in §§ 15, 207-8, and it is an accident that we lack proof
that f.LOVWTYJ~ was indeed part of ordinary speech (so D. J. Allen,
Mnernosyne 27 (1971) 119-22).
d Author unknown, cf. Ar. Hist. Anim. 597b23 (of a kind of
owl) Ko{3a'Ao~ KaL IL"f.L'YJT~~.

439
 DEMETRIUS

(146) 'EK 8€ 1Tapa(3o'Af}c;, wc; 1 E1Tt TOV E~EXOVTOc;

dv8poc; ~ !.a1rcPw cPYJ(Jt, ~~1rf.ppoxoc; we; or' dot8oc; o
Af.(J{3toc; d'A'Ao8a1TOL(JtV.n EVTavOa yap xaptv E1TOLYJ-
(JEV ~ 1rapa(3o'A~ p.,a'A'Aov ~ p.,f.yeOoc;, Katrot €~f}v
EL1TELV 1TEppoxoc; W(J1TEp ~ (JEA~VYJ TWV a'AA.wv
U(J"Tpwv, ~ 0 ij'Atoc; 0 'Aap.,1Tp07Epoc;, ~ O(Ja a'A'Aa f(J'Tt
1TOt'Y}TtKWTEpa. ( 147) 2wcPpwv S€ Kat avroc; E1Tt TOV
op.,oiov EtDovc; cPYJ(JL, ~~ea(Jat, O(Ja ¢v'A'Aa Kat Kap¢ea
TOt 1Tat8ec; rove; avDpac; {3aAAt,OVTt, oiov 1TEp ¢avri,
.J.:' \
'f'tAa, rove;' T pwac;
"' ' A!>'tavra T(f;J"' 1TaAcy.
TOV \ "' " Kat' yap'
EVTavOa E1Ttxaptc; TJ 1Tapa(3o'Ai} E(J'Tt, Kat rove; Tpwac;
Dta1Tat,OV(Ja W(J1TEp 1ra'iDac;.
( 148) !>/E(J"Tt 8€ Ttc; lSiwc; xaptc; 2a1TcPtK~ EK f.LETa-
(3o'Af}c;, orav Tt El1TOV(Ja f.LETa(3a'AAYJTat Kat W(J1TEp
p.,erav.oiJ(JYJ, oiov ~~vlfiov 2 8i}, '' cPYJ(Jt, ~~To p.,f.'AaO pov
df.pare TEKrovec;· yaJL~poc; el(Jf.pxErat I (Joe; !>/ ApYJ"i,
dv8poc; p.,eya'Aov 1To'AA.(i1 p.,ei,wv," W(J1TEp E1TtAap.,(3a-
vop.,EvYJ E.avTfjc;, o1-t dSvvarcp €xpfJ(JaTo v1Tep(3o'Afl,
Kat OTt ovDEtc; r/i> !>/ApYJ'i L(J"Oc; E(JTLV. (149) TOV S€
aVTOV EtDovc; Kat TO 1Tapa TYJAEp.,axcp, OTt ~~svo KVVEc;
Se8€aro 1Tpo rf}c; av'Af}c;, Kat Svvap.,at Kat Ta ovop.,ara
' "' TWV
Et1TEtV "' I<VVWV.
"' aAAa '\ \ ' Tt/ aV
!>/ f.LOt (3 OVAOLTO
/\ Ta' OVO-
' /
p.,ara ravra;'' Kat yap oilroc; p.,era(3a'A'A6p.,evoc; p.,era~v
TJ(JTEL(JaTO Kat U1TO(Jtyi}(Jac; Ta ovop.,ara. ( 150) Kat
~' ~ e 'A
a1TO
' '
(J'TtXOV
/
OE aAAOTptOV ytVETat xaptc;, We; 0
' \ \ / / /
pt-
1 w~ Radermacher: Kat P.
2 vtfiov edd.: vitfiw P: 'itfiw Radermacher.

440
T ON STYLE 146-150

(146) Charm also comes from the use of comparison,

as in Sappho's description of an exceptionally tall man as
"preeminent, like the poet of Lesbos among strangers."a
Here the co1nparison creates charm rather than grandeur,
as would have been possible if she had said, "preeminent
like the moon among the stars," or the sun, which is even
brighter, or any other more poetic comparison. (14 7)
Sophron uses the same type when he says: "See how many
leaves and twigs the boys are throwing at the men-as
thick as the mud, my dear, which they say the Trojans
threw at Ajax."h Here again the comparison is charming,
as it makes fun of the Trojans as though they were boys.
(148) There is a kind of charm from a change of direc-
tion which is peculiarly characteristic of Sappho. She will
say something and then change direction, as though
changing her mind, for example: "Raise high the roof of
the hall, builders, for the bridegroom is coming, the equal
of Ares, much taller than a tall man."c She seems to check
herself, feeling that she has used an impossible hyper-
bole, since no one is the equal of Ares. (149) The same
type appears in Telemachus: "Two hounds were leashed
in front of the courtyard. I can tell you the actual names
of the hounds. But why should I want to tell you their
names?"d By this sudden change of direction in the mid-
dle, suppressing their names, he too is elegantly witty.
(150) Charm also comes from parody of another writer's

a Sappho 106 L-P.

b Sophron 32 Kaibel; cf. Hom. Il. 11.358ff, where Ajax' slow
retreat is like a donkey being beaten by boys.
c Sappho 111 L-P. d Telemachus, otherwise unknown
(or, but less natural Greek, an unknown author describes
Telemachus, son of Odysseus).
441
 1
DEMETRIUS
A' ~~
(JTO~aVYJc;
,./.,.' I
U"KWnTWV '
nov TOV uta, OTL OV' KEpaVVOL""'
'
rove; novYJpovc;,
/ ,./.,.
~YJo-tv,
/

, \ \ ' TOV
al\1\a ' EaVTOV
f: ""' VEW
' fJai\1\EL,
a '\ \ Kat' ""' '
40VVLOV
aKpov , AfJYJVWV.

wa-nEp yovv OVKETL 0 ZEvc; KWf.LcpDlia-fJat OOKEL, aAA'

~'OfLYJpOc; Kat 0 a-rixoc; 0 f:OfLYJPLKOc;, Kat ano TOVTOV
\ / , ' f: /
n 1\ELWV EU"TLV YJ xapt8.
(151) ~'Exova-t DE TL U"TWfLVAov Kat aAAYJyopiat
I t:/ I t:t: A \ ,./.,. I ~I t: ""' t: I
TLVEc;, WU"nEp TO, uEI\~OL, natOLOV Vf.LWV a KVWV
,./.,.
~EpEt.
/ , Kat' ra' ""' ,./.,. ~' ' , ' ""'
4W~povoc; oE Ta Ent rwv yEpovTwv,
/ /

f:f:f.vfJaDE ~v 1 KTJYW nap' Vf.Lf.LE rove; OfLOTptxac; f.topf.LL-

r
~.::,Of.LaL,
\ '
nAOOV ~ 'r ' ' ' 2 yap
OOKa~.::,WV nOVTLOV" apTEat
' "''~
YJOYJ ""'
TOLe;
\
Tai\LKOLU"OE Tat ayKvpat•
""'~ '~' ,~,
oa-a TE
,, ""'
EnL TWV yvvatKWV
""'

aAAYJyopli, otov lxfJvwv, f:f:a-wAl}vEc;, yAvKvKpEoven'

KoyxvA.tov, XYJpfiv yvvatKwv 'Aixvevf.La." 3 Kat f.LLf.LtKw-
4' ""',, ', /
TEpa ra TotavTa E9'"TL Kat ato-xpa.
( 152) ''Ea-Tt DE TlS Kat i] napa [ T~v] 5 1rpoo-DoKiav
xaptc;, we; i] TOV KvKAwnoc;, OTL f:f:VU"TaTOV EOOf.Lat
Oi5Ttv." ov
yap npoo-EDoKa rotovTo tEvtov ovrE
'0 ova-a-Eve;
~ ' ovrE
~~ of: avaytvwo-Kwv.
' ' Kat' of: 'Apurro~aVYJc;
A-.. '

f.nt Tov 2wKpaTovc;, f:f:KYJpov DtaTrr}tac;," cpYJo-iv, f:f:EiTa

Dta/31}TYJV A.af3wv, EK rl}c; naAata-rpac; Lf.LaTtOV vcpEt-

1 evOal)E 6Jv Schneider: evOaDEOV P.

2 1TOVTLov· apreat Kaibel: 1TOVTLOV va~ vel1Tovrivat P.
3 A.ixvEvfLa apud Athenaeum 86e: lxvEVfLUfTL P.
4
fLLfLLKWTEpa Victorius: fLLfLLKWTEpa P.
5 r~v P: del. Schneider.

442
 ON STYLE 150-152

line, like Aristophanes' mockery of Zeus somewhere

because "he does not strike the wicked with his thunder-
bolts but his own very temple, and ~Sunium, headland of
Athens.' "a It seems as though it is no longer Zeus who is
being laughed at, but Homer and Homer's line, and this
fact increases the charm.
(151) Some allegories have a colloquial turn of wit, as
in: "Delphians, that bitch of yours is with child" ;b and in
Sophron's passage on the old men: "Here I too wait with
you, whose hair is white like mine, outside the harbour,
ready for the voyage out to sea: for men of our age always
have our anchors weighed"; and his allegory of women,
when he speaks of fish: "tube fish, sweet-fleshed oysters,
dainty meat for widows."c Jokes of this kind are ugly and
suit only the mime.
(152) There is also a sort of charm from the unex-
pected, as i~ the Cyclops' words, "No-man I will eat
last."d Neither Homer nor the reader was expecting this
kind of hospitality gift. Similarly Aristophanes says of
Socrates, ~~He melted some. wax first, then grabbed a pair
of compasses, and from the wrestling school-he stole a

a Arist. Clouds 401; cf. Hom. Od. 3.278 dA.A.' orE ~ovvtov
~ ' 'A.. , f)' ,,
Lpov ao/LKOf.LE , aKpov
'Af)YJVEWV.
,
h Author unknown ( = PLG. Adesp. pp. 742-43). Text and
meaning are both uncertain.
c Sophron 52 and 24 Kaibel. In the latter crwA.-r}v, a pipe or
tube, is a slang term for the penis as well as a type of fish.
d Hom. Od. 9.369 (cf. §§ 130, 262).

443
 DEMETRIUS

Aero.'' ( 153) 1]817 fLEVToL EK Svo To1rwv €vTavOa €y€-

~ '' ' ~ '
VETO 1] xapL~. OV yap 1Tapa 1TpOa-OOKLaV fLOVOV E1T1]-
/ / /

~'
VEX 1], al\1\ ovo
/ (}
1]KOI\OV ' \ \ ' ' ' \ /(}
EL 1"'1
TOL~ 1TpOTEpOL~·
/
1]~ OE
~
TOL- '

/ ' \ (} / \ 1"'1 1"'1 ,./.,. t:! ( '

aVT1] avaKOI\OV La Kai\EtTaL YPL'Po~, wa-1TEp o 1rapa
!wcf>povL P1JTOPEVWV Bov'Aia~· OVOEV yap aKoAovOov
avrcf) 1 AEYEL. KaL 1Tapa ~1evavSpcp S€ 0 1TpoAoyo~ TYJ~
l\t1Ea-a-1]VLa~.
( 154) IloAAaKL~ S€ KaL KwAa Of-LOLa E1TOL1Ja-Ev
xapLv, w~ o 'ApLa-TOTEA1]~, ~~EK fLEV 'A(}1]VWv," cP1Ja-Lv,
~~'
Eyw ' EL~
' ~
4TayELpa / "'\(} ov
1]1\ ~ '
oLa '
TOV {3 aa-LI\Ea
\/ '
Tov
fLEyav· EK S€ !TayEipwv El~ 'AOY]va~ Out TOV XELfLWVa
Tov fLEyav." KaTaAf]~a~ yap €v CtfLcPOTEpoL~ To'L~
/ \ '
KWI\OL~ EL~ TO' aVTO
' ' !}/
OVOfLa ' /
E1TOL1JfTEV '
T'Y]V /
xapLV. ' '
EaV
~' ~ ~(
0 OVV "' '
a1TOKO'f'YJ~
/ ·'·
TOV ETEpov KWI\OV TO
1"'1 / / \ '
fLEyav, / "
fTVV-
acf>aLpELTaL KaL i] xapL~.
( 155) KaL Kar'Y]yopiaL 8€ Ct1TOKEKpVfLfLEVaL €vioTE
OfLOLOVVTaL xapLa-LV, WfT1TEp 1Tapa SEvocf>wvTL 0 (Hpa-
KAEL01]~ o 1rapa T~ !Ev0EL 1rpoa-Lwv Twv a-vv8Ei1Tvwv
~ ~ ~ ~' 2 !}/
EKaa-Tcp KaL 1TEL wv owpELa- aL 4EV EL o TL
/ ' /(} 1"'1 (} /(}
EXoL·
1"'1 ' ' / '',./.,./ ' /
TaVTa yap KaL xapLV TLVa EfL'PaLVEL, KaL KaT'Y]yOpLaL
' ' a1TOKEKpVfLfLEVaL.
ELfTLV ' /

( 156) Ai fLEV oiJv KaT a

' ~ / /
T'Y]V EPfL1JVELav xapLTE~
1"'1 ' ~ / ' ~' 1"'1 / \ Q/
TOa-aVTaL KaL OL T01TOL, EV OE TOL~ 1TpayfLafTL 1\ap_,,._,a-
VOVTaL xapLTE~ EK 1TapOLfLLa~. cf>va-EL yap xapLEV
1"'1 / ' / ~ ~ ~ / ,.~.,. / ~~'H /
1rpayp_,a EfTTL. 1TapOLfLLa, W~ 0 4W'PPWV fLEV, 1TLO-
A1]~,"3 Ec/>1], ~~0 TOV 1TaTEpa 1Tviywv." KaL aAAaxoOL

1 .,..,M : avro
avrw ' ' p.
~

0 TL M''
2·' : 0 TL~ p•

444
~
I

ON STYLE 153-156

coat.na (153) Here the wit came from two sources: the
last words were not only added unexpectedly, they had no
connection with what precedes. Such incoherence is
called a puzzle; and an example is Boulias making a
speech in Sophron=-s mimeb (he is utterly incoherent), or
the prologue of Menander=-s Woman of Messenia. c
(154) Again, assonance often produces a charming
effect, as in Aristotle: ''I went from Athens to Stagira
because of the great king, and from Stagira to Athens
because of the great storm.=-=-d Through the use of the
same lexical ending in both clauses, he adds charm. If
you remove the word ''greaf' from the second clause, the
charm also disappears.
(155) An innuendo also has an effect sometimes which
resembles wit. In Xenophon, for example, Heraclides,
one of Seuthes' men, goes up to each guest and urges hiln
to give all he can to Seuthes.e This shows some wit, and it
is an example of innuendo. .
(156) These then are the varieties and sources of
charm in style. Charm in content comes from the use of
proverbs, since they are by their nature delightful.
Sophron, for instance, speaks of "Epioles, who throttled
his own father''; and somewhere else, "off one claw he

a Arist. Clouds 149 and 179.

b Sophron 109 Kaibel.
c MenanderJr. 268 Koerte.
d Ar. Jr. 669 Rose (cf. § 29).
e Xen. Anab. 7.3.15ff.

445
 DEMETRIUS
1
I
' rl.
1TOV 'P'YJ(TLV,
ee '
EK TOV
,., ~~
OVVXO~
' '
yap TOV 1\EOVTa Eypa'PEV"
\ ' ~~ , Ir
I
/
TOpvvav ~'t
Es Ea-EV" KV~LVOV
/ ~~
E1Tpta-EV. "1 Kat' yap
' ~ '
OV(TL
1Tapot~LaL~ KaL Tpta-LV E1Ta'A'Af]'Aot~ XPiJTaL, w~ E1TL-
1T A'Y]OvwvTaL 2 avT[iJ ai xaptTE~· a-xE8ov TE 1Taa-a~ EK
1'"'1 ~ / , 1'"'1 ' / , \ '(; , /
TWV opa~aTWV aVTOV Ta~ 1Tapot~La~ EK/\ES at E(TTLV.

( 157) KaL ~v8o~ OE Aa~{3avo~EVO~ Katptw~ euxap[~

, ~~ e , 1: 1: 'A '\ , , ,.,
Ea-TLV, TJTOL 0 KEL~EVO~, W~ 0 pta-TOTEI\'Y)~ E1TL TOV
aETov ~YJa-Lv, oTL "-"~fiJ Ov'Y]a-KEL E1TLKa~1TTwv To pa~-
r~.
'Po~·
/
1Ta(TXEL OE aVTO, OTL av
~ ' , / t:! 0pw1TO~ WV 1TOTE TJOLKYJ-
~~ , / ~~ ~

a-Ev s(; Evov.

/ e
o ~Ev
' .-;-
ovv TqJ
,., / '0 / '
KEL~Evcp ~v cp KEXP'YJTaL Kat

Kotv{iJ. (158) 7To'A'Aov~ 8€ KaL 1Tpoa-1T'Aaa-a-o~Ev 1Tpoa--

/
r~.
'Popov~
' , /
Kat OLKELOV~
1'"'1
TOL~ 1Tpay~aa-LV,
/ t:!
W(T1TEp TL~ 1TEpt
'

al'Aovpov 'Aeywv, oTt a-v~~OtvEt Ti] a-EATJVYJ [Kal,]

3 o
~'\ ' / / \ 4 t:f
aLI\OVpo~ Kat (TV~1TaXVVETaL, 1TpOa-E1TI\aa-EV OTL
eeE.vOEv KaL 0 ~v06~ f(TTLV, w~ 7] a-EA~V'Y] ETEKEV TOV
~'\
aLI\OVpov • OV yap
, , ' ~O.VOV
/
KaT
' , '
aVT'Y)V TTJV 1Tf\a(TLV
' \ /

Eo-TaL 7] xapt~, d'A'Aa Kat 0 ~vOo~ E~~aLVEL xaptEV TL,

aT'Aovpov rrotwv o-EA TJV'Y]~ 1TatDa.
( 159) ITo'A'AaKL~ 8€ KaL EK ¢6{3ov aAAaa-a-o~EVOV
YLVETaL xapt~, OTav DtaKEvij~ TL~ cpof3TJ0fl, 5 oiov TOV
i~avTa w~ O~LV ~ TOV Kpt{3avov w~ xaa-1-La Tij~ yij~,

1 E7TpLlfEV Hemsterhuys: Elf7THpEv P.

2 E7TL1TA:YJBVWVTUL M: E7TL7TAYJBVOVTUL P.
3 del. Spengel.
4 7TpolfE7TAalfEv M: 7Tpo~ E7TAalflfEv P.
5 c/Jof3YJfJfj Schneider: c/Jo{3i} P.

Sophron 68 and 110 Kaibel. The former is obscure, but

a
probably Epioles (or Epiales or Ephialtes), the demon of night-

446
r ON STYLE 156-159

drew the lion," «he polished even the ladle," and ''he split
cumtnin seeds.~~a He uses two or three proverbs in quick
succession, to accumulate the charm, and almost all the
proverbs in existence could be collected from his mimes.
(157) A neatly introduced fable is also attractive, either a
traditional fable, like Aristotle~s fable of the eagle: "It dies
of hunger, when its beak grows more and more curved. It
suffers this fate because once upon a time when it was
human it wronged a guest. "b Here Aristotle has used a
traditional, familiar fable. (158) But we can often also
invent fables which fit closely and match the context, for
example one writer on the topic of cats said that they
thrive and pine in phase with the moon, and then added
his own invention, "and this is the origin of the fable that
the moon gave birth to the cat. ''c Not only will the new fic-
tion in itself be attractive, but the actual fable is charming
in making the cat the child of the moon.
(159) Release from feard is. also often a source of
charm, for example a man needlessly afraid, mistaking a
strip of leather for a snake· or a bread oven for a gaping
hole in the ground-mistakes which are rather comic in

mare and cold fevers, chokes the sleeper, its «father" (cf. Arist.
Wasps 1038-39). The first of the three proverbs, building a
whole picture off a detail, is common, as is the third, an exa1nple
of miserliness (Paroem. Gr. i.252 and ii.178), but the second is
attested only here.
h Ar. Hist. Anim. 619a16.
c Author unknown. There was an Egyptian story that a eat's
eyes wax and wane with the moon (Plu. Mar. 376f).
d The text here may be corrupt, but the type of joke is clear
from the examples. Compare the parasite frightened by a
wooden scorpion thrown into his cloak in Plu. Mar. 633b.

447
 DEMETRIUS
1
I
I
!

a7rEp Kat avra KWfLC[;)8LKW7Epa ECTTLV. ( 160) Kat ElKa-

/ o~ ' Eta-tv
a-tat , ' EvxaptTE~,, / .,, rov
av ' ai\EKrpvova
,\ / M YJOC[;)
/~
ElKaa-n~, OTL rT]v Kvp{3aa-iav opOT]v cpE.pEt" {3aa-tAEL
8€, OTL 7ropcpvpEo~ ECTTLV, ~ OTL {3o'Yja-avro~ aAEKTpvo-
vo~ dva7rYJ8WfLEV, wa-1rEp Kat {3aa-t'AE.w~ f3o'Yja-avro~,
Kat cpo{3oVfLE8a. 1 ( 161) EK 8€ V7rEpj3o'Awv xaptrE~
/\ ~/ ~' Q \ '
fLai\LCTTa ate EV
' .-. .-.
rat~ KWfLC[;)OLaL<;, 1raa-a OE V7rEpfJOI\TJ
e

d8vvaro~, w~ 'Apta-TocpaVYJ~ E1rt rij~ a7rAYJCTTLa~ rwv

ITEpa-wv cpYJCTLV OTL ee W1rTOVV {3ov~ Kpt{3aviTa~ dvrt
aprwv." E1rt 8€ rwv 8pf!:KWV ErEpo~ OTt eeMYJ80KYJ~ 0
{3aa-tAEV~ {3ovv EcpEpEv o'Aov EV yvaOcy." ( 162) rov 8€
avrov Et8ov~ Kat Ta TOtavra ECTTLV, cevytE.a-rEpo~
\ / " ' ~/
KOI\OKVVTYJ~ Kat' ee 'Pal\aKpOrEpO~
,./..... \ /
EVOLa~,
"
Kat' ra'
!.a7rcptKa ee1roAv 7raKri8o~ a8VfLEAEa-rf.pa, xpva-ov
XPVCT07Epa. / "
1raa-at
'""'
yap '
ate TOLaVrat
'""'
xaptTE~ EK TWV
/ ' '""'

V7rEp{3o'Awv EVPYJVTat. [«at Tt 8tacp€pova-t.] 2

( 163) Lltacpf.pov_a-L 8€ ro yEAOLOV Kat euxapt 7rpwTa
fLEV Tfj v'An· xapirwv f.LEV yap VAYJ VVfLcpa'iot Kij1rOL,
EpwrE~, a7rEp ov yEAarat· yf.AwTo~ 8€ -;-lpo~ Ka'i 8Ep-
a-LTYJ~· TOCTOVTOV ol5v 8toia-ova-tv, oa-ov 0 8Epa-LTTJ~
rov ''EpwTO~. (164) 8tacp€pova-t 8€ Kat Tfj AE~EL avrfl.
TO fLEV yap EVXapt fLETa KOCTfLOV EK'PEPETaL Kat o..,
' ' ' '' ' / , ,./..... / ' ~I'

1 KaL ~o{3m)JJ-E0a del. Denniston, fort. recte (om. Lat.).

2
del. Spengel.

Cf. Arist. Birds 486-87, and 490. There it is the Persian

a
king who (rightly) wears the upright tiara, and purple is not men-
tioned.

448
 ON STYLE 160-164

themselves. (160) Comparisons too may be attractive-

for instance, if you compare a cock to a Persian because it
holds its crest up, or to the Persian king because of its
purple plumage, or because at cockcrow we jumt up as
though a king had shouted,a and we are afraid. (161)
Charm in comedy comes especially from the use of hyper-
bole. Every hyperbole is impossible, for example Aristo-
phanes on the voracity of the Persians, "they baked oxen
in their ovens instead of bread,"'c and another writer on
the Thracians, "their king Medoces would carry a whole
ox in his jaws."d (162) Of the same type are expressions
such as "healthier than a pumpkin," "balder than a cloud-
less sky,,,e and Sappho,s "far more melodious than the
harp, more golden than gold."f The charm in all of these
comes from hyperbole.
(163) Laughter and charm are, however, different.
They differ ~rst in their material. Gardens of the nymphs
and loves are material for charm (they are not humorous),
Irus and Thersitesg are material for laughter, and the two
concepts will be as different as Thersites and Love. (164)
They also differ in their actual style. Charm is expressed

b This last phrase may well be a later addition (so J.D. Den-
niston, Classical Quarterly 23 (1929) 8).
c Arist. Acharnians 85-87
1TapETt8Et D' TJI/iv oAov~
EK Kpt{3avov f3ov~. ( ~"') Kat rl.~ ElDE
{3ov~ Kpt{3av[ra~;
d Author unknown (cf. § 126, there of the Persians).
e Sophron 34 and 108 Kaibel (cf. § 127).
f Sappho 156 L-P (cf. § 127) andfr: Add. (a) p. 338 L-P.
g Irus, the beggar in Hom. Od. 18.1ff, and Thersites, the ugly
common soldier in Il. 2.216ff.

449
 1
DEMETRIUS

/
VELa~, Kat.,' aVTL
' ' \/
')'EI\OLOV (}""
/
avp..,a ')'LVETaL. ate f.LEVTOL
/

xapLTE~ Ela-L JLETa ta-wcrpoa-vvYJ~t, 4 To 8€ f.Kcrpa,ELv

Ta' ')'EI\OLa
'\ ~~ /
Of.LOLOV ,
ECT'TL KaL' Kai\I\W7TLC::,ELV
\ \ / '/
'TTL'(}YJKOV.
( 166) 8to KaL TJ !a7Tcrw 7TEpl, p..,€v KaA.A.ov~ ~8ova-a
\\ / ' e ~ "" ~'
Kai\I\LE7TYJ~ ECT'TL KaL' YJOELa, KaL' 7TEpL' EpWTWV
' /
OE Kat.,'
f.apo~ 5 KaL 7TEpL aA.Kvovo~, KaL a7Tav KaAov ovop..,a
, ',./... , "" "" / ' ~' ' , ' ,
EVV'+'aVTaL aVTYJ~ TYJ 7TOLYJCTEL, Ta OE KaL aVTYJ ELpya-
/

a-aTO. ( 167) aA.A.w~ 8€ CTKW7TTEL TOV aypoLKOV vvp..,criov

KaL' TOp ' (} vpwpov
' TOV
' EV, TOL~ , \
"" yap..,OL~, EVTEI\ECTTaTa
/
KaL'/

EV 1TE,Ot~ ovop..,aa-L J.La~Aov ~ EV 1TOLYJTLKOt~, W<TTE

avr-ry~ fLaA.A.ov ECTTL Ta 7TOL~p..,aTa TaVTa 8taA.€yEa-0aL
~ ~8ELV, ov8' av apj.Loa-aL 7Tpo~ TOV xopov ~ 7Tp0~ TTJV
A.vpav, EL IL~ 'TL~ ELY] xopo~ 8~.,aA.EKTLKO~. (168) p..,aA.t-
~' ~
a-ra OE ,./...'
OLa'+'EpOVCTL Kat.,' EK
, 'TYJ~
"" , '
7TpOaLpEa-Ew~· OV yap
/

op..,oLa 7TpoatpliTaL o EvxapLa-To~ Kal, o yEA.wTo7ToLwv,

1 8~' conieci (iam Kat 8~' Richards): Kat P.
2 fort. oa-w Roberts.
L

3 del. Hahne.
4
a-w~poa-vvYJr;; P: Koap.ov Schenkeveld: an Ev~pofTVVYJr;;?
(cf. § 168).
5 E.apor;; Gale: aE.por;; P.

450
 ON STYLE 164-168

with decorative, beautiful words, a chief source of charm,

for example "the earth is a tapestry of garlands of
flowers,''a and "the pale nightingale."h By contrast, laugh-
ter uses ordinary and rather prosaic words [for example
"the more I am a solitary and selfish, the more I have
become a lover of stories,"c] (165) and secondly laughter
is actually destroyed by a decorative style and becomes
bizarre. Charm may be embellished tin moderationt,d
but the formal elaboration of a humorous topic is like
beautifying an ape.e (166) This is why Sappho sings of
beauty in words which are themselves beautiful and
attractive, or on love or spring or the halcyon. Every
beautiful word is woven into the texture of her poetry,
and some she invented herself. (167) But it is in a very
different tone that she mocks the clumsy bridegroom and
the doorkeeper at the wedding. f Her language is then
very ordinary, ~n the diction of prose rather than poetry;
so these poems of hers are better spoken than sung, and
would not suit the accompanimen't of a chorus or lyre-
unless you could imagine a chorus which speaks prose.
(168) But the main difference is in their purpose: the
. writers of charm and comedy do not share the same pur-
pose, the one aims to give pleasure, the other to make

a PMGAdesp. 964(a).
b Hom. Od. 19.518 (cf. §133).
cAr. Jr. 668 Rose (see also on §§ 97, 144), but neologism at
least is a curious example of ordinary speech, and interpolation is
more likely (so Hahne). d Text corrupt, concealing "with
elaboration" or "with resulting pleasure."
e Compare the proverbial "ape in purple," which even
dressed up is ugly (Paroem. Gr. i.303).
. f Cf. Sappho llO(a) L-P.

451
 DEMETRIUS
'\\' e ' '..,../... e ~' \ (}""
aAA o fLEV Ev'PpaLVELV,1
o oE YEAacr YJVaL. KaL' '
a1ro' rwv
""

~ ~'
E1TaKOAOV
' \ ()
ovvrwv
I
oE·
I
roL~
""
fLEV
'
yap
'
YEAW~,
1\
roL~
""
oE
:!J/
E1TaLvo~.
( 169) KaL' EK
' T01TOV. I :!J/
EV ()
a fLEV yap ' '
YEAWTO~
I\

1
'TE
I
XPELa KaL' xapLTWV,
I
EV
' I
crarvpcp KaL' '
EV KWfLc_pOLaL~,
~~

rpaycp8ia 8€ xapLra~ fLEV 1TapaAafLf3avEL EV 7TOAAois,

0 8€ y€A.w~ f.xOpo~ rpaycp8ia~· ov8€ yap E1TLVO~CTELEV

av TL~ rpaycp8iav 1TaL,ovcrav, E7TEL crarvpov ypat/JEL
,'
avrL rpaycpoLa~.
~~

( 170) Xp~crovraL 8€ 7TOTE KaL oi cppoVLfLOL yEAoioL~

'e ""
1Tp0~
I
'TE 'TOV~
'
KaLpOV~,
I '?
OLOV EV EopraL~ KaL' 'EV CTVfL1TO-
I 'C ~' ' ' . ,. /. .
CTLOL~, KaL' EV
, , \
E1TL1TAYJSECTLV OE 1Tp0~ TOV~ rpv'PEPWTE- I

pov~, w~ 0 TYJAavyov~ 2 OvAaKO~, KaL 7-] KparYJTO~

1TOLYJ'TLK~, KaL cpaKij~ EYKWfLLOV av avayv~ 'TL~ EV TOL~
,
aCTWTOL~·
1
'TOLOV'TO~
'"' ~'
OE
e
W~ 'TO' \
7TAEOV
1
KaL' e
0
K VVLKO~
' rpo- 1

1TO~·. ra yap TOLavra yEAo'ia XPELa~ AafLf3avEL ra~LV

Ka'i yvWfLYJc;. ( 171) EcrT:L 8€ Ka'i rov ~(Jove; rts Ef.Lcpao-ts
' "" \ I [ '] 3 .,, I .,, ' \ I e
EK rwv YEAOLWV, KaL YJ 1TaLyvLa~ YJ aKOJ\aCTLa~, w~

o4 TOV oivov ro·v 1TpoxvOE.vra E1TLCTKwt/Ja~ ]]YJAEa 5

aV'TL OlvE.w~. 7-] yap avriOEa-Lc; T] 1TEpL ra OVOfLaTa
KaL cppovrl,~ EfLcpaivEL rLva t/JvxporYJra ~Oov~ KaL
T]
avaywyiav. ( 172) 1TEpL 8€ CTKWfLfLaTWV <ro> 6 fLEV

1 TE
XPELa Weil: r€xvat P.
2
T1JAavyovs- Casaubon: T1JAavyTJs- P.
3 Delevi.
4 o
Gartner (iam add. Goeller): Kat P. o
5 E1Tta-KwtjJa~ von Arnim: IT1JAEa Sophianus: E7Tta-xwv ra :!J I ' '

a-7T~ Aata P.
6 ro
add. von Arnim.

452
 ON STYLE 168-172

us laugh. They differ also in their results, laughter in the

one case, praise in the other. (169) They also fit different
contexts. In some there is need of both laughter and
charm-in comedy and satyr drama-whereas tragedy
often welcomes charm, but laughter is its enemy. No one
could really conceive of a tragedy of humour, or he would
be writing a satyr drama rather than a tragedy.
(170) Even sensible people will indulge in laughter on
such suitable occasions as feasts and drinking parties, and
in reprimanding those who are too inclined to a life of lux-
ury. Examples are Telauges' baga and Crates' poe-
tryh-and you might well read a eulogy of lentil soup to
the profligate. The Cynic manner is very much like this,
for such humour is a substitute for maxims and gnomic
wisdom. (171) Laughter also gives some indication of
character, revealing playful wit or vulgarity. Somebody
once mocked the spilling of wine on the floor as CCOeneus
turned into Peleus."c The punning play on the names and
the laboured thought indicate a character lacking taste
and upbringing. (172) In gibes too, one type is a witty

a The text is uncertain, but probably refers to the Telauges of

Aeschines Socraticus (=Jr. 42 Dittmar; cf. § 291). The beggar's
bag represents the ostentatiously ascetic life.
h Crates VH 66 Giannantoni. For the mocking poetry of this
Cynic philosopher cf. § 259. Since he wrote one, the praise of
the humble lentil soup is also best taken as his.
c Crates VB 488 Giannantoni. The text is uncertain, but the
names of two heroes are used to suggest a pun on wine (oinos)
turned into mud/wine-lees (pelos ).

453
 DEMETRIUS

\
1\0~. XP'YJa-OvTaL TE' ' 1"\
TaL~ TOLavTaL~ ELKaa-LaL~, w~
' ' ' e eeA L-
'
YV1TTta KI\'Y}fLaTL~, \ , ,
<a1TOKai\OVVTE~
' \ 1"\
TOV >2 fLaKpov
' KaL'
'

fLEAava, Kat TO ee()aA.aa-a-LOV 1Tpo{3aTov" TOV fLWpov

''
Tov Ev TYJ
!"\()\'
al\aa-a-n. TOL~
1"\
fLEV
'
ToLovToL~
,
XP'YJa-ovTaL ·
,

Et 8€ fLTJ, cpEV~OfLE()a Ta (J"KWfLfLaTa W(J"1T€p AoL8opia~.

( 173) IToLEL 8€ EvxapLv TTJV EPfLYJVELaV Kat Ta
\ '
1\EYOfLEVa \ ' OVOfLaTa.
Kal\a ' ' e '
wpLa-aTo o~' avTa
' ' 8 Eoo/pa-
'A,.

(]"TO~ OVTW~,
~' \ \
Kal\1\0~
, '
OVOfLaTO~
, , '
E(J"TL TO' 1rp0~
'
' T'YJV
' ' .,, ' ' !>l,ft e ~ ' .,, ' 1"\ ~ ' !>/
aKO'Y}V 'Y} 1rp0~ T'Y}V O'f'LV 'Y}OV, YJ TO TYJ OLaVOLf!- EVTLfLOV.
(174) 1Tpo~ fLEV TTJV ol/JLV Tj8f.a Ta TOLaVTa, eepo8o-
xpoov,
" ee av
' (} oo/opov
A,. ' \ '
XI\Oa~.
"3 ~~
oa-a yap
' e
opaTaL
1"\

e~' ~'
'YJOEW~, TaVTa KaL 1\EYOfLEVa Kal\a Ea-TL.
1"\ ' \ ' \' '
1rp0~
'
OE T'Y}V
'

aKOTJV eeKaA.A.ia-TpaTO~, t' Avvowvt ." 4 ij TE yap TWV

A.af.Lf38a a-vyKpova-L~ Y,xw8f.~ TL EXEL, Kat Tj Twv vv
ypafLfLUTWV. ( 175) Kat oA.w~ TO vv DL' evcpwviav 5
',./.,. -'\
Eo/€1\KOVTaL OL
e 'A.TTLKOL' ee u'Y}fLO(J"
A (} , , \ , ,
EV'Y}V 1\EYOVTE~ KaL
ee"' '
~WKpaTYJV.
" TYJ OLaVOLf!-
~ ~
OE EVTLfLa Ta TOLaVTa Ea-TLV,
1"\ ' ' !>/ ' 1"\ ' '

oiov TO eeapxaZoL" aVTt TOV ee1TaAaLo'L" EVTLfLOTEpov· OL

yap apxaLOL av8pE~ EVTLfLOTEpoL.
ToZ~ fLOva-LKoZ~ 1\EYETaL TL OVOfLa
\ , , !>/
( 176) IIapa 8€
\ 1"\ ' ~I ' .' ' !>/\ \ ' .' '
1\ELOV, KaL ETEpov TO Tpaxv, KaL al\1\0 EV1TayE~, KaL
aA.A.' OYKYJpOv. AELOV fLEV ovv E(J"TLV OVOfLa TO 8La
,.~.,. , .,, , .,, ~ ' \ , 1' A!>'
o/WV'Y}EVTWV 'Y} 1Ta1JTWV 'Y} OLa 1TI\ELOVWV, OLOV La~,

1 del.Gale.
2 TOV addidi, a7TOKaAOVVTE~ post p.-wpov iam Radermacher.
3
XA.oa~ Gomperz: xpoa~ P.

454
 ON STYLE 172-176

comparison, and writers can use comparisons like calling

a tall, dark man ~~Egyptian clematis" and an idiot at sea
"sea sheep.~~a This is the kind they can use; otherwise we
will avoid gibes as we would crude insults.
(173) Charm in style also comes from what are called
beautiful words. According to the definition of Theo-
phrastus,b beauty in a word is that which gives pleasure to
the ear or the eye, or has an inherent nobility of thought.
(174) Pleasant to the eye are expressions such as "rose-
coloured~~ and "flowery meadow,"c since images pleasant
to see are also beautiful when they are spoken of; and
pleasant to the ear are words like "Kallistratos" and
"tAn noon t'~, d since the double ~~1" and the double "n"
have a certain resonance. (175) In general, it is on
account of the euphony that the Attic writers add an extra
"n" to the accusative forms of Demosthenes and Socrates
(Demosthenen, Sokraten). e Inherently noble in thought
are words like "the men of old'' .which is nobler than "the
ancients," since "the men of old" implies greater nobility.
(176) Musicians speak· of words as smooth, rough,
well-proportioned, and weighty. A smooth word is one
which consists exclusively or mainly of vowels, e.g. Ajax

a Both are attributed to the Stoic Chrysippus (SVF i.1 and ii.
Chrysippus 11).
b Theophr. F 687 Fortenbaugh, an adaptation of the defini-
tion in Ar. Rhet. 1405b17-8.
c Authors unknown.
d Probably corrupt. It occurs only here.
e I.e. the accusative ending in -e becomes -en.

4 'Avvowv P, vix recte.

5 evcrwviav Gale: EVcPYJfLLav P.

455
 DEMETRIUS

Tpaxv S€ oiov f3€{3pwKEv· Ka'i avTo S€ TovTo To

Tpaxv' ''
OVOfLa KaTa' /
fLLfLYJ(J"tV 'C
f.~
/
f.VYJVf.KTat e ,....,
f.aVTOV"
EV1Tay€~ S€ E1TafLcpOTEpt,ov Ka'i fLEfLtYfLEVov 'la-w~ To'i~
ypafLfLaa-tv. (177) To S€ oyKYJpov €v Tpta-i, 1rAaTEt,
/
fLYJKf.t, \/
1TJ\aa-fLaTt, ~
OtOV f3 povTa' aVTt
' ' TOV'"'{3 pOVTYJ"
/ Kat'
yap TpaxvTYJTa EK Tij~ 1rpoT€pa~ a-v'A'Aaf3ij~ EXEt, Ka'i
EK Tij~ DEvTipa~ J.LiJKo~ fLEV Sta TTJV fLaKpav, 1TAaTv-
TYJTa S€ Su1. Tov ~wpta-fL6v· 1rAaT€a A.a'Aova-t yap
1TcLVTa OL ~wptEL~. DtcJ1TEp ovS€ EKWJ.L0Dovv Swpi,ov-
Tf.~, aAAa 1TtKpw~ TJTTtKt,ov· 7] yap 'ATTtKTJ yA.wa-a-a
a-vvEa-TpafLfLEVOV TL EXEt Ka'i DYJfLOTtKov Ka'i Ta'i~ TOL-
avTat~ f.VTpa1TEAtat~ 1TpE1TOV. ( 178) TavTa fLEV ST]
1TapaTf.TEXVOAoyl}a-8w 1 aAAw~. TWV S€ ELPYJfLEVWV
OVOfLcLTWV Ta AE'ia fLOVa AYJ1TTEOV w~ yAacpvpov TL
,,
Exovra.
(179) rivETaL 8€ Ka? EK a-vvfJEa-f.W~ TO yAacpvp6v·
Ea-Tt fLEV o-Dv ov pci-Stov 1TEp'i TOV Tpo1Tov TOV TotovDE
f.L1Tf.LV" ovS€ yap TWV 1Tp'iv EtpYJTat TtVL 1TEp'i y Aacpv-
'"' (}/
pa~ (J"VV f.(J"f.W~. KaTa' TO'~ ' Of.
OVVaTOV ~' ~/
OfLW~ 1TEtpaTf.OV
/

A.iyEtv. ( 180) Taxa yap ST] E.a-Tat Tt~ i}Sov,ry Ka'i

xapt~, €av apfLO,WfLEV EK fLETpwv TTJV a-vv8Ea-Lv ~
~'\ ~~
01\WV YJ'' YJfLL(J"f.WV"
e /
OV' fLYJV
'
UJ(J"Tf. ,./....
~atVf.(J"
/ (} ' '
at avTa
fLETpa EV T~ (J"VVELPfLCV TWV Aoywv, aAA', f.L Dtaxwpi-
r Tt~ Ka (}' f.V
':,Ot t:.\ ~'
f.Kaa-TOV ~
Kat' OtaKptVOt,
/
TOTE
/ ~ '
OYJ e ,./....'
V~

rYJfLWl' avTa 2 cpwpua-Oat fLETpa OVTa. ( 181) KUV fLETpo-

~'"' ~'-;-
f.tOYJ ' ' ' / \ (} ~/
Of. YJ, TYJV aVTYJV 1TOLYJ(J"f.t xaptv• 1\aV aVOVTW~ Of.
/ /

1
1Taparerexvo'Aoy~a-8w Goeller: 1Taparexvo'Aoye£a-8w P.
2
avra Kroll: avrwv P.

456
 ON STYLE 176-181

(Aias). An example of a rough word is ''devoured" (be-

broke )-and this particular rough word has a form
designed to imitate its own meaning. A well-
proportioned word is one which draws on both and is a
balanced mix of rough and smooth. (177) A weighty word
has three aspects, breadth, length, and emphatic
pronunciation, a for example bronta instead of bronte
("thundern). This word has roughness from its first sylla-
ble, length from its second because of the long vowel, and
breadth because of the Doric form, since the Dorians
broaden all their vowels. h This is why comedies were not
in Doric but in the sharp Attic dialect. For the Attic
dialect has terseness, and is used by ordinary people, and
so suits the wit of comedy. (178) But let us leave this theo-
rising as rather an irrelevance. Of all the words I have
listed, you should use only the smooth, since they have a
certain elegance.
(179) Elegance also comes from composition. It is not
easy to describe the process, and no previous writer has
analysed it, but I must try-to do so, to the best of my abil-
ity. (180) There will, perhaps, be a pleasing charm if we
integrate metrical units into our composition, whole lines
or half-lines; yet the actual metres must not obtrude in
the general flow of the sentence, but only if it is divided
and analysed in minute detail, then and only then should
we detect that they are metres, and (181) even an approx-
imation to metre will produce the same effect. The

a ITA.aa-,ua is vocal inflexion, a fuller sound used by the

trained speaker (cf. Quint. 1.11.6 KaTa1TE1TAaa-,uE.vov).
h Cf. Theocritus 15.88 EKKvata-EvvTt 7TAaTEtaa-Dota-at
.,
a1TaVTa.

457
 DEMETRIUS

TOL napa8vETaL T] EK T1j~ TOLaVTYJ~ T]8ov1]~ xapL~, Ka'i

\ ""'
ni\EUTTOV ' TO' TOLOVTOV
f.LEV ""' / E(J"TL
' napa' TOL~ ""' II EpL- -;-~
ELOO~

""' KaL' napa' II\1\aTWVL

naT'YJTLKOL~ / KaL' napa' t::f.tEVO'f'WVTL
~ A-..""'

KaL' ~H pooOT~,
~ / /
Taxa ~'
OE KaL' napa' UYJJLO(J"
A (} / \ \
EVEL nOJ\1\a-
xov· 8ovKvSi8'Y}~ f.LEVTOL n€c/Jevye TO ei8o~. (182)
napa8eiyJLaTa S€ aVTOV Aa{3oL TL~ av TOLa8e, oiov w~
~ A / ~~ :!1 :!IE\ / " rl-.. / ~~ ""' :!II \/
0 uLKaLapxo~· EV 1\Efl:, 'f'YJa-L, TYJ~ Tai\La~
331
npea-{3vTYJV 7J8YJ TTJV 'l]At-Kiav ovTa. Twv yap KwAwv
' rl-.. / ~ :!1 \ /(; ~ / "' ~ '
afL'f'OTEpWV aL a nO I\ YJS EL~ fLETpOELOE~ TL EXOV(J"LV, VnO
8€ TOV Etpf.LOV Ka'i T1j~ a-vvac/Je[a~ KAEnTETaL JLEV To
/
fLETpLKOV, ~ ~ '
YJOOVYJ ~'
0
' 01\LYYJ
OVK '\ / "'
EnEa-TL.
( 183) IIAaTWV JLEVTOL EV noAAo'i~ avT/j> T/j> pv8 JLii>
\ rl-.. / :!1 :!1 / 2 ' "' ~~~
yl\a'f'vpo~ E(J"TLV EKTETaJLEV~ nw~, KaL OVTE Eopav
EXOVTL
"'
OVTE
"'
f.LYJKO~·
""'
TO f.LEV yap
' ' ':!1
La-XVOV
'
KaL'~
OELVOV,
/
TO'
8€ JL1JKo~ JLEyaA.onpen€c;. d'AA' oiov oA.ia-8cp TLVL
,, ' ""' \ ' ,, ' :!1 / 3 / "' '
EOLKE Ta KWAa, KaL OV'T. Ef.Lf.LETpOL~ navTanaa-LV OVT
afLETpOL~, oiov EV T/j> nep'i JLOV(J"LK1}~ Aoycp f.nav ¢i7 4
~~vvv 8T] f.A€yoJLEv"~ S ( 184) Kat naALv, ~~fLLVVpt,WV TE
Ka'i yeyaVWJLEVO~ vno T1j~ 081]~ OtareA.e'i Tov {3iov
~' \
01\0V " ' Kat' nai\LV,
/ \ '
~~ 'TO ' npWTOV,
f.LEV ""' EL"' TL (} Vf.LOELOE~
~'
330
eixev, wa-nEp a-i8YJpOv EJLaAatEV OVTWc; f.LEV yap
yAac/Jvpov Kat cb8tKOV a-ac/Jw~· EL 8' avaa-TpEljla~
e'inoL~, ~~EJLUAatev wa-nep a-i8YJpOV, ~ cc8taTEAEL oAov
33

'TOV {3iov," EKXEL~ 6 TOV Aoyov 'TTJV xapt-v EV aVT~

1 ovra edd.: ovrt P.
EKTETafl-EVqJ Victorius: EKTETafl-EVo~ P.
2
3 OVT CFH
' ' ' 'EfJ-fl-ETpOt.S
/ . . ermann: OVTE >I /
fl-ETpot~ p.
4
€1rav cPD Spengel: E1Tafl-¢w P.

458
 ON STYLE 181-184

charm of this pleasing device steals over us before we are

aware, and the type is a favourite with the Peripatetics,
Plato, Xenophon, and Herodotus; it is also, I think, fre-
quent in Demosthenes, but Thucydides avoids it. (182)
Dicaearchus can offer this example: "At Elea in Italy," he
says, Hwhen already he was old in years" (en Elea tes
Italias, presbuten ede ten helikian onta). a The close of
each clause has a quasi-metrical cadence, but the metre is
disguised by the smooth, continuous flow. The effect is
highly attractive.
(183) Now Plato's elegance in many passages comes
directly from the rhythm, which is given some length but
is free from endings which have a perceptible pause and a
series of long syllables. The former suits the plain and
forceful styles, the latter the grand. Instead Plato's
clauses seem to glide smoothly along and to be neither
altogether metrical nor unmetrical, as in the passage
about music, in the words "we were saying just now,"h
(184) and again ''warbling and radiant under the influence
of song he passes his whole life,''c and again "first, if he
had any symptom of passion, he would like iron temper
it."d This word order is clearly elegant and musical, but if
you inverted it to say, ''he would temper it like iron," you

a Dicaearchus 39 Wehrli. In §§ 182-85 the intended rhyth-

mical effects are most clearly seen from the transpositions in
§§ 184-85, which introduce hiatus and the clash of consonants
between words and lose the runs of short vowels near the ends of
clauses, thus adding €8pa and fLTJKOc;.
b Pl. Rep. 4lla (cf. §51).
c Pl. Rep. 4lla. dpl, Rep. 4llb.

5 e'AeyofLEV Victorius e Plat.: 'AeyofLEV P.

6 EKXELc; Dahl: €texEts P.
459
 DEMETRIUS

<r4J> 1 pv0JL4J oilo-av· ov yap D~ EV rii DLavoiqw, ovD'

E:v ra'i~ AE~Eo-Lv. (185) Kat 1TEpt rwv JLOVo-LKWV DE
opyavwv 1TaALV xapLEV'TWc; iJpJLOCYEV, EV otc; D~
....h c:c: \ / ~ / \ / ' / \ !I !I !I '
o/YJCYtV, 1\Vpa O'YJ CYOL 1\EL1TE'Tat Ka'Ta 1TOI\LV" EL.. yap
c:c: ' /\ \ / "
'
avao-Tp6ya~
/21t ,,
EL1TOLc; Ka'Ta 1TOI\LV I\EL1TE'TaL, JLE (} app.,o-
/ / C:/ ,..., ~ ' !I ....h / c:c: ' '3'
CYafLEV<tJ 1TOLYJCYELc; OP.,OLOV. 'TOV'TO OE E1TLo/EpEt, Kat av
Kar' aypovc; 'TOLe; 1TOLP.,ECYLV o-vpty~ av 'TLc; EL'Y}n. rfi
' ! I / ',..., / / / /
yap EK'TaCYEL KaL 'TCf> fL'Y}KEL 1TaVV xapLEV'TWc; P.,EP.,LfLYJ'TaL
rpo1TOV 'TLVa ,ryxov o-vpLyyoc;. Eo-TaL DE DijAov, EL 'TLc;
p.,Erao-vvOEtc; A.iyot Kat rovro. ( 186) 1TEpt JLEV D~ rov
Kara o-vvOEo-Lv y Aacpvpov E1TLcpaLVOJLEvov roo-avra,
we; EV Dvo-KoAoLc;. ELPYJTaL DE Kat 1TEpt 'TOV xapaKrij-
poc; 'TOV y Aacpvpov, EV oo-oLc; Kat 01TWc; yivETaL.
Ka8a1rEp DE ref) JLEyaAo1TpE1TEL 1rapEKELTO o
l/Jvxpoc; xapaKT~p, OV'TWc; 'TcfJ yAacpvp~ 1TapaKEL'TaL
'TLc; FnYJp.,apTYJJLEVOc;. CwOJLa,w 2 DE avrov r(i> KOLV/i>
!I /
OVOJLaTL KaKO&:,YJAOV.
/ r \ /
YLVOLTO
3 ~'
o
.,, ' "e'
av KaL ovroc; EV
!I
rpL-
o-iv, wa-1rEp Kat ol AoL1TOt 1ravrEc;. (187) E:v DLavoiqw
/ c: c: ::~ ' c:c: / e ' c: / ::~::~ ' !I '
JLEV, we; 0 EL1TWV KEVTavpoc; EaV'TOV L1T1TEVWV, KaL E1TL
'TOV f3ovAEVOP.,EVOV !I AAE~avDpov DpOJLOV aywvio-a-
a-8aL !10AVJL1TLao-Lv EcpYJ 'TLc; ovrwc;· eo AA.i~avDpE,
~ / o-ov,. ., TTJc;
opap.,E ,. ., P.,Y]Tpoc;
' ro' OVOJLa.
,, , ( 188) EV
' ~'
OE
' /
ovop.,a-
o-Lv yiyvoLr' av OV'TW~, otov ee€y€Aa 1TOV poDov TJDV-
xpoovn. YJ 'TE yap P.,ETacpopa TJ eeEyEAa:~:~ 1TaVV fLETaKEL-
::~ ,. ., , , / {J ' ec: e ~ / )!I ' ~' '
TaL a1TpE1TWc;, KaL 'TO CYVV E'TOV 'TO YJOVXPOOV OVO EV

1 Tw L
add. Gale.
2
ovop.,a'w Gale: ovop.,a'et P.

460
 ON STYLE 184-188

rob the language of its charm, which comes directly from

the rhythm; for it is definitely not in the thought or the
vocabulary. (185) He has integrated yet another attrac-
tive rhythm in his account of musical instruments, "it is
the lyre which you are left with in the town."a Invert the
order to say, ~'in the town you are left with the lyre," and
you will change the melody. He adds, "and yes, in the
fields the shepherds would have some pipe." By the
length of the clause and the long syllables he has very ele-
gantly imitated the sound of a pipe, as will be clear to any-
one who changes the word order of this sentence also.
(186) This concludes my account of elegance which is
found in composition, a difficult subject; and it also con-
cludes my account of the elegant style, and where and
how it is produced.
Just as the frigid style was adjacent to the grand style,
so there is a faulty style next to the elegant style, and I call
it by that broad term, the affected style. Like all the other
styles, it too has three aspect~. (187) It may be in the
thought, for example one writer spoke of "a centaur rid-
ing himself/~b and on the theme of Alexander deliberating
whether to compete in the Olympic games, another said,
"Alexander, run in your mother~s name.~~c (188) It may be
in the words, for example "the sweet-coloured rose
laughed. »d The metaphor "laughed" is thoroughly inap-
propriate, and not even in verse could the compound

a Pl. Rep. 399d.

b Author unknown.
c Author unknown. The name of Alexander's mother was
Olympias. d Author unknown.

3 y[vouro edd.: y[vErat- P.

461
 DEMETRIUS 1
1T'OL~f.LaTL 8EtYJ UV TL~ aKpt{3w~ a-wcppovwv· ~ W~ TL~l
Ei1T'EV OTL" f:f:AE7r7at~ 2 V1T'Ea-vpL'E 1T'tTV~ avpaL~.n 1rEpt
f.LEV DTJ TTJV AE~LV OVTW~. (189) a-vv8Ea-L~ DE <KaKO,YJ-
A.o~ i]> 3 dvanata-TLKTJ Kat JLaAta-ra €otKv'ia ro'i~
\ /
KEKI\aO"f.LEVOtS KaL' ' / /
aO"Ef.LVOL~ f.LETpOL~,
'e'
OLa /\
f.Lai\LO"Ta Ta'
/~ 4 ~ '
~
""'WTaOELa OLa TO' f.Lal\aKWTEpov,
\ / f:f: /\
O"K'Y]I\a~
/
KaVf.LaTL
KaAvlfiov,n Kat f:f:a-Etwv f.LEAtYJV ITYJALaDa DE~Lov Kar'
ftf.Lovn dvrt rov f:f:a-Etwv IIYJALaDa f.LEAtYJV Kara DE~Lov
ftf.Lov'' · ono'ia yap f.LETaf.LEf.Lopcpwf.Livcp EOLKEv o a-ri-
xo~, W0"1rEp oi f.LV8EVOf.LEVOL E~ dppivwv f.LETa{3aAAELV
El~ 8YJAEta~. roa-aDE f.LEV Kat nEpt KaKO,YJAta~.
( 190) 'Ent DE TOV la-xvov xapaKri}po~ EXOLf.LEV 5 av
KaL' npayJLaTa
/ !>/
LO"W~ TLVa' f.LLKpa' KaL' rep"" xapaKTYJpL
""

npoa-cpopa, otov ro napa Ava-iq-, f:f:olKtDLov Ea-Tt f.LOL

~ \ "" !>/ !>/ n ' ~ ' \ / (;
OL1T'I\Ol:JV, LO"a EXOV Ta' avw
!>/ ""
TOL~
/
KaTW. TYJV OE 1\E~ LV
ElvaL nfla-av XP~ Kvpiav Kat a-vv~OYJ· f.LLKporEpov
'
yap TO' O"VVYJ {}'EO"T~pov 1raV, ~' aa-VVYJ
"" 6 TO' OE , / {} E~ KaL'

f.LETEVYJVEYf.LEVOV JLEyaA.onpE7rE~. (191) Kat f.LYJDE

DL1T'Aa OVOf.LaTa TL8ivat• TOV yap €vavriov xapaKTij-
po~ Kat ravra, f.LYJDE f.LTJV 1T'E1T'OLYJf.LEVa, f.LYJD' oa-a aA.A.a
JLEyaA.onpE7rELav 7rOLEt, f.LcLALa-Ta DE a-acpi] XPTJ riJv
AE~Lv EivaL. ro DE a-acp€~ €v nAEioa-Lv.

1
w~ TIS edd.: OU"Tt~ P.
2
AE7TTa'i~ Radermacher: S€ JIE Tat~ P.
3 KaKo,YJAo~ iJ add. Goeller.
4 !wTaSEta Victorius: u-w/LaTa P.
5 'ExotjLEV Victorius: EKE'i jLEV P.
6 7TUVTwv in 7Tav corr. P.

462
 ON STYLE 188-191

"sweet-coloured>> be used by anyone with reliable good

sense. This is true also of the words, "the pine was
whistling to the accompaniment of the gentle breezes.»a
This is enough on diction. (189) The composition is
<affected when it is> anapaestic and like the emascu-
lated, undignified metres, particularly the Sotadeanb
because of its rather effeminate rhythm, as in ~~having
dried in the heat, cover up)> (skelas kaumati kalypson) and
"brandishing the ash spear Pelian to the right over his
shoulder» (seion melien Peliada dexion kaf o1non)c
instead of "brandishing the Pelian ash spear over his right
shoulder» (seion Peliada melien kata dexion oman). d The
line seems to have changed its whole shape, like figures in
the world of fable who change from male into female.
This now concludes my account of affectation.
(190) In the case of the plain style, we should perhaps
keep to subjects which are themselves simple and appro-
priate to that style, like this passage in Lysias, "I have a
small house on two floors, the one above exactly corre-
sponding to the one below.»e The diction throughout
should be normal and familiar, since the more familiar is
always simpler, while the unfamiliar and metaphorical
have grandeur. (191) Do not admit compounds either
(since they too belong to the opposite style), nor yet neol-
ogisms, nor any other words which create grandeur.
Above all, the diction should be clear. Now clarity
involves a number of factors.

a Author unknown.
h For the dissolute reputation of Sotadeans cf. e.g. DH. CV 4,
Quint. 1.8.6.
c Sotades 17 (meaning obscure) and 4(a) Powell.
d Hom. Il. 22.133. e Lys. 1.9.

463
 DEMETRIUS

( 192) ITpwra fLEV E.v ro'L~ Kvptots, E1TEt/ra E.v To'L~

a-vv8E8EfLEVOl8. TO 8€ da-vv8ETOV Kat 8t-aAEAVfLEVOV
o'Aov do-a¢€~ 1Tiiv· a8YJAO~ yap T] EKaa-TOV Kw'Aov
, ' OLa
apxYJ ~ ' ' 1\Va-LV,
'TYJV \ , ~'
Wa-1TEp Ta' ~H \ ,
paKI\ELTOV" KaL' yap
'
TaVTa a-KOTELVa 1TOLEL TO 1TAELa-TOV T] 'Ava-L~. ( 193)
E.vaywvLo~ fLEV oi5v fa-w~ fLii'A'Aov T] 8t-aAEAVfLEVYJ
\ "C
/\€~ L~, 'Y~J 0~' aVTYJ ~
' ' KaL' V1TOKpLTLK'YJ
' Kai\ELTaL·
\ '"' KLVEL'"' yap
'
~ , ~ \, ,./... ' ~' \ "C ~ ' ,
V1TOKpLa-LV 'YJ f\V(TL~. ypao/LKYJ 0€ /\€~ L~ 'YJ EVavayvw-
a-ro~. aVTYJ 8' Ea-Ttv T] a-VVYJPTYJfLEVYJ Kat oiov
~a-c/Ja'At-a-fLEVYJ To'L~ a-vv8f.a-fLOL~. 8t-a TovTo 8€ Kat
Mf.vav8pov V1ToKptvovTaL <ovTa> 1 AEAVfLEVov E.v TOL~
1TAEta-TOl8, iPLA~fLOVa 8€ (194)
avayt-vwa-KOVa-LV. OTL
~,
O€
~ , \,
V1TOKpLTLKOV YJ
~
1\V(TL~,
, , e
1TapaoELYfLa EKKELa- W
2 ,~
TOO€,
,~

~~ '~
€0€~
cafLYJV, 3
,I !>/
ETLKTOV,
'
EKTp6pW,
,I,./... ,./... , I \
o/LI\€.
" ~~
OVTW~ yap
'

\ \ I
1\€1\VfLE·lJOV avayKaa-EL KaL TOV fLY}
, , , , , e€1\0VTa V1TOKpLV€-
1\ ~ ,

e ~
a- aL OLa TYJV f\V(TLV" EL
' ' \ I ' ~ '
0€
~ I
a-VVOYJa-a~
!>/
EL1TOL~,
~~ '~ (; I
€0€~ a-
fLYJV KaL' ETLKTOV
!>/
KaL.
'
EKTPEo/W,
'
1TOI\I\ YJV a1Ta"8 ELaV TOL~ ,I,./... " \ \ ' ' 1".

a-vv8f.a-fLOL~ a-VVEfL{3aAEL~. 4 1Tiiv 5 8€ TO a1Tae€~ dvv-

1TOKPLTOV. ( 195) E(TTL 8€ Kat a'A'Aa 8Ewp~fLaTa V1TOKpL-
I
TLKa, ~
OLOV KaL' ~
0 1Tapa' T(f! 1". E VpL1TLOEL
' ,I~ !J/IWV 0
~
TO~
,I ca
ap1Ta,wv Kat r!p KVKV(f! a1TELAwv [ T!p opvt-Ot-,] 6 a1T01Ta-
l". '1".' \I ' ' I \
'TOVVTL Kara TWV ayal\fLa'TWV" KaL yap KLVYJa-EL~ 1TOI\-
\ ' ,I 1". ~ 1". ~ ' ' ' 1(; ~ I '
1\a~ 1TapEXEL T(f! V1TOKpL'TYJ 0 €1TL ra 'TO~ a opOfLO~ KaL

1 ovra add. Kassel.

2 EKKE[cr()w Finckh: eyKe[cr()w P.
3
1nre8e~afl/Y]V Kock.
4
crvvef.Lf3aA.e'i~ Roberts: crvf.Lf3aA.e7s P.
5 1rav Victorius: omne Lat.: 1ravv p2 in mg., om. Pl.

464
 ON STYLE 192-195

(192) First, it involves the use of normal words, sec-

ondly the use of connectives. Sentences which are
unconnected and disjointed throughout are always
unclear. For the beginning of each clause is obscured by
the lack of connectives, as in the prose of Heraclitus, a for
it is mostly this lack which makes it darkly obscure. (193)
The disjointed style is perhaps better for immediacy, and
that same style is also called the actor's styleh since the
asyndeton stimulates dramatic delivery, while the written
style is easy to read, and this is the style which is linked
closely together and, as it were, safely secured by connec-
tives. This is why Menander, who mostly omits connec-
tives, is acted, while Philemon is read.c (194) To show that
asyndeton suits an actor's delivery, let this be an example:
"I conceived, I gave birth, I nurse, my dear."d In this dis-
jointed form the words will force anyone to be dramatic,
however ~eluctantly-and the cause is the asyndeton. If
you link it together to say, "I conceived and I gave birth
and I nurse," you will by using the connectives substan-
tially lower the emotional level, and anything unemo-
tional is always undramatic. (195) Acting technique offers
other aspects to investigate, for example the case of Ion in
Euripides, who seizes his bow and threatens the swan
which is fouling the sculptures with its droppings. e The
actor is given wide scope for stage movements by Ion's
rush for his bow, by turning his face up to the sky

a Cf. Ar. Rhet. 1407b13. bcf. Ar. Rhet. 1413b8ff.

c PCG Philemon T 22. dMenander Jr. 685 Koerte.
e Eur. Ion 161ff.

6 del. von Arnim.

465
 DEMETRIUS

~ 1Tpo~ TOV a€pa ava{3Ael/Jts TOV 1Tpoa-W1TOV 8LaAeyo-

/ .....
f-LEVOV Tlp KVKV<f, KaL YJ J\OL1TYJ 1raa-a
/ '~ \ ' ..... ~
OLaf-LOP'PWfTL~
',../....

1rp0~
' TOV ' 1TE1TOLYJf-LEVYJ.
' V1TOKpLTYJV
~ / '\\'
al\1\ OV, 1TEpL' V1TO-
~

KpLa-€W~ ~IL'-v Ta vvv o A.6yo~.

(196) <l>EVYETW 8€ ~ a-acf>~~ ypacf>~ KaL Ta~ af-LcPL-
{3oA[a~, a-xT]f-LaTL 8€ xpf]a-{}w TV E1TavaATjl/JEL KaAov-
f-LEVYJ. EJTavaAYJl/JL~ 8€ €a-rL a-vv8€a-f-Lov E1TLcf>opa Tov
aVTOV EV TOL~ 8La f-LaKpov E1TLcPEPOf-LEVOL~ AoyoL~, oiov
~~ ~I '
oa-a f-LEV E1Tpas E
!>I (; .iF. / \
'-¥LJ\L1T1TO~, KaL
'
w~
~
TYJV
' 8 pf!-KYJV
/
KaTEa-Tp€lfiaTo, Ka'i XEppovYJa-ov EtAEv, Ka'i Bv,avTLov
, \ , ' 'A ,../...., \ , , ,~ ...
E1TOJ\LOpKYJ(J"€V, KaL f.L'PL1TOJ\LV OVK a1TEOWKEV, TaVTa
f-LEV 1TapaAEil/Jw. :" 1 a-xe8ov yap o f-LEV a-vv8ea-f-Lo~ E1TE-
VEX{}E'i~ aVEf-LVYJ(J"EV ~fLU~ T~~ 1Tpo{}€a-Ew~, KaL a1TE-
KaTE(J"TY]fTEV E1TL T~V apxf]v. ( 197) a-acf>YJVELa~ 8€ EVE-
'
KEV Ka_L OLJ\OYYJTEOV
~ \ / \ \ /
1TOJ\J\aKL~·
~~~
YJOLOV yap
/
1TW~
'
TO
CTVVTOf-LWTEpov ~ 2 a-ac/JECT_TEpov· W~ yap OL 1TapaTpE-
~~
XOVT€~
""'
1TapopwvTaL ' '
EVLOTE, OVTW~ KaL' YJ~ AES
\ 'C
L~ 1Tapa-

KOV€TaL 8La TO raxo~.

(198) <l>evyELV 8€ KaL Ta~ 1TAayuJTY]Ta~· KaL yap
~~ 'C '
""
TOVTO '
aa-a'PE~,
,../....'
W(J"1T€p YJ~ '-¥LJ\L(J"TOV
;n. \ ' \
AES L~. fTVVTOf.LW-
TEpov 8€ 1rapa8ELY!La 1rAayia~ AE~Ew~ Ka'i 8~,a Tovro
aa-a¢ov~ TO 1Tapa SEvocf>wvTL, oiov ~~Ka'i OTL TPLTJPEL~
YJKOVEV
!>I \ '
1TEpL1TJ\€0V(J"a~ a1T
' ' 'I WVLa~
' EL~ ' K LJ\LKLaV
\ ' 3 T a-
'
f-LOV f!.xovra Ta~ AaKE8aLf-LOVLWV Ka'i aVTOV Kvpov.,
""' ' .,, >4 Es
'C EV'(} €La~
' 1' ~'
' WOE
TOVTO yap <av f-LEV 1TW~ 1\EYOLTO"
\ '

1 1TapaAE[tf;w M: omittam Lat.: 1TEpLAE[t/Jw P.

2 ''
YJ e dd .: ~
w~ p.

466
 ON STYLE 195-198

as he speaks to the swan, and by the way in which all the

other details are shaped to exploit acting skills. But acting
is not our present subject.
(196) Clear writing should also avoid ambiguities and
use the figure termed epanalepsis. Epanalepsis is the
resumptive repetition of the same particle in the course
of a long sentence, for example ~~on the one hand, all
Philip's activities-how he conquered Thrace, seized the
Chersonese, besieged Byzantium, and refused to return
Amphipolis-all these, on the one hand, I shall pass
over."a The repetition of the particle "on the one hand"
(men) virtually reminded us of the opening and put us
right back to the beginning again. (197) Clarity often
demands repetition. Brevity may in a way add more plea-
sure than clarity. For just as men who run past us are
sometimes not properly seen, so too the speed of a pas-
sage sometim~s causes it not to be properly heard.
(198) Avoid also the use of dependent constructions,
since this too leads to obscurity, as Philistus' style shows.h
A shorter example of how the use of dependent construc-
tions causes obscurity is this passage of Xenophon: "and
that he had heard that triremes were sailing round from
Ionia to Cilicia commanded by Tam us, ships belonging to
the Spartans and to Cyrus himself."c This sentence could
be redrafted without dependent constructions in the fol-

a Author unknown; cf. Dem. 11.1, also § 263.

b FGrHist 556 Philistus T 19. He was noted for his obscure
style, e.g. Cic. Brutus 66.
c Xen. Anab. 1.2.21.

3 KtAtKtav Xen.: (J'tKEAiav P.

4 av
add. Spengel.

467
 DEMETRIUS

eeTpt~pEtS 1Tpoo-E80KWVTO EL~ KtAtKiav 1 1TOAAat fLEV

AaKatvat, 1TOAAat 8€ I1Epo-i8E~, Kvpcp vaV1TYJ'YYJ(}li-
' , '
o-at E1T avTcp TOVTcp. E1TI\Eov o a1r
,...., , :J/ \ ~, , ' 'I wvta~·
, ,
vavapxo~

8' avrat~ E1TE(JTUTEL TafLO~ Alyv1TTLO~.'' fLaKpOTEpov

fLEV ovTw~ 2 €yevETo 'io-w~, o-a~Eo-TEpov 8€. (199) Kat
oAw~ TTI ~vo-tKfl 3 Ta~EL TWV OVOfLcLTWV XPYJ(JTEOV, w~
TO' '='='E 1TtOafLVO~
,~ , Eo-Tt
' '\ ' ~ c. ,. . , ' \, , 4
1TOI\L~ EV OEs Lfl: Eo-1T 1\EOVTL EL~

Tov 'Iovtov KoA1rov" · 1rpwTov fLEV yap wvofLao-Tat To

~ ~' ~I
1TEpt' OV,
1' /
OEVTEpov OE 0
c.\ ,....,
TOVTO / '
Eo-TtV, OTt /\
1TOI\t~, Kat' Ta'
aA.A.a E~E~7}~. (200) yiyvotTO fLEV oiJv av Kat TO EfL1Ta-
'EA-.. /
\
/\LV, (J)~
e
TO' ee
'f'VPYJ· " OV' yap
' /
1TaVTYJ /
TaVTYJV ~ /
OOKLfLa-
'OfLEV TTJV Ta~tv, ovS€ TTJV ETEpav U1T000KLfLcL,OfLEV,
Kaea 5 EKTL(}EfLE(}a fLOVOV TO ~vo-tKOV EL8o~ T1]~
Ta~Ew~. (201) €v S€ To'L~ DtYJY~fLao-tv ~Tot a1ro T1]~
op(}ij_~ apKTEOV, ee'E1Ti8afLVO~ Eo-Tt 1T0At~," ~ U1TO T1]~
'
aLTLaTLK'YJ~,
,...,
W~
e
TO' 1\EYETat 'E1TLOaJ.LVOV
'='=\ / /~ ' 1TOI\LV.
T'Y}V '\ "
/A-.. / / i::.
ate ~'
oE
:J/\ \
a/\1\at /
1TTWo-Et~
'
ao-a'f'Etav Ttva 1rapEs ovo-t Kat'
f3 ao-avov TW TE AE'VOVTL
I L
aVTW Kat TW UKOVOVTL.
L L

(202) ITEtpao-(}at S€ fLTJ El~ fL1JKo~ EKTEivEtv Ta~

1TEptaywya~· f!f!o yap 'AxEAqJO~ pewv EK Tiiv8ov opov~
aVW
:J/ (}
EV fLEV
'
1rapa' ""'
4TpaTOV
/
1TOI\LV
/ \ 6 E1TL
' ' (} al\ao-o-av
/\

DtE~Eto-tv·" dA.A.' avTo(}Ev U1TOA~yELV Ka'i dva1TaVEtV

1 KLALKtav X en.: CTLKEAtav P.
2 ovrw<; M: ita Lat.: ovro<; P.
3 cpva-tKi} Victorius: cpva-EL Ka~ P.
4 el<; P, om. M, Thuc.
5 Ka()a P suspectum; exspectes d'AA.a.
6 'irparov 1r0Atv M: Stratopolim Lat.: a-rparov 1roAtv P.

468
 ON STYLE 198-202

lowing sort of way: "Triremes were expected in Cilicia,

many of them Spartan, many of them Persian and built by
Cyrus for this very purpose. They were sailing from
Ionia, and the commander in charge of them was the
Egyptian Tamus.n This version would perhaps have been
longer, but it would also have been clearer. (199) In gen-
eral, follow the natural word order, for example "Epi-
damnus is a city on your right as you sail into the Ionian
gulf.,,a The subject is mentioned first, then what it is (it is
a city), then the rest follows. (200) The order can also be
reversed, for example "There is a city, Ephyra. "b We do
not rigidly approve the one nor condemn the other order;
we are simply setting out the natural way to arrange
words. (201) In narrative passages begin either with the
nominative case (e.g. "Epidamnus is a cityn)c or with the
accusatived (e.g. "It is said that the city Epidamnus ... n).
Use of the other cases will cause some obscurity and tor-
ture for the actual speaker and also the listener.
(202) Try not to make your periodic sentences too
long. Take this sentence: ''For the river Achelous, flowing
from Mount Pindus, passing inland by the city of Stratus,
runs into the sea.,,e Make a natural break here and give

a Th. 1.24.1 (cf. § 201). On theories of natural word order cf.

DH.CV5.
b Hom. Il. 6.152. cTh. 1.24.1 (cf. § 199).
d The Greek construction for indirect speech after e.g. "it is
said that" may have the accusative as the subject (and the infini-
tive as the verb).
e Th. 2.102.2 (cf. §§ 45-47, 206). The inns of § 47 have
becotne signposts (cf. milestones, a Roman adaptation, in Quint.
4.5.22).

469
 DEMETRIUS

TOV aKOVOVTa OVTw~· ceo yap 'AxE'A4)o~ pli JLEV EK

II LVOOV
/~ :>1
opov~,
:>I(;
Es EUTLV OE EL~
~' ' ()/\
al\aa-a-av· " 7TOI\V
\' '
yap
OVTW~ a-acp€a-rEpov, W(J7TEp av at 7To'A'Aa (J'Y}fLELa
€xova-aL o8ot Kat 7To'A'Aa~ ava7Tav'Aa~· ~YEJLO(JL yap
~' ~ /
'
Ta (J'Y}fLELa EOLKEV, 'Y}
1"'1 :>I t:
OE '
aa-YJJLELWTO~
/
Kat
'
JLOVOELOYJ~,

Kav fLLKpa YJ, a8YJ'AO~ 8oKEL. (203) 7TEpt JLEV 8T] a-acpYJ-
/ 1"'1 t: '\/ ' \\ 1"'1 ' /\ '
VELa~ TOa-avTa, W~ 01\tya EK 7TOI\I\WV, Kat fLai\La-Ta EV

TOL~ la-xvot~ avTfl Aoyot~ XPYJ(JTEOV.

(204) <I>EVYELV 8€ EV rfl a-vve€a-EL TOV xapaKT~po~
Tovrov 1rpwTov JLEV ra JL-rJKYJ Twv Kw'Awv· JLEya'Ao7TpE-
7TE~ yap 1rav JL~Ko~, wa-7TEP Kat €1rt Twv [ T]pw"iKwv] 1
JLETpwv TO E.~afLETpov T]pw"iKov [ ov] 2 KaAELTaL V7TO
~I 3 t: ~/ ~ ' /
JLEYE/() OV~ Kat' 7TpE7TOV
/
YJpWa-LV, YJ KWJL(f!OLa OE a-VVE-
a-TaATaL El~ To TptfLETpov T] v€a. (205) Ta 1ro'A'Aa oilv
Kw'Aot.c; TPLfLETpot~ XPTJa-OJLE()a Kat EVtOTE KOfLfLaa-tv,
~I
wa-7TEp o JLEV
t: ' II 1\a;wv
\ / .J..
'PYJa-L,
/ t:t:
KaTEtJYJV X
/ (.} () '
E~ EL~
' II EL-
pata JLETa
l"\ , r\ / 1\aVKCt!vo~
,· ,
7TVKVaL yap at ava7TaVI\aL
, t: , / \

Kat' ' () E(JEL~.

a7TO / A L(JXLVYJ~
' / ~
OE
' cc '
EKa () YJJLE
/ ()
a /
JLEV, "

.J..
o/YJ(JLV,
/ A VKEL4_),
cc , / -e'
E7TL TWV
c '
, () \ () /
OV OL a 1\0 ETaL
1"'1 () /
aKWV
,
EV

Tov dywva 8tart()€aa-tv." (206) €x€rw 8€ Kat E.8pav

' .J.. \
aa-o/ai\'Y} TWV KWI\WV Ta TEI\Y) Kat fJaa-LV,
1"'1 1"'1 / \ ' /\ ' (.} /
W~
t:
Ta' ELpYJ-
'

/ • att :
fLEVa ' KaTa' Ta
yap ' TEI\EVTaLa
\ 1"'1 ' /
EKTaa-EL~ JLEyai\0- \

7TpE7TEL~, w~ Ta 8ovKv8i8ov, co AxE'A4)o~ 7TOTafLO~

p€wv EK IIiv8ov opov~" Kat Ta €~~~- (207) cpEVKTEOV

1 T)pwtK&w del. Spengel.

2 ov
del. Radermacher et Roberts.
3 ijpwcrtv edd.: T)pwwv P.

470
 ON STYLE 202-206

the listener a rest: "For the river Achelous flows from

Mount Pindus, and runs into the sea." This version is far
clearer. Sentences are like roads. Some roads have many
signposts and many resting places; and the signposts are
like guides. But a monotonous road without signposts
seems infinite, even if it is short. (203) These are a few
remarks out of the many possible on the subject of clarity,
and clarity is to be used most of all in the plain style.
(204) Next, composition in this style: first, avoid long
clauses, since length always has grandeur, just as in the
case of metres the hexameter is called heroic because of
its length and it suits heroes, a while New Comedy is kept
confined within the iambic trimeter. (205) So we shall for
the most part use clauses of trimeter lengthb and some-
times phrases, as in Plato, "I went down yesterday to
Piraeus with Glaucon ... "c (here the pauses and endings
come close together), and in Aeschines, ''we were sitting
on the benches in the Lyceum, where the stewards of the
games organise the contests."d (206) And let the closing
words of the clauses reach a secure and perceptible end, e
as in the sentences I have just quoted. Long delayed end-
ings belong rather to the grand style, as in the sentence of
Thucydides, "The river Achelous, flowing from Mount

a Cf. § 5.
h I.e. a length of roughly 15-16 syllables. The phrase is
shorter (see note on § 5).
c Pl. Rep. 327a (cf. § 21). The whole sentence is intended.
d Aesch. Soc. 2 Dittmar, probably the beginning of the Alcibi-
ades. Compare also the beginning of his Miltiades (in P.Oxy.
2889), «It happened to be the great Panathenaic festival, and we
were sitting ... "
e Cf. § 183.

471
 DEMETRIUS

oilv Kat ras rwv p.aKpwv a-rotxEiwv a-vp.1TATJtEt~ f.v

r(i> xapaKrf}pt 'TOV'Tlp KaL 'TWV Dup06yywv· OYKYJPOV
\ "" ~~ \ Q ~~ I
yap 1raa-a EKTaa-t~. Kat Et 1rov JJPaxEa a-vyKpov-
1 Q I e ee I \ \ I \ I ' n
a-TEOV fJpaxEa-LV, W~ 1TaVTa f.LEV Ta VEa Kal\a Ea-TLV,
~ {3pax€a p.aKpols, w~ eeTJEAto~,'' 1 ~ ap.w~ 2 y€ 1rw~
Dux {3pax€wv· KaL oAw~ ep.cpatVE'Tat 3 EVKaracppoVYJ'TO~
e "" '~
0 'TOLOVTO~ 7p01TO~ TTJ~ AES EW~ Kat LOLW'TLKO~, Ka1T
1 "" \ 1(; ' 1 ' ,

avra 4 ravra 1TE1TOLYJJLEVO~. (208) cpEvyf.rw DTJ KaL ra

a-YJp.EtWDYJ a-x7Jp.ara. 1TUV yap TO 1Tapaa-TJfLOV aa-VVYJ-
(J E~ Kat\ OVK
' LOLW'TLKOV.
'~ I ~
TTJV OE EVapyEtaV Kat TO 'TTL (J a-
\ \ ' I \ \

VOV p.aAta-Ta 0 xapaKTTJP oilTo~ E1TLDE~E'Tat. 1TEpL

f.vapyEia~ oilv Kat 1TEpt 1Tt0avoTTJTO~ AEKTEov.
(209) ITpwrov 8€ 1TEpt f.vapyEia~· yivErat D' T]
f.vapyEta 1Tpwra f.LEV €( aKpt{3oA.oyia~ KaL 'TOV 1Tapa-
AEL1T€LV f.LYJDEV JLYJD' EK'TEJLVELV, oiov e~w~ 8' or' dv~p
' '" ~~
OXETTJYO~ Kat' "1raa-a "
. aVTTJ TJe 1TapafJOATJ.
Q\1
TO' yap
'

f.vapy€~ EXEL EK rov 1ravra Elpf}a-Oat ra a-vp.{3aivovra

Kat JLTJ 1TapaAEAEtcpOat fLYJDEv. (210) Kat T] L1T1ToDpo-
p.ia DE T] E1Tt ITarpoKAcp, EV or~ AEyEt, e~1TVOtfj D'
' I\
E Vf.LTJAOLO I,./....
fJ-ETa'PpEVOV, n ~ I,./....
Kat\ e~ atEL yap Ot'Ppov
3 \ ' \
E1TL-
f3YJa-OfJ-EVOL(JLV f.tKTYJV." 1TUV'Ta TaVTa evapyfj E(JTLV EK

1 7J€A.toc;Victorius: i}A.toc; P.
2 dfLwc; Finckh: aA.A.wc; P.
3 EfLcPatvETat Victorius: EfLcPaivecrBat P.
4 Kat' ' ' P: Ka1T
avTa ' ' avTa
''Rb o erts.

a Th. 2.102.2 (cf. §§ 45 and 202).

472
 ON STYLE 207-210

Pindus ... "a and so on. (207) In this style we should also
avoid hiatus between long vowels and diphthongs, since
any lengthening is imposing. If there is any, we should
have it between short vowels (e.g. kala estin at the end of
the sentence ''all that is young is beautiful"h) or between a
short and a long (e.g. eelios, "the sun"), or at any rate
shorts in some shape or form. In general, this type of
style is unimpressive and ordinary, and that is the very
effect it intends. (208) Conspicuous figures should also
be avoided, since anything conspicuous is unfamiliar and
out of the ordinary. Vividness, ho\vever, and persuasive-
ness will be particularly welcome in this style, so we must
speak next about vividness and persuasiveness.
(209) First, vividness: it comes first from the use of
precise detail and from omitting and excluding nothing,
for example the whole simile beginning "as when a man
draws off w~ter in an irrigation channel. "c This compari-
son owes its vividness to the fact that all accompanying
details are included and nothing is omitted. (210)
Another example is the horse race in honour of Patroclus,
in the lines where Homer describes "the hot breath on
Eumelus' back" and "for they always looked as if they
were about to mount the chariot."d The entire passage is

b Author unknown (cf. § 70).

c Hom. Il. 21.257ff: "as when a man draws off water in an irri-
gation channel from a spring with deep black water, and he
guides the flow of water along his plants and orchards, and with a
spade in his hands, he throws out any obstructions from the
ditch, and as the water streams forth, all the pebbles are jostled
along, and flowing quickly down it gurgles in its sloping bed, and
outruns the man who controls it."
d Hom. Il. 23.379-81.

473
 DEMETRIUS

rov f.LYJDEv 1TapaAEAli¢8at rwv TE ervf.Lf3atvovrwv Ka'i

ervf.Lf3avrwv. (211) werT€ 1TOAAaKtc; Ka'i T] DtAoyia
' /
EVapyEtaV 1TOtEt""' f.La/\1\0V
""'\ \ YJ.,, TO' a1Ta<:,
~~ c 1\EyEtV,
\ / ~~
Wer1TEp TO'
eeCTV 8' airrov Kat 'WVTU EAEyEt; KUKWt;, Kat vvv U7T0-
8avovra ypa¢Etc; KaKwc;." 8'ic; yap KEtf.LEvov ro
eeKaKwc;" EVapyEerTEpav erYJf.LatVEt TTJV {3Aaer¢YJf.LLaV.
(212) ~ 01TEp DE rep KTYJertq- f.yKaAovertv we; aDoAE-
1

erxorEp<p ota
/ ~' ' Oti\Oytac;,
rae; ~ \ / \\
1TOI\I\axYJ ""' ' ,,terwc; EyKa-
f.LEV '
AovertV op8wc;, 1TOAAaxfJ DE OVK alcr8avovTat rfjc;
f.vapyEtac; TOV av8poc;· Tt8ETat yap TaVTO <D'ic;> 1 Dta
ro 1ToAAaKtc; 1Totliv Ef.L¢aertv 1TAEtova. (213) oia ra
TOtaDE, ee!rpvayya'i6c; 2 Ttc;, avi}p Mf}Doc;, yvva'iKa
~
4aKtoa /~
Kara f3 aAWV \ ' a1ro ' ' rov""' ~~t1T1Tov· f.Laxovrat
/ ' OYJ
yap ~ '

ate yvvatKEc; ""' ,

EV ~ ,
4aKatc; wer1TEp ate 'A f.LasovEc;·
~~ r, () Eaera- ,
f.LEVO~ 8T] TTJV !aKtOa EV1TpE1Tfj Ka'i wpaiav f.LE8f}KEV
a1Tocrw,Ecr8ac f.LETa 8~ rovro cr7Tov8wv yEvof.Lf.vwv,
'
Epaer ' TYJc;
() Etc; ""' yvvatKOc; ' a1TETvyxavEV"
' / '~ /~
EOEOOKTO '
f.LEV
avrip U1TOKaprEpE'iv· ypa¢Et DE 1TpOTEpov E1TterroAT]v
TYJ""' yvvatKt' f.LEf.Lo/Of.LEVOc;
r~. ,
TOtaVOE", ~ 'E yw' f.LEV , erE' Eerwera,
,,
Kat' erv' f.LEV ' 3 Ot ~ ' Ef.LE
' ' EerW ' '() YJc;· EYW ' ' OE~' Ota~ ' erE' a1TWI\O-
' \ /
f.LYJV." (214) f.vrav8a E1TtTtf.L1}erEtEV av 'lerwc; Ttc; f3pa-
xvA.oyoc; olOf.LEVOc; Eivat, OTt D'ic; ETE8YJ 1Tpoc; OVOEV TO
eeeerwera" Ka'i eeDt' Ef.LE f.erw8YJc;." TaVTOV yap erYJf.LaLVEt
df.L¢orEpa. aAA' El d¢€Aotc; 8arEpov, ervva¢atp1}erEtc;
Ka'i ri}v f.vapyEtav Ka'i ro EK rfjc; f.vapyEiac; 1ra8oc;.
1 8t~ add. Gartner, cf. ot~ 7ToAAaKts in mg. P.
2
~rpvayya'io~ Finckh: a-rpvayAto~ P.
3 f.LEV P: om. P.Oxy. 2330.

474
 ON STYLE 211-214

vivid since no detail of what usually happens and did hap-

pen is omitted. (211) Consequently repetition is often
more vivid than a single mention, e.g. ccyou are the man
who when he was alive spoke to his discredit, and now
when he is dead write to his discredit. "a The repetition of
"to his discredit" gives the insult a more vivid impact.
(212) This is relevant to the charge of garrulousness
regularly brought against Ctesiash on account of his repe-
titions. In many passages it is perhaps a valid charge, but
in many others it is a failure to appreciate the author>s
vividness. The same word is often put twice to increase
the impact, as in this passage: (213) 'cStryangaeus, a Per-
sian, unhorsed a Sacian vvoman (for among the Sacians
the women fight like Amazons); his gaze was caught by
the Sacian>s youth and beauty, and he let her escape.
Later, when peace was made, he fell in love with the
woman but had no success. He decided to starve to
death, but first he wrote her this letter of complaint: 'I
saved you, because of me you were saved, yet because of
you I am dead.">c (214) Here perhaps anyone convinced
of his own brevity might object that there is a pointless
repetition in 'CI saved you" and ubecause of me you were
saved," since both mean the same. But if you take away
either, you will also take away the vividness and the

a Author unknown (cf. § 26).

b FGrHist 684 Ctesias T 14(a).
c F 8(a); cf. F 8(b) = POxy. 2330.

475
 DEMETRIUS

Ka~
' TO' ' ,/... /
E1T~'¥EPOfLEVOV
8E,/
TO' ee a1TWI\Of.LYJV
' \ / " ' ' ,...
aVT~ TOV

eea1ToAAVf.La~," f:vapy€u7Epov avTi} Ti} (JVVTEAELCf:- EUTL"

To yap 8Tj yEyovo~ 8EtvoTEpov Tov f.LEAAovTo~ :ry ytvo-
f.LEVov ETL. (215) Kat oAwc; 8€ 0 1TOLYJTTJ<; oiJToc; ( 1TO~YJ­
TTJV yap aVTOV KaAOLYJ TL<; <aJJ> 1 ELKOTW<;) E.vapyEiac;
DYJfLLovpyo~ f:uTtv f:v Ti} ypa~i} UVfL1TUUYJ. ( 216) oiov
Ka~ EV 70~~ 70~0~(J8E· DE~ Ta YEVOfLEVa 2 OVK evev~
AEyE~V OT~ EYEVETO, aAAa KaTa fLLKpov, KPEfLVWVTa
TOV aKpoaTTjv Ka~ dvayKa,ovTa uvvaywv~av. TOVTO
o KTYJuiac; f:v Ti} dyyEAiq- Ti} 1TEp~ Kvpov TE0vEwTo~
1TOLE~. E:A.Owv yap 0 ayyEAo~ ovK Eve-u~ A.f.yE~ 07~
a1TE0avEv Kvpo~ 1Tapa TTJV IIapvuaTLV" TOVTO yap ~
AEYOfLEVYJ a1TO !KvOwv piju[~ EUTLV" aAAa 1TpWTOV
fLEV ~YYELAEv OTt v~Kfi., ~ 8€ i}u()YJ Kat i]ywv[auEv·
fLETa_ 8€ TovTo f:pwrfi., {3autAEv~ 8€ 1rw~ 1rpaTTEt; 8€ o
1TE~Evy€ ~YJu~· Kat ~ v1ToAa{3ovua· Tta-a-a~€pvYJc;
'
yap ' "" TOVTWV atTLo~·
aVTqJ ~'
Kat' 1Tai\LV
/ \ '
E1TaVEpWTCf:-"
,.....
/

Kvpo~ 8€ 1TOV vvv; 0 8€ ayyEAo~ afLEL{3ETat• E.v()a

XPYJ' TOV~
' aya
' () ov~
' ~' 8pa~ aVI\LsEU
av '\ /r () aL. KaL'3 KaTa'
fLLKpov Kat KaTa {3paxv 1rpo"iwv 1-Lo"-~~, To 8Tj AEyofLE-
vov, a1TEPPYJ~EV avTo, fLUAa -Y]()tKW~ Ka~ f:vapyw~ TOV
TE ayyEAov Ef.L~~va~ aKOVO"LW~ dyyEAOVVTa TTJV O"VfL-
~opav, Ka'i TTJV fLYJ7Epa EL~ aywv[av EfL{3aA.wv Ka'i TOV
'
aKOVOVTa. /

av M:om .p.
1 ,,
2 yEvop.,Eva Greg.: ytvop.,Eva P.
3 Ka~ Lockwood: Ka~ ovrw Greg.: om. P.

476
 ON STYLE 214-216

emotional impact of the vividness. Furthermore, the fol-

lowing words, "I am dead" instead of "I am dying," add
yet more vividness by the use of an actual past tense,
since what has already happened is more forceful than
what will happen or is still happening. (215) Altogether,
this poet (for Ctesias may reasonably be called a poet) is
an artist in vividness throughout his writings, (216) as in
the next example. In the case of a disaster we should not
immediately say that a disaster has happened but reveal it
only gradually, keeping the reader in suspense and forc-
ing him to share the anguish. This is what Ctesias does
when the messenger reports Cyrus' death. a The mess en-
ger arrives but does not immediately say before Parysatis
that Cyrus is dead (for that would be the proverbially
blunt speech of the Scythians). b First he reports the vic-
tory of Cyrus. Parysatis feels both joy and anguish. Then
she asks, "J:Iow is the king?" He replies, "He has
escaped." She responds, "Yes, this he owes to Tissa-
phernes." Again she asks a question: "Where is Cyrus
now?" The messenger replies, "where the brave should
can1p." Moving gradually and step by reluctant step Cte-
sias at last, in the traditional phrase, "broke the news,''
and in a style full of characterisation and vividness he pre-
sented the messenger's reluctance to report the disaster
and stirred the mother's anguish, which he made the
reader share.

a F 24. The king is Artaxerxes, the elder son of Parysatis (cf.

§ 3).
b Cf. § 297, Paroem. Gr. ii.438.

477
 1!

DEMETRIUS

(217) riveTat 8€ Kat EK TOV Ta 1TaperUJfJ-EVa TOL<;

1rpaytJ-aa-t A.f.yEtv E.vapyeta, oiov w<; E1Tt Tov dypoiKov
a ~ /r !>/ "'- ~~ ee / () ' / 1
fJaOtt:,OVTO<; E~YJ TI.S, OTt 1Tpoa-w EV YJKOVETO aVTOV
' ""
"" ~"" e / / , e ,~, Q ~/r
TWV 1TOOWV 0 KTV1TO<; 1TpOa-tOVTO<;, W<; OVOE fJaOtt:,OV-
TO<; dA.A.' oiov YE AaKTL,ovTo<; T~v yijv. (218) o1TEp 8€
o IIA.aTwv cpYJa-tv E1Tt Tov t:l1T1ToKpaTov<;, t:t:E.pvOptaa-a<;
[ iJ8YJ Tfl vvKTt 2 ], iJ8YJ yap V1TEcpYJvE.v Tt iJtJ-E.pa<;, wa-TE 3
Karacpavij avTov yEvf.a-Oat,'' OTt fJ-EV E.vapyf.a-TaTov
EO"Tt, 1TaVTt 8ijA.ovo i} 8' E.vapyEta yf.yovEv EK Tij<;
cppovTi8o<; Tij<; 1TEpt TOV Aoyov Kat TOV a1TOfJ-VYJfJ-OVEV-
~~ / ' ' ' ' ""\{) e el /
a-at, OTt VVKTWP 1rpo<; avTov EtO"'Y}J\ EV o 1T1TOKpaTYJ<;.
(219) KaKocpwvia 8€ 1TOAAaKt<;, w<; TO t:t:K01TT', EK 8'
' / "'- \
EYKE~a/\O<;,
"
Kat' ee \ \ '
1TOJ\J\a o~, avavTa,
!>/ /
KaTavTa "
o
/
fJ-EtJ-t-
fJ-YJTat yap TV KaKocpWVLf!: T~V aVWtJ-aA[avo 1TUO"a 8€
fJ-LfJ-YJ.a-t<; E.vapy€<; Tt EXEt. (220) Kat Ta 1TE1TOtYJfJ-Eva 8€
ovofJ-aTa €vapyEtav 1ro~E'i 8ta To KaTa fJ-LtJ-YJa-tv €tEvYJ-
/ {) ~~ ' ee \ / " ~ '
VEX at, wa-1TEp TO J\a1TTOVTE<;. Et' oE ee /
1TtVOVTE<;
"

~ !>/ ' , "". / ' / !>/ , /

Et1TEV, OVT EfJ-tfJ-EtTO 1TtVOVTa<; TOV<; KVVa<;, OVTE Evap-
!>/ ' / ee \ / n ~ ' ""
yEta av Tt<; EytvETO. Kat' TO' y 1\WO"O"YJO"t oE TCV
\/ / !>/ , / ""'
J\a1TTOVTE<; 1TpOO"KEtfJ-EVOV ETt EVapyEa-TEpov 1TOtEt TOV
Aoyov. Kat 1TEpt E.vapyELa<; fJ-EV w<; EV TV1Tcp EL1TELV
""
roa-avTa.
(221) To 1Tt0avov 8€ E.v 8vo'iv, ev TE T0 a-acpE'i Kat
O"VVYJ/ () Et o TO' yap
' ,
aa-a~E<;
"" ' Kat' aO"VVYJ
, / () E<; a1Tt
, /() aVOVO

1 fJKovEro Cobet: f/Kova-ro P.

2
YJD'YJ rfl vvKrt del. Schneider.
3 wa-rE Plat. codd.: El~ ro P.

478
 ON STYLE 217-221

(217) Vividness also comes from the use of circum-

stantial detail, as in someone~s description of a country-
man walking along, "the clatter of his feet was heard from
far away as he approached,"a just as if he were not just
walking along but virtually stamping the ground. (218)
Plato too has an example when he is describing Hip-
pocrates: ~~He was blushing, for there was already a first
glimmer of daylight to reveal him."b This is extremely
vivid, as anybody can see, and the vividness is the result of
his careful use of words and keeping in mind that it was
night when Hippocrates visited Socrates.
(219) Harsh sounds are often vivid, as in "He struck
them down, and out spurted their brains" (kopt~, ek a~
enkephalos )c and -=~over and over, up and down" (polla d:>
ananta katanta).d Homer intended the cacophony to imi-
tate the jerkiness, and all imitation has an element of
vividness. (~20) Onomatopoeic formations also produce
vividness, since they are coined to suggest an imitation, as
in "lapping" (laptontes).e If Homer had said "drinking/~
he would not have imitated the sound of dogs drinking,
and there would have been no vividness; and the addition
~.:with their tongues" (glosseisi) after .:.:lapping" makes the
passage still more vivid. This concludes my brief outline
on the subject of vividness.
(221) Next, persuasiveness: it depends on two things,
clarity and familiarity, since what is unclear and unfamil-

a Author unknown; cf. Hom. Od. 16.6 1TEpt TE KT1J1TO~ ~ABE

1TODot'iv.
bPl. Protag. 312a.
c Hom. Od. 9.289-90 (of the Cyclops) K01TT', EK S' E)IKE~a­
Ao~ xafLUDts pEE, DE'UE S€ ya'tav.
d Hom. Il. 23.116. eHom. Il. 16.161 (cf. § 94).
479
 DEMETRIUS
'~' c ~
\ /(;
1\E~ LV TE OVV
"'
OV' TTJV
'
7rEptTTTJV
'
OVOE V7rEpoyKOV
/
OLW-
KTEOV EV TYJ 7I'L aVOTTJTL, Kat'r:WCTaVTW~
/ ' 1"'1 (} / /(} ECTLV
CTVV
/

{3E{3atovcrav 1 Ka'i fLYJDEv E.xovcrav pvfJfLOEtDf.~. (222)

f.v rovrot~ rE oiJv ro 1rt-fJavov, Kai f.v $ 8Eo¢pacrro~
¢TJCTLV, OTL ov 7ravra E7r' aKpt{3Eia~ DEL fLaKpT)yopELV,
d'A'A' E.vta KaraAt7rELV Kat T~ aKpoaTfl CTVVtEVat Ka'i
'Aoyi,EcrfJat E.t aVTOtJ" CTVVEL~ yap TO EAAEt¢fJ€v V7r0
CTOV OVK aKpoaTr,~ fLOVOV a'A'Aa Ka'i fLUPTV~ crov yivE-
Tat, Kat afLa EVfLEVECTTEpO~. CTVVETO~ yap EaVT([J
' t:/ ' r:
/ ' ' 1"'1

DOKEL Dta CTE TOV d¢opfLTJV 7rapECTXYJKOTa avr~ TOV

/
CTVVLEVat, TO' OE
~' /
7raVTa r: ' / \ /
W~ aVOYJT([! 1\EYEtV KaTaytVW-
/
:J/ 1"'1 ' 1"'1
CTKOVTt EOtKEV TOV aKpoaTOV.
(223) 'E7rEL 8€ Ka'i 0 E7TtCTTOAtKO~ xapaKTTJP DELTat
, / c.
tCTXVOTYJTO~, Kat 7rEpt avTov AE<;OfLEV.
' 'A pTEfLWV
' / , ,
fLEV 1"'1 \ /

o?Jv o. Ta~ 'AptCTTOTEAOV~ avaypatfia~ E7rtCTTOAa~

cPTJCTLV, OTL DEL EV T~ a~T~ Tp07r4J Dt-a'Aoyov TE ypa-
¢EtV Kat E7rtcrTo'Aa~· Eivat yap TTJV E7rtcrTo'AY,v oiov To
ETEpov fLEpo~ Tov Dta'A6yov. (224) Kat AEyEt fLEV Tt
::.1 ~:1
' ' ~~"'~' e /(}
tCTW~, OV fLTJV a7rav· OEt yap V7rOKaTECTKEVaCT at 7I'W~

fLa'A'Aov Tov 8ta'A6yov TTJV E7rtcrTo'A'Y}v· fLEV yap o

fLtfLELTaL avTOCTXEDta,ovTa, TJ DE ypa¢Erat Kat Dwpov
7I'EfL7rETat Tp07rOV TtVa. (225) TL~ yovv OVTW~ av 8ta-
AEXfJELYJ2 7rpo~ ¢i'Aov wcr7rEp 'Apt-crroTEAYJ~ 1Tpo~ o
'AvTL7raTpov V7rEp Tov ¢vya8o~ ypa¢wv Tov y€pov-
To~ ¢YJcrtv• r:r:El 8€ 7rpo~ a7racra~ OLXETat ya~ 3 ¢vya~

1 {3E{3atofHrav P vix recte: {3E{3a[av Dahl: {3E{3a[av o:O(JaV

Roberts.

480
 ON STYLE 221-225

iar is unconvincing. So to be persuasive we should aim

for diction which is not elaborate or inflated, and for com-
position similarly which moves steadily along without for-
mal rhythm. (222) These then are the essentials of per-
suasiveness, along with the advice of Theophrastus, a that
you should not elaborate on everything in punctilious
detail but should omit some points for the listener to infer
and work out for himself. For when he infers what you
have omitted, he is not just listening to you but he
becomes your witness and reacts more favourably to you.
For he is made aware of his own intelligence through you,
who have given him the opportunity to be intelligent. To
tell your listener every detail as though he were a fool
seems to judge him one.
(223) We will next discuss the style for letters, since
that too should be plain. Artemon, b the editor of Aristo-
tle's Letters? says that a letter should be written in the
same manner as a dialogue; the letter, he says, is like one
of the two sides to a dialogue. (224) There is perhaps
some truth in what he says, but not the whole truth. The
letter should be a little more formal than the dialogue,
since the latter imitates improvised conversation, while
the former is written and sent as a kind of gift. (225) Who
would ever talk to a friend as Aristotle writes to Antipater
on behalf of an old man in exile? "If he is a wanderer over

a Theophr. F 696 Fortenbaugh.

b Perhaps the second-century B.C. grammarian. For the let-
ter as part of a conversation, cf. Cic. Ad Att. 13.18, Ovid Ars.
Amat. 1.468 praesens ut videare loqui.

2
8t.aAEX8ELYJ Schneider: 8t.aAEx87J P.
3 y&s Valckenaer: Ta~ P.

481
 1

DEMETRIUS

o-DTo~, W<TTE f.L~ KaTa:yEtV, 8ij'Aov w~ TOL<TYE El~

('/ At8ov KaTEAfJE'iv {3ovAOf.LEVOt~ ov8Et~ cpfJovo~·" 0
yap
' ('/
OVTW~
~ \ /
Otai\EYOf.LEVO~
, ~ / ~'
E1TtOEtKVVf.LEV(f;) EOtKEV f.Lai\-
~"~\

AOV, ov A.a'AovvTt-. (226) KaL A.vo-Et-~ lTvxval, 1 o1To'iat-

< ... > 2 OV' 1TpE1TOV<TtV
/ , \
E1TtlTTOI\at~·
1"1 , ,../...'
ao-ao/E~
'
yap EV
,

ypacpfJ T] 'Avo-t~, Kat To

f.Ltf.LYJTtKov ov ypacpij~ ovTw~
olKELOV w~ aywvo~, oiov w~ EV T[i> EvfJv8~f.L(f;)" t:t:TlS i}v,
~ !.wKpaTE~, ([> xe€~ EV AvKELqJ 8tE'A€yov; iJ 1TOAV~
Vf.LOS ox'Ao~ 1TEptEt<TT~KEt•" Kat f.LtKpov 1TpoE'AfJwv E1Tt-
cp€pEt, eeaAAa f.LOL tf.vo~ Tt~ cpaLVETat Eivat, {b 8tEAE-
, -;- , t: ' / t: / ' 1"1
yov· Tt~ YJV; YJ yap TOtaVTYJ 1Tao-a Epf.LYJVEta Kat
f.LLf.LYJ<Tt~ vTToKptr-fJ 1TpE1TEt 3 f.La'A.'Aov, ov ypacpof.LEVat~
, \ 1"1
E1TtlTTOI\at~.

(227) IIAEL<TTOV 8€ EXETW TO T](}tKOV T] E1Tt<TTOA~,

('/ ' t: ~ '\ ~' ' , / ('/
W<T1TEp Kat 0 OtUI\Oyo~· <TXEOOV yap EtKOVa EKa<TTO~
Tij~ E:avTov lfivxij~ ypacpEt- r~v E7Tt-lTTo'A~v. Kal, ElTT'-
f.LEv Kat f.t a'A'Aov 'Aoy~v 1TaVT0~ 4 l8E'iv TO i}fJo~ TOV
ypacpovro~, f.t ov8€vo~ 8€ OVTW~, w~ E1Tt<TTo'Aij~.
(228) To 8€ f.LEYEeo~ lTvvEa-Ta'Aew Tij~ €1TurTo'A ij~,
('' 'C ~' ~'
W<T1TEp Kat' YJe \
1\ES t~. ate OE ayav f.LaKpat,, Kat' 1TpO<TETt
,

KaTa T~V EPf.LYJVELav oyKw8€o-TEpat, ov !La T~V a'A~­

fJEtav E7TL<TTOAat y€votVTO av, a'A'Aa lTVYYPUf.Lf.LaTa,
TO xaipEtV EXOVTa 1Tpoo-yEypaf.Lf.LEVOV, Kaea1TEp TOV
IT'AaTwvo~ 1To'A'Aat 5 Kat T] 8ovKv8i8ov. (229) Kat TD
1 o-vxvat Victorius: lo-xvat P.
2
lacunam stat. Goeller: ai Tov DtaA.oyov prop. Roberts.
3 1TpE1TEL Victorius: 1rpe1Tot P.
4 1ravro~ Victorius: 1ravrw~ P.

482
 ON STYLE 225-228

all the world, an exile with no hope of being recalled

home, it is clear that we cannot blame men like him if
they wish to return home, to Hades."a A man who talked
like that would seem to be making a speech, not chatting.
(226) Yet a series of abrupt sentence breaks such as
< ... >b does not suit the letter. Abruptness in writing
causes obscurity, and the imitation of conversation is less
appropriate to writing than to real debate. Take the
Euthydemus: <<Who was it, Socrates, you were talking to
yesterday in the Lyceum? There was certainly a large
crowd standing round your group." And a little further on
he adds: «I think he was a stranger, the man you were
talking to. Who was he ?"c All this sort of style in imitation
of reality suits oral delivery better, it does not suit letters
since they are written.
(227) Like the dialogue, the letter should be strong in
characterisati9n. Everyone writes a letter in the virtual
image of his own soul. In every other form of speech it is
possible to see the writer's character, but in none so
clearly as in the letter.
(228) The length of a letter, no less than its range of
style, should be restricted. Those that are too long, not to
mention too inflated in style, are not in any true sense let-
ters at all but treatises with the heading, «Dear Sir." This
is true of many of Plato's letters, and that one of
Thucydides.d (229) The sentences should also be fairly

a Ar. Jr. 665 Rose = F 8 Plezia. b Add e.g. «suit the

dialogue." c Pl. Euthyd. 27la.
d An unknown later fiction, unless it is the letter of N icias in
Th. 7.11-15. Neither it nor the Plato letters begin with xaipEtv.
5 rov IT.Aarwvo~ 1To.A.Aal, Finckh: ra IT.Aarwvo~ 1ro.A.Aa P.

483
 i I

DEMETRIUS

a-vvTagE,J fLEVTot AE'Ava-fJw fLaA'Aov· yE'Ao'iov yap

~ / t:l , , \ / , \ \ ' ~/ /
1TEptOOEVEtV, WU"1TEp OVK E1TtU"TO/\YjlJ a/\1\a OtKYJV ypa-
cpovTa. Kat ov8€ yEAo'iov fLOVOJJ a'A'A' ov8€ cptAtKOJJ (TO
' ~ '
yap OYJ KaTa' TYJV
' /
1TapotfLtav ee '
Ta a-vKa a-vKa 1\Eyo- 1"'1 1"'1 " \ /

fLEVOV) E1TtU"TOAa'i~ TavTa E1TtTYJ8EvEtV. ( 230) El8f.vat

8€ xp-rJ, OTt ovx EpfLYJVELa fLOVOV a'A'Aa Kat 1TpayfLaTa
Ttva E1Tta-ToAtKa f.a-Ttv. 'Apta-ToTf.'A YJ~ yovv o~ 2
fLUAta-Ta E1TtTETEVXEVat 8oKEL TOV [ avTov 3] E1TtU"TOAt-
KOV, ee'TOVTO 8€ ov ypacpw a-oi," cPYJU"LlJ" eeov yap ljv
E1Tta-ToAtKov." (231) El yap Tt~ f.v E1Tta-To'A iJ a-ocpia--
fLaTa ypacpot Kat cpva-to'Aoyia~, ypacpEt fLEV, ov fL~v
E1Tta-To'A~v ypacpEt. cpt'Aocpp6vYJa-t~ yap Tt~ {3ov'AETat
EtVat YJ E1TtU"TO/\Yj U"VlJTOfLO~, Kat 1TEpt a1T/\OV 1TpayfLa-
-;- ( , \ ' / ' ' ( \ 1"'1 /

TO~ EK8Ea-t~ KaL EV OVOfLaU"tV a1TAo'i~. (232) KaAAo~

fLEVTOt avTij~ at TE cptAtKat cptAocppov-r}a-Et~ Kat
1TVK1Jat 1TapOtfLtat E~OVU"at. Kat TOVTO yap fLOVOJJ
' / , 1"'1 ' 1"'1 ' /

EVEU"TW avTi} a-ocpov, 8toTt 8YJfLOTtK01J TL EU"TtV ~

1TapotfLia Kat Kotvov, 8€ yvwfLoAoywv Kat 1TpoTpE- o
/ , ~' , \ 1"'1 3/ \ \ 1"'1 3/ '\ \ '
1TOfLEVO~ OV Ot E1TtU"TO/\Yj~ ETt 1\a/\OVVTt EOtKEV, a/\1\a

<a1To> 4 fLYJxavij~. (233) 'Apta-ToTEAYJ~ fLEvTot Kat

a1To8EigE(TL 1TOV xpijTat E1TtU"TOAtKW~, oiov 8t8agat
{3ov'AofLEvo~, oTt ofLoiw~ XP~ EvEpyETE'iv Ta~ fLEya'Aa~
1ToAEt~ Kat Ta~ fLtKpa~, cpYJa-iv, ((oi yap fJEoL f.v afLcpo-
/ 3/ t:l ' , ' ( / (} / 3/ , /
TEpat~ tU"Ot, WU"T E1TEt at xaptTE~ Eat, tU"at a1TOKEt-
U"OJJTat (TOt 1Tap '',./....
/
afL...,_,OTEpat~.
, Kat' yap
' TO' ,a1TOOEt-
~ /

/ , 1"'1 t , /
, \ ' ' ( , /~
KVVfLEVOJJ avTcp E1TtU"TO/\tK01J Kat YJ a1TOOEts t~ aVTYJ.

l Kat TD CTVVTlLtEt p2: TatEt p 1.

2 o~ M: w~ P. 3 avrov del. Spengel.
484
 ON STYLE 229-233

loosely structured. It is absurd to build up periods, as if

you were writing not a letter but a speech for the law
courts. Nor is it just absurd to be so formal in letters, it is
even contrary to friendship, which demands the prover-
bial calling of "a spade a spade."a (230) We should also be
aware that there are epistolary topics as well as style. Cer-
tainly Aristotle is thought to have been exceptionally suc-
cessful in the genre of letters, and he comrnents, ''I am
not writing to you on this, since it is not suitable for a
letter."b (231) If anyone should write in a letter about
problems of logic or natural philosophy, he may indeed
write, but he does not write a letter. A letter's aim is to
express friendship briefly, and set out a simple subject in
simple terms. (232) It has its own beauty, but only in
expressions of warm friendship and the inclusion of
numerous proverbs. This should be its only permitted
philosophy, pe!mitted since the proverb is ordinary, pop-
ular wisdom. But the man who utters sententious maxims
and exhortations seems to be no longer chatting in a letter
but preaching from the pulpit.c (233) Aristotle, however,
sometimes even develops proofs, though in such a way
that they suit the letter. For instance, wanting to prove
that large and small cities have an equal claim on bene-
factors, he says: "The gods are equal in both; so, since the
Graces are gods, you will find grace stored up equally in
both."d The point being proved suits a letter, and so does

a Paroem. Gr. ii.654, literally figs.

b Ar.fr. 670 Rose= T 4(b), F 16 Plezia.
c I.e. as a deus ex machina, speaking from on high.
d Ar. Jr. 656 Rose = T 4( c), F 17 Plezia.

4 a1ro add. Cobet (Ruhnkenium secutus).

485
 DEMETRIUS

(234) E1TEt S€ Kat 1roAEa-iv 1TOTE Kat {3aa-tAEva-tv ypa-

c/Jop.,Ev, Eo-Two-av TotavTaL [ ai] 1 E1TLo-ToAat p.,tKpov
'l: / / '
Es YJPP.,EVaL O"'Toxaa-TEOV
1TW~. yap KaL' 'TOV 1TpOCTW1TOV 1"1 /

~ ypac/JETat· €~YJpp.,€vYJ p.,€vToL Ka'i 2 ovx wa-TE a-vy-

ypap.,p.,a ElvaL av'T' E1TtCTToA-ry~, W0"1TEp ai 'Apta-'TO'TE-
\
J\OV~ 1Tp0~
' 'A\J\ES
/ (; avopov,
~
KaL' 1rp0~ ' 'TOV~
' uLWlJO~
A /
OLKEL-
' /

OV~ T] ITAaTwvo~. (235) KaOoA.ov S€ p.,Ep.,ixOw T] E1TL-

a-ToA ~ Ka'Ta 'T~lJ E:pp_,YJVELalJ EK Svo'Lv xapaKTTJPOLlJ
'TOV'TOLV, 'TOV 'TE xapLEV'TO~ KaL 'TOV LCTXVOV. KaL 1TEpL
/ 1"1 / '""'' 1"1 ' '

E1TLO"ToA-ry~ P.,EV 'TOO"aVTa, Kat ap.,a 1TEpt TOV xapaK'T-ry-

1"1
po~ Tov ta-xvov.
1"\ '

( 236) ITapaKELTat S€ Kat T~ la-xv~ DtYJp.,apTYJp_,ivo~

xapaKTYJp, 0~ s(; YJPO~/ ' \
KaJ\OVP.,EVO~. YLVE'TaL OE / ~'
KaL' /

~ ' ~ / ' / / <!/ ' ' 1-<-1 /

ovTo~ EV Tpto-tv· EV otavotq. p.,Ev, wa-1TEp TL~ E1TL t::i.tEp-
c; ,.I.,.
>I Q
<!I ~~ / ~ 1-<-1 / (; ' / ""'
S 0~ Eo/YJ, O'TL Ka'TEtJaLVEV 0 t::i.tEps 'Y}~ P.,E'Ta 1TalJTWlJ 'TWV

E:avTov." p.,aAa yap E?"P.,LKpVVEV 'TO 1Tpayp.,a, av'Tt 'TOV

~~ , ""' 'A , ~ , ,, ' ""' [ .,, J3 ~~ , ,
P.,E'Ta 'T'Y}~ a-La~ a1TaCT'Y}~ EL1TELV YJ P.,E'Ta 1TaVTWV
<Twv> 4 E:avTov'' c/JT]a-a~. (237) 1TEpt S€ T~v A.i~tv
yivETaL 'TO ~YJPOV, O'TaV 1Tpayp.,a p.,E.ya a-p.,tKpo'L~ ovo-
p.,ao-LV a1TayyeAAYJ, 5 oiov w~ 0 raSapEv~ 6 E1TL 'T-ry~ EV
!aAap.,'Lvt vavp.,axia~ cfJYJa-i < ... >· 7 Kat Tov VaAapt-
So~ Tov Tvpavvov E.c/J'YJ TL~, ~t:aTTa yap vaA.apt~ o
i}vwxAEL To'L~ 'AKpayavTivot~." vavp.,axiav yap
/
Toa-aVTYJV Kat' Tvpavvov / 8 ' /
wp_,OTYJTa ovxL' '
T(f) ~~ aTTa 1"1 ,, "

1
ai del. Spengel. 2 Kat del. Goeller.
3
~ P: del. edd. 4 rwv add. edd.
5 a1rayy€A.A.YJ edd.: a1TayyiA.YJ P: a1rayyeA.i7 Radermacher,
fort. recte.

486
 ON STYLE 234-237

the proof itself. (234) Sometimes we write to cities and

kings: such letters must be a little more elaborate, since
we should consider the person to whom the letter is writ-
ten, but it should not be so elaborate that the letter turns
into a treatise, like those of Aristotle to Alexander or that
of Plato to Dian's friends.a (235) In summary, in terms of
style the letter should combine two of the styles, the ele-
gant and the plain, and this concludes my account of the
letter, and also of the plain style.
(236) Next to the plain style is its faulty counterpart,
what is called the arid style, and it too has three aspects.
The first is the thought, as in one writer's account of
Xerxes, ''he was coming down to the coast with all his
men."b He has greatly trivialised the event by saying
"with all his men" instead of "with the whole of Asia."
(237) In diction aridity is found when a writer narrates a
great event in trivial language, for example the man of
Gadarac on the sea battle of Salamis < ... >, d or another
writer on the tyrant Phalaris, "Phalaris was a bit of a nui-
sance to the people of Acragas."e So momentous a sea
battle and so cruel a tyrant should not have been

a Pl. Epist. 7.
b Author unknown.
c The "man of Gadara," the probable text, may but need not
be Theodorus of Gadara, a rhetorician of Augustan Rome.
d A quotation seems lost.
e Author unknown.

6 ra8apev~ edd.: ra87JpEv~ P.

7 lacunam stat. ed. Glasg.
8 Tvpavvov p2: tyranni Lat.: Tvpavvwv pl.

487
 DEMETRIUS

OVOJLaTL ov8€ rep ee~vwx AEL" expfJv 'A.f.yELV, d'A.'A.' EV

/\ ' / ,. ., e /
jLEyai\OL~ KaL 1TpE1TOVO"LV TqJ V1TOKELJLEVqJ 1TpayjLaTL.
/
(238) f.v 8€ a-vvOf.a-EL yivETaL TO ~YJpov, ~TOL orav
1TVKVa n
Ta KOJLJLaTa, W0"1TEp EV TOL~ ,A</JopLO"JLOL~
EXEL" eeo {3io~ f3paxv~, T] 8€ TEXVYJ JLaKpa, 0 8€ KaLpo~
o~v~, Yj 8€ 1TEtpa a-cpa'A.Epa 0
~ OTav EV f.hEya'A.qJ
,,

1TpayJLaTL a1TOKEKOJLJLEVOV n TO Kw'A.ov Kat JLTJ EK-

1TAEWV, wa-1TEp TL~ 'Apta-rEi8ov KaTYJyopwv oTL ovK
acptKETO EL~ TTJV EV !a'A.aJLLVL vaVJLaxiav, eed'A.'A.a
avTOKAYJTO~," EcpYJ, [OTL] 1 eeT] f.hEV ilYJJL~TYJP ~AOEv Kat
/
O"VVEVaVJLaXEL, 'ApLO"TELOYJ~
/~ ~ ' OV.
OE '' " YJe yap
'
a1TOK01TYJ
' '

,, ' ,,, ,..., ' / ,

KaL a1TpE1TYJ~ KaL aKaLpo~. TaL~ JLEV TOLaVTaL~ a1TOK0-
1TaL~ f.v E:rf.poL~ XPYJa-rf.ov. (239) 1To'A.'A.aKL~ JLEvroL ro
JLEV 8taVOYJJLa avro t/Jvxpov TL EO"TL, Kat w~ vvv ovo-
JLcL'O~EV KaKO,YJAOv, TJ a-vv0Ea-L~ 8' a1TOKEKOJLJLEVYJ
\ \ / 1"1 ~ / \ :1 ~/2 C/
KaL KI\E1TTOVO"a TOV OLaVpYJJLaTO~ TYJV aYJOLaV, W0"1TEp
E1Tt TOV VEKpfi. riJ yvvaLKt JLLX0EVTO~ EcpYJ TL~, OTL eeov
JLLYVVTaL avriJ ail" .. 3 TO JLEV yap 8taVOYJJLa Kat rvcp'A.cp
8ij'A.6v cpaa-Lv, Yj a-vvOEa-L~ 8€ a-va-raAEta-a KAE1TTEL
JLEV 1rw~ rT]v dYJ8iav 4 rov 1rpayJLaro~, 1TOLEL 8€ ri}v
vvv OVOJLa exova-av ~YJPOKaKO,YJAiav O"V')'KELJLEVYJV EK
8voZv KaKwv, eK JLEV TTJ~ KaKo,YJ'A.ia~ 8La To 1rpayJLa,
eK 8€ rov ~YJpov 8La ri}v a-vvOEa-Lv.
1 art del. Hahne.
2 dYJ8iav Weil: a8etav P.
avri] aiJ M, fort. recte: avr-q~ av P: aiJ ri} dvfJpw1rcp
3

Roberts.

488
 ON STYLE 237-239

described by words like "a bit of'~ and ccnuisance," but in

impressive terms appropriate to the subject. (238) In
composition aridity is found when there is an unbroken
series of phrases, as in the Aphorisms, "Life is short, art
long, opportunity fleeting, experience deceptive,~~a or
when the subject is important and the clause is abruptly
broken off and not completed, as in one writer~s accusa-
tion of Aristides for not coming to the battle of Salamis,
"But Demeter came uninvited and fought on our side in
the sea battle, but Aristides not.~~b Here the abrupt end-
ing is inappropriate and ill-timed. Such abruptness
should be used in other contexts. (239) Often it is the
thought itself which is frigid, or in our current terminol-
ogy affected, while the composition is abrupt and tries to
disguise the unpleasant nature of the thought. Someone
says of a man who lay with his wife~s corpse: "he does not
lie with her. again~~ (ou mignutai autei au). c The meaning,
in the words of the proverb, is clear even to the blind;d
but the wording is so compact that it disguises to some
extent the unpleasantness of the subject, and produces
what we now term arid affectation, a combination of two
faults, affectation in the subject and aridity in the compo-
sition.

a Hippocr. Aphorism. 1.1 (cf. § 4).

b Author unknown. Aristides fought at Salamis, and this fic-
tion sounds like a piece of school declamation.
c Author unknown, text uncertain but including ugly hiatus
and abrupt monosyllables.
d Cf. § 112.

489
 DEMETRIUS

(240) Ka'L Ta 1TEpL T7j~ OELVOTYJTO~ 8€ 87}A.a av liYJ

\ ' 3 1"1 / ~I ' 3 ' / ' .,,
I\OL1TOV EK TWV 1TpOELpYJf.LEVWV, OTL Kat aVTYJ YEVOLT av
' / 3 ~ e '31"1 ~"~ '
EV Tpta-LV, EV OLfr1TEp OL 1rp0 aVTYJ~ xapaKTYJpE~· KaL
yap 1rpayf.LaTa Ttva €t E.avTwv €o-Tt 8Etva, wa-TE Tov~
\' , '~ ' ~ 1"1 .,, '~ 1"1 \'
1\EYOVTa~ aVTa OELVOV~ OOKELV, KaV f.LYJ OELVW~ 1\Eyw-
(JLV, Ka a1TEp e, 0
e8,
E01TOf.L1TO~ Ta~
, ,
EV T([)
!"'II
EtpatEL aVI\'Y}-
1"1 3\

, ~I ~
' ' 1"1 ' ' 3 \ 1"1 '
Tpta~ Kat Ta 1TOpVELa Kat
Kat fl-OOV- TOV~ aVI\OVVTa~

Ta~ KaL opxovf.LEVOV~, TaVTa 1TcLVTa OELVa [ OVOf.LaTa] 1

~~ , 3 1"1 , , ~ , ~ 1"1
OVTa KaLTOL aa-8EVW~ EL1TWV OELVO~ OOKE.L.
(241) KaTa 8€ TTJV a-vv8Ea-Lv 0 xapaKTTJP o15To~
/ ' .,, 1"1 ' ' / ~I ' ' / \
ytvotT av 1rpwTov f.LEV EL KOf.Lf.LaTa EXOL avTL KWI\WV"
To yap f.L7JKo~ f.KAvEt TTJV a-cpo8poTYJTa, To 8€ f.v
oA.iycp 1TOAV Ef.LcpatVOf.LEVOV OELVOTEpov· 1Tapa0ELYf.La
TO' A aKEOaLf.LOVLWV
~ ' '
1rp0~
..=F..'\
'-J:'LI\L1T1TOV, ee A /
uLOVV(JLO~ EV
3

' e ~ ee A / .
K optv. ~· EL OE Es ETELVaV aVTO, uLOVV(JLO~ EK1TE(JWV
33 ' ' '(; / 3 / 3 ,

T7j~ apx7J~ 1TTWXEVEL Kopiv8~ OLOaa-KWV ypaf.L- EI!

f.LaTa,33 OLTJYYJf.La a-xEOOV av ~v f.LaAAov avTL Aot8o-
pta~. (242) KaV TOL~ aAAoL~ 8€ cpva-EL f.(3paxvA.oyovv
OLeA/ ~ / ' 'Q ' '3
aKWVE~· OELVO'TEpov yap TO fJpaxv KaL E1TLTaKTL-
, ' ~"~ ~' ~"~ e / / '
KOV, TO f.LaKpYJyopELV OE T([) LKETEVELV 1TpE1TEL KaL
alTE'iv. (243) 8to Ka'L Ta a-vf.Lf3oA.a EXEL OELVOTYJTa~, oTt
Ef.LcpEp7} Ta'i~ (3paxvA.oyiaL~· Ka'L yap EK Tov (3pax€w~
pYJ8EvTo~ v1rovo7}a-at Ta 1r AE'ia-Ta OE'i, Ka8a1TEp EK Twv
frVf.L 01\WV" f3 /\ OVTW~
~~
Kat TO
' ' ee
xaf.LO
'(}
EV OL
e /
TETTLYE~
e
Vf.LLV
1"1

~(JOVTat'
3

OELVOTEpov aAAYJyoptKW~ pY]OEv ~ EL1TEp

e \ ~"~ ' '(} ee ' ~ / ~ e ~"~ 3 / 33
a1TI\W~ EPPYJ YJ, Ta oEvopa Vf.LWV EKK01TYJa-ETaL.

1 ovof.LaTa del. Schenk!.

490
 ON STYLE 240-243

(240) Next, forcefulness. It should be clear from what

has already been said that forcefulness, like all the previ-
ous styles, has three aspects. Some subjects are forceful
in themselves, so that those who speak about them are
thought to be forceful, even if they do not speak force-
fully. Theopompus, for instance, speaks about the flute
girls in the Piraeus, the brothels, and the men playing
flutes, singing and dancing;a all these are forceful in
themselves, and although his style is feeble, he is thought
to be forceful.
(241) In composition this style would result, if, first,
phrases replace clauses. Length dissipates intensity,
while a lot of 1neaning packed into a few words is more
forceful. An example is the message of the Spartans to
Philip, ~~Dionysius in Corinth. >>b If they had expanded it,
"Dionysius was deposed from rule and is now a poverty-
stricken scho_olteacher in Corinth,» the result would have
been a virtual narrative rather than an insult. (242) In all
circumstances the Spartans had a natural inclination
towards brevity in speech. Brevity, after all, is more
forceful and peremptory, while length in speech suits
supplications and requests.c (243) This is why expressions
which symbolise something else are forceful, since they
resemble brevity in speech. We are left to infer a great
deal from a short statement, as in the case of symbols. For
example, the saying ~~the cicadas will sing to you from the
ground» is more forceful in this allegorical form than if it
had been straightforwardly expressed, "your trees will be
cut down.»d

a FGrHist 115 Theopompus T 43, cf. § 75.

h See note on§ 8. c Cf. § 7.
d Cf. §§ 99-100.
491
 DEMETRIUS

(244) Ta~ YE ~~v 17Ept6Dov~ E.a-¢iyx8at ~aA.a DEL

~ ~' \ /
KaTa' 1 TO' TEI\0~· /\ 'YeJ yap '
17Eptaywy'Y}' OEtVOV, /
'YeJ OE 1\VO"t~

a17AOVO"TEpov Kat XP'YJO"TOYJ8Eia~ O"'YJ~ELOV, Ka8a1TEp ~

apxaia 17iia-a €p~YJVELa · a77Aoi.Kot yap oi apxaLot. 2
(245) WO"TE EV DEtVOT'Y}Tt ¢EvyEtV DEL TO apxatOEtDE~
Kat rov ~8ov~ Kat TOV pv8~ov, Kat Kara¢evyEtV
/\
~al\tO"Ta
' ' ""
E17t T'YJV VVV KaTEXOVO"aV OEtVOT'YJTa.
:) / ~ / ""
TWV
';' / \ e "" 3 (} / ee e \ / /
OVV KWI\WV at TOtavrat a170 EO"Et~, W~OI\OY'YJO"a TOV-
TOt~, W~ av oio~ TE ~' O"VVEpELV,H EXOVTat ~aAta-ra OV
ELP'YJKa pv8~ov. (246) 77otEL D€ rtva Kat ~ f3ia KaTa
T'YJV' O"VV /(} EO" tV OEtVOT'YJTa.~ / ~ '
OEtVOV yap' 1701\1\a \\
XOV"" Kat'
ro' ova-\f'
~ / A..(}
oyyov, W0"17Ep ~~
ate avw~aAot ooot.
3 / \ e ~ /
1Tapa- /

DEty~a TO flYJ~Oa-8EvtKOV TO eev~a~ TO Dovvat V~LV

3(;"" :):)
Es Etvat.
(247)
. T a' oE ~' ,
avrt/(} Era Kat' 77apo~ota / :)
EV rat~ 17Epto-
"" /
Oots cPEVKTEOV" oyKov. yap 1TOtOVO"tV, ov OELVOT'Y}Ta,
77oAAa xov D€ Kat t/JvxporYJra dvrt DELVOTYJTO~, oiov

w~ 0 8E0170~170~ . KaTa rwv Eraipwv rwv <I>tAt1T170V

\ / -''\ ,... 3 (} / ~ ' / ee ' ~
1\Eywv EI\VO"EV TTJ aVTt EO"Et T'YJV OEtVOT'YJTa, avopo-
,1.. / ~ ' ' ,/... / _,, ~
\f'OVOt OE TYJV \f'VO"tV OVTE~,
H
1\Eywv, ee avop0170pVOt
\ / ' / '
TOV
;po77ov l]a-av" · ri} yap 1TEpta-a-orExviq.., ~aAAov D€
KaKorexviq.. 1Tpoa-f.xwv 0 aKpoaT~~ E~W yivEraL
(} V~OV,. . 1TaVTO~. / (248) 1701\1\a \ \ ' ~EVTOt
/ V1T
e ' aVTWV ' "" TWV
""

1Tpay~arwv W0"1TEp avayKaa-8'YJO"O~E8a a-vv8ELVat

a-rpoyyvAw~ Kat DEtvw~, oiov ro ilYJ~oa-8EvtKov ro

1 KaTaVictorius: Kat P.
2OL apxa'iot M: apxa'iot P.

492
 ON STYLE 244-248

(244) Periods should be tightly concentrated at the

end. Periodic rounding is forceful, while a loose struc-
ture is more straightforward and a sign of simple inno-
cence, like the whole early style; for the early writers were
straightforward. (245) It follows that in the forceful style
we must avoid old-fashioned qualities of character and
rhythm, and resort to the new fashion of forcefulness.
Clauses which have endings of the following kind, ~~I have
agreed to speak to the best of my ability in their
support,"a keep closest to the rhythm I have mentioned.
(246) Violent collocation also creates a kind of force. For
in many passages harsh sounds are forceful, like rough
roads,h as in Demosthenes' sentence "(he has deprived)
you of the power for you to grant" (hilmas to dounai
hilmfn exeinai). c
(24 7) We should avoid antithesis and assonance in
periods, since they add weight, not force, and the result is
often frigid instead of forceful.. Theopompus, for exam-
ple, attacks the friends of Philip but destroys the force by
his antithesis, "men-killers by nature, they were men-
harlots in behaviour."d By having his attention drawn to
the excessive artifice, or rather the inept artifice, the
hearer loses all sense of anger. (248) We will often find
ourselves compelled by the very nature of the subject
matter to construct sentences which are compact and
forceful, as in this example from Demosthenes: "Just as

aDem. Lept. 1 (cf. §§ 10-11, 20).

b Cf. § 48.
c Dem. Lept. 2, the end of a long period. Note hyperbaton,
assonance, hiatus, and only one short syllable.
d FGrHist 115 Theopompus T 44 and F 225(c) (cf. §§ 27,
250).
493
 DEMETRIUS
'"' (( (:1 ' >I ' I ( I \ ' I \:'' 1
'TOLOV'TOV, W0"1TEp yap EL 'TL~ EKELVWV Eai\W, O"V Tao
1 1
ovK
'
av
"' '
eypa~a~·
,It (:1
ovTw~ av
"'
a-v' ' "
vvv
' (\'"'
al\cp~,
> \\
ai\1\0~ ov·'
ypal/Jet·" avTo yap To 1Tpayf.La Kat ~ Tat"~ avTov
,./... ,..., 2 ,/.,. ,. ., ,, ' , {} ' ' \:' '
O"Vf.L1T6.1-'VKVLaV a-a\{JW~ EO"XEV 'T'YJV O"VV EO"LV, KaL OVOE
Q , >f ( \:' , ( , '{} ' ,
tJLaa-af.LEVo~ av TL~ p(/:oLw~ ETEpw~ a-vve YJKEV avTo.
€v yap 1To'A'Aols 1Tpayf.Laa-L a-vvTiOef.Lev, wa-1Tep ol Ta~
KaTa{3aa-eL~ TpixovTE~, v1T' avTwv f.'AKof.LEVoL Twv
1Tpayf.LaTwv. (249) 1TOL'YJTLKov 8€ 8etvoT'YJTO~ €a-TL Kat
' ' ' '\ \ Q , {} , ' \:' ,
TO E1TL 'T€1\EL 'TL EVaL TO OELVO'Ta'TOV" 1TEpLI\af.LfJaVOf.LE-
'
VOV yap ,
EV I
f.LEO"Cf! ' Q\ I
af.LfJI\VVETaL, Ka {} a1TEp
,
'TO' 'A V'TLO" {},E-
VOV~, ((a-xe8ov yap o8VV'rJO"EL av8pw1TO~ EK cPPVyavwv
' I " ' ' L) I (:1 ' I C(
avaa-Ta~· EL yap f.LETaO"VVUEL'YJ 'TL~ OV'TW~ aVTO, a-xe-
\:'' ' ' ,/.,. I ' ' >I{} '\:' I
oov yap EK \fJpvyavwv avaa-Ta~ av pw1To~ ooVVYJ-
"3 , , ' , ' , , ' >f L) ,
O"EL, KaLTOL TaVTOV EL1TWV OV TaVTOV E'TL VOf.LLO"U'YJO"E-
TaL 'Aiyetv. (250) ~ 8€ avTi8ea-L~, ~v E1Tt TOV 8eo1TOf.L-
1TOV EcP'YJV, ov8€ f.v Tpt~ il7Jf.L00"8EVLKOL~ ijpf.LOO"EV,
>I L) ,/.,. I (C ' I\ ' ' \:' ' ' \ I 3 \:'I\:' 4
EVua o/'YJO"LV, €7€/\EL~, EYW 0€ E'T€1\0Vf.L'YJV" EOLOaO"KE~,

€yw 8€ €cPoiTwv· f.TptTaywvia-Tet~, €yw 8€ €8ewf.L'YJV"

€~i1TL1T'TE~, €yw 8€ €a-vpLTTov·" KaKoTexvovvTL yap
EOLKEV 8ta TTJV avTa1To8oa-tv, f.La'A'Aov 8€ 1TaL,OV'TL,
' ayavaKTOVV'TL.
OVK ' ,...,

(251) IIpi1TEt 8€ Tfj 8etvoT'YJTL Kat Twv 1TEpt68wv 1]

1TVKVO'T'YJ~, KaLTOL EV TOt~ AOL1TOt~ xapaKTTJPO"LV OVK
E1TLT'YJ8Eia oila-a. a-vvexw~ 5 yap TL8Ef.LEV'YJ f.LETPCf! ELKa-
a-87}a-ETaL 'Aeyof.LEVCf! EcPE~ij~, Kat TOVTO 8etv4) f.LETpcp,

1 CTV rao' Dem. codd.: CTV o' P.

2 CTVfl./TTEcjJvKv'iav Victorius: crvp..1TEcpvKv'ia P.
3 oovvr}crEL Goeller: oovvr}crELEv P.

494
 ON STYLE 248-251

you would not have made this proposal if any of them had
been convicted, so if you are convicted now, no one will
make it in future.,,a This particular arrangement clearly
grew naturally out of the subject itself and the order it
demanded, and not even by violent dislocation could any-
one have easily constructed it differently. In many topics
in constructing sentences we are swept along by the sub-
ject itself, just as though we were running down a steep
slope. (249) It also creates force to put the most striking
part at the end, since if it is put in the middle, its point is
blunted, as in this sentence of Antisthenes, "for almost a
shock of pain will be caused by a man standing up out of
brushwood. ~,b If you were to change the order, ~~for a man
standing up out of brushwood will cause almost a shock of
pain/, you will be saying the same thing but will no longer
be believed to be saying the same. (250) But to revert to
antithesis, _which I condemned in Theopompus:c it is not
suitable either in that passage of Demosthenes where he
says, "you were initiating, I· was initiated; you were a
school teacher, I went to school; you took minor roles in
the theatre, I was in the audience; you were driven off the
stage, I would be hissing.,,d The elaborate parallelism
seems too artificial, and more like word play than honest
anger.
(251) A massive series of periods fits the forceful style,
though it does not suit the other styles. Put continuously,
they will suggest successive lines of metre, and forceful

aDem. Aristocr. 99 (cf. § 31). b Antisthenes VA 45 Gian-

nantoni. For the advice cf. §§50-53. c Cf. §§ 27, 247.
d Dem. De Cor. 265.

4
ypap.,p.,aTa add. M, Dem.: om. P.
5 (TVvexws- edd.: (TVvexe'i P.
495
 DEMETRIUS

W0"1TEp OL xw'AiafL{30L. (252) afLa fLEVTOL 1TVKVat EO"TW-

' , \, ~' ~, \ , ' ,
a-av Kat O"VVTOfLOL, 1\EYW OE OLKWI\OL TLVE~, E1TEL TOL
1ToAvKw'Aoi YE 1 oiJa-at- Ka'A'Ao~ fLii'A'Aov 1Tap€tova-t-v, ov
8ELVOT'Y]Ta.
(253) Ovrw 8' T] , ""' ""' ,
O"VVTOfLLa rep xapaKT'YJPL XP'YJO"L-
fLOV, WO"TE Kat a1TOO"LW1T7}a-aL 1TOA'Aaxov 8EtVOTEpov,
Ka0a1TEp o ~'YJfLoa-Oiv'YJ~· ~~d'A'A' €yw fLEv, ov {3ov'AofLa'-
8€ 8va-xEPE~ ov8€v EL1TELV, oiJro~ 8€ EK 1TEpt-ova-ia~
Kar'Y}yopEt." O"XE8ov o2 O"LW1T'Yja-a~ EVrav(}a 8ELVOTEpo~
1ravro~ ' rov""' ' ,
EL1Tovro~ ,,
av. ( 254) Kat' V'Y]' rov~ ' (} Eov~
'
O"XE8ov ( av 3] Kat TJ aa-acPELa 1TOAAaxov 8ELVOT'YJ~
' ,•
EO"TL ~ ,
OELVOTEpov '
yap TO' ~ ,
V1TOVOOVfLEVOV, TO' ~'
0

€ta1T 'Aw0€v Kara¢povE'irat-.

( 255) ''Ea-rL 8' 01T'Y] KaKo¢wvia 8Et-VOT'Y]Ta 1TOLEL,
Kat fLaAt-a-ra f.av ro v1ToKELfLEvov 1rpiiyfLa 8€'YJrat-
avTij~, 4 W0"1TEp TO ~OfL'YJP~KOV, TO ~~TpwE~ 8' f.ppiy'Y]-
~1 ,, ~ ' , \ ,, rf.... " 9 ' ' ' ' rf....
a-av, 01TW~ LOOV aLOI\OV O'PLV • YJV fLEV yap Kat EV'PW-
VOTEpW~ El1rovra a-w&at- ro fLErpov, ~~TpwE~ 8' €ppi-
~' ,, rf.... ' ,\ 9 ~ " ' \ \ ' " ' .,, ~
YYJO"aV, 01TW~ O'PLV aLOI\OV ELOOV " al\1\ OVT av 0
\ , ~ ' ~' ,, ~ (: ,, ~ 5 ,, rf.... ' , ( 256)
1\EYWV OELVO~ OVTW~ EOOs EV OVTE 0 O'PL~ aVTO~.

rovrcp oiJv E1TOfLEVOL r{i> 1Tapa8EiyfLaTL Kat ra a'A'Aa

1Tpoa-a-roxaa-OfLE0a 6 Ta OfLOLa, oiov aVTt fLEV TOV
~~1TaVra av <EypaljJEv" ~~1TaVTa> 7 Eypal/JEV av/' avrt

1 ')'E Goeller: TE P. 2 oWeil: w~ P.

3 av del. edd.
4
DE'YJTUL avTij~ M: DEYJ TOLUVT'YJ~ P.
5 o M:om.P.
6
7Tpoa-frroxaa-oJLE8a Goeller: 7Tpoa-Toxaa-oJLE8a P.

496
 ON STYLE 252-256

metres at that, like the choliambic.a (252) These massed

periods should, however, be short (I suggest two clauses),
since periods with many clauses will produce beauty
rather than force.
(253) Brevity in fact is so useful in this style that a sud-
den lapse into silence often adds to the forcefulness, as in
Demosthenes, "I certainly could-but I do not wish to say
anything offensive, and the prosecutor has the advantage
in accusing me."h His silence here is almost more effec-
tive than anything anyone could have said. (254) And
(strange as it may seem) even obscurity is often a sort of
forcefulness, since what is implied is more forceful, while
what is openly stated is despised.
(255) Occasionally cacophony produces vigour, espe-
cially if the nature of the subject calls for it, as in Homer's
line, "the Trojans shuddered, when they saw the writhing
serpent" (: .. idon aiolon ophin).c It would have been
possible for him to construct the line more euphoniously,
without violating the metre,' "the Trojans shuddered,
when they saw the serpent writhing" ( . . . ophin aiolon
eidon), but then neither the speaker nor the serpent itself
would have been thought forceful. (256) On this model
we can attempt other similar experiments, for example by
replacing ''he would have written everything" (panta an
egrapsen) with "everything would he have written"
(panta egrapsen an), or "he was not present" (au

a See on § 301. b Dem. De Cor. 3.

c Hom. Il. 12.208. The line scans if the first syllable of oqnv is
"irregularly" lengthened (as if oPE_hin).

7 ~~1TUVTa
' ~,
av e dd .: '
1TUVTWV P : ~~ eypa-yEV
,, ·1• " '
1TUVTU add . Rad er-
macher.
497
 DEMETRIUS

8€ TOV ccov napeyf.vETo" cc7rapeyf.vETO ovxC'· (257)

' \ / ~ / ' ' ~ / ' cc ~ , , .,,
a7T'OI\ YJ'YOVTE~ OE 7T'OTE KaL EL~ a-VVOE(J"f..LOV~ TOV OE YJ
' cc /, / /\ \ A-. ""' ' ' /\
TOV TE • KaLTOL napayyEI\1\ETaL ~VYELV TYJV a7T'OAYJ-
tLV T~V TOLaVTYJV• aAAa 7T'OAAaxav XP~a-Lf..LO~ TOtaVTYJ
av yf.voLTO, oiov CCOVK Ev¢~f..LY](J"E f..LEV, attov OVTa,
' /
YJTLJ.Laa-E ~ / "
OE, KaL' 1 TO' cc~ ""'
...::..XOLVOV/ ~ ""' \ /
TE ...::.,KWI\OV TE,
" ' \ \ ,
al\1\
f.v f.LEV ro'i~ cOf..LYJPLKOL~ f..LEYEOo~ E7T'OLYJa-Ev ~ El~ Tov~
a-vv8f.a-f..LOV~ TEAEVT~. ( 258) 7T'OL~(J"ELE 8' av 7T'OTE Kat
8ELVOTYJTa, EL TL~ c18E EL7T'OL ccaVETpEt./JEv 2 8€ V7T'O Tij~
d¢poa-VVYJ~ TE V7T'O Tij~ aa-E{3Eia~ TE Ta LEpa TE Ta
~I I " ~~\ ' C \ / ' ' ' / \ A...
oa-La TE • 01\W~ yap YJ 1\ELOTYJ~ KaL TO EVYJKOOV yl\a~V-

pOTYJTO~ f8t-a, ov 8ELVOTYJTO~ Ea-TLV, OVTOL 8' OL xapa-

KTijpE~ f.vavru:JTaToL 8oKova-t-v.
(259) KatTOL Ea-TL 7T'OAAaxov EK 7T'at-8La~ napaf..LE-
f..L"Yf..LEV~~ 8Et-VOTYJ~ Ef..L¢at-VOf..LEVYJ TL~, oiov f.v Tat~
~/ ' ,.... c K ' / c ' K pa-
/
KWf..LqJOLat~, KaL 7T'a~ 0 ~VLKO~ Tp07r0~, W~ Ta
ce / 3 ""'' 4 ~~ / ' ' ~~ / "
TYJTO~ 7rYJpYJ TL~ yat- Ea-TL f..LEa-4} EVL OLV07T'L 7T'OVT4_) .
(260) KaL' TO' A / ·
uLOYEVOV~ TO' '
EV
'0 1\Vf..L'TT'Uf,
\ / OTE
~~
TOV""' 07T'I\L-
c \ /

~ ' / '' I '/ c '

TOV E7T'LTPEXWV
opaf..LOVTO~ aVTO~ EKYJpVTTEV EaVTOV
""' ra' 'Q\AVf..L7T'La
VLKav / / ' 0 / \ ' 0/
navTa~ av pwnov~ Kai\OKaya u1:.

1 Kat Radermacher: w~ P.
~ 1 "{Xl '1 ' P.
1 1
2 avErpE-.yEV
,/,
vvel : av. eypa-yEV
' ,/,

3 1ri}pYJ Victorius: ro 1ToriJpYJ P.

4 ya't' Victorius: yap P.

The negative moves to final, emphatic position. The point

a
of the first example is presumably that prefers a weak posi- av
tion.

498
 ON STYLE 257-260

paregeneto) with "present he was not" ( paregeneto

ouchi);a (257) or by ending sometimes with a connective,
"on the other hand" (de) or "too" (te ), even though the
normal instruction is to avoid such endings. But this sort
of closure can often be useful, for example "he did not
praise him on the one hand (men), though he deserved it;
he insulted him, on the other hand" (de); b or "and
Schoenus and Scolus too ... '' (Schoenon te Skolon te
... )c-though in Homer's lines it is grandeur which is the
result of ending with a connective. (258) But sometimes it
can also produce force, as in this sort of sentence (with
repeated te), "He overturned, in his folly and his impiety
too, things sacred and holy too. "d In general, smoothness
and euphony are characteristic of the elegant style, not
the forceful, and these two styles seem to be direct oppo-
sites.
(259) Yet !flixing in an element of playfulness often
produces a kind of vigour, for example in comedy; and the
whole Cynic manner is like this, as in the words of Crates,
"There is a land of Beggarbag in the midst of the wine-
dark sea'';e (260) and the story about Diogenes at
Olympia, when after the race between men in armour he
ran forward and personally proclaimed himself victor in

h Author unknown.
c Hom. Il. 2.497 (cf. §54).
d Author unknown.
e Cf. § 170. Crates VH 70 Giannantoni, a parody of Homer's
description of Crete (quoted in § 113). Demetrius (or a copyist)
is too close to Homer: compare the correct version in Diog.
A,.
Laert. 6 .85 , II'YJP'YJ TIS 1TOJ\l8 ECTTt., fLECTqJ EVt., Ot.,V01Tt., TV'-(Jq},
I I\ '' I ' \ '' I

"There is a city ofBeggarbag in the midst of wine-dark delusion."

499
 DEMETRIUS

Kat yap yEAaTat TO ELPYJf.LEVOV af.La Kat OaVf.LU,ETat,

Kat TjpE.f.La Kat 1rrro8aKvEt 1TW~ AEyof.LEvov. (261) Kat
TO 1Tpor; TOV KaAov pYJOEv aVTCfJ" 1TpOa-1TaAaiwv yap
KaA[iJ 1Tat8t b..toyE.vYJ~ 8t€Ktv~8YJ 11'W~ TO al8o'iov, TOV
8€ 1Tat8or; rpof3YJ0EVTO~ Kat a71'01TYJ8~a-avTo~, f:f:Oap-
"
pEt , E't'YJ, rl-.. 1
:1/
W 11'atotov·
f:f: ';" c;::- / '
OVK '
Etf.Lt '
TaVTYJ / t:/
Of.LOtO<;. "
yEA.o'Lov yap To 7rpoxEtpov Tov A.oyov, 8EtvTj 8' T] KEv-
Oof.LEVYJ Ef.Lrpacrt~. KaL oAw~, a-vvEAOVTt rppacrat, 1TaV
TO Ei8o~ TOV KvvtKOV Aoyov a-aivoVTt af.La EOtKE T(f!
Kat 8aKVOVTt. (262) XP~(J"OVTat 8' aVT~ KaL oi P~TO-
pE~
, 7TOTE, Kat' , ,
EXPYJa-avTo, A ,
va-ta~ f.LEV' 1Tpo~ ' TOV '
€pwvTa Tij~ ypao~ A.E.ywv, OTt ee-ry~ pftov ~v dptOjLij-
' 'c;::- / .,, ' c;::- '\ , ' ' c;::- /
a-at TOV~ OOOVTa~ YJ TOV~ oaKTVJ\OV~ • Kat yap O€tVO-

Ta Ta af.La t:/ Kat' yEAOtOTaTa €vE.¢YJvEv TTJV ypavv·

t:/Of.LYJPO~ 8€ TO
/
1TpoyEypaTTTat.
'
(263) en r; 8' av .,,
Kat' 'EK crxYJf.LaTWV / /
ytyvotTO c;::-
O€tVO- /

TYJ~, AE~Of.LEV' EK 'f.LEV ovv TWV Tij~ 8tavoia~ crxYJf.LU-

TWV, EK f.LEV Tij~ 1TapaA€Ll/JEW~ OVOf.La'Of.LEVYJ~ OVTw~·
ee:~'O \ 1\. /r n ,
1\VVUOV n '
f.LEV c;::- '
OYJ Kat' lV_1_€UWVYJV Kat' 'A1TOJ\J\WVtaV\\ ,
Kat'c;::-OVO
/
Kat' TptaKOVTa / '\
1TOJ\ElS '
Ta~ €1Tt
' '8 pq..KYJ~ / ~""'"
EW • EV
~

' ,
yap TOVTOt~ Kat EtpYJKEV 1TaVTa, oa-a ' :1/ / t:/ ~{3 /\
E OVJ\ETO, Kat
'
1rapaAt1TELV avTa rpYJcrtv, w~ DEtVOTEpa EL1TELV EXWV
ETEpa. (264) Kat ~ 1TpOEtpYJf.LEVYJ 8' a1Toa-u{J1TYJ(J"tr; TOV
aVTOV Et8ov~ 2 EXOf.LEVYJ DEtVOTEpov 1TOt~(J"EL TOV A.6yov.
1 EcP7J Greg.: om. P: ei1rev post 7Tat8iov M.
2 ef8ovs- Orth: €0ovs- P.

500
 ON STYLE 260-264

the Olympic games over all mankind, in nobility of

character. a This announcement raises simultaneous
laughter and applause, and unobtrusively it also somehow
gently bites as it is being said. (261) So do his words to
the handsome youth: wrestling with a handsome youth
Diogenes somehow experienced an erection, and the boy
became afraid and jumped away. "Never fear, my boy,'~ he
said, "I am not like you in that way.''b There is wit in the
speed of the reply, and force in the meaning hidden
below. Generally speaking, to summarise, the whole
character of Cynic sayings suggests a dog that fawns as it
bites. (262) Orators will also sometimes use it, as they
have in the past, for example Lysias when he said to the
old woman's lover, "her teeth could be counted sooner
than her fingers."c He revealed the old woman most
forcefully in a most ridiculous light. Homer also used it,
as in an example I have already quoted, "No-man I will
eat last. "d
(263) We shall next discuss how force can result from
figures. First, figures of thought, beginning with the fig-
ure given the name of paraleipsis, for example ~~I pass
over Olynthus, Methane, Apollonia, and thirty-two cities
in Thrace. "e In these words Demosthenes has actually
stated everything he wanted, yet he claims to pass over
them, to imply that he has other more forceful points to
make. (264) The figure of aposiopesis which I have
already mentionedf is of the same kind, and it too adds

a Diogenes VB 449 Giannantoni. b Diogenes VB 410

Giannantoni. c Lys.fr. 1 Thalheim (cf. § 128).
d Hom. Od. 9.369 (cf. §§ 130, 152). e Dem. Phil. 3.26.
f Cf. § 253 (rather than§ 103).

501
 DEMETRIUS

(265) 7TapaAaf-Lf3avOI/TO 8' av a-xiJf-La 8tavota~ 7Tpo~

8etVOT'YJTa <~> 1 7rpoa-w7To7Totta KaAOVf-LEVYJ, otov
1:1:86taTE v,_t'iv Tov~ 7rpoyovov~ ovet8i,etv Kat 'Af.yetv
, ~ Ttva' YJ.,, TYJV
Taoe ' I:E 1\1\aoa
\ \ , ~ YJ.,, TYJV
' 7TaTptoa,
"~ \ a ""'
1\afJova-av
yvvatKo~ a-xiJf-La''. (266) wa-7Tep f.v T~ E7TtTac/Jt4J II'Aa-
rwv TO I:I:JJ 7Ta'L8e~, OTt f-LEV EO"T€ 7TaTEpwv ayaOwv
'~
... , Kat OVK EK TOV tOtOV
" ' ' ' ""'
7rpoa-W7TOV /\€'YEt a/\1\a EK
i' i' \ .i' '\ \ ' '

rov rwv 7TaT€pwv· 7To'Av yap €vepy€a-Tepa Kat 8etvo-

repa c/JaiveTat V7TO rwv 7rpoa-w7Twv, f-LUAAov 8€ 8pa-
) ""' .i'
f-LaTa aTEXVW~ ytVETat.
(267) Ta p.,ev 8-ry 2 rij~ 8tavoia~ [Kat] 3 a-xY,f-LaTa

1 ~ add. Hammer.
2 3 KaL del. Spengel.
DTJ Spengel: ELD7J P.
4 E7TL Tov~ VOfLOV~ KaA.e'is add. Aesch., M in mg., om. P.
5 EO"TtV, w~ Victorius: 'ta-w~ P.

502
 ON STYLE 265-268

force to what we say. (265) Another figure of thought

which may be used to produce force is the figure called
prosopopoeia, for example "Imagine that your ancestors
are rebuking you and speak such words, or imagine
Greece, or your country in the form of a woman."a (266)
This is what Plato uses in his Funeral Speech, "Children,
that you are the sons of brave men ... "b He does not
speak in his own person but in that of their fathers. The
personification makes the passage much more lively and
forceful, or rather it really turns into a drama.
(267) The figures of thought may be used as I have
described; and the instances above will serve as a sample.
As for figures of speech, the more varied your choice, the
more forceful their impact on what you say. Take repeti-
tion, as in ''Thebes, Thebes, our neighbouring city, has
been torn from the middle of Greece."c The repetition of
the name giyes force. (268) Or take the figure called
anaphora, as in "against yourself you summon him,
against the laws you summon him, against the democracy
you summon him.''d Here the figure in question is three-
fold. It is anaphora, as I have already said, because the
same word is repeated at the beginning of each clause; it
is asyndeton because it is expressed without connectives;
and it is homoeoteleuton because of the recurrent end-

a Author unknown, perhaps an invented pastiche since ances-

tors and country give the two standard categories of animate and
inanimate, e.g. Cic. Orator 85.
b Pl. Menex. 246d.
c Aesch. Ctes. 133.
d Aesch. Ctes. 202.

503
 DEMETRIUS

cL7TOAYJ~LV TOV eeKaAli~" <TE8Eta-av> 1 7TOAAaKL~. Kat

8ELVOTYJ~ ~fJpota-TaL EK Twv 7ptwv, El 8' Et1TOL TL~
~I ee ' \ \ 2 \ \ I \ \ ~
OVTW~, E1TL CTaVTOV KaL TOV~ VOfLOV~ KaL TYJV OYJfLO-
KpaTtaV KaAlis," aJ.La Tot~ a-x~fLaa-tv €~atp~a-EL Ka'i
Ti}v 8ELVOTYJTa. ( 269) fLcLALa-Ta 8€ 1TaVTWV la-TEOV Ti}v
8taAVCTLV 8ELVOTYJTO~ €pyaTLV, oiov ee1TOpEVETaL 8u1
TYJ~ ayopO.s TGS yvafJov~ 4>va-wv, TQS ocrpv~ E7TYJp-
KW~, ta-a {3aivwv ITvOoKAEL'' · El yap a-vvacrOfl TavTa
a-vv8€a-fLOL~, 1Tpq.oTEpa f.a-TaL. (270) AafLf3avotT' ilv
Kat ~ KAtfLa~ KaAOVfLEVYJ, WCT1TEp !lYJfLOCTfJEVEL 70 eeOVK
Ei1TOV fLEV TavTa, OVK E.ypat/Ja 8€· ov8' E.ypat/Ja fLEV,
OVK
' ' I a
E1TpECTtJEVCTa ~I
OE"
'~'
OVO ' I a
E1TpECTtJEVCTa fLEV,
I
OVK
'

'I
E1TELa-a oE
~ \ 8 YJtJaLov~
Q I n ~\ \ ' Q e
· a-xEoov yap E1TavafJaLvovTt o
I

\ I
1\0yo~ EOLKEV
''
E1TL
' \ rI
fLELsOVWV 1 7
fLELsOVa • '
EL OE
~ \ ~I
OVTW~ EL1TOL
''

TL~
,..,
TCf-VTa, ee ' '
EL7TWV '
EYW
'
KaL' ypa'Pa~
I, It ' I a I
E1TpECTtJEVCTa 7E

Ka'i E7TELa-a 8YJf3aiovc;,': DL~YYJfLa €pEt p.,ovov, DELvov

8€ ov8€v. (271) KafJo'Aov 8€ TYJ~ 'Af.~Ew~ Ta a-x~fLaTa
Kat V1TOKpLCTLV Kat aywva 1TapEXEL 7~ 'Af.yovTL,
fLcLAta-Ta TO 8taAEAVfLEVOV [ TOVT' ECTTL 8ELVOTYJTa]. 3
Kat 1TEpt fLEV TWV CTXYJfLcLTWV afL4>07Epwv Toa-avTa.
(272) Af.~t~ 8€ AafLf3av€a-fJw 1raa-a, OCTYJ Kat ev T~
fLEyaAo7TpE7TEt xapaKTYJpL, 1TAi}v OVK E1Tt 70 aVTO
1\ \ \ ..,../.,. I '' ~ \ ,.., e \
TE/\0~· KaL yap fLETao/EpOVTa ECTTL OELVa 7TOLELV, W~ 70

1 KaAlis TEBliU"av Denniston: KaAe'iU"Bat P: KaAe'ir;; iam edd.

2 E7TL U"avTov Victorius: E7TavTov P.
3 del. Radermacher.

504
If

ON STYLE 268-272

ing, "you summon him." Force is the cumulative result of

the three figures, and if you were to write, ··against your-
self and the laws and the democracy you summon him,"
you will remove the force along with the figures. (269)
But you should realise that above all other figures it is
asyndeton which produces force, as in "he walks through
the marketplace, puffing out his cheeks, raising his eye-
brovvs, keeping in step with Pythocles."a If the words
were s1noothed out with connectives, they will be tamer.
(270) The figure called climax should also be used, as in
this sentence from Demosthenes, "I did not express this
opinion, and then fail to move the resolution; I did not
move the resolution and then fail to serve as envoy; I did
not serve as envoy and then fail to convince the
Thebans.''h This sentence seems almost to be climbing
higher and higher at each step, and if you were to rewrite
it like this, "after I gave my opinion and moved the resolu-
tion, I served as envoy and convinced the Thebans," you
will give a mere narrative of events, with nothing forceful
about it. (271) In summary; figures of speech, particularly
asyndeton, provide the speaker with scope for dramatic
delivery and immediacy [that is to say force].c This con-
cludes my account of both kinds of figures.
(272) The diction to use should be entirely the same
as that in the grand style, but with a different end in
view. Metaphor, for example, creates force, for example

a Dem. De Pals. Leg. .314.

h Dem. De Cor. 179, the traditional example, e.g. Quint.
9.3.55. Literally ladder, KALf.Lag has a narrower Ineaning than its
derivative, "climax," since each step must be repeated.
c The perverse word order in the Greek seems to demand
deletion.
505
 DEMETRIUS

c~:Tfi> ITv()wvt Opao-vvoJLEVCf! KaL 1To'A'Afi> p€ovTt Ka8'

c
Vf.LWV"" ' '
• (273) Kat' EtKao-ta~
' / 1 1\E'YOVTa,
\ / A {) /
W~ TO UYJJLOCT E-
c '

/A.... ' / ' , /

VOV~,
cc ""
TOVTO TO' 'It
't'YJlf.ltCTf.La TOll TOT E1TtOVTa TYJ"" 1TOI\Et
/\

Kiv8vvov 1TapE'A()liv E1TOLYJCTEv, wo-1TEp v€cpo~." (274)

at 1Tapa{3o'AaL 8€ Tfj DEtVOTYJTt ovK E1TtT~DEtat 8u1 To
f.LYJKO~, oiov TO t:t:WCT1TEp 8€ KVWV yEvval-o~, a1TEtpo~,
a1Tpovo~TW~ E1TL Ka1Tpov cp€pETat". Ka'A'Ao~ yap KaL
, /{3 / , / , ,/.... / ~' ~ 1: /
aKpt Eta TI.S EV TOVTOlS Ef.Llf.latVETat, YJ OE OEtVOTYJ~
o-cpo8pov Tt {3ov'AETat KaL CTVVTOJLOV, KaL eyyv()Ev
1T'A~TTovo-tv E.otKEV. (275) yivETat 8€ KaL EK o-vv()€Tov
, /
OVOf.LaTO~
~ /
OELVOTYJ~,
~~ , 1:
WCT1TEp Kat YJ CTVVYJ Eta CTVVTL YJ-
/e /e
CTtV 8EtVW~ 1To'A'Aa, f:f:TTJV xaJLatTV1TYJV" KaL f:f:TOV 1Tapa-
\ ""
1TI\Y}ya " Kat' Et,, TL a/\1\0
''\ \ ""
TOtOVTOV" Kat/ 1Tapa' TOL~""

P~Topo-t 8€ 1To'A'Aa av Tt~ Evpot TOtaVTa. ( 276) 1TEL-

"" e
pao- ~t
~, ,, /
OE Ta OVOJLaTa
/
1TpE1TOVTW~
\/
1\EYELV
""
TOL~ 1Tpay-
/
f.LaCTtV, oiov E1TL f.LEV Tov. {3iq. KaL 1Tavovpyif!: 8pao-av-
cc ~ ~ ' TOV
TO~ OLE{3 tao-aTO,
/ "2 E1Tt
' ' OE "" {3 U/:
I
Kat' lf.lavEpW~
,/.... ""
Kat'
~:~: 'C ~ ~ ~
f.LETa' a1TOVOta~
' / , It 'C ""\
Es EKO't'EV, Es Et/\EV,
" ' '
E1TL OE
'
TOV"" 001\LW~
\ /

KaL A.a()paiw~ 3 ~:cETPV1TYJCTEv" 4 ~ ~:r:8t€cpayEv," ~ Et TL

TotovTov 1Tpoa-cpopov Tol-~ 1Tpayf.Laa-tv ovoJLa.
(277) To 8€ etaipEo-()ai 1TW~ 'A.aJLf3avOJLEVOV ov
/
f.LEYE
e 0~
" / ,\ \ , ,
1TOtEt f.LOVOV a/\1\a Kat OEtVOTYJTa,
~ I 1:
W~ TO
, t:f: ,
OV
'A€yEtv Eto-w TTJV XEl-pa E.xovTa DEl-, Ala-xivYJ, d'A'Aa
1HK
' a en,/ a r;;; M : H,H,K/
a a-Ha r;;; p•
2 DtE{3uia-aro M: DtE{3t{3aa-aro P.
3 'Aa8pa[wr;;; Victorius: 'Aa8pa we; P.
4 an E.tErp{nrYJa-Ev?

506
 ON STYLE 272-277

"Python grew bold and was a rushing torrent in full spate

against you,~'a (273) and so does simile, as in Demos-
thenes' passage, uthis decree made the danger which then
threatened the city pass by like a cloud."h (274) But
detailed comparisons do not suit the forceful style
because of their length, for example ''as a gallant hound,
ignorant of the danger, recklessly charges a boar."c There
is an element of beauty and precise detail about this sen-
tence, whereas forcefulness needs to be short and sharp,
like a close exchange of blows. (275) Compound words
also give force, as usage proves in many forceful com-
pounds such as "street-lay," "brain-crazy,"d and the like.
Many similar examples may be found in the orators. (276)
Try also to use words which match their subject, for
example say of a man who acted violently and ruthlessly
that "he forced his way through," or of a man who acted
violently in a11 open and reckless manner that "he slashed
his way out, he hacked his way out," or of a man who
acted treacherously and evasively that "he wormed his
way, he gnawed his way through," or whatever words sim-
ilarly match the subject.
(277) Some uses of heightening the tone produce
force as well as grandeur, for example "It is not as an ora-
tor that you ought not to hold your hand out, Aeschines,

aDem. De Cor. 136 (cf. § 80).

h Dem. De Cor. 188.
c Xen. Cyrop. 1.4.21 (cf. § 89).
d Literally ground-struck (prostitute) and sideways-hit (mad).
Compounds also dominate § 276, providing all but one of the
examples (to be emended therefore?). Cf. § 93 for the concise
power of compound verbs.

507
 DEMETRIUS

rrpEa-{3EvELV Eta-w TTJV XE'ipa E.xovTa." ( 278) Ka~ To

~~dA.A.' oTTJV Ev{3oLav EKE'ivoc; a-¢ETEP'-,ofLEvoc;"· ov
yap vrr€p TOV p,eyav 1TOL-Y}a-aL TOV Aoyov ~ E.rravaa-Ta-
0"18' dAA' vrr€p TOV OELVOV. yivETaL OE TOVTO €rrav
JLETa~v €~apO€vTEc; 1 KaTrryopwfLEV rLvoc;· wa-1rep yap
Ala-xivov KaTYJyopia, To o€ <f>LAL7T7TOV ea-Tiv. (279)
OELVOV OE Kat TO epwrwvra rove; aKOVOVTac; El/La
\ ,
1\EYELV, KaL' fL'Y'J a1TO\f'aLVOfLEVOV,
, ,.~... , ~~ , \ \ , ~ ' EV~'{3 OLaV
aJ\1\ 0 TYJV
EKE'ivoc; a-¢ErEpL,()p,Evoc; Kat Karaa-KEva,wv E7TLTEi-
X'-O"fLa E7Tt TTJV 'A TTLK~V, 1T07Epov ravra 1TOLWV T]oi-
KEL, 2 Kat EAVEV TTJV elp~VYJV, ~ ov;" Ka0a7TEp yap Elc;
a7Topiav ayEL TOV aKOVOVTa E~EAEYXOfLEVq_J EOLKOTa
Kat JLYJOEV a7TOKpivaa-0aL EXOVTL. EL o€ JJoe fLETa{3a-
Awv E.¢YJ Tl-\;' e~TJOLKEL Kat EAVE TTJV Elp~V'Y}V'" a-a¢wc;
DLOaq-KOVTL E~KEL Ka~ <ovK> 3 f.A.f.yxovTL. ( 280) ~ o€
KaAovp,EV'Y} E7TLfLOVTJ €q-rt p,€v EPJLYJVEia 1TAEiwv rov
rrpayfLaToc;, fLEYLO"Ta o€ a-vfLf3aAoLT' av Elc; OELVO-
TY)Ta. rrapaOEt-yfia o€ avrijc; TO ilYJfL00"0Evovc;,
~~VOO"'YJfLa yap, dJ avOpEc; 'AOYJva'iot, OELVOV EfL7TE7TTW-
KEV 4 €18
' '
T'YJV eE:JI\1\aOa
\ \ ' ~ . . ." < ... > 5 OVK' .,,
av ~~
OVTW<; ';"'
YJV
OELVOV.
(281) Taxa o€ Kav 6 oEv¢'YJJL'-a-p,oc; KaAovp,Evoc;
JLETEXOL TTJ<; OELVOT'YJTO<;, Ka~ 0 ra Ova-¢'YJfLa EV¢YJfLa
1 E.tapOf.vTE'} Spengel: E.tatpEBEvTE'} P.
2 Ka'i 7rapEa-1TDl'DEt add. M, Dem.

:3 ovK add. Victorius.

4'EfL1TE1TTWKEV
, M : fLEV
' 7TE7TTWKEV
, p.
5 Iacunam stat. Victorius. 6 Kav Goeller: Ka'i P.

508
llf

ON STYLE 278-281

but as an envoy not to hold your hand out. "a (278) And
sin1ilarly: "No, he was annexing Euboea ... "b The rise in
tone is not aimed to make the style dignified, but to rr1ake
it forceful. This happens vvhen the heightening is intro-
duced as we attack so1neone, just as the former passage is
an attack on Aeschines. the latter on Philip. (279) It is also
forceful to express some points by asking the audience
questions rather than by rnaking a staten1ent, for exa1nple
"No. he was annexing .Eu boea and establishing a base
against Attica-and in doing this vvas he wronging us and
breaking the peace, or was he not ?"c J)einosthenes forces
his listener into a sort of corner. so that he seen1s to he
cross-examined and unable to reply. If you were to
redraft and substitute this version~ "he was wronging us
and breaking the peace,,. it \Vould see1n an open state-
ment rather than a cross-exa1nination. (280) The figure
called epimoi}t\ which is an elaboration going beyond the
bare statement of fact d can contribute verv successfully
to a forceful effect. I-I ere is an' example from D<-nno;-
thenes~ "men of Athens. a terrible disease has fallen on
c; reece,, < ... > the sentence would not then have had
force.
(281) Perhaps some force 1nay be found even in what
is called euphen1isrn, language "'hich n1akes inauspicious

a l)enl. De Pals. Leg. 2.5.'5. Aeschines n1ay use the hand ges-
tun~s of the orator, but should not takf' bribes.
h De1n. De Cor. 71. e The sa1ne passage now illustrates a
different point, the use of rhetorical questions.
d I.e. the same idea is variously expressed, as in the example
fro1n IJen1. De Pals. Leg. 259, which continues with a list of vari-
ants on 8Etv(5v. This will have been clarified in the lacuna. Add
e.g. "If it were cut short at this point."

509
 DEMETRIUS

1TOU~Jv Kat Ta ft(JE{jTjf.LaTa EV(JE{jTjf.LaTa, oiov w~ 0 Ta~

, ' ,. . , , \ , ' ,. . ,
N LKa~ Ta~ XPV(Ja~ xwvEVELV KEAEvwv KaL KaTaxpYJ-
(JOat TOt~ xpT]f.La(JLV EL~ TOV 1TOAEf.LOV ovx OVTW~
-;-
EL1TEV '
1TPOXELpW~,
(:/
OTL ee '.I.
KaTaKO~Wf.LEV
'
Ta~
N'LKa~ EL~
,
' /\ n ~ / ..,./... ' .,, ~~ ' \ ~
TOV 1TOI\Ef.LOV • OV(J'f'Y}f.LOV yap av OVTW~ KaL 1\0LOO-
poVVTL EOLKO~ ~v Ta~ 8Ea~, d'A'A' EVcpYJf.LOTEpov, OTL
ec(JVYXPYJ(JOf.LE()a Ta~~ NLKaL~ EL~ TOV 1TOAEf.LOV:,. ov
' KaTaK01TTOVTL
yap ' ' N LKa~
Ta~
' EOLKEV
:J/
OVTW~ PYJ EV,
(:/ e f) '
aAAa (JVf.Lf.Laxov~ f.LETa1TOLOVVTL.
(282) ~ELVa 8€ Kat Ta ~YJf.La8ELa, KaLTOL t8tov KaL
aT01TOV Tp01TOV EXELV 8oKOVVTa, E(JTL 8€ avTWV ~
8ELVOTYJ~ EK TE TWV Ef.Lcpa(JEWV YLVOf.LEVYJ, Kat E~ aAAYJ-
yopLKOV TLVO~ 1TapaAaf.L{javOf.LEVov, Kat TptTov €~
V1TEp{jo'A i]~. (283) oi6v f(JTL TO ce ov TE()VYJKEV )A'A€-
~av8po~, ~ av8pE~ 'Af)Y]Va~OL" ~'EV yap av ~ OLKOV-
f.LEVYJ Tov VEKpov.n TQ f.LEV yap ((~'Ev=n avT'i Tov
YI(J f) a' vETO " al\1\
cc ' ' \ \ YJYOPLKOV
' Kat' V1TEPtJOALKOV
e Q \ ' ~~
af.La, TO'
8€ T~V OLKOVf.LEVYJV al(Jf)aVE(Jf)aL Ef.LcpaVTLKOV Tij~
8vvaf.LEW~ Tij~ 'A'AE~av8pov, Kat af.La 8€ TL EK1TAYJKTL-
Kov EXEL o 'A6yo~ T]f)poL(Jf.LEvov EK Twv Tptwv· 1Tn(Ja
8€ EK1TAYJ~"~ 8Etv6v, E1TEL8~ cpo{jEpov. (284) Tov 8€
avTov Et8ov~ Kat TO [ OTL J1 ccTOVTO TO lfir}cpt(Jf.La ovK
€yw €ypal/Ja, d'A'A' o 1TOAEf.LO~ Tip 'AAE~av8pov 86paTL
ypacpwv,n Ka'i To ((€otKE yap T] MaKE8ovLK~ 8vvaf.LL~,
a1ToAwAEKvta Tov 'A'A€~av8pov, Tip KvKAW1TL TETv-
cpAwf.Levcp.n (285) Kat a'A'Aaxov 1TOV, ((1TOALV, 2 ov T~V
E1Tt 1Tpoy6vwv T~V vaVf.Laxov, aAAa ypavv, (Jav8aALa
1 del. de Falco. 2 1roALv Lhardy: 1raALv P.
510
 ON STYLE 281-285

things appear auspicious and impious things appear

pious. A speaker, for example, once recommended that
the golden statues of Victory should be melted down and
the proceeds used to finance the war: he did not say
openly, Hlet us cut up the Victory statues for the war.':>
That would have been inauspicious and like an insult to
the goddesses. He put it more auspiciously, Hwe will have
the support of the Victories for the war,"a a version which
suggests not the cutting up of the Victories but their con-
version into allies.
(282) There are also the forceful sayings of Demades,
though they are thought to be of a peculiar, and even
eccentric nature, and their force results from innuendo,
from the use of an allegorical element, and thirdly from
hyperbole. (283) This is an example: CCAlexander is not
dead, men of Athens; or the whole world would have
smelled hi~ corpse."h The use of C(smelled" instead of
ccnoticed" is both allegory and hyperbole; and the idea of
the whole world noticing implicitly suggests Alexander's
power. Further, the words carry a shock, the cumulative
result of the three sources; and what shocks is always
forceful, since it inspires fear. (284) Of the same kind are
the words, HI was not the one to write this decree, the war
wrote it with Alexander's spear,"c and HThe power of
Macedon after the loss of Alexander is like the Cyclops
after his blinding,"d (285) and in another passage, ((a city
which is no longer the city of our ancestors fighting sea

a Author unknown, example also in Quint. 9.2.92.

h Demadesfr. 53 de Falco.
c Fr. 12 de Falco.
d Fr. 15 de Falco.

511
 DEMETRIUS

\:' I' \:' I ' "" ,.., / ) I'

OEtov OEIJ'OT7JTO~ apKEt EXOVa-YJ' Tt
TO(ravra~ Kat.rot

E7Tur¢aA.€r.; Ka'i ovK Ei'p..ip..YJroJ.J p.(fA.a • f.t'Ea-rt. ·yap rt

KaL 1TOL'Y}Tt..KOJ! TqJ Et0€LJ EL )'€ 1TOtYJTLK0l' Yj aAA 1]!'0[->La
Knt inrt:pj3ol\ 'l] Kat €J.L¢av-ts, 7TOt.iJT t.Kor 8€ JLLKTcn;
Kwp.,c_pD[ a r.;.
( 287) 1'1(> i>E Ef'X'YJ!la rur fLE lJOll f.v A(J'Y41
KaAovp..ElloP

oi vi)P i>i}ropt:r.; yt:Aotu)<; 1TOLOVfFLP Kat p.ETa E.p.4)(1JYEuJ~

Q)'El1 VOVr.; ap..o.. Kal ot Oll al-'afll''YJfTTLKij~, aA YjthJ/fjl' DE
"" ·' ' \ I \ ~ ..-.. I \ I
lfXYJ!-La. £(TTL 1\0)IOV /).-ETa OVOLV TOVTOl.J1 1\Ef'Ofl-EllOll,
ElJ7TfJE7TELO.S Kat a(Tq>etA~io.s. (28~5') EtnrperrE[a~ JLEl',
II Aarr.uP ·A pt(TTt1T1TOP Kal. K AE<'>fLf3porol' Aot-
oto1 .. c~r.;
bopi}(rat. fJeA.-r}a-ar;;. ~v AiyillYl rn/Jo4>a:yovl-'Tac; 8c:8t:.J.LE-
~- / • L) I ' '\ \ \ ' ( , \
POl' AuYJl·''YJfTLl-' E7TL 7TOI\t\ac; 'Y)JLEpac;, Kat
._.(t>Kparol.H;;;:

p.,1] bta 1r AEt~fra.P7as:3 < 7rp(H;> 4 rhz.· ETatp(H' Ko..t 8t.8a-

\ / ) ~~ \ ) , ~ I
(TKO..i\01', Kat TOt. OVX 01\01)~ a 7TEXOl 1TQS otaKO(TtOV~

crra8iov~ r<7H.~ 'AfJYJI'(~l-'. ravra 7TUI/Ta ?napp~O'Y)V JLEV

otJK ei7rtzr Aot8op[a yap ~~.: o Aoyo~· Ev7Tpt:7n';;r;; 8€
1rw<; rc)r·8E ro1~ T po1roll· €pwr'YJ0Eis yap <> ct>a[owv Tovr;;
·' ~ I ' \ I'L_ ~I '
1Tapoz;rac:; ... wKparv~ Kat Ka·Tai\E~ar;; EKaa-rol'. E1TavE-
pwr'Y)0Eir;; El Kal.. '.A.picrrtrr7To~ Kat K AEoJLf3poror;;

512
 ON STYLE 285-288

battles, but an old hag, wearing slippers and gulping her

broth."a Here "hag" is used allegorically to describe a
weak city in terminal decline, whose impotence it also
suggests implicitly and with hyperbole~ and "gulping her
broth" is also allegorical, describing a city then preoccu-
pied with feasts and banquets and squandering the funds
for the war. (286) This is enough on the forcefulness of
Demades, a type which has an element of risk and is not
very easy to imitate. There is in its nature an element of
poetry, if allegory, hyperbole, and innuendo are poetic,
but it is poetry with a blend of comedy.
(287) Next, what is called allusive verbal innuendo. It
is used by current orators in a ridiculous way, with a vul-
gar and what one might call obtrusive explicitness, but
genuine allusive innuendo is expressed with these two
safeguards, tact and circumspection. (288) Tact is shown,
for example., when Plato wants to blame Aristippus and
Cleombrotus because they were feasting in Aegina when
Socrates was imprisoned for many days in Athens, and
they did not sail over to .visit their friend and teacher,
although they were less than two hundred stades from
Athens.h Plato did not say all this explicitly (for that would
have been an open insult) but with some tact, as follows.
Phaedo is asked who were with Socrates, and he lists
them one by one. Next he is asked if Aristippus and

a Fr. 18 de Falco.
h I.e. roughly twenty-five miles.

3 8t-a7TAevcravra" p2: 8t-aA.vcravra" pl Greg.

4
1rpo" add. Gartner.

513
 DEMETRIUS

1rapijCTav, ~~ov," cPYJCTLv, t:t:f.v AlyivYJ yap ~CTav"·

1ravra yap ra 1TpoELpYJp.i.va Ef.Lc/JaiveraL T(i> ~t:f.v
' /
A LYLVYJ '3"
YJCTav "
· KaL' 1TOI\V
\ ' ~ /
oELVOTEpo'l oe AOYO'l
\ / ~
ooKEL I"\

I"\ / , I"\ , rl... / ' ~ / , '

TOV 1Tpayp.-aTO'} aVTOV EfL'PaLVOVTO'} TO OELVOV, OVXL
TOV A.f.yovTO'}. TOV'} f.LEV ovv ap.-c/Jt TOV , ApLCTTL7T7TOV
Kat AoLOopijCTaL LCTW'l aKLvDvvov OVTO'l f.v CTXrrJf.LaTL o
IT'A.arwv f.'A.otoopYJCTEv. (289) 1To'A'AaKL'l o€ ~ 7rpo'l
/ .,, ~'\ \ Q/ / ~ \ / '
TVpaVVOV YJ a/\1\W'} tJLaLOV TLVa OLai\EYOf.LEVOL KaL
OVELOLCTaL opp.-wvTE'} XPD,Of.LEV E~ avayKYJ'l CTXrrJf.LaTO'}
A.oyov, 1 ~YJf.LrrJTpto'l
W'} o
4>aAYJpEv'} 1rpo'} KpaTEpov
Tov ~1aKEDova E1Tt XPVCTTJ'l KALVYJ'l KafJE,Of.LEvov
fLETEwpov Kat f.v 1Topc/Jvpfi: X 'A.aviot, Kat V7TEpYJc/Javw'}
U7T00EXOfLEVOV Ta'} 1TpECT/3ELa'} TWV eEA.A.rr}vwv, CTXYJ~La­
TLU"a'} Ei7TEV OVELDLCTTLKW'}, OTL eeV1TEDE~af.LEfJa 1TOTE
1TpECT{3EVOVTa'} TJfLElS TOVCTDE 2 Kat KpaTEpov TOVTov"·
EV yap T(iJ DELKTLK(iJ T(iJ c:TOVTOVn Ef.Lc/JaLVETaL ~ V1TEpYJ-
c/Javia Tov KpaTEpov 1TaCTa wvELOLCTfLEVYJ f.v CTXrrJf.LaTL.
(290) TOV avrov ELOOV'} EU"Tt Kat TO IT'AaTWVO'} 7rpo'}
A / , 1t ~~ ee '
uLOVVCTLOV /
'YEVCTafLEVOV KaL' apVYJCTafLEVOV,
' /
OTL EYW/
\ /
CTOL II1\aTWV , ~' WfJ.-01\0YYJCTa,
OVOEV ( \ / CTV' f.LEVTOL,
/ VYJ' TOV'}
'
fJEov'}." Kat yap f. 'ATj'AEyKTaL f.yEvCTp.-f.vo'}, Kat EXEL TL
0 Aoyo'} CTXTJ!La p.-EyaA.liov ap.-a Kat aCTc/JaAE'}. (291)
1roA.A.axiJ p.-EvToL Kat E1Tap.-c/JoTEpi,ovCTtv· toi'l f.otKE-
VaL EL3' TL'} E'f) E/\OL
/\ KaL' ,'YOYOV'}
Ir / Ir /
EL' KaL' 0c ,'YOYOV'} '3"
ELVaL
[fJf.'A.ot Tt'l]t 3 1TapaDEtyp.-a To Tov AlCTxivov E1Tt Tov

1 A.oyov Finckh: oA.ov P. 2 rovO"DE edd.: rovOE P.

3 locus corruptus, fort. ov pro Grube: ()f.A.oL rL~ o del.
Roberts.

514
 ON STYLE 288-291

Cleombrotus were also there. "No," he replies, "they

were in Aegina.''a Everything that precedes leads up to
the words, "they were in Aegina," and the passage seems
far more forceful because the force is produced by the
fact itself and not by an authorial comment. So, although
he could presumably have openly insulted Aristippus and
his friends without any personal risk, Plato has done so
allusively. (289) But in addressing a tyrant or any other
violent individual, if we wish to be censorious, we often
need to be oblique out of necessity, as in the case of
Demetrius of Phaleron: when the Macedonian Craterus
sat high above him on a couch of gold and in a purple
robe and received the Greek envoys with insolent pride,
he addressed him, using innuendo to censure him, "We
ourselves once welcomed these Inen as envoys, including
this man, Craterus."h By the use of the demonstrative,
"this man," all the pride of Craterus is implicitly indicated
and allusively censured. (290) Under the same heading
comes Plato's reply to Dionysius, who had broken a
promise and then denied ever making it: "1, Plato, have
not made you any promises, but you-well, heaven
. knows!"c Dionysius is convicted of telling lies, while the
words themselves carry a dignified and circumspect innu-
endo. (291) People often use words with an equivocal
meaning. t If you wanted to be like them and use invec-
tive which does not seem invectivet, d there is an example
in Aeschines' passage about Telauges.e Almost the whole

a Pl. Phaed. 59c, similarly interpreted as an attack on Aristip-

pus in Diog. Laert. 3.36.
b Dem. Phal. 183 Wehrli. c Cf. Pl. Epist. 7, 349b.
d Text very uncertain, but the general sense is clear.
e Aesch. Soc. Jr. 48 Dittmar. Cf. § 170.

515
 DEMETRIUS

TYJAavyov~· 1Tacra yap crxE8ov ~ 1TEp'i TOV TYJAavy~

8t-'rJYYJCT"l8 a1Topiav 1TapacrxoL av 1 EtTE Oav~UO"fLO~
ELTE XAEVUO"fLO~ EO"TL. TO 8€ TOLOVTOV EI8o~ a~cf>if3o-
\
1\0V, ,
KULTOL '
ELpWVELU OVK ,, EXEL
, OV, "' TLVU'':'
/ ''
OfLW~ KaL ELpW-

, "' A,.
VELU\; E~\f-JU(J"LV.

( 292) ~VVULTO 8' av TL~ Ka'i ETEpw~ CFXYJ/LaTt,ELV,

oiov OVTw~· E1TEL87] a'Y78w~ aKOVOVCFLV oi 8vvaa-TaL Kat
8vvacrTL8E~ TfL avTwv UfLapT'rJfLaTa, 1TapaLvovvTE~
avTo'i~ fLiJ afLapTaVELv ovK €~ Ev0Eia~ €povfLEV, dA.A.'
i}TOL ETEpov<; lfi€gOfLEV TLVa<; Ta o~ota 1TE1TOI/YJKOTa<;,
otov 1Tpo~ ~LOVVO"LOV TOV Tvpavvvov KaTa <t>aA.apt8o~
rov Tvpavvov f.povfLEV Kat r-i}\; <PaA.apL8o~ a1TOTOfLtac;·
YJ' ' E"lTaLVEO"OfLE
' / {}/ A /
a TLVa<; .u.LOVVCFL<p Ta' ' /
EVaVTLa 1TE7TOL1J-
/
KOTa<;, OLOV
-e- r EI\WVa
/\ ,,
YJ
~I / ~~
Epwva, OTL 7TaTpacrLV EqJKE-
/ ' I'

a-av_ T~c; 2LKEAiac; Kat 8L8aa-KaAoL~· Kat yap vovOE-

TEtTaL aKOVWV ap.a K~L ov AoLDopELTaL KUL '1JAOTV1TEL
Tq>
,. . r EI\WVL
/\ , ,
E7TULVOVfLEVq>
, , ,
KaL E7TULVOV opEyETUL KUL
, I' ,

o.Uroc;. (293) 7ToAAa 8€ ToLavTa 1rapa ro'i~ rvpavvoL~,

otov Cf>tAL7T1TO<; fLEV 8La TO ETEpo~OaAfLO<; ELVUL wpyi-
7
~::,ETO,
,,
EL TL~
, I'
OVOfLUO"ELEV E7T UVTOV
, ' , '"' KVKI\W7TU
/ \ .,, , \,~.,.{}
YJ 0\f-J Ul\-
fLOV oA.wc;· ~EpfLELa~ 8' 0 TOV 'ATapvf.w~ apga~, KULTOL
TaAA.a 1Tpfi,oc;' we; 'AiyETUL, OVK av YJVEO"XETO Pct:8iwc;
TLvoc; fLaxaipLol' ovofLa,ovToc; ~ Top.Y]v ~ EKTo~Y]v 8La
ro Evvovxoc; EivaL. TavTa 8' EtpYJKa EfLcf>iJvaL f3ovA.6-
p.Evoc; fLUALa-Ta TO -i}Ooc; TO 8vvacrTEVTLKOV, we;
fLUALO"TU XPfl,ov A.oyov aa-cf>aAovc;, O<; KaAELTaL
EO"XYJ~UTLO"fLEVO<;. (294) KUtTOL 7TOAAaKL<; Kat ol 8-TJfLOL
oi fLeyaAoL Ka'i la-xvpo'i 8€ovraL ToLovrov E'i8ovc; Twv

516
 ON STYLE 291--294

narrative about Telauges will leave you puzzled whether it

is meant as ad1niration or mockery. This a1nbiguous way
of speaking, although not irony. yet has a suggestion of
ironv.
.I

(292) Innuendo Ina~' be used in yet another \va~-- as in

this case: since powerful men and \vomen dislike hearing
their own faults mentioned, we will not speak openly, if
we are advising thern against a fault. but we \\ri]J either
blame others "'ho have acted in a siinilar \vay~ for exanl-
p1e, in addressing the tyrant J)ionysius. wP "rill attack the
tvrant
. Pha1aris and the crueltv of Phalaris: or \Vf' "\\rill
~

praise people \vho have acted in the opposite \\ ay to 7

Dionysius~ and say that (;elo or lliero. for exan1ple, are

like fathers and teachers of Sicily. Dionysius is receiving
advice as he listens~ but he does not feel insulted; he is
envious of (;elo, the subject of this praise~ and wants to be
praised hin1s~lf. (293) Such caution is often needed in
dealing \vith rulers. Because he had only one eye. Philip
wou1d gro\\7 angry if an~·TJnc mentioned the Cyclops in his
presence or used the \vord. "eye" at all. Jlermeias. the
ruler of Atarneus. \\las in other respects good-ten1pered. it
is said, but he resented any tnention of a knife~ surgery, or
a1nputation, because he was a eunuch. I have tnentioned
these points to bring out very clearly the true nature of
those in power~ and to show that it especially calls for that
circumspection in speech which is called innuendo. (294)
It is also the case. however, that great and powerful

.517
 DEMETRIUS
\ I
1\0YWV, ~'
W(J"1TEp OL( 'TVpaVVOL,
I
Ka () a1TEp
I
0
( 'A() 'Y}VaLWV I

8-ryil'o~, apxwv -r-ry~ (EA.A.a8o~ Kat KOAaKa~ -rpf.cpwv

\
K 1\EWVa~ KaL K\1\EOw.pWV'Ta~.
I ,/.,..., '
'TO' il'EV
' OVV
,. KOI\aKEVELV
\ I

' I \ ~\ ' ,-., ' ,1,_ \I l/ ~\ \

aLa-xpov, 'TO OE E1TL'TLi1'aV E1TLa-w.pai\E~, apLa-'TOV OE 70

il'E7a~v, 'TOV'T' E(J"'TL 'TO ea-x'YJil'a'TL(J"il'EVOV. (295) Kat

1TO'TE aV'TOV
' '
70V
'
ail'ap-raVOV'Ta
( I
E1TaLVE(J"Oi1'EV,
' /
OVK
' E',/.'
'P
or~ YJil'ap7EV, aAA' €¢' or~ ovx YJil'UP'T'YJKEV, orov -rov
opyL,Oil'EVOV, O'TL xO€~ E1TYJVli-ro 1Tpfi:o~ ¢avEt~ E1TL
'TOL~ 'TOV 8EtVO~ ail'ap-rf]il'aa-LV, Kat 07L ''YJAW'TO~ 'TOL~
1roAi-raL~ a-vvEa--rLv· Y]8f.w~ yap 8~ EKaa--ro~ il'"il'E'i-rat
( ' ' /1 It Q /\ ' I ,, ,..., \
EaV'TOV Kat a-vva'f'aL fJOVI\E'TaL E1TaLV(f! E1TaLVOV, il'ai\-
Aov 8' f.va oil'aA -ry E1TaLvov 1TOL-rya-aL.
(296) Ka06A.ov 8€ W(J"1T€p 'TOV av-rov K'YJPOV 0 il'EV
/ ,, \ ( ~' Q ,..., ( ~' ~' ~' '
'TL~ KVVa E1TI\aa-EV, 0 OE fJOVV, 0 OE L1T1TOV, OV'TW Kat
,-., ''<:I ',1,_ / \
1Tpayil'a 'TaV'TOV 0 flEV 7L~ a1TOw.paLVOi1'EVO~ KaL Ka'T'Y}-
yopwv ¢'YJa-LV, O'TL ((o.lJ av0pw1TOL XP7Ji1'a'Ta il'EV a1TO-
\ I ,-., / ' / ~\ ' \ I
I\EL1TOV(J"L 'TOL~ 1TaLa-LV, E1TL(J"'T'YJil''YJV OEOV (J"VVa1TOI\EL-
1TOV(J"LV, 'T~V XP'YJ(J"Oil'EV'Y}V 'TOL~ a1TOAEt¢0Eta-tv". 2
-rov-ro 8€ -ro EI8o~ 7ov A.oyov 'ApLa--rt1T1TEtov A.f.yE-rat ·
~'
E'TEpO~
~' ' ' () ,..., / () /
OE 'TaV'TOV V1TO E'TLKW~ 1Tp00L(J"E'TaL, Ka a1TEp
(

- ,1,_ ,-., \ \ \ I 1' ~I <:<: ~ ,-., \ ' I

t:=.Evow.pwv-ro~ -ra 1TOI\I\a, otov O'TL oEL yap ov XP'YJ-
il'a'Ta il'OVOV a1TOI\L1TELV
/ ' \ ,...,
70L~
,..., ( ,...,
EaV'TWV 1TaUTLV, al\1\a KaL
/ '\ \ ' '
E1TLa-Tf]il''Y}V 'T~V XP'YJ(J"Oil'EV'YJV av-ro'i~., ( 297) 70 8€
l8iw~ KaAovil'Evov EI8o~ "!.wKpa-rLKov, o il'aALa-7a
8oKova-Lv ''YJAwa-aL Ala-xiv'YJ~ Kat ITA.a-rwv, il'E7a-
1 ~'
OTL OL~dd~' ~p•
e .:
OTL OE
2
ro'L~ a1ToAELc/>0E'La-tv Victorius: ro'L~ a-vva1ToAELc/>BE'La-tv P.

a Not a fragment of Aristippus (IV A 148 Giannontoni). We

518
 ON STYLE 294-297

democracies often need this type of speech just as much

as tyrants, for example the democracy of Athens when it
was ruler of Greece and the home of flatterers like Cleon
and Cleophon. Flattery is shameful, open criticism is
dangerous, and the best course lies in the middle, namely
innuendo. (295) Sometimes we will compliment the very
man who has a weakness not on the weakness but on his
avoidance of it. We will compliment a bad-tempered
man, for example, that he was praised yesterday for the
mildness he showed when so and so was at fault, and that
he is a model to his fellow citizens. Every one likes to be
his own example and is eager to add praise to praise, or
rather to win one uniform record of praise.
(296) In general, language is like a lump of wax, from
which one man will mould a dog, another an ox, another a
horse. The same subject will be treated by one person in
the form of direct statement and accusation, for example
"men leave property to their ~hildren, but they do not
leave with it the knowledge of how to use the
legacy,,a_this is the type used by Aristippus. Another
will, as Xenophon frequently does, put the same idea in
the form of a precept, for example ''men ought to leave
not only property to their children, but also the knowl-
edge of how to use it.,, (297) What is specifically called the
Socratic manner-the type which Aechines and Plato in

have three variations in the styles of Aristippus, Xenophon, and

Socrates of a passage described as open rebuke as if by a deus ex
machina in Pl. Clitoph. 407b, "mankind, where are you rushing
to? are you not aware of your inappropriate behaviour, devoting
all your energy to making money but with no thought for how
your children, to whom you will leave it, will understand how to
use it justly?, See A. Carlini, Rivista di Filologia e di Istruzione
Classica 96 (1968) 38-46.

519
 DEMETRIUS
/
pv (J J1-LCI"€Lf..Jl '']I"
az; TOVTO TO' 1Tp0..')1Jl-O..
,...
TO' 1TpOELpYJJ1-€~1 0V
/ '
El8
EpWTY)U'LI/ JJ8€ 1TW~ otol' r~JJ 1TO..t_~ 1T<)<ra (T()L XP~Jl-O..Ta
U7rEAL7TfV 0 1TO..T~p; ~ noAAa TLVCL Kat OVK Evapi-
(}p.YJT0.. ;--7ToAAa, JJ '2.wKpaTE~.-rtpa oiJv Kat E7Tt-
(T7-r}p.YJP dn€At7TE1J (TOL TTJt' XfYfJCTOpi.l'YJI' avrol.,;, aJLa
yap KO.. L EL~ a?Topiaz} E{:3aAElJ TOl-' 1Ta'i8a AEAYJHOTW~,
' ' ,• t:l ' / , , ' ~~
KO..L YJl'EfJ.ZJ'Y]CT€1/ OTL O..l'E7TUTTY)f.LlJJl/ ECTTL. KO..l 1TaLOEV~ 7

L) ".I. - , :) fj ,. ., ' :)
f(.TUat, 1Tp0€7pE\f'O.TO' TO..VTO.- 1Tal'Ta YJ LKW~ Kat EJl-J.LE-
AW<;,
\ ""'·
Ka~,
'
ovxt.
' ' ~ '
OYJ ro ' \ I
AEYOJLEPOI' rovro
.-
a1ro
' '
....
"" iJ
Kvuwv. I"

(29H) EVYJJl-EpYJ<TU.J' 8' ol. TOLOVTot A<)yot Tc)TE €tEvpE-

fJ€PTES' T<J 1TfJWTOt', Jl-UAAOIJ 8€ €f,EnAYJ~av Tit> TE fLLJLYJ-
TLK~2 Kat rip EllnpyEt Knt Tip fLETa f.LEYa'Ao¢pocrvvYJs-
vov0ErtK{i>. 7TEpt f-LEI-' 8~ 1TAa<TfLCLTOr;; Aoyov Kat o-xYJ-
' ,
Jl-aTUTjl.(I.H' apKEtT<u -
TO..VTCl. -
(29.9) ~H S€ AEu)TYJ" 1] 1TEpt TTJP <rvvfJE<TtJJ. otq.
KEXJJYJl'Tat fLaAurro. oi q1T~ 'I<roKparov~. 4>vA.ataJLEVot
TTJl' (Tl~;yKpov<rtv rwv cf>wvYJEI/TWl' ov ypaf1-I-Larwv,
J.LaA.a E1TLT'YJDEia €<rTi bEt-l!cp 'A<1yq.r 1roA.A.a yap [ ra :3]
EK rij<; CTVfJ.7TATJ~EW<; alJ avrijc; YEVOLTO 8E0'07Epa~ oiov
~f rh '"' I \ I ' ~ ' ' /
TOV yap 'PWKLKOV <TV(TTal/TO') 1TOI\EfLOV,
"" '
OV Ot Ef..LE,
otJ yap EywyE E7ToAtrE1HlfJ.-YJl' 1rw r()TE." El 8€ J.LEra{3a-
\ I ' I,/ '1' ~ • )f ~( .-. \ / ' 3
/\WI-' TL~ KO.. L (TVVa\fHJS (IJO. fL1TOt. TOV 'Tl'OI\EfLOV yap OV
ot' €11-€ Tov <f>wKtKov <rv<rralJro~· ov yap €7ToAtrEvo-
fLYJV €ywyi 1TW 7(5TE~" OVK oA.iyov tnE~atp~a-Et Tijc;
OELVOTYJTOc;, E7TEL 1TOAAaxov KaL r(J ~xwDfc; rijc;
a-vyKpova-Ew') LCTw<; E.(rTat OEtvorEpov. (.300) Ka'i yap
~! ~ rJ.. ' ~
TO' atfJpOPTL<TTOV
' ,/.. I '
aVTO'
Kat' TO' W<T1TEp aVTO't'VE~
I
OELVO-

.520
 ON STYLE 297-300

particular are considered to emulate-would redraft the

same idea in the form of questions, in this sort of way:
"'My boy, how much property did your father leave you?
Was it a lot and not easily assessed?> 'It was a lot,
Socrates.' 'Well now, did he also leave you the knowledge
of how to use it?» Socrates unobtrusively drives the boy
into a corner; he reminds him that he does not have
knowledge and encourages hin1 to find instruction. All
this is done with characterisation and in perfect taste, far
from the proverbial Scythian bluntness.a (298) This type
of speech was very successful at the time it was first
invented, or rather it stunned everyone by the verisimili-
tude, the vividness, and the nobility of the ethical advice.
Let this then be enough on how to mould speech, and on
innuendo.
(299) Smoothness of composition (of the kind particu-
larly used by the followers of !socrates, who avoid any
clash of vowels) is not well suited to forceful speech. In
many cases the very hiatus wotild increase the force, for
example '\vhen the Phocian war broke out, through no
fault in me, as I at that time was not yet active in public
life. "b If you were to redraft the words more smoothly,
"when through no fault in me the Phocian war broke out,
as I was at that time not yet active in public life," you will
remove much of the force, since in many passages
perhaps the very resonance of the hiatus will be more
forceful. (300) The fact is that words \Vhich are unpre-

a Cf. § 216.
b Dem. De Cor. 18. Note especially the jerky hiatus between
the clauses, pole1nou, ou dt eme, ou. On hiatus cf. §§ 68-74.

3 ra del. Spengel.
521
 DEMETRIUS
/ / /\ , , , r /
TYJTa 7rapaa-TYJ(JEL TLVa, j.Laf\L(JTa E7ralJ opyL•::PJ.LEVOVc;
EJ.L~atVWJ.LEV avrovc; ~ i}DLKYJJ.LEVOVc;. i] 3€ 7rEpt T~V
\/
1\ELOTYJTa KaL
'e /
apJ.LOVLaV 'PPOVTLc;
,./.,. ' ,
OVK
, r /
opyL~:,OJ.LEVOV,
'\\,
a/\1\a
/r
7rat~:,OVTO~
/ ,
E(JTt Kat
, E1rtOELKVfLEVOV
, / ~ '""\\
fLa/\1\0V.
(301) Kat wa-1rEp ro DLaAEAVfLEVov a-xiJfLa DELvorYJra
1rOLEL, w~ 7rpoAEAEKTaL, OVTW 1rOLrrJ(JEL i] DtaAEAVfLEVYJ
('/\
01\W~
/ (} Ea-L~. (JYjfLELOV
(JVV ,. . ~'
OE KaL' TO' el1r1rWVaKTOc;·
/ \
1\0L-
Dopi]a-aL yap {jovAOfLEVOc; rove; f.xfJ povc; €8 pava-EV TO
/ ' ,
J.LErpov, KaL E7rOLYJa-Ev XWAOV
/ \' , ' '(} ' ,, (}
avrL EV Eoc; KaL apv -
/

/ ~ /
J.LOV, TOVTE(JTL OELVOTYJTL 7rpE1TOV KaL 1\0LOOptq_ • TO yap
/ '\ ~ / ''
E.ppvfJJ.LOV Kat EVrrJKOOV EJIKWJ.LLOLc; av 7rpE7rOL fLaA'Aov
YJ"' ,~oyotc;.
lr / '""
roa-avra Kat' 1TEpt' a-vyKpova-Ewc;.
/

(302) ITapaKELTaL 8€ TLc; Kat T~ DELl!~ xapaKTTJpL,

we; TO ELKOc;, DtYjj.LapTYJJ.LEVOc; Kat avroc;, KaAELTaL 8€
,, / ~' , ,.... / , /
axaptc;. YLVETaL OE EV TOLe; 7rpayfLaa-tV, E7ralJ TLc;
alO"xpa KaL 8vO"pYJTa ?-va~av8ov A.EyYJ, Ka8a7rEp 0
riJc; TtfLctVDpac; 1 KaTYJyopwv we; 1rE7rOpVEVKVtac; T~V
\ /~
1\EKaVtOa Kat' TOVc;
' ', Q \ '
OfJOI\OVc; KaL' TYJV
' ,// {}
~ta OlJ Kat' 71"01\-
\

'A-r}v TLva rotaVTYJV Dva-¢YJfLtav Kar-r}paa-Ev rov 8LKa-

CFTYJptov. (303) TJ CFVVfJEa-Lc; DE ~atlJETaL axapLc;, EUV
8LE0"7raO"pivn
t OVTWO"t
EJ.L¢Ep~c; n,
t"2 Kat' E7raV
' ' Ta'
Ka0a7rEp 0 Et1rWV,
ee e ' 0~' EXOV
'' TO' Kat' TO,
/ KTELVaL.
,....

Kw'Aa J.LYJ8EJ.Ltav EXYJ 7rpoc; aAAYJAa a-vv8EO"LV, d'A'A'

OJ.LOLa 8tEPPYJYJ.LEVOLc;. Ka'i ai 7rEpto8oL 8€ ai O"VVEXELc;
KaL' J.LaKpat' Kat' , /
a7r01rVLYOVO"aL '
TOVc; \/
1\Eyovrac; OV,

0 7~~ Tt-fLaVOpa~ edd: OTL av T~~ TYJfLav8pa~ P.

1

locus corruptus, ovTw~ £8' P: ovTwcri cum praecedentibus

2

Radermacher, fort. recte.

522
r
1
ON STYLE 300-303

meditated, and somehow spontaneous, will in themselves

create some vigour, especially when we show our anger or
sense of injustice, whereas careful attention to smooth-
ness and harmony signals not anger so much as a lack of
seriousness or a display of rhetoric. (301) As has already
been said, a the figure of abruptness creates force. The
same may be said of abrupt composition on a wider scale.
Hipponaxb is a case in point. Wanting to insult his ene-
mies, he shattered his metre, he made it limp instead of
walk straight, he made the rhythm irregular, and there-
fore suitable for forceful insult. Regular, harmonious
rhythm would be more suitable for eulogy than invective.
This concludes my account of hiatus.
(302) Next to the forceful style there is, as might be
expected, a corresponding faulty style. It is called the
repulsive style. It occurs in the subject matter when a
speaker mentions in public things that are disgusting and
obscene, like the man who accused Timandrac of being a
prostitute and spewed out over the court her basin, her
fees, her mat, and many similar ugly details. (303) Com-
position sounds repulsive if it seems disjointed, like the
man who said, "tthis and that being the case, to killt',;d
and when the clauses are in no way linked to one another,
but are like broken fragments. Long continuous periods,
too, which run the speaker out of breath cause not only a

a Cf. § 269.
b Hipponax turned the iambic trimeter into "limping"
iambics by making the final iamb a spondee. Cf. § 251.
c Author unknown; perhaps Hyperides in his attack on this
famous prostitute (=Jr. 165).
d Author unknown, text very uncertain.

523
 DEMETRIUS

p.,ovov KaTaKop€~ aAAa Kat aTEp7TE~. (304) Tfj 8€ ovo-

/ 1 \ \ .. .. / ,, ' ..
p_,aa-tq. 7TOI\J\aKL~ xaptEVTa 7Tpayp_,aTa OVTa arEp7TE-
a-rEpa 4>aivErat, Ka()a7TEp o
KAEirapxo~ 7TEp'i r-ry~
~... \ / 'f ... \ ... ' ... !:(
TEV () PYJOOVO') 1\Eywv, <;,WOV P.,EI\ta-a-YJ EOLKOTo')· Kara-
vep.,ETat p.,Ev," cpYJa-L, eeT~V opEtv-r}v, Et(JL7TTaTaL 8€ EL')
TQS KoiAa') 8pv')·" W(J7TEp 7TEp'i {3oo') aypiov ;ry TOV
'Epvp.,av()iov Ka7Tpov A€ywv, aAA' ovx'i 7TEpt p.,EALa--
(J"Yj~ TLVO~, wa-TE Kat ({x_aptv TOV Aoyov ap.,a Kat
t/Jvxpov yEvf.a-8at. 1TapaKELTat OE 1TW') aAA -rjAot')
TaVTa ap.,cporEpa. 2
1 TV S€ ovo/Lacriq, Victorius: T] 8€ ovo/Lacria P.
2
~'Y/fLYJTpiov 1TEp'i EPfLYJVEia~ subscriptio in P.

524
 ON STYLE 304

surfeit but actual aversion. (304) The choice of words

often makes even subjects which are themselves charm-
ing lose their attractiveness. Clitarchus, for instance,
gives this description of the wasp, an insect like a bee: "It
lays waste the hillsides, and rushes into the hollow oaks."a
It is as if he described some wild bull, or the Eryrnanthian
boar, rather than a kind of bee. The result is that the pas-
sage is both repulsive and frigid, and in a way these two
faults lie next to each other.

a FGrHist 137 Clitarchus F 14 (cf. T 10).

525
 INDEX

Poetics
Note: 5lb21 = 145lb21, 6lb21 = 146lb21, etc.

Achilles, 54bl4 Cleobulina, 58a29

Aegeus, 6lb21
Aegisthus, 53a37
Aeschylus, 49al6. Choephori,
55a4. (?)Mysians, 60a32.
Niobe, 56al7. Philoctetes,
58b23. (?)Phineidae, 55al0.
(?)Phorcides, 56a2.
(?)Prometheus Bound, 56a2
Agathon, 56al8, 24, 30. Antheus,
5lb21
. Dicaeogenes, Cyprians, 55al
Ajax, 56al
Alcmaeon, 53a20, 53b24. See also
Astydamas
Amphiaraus, see Carcinus
Antheus, see Agathon
Antigone, see Sophocles
Ariphrades, 58b31
Aristophanes, 48a27
Astydamas, Alcmaeon, 53b33
Athens,48a36,48bl,49b7
Callippides, 6lb35, 62a9
Carcinus, Amphiaraus, 55a26.
Thy estes, 54b23
Centaur, see Chairemon
Chairemon, 60a2. Centaur, 4 7b21
Chionides, 48a34
Choephori, see Aeschylus
Cleophon,48al2,58a20
Clytemnestra, 53b23
Crates, 49b7
Creon,54al
Cresphontes, see Euripides
Cypria, 59b2, 4
Cyprians, see Dicaeogenes
Danaus, 52a28
Deiliad, see Nicochares
Dionysius, 48a6
Dorians, 48a30
Empedocles, 47bl8, 57bl3-14,
24,58a5,6la24
Epicharmus, 48a33
Eriphyle, 53b24
Eucleides, 58b7
Euripides, 53a24, 29, 56al7, 27,
60b34. Cresphontes, 54a5.
Iphigeneia in Aulis, 54a32.
Iphigeneia in Tauris, 52b5,
54a7,54b31,55al8,55b3,14.
Medea,53b28,54bl,6lb20.
Melanippe, 54a31. Orestes,
54a29, 6lb21. (?)Peleus, 56a2.
Philoctetes, 58b25. Trojan
Women,59b7

527
 POETICS
Eurypylus, see Sophocles Nkochares. Deiliad, 48a1.3
Niobe. see Aeschylus
Glaucon, 6lbl

Haemon ..54a2 Odysseus, see Homer, Odyssey

Hector. 60al.5. 60b26
Hegemon, 48al2
Helle . .54a8
H erades ..51 a22
Herodotus. 51 b2
Hippias ofThasus, 61a22
Homer. 47blR, 48all. 22, 26,
48b28,34,5la2:1,54b15 .
.58a:3l, 58bl 2, 60a5. 18. Iliad.
4Hb3H, .51 a.29 ..54h2. 5f1a J :3,
56b1, 57 a2H ..S7b1 1, 5ba7.
.58h.'3l. .59a3L 59h:3. 14. 60a.1.5.
60b26, 61 a2-33 pas'sim. 62b3.
H. .Margifes. 48h:10. :38.
Odyssey. 4Ha 1..51 a24 ..5:3a32.
54h26. 30 ..5.5a2, .s.5b.L 7..57hJ o.
58b2.5, 2H ..59b:3, I.!J, 60a26, 35,
61b5,62b8
Iphigt•Iwia. sec Euripid{'s
lxion, .56a1
Little Iliad, 58b2. 5
LyncPtts. sec Theodeck~
Odysseus the False Messenger,
.55al.3
Odysseus Wounded, see Sophocles
Oedipus. 53a1 1, 20. See also
Sophocles. Oedipus Tyrarmus
Orestes, 53a20, :37, 53b24. See also
Euripides. lphigeneia in Tauris,
On:stes
Pauson,48a6
Peleus. see Euripides, Sophocles
Philoctetes, .59h5. See also
Aesch~·lus, Euripides
Philoxenus, 48a1.5
Phinr.idoc, sec Af'schvlus.
Sophocks ·
Plwrcides. see Aeschylus
Phthiotides, see Sophodes
Pindarus. 61 b:35
Polygnotus, 48a5, 50a27
Poh.idus. S5afi. 5Sh I 0
Prometheus, see Aeschv1us
Protagoras ..S6hV5 .-

Ma~nes. 48a:34 Sack (~f Troy . .5Hb6

i\1argites. see Homer Scylla . see Timutheus
1\fedea, see Euripides Sidlv. 48a~32. 49h 7
•'

Me~arians. 48a:31 Sinon. sre Sophocles

Melanippe. sef/ Euripides Sisyvhus, .1)6a22
Meleager. .5:3a20 Sophocles. 48a26. 48a19, Ei6a27.
Menelaus ..54a29. 61 h2I 60b:33. Antigone . .54 a 1. Elet·tra,
Meropt'. 54 aS 60a:3I. t r)Etirypylus, .5Hb6.
Mitvs. 52aS (?)A-1ysians: n0a:32.
Mnasitheus. 62a7 (?)Odysseus \Vounded, 5:1h~14.
Mjlmiscus. 61 h:34 Oedipus Tyrannus. 52a24 _
A1ysians, see Aeschylus. Sophocles .5:3b7, 31, 54hR. 55al8. 60a30.
62b2. (?)Peleus, .56a2
Neoptolemus, .58b6 (?)Phineidae, 55al0.

528
 INDEX
(?)Phthiotides, 56al. (?)Sinon, Thyestes, 53all, 21. See also
59b7. (?)Spartan Women, 59b6. Carcinus
Tereus,54b36. Tyro,54b25 Timotheus, Cyclops, 48al5. Scylla,
Sophron, 47bl0 54a31, (?)6lb32
Sosistratus, 62a7 Trojan Wmnen, see Euripides
Spartan ""'omen, see Sophocles Tydeus, see Theodectes
Sthenelus, 58a21 Tyro, see Sophocles

Telegonus, 53b33
Xenarchus, 47bl0
Telephus, 53a21
Xenophanes, 6lal
Tereus, see Sophocles
Theodectes, Tydeus, 55a9.
Lynceus, (?)52a27, 55b29 Zeuxis, 50a27, 6lbl2

529
 INDEX
On The Sublime
Aeschylus, 15.5-6. Seven against
Thebes 42-6, .51, 15.5;Jr. .58,
15.6;Jr. 281, 3.1
Alexander, 4.2
Ammonius, 13.3
Amphicrates, 3.2, 4.4
Anacreon,Jr. eleg . .5, 31.1
Apollonius of Rhodes, 33.4
Aratus, Phaenomena 299, 10.6;
Phaenomena 287, 26.1
Archilochus, 13.3, 33 ..5. Fr. 10.5-6
\Vest, 10.7
Aristeas, Arimaspea Jr. 1 Kinkel, ,
10.4
Aristophanes, 40.2
Aristotle,Jr. 131 Rose, 32.3
Bacchylides, 33.5
Caecilius, 1.1, 4.2, 8.1, 8.4, 31.1,
32.1, 32.8
Callisthenes, 3.2
Cicero, 12.4
Clitarchus, 3.2
Demosthenes, 2.3, 12.4, 14.1-2,
22.3, 27.3, 32.1, 34.1-3, 36.2.
Orations 4.10 and 44, 18.1;
7.4.5, 38.1; 18.18, 24.1; 18.169,
10.7; 18.188, 39.4; 18.208, 16.2;
18.296, 32.2; 21. 72, 20.1;
530
23.113, 6.3; 24.208, 15.9;
2.5.27-8, 27.3
Dion, 4.3
Eratosthenes, Erigone, 33.5
Eupolis,Jr. 106 Kassel-Austin, 16.3
Euripides, 15.3-6, 40.2-3.
Bacchae 726, 15.6; Electra 379,
44.12; Hercules Furens 124.5,
40.3; Iphigenia in Tauris 291,
15.2; Orestes 255-7, 15.2;
264-.5, 15.8;Jr. 221 Nauck2,
40.4;fr. 668, 39.2;fr. 779, 15.4;
Jr. 93.5, 15.4
Gorgias,Jr. .Sa Diels-Kranz, 3.2
Hecataeus,Jr. 30 Jacoby, 27.2
Hegesias, 3.2
Heraclides, 4.3
Hermocrates,4.3
Hermon, 4.3
Herodotus, 4.7, 13.3, 18.2. 1.105,
28.4; 2.29, 26.2; 6.11, 22.1;
6.21, 24.1; 6. 7.5, 31.2; 7.181,
31.2; 7.188, 191, 43.1; 7.225,
38.4; 8.13, 43.1
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 267,
9.5; Works and Days 24, 13.4
Homer, 9.4-15, 13.3-4, 14.1-2,
33.4, 36.2. Iliad 1.22.5, 4.4;
4.442, 9.4; 5.85, 26.3; .5. 7.50,
' INDEX
9.6; 13.18, 9.8; 13.27-9, 9.8;
15.346-9, 27.1; 15.605-7, 9.11;
15.697--8, 26.1; 17.645-7, 9.10;
20.60, 9.8; 20.61-5, 9.6;
20.170-1, 15.3; 21.388, 9.6.
Odyssey 3.109-111, 9.12;
4.681-9, 27.4; 10.251-2, 19.2;
11.315-7, 8.2; 11.563, 9.2;
17.322-3, 44 ..5
!socrates, 4.2, 31.1. Panegyricus 8,
38.2
Jews, the lawgiver of, Genesis 1. 3,
1.9-10, 9.9
Lysias, 32.8, 34.2, 35.1
Marathon, 16.2-4, 17.2
Matris, 3.2
Parmenio, 9.4
Phaethon, 15.4
Philistus, 40.2
Phryne, 34.2
Pindar, 33.5
Plato, 4.4, 13.1, 13.3, 14.1, 23.2,
28.2, 29.1, 32.5-8, 35.1. Laws
741c, 4.6; 773c-d, 32.7; 778d,
4.6; 801b, 29.1. Menexenus
236d, 28.2; 245d, 23.4.
Phaedrus
264c, 36.2. Republic 573e, 44.7;
586a, 13.1. Theaetetus 144b,
13.1. Timaeus 65c-8.5e, 32.5
Polyclitus, 36.3
Pythia, 13.2
Sappho,fr. 31 Lobel-Page, 10.1
Simonides,fr: 52 Page, 15.7
Socrates, 4.4
Sophocles, 33.5. Oedipus
Tyrannus 1403-8, 22.3.
Oedipus at Colonus 1.586ff,
15.7. Fr. 523 Radt, 15.7;fr: 768,
3.2
Stesichorus, 13.3
Terentianus (Postumius), 1.1, 1.4,
4.3, 12.4, 29.2, 44.1
Timaeus, 4.1-5. Fr. 102a Jacoby,
4.3;fr. 122, 4.5;fr. 139, 4.2
Xenophon, 4.4-5, 8.1, 19.1.
Agesilaus 2.2 = Hellenica
4.3.19, 19.1. Cyropaedia 1.5.12,
28.3; 7.1.37, 25. Memorabilia
1.4..5, 32.5; 1.4.6, 43.5.
Respublica Lacedaernoniorum
3.5, 4.4
Zoilus,fr: 3 Jacoby, 9.14
Unknown authors, 23.2, 23.3, 38.5
531
 INDEX
()n
Note: RefPrence is to the section numbers.
Aeschines (orator), Ctes. 133, 267;
202,268
Aeschines Socraticus, 297. Fr.
42(? ), 170;fr. 2, 205;fr. 48, 291
Alcaeus, 347 (b), 142
Alcidamas, 12. Fr. 1.5, 116
Anacreon,fr. 51,5
Antiphon,jf: 50,53
Antisthenes,fr. VA 45, 249
Archedemus,fr: 7, .'34
Archilochus,frr. 172, 185, 5
Aristippus, 2R8. Fr. IVA 148,296
Aristophanes, 12R(?). Achamians
86, 161; Birds 486-7, 490, 160;
Clouds 19, 179, 152; 401, 1.':50
Aristotle, 41, 128(?), 223, 234.
Rhet. 140.5b35ff, 116; 1408b31,
41;1408b32,38-9;1409a35,11;
1409b16, 34; 1410b35,
1411b32, 81; Hist. Anim.
497b28, 97; 619a16, 157;
frr.82,28;656,233;665,225;
668,97,144, 164;669,29,154;
670,230
Artemon, 223
Attic, 175, 177
Cleobulina,fr. 1, 102
Clitarchus,fr. 14,304
Com. Adesp., 7, 143
532
Style
Crates,frr. VH 66, 170; VB 488,
171; VH 70, 259
Ctesias, 212. Frr. 8(a), 213; 24, 216
Cynic, 170, 259, 261
Demades,fi~r. .53, 12, IS, 18, 282-5
Demetrius Phalereus,fr. 183, 289
Demosthenes, 181. Aristocr. 99,
31, 248; De Cor. 3, 253; 18, 299;
71,278-9;136,80,272; 179,
270;188,273;265,250;De
Fals. Leg. 2.55, 277; 259, 280;
314,269;Lept. 1, 10, 11,20,
245; 2, 246; Phil. 3.26, 263
Dicaearchus,fr. 39, 182
Diogenes,fr. VB 449, 260;.fr. VB
410,261
Doric, 177
Egyptian (hymns), 71
Epicharmus,fr. 147, 24
Euripides, Ion 161ff, 195;
Meleager,fr. 51.5, 58
Gorgias, 12, 15. Fr. 16, 116
Hecataeus,fr. 1, 2, 12
Heraclitus, 192
Herodorus (?), 66
Herodotus, 12, 37, 112, 181.1.1.1,
17, 44; 1.203.1(?), 66
 INDEX
Hesiod, Op. 40. 122
Hippocrates, Aphorism. 1.1, 4, 238
Hipponax, 132, 301
Homer, 5, 12, ~37. Iliad 2.497, .54.
257:2.671-4, 61; 4.126, 81:
4.443, 124~ 6.152, 200: 9.502-3,
7; 9..526, 2.5; 10.437, 124:
12.113' 111 : 12.208, 255;
13.339.82: .13.798, 64,81:
14.433. 56: 16.161' 94, 220;
16.358, 48. 105:20.218, 79:
21 1' .56; 21.257. 209; 21.388.
8:3:22.133 . .189; 23.116.219:
23.154,.57:23.379--81. 210;
Odyssey 3.278. 1.50: .5.203-4,
.1)7: 6.105-8, 129; 9.289--90,
219:9.369. 1.30. 152.262:
9.394. 9+ 11.596, 72; 12. 73.60:
16.220 ..57:16.288-94 =
19.7-13, 107; 19.172, 113;
19.518-9. 133. 164:21.226, 57;
fr inc .. 78
H~perides{ ?),fr 165, 30
Isoc·rates. 12, 29. 68, 299. Helen
17, 23; Panegyr. 1, 25, 26: 58, 22 .
Lyr Adesp .. 9L 1.51, lfl4
Lysias.1.9. 190;.fr. 1. 128. 262;.fr
93. 128
Menander,.fr: 268, 153;fr 68.5. 194
Nicias (painter), 7n
Peripatetics, 181
Phidias (sculptor). 14
Philemon, 193
Philistus, 198
Plato.37.80,181,183,228,234.
Euthyd. 271a, 226: A1enex.
246d, 266. Phaed. 59c, 288:
Phdr: 246e, 56; Pol. 269c, .5:
Pratag. 312a, 218; Rep. 327a,
2L 205; 399d. 185:. 411a-b, .51.
.183, 184: Epist. 7. 290. See also
53 for addition in M of Grg.
465e-466a
Polyerates, f1~ .11, 120
Pr~xiphane.s,fr 13, 57
Proverbs. 7. 8, 9, 28, 99, l 02, 112,
119,122,156.165.171,172,
216.229,24.1.243
Sappho, 1.32, 166. Frr. 104(a). 141;
105(c). 106; 106, 146:111. 148;
114 . 140: 156.127, l62:fr add.
!a) p. 338, 162
Socratic (dialogue), 297
Sophocles,.fr 611. 114
Sophron.128. Fn: 24. ].5.1: 32,
147; 34, 127; 52, L5l; 68.1.56:
108. 127; 109,153;110, 156
Sotades,frr: 4(a), 17, 189
Stesichorus ..fr 281(h), 99
Telt:machus (?author), 149
Theognis (tragedian), fr 1, 85
Theophrastus,frr: 686, 114: 687,
173;696,222; 703,41
Theopompus, 75. 240. Fr. 22.5(c),
27, 247, 2.50
Thucydides. 40. 49, 18L 228.
1.1.1, 44: 1.5.2. 25; 1.24.1. 199,
201: 1.24.2, 72:2.48.1' :38, 39;
2.49.1' 48:2.102.2, 45, 202,
206; 4.12.1, 6.5;
Xenophon, 37, 80, 181, 296. Anab.
1.1.1. 3, 19; .1.2.21' 198; 1.2.27,
1.39; 1.5.2, 93: 1.8.10, 104;
1.8.18. 84; 1.8.20. 103; 3.1.31,
137; .4.4.3, 6, 121; 5.2.14, 98;
6.1.13, 131; 7.3.15ff, 155:
Cyrop. 1.4.21, 89, 274; 2.2.1.5,
134
533
 fresh rendering of the work is based on
the earlier Loeb translation by W. Rhys
Roberts. Her new introduction and notes
represent the latest scholarship.

Stephen Halliwell is Professor of Greek,

University of St. Andrews; Donald Russell
is Lecturer in Classics, St. John's College,
Oxford; Doreen C. Innes is Fellow In
Classics, St. Hilda's College, Oxford.

The Loeb Classical Library is the only existing

series of books which, through original text
and English translation, gives access to all that
. is important in Greek and Latin literature. A
complete list of titles is available from Harvard
University Press.