τρίκωλον.11611.A sentence consisting of three members or clauses.Lat.oratio trimembris. τὸ τρίκωλον is here a noun: on the same principle as, for example, ἡ τρίοδος (=trivium).
τρίμετρος.25819, 25.Consisting of three metres or measures.Lat.trimetrus(sc.versus: στίχος).
τρισύλλαβος.17015,1748.Consisting of three syllables.Lat.trisyllabus.
τρόπος.1961.Mode(in music). Lat.modus. Cp. Monro’sModes of Ancient Greek Musicp. 2. In13212 the word meanstrope(metaphorparticularly: cp. Quintil. viii. 6. 4): soτροπικός(figurative; Fr.figuré)7816,25224,27210.
τροχαῖος.1708,18411.Trochee.The metrical foot – ᴗ.
τρυφερός.2369.Delicate,dainty. Lat.delicatus,nitidus.
τύπος.707,2682, 17, 24.Outline,form. Lat.forma,figura.
ὕλη.2669.Material.Lat.materia. Fr.matière.
ὑπαγωγικός.905.Drawn slowly out,prolonged. Lat.dilatatus. Cp.de Demosth.c. 4 διώκει δ’ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου τὴν περίοδον οὐδὲ ταύτην στρογγύλην καὶ πυκνὴν ἀλλ’ ὑπαγωγικήν τινα καὶ πλατεῖαν καὶ πολλοὺς ἀγκῶνας, ὥσπερ οἱ μὴ κατ’ εὐθείας ῥέοντες ποταμοὶ ποιοῦσιν, ἐγκολπιζομένην. It is possible, however, that in thede Comp. Verb.the word has an active meaning similar to that of ἐπαγωγικός, in which case the rendering will be ‘the effect of the passage will no longer be that of a narrative which gently carries the reader on.’
ὑπαλλαγή.7816.Hypallage.Lat.hypallage. Quintil. ix. 6. 23 “nec procul ab hoc genere discedit μετωνυμία, quae est nominis pro nomine positio. cuius vis est, pro eo, quod dicitur, causam, propter quam dicitur, ponere; sed, ut ait Cicero, ὑπαλλαγήν rhetores dicunt. haec inventas ab inventore et subiectas res ab obtinentibus significat: utCererem corruptam undis, etreceptus Terra Neptunus classes Aquilonibus arcet.” Cp. Cic.Orat.27. 93 “hanc ὑπαλλαγήν rhetores, quia quasi summutantur verba pro verbis, μετωνυμίαν grammatici vocant, quod nomina transferuntur.”
ὑπάτη.2107.Top note.Lat.chorda suprema. See L. & S.s.v.
ὑπεραίρειν.22411.To exceed.Lat.transgredi.
ὑπερβολή.15611.Excess,violence. Lat.impetus,ardor. [Not here used in the technical sense ofsuperlatio,traiectio.]
ὑπέρμετρος.2148.Exceeding due measure,excessively long. Lat.excedens mensuram. [Not here used in the technical sense of passing beyond the bounds of metre: Demetr.de Eloc.§ 118 ποίημα γὰρ ἄκαιρον ψυχρόν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ὑπέρμετρον, ‘a bit of verse out of place is just as inartistic as the disregard of metrical rules in poetry.’]
ὑπεροπτικός.23220.Disdainful.Lat.ad contemnendum pronus.
ὑπερτείνειν.13214.To exceed.Lat.transcendere.
ὑπηχεῖν.1507.To sound in answer to,to re-echo. Lat.resonare.
ὑποβάκχειος.17423,17811, 13.Hypobacchius.The metrical foot ᴗ – –. TheEpitome(c. 17) gives παλιμβάκχειος in the same sense as ὑποβάκχειος.
ὑπογράφειν.1227.To sketch.Lat.adumbrare. Fr.esquisser.
ὑπόδειγμα.17412.Pattern,specimen. Lat.documentum,exemplum.
ὑπόθεσις.1046.Subject,theme. Lat.argumentum operis. Soτὰ ὑποκείμενα(the subject matter)749,10617,13013,13421,1582.
ὑπόμνησις.801.Reminder.Lat.admonitio. ὑπομνήσεως ἕνεκα =memoriae causa.
ὑποτακτικός.22019.Subordinate.Lat.subditus. Dionysius seems to mean that π is not apt to be amalgamated with, or absorbed in, a preceding ν. [The second vowel in a diphthong could be described as ὑποτακτικὸν φωνῆεν.] The verbὑποτάττεινoccurs in10023 and12621.
ὑποτίθεσθαι.1948.To take as a subject.Lat.argumentum sibi sumere. This (rather than ‘to postulate’) seems to be the meaning.
ὑποτραχύνειν.2227.To grate slightly on the ear.Lat.leni horrore aures afficere.
ὕπτιος.1083.Passive.Lat.supinus.
ὕφος.23412.Woven stuff,a web. Lat.tela. The word is used metaphorically in Long.de Subl.i. 4 τοῦ ὅλου τῶν λόγων ὕφους.
ὑψηλός.9218,1722,1802,1827.Lofty,elevated. Lat.sublimis.
φαντασία.23029.Representation,image. Lat.imago.
φάρμακον.20817.Colour(for painting). Lat.pigmentum. For φάρμακα (= βάμματα, χρώματα) cp. Horace’s “lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno” (Ep.ii. 1. 207).
φάρυγξ.1507.Throat.Lat.guttur. Here used in the masculine gender, according to the best-supported reading. Galen (on Hippocr.Progn.p. 45), ὅτι φάρυγγα τὴν προκειμένην χώραν στομάχου τε καὶ λάρυγγος ὀνομάζει δῆλόν ἐστι.
φθαρτός.2669.Perishable.Lat.mortalis,periturus.
φθόγγος.1284,13012,26810.Sound,note. Lat.sonus.
φιλόκαλος.6616.Loving beauty,artistic. Lat.pulchritudinis studiosus.
φιλόλογος.26424.Loving literature,literary;a scholar. Lat.litterarum studiosus;litteratus,philologus.
φιλοπονία.26425.Loving care;industry. Lat.diligentia: which (etymologically) contains the same suggestion of ‘work donecon amore.’
φιλόσοφος.748,13222,16422,24815.Philosopher.Lat.philosophus. The comprehensive sense in which philosophy is understood may be illustrated fromφιλοσοφία(14012) andφιλοσοφεῖν(7012). Cp. in modern times such academic vestiges of ancient usage as ‘Natural Philosophy’ or ‘Ph. D.’ InLe Bourgeois Gentilhomme(ii. 4) rhetoric is taught by theMaître de Philosophie; and Dionysius is fond of contrasting the philosophical, or scientific, rhetoric (ἡ φιλόσοφος ῥητορική) of the best Attic times with the later and purely empirical Asiatic rhetoric, to which he applies the epithet ἀμαθής. See further in D.H. p. 208.
φιλοτεχνεῖν.15420,20018.To practise an art lovingly,to be devoted to it. Lat.artem amare,in artem incumbere. Soφιλοτέχνως17618. φιλοτεχνεῖν, φιλότεχνος and φιλοτεχνία are all used by Plato in reference to art pursuedcon amore; and Cicero (ad Att.xiii. 40. 1) uses φιλοτέχνημα of an elaborate work of art—achef-d’œuvre: “Ubi igitur φιλοτέχνημα illud tuum quod vidi in Parthenone, Ahalam et Brutum?”
φιλοχωρεῖν.1105.To cling to a place,to haunt it. Lat.libenter in loco commorari. φιλοχωρεῖν is used repeatedly by Dionysius in theAntiqq.Rom.(e.g. i. 13 Ἀρκαδικὸν γὰρ τὸ φιλοχωρεῖν ὄρεσιν and v. 63 παρεκελεύοντο ἀλλήλοις μὴ φιλοχωρεῖν ἐν πόλει μηδενὸς αὐτοῖς ἀγαθοῦ μεταδιδούσῃ) and φιλοχωρία in i. 27 (ὑπὸ τῆς φιλοχωρίας κρατουμένους). Plutarch uses the word in reference to his birthplace Chaeroneia, telling us that he ‘clung fondly to the spot,’ lest by leaving it he should make a small place, but one which had witnessed thrilling scenes, ‘smaller yet’ (ἡμεῖς δὲ μικρὰν οἰκοῦντες πόλιν, καὶ ἵνα μὴ μικροτέρα γένηται φιλοχωροῦντες, Plut.Demosth.c. 2). The formχωροφιλεῖνseems to occur twice only in good Greek authors: (1) Antiphonde Caede Herodis§ 78 εἰ δ’ ἐν Αἴνῳ χωροφιλεῖ [probably it is to this passage that Dionysius here refers]; (2)Ep. Thaletis ap. Diog. L.i. 44 σὺ μέντοι χωροφιλέων ὀλίγα φοιτέεις ἐς Ἰωνίην.
φλυαρία.2647,26815.Nonsense,foolery. Lat.nugae,ineptiae. Soφλυάρημα(futility)1929. Notwithstanding the remarks in Stephanus, it would seem more natural to takeφλύαροςas an adjective (than as a noun) in27220, 22, and this for two reasons: (1) the form φλυαρία has been used shortly before; (2) the adjectival use is sufficiently established by Hesychius’ note (φαῦλος, εὐήθης) and by that of Thom. M. p. 376 Ritschl (πολύλογος), while ἡ φλύαρος φιλοσοφία occurs in the Septuagint (Maccab.iv. 5, 10) and καὶ ὅλως ἀποδείκνυσι τὸν Πυθαγόρου λόγον φλύαρον in Plut.Mor.169E.
φορά.14422,20417,24420.Current,rush. Lat.cursus,impetus.
φορτικός.25214.Coarse,rude. Lat.insolens,importunus,insulsus.
φράσις.842,1663,1828,2061, 15,2087,25014.Style,expression. Lat.elocutio. Cp. Quintil. viii. 1. 1 “igitur, quam Graeci φράσιν vocant, Latine dicimuselocutionem. ea spectatur verbis aut singulis aut coniunctis.”
φριμαγμός.15814.Snorting.Lat.fremitus. It is hardly likely that the word here means no more than βληχή,bleating.
Φρύγιος.1961.Phrygian.Lat.Phrygius. Cp. Monro’sModes of Ancient Greek Music, passim.
φυλακή.1986.Preservation.Lat.conservatio.—In thede Imitat.B. vi. 3 the reading φυλακή (if correct) will correspond to the middle φυλάττεσθαι (not to φυλάττειν).
φυσικός.9623,2143,2245,2408, etc.Natural.Lat.naturalis. Soφυσικῶς20012. ὁ φυσικός, in2143, = ‘the natural philosopher,’ ‘the physicist’ (of Empedocles). In1342 οὐδ’ ἔχει φύσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα ... πεσεῖν the meaning is ‘nor is the subject of such a nature that it can fall.’
φωνή.1304, 21,13622,1387, etc.Voice,sound. Lat.vox,sonus,sonus vocalis. Cp.φωνεῖν(‘to pronounce,’ etc.)1401, 20,14418,14814.
φωνήεις.1388, 9, 15,1402,1447,15017,1524,22011.Voiced.Lat.vocalis. φωνήεντα γράμματα =litterae vocales=vowels. For the term ‘voiced’ see s.v. ἄφωνος p.292supra. Cp. Dionys. ThraxArs Gramm.p. 9 (ed. Uhlig) φωνήεντα δὲ λέγεται, ὅτι φωνὴν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν ἀποτελεῖ.
φωτεινός.23413.Full of light.Lat.lucidus,luminosus.
χαρακτήρ.6821,8017,9010, etc.Characteristic stamp,type. Lat.forma,nota. So the adjectiveχαρακτηρικόςin23221 (cp.de Demosth.c. 39 init.). See further in D.H. p. 208, Demetr. p. 308.—In2309 the verbχαράττειν= ‘to irritate.’
χάρις.1125,12020,12412, etc.Charm,grace. Lat.venustas,lepor. Fr.grâce. Cp. Demetr. p. 308. Soχαρίεις(‘refined,’ ‘elegant,’ ‘accomplished,’ ‘consummate’)10616,1161,15416;χαριέντως11022.
χλευασμός.1927.Scoffing,satire. Lat.derisio,illusio.χλευάζειν2703.
χορδή.12223.String,note. Lat.chorda.
χορεῖος.17017,18411.Choree.Lat.choreus. The metrical foot ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ. In17018 the reading τρίβραχυς πούς (τροχαῖος πούς F) seems to be a gloss. The term χορεῖος is applied to the trochee more commonly than to the tribrach. The Epitome (c. 17) gives χορεῖος (without addition).
χρεία.10421,1982.Use,practical work. Lat.usus. Cp.de Demosth.c. 45,de Thucyd.c. 55. There may also be some notion ofpractical need,stress: cp. ἐν χρείᾳ δορός (Soph.Aj.963) and ὑπὸ τῆς χρείας αὐτῆς (schol. on Hom.Odyss.viii. 163).
χρεμετισμός.15814.Neighing,whinnying. Lat.hinnitus.
χρῆμα.1582.Object.Lat.res ipsa. Cp. note on p.158supra.
χρόνοι.1301,1645,20422 (lit. ‘does not divide the times’),21019,21618,2344,24419,2644.Times,time-intervals,time-spaces,rests,pauses. Lat.tempora,morae. So in12815 χρόνους = ‘the length of syllables,’ and in1307 ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις τῶν μορίων = ‘in the duration of words,’ ‘in quantity.’ χρόνων = ‘tenses,’1085; χρόνιος =diuturnus,20223; χρονίζειν =immorari,16412.
χρῶμα.8812,19814.Colour.Lat.color. In19814 χρώμασιν should be retained (in place of Usener’s χρήμασιν) in the sense of ‘ornaments’; the ornaments in question being μέλος εὐγενές, ῥυθμὸς ἀξιωματικός, μεταβολὴ μεγαλοπρεπής (13611, where compare τὸ πᾶσι τούτοις παρακολουθοῦν πρέπον with τοῖς ἄλλοις χρώμασιν ἅπασι παρεῖναι δεῖ τὸ πρέπον in19814). Compare toode Demosth.c. 22 κοσμοῦντος ἅπαντα καὶ χρωματίζοντος τῇ πρεπούσῃ ὑποκρίσει ἧς δεινότατος ἀσκητὴς ἐγένετο, and the use of χρῶμα (or χρώματα) inde Isaeoc. 4 andde Thucyd.c. 42. Photius (Bibl. Cod.214) has ἔστι δὲ ἡ φράσις τῷ ἀνδρὶ σαφὴς μὲν καὶ καθαρὰ καὶ σπουδῇ φιλοσόφῳ πρέπουσα, οὐ μήν γε τοῖς κεκαλλωπισμένοις καὶ περιττοῖς ἐξωραϊζομένη χρώμασι καὶ ποικίλμασι τῆς ῥητορείας. Similarlycolorin Quintil. x. 1. 116, and Cic.de Orat.iii. 25. 100. The stage at which the χρῶμα would best be introduced in a historical work is suggested in a passage of Lucian (de conscrib. hist.48): καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἀθροίσῃ ἅπαντα ἢ τὰ πλεῖστα, πρῶτα μὲν ὑπόμνημά τι συνυφαινέτω αὐτῶν καὶ σῶμα ποιείτω ἀκαλλὲς ἔτι καὶ ἀδιάρθρωτον· εἶτα ἐπιθεὶς τὴν τάξιν ἐπαγέτω τὸ κάλλος καὶ χρωννύτω (i.e. ‘tinge’) τῇ λέξει καὶ σχηματιζέτω καὶ ῥυθμιζέτω. But might it not be more truly said that a great historian like Gibbon has his χρῶμα from the beginning, —from the moment when he stands in the Forum and conceives his vast theme? It is in fact one aspect of his inspiration.
χρωματικός.1947,1963.Chromatic.Lat.chromaticus. For the chromatic scale see note on1947.
χώρα.14413.Room,space. Lat.locus,spatium. χωρίον in1266 = ‘distance,’ ‘interval.’
ψιλός.1305,1487, 12 (bis), 18, 19,1503, 9,1542,25012,2541.Bare,smooth,unaspirated. Lat.lenis. Soψιλότης14821. See s.v. δασύς p.294supra, with the reference there given to A. J. Ellis’ pamphlet. In1487 Ellis takes ‘smooth’ to mean ‘unaccompanied by voice, but in this case possibly not mute.’ In1305 the ‘ordinary’ voice, the voice ‘pure and simple’ (or ‘without addition’), is meant: cp.1542,25012,2541. So ἐν τοῖς ψιλοῖς λόγοις Aristot.Rhet.iii. 2. 3, and “nuda oratio” Cic.Orat.55. 183.
ψοφοειδής.16215.Sounding.Lat.sonans. If the term is technical, it may perhaps be translated byfricative; it can hardly be so wide asconsonantal.
ψόφος.1387, 8, 9, 12,1464,2222.A sound,a noise. Lat.sonus,strepitus. The consonants (litterae consonantes) are called ψόφοι, as contrasted with the φωνήεντα γράμματα.
ψῦγμα.20226.Inhalation.Lat.respiratio. Used particularly of the ‘catch of the breath’ (interspiratio) between one word and another. [ψῦγμα must, of course, be distinguished from ψῆγμα: cp. Long. p. 174.]
ᾠδή.12416, 22,1481,22421,2788.Song,lay,ode. Lat.cantus,carmen. Soᾠδικός=vocal(of the voice accompanied by music),12616,1305.
ὤρα.7812.Care,heed. Lat.cura. Cp. Hesychius: ὥρα ... ψιλῶς δὲ φροντίς, ἐπιμέλεια· ὅθεν ὀλίγωρον (i.e. ‘apoco curante,’ ‘a Hippocleides’) λέγομεν τὸν ὀλίγην ἔχοντα φροντίδα. In7812 M has γρ φροντίδα in the margin.
ὥρα.12020,12412,1621.Freshness,bloom,beauty. Lat.venustas,flos. Fr.fraîcheur. Cp.Ep. ad Cn. Pomp.c. 2 (quoted fromde Demosth.c. 5: in reference to Plato’s style ὅ τε πίνος ὁ τῆς ἀρχαιότητος ἠρέμα αὐτῇ καὶ λεληθότως ἐπιτρέχει ἱλαρόν τέ τι καὶ τεθηλὸς καὶ μεστὸν ὥρας ἄνθος ἀναδίδωσι, καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν εὐωδεστάτων λειμώνων αὔρα τις ἡδεῖα ἐξ αὐτῆς φέρεται).—In6814 and766 ὥρα = ‘time,’ ‘season.’
ὡραϊσμός.6618.Adornment,elegance. Lat.elegantia.
The natural lucidity of the Greek language is sometimes assumed by its modern admirers to extend to all the writings of Greek authors. But the ancients themselves made no such extravagant claims. They might praise Lysias as a model of clearness; but they knew well the difficulties, of subject matter or expression, to be met with not only in Heracleitus[199]or Lycophron, but in masters so great as Pindar, Aeschylus, Thucydides, and the author of that excellent definition which sees in lucidity a fundamental virtue of style—Aristotle himself. Thucydides (to take one writer only out of this group of four) is taxed with obscurity by critics other than Dionysius. Marcellinus, although not otherwise in entire agreement with Dionysius, attributes this particular defect to Thucydides and regards it as deliberate: ἀσαφῶς δὲ λέγων ἐπίτηδες, ἵνα μὴ πᾶσιν εἴη βατὸς μηδὲ εὐτελὴς φαίνηται παντὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ νοούμενος εὐχερῶς, ἀλλὰ τοῖς λίαν σοφοῖς δοκιμαζόμενος παρὰ τούτοις θαυμάζηται ... τὸ δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως τραχύτητος μεστὸν καὶ ἐμβριθὲς καὶ ὑπερβατικόν, ἐνίοτε δὲ ἀσαφές ... ἀσαφὴς τὴν διάνοιαν διὰ τὸ ὑπερβατοῖς χαίρειν (Marcell.Vita Thucyd.§§ 35, 50, 56). An epigram in the Greek Anthology is pitched in the same key:—
ὦ φίλος, εἰ σοφὸς εἶ, λάβε μ’ ἐς χέρας· εἰ δέ γε πάμπαννῆϊς ἔφυς Μουσέων, ῥίψον ἃ μὴ νοέεις.εἰμὶ δέ γ’ οὐ πάντεσσι βατός· παῦροι δ’ ἀγάσαντοΘουκυδίδην Ὀλόρου, Κεκροπίδην τὸ γένος.
Anth. Pal.ix. 583.
And Cicero, in a more uncompromising way, condemns the Speeches as scarcely intelligible: “ipsae illae contiones ita multas habent obscuras abditasque sententias, vix ut intellegantur; quod est in oratione civili vitium vel maximum” (Cic.Orat.9. 30).
Obscurity in matter and obscurity in expression are intimately allied. Euripides, in theFrogs, says of Aeschylus that he was obscure in setting forth his plots (ἀσαφὴς γὰρ ἦν ἐν τῇ φράσει τῶν πραγμάτων, Aristoph.Ran.1122). Dionysius attributes to Lysias, as compared with Thucydidesand Demosthenes, a lucidity which embraces matter as well as expression and treats words as the servants of thought: τρίτην ἀρετὴν ἀποφαίνομαι περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τὴν σαφήνειαν, οὐ μόνον τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν· ἔστι γάρ τις καὶ πραγματικὴ σαφήνεια οὐ πολλοῖς γνώριμος. τεκμαίρομαι δέ, ὅτι τῆς μὲν Θουκυδίδου λέξεως καὶ Δημοσθένους, οἳ δεινότατοι πράγματα ἐξειπεῖν ἐγένοντο, πολλὰ δυσείκαστά ἐστιν ἡμῖν καὶ ἀσαφῆ καὶ δεόμενα ἐξηγητῶν ... τούτου δὲ αἴτιον, ὅτι οὐ τοῖς ὀνόμασι δουλεύει τὰ πράγματα παρ’ αὐτῷ [sc. Λυσίᾳ], τοῖς δὲ πράγμασιν ἀκολουθεῖ τὰ ὀνόματα (de Lysia, c. 4). So far as the two can be separated, it is with wording rather than with subject matter that the present appendix is concerned.
One principal cause of obscurity is the anxious search for brevity. Dionysius sees this, especially in regard to Thucydides; and “brevis esse laboro, | obscurus fio” has many an analogue in his critical pages (e.g. ἀσαφὲς γίνεται τὸ βραχύ and διὰ τὸ τάχος τῆς ἀπαγγελίας ἀσαφὴς ἡ λέξις γίνεται,de Thucyd.c. 24 andEp. ii. ad Amm.c. 2). At the same time, he does not seem to concede enough to the claims of brevity inC.V.1181, 2, where it is not simply a question of ‘offending the ear,’ or of ‘spoiling the metre,’ or even of ‘charm.’ The two lines there quoted from Sophocles have something of that πολύνους βραχυλογία which has been justly attributed to Thucydides.[200]
But too many words may be just as fatal to clearness as too few. As Aristotle says (Rhet.iii. 12. 6), lucidity is imperilled when a style is prolix, no less than when it is condensed. A disjointed and rambling diffuseness is condemned by Demetrius (de Eloc.§ 192); and Dionysius (Ep. ii. ad Amm.c. 15) remarks that numerous parentheses make the meaning hard to follow (... αἱ μεταξὺ παρεμπτώσεις πολλαὶ γινόμεναι καὶ μόλις ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος ἀφικνούμεναι, δι’ ἃς ἡ φράσις δυσπαρακολούθητος γίνεται).[201]
It is, however, the arrangement of words (even more than their number, large or small) that contributes to lucidity or its opposite. Quintilian (ix. 4. 32) says “amphiboliam quoque fieri vitiosa locatione verborum, nemo est qui nesciat”; and certainly the importance of a right order, in its bearing on clearness, is very great even in the highly inflected languages. Elsewhere (viii. 2. 16) Quintilian gives some good examples of ambiguities to be avoided: “vitanda est in primis ambiguitas, non haec solum, de cuius genere supra dictum est, quae incertum intellectum facit, utChremetem audivi percussisse Demean,[202]sed illa quoque, quae, etiamsi turbare non potest sensum, in idem tamen verborum vitium incidit, ut si quis dicat,visum a se hominem librum scribentem. nam etiamsi librum ab homine scribi patet, male tamen composuerit feceritque ambiguum, quantum in ipso fuit.” Quintilian’s ideal is a fine one, but it is not always possible toattain it in Latin or in Greek. The freedom of the classical word-order, so desirable on other grounds, stands in the way here.
Illustrations of a certain degree of ambiguity will be found in some instances of the dependent genitive in Greek, as used especially in Thucydides. Thucydides usually places the dependent genitivebeforethe noun on which it depends.[203]As, however, his rule is not invariable, it cannot be said that in all the following examples (which are designedly of a promiscuous character) the reader is absolved, as Quintilian evidently thinks he should be, from making his conception of the general sense help in determining the grammatical construction:—