IV

ποιητῇ μυρία, ὡς εὖ οἶδ’ ὅτι πάντες ἴσασιν· ἐμοὶ δ’ ὑπομνήσεωςἕνεκα λέγοντι ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα μόνα εἰρῆσθαι.φέρε δὴ μεταβῶμεν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πεζὴν διάλεκτον καὶσκοπῶμεν, εἰ κἀκείνῃ τοῦτο συμβέβηκε τὸ πάθος, ὥστε περὶμικρὰ καὶ φαῦλα πράγματά τε καὶ ὀνόματα συνταχθέντα 5καλῶς μεγάλας γίνεσθαι τὰς χάριτας. ἔστι δὴ παρὰ τῷἩροδότῳ βασιλεύς τις Λυδῶν, ὃν ἐκεῖνος Κανδαύλην ‹καλεῖ,Μυρσίλον δὲ› καλεῖσθαί φησιν ὑφ’ Ἑλλήνων, τῆς ἑαυτοῦγυναικὸς ἐρῶν, ἔπειτα ἀξιῶν τινα τῶν ἑταίρων αὐτοῦ γυμνὴντὴν ἄνθρωπον ἰδεῖν, ὁ δὲ ἀπομαχόμενος μὴ ἀναγκασθῆναι, ὡς 10δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθεν, ὑπομένων τε καὶ θεώμενος αὐτήν—πρᾶγμαοὐχ ὅτι σεμνὸν ἢ καλλιλογεῖσθαι ἐπιτήδειον, ἀλλὰ καὶταπεινὸν καὶ ἐπικίνδυνον καὶ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ καλοῦἐγγυτέρω· ἀλλ’ εἴρηται σφόδρα δεξιῶς, καὶ κρεῖττον γέγονενἀκουσθῆναι λεγόμενον ἢ ὀφθῆναι γινόμενον. ἵνα δὲ μή τις 15ὑπολάβῃ τὴν διάλεκτον εἶναι τῆς ἡδονῆς αἰτίαν τῇ λέξει,μεταθεὶς αὐτῆς τὸν χαρακτῆρα εἰς τὴν Ἀτθίδα γλῶτταν καὶοὐδὲν ἄλλο περιεργασάμενος οὕτως ἐξοίσω τὸν διάλογον.“Γύνη, οὐ γάρ σε δοκῶ πείθεσθαί μοι λέγοντι περὶ τοῦεἴδους τῆς γυναικός· ὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποις ὄντα 20ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν· ποίει ὅπως ἐκείνην θεάσῃ γυμνήν. ὁ[81]passages of this kind in Homer, as everybody of course is well aware. It is enough to quote this single instance by way of reminder.Let us now pass on to the language of prose and see if the same principle holds good of it too—that great graces invest trifling and commonplace acts and words, when they are cast into the mould of beautiful composition. For instance, there is in Herodotus a certain Lydian king whom he calls Candaules, adding that he was called Myrsilus by the Greeks. Candaules is represented as infatuated with admiration of his wife, and then as insisting on one of his friends seeing the poor woman naked. The friend struggled hard against the constraint put upon him; but failing to shake the king’s resolve, he submitted, and viewed her. The incident, as an incident, is not only lacking in dignity and, for the purpose of embellishment, intractable, but is also vulgar and hazardous and more akin to the repulsive than to the beautiful. But it has been related with great dexterity: it has been made something far better to hear told than it was to see done. And, that no one may imagine that it is to the dialect that the charm of the story is due, I will change its distinctive forms into Attic, and without any further meddling with the language will give the conversation as it stands:—“‘Of a truth, Gyges, I think that thou dost not believe what I say concerning the beauty of my wife; indeed, men trust their ears less fully than their eyes. Contrive, therefore, to see her

[81]passages of this kind in Homer, as everybody of course is well aware. It is enough to quote this single instance by way of reminder.Let us now pass on to the language of prose and see if the same principle holds good of it too—that great graces invest trifling and commonplace acts and words, when they are cast into the mould of beautiful composition. For instance, there is in Herodotus a certain Lydian king whom he calls Candaules, adding that he was called Myrsilus by the Greeks. Candaules is represented as infatuated with admiration of his wife, and then as insisting on one of his friends seeing the poor woman naked. The friend struggled hard against the constraint put upon him; but failing to shake the king’s resolve, he submitted, and viewed her. The incident, as an incident, is not only lacking in dignity and, for the purpose of embellishment, intractable, but is also vulgar and hazardous and more akin to the repulsive than to the beautiful. But it has been related with great dexterity: it has been made something far better to hear told than it was to see done. And, that no one may imagine that it is to the dialect that the charm of the story is due, I will change its distinctive forms into Attic, and without any further meddling with the language will give the conversation as it stands:—“‘Of a truth, Gyges, I think that thou dost not believe what I say concerning the beauty of my wife; indeed, men trust their ears less fully than their eyes. Contrive, therefore, to see her

[81]

passages of this kind in Homer, as everybody of course is well aware. It is enough to quote this single instance by way of reminder.

Let us now pass on to the language of prose and see if the same principle holds good of it too—that great graces invest trifling and commonplace acts and words, when they are cast into the mould of beautiful composition. For instance, there is in Herodotus a certain Lydian king whom he calls Candaules, adding that he was called Myrsilus by the Greeks. Candaules is represented as infatuated with admiration of his wife, and then as insisting on one of his friends seeing the poor woman naked. The friend struggled hard against the constraint put upon him; but failing to shake the king’s resolve, he submitted, and viewed her. The incident, as an incident, is not only lacking in dignity and, for the purpose of embellishment, intractable, but is also vulgar and hazardous and more akin to the repulsive than to the beautiful. But it has been related with great dexterity: it has been made something far better to hear told than it was to see done. And, that no one may imagine that it is to the dialect that the charm of the story is due, I will change its distinctive forms into Attic, and without any further meddling with the language will give the conversation as it stands:—

“‘Of a truth, Gyges, I think that thou dost not believe what I say concerning the beauty of my wife; indeed, men trust their ears less fully than their eyes. Contrive, therefore, to see her

1 δε P,MV 2 εἰρεῖσθαι P 3 μ[ε]ταβῶμεν cum litura P || ἤδη ante καὶ ἐπὶ add. F || διάλεξιν F 4 καὶ ἐκείνη F || τοῦτο F: τὸ αὐτὸ PV: τοῦτο αὐτὸ M || τὸ F: om. PMV 6 ἡδονὰς post μεγάλας add. F || τὰς PMV: καὶ F 7 καλεῖ Μυρσίλον δὲ om. FM: καλεῖ Μυρσίλον δὲ καλεῖσθαι om. PV: supplevit Sylburgius coll. Herod. i. 7 9 τινα post αὐτοῦ ponit F 10 ὁ δὲ PMV: ὃσ F 11 δὲ om. F || αὐτὴν· πρᾶγμα F: αὐτὴν τὸ πρᾶγμα P: αὐτὴν ἦν· τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα MV 12 ἐπιτήδειον] δυνάμενον E 13 ταπεινὸν EPMV: παιδικὸν F 14 ἀλλὰ PM 16 τηῖ P 17 γλῶσσαν F 18 περιειργασμένος P || τὸν λόγον F 19 περὶ] τ(ους) περι P: τὰ περὶ Va 20 τυγχάνει] ὑπάρχει F4. Usener’s conjecture παρὰ (for περὶ) may be held to find some support from9221 and25610, but on the other hand Dionysius’ love of μεταβολή has always to be remembered.6. F’s reading ἡδονὰς γίνεσθαι καὶ adds still another καί to the four already used in this sentence. The two nouns ἡδονὰς ... χάριτας are superficially attractive, but the plural ἡδοναί is not common in this sense.9.γυμνήν: some light is thrown on various phases of Greek and non-Greek feeling with regard to any exposure of the person by such passages as Thucyd. i. 6, PlatoMenex.236D, Herod. i. 10 (ad f.). As to the women of Sparta cp. Gardner and JevonsGreek Antiquitiespp. 352, 353.10. For the participles cp. p. 76 ll. 5-7.12.οὐχ ὅτι(in a context which gives it the meaning ofnon solum non) occurs elsewhere in Dionysius: e.g.Antiqq. Rom.ii. c. 18 καὶ οὐχ ὅτι θεῶν ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀγαθῶν ἀξίους.13.ταπεινόν(which is weightily supported) seems to correspond better than παιδικόν to σεμνόν.—F’s reading παιδικὸν might perhaps be translated ‘sportive’ or ‘freakish’ (with a reference to boyish pranks); cp. D.H. p. 196 (s.v. μειρακιώδης) and p. 199 (s.v. παιδιώδης), and Aristot.Rhet.iii. 11 fin. εἰσὶ δὲ ὑπερβολαὶ μειρακιώδεις ... διὸ πρεσβυτέρῳ λέγειν ἀπρεπές.17. So, inde Demosth.c. 41, μετακεκόμισται δ’ εἰς τὴν Ἀτθίδα διάλεκτον ἡ λέξις (the passage in question being Herod. vii. 8). For the charm of the Ionic dialect cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 18 “in Herodoto vero cum omnia (ut ego quidem sentio) lenitur fluunt, tum ipsa διάλεκτος habet eam iucunditatem, ut latentes etiam numeros complexa videatur.”18.οὐδὲν ἄλλο περιεργασάμενος: notwithstanding this undertaking, the variations from the traditional text of Herodotus are (as will be seen on reference to the critical footnotes) considerable.It is no doubt possible that F’s reading τὸν λόγον (‘the story’) is original, and was changed to τὸν διάλογον (‘the conversation’) because the whole story is not quoted. But such readings of F as ὑπάρχει (for τυγχάνει l. 20: against theMSS.of Herodotus) show that its unsupported testimony must be received with much reserve.20. This passage of Herodotus may have been before Horace’s mind (Ars P.180): “segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem | quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus et quae | ipse sibi tradit spectator.” Cp. also ShakespeareCoriolanusiii. 2 “the eyes of the ignorant | (are) more learned than the ears.” In the Greek the emphatic position of both ὦτα and ὀφθαλμῶν is to be noticed; cp. Introduction, pp.19-25, for emphasis at the end and at the beginning of clauses.

4. Usener’s conjecture παρὰ (for περὶ) may be held to find some support from9221 and25610, but on the other hand Dionysius’ love of μεταβολή has always to be remembered.

6. F’s reading ἡδονὰς γίνεσθαι καὶ adds still another καί to the four already used in this sentence. The two nouns ἡδονὰς ... χάριτας are superficially attractive, but the plural ἡδοναί is not common in this sense.

9.γυμνήν: some light is thrown on various phases of Greek and non-Greek feeling with regard to any exposure of the person by such passages as Thucyd. i. 6, PlatoMenex.236D, Herod. i. 10 (ad f.). As to the women of Sparta cp. Gardner and JevonsGreek Antiquitiespp. 352, 353.

10. For the participles cp. p. 76 ll. 5-7.

12.οὐχ ὅτι(in a context which gives it the meaning ofnon solum non) occurs elsewhere in Dionysius: e.g.Antiqq. Rom.ii. c. 18 καὶ οὐχ ὅτι θεῶν ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἀνθρώπων ἀγαθῶν ἀξίους.

13.ταπεινόν(which is weightily supported) seems to correspond better than παιδικόν to σεμνόν.—F’s reading παιδικὸν might perhaps be translated ‘sportive’ or ‘freakish’ (with a reference to boyish pranks); cp. D.H. p. 196 (s.v. μειρακιώδης) and p. 199 (s.v. παιδιώδης), and Aristot.Rhet.iii. 11 fin. εἰσὶ δὲ ὑπερβολαὶ μειρακιώδεις ... διὸ πρεσβυτέρῳ λέγειν ἀπρεπές.

17. So, inde Demosth.c. 41, μετακεκόμισται δ’ εἰς τὴν Ἀτθίδα διάλεκτον ἡ λέξις (the passage in question being Herod. vii. 8). For the charm of the Ionic dialect cp. Quintil. ix. 4. 18 “in Herodoto vero cum omnia (ut ego quidem sentio) lenitur fluunt, tum ipsa διάλεκτος habet eam iucunditatem, ut latentes etiam numeros complexa videatur.”

18.οὐδὲν ἄλλο περιεργασάμενος: notwithstanding this undertaking, the variations from the traditional text of Herodotus are (as will be seen on reference to the critical footnotes) considerable.

It is no doubt possible that F’s reading τὸν λόγον (‘the story’) is original, and was changed to τὸν διάλογον (‘the conversation’) because the whole story is not quoted. But such readings of F as ὑπάρχει (for τυγχάνει l. 20: against theMSS.of Herodotus) show that its unsupported testimony must be received with much reserve.

20. This passage of Herodotus may have been before Horace’s mind (Ars P.180): “segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem | quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus et quae | ipse sibi tradit spectator.” Cp. also ShakespeareCoriolanusiii. 2 “the eyes of the ignorant | (are) more learned than the ears.” In the Greek the emphatic position of both ὦτα and ὀφθαλμῶν is to be noticed; cp. Introduction, pp.19-25, for emphasis at the end and at the beginning of clauses.

δ’ ἀναβοήσας εἶπε· Δέσποτα, τίνα λόγον λέγεις οὐχ ὑγιᾶ,κελεύων με δέσποιναν τὴν ἐμὴν θεάσασθαι γυμνήν; ἅμα δὲχιτῶνι ἐκδυομένῳ συνεκδύεται καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ γυνή. πάλαιδὲ τὰ καλὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐξεύρηται, ἐξ ὧν μανθάνειν δεῖ· ἐν οἷςἓν τόδ’ ἐστίν, ὁρᾶν τινα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ. ἐγὼ δὲ πείθομαι ἐκείνην 5εἶναι πασῶν γυναικῶν καλλίστην, καὶ σοῦ δέομαι μὴδεῖσθαι ἀνόμων. ὁ μὲν δὴ λέγων ταῦτα ἀπεμάχετο, ὁ δ’ἠμείβετο τοῖσδε· Θάρσει Γύγη, καὶ μὴ φοβοῦ μήτ’ ἐμέ, ὡςπειρώμενόν σου λέγω λόγον τόνδε, μήτε γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμήν,μή τί σοι ἐξ αὐτῆς γένηται βλάβος. ἀρχὴν γὰρ ἐγὼ μηχανήσομαι 10οὕτως, ὥστε μηδὲ μαθεῖν αὐτὴν ὀφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ σοῦ.ἀγαγὼν γάρ σε εἰς τὸ οἴκημα, ἐν ᾧ κοιμώμεθα, ὄπισθε τῆςἀνοιγομένης θύρας στήσω· μετὰ δὲ ἐμὲ εἰσελθόντα παρέσταικαὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἐμὴ εἰς κοίτην. κεῖται δ’ ἐγγὺς τῆς εἰσόδουθρόνος· ἐπὶ τοῦτον τῶν ἱματίων καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον ἐκδῦσα 15θήσει, καὶ καθ’ ἡσυχίαν πολλὴν παρέσται σοι θεάσασθαι.ὅταν δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου πορεύηται ἐπὶ τὴν εὐνὴν κατὰ νώτουτε αὐτῆς γένῃ, σοὶ μελέτω τὸ ἐντεῦθεν, ὅπως μή σε ὄψεταιἀπιόντα διὰ θυρῶν. ὁ μὲν δὴ ὡς οὐκ ἐδύνατο διαφυγεῖν,ἕτοιμος ἦν [ποιεῖν ταῦτα].” 20[83]naked.’ But he cried out and said: ‘My lord, what is this foolish word thou sayest, bidding me look upon my lady naked? for a woman, when she puts off her dress, puts off her shamefastness also. Men of old time have found out excellent precepts, which it behoves us to learn and observe; and among them is this—“Let a man keep his eyes on his own.” As for me, I am fully persuaded that she is the fairest of all women, and I beseech thee not to require of me aught that is unlawful.’ Thus he spoke, and strove with him. But the other answered and said: ‘Be of good cheer, Gyges, and fear not that I say this to prove thee, or that harm will come to thee from my wife. For, in the first place, I will contrive after such a fashion that she shall not even know that she has been seen by thee. I will bring thee into the room where we sleep, and set thee behind the door that stands ajar; and after I have entered, my wife will come to bed. Now, near the entrance there is a seat; and on this she will place each of her garments as she puts them off, so that thou wilt have time enough to behold. But when she passes from the seat to the couch, and thou art behind her back, then take heed that she see thee not as thou goest away through the door.’ Forasmuch, then, as he could not escape, he consented to do after this manner.”[90]

[83]naked.’ But he cried out and said: ‘My lord, what is this foolish word thou sayest, bidding me look upon my lady naked? for a woman, when she puts off her dress, puts off her shamefastness also. Men of old time have found out excellent precepts, which it behoves us to learn and observe; and among them is this—“Let a man keep his eyes on his own.” As for me, I am fully persuaded that she is the fairest of all women, and I beseech thee not to require of me aught that is unlawful.’ Thus he spoke, and strove with him. But the other answered and said: ‘Be of good cheer, Gyges, and fear not that I say this to prove thee, or that harm will come to thee from my wife. For, in the first place, I will contrive after such a fashion that she shall not even know that she has been seen by thee. I will bring thee into the room where we sleep, and set thee behind the door that stands ajar; and after I have entered, my wife will come to bed. Now, near the entrance there is a seat; and on this she will place each of her garments as she puts them off, so that thou wilt have time enough to behold. But when she passes from the seat to the couch, and thou art behind her back, then take heed that she see thee not as thou goest away through the door.’ Forasmuch, then, as he could not escape, he consented to do after this manner.”[90]

[83]

naked.’ But he cried out and said: ‘My lord, what is this foolish word thou sayest, bidding me look upon my lady naked? for a woman, when she puts off her dress, puts off her shamefastness also. Men of old time have found out excellent precepts, which it behoves us to learn and observe; and among them is this—“Let a man keep his eyes on his own.” As for me, I am fully persuaded that she is the fairest of all women, and I beseech thee not to require of me aught that is unlawful.’ Thus he spoke, and strove with him. But the other answered and said: ‘Be of good cheer, Gyges, and fear not that I say this to prove thee, or that harm will come to thee from my wife. For, in the first place, I will contrive after such a fashion that she shall not even know that she has been seen by thee. I will bring thee into the room where we sleep, and set thee behind the door that stands ajar; and after I have entered, my wife will come to bed. Now, near the entrance there is a seat; and on this she will place each of her garments as she puts them off, so that thou wilt have time enough to behold. But when she passes from the seat to the couch, and thou art behind her back, then take heed that she see thee not as thou goest away through the door.’ Forasmuch, then, as he could not escape, he consented to do after this manner.”[90]

1 δ’ F: δὲ PMV: δὲ μέγα Her. (exc. ACP) || λέγεις λόγον Her. 3 ἐκδυομένῳ F, Her.: ἐκδυομένη PMV 5 ἐν τώδε (τῶδε corr.) F, MV: ἐν τωῖ δε P || ἔνεστιν corr. F1, M 6 εἶναι post γυναικῶν traiciunt PMV 7 δεῖσθαι F, Her.: χρήιζειν P, MV || ἀνομῶν P || ταῦτα] τοιαῦτα Her. || post ἀπεμάχετο haec verba habet Her., ἀρρωδέων μή τί οἱ ἐξ αὐτῶν γένηται κακόν || δὲ P 8 ὡς σέο πειρώμενον (vel πειρώμενος) Her. 9 λόγον λέγω PMV || τόνδε ... ἐγὼ om. add. in marg. P210 τ[ι] σοι cum litura F: τισ P 12 ἄγων P: ἐγὼ Her. || ἐσ P,M || ὄπισθεν PMV 13 θυραστήσω P114 καὶ post παρέσται om F || ἐς PMV || δὲ PMV 15 ἐκδῦσα ante καθ’ ponunt PMV || ἐκδύνουσα Her. 16 παρέξει Her. 17 ὅτ’ ἂν FP ut solent: ἐπεὰν Her. || δε P, MV 18 μελέτω σοι F 19 ἰόντα Her. || δ[ι]α cum litura P || ἐδύνατο F, Her. (exc. RSVb): ἠδύνατο PMV || διαφεύγειν P 20 ἦν ἕτοιμος Her. || ποιεῖν ταῦτα (τά γ’ αὐτά P) om. Her.3. Cp. Diog. Laert.Vit. Pythag.§ 43 τῇ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα μελλούσῃ πορεύεσθαι παρῄνει (sc. Θεανὼ) ἅμα τοῖς ἐνδύμασι καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἀποτίθεσθαι, ἀνισταμένην τε πάλιν ἅμ’ αὐτοῖσιν ἀναλαμβάνειν.14. εἰς κοίτην and ἐγγὺς τῆς εἰσόδου are Dionysius’ Attic equivalents for ἐς κοῖτον and ἀγχοῦ τῆς ἐσόδου.15.καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον: cp. Herod. viii. 113 ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἐξελέγετο κατ’ ὀλίγους.20. Perhaps the effect of Herodotus’ style is best conveyed by the Elizabethan translation (published in 1584) of Barnaby Rich, which is, however, confined to books i. and ii. InThe Famous History of Herodotus, by B. R. (i.e., probably, Barnaby Rich), Dionysius’ extract from Herod. i. 8 is freely Englished thus: “My faithful servant Gyges, whereas thou seemest not to credit the large vaunts and often brags which I make of my lady’s beauty and comeliness (the ears of men being much more incredulous than their eyes), behold I will so bring to pass that thou shalt see her naked. Whereat the poor gentleman greatly abashed, and in no wise willing to assent thereto, made answer as followeth, My lord (quoth he) what manner of speech is this which unadvisedly you use in persuading me to behold my lady’s secrets, for a woman, you know, the more in sight the less in shame: who together with her garments layeth aside her modesty. Honest precepts have been devised by our elders which we ought to remember, whereof this is one, that every man ought to behold his own. For mine own part I easily believe you that of all women in the world there is none comparable unto her in beauty. Wherefore I beseech your grace to have me excused, if in a case so heinous and unlawful I somewhat refuse to obey your will. Gyges having in this sort acquitted himself, fearing the danger that might ensue, the king began afresh to reply, saying, My good Gyges, take heart at grace, and fear not, lest either myself do go about to examine and feel thy meaning by the coloured glose of feigned speech, or that the queen my lady take occasion to work thy displeasure hereby. Pull up thy spirits, and leave all to me: it is I that will work the means, whereby she shall never know any part of herself to have been seen by any creature living. Listen then awhile and give ear to my counsel:—When night is come, the door of the chamber wherein we lie being wide set open, I will covertly place thee behind the same: straight at my entrance thereinto, her custom is not to be long after me, directly at her coming in, there standeth a bench, whereat unclothing herself, she accustometh to lay her garments upon it, propounding her divine and angelical body, to be seen and viewed for a long space. This done, as she turns from the bench to bedward, her back being toward thee, have care to slip privily out of the doors lest haply she espy thee.—The gentleman seeing himself taken in a trap, that in no wise he could escape without performance of his lord’s folly, gave his assent.” [From the rare copy in the British Museum, with the spelling modernized.]If Dionysius does not quote thesequelof the story, the reason may well be that he expects his readers to find it, or to have found it, in the pages of Herodotus himself.

3. Cp. Diog. Laert.Vit. Pythag.§ 43 τῇ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον ἄνδρα μελλούσῃ πορεύεσθαι παρῄνει (sc. Θεανὼ) ἅμα τοῖς ἐνδύμασι καὶ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἀποτίθεσθαι, ἀνισταμένην τε πάλιν ἅμ’ αὐτοῖσιν ἀναλαμβάνειν.

14. εἰς κοίτην and ἐγγὺς τῆς εἰσόδου are Dionysius’ Attic equivalents for ἐς κοῖτον and ἀγχοῦ τῆς ἐσόδου.

15.καθ’ ἓν ἕκαστον: cp. Herod. viii. 113 ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἐξελέγετο κατ’ ὀλίγους.

20. Perhaps the effect of Herodotus’ style is best conveyed by the Elizabethan translation (published in 1584) of Barnaby Rich, which is, however, confined to books i. and ii. InThe Famous History of Herodotus, by B. R. (i.e., probably, Barnaby Rich), Dionysius’ extract from Herod. i. 8 is freely Englished thus: “My faithful servant Gyges, whereas thou seemest not to credit the large vaunts and often brags which I make of my lady’s beauty and comeliness (the ears of men being much more incredulous than their eyes), behold I will so bring to pass that thou shalt see her naked. Whereat the poor gentleman greatly abashed, and in no wise willing to assent thereto, made answer as followeth, My lord (quoth he) what manner of speech is this which unadvisedly you use in persuading me to behold my lady’s secrets, for a woman, you know, the more in sight the less in shame: who together with her garments layeth aside her modesty. Honest precepts have been devised by our elders which we ought to remember, whereof this is one, that every man ought to behold his own. For mine own part I easily believe you that of all women in the world there is none comparable unto her in beauty. Wherefore I beseech your grace to have me excused, if in a case so heinous and unlawful I somewhat refuse to obey your will. Gyges having in this sort acquitted himself, fearing the danger that might ensue, the king began afresh to reply, saying, My good Gyges, take heart at grace, and fear not, lest either myself do go about to examine and feel thy meaning by the coloured glose of feigned speech, or that the queen my lady take occasion to work thy displeasure hereby. Pull up thy spirits, and leave all to me: it is I that will work the means, whereby she shall never know any part of herself to have been seen by any creature living. Listen then awhile and give ear to my counsel:—When night is come, the door of the chamber wherein we lie being wide set open, I will covertly place thee behind the same: straight at my entrance thereinto, her custom is not to be long after me, directly at her coming in, there standeth a bench, whereat unclothing herself, she accustometh to lay her garments upon it, propounding her divine and angelical body, to be seen and viewed for a long space. This done, as she turns from the bench to bedward, her back being toward thee, have care to slip privily out of the doors lest haply she espy thee.—The gentleman seeing himself taken in a trap, that in no wise he could escape without performance of his lord’s folly, gave his assent.” [From the rare copy in the British Museum, with the spelling modernized.]

If Dionysius does not quote thesequelof the story, the reason may well be that he expects his readers to find it, or to have found it, in the pages of Herodotus himself.

οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶἡ σεμνότης τῶν ὀνομάτων εὔμορφον πεποίηκε τὴν φράσιν·ἀνεπιτήδευτα γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἀνέκλεκτα, οἷα ἡ φύσις τέθεικενσύμβολα τοῖς πράγμασιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἥρμοττεν ἴσως κρείττοσιχρήσασθαι ἑτέροις. ἀνάγκη δὲ δήπου, ὅταν τοῖς κυριωτάτοις 5τε καὶ προσεχεστάτοις ὀνόμασιν ἐκφέρηται τὰ νοήματα, μηδὲνσεμνότερον εἶναι, ἢ οἷά ἐστιν. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐστισεμνὸν οὐδὲ περιττόν, ὁ βουλόμενος εἴσεται μεταθεὶς οὐδὲνὅτι μὴ τὴν ἁρμονίαν. πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶτοιαῦτά ἐστιν, ἐξ ὧν ἄν τις τεκμήραιτο, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ κάλλει 10τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ πειθὼ τῆς ἑρμηνείας ἦν, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῇ συζυγίᾳ.καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἱκανὰ ταῦτα.IVἵνα δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον αἴσθηταί τις, ὅσην ἔχει ῥώμην ἡσυνθετικὴ δύναμις ἔν τε ποιήμασι καὶ λόγοις, λήψομαί τιναςεὖ ἔχειν δοκούσας λέξεις, ὧν τὰς ἁρμονίας μεταθεὶς ἀλλοῖα 15φαίνεσθαι ποιήσω καὶ τὰ μέτρα καὶ τοὺς λόγους. λαμβανέσθωδὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν ταυτί·ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε τάλαντα γυνὴ χερνῆτις ἀληθής,ἥ τε σταθμὸν ἔχουσα καὶ εἴριον ἀμφὶς ἀνέλκειἰσάζουσ’, ἵνα παισὶν ἀεικέα μισθὸν ἄροιτο. 20τοῦτο τὸ μέτρον ἡρωϊκόν ἐστιν ἑξάπουν τέλειον, κατὰ δάκτυλον[85]Here again no one can say that the grace of the style is due to the impressiveness and the dignity of the words. These have not been picked and chosen with studious care; they are simply the labels affixed to things by Nature. Indeed, it would perhaps have been out of place to use other and grander words. I take it, in fact, to be always necessary, whenever ideas are expressed in proper and appropriate language, that no word should be more dignified than the nature of the ideas. That there is no stately or grandiose word in the present passage, any one who likes may prove by simply changing the arrangement. There are many similar passages in this author, from which it can be seen that the fascination of his style does not after all lie in the beauty of the words but in their combination. We need not discuss this question further.CHAPTER IVTO CHANGE ORDER IS TO DESTROY BEAUTYTo show yet more conclusively the great force wielded by the faculty of composition both in poetry and prose, I will quote some passages which are universally regarded as fine, and show what a different air is imparted to both verse and prose by a mere change in their arrangement. First let these lines be taken from the Homeric poems:—But with them was it as with a toil-bowed woman righteous-souled—In her scales be the weights and the wool, and the balance on high doth she holdPoised level, that so may the hard-earned bread to her babes be doled.[91]This metre is the complete heroic metre of six feet, the basis

ἵνα δὲ πολὺ μᾶλλον αἴσθηταί τις, ὅσην ἔχει ῥώμην ἡσυνθετικὴ δύναμις ἔν τε ποιήμασι καὶ λόγοις, λήψομαί τιναςεὖ ἔχειν δοκούσας λέξεις, ὧν τὰς ἁρμονίας μεταθεὶς ἀλλοῖα 15φαίνεσθαι ποιήσω καὶ τὰ μέτρα καὶ τοὺς λόγους. λαμβανέσθωδὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν ταυτί·

ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε τάλαντα γυνὴ χερνῆτις ἀληθής,ἥ τε σταθμὸν ἔχουσα καὶ εἴριον ἀμφὶς ἀνέλκειἰσάζουσ’, ἵνα παισὶν ἀεικέα μισθὸν ἄροιτο. 20

τοῦτο τὸ μέτρον ἡρωϊκόν ἐστιν ἑξάπουν τέλειον, κατὰ δάκτυλον

[85]Here again no one can say that the grace of the style is due to the impressiveness and the dignity of the words. These have not been picked and chosen with studious care; they are simply the labels affixed to things by Nature. Indeed, it would perhaps have been out of place to use other and grander words. I take it, in fact, to be always necessary, whenever ideas are expressed in proper and appropriate language, that no word should be more dignified than the nature of the ideas. That there is no stately or grandiose word in the present passage, any one who likes may prove by simply changing the arrangement. There are many similar passages in this author, from which it can be seen that the fascination of his style does not after all lie in the beauty of the words but in their combination. We need not discuss this question further.CHAPTER IVTO CHANGE ORDER IS TO DESTROY BEAUTYTo show yet more conclusively the great force wielded by the faculty of composition both in poetry and prose, I will quote some passages which are universally regarded as fine, and show what a different air is imparted to both verse and prose by a mere change in their arrangement. First let these lines be taken from the Homeric poems:—But with them was it as with a toil-bowed woman righteous-souled—In her scales be the weights and the wool, and the balance on high doth she holdPoised level, that so may the hard-earned bread to her babes be doled.[91]This metre is the complete heroic metre of six feet, the basis

[85]

Here again no one can say that the grace of the style is due to the impressiveness and the dignity of the words. These have not been picked and chosen with studious care; they are simply the labels affixed to things by Nature. Indeed, it would perhaps have been out of place to use other and grander words. I take it, in fact, to be always necessary, whenever ideas are expressed in proper and appropriate language, that no word should be more dignified than the nature of the ideas. That there is no stately or grandiose word in the present passage, any one who likes may prove by simply changing the arrangement. There are many similar passages in this author, from which it can be seen that the fascination of his style does not after all lie in the beauty of the words but in their combination. We need not discuss this question further.

To show yet more conclusively the great force wielded by the faculty of composition both in poetry and prose, I will quote some passages which are universally regarded as fine, and show what a different air is imparted to both verse and prose by a mere change in their arrangement. First let these lines be taken from the Homeric poems:—

But with them was it as with a toil-bowed woman righteous-souled—In her scales be the weights and the wool, and the balance on high doth she holdPoised level, that so may the hard-earned bread to her babes be doled.[91]

This metre is the complete heroic metre of six feet, the basis

1 οὐδὲν F 2 πεποίηκεν P 3 ἡ om. PV || τέθεικεν FP: τέθεικε EMV 4 κρείττοσ(ιν) P 5 δὲ δὴ [που] FM: δε P: δὴ Vs 8 περιττὸν οὐδὲ σεμνὸν F 9 τοῦτο (-τω corr.) τ(ω) P 11 ἦν * * ἀλλ’ P 12 καὶ] ἦν καὶ M: ἦ καὶ V 13 τις FM: om. PV 14 ποιήμασιν P 15 ἀλλοίας P 17 μὲν om. PMV || ταυτί PMV: ταῦτα F 18 ἔχεν FM: ἔχον PV Hom. 19 εἰριον deleto accentu P 20 ἄρηται Hom. 21 ἡρωϊκόν PMV: ἡρῷόν F3. P gives ἀφηκέναι in26222, and τέθηκεν may possibly be right here. The -η- forms are found in someMSS.of Eurip.Hel.1059 and Demosth.Chers.34. But cp.10813.9.καὶ παρὰ τούτῳ: perhaps ‘in Herodotusas well as in Homer.’ Reiske, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ‹ἄλλα› παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τοιαῦτά ἐστιν.10. Dionysius seems to allow too little for the charmingnaïvetéof Herodotus’ mental attitude, which is surely characteristic, whether or no Herodotus was the first to tell the story. Cp. D.H. p. 11 n. 1. The narrative which opens in Livy xxxix. c. 9 may be compared and contrasted.18. The verse illustrations used on pp. 84, 86 are similarly treated by Hermogenes (WalzRhett. Gr.iii. 230, 231; cp. p. 715ibid.).21. It seems better to readἡρωϊκόνhere (with PMV) rather than ἡρῷον (with F), as the form ἡρωϊκός is found consistently elsewhere (863,887,17217,20610).Dionysius tends to regard the Homeric hexameter as the original and perfect metre, from which all others are inferior deflexions. Metres, after all, have their associations; the associations of the Homeric hexameter were eminently noble; and so even the choral odes of Aeschylus gain where the heroic line is most employed. So much, at any rate, may be conceded to Dionysius’ point of view, prone though he is to the kind of exaggeration which Tennyson (Lifei. 469, 470) so effectively parodies.

3. P gives ἀφηκέναι in26222, and τέθηκεν may possibly be right here. The -η- forms are found in someMSS.of Eurip.Hel.1059 and Demosth.Chers.34. But cp.10813.

9.καὶ παρὰ τούτῳ: perhaps ‘in Herodotusas well as in Homer.’ Reiske, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ‹ἄλλα› παρὰ τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τοιαῦτά ἐστιν.

10. Dionysius seems to allow too little for the charmingnaïvetéof Herodotus’ mental attitude, which is surely characteristic, whether or no Herodotus was the first to tell the story. Cp. D.H. p. 11 n. 1. The narrative which opens in Livy xxxix. c. 9 may be compared and contrasted.

18. The verse illustrations used on pp. 84, 86 are similarly treated by Hermogenes (WalzRhett. Gr.iii. 230, 231; cp. p. 715ibid.).

21. It seems better to readἡρωϊκόνhere (with PMV) rather than ἡρῷον (with F), as the form ἡρωϊκός is found consistently elsewhere (863,887,17217,20610).

Dionysius tends to regard the Homeric hexameter as the original and perfect metre, from which all others are inferior deflexions. Metres, after all, have their associations; the associations of the Homeric hexameter were eminently noble; and so even the choral odes of Aeschylus gain where the heroic line is most employed. So much, at any rate, may be conceded to Dionysius’ point of view, prone though he is to the kind of exaggeration which Tennyson (Lifei. 469, 470) so effectively parodies.

πόδα βαινόμενον. ἐγὼ δὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτων μετακινήσαςτὴν σύνθεσιν τοὺς αὐτοὺς στίχους ἀντὶ μὲν ἑξαμέτρων ποιήσωτετραμέτρους, ἀντὶ δὲ ἡρωϊκῶν προσοδιακοὺς τὸν τρόποντοῦτον·ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε γυνὴ χερνῆτις τάλαντ’ ἀληθής, 5ἥ τ’ εἴριον ἀμφὶς καὶ σταθμὸν ἔχουσ’ ἀνέλκειἰσάζουσ’, ἵν’ ἀεικέα παισὶν ἄροιτο μισθόν.τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ πριάπεια, ὑπό τινων δ’ ἰθυφάλλια λεγόμενα,ταυτί·οὐ βέβηλος, ὦ τελέται τοῦ νέου Διονύσου, 10κἀγὼ δ’ ἐξ εὐεργεσίης ὠργιασμένος ἥκω.ἄλλους πάλιν λαβὼν στίχους Ὁμηρικούς, οὔτε προσθεὶςαὐτοῖς οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀφελών, τὴν δὲ σύνθεσιν ἀλλάξας μόνονἕτερον ἀποδώσω γένος τὸ τετράμετρον καλούμενον Ἰωνικόν·ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς, 15βεβρυχώς, κόνιος δεδραγμένος αἱματοέσσης.ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς,αἱματοέσσης κόνιος δεδραγμένος, βεβρυχώς.[87]of which is the dactyl. I will change the order of the words, and will turn the same lines into tetrameters instead of hexameters, into prosodiacs instead of heroics. Thus:—But it was with them as with a righteous-souled woman toil-bowed,In her scales weights and wool lie, on high doth she hold the balanceLevel-poised, so that bread hardly-earned may be doled to her babes.Such are the following Priapean, or (as some call them) ithyphallic, lines:—I am no profane one, O young Dionysus’ votaries;By his favour come I too initiate as one of his.[92]Taking again other lines of Homer, and neither adding nor withdrawing anything, but simply varying the order, I will produce another kind of verse, the so-called Ionic tetrameter:—So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,Groaning, convulsively clutching the dust that was red with his gore.[93]So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,At the dust that was red with his gore clutching convulsively, groaning.

ἀλλ’ ἔχεν ὥστε γυνὴ χερνῆτις τάλαντ’ ἀληθής, 5ἥ τ’ εἴριον ἀμφὶς καὶ σταθμὸν ἔχουσ’ ἀνέλκειἰσάζουσ’, ἵν’ ἀεικέα παισὶν ἄροιτο μισθόν.

τοιαῦτά ἐστι τὰ πριάπεια, ὑπό τινων δ’ ἰθυφάλλια λεγόμενα,ταυτί·

οὐ βέβηλος, ὦ τελέται τοῦ νέου Διονύσου, 10κἀγὼ δ’ ἐξ εὐεργεσίης ὠργιασμένος ἥκω.

ἄλλους πάλιν λαβὼν στίχους Ὁμηρικούς, οὔτε προσθεὶςαὐτοῖς οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀφελών, τὴν δὲ σύνθεσιν ἀλλάξας μόνονἕτερον ἀποδώσω γένος τὸ τετράμετρον καλούμενον Ἰωνικόν·

ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς, 15βεβρυχώς, κόνιος δεδραγμένος αἱματοέσσης.ὣς ὁ πρόσθ’ ἵππων καὶ δίφρου κεῖτο τανυσθείς,αἱματοέσσης κόνιος δεδραγμένος, βεβρυχώς.

[87]of which is the dactyl. I will change the order of the words, and will turn the same lines into tetrameters instead of hexameters, into prosodiacs instead of heroics. Thus:—But it was with them as with a righteous-souled woman toil-bowed,In her scales weights and wool lie, on high doth she hold the balanceLevel-poised, so that bread hardly-earned may be doled to her babes.Such are the following Priapean, or (as some call them) ithyphallic, lines:—I am no profane one, O young Dionysus’ votaries;By his favour come I too initiate as one of his.[92]Taking again other lines of Homer, and neither adding nor withdrawing anything, but simply varying the order, I will produce another kind of verse, the so-called Ionic tetrameter:—So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,Groaning, convulsively clutching the dust that was red with his gore.[93]So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,At the dust that was red with his gore clutching convulsively, groaning.

[87]

of which is the dactyl. I will change the order of the words, and will turn the same lines into tetrameters instead of hexameters, into prosodiacs instead of heroics. Thus:—

But it was with them as with a righteous-souled woman toil-bowed,In her scales weights and wool lie, on high doth she hold the balanceLevel-poised, so that bread hardly-earned may be doled to her babes.

Such are the following Priapean, or (as some call them) ithyphallic, lines:—

I am no profane one, O young Dionysus’ votaries;By his favour come I too initiate as one of his.[92]

Taking again other lines of Homer, and neither adding nor withdrawing anything, but simply varying the order, I will produce another kind of verse, the so-called Ionic tetrameter:—

So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,Groaning, convulsively clutching the dust that was red with his gore.[93]So there outstretched was he lying, his steeds and his chariot before,At the dust that was red with his gore clutching convulsively, groaning.

1 πόδα δάκτυλον PMV || τῶν] τῶν αὐτῶν PV 3 προσωιδιακοὺς FP: προσῳδικοὺς MV 5 ἔχεν FMV: ἔχον P scholl. Hermogenis || τάλαντ’ F: τάλαντα PMV 6 ἥ τ’ FM: ἣ PV || ἐχ(ων)ουσ’ P: ἔχουσα F || ἄνελκει P: ἕλκει F 8 [ὑ]πό τινων δὲ ἰθυφάλλια cum litura F, MV: διφίλια P 10 συμβέβηλος F || τελεταί (sic) P: λέγεται FMV || δρονύσου P 11 εὐεργεσίης P: ἐργασίης MV: ἐργασίας F || ὀργιασμένος F: ὡργια*σμένος P 13 οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς PV 14 γένος τὸ F: μέλος PMV || τὸ ante καλούμενον dant PMV 16, 17 om. F 16 αἱματοσέσ(η)ς P: αἱματοέσης V3. Maximus Planudes (WalzRhett. Gr.v. 491), referring to this passage, says: ἃ πῶς ἂν εἶεν προσῳδικὰ (v. προσῳδιακὰ) καὶ προσόμοια τοῖς πριαπείοις, ἢ πάλιν πῶς ταῦτα πριάπεια, οὐδαμῶς ἔχω συνορᾶν. For theprosodia(προσόδια, sc. ᾄσματα: also called προσοδιακοί), or processional songs, see Weir Smyth’sGreek Melic Poetsp. xxxiii.; and for the various metres employed see pp. xxxiv., xxxv.ibid.It is clear that Dionysius is not here thinking specially of the so-called προσοδιακὸς πούς (– – ᴗ). Cp. Bacchyl.Fragm.19 (Bergk: 7, Jebb).—Reading προσῳδικοὺς (with the inferiorMSS.), and translating by ‘accentual,’ A. J. Ellis (English, Dionysian, and Hellenic Pronunciation of Greekp. 37) thinks that Dionysius means “verses in which the effect of high pitch was increased by superadding stress, so as to give it preponderance over mere quantity”; and he points out that E. M. Geldart shows (Journal of Philology1869, vol. ii. p. 160) that these transformed lines of Homer, if read as modern Greek, would give rather rough στίχοι πολιτικοί, or the usual modern accentual verse [the ‘city verses’ referred to by Gibbon, c. 53]. Though it is perhaps unlikely that Dionysius makes any direct reference to such a change, a stress-accent may, even in his day, have gradually been triumphing over that pitch-accent which was consistent with the observance of metrical quantity. Cp. F. SpencerFrench Versep. 70.5. The metrical difficulties presented by these sections of theC. V.are discussed in Amsel’sde Vi atque Indole Rhythmorum quid Veteres Iudicaverintpp. 32 ff. The unprofitably ingenious efforts of some ancient writers to derive every kind of metre from the heroic hexameter and the iambic trimeter might be capped, and parodied, by an attempt to turn such a line asIl.xxiii. 644 (ἔργων τοιούτων. ἐμὲ δὲ χρὴ γήραϊ λυγρῷ) into an iambic trimeter: the only thing needed being that the ι of γήραϊ should be not adscript but subscript. So Schol. Ven. A (ad loc.) ὅτι ὁ στίχος οὗτος καὶ ἑξάμετρος γίνεται καὶ τρίμετρος παρὰ τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῆς προφορᾶς, and Schol. Townl. ἐπιτέτευκται ὁ στίχος ταῖς κοιναῖς, ὥστ’ ἢν θέλωμεν καὶ ἴαμβος ἔσται, ὡς τὸ “σμύρνης ἀκράτου καὶ κέδρου νηλεῖ καπνῷ” (for the doubtful ascription of this last line to Callimachus see Schneider’sCallimacheaii. 777).10. For the author of these Priapean verses—Euphorion (or Euphronius) ‘of the Chersonese’—see the long discussion in Susemihl’sGesch. d. griech. Litt. in der Alexandrinerzeiti. 281, 283. It is Hephaestion (de Metris Enchiridionc. 16, ed. Westphal) who attributes the lines Εὐφορίωνι τῷ Χερρονησιώτῃ.15. The commentators on Hermogenes secure trochees by changing the order of the words in this line—ἔκειτο καὶ δίφρου τανυσθείς, or τανυσθεὶς κεῖτο καὶ δίφρου.

3. Maximus Planudes (WalzRhett. Gr.v. 491), referring to this passage, says: ἃ πῶς ἂν εἶεν προσῳδικὰ (v. προσῳδιακὰ) καὶ προσόμοια τοῖς πριαπείοις, ἢ πάλιν πῶς ταῦτα πριάπεια, οὐδαμῶς ἔχω συνορᾶν. For theprosodia(προσόδια, sc. ᾄσματα: also called προσοδιακοί), or processional songs, see Weir Smyth’sGreek Melic Poetsp. xxxiii.; and for the various metres employed see pp. xxxiv., xxxv.ibid.It is clear that Dionysius is not here thinking specially of the so-called προσοδιακὸς πούς (– – ᴗ). Cp. Bacchyl.Fragm.19 (Bergk: 7, Jebb).—Reading προσῳδικοὺς (with the inferiorMSS.), and translating by ‘accentual,’ A. J. Ellis (English, Dionysian, and Hellenic Pronunciation of Greekp. 37) thinks that Dionysius means “verses in which the effect of high pitch was increased by superadding stress, so as to give it preponderance over mere quantity”; and he points out that E. M. Geldart shows (Journal of Philology1869, vol. ii. p. 160) that these transformed lines of Homer, if read as modern Greek, would give rather rough στίχοι πολιτικοί, or the usual modern accentual verse [the ‘city verses’ referred to by Gibbon, c. 53]. Though it is perhaps unlikely that Dionysius makes any direct reference to such a change, a stress-accent may, even in his day, have gradually been triumphing over that pitch-accent which was consistent with the observance of metrical quantity. Cp. F. SpencerFrench Versep. 70.

5. The metrical difficulties presented by these sections of theC. V.are discussed in Amsel’sde Vi atque Indole Rhythmorum quid Veteres Iudicaverintpp. 32 ff. The unprofitably ingenious efforts of some ancient writers to derive every kind of metre from the heroic hexameter and the iambic trimeter might be capped, and parodied, by an attempt to turn such a line asIl.xxiii. 644 (ἔργων τοιούτων. ἐμὲ δὲ χρὴ γήραϊ λυγρῷ) into an iambic trimeter: the only thing needed being that the ι of γήραϊ should be not adscript but subscript. So Schol. Ven. A (ad loc.) ὅτι ὁ στίχος οὗτος καὶ ἑξάμετρος γίνεται καὶ τρίμετρος παρὰ τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῆς προφορᾶς, and Schol. Townl. ἐπιτέτευκται ὁ στίχος ταῖς κοιναῖς, ὥστ’ ἢν θέλωμεν καὶ ἴαμβος ἔσται, ὡς τὸ “σμύρνης ἀκράτου καὶ κέδρου νηλεῖ καπνῷ” (for the doubtful ascription of this last line to Callimachus see Schneider’sCallimacheaii. 777).

10. For the author of these Priapean verses—Euphorion (or Euphronius) ‘of the Chersonese’—see the long discussion in Susemihl’sGesch. d. griech. Litt. in der Alexandrinerzeiti. 281, 283. It is Hephaestion (de Metris Enchiridionc. 16, ed. Westphal) who attributes the lines Εὐφορίωνι τῷ Χερρονησιώτῃ.

15. The commentators on Hermogenes secure trochees by changing the order of the words in this line—ἔκειτο καὶ δίφρου τανυσθείς, or τανυσθεὶς κεῖτο καὶ δίφρου.

τοιαῦτ’ ἐστὶ τὰ Σωτάδεια ταυτί·ἔνθ’ οἱ μὲν ἐπ’ ἄκραισι πυραῖς νέκυες ἔκειντογῆς ἐπὶ ξένης, ὀρφανὰ τείχεα προλιπόντεςἙλλάδος ἱερῆς καὶ μυχὸν ἑστίης πατρῴης,ἥβην τ’ ἐρατὴν καὶ καλὸν ἡλίου πρόσωπον. 5δυναίμην δ’ ἂν ἔτι πολλὰς ἰδέας μέτρων καὶ διαφόρους εἰς τὸνἡρωϊκὸν ἐμπιπτούσας στίχον ἐπιδεικνύναι, τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῖςἄλλοις ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσι συμβεβηκὸς μέτροις τε καὶ ῥυθμοῖςἀποφαίνειν, ὥστε τῆς μὲν ἐκλογῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς αὐτῆςμενούσης, τῆς δὲ συνθέσεως μόνης μεταπεσούσης τά τε 10μέτρα μεταρρυθμίζεσθαι καὶ συμμεταπίπτειν αὐτοῖς τὰσχήματα, τὰ χρώματα, τὰ ἤθη, τὰ πάθη, τὴν ὅλην τῶνποιημάτων ἀξίωσιν· ἀλλ’ ἀναγκασθήσομαι πλειόνων ἅψασθαιθεωρημάτων, ὧν ἔνια ὀλίγοις πάνυ ἐστὶ γνώριμα. ἐπὶ πολλῶνδ’ ἴσως καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι 15τὰ Εὐριπίδεια ταῦτα ἐπενεγκεῖν·μή μοιλεπτῶν θίγγανε μύθων, ψυχή·τί περισσὰ φρονεῖς; εἰ μὴ μέλλειςσεμνύνεσθαι παρ’ ὁμοίοις. 20ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ κατὰ τὸ παρόν. ὅτι δὲκαὶ ἡ πεζὴ λέξις τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται παθεῖν τῇ ἐμμέτρῳ μενόντωνμὲν τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως,πάρεστι τῷ βουλομένῳ σκοπεῖν. λήψομαι δ’ ἐκ τῆς Ἡροδότουλέξεως τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἱστορίας, ἐπειδὴ καὶ γνώριμός ἐστι 25τοῖς πολλοῖς, μεταθεὶς τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῆς διαλέκτου μόνον.[89]Such are the following Sotadean lines:—There upon the summit of the burning pyres their corpses layIn an alien land, the widowed walls forsaken far away,Walls of sacred Hellas; and the hearths upon the homeland shore,Winsome youth, the sun’s fair face—forsaken all for evermore![94]I could, if I wished, adduce many more different types of measures all belonging to the class of the heroic line, and show that the same thing is true of almost all the other metres and rhythms, namely that, when the choice of words remains unaltered and only the arrangement is changed, the verses invariably lose their rhythm, while their formation is ruined, together with the complexion, the character, the feeling, and the whole effectiveness of the lines. But in so doing I should be obliged to touch on a number of speculations, with some of which very few are familiar. To many speculations, perhaps, and particularly to those bearing on the matter in hand, the lines of Euripides may fitly be applied:—With subtleties meddle not thou, O soul of mine:Wherefore be overwise, except in thy fellows’ eyesThou lookest to be revered as for wisdom divine?[95]So I think it wise to leave this ground unworked for the present. But anyone who cares may satisfy himself that the diction of prose can be affected in the same way as that of verse when the words are retained but the order is changed. I will take from the writings of Herodotus the opening of his History, since it is familiar to most people, simply changing the

τοιαῦτ’ ἐστὶ τὰ Σωτάδεια ταυτί·

ἔνθ’ οἱ μὲν ἐπ’ ἄκραισι πυραῖς νέκυες ἔκειντογῆς ἐπὶ ξένης, ὀρφανὰ τείχεα προλιπόντεςἙλλάδος ἱερῆς καὶ μυχὸν ἑστίης πατρῴης,ἥβην τ’ ἐρατὴν καὶ καλὸν ἡλίου πρόσωπον. 5

δυναίμην δ’ ἂν ἔτι πολλὰς ἰδέας μέτρων καὶ διαφόρους εἰς τὸνἡρωϊκὸν ἐμπιπτούσας στίχον ἐπιδεικνύναι, τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῖςἄλλοις ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσι συμβεβηκὸς μέτροις τε καὶ ῥυθμοῖςἀποφαίνειν, ὥστε τῆς μὲν ἐκλογῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων τῆς αὐτῆςμενούσης, τῆς δὲ συνθέσεως μόνης μεταπεσούσης τά τε 10μέτρα μεταρρυθμίζεσθαι καὶ συμμεταπίπτειν αὐτοῖς τὰσχήματα, τὰ χρώματα, τὰ ἤθη, τὰ πάθη, τὴν ὅλην τῶνποιημάτων ἀξίωσιν· ἀλλ’ ἀναγκασθήσομαι πλειόνων ἅψασθαιθεωρημάτων, ὧν ἔνια ὀλίγοις πάνυ ἐστὶ γνώριμα. ἐπὶ πολλῶνδ’ ἴσως καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι 15τὰ Εὐριπίδεια ταῦτα ἐπενεγκεῖν·

μή μοιλεπτῶν θίγγανε μύθων, ψυχή·τί περισσὰ φρονεῖς; εἰ μὴ μέλλειςσεμνύνεσθαι παρ’ ὁμοίοις. 20

ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ κατὰ τὸ παρόν. ὅτι δὲκαὶ ἡ πεζὴ λέξις τὸ αὐτὸ δύναται παθεῖν τῇ ἐμμέτρῳ μενόντωνμὲν τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως,πάρεστι τῷ βουλομένῳ σκοπεῖν. λήψομαι δ’ ἐκ τῆς Ἡροδότουλέξεως τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἱστορίας, ἐπειδὴ καὶ γνώριμός ἐστι 25τοῖς πολλοῖς, μεταθεὶς τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῆς διαλέκτου μόνον.

[89]Such are the following Sotadean lines:—There upon the summit of the burning pyres their corpses layIn an alien land, the widowed walls forsaken far away,Walls of sacred Hellas; and the hearths upon the homeland shore,Winsome youth, the sun’s fair face—forsaken all for evermore![94]I could, if I wished, adduce many more different types of measures all belonging to the class of the heroic line, and show that the same thing is true of almost all the other metres and rhythms, namely that, when the choice of words remains unaltered and only the arrangement is changed, the verses invariably lose their rhythm, while their formation is ruined, together with the complexion, the character, the feeling, and the whole effectiveness of the lines. But in so doing I should be obliged to touch on a number of speculations, with some of which very few are familiar. To many speculations, perhaps, and particularly to those bearing on the matter in hand, the lines of Euripides may fitly be applied:—With subtleties meddle not thou, O soul of mine:Wherefore be overwise, except in thy fellows’ eyesThou lookest to be revered as for wisdom divine?[95]So I think it wise to leave this ground unworked for the present. But anyone who cares may satisfy himself that the diction of prose can be affected in the same way as that of verse when the words are retained but the order is changed. I will take from the writings of Herodotus the opening of his History, since it is familiar to most people, simply changing the

[89]

Such are the following Sotadean lines:—

There upon the summit of the burning pyres their corpses layIn an alien land, the widowed walls forsaken far away,Walls of sacred Hellas; and the hearths upon the homeland shore,Winsome youth, the sun’s fair face—forsaken all for evermore![94]

I could, if I wished, adduce many more different types of measures all belonging to the class of the heroic line, and show that the same thing is true of almost all the other metres and rhythms, namely that, when the choice of words remains unaltered and only the arrangement is changed, the verses invariably lose their rhythm, while their formation is ruined, together with the complexion, the character, the feeling, and the whole effectiveness of the lines. But in so doing I should be obliged to touch on a number of speculations, with some of which very few are familiar. To many speculations, perhaps, and particularly to those bearing on the matter in hand, the lines of Euripides may fitly be applied:—

With subtleties meddle not thou, O soul of mine:Wherefore be overwise, except in thy fellows’ eyesThou lookest to be revered as for wisdom divine?[95]

So I think it wise to leave this ground unworked for the present. But anyone who cares may satisfy himself that the diction of prose can be affected in the same way as that of verse when the words are retained but the order is changed. I will take from the writings of Herodotus the opening of his History, since it is familiar to most people, simply changing the

1 τοιαῦτα PMV || Σωτάδεια Planudes: σωτάδια libri 2 ἄκραισι FM: ἄκραις PV || ἔγκειντο F 5 ἥβη, suprascr. ν P1|| ἐρατὴν Hermannus: ἐραστὴν F: ἐρατεινὴν PMV 6 δυναίμην PV: ἐδυνάμην FM 7 δὲ PMV || καὶ P: κἂν F: κἀν MV 8 τε om. F 9 ὀμάτων, suprascr. νο P110 μεταπιπτούσης (πεσούσης in marg.) F: μεταπεσούσης M: μάλιστα πεσούσης PV 12 τὰ πάθη om. P 13 ἀλλ’ ἀναγκασθήσομαι] ἀναγκασθήσομαι δὲ F: ἀλλ’ ἀν(αν)κασθήσομαι P || ἅπτεσθαι P 14 γνώρισμα F115 δὲ PMV || καὶ om. P 19 μέλλοις F 21 οὗν F 22 ἐμμέτρω ὄντων PMV 23 τῶν F: τῶν αὐτῶν E: om. PMV || ἀλλασομένης P: ἀλλασσομένης MV 24 τῶ βουλομέν(ω) P || δὲ PMV et901 25 ἐπειδὴ F: ἐπεὶ PMV1. These lines of Sotades are quoted by two of the commentators on Hermogenes—by John of Sicily (Walz vi. 243) and by an anonymous scholiast (Walz vii. 985). See further in Glossary, s.v.Σωτάδειος.7. Palaeographically κἀν (MV) is tempting, since the other readings (κἂν and καὶ) could easily be derived from it. But the difficulty is that Dionysius seems elsewhere to use the simple dative with συμβαίνω, and would probably have expressed the meaning ‘in the case of’ by ἐπί with the genitive. καὶ ἔν γε τῇ ἀρχαίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φωνῇ αὐτὸ συμβαίνει τὸ ὄνομα (PlatoCrat.398B) is not parallel.12. Quintil.Inst. Or.ix. 4. 14, 15 “nam quaedam et sententiis parva et elocutione modica virtus haec sola commendat. denique quod cuique visum erit vehementer, dulciter, speciose dictum, solvat et turbet: aberit omnis vis, iucunditas, decor ... illud notasse satis habeo, quo pulchriora et sensu et elocutione dissolveris, hoc orationem magis deformem fore, quia neglegentia collocationis ipsa verborum luce deprehenditur.”21.ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ=omittere mihi placet; cp. Aristoph.Plut.1186,Aves671,Vespae177.22. Compare the interesting passage in Cic.Orat.70. 232 “Quantum autem sit apte dicere, experire licet, si aut compositi oratoris bene structam collocationem dissolvas permutatione verborum; corrumpatur enim tota res ... perierit tota res ... videsne, ut ordine verborum paululum commutato, eisdem tamen verbis stante sententia, ad nihilum omnia recidant, cum sint ex aptis dissoluta?” [Various examples are given in the course of the section.]23. The Epitome here has μενόντων γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως,καταφανὲς τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ἄμουσόν τε καὶ ἀκαλλώπιστον.

1. These lines of Sotades are quoted by two of the commentators on Hermogenes—by John of Sicily (Walz vi. 243) and by an anonymous scholiast (Walz vii. 985). See further in Glossary, s.v.Σωτάδειος.

7. Palaeographically κἀν (MV) is tempting, since the other readings (κἂν and καὶ) could easily be derived from it. But the difficulty is that Dionysius seems elsewhere to use the simple dative with συμβαίνω, and would probably have expressed the meaning ‘in the case of’ by ἐπί with the genitive. καὶ ἔν γε τῇ ἀρχαίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φωνῇ αὐτὸ συμβαίνει τὸ ὄνομα (PlatoCrat.398B) is not parallel.

12. Quintil.Inst. Or.ix. 4. 14, 15 “nam quaedam et sententiis parva et elocutione modica virtus haec sola commendat. denique quod cuique visum erit vehementer, dulciter, speciose dictum, solvat et turbet: aberit omnis vis, iucunditas, decor ... illud notasse satis habeo, quo pulchriora et sensu et elocutione dissolveris, hoc orationem magis deformem fore, quia neglegentia collocationis ipsa verborum luce deprehenditur.”

21.ἐάσειν μοι δοκῶ=omittere mihi placet; cp. Aristoph.Plut.1186,Aves671,Vespae177.

22. Compare the interesting passage in Cic.Orat.70. 232 “Quantum autem sit apte dicere, experire licet, si aut compositi oratoris bene structam collocationem dissolvas permutatione verborum; corrumpatur enim tota res ... perierit tota res ... videsne, ut ordine verborum paululum commutato, eisdem tamen verbis stante sententia, ad nihilum omnia recidant, cum sint ex aptis dissoluta?” [Various examples are given in the course of the section.]

23. The Epitome here has μενόντων γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀλλαττομένης δὲ τῆς συνθέσεως,καταφανὲς τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ ἄμουσόν τε καὶ ἀκαλλώπιστον.

“Κροῖσος ἦν Λυδὸς μὲν γένος, παῖς δ’ Ἀλυάττου, τύραννος δ’ἐθνῶν τῶν ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ· ὃς ῥέων ἀπὸ μεσημβρίαςμεταξὺ Σύρων τε καὶ Παφλαγόνων ἐξίησι πρὸς βορέαν ἄνεμονεἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον καλούμενον πόντον.” μετατίθημι τῆς λέξεωςταύτης τὴν ἁρμονίαν, καὶ γενήσεταί μοι οὐκέτι ὑπαγωγικὸν 5τὸ πλάσμα οὐδ’ ἱστορικόν, ἀλλ’ ὀρθὸν μᾶλλον καὶ ἐναγώνιον·“Κροῖσος ἦν υἱὸς μὲν Ἀλυάττου, γένος δὲ Λυδός, τύραννος δὲτῶν ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ ἐθνῶν· ὃς ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας ῥέωνμεταξὺ Σύρων καὶ Παφλαγόνων εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον καλούμενονπόντον ἐκδίδωσι πρὸς βορέαν ἄνεμον.” οὗτος ὁ χαρακτὴρ οὐ 10πολὺ ἀπέχειν ἂν δόξειεν τῶν Θουκυδίδου τούτων· “Ἐπίδαμνόςἐστι πόλις ἐν δεξιᾷ εἰσπλέοντι τὸν Ἰόνιον κόλπον· προσοικοῦσιδ’ αὐτὴν Ταυλάντιοι βάρβαροι, Ἰλλυρικὸν ἔθνος.”πάλιν δὲ ἀλλάξας τὴν αὐτὴν λέξιν ἑτέραν αὐτῇ μορφὴν ἀποδώσωτὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· “Ἀλυάττου μὲν υἱὸς ἦν Κροῖσος, 15γένος δὲ Λυδός, τῶν δ’ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ τύραννος ἐθνῶν·ὃς ἀπὸ μεσημβρίας ῥέων Σύρων τε καὶ Παφλαγόνων μεταξὺπρὸς βορέαν ἐξίησιν ἄνεμον ἐς τὸν καλούμενον πόντονΕὔξεινον.” Ἡγησιακὸν τὸ σχῆμα τοῦτο τῆς συνθέσεως,μικρόκομψον, ἀγεννές, μαλθακόν· τούτων γὰρ τῶν λήρων 20[91]nature of the dialect: “Croesus was a Lydian by birth and the son of Alyattes. He was lord over all the nations on this side of the river Halys, which flows from the south between Syria and Paphlagonia, and falls, towards the north, into the sea which is called the Euxine.”[96]I change the order here, and the cast of the passage will become no longer that of a spacious narrative, but tense rather and forensic: “Croesus was the son of Alyattes, and by birth a Lydian. He was lord, on this side of the river Halys, over all nations; which river from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia runs into the sea which is called the Euxine and debouches towards the north.” This style would seem not to differ widely from that of Thucydides in the words: “Epidamnus is a city on the right as you enter the Ionian Gulf: its next neighbours are barbarians, the Taulantii, an Illyrian race.”[97]Once more I will recast the same passage and give a new form to it as follows: “Alyattes’ son was Croesus, by birth a Lydian. Lord over all nations he was, on this side of the river Halys; which river, from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia, falls, with northward run, into the Euxine-called sea.” This affected, degenerate, emasculate way of arranging words resembles that of Hegesias, the high-priest of this kind of nonsense. He

[91]nature of the dialect: “Croesus was a Lydian by birth and the son of Alyattes. He was lord over all the nations on this side of the river Halys, which flows from the south between Syria and Paphlagonia, and falls, towards the north, into the sea which is called the Euxine.”[96]I change the order here, and the cast of the passage will become no longer that of a spacious narrative, but tense rather and forensic: “Croesus was the son of Alyattes, and by birth a Lydian. He was lord, on this side of the river Halys, over all nations; which river from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia runs into the sea which is called the Euxine and debouches towards the north.” This style would seem not to differ widely from that of Thucydides in the words: “Epidamnus is a city on the right as you enter the Ionian Gulf: its next neighbours are barbarians, the Taulantii, an Illyrian race.”[97]Once more I will recast the same passage and give a new form to it as follows: “Alyattes’ son was Croesus, by birth a Lydian. Lord over all nations he was, on this side of the river Halys; which river, from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia, falls, with northward run, into the Euxine-called sea.” This affected, degenerate, emasculate way of arranging words resembles that of Hegesias, the high-priest of this kind of nonsense. He

[91]

nature of the dialect: “Croesus was a Lydian by birth and the son of Alyattes. He was lord over all the nations on this side of the river Halys, which flows from the south between Syria and Paphlagonia, and falls, towards the north, into the sea which is called the Euxine.”[96]I change the order here, and the cast of the passage will become no longer that of a spacious narrative, but tense rather and forensic: “Croesus was the son of Alyattes, and by birth a Lydian. He was lord, on this side of the river Halys, over all nations; which river from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia runs into the sea which is called the Euxine and debouches towards the north.” This style would seem not to differ widely from that of Thucydides in the words: “Epidamnus is a city on the right as you enter the Ionian Gulf: its next neighbours are barbarians, the Taulantii, an Illyrian race.”[97]Once more I will recast the same passage and give a new form to it as follows: “Alyattes’ son was Croesus, by birth a Lydian. Lord over all nations he was, on this side of the river Halys; which river, from the south flowing between Syria and Paphlagonia, falls, with northward run, into the Euxine-called sea.” This affected, degenerate, emasculate way of arranging words resembles that of Hegesias, the high-priest of this kind of nonsense. He

1 κροῖσσος P || ἀλυάττεω E 2 ἄλυος FMV ut 8, 16 infra FPMV 3 ἐξίησιν P 4 μαιτατίθημι P: μάρτυρα τίθημι M 5 γενησετέμοι suprascr. αί P1|| ὑπαγωγικὸν F: ἐπαγ(ω)γικον suprascr. ϋ P: ἐπαγωγικὸν MV 6 οὐδε P,MV 7 ἦν Ἀλυάττου μὲν παῖς E || ἀλυ*άττου P 9 παφλαγόνων καὶ σύρων F 10 ὁ suprascr. P111 δόξειε F 12 (εστι) * * P || πρ(οσ)οικοῦσιν P 13 δὲ PV 14 δὲ ἀλλάξας F: διαλλάξας PMV || αὐτῆι add. in margine F1: αὐτὴν PM 16 δ’ om. PV 18 ἐξίησιν FM: ἔξεισιν PV || ἐς F: εἰς PMV ut supra 20 ἀγεννες P,V: ἀγενὲς FMa3. Hude (following Dionysius) conjecturally restores τε in the text of Herodotus. Usener, on the other hand, thinks that Dionysius has deliberately inserted τε here and in l. 17 while omitting it in l. 9.10. This rugged re-writing of Herodotus shows a real appreciation of style and should be compared with the remarks which Demetrius (de Eloc.§ 48) makes on Thucydides’ avoidance of smoothness and evenness of composition, and on his liking for jolting rhythms (e.g. “from other maladies this year, by common consent, was free,” rather than “by common consent, this year was free from other maladies”): καὶ ὁ Θουκυδίδης δὲ πανταχοῦ σχεδὸν φεύγει τὸ λεῖον καὶ ὁμαλὲς τῆς συνθέσεως, καὶ ἀεὶ μᾶλλόν τι προσκρούοντι ἔοικεν, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς τραχείας ὁδοὺς πορευόμενοι, ἐπὰν λέγῃ ὅτι “τὸ μὲν δὴ ἔτος, ὡς ὡμολόγητο, ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ἐτύγχανεν ὄν.” ῥᾷον μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἥδιον ὧδ’ ἄν τις εἶπεν, ὅτι “ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ὂν ἐτύγχανεν,” ἀφῄρητο δ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν.—Hermogenes (WalzRhett. Gr.iii. 206) shows how the passage would be changed for the worse by such a πλαγιασμός as the use of a genitive absolute at the start: e.g. Κροίσου ὄντος κτλ.11. From this point onwards, the less important of the manuscript variants are not recorded in thecritical apparatus, except in the case of P which the editor has examined personally.12. Demetrius (de Eloc.§ 199), in quoting this passage, reads ἐσπλέοντι εἰς: and this may be correct reading in Thucyd. i. 24.19. Hegesias, in the eyes of Dionysius, was a writer whose originality displayed itself in unnatural contortions of language; cp. Introduction, pp.52-55supra. The merits of a natural, untutored prose-order have been indicated once for all by Molière (Le Bourgeois Gentilhommeii. 4): “Monsieur Jourdan.Je voudrais donc lui mettre dans un billet:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour; mais je voudrais que cela fût mis d’une manière galante, que cela fût tourné gentiment ... Non, vous dis-je, je ne veux que ces seules paroles-là dans le billet; mais tournées à la mode, bien arrangées comme il faut. Je vous prie de me dire un peu, pour voir, les diverses manières dont on les peut mettre.—Maître de Philosophie.On les peut mettre premièrement comme vous avez dit:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour.Ou bien:D’amour mourir me font, belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux. Ou bien:Vos yeux beaux d’amour me font, belle Marquise, mourir. Ou bien:Mourir vos beaux yeux, belle Marquise, d'amour me font. Ou bien:Me font vos yeux beaux mourir, belle Marquise, d’amour. [This is, apparently the crowning absurdity.]—M. Jourdain.Mais de toutes ces façons-là, laquelle est la meilleure?—Maître de Philosophie.Celle que vous avez dite:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour.—M. Jourdain.Cependant je n’ai point étudié, et j’ai fait cela tout du premier coup.”20. The phrase is perhaps suggested by Aristoph.Nub.359 σύ τε, λεπτοτάτων λήρων ἱερεῦ, φράζε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅ τι χρῄζεις. Cp. Cic.pro Sestio17. 39 “stuprorum sacerdos,” and also D.H. p. 169 (note on καὶ πολὺς ὁ τελέτης ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις παρ’ αὐτῷ). ‘Hierophant,’ ‘adept,’ ‘past master,’ will give something of the idea.

3. Hude (following Dionysius) conjecturally restores τε in the text of Herodotus. Usener, on the other hand, thinks that Dionysius has deliberately inserted τε here and in l. 17 while omitting it in l. 9.

10. This rugged re-writing of Herodotus shows a real appreciation of style and should be compared with the remarks which Demetrius (de Eloc.§ 48) makes on Thucydides’ avoidance of smoothness and evenness of composition, and on his liking for jolting rhythms (e.g. “from other maladies this year, by common consent, was free,” rather than “by common consent, this year was free from other maladies”): καὶ ὁ Θουκυδίδης δὲ πανταχοῦ σχεδὸν φεύγει τὸ λεῖον καὶ ὁμαλὲς τῆς συνθέσεως, καὶ ἀεὶ μᾶλλόν τι προσκρούοντι ἔοικεν, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς τραχείας ὁδοὺς πορευόμενοι, ἐπὰν λέγῃ ὅτι “τὸ μὲν δὴ ἔτος, ὡς ὡμολόγητο, ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ἐτύγχανεν ὄν.” ῥᾷον μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἥδιον ὧδ’ ἄν τις εἶπεν, ὅτι “ἄνοσον ἐς τὰς ἄλλας ἀσθενείας ὂν ἐτύγχανεν,” ἀφῄρητο δ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν.—Hermogenes (WalzRhett. Gr.iii. 206) shows how the passage would be changed for the worse by such a πλαγιασμός as the use of a genitive absolute at the start: e.g. Κροίσου ὄντος κτλ.

11. From this point onwards, the less important of the manuscript variants are not recorded in thecritical apparatus, except in the case of P which the editor has examined personally.

12. Demetrius (de Eloc.§ 199), in quoting this passage, reads ἐσπλέοντι εἰς: and this may be correct reading in Thucyd. i. 24.

19. Hegesias, in the eyes of Dionysius, was a writer whose originality displayed itself in unnatural contortions of language; cp. Introduction, pp.52-55supra. The merits of a natural, untutored prose-order have been indicated once for all by Molière (Le Bourgeois Gentilhommeii. 4): “Monsieur Jourdan.Je voudrais donc lui mettre dans un billet:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour; mais je voudrais que cela fût mis d’une manière galante, que cela fût tourné gentiment ... Non, vous dis-je, je ne veux que ces seules paroles-là dans le billet; mais tournées à la mode, bien arrangées comme il faut. Je vous prie de me dire un peu, pour voir, les diverses manières dont on les peut mettre.—Maître de Philosophie.On les peut mettre premièrement comme vous avez dit:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour.Ou bien:D’amour mourir me font, belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux. Ou bien:Vos yeux beaux d’amour me font, belle Marquise, mourir. Ou bien:Mourir vos beaux yeux, belle Marquise, d'amour me font. Ou bien:Me font vos yeux beaux mourir, belle Marquise, d’amour. [This is, apparently the crowning absurdity.]—M. Jourdain.Mais de toutes ces façons-là, laquelle est la meilleure?—Maître de Philosophie.Celle que vous avez dite:Belle Marquise, vos beaux yeux me font mourir d’amour.—M. Jourdain.Cependant je n’ai point étudié, et j’ai fait cela tout du premier coup.”

20. The phrase is perhaps suggested by Aristoph.Nub.359 σύ τε, λεπτοτάτων λήρων ἱερεῦ, φράζε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὅ τι χρῄζεις. Cp. Cic.pro Sestio17. 39 “stuprorum sacerdos,” and also D.H. p. 169 (note on καὶ πολὺς ὁ τελέτης ἐστὶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις παρ’ αὐτῷ). ‘Hierophant,’ ‘adept,’ ‘past master,’ will give something of the idea.

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