§ 54.Panyasin. Panyasis of Halicarnassus, the uncle of Herodotus, wrote a Heracleia in fourteen books, fragments of which are quoted by Stobaeus andAthenaeus. He also composed six books of ‘Ionica,’—elegiac poems on the Ionic migration. Suidas describes him as “an epic poet, who fanned into a flame the smouldering embers of epic poetry,ὁς σβεσθεῖσαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐπανήγαγε. Among the poets he is ranked after Homer; according to some,also after Hesiod and Antimachus” (Mayor). Panyasis flourished circ.B.C.480.ex utroque mixtum. Dion. Hal. l.c.Πανύασις δὲ τὰς τ᾽ ἀμφοῖν ἀρετὰς ἠνέγκατο καὶ αὐτῶν(εἰσηνέγκατο καὶ αὐτός—Usener)πραγματείᾳ(materia)καὶ τῇ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν(αὐτὴν?)οἰκονομίᾳ διήνεγκεν.putant. Mr. Nettleship (Journ. Phil. xviii. p. 259) notes that Quintilian ‘while saying evidently much the same as Dionysius, says notputat Dionysiusbutputant,’ showing that both Dionysius and he followed thegrammatici, i.e. probably Aristarchus and Aristophanes. Cp. Usener, p. 110 sq., and see Introd.p. xxxii.alterum ... materia: Hesiod, the ‘singer of Helots.’ “The labours of Herakles supply a more varied and attractive theme than the pedigrees of a Theogony or the homely Tusser-like maxims of the ‘Works and Days.’” Mayor.Apollonius, surnamed Rhodius, because he was honoured with the freedom of the city of Rhodes, after having retired thither from Alexandria. Returning to Alexandria he succeeded Eratosthenes as librarian. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and flourished circ. 220B.C.For a sympathetic account of the Argonautica see Mahaffy’s Greek Lit. vol. i. ch. ix. It was rendered into Latin by Atacinus Varro (§87) and Valerius Flaccus (§90).ordinem a grammaticis datum. The lists of approved authors drawn up by the critics of Alexandria constituted what they calledκανόνες(indices, here calledordo). See Usener, p. 134 sq. Cp. venire, redigi, recipi in ordinem or numerum. So i. 4 §3 ut ... auctores alios in ordinem redegerint alios omnino exemerint numero. See Introd.p. xxxv.Aristarchus, of Samothrace, lived and taught at Alexandria about the middle of the second cent.B.C.His name is inseparably associated with the text of the Homeric poems: see Wolf’sProlegomena, Lehrs de Aristarchi Studiis Homericis (3rd edit. 1882), and Pierron’s Introd. to Homer, p. xxxv. sq. It became a synonym for rigorous criticism: Cic. ad Att. i. 14, 3 meis orationibus quarum tu Aristarchus es: Hor. A. P. 450 fiet Aristarchus.—See Mahaffy’s Grk. Lit. ch. iii. §32 sq.Aristophanes, of Byzantium, was librarian at Alexandria before Aristarchus, having succeeded Apollonius Rhodius. He died about 180B.C.He revised his master Zenodotus’s edition of Homer, and was the first to reject the end of the Odyssey after xxiii. 296. He also left critical and exegetical commentaries on the lyric and dramatic poets, and compiledargumentaor prefaces to the individual plays.poetarum iudices. This looks like a gloss: see Crit. Notes.in numerum redegerunt: cp. above on in ordinem a grammaticis datum. The phrase represents the Greekἐγκρίνειν.—With the exception of the official eulogy of Domitian (§91), Quintilian followed this rule himself.reddidit. Though it would be hard to find an exact parallel, this use ofreddoseems not impossible, especially in Quintilian. It must be explained either by the analogy of the use in which land is said to ‘produce’ the expected crop (cp. tibiae sonum reddunt xi. 3, 20), or less probably with reference to the use which describes such physical processes as dum nimis imperat voci ... sanguinem reddidit Plin. v. 19, 6. In Cicero such an expression could only have been explained on the analogy of ‘placidum reddere’ for ‘placare’: cp. omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus xii. 11, 13.—But seeCrit. Notes.aequali quadam mediocritate:§86aequalitate pensamus. No disparagementis implied: the meaning is that Apollonius keeps pretty uniformly to thegenus medium(see on§44), neither rising on the one hand to thegenus grandenor on the other descending to thegenus subtile. So in theπερὶ ὕψους33 §4 he receives the epithetἄπτωτος. For this sense ofmediocritascp. Gellius 7 §14 of Terence: Hor. Car. ii. 10, 5.—“This is a fair criticism of the greatest of the Alexandrine poems; it is learned and correct, tells the story of the Argonauts with a due regard to proportion, and has many minor idyllic beauties, but wants epic unity and inspiration.” Mayor.I:55Aratimateria motu caret, utin qua nulla varietas, nullus adfectus, nulla persona, nulla cuiusquam sit oratio; sufficit tamen operi cui se parem credidit. Admirabilis in suo genereTheocritus, sed musa illa rustica et pastoralis non forum modo, verum ipsam etiam urbem reformidat.§ 55.Arati. Aratus was born at Soli in Cilicia, and lived at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, circ.B.C.270. At the request of the latter he composedΦαινόμενα καὶ Διοσημεῖα, a didactic epic on the heavenly bodies and meteorology, which was translated into Latin verse by Cicero and afterwards by Germanicus. Avienus also made a rendering of it, probably late in the fourth century. See Teuffel §259 §6 and §394 §2, and Munro on Lucr. v. 619 (cp. vol. ii. pp. 3, 9, 299: J. B. Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. §104).ut in qua. Törnebladh (‘de coniunctionum causalium apud Quint. usu’) has collected ten additional examples of this construction in Quint.,—ut quii. 2, 19:x. 1, 57and74: xi. 3, 53 (sing.): v. 14, 28 (plur.):ut quae(sing.) iii. 5, 9: xii. 2, 20;ut quodviii. 3, 12: 4, 16:ut quorumx. 2, 13. Forut cumsee on§76. It is incorrect to say that the usage does not occur in Cicero: see Draeger, Hist. Syn. ii. p. 509.Theocrituslived at Syracuse (probably his native place) under Hiero, and spent some time also at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where he wrote his 14th, 15th, and 17th idylls about the year 259B.C.Vergil’s obligations to him in the Eclogues are well known: cp. Sicelides Musae iv. 1: Arethusa x. 1.musa illa rustica et pastoralis. Theocritus is the type of real, as opposed to artificial, pastoral poetry. “He finds all things delectable in the rural life: ‘sweet are the voices of the calves, and sweet the heifer’s lowing; sweet plays the shepherd on the shepherd’s pipe, and sweet is the echo.’ Even in courtly poems and in the artificial hymns ... the memory of the joyful country life comes over him. He praises Hiero, because Hiero is to restore peace to Syracuse, and when peace returns, then ‘thousands of sheep fattened in the meadows will bleat along the plain, and the kine, as they flock in crowds to the stalls, will make the belated traveller hasten on his way.’” Mr. Lang’s Introduction.I:56Audire videor undique congerentes nomina plurimorum poetarum. Quid? Herculis acta non benePisandros?Nicandrumfrustra secuti Macer atque Vergilius? Quid?Euphorionemtransibimus? Quem nisi probasset Vergilius idem, numquam certe ‘conditorum Chalcidico versu carminum’ fecisset in Bucolicis mentionem. Quid? Horatius frustraTyrtaeumHomero subiungit?§ 56.videor:§46. Hor. Car. iii. 4, 6 audire magnos iam videor duces. So oftenvidere videor: e.g. Cic. in Catil. iv. §11.congerentes: participle without subject: cp. solitos§7.non:2 §25.Pisandros, of Cameirus in Rhodes, fl. circ.B.C.645. He wrote a poem calledHeracleia, an epic narrative of the deeds of Hercules. He is often cited as an authority for the various details of the legend, and was the first to arm the hero with the club and lion’s skin.Nicandrum, of Colophon, lived in the middle of the second centuryB.C.at the court of Attalus III, king of Pergamus. His didactic poem on the bites of venomous animals (Θηριακὰ καὶ Ἀλεξιφάρμακα) is still extant. He also wrote five books ofἑτεροιούμενα, on which Ovid drew for his Metamorphoses.frustra= temere, ‘without good reason’ (sine iusta causa): cp.frustra ... subiungitbelow. Cicero, de Div. ii. 60 nec frustra ac sine causa quid facere deo dignum est. So i. 10, 15 non igitur frustra Plato civili viro ... necessariam musicen credidit: xii. 2, 5 Caesar hasnon nequiquamin the same sense B. G.ii. 27, 5. In some cases it makes little difference whether the rendering is ‘without good reason’ or ‘without good result,’ but here it is very improbable that Quintilian is asking ‘whether Vergil can be called anunsuccessfulfollower of Nicander,’ as Conington puts it.Macer:§87. Aemilius Macer of Verona, the friend and contemporary of Vergil and Ovid, wrote the ‘Ornithogonia’ (‘bird-breeding’) and the ‘Theriaca,’ neither of which is extant. Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 43-4 Saepe suos volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.Vergilius. See Conington’s Vergil, vol. i. pp. 141 sqq. None of the extant fragments of Nicander’sΓεωργικάjustify the supposition that Vergil was indebted to it for the Georgics; but he seems to have used his work on bees (μελισσουργικά) and also theθηριακάabove mentioned (Georg. iii. 415, 425). And Macrobius (Sat. v. 22) tells us that it was from Nicander that Vergil borrowed the legend of Pan drawing the moon down after him to the woods by a fleece of snow-white wool (Georg. iii. 391).Euphorionem. Euphorion, of Chalcis in Euboea, was a contemporary of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antiochus the Great, circ.B.C.220. Among other works he wrote a Georgica, or poem on agriculture.in Bucolicis. Verg. Ecl. x. 50 ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena, where the speaker is the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus (§93note), who had introduced Euphorion to general notice by translating some of his poems.Tyrtaeum. Tyrtaeus was a native either of Athens or of Aphidnae in Attica, and flourished at the time of the second Messenian War (in the seventh centuryB.C.), in which he is said to have contributed to the success of the Spartan arms by his inspiring battle-songs. The reference to Horace is A. P. 401 Post hos (Orpheus and Amphion) insignis Homerus Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella Versibus exacuit. Mayor cites passages from Dio Chrys. where Homer and Tyrtaeus are coupled in the same way: cp. Plato, Laws ix. 858 E, where Tyrtaeus is classed with Homer for his moral and political influence.I:57Nec sane quisquam est tam procul a cognitione eorum remotus ut non indicem certe ex bibliotheca sumptum transferre in libros suos possit. Nec ignoro igitur quos transeo nec utique damno, ut qui dixerim esse in omnibus utilitatis aliquid.§ 57.tam ... ut non: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 10: cp.§41and§48above.indicem, ‘a catalogue.’ Any one can at least (if he does not know anything more about them) make out a list of such poets in some library, and note the titles of their works in his compilation. Forindexcp. Cic. Hortens., indicem tragicorum: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 fungar indicis partibus: Seneca de Tranq. 9 §4 quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? Ep. 39 §2 sume in manus indicem philosophorum.—Non ... certealmost =ne quidem.nec utique, ‘nor by any means.’ See on§20: cp.§24. Krüger3renders by ‘unbedingt,’ ‘absolut,’ ‘jedenfalls.’ut qui dixerim: see on§55.I:58Sed ad illos iam perfectis constitutisque viribus revertemur, quod in cenis grandibus saepefacimus, ut, cum optimis satiati sumus, varietas tamen nobis ex vilioribus grata sit. Tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere, cuius princeps habeturCallimachus, secundas confessione plurimorumPhiletasoccupavit.§ 58.perfectis constitutisque viribus, i.e. by the reading of the epic poets who are most suited to our purpose:§59optimis adsuescendum est, &c. So§131(of Seneca) iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus:5 §1iam robustorum. Cp i. 8, 6 (of amatory elegy and hendecasyllabics) amoveantur, si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur: §12 robustiores.—Forconstitutiscp.ἐν τῇ καθεστηκυίᾳ ἡλικίᾳ: xi. 3, 29.revertemur: future used as a mild imperative. Cp.7 §1.quod ... ut. The dependent clause here gives the explanation ofquod facimusin the form of a result, so that the construction is really pleonastic: cp.5 §18:7 §11. In3 §6(where see note)utmay have more of the idea of purpose.tunc: when our taste is formed.elegiam. Cp. i. 8, 6 quoted above. In A. P. 77 Horace characterises the elegy asexiguus, i.e. it is slighter and less dignified than the epic hexameter.vacabit. This impersonal use (cp.§90) does not occur in Cicero. For the expression see Introd.p. xxxii, note.Callimachus, of Cyrene, was the second director of the library at Alexandria (§54): he flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid all imitated his elegies. ‘The erotic elegy of Callimachus, Philetas, and their school is chiefly interesting as having been the model of the Roman elegy, which is one of the glories of Latin literature in the hands of Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius.’ Mahaffy.secundas,§53.Philetasof Cos, instructor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 290B.C.Like Callimachus he was a literary critic as well as a poet, though probably less erudite than his greater contemporary.occupavit: Hor. Car. i. 12, 19 proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores.I:59Sed dum adsequimur illam firmam, ut dixi, facilitatem, optimis adsuescendum est et multa magis quam multorum lectione formanda mens et ducendus color. Itaque ex tribus receptis Aristarchi iudicio scriptoribusiamborum adἕξινmaxime pertinebit unusArchilochus.§ 59.adsequimur, a present of endeavour: cp.§31. This gives a good contrast toiam perfectis constitutisque viribusandtunc, so that there is no need for Halm’s conjectureadsequamur, which is however generally adopted: seeCrit. Notes.ut dixi: see on§1.multa ... multorum: Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §15 tu memineris sui cuiusque generis auctores diligenter eligere. Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa. Mayor compares also Seneca, Epist. 2 §§2-4.ducendus color: Verg. Ecl. ix. 49 (astrum) quo duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.Ducereexpresses the gradual process of ‘taking on’ a tinge; the agent in this process is herelectio, as in Vergil it is the constellation.Coloris here the ‘appropriate tone’ which will vary with the subject or the occasion: xii. 10, 71 non unus color prooemii, narrationis, argumentorum, egressionis, perorationis servabitur. Sen. Ep. 108 §3 non novimus quosdam qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint: ib. 71 §31. So Cicero, Orat. §42 educata huius (Isocratis) nutrimentis eloquentia ipsa se postea colorat (‘gathers strength and colour’): de Or. ii. 60 ut cum in sole ambulem ... fieri natura ... ut colorer, sic, cum istos libros ... studiosius legerim, sentio illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari. Cp. on§116:6 §5:7 §7.ex tribus receptis: sc. in ordinem sive numerum: cp.§54. The other two are Simonides of Amorgos (Semonides) and Hipponax of Ephesus. The former is best known by his satire on women; the latter is often mentioned along with Archilochus: his spirit reappears in the later comedy. The treatise of Dion. Hal. as we have it now does not contain any criticism either of the elegiac or the iambic poets. Proclus however has:Ἰάμβων ποιηταὶ Ἀρχίλοχός τε ἄριστος καὶ Σιμωνίδης καὶ Ἱππῶναξ(p. 242, Westphal.)Aristarchi iudicio:§52.scriptoribus iamborum: see on§9. Diomedes iii. p. 485 11 k (p. 18, Reiff.) iambus est carmen maledicum plerumque trimetro versu et epodo sequente compositum ... appellatum est autemπαρὰ τὸ ἰαμβίζειν, quod est maledicere. Cuius carminis praecipui scriptores apud Graecos Archilochus et Hipponax, apud Romanos Lucilius et Catullus et Horatius et Bibaculus: cp.§96.—The wordἄαμβοςis derived fromἰάπτω‘I fling’ (Curt. Etym.5537: E. T. ii. 154), and denoted originally a ‘flinging,’ or a verse ‘flung at’ a person: henceἰαμβίζειν, ‘to lampoon.’ Cp. ix. 4, 141 aspera vero et maledica ... etiam in carmine iambis grassantur. Hor. Car. i. 16, 2 criminosis ... iambis: ib.22-5 me quoque pectoris Temptavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem.ἕξιν: see on§1.maxime unus.Unusis very commonly used in this way to strengthen a superlative: Cic. in Verr. i. §1 quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis ... sedandam maxime pertinebat: de Amic. §1 quem unum nostrae civitatis ... praestantissimum audeo dicere: Verg. Aen. ii. 426 cadit et Rhipeus iustissimus unus. Becher thinksunusmay merely be set over againsttribus: cp. pro Sest. §49 unus bis rempublicam servavi.Archilochusof Paros (circ. 686B.C.) was a master of various forms of metrical composition; but his distinctive characteristic was that alluded to here,—the employment of the iambic trimeter as the vehicle of satire, the sting of which, as wielded by him, is said to have driven people into hanging themselves. Hor. A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.I:60Summa in hoc vis elocutionis, cum validae tum breves vibrantesque sententiae, plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum, adeo ut videatur quibusdam, quod quoquam minor est, materiae esse, non ingenii vitium.§ 60.vibrantes, of the quivering motion of a spear (cp. ‘shafts’ of eloquence) thrown from a stout arm. Cic. Brut. §326 oratio incitata et vibrans: Quint. xii. 9, 3 nec illis vibrantibus concitatisque sententiis velut missilibus utetur: xi. 3, 120 sententias vibrantes digitis iaculantur: ix. 4, 55 neque enim Demosthenis fulmina tanto opere vibratura dicit nisi numeris contorta ferrentur: cp. note on7 §7below.sanguinis atque nervorum. The former refers to the quality of ‘fulness’ or ‘richness’ of thought and style, the latter (oftenlacerti) to ‘force’: sanguinis et virium2 §12. Cp. tori and caro§33(note) and§77. Forsanguis, cp.§115verum sanguinem:2 §12. “In good Latinnervus, likeνεῦρον, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical): cp. Celsus viii. 1 nervi quosτένονταςGraeci appellant; but sometimes appears to include also what we call ‘nerves’: see Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 55, 136. Galen (born 130A.D.) was the first to limitνεῦρονto the meaning ‘nerve,’ in its present sense.” Wilkins on Hor. A. P. 26.quibusdam: cp.§64ut quidam ... eum ... praeferant:§93quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores:§113adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur.quod quoquam minor est. This clause is the subject ofvideatur, and the meaning is: with such high qualities the fact that Archilochus comes behind any (if that is the case) is to be attributed to hismateria, not to hisingenium, which latter would give him a claim to a place alongside of the very foremost, Homer: cp.§65post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est. So§62copiae vitium est:§74praedictis minor. Forquodwithoutid, cp.4 §4. SeeCrit. Notes.materia, ‘subject-matter,’ which was mainly personal character and conduct in common life. Pind. Pyth. ii. 55ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 23 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben: 28 Temperat Archilochi musam pede mascula Sappho Temperat Alcaeus sed rebus et ordine dispar, Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. Val. Max. vi. 3, E. §1 tells us that the Spartans banished the poems of Archilochus because of their corrupting influence on the morals of their youth: Maximum poetam aut certe summo proximum ... carminum exilio multarunt. Velleius (i. 5, 1) brackets Homer and Archilochus.I:61Novem vero lyricorum longePindarusprinceps spiritu magnificentia, sententiis figuris, beatissima rerum verborumque copia et velut quodam eloquentiae flumine; propter quae Horatius eum merito credidit nemini imitabilem.§ 61.novem ... lyricorum. Of the nine lyric poets not received into the ‘canon’ those not mentioned here are Alcman, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, and Bacchylides. The four whom Quintilian names are the same as those criticised by Dionysius, except that in the latter Simonides comes next after Pindar.Pindarus(521-441B.C., though known to us now mainly by his Epinician Odes, essayed various forms of the lyric art, most of which (except the skolia and encomia) are pervaded by a deeply religious tone. He had the disadvantage of belonging to the Medising city ofThebes, but he spoke fearlessly out (after Salamis) for the liberators of Greece; and both in the instinct for a national unity to which his poems bear witness and in his ethical and religious beliefs he is eminently representative of his age. He is the crowning glory of Greek lyric poetry, and may be said in a sense to stand as it were midway between the Homeric epos and the drama at Athens.princeps, &c. Here Quintilian again coincides with Dionysius (l.c.)Ζηλωτὸς δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος ὀνομάτων καὶ νοημάτων εἵνεκα, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείας καὶ τόνου, καὶ περιουσίας ... καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ γνωμολογίας καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ σχηματισμῶν.spiritu: see on§27: i. 8, 5. SeeCrit. Notes.magnificentia,μεγαλοπρέπειαiv. 2, 61. This is Pindar’s distinctive quality: he isφιλάγλαος, ‘splendour-loving.’ Cp. magnificus§63:§84: iii. 8, 61: vi. 1, 52: xi. 3, 153.sententiis: see on§50.figuris: see on§12.beatissima= fecundissima, uberrima:§109:3 §22. Cp. Tac. Dial. 9: Hist. iii. 66.propter quae: see on§10, propter quod.Horatius: Car. iv. 2, 1 Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari ... Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore.I:62Stesichorum, quam sit ingenio validus, materiae quoque ostendunt, maxima bella et clarissimos canentem duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinentem. Reddit enim personis in agendo simul loquendoque debitam dignitatem, ac si tenuisset modum, videtur aemulari proximus Homerum potuisse; sedredundat atque effunditur, quod ut est reprehendendum, ita copiae vitium est.§ 62.Stesichorusof Himera in Sicily (cir. 632-553B.C.) is, like Simonides and Pindar, a representative of the Dorian or choral lyric poetry of Greece,—distinguished from the Aeolic (Alcaeus and Sappho) by its greater complexity of structure and by the wider audience to which it was addressed. His real name is said to have been Teisias: that by which he is known he derived from the changes in the structure of the choral ode which were introduced by him. He relieved the combination of strophe and antistrophe by theepode, composed in a different manner, and sung by the chorus standing before the altar,—thus affording it an interval of rest after the movements to right and left. By Alexander the Great, Homer and Stesichorus were classed together as the two poets worthy to be studied by kings and conquerors.—With Quintilian’s criticism cp. Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 20)Ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων(Pindar and Simonides)πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λείπονται κρατοῦντα‧ λέγω δὲ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθέσεις πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ ἀξιώματα τῶν προσώπων τετήρηκεν.ingenio validus: Cic. in Verr. ii. 35 Stesichori qui ... et est et fuit tota Graecia summo propter ingenium honore et nomine.materiae. The titles of his poems (Ἰλίου Πέρσις, Γηρυονηίς, Ὀρέστεια, Νόστοι, Κέρβερος, Ἑλένα) show that Stesichorus made extensive use of the old epic legends, which would naturally fall more or less into a narrative form. Cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 8 Stesichorique graves Camenae. Ael. Hist. Anim xvii, 37 calls himσεμνός: and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 15, 54 has Stesichori et Pindari vatum sublimia ora.si tenuisset ... videtur potuisse= potuit, ut videtur. Cp. on§98. This use of the pf. indic. in such clauses indicates the possibility (or duty, obligation, &c.) more unconditionally than the plpf. subj. would do: e.g. Cic. in Vatin. §1 debuisti, Vatini, etiamsi falso venisses in suspicionem P. Sestio, tamen mihi ignoscere: pro Mil. §31 quod si ita putasset, certe optabilius Miloni fuit. &c. In the indirect there is a parallel instance, de Off. i. §4 Platonem existimo ... si ... voluisset ... potuisse dicere.aemulari, with dat.§122.Homerum. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ calls StesichorusὉμηρικώτατος, 13 §3: cp. Dio Chr. Or. ii. p. 284τοῦτό γε ἅπαντές φασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, Στησίχορον Ὁμήρου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ σφόδρα γε ἐοικέναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν.redundat atque effunditur. Hermogenes, de Id. ii. 4 p. 322Στησίχορος σφόδρα ἡδὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις.Mayor quotes also Anth. Pal. vii. 75, 1-2Στασίχορον, ζαπληθὲς ἀμετρήτου στόμα Μούσης, ἐκτέρισεν Κατάνας αἰθαλόεν δάπεδον.copiae vitium: ii. 4, 4 vitium utrumque, peius tamen illud quod ex inopia quam quod ex copia venit: ib. 12 §4 effusus pro copioso accipitur. Cp. Plin. Ep. i. 20 §§20-1; Cic. de Orat. ii. §88.I:63Alcaeusin parte operis ‘aureo plectro’ merito donatur, qua tyrannos insectatus multum etiam moribus confert, in eloquendo quoque brevis et magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis; sed et lusit et in amores descendit, maioribus tamen aptior.§ 63.Alcaeusof Mitylene, cir. 600B.C.The criticism of Dionysius is as follows:—Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετά δεινότητος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ τὴν σαφήνειαν, ὅσον αὐτῆς μὴ τῇ διαλέκτῳ τι κεκάκωται‧ καὶ πρὸ ἁπάντων τὸ τῶν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων(ποιημάτων?)ἦθος. Πολλαχοῦ γοῦν τὸ μέτρον τις εἰ περιέλοι, ῥητορικὴν ἂν εὕροι πολιτείαν(ῥητορείαν ... πολιτικήνUsener).in parte: see on§9in illis.aureo plectro. ‘Plectrum’ is fromπλήσσω(πλήκτρον), the ‘striking thing.’ Hor. Car. ii. 13, 26 Et te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.tyrannos insectatus. These were Myrsilus and Pittacus, by the latter of whom Alcaeus was driven into banishment. Those of his poems which relate to the ten years’ civil war waged against the tyrants were calledστασιωτικά. At some time during the rule of Pittacus, the party of Alcaeus attempted a forcible return: Alcaeus was taken prisoner, but was at once set free by the ruler whom he had so bitterly attacked. Cp. Hor. l.c. sed magis Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Densum umeris bibit ore vulgus: id. i. 32, 5.moribus: cp.ἦθοςin the passage quoted from Dionysius. Mayor appositely cites his sayingἄνδρες γὰρ πόλιος πύργος ἀρεύιοι.—Forconfertwith dat. cp.§27.brevis ... magnificus ... oratori similis: cp. in regard to each of these points the criticism of Dionysius.—FordiligensseeCrit. Notes.lusit. Forludere, ‘to write sportively,’ to ‘trifle’,cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 9 nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon delevit aetas: i. 32, 2: Verg. Georg. iv. 566 carmina qui lusi.in amores descendit, in hisἐρωτικάandσυμποτικά. Cic. Tusc. Disp. iv. §71 fortis vir in sua republica cognitus quae de iuvenum amore scribit Alcaeus! Hor. Car. i. 32, 3 sqq. Age, dic Latinum, barbite, carmen, Lesbio primum modulate civi, Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma, Sive iactatam religarat udo Litore navim, Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum.maioribus= rebus maioribus, ‘loftier themes.’ Introd.p. xlvii. Cp. i. pr. §5 ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas, non sit maioribus locus. Cp.subitis7 §30: Nägelsbach §24, 2 (pp. 116-117).I:64Simonides, tenuis alioqui, sermoneproprio et iucunditate quadam commendari potest; praecipua tamen eius in commovenda miseratione virtus, ut quidam in hac eum parte omnibus eius operis auctoribus praeferant.§ 64.Simonidesof Ceos (556-468), like Pindar, was fortunate in his age, and the most considerable of his fragments that remain are full of the fire kindled in his heart by the great national struggle with Persia. He was a sort of cosmopolitan poet, living by turns in Athens, at the court of the Aleuadae and Scopadae in Thessaly, Corinth, Sparta, and Sicily. He cultivated friendly relations with Miltiades and Themistocles, with Pausanias of Sparta, and (like Pindar and Aeschylus) with Hiero of Syracuse. He was famed for his elegies, epigrams, epinician odes, and every form of choral lyric poetry. His wisdom was renowned:σοφὸς καὶ θεῖος ὁ ἀνήρ, Plat. Rep. 331 E, where some of his gnomic utterances are discussed: cp. ib. 335 E: Protag. 316 D.—The criticism of Dionysius (l.c.) corresponds:Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων(sermone proprio),τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν‧ πρὸς τούτοις, καθ᾽ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς.tenuis, ‘simple,’ ‘natural’: cp.2 §19and§23(tenuitas), alsoμὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶςquoted above.Λεπτότης(‘terse simplicity’) was a quality of Simonides’ style, especially in his epigrams: ‘when least adorned adorned the most,’ Mayor. Cp.§44, note. Opposites aregrandis,copiosus,plenus.alioqui=τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ‘for the rest’: cp. ceterum. See on3 §13, and Introd.p. li.sermone proprio: see on§46.iucundidate: see on iucundus§46, and cp.§§82,96,101,110,113:2 §23. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §60 non enim poeta solum suavis, verum etiam ceteroqui doctus sapiensque traditur. So Tac. Dial. 10 lyricorum iucunditatem.miseratione. He was a master of pathos, especially in hisθρῆνοι: witness his ‘Lament of Danae,’ truly a ‘precious tender-hearted scroll of pure Simonides.’ Generally his poems seem to have been tinged with the same melancholy resignation as inspired the earlier writers of elegy: e.g. fr. 39 ‘slight is the strength of men, and vain are all their cares, and in their brief life trouble follows upon trouble; and death, which none can shun, hangs over all,—in him both good and bad share equally.’ Catull. 38, 7 paulum quidlibet adlocutionis maestius lacrimis Simonidis: Hor. Car. ii. 1, 37 sed ne relictis Musa procax iocis Ceae retractes munera neniae.quidam: see on putant§54.in hac parte, ‘in this respect.’ Cp. i. 3, 17: 7 §19: 10 §4: ii. 17, 1: iii. 6, 64: xii. 1, 16. So ab (ex) hac parte.operis=generis, ‘class of poetry.’ See on§9: cp.§28§85.auctoribus,§24.I:65Antiqua comoedia cum sinceram illam sermonis Attici gratiam prope sola retinet, tum facundissimae libertatis est et in insectandis vitiis praecipua; plurimum tamen virium etiam inceteris partibus habet. Nam et grandis et elegans et venusta, et nescio an ulla, post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est, aut similior sit oratoribus aut ad oratores faciendos aptior.
§ 54.Panyasin. Panyasis of Halicarnassus, the uncle of Herodotus, wrote a Heracleia in fourteen books, fragments of which are quoted by Stobaeus andAthenaeus. He also composed six books of ‘Ionica,’—elegiac poems on the Ionic migration. Suidas describes him as “an epic poet, who fanned into a flame the smouldering embers of epic poetry,ὁς σβεσθεῖσαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐπανήγαγε. Among the poets he is ranked after Homer; according to some,also after Hesiod and Antimachus” (Mayor). Panyasis flourished circ.B.C.480.ex utroque mixtum. Dion. Hal. l.c.Πανύασις δὲ τὰς τ᾽ ἀμφοῖν ἀρετὰς ἠνέγκατο καὶ αὐτῶν(εἰσηνέγκατο καὶ αὐτός—Usener)πραγματείᾳ(materia)καὶ τῇ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν(αὐτὴν?)οἰκονομίᾳ διήνεγκεν.putant. Mr. Nettleship (Journ. Phil. xviii. p. 259) notes that Quintilian ‘while saying evidently much the same as Dionysius, says notputat Dionysiusbutputant,’ showing that both Dionysius and he followed thegrammatici, i.e. probably Aristarchus and Aristophanes. Cp. Usener, p. 110 sq., and see Introd.p. xxxii.alterum ... materia: Hesiod, the ‘singer of Helots.’ “The labours of Herakles supply a more varied and attractive theme than the pedigrees of a Theogony or the homely Tusser-like maxims of the ‘Works and Days.’” Mayor.Apollonius, surnamed Rhodius, because he was honoured with the freedom of the city of Rhodes, after having retired thither from Alexandria. Returning to Alexandria he succeeded Eratosthenes as librarian. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and flourished circ. 220B.C.For a sympathetic account of the Argonautica see Mahaffy’s Greek Lit. vol. i. ch. ix. It was rendered into Latin by Atacinus Varro (§87) and Valerius Flaccus (§90).ordinem a grammaticis datum. The lists of approved authors drawn up by the critics of Alexandria constituted what they calledκανόνες(indices, here calledordo). See Usener, p. 134 sq. Cp. venire, redigi, recipi in ordinem or numerum. So i. 4 §3 ut ... auctores alios in ordinem redegerint alios omnino exemerint numero. See Introd.p. xxxv.Aristarchus, of Samothrace, lived and taught at Alexandria about the middle of the second cent.B.C.His name is inseparably associated with the text of the Homeric poems: see Wolf’sProlegomena, Lehrs de Aristarchi Studiis Homericis (3rd edit. 1882), and Pierron’s Introd. to Homer, p. xxxv. sq. It became a synonym for rigorous criticism: Cic. ad Att. i. 14, 3 meis orationibus quarum tu Aristarchus es: Hor. A. P. 450 fiet Aristarchus.—See Mahaffy’s Grk. Lit. ch. iii. §32 sq.Aristophanes, of Byzantium, was librarian at Alexandria before Aristarchus, having succeeded Apollonius Rhodius. He died about 180B.C.He revised his master Zenodotus’s edition of Homer, and was the first to reject the end of the Odyssey after xxiii. 296. He also left critical and exegetical commentaries on the lyric and dramatic poets, and compiledargumentaor prefaces to the individual plays.poetarum iudices. This looks like a gloss: see Crit. Notes.in numerum redegerunt: cp. above on in ordinem a grammaticis datum. The phrase represents the Greekἐγκρίνειν.—With the exception of the official eulogy of Domitian (§91), Quintilian followed this rule himself.reddidit. Though it would be hard to find an exact parallel, this use ofreddoseems not impossible, especially in Quintilian. It must be explained either by the analogy of the use in which land is said to ‘produce’ the expected crop (cp. tibiae sonum reddunt xi. 3, 20), or less probably with reference to the use which describes such physical processes as dum nimis imperat voci ... sanguinem reddidit Plin. v. 19, 6. In Cicero such an expression could only have been explained on the analogy of ‘placidum reddere’ for ‘placare’: cp. omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus xii. 11, 13.—But seeCrit. Notes.aequali quadam mediocritate:§86aequalitate pensamus. No disparagementis implied: the meaning is that Apollonius keeps pretty uniformly to thegenus medium(see on§44), neither rising on the one hand to thegenus grandenor on the other descending to thegenus subtile. So in theπερὶ ὕψους33 §4 he receives the epithetἄπτωτος. For this sense ofmediocritascp. Gellius 7 §14 of Terence: Hor. Car. ii. 10, 5.—“This is a fair criticism of the greatest of the Alexandrine poems; it is learned and correct, tells the story of the Argonauts with a due regard to proportion, and has many minor idyllic beauties, but wants epic unity and inspiration.” Mayor.I:55Aratimateria motu caret, utin qua nulla varietas, nullus adfectus, nulla persona, nulla cuiusquam sit oratio; sufficit tamen operi cui se parem credidit. Admirabilis in suo genereTheocritus, sed musa illa rustica et pastoralis non forum modo, verum ipsam etiam urbem reformidat.§ 55.Arati. Aratus was born at Soli in Cilicia, and lived at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, circ.B.C.270. At the request of the latter he composedΦαινόμενα καὶ Διοσημεῖα, a didactic epic on the heavenly bodies and meteorology, which was translated into Latin verse by Cicero and afterwards by Germanicus. Avienus also made a rendering of it, probably late in the fourth century. See Teuffel §259 §6 and §394 §2, and Munro on Lucr. v. 619 (cp. vol. ii. pp. 3, 9, 299: J. B. Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. §104).ut in qua. Törnebladh (‘de coniunctionum causalium apud Quint. usu’) has collected ten additional examples of this construction in Quint.,—ut quii. 2, 19:x. 1, 57and74: xi. 3, 53 (sing.): v. 14, 28 (plur.):ut quae(sing.) iii. 5, 9: xii. 2, 20;ut quodviii. 3, 12: 4, 16:ut quorumx. 2, 13. Forut cumsee on§76. It is incorrect to say that the usage does not occur in Cicero: see Draeger, Hist. Syn. ii. p. 509.Theocrituslived at Syracuse (probably his native place) under Hiero, and spent some time also at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where he wrote his 14th, 15th, and 17th idylls about the year 259B.C.Vergil’s obligations to him in the Eclogues are well known: cp. Sicelides Musae iv. 1: Arethusa x. 1.musa illa rustica et pastoralis. Theocritus is the type of real, as opposed to artificial, pastoral poetry. “He finds all things delectable in the rural life: ‘sweet are the voices of the calves, and sweet the heifer’s lowing; sweet plays the shepherd on the shepherd’s pipe, and sweet is the echo.’ Even in courtly poems and in the artificial hymns ... the memory of the joyful country life comes over him. He praises Hiero, because Hiero is to restore peace to Syracuse, and when peace returns, then ‘thousands of sheep fattened in the meadows will bleat along the plain, and the kine, as they flock in crowds to the stalls, will make the belated traveller hasten on his way.’” Mr. Lang’s Introduction.I:56Audire videor undique congerentes nomina plurimorum poetarum. Quid? Herculis acta non benePisandros?Nicandrumfrustra secuti Macer atque Vergilius? Quid?Euphorionemtransibimus? Quem nisi probasset Vergilius idem, numquam certe ‘conditorum Chalcidico versu carminum’ fecisset in Bucolicis mentionem. Quid? Horatius frustraTyrtaeumHomero subiungit?§ 56.videor:§46. Hor. Car. iii. 4, 6 audire magnos iam videor duces. So oftenvidere videor: e.g. Cic. in Catil. iv. §11.congerentes: participle without subject: cp. solitos§7.non:2 §25.Pisandros, of Cameirus in Rhodes, fl. circ.B.C.645. He wrote a poem calledHeracleia, an epic narrative of the deeds of Hercules. He is often cited as an authority for the various details of the legend, and was the first to arm the hero with the club and lion’s skin.Nicandrum, of Colophon, lived in the middle of the second centuryB.C.at the court of Attalus III, king of Pergamus. His didactic poem on the bites of venomous animals (Θηριακὰ καὶ Ἀλεξιφάρμακα) is still extant. He also wrote five books ofἑτεροιούμενα, on which Ovid drew for his Metamorphoses.frustra= temere, ‘without good reason’ (sine iusta causa): cp.frustra ... subiungitbelow. Cicero, de Div. ii. 60 nec frustra ac sine causa quid facere deo dignum est. So i. 10, 15 non igitur frustra Plato civili viro ... necessariam musicen credidit: xii. 2, 5 Caesar hasnon nequiquamin the same sense B. G.ii. 27, 5. In some cases it makes little difference whether the rendering is ‘without good reason’ or ‘without good result,’ but here it is very improbable that Quintilian is asking ‘whether Vergil can be called anunsuccessfulfollower of Nicander,’ as Conington puts it.Macer:§87. Aemilius Macer of Verona, the friend and contemporary of Vergil and Ovid, wrote the ‘Ornithogonia’ (‘bird-breeding’) and the ‘Theriaca,’ neither of which is extant. Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 43-4 Saepe suos volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.Vergilius. See Conington’s Vergil, vol. i. pp. 141 sqq. None of the extant fragments of Nicander’sΓεωργικάjustify the supposition that Vergil was indebted to it for the Georgics; but he seems to have used his work on bees (μελισσουργικά) and also theθηριακάabove mentioned (Georg. iii. 415, 425). And Macrobius (Sat. v. 22) tells us that it was from Nicander that Vergil borrowed the legend of Pan drawing the moon down after him to the woods by a fleece of snow-white wool (Georg. iii. 391).Euphorionem. Euphorion, of Chalcis in Euboea, was a contemporary of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antiochus the Great, circ.B.C.220. Among other works he wrote a Georgica, or poem on agriculture.in Bucolicis. Verg. Ecl. x. 50 ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena, where the speaker is the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus (§93note), who had introduced Euphorion to general notice by translating some of his poems.Tyrtaeum. Tyrtaeus was a native either of Athens or of Aphidnae in Attica, and flourished at the time of the second Messenian War (in the seventh centuryB.C.), in which he is said to have contributed to the success of the Spartan arms by his inspiring battle-songs. The reference to Horace is A. P. 401 Post hos (Orpheus and Amphion) insignis Homerus Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella Versibus exacuit. Mayor cites passages from Dio Chrys. where Homer and Tyrtaeus are coupled in the same way: cp. Plato, Laws ix. 858 E, where Tyrtaeus is classed with Homer for his moral and political influence.I:57Nec sane quisquam est tam procul a cognitione eorum remotus ut non indicem certe ex bibliotheca sumptum transferre in libros suos possit. Nec ignoro igitur quos transeo nec utique damno, ut qui dixerim esse in omnibus utilitatis aliquid.§ 57.tam ... ut non: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 10: cp.§41and§48above.indicem, ‘a catalogue.’ Any one can at least (if he does not know anything more about them) make out a list of such poets in some library, and note the titles of their works in his compilation. Forindexcp. Cic. Hortens., indicem tragicorum: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 fungar indicis partibus: Seneca de Tranq. 9 §4 quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? Ep. 39 §2 sume in manus indicem philosophorum.—Non ... certealmost =ne quidem.nec utique, ‘nor by any means.’ See on§20: cp.§24. Krüger3renders by ‘unbedingt,’ ‘absolut,’ ‘jedenfalls.’ut qui dixerim: see on§55.I:58Sed ad illos iam perfectis constitutisque viribus revertemur, quod in cenis grandibus saepefacimus, ut, cum optimis satiati sumus, varietas tamen nobis ex vilioribus grata sit. Tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere, cuius princeps habeturCallimachus, secundas confessione plurimorumPhiletasoccupavit.§ 58.perfectis constitutisque viribus, i.e. by the reading of the epic poets who are most suited to our purpose:§59optimis adsuescendum est, &c. So§131(of Seneca) iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus:5 §1iam robustorum. Cp i. 8, 6 (of amatory elegy and hendecasyllabics) amoveantur, si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur: §12 robustiores.—Forconstitutiscp.ἐν τῇ καθεστηκυίᾳ ἡλικίᾳ: xi. 3, 29.revertemur: future used as a mild imperative. Cp.7 §1.quod ... ut. The dependent clause here gives the explanation ofquod facimusin the form of a result, so that the construction is really pleonastic: cp.5 §18:7 §11. In3 §6(where see note)utmay have more of the idea of purpose.tunc: when our taste is formed.elegiam. Cp. i. 8, 6 quoted above. In A. P. 77 Horace characterises the elegy asexiguus, i.e. it is slighter and less dignified than the epic hexameter.vacabit. This impersonal use (cp.§90) does not occur in Cicero. For the expression see Introd.p. xxxii, note.Callimachus, of Cyrene, was the second director of the library at Alexandria (§54): he flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid all imitated his elegies. ‘The erotic elegy of Callimachus, Philetas, and their school is chiefly interesting as having been the model of the Roman elegy, which is one of the glories of Latin literature in the hands of Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius.’ Mahaffy.secundas,§53.Philetasof Cos, instructor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 290B.C.Like Callimachus he was a literary critic as well as a poet, though probably less erudite than his greater contemporary.occupavit: Hor. Car. i. 12, 19 proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores.I:59Sed dum adsequimur illam firmam, ut dixi, facilitatem, optimis adsuescendum est et multa magis quam multorum lectione formanda mens et ducendus color. Itaque ex tribus receptis Aristarchi iudicio scriptoribusiamborum adἕξινmaxime pertinebit unusArchilochus.§ 59.adsequimur, a present of endeavour: cp.§31. This gives a good contrast toiam perfectis constitutisque viribusandtunc, so that there is no need for Halm’s conjectureadsequamur, which is however generally adopted: seeCrit. Notes.ut dixi: see on§1.multa ... multorum: Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §15 tu memineris sui cuiusque generis auctores diligenter eligere. Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa. Mayor compares also Seneca, Epist. 2 §§2-4.ducendus color: Verg. Ecl. ix. 49 (astrum) quo duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.Ducereexpresses the gradual process of ‘taking on’ a tinge; the agent in this process is herelectio, as in Vergil it is the constellation.Coloris here the ‘appropriate tone’ which will vary with the subject or the occasion: xii. 10, 71 non unus color prooemii, narrationis, argumentorum, egressionis, perorationis servabitur. Sen. Ep. 108 §3 non novimus quosdam qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint: ib. 71 §31. So Cicero, Orat. §42 educata huius (Isocratis) nutrimentis eloquentia ipsa se postea colorat (‘gathers strength and colour’): de Or. ii. 60 ut cum in sole ambulem ... fieri natura ... ut colorer, sic, cum istos libros ... studiosius legerim, sentio illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari. Cp. on§116:6 §5:7 §7.ex tribus receptis: sc. in ordinem sive numerum: cp.§54. The other two are Simonides of Amorgos (Semonides) and Hipponax of Ephesus. The former is best known by his satire on women; the latter is often mentioned along with Archilochus: his spirit reappears in the later comedy. The treatise of Dion. Hal. as we have it now does not contain any criticism either of the elegiac or the iambic poets. Proclus however has:Ἰάμβων ποιηταὶ Ἀρχίλοχός τε ἄριστος καὶ Σιμωνίδης καὶ Ἱππῶναξ(p. 242, Westphal.)Aristarchi iudicio:§52.scriptoribus iamborum: see on§9. Diomedes iii. p. 485 11 k (p. 18, Reiff.) iambus est carmen maledicum plerumque trimetro versu et epodo sequente compositum ... appellatum est autemπαρὰ τὸ ἰαμβίζειν, quod est maledicere. Cuius carminis praecipui scriptores apud Graecos Archilochus et Hipponax, apud Romanos Lucilius et Catullus et Horatius et Bibaculus: cp.§96.—The wordἄαμβοςis derived fromἰάπτω‘I fling’ (Curt. Etym.5537: E. T. ii. 154), and denoted originally a ‘flinging,’ or a verse ‘flung at’ a person: henceἰαμβίζειν, ‘to lampoon.’ Cp. ix. 4, 141 aspera vero et maledica ... etiam in carmine iambis grassantur. Hor. Car. i. 16, 2 criminosis ... iambis: ib.22-5 me quoque pectoris Temptavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem.ἕξιν: see on§1.maxime unus.Unusis very commonly used in this way to strengthen a superlative: Cic. in Verr. i. §1 quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis ... sedandam maxime pertinebat: de Amic. §1 quem unum nostrae civitatis ... praestantissimum audeo dicere: Verg. Aen. ii. 426 cadit et Rhipeus iustissimus unus. Becher thinksunusmay merely be set over againsttribus: cp. pro Sest. §49 unus bis rempublicam servavi.Archilochusof Paros (circ. 686B.C.) was a master of various forms of metrical composition; but his distinctive characteristic was that alluded to here,—the employment of the iambic trimeter as the vehicle of satire, the sting of which, as wielded by him, is said to have driven people into hanging themselves. Hor. A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.I:60Summa in hoc vis elocutionis, cum validae tum breves vibrantesque sententiae, plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum, adeo ut videatur quibusdam, quod quoquam minor est, materiae esse, non ingenii vitium.§ 60.vibrantes, of the quivering motion of a spear (cp. ‘shafts’ of eloquence) thrown from a stout arm. Cic. Brut. §326 oratio incitata et vibrans: Quint. xii. 9, 3 nec illis vibrantibus concitatisque sententiis velut missilibus utetur: xi. 3, 120 sententias vibrantes digitis iaculantur: ix. 4, 55 neque enim Demosthenis fulmina tanto opere vibratura dicit nisi numeris contorta ferrentur: cp. note on7 §7below.sanguinis atque nervorum. The former refers to the quality of ‘fulness’ or ‘richness’ of thought and style, the latter (oftenlacerti) to ‘force’: sanguinis et virium2 §12. Cp. tori and caro§33(note) and§77. Forsanguis, cp.§115verum sanguinem:2 §12. “In good Latinnervus, likeνεῦρον, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical): cp. Celsus viii. 1 nervi quosτένονταςGraeci appellant; but sometimes appears to include also what we call ‘nerves’: see Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 55, 136. Galen (born 130A.D.) was the first to limitνεῦρονto the meaning ‘nerve,’ in its present sense.” Wilkins on Hor. A. P. 26.quibusdam: cp.§64ut quidam ... eum ... praeferant:§93quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores:§113adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur.quod quoquam minor est. This clause is the subject ofvideatur, and the meaning is: with such high qualities the fact that Archilochus comes behind any (if that is the case) is to be attributed to hismateria, not to hisingenium, which latter would give him a claim to a place alongside of the very foremost, Homer: cp.§65post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est. So§62copiae vitium est:§74praedictis minor. Forquodwithoutid, cp.4 §4. SeeCrit. Notes.materia, ‘subject-matter,’ which was mainly personal character and conduct in common life. Pind. Pyth. ii. 55ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 23 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben: 28 Temperat Archilochi musam pede mascula Sappho Temperat Alcaeus sed rebus et ordine dispar, Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. Val. Max. vi. 3, E. §1 tells us that the Spartans banished the poems of Archilochus because of their corrupting influence on the morals of their youth: Maximum poetam aut certe summo proximum ... carminum exilio multarunt. Velleius (i. 5, 1) brackets Homer and Archilochus.I:61Novem vero lyricorum longePindarusprinceps spiritu magnificentia, sententiis figuris, beatissima rerum verborumque copia et velut quodam eloquentiae flumine; propter quae Horatius eum merito credidit nemini imitabilem.§ 61.novem ... lyricorum. Of the nine lyric poets not received into the ‘canon’ those not mentioned here are Alcman, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, and Bacchylides. The four whom Quintilian names are the same as those criticised by Dionysius, except that in the latter Simonides comes next after Pindar.Pindarus(521-441B.C., though known to us now mainly by his Epinician Odes, essayed various forms of the lyric art, most of which (except the skolia and encomia) are pervaded by a deeply religious tone. He had the disadvantage of belonging to the Medising city ofThebes, but he spoke fearlessly out (after Salamis) for the liberators of Greece; and both in the instinct for a national unity to which his poems bear witness and in his ethical and religious beliefs he is eminently representative of his age. He is the crowning glory of Greek lyric poetry, and may be said in a sense to stand as it were midway between the Homeric epos and the drama at Athens.princeps, &c. Here Quintilian again coincides with Dionysius (l.c.)Ζηλωτὸς δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος ὀνομάτων καὶ νοημάτων εἵνεκα, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείας καὶ τόνου, καὶ περιουσίας ... καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ γνωμολογίας καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ σχηματισμῶν.spiritu: see on§27: i. 8, 5. SeeCrit. Notes.magnificentia,μεγαλοπρέπειαiv. 2, 61. This is Pindar’s distinctive quality: he isφιλάγλαος, ‘splendour-loving.’ Cp. magnificus§63:§84: iii. 8, 61: vi. 1, 52: xi. 3, 153.sententiis: see on§50.figuris: see on§12.beatissima= fecundissima, uberrima:§109:3 §22. Cp. Tac. Dial. 9: Hist. iii. 66.propter quae: see on§10, propter quod.Horatius: Car. iv. 2, 1 Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari ... Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore.I:62Stesichorum, quam sit ingenio validus, materiae quoque ostendunt, maxima bella et clarissimos canentem duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinentem. Reddit enim personis in agendo simul loquendoque debitam dignitatem, ac si tenuisset modum, videtur aemulari proximus Homerum potuisse; sedredundat atque effunditur, quod ut est reprehendendum, ita copiae vitium est.§ 62.Stesichorusof Himera in Sicily (cir. 632-553B.C.) is, like Simonides and Pindar, a representative of the Dorian or choral lyric poetry of Greece,—distinguished from the Aeolic (Alcaeus and Sappho) by its greater complexity of structure and by the wider audience to which it was addressed. His real name is said to have been Teisias: that by which he is known he derived from the changes in the structure of the choral ode which were introduced by him. He relieved the combination of strophe and antistrophe by theepode, composed in a different manner, and sung by the chorus standing before the altar,—thus affording it an interval of rest after the movements to right and left. By Alexander the Great, Homer and Stesichorus were classed together as the two poets worthy to be studied by kings and conquerors.—With Quintilian’s criticism cp. Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 20)Ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων(Pindar and Simonides)πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λείπονται κρατοῦντα‧ λέγω δὲ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθέσεις πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ ἀξιώματα τῶν προσώπων τετήρηκεν.ingenio validus: Cic. in Verr. ii. 35 Stesichori qui ... et est et fuit tota Graecia summo propter ingenium honore et nomine.materiae. The titles of his poems (Ἰλίου Πέρσις, Γηρυονηίς, Ὀρέστεια, Νόστοι, Κέρβερος, Ἑλένα) show that Stesichorus made extensive use of the old epic legends, which would naturally fall more or less into a narrative form. Cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 8 Stesichorique graves Camenae. Ael. Hist. Anim xvii, 37 calls himσεμνός: and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 15, 54 has Stesichori et Pindari vatum sublimia ora.si tenuisset ... videtur potuisse= potuit, ut videtur. Cp. on§98. This use of the pf. indic. in such clauses indicates the possibility (or duty, obligation, &c.) more unconditionally than the plpf. subj. would do: e.g. Cic. in Vatin. §1 debuisti, Vatini, etiamsi falso venisses in suspicionem P. Sestio, tamen mihi ignoscere: pro Mil. §31 quod si ita putasset, certe optabilius Miloni fuit. &c. In the indirect there is a parallel instance, de Off. i. §4 Platonem existimo ... si ... voluisset ... potuisse dicere.aemulari, with dat.§122.Homerum. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ calls StesichorusὉμηρικώτατος, 13 §3: cp. Dio Chr. Or. ii. p. 284τοῦτό γε ἅπαντές φασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, Στησίχορον Ὁμήρου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ σφόδρα γε ἐοικέναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν.redundat atque effunditur. Hermogenes, de Id. ii. 4 p. 322Στησίχορος σφόδρα ἡδὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις.Mayor quotes also Anth. Pal. vii. 75, 1-2Στασίχορον, ζαπληθὲς ἀμετρήτου στόμα Μούσης, ἐκτέρισεν Κατάνας αἰθαλόεν δάπεδον.copiae vitium: ii. 4, 4 vitium utrumque, peius tamen illud quod ex inopia quam quod ex copia venit: ib. 12 §4 effusus pro copioso accipitur. Cp. Plin. Ep. i. 20 §§20-1; Cic. de Orat. ii. §88.I:63Alcaeusin parte operis ‘aureo plectro’ merito donatur, qua tyrannos insectatus multum etiam moribus confert, in eloquendo quoque brevis et magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis; sed et lusit et in amores descendit, maioribus tamen aptior.§ 63.Alcaeusof Mitylene, cir. 600B.C.The criticism of Dionysius is as follows:—Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετά δεινότητος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ τὴν σαφήνειαν, ὅσον αὐτῆς μὴ τῇ διαλέκτῳ τι κεκάκωται‧ καὶ πρὸ ἁπάντων τὸ τῶν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων(ποιημάτων?)ἦθος. Πολλαχοῦ γοῦν τὸ μέτρον τις εἰ περιέλοι, ῥητορικὴν ἂν εὕροι πολιτείαν(ῥητορείαν ... πολιτικήνUsener).in parte: see on§9in illis.aureo plectro. ‘Plectrum’ is fromπλήσσω(πλήκτρον), the ‘striking thing.’ Hor. Car. ii. 13, 26 Et te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.tyrannos insectatus. These were Myrsilus and Pittacus, by the latter of whom Alcaeus was driven into banishment. Those of his poems which relate to the ten years’ civil war waged against the tyrants were calledστασιωτικά. At some time during the rule of Pittacus, the party of Alcaeus attempted a forcible return: Alcaeus was taken prisoner, but was at once set free by the ruler whom he had so bitterly attacked. Cp. Hor. l.c. sed magis Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Densum umeris bibit ore vulgus: id. i. 32, 5.moribus: cp.ἦθοςin the passage quoted from Dionysius. Mayor appositely cites his sayingἄνδρες γὰρ πόλιος πύργος ἀρεύιοι.—Forconfertwith dat. cp.§27.brevis ... magnificus ... oratori similis: cp. in regard to each of these points the criticism of Dionysius.—FordiligensseeCrit. Notes.lusit. Forludere, ‘to write sportively,’ to ‘trifle’,cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 9 nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon delevit aetas: i. 32, 2: Verg. Georg. iv. 566 carmina qui lusi.in amores descendit, in hisἐρωτικάandσυμποτικά. Cic. Tusc. Disp. iv. §71 fortis vir in sua republica cognitus quae de iuvenum amore scribit Alcaeus! Hor. Car. i. 32, 3 sqq. Age, dic Latinum, barbite, carmen, Lesbio primum modulate civi, Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma, Sive iactatam religarat udo Litore navim, Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum.maioribus= rebus maioribus, ‘loftier themes.’ Introd.p. xlvii. Cp. i. pr. §5 ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas, non sit maioribus locus. Cp.subitis7 §30: Nägelsbach §24, 2 (pp. 116-117).I:64Simonides, tenuis alioqui, sermoneproprio et iucunditate quadam commendari potest; praecipua tamen eius in commovenda miseratione virtus, ut quidam in hac eum parte omnibus eius operis auctoribus praeferant.§ 64.Simonidesof Ceos (556-468), like Pindar, was fortunate in his age, and the most considerable of his fragments that remain are full of the fire kindled in his heart by the great national struggle with Persia. He was a sort of cosmopolitan poet, living by turns in Athens, at the court of the Aleuadae and Scopadae in Thessaly, Corinth, Sparta, and Sicily. He cultivated friendly relations with Miltiades and Themistocles, with Pausanias of Sparta, and (like Pindar and Aeschylus) with Hiero of Syracuse. He was famed for his elegies, epigrams, epinician odes, and every form of choral lyric poetry. His wisdom was renowned:σοφὸς καὶ θεῖος ὁ ἀνήρ, Plat. Rep. 331 E, where some of his gnomic utterances are discussed: cp. ib. 335 E: Protag. 316 D.—The criticism of Dionysius (l.c.) corresponds:Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων(sermone proprio),τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν‧ πρὸς τούτοις, καθ᾽ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς.tenuis, ‘simple,’ ‘natural’: cp.2 §19and§23(tenuitas), alsoμὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶςquoted above.Λεπτότης(‘terse simplicity’) was a quality of Simonides’ style, especially in his epigrams: ‘when least adorned adorned the most,’ Mayor. Cp.§44, note. Opposites aregrandis,copiosus,plenus.alioqui=τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ‘for the rest’: cp. ceterum. See on3 §13, and Introd.p. li.sermone proprio: see on§46.iucundidate: see on iucundus§46, and cp.§§82,96,101,110,113:2 §23. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §60 non enim poeta solum suavis, verum etiam ceteroqui doctus sapiensque traditur. So Tac. Dial. 10 lyricorum iucunditatem.miseratione. He was a master of pathos, especially in hisθρῆνοι: witness his ‘Lament of Danae,’ truly a ‘precious tender-hearted scroll of pure Simonides.’ Generally his poems seem to have been tinged with the same melancholy resignation as inspired the earlier writers of elegy: e.g. fr. 39 ‘slight is the strength of men, and vain are all their cares, and in their brief life trouble follows upon trouble; and death, which none can shun, hangs over all,—in him both good and bad share equally.’ Catull. 38, 7 paulum quidlibet adlocutionis maestius lacrimis Simonidis: Hor. Car. ii. 1, 37 sed ne relictis Musa procax iocis Ceae retractes munera neniae.quidam: see on putant§54.in hac parte, ‘in this respect.’ Cp. i. 3, 17: 7 §19: 10 §4: ii. 17, 1: iii. 6, 64: xii. 1, 16. So ab (ex) hac parte.operis=generis, ‘class of poetry.’ See on§9: cp.§28§85.auctoribus,§24.I:65Antiqua comoedia cum sinceram illam sermonis Attici gratiam prope sola retinet, tum facundissimae libertatis est et in insectandis vitiis praecipua; plurimum tamen virium etiam inceteris partibus habet. Nam et grandis et elegans et venusta, et nescio an ulla, post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est, aut similior sit oratoribus aut ad oratores faciendos aptior.
§ 54.Panyasin. Panyasis of Halicarnassus, the uncle of Herodotus, wrote a Heracleia in fourteen books, fragments of which are quoted by Stobaeus andAthenaeus. He also composed six books of ‘Ionica,’—elegiac poems on the Ionic migration. Suidas describes him as “an epic poet, who fanned into a flame the smouldering embers of epic poetry,ὁς σβεσθεῖσαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐπανήγαγε. Among the poets he is ranked after Homer; according to some,also after Hesiod and Antimachus” (Mayor). Panyasis flourished circ.B.C.480.ex utroque mixtum. Dion. Hal. l.c.Πανύασις δὲ τὰς τ᾽ ἀμφοῖν ἀρετὰς ἠνέγκατο καὶ αὐτῶν(εἰσηνέγκατο καὶ αὐτός—Usener)πραγματείᾳ(materia)καὶ τῇ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν(αὐτὴν?)οἰκονομίᾳ διήνεγκεν.putant. Mr. Nettleship (Journ. Phil. xviii. p. 259) notes that Quintilian ‘while saying evidently much the same as Dionysius, says notputat Dionysiusbutputant,’ showing that both Dionysius and he followed thegrammatici, i.e. probably Aristarchus and Aristophanes. Cp. Usener, p. 110 sq., and see Introd.p. xxxii.alterum ... materia: Hesiod, the ‘singer of Helots.’ “The labours of Herakles supply a more varied and attractive theme than the pedigrees of a Theogony or the homely Tusser-like maxims of the ‘Works and Days.’” Mayor.Apollonius, surnamed Rhodius, because he was honoured with the freedom of the city of Rhodes, after having retired thither from Alexandria. Returning to Alexandria he succeeded Eratosthenes as librarian. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and flourished circ. 220B.C.For a sympathetic account of the Argonautica see Mahaffy’s Greek Lit. vol. i. ch. ix. It was rendered into Latin by Atacinus Varro (§87) and Valerius Flaccus (§90).ordinem a grammaticis datum. The lists of approved authors drawn up by the critics of Alexandria constituted what they calledκανόνες(indices, here calledordo). See Usener, p. 134 sq. Cp. venire, redigi, recipi in ordinem or numerum. So i. 4 §3 ut ... auctores alios in ordinem redegerint alios omnino exemerint numero. See Introd.p. xxxv.Aristarchus, of Samothrace, lived and taught at Alexandria about the middle of the second cent.B.C.His name is inseparably associated with the text of the Homeric poems: see Wolf’sProlegomena, Lehrs de Aristarchi Studiis Homericis (3rd edit. 1882), and Pierron’s Introd. to Homer, p. xxxv. sq. It became a synonym for rigorous criticism: Cic. ad Att. i. 14, 3 meis orationibus quarum tu Aristarchus es: Hor. A. P. 450 fiet Aristarchus.—See Mahaffy’s Grk. Lit. ch. iii. §32 sq.Aristophanes, of Byzantium, was librarian at Alexandria before Aristarchus, having succeeded Apollonius Rhodius. He died about 180B.C.He revised his master Zenodotus’s edition of Homer, and was the first to reject the end of the Odyssey after xxiii. 296. He also left critical and exegetical commentaries on the lyric and dramatic poets, and compiledargumentaor prefaces to the individual plays.poetarum iudices. This looks like a gloss: see Crit. Notes.in numerum redegerunt: cp. above on in ordinem a grammaticis datum. The phrase represents the Greekἐγκρίνειν.—With the exception of the official eulogy of Domitian (§91), Quintilian followed this rule himself.reddidit. Though it would be hard to find an exact parallel, this use ofreddoseems not impossible, especially in Quintilian. It must be explained either by the analogy of the use in which land is said to ‘produce’ the expected crop (cp. tibiae sonum reddunt xi. 3, 20), or less probably with reference to the use which describes such physical processes as dum nimis imperat voci ... sanguinem reddidit Plin. v. 19, 6. In Cicero such an expression could only have been explained on the analogy of ‘placidum reddere’ for ‘placare’: cp. omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus xii. 11, 13.—But seeCrit. Notes.aequali quadam mediocritate:§86aequalitate pensamus. No disparagementis implied: the meaning is that Apollonius keeps pretty uniformly to thegenus medium(see on§44), neither rising on the one hand to thegenus grandenor on the other descending to thegenus subtile. So in theπερὶ ὕψους33 §4 he receives the epithetἄπτωτος. For this sense ofmediocritascp. Gellius 7 §14 of Terence: Hor. Car. ii. 10, 5.—“This is a fair criticism of the greatest of the Alexandrine poems; it is learned and correct, tells the story of the Argonauts with a due regard to proportion, and has many minor idyllic beauties, but wants epic unity and inspiration.” Mayor.
§ 54.Panyasin. Panyasis of Halicarnassus, the uncle of Herodotus, wrote a Heracleia in fourteen books, fragments of which are quoted by Stobaeus andAthenaeus. He also composed six books of ‘Ionica,’—elegiac poems on the Ionic migration. Suidas describes him as “an epic poet, who fanned into a flame the smouldering embers of epic poetry,ὁς σβεσθεῖσαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐπανήγαγε. Among the poets he is ranked after Homer; according to some,also after Hesiod and Antimachus” (Mayor). Panyasis flourished circ.B.C.480.
ex utroque mixtum. Dion. Hal. l.c.Πανύασις δὲ τὰς τ᾽ ἀμφοῖν ἀρετὰς ἠνέγκατο καὶ αὐτῶν(εἰσηνέγκατο καὶ αὐτός—Usener)πραγματείᾳ(materia)καὶ τῇ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν(αὐτὴν?)οἰκονομίᾳ διήνεγκεν.
putant. Mr. Nettleship (Journ. Phil. xviii. p. 259) notes that Quintilian ‘while saying evidently much the same as Dionysius, says notputat Dionysiusbutputant,’ showing that both Dionysius and he followed thegrammatici, i.e. probably Aristarchus and Aristophanes. Cp. Usener, p. 110 sq., and see Introd.p. xxxii.
alterum ... materia: Hesiod, the ‘singer of Helots.’ “The labours of Herakles supply a more varied and attractive theme than the pedigrees of a Theogony or the homely Tusser-like maxims of the ‘Works and Days.’” Mayor.
Apollonius, surnamed Rhodius, because he was honoured with the freedom of the city of Rhodes, after having retired thither from Alexandria. Returning to Alexandria he succeeded Eratosthenes as librarian. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and flourished circ. 220B.C.For a sympathetic account of the Argonautica see Mahaffy’s Greek Lit. vol. i. ch. ix. It was rendered into Latin by Atacinus Varro (§87) and Valerius Flaccus (§90).
ordinem a grammaticis datum. The lists of approved authors drawn up by the critics of Alexandria constituted what they calledκανόνες(indices, here calledordo). See Usener, p. 134 sq. Cp. venire, redigi, recipi in ordinem or numerum. So i. 4 §3 ut ... auctores alios in ordinem redegerint alios omnino exemerint numero. See Introd.p. xxxv.
Aristarchus, of Samothrace, lived and taught at Alexandria about the middle of the second cent.B.C.His name is inseparably associated with the text of the Homeric poems: see Wolf’sProlegomena, Lehrs de Aristarchi Studiis Homericis (3rd edit. 1882), and Pierron’s Introd. to Homer, p. xxxv. sq. It became a synonym for rigorous criticism: Cic. ad Att. i. 14, 3 meis orationibus quarum tu Aristarchus es: Hor. A. P. 450 fiet Aristarchus.—See Mahaffy’s Grk. Lit. ch. iii. §32 sq.
Aristophanes, of Byzantium, was librarian at Alexandria before Aristarchus, having succeeded Apollonius Rhodius. He died about 180B.C.He revised his master Zenodotus’s edition of Homer, and was the first to reject the end of the Odyssey after xxiii. 296. He also left critical and exegetical commentaries on the lyric and dramatic poets, and compiledargumentaor prefaces to the individual plays.
poetarum iudices. This looks like a gloss: see Crit. Notes.
in numerum redegerunt: cp. above on in ordinem a grammaticis datum. The phrase represents the Greekἐγκρίνειν.—With the exception of the official eulogy of Domitian (§91), Quintilian followed this rule himself.
reddidit. Though it would be hard to find an exact parallel, this use ofreddoseems not impossible, especially in Quintilian. It must be explained either by the analogy of the use in which land is said to ‘produce’ the expected crop (cp. tibiae sonum reddunt xi. 3, 20), or less probably with reference to the use which describes such physical processes as dum nimis imperat voci ... sanguinem reddidit Plin. v. 19, 6. In Cicero such an expression could only have been explained on the analogy of ‘placidum reddere’ for ‘placare’: cp. omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus xii. 11, 13.—But seeCrit. Notes.
aequali quadam mediocritate:§86aequalitate pensamus. No disparagementis implied: the meaning is that Apollonius keeps pretty uniformly to thegenus medium(see on§44), neither rising on the one hand to thegenus grandenor on the other descending to thegenus subtile. So in theπερὶ ὕψους33 §4 he receives the epithetἄπτωτος. For this sense ofmediocritascp. Gellius 7 §14 of Terence: Hor. Car. ii. 10, 5.—“This is a fair criticism of the greatest of the Alexandrine poems; it is learned and correct, tells the story of the Argonauts with a due regard to proportion, and has many minor idyllic beauties, but wants epic unity and inspiration.” Mayor.
I:55Aratimateria motu caret, utin qua nulla varietas, nullus adfectus, nulla persona, nulla cuiusquam sit oratio; sufficit tamen operi cui se parem credidit. Admirabilis in suo genereTheocritus, sed musa illa rustica et pastoralis non forum modo, verum ipsam etiam urbem reformidat.
§ 55.Arati. Aratus was born at Soli in Cilicia, and lived at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, circ.B.C.270. At the request of the latter he composedΦαινόμενα καὶ Διοσημεῖα, a didactic epic on the heavenly bodies and meteorology, which was translated into Latin verse by Cicero and afterwards by Germanicus. Avienus also made a rendering of it, probably late in the fourth century. See Teuffel §259 §6 and §394 §2, and Munro on Lucr. v. 619 (cp. vol. ii. pp. 3, 9, 299: J. B. Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. §104).ut in qua. Törnebladh (‘de coniunctionum causalium apud Quint. usu’) has collected ten additional examples of this construction in Quint.,—ut quii. 2, 19:x. 1, 57and74: xi. 3, 53 (sing.): v. 14, 28 (plur.):ut quae(sing.) iii. 5, 9: xii. 2, 20;ut quodviii. 3, 12: 4, 16:ut quorumx. 2, 13. Forut cumsee on§76. It is incorrect to say that the usage does not occur in Cicero: see Draeger, Hist. Syn. ii. p. 509.Theocrituslived at Syracuse (probably his native place) under Hiero, and spent some time also at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where he wrote his 14th, 15th, and 17th idylls about the year 259B.C.Vergil’s obligations to him in the Eclogues are well known: cp. Sicelides Musae iv. 1: Arethusa x. 1.musa illa rustica et pastoralis. Theocritus is the type of real, as opposed to artificial, pastoral poetry. “He finds all things delectable in the rural life: ‘sweet are the voices of the calves, and sweet the heifer’s lowing; sweet plays the shepherd on the shepherd’s pipe, and sweet is the echo.’ Even in courtly poems and in the artificial hymns ... the memory of the joyful country life comes over him. He praises Hiero, because Hiero is to restore peace to Syracuse, and when peace returns, then ‘thousands of sheep fattened in the meadows will bleat along the plain, and the kine, as they flock in crowds to the stalls, will make the belated traveller hasten on his way.’” Mr. Lang’s Introduction.
§ 55.Arati. Aratus was born at Soli in Cilicia, and lived at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, circ.B.C.270. At the request of the latter he composedΦαινόμενα καὶ Διοσημεῖα, a didactic epic on the heavenly bodies and meteorology, which was translated into Latin verse by Cicero and afterwards by Germanicus. Avienus also made a rendering of it, probably late in the fourth century. See Teuffel §259 §6 and §394 §2, and Munro on Lucr. v. 619 (cp. vol. ii. pp. 3, 9, 299: J. B. Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. §104).
ut in qua. Törnebladh (‘de coniunctionum causalium apud Quint. usu’) has collected ten additional examples of this construction in Quint.,—ut quii. 2, 19:x. 1, 57and74: xi. 3, 53 (sing.): v. 14, 28 (plur.):ut quae(sing.) iii. 5, 9: xii. 2, 20;ut quodviii. 3, 12: 4, 16:ut quorumx. 2, 13. Forut cumsee on§76. It is incorrect to say that the usage does not occur in Cicero: see Draeger, Hist. Syn. ii. p. 509.
Theocrituslived at Syracuse (probably his native place) under Hiero, and spent some time also at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where he wrote his 14th, 15th, and 17th idylls about the year 259B.C.Vergil’s obligations to him in the Eclogues are well known: cp. Sicelides Musae iv. 1: Arethusa x. 1.
musa illa rustica et pastoralis. Theocritus is the type of real, as opposed to artificial, pastoral poetry. “He finds all things delectable in the rural life: ‘sweet are the voices of the calves, and sweet the heifer’s lowing; sweet plays the shepherd on the shepherd’s pipe, and sweet is the echo.’ Even in courtly poems and in the artificial hymns ... the memory of the joyful country life comes over him. He praises Hiero, because Hiero is to restore peace to Syracuse, and when peace returns, then ‘thousands of sheep fattened in the meadows will bleat along the plain, and the kine, as they flock in crowds to the stalls, will make the belated traveller hasten on his way.’” Mr. Lang’s Introduction.
I:56Audire videor undique congerentes nomina plurimorum poetarum. Quid? Herculis acta non benePisandros?Nicandrumfrustra secuti Macer atque Vergilius? Quid?Euphorionemtransibimus? Quem nisi probasset Vergilius idem, numquam certe ‘conditorum Chalcidico versu carminum’ fecisset in Bucolicis mentionem. Quid? Horatius frustraTyrtaeumHomero subiungit?
§ 56.videor:§46. Hor. Car. iii. 4, 6 audire magnos iam videor duces. So oftenvidere videor: e.g. Cic. in Catil. iv. §11.congerentes: participle without subject: cp. solitos§7.non:2 §25.Pisandros, of Cameirus in Rhodes, fl. circ.B.C.645. He wrote a poem calledHeracleia, an epic narrative of the deeds of Hercules. He is often cited as an authority for the various details of the legend, and was the first to arm the hero with the club and lion’s skin.Nicandrum, of Colophon, lived in the middle of the second centuryB.C.at the court of Attalus III, king of Pergamus. His didactic poem on the bites of venomous animals (Θηριακὰ καὶ Ἀλεξιφάρμακα) is still extant. He also wrote five books ofἑτεροιούμενα, on which Ovid drew for his Metamorphoses.frustra= temere, ‘without good reason’ (sine iusta causa): cp.frustra ... subiungitbelow. Cicero, de Div. ii. 60 nec frustra ac sine causa quid facere deo dignum est. So i. 10, 15 non igitur frustra Plato civili viro ... necessariam musicen credidit: xii. 2, 5 Caesar hasnon nequiquamin the same sense B. G.ii. 27, 5. In some cases it makes little difference whether the rendering is ‘without good reason’ or ‘without good result,’ but here it is very improbable that Quintilian is asking ‘whether Vergil can be called anunsuccessfulfollower of Nicander,’ as Conington puts it.Macer:§87. Aemilius Macer of Verona, the friend and contemporary of Vergil and Ovid, wrote the ‘Ornithogonia’ (‘bird-breeding’) and the ‘Theriaca,’ neither of which is extant. Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 43-4 Saepe suos volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.Vergilius. See Conington’s Vergil, vol. i. pp. 141 sqq. None of the extant fragments of Nicander’sΓεωργικάjustify the supposition that Vergil was indebted to it for the Georgics; but he seems to have used his work on bees (μελισσουργικά) and also theθηριακάabove mentioned (Georg. iii. 415, 425). And Macrobius (Sat. v. 22) tells us that it was from Nicander that Vergil borrowed the legend of Pan drawing the moon down after him to the woods by a fleece of snow-white wool (Georg. iii. 391).Euphorionem. Euphorion, of Chalcis in Euboea, was a contemporary of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antiochus the Great, circ.B.C.220. Among other works he wrote a Georgica, or poem on agriculture.in Bucolicis. Verg. Ecl. x. 50 ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena, where the speaker is the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus (§93note), who had introduced Euphorion to general notice by translating some of his poems.Tyrtaeum. Tyrtaeus was a native either of Athens or of Aphidnae in Attica, and flourished at the time of the second Messenian War (in the seventh centuryB.C.), in which he is said to have contributed to the success of the Spartan arms by his inspiring battle-songs. The reference to Horace is A. P. 401 Post hos (Orpheus and Amphion) insignis Homerus Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella Versibus exacuit. Mayor cites passages from Dio Chrys. where Homer and Tyrtaeus are coupled in the same way: cp. Plato, Laws ix. 858 E, where Tyrtaeus is classed with Homer for his moral and political influence.
§ 56.videor:§46. Hor. Car. iii. 4, 6 audire magnos iam videor duces. So oftenvidere videor: e.g. Cic. in Catil. iv. §11.
congerentes: participle without subject: cp. solitos§7.
non:2 §25.
Pisandros, of Cameirus in Rhodes, fl. circ.B.C.645. He wrote a poem calledHeracleia, an epic narrative of the deeds of Hercules. He is often cited as an authority for the various details of the legend, and was the first to arm the hero with the club and lion’s skin.
Nicandrum, of Colophon, lived in the middle of the second centuryB.C.at the court of Attalus III, king of Pergamus. His didactic poem on the bites of venomous animals (Θηριακὰ καὶ Ἀλεξιφάρμακα) is still extant. He also wrote five books ofἑτεροιούμενα, on which Ovid drew for his Metamorphoses.
frustra= temere, ‘without good reason’ (sine iusta causa): cp.frustra ... subiungitbelow. Cicero, de Div. ii. 60 nec frustra ac sine causa quid facere deo dignum est. So i. 10, 15 non igitur frustra Plato civili viro ... necessariam musicen credidit: xii. 2, 5 Caesar hasnon nequiquamin the same sense B. G.ii. 27, 5. In some cases it makes little difference whether the rendering is ‘without good reason’ or ‘without good result,’ but here it is very improbable that Quintilian is asking ‘whether Vergil can be called anunsuccessfulfollower of Nicander,’ as Conington puts it.
Macer:§87. Aemilius Macer of Verona, the friend and contemporary of Vergil and Ovid, wrote the ‘Ornithogonia’ (‘bird-breeding’) and the ‘Theriaca,’ neither of which is extant. Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 43-4 Saepe suos volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.
Vergilius. See Conington’s Vergil, vol. i. pp. 141 sqq. None of the extant fragments of Nicander’sΓεωργικάjustify the supposition that Vergil was indebted to it for the Georgics; but he seems to have used his work on bees (μελισσουργικά) and also theθηριακάabove mentioned (Georg. iii. 415, 425). And Macrobius (Sat. v. 22) tells us that it was from Nicander that Vergil borrowed the legend of Pan drawing the moon down after him to the woods by a fleece of snow-white wool (Georg. iii. 391).
Euphorionem. Euphorion, of Chalcis in Euboea, was a contemporary of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antiochus the Great, circ.B.C.220. Among other works he wrote a Georgica, or poem on agriculture.
in Bucolicis. Verg. Ecl. x. 50 ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena, where the speaker is the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus (§93note), who had introduced Euphorion to general notice by translating some of his poems.
Tyrtaeum. Tyrtaeus was a native either of Athens or of Aphidnae in Attica, and flourished at the time of the second Messenian War (in the seventh centuryB.C.), in which he is said to have contributed to the success of the Spartan arms by his inspiring battle-songs. The reference to Horace is A. P. 401 Post hos (Orpheus and Amphion) insignis Homerus Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella Versibus exacuit. Mayor cites passages from Dio Chrys. where Homer and Tyrtaeus are coupled in the same way: cp. Plato, Laws ix. 858 E, where Tyrtaeus is classed with Homer for his moral and political influence.
I:57Nec sane quisquam est tam procul a cognitione eorum remotus ut non indicem certe ex bibliotheca sumptum transferre in libros suos possit. Nec ignoro igitur quos transeo nec utique damno, ut qui dixerim esse in omnibus utilitatis aliquid.
§ 57.tam ... ut non: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 10: cp.§41and§48above.indicem, ‘a catalogue.’ Any one can at least (if he does not know anything more about them) make out a list of such poets in some library, and note the titles of their works in his compilation. Forindexcp. Cic. Hortens., indicem tragicorum: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 fungar indicis partibus: Seneca de Tranq. 9 §4 quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? Ep. 39 §2 sume in manus indicem philosophorum.—Non ... certealmost =ne quidem.nec utique, ‘nor by any means.’ See on§20: cp.§24. Krüger3renders by ‘unbedingt,’ ‘absolut,’ ‘jedenfalls.’ut qui dixerim: see on§55.
§ 57.tam ... ut non: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 10: cp.§41and§48above.
indicem, ‘a catalogue.’ Any one can at least (if he does not know anything more about them) make out a list of such poets in some library, and note the titles of their works in his compilation. Forindexcp. Cic. Hortens., indicem tragicorum: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 fungar indicis partibus: Seneca de Tranq. 9 §4 quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? Ep. 39 §2 sume in manus indicem philosophorum.—Non ... certealmost =ne quidem.
nec utique, ‘nor by any means.’ See on§20: cp.§24. Krüger3renders by ‘unbedingt,’ ‘absolut,’ ‘jedenfalls.’
ut qui dixerim: see on§55.
I:58Sed ad illos iam perfectis constitutisque viribus revertemur, quod in cenis grandibus saepefacimus, ut, cum optimis satiati sumus, varietas tamen nobis ex vilioribus grata sit. Tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere, cuius princeps habeturCallimachus, secundas confessione plurimorumPhiletasoccupavit.
§ 58.perfectis constitutisque viribus, i.e. by the reading of the epic poets who are most suited to our purpose:§59optimis adsuescendum est, &c. So§131(of Seneca) iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus:5 §1iam robustorum. Cp i. 8, 6 (of amatory elegy and hendecasyllabics) amoveantur, si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur: §12 robustiores.—Forconstitutiscp.ἐν τῇ καθεστηκυίᾳ ἡλικίᾳ: xi. 3, 29.revertemur: future used as a mild imperative. Cp.7 §1.quod ... ut. The dependent clause here gives the explanation ofquod facimusin the form of a result, so that the construction is really pleonastic: cp.5 §18:7 §11. In3 §6(where see note)utmay have more of the idea of purpose.tunc: when our taste is formed.elegiam. Cp. i. 8, 6 quoted above. In A. P. 77 Horace characterises the elegy asexiguus, i.e. it is slighter and less dignified than the epic hexameter.vacabit. This impersonal use (cp.§90) does not occur in Cicero. For the expression see Introd.p. xxxii, note.Callimachus, of Cyrene, was the second director of the library at Alexandria (§54): he flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid all imitated his elegies. ‘The erotic elegy of Callimachus, Philetas, and their school is chiefly interesting as having been the model of the Roman elegy, which is one of the glories of Latin literature in the hands of Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius.’ Mahaffy.secundas,§53.Philetasof Cos, instructor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 290B.C.Like Callimachus he was a literary critic as well as a poet, though probably less erudite than his greater contemporary.occupavit: Hor. Car. i. 12, 19 proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores.
§ 58.perfectis constitutisque viribus, i.e. by the reading of the epic poets who are most suited to our purpose:§59optimis adsuescendum est, &c. So§131(of Seneca) iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus:5 §1iam robustorum. Cp i. 8, 6 (of amatory elegy and hendecasyllabics) amoveantur, si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur: §12 robustiores.—Forconstitutiscp.ἐν τῇ καθεστηκυίᾳ ἡλικίᾳ: xi. 3, 29.
revertemur: future used as a mild imperative. Cp.7 §1.
quod ... ut. The dependent clause here gives the explanation ofquod facimusin the form of a result, so that the construction is really pleonastic: cp.5 §18:7 §11. In3 §6(where see note)utmay have more of the idea of purpose.
tunc: when our taste is formed.
elegiam. Cp. i. 8, 6 quoted above. In A. P. 77 Horace characterises the elegy asexiguus, i.e. it is slighter and less dignified than the epic hexameter.
vacabit. This impersonal use (cp.§90) does not occur in Cicero. For the expression see Introd.p. xxxii, note.
Callimachus, of Cyrene, was the second director of the library at Alexandria (§54): he flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid all imitated his elegies. ‘The erotic elegy of Callimachus, Philetas, and their school is chiefly interesting as having been the model of the Roman elegy, which is one of the glories of Latin literature in the hands of Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius.’ Mahaffy.
secundas,§53.
Philetasof Cos, instructor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 290B.C.Like Callimachus he was a literary critic as well as a poet, though probably less erudite than his greater contemporary.
occupavit: Hor. Car. i. 12, 19 proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores.
I:59Sed dum adsequimur illam firmam, ut dixi, facilitatem, optimis adsuescendum est et multa magis quam multorum lectione formanda mens et ducendus color. Itaque ex tribus receptis Aristarchi iudicio scriptoribusiamborum adἕξινmaxime pertinebit unusArchilochus.
§ 59.adsequimur, a present of endeavour: cp.§31. This gives a good contrast toiam perfectis constitutisque viribusandtunc, so that there is no need for Halm’s conjectureadsequamur, which is however generally adopted: seeCrit. Notes.ut dixi: see on§1.multa ... multorum: Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §15 tu memineris sui cuiusque generis auctores diligenter eligere. Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa. Mayor compares also Seneca, Epist. 2 §§2-4.ducendus color: Verg. Ecl. ix. 49 (astrum) quo duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.Ducereexpresses the gradual process of ‘taking on’ a tinge; the agent in this process is herelectio, as in Vergil it is the constellation.Coloris here the ‘appropriate tone’ which will vary with the subject or the occasion: xii. 10, 71 non unus color prooemii, narrationis, argumentorum, egressionis, perorationis servabitur. Sen. Ep. 108 §3 non novimus quosdam qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint: ib. 71 §31. So Cicero, Orat. §42 educata huius (Isocratis) nutrimentis eloquentia ipsa se postea colorat (‘gathers strength and colour’): de Or. ii. 60 ut cum in sole ambulem ... fieri natura ... ut colorer, sic, cum istos libros ... studiosius legerim, sentio illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari. Cp. on§116:6 §5:7 §7.ex tribus receptis: sc. in ordinem sive numerum: cp.§54. The other two are Simonides of Amorgos (Semonides) and Hipponax of Ephesus. The former is best known by his satire on women; the latter is often mentioned along with Archilochus: his spirit reappears in the later comedy. The treatise of Dion. Hal. as we have it now does not contain any criticism either of the elegiac or the iambic poets. Proclus however has:Ἰάμβων ποιηταὶ Ἀρχίλοχός τε ἄριστος καὶ Σιμωνίδης καὶ Ἱππῶναξ(p. 242, Westphal.)Aristarchi iudicio:§52.scriptoribus iamborum: see on§9. Diomedes iii. p. 485 11 k (p. 18, Reiff.) iambus est carmen maledicum plerumque trimetro versu et epodo sequente compositum ... appellatum est autemπαρὰ τὸ ἰαμβίζειν, quod est maledicere. Cuius carminis praecipui scriptores apud Graecos Archilochus et Hipponax, apud Romanos Lucilius et Catullus et Horatius et Bibaculus: cp.§96.—The wordἄαμβοςis derived fromἰάπτω‘I fling’ (Curt. Etym.5537: E. T. ii. 154), and denoted originally a ‘flinging,’ or a verse ‘flung at’ a person: henceἰαμβίζειν, ‘to lampoon.’ Cp. ix. 4, 141 aspera vero et maledica ... etiam in carmine iambis grassantur. Hor. Car. i. 16, 2 criminosis ... iambis: ib.22-5 me quoque pectoris Temptavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem.ἕξιν: see on§1.maxime unus.Unusis very commonly used in this way to strengthen a superlative: Cic. in Verr. i. §1 quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis ... sedandam maxime pertinebat: de Amic. §1 quem unum nostrae civitatis ... praestantissimum audeo dicere: Verg. Aen. ii. 426 cadit et Rhipeus iustissimus unus. Becher thinksunusmay merely be set over againsttribus: cp. pro Sest. §49 unus bis rempublicam servavi.Archilochusof Paros (circ. 686B.C.) was a master of various forms of metrical composition; but his distinctive characteristic was that alluded to here,—the employment of the iambic trimeter as the vehicle of satire, the sting of which, as wielded by him, is said to have driven people into hanging themselves. Hor. A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
§ 59.adsequimur, a present of endeavour: cp.§31. This gives a good contrast toiam perfectis constitutisque viribusandtunc, so that there is no need for Halm’s conjectureadsequamur, which is however generally adopted: seeCrit. Notes.
ut dixi: see on§1.
multa ... multorum: Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §15 tu memineris sui cuiusque generis auctores diligenter eligere. Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa. Mayor compares also Seneca, Epist. 2 §§2-4.
ducendus color: Verg. Ecl. ix. 49 (astrum) quo duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.Ducereexpresses the gradual process of ‘taking on’ a tinge; the agent in this process is herelectio, as in Vergil it is the constellation.Coloris here the ‘appropriate tone’ which will vary with the subject or the occasion: xii. 10, 71 non unus color prooemii, narrationis, argumentorum, egressionis, perorationis servabitur. Sen. Ep. 108 §3 non novimus quosdam qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint: ib. 71 §31. So Cicero, Orat. §42 educata huius (Isocratis) nutrimentis eloquentia ipsa se postea colorat (‘gathers strength and colour’): de Or. ii. 60 ut cum in sole ambulem ... fieri natura ... ut colorer, sic, cum istos libros ... studiosius legerim, sentio illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari. Cp. on§116:6 §5:7 §7.
ex tribus receptis: sc. in ordinem sive numerum: cp.§54. The other two are Simonides of Amorgos (Semonides) and Hipponax of Ephesus. The former is best known by his satire on women; the latter is often mentioned along with Archilochus: his spirit reappears in the later comedy. The treatise of Dion. Hal. as we have it now does not contain any criticism either of the elegiac or the iambic poets. Proclus however has:Ἰάμβων ποιηταὶ Ἀρχίλοχός τε ἄριστος καὶ Σιμωνίδης καὶ Ἱππῶναξ(p. 242, Westphal.)
Aristarchi iudicio:§52.
scriptoribus iamborum: see on§9. Diomedes iii. p. 485 11 k (p. 18, Reiff.) iambus est carmen maledicum plerumque trimetro versu et epodo sequente compositum ... appellatum est autemπαρὰ τὸ ἰαμβίζειν, quod est maledicere. Cuius carminis praecipui scriptores apud Graecos Archilochus et Hipponax, apud Romanos Lucilius et Catullus et Horatius et Bibaculus: cp.§96.—The wordἄαμβοςis derived fromἰάπτω‘I fling’ (Curt. Etym.5537: E. T. ii. 154), and denoted originally a ‘flinging,’ or a verse ‘flung at’ a person: henceἰαμβίζειν, ‘to lampoon.’ Cp. ix. 4, 141 aspera vero et maledica ... etiam in carmine iambis grassantur. Hor. Car. i. 16, 2 criminosis ... iambis: ib.22-5 me quoque pectoris Temptavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem.
ἕξιν: see on§1.
maxime unus.Unusis very commonly used in this way to strengthen a superlative: Cic. in Verr. i. §1 quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis ... sedandam maxime pertinebat: de Amic. §1 quem unum nostrae civitatis ... praestantissimum audeo dicere: Verg. Aen. ii. 426 cadit et Rhipeus iustissimus unus. Becher thinksunusmay merely be set over againsttribus: cp. pro Sest. §49 unus bis rempublicam servavi.
Archilochusof Paros (circ. 686B.C.) was a master of various forms of metrical composition; but his distinctive characteristic was that alluded to here,—the employment of the iambic trimeter as the vehicle of satire, the sting of which, as wielded by him, is said to have driven people into hanging themselves. Hor. A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
I:60Summa in hoc vis elocutionis, cum validae tum breves vibrantesque sententiae, plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum, adeo ut videatur quibusdam, quod quoquam minor est, materiae esse, non ingenii vitium.
§ 60.vibrantes, of the quivering motion of a spear (cp. ‘shafts’ of eloquence) thrown from a stout arm. Cic. Brut. §326 oratio incitata et vibrans: Quint. xii. 9, 3 nec illis vibrantibus concitatisque sententiis velut missilibus utetur: xi. 3, 120 sententias vibrantes digitis iaculantur: ix. 4, 55 neque enim Demosthenis fulmina tanto opere vibratura dicit nisi numeris contorta ferrentur: cp. note on7 §7below.sanguinis atque nervorum. The former refers to the quality of ‘fulness’ or ‘richness’ of thought and style, the latter (oftenlacerti) to ‘force’: sanguinis et virium2 §12. Cp. tori and caro§33(note) and§77. Forsanguis, cp.§115verum sanguinem:2 §12. “In good Latinnervus, likeνεῦρον, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical): cp. Celsus viii. 1 nervi quosτένονταςGraeci appellant; but sometimes appears to include also what we call ‘nerves’: see Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 55, 136. Galen (born 130A.D.) was the first to limitνεῦρονto the meaning ‘nerve,’ in its present sense.” Wilkins on Hor. A. P. 26.quibusdam: cp.§64ut quidam ... eum ... praeferant:§93quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores:§113adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur.quod quoquam minor est. This clause is the subject ofvideatur, and the meaning is: with such high qualities the fact that Archilochus comes behind any (if that is the case) is to be attributed to hismateria, not to hisingenium, which latter would give him a claim to a place alongside of the very foremost, Homer: cp.§65post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est. So§62copiae vitium est:§74praedictis minor. Forquodwithoutid, cp.4 §4. SeeCrit. Notes.materia, ‘subject-matter,’ which was mainly personal character and conduct in common life. Pind. Pyth. ii. 55ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 23 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben: 28 Temperat Archilochi musam pede mascula Sappho Temperat Alcaeus sed rebus et ordine dispar, Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. Val. Max. vi. 3, E. §1 tells us that the Spartans banished the poems of Archilochus because of their corrupting influence on the morals of their youth: Maximum poetam aut certe summo proximum ... carminum exilio multarunt. Velleius (i. 5, 1) brackets Homer and Archilochus.
§ 60.vibrantes, of the quivering motion of a spear (cp. ‘shafts’ of eloquence) thrown from a stout arm. Cic. Brut. §326 oratio incitata et vibrans: Quint. xii. 9, 3 nec illis vibrantibus concitatisque sententiis velut missilibus utetur: xi. 3, 120 sententias vibrantes digitis iaculantur: ix. 4, 55 neque enim Demosthenis fulmina tanto opere vibratura dicit nisi numeris contorta ferrentur: cp. note on7 §7below.
sanguinis atque nervorum. The former refers to the quality of ‘fulness’ or ‘richness’ of thought and style, the latter (oftenlacerti) to ‘force’: sanguinis et virium2 §12. Cp. tori and caro§33(note) and§77. Forsanguis, cp.§115verum sanguinem:2 §12. “In good Latinnervus, likeνεῦρον, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical): cp. Celsus viii. 1 nervi quosτένονταςGraeci appellant; but sometimes appears to include also what we call ‘nerves’: see Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 55, 136. Galen (born 130A.D.) was the first to limitνεῦρονto the meaning ‘nerve,’ in its present sense.” Wilkins on Hor. A. P. 26.
quibusdam: cp.§64ut quidam ... eum ... praeferant:§93quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores:§113adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur.
quod quoquam minor est. This clause is the subject ofvideatur, and the meaning is: with such high qualities the fact that Archilochus comes behind any (if that is the case) is to be attributed to hismateria, not to hisingenium, which latter would give him a claim to a place alongside of the very foremost, Homer: cp.§65post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est. So§62copiae vitium est:§74praedictis minor. Forquodwithoutid, cp.4 §4. SeeCrit. Notes.
materia, ‘subject-matter,’ which was mainly personal character and conduct in common life. Pind. Pyth. ii. 55ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 23 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben: 28 Temperat Archilochi musam pede mascula Sappho Temperat Alcaeus sed rebus et ordine dispar, Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. Val. Max. vi. 3, E. §1 tells us that the Spartans banished the poems of Archilochus because of their corrupting influence on the morals of their youth: Maximum poetam aut certe summo proximum ... carminum exilio multarunt. Velleius (i. 5, 1) brackets Homer and Archilochus.
I:61Novem vero lyricorum longePindarusprinceps spiritu magnificentia, sententiis figuris, beatissima rerum verborumque copia et velut quodam eloquentiae flumine; propter quae Horatius eum merito credidit nemini imitabilem.
§ 61.novem ... lyricorum. Of the nine lyric poets not received into the ‘canon’ those not mentioned here are Alcman, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, and Bacchylides. The four whom Quintilian names are the same as those criticised by Dionysius, except that in the latter Simonides comes next after Pindar.Pindarus(521-441B.C., though known to us now mainly by his Epinician Odes, essayed various forms of the lyric art, most of which (except the skolia and encomia) are pervaded by a deeply religious tone. He had the disadvantage of belonging to the Medising city ofThebes, but he spoke fearlessly out (after Salamis) for the liberators of Greece; and both in the instinct for a national unity to which his poems bear witness and in his ethical and religious beliefs he is eminently representative of his age. He is the crowning glory of Greek lyric poetry, and may be said in a sense to stand as it were midway between the Homeric epos and the drama at Athens.princeps, &c. Here Quintilian again coincides with Dionysius (l.c.)Ζηλωτὸς δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος ὀνομάτων καὶ νοημάτων εἵνεκα, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείας καὶ τόνου, καὶ περιουσίας ... καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ γνωμολογίας καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ σχηματισμῶν.spiritu: see on§27: i. 8, 5. SeeCrit. Notes.magnificentia,μεγαλοπρέπειαiv. 2, 61. This is Pindar’s distinctive quality: he isφιλάγλαος, ‘splendour-loving.’ Cp. magnificus§63:§84: iii. 8, 61: vi. 1, 52: xi. 3, 153.sententiis: see on§50.figuris: see on§12.beatissima= fecundissima, uberrima:§109:3 §22. Cp. Tac. Dial. 9: Hist. iii. 66.propter quae: see on§10, propter quod.Horatius: Car. iv. 2, 1 Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari ... Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore.
§ 61.novem ... lyricorum. Of the nine lyric poets not received into the ‘canon’ those not mentioned here are Alcman, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, and Bacchylides. The four whom Quintilian names are the same as those criticised by Dionysius, except that in the latter Simonides comes next after Pindar.
Pindarus(521-441B.C., though known to us now mainly by his Epinician Odes, essayed various forms of the lyric art, most of which (except the skolia and encomia) are pervaded by a deeply religious tone. He had the disadvantage of belonging to the Medising city ofThebes, but he spoke fearlessly out (after Salamis) for the liberators of Greece; and both in the instinct for a national unity to which his poems bear witness and in his ethical and religious beliefs he is eminently representative of his age. He is the crowning glory of Greek lyric poetry, and may be said in a sense to stand as it were midway between the Homeric epos and the drama at Athens.
princeps, &c. Here Quintilian again coincides with Dionysius (l.c.)Ζηλωτὸς δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος ὀνομάτων καὶ νοημάτων εἵνεκα, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείας καὶ τόνου, καὶ περιουσίας ... καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ γνωμολογίας καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ σχηματισμῶν.
spiritu: see on§27: i. 8, 5. SeeCrit. Notes.
magnificentia,μεγαλοπρέπειαiv. 2, 61. This is Pindar’s distinctive quality: he isφιλάγλαος, ‘splendour-loving.’ Cp. magnificus§63:§84: iii. 8, 61: vi. 1, 52: xi. 3, 153.
sententiis: see on§50.
figuris: see on§12.
beatissima= fecundissima, uberrima:§109:3 §22. Cp. Tac. Dial. 9: Hist. iii. 66.
propter quae: see on§10, propter quod.
Horatius: Car. iv. 2, 1 Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari ... Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore.
I:62Stesichorum, quam sit ingenio validus, materiae quoque ostendunt, maxima bella et clarissimos canentem duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinentem. Reddit enim personis in agendo simul loquendoque debitam dignitatem, ac si tenuisset modum, videtur aemulari proximus Homerum potuisse; sedredundat atque effunditur, quod ut est reprehendendum, ita copiae vitium est.
§ 62.Stesichorusof Himera in Sicily (cir. 632-553B.C.) is, like Simonides and Pindar, a representative of the Dorian or choral lyric poetry of Greece,—distinguished from the Aeolic (Alcaeus and Sappho) by its greater complexity of structure and by the wider audience to which it was addressed. His real name is said to have been Teisias: that by which he is known he derived from the changes in the structure of the choral ode which were introduced by him. He relieved the combination of strophe and antistrophe by theepode, composed in a different manner, and sung by the chorus standing before the altar,—thus affording it an interval of rest after the movements to right and left. By Alexander the Great, Homer and Stesichorus were classed together as the two poets worthy to be studied by kings and conquerors.—With Quintilian’s criticism cp. Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 20)Ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων(Pindar and Simonides)πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λείπονται κρατοῦντα‧ λέγω δὲ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθέσεις πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ ἀξιώματα τῶν προσώπων τετήρηκεν.ingenio validus: Cic. in Verr. ii. 35 Stesichori qui ... et est et fuit tota Graecia summo propter ingenium honore et nomine.materiae. The titles of his poems (Ἰλίου Πέρσις, Γηρυονηίς, Ὀρέστεια, Νόστοι, Κέρβερος, Ἑλένα) show that Stesichorus made extensive use of the old epic legends, which would naturally fall more or less into a narrative form. Cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 8 Stesichorique graves Camenae. Ael. Hist. Anim xvii, 37 calls himσεμνός: and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 15, 54 has Stesichori et Pindari vatum sublimia ora.si tenuisset ... videtur potuisse= potuit, ut videtur. Cp. on§98. This use of the pf. indic. in such clauses indicates the possibility (or duty, obligation, &c.) more unconditionally than the plpf. subj. would do: e.g. Cic. in Vatin. §1 debuisti, Vatini, etiamsi falso venisses in suspicionem P. Sestio, tamen mihi ignoscere: pro Mil. §31 quod si ita putasset, certe optabilius Miloni fuit. &c. In the indirect there is a parallel instance, de Off. i. §4 Platonem existimo ... si ... voluisset ... potuisse dicere.aemulari, with dat.§122.Homerum. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ calls StesichorusὉμηρικώτατος, 13 §3: cp. Dio Chr. Or. ii. p. 284τοῦτό γε ἅπαντές φασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, Στησίχορον Ὁμήρου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ σφόδρα γε ἐοικέναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν.redundat atque effunditur. Hermogenes, de Id. ii. 4 p. 322Στησίχορος σφόδρα ἡδὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις.Mayor quotes also Anth. Pal. vii. 75, 1-2Στασίχορον, ζαπληθὲς ἀμετρήτου στόμα Μούσης, ἐκτέρισεν Κατάνας αἰθαλόεν δάπεδον.copiae vitium: ii. 4, 4 vitium utrumque, peius tamen illud quod ex inopia quam quod ex copia venit: ib. 12 §4 effusus pro copioso accipitur. Cp. Plin. Ep. i. 20 §§20-1; Cic. de Orat. ii. §88.
§ 62.Stesichorusof Himera in Sicily (cir. 632-553B.C.) is, like Simonides and Pindar, a representative of the Dorian or choral lyric poetry of Greece,—distinguished from the Aeolic (Alcaeus and Sappho) by its greater complexity of structure and by the wider audience to which it was addressed. His real name is said to have been Teisias: that by which he is known he derived from the changes in the structure of the choral ode which were introduced by him. He relieved the combination of strophe and antistrophe by theepode, composed in a different manner, and sung by the chorus standing before the altar,—thus affording it an interval of rest after the movements to right and left. By Alexander the Great, Homer and Stesichorus were classed together as the two poets worthy to be studied by kings and conquerors.—With Quintilian’s criticism cp. Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 20)Ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων(Pindar and Simonides)πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λείπονται κρατοῦντα‧ λέγω δὲ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθέσεις πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ ἀξιώματα τῶν προσώπων τετήρηκεν.
ingenio validus: Cic. in Verr. ii. 35 Stesichori qui ... et est et fuit tota Graecia summo propter ingenium honore et nomine.
materiae. The titles of his poems (Ἰλίου Πέρσις, Γηρυονηίς, Ὀρέστεια, Νόστοι, Κέρβερος, Ἑλένα) show that Stesichorus made extensive use of the old epic legends, which would naturally fall more or less into a narrative form. Cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 8 Stesichorique graves Camenae. Ael. Hist. Anim xvii, 37 calls himσεμνός: and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 15, 54 has Stesichori et Pindari vatum sublimia ora.
si tenuisset ... videtur potuisse= potuit, ut videtur. Cp. on§98. This use of the pf. indic. in such clauses indicates the possibility (or duty, obligation, &c.) more unconditionally than the plpf. subj. would do: e.g. Cic. in Vatin. §1 debuisti, Vatini, etiamsi falso venisses in suspicionem P. Sestio, tamen mihi ignoscere: pro Mil. §31 quod si ita putasset, certe optabilius Miloni fuit. &c. In the indirect there is a parallel instance, de Off. i. §4 Platonem existimo ... si ... voluisset ... potuisse dicere.
aemulari, with dat.§122.
Homerum. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ calls StesichorusὉμηρικώτατος, 13 §3: cp. Dio Chr. Or. ii. p. 284τοῦτό γε ἅπαντές φασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, Στησίχορον Ὁμήρου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ σφόδρα γε ἐοικέναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν.
redundat atque effunditur. Hermogenes, de Id. ii. 4 p. 322Στησίχορος σφόδρα ἡδὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις.Mayor quotes also Anth. Pal. vii. 75, 1-2Στασίχορον, ζαπληθὲς ἀμετρήτου στόμα Μούσης, ἐκτέρισεν Κατάνας αἰθαλόεν δάπεδον.
copiae vitium: ii. 4, 4 vitium utrumque, peius tamen illud quod ex inopia quam quod ex copia venit: ib. 12 §4 effusus pro copioso accipitur. Cp. Plin. Ep. i. 20 §§20-1; Cic. de Orat. ii. §88.
I:63Alcaeusin parte operis ‘aureo plectro’ merito donatur, qua tyrannos insectatus multum etiam moribus confert, in eloquendo quoque brevis et magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis; sed et lusit et in amores descendit, maioribus tamen aptior.
§ 63.Alcaeusof Mitylene, cir. 600B.C.The criticism of Dionysius is as follows:—Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετά δεινότητος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ τὴν σαφήνειαν, ὅσον αὐτῆς μὴ τῇ διαλέκτῳ τι κεκάκωται‧ καὶ πρὸ ἁπάντων τὸ τῶν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων(ποιημάτων?)ἦθος. Πολλαχοῦ γοῦν τὸ μέτρον τις εἰ περιέλοι, ῥητορικὴν ἂν εὕροι πολιτείαν(ῥητορείαν ... πολιτικήνUsener).in parte: see on§9in illis.aureo plectro. ‘Plectrum’ is fromπλήσσω(πλήκτρον), the ‘striking thing.’ Hor. Car. ii. 13, 26 Et te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.tyrannos insectatus. These were Myrsilus and Pittacus, by the latter of whom Alcaeus was driven into banishment. Those of his poems which relate to the ten years’ civil war waged against the tyrants were calledστασιωτικά. At some time during the rule of Pittacus, the party of Alcaeus attempted a forcible return: Alcaeus was taken prisoner, but was at once set free by the ruler whom he had so bitterly attacked. Cp. Hor. l.c. sed magis Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Densum umeris bibit ore vulgus: id. i. 32, 5.moribus: cp.ἦθοςin the passage quoted from Dionysius. Mayor appositely cites his sayingἄνδρες γὰρ πόλιος πύργος ἀρεύιοι.—Forconfertwith dat. cp.§27.brevis ... magnificus ... oratori similis: cp. in regard to each of these points the criticism of Dionysius.—FordiligensseeCrit. Notes.lusit. Forludere, ‘to write sportively,’ to ‘trifle’,cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 9 nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon delevit aetas: i. 32, 2: Verg. Georg. iv. 566 carmina qui lusi.in amores descendit, in hisἐρωτικάandσυμποτικά. Cic. Tusc. Disp. iv. §71 fortis vir in sua republica cognitus quae de iuvenum amore scribit Alcaeus! Hor. Car. i. 32, 3 sqq. Age, dic Latinum, barbite, carmen, Lesbio primum modulate civi, Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma, Sive iactatam religarat udo Litore navim, Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum.maioribus= rebus maioribus, ‘loftier themes.’ Introd.p. xlvii. Cp. i. pr. §5 ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas, non sit maioribus locus. Cp.subitis7 §30: Nägelsbach §24, 2 (pp. 116-117).
§ 63.Alcaeusof Mitylene, cir. 600B.C.The criticism of Dionysius is as follows:—Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετά δεινότητος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ τὴν σαφήνειαν, ὅσον αὐτῆς μὴ τῇ διαλέκτῳ τι κεκάκωται‧ καὶ πρὸ ἁπάντων τὸ τῶν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων(ποιημάτων?)ἦθος. Πολλαχοῦ γοῦν τὸ μέτρον τις εἰ περιέλοι, ῥητορικὴν ἂν εὕροι πολιτείαν(ῥητορείαν ... πολιτικήνUsener).
in parte: see on§9in illis.
aureo plectro. ‘Plectrum’ is fromπλήσσω(πλήκτρον), the ‘striking thing.’ Hor. Car. ii. 13, 26 Et te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.
tyrannos insectatus. These were Myrsilus and Pittacus, by the latter of whom Alcaeus was driven into banishment. Those of his poems which relate to the ten years’ civil war waged against the tyrants were calledστασιωτικά. At some time during the rule of Pittacus, the party of Alcaeus attempted a forcible return: Alcaeus was taken prisoner, but was at once set free by the ruler whom he had so bitterly attacked. Cp. Hor. l.c. sed magis Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Densum umeris bibit ore vulgus: id. i. 32, 5.
moribus: cp.ἦθοςin the passage quoted from Dionysius. Mayor appositely cites his sayingἄνδρες γὰρ πόλιος πύργος ἀρεύιοι.—Forconfertwith dat. cp.§27.
brevis ... magnificus ... oratori similis: cp. in regard to each of these points the criticism of Dionysius.—FordiligensseeCrit. Notes.
lusit. Forludere, ‘to write sportively,’ to ‘trifle’,cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 9 nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon delevit aetas: i. 32, 2: Verg. Georg. iv. 566 carmina qui lusi.
in amores descendit, in hisἐρωτικάandσυμποτικά. Cic. Tusc. Disp. iv. §71 fortis vir in sua republica cognitus quae de iuvenum amore scribit Alcaeus! Hor. Car. i. 32, 3 sqq. Age, dic Latinum, barbite, carmen, Lesbio primum modulate civi, Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma, Sive iactatam religarat udo Litore navim, Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum.
maioribus= rebus maioribus, ‘loftier themes.’ Introd.p. xlvii. Cp. i. pr. §5 ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas, non sit maioribus locus. Cp.subitis7 §30: Nägelsbach §24, 2 (pp. 116-117).
I:64Simonides, tenuis alioqui, sermoneproprio et iucunditate quadam commendari potest; praecipua tamen eius in commovenda miseratione virtus, ut quidam in hac eum parte omnibus eius operis auctoribus praeferant.
§ 64.Simonidesof Ceos (556-468), like Pindar, was fortunate in his age, and the most considerable of his fragments that remain are full of the fire kindled in his heart by the great national struggle with Persia. He was a sort of cosmopolitan poet, living by turns in Athens, at the court of the Aleuadae and Scopadae in Thessaly, Corinth, Sparta, and Sicily. He cultivated friendly relations with Miltiades and Themistocles, with Pausanias of Sparta, and (like Pindar and Aeschylus) with Hiero of Syracuse. He was famed for his elegies, epigrams, epinician odes, and every form of choral lyric poetry. His wisdom was renowned:σοφὸς καὶ θεῖος ὁ ἀνήρ, Plat. Rep. 331 E, where some of his gnomic utterances are discussed: cp. ib. 335 E: Protag. 316 D.—The criticism of Dionysius (l.c.) corresponds:Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων(sermone proprio),τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν‧ πρὸς τούτοις, καθ᾽ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς.tenuis, ‘simple,’ ‘natural’: cp.2 §19and§23(tenuitas), alsoμὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶςquoted above.Λεπτότης(‘terse simplicity’) was a quality of Simonides’ style, especially in his epigrams: ‘when least adorned adorned the most,’ Mayor. Cp.§44, note. Opposites aregrandis,copiosus,plenus.alioqui=τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ‘for the rest’: cp. ceterum. See on3 §13, and Introd.p. li.sermone proprio: see on§46.iucundidate: see on iucundus§46, and cp.§§82,96,101,110,113:2 §23. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §60 non enim poeta solum suavis, verum etiam ceteroqui doctus sapiensque traditur. So Tac. Dial. 10 lyricorum iucunditatem.miseratione. He was a master of pathos, especially in hisθρῆνοι: witness his ‘Lament of Danae,’ truly a ‘precious tender-hearted scroll of pure Simonides.’ Generally his poems seem to have been tinged with the same melancholy resignation as inspired the earlier writers of elegy: e.g. fr. 39 ‘slight is the strength of men, and vain are all their cares, and in their brief life trouble follows upon trouble; and death, which none can shun, hangs over all,—in him both good and bad share equally.’ Catull. 38, 7 paulum quidlibet adlocutionis maestius lacrimis Simonidis: Hor. Car. ii. 1, 37 sed ne relictis Musa procax iocis Ceae retractes munera neniae.quidam: see on putant§54.in hac parte, ‘in this respect.’ Cp. i. 3, 17: 7 §19: 10 §4: ii. 17, 1: iii. 6, 64: xii. 1, 16. So ab (ex) hac parte.operis=generis, ‘class of poetry.’ See on§9: cp.§28§85.auctoribus,§24.
§ 64.Simonidesof Ceos (556-468), like Pindar, was fortunate in his age, and the most considerable of his fragments that remain are full of the fire kindled in his heart by the great national struggle with Persia. He was a sort of cosmopolitan poet, living by turns in Athens, at the court of the Aleuadae and Scopadae in Thessaly, Corinth, Sparta, and Sicily. He cultivated friendly relations with Miltiades and Themistocles, with Pausanias of Sparta, and (like Pindar and Aeschylus) with Hiero of Syracuse. He was famed for his elegies, epigrams, epinician odes, and every form of choral lyric poetry. His wisdom was renowned:σοφὸς καὶ θεῖος ὁ ἀνήρ, Plat. Rep. 331 E, where some of his gnomic utterances are discussed: cp. ib. 335 E: Protag. 316 D.—The criticism of Dionysius (l.c.) corresponds:Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων(sermone proprio),τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν‧ πρὸς τούτοις, καθ᾽ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς.
tenuis, ‘simple,’ ‘natural’: cp.2 §19and§23(tenuitas), alsoμὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶςquoted above.Λεπτότης(‘terse simplicity’) was a quality of Simonides’ style, especially in his epigrams: ‘when least adorned adorned the most,’ Mayor. Cp.§44, note. Opposites aregrandis,copiosus,plenus.
alioqui=τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ‘for the rest’: cp. ceterum. See on3 §13, and Introd.p. li.
sermone proprio: see on§46.
iucundidate: see on iucundus§46, and cp.§§82,96,101,110,113:2 §23. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §60 non enim poeta solum suavis, verum etiam ceteroqui doctus sapiensque traditur. So Tac. Dial. 10 lyricorum iucunditatem.
miseratione. He was a master of pathos, especially in hisθρῆνοι: witness his ‘Lament of Danae,’ truly a ‘precious tender-hearted scroll of pure Simonides.’ Generally his poems seem to have been tinged with the same melancholy resignation as inspired the earlier writers of elegy: e.g. fr. 39 ‘slight is the strength of men, and vain are all their cares, and in their brief life trouble follows upon trouble; and death, which none can shun, hangs over all,—in him both good and bad share equally.’ Catull. 38, 7 paulum quidlibet adlocutionis maestius lacrimis Simonidis: Hor. Car. ii. 1, 37 sed ne relictis Musa procax iocis Ceae retractes munera neniae.
quidam: see on putant§54.
in hac parte, ‘in this respect.’ Cp. i. 3, 17: 7 §19: 10 §4: ii. 17, 1: iii. 6, 64: xii. 1, 16. So ab (ex) hac parte.
operis=generis, ‘class of poetry.’ See on§9: cp.§28§85.
auctoribus,§24.
I:65Antiqua comoedia cum sinceram illam sermonis Attici gratiam prope sola retinet, tum facundissimae libertatis est et in insectandis vitiis praecipua; plurimum tamen virium etiam inceteris partibus habet. Nam et grandis et elegans et venusta, et nescio an ulla, post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est, aut similior sit oratoribus aut ad oratores faciendos aptior.