Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian)

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	Institutio Oratoria Author: Quintilian	Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
2433	Est etiam generis eiusdem , nescio an vitiosissimum , quotiens verborum ambiguitas cum rerum falsa quadam similitudine iungitur . Clarum actorem iuvenis audivi , cum lecta in capite cuiusdam ossa sententiae gratia tenenda matri dedisset : Infelicissima femina , nondum extulisti filium et iam ossa legisti .	There is another similar type, which is perhaps the worst of all, where the play upon words is combined with a false comparison. When I was a young man I heard a distinguished pleader, after handing a mother some splinters of bone taken from the head of her son (which he did merely to provide an occasion for his epigram), cry: "Unhappiest of women, your son is not yet dead and yet you have gathered up his bones!"
2434	Ad hoc plerique minimis etiam inventiunculis gaudent , quae excussae risum habent , inventae facie ingenii blandiuntur . De eo , qui naufragus et ante agrorum sterilitate vexatus in scholis fingitur se suspendisse : Quem neque terra recipit nec mare , pendeat . Huic simile in illo ,	Moreover, most of our orators delight in devices of the pettiest kind, which seriously considered are merely ludicrous, but at the moment of their production flatter their authors by a superficial semblance of wit. Take, for instance, the exclamation from the scholastic theme, where a man, after being ruined by the barrenness of his land, is shipwrecked and hangs himself: "Let him whom neither earth nor sea receives, hang in mid air."
2435	de quo supra dixi , cui pater sua membra laceranti venenum dedit : Qui haec edit , debet hoc bibere . Et in luxuriosum , qui ἀποκαρτέρησιν simulasse dicitur : Necte laqueum , habes , quod faucibus tuis irascaris ; sume venenum , decet luxuriosum bibendo mori .	A similar absurdity is to be found in the declamation, to which I have already referred, in which a father poisons his son who insists on tearing his flesh with his teeth: "The man who eats such flesh, deserves such drink." Or again, take this passage from the theme of the luxurious man who is alleged to have pretended to starve himself to death: " Tie a noose for yourself: you have good reason to be angry with your throat. 'rake poison: it is fit that a luxurious man should die of drink! "
2436	Alia vana , ut suadentis purpuratis , ut Alexandrum Babylonis incendio sepeliant , Alexandrum sepelio ; hoc quisquam spectabit a tecto ? quasi vero id sit in re tota indignissimum . Alia nimia ut de Germanis dicentem quendam audivi , Caput nescio ubi impositum ; et de viro forti , Bella umbone propellit . Sed finis non erit ,	Others are merely fatuous, such as the remark of the declaimer who urges the courtiers of Alexander to provide him with a tomb by burning down Babylon. "I am burying Alexander. Shall any man watch such a burial from his housetop?" As if this were the climax of indignities! Others fail from sheer extravagance. For example, I once heard a rhetorician who was declaiming about the Germans, say: "I know not where they carry their heads," and again when belauding a hero, "He beats back whole wars with the boss of his shield."
2437	si singulas corruptorum persequar formas . Illud potius , quod est magis necessarium . Duae sunt diversae opiniones , aliorum sententias solas paene spectantium , aliorum omnino damnantium ; quorum mihi neutrum admodum placet . Densitas earum obstat invicem ;	However, I shall never come to an end if I try to describe every possible form of this kind of absurdity. I will therefore turn to discuss a point of more importance. Rhetoricians are divided in opinion on this subject: some devote practically all their efforts to the elaboration of reflexions, while others condemn their employment altogether. I cannot agree entirely with either view.
2438	ut in satis omnibus fructibusque arborum nihil ad iustam magnitudinem adolescere potest , quod loco in quem crescat caret , nec pictura , in qua nihil circumlitum est , eminet ;— ideoque artifices etiam , cum plura in unam tabulam opera contulerunt , spatiis distinguunt , ne umbrae in corpora cadant .	If they are crowded too thick together, such reflexions merely stand in each other's way, just as in the case of crops and the fruits of trees lack of room to grow results in a stunted development. Again in pictures a definite outline is required to throw objects into relief, and consequently artists who include a number of objects in the same design separate them by intervals sufficient to prevent one casting a shadow on the other. Further,
2439	Facit res eadem concisam quoque orationem ; subsistit enim omnis sententia , ideoque post eam utique aliud est initium . Unde soluta fere oratio et e singulis non membris sed frustis collata structura caret , cum illa rotunda et undique circumcisa insistere invicem	this form of display breaks up our speeches into a number of detached sentences; every reflexion is isolated, and consequently a fresh start is necessary after each. This produces a discontinuous style, since our language is composed not of a system of limbs, but of a series of fragments: for your nicely rounded and polished phrases are incapable of cohesion. Further, the colour,
2440	nequeant . Praeter hoc etiam color ipse dicendi quamlibet claris , multis tamen ac variis velut maculis conspergitur . Porro , ut adfert lumen clavus purpurae in loco insertus , ita certe neminem deceat intertexta pluribus notis vestis . Quare ,	though bright enough, has no unity, but consists of a number of variegated splashes. A purple stripe appropriately applied lends brilliance to a dress, but a dress decorated with a quantity of patches can never be becoming to anybody.
2441	licet haec et nitere et aliquatenus exstare videantur , tamen et lumina illa non flammae , sed scintillis inter fumum emicantibus similia dixeris ( quae ne apparent quidem , ubi tota lucet oratio , ut in sole sidera ipsa desinunt cerni ) ; et , quae crebris parvisque conatibus se attollunt , inaequalia tantum et velut confragosa nec admirationem consequuntur eminentium et planorum gratiam perdunt .	Wherefore, although these ornaments may seem to stand out with a certain glitter of their own, they are rather to be compared to sparks flashing through the smoke than to the actual brilliance of flame: they are, in fact, invisible when the language is of uniform splendour, just as the stars are invisible in the light of day. And where eloquence seeks to secure elevation by frequent small efforts, it merely produces an uneven and broken surface which fails to win the admiration due to outstanding objects and lacks the charm that may be found in a smooth surface.
2442	Hoc quoque accedit quod solas captanti sententias multas dicere necesse est leves , frigidas , ineptas . Non enim potest esse dilectus , ubi numero laboratur . Itaque videas et divisionem pro sententia poni et argumentum ; sit tantum in clausula nec male pronuntietur . Occidisti uxorem ipse adulter ;	To this must be added the fact that those who devote themselves solely to the production of reflexions cannot avoid giving utterance to many that are trivial, flat or foolish. For their mere number will so embarrass their author that selection will be impossible. Consequently you will often find that such persons will produce a division or an argument as if it were an epigram, the only qualification necessary being that it should come toward the close of the period and be impressively delivered.
2443	non ferrem te , etiamsi repudiasses , divisio est . Vis scire , venenum esse amatorium ? Viveret homo , nisi illud bibisset , argumentum est . Nec multas plerique sententias dicunt , sed omnia tanquam sententias .	" You killed your wife, though you were an adulterer yourself. I should loathe you even if you had only divorced her. " Here we have a division. " Do you wish me to prove that a love-philtre is a poison? The man would still be living, if he had not drunk it. " This is an argument. There are, moreover, a number of speakers who not merely deliver many such epigrams, but utter everything as if it were an epigram.
2444	Huic quibusdam contrarium studium , qui fugiunt ac reformidant omnem hanc in dicendo voluptatem , nihil probantes nisi planum et humile et sine conatu . Ita , dum timent , ne aliquando cadant , semper iacent . Quod enim tantum in sententia bona crimen est ? Non causae prodest ? non iudicem movet ? non dicentem commendat ?	Against these persons, on the other hand, must be set those who shun and dread all ornament of this kind, approving nothing that is not plain, humble and effortless, with the result that by their reluctance to climb for fear of falling they succeed merely in maintaining a perpetual flatness. What sin is there in a good epigram? Does it not help our case, or move the judge, or commend the speaker to his audience? It may be urged, perhaps,
2445	Est quoddam genus , quo veteres non utebantur . Ad quam usque nos vocatis vetustatem ? Nam si illam extremam , multa Demosthenes , quae ante eum nemo . Quomodo potest probare Ciceronem , qui nihil putet ex Catone Gracchisque mutandum ? Sed ante hos simplicior adhuc ratio loquendi fuit .	that it is a form of ornament eschewed by the ancients. What do you mean by antiquity? If you go back to the earliest periods you will find that Demosthenes frequently employed methods that were known to none before him. How can we give our approval to Cicero, if we think that no change should be made from the methods of Cato and the Gracchi? And yet before the Gracchi and Cato the style of oratory was simpler still.
2446	Ego vero haec lumina orationis velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiae credo . Sed neque oculos esse toto corpore velim , ne cetera membra officium suum perdant ; et , si necesse sit , veterem illum horrorem dicendi malim quam istam novam licentiam . Sed patet media quaedam via , sicut in cultu victuque accessit aliquis citra reprehensionem nitor . Quare , sicut possumus , adiiciamus virtutibus ; prius tamen sit vitiis carere , ne , dum volumus esse meliores veteribus , simus tantum dissimiles .	For my own part I regard these particular ornaments of oratory to be, as it were, the eyes of eloquence. On the other hand, I should not like to see the whole body full of eyes, for fear that it might cripple the functions of the other members, and, if I had no alternative, I should prefer the rudeness of ancient eloquence to the license of the moderns. But a middle course is open to us here no less than in the refinements of dress and mode of life, where there is a certain tasteful elegance that offends no one. Therefore let us as far as possible seek to increase the number of our virtues, although our first care must always be to keep ourselves free from vices, lest in seeking to make ourselves better than the ancients we succeed merely in making ourselves unlike them.
2447	Reddam nunc , quam proximam partem dixeram esse de tropis , quos modos clarissimi nostrorum auctores vocant . Horum tradere praecepta et grammatici solent . Sed a me , cum de illorum officio loquerer , dilata pars haec est , quia de ornatu orationis gravior videbatur locus et maiori operi reservandus .	I will now proceed to the next subject for discussion, which is, as I have said, that of tropes, or modes, as the most distinguished Roman rhetoricians call them. Rules for their use are given by the teachers of literature as well. But I postponed the discussion of the subject when I was dealing with literary education, because it seemed to me that the theme would have greater importance if handled in connexion with the ornaments of oratory, and that it ought to be reserved for treatment on a larger scale.
2448	Tropus est verbi vel sermonis a propria significatione id aliam cum virtute mutatio . Circa quem inexplicabilis et grammaticis inter ipsos et philosophis pugna est , quae sint genera , quae species , qui numerus , quis cuique subiiciatur .	By a trope is meant the artistic alteration of a word or phrase from its proper meaning to another. This is a subject which has given rise to interminable disputes among the teachers of literature, who have quarrelled no less violently with the philosophers than among themselves over the problem of the genera and species into which tropes may be divided, their number and their correct classification.
2449	Nos omissis , quae nihil ad instruendum oratorem pertinent , cauillationibus , necessarios maxime atque id usum receptos exsequemur , haec modo id his adnotasse contenti , quosdam gratia significationis quosdam decoris assumi , et esse alios id verbis propriis alios id tralatis , vertique formas non verborum modo sed et sensuum et compositionis .	I propose to disregard such quibbles as in no wise concern the training of an orator, and to proceed to discuss those tropes which are most necessary and meet with most general acceptance, contenting myself merely with noting the fact that some tropes are employed to help out our meaning and others to adorn our style, that some arise from words used properly and others from words used metaphorically, and that the changes involved concern not merely individual words, but also our thoughts and the structure of our sentences.
2450	Quare mihi videntur errasse , qui non alios crediderunt tropos , quam id quibus verbum pro verbo poneretur . Neque illud ignoro , id iisdem fere , qui significandi gratia adhibentur , esse et ornatum ; sed non idem accidet contra , eruntque quidam tantum ad speciem accommodati .	In view of these facts I regard those writers as mistaken who have held that tropes necessarily involved the substitution of word for word. And I do not ignore the fact that as a rule the tropes employed to express our meaning involve ornament as well, though the converse is not the case, since there are some which are intended solely for the purpose of embellishment.
2451	Incipiamus igitur ab eo , qui cum frequentissimus est tum longe pulcherrimus , translatione dico , quae μεταφορά Graece vocatur . Quae quidem cum ita est ab ipsa nobis concessa natura , ut indocti quoque ac non sentientes ea frequenter utantur , tum ita iucunda atque nitida , ut id oratione quamlibet clara proprio tamen lumine eluceat .	Let us begin, then, with the commonest and by far the most beautiful of tropes, namely, metaphor, the Greek term for our translatio. It is not merely so natural a turn of speech that it is often employed unconsciously or by uneducated persons, but it is in itself so attractive and elegant that however distinguished the language in which it is embedded it shines forth with a light that is all its own.
2452	Neque enim vulgaris esse neque humilis nec insuavis apte ac recte modo adscita potest . Copiam quoque sermonis auget permutando aut mutuando quae non habet , quodque est difficillimum , praestat ne ulli rei nomen deesse videatur . Transfertur ergo nomen aut verbum ex eo loco id quo proprium est , id eum id quo aut proprium deest aut translatum proprio melius est . Id facimus ,	For if it be correctly and appropriately applied, it is quite impossible for its effect to be commonplace, mean or unpleasing. It adds to the copiousness of language by the interchange of words and by borrowing, and finally succeeds in accomplishing the supremely difficult task of providing a name for everything. A noun or a verb is transferred from the place to which it properly belongs to another where there is either no literal term or the transferred is better than the literal.
2453	aut quia necesse est aut quia significantius est aut ( ut dixi ) quia decentius . Ubi nihil horum praestabit , quod transferetur , improprium erit . Necessitate rustici gemmam id vitibus ( quid enim dicerent aliud ? ) , et sitire segetes et fructus laborare ; necessitate nos durum hominem aut asperum ; non enim proprium erat , quod daremus his adfectibus , nomen .	We do this either because it is necessary or to make our meaning clearer or, as I have already said, to produce a decorative effect. When it secures none of these results, our metaphor will be out of place. As an example of a necessary metaphor I may quote the following usages in vogue with peasants when they call a vinebud gemma, a gem (what other term is there which they could use?), or speak of the crops being thirsty or the fruit suffering. For the same reason we speak of a hard or rough man, there being no literal term for these temperaments.
2454	Iam incensum ira et inflammatum cupiditate et lapsum errore significandi gratia ; nihil enim horum suis verbis quam his arcessitis magis proprium erit . Illa ad ornatum , lumen orationis et generis claritatem et contionum procellas et eloquentiae fulmina , ut Cicero pro Milone Clodium fontem gloriae eius vocat et alio loco segetem ac materiem .	On the other hand, when we say that a man is kindled to anger or on fire with greed or that he has fallen into error, we do so to enhance our meaning. For none of these things can be more literally described in its own words than in those which we import from elsewhere. But it is a purely ornamental metaphor when we speak of brilliance of style, splendour of birth, tempestuous public assemblies, thunderbolts of eloquence, to which I may add the phrase employed by Cicero in his defence of Milo where he speaks of Clodius as the fountain, and in another place as the fertile field and material of his client's glory.
2455	Quaedam etiam parum speciosa dictu per hanc explicantur : " Hoc faciunt , nimio ne luxu obtunsior usus Sit genitali arvo et sulcos oblimet inertes . " \| totum autem metaphora brevior est similitudo , eoque distat , quod illa comparatur rei quam volumus exprimere , haec pro ipsa re dicitur .	It is even possible to express facts of a somewhat unseemly character by a judicious use of metaphor, as in the following passage: "This do they lest too much indulgence make The field of generation slothful grow And choke its idle furrows." On the whole metaphor is a shorter form of simile, while there is this further difference, that in the latter we compare some object to the thing which we wish to describe, whereas in the former this object is actually substituted for the thing.
2456	Comparatio est , cum dico fecisse quid hominem ut leonem ; translatio , cum dico de homine , leo est . Huius vis omnis quadruplex maxime videtur : cum id rebus animalibus aliud pro alio ponitur , ut de agitatore , " Gubernator magna contorsit equum vi ; " aut ut Livius Scipionem a Catone adlatrari solitum refert .	It is a comparison when I say that a man did something like a lion, it is a metaphor when I say of him, He is a lion. Metaphors fall into four classes. In the first we substitute one living thing for another, as in the passage where the poet, speaking of a charioteer, says, "The steersman then With mighty effort wrenched his charger round." or when Livy says that Scipio was continually barked at by Cato.
2457	Inanima pro aliis generis eiusdem sumuntur , ut : " Classique immittit habenas ; " aut pro rebus animalibus inanima , " Ferron an fato moerus Argivom occidit ? " aut contra : " Sedet inscius alto Accipiens sonitum saxi de uertice pastor . " Praecipueque ex his oritur mira sublimitas ,	Secondly, inanimate things may be substituted for inanimate, as in the Virgilian. "And gave his fleet the rein," or inanimate may be substituted for animate, as in "Did the Argive bulwark fall by sword or fate?" or animate for inanimate, as in the following lines: "The shepherd sits unknowing on the height Listening the roar from some far mountain brow. "
2458	quae audaci et proxime periculum translatione tolluntur , cum rebus sensu carentibus actum quendam et animos damus , qualis est " Pontem indignatus Araxes , " et illa Ciceronis ,	But, above all, effects of extraordinary sublimity are produced when the theme is exalted by a bold and almost hazardous metaphor and inanimate objects are given life and action, as in the phrase "Araxes' flood that scorns a bridge," or in the passage of Cicero, already quoted,
2459	Quid enim tuus ille , Tubero , destrictus id acie Pharsalica gladius agebat ? Cuius latus ille mucro petebat ? qui sensus erat armorum tuorum ? Duplicatur interim haec virtus , ut apud Vergilium , " Ferrumque armare veneno . " Nam et veneno armare et ferrum armare translatio est . Secantur haec id plures species :	where he cries, " What was that sword of yours doing, Tubero, the sword you drew on the field of Pharsalus? Against whose body did you aim its point? What meant those arms you bore? " Sometimes the effect is doubled, as in Virgil's. "And with venom arm the steel." For both "to arm the steel" and "to arm with venom" are metaphors.
2460	ut a rationali ad rationale et item de irrationalibus , et haec invicem , quibus similis ratio est , et a toto et a partibus . Sed iam non pueris praecipimus , ut accepto genere species intelligere non possint .	These four kinds of metaphor are further subdivided into a number of species, such as transference from rational beings to rational and from irrational to irrational and the reverse, in which the method is the same, and finally from the whole to its parts and from the parts to the whole. But I am not now teaching boys: my readers are old enough to discover the species for themselves when once they have been given the genus.
2461	Ut modicus autem atque opportunus eius usus illustrat orationem , ita frequens et obscurat et taedio complet , continuus vero id allegorias et aenigmata exit . Sunt etiam quaedam et humiles translationes , ut id de quo modo dixi , Saxea est verruca , et sordidae .	While a temperate and timely use of metaphor is a real adornment to style, on the other hand, its frequent use serves merely to obscure our language and weary our audience, while if we introduce them in one continuous series, our language will become allegorical and enigmatic. There are also certain metaphors which fail from meanness, such as that of which I spoke above : "There is a rocky wart upon the mountain's brow." or they may even be coarse. For it does not follow that because Cicero was perfectly justified in talking of "the sink of the state," when he desired to indicate the foulness of certain men, we can approve the following passage from an ancient orator: "You have lanced the boils of the state."
2462	Non enim , si Cicero recte sentinam rei publicae dixit , foeditatem hominum significans , idcirco probem illud quoque veteris oratoris , Persecuisti rei publicae vomicas . Optimeque Cicero demonstrat cavendum , ne sit deformis translatio , ( qualis est — nam ipsis eius utar exemplis — Castratam morte Africani rem publicam , et Stercus curiae Glauciam ) ne nimio maior aut ,	Indeed Cicero himself has demonstrated in the most admirable manner how important it is to avoid grossness in metaphor, such as is revealed by the following examples, which he quotes:— "The state was gelded by the death of Africanus," or "Glaucia, the excrement of the senate-house."
2463	quod saepius accidit , minor , ne dissimilis . Quorum exempla nimium frequenter deprehendet , qui scierit haec vitia esse . Sed copia quoque modum egressa vitiosa est , praecipue id eadem specie .	He also points out that a metaphor must not be too great for its subject or, as is more frequently the case, too little, and that it must not be inappropriate. Anyone who realises that these are faults, will be able to detect instances of them only too frequently. But excess in the use of metaphor is also a fault, more especially if they are of the same species.
2464	Sunt et durae , id est a longinqua similitudine ductae , ut capitis nives et " Iuppiter hibernas cana nive conspuit Alpes . " in illo vero plurimum erroris , quod ea , quae poetis , qui et omnia ad voluptatem referunt et plurima vertere etiam ipsa metri necessitate coguntur , permissa sunt , convenire quidam etiam prosae putant .	Metaphors may also be harsh, that is, far-fetched, as in phrases like "the snows of the head" or "Jove with white snow the wintry Alps bespewed." The worst errors of all, however, originate in the fact that some authors regard it as permissible to use even in prose any metaphors that are allowed to poets, in spite of the fact that tile latter aim solely at pleasing their readers and are compelled in many cases to employ metaphor by sheer metrical necessity.
2465	At ego id agendo nec pastorem populi auctore Homero dixerim , nec volucres per aera nare , licet hoc Vergilius id apibus ac Daedalo speciosissime sit usus . Metaphora enim aut vacantem occupare locum debet aut , si id alienum venit , plus valere eo quod expellet .	For my own part I should not regard a phrase like "the shepherd of the people" as admissible in pleading, although it has the authority of Homer, nor would I venture to say that winged creatures "swim through the air," despite the fact that this metaphor has been most effectively employed by Virgil to describe the flight of bees and of Daedalus.1 For metaphor should always either occupy a place already vacant, or if it fills the room of something else, should be more impressive than that which it displaces.
2466	Quod aliquanto etiam magis de synecdoche dicam . Nam translatio permovendis animis plerumque et signandis rebus ac sub oculos subiiciendis reperta est . Haec variare sermonem potest , ut ex uno plures intelligamus , parte totum , specie genus , praecedentibus sequentia , vel omnia haec contra ; liberior poetis quam oratoribus .	What I have said above applies perhaps with even greater force to synecdocheè. For while metaphor is designed to move the feelings, give special distinction to things and place them vividly before the eye, synecdocheè has the power to give variety to our language by making us realise many things from one, the whole from a part, the genus from a species, things which follow from things which have preceded; or, on the other hand, the whole procedure may be reversed. It may, however, be more freely employed by poets than by orators.
2467	Nam prosa , ut mucronem pro gladio et lectum pro domo recipiet , ita non puppim pro navi nec abietem pro tabellis ; et rursus , ut pro gladio ferrum , ita non pro equo quadrupedem . Maxime autem id orando valebit numerorum illa libertas . Nam et Livius saepe sic dicit , Romanus proelio victor , cum Romanos vicisse significat ; et contra Cicero ad Brutum , Populo , inquit , imposuimus et oratores visi sumus , cum de se tantum loqueretur .	For while in prose it is perfectly correct to use macro, the point, for the whole sword, and tectum, roof, for a whole house, we may not employ puppis, stern, to describe a ship, nor abies, fir, to describe planks; and again, though ferrunm, the steel, may be used to indicate a sword, quadrupes cannot be used in the sense of horse. It is where numbers are concerned that synecdocheè can be most freely employed in prose. For example, Livy frequently says, "The Roman won the day," when he means that the Romans were victorious; on the other hand, Cicero in a letter to Brutus says, "We have imposed on the people and are regarded as orators," when he is speaking of himself alone.
2468	Quod genus non orationis modo ornatus , sed etiam cotidiani sermonis usus recipit . Quidam synecdochen vocant et cum id id contextu sermonis quod tacetur accipimus ; verbum enim ex verbis intelligi , quod inter vitia ellipsis vocatur : " Arcades ad portas ruere . " mihi hanc figuram esse magis placet ;	This form of trope is not only a rhetorical ornament, but is frequently employed in everyday speech. Some also apply the term synecdoche when something is assumed which has not actually been expressed, since one word is then discovered from other words, as in the sentence, "The Arcadians to the gates began to rush;" when such omission creates a blemish, it is called an ellipse.
2469	illic ergo reddetur . Aliud etiam intelligitur ex alio : " Aspice , aratra iugo referunt suspensa iuuenci , " unde apparet noctem appropinquare . Id nescio an oratori conveniat nisi id argumentando , cum rei signum est . Sed hoc ab elocutionis ratione distat .	For my own part, I prefer to regard this as a figure, and shall therefore discuss it under that head. Again, one thing may be suggested by another, as in the line, "Behold, the steers Bring back the plough suspended from the yoke, " from which we infer the approach of night. I am not sure whether this is permissible to an orator except in arguments, when it serves as an indication of some fact. However, this has nothing to do with the question of style.
2470	Nec procul ab hoc genere discedit metonymia , quae est nominis pro nomine positio , sed , ut ait Cicero , hypallagen rhetores dicunt . Haec inventas ab inventore et subiectas res ab obtinentibus significat : ut " Cererem corruptam undis , " et " receptus Terra Neptunus classes Aquilonibus arcet . " Quod fit retrorsum durius .	It is but a short step from synecdocheè to metonymy, which consists in the substitution of one name for another, and, as Cicero tells us, is called hypallage by the rhetoricians. These devices are employed to indicate an invention by substituting the name of the inventor, or a possession by substituting the name of the possessor. Virgil, for example, writes: "Ceres by water spoiled," and Horace: "Neptune admitted to the land Protects the fleets from blasts of Aquilo." If, however, the process is reversed, the effect is harsh.