Institutio Oratoria |
Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
|
|
| 2471 |
Refert autem id quantum hic tropus oratorem sequatur . Nam ut Vulcanum pro igne vulgo audimus , et vario Marte pugnatum eruditus est sermo , et Venerem quam coitum dixisse magis decet , ita Liberum et Cererem pro vino et pane licentius quam ut fori severitas ferat . Sicut ex eo , quod continetur , usus recipit bene moratas urbes et poculum epotum et saeculum felix ;
|
But it is important to enquire to what extent tropes of this kind should be employed by the orator. For though we often hear "Vulcan" used for fire and to say vario Marte pugnatum est for "they fought with varying success" is elegant and idiomatic, while Venus is a more decent expression than coitus, it would be too bold for the severe style demanded in the courts to speak of Liber and Ceres when we mean bread and wine. Again, while usage permits us to substitute that which contains for that which is contained, as in phrases such as "civilised cities," or "a cup was drunk to the lees," or "a happy age," |
| 2472 |
at id , quod contra est , raro audeat quis , nisi poeta : " iam proximus ardet Ucalegon . " Nisi forte hoc potius est , a possessore quod possidetur , ut hominem devorari , cuius patrimonium consumatur . Quo modo fiunt innumerabiles species .
|
the converse procedure would rarely be ventured on by any save a poet: take, for example, the phrase: "Ucalegon burns next." It is, however, perhaps more permissible to describe what is possessed by reference to its possessor, as, for example, to say of a man whose estate is being squandered, "the man is being eaten up." Of this form there are innumerable species. |
| 2473 |
Huius enim sunt generis , cum ab Hannibale caesa apud Cannas sexaginta milia dicimus , et carmina Vergilii Vergilium ; venisse commeatus , qui adferantur ; sacrilegium deprehensum , non sacrilegum ; armorum scientiam habere , non artis .
|
For example, we say "sixty thousand men were slain by Hannibal at Cannae," and speak of "Virgil" when we mean "Virgil's poems" ; again, we say that supplies have "come," when they have been "brought," that a "sacrilege," and not a "sacrilegious man" has been detected, and that a man possesses a knowledge of "arms," not of "the art of arms." |
| 2474 |
Illud quoque et poetis et oratoribus frequens , quo id , quod efficit , ex eo , quod efficitur , ostendimus . Nam et carminum auctores , " Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas , " et " Pallentesque habitant morbi tristisque senectus , " et orator praecipitem iram , hilarem adolescentiam , segne otium dicet .
|
The type which indicates cause by effect is common both in poets and orators. As examples from poetry I may quote: "Pale death with equal foot knocks at the poor man's door" and "There pale diseases dwell and sad old age; " while the orator will speak of "headlong anger" , "cheerful youth" or "slothful ease" . " |
| 2475 |
Est etiam huic tropo quaedam cum synecdoche vicinia . Nam , cum dico vultus hominis pro vultu , dico pluraliter quod singulare est ; sed non id ago , ut unum ex multis intelligatur ( nam id est manifestum ) , sed nomen immuto ; et cum aurata tecta aurea , pusillum a vero discedo , quia non est nisi pars auratura . Quae singula persequi minutioris est curae etiam non oratorem instruentibus . Antonomasia ,
|
The following type of trope has also some kinship with synecdochè. For when I speak of a man's "looks" instead of his "look," I use the plural for the singular, but my aim is not to enable one thing to be inferred from many (for the sense is clear enough), but I merely vary the form of the word. Again, when I call a "gilded roof" a "golden roof," I diverge a little from the truth, because gilding forms only a part of the roof. But to follow out these points is a task involving too much minute detail even for a work whose aim is not the training of an orator. |
| 2476 |
quae aliquid pro nomine ponit , poetis utroque modo frequentissima , et per epitheton , quod detracto eo , cui apponitur , valet pro nomine , Tydides , Pelides : et ex his , quae id quoque sunt praecipua , " Divum pater atque hominum rex ; " et ex factis , quibus persona signatur , " Thalamo quae fixa reliquit Impius . " Oratoribus etiamsi rarus eius rei ,
|
Antonomasia, which substitutes something else for a proper name, is very common in poets: it may be done in two ways: by the substitution of an epithet as equivalent to the name which it replaces, such as "Tydides, "Pelides," or by indicating the most striking characteristics of an individual, as in the phrase "Father of gods and king of men," or from acts clearly indicating the individual, as in the phrase, "The arms which he, the traitor, left Fixed on the chamber wall." This form of trope is rare in oratory, |
| 2477 |
nonnullus tamen usus est . Nam ut Tydiden et Peliden non dixerint , ita dixerint impios et parricidas ; eversorem quoque Carthaginis et Numantiae pro Scipione et Romanae eloquentiae principem pro Cicerone posuisse non dubitem . Ipse certe usus est hac libertate : Non multa peccas , inquit ille fortissimo viro senior magister ; neutrum enim nomen est positum et utrumque intelligitur . Onomatopoeia quidem ,
|
but is occasionally employed, For although an orator would not say "Tydides" or "Pelides," he will speak of certain definite persons as "the impious parricides," while I should have no hesitation in speaking of Scipio as "the destroyer of Carthage and Numantia," or of Cicero as "the prince of Roman orators." Cicero himself, at any rate, availed himself of this licence, as, for example, in the following case: "Your faults are not many, said the old praeceptor to the hero," where neither name is given, though both are clearly understood. |
| 2478 |
id est fictio nominis , Graecis inter maximas habita virtutes , nobis vix permittitur . Et sunt plurima ita posita ab iis , qui sermonem primi fecerunt aptantes adfectibus vocem . Nam mugitus et sibilus et murmur inde venerunt .
|
On the other hand, onomatopoea, that is to say, the creation of a word, although regarded with the highest approbation by the Greeks, is scarcely permissible to a Roman. It is true that many words were created in this way by the original founders of the language, who adapted them to suit the sensation which they expressed. For instance, mugitus, lowing, sibilus, a hiss, and murmur owe their origin to this practice. |
| 2479 |
Deinde , tanquam consummata sint omnia , nihil generare audemus ipsi , cum multa cotidie ab antiquis ficta moriantur . Vix illa , quae πεποιημένα vocant , quae ex vocibus id usum receptis quocunque modo declinantur , nobis permittimus , qualia sunt Sullaturit et proscripturit ; atque laureati postes pro illo lauru coronati , ex eadem fictione sunt .
|
But to-day we consider that all has been done that can be done in this line, and do not venture on fresh creations, in spite of the fact that many of the words thus formed in antiquity are daily becoming obsolete. Indeed, we scarcely permit ourselves to use new derivatives, so they are called, which are formed in various ways from words in common use, such as Sullaturit, "he wishes to be a second Sulla," or proscripturit, " he wishes to have a proscription, " while laureati posies, "laurelled door-posts," for lauru coronati, "crowned with laurel," are similar formations. |
| 2480 |
Sed hoc feliciter evaluit * adoinoia et uio eo ferimus id Graecis ocoeludituinobono eo dure etiam iungere , arquitenentem et videre septentriones videmur ( ... lost text ... ) .
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * |
| 2481 |
Eo magis necessaria catachresis , quam recte dicimus abusionem , quae non habentibus nomen suum accommodat quod id proximo est : sic " Equum divina Palladis arte Aedificant , " et apud Tragicos Aegialeo parentat pater .
|
These facts make catachresis (of which abuse is a correct translation) all the more necessary. By this term is meant the practice of adapting the nearest available term to describe something for which no actual term exists, as in the line "A horse they build by Pallas' art divine," or as in the expression found in tragedy, "To Aigialeus His sire bears funeral offerings," The following examples are of a similar character. |
| 2482 |
Similia sunt haec : acetabula quidquid habent , et pyxides cuiuscunque materiae sunt , et parricida matris quoque aut fratris interfector . Discernendumque est hoc totum a translatione genus , quod abusio est , ubi nomen defuit , translatio , ubi aliud fuit . Nam poetae solent abusive etiam id his rebus , quibus nomina sua sunt , vicinis potius uti ; quod rarum id prosa est .
|
Flasks are called acetabula, whatever they contain, and caskets pyxides, of whatever material they are made, while parricide includes the murder of a mother or a brother. We must be careful to distinguish between abuse and metaphor, since the former is employed where there is no proper term available, and the latter when there is another term available. As for poets, they indulge in the abuse of words even in cases where proper terms do exist, and substitute words of somewhat similar meaning. But this is rare in prose. |
| 2483 |
Illa quoque quidam catachresis volunt esse , cum pro temeritate virtus aut pro luxuria liberalitas dicitur . A quibus ego quidem dissentio ; namque id his non verbum pro verbo ponitur , sed res pro re . Neque enim quisquam putat luxuriam et liberalitatem idem significare ; verum id quod fit alius luxuriam esse dicit , alius liberalitatem , quamvis neutri dubium sit haec esse diversa .
|
Some, indeed, would give the name of catachresis even to cases such as where we call temerity valour or prodigality liberality. I, however, cannot agree with them; for in these instances word is not substituted for word, but thing for thing, since no one regards prodigality and liberality as meaning the same, but one man calls certain actions liberal and another prodigal, although neither for a moment doubts the difference between the two qualities. |
| 2484 |
Superest ex his , quae aliter significant , metalepsis , id est transumptio , quae ex alio tropo id alium velut viam praestat ; * nisi id comoediis et rarissimus et improbissimus , Graecis tamen frequentior , qui Centaurum qui Χείρων est Ἥσσονα et insulas ὀξείας θοάς dicunt . Nos quis ferat , si Verrem suem aut Aelium Catum doctum nominemus ?
|
There is but one of the tropes involving change of meaning which remains to be discussed, namely, metalepsis or transumption, which provides a transition from one trope to another. It is (if we except comedy) but rarely used in Latin, and is by no means to be commended, though it is not infrequently employed by the Greeks, who, for example, call Χείρων the centaur Ἥσσων and substitute the epithet θοαί (swift) for ὄξειαι in referring to sharp-pointed islands. But who would endure a Roman if he called Verres sus or changed the name of Aelius Catus to Aelius doctus? |
| 2485 |
Est enim haec id metalepsi natura , ut inter id quod transfertur et id quod transfertur sit medius quidam gradus , nihil ipse significans sed praebens transitum ; quem tropum magis adfectamus , ut habere videamur , quam ullo id loco desideramus . Nam id eius frequentissimum exemplum est cano canto , canto dico ; ita cano , dice .
|
It is the nature of metalepsis to form a kind of intermediate step between the term transferred and the thing to which it is transferred, having no meaning in itself, but merely providing a transition. It is a trope with which to claim acquaintance, rather than one which we are ever likely to require to use. The commonest example is the following: cano is a synonym for canto and canto for dico, therefore cano is a synonym for dico, the intermediate step being provided by canto. |
| 2486 |
Interest medium illud canto .Nec diutius id eo morandum ; nihil enim usus admodum video nisi , ut dixi , id comoediis .
|
We need not waste any more time over it. I can see no use in it except, as I have already said, in comedy. |
| 2487 |
Cetera iam non significandi gratia sed ad ornandam et augendam orationem assumuntur . Ornat enim epitheton , quod recte dicimus appositum , a nonnullis sequens dicitur . Eo poetae et frequentius et liberius utuntur . Namque illis satis est convenire id verbo , cui apponitur , itaque et dentes albos et humida vina id iis non reprehendemus ; apud oratorem , nisi aliquid efficitur , redundat . Tum autem efficitur , si sine illo , quod dicitur , minus est :
|
The remaining tropes are employed solely to adorn and enhance our style without any reference to the meaning. For the epithet, of which the correct translation is appositum, though some call it sequens, is clearly an ornament. Poets employ it with special frequency and freedom, since for them it is sufficient that the epithet should suit the word to which it is applied: consequently we shall not blame them when they speak of "white teeth" or "liquid wine." But in oratory an epithet is redundant unless it has some point. Now it will only have point when it adds something to the meaning, as for instance in the following: "O abominable crime, O hideous lust!" |
| 2488 |
qualia sunt O scelus abominandum , o deformem libidinem .Exornatur autem res tota maxime translationibus , Cupiditas effrenata et Insanae substructiones . Et solet fieri aliis adiunctis epitheton tropus , ut apud Vergilium Turpis egestas et Tristis senectus . Verum tamen talis est ratio huiusce virtutis , ut sine appositis nuda sit et velut incompta oratio , oneretur tamen multis .
|
But its decorative effect is greatest when it is metaphorical, as in the phrases "unbridled greed" or "those mad piles of masonry." The epithet is generally made into a trope by the addition of something to it, as when Virgil speaks of "disgraceful poverty" or "sad old age." But the nature of this form of embellishment is such that, while style is bare and inelegant without any epithets at all, it is overloaded when a large number are employed. |
| 2489 |
Nam fit longa et impedita , ut eam iudices similem agmini totidem lixas habenti quot milites , cui et numerus est duplex nec duplum virium ; quanquam non singula modo sed etiam plura verba apponi solent : ut " Coniugio Anchise Veneris dignate superbo . " Sed hoc quocunque modo :
|
For then it becomes long-winded and cumbrous, in fact you might compare it to an army with as many camp-followers as soldiers, an army, that is to say, which has doubled its numbers without doubling its strength. None the less, not merely single epithets are employed, but we may find a number of them together, as in the following passage from Virgil: "Anchises, worthy deigned Of Venus' glorious bed, [beloved of heaven, Twice rescued from the wreck of Pergamum.]" |
| 2490 |
duo vero uni apposita ne uersum quidem decuerint . Sunt autem , quibus non videatur hic omnino tropus , quia nihil vertat . Nec est semper , sed id quod est appositum , si a proprio diviseris , per se significat et facit antonomasiam . Nam si dicas , Ille qui Numantiam et Carthaginem evertit , antonomasia est ; si adieceris Scipio , appositum . Non potest ergo esse seiunctum .
|
Be this as it may, two epithets directly attached to one noun are unbecoming even in verse. There are some writers who refuse to regard an epithet as a trope, on the ground that it involves no change. It is not always a trope, but if separated from the word to which it belongs, it has a significance of its own and forms an antonomasia. For if you say, "The man who destroyed Numantia and Carthage," it will be an antonomasia, whereas, if you add the word "Scipio," the phrase will be an epithet. An epithet therefore cannot stand by itself. |
| 2491 |
Allegoria , quam inversionem interpretantur , aut aliud verbis aliud sensu ostendit aut etiam interim contrarium . Prius fit genus plerumque continuatis translationibus , ut " O navis , referent id mare te novi Fluctus ; o quid agis ? fortiter occupa Portum , " totusque ille Horatii locus , quo navem pro re publica , fluctus et tempestates pro bellis civilibus , portum pro pace atque concordia dicit .
|
Allegory, which is translated in Latin by inversio, either presents one thing in words and another in meaning, or else something absolutely opposed to the meaning of the words. The first type is generally produced by a series of metaphors. Take as an example: "O ship, new waves will bear thee back to sea. What dost thou? Make the haven, come what may," and the rest of the ode, in which Horace represents the state under the semblance of a ship, the civil wars as tempests, and peace and good-will as the haven. |
| 2492 |
Tale Lucretii " Avia Pieridum peragro loca , " et Vergilii " Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor , Et iam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla . "
|
Such, again, is the claim of Lucretius: "Pierian fields I range untrod by man," and such again the passage where Virgil says, "But now A mighty length of plain we have travelled o'er; 'Tis time to loose our horses' steaming necks." |
| 2493 |
Sine translatione vero id Bucolicis " Certe equidem audieram , qua se subducere colles Incipient mollique iugum demittere clivo Usque ad aquam et ueteris iam fracta cacumina fagi , Omnia carminibus vestrum servasse Menalcan . "
|
On the other hand, in the Bucolics he introduces an allegory without any metaphor: "Truth, I had heard Your loved Menalcas by his songs had saved All those fair acres, where the hills begin To sink and droop their ridge with easy slope Down to the waterside and that old beech With splintered crest." |
| 2494 |
Hoc enim loco praeter nomen cetera propriis decisa sunt verbis , verum non pastor Menalcas , sed Vergilius est intelligendus . Habet usum talis allegoriae frequenter oratio , sed raro totius ; plerumque apertis permixta est . Tota apud Ciceronem talis est : Hoc miror , hoc queror , quemquam hominem ita pessumdare alterum velle , ut etiam narem perforet , id qua ipse naviget . Illud commixtum frequentissimum :
|
For in this passage, with the exception of the proper name, the words bear no more than their literal meaning. But the name does not simply denote the shepherd Menalcas, but is a pseudonym for Virgil himself. Oratory makes frequent use of such allegory, but generally with this modification, that there is an admixture of plain speaking. We get allegory pure and unadulterated in the following passage of Cicero: " What I marvel at and complain of is this, that there should exist any man so set on destroying his enemy as to scuttle the ship on which he himself is sailing. " |
| 2495 |
Equidem celeras tempestates et procellas id illis dumtaxat fluctibus contionum semper Miloni putavi esse subeundas . Nisi adiecisset dumtaxat fluctibus contionum , esset allegoria ; nunc eam miscuit . Quo id genere et species ex arcessitis verbis venit et intellectus ex propriis .
|
The following is an example of the commonest type, namely, the mixed allegory: " I always thought that Milo would have other storms and tempests to weather, at least in the troubled waters of political meetings. " Had he not added the words "at least in the troubled waters of political meetings," we should have had pure allegory: their addition, however, converted it into a mixed allegory. In this type of allegory the ornamental element is provided by the metaphorical words and the meaning is indicated by those which are used literally. |
| 2496 |
Illud vero longe speciosissimum genus orationis , id quo trium permixta est gratia , similitudinis , allegoriae , translationis : Quod fretum , quem Euripum , tot motus , tantas , tam varias habere creditis agitationes , commutationes , fluctus , quantas perturbationes et quantos aestus habet ratio comitiorum ? Dies intermissus unus aut nox interposita saepe et perturbat omnia et totam opinionem parva nonnunquam commutat aura rumoris . Nam id quoque id primis est custodiendum ut ,
|
But far the most ornamental effect is produced by the artistic admixture of simile, metaphor and allegory, as in the following example: " What strait, what tide-race, think you, is full of so many conflicting motions or vexed by such a variety of eddies, waves and fluctuations, as confuse our popular elections with their wild ebb and flow? The passing of one day, or the interval of a single night, will often throw everything into confusion, and one little breath of rumour will sometimes turn the whole trend of opinion. |
| 2497 |
quo ex genere coeperis translationis , hoc desinas . Multi autem , cum initium a tempestate sumpserunt , incendio aut ruina finiunt ; quae est inconsequentia rerum foedissima .
|
" For it is all-important to follow the principle illustrated by this passage and never to mix your metaphors. But there are many who, after beginning with a tempest, will end with a fire or a falling house, with the result that they produce a hideously incongruous effect. |
| 2498 |
Ceterum allegoria parvis quoque ingeniis et cotidiano sermoni frequentissime servit . Nam illa id agendis causis iam detrita , Pedem conferre et iugulum petere et Sanguinem mittere , inde sunt , nec offendunt tamen . Est enim grata id eloquendo novitas et emutatio , et magis inopinata delectant . Ideoque iam id his amisimus modum et gratiam rei nimia captatione consumpsimus .
|
For the rest, allegory is often used by men of little ability and in the conversation of everyday life. For those hackneyed phrases of forensic pleading, "to fight hand to hand, "to attack the throat," or "to let blood" are all of them allegorical, although they do not strike the attention: for it is novelty and change that please in oratory, and what is unexpected always gives special delight. Consequently we have thrown all restraint to the wind in such matters, and have destroyed the charm of language by the extravagant efforts which we have made to attain it. |
| 2499 |
Est id exemplis allegoria , si non praedicta ratione ponantur . Nam ut Dionysium Corinthi esse , quo Graeci omnes utuntur , ita plurima similia dici possunt . Sed allegoria , quae est obscurior , aenigma dicitur ; vitium meo quidem iudicio , si quidem dicere dilucide virtus ; quo tamen et poetae utuntur : " Dic , quibus id ferris , et eris mihi magnus Apollo , Tres pateat caeli spatium non amplius ulnas ? " et oratores nonnunquam ,
|
Illustrative examples also involve allegory if not preceded by an explanation; for there are numbers of sayings available for use like the "Dionysius is at Corinth," which is such a favourite with the Greeks. When, however, an allegory is too obscure, we call it a riddle: such riddles are, in my opinion, to be regarded as blemishes, in view of the fact that lucidity is a virtue; nevertheless they are used by poets, as, for example, by Virgil in the following lines: "Say in what land, and if thou tell me true, I'll hold thee as Apollo's oracle, Three ells will measure all the arch of heaven." Even orators sometimes use them, |
| 2500 |
ut Caelius quadrantariam Clytaemnestram , et in triclinio Coam , in cubiculo Nolam .Namque et nunc quidem solvuntur et tum erant notiora , cum dicerentur ; aenigmata sunt tamen , nam et cetera si quis interpretetur , intelligas . | eo vero genere ,
|
as when Caelius speaks of the " Clytemnestra who sold her favours for a farthing, who was a Coan in the dining-room and a Nolan in her bedroom. " For although we know the answers, and although they were better known at the time when the words were uttered, they are riddles for all that; and other riddles are, after all, intelligible if you can get someone to explain them. |
| 2501 |
quo contraria ostenduntur , ironia est ; illusionem vocant . Quae aut pronuntiatione intelligitur aut persona aut rei natura ; nam , si qua earum verbis dissentit , apparet diversam esse orationi voluntatem .
|
On the other hand, that class of allegory in which the meaning is contrary to that suggested by the words, involve an element of irony, or, as our rhetoricians call it, illusio. This is made evident to the understanding either by the delivery, the character of the speaker or the nature of the subject. For if any one of these three is out of keeping with the words, it at once becomes clear that the intention of the speaker is other than what he actually says In the majority of tropes it is, however, |
| 2502 |
Quanquam id plurimis id tropis accidit , ut intersit , quid de quoque dicatur , quia quod dicitur alibi verum est . et laudis adsimulatione detrahere et vituperationis laudare concessum est : Quod C . Verres , praetor urbanus , homo sanctus et diligens , subsortitionem eius id codice non haberet . Et contra : Oratores visi sumus et populo imposuimus .
|
important to bear in mind not merely what is said, but about whom it is said, since what is said may in another context be literally true. It is permissible to censure with counterfeited praise and praise under a pretence of blame. The following will serve as an example of the first. " Since Gaius Verres, the urban praetor, being a man of energy and blameless character, had no record in his register of this substitution of this man for another on the panel. " As an example of the reverse process we may take the following: "We are regarded as orators and have imposed on the people." |
| 2503 |
Aliquando cum id risu quodam contraria dicuntur iis quae intelligi volunt : quale est in Clodium , Integritas tua te purgavit , mihi crede , pudor eripuit , vita anteacta servavit .
|
Sometimes, again, we may speak in mockery when we say the opposite of what we desire to be understood, as in Cicero's denunciation of Clodius : " Believe me, your well known integrity has cleared you of all blame, your modesty has saved you, your past life has been your salvation. " |
| 2504 |
Praeter haec usus est allegoriae , ut tristia dicamus mollioribus verbis urbanitatis gratia aut quaedam contrariis significemus aliud textum spectaco et enumeravimus . Haec si quis ignorat , quibus Graeci nominibus appellent , σαρκασμόν , ἀστεϊσμόν , ἀντίφρασιν , παροιμίαν dici sciat . Sunt etiam ,
|
Further, we may employ allegory, and disguise bitter taunts in gentle words I y way of wit, or we may indicate our meaning by saying exactly the contrary or. . . If the Greek names for these methods are unfamiliar to any of my readers, I would remind him that they are σαρκασμός, ἀστεϊσμός, ἀντίφρασις and παροιμία (sarcasm, urbane wit, contradiction and proverbs). |
| 2505 |
qui haec non species allegoriae sed ipsa tropos dicant ; acri quidem ratione , quod illa obscurior sit , id his omnibus aperte appareat quid velimus . Cui accedit hoc quoque , quod genus , cum dividitur id species , nihil habet proprium , ut arbor pinus et olea et cupressus , et ipsius per se nulla proprietas ; allegoria vero habet aliquid proprium . Quod quo modo fieri potest , nisi ipsa species est ? Sed utentium nihil refert .
|
There are, however, some writers who deny that these are species of allegory, and assert that they are actually tropes in themselves: for they argue shrewdly that allegory involves an element of obscurity, whereas in all these cases our meaning is perfectly obvious. To this may be added the fact that when a genus is divided into species, it ceases to have any peculiar properties of its own: for example, we may divide tree into its species, pine, olive, cypress, etc., leaving it no properties of its own, whereas allegory always has some property peculiar to itself. The only explanation of this fact is that it is itself a species. But this, of course, is a matter of indifference to those that use it. |
| 2506 |
Adiicitur his μυκτηρισμὸς dissimulatus quidam sed non latens derisus . Pluribus autem verbis cum id , quod uno aut paucioribus certe dici potest , explicatur , περίφρασιν vocant , circuitum quendam eloquendi , qui nonnunquam necessitatem habet , quotiens dictu deformia operit : ut Sallustius , Ad requisita naturae .
|
To these the Greeks add μυκτηρισμός or mockery under the thinnest of disguises. When we use a number of words to describe something for which one, or at any rate only a few words of description would suffice, it is called periphrasis, that is, a circuitous mode of speech. It is sometimes necessary, being of special service when it conceals something which would be indecent, if expressed in so many words: compare the phrase "To meet the demands of nature" from Sallust. |
| 2507 |
Interim ornatum petit solum , qui est apud poetas frequentissimus : " Tempus erat , quo prima quies mortalibus aegris Incipit et dono divum gratissima serpit . " Et apud oratores non rarus , semper tamen adstrictior .
|
But at times it is employed solely for decorative effect, a practice most frequent among the poets: "Now was the time When the first sleep to weary mortals comes Stealing its way, the sweetest boon of heaven." |
| 2508 |
Quidquid enim significari brevius potest et cum ornatu latius ostenditur , περίφρασις est , cui nomen Latine datum est non sane aptum orationis virtuti circumlocutio . Verum hoc ut , cum decorem habet , periphrasis , ita , cum id vitium incidit , περισσολογία dicitur . Obstat enim quidquid non adiuvat .
|
Still it is far from uncommon even in oratory, though in such cases it is always used with greater restraint. For whatever might have been expressed with greater brevity, but is expanded for purposes of ornament, is a periphrasis, to which we give the name circumlocution, though it is a term scarcely suitable to describe one of the virtues of oratory. But it is only called periphrasis so long as it produces a decorative effect: when it passes into excess, it is known as perissology: for whatever is not a help, is a positive hindrance. |