- Source
- Aristotle. Aristotelis Ars Rhetorica. Ross, William David, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press,1959 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg038.humanitext-grc2:3.10.1-3.10.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
This section discusses the sources of clever and well-received style (asteia), explaining that because learning easily is naturally pleasant, speakers must aim for three elements that facilitate quick learning: metaphor, antithesis, and bringing things before the eyes.
ἐπεὶ δὲ διώρισται περὶ τούτων, πόθεν λέγεται τὰ ἀστεῖα καὶ τὰ εὐδοκιμοῦντα λεκτέον. ποιεῖν μὲν οὖν ἐστὶν τοῦ εὐφυοῦς ἢ τοῦ γεγυμνασμένου,1 δεῖξαι δὲ τῆς μεθόδου ταύτης.
Since these matters have been defined, we must discuss the sources from which clever and well-received sayings are produced. Now, producing them is a matter of natural talent or of practice, but showing them is the task of this study.
εἴπωμεν οὖν καὶ διαριθμησώμεθα· ἀρχὴ δʼ ἔστω ἡμῖν αὕτη. τὸ γὰρ μανθάνειν ῥᾳδίως ἡδὺ φύσει πᾶσιν ἐστί, τὰ δὲ ὀνόματα σημαίνει τι, ὥστε ὅσα τῶν ὀνομάτων ποιεῖ ἡμῖν μάθησιν, ἥδιστα. αἱ μὲν οὖν γλῶτται ἀγνῶτες, τὰ δὲ κύρια ἴσμεν· ἡ δὲ μεταφορὰ ποιεῖ τοῦτο μάλιστα· ὅταν γὰρ εἴπῃ τὸ γῆρας καλάμην, ἐποίησεν μάθησιν καὶ γνῶσιν διὰ τοῦ γένους·2 ἄμφω γὰρ ἀπηνθηκότα.
Let us speak, then, and enumerate them; and let this be our starting point. To learn easily is naturally pleasant to everyone, and words signify something, so that those words which produce learning in us are the most pleasant. Now, strange words are unknown, and we know proper words; but metaphor does this most of all. For when a poet speaks of old age as “stubble,” he produces learning and knowledge through the genus, since both have lost their bloom.
ποιοῦσιν μὲν οὖν καὶ αἱ τῶν ποιητῶν εἰκόνες τὸ αὐτό· διόπερ ἂν εὖ, ἀστεῖον φαίνεται. ἔστιν γὰρ ἡ εἰκών, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, μεταφορὰ διαφέρουσα προθέσει·3 διὸ ἧττον ἡδύ, ὅτι μακροτέρως· καὶ οὐ λέγει ὡς τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο· οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ζητεῖ τοῦτο ἡ ψυχή.
The similes of the poets also produce the same effect; therefore, if they are well done, they appear clever. For a simile is, as has been said before, a metaphor differing by a preface; wherefore it is less pleasant because it is longer, and it does not say that “this is that”; consequently, the soul does not even seek this.
ἀνάγκη δὴ καὶ λέξιν καὶ ἐνθυμήματα ταῦτʼ εἶναι ἀστεῖα ὅσα ποιεῖ ἡμῖν μάθησιν ταχεῖαν· διὸ οὔτε τὰ ἐπιπόλαια τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων εὐδοκιμεῖ (ἐπιπόλαια γὰρ λέγομεν τὰ παντὶ δῆλα, καὶ ἃ μηδὲν δεῖ ζητῆσαι), οὔτε ὅσα εἰρημένα ἀγνοοῦμεν, ἀλλʼ ὅσων ἢ ἅμα λεγομένων ἡ γνῶσις γίνεται, καὶ εἰ μὴ πρότερον ὑπῆρχεν, ἢ μικρὸν ὑστερίζει ἡ διάνοια·4 γίγνεται γὰρ οἷον μάθησις, ἐκείνων δὲ οὐδετέρου.
It is necessary, then, that both style and enthymemes be clever which produce quick learning in us. Therefore, neither superficial enthymemes are well received (for we call superficial those which are obvious to everyone and require no search), nor those which, when spoken, we do not understand; but rather those of which either the knowledge arises at the moment of being spoken, even if it did not exist before, or the mind lags only a little behind. For in these cases there is, as it were, a learning process, but in neither of the former.
κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ λεγομένου τὰ τοιαῦτα εὐδοκιμεῖ τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων, κατὰ δὲ τὴν λέξιν τῷ μὲν σχήματι, ἐὰν ἀντικειμένως λέγηται, οἷον καὶ τὴν τοῖς ἄλλοις κοινὴν εἰρήνην νομιζόντων τοῖς αὑτῶν ἰδίοις πόλεμον· ἀντίκειται πόλεμος εἰρήνῃ·
As far as the meaning of what is said is concerned, then, such enthymemes are well received; but as far as style is concerned, they are well received in respect to form if they are expressed antithetically, such as: “regarding the peace common to others as a war private to themselves.” War is antithetical to peace.
τοῖς δʼ ὀνόμασιν, ἐὰν ἔχῃ μεταφοράν, καὶ ταύτην μήτʼ ἀλλοτρίαν, χαλεπὸν γὰρ συνιδεῖν, μήτʼ ἐπιπόλαιον, οὐδὲν γὰρ ποιεῖ πάσχειν. ἔτι εἰ πρὸ ὀμμάτων ποιεῖ·5 ὁρᾶν γὰρ δεῖ πραττόμενα μᾶλλον ἢ μέλλοντα. δεῖ ἄρα τούτων στοχάζεσθαι τριῶν, μεταφορᾶς ἀντιθέσεως ἐνεργείας.
And in respect to words, they are well received if they contain a metaphor, and this being neither far-fetched, for it is difficult to see, nor superficial, for it produces no effect. Furthermore, they are well received if they bring things before the eyes; for one ought to see things being done rather than in the future. We must, therefore, aim at these three: metaphor, antithesis, and actuality.
- 3.10.1ποιεῖν μὲν οὖν ἐστὶν τοῦ εὐφυοῦς ἢ τοῦ γεγυμνασμένου
The infinitive ποιεῖν is the subject of the sentence, and the genitives τοῦ εὐφυοῦς and τοῦ γεγυμνασμένου are genitives of possession or characteristic ("belongs to the naturally gifted or the practiced person").
- 3.10.2διὰ τοῦ γένους
"Through the genus". It refers to the rhetorical process where learning is achieved through the common genus shared by old age (γῆρας) and stubble (καλάμη), namely, having lost their bloom.
- 3.10.3διαφέρουσα προθέσει
The dative προθέσει means "by prefixing" or "by placing before", referring to the structural difference that a simile (εἰκών), unlike a metaphor (μεταφορά), introduces a prefixing word like "as" (ὡς).
- 3.10.4ὅσων ἢ ἅμα λεγομένων ἡ γνῶσις γίνεται... ἢ μικρὸν ὑστερίζει ἡ διάνοια
The antecedent of the relative pronoun ὅσων is ἐνθυμημάτων. The first part is a genitive absolute construction with ἅμα λεγομένων ("of which knowledge arises at the moment of being spoken"), and the second part is a subordinate clause introduced by ἢ where ἡ διάνοια is the subject ("or the mind lags only a little behind").
- 3.10.6ἔτι εἰ πρὸ ὀμμάτων ποιεῖ
The subject of ποιεῖ is contextually "style (λέξις)" or "metaphor (μεταφορά)". The phrase πρὸ ὀμμάτων ποιεῖν ("to bring before the eyes", "to make vivid") is a crucial concept in Aristotelian rhetoric, meaning to make the audience perceive things as actively happening.