- Source
- Aristotle. Aristotelis Ars Rhetorica. Ross, William David, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press,1959 (printing).
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- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg038.humanitext-grc2:3.4.1-3.4.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
Aristotle defines similes as a variation of metaphor that includes a comparative word, provides numerous literary and historical examples of effective similes, and details how proportional metaphors must maintain a reciprocal relationship.
ἔστιν δὲ καὶ ἡ εἰκὼν μεταφορά· διαφέρει γὰρ μικρόν· ὅταν μὲν γὰρ εἴπῃ "ὡς δὲ λέων ἐπόρουσεν" , εἰκών ἐστιν, ὅταν δὲ λέων ἐπόρουσε, μεταφορά· διὰ γὰρ τὸ ἄμφω ἀνδρείους εἶναι, προσηγόρευσεν μετενέγκας1 λέοντα τὸν Ἀχιλλέα.
The simile is also a metaphor; for it differs only slightly. For when one says “like a lion he rushed on,” it is a simile, but when “a lion rushed on,” it is a metaphor; for because both are courageous, he called Achilles a lion by transferring the term.
χρήσιμον δὲ ἡ εἰκὼν καὶ ἐν λόγῳ, ὀλιγάκις δέ· ποιητικὸν γάρ. οἰστέαι δὲ ὥσπερ αἱ μεταφοραί· μεταφοραὶ γάρ εἰσι, διαφέρουσαι τῷ εἰρημένῳ.
The simile is also useful in prose, but seldom , for it is poetic. And they must be applied just like metaphors; for they are metaphors, differing only in the way mentioned.
εἰσὶν δʼ εἰκόνες οἷον ἣν Ἀνδροτίων εἰς Ἰδριέα, ὅτι ὅμοιος τοῖς ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν κυνιδίοις· ἐκεῖνά τε γὰρ προσπίπτοντα δάκνειν, καὶ Ἰδριέα λυθέντα ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν εἶναι χαλεπόν. καὶ ὡς Θεοδάμας εἴκαζεν Ἀρχίδαμον Εὐξένῳ γεωμετρεῖν οὐκ ἐπισταμένῳ ἐν τῷ ἀνάλογόν ἐστιν·2 ἔσται γὰρ καὶ ὁ Εὔξενος Ἀρχίδαμος γεωμετρικός. καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Πολιτείᾳ τῇ Πλάτωνος, ὅτι οἱ τοὺς τεθνεῶτας σκυλεύοντες ἐοίκασι τοῖς κυνιδίοις ἃ τοὺς λίθους δάκνει, τοῦ βάλλοντος οὐχ ἁπτόμενα, καὶ ἡ εἰς τὸν δῆμον, ὅτι ὅμοιος ναυκλήρῳ ἰσχυρῷ μὲν ὑποκώφῳ δέ, καὶ ἡ εἰς τὰ μέτρα τῶν ποιητῶν, ὅτι ἔοικε τοῖς ἄνευ κάλλους ὡραίοις· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀπανθήσαντες, τὰ δὲ διαλυθέντα οὐχ ὅμοια φαίνεται. καὶ ἡ Περικλέους εἰς Σαμίους, ἐοικέναι αὐτοὺς τοῖς παιδίοις ἃ τὸν ψωμὸν δέχεται μέν, κλαίοντα δέ, καὶ εἰς Βοιωτούς, ὅτι ὅμοιοι τοῖς πρίνοις· τούς τε γὰρ πρίνους ὑφʼ αὑτῶν κατακόπτεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς πρὸς ἀλλήλους μαχομένους. καὶ ὃ Δημοσθένης εἰς τὸν δῆμον, ὅτι ὅμοιός ἐστιν τοῖς ἐν τοῖς πλοίοις ναυτιῶσιν. καὶ ὡς Δημοκράτης εἴκασεν τοὺς ῥήτορας ταῖς τίτθαις αἳ τὸ ψώμισμα καταπίνουσαι τῷ σιάλῳ τὰ παιδία παραλείφουσιν. καὶ ὡς Ἀντισθένης Κηφισόδοτον τὸν λεπτὸν λιβανωτῷ εἴκασεν, ὅτι ἀπολλύμενος εὐφραίνει. πάσας δὲ ταύτας καὶ ὡς εἰκόνας καὶ ὡς μεταφορὰς ἔξεστι λέγειν, ὥστε ὅσαι ἂν εὐδοκιμῶσιν ὡς μεταφοραὶ λεχθεῖσαι, δῆλον ὅτι αὗται καὶ εἰκόνες ἔσονται, καὶ αἱ εἰκόνες μεταφοραὶ λόγου δεόμεναι.3
Similes are such as that which Androtion used against Idrieus, that he was like small dogs let loose from their chains; for those dogs fly at people and bite them, and Idrieus, when released from his bonds, was dangerous. And as Theodamas compared Archidamus to Euxenus who did not know geometry, in a proportional relation; for Euxenus will be Archidamus skilled in geometry. And that in Plato’s Republic, that those who strip the dead are like small dogs that bite the stones, not touching the one who throws them. And that concerning the democracy, that it is like a shipmaster who is strong but slightly deaf. And that concerning the meters of the poets, that they are like those in their prime without beauty; for when they fade, and the meters are dissolved, they do not appear the same. And that of Pericles concerning the Samians, that they are like children who indeed accept the morsel, but weep. And concerning the Boeotians, that they are like holm-oaks; for holm-oaks are split by themselves, and the Boeotians are fighting among themselves. And what Demosthenes said concerning the democracy, that it is like those who get seasick in ships. And as Democrates compared the orators to nurses who, swallowing the morsel themselves, smear the children with saliva. And as Antisthenes compared the thin Cephisodotus to incense, because he gives pleasure by perishing. All these can be spoken of both as similes and as metaphors, so that those which are well-received when spoken as metaphors will clearly also be similes, and similes are metaphors requiring a word.
ἀεὶ δὲ δεῖ τὴν μεταφορὰν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀνάλογον4 ἀνταποδιδόναι καὶ ἐπὶ θάτερα τῶν ὁμογενῶν, οἷον εἰ ἡ φιάλη ἀσπὶς Διονύσου, καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα ἁρμόττει λέγεσθαι φιάλην Ἄρεως.
And one must always reciprocate the proportional metaphor even to the other of the coordinate terms; for example, if the cup is the shield of Dionysus, it is also fitting to call the shield the cup of Ares.
- 1406b20μετενέγκας
Active aorist participle, masculine singular nominative, of the verb μεταφέρω (to transfer). It functions as a participle of means, modifying the unexpressed subject of the main verb προσηγόρευσεν (i.e., Homer).
- 1406b30ἐν τῷ ἀνάλογόν ἐστιν
Meaning "in the proportional relation." Here ἀνάλογον is used substantively to denote proportion. It indicates that Theodamas' comparison is based on a proportional analogy (A:B = C:D), comparing Archidamus' relation to the ignorant Euxenus with Archidamus' potential state of knowledge.
- 1407a15λόγου δεόμεναι
Meaning "requiring a word (or explanation)." While λόγος has multiple meanings, since Aristotle distinguishes similes from metaphors solely by the presence of a comparative particle like ὡς ("like"), it is best understood as "requiring the addition of an explicit comparative term."
- 1407a15τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀνάλογον
An attributive phrase modifying μεταφοράν. It refers to the proportional or analogical metaphor (A is to B as C is to D), which Aristotle classifications as the most effective and prestigious among the four types of metaphors.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1