- 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-grc2:3.6.1-3.6.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
The author discusses various techniques to produce dignity of style (use of definition, metaphors, pluralization, separating modifiers, use of connectives, and description by privation) along with their opposites for achieving brevity.
εἰς ὄγκον δὲ τῆς λέξεως συμβάλλεται τάδε, τὸ λόγῳ χρῆσθαι ἀντʼ ὀνόματος,1 οἷον μὴ κύκλον, ἀλλʼ ἐπίπεδον τὸ ἐκ τοῦ μέσου ἴσον· εἰς δὲ συντομίαν τὸ ἐναντίον, ἀντὶ τοῦ λόγου ὄνομα.
The following contribute to the dignity of style: using a definition instead of a term, for example, not saying ‘circle’ but ‘a plane surface equal from the center’; and for brevity, the opposite, using a term instead of a definition.
καὶ ἐὰν αἰσχρὸν ἢ ἀπρεπές, ἐὰν μὲν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ᾖ τὸ αἰσχρόν, τοὔνομα λέγειν, ἐὰν δʼ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι, τὸν λόγον.
And if there is something ugly or unseemly, if the ugliness is in the definition, to speak the term, but if it is in the term, to speak the definition.
καὶ μεταφορᾷ δηλοῦν καὶ τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις, εὐλαβούμενον τὸ ποιητικόν.
And to represent by metaphor and by epithets, guarding against the poetic.
καὶ τὸ ἓν πολλὰ ποιεῖν, ὅπερ οἱ ποιηταὶ ποιοῦσιν· ἑνὸς ὄντος λιμένος ὅμως λέγουσι "λιμένας εἰς Ἀχαϊκούς" καὶ "δέλτου μὲν αἵδε πολύθυροι διαπτυχαί."
And to make one thing many, which is what the poets do; though there is only one harbor, they nevertheless say ‘into Achaean harbors,’ and ‘here are the many-leafed folds of the tablet.’
καὶ μὴ ἐπιζευγνύναι, ἀλλʼ ἑκατέρῳ ἑκάτερον,2 τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς ἡμετέρας· ἐὰν δὲ συντόμως, τοὐναντίον, τῆς ἡμετέρας γυναικός.
And not to yoke them together, but to assign each to each, as ‘of the woman, of ours’; but if briefly, the opposite, ‘of our woman.’
καὶ μετὰ συνδέσμου λέγειν· ἐὰν δὲ συντόμως, ἄνευ μὲν συνδέσμου, μὴ ἀσύνδετα δέ, οἷον πορευθεὶς καὶ διαλεχθείς, πορευθεὶς διελέχθην.
And to speak with a connective; but if briefly, without a connective, yet not unconnected, for example, ‘having gone and having conversed,’ and ‘having gone, I conversed.’
καὶ τὸ Ἀντιμάχου χρήσιμον, ἐξ ὧν μὴ ἔχει λέγειν,3 ὃ ἐκεῖνος ποιεῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ Τευμησσοῦ, "ἔστι τις ἠνεμόεις ὀλίγος λόφος·" αὔξεται γὰρ οὕτως εἰς ἄπειρον. ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν, ὅπως οὐκ ἔχει, ὁποτέρως ἂν ᾖ χρήσιμον, ὅθεν καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα οἱ ποιηταὶ φέρουσιν, τὸ ἄχορδον καὶ τὸ ἄλυρον μέλος· ἐκ τῶν στερήσεων γὰρ ἐπιφέρουσιν· εὐδοκιμεῖ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐν ταῖς μεταφοραῖς λεγόμενον ταῖς ἀνάλογον, οἷον τὸ φάναι τὴν σάλπιγγα ἱέναι μέλος ἄλυρον.
And the method of Antimachus is useful, to describe things by what they do not have, which he does in the case of Teumessus: ‘There is a certain windy, small hill’; for in this way the subject can be amplified to infinity. This is applicable both to good and to bad things, by stating how they do not possess something, in whichever way may be useful; hence the poets also fetch their terms, such as ‘the stringless’ and ‘the lyreless melody’; for they bring these in from privations. For this is well received when spoken in analogical metaphors, for example, saying that the trumpet utters a ‘lyreless melody.’
- 1407bλόγῳ χρῆσθαι ἀντʼ ὀνόματος
Here, 'λόγος' does not mean 'word' in general, but rather 'definition' or 'descriptive phrase', contrasted with 'ὄνομα' which refers to a single term or noun. It refers to the practice of replacing a single noun with a multi-word descriptive phrase to add dignity (ὄγκος) to the style.
- 1407bκαὶ μὴ ἐπιζευγνύναι, ἀλλʼ ἑκατέρῳ ἑκάτερον
'ἐπιζευγνύναι' refers to linking a noun and its modifier closely under a single article (e.g., 'our wife'), whereas 'ἑκατέρῳ ἑκάτερον' refers to assigning an article to each element separately (e.g., 'of the wife, of ours'). The former produces brevity, while the latter yields dignity.
- 1408a1ἐξ ὧν μὴ ἔχει λέγειν
The relative clause 'ἐξ ὧν' (from what it does not have) refers to the qualities that the subject lacks. The subject of 'ἔχει' is the thing being described (such as Mount Teumessus), and 'λέγειν' is an infinitive of description. This explains the method of amplification by listing privations or what a subject does not possess.