§3.12.1δεῖ δὲ μὴ λεληθέναι ὅτι ἄλλη ἑκάστῳ γένει ἁρμόττει λέξις.
But we must not fail to notice that a different style fits each genre.
οὐ γὰρ ἡ αὐτὴ γραφικὴ καὶ ἀγωνιστική, οὐδὲ δημηγορικὴ καὶ δικανική.
For the written style and the debate style are not the same, nor are the deliberative and the judicial.
ἄμφω δὲ ἀνάγκη εἰδέναι· τὸ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἑλληνίζειν ἐπίστασθαι, τὸ δὲ μὴ ἀναγκάζεσθαι κατασιωπᾶν ἄν τι βούληται μεταδοῦναι τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ μὴ ἐπιστάμενοι γράφειν.
And it is necessary to know both; for the one is to know how to speak correct Greek, while the other is not to be forced to keep silence if one wishes to communicate something to others, which is what happens to those who do not know how to write.
§3.12.2ἔστι δὲ λέξις γραφικὴ μὲν ἡ ἀκριβεστάτη, ἀγωνιστικὴ δὲ ἡ ὑποκριτικωτάτη (τ̔αύτης δὲ δύο εἴδη· ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἠθικὴ ἡ δὲ παθητική)· διὸ καὶ οἱ ὑποκριταὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν δραμάτων διώκουσι, καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ τοὺς τοιούτους.
And the written style is the most precise, while the debate style is the most suited to acting (and of this latter there are two kinds: the one ethical, the other pathetic); therefore actors also pursue such dramas, and poets pursue such actors.
βαστάζονται δὲ οἱ ἀναγνωστικοί, οἷον Χαιρήμων (ἀκριβὴς γὰρ ὥσπερ λογογράφος), καὶ Λικύμνιος τῶν διθυραμβοποιῶν.
And those whose works are read are highly esteemed, such as Chaeremon (for he is precise like a speechwriter), and Licymnius among the dithyrambic poets.
καὶ παραβαλλόμενοι οἱ μὲν τῶν γραφέων λόγοι ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσι στενοὶ φαίνονται, οἱ δὲ τῶν ῥητόρων, εὖ λεχθέντες, ἰδιωτικοὶ ἐν ταῖς χερσίν.
And when compared, the speeches of the writers appear thin in debate, while those of the orators, though well delivered, appear amateurish when in the hands.
αἴτιον δʼ ὅτι ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι ἁρμόττει τὰ ὑποκριτικά· διὸ καὶ ἀφῃρημένης τῆς ὑποκρίσεως οὐ ποιοῦντα τὸ αὑτῶν ἔργον φαίνεται εὐήθη, οἷον τά τε ἀσύνδετα καὶ τὸ πολλάκις τὸ αὐτὸ εἰπεῖν ἐν τῇ γραφικῇ ὀρθῶς ἀποδοκιμάζεται, ἐν δὲ ἀγωνιστικῇ οὔ, καὶ οἱ ῥήτορες χρῶνται· ἔστι γὰρ ὑποκριτική.
The reason is that in debate, the elements of acting fit; hence when acting is removed, not performing their own function they appear silly; for instance, the lack of connectives (asyndeton) and repeating the same thing many times are rightly rejected in the written style, but not in the debate style, and the orators use them; for they are suited to acting.
§3.12.3ἀνάγκη δὲ μεταβάλλειν τὸ αὐτὸ λέγοντας, ὅπερ ὥσπερ ὁδοποιεῖ τῷ ὑποκρίνεσθαι· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ κλέψας ὑμῶν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐξαπατήσας, οὗτος ὁ τὸ ἔσχατον προδοῦναι ἐπιχειρήσας
, οἷον καὶ Φιλήμων ὁ ὑποκριτὴς ἐποίει ἔν τε τῇ Ἀναξανδρίδου Γεροντομαχίᾳ, ὅτε λέγοι
Ῥαδάμανθυς καὶ Παλαμήδης
, καὶ ἐν τῷ προλόγῳ τῶν Εὐσεβῶν τὸ
ἐγώ
· ἐὰν γάρ τις τὰ τοιαῦτα μὴ ὑποκρίνηται, γίγνεται
ὁ τὴν δοκὸν φέρων
. §3.12.4καὶ τὰ ἀσύνδετα ὡσαύτως· ἦλθον, ἀπήντησα, ἐδεόμην· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ὑποκρίνεσθαι καὶ μὴ ὡς ἓν λέγοντα τῷ αὐτῷ ἤθει καὶ τόνῳ εἰπεῖν.
And it is necessary to change the wording when saying the same thing, which as it were prepares the way for acting: "This is the man who stole from you, this is the man who deceived you, this is the man who attempted the ultimate betrayal," as the actor Philemon used to do both in the Old Men's War of Anaxandrides, when he would say "Rhadamanthys and Palamedes," and in the prologue of the Pious Men at the word "I"; for if one does not act such passages, he becomes like "the man carrying the beam." And similarly with cases of asyndeton: "I came, I met, I entreated;" for it is necessary to act this out, and not to speak as if saying one thing with the same character and tone.
ἔτι ἔχει ἴδιόν τι τὰ ἀσύνδετα· ἐν ἴσῳ γὰρ χρόνῳ πολλὰ δοκεῖ εἰρῆσθαι· ὁ γὰρ σύνδεσμος ἓν ποιεῖ τὰ πολλά, ὥστε ἐὰν ἐξαιρεθῇ, δῆλον ὅτι τοὐναντίον ἔσται τὸ ἓν πολλά.
Moreover, asyndeton has a certain unique characteristic: in an equal amount of time, many things seem to have been said; for the connective makes the many one, so that if it is removed, it is clear that the opposite will be the case, the one becoming many.
ἔχει οὖν αὔξησιν· ἦλθον, διελέχθην, ἱκέτευσα
(πολλὰ δοκεῖ),
ὑπερεῖδεν ὅσα εἶπον
. τοῦτο δὲ βούλεται ποιεῖν καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν τῷ
"
Νιρεὺς αὖ Σύμηθεν,
Νιρεὺς Ἀγλαΐης,
Νιρεὺς ὃς κάλλιστος. "
περὶ οὗ γὰρ πολλὰ λέγεται, ἀνάγκη καὶ πολλάκις εἰρῆσθαι· εἰ οὖν πολλάκις, καὶ πολλὰ δοκεῖ, ὥστε ηὔξηκεν, ἅπαξ μνησθείς, διὰ τὸν παραλογισμόν, καὶ μνήμην πεποίηκεν, οὐδαμοῦ ὕστερον αὐτοῦ λόγον ποιησάμενος.
Therefore, it has the effect of amplification: "I came, I conversed, I supplicated (which seem many things), but he ignored whatever I said." And Homer also wishes to do this in the lines: "Nireus, again, from Syme, Nireus, son of Aglaia, Nireus, who was the most beautiful." For concerning whomever many things are said, his name must also be spoken many times; if, therefore, many times, it also seems to be many things, so that by this fallacy he has amplified him, though mentioning him only once, and has made him memorable, though making no mention of him anywhere later.
§3.12.5ἡ μὲν οὖνδημηγορικὴ λέξις καὶ παντελῶς ἔοικεν τῇ σκιαγραφίᾳ· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν πλείων ᾖ ὁ ὄχλος, πορρώτερον ἡ θέα, διὸ τὰ ἀκριβῆ περίεργα καὶ χείρω φαίνεται ἐν ἀμφοτέροις· ἡ δὲ δικανικὴ ἀκριβεστέρα.
Thus, the deliberative style is entirely like scene-painting; for the larger the crowd, the further away is the point of view, which is why precise details are superfluous and appear worse in both; but the judicial style is more precise.
ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἡ ἐν ἑνὶ κριτῇ· ἐλάχιστον γὰρ ἔνεστι ῥητορικῆς· εὐσύνοπτον γὰρ μᾶλλον τὸ οἰκεῖον τοῦ πράγματος καὶ τὸ ἀλλότριον, καὶ ὁ ἀγὼν ἄπεστιν, ὥστε καθαρὰ ἡ κρίσις.
And still more so is a speech before a single judge; for there is the least of rhetoric in it, for what is proper to the matter and what is alien to it is more easily surveyed, and the struggle is absent, so that the judgment is pure.
διὸ οὐχ οἱ αὐτοὶ ἐν πᾶσιν τούτοις εὐδοκιμοῦσιν ῥήτορες· ἀλλʼ ὅπου μάλιστα ὑπόκρισις, ἐνταῦθα ἥκιστα ἀκρίβεια ἔνι.
Therefore, the same orators do not achieve high esteem in all these areas; but where acting is most required, there is the least precision.
τοῦτο δὲ ὅπου φωνῆς, καὶ μάλιστα ὅπου μεγάλης.
And this is where there is need of voice, and especially of a loud voice.
ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐπιδεικτικὴ λέξις γραφικωτάτη· τὸ γὰρ ἔργον αὐτῆς ἀνάγνωσις· §3.12.6δευτέρα δὲ ἡ δικανική.
Now, the epideictic style is the most suited to writing; for its function is reading; and second is the judicial.
τὸ δὲ προσδιαιρεῖσθαι τὴν λέξιν, ὅτι ἡδεῖαν δεῖ εἶναι καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῆ, περίεργον· τί γὰρ μᾶλλον ἢ σώφρονα καὶ ἐλευθέριον καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλη ἤθους ἀρετή;
But to make further distinctions concerning style, such as that it must be pleasant and magnificent, is superfluous; for why this rather than temperate and liberal, and any other virtue of character?
τὸ δὲ ἡδεῖαν εἶναι ποιήσει δηλονότι τὰ εἰρημένα, εἴπερ ὀρθῶς ὥρισται ἡ ἀρετὴ τῆς λέξεως· τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκα δεῖ σαφῆ καὶ μὴ ταπεινὴν εἶναι ἀλλὰ πρέπουσαν;
And that it is pleasant will clearly be effected by the things already mentioned, if indeed the virtue of style has been correctly defined; for why else must it be clear and not mean but appropriate?
ἄν τε γὰρ ἀδολεσχῇ, οὐ σαφής, οὐδὲ ἂν σύντομος, ἀλλὰ δῆλον ὅτι τὸ μέσον ἁρμόττει.
For if it is wordy, it is not clear, nor is it if it is too brief; but it is clear that the mean is appropriate.
καὶ τὸ ἡδεῖαν τὰ εἰρημένα ποιήσει, ἂν εὖ μιχθῇ, τὸ εἰωθὸς καὶ τὸ ξενικόν, καὶ ὁ ῥυθμός, καὶ τὸ πιθανὸν ἐκ τοῦ πρέποντος.
And the things already mentioned will make it pleasant, if there is a good mixture of the customary and the foreign, and rhythm, and persuasiveness from appropriateness.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς λέξεως εἴρηται, καὶ κοινῇ περὶ ἁπάντων καὶ ἰδίᾳ περὶ ἑκάστου γένους· λοιπὸν δὲ περὶ τάξεως εἰπεῖν.
Now concerning style, both in general about all and in particular about each genre, enough has been said; it remains to speak of arrangement.