§3.3.1τὰ δὲ ψυχρὰ ἐν τέτταρσι γίγνεται κατὰ τὴν λέξιν, ἔν τε τοῖς διπλοῖς ὀνόμασιν, οἷον Λυκόφρων
τὸν πολυπρόσωπον οὐρανὸν τῆς μεγαλοκορύφου γῆς
, καὶ
ἀκτὴν δὲ στενοπόρον
, καὶ ὡς Γοργίας ὠνόμαζεν
πτωχομουσοκόλοκας ἐπιορκήσαντας κατʼ εὐορκήσαντος
, καὶ ὡς Ἀλκιδάμας
μένους μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν πληρουμένην, πυρίχρων δὲ τὴν ὄψιν γιγνομένην
, καὶ
τελεσφόρον
ᾠήθη τὴν προθυμίαν αὐτῶν γενήσεσθαι, καὶ
τελεσφόρον
τὴν πειθὼ τῶν λόγων κατέστησεν, καὶ
κυανόχρων
τὸ τῆς θαλάττης ἔδαφος· πάντα ταῦτα γὰρ ποιητικὰ διὰ τὴν δίπλωσιν φαίνεται.
Frigidity of style arises from four causes. First, in compound words; as Lycophron speaks of "the many-faced heaven of the giant-peaked earth," and "the narrow-passaged shore," and as Gorgias called people "poor-muse-flatterers," and spoke of "those who have broken their oath against one who has kept his oath," and as Alcidamas says "the soul being filled with rage, and the face becoming fire-colored," and he thought their enthusiasm would be "result-bringing," and established the persuasiveness of their words as "result-bringing," and called the bottom of the sea "dark-colored." For all these appear poetic because of the compounding.
§3.3.2μία μὲν οὖν αὕτη αἰτία,μία δὲ τὸ χρῆσθαι γλώτταις, οἷον Λυκόφρων Ξέρξην
πέλωρον ἄνδρα
, καὶ Σκίρων
σίνις ἀνήρ
, καὶ Ἀλκιδάμας
ἄθυρμα τῇ ποιήσει
, καὶ
τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἀτασθαλίαν
, καὶ
ἀκράτῳ τῆς διανοίας ὀργῇ τεθηγμένον
. §3.3.3τρίτον δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις τὸ ἢ μακροῖς ἢ ἀκαίροις ἢ πυκνοῖς χρῆσθαι·
This, then, is one cause; another is the use of strange words; as Lycophron calls Xerxes "a monstrous man," and Sciron "a ravaging man," and Alcidamas speaks of "a toy for poetry," and "the lawlessness of nature," and "whetted by the unmitigated anger of the mind." The third cause consists in using epithets that are either long, or inopportune, or too frequent.
ἐν μὲν γὰρ ποιήσει πρέπει
γάλα λευκὸν
εἰπεῖν, ἐν δὲ λόγῳ τὰ μὲν ἀπρεπέστερα· τὰ δέ, ἂν ᾖ κατακορῆ, ἐξελέγχει καὶ ποιεῖ φανερὸν ὅτι ποίησις ἐστίν, ἐπεὶ δεῖ γε χρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς (ἐξαλλάττει γὰρ τὸ εἰωθὸς καὶ ξενικὴν ποιεῖ τὴν λέξιν), ἀλλὰ δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι τοῦ μετρίου, ἐπεὶ μεῖζον ποιεῖ κακὸν τοῦ εἰκῇ λέγειν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει τὸ εὖ, ἡ δὲ τὸ κακῶς.
For in poetry it is appropriate to say "white milk," but in prose some are inappropriate, and others, if excessive, expose the artifice and make it obvious that it is poetry; although one must indeed use them (for it varies the customary and makes the style exotic), but one must aim at moderation, since the excessive use does a greater harm than speaking at random; for the latter merely lacks beauty, while the former has badness.
διὸ τὰ Ἀλκιδάμαντος ψυχρὰ φαίνεται· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἡδύσματι χρῆται ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐδέσματι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις τοῖς οὕτω πυκνοῖς καὶ μείζοσι καὶ ἐπιδήλοις, οἷον οὐχ ἱδρῶτα ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑγρὸν ἱδρῶτα, καὶ οὐκ εἰς Ἴσθμια ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἰσθμίων πανήγυριν, καὶ οὐχὶ νόμους ἀλλὰ τοὺς τῶν πόλεων βασιλεῖς νόμους, καὶ οὐ δρόμῳ ἀλλὰ δρομαίᾳ τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς ὁρμῇ, καὶ οὐχὶ μουσεῖον ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως παραλαβὼν μουσεῖον, καὶ σκυθρωπὸν τὴν φροντίδα τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐ χάριτος ἀλλὰ πανδήμου χάριτος δημιουργός, καὶ οἰκονόμος τῆς τῶν ἀκουόντων ἡδονῆς, καὶ οὐ κλάδοις ἀλλὰ τοῖς τῆς ὕλης κλάδοις ἀπέκρυψεν, καὶ οὐ τὸ σῶμα παρήμπισχεν ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος αἰσχύνην, καὶ ἀντίμιμον τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιθυμίαν (τοῦτο δʼ ἅμα καὶ διπλοῦν καὶ ἐπίθετον, ὥστε ποίημα γίνεται), καὶ οὕτως ἔξεδρον τὴν τῆς μοχθηρίας ὑπερβολήν. διὸ ποιητικῶς λέγοντες τῇ ἀπρεπείᾳ τὸ γελοῖον καὶ τὸ ψυχρὸν ἐμποιοῦσι, καὶ τὸ ἀσαφὲς διὰ τὴν ἀδολεσχίαν· ὅταν γὰρ γιγνώσκοντι ἐπεμβάλλῃ, διαλύει τὸ σαφὲς τῷ ἐπισκοτεῖν.
Wherefore Alcidamas' writings appear frigid; for he does not use epithets as seasoning, but as food, they are so frequent, large, and obvious; as, instead of saying "sweat," he says "wet sweat"; and not "to the Isthmian games," but "to the general festival of the Isthmians"; and not "laws," but "the laws, the kings of cities"; and not "by running," but "by the running impulse of the soul"; and not "a museum," but "having received the museum of nature"; and "the sullen care of the soul"; and not "a creator of favor," but "a creator of vulgar favor"; and "the steward of the pleasure of the hearers"; and he did not hide it "with branches," but "with the branches of the wood"; and he did not cover "his body," but "the shame of his body"; and "the counter-mimic desire of the soul" (this is at once a compound and an epithet, so that it becomes poetry); and likewise "the displaced excess of wickedness." Wherefore those who speak poetically produce the ridiculous and the frigid by their inappropriateness, and also obscurity through their loquacity; for when someone piles words on one who already knows, he destroys clarity by obscuring it.
οἱ δʼ ἄνθρωποι τοῖς διπλοῖς χρῶνται ὅταν ἀνώνυμον ᾖ καὶ ὁ λόγος εὐσύνθετος, οἷον τὸ χρονοτριβεῖν· ἀλλʼ ἂν πολύ, πάντως ποιητικόν·
Now people use compounds when a thing is nameless and the word is easily put together, like "time-wasting"; but if used too much, it becomes entirely poetic.
διὸ χρησιμωτάτη ἡ διπλῆ λέξις τοῖς διθυραμβοποιοῖς (οὗτοι γὰρ ψοφώδεις), αἱ δὲ γλῶτται τοῖς ἐποποιοῖς (σεμνὸν γὰρ καὶ αὔθαδες), ἡ δὲ μεταφορὰ τοῖς ἰαμβείοις (τούτοις γὰρ νῦν χρῶνται, ὥσπερ εἴρηται).
Therefore, compound words are most useful to dithyrambic poets (for these are noisy), strange words to epic poets (for these are majestic and self-willed), and metaphors to writers of iambics (for these are what they now use, as has been said).
§3.3.4καὶ ἔτι τέταρτον τὸ ψυχρὸν ἐν ταῖς μεταφοραῖς γίνεται· εἰσὶν γὰρ καὶ μεταφοραὶ ἀπρεπεῖς, αἱ μὲν διὰ τὸ γελοῖον (χρῶνται γὰρ καὶ οἱ κωμῳδοποιοὶ μεταφοραῖς), αἱ δὲ διὰ τὸ σεμνὸν ἄγαν καὶ τραγικόν· ἀσαφεῖς δέ, ἂν πόρρωθεν, οἷον Γοργίας
χλωρὰ καὶ ἄναιμα τὰ πράγματα
,
σὺ δὲ ταῦτα αἰσχρῶς μὲν ἔσπειρας κακῶς δὲ ἐθέρισας
· ποιητικῶς γὰρ ἄγαν.
And fourthly, frigidity is produced in metaphors; for there are also inappropriate metaphors, some because of the ridiculous (for comic poets also use metaphors), others because of being too solemn and tragic; and they are obscure if they are brought from afar, as Gorgias says "the affairs are pale and bloodless," and "you sowed these things shamefully and reaped them badly"; for this is too poetic.
καὶ ὡς Ἀλκιδάμας τὴν φιλοσοφίαν
ἐπιτείχισμα τῷ νόμῳ
, καὶ τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν
καλὸν ἀνθρωπίνου βίου κάτοπτρον
, καὶ
οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἄθυρμα τῇ ποιήσει προσφέρων
· ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα ἀπίθανα διὰ τὰ εἰρημένα.
And as Alcidamas called philosophy "a fortress against the law," and the Odyssey "a beautiful mirror of human life," and "introducing no such toy to poetry"; for all these are unpersuasive for the reasons stated.
τὸ δὲ Γοργίου εἰς τὴν χελιδόνα, ἐπεὶ κατʼ αὐτοῦ πετομένη ἀφῆκε τὸ περίττωμα, ἄριστα ἔχει τῶν τραγικῶν· εἶπε γὰρ
αἰσχρόν γε, ὦ Φιλομήλα
.
But Gorgias' address to the swallow, when it flew over him and let go its droppings, is the best of tragic utterances; for he said, "Shame on you, Philomela." For to a bird, if it did this, it was not shameful, but to a maiden it was.
ὄρνιθι μὲν γάρ, εἰ ἐποίησεν, οὐκ αἰσχρόν, παρθένῳ δὲ αἰσχρόν. εὖ οὖν ἐλοιδόρησεν εἰπὼν ὃ ἦν, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὃ ἔστιν.
Well, therefore, did he reproach her by saying what she had been, not what she was.