§9.3.74magnae veteribus curae fuit gratiam dicendi et paribus et contrariis acquirere.
It was of great care to the ancients to acquire the grace of speaking by both equals and contraries.
Gorgias in hoc immodicus, copiosus aetate utique prima Isocrates fuit.
Gorgias was immoderate in this, and Isocrates was copious, at least in his early age.
delectatus est his etiam M. Tullius, verum et modum adhibuit non ingratae, nisi copia redundet, voluptati et rem alioqui leuem sententiarum pondere implevit.
M. Tullius also was delighted with these, but he both applied a limit to a pleasure which is not unpleasing, unless it overflows in abundance, and filled a matter otherwise light with the weight of thoughts.
nam per se frigida et inanis adfectatio, cum in acres incidit sensus, innatam gratiam videtur habere non arcessitam.
For an affectation, cold and empty in itself, when it falls upon sharp thoughts, seems to have an innate, not a fetched grace.
§9.3.75similium fere quadruplex ratio est.
The ratio of similar things is almost fourfold.
nam est primum, quotiens verbum verbo aut non dissimile valde quaeritur, ut
"
puppesque tuae pubesque tuorum; "
et sic in hac calamitosa fama quasi in aliqua perniciosissima flamma, et non enim tam spes laudanda quam res est, aut certe par et extremis syllabis consonans: non verbis, sed armis. §9.3.76sed hoc quoque, quotiens in sententias acres incidit, pulchrum est: quantum possis, in eo semper experire, it prosis. hoc est πάρισον, ut plerisque placuit.
For there is first, as often as a word not very dissimilar to a word is sought, as "your ships and the youth of your people;" and thus: "in this calamitous rumor as if in some most destructive flame," and "for it is not so much hope that is to be praised as the reality," or certainly equal and sounding together in the last syllables: "not with words, but with arms." But this also, as often as it falls upon sharp thoughts, is beautiful: "always try in that which you can, so that you may benefit." This is parison, as it has pleased most.
Theo Stoicus πάρισον existimat, quod sit e membris non dissimilibus.
Theo the Stoic thinks parison is that which is of members not dissimilar.
§9.3.77secundum, ut clausula similiter cadat, syllabis iisdem in ultimam partem collatis: ὁμοιοτέλευτον vocant similem duarum sententiarum vel plurium finem: non modo ad salutem eius exstinguendam, sed etiam gloriam per tales viros infingendam. ex quibus fere fiunt, non tamen ut semper utique ultimis consonent, quae τρίκωλα dicuntur: vicit pudorem libido, timorem audacia, rationem amentia.
The second is that the clause falls similarly, the same syllables being brought together into the last part: they call the similar end of two or more sentences homoioteleuton: "not only to extinguish his safety, but also to infringe his glory through such men." From which are generally made, though not so that they always sound together in the very last syllables, those which are called trikola: "lust conquered shame, audacity fear, madness reason." But this ratio can also go into four or more sentences.
sed in quaternas quoque ac plures haec ratio ire sententias potest. fit etiam singulis verbis: Hecuba hoc dolet, pudet, piget; et abiit, excessit, erupit, evasit. §9.3.78tertium est, quod in eosdem casus cadit, ὁμοιόπτωτον dicitur.
It happens also with single words: "Hecuba grieves at this, is ashamed, is vexed;" and "he went away, he withdrew, he broke forth, he escaped." The third is that which falls into the same cases, it is called homoioptoton.
sed neque, quod finem habet similem, utique in eundem venit finem ὁμοιόπτωτον, quia ὁμοιόπτωτον est tantum casu simile, etiamsi dissimilia sint quae declinentur; nec tantum in fine deprehenditur, sed respondentibus vel primis inter se vel mediis vel extremis vel etiam permutatis his, ut media primis et summa mediis accommodentur, et quocunque modo accommodari potest.
But neither does that which has a similar end necessarily come to the same end as homoioptoton, because homoioptoton is similar only in case, even if the things which are declined are dissimilar; nor is it detected only at the end, but with either the first words corresponding among themselves, or the middle, or the last, or even with these exchanged, so that the middle are adapted to the first and the last to the middle, and in whatever way it can be adapted.
§9.3.79neque enim semper paribus syllabis constat, ut est apud Afrum, amisso nuper infelicis aulae si non praesidio inter pericula tamen solacio inter adversa. eius fere videntur optima, in quibus initia sententiarum et fines, consentiunt, ut hic praesidio solacio, pericula adversa, paene ut similia sint verbis et paribus cadant et eodem modo desinant.
For neither does it always consist of equal syllables, as is in Afer: "having lately lost, of that unhappy court, if not a defense among dangers, yet a consolation among adversities." Of this, those seem generally the best in which the beginnings of sentences and the ends agree, as here "defense, consolation," "dangers, adversities," so that they are almost similar in words and fall in equals and end in the same way.
§9.3.80etiam ut sint, quod est quartum, membris aequalibus, quod ἰσόκωλον dicitur: si, quantum in agro locisque desertis audacia potest, tantum in foro atque iudiciis impudentia valeret ἰσόκωλον est et ὁμοιόπτωτον habet; non minus nunc in causa cederet Aulus Caecina Sexti Aebutii impudentiae, quam tum in vi facienda cessit audaciae, ἰσόκωλον, ὁμοιόπτωτον, ὁμοιοτέλευτον.
Also that they are, which is the fourth, of equal members, which is called isokolon: "if, as much as audacity can do in the field and desert places, so much impudence were powerful in the forum and courts" is isokolon and has homoioptoton; "not less now in the cause would Aulus Caecina yield to the impudence of Sextus Aebutius, than then in committing violence he yielded to audacity" is isokolon, homoioptoton, homoioteleuton.
accedit et ex illa figura gratia, qua nomina dixi mutatis casibus repeti: non minus cederet quam cessit. at hoc ὁμοιοτέλευτον et παρονομασία est: neminem alteri posse dare in matrimonium, nisi penes quem sit patrimonium. §9.3.81contrapositum autem vel, ut quidam vocant, contentio (ἀντίθετον dicitur) non uno fit modo.
There is added also a grace from that figure by which I said words are repeated with changed cases: "would yield" and "yielded." But this is homoioteleuton and paronomasia: "that no one can give another in marriage, unless he in whose possession is the patrimony." But the contraposed, or as some call it, comparison, which is called antitheton, is made not in one way.
nam et fit, si singula singulis opponuntur, ut in eo quod modo dixi, uicit pudorem libido, timorem audacia, et bina binis: non nostri ingenii, vestri auxilii est, et sententiae sententiis: dominetur in contionibus, iaceat in iudiciis.
For it is made if single things are opposed to single, as in that which I just said, "lust conquered shame, audacity fear," and two to two: "it is not of our talent, but of your help," and sentences to sentences: "let him dominate in public assemblies, let him lie prostrate in courts."