10. Having settled
these questions, we must next state the sources of smart and popular sayings.
They are produced either by natural genius or by practice; to show what they are
is the function of this inquiry.
[2]
Let us
therefore begin by giving a full list of them, and let our starting-point be the
following. Easy learning is naturally pleasant to all, and words mean something,
so that all words which make us learn something are most pleasant. Now we do not
know the meaning of strange words, and proper terms we know already. It is
metaphor, therefore, that above all produces this effect; for when Homer1 calls old age stubble, he teaches
and informs us through the genus; for both have lost their bloom.
[3]
The similes of the poets also have the same effect;
wherefore, if they are well constructed, an impression of smartness is produced.
For the simile, as we have said, is a metaphor differing only by the addition of
a word,2 wherefore it
is less pleasant because it is longer; it does not say that this is
that, so that
the mind does not even examine this.
[4]
Of necessity, therefore, all style and
enthymemes that give us rapid information are smart. This is the reason why
superficial enthymemes, meaning those that are obvious to all and need no mental
effort, and those which, when stated, are not understood, are not popular, but
only those which are understood the moment they are stated, or those of which
the meaning, although not clear at first, comes a little later; for from the
latter a kind of knowledge results, from the former neither the one nor the
other.3
[5]
In regard to the meaning of what is said, then,
such enthymemes are popular. As to style, popularity of form is due to
antithetical statement; for instance, “accounting the peace that all
shared to be a war against their private interests,”4
where “war” is opposed to “peace”;
[6]
as to words, they are popular if they
contain metaphor, provided it be neither strange, for then it is difficult to
take in at a glance, nor superficial, for then it does not impress the hearer;
further, if they set things “before the eyes”; for we ought
to see what is being done rather than what is going to be done. We ought
therefore to aim at three things—metaphor, antithesis, actuality.
[7]
Of the four kinds of metaphor5
the most popular are those
based on proportion. Thus, Pericles said that the youth that had perished during
the war had disappeared from the State as if the year had lost its
springtime.6 Leptines,
speaking of the Lacedaemonians, said that he would not let the Athenians stand
by and see Greece deprived of one of
her eyes. When Chares was eager to have his accounts for the Olynthian war
examined, Cephisodotus indignantly exclaimed that, now he had the people by the
throat, he was trying to get his accounts examined7; on another occasion
also he exhorted the Athenians to set out for Euboea without delay “and provision themselves there,
like the decree of Miltiades.8” After the
Athenians had made peace with Epidaurus
and the maritime cities, Iphicrates indignantly declared “that they
had deprived themselves of provisions for the war.”9 Pitholaus called the Paralus10 “the bludgeon of
the people,” and Sestos
“the corn-chest11 of the Piraeus.” Pericles recommended that Aegina, “the eyesore of the
Piraeus,” should be
removed. Moerocles, mentioning a very “respectable” person
by name, declared that he was as much a scoundrel as himself; for whereas that
honest man played the scoundrel at 33 per cent. he himself was satisfied with 10
per cent.12 And the iambic of
Anaxandrides,13 on girls who were
slow to
marry, “
My daughters are “past the time” of marriage.
” And the saying of Polyeuctus14 upon a certain paralytic named
Speusippus, “that he could not keep quiet, although Fortune had bound
him in a five-holed pillory of disease.” Cephisodotus called the
triremes “parti-colored mills,”15 and
[Diogenes] the Cynic used to say that the taverns16 were “the messes” of
Attica. Aesion17 used to say
that they had “drained” the State into Sicily,18 which is a metaphor
and sets the thing before the eyes. His words “so that Greece uttered a cry” are also in a
manner a metaphor and a vivid one. And again, as Cephisodotus bade the Athenians
take care not to hold their “concourses” too often; and in
the same way Isocrates, who spoke of those “who rush
together” in the assemblies.19 And as
Lysias says in his Funeral Oration, that it was right that Greece should cut her hair at the tomb of
those who fell at Salamis, since her
freedom was buried along with their valor. If the speaker had said that it was
fitting that Greece should weep, her
valor being buried with them, it would have been a metaphor and a vivid one,
whereas
“freedom” by the side of “valor”
produces a kind of antithesis. And as Iphicrates said, “The path of my
words leads through the center of the deeds of Chares”; here the
metaphor is proportional and the words “through the center”
create vividness. Also, to say that one “calls upon dangers to help
against dangers” is a vivid metaphor. And Lycoleon on behalf of
Chabrias said, “not even reverencing the suppliant attitude of his
statue of bronze,”20 a metaphor for the moment, not for all time, but still
vivid; for when Chabrias is in danger, the statue intercedes for him, the
inanimate becomes animate, the memorial of what he has done for the State. And
“in every way studying poorness of spirit,”21 for “studying” a thing implies to
increase it.22 And that “reason
is a light that God has kindled in the soul,” for both the words
reason and light make something clear. “For we do not put an end to
wars, but put them off,”23 for both ideas refer to the
future—putting off and a peace of such a kind. And again, it is a
metaphor to say that such a treaty is “a trophy far more splendid than
those gained in war; for the latter are raised in memory of trifling advantages
and a single favor of fortune, but the former commemorates the end of the whole
war”;24
for both treaty and trophy are signs of victory. Again, that cities also
render
a heavy account to the censure of men; for
rendering an account25
is a sort of just punishment.
This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
View text chunked by:
1 Hom. Od. 24.213 ἀλλ᾽ ἔμπης καλάμην γέ σ᾽ ὀΐμαι εἰσορόωντα γιγνώσκειν. The words are those of Odysseus, whom Athene had changed into an old beggar, to Eumaeus, his faithful swineherd, in whose house he was staying unrecognized.
2 προσθέσει: the addition of the particle of comparison ὡς. προθέσει （the reading of the Paris ms.） would mean, （1） “manner of setting forth” （Cope）, or （2） “a metaphor, with a preface” （Jebb） （but the meaning of this is not clear）. The simile only says that one thing resembles another, not, like the metaphor, that it is another; since the speaker does not say this, the result is that the mind of the hearer does not go into the matter, and so the chance of instruction, of acquiring some information, is lost.
3 The meaning is: the two kinds of enthymemes mentioned last do convey some information, whereas the superficial enthymemes teach nothing, either at once, or a little later, when reflection has made the meaning clear.
5 In Aristot. Poet. 21 metaphor and its four classes are defined: “Metaphor consists in assigning to a thing the name of something else; and this may take place either from genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or proportionally. An instance of a metaphor from genus to species is ‘here stands my ship,’ for ‘standing’ is a genus, ‘being moored’ a species; from species to genus: ‘Odysseus truly has wrought a myriad good deeds,’ for ‘myriad’ is a specific large number, used for the generic ‘multitude’; from species to species: ‘having drawn off the life with the bronze’ and ‘having cut it with the unyielding bronze,’ where ‘drawn off’ is used in the sense of ‘cut,’ and ‘cut’ in the sense of ‘drawn off,’ both being species of ‘taking away.’” For the proportional metaphor see note on 4.4 above.
6 1.7.34.
7 εὔθυνα was the technical term for the examination of accounts to which all public officers had to submit when their term of office expired. Cephisodotus and Chares were both Athenian generals. “Having the people by the throat” may refer to the condition of Athens financially and his unsatisfactory conduct of the war. But the phrase εἰς πνῖγμα τὸν δῆμον ἔχοντα is objected to by Cope, who reads ἀγαγόντα and translates: “that he drove the people into a fit of choking by his attempts to offer his accounts for scrutiny in this way,” i.e. he tried to force his accounts down their throats, and nearly choked them. Another reading suggested is ἄγχοντα （throttling so as to choke）.
8 This may refer to a decree of Miltiades which was so speedily carried out that it became proverbial. The expedition was undertaken to assist Euboea against Thebes.
9 By making peace, Iphicrates said that the Athenians had deprived themselves of the opportunity of attacking and plundering a weak maritime city, and so securing provisions for the war. The word ἐφόδια properly means provisions for a journey and travelling expenses.
10 The Paralus and Salaminia were the two sacred galleys which conveyed state prisoners.
11 It commanded the trade of the Euxine.
12 Moerocles was a contemporary of Demosthenes, and an anti-Macedonian in politics. He seems to have been a money-grubber and was once prosecuted for extortion. The degree of the respectability （or rather, the swindling practices） of each is calculated by their respective profits.
13 Poet of the Middle Comedy: Frag. 68 （Kock, Com. Att. Frag. 2.）. The metaphor in ὑπερήμενοι is from those who failed to keep the term of payment of a fine or debt. Cope translates: “I find （ μοι） the young ladies are . . .”
14 Athenian orator, contemporary of Demosthenes
15 As grinding down the tributary states. They differed from ordinary mills in being gaily painted.
16 Contrasted with the Spartan “messes,” which were of a plain and simple character, at which all the citizens dined together. The tavern orgies, according to Diogenes, represented these at Athens.
17 Athenian orator, opponent of Demosthenes.
18 Referring to the disastrous Sicilian expedition.
19 Isoc. 5.12. Both συνδρομάς and συντρέχοντας refer to the collecting of a mob in a state of excitement.
20 The statue of Chabrias, erected after one of his victories, represented him as kneeling on the ground, the position which he had ordered his soldiers to take up when awaiting the enemy. The statue was in the agora and could be seen from the court. Lycoleon points to it, and bases his appeal on its suppliant attitude.
22 Metaphor from species to genus （10.7, first note.）, “studying” being a species of “increasing.” As a rule one studies to increase some good quality, not a bad one.
24 Isoc. 4.180 （apparently from memory）.
25 εὔθυνα （see 10.7, third note） further implies the punishment for an unsatisfactory statement of accounts.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.