[90]
already dealt with the methods of
invention and arrangement, and shall therefore now
concern myself with the way in which style may
elevate or depress the subject in hand.
IV. The first method of amplification or attenuation
is to be found in the actual word employed to
describe a thing. For example, we may say that
a man who was beaten was murdered, or that a dishonest fellow is a robber, or, on the other hand, we
may say that one who struck another merely touched
him, and that one who wounded another merely hurt
him. The following passage from the pro Caelio,1
provides examples of both: “If a widow lives
freely, if being by nature bold she throws restraint
to the winds, makes wealth an excuse for luxury,
and strong passions for playing the harlot, would
this be a reason for my regarding a man who was
somewhat free in his method of saluting her to be
an adulterer?”
1 xvi. 38.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
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.