The characteristic feature of the austere arrangement is this:—It requires that the words should be like columns firmly planted and placed in strong positions, so that each word should be seen on every side, and that the parts should be at appreciable distances from one another, being separated by perceptible intervals. It does not in the least shrink from using frequently harsh sound-clashings which jar on the ear; like blocks of building stone that are laid together unworked, blocks that are not square and smooth, but preserve their natural roughness and irregularity.
1 εὔκρατον EF: κοινὴν PMV 2 κατὰ E: κατὰ τὴν FPMV 3 μίξιν F 4 ἦι P: ἦν F || κατὰ τὴν FPMV: κατὰ E 5 τε καὶ τὴν PMV: τε καὶ F: καὶ E 6 ἐν om. P 7 νήτης F: νεάτης PMV 8 χαρακτὴρ om. PV 9 ἴσως F 11 ὥσπερ F: ὡς PMV 12 καὶ F: om. PMV || ὅσα εἰπεῖν codd.: ἂν ins. Schaeferus 13 ἄν μοι F: ἂν οἶμαι PMV || δεήσειε F: δεήσει P: δεήσειν MV 17 περιφερίας F 18 διατάσεις F 20 οἷαι F: οἳ P: οἷον MV 21 αἱ μη F: αἱ μὴτε P, MV 22 καὶ μὴ F: μὴδε P || ἀργαὶ δὲ] γὰρ αἷδε F
1. Here (and in [246] 11) it is open to question whether κοινήν does not fit the context better than εὔκρατον.
2. The passage of Pindar is quoted in Cic. Ep. ad Att. xiii. 38 “nunc me iuva, mi Attice, consilio, ‘πότερον δίκᾳ τεῖχος ὕψιον,’ id est utrum aperte hominem asperner et respuam, ‘ἢ σκολιαῖς ἀπάταις.’ ut enim Pindaro sic ‘δίχα μοι νόος ἀτρέκειαν εἰπεῖν.’ omnino moribus meis illud aptius, sed hoc fortasse temporibus.”
3. κατὰ μῖξιν: sc. τῶν ἄκρων. —Cp. de Demosth. c. 36 οἱ δὲ συνθέντες ἀφ’ ἑκατέρας τὰ χρησιμώτατα τὴν μικτὴν καὶ μέσην ἐζήλωσαν ἀγωγήν.
4. μή ποτ’ ... ᾖ: a favourite Platonic usage, e.g. Gorgias 462 E μὴ ἀγροικότερον ᾖ τὸ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, Apol. 39 A ἀλλὰ μὴ οὐ τοῦτ’ ᾖ χαλεπόν, ὦ ἄνδρες, θάνατον ἐκφυγεῖν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ χαλεπώτερον πονηρίαν.
5. The intermediate, or eclectic, styles are numerous and differ greatly according as they relax or strain the extreme, or pronounced, styles: cp. de Demosth. c. 37 init.
8. A point worth considering is how far this may seem to make for or against the view that the Dionysian doctrine of styles is Peripatetic in origin, being derived from Theophrastus.
10. σωρός: cp. σωρείτης (Lat. acervalis, Cic. de Div. ii. 4. 11), in the sense which it bears in Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 45-47 and Cic. Academ. ii. 16. 49.
15. Batteux (p. 249) would illustrate the austere style from Rousseau’s Ode i. 2 (tirée du Psaume xviii.), “Les cieux instruisent la terre | À révérer leur auteur; | Tout ce que leur globe enserre | Célèbre un Dieu créateur,” etc.—With c. 22 of the C.V. should be compared, throughout, cc. 38, 39 of the de Demosth.