(6) τά τε τῆς ἀντιμιμήσεως αὐτῶν τῆς παρασκευῆς ἡμῶν τῷ μὲν ἡμετέρῳ τρόπῳ ξυνήθη τέ ἐστι κτλ., vii. 67.
(7) τοὺς γὰρ ἂν ψιλοὺς τοὺς σφῶν καὶ τὸν ὄχλον τῶν Συρακοσίων τοὺς ἱππέας πολλοὺς ὄντας, σφίσι δ’ οὐ παρόντων ἱππέων, βλάπτειν ἂν μεγάλα, vi. 64.
(8) καὶ τοῦ Κλέωνος καίπερ μανιώδης οὖσα ἡ ὑπόσχεσις ἀπέβη, iv. 39.
(9) καὶ τριήρης τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἁλίσκεται τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὑπὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων ἐφορμοῦσα τῷ λιμένι, vii. 3.[204]
Similarly in other authors: e.g. καὶ δὴ καὶ τότε τοῦ Θρασυμάχου τὴν ἀπόρρησιν οὐκ ἀπεδέξατο, Plato Rep. ii. 357 A (where, however, the meaning may be “would not accept from Thrasymachus his withdrawal”); and ὣς φάτο, τῷ δ’ ἄρα πατρὸς ὑφ’ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο, Hom. Il. xxiv. 507; and
τούτων ἐγὼ οὐκ ἔμελλον, ἀνδρὸς οὐδενὸς
φρόνημα δείσασ’, ἐν θεοῖσι τὴν δίκην
δώσειν.
Soph. Antig. 458-60.[205]
If in some of these instances the order is not absolutely unambiguous, still less is it so in other and more miscellaneous extracts about to be given. The writer of artistic prose, as of poetry, has to satisfy claims which are often hard to reconcile: those of clearness, of emphasis, and of euphony.[206] The result may often be a more or less unconscious compromise in which one of the elements prospers at the expense of the others. Euphony, to take that element alone, is expected to please the ear in many different ways—by the avoidance of harsh letters (found singly or in combination), of short syllables in close succession, of monotony in word-terminations, of monotony in every shape and form. Obscurity may well ensue, especially in a literature which does not aid the eye by means of punctuation, capital letters (to denote proper names or the beginning of a sentence), italic type, or division into paragraphs and chapters. To set against these deficiencies, there was the help provided by the reciter or the skilled anagnostes; and it is often interesting to speculate how, by a slight pause or modulation of the voice, a practised reader would be able to remove a seeming ambiguity. In poetry, again, metre would often be an aid to clear delivery, though its exigencies might on the other hand have led to some ambiguities in the actual writing. No careful modern student of a highly-wrought speech, like the Crown of Demosthenes, can have failed to be arrested momentarily, here and there, by some slight ambiguity which, as far as he can judge, might have been removed by an equally slight change in the word-order; and he gains much in the appreciation of Demosthenes if he is thus led to consider what are the subtle laws of rhythm and melody to which an absolutely unimpeachable lucidity has (in however small a degree) given way. He will certainly be led to the conclusion that, in Greek, good order is by no means the simple thing it may seem when achieved, but rather is the highly complex result of the play of many forces. The following examples, drawn from various authors in poetry and in prose, may be found suggestive. They are of set purpose presented without any attempt at sequence or classification, except that a considerable number of extracts from the de Corona are grouped together:—
(1) καί μοι τὸν υἱόν, εἰ μεμάθηκε τὸν λόγον
ἐκεῖνον, εἴφ’, ὃν ἀρτίως εἰσήγαγες.
Aristoph. Nub. 1148.