ἐκ δ’ ἄρα οἱ χειρῶν πέσεν ἄγγεα, τοῖς ἐπονεῖτο
κιρνὰς αἴθοπα οἶνον. ὁ δ’ ἀντίος ἔδραμ’ ἄνακτος·
κύσσε δέ μιν κεφαλήν τε καὶ ἄμφω φάεα καλὰ
χεῖράς τ’ ἀμφοτέρας· θαλερὸν δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε δάκρυ.
ταῦθ’ ὅτι μὲν ἐπάγεται καὶ κηλεῖ τὰς ἀκοὰς ποιημάτων 5
τε τῶν πάνυ ἡδίστων οὐδενὸς ἥττω μοῖραν ἔχει, πάντες ἂν
οἶδ’ ὅτι μαρτυρήσειαν. ποῦ δὴ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ πειθὼ καὶ
διὰ τί τοιαῦτά ἐστι, πότερον διὰ τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων
ἢ διὰ τὴν σύνθεσιν; οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι διὰ τὴν ἐκλογήν, ὡς
ἐγὼ πείθομαι· διὰ γὰρ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων καὶ ταπεινοτάτων 10
ὀνομάτων πέπλεκται πᾶσα ἡ λέξις, οἷς ἂν καὶ γεωργὸς καὶ
θαλαττουργὸς καὶ χειροτέχνης καὶ πᾶς ὁ μηδεμίαν ὤραν τοῦ
λέγειν εὖ ποιούμενος ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαβὼν ἐχρήσατο. λυθέντος
γοῦν τοῦ μέτρου φαῦλα φανήσεται τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἄζηλα·
οὔτε γὰρ μεταφοραί τινες ἐν αὐτοῖς εὐγενεῖς ἔνεισιν οὔτε 15
ὑπαλλαγαὶ οὔτε καταχρήσεις οὔτ’ ἄλλη τροπικὴ διάλεκτος
οὐδεμία, οὐδὲ δὴ γλῶτται πολλαί τινες οὐδὲ ξένα ἢ πεποιημένα
ὀνόματα. τί οὖν λείπεται μὴ οὐχὶ τὴν σύνθεσιν τοῦ
κάλλους τῆς ἑρμηνείας αἰτιᾶσθαι; τοιαῦτα δ’ ἐστὶ παρὰ τῷ
Dropped from his hands to the floor the bowls, wherein erst he began
The flame-flushed wine to pour, and to meet his lord he ran;
And he kissed that dear-loved head, and both his beautiful eyes;
And he kissed his hands, and he shed warm tears in his glad surprise.[89]
Everybody would, I am sure, testify that these lines cast a spell of enchantment on the ear, and rank second to no poetry whatsoever, however exquisite it may be. But what is the secret of their fascination, and what causes them to be what they are? Is it the selection of words, or the composition? No one will say “the selection”: of that I am convinced. For the diction consists, warp and woof, of the most ordinary, the humblest words, such as might have been used off-hand by a farmer, a seaman, an artisan, or anybody else who takes no account of elegant speech. You have only to break up the metre, and these very same lines will seem commonplace and unworthy of admiration. For they contain neither noble metaphors nor hypallages nor catachreses nor any other figurative language; nor yet many unusual terms, nor foreign or new-coined words. What alternative, then, is left but to attribute the beauty of the style to the composition? There are countless
1 πέσον Hom. 2 αἴθωπα PM || ἔδραμ(εν) F: ἔδραμ’ E: ἦλθεν PMV Hom. 3 καὶ φαλήν P 5 ἐπάγεταί τε καὶ F 6 τῶν F: καὶ τῶν PMV || οὐδ’ ἑνὸς F1 || ἥττων F 7 εὖ ante οἶδ’ habet F 8 τοιαύτη F1 || πότερα F 9 ἐκλογ[ὴ]ν cum litura P || ὡς ἐγὼ πείθομαι om. F 10 καὶ FE: τε καὶ PMV 12 ὤραν Sylburgius: ὥραν PMV: ὧραν F γρ φροντίδα in marg. M 13 λαβῶν P 14 γοὖν F: γ’ οὖν P 15 ἐν αὐτοῖς (αὐταῖς P) εὐγενεῖς ἔνεισιν PMV: εἰσὶν εὐγενεῖς ἐν αὐτοῖς EF 16 οὔτε ἄλλη PV || οὐδεμία διάλεκτος F 17 οὐδεδὴ P: οὔτε δὴ FMV || γλῶσσαι F || οὐδὲ Sauppius: οὔτε PMV: ἢ in rasura F2 19 τοιαῦτ(α) (εστι) P,MV
7. Perhaps ποῦ δὲ δή: cp. [116] 9.
9. Cp. Hor. Ars P. 47 “dixeris egregie notum si callida verbum | reddiderit iunctura novum.”
On the other hand, the importance of ἐκλογή is illustrated by Aristotle’s comparison (Poetics xxii. 7) of νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἀεικής with νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν μικρός τε καὶ ἀσθενικὸς καὶ ἀειδής.
10. Cp. J. W. Mackail in Class. Rev. xxii. 70, “A quality of the finest Greek poetry, from Homer to the late anthologists, is its power of taking common language and transforming it into poetry by an all but imperceptible touch.” The quality is exemplified in Euripides, though it did not originate with him (κλέπτεται δ’ εὖ, ἐάν τις ἐκ τῆς εἰωθυίας διαλέκτου ἐκλέγων συντιθῇ· ὅπερ Εὐριπίδης ποιεῖ καὶ ὑπέδειξε πρῶτος, Aristot. Rhet. iii. 2, 4: cp. Long. p. 146). So “tantum series iuncturaque pollet, | tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris” (Hor. Ars P. 242-3).