these are all. There are many excellent authors who have been distinguished in one or both of these qualities. It is not possible at present to adduce examples from the writings of each one of them; I must not waste time over such details; and besides, if it seems incumbent on me to say something about some of them individually, and to quote from them anywhere in support of my views, I shall have a more suitable opportunity for doing so, when I sketch the various types of literary arrangement. For the present, what I have said of them is quite sufficient. So I will now return to the division I made of composition into charming and beautiful, in order that my discourse may “keep to the track,” as the saying is.
Well, I said that the ear delighted first of all in melody, then in rhythm, thirdly in variety, and finally in appropriateness as applied to these other qualities. As a witness to the truth of my words I will bring forward experience itself, for it cannot be challenged, confirmed as it is by the general sentiment of mankind. Who is there that is not enthralled by the spell of one melody while he remains unaffected in any such way by another,—that is not captivated by this rhythm while that does but jar upon him? Ere now I myself, even in the most popular theatres, thronged by a mixed and uncultured multitude, have seemed to observe that all of us have a sort of natural appreciation for correct melody and good rhythm. I have seen an accomplished harpist, of high repute, hissed by the public because he struck a single false note and so spoilt the melody. I have seen, too, a flute-player, who handled his instrument with the practised skill of a master, suffer the same fate because he blew thickly or, through
1 τε om. M || τούτων om. PV 3 αὐτῶν FM: αὐτὴν P || ἑκάστου FM: καθ’ ἕκαστον PV || ἐν τῷ παρόντι om. P 4 εἴ τι V: εἴ τινα F: καὶ εἴ τι P: καὶ εἴ τινα M 6 ἐπιτήδειος F 7 νυνὶ F 9 καὶ καθ’ ὁδόν] καὶ om. PMV 11 δὴ F: δὲ PMV 12 ἐν F: ἐπὶ PMV 14 παρέξω F 18 τούτων δὲ EF 20 ἐστὶν ἁπάντων PMV 24 ἀπὸ F: κα(τὰ) P, MV 25 τὸ αὐτὸ F: καὶ αὐτὸ PV: καὶ αὐτὸν M || σομφὸν F γρ M: ἀσύμφων(ον) P, M1V
9. καθ’ ὁδόν, ὥς φασι, χωρῇ ὁ λόγος. The metaphor here may be rendered ‘keep to the track’ or ‘keep to the path prescribed.’ But possibly it is not felt much more strongly than in Cicero’s “non quo ignorare vos arbitrer, sed ut ratione et via procedat oratio” (de Finibus i. 9. 29). Ratione et via (‘rationally and methodically,’ ‘on scientific principles’) often corresponds to μεθόδῳ in Greek. In [96] 25 ὁδῷ χωρεῖν is found, and ὁδοῦ τε καὶ τέχνης χωρίς in [262] 21.
13. A clearer rendering might be “the appropriateness which these three require.”
19. παντοδαπός: cp. Hor. Ars P. 212 “indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum | rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?”
20. Probably Dionysius has in mind a Greek theatre. But Roman theatres also contained sensitive hearers: cp. Cic. de Orat. iii. 196 “quotus enim quisque est qui teneat artem numerorum ac modorum? at in eis si paulum modo offensum est, ut aut contractione brevius fieret aut productione longius, theatra tota reclamant. quid, hoc non idem fit in vocibus, ut a multitudine et populo non modo catervae atque concentus, sed etiam ipsi sibi singuli discrepantes eiciantur? mirabile est, cum plurimum in faciendo intersit inter doctum et rudem, quam non multum differat in iudicando”; id. ibid. iii. 98 “quanto molliores sunt et delicatiores in cantu flexiones et falsae voculae quam certae et severae! quibus tamen non modo austeri, sed, si saepius fiunt, multitudo ipsa reclamat”; id. Parad. iii. 26 “histrio si paulum se movit extra numerum aut si versus pronuntiatus est syllaba una brevior aut longior, exsibilatur, exploditur.” In modern Italy (so it is sometimes stated) the least slip on the part of a singer excites the audience to howls of derision and execration. At Athens, an actor’s false articulation was as fatal as a singer’s false note: cp. the case of Hegelochus (Aristoph. Ran. 303, 304).
25. ἀσύμφωνον (found in P and in other MSS.) is probably an echo from line 23.