λεῖα μίσγοντα καὶ σκληροῖς μαλακὰ καὶ κακοφώνοις εὔφωνα
καὶ δυσεκφόροις εὐπρόφορα καὶ βραχέσι μακρά, καὶ τἆλλα
τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον εὐκαίρως συντιθέντα καὶ μήτ’ ὀλιγοσύλλαβα
πολλὰ ἑξῆς λαμβάνοντα (κόπτεται γὰρ ἡ ἀκρόασις) μήτε
πολυσύλλαβα πλείω τῶν ἱκανῶν, μήδε δὴ ὁμοιότονα παρ’ 5
ὁμοιοτόνοις μήδ’ ὁμοιόχρονα παρ’ ὁμοιοχρόνοις. χρὴ δὲ καὶ
τὰς πτώσεις τῶν ὀνοματικῶν ταχὺ μεταλαμβάνειν (μηκυνόμεναι
γὰρ ἔξω τοῦ μετρίου πάνυ προσίστανται ταῖς ἀκοαῖς) καὶ
τὴν ὁμοιότητα διαλύειν συνεχῶς ὀνομάτων τε τῶν ἑξῆς
τιθεμένων πολλῶν καὶ ῥημάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μερῶν τὸν 10
κόρον φυλαττομένους, σχήμασί τε μὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀεὶ
μένειν ἀλλὰ θαμινὰ μεταβάλλειν καὶ τρόπους μὴ τοὺς αὐτοὺς
ἐπεισφέρειν, ἀλλὰ ποικίλλειν, μηδὲ δὴ ἄρχεσθαι πολλάκις ἀπὸ
τῶν αὐτῶν μηδὲ λήγειν εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ ὑπερτείνοντας τὸν ἑκατέρου
καιρόν. 15
καὶ μηδεὶς οἰηθῇ με καθάπαξ ταῦτα παραγγέλλειν ὡς
ἡδονῆς αἴτια διὰ παντὸς ἐσόμενα ἢ τἀναντία ὀχλήσεως· οὐχ
οὕτως ἀνόητός εἰμι· οἶδα γὰρ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν γινομένην πολλάκις
ἡδονήν, τοτὲ μὲν ἐκ τῶν ὁμοιογενῶν, τοτὲ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἀνομοιογενῶν·
ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ πάντων οἴομαι δεῖν τὸν καιρὸν ὁρᾶν· οὗτος 20
γὰρ ἡδονῆς καὶ ἀηδίας κράτιστον μέτρον. καιροῦ δὲ οὔτε
ῥήτωρ οὐδεὶς οὔτε φιλόσοφος εἰς τόδε χρόνου τέχνην ὥρισεν,
οὐδ’ ὅσπερ πρῶτος ἐπεχείρησε περὶ αὐτοῦ γράφειν Γοργίας
mingling and fusion and juxtaposition,—by mingling smooth with rough, soft with hard, cacophonous with melodious, easy to pronounce with hard to pronounce, long with short; and generally by happy combinations of the same kind. Many words of few syllables must not be used in succession (for this jars upon the ear), nor an excessive number of polysyllabic words; and we must avoid the monotony of setting side by side words similarly accented or agreeing in their quantities. We must quickly vary the cases of substantives (since, if continued unduly, they greatly offend the ear); and in order to guard against satiety, we must constantly break up the effect of sameness entailed by placing many nouns, or verbs, or other parts of speech, in close succession. We must not always adhere to the same figures, but change them frequently; we must not re-introduce the same metaphors, but vary them; we must not exceed due measure by beginning or ending with the same words too often.
Still, let no one think that I am proclaiming these as universal rules—that I suppose keeping them will always produce pleasure, or breaking them always produce annoyance. I am not so foolish. I know that pleasure often arises from both sources—from similarity at one time, from dissimilarity at another. In every case we must, I think, keep in view good taste, for this is the best criterion of charm and its opposite. But about good taste no rhetorician or philosopher has, so far, produced a definite treatise. The man who first undertook to write on the subject, Gorgias of Leontini, achieved nothing
2 εὐπρόφορα] εὔφορα F 3 συντεθέντα F 4 πολλὰ ... (5) πολυσύλλαβα om. P. 7 μηκυνόμενά τε γὰρ F: μηκυνόμεναί τε γὰρ M 8 προίστανται F 9 τε τῶν Us.: τέ τινων F, E: τινῶν PMV 11 φυλασσομένους EF: φυλαττόμενον s || ἐπὶ FE: om. PMV || ἀεὶ μένειν EF: διαμένειν PMV 14 ὑπερτείνοντας Us.: ὑπερτείνοντα libri 17 τἀναντία FE: τοὐναντίον PMV 19 ὁμοιογενῶν EM: ὁμοίων γενῶν F: ἀνομοίων PV || ἀνομοιογενῶν EFM: ὁμογενῶν PV 22 τόδε χρόνου FMV: τὸ λέγειν P 23 πρῶτον P
2. Compare the scholia of Maximus Planudes on the π. ἰδ. of Hermogenes: τοῦτο γάρ φησι καὶ Διονύσιος, ὅτι δεῖ μιγνύειν βραχέσι μακρὰ καὶ πολυσυλλάβοις ὀλιγοσύλλαβα, τοῦτο γὰρ ἡδέως διατίθησι τὴν ἀκοήν (Walz Rhett. Gr. v. 520).
12. Cp. Anonymi scholia on Hermog. π. ἰδ. (Walz vii. 1049), διὰ τοῦτο κάλλους ἴδιον ὁ ῥυθμός, εἴτε βέβηκεν εἴτε μή· ἐπειδὴ κατὰ Διονύσιον ἡδύνει τὴν ἀκοὴν καὶ ποικίλλει, καὶ μὴ ἄρχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν, μηδὲ λήγειν εἰς αὐτά, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐξ ἁπάντων καλῶν ῥυθμῶν, τουτέστι ποδῶν, συγκεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον· ἀνάγκη γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτω καλὸν εἶναι· τάττει δὲ τὸν σπονδεῖον μετ’ αὐτῶν.
14. ὑπερτείνοντας ... καιρόν: lit. ‘exceeding due measure in either case.’ On the whole, Usener is perhaps right in reading the plural here and in l. 11; clearness, and variety of termination, recommend the change. But (1) all MSS. have ὑπερτείνοντα, (2) the singular has been used in ll. 1, 3, 4 supra, and so might as well be maintained to the end, while φυλαττομένους (instead of φυλαττόμενον) might arise from the initial σ of σχήμασι.