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Aristoteles: Rhetorica
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9. (22) ὅτι μὲν οὖν εὔρυθμον δεῖ εἶναι τὴν λέξιν καὶ μὴ (23) ἄρρυθμον, καὶ τίνες εὔρυθμον ποιοῦσι ῥυθμοὶ καὶ πῶς (24) ἔχοντες, εἴρηται·  τὴν δὲ λέξιν ἀνάγκη εἶναι ἢ εἰρομένην (25) καὶ τῷ συνδέσμῳ μίαν, ὥσπερ αἱ ἐν τοῖς διθυράμβοις ἀνα(26)βολαί, ἢ κατεστραμμένην καὶ ὁμοίαν ταῖς τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιη(27)τῶν ἀντιστρόφοις.  ἡ μὲν οὖν εἰρομένη λέξις ἡ ἀρχαία ἐστίν (28) [“Ἡροδότου Θουρίου ἥδ’ ἱστορίης ἀπόδειξις”] (ταύτῃ γὰρ πρό(29)τερον μὲν ἅπαντες, νῦν δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ χρῶνται)·  λέγω δὲ (30) εἰρομένην ἣ οὐδὲν ἔχει τέλος καθ’ αὑτήν, ἂν μὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα (31) <τὸ> λεγόμενον τελειωθῇ.  ἔστι δὲ ἀηδὴς διὰ τὸ ἄπειρον· τὸ γὰρ (32) τέλος πάντες βούλονται καθορᾶν·  διόπερ ἐπὶ τοῖς καμπτῆρ(33)σιν ἐκπνέουσι καὶ ἐκλύονται·  προορῶντες γὰρ τὸ πέρας οὐ (34) κάμνουσι πρότερον. 
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A sentence should break off with the long syllable: the fact that it is over should be indicated not by the scribe, or by his period—mark in the margin, but by the rhythm itself.  We have now seen that our language must be rhythmical and not destitute of rhythm, and what rhythms, in what particular shape, make it so.  Part 9. The language of prose must be either free—running, with its parts united by nothing except the connecting words, like the preludes in dithyrambs; or compact and antithetical, like the strophes of the old poets.  The free—running style is the ancient one, e.g. ’Herein is set forth the inquiry of Herodotus the Thurian.’ Every one used this method formerly; not many do so now.  By ‘free—running’ style I mean the kind that has no natural stopping—places, and comes to a stop only because there is no more to say of that subject.  This style is unsatisfying just because it goes on indefinitely—one always likes to sight a stopping—place in front of one:  it is only at the goal that men in a race faint and collapse; 
ἡ μὲν οὖν εἰρομένη [τῆς λέξεώς] ἐστιν (35) ἥδε, κατεστραμμένη δὲ ἡ ἐν περιόδοις·  λέγω δὲ περίοδον (36) λέξιν ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ τελευτὴν αὐτὴν καθ’ αὑτὴν καὶ (1409b1) μέγεθος εὐσύνοπτον.  ἡδεῖα δ’ ἡ τοιαύτη καὶ εὐμαθής, (2) ἡδεῖα μὲν διὰ τὸ ἐναντίως ἔχειν τῷ ἀπεράντῳ,  καὶ ὅτι ἀεί (3) τὶ οἴεται ἔχειν ὁ ἀκροατὴς καὶ πεπεράνθαι τι αὑτῷ, τὸ (4) δὲ μηδὲν προνοεῖν μηδὲ ἀνύειν ἀηδές·  εὐμαθὴς δὲ (5) ὅτι εὐμνημόνευτος,  τοῦτο δὲ ὅτι ἀριθμὸν ἔχει ἡ ἐν περι(6)όδοις λέξις, ὃ πάντων εὐμνημονευτότατον. 
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while they see the end of the course before them, they can keep on going.  Such, then, is the free—running kind of style; the compact is that which is in periods.  By a period I mean a portion of speech that has in itself a beginning and an end, being at the same time not too big to be taken in at a glance.  Language of this kind is satisfying and easy to follow. It is satisfying, because it is just the reverse of indefinite;  and moreover, the hearer always feels that he is grasping something and has reached some definite conclusion; whereas it is unsatisfactory to see nothing in front of you and get nowhere.  It is easy to follow, because it can easily be remembered; 
διὸ καὶ τὰ μέτρα (7) πάντες μνημονεύουσιν μᾶλλον τῶν χύδην· ἀριθμὸν γὰρ ἔχει (8) ᾧ μετρεῖται.  δεῖ δὲ τὴν περίοδον †καὶ τῇ διανοία† τετελειῶ(9)σθαι,  καὶ μὴ διακόπτεσθαι ὥσπερ τὰ Σοφοκλέους ἰαμβεῖα,
(10) Καλυδὼν μὲν ἥδε γαῖα· Πελοπίας χθονός·  (11) τοὐναντίον γὰρ ἔστιν ὑπολαβεῖν τῷ διαιρεῖσθαι, ὥσπερ καὶ (12) ἐπὶ τοῦ εἰρημένου τὴν Καλυδῶνα εἶναι τῆς Πελοποννήσου. 
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and this because language when in periodic form can be numbered, and number is the easiest of all things to remember.  That is why verse, which is measured, is always more easily remembered than prose, which is not: the measures of verse can be numbered.  The period must, further, not be completed until the sense is complete:  it must not be capable of breaking off abruptly, as may happen with the following iambic lines of Sophocles—
Calydon’s soil is this; of Pelops’ land (The smiling plains face us across the strait.) 
(13) περίοδος δὲ ἡ μὲν ἐν κώλοις ἡ δ’ ἀφελής.  ἔστιν δ’ (14) ἐν κώλοις μὲν λέξις ἡ τετελειωμένη τε καὶ διῃρημένη καὶ (15) εὐανάπνευστος, μὴ ἐν τῇ διαιρέσει †ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ περίοδος,† (16) ἀλλ’ ὅλη  (κῶλον δ’ ἐστὶν τὸ ἕτερον μόριον ταύτης)·  ἀφελῆ (17) δὲ λέγω τὴν μονόκωλον.  δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ κῶλα καὶ τὰς περι(18)όδους μήτε μυούρους εἶναι μήτε μακράς. 
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By a wrong division of the words the hearer may take the meaning to be the reverse of what it is: for instance, in the passage quoted, one might imagine that Calydon is in the Peloponnesus.  A Period may be either divided into several members or simple.  The period of several members is a portion of speech (1) complete in itself, (2) divided into parts, and (3) easily delivered at a single breath—as a whole, that is; not by fresh breath being taken at the division.  A member is one of the two parts of such a period.  By a ‘simple’ period, I mean that which has only one member. 
τὸ μὲν γὰρ μικρὸν (19) προσπταίειν πολλάκις ποιεῖ τὸν ἀκροατήν  (ἀνάγκη γὰρ ὅταν, (20) ἔτι ὁρμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ πόρρω καὶ τὸ μέτρον οὗ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ (21) ὅρον, ἀντισπασθῇ παυσαμένου, οἷον πρόσπταισιν γίγνεσθαι (22) διὰ τὴν ἀντίκρουσιν)·  τὰ δὲ μακρὰ ἀπολείπεσθαι ποιεῖ, (23) ὥσπερ οἱ ἐξωτέρω ἀποκάμπτοντες τοῦ τέρματος·  ἀπολείπουσι (24) γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι τοὺς συμπεριπατοῦντας,  ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ αἱ (25) περίοδοι αἱ μακραὶ οὖσαι λόγος γίνεται καὶ ἀναβολῇ ὅμοιον,  (26) ὥστε γίνεται ὃ ἔσκωψεν Δημόκριτος ὁ Χῖος εἰς Μελανιπ(27)πίδην ποιήσαντα ἀντὶ τῶν ἀντιστρόφων ἀναβολάς
οἷ τ’ αὐτῷ κακὰ τεύχει ἀνὴρ ἄλλῳ κακὰ τεύχων,
(28) ἡ δὲ μακρὰ ἀναβολὴ τῷ ποιήσαντι κακίστη·  (29) ἁρμόττει γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ εἰς τὰς μακροκώλους λέγειν. 
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The members, and the whole periods, should be neither curt nor long.  A member which is too short often makes the listener stumble;  he is still expecting the rhythm to go on to the limit his mind has fixed for it; and if meanwhile he is pulled back by the speaker’s stopping, the shock is bound to make him, so to speak, stumble.  If, on the other hand, you go on too long, you make him feel left behind, just as people who when walking pass beyond the boundary  before turning back leave their companions behind.  So too if a period is too long you turn it into a speech, or something like a dithyrambic prelude.  The result is much like the preludes that Democritus of Chios jeered at Melanippides for writing instead of antistrophic stanzas—
He that sets traps for another man’s feet Is like to fall into them first;
And long—winded preludes do harm to us all, But the preluder catches it worst. 
(30) αἵ τε λίαν βραχύκωλοι οὐ περίοδος γίνεται·  προπετῆ οὖν (31) ἄγει τὸν ἀκροατήν. 
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Which applies likewise to long—membered orators.  Periods whose members are altogether too short are not periods at all; 
(32) τῆς δὲ ἐν κώλοις λέξεως ἡ μὲν διῃρημένη ἐστὶν ἡ δὲ (33) ἀντικειμένη,  διῃρημένη μὲν, οἷον “πολλάκις ἐθαύμασα τῶν (34) τὰς πανηγύρεις συναγαγόντων καὶ τοὺς γυμνικοὺς ἀγῶνας (35) καταστησάντων”,  ἀντικειμένη δὲ ἐν ᾗ ἑκατέρῳ τῷ κώλῳ ἢ (1410a1) πρὸς ἐναντίῳ ἐναντίον σύγκειται ἢ ταὐτὸ ἐπέζευκται τοῖς (2) ἐναντίοις,  οἷον “ἀμφοτέρους δ’ ὤνησαν, καὶ τοὺς ὑπομεί(3)ναντας καὶ τοὺς ἀκολουθήσαντας· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ πλείω τῆς (4) οἴκοι προσεκτήσαντο, τοῖς δ’ ἱκανὴν τὴν οἴκοι κατέλιπον”·  (5) ἐναντία ὑπομονὴ ἀκολούθησις, ἱκανὸν πλεῖον. 
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and the result is to bring the hearer down with a crash.  The periodic style which is divided into members is of two kinds.  It is either simply divided, as in ‘I have often wondered at the conveners of national gatherings and the founders of athletic contests’;  or it is antithetical, where, in each of the two members, one of one pair of opposites is put along with one of another pair, or the same word is used to bracket two opposites,  as ‘They aided both parties—not only those who stayed behind but those who accompanied them: for the latter they acquired new territory larger than that at home, and to the former they left territory at home that was large enough’. 
“ὥστε καὶ (6) τοῖς χρημάτων δεομένοις καὶ τοῖς ἀπολαῦσαι βουλομένοις”· (7) ἀπόλαυσις κτήσει ἀντίκειται.  καὶ ἔτι “συμβαίνει πολλάκις (8) ἐν ταύταις καὶ τοὺς φρονίμους ἀτυχεῖν καὶ τοὺς ἄφρονας (9) κατορθοῦν”.  “εὐθὺς μὲν τῶν ἀριστείων ἠξιώθησαν, οὐ (10) πολὺ δὲ ὕστερον τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς θαλάττης ἔλαβον”.  “πλεῦ(11)σαι μὲν διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου, πεζεῦσαι δὲ διὰ τῆς θαλάττης, (12) τὸν μὲν Ἑλλήσποντον ζεύξας, τὸν δ’ Ἄθω διορύξας.”  “καὶ (13) φύσει πολίτας ὄντας νόμῳ τῆς πόλεως στέρεσθαι.”  “οἱ (14) μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν κακῶς ἀπώλοντο, οἱ δ’ αἰσχρῶς ἐσώθησαν.”  (15) “καὶ ἰδίᾳ μὲν τοῖς βαρβάροις οἰκέταις χρῆσθαι, κοινῇ δὲ (16) πολλοὺς τῶν συμμάχων περιορᾶν δουλεύοντας.”  “ἢ ζῶντας (17) ἕξειν ἢ τελευτήσαντας καταλείψειν.”  καὶ ὃ εἰς Πειθόλαόν (18) τις εἶπεν καὶ Λυκόφρονα ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, “οὗτοι δ’ (19) ὑμᾶς οἴκοι μὲν ὄντες ἐπώλουν, ἐλθόντες δ’ ὡς ὑμᾶς ἐώ(20)νηνται”. 
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Here the contrasted words are ‘staying behind’ and ‘accompanying’, ‘enough’ and ‘larger’.  So in the example, ‘Both to those who want to get property and to those who desire to enjoy it’ where ‘enjoyment’ is contrasted with ‘getting’.  Again, ‘it often happens in such enterprises that the wise men fail and the fools succeed’;  ‘they were awarded the prize of valour immediately, and won the command of the sea not long afterwards’;  ‘to sail through the mainland and march through the sea, by bridging the Hellespont and cutting through Athos’;  ‘nature gave them their country and law took it away again’;  ‘of them perished in misery, others were saved in disgrace’;  ‘Athenian citizens keep foreigners in their houses as servants, while the city of Athens allows her allies by thousands to live as the foreigner’s slaves’;  and ‘to possess in life or to bequeath at death’. 
ἅπαντα γὰρ ταῦτα ποιεῖ τὸ εἰρημένον.  ἡδεῖα δὲ (21) ἐστὶν ἡ τοιαύτη λέξις, ὅτι τἀναντία γνωριμώτατα καὶ παρ’ (22) ἄλληλα μᾶλλον γνώριμα, καὶ ὅτι ἔοικεν συλλογισμῷ·  ὁ γὰρ (23) ἔλεγχος συναγωγὴ τῶν ἀντικειμένων ἐστίν.  (24) ἀντίθεσις μὲν οὖν τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐστίν, παρίσωσις δ’ ἐὰν (25) ἴσα τὰ κῶλα,  παρομοίωσις δὲ ἐὰν ὅμοια τὰ ἔσχατα ἔχῃ (26) ἑκάτερον τὸ κῶλον·  ἀνάγκη δὲ ἢ ἐν ἀρχῇ ἢ ἐπὶ τελευτῆς (27) ἔχειν,  καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ἀεὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, ἐπὶ δὲ τελευτῆς τὰς ἐσχά(28)τας συλλαβὰς ἢ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὀνόματος πτώσεις ἢ τὸ αὐτὸ (29) ὄνομα·  ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν τὰ τοιαῦτα, “ἀγρὸν γὰρ ἔλαβεν ἀργὸν (30) παρ’ αὐτοῦ”, (30) “δωρητοί τ’ ἐπέλοντο παράρρητοί τ’ ἐπέεσσιν·”  (31) ἐπὶ τελευτῆς δέ “ᾠήθης ἂν αὐτὸν <οὐ> παιδίον τετοκέναι, ἀλλ’ (32) αὐτὸν παιδίον γεγονέναι”, “ἐν πλείσταις δὲ φροντίσι καὶ ἐν (33) ἐλαχίσταις ἐλπίσιν”.  πτώσεις δὲ ταὐτοῦ “ἀξιοῖ δὲ σταθῆναι (34) χαλκοῦς, οὐκ ἄξιος ὢν χαλκοῦ;”  ταὐτὸ δ’ ὄνομα “σὺ δ’ αὐ(35)τὸν καὶ ζῶντα ἔλεγες κακῶς καὶ νῦν γράφεις κακῶς”.  ἀπὸ (36) συλλαβῆς δέ “τί ἂν ἔπαθες δεινόν, εἰ ἄνδρ’ εἶδες ἀργόν;”  (1410b1) ἔστιν δὲ ἅμα πάντα ἔχειν ταὐτό, καὶ ἀντίθεσιν εἶναι τὸ (2) αὐτὸ καὶ πάρισον καὶ ὁμοιοτέλευτον.  αἱ δ’ ἀρχαὶ τῶν περι(3)όδων σχεδὸν ἐν τοῖς Θεοδεκτείοις ἐξηρίθμηνται.  εἰσὶν δὲ καὶ (4) ψευδεῖς ἀντιθέσεις, οἷον καὶ Ἐπίχαρμος ἐποίει,
(5) τόκα μὲν ἐν τήνων ἐγὼν ἦν,
τόκα δὲ παρὰ τήνοις ἐγών. 
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There is also what some one said about Peitholaus and Lycophron in a law—court, ‘These men used to sell you when they were at home, and now they have come to you here and bought you’.  All these passages have the structure described above.  Such a form of speech is satisfying, because the significance of contrasted ideas is easily felt, especially when they are thus put side by side, and also because it has the effect of a logical argument;  it is by putting two opposing conclusions side by side that you prove one of them false.  Such, then, is the nature of antithesis. Parisosis is making the two members of a period equal in length.  Paromoeosis is making the extreme words of both members like each other.  This must happen either at the beginning or at the end of each member.  If at the beginning, the resemblance must always be between whole words; at the end, between final syllables or inflexions of the same word or the same word repeated.  Thus, at the beginning agron gar elaben argon par’ autou and dorhetoi t epelonto pararretoi t epeessin  At the end ouk oithes an auton paidion tetokenai, all auton paidion gegonenai, and en pleistais de phrontisi kai en elachistais elpisin.  An example of inflexions of the same word is axios de staoenai chalkous ouk axios on chalkou;  Of the same word repeated, su d’ auton kai zonta eleges kakos kai nun grafeis kakos.  Of one syllable, ti d’ an epaoes deinon, ei andr’ eides argon;  It is possible for the same sentence to have all these features together—antithesis, parison, and homoeoteleuton.  (The possible beginnings of periods have been pretty fully enumerated in the Theodectea.) 
 
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