Bibliotheca Polyglotta

14. (19) Τὸ μὲν οὖν προοίμιόν ἐστιν ἀρχὴ λόγου, ὅπερ ἐν (20) ποιήσει πρόλογος καὶ ἐν αὐλήσει προαύλιον· πάντα γὰρ (21) ἀρχαὶ ταῦτ’ εἰσί, καὶ οἷον ὁδοποίησις τῷ ἐπιόντι. τὸ μὲν (22) οὖν προαύλιον ὅμοιον τῷ τῶν ἐπιδεικτικῶν προοιμίῳ· καὶ (23) γὰρ οἱ αὐληταί, ὅ τι ἂν εὖ ἔχωσιν αὐλῆσαι, τοῦτο προ(24)αυλήσαντες συνῆψαν τῷ ἐνδοσίμῳ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπιδεικτι(25)κοῖς λόγοις δεῖ οὕτως γράφειν, ὅ τι [γὰρ] ἂν βούληται εὐθὺ (26) εἰπόντα ἐνδοῦναι καὶ συνάψαι, ὅπερ πάντες ποιοῦσιν. (27) παράδειγμα τὸ τῆς Ἰσοκράτους Ἑλένης προοίμιον· οὐθὲν (28) γὰρ κοινὸν ὑπάρχει τοῖς ἐριστικοῖς καὶ Ἑλένῃ. ἅμα δὲ καὶ (29) ἐὰν ἐκτοπίσῃ, ἁρμόττει, καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸν λόγον ὁμοειδῆ (30) εἶναι. λέγεται δὲ τὰ τῶν ἐπιδεικτικῶν προοίμια ἐξ ἐπαίνου (31) ἢ ψόγου

. . . . . . . . .

otherwise the practice is pointless and silly, like the way Licymnius invented names in his Art of Rhetoric—’Secundation’, ‘Divagation’, ‘Ramification’. Part 14. The Introduction is the beginning of a speech, corresponding to the prologue in poetry and the prelude in flute—music; they are all beginnings, paving the way, as it were, for what is to follow. The musical prelude resembles the introduction to speeches of display; as flute players play first some brilliant passage they know well and then fit it on to the opening notes of the piece itself, so in speeches of display the writer should proceed in the same way; he should begin with what best takes his fancy, and then strike up his theme and lead into it; which is indeed what is always done. (Take as an example the introduction to the Helen of Isocrates—there is nothing in common between the ‘eristics’ and Helen.) And here, even if you travel far from your subject, it is fitting, rather than that there should be sameness in the entire speech.

(οἷον Γοργίας μὲν ἐν τῷ Ὀλυμπικῷ λόγῳ “ὑπὸ (32) πολλῶν ἄξιοι θαυμάζεσθαι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες”· ἐπαινεῖ (33) γὰρ τοὺς τὰς πανηγύρεις συνάγοντας· Ἰσοκράτης δὲ ψέγει (34) ὅτι τὰς μὲν τῶν σωμάτων ἀρετὰς δωρεαῖς ἐτίμησαν, τοῖς (35) δ’ εὖ φρονοῦσιν οὐθὲν ἆθλον ἐποίησαν), καὶ ἀπὸ συμβου(36)λῆς (οἷον ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τιμᾶν, διὸ καὶ αὐτὸς (37) Ἀριστείδην ἐπαινεῖ, ἢ τοὺς τοιούτους οἳ μήτε εὐδοκιμοῦσιν (38) μήτε φαῦλοι, ἀλλ’ ὅσοι ἀγαθοὶ ὄντες ἄδηλοι, ὥσπερ Ἀλέ(39)ξανδρος ὁ Πριάμου· οὗτος γὰρ συμβουλεύει)· ἔτι δ’ ἐκ τῶν (1415a1) δικανικῶν προοιμίων· τοῦτο δ’ ἐστὶν ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τὸν ἀκρο(2)ατήν, εἰ περὶ παραδόξου λόγος ἢ περὶ χαλεποῦ ἢ περὶ τεθρυ(3)λημένου πολλοῖς, ὥστε συγγνώμην ἔχειν, οἷον Χοιρίλος
νῦν δ’ ὅτε πάντα δέδασται.

. . . . . . .

The usual subject for the introductions to speeches of display is some piece of praise or censure. Thus Gorgias writes in his Olympic Speech, ‘You deserve widespread admiration, men of Greece’, praising thus those who start,ed the festival gatherings.’ Isocrates, on the other hand, censures them for awarding distinctions to fine athletes but giving no prize for intellectual ability. Or one may begin with a piece of advice, thus: ‘We ought to honour good men and so I myself am praising Aristeides’ or ‘We ought to honour those who are unpopular but not bad men, men whose good qualities have never been noticed, like Alexander son of Priam.’ Here the orator gives advice. Or we may begin as speakers do in the law—courts; that is to say, with appeals to the audience to excuse us if our speech is about something paradoxical, difficult, or hackneyed;

(4) τὰ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἐπιδεικτικῶν λόγων προοίμια ἐκ τού(5)των, ἐξ ἐπαίνου, ἐκ ψόγου, ἐκ προτροπῆς, ἐξ ἀποτροπῆς, (6) ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τὸν ἀκροατήν· δεῖ δὲ ἢ ξένα ἢ οἰκεῖα εἶναι (7) τὰ ἐνδόσιμα τῷ λόγῳ. τὰ δὲ τοῦ δικανικοῦ προοίμια δεῖ (8) λαβεῖν ὅτι ταὐτὸ δύναται ὅπερ τῶν δραμάτων οἱ πρόλογοι (9) καὶ τῶν ἐπῶν τὰ προοίμια· τὰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν διθυράμβων (10) ὅμοια τοῖς ἐπιδεικτικοῖς· “διὰ σὲ καὶ τεὰ δῶρα εἴτε σκῦλα”.

. . . .

like Choerilus in the lines—
But now when allotment of all has been made... Introductions to speeches of display, then, may be composed of some piece of praise or censure, of advice to do or not to do something, or of appeals to the audience; and you must choose between making these preliminary passages connected or disconnected with the speech itself. Introductions to forensic speeches, it must be observed, have the same value as the prologues of dramas and the introductions to epic poems;

(11) ἐν δὲ προλόγοις καὶ ἔπεσι δεῖγμά ἐστιν τοῦ λόγου, (12) ἵνα (13) προειδῶσι περὶ οὗ [ᾖ] ὁ λόγος καὶ μὴ κρέμηται ἡ διάνοια· (14) τὸ γὰρ ἀόριστον πλανᾷ· ὁ δοὺς οὖν ὥσπερ εἰς τὴν χεῖρα (15) τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιεῖ ἐχόμενον ἀκολουθεῖν τῷ λόγῳ. διὰ τοῦτο (16)
“μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά”.
“ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα.” (17)
“ἥγεό μοι λόγον ἄλλον, ὅπως Ἀσίας ἀπὸ γαίης (18)
ἦλθεν ἐς Εὐρώπην πόλεμος μέγας.” (19) καὶ οἱ τραγικοὶ δηλοῦσι περὶ <οὗ> τὸ δρᾶμα, κἂν μὴ εὐθὺς (20) ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδης ἐν τῷ προλόγῳ, ἀλλά πού γε, ὥσπερ [καὶ] (21) Σοφοκλῆς
(20) “ἐμοὶ πατὴρ ἦν Πόλυβος”.
(22) καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία ὡσαύτως. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἀναγκαιότατον ἔργον (23) τοῦ προοιμίου καὶ ἴδιον τοῦτο, δηλῶσαι τί ἐστιν τὸ τέλος (24) οὗ ἕνεκα ὁ λόγος (διόπερ ἂν δῆλον ᾖ καὶ μικρὸν τὸ πρᾶγμα, (25) οὐ χρηστέον προοιμίῳ)· τὰ δὲ ἄλλα εἴδη οἷς χρῶνται, ἰα(26)τρεύματα καὶ κοινά.

. . . . . . .

the dithyrambic prelude resembling the introduction to a speech of display, as
For thee, and thy gilts, and thy battle—spoils.... In prologues, and in epic poetry, a foretaste of the theme is given, intended to inform the hearers of it in advance instead of keeping their minds in suspense. Anything vague puzzles them: so give them a grasp of the beginning, and they can hold fast to it and follow the argument. So we find—
Sing, O goddess of song, of the Wrath...
Tell me, O Muse, of the hero...
Lead me to tell a new tale, how there came great warfare to Europe
Out of the Asian land... The tragic poets, too, let us know the pivot of their play; if not at the outset like Euripides, at least somewhere in the preface to a speech like Sophocles—
Polybus was my father...; and so in Comedy. This, then, is the most essential function and distinctive property of the introduction, to show what the aim of the speech is; and therefore no introduction ought to be employed where the subject is not long or intricate.

λέγεται δὲ ταῦτα ἔκ τε τοῦ λέγοντος (27) καὶ τοῦ ἀκροατοῦ καὶ τοῦ πράγματος καὶ τοῦ ἐναντίου (28) περὶ αὐτοῦ μὲν καὶ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου οἷά περ διαβολὴν (29) λῦσαι καὶ ποιῆσαι (ἔστιν δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίως· ἀπολογουμένῳ μὲν (30) γὰρ πρῶτον τὰ πρὸς διαβολήν, κατηγοροῦντι δ’ ἐν τῷ ἐπι(31)λόγῳ· δι’ ὃ δέ, οὐκ ἄδηλον· τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀπολογούμενον, (32) ὅταν μέλλῃ εἰσάξειν αὑτόν, ἀναγκαῖον ἀνελεῖν τὰ κωλύοντα, (33) ὥστε λυτέον πρῶτον τὴν διαβολήν· τῷ δὲ διαβάλλοντι ἐν (34) τῷ ἐπιλόγῳ διαβλητέον, ἵνα μνημονεύσωσι μᾶλλον).

. . . . .

The other kinds of introduction employed are remedial in purpose, and may be used in any type of speech. They are concerned with the speaker, the hearer, the subject, or the speaker’s opponent. Those concerned with the speaker himself or with his opponent are directed to removing or exciting prejudice. But whereas the defendant will begin by dealing with this sort of thing, the prosecutor will take quite another line and deal with such matters in the closing part of his speech. The reason for this is not far to seek. The defendant, when he is going to bring himself on the stage, must clear away any obstacles, and therefore must begin by removing any prejudice felt against him.

τὰ δὲ (35) πρὸς τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἔκ τε τοῦ εὔνουν ποιῆσαι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ (36) ὀργίσαι, καὶ ἐνίοτε τὸ προσεκτικὸν ἢ τοὐναντίον· οὐ γὰρ (37) ἀεὶ συμφέρει ποιεῖν προσεκτικόν, διὸ πολλοὶ εἰς γέλωτα (38) πειρῶνται προάγειν. εἰς δὲ εὐμάθειαν ἅπαντα ἀνάξει, ἐάν (39) τις βούληται, καὶ τὸ ἐπιεικῆ φαίνεσθαι· προσέχουσι γὰρ (1415b1) μᾶλλον τούτοις. προσεκτικοὶ δὲ τοῖς μεγάλοις, τοῖς ἰδίοις, (2) τοῖς θαυμαστοῖς, τοῖς ἡδέσιν· διὸ δεῖ ἐμποιεῖν ὡς περὶ (3) τοιούτων ὁ λόγος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ προσεκτικούς, ὅτι μικρόν, (4) ὅτι οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐκείνους, ὅτι λυπηρόν. δεῖ δὲ μὴ λαν(5)θάνειν ὅτι πάντα ἔξω τοῦ λόγου τὰ τοιαῦτα· πρὸς φαῦ(6)λον γὰρ ἀκροατὴν καὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ πράγματος ἀκούοντα· (7) ἐπεὶ ἂν μὴ τοιοῦτος ᾖ, οὐθὲν δεῖ προοιμίου, ἀλλ’ ἢ (8) ὅσον τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰπεῖν κεφαλαιωδῶς, ἵνα ἔχῃ ὥσπερ σῶμα (9) κεφαλήν.

. . . . . . . . .

But if you are to excite prejudice, you must do so at the close, so that the judges may more easily remember what you have said. The appeal to the hearer aims at securing his goodwill, or at arousing his resentment, or sometimes at gaining his serious attention to the case, or even at distracting it— for gaining it is not always an advantage, and speakers will often for that reason try to make him laugh. You may use any means you choose to make your hearer receptive; among others, giving him a good impression of your character, which always helps to secure his attention. He will be ready to attend to anything that touches himself and to anything that is important, surprising, or agreeable; and you should accordingly convey to him the impression that what you have to say is of this nature. If you wish to distract his attention, you should imply that the subject does not affect him, or is trivial or disagreeable. But observe, all this has nothing to do with the speech itself. It merely has to do with the weak—minded tendency of the hearer to listen to what is beside the point.

ἔτι τὸ προσεκτικοὺς ποιεῖν πάντων τῶν μερῶν (10) κοινόν, ἐὰν δέῃ· πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἀνιᾶσι μᾶλλον ἢ ἀρχόμε(11)νοι· διὸ γελοῖον ἐν ἀρχῇ τάττειν, ὅτε μάλιστα πάντες προσ(12)έχοντες ἀκροῶνται· ὥστε ὅπου ἂν ᾖ καιρός, λεκτέον “καί (13) μοι προσέχετε τὸν νοῦν· οὐθὲν γὰρ μᾶλλον ἐμὸν ἢ ὑμέ(14)τερον”, καὶ “ἐρῶ γὰρ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐδεπώποτε ἀκηκόατε δεινὸν ἢ (15) οὕτω θαυμαστόν”. τοῦτο δ’ ἐστίν, ὥσπερ ἔφη Πρόδικος, ὅτε (16) νυστάζοιεν οἱ ἀκροαταί, παρεμβάλλειν <τι> τῆς πεντηκοντα(17)δράχμου αὐτοῖς. ὅτι δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀκροατὴν οὐχ ᾗπερ [ὁ] (18) ἀκροατής, δῆλον· πάντες γὰρ ἢ διαβάλλουσιν ἢ φόβους (19) ἀπολύονται ἐν τοῖς προοιμίοις·
(20) ἄναξ, ἐρῶ μὲν οὐχ ὅπως σπουδῆς ὕπο,
(21) τί φροιμιάζῃ;,

. . . . . . . .

Where this tendency is absent, no introduction wanted beyond a summary statement of your subject, to put a sort of head on the main body of your speech. Moreover, calls for attention, when required, may come equally well in any part of a speech; in fact, the beginning of it is just where there is least slackness of interest; it is therefore ridiculous to put this kind of thing at the beginning, when every one is listening with most attention. Choose therefore any point in the speech where such an appeal is needed, and then say ‘Now I beg you to note this point—it concerns you quite as much as myself’; or I will tell you that whose like you have never yet heard for terror, or for wonder. This is what Prodicus called ‘slipping in a bit of the fifty—drachma show—lecture for the audience whenever they began to nod’. It is plain that such introductions are addressed not to ideal hearers, but to hearers as we find them.

(22) καὶ οἱ πονηρὸν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἔχοντες ἢ δοκοῦντες· πανταχοῦ (23) γὰρ βέλτιον διατρίβειν ἢ ἐν τῷ πράγματι, διὸ οἱ δοῦλοι οὐ (24) τὰ ἐρωτώμενα λέγουσιν ἀλλὰ τὰ κύκλῳ, καὶ προοιμιάζονται. (25) πόθεν δ’ εὔνους δεῖ ποιεῖν, εἴρηται, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον (26) τῶν τοιούτων. ἐπεὶ δ’ εὖ λέγεται (27)
δός μ’ ἐς Φαίηκας φίλον ἐλθεῖν ἠδ’ ἐλεεινόν,
(28) τούτων δεῖ δύο στοχάζεσθαι. ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐπιδεικτικοῖς (29) οἴεσθαι δεῖ ποιεῖν συνεπαινεῖσθαι τὸν ἀκροατήν, ἢ αὐτὸν (30) ἢ γένος ἢ ἐπιτηδεύματ’ αὐτοῦ ἢ ἄλλως γέ πως· ὃ γὰρ (31) λέγει Σωκράτης ἐν τῷ ἐπιταφίῳ,
ἀληθές, ὅτι οὐ χαλεπὸν (32) Ἀθηναίους ἐν Ἀθηναίοις ἐπαινεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἐν Λακεδαιμονίοις.

. . . . . .

The use of introductions to excite prejudice or to dispel misgivings is universal—
My lord, I will not say that eagerly...
or
Why all this preface?
Introductions are popular with those whose case is weak, or looks weak; it pays them to dwell on anything rather than the actual facts of it. That is why slaves, instead of answering the questions put to them, make indirect replies with long preambles. The means of exciting in your hearers goodwill and various other feelings of the same kind have already been described. The poet finely says
May I find in Phaeacian hearts, at my coming, goodwill and compassion; and these are the two things we should aim at. In speeches of display we must make the hearer feel that the eulogy includes either himself or his family or his way of life or something or other of the kind.

(33) τὰ δὲ τοῦ δημηγορικοῦ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ δικανικοῦ λόγου (34) ἐστίν, φύσει δὲ ἥκιστα ἔχει· καὶ γὰρ καὶ περὶ οὗ ἴσασιν, (35) καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖται τὸ πρᾶγμα προοιμίου, ἀλλ’ ἢ δι’ αὐτὸν (36) ἢ τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας, ἢ ἐὰν μὴ ἡλίκον βούλει ὑπολαμβά(37)νωσιν, ἀλλ’ ἢ μεῖζον ἢ ἔλαττον, διὸ ἢ διαβάλλειν ἢ ἀπο(38)λύεσθαι ἀνάγκη, καὶ ἢ αὐξῆσαι ἢ μειῶσαι. τούτων δὲ (39) ἕνεκα προοιμίου δεῖται, ἢ κόσμου χάριν, ὡς αὐτοκάβδαλα (1416a1) φαίνεται ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ. τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ Γοργίου ἐγκώμιον (2) εἰς Ἠλείους· οὐδὲν γὰρ προεξαγκωνίσας οὐδὲ προανα(3)κινήσας εὐθὺς ἄρχεται “Ἦλις, πόλις εὐδαίμων”.

. . . . .

For it is true, as Socrates says in the Funeral Speech, that ‘the difficulty is not to praise the Athenians at Athens but at Sparta’. The introductions of political oratory will be made out of the same materials as those of the forensic kind, though the nature of political oratory makes them very rare. The subject is known already, and therefore the facts of the case need no introduction; but you may have to say something on account of yourself or to your opponents; or those present may be inclined to treat the matter either more or less seriously than you wish them to. You may accordingly have to excite or dispel some prejudice, or to make the matter under discussion seem more or less important than before: for either of which purposes you will want an introduction. You may also want one to add elegance to your remarks, feeling that otherwise they will have a casual air,

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