Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  κατασπᾶν. 204 24. To pull down. Lat. detrahere. Cp. the use of κατεσπευσμένα and κατεσπεῦσθαι in Long. de Subl. xix. 2, xl. 4. [It is possible that κατεσπεῦσθαι should be read in C.V. 204 24.]

  κατάστασις. 200 8. State. Lat. condicio.

  καταφορά. 204 19. Downrush. Lat. decursus.

  καταχλευάζειν. 264 9. To jeer. Lat. cavillari, irridere.

  κατάχρησις. 78 16. Catachresis. Lat. abusio. A definition is given by Quintil. viii. 6. 34 “eo magis necessaria κατάχρησις, quam recte dicimus abusionem, quae non habentibus nomen suum accommodat, quod in proximo est: sic Equum divina Palladis arte Aedificant.” Cp. Cic. Orat. 27. 94, where the same Latin equivalent is given, though not the same description of the figure: “Aristoteles autem translationi et haec ipsa subiungit et abusionem, quam κατάχρησιν vocant, ut cum minutum dicimus animum pro parvo, et abutimur verbis propinquis, si opus est, vel quod delectat vel quod decet” (cp. Auct. ad Her. iv. c. 33). In Cic. Acad. ii. 47. 143, “Quid ergo Academici appellamur? an abutimur gloria nominis?” the meaning probably is: ‘do we use the glorious name of ‘Academic’ in an unnatural way?’

  κατεσπουδασμένος. 156 7. Earnest. Lat. anxius, instans. Cp. Herod. ii. 174.

  κεραννύναι. 218 7, 240 17, 246 12, 248 17, etc. To mix, to temper. Lat. commiscere, temperare. Cp. the adjectives εὔκρατος and εὐκέραστος, supra. The general sense in 248 17 is, ‘qui aient su mieux qu’eux faire un heureux mélange des couleurs.’

  κερατοειδής. 146 12. Sounding like a horn. Lat. sonus veluti corneus. κερατοειδεῖς ἤχους = ‘sounds like (the sounds of) a horn’: cp. Hymn. Hom. in Merc. 81 μυρσινοειδέας ὄζους, ‘branches like (the branches of) myrtle.’

  κεφάλαιον. 68 18, 120 25, 130 14, 136 7, 160 8. Heading, topic, sum and substance. Lat. caput, summa. So κεφαλαιωδῶς, 112 21, under heads.

  κηλεῖν. 124 13. To charm. Lat. permulcere.

  κινεῖν. 146 8, 194 12. To excite, to disturb. Lat. movere. So κίνησις, movement, 124 8, 160 3, 244 20; and κινητικός, 158 12.

  κλέπτειν. 196 17. To cheat, to disguise. Lat. dissimulare, obtegere. Cp. Demetr. .

  κοινός. 120 13, 122 14, 148 14, 164 22, 200 7, 210 1 (according to one reading), 236 11, 252 28. Common, mixed, general. Lat. communis. For the meaning ‘in general terms’ cp. de Dinarcho c. 8 λέγω δὲ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐν τῷ καθόλου τρόπῳ, ὡς μηδὲν τούτων κατορθοῦντος, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῷ κοινοτέρῳ καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ.

  κολακικός. 236 9. Alluring. Lat. blandus.

  κόμμα. 270 15, 276 2. Short clause, phrase. Lat. incisum (Cic. Orat. 62. 211; Quintil. ix. 4. 22). Fr. incise. Cp. Demetr. ; Quintil, ix. 4. 122 “incisum (quantum mea fert opinio) erit sensus non expleto numero conclusus, plerisque pars membri”; C.V. 270 15 κόμματα ... βραχύτερα κώλων. So κομμάτιον 274 14, 276 6. [The terms comma, colon, and period are now specially applied to punctuation.] For illustrations of κῶλα and κόμματα drawn from Cicero see Laurand’s Études . In de Demosth. c. 39 the adjective κομματικῶς is found: ἀποιήτως δέ πως καὶ ἀφελῶς καὶ τὰ πλείω κομματικῶς (i.e. per brevia commata et incisa) κατεσκευάσθαι βούλεται.

  κόπτειν. 132 4, 198 7. To smite upon, to weary. Lat. obtundere. Used in reference to the ear, when it receives ‘hammer-strokes of sound.’

  κόρος. 124 18, 132 11, 192 18, 196 18, 252 25. Satiety. Lat. satietas (Cic. Orat. 65. 219). In using this word Dionysius often has in mind Pindar Nem. vii. 52 (κόρον δ’ ἔχει καὶ μέλι καὶ τὰ τέρπν’ ἄνθε’ ἀφροδίσια): a passage which he quotes in Ep. ad Pomp. c. 3.

  κορυφή. 248 4. Top, head. Lat. caput. Cp. κορυφαῖος (headman) and ἀκόρυφος (230 31).

  κορωνίς. 94 4. Colophon, finis. Lat. coronis. μέχρι κορωνίδος διελθεῖν = ‘usque ad calcem perlegere,’ ‘from title to colophon.’

  κρᾶσις. 130 25, 154 10, 220 12. A mixing, blending. Lat. mistura.

  κράτιστος. 70 1, 120 18, 134 20, 142 5, 150 10, 160 5, 162 3, 15, 176 15, 196 10, 206 21, 214 16, 250 16, 260 21. Strongest, finest, best. Lat. fortissimus, optimus. It is not always easy to determine in these passages whether the meaning is general or special. But in 162 3 κρατίστοις is opposed to μαλακωτάτοις. When he wishes to be quite explicit, Dionysius can use ἰσχυρός (162 23), or βέλτιστος.

  κράτος. 70 5, 72 14, etc. Force, power. Lat. vis, robur.

  κρητικός. 174 11, 260 23, 262 9. Cretic. The metrical foot – ᴗ –. For the cretic foot cp. Cic. de Orat. iii. 47. 183 and Or. 64. 218; Quintil. ix. 4. 81, 97, 104, 107. In the Epitome c. 17 the equivalent term ἀμφίμακρος is used instead of κρητικός. For the excessive use in prose of the cretic (as, indeed, of any other distinctly metrical) rhythm cp. Walter C. Summers in Classical Quarterly ii. 173.

  κριτήριον. 250 7. Criterion. Lat. iudicium.

  κροῦσις. 124 8, 144 1, 268 7. Stroke; note (of an instrument). Lat. pulsus.

  κτενίζειν. 264 22. To comb. Lat. pectere. Parallel metaphors from Latin literature are quoted in Larue van Hook’s Metaphorical Terminology of Greek Rhetoric .

  κυκλικός. 174 4. Cyclic. Lat. cyclicus. Goodell (Greek Metric p ff.) points out that the much-debated question of ‘cyclic’ or ‘three-timed’ anapaests and dactyls hinges on this passage (174 4), together with part of c. 20 (204 16-206 16). As he says ( ibid.), “It is clear that Dionysius does not regard even these irrational dactyls as three-timed merely; the nearest approach to that view is in the remark that some are not much longer than trochees. But that implies that even the briefest are somewhat longer than trochees.” Goodell also suggests () that κυκλικός in Dionysius corresponds to στρογγύλος in a passage of Aristides Quintilianus. Clearly the elaborate structure of the ‘cyclic dactyl’ cannot stand securely upon so slight a foundation as these statements of Dionysius. See further in Goodell (op. cit.), and also in L. Vernier Traité de métrique grecque et latine c. 14 p ff.

  κύκλος. 198 6, 212 14, 246 3. A circle, a round. Lat. orbis, ambitus.

  κύριος. 84 5, 208 24, 246 11. Accredited, regular, proper. Lat. proprius. Fr. propre (in le mot propre). Cp. D.H. , Demetr. ; and (in addition to the passages there quoted) Quintil. i. 5. 71 “propria sunt verba, cum id significant, in quod primo denominata sunt: translata, cum alium natura intellectum, alium loco praebent.” The meaning ‘proper,’ ‘literal,’ is well illustrated by 208 24, where κυρίοις (‘used in the ordinary sense’) is opposed to μεταφορικοῖς.

  κῶλον. 72 6, 9, 104 9, 110 10, 176 2, 178 6, 7, 194 13, 22, 218 18, 230 16, 234 20, 21, 276 2, 6, 14, 278 6, etc., passim. Member, clause, group of words. Lat. membrum. Fr. membre de phrase. Cp. Demetr. , and Aristot. Rhet. iii. 9. 5 κῶλον δ’ ἐστὶν τὸ ἕτερον μόριον ταύτης [sc. περιόδου], Quintil. ix. 4. 22 “membra, quae κῶλα (dicuntur),” Long, de Subl. xl. 1 ἡ τῶν μελῶν [this illustrates the metaphor in κῶλον] ἐπισύνθεσις. For the length of the κῶλον cp. Sandys’ Orator of Cicero and Laurand’s Études p-9; and see, generally, A. du Mesnil Über die rhetorischen Kunstformen, Komma, Kolon, Periode.

  κωμῳδεῖν. 264 9. To scoff. Lat. iocari, illudere.

  λαμβάνειν. 100 26, 104 17, 20, 106 18, 19, 108 2, 5, 8, passim. To take, to employ. Lat. sumere, adhibere.

  λεαίνειν. 130 19, 164 12. To smooth, to fall softly on. Lat. polire, mulcere.

  λεῖος. 132 1, 154 12, 162 23, 222 5, 228 4, 234 14. Smooth. Lat. levis. So λειότης (douceur) 240 6. Cp. Demetr.
de Eloc. § 176 παρὰ δὲ τοῖς μουσικοῖς λέγεταί τι ὄνομα λεῖον, καὶ ἕτερον τὸ τραχύ, καὶ ἄλλο εὐπαγές, καὶ ἄλλ’ ὀγκηρόν. λεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ὄνομα τὸ διὰ φωνηέντων ἢ πάντων ἢ διὰ πλειόνων, οἷον Αἴας, τραχὺ δὲ οἷον βέβρωκεν.

  λεκτικός. 66 7, 96 9. Relating to style or expression. Lat. qui ad elocutionem spectat. ὁ λεκτικὸς τόπος = the province of expression, as distinguished from ὁ πραγματικὸς τόπος. — λεκτικῶς, 258 3, = after the manner of prose.

  λέξις. 66 16, 70 3, 11, 14, 74 3, 8, 84 15 (‘passages’), 88 22, 25, 90 4, 110 9, 112 6, passim. Speech or language; utterance; diction; style; word, expression, passage. Lat. dictio, elocutio, verbum s. locutio. For the broad meaning ‘word’ or ‘phrase,’ common in Greek writers of the later periods, c 16, 124 23, 128 5, 168 10, 202 22, 206 6, 268 19.

  λῆρος. 90 20. Trumpery. Lat. ineptiae. Cp. de Demosth. c. 25 καὶ διὰ τῶν λήρων τούτων κοσμεῖ τὴν φράσιν.

  λιτός. 76 8. Trifling. Lat. exiguus, humilis. For λιτός = plain, simple, cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 16 ποικίλος καὶ οὐ λιτός.

  λογάδην. 210 21. Casually. Lat. fortuito. Dionysius has in mind not selected stones, but stones collected (picked up) as they lie. Cp. Joseph. Antiqq. Iud. iv. 8. 5 (Naber) καὶ βωμὸς εἷς ἐκ λίθων μὴ κατειργασμένων ἀλλὰ λογάδην συγκειμένων (i.e. collecticiis), and Thucyd. iv. 31 καὶ γάρ τι καὶ ἔρυμα αὐτόθι ἦν παλαιὸν λίθων λογάδην πεποιημένον, vi. 66 καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ Δάσκωνι ἔρυμά τι, ᾗ εὐεφοδώτατον ἦν τοῖς πολεμίοις, λίθοις λογάδην καὶ ξύλοις διὰ ταχέων ὤρθωσαν.

  λογικός. 146 14. Rational. Lat. rationalis. This passage (θηριώδους γὰρ καὶ ἀλόγου μᾶλλον ἢ λογικῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι δοκεῖ φωνῆς ὁ συριγμός) helps to illustrate the use of λογικός in 130 3 (δεδειγμένης τῆς διαφορᾶς ᾗ διαφέρει μουσικὴ λογικῆς), where singing and ordinary speech (the sounds of music and those of spoken language) are contrasted.

  λογογράφος. 158 1. Prose-writer. Lat. solutae orationis scriptor. So perhaps Aristot. Rhet. ii. 11 καὶ ὧν ἔπαινοι καὶ ἐγκώμια λέγονται ἢ ὑπὸ ποιητῶν ἢ λογογράφων, and Thucyd. i. 21 καὶ οὔτε ὡς ποιηταὶ ὑμνήκασι ... οὔτε ὡς λογογράφοι ξυνέθεσαν κτλ.: though in both these passages ‘chroniclers’ may be specially meant. For the meaning ‘professional speech-writer’ cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 12. 2. In C.V. 154 17 συγγραφέων is found in the same sense (‘prose-writers’) as λογογράφοι in 158 1.

  λογοείδεια. 272 15. Prose-character. Lat. color prosaicus. Fr. la couleur prosaïque. The word is well explained and illustrated by a scholiast on Hephaestion (Westphal Scriptores Metrici Graeci i. 167): πολιτικὸν δέ ἐστι τὸ ἄνευ πάθους ἢ τρόπου πεποιημένον, οἷον

  ἵππους τε ξανθὰς ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα [Il. xi. 680],

  ὅπερ ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ λογοειδεῖ. — In Demetr. de Eloc. § 41 τὸ λογικόν is found in the same sense.

  λόγος. 64 13, 66 5, 8, 70 10, 72 7, 10, 14, 74 6, 76 2, 84 14, 16, 92 23, 94 2, passim. Discourse, language. Lat. oratio, sermo. Often used of prose, as opposed to poetry: c 14, 16, 108 11 (λόγοις πεζοῖς), 118 22, 154 2 (λόγοις ψιλοῖς), 166 4, 208 6, 270 17, 272 9, 13, 17, 19, 28, 278 6, 9 (where the meaning probably is ‘a piece of continuous prose’), 280 18; so καὶ ἐν ποιήσει καὶ ἐν λόγοις (Aristot. Rhet. iii. 2. 7; further references in Bonitz’ Index Aristotelicus ). In many passages (e.g. 66 5, 210 8, 218 1, 248 4) ‘writing’ or ‘literature’ (cp. ἡ τῶν λόγων φιλοσοφία = ‘the study of literature,’ Rhet. ad Alex. c. 1) will be a possible modern equivalent, though we must always bear in mind the Greek point of view, that what we call ‘literature’ was something conveyed by the living voice, — something spoken or read aloud. — See also s.v. ἄμετρος supra.

  Λύδιος. 196 2. Lydian. Lat. Lydius. Cp. Monro’s Modes of Ancient Greek Music, passim.

  μαλακός. 132 1, 154 11, 162 3, etc. Soft. Lat. mollis. So μαλθακός 90 20. In some passages (90 20, 170 9) the word suggests the idea of ‘lacking in backbone,’ ‘unmanly,’ ‘effeminate.’ Fr. délicat, or (rather) mou.

  μεγαλοπρεπής. 136 12, 166 2, 18, etc. Grand, impressive, splendid. Lat. magnificus. Fr. magnifique. So μεγαλοπρέπεια (la grandeur), 120 22, 164 20.

  μέγεθος. 172 11, 174 19. Grandeur, elevation. Lat. magnitudo, sublimitas. Fr. ampleur. Cp. Demetr. .

  μεθαρμόζειν. 112 2. To arrange differently, to re-arrange. Lat. aliter componere.

  μειοῦν. 128 18, 152 20. To lessen, to curtail. Lat. minuere. Fr. retrancher. So μείωσις 110 15. The word does not, in the C.V., bear the special sense of extenuare.

  μελικός. 130 7, 252 21, 254 21, 278 4. Melodious, lyric. Lat. lyricus. In English ‘lyric’ is a more generally intelligible rendering than ‘melic,’ though less exact. “To the writers of the Alexandrian age, who introduced and gave currency to the expression, ‘lyric’ meant primarily what the name imports — poetry sung to the accompaniment of the lyre.... More appropriate than ‘lyric,’ as an exact and comprehensive designation of all poetry that was sung to a musical accompaniment, is ‘melic,’ the term in vogue among the Greeks of the classic ages,” Weir Smyth Greek Melic Poets pp. xvii, xviii. Apparently the adjectives μελικός and λυρικός are both late.

  μελιχρός. 70 2. Honey-sweet. Lat. mellitus. Cp. de Demosth. c. 48 ἔν τε ταῖς μεταβολαῖς τοτὲ μὲν τὸ ἀρχαιοπρεπὲς καὶ αὐστηρόν, τοτὲ δὲ τὸ μελιχρὸν καὶ φιλόκαινον ἐμφαινόμενον.

  μέλος. 204 3, limb: 122 24, 126 21 (bis), 194 7, 13, tune, melody: 120 18, 122 11, 130 4, 11, melodious effect, tunefulness: 92 22, 120 26, 126 23, 154 2, 192 21, 194 5, 250 11, 16, 254 5, 8, 15, 272 10, 278 6, 280 18, words set to music, song, aria, chant, lay, lyric. Lat. cantus, carmen, etc. Similarly also μελοποιία 214 3: μελοποιός 194 18, 236 16, 22, 248 13, 270 22, 272 5: μελῳδεῖν 126 18, 128 5: μελῳδία 122 16, 194 8, 196 2.

  μερίζειν. 144 22, 220 25. To divide. Lat. distribuere.

  μέρος. 68 6, 70 14, 96 1, etc. Part. Lat. pars. τὰ τῆς λέξεως μέρη = ‘the parts of speech,’ 70 14, 96 14, etc. See also μόριον, .

  μέσος. 148 18, 150 11, 210 6, 7, 8, 236 2, 246 10. Middle, intermediate, average. Lat. medius. So μέσως 146 10, and μεσότης 246 15 (bis) (with reference to Aristotle’s use of the word for le juste milieu), 248 11.

  μεταβάλλειν. 194 1, 2. To change, to vary. Lat. mutare. As its passive, μετακειμένην 266 1.

  μεταβολή. 120 19, 122 12, 124 11, 25, 134 18, 19. Variety. Lat. varietas, diversitas. The object of μεταβολή, as conceived by Dionysius, is to diversify style in order to avoid a monotonous uniformity. Variety is one of the chief essentials of good writing, not only in Greek but in all other languages.

  μεταλαμβάνειν. 132 7. To interchange. Lat. commutare.

  μεταπτωτικός. 140 20. Variable. Lat. mutabilis. So μεταπίπτειν 96 17, 250 7.

  μετασκευή. 104 19, 108 9, 110 16 (e coni. Schaef.), 114 10. Modification. Lat. mutatio. So μετασκευάζειν 110 6. Cp. text in 110 16 with 104 19, 108 9.

  μεταφορά. 7
8 15. Transference, metaphor. “The figure of transport,” Puttenham. Lat. translatio.

  μετέωρος. 148 23. Upper. Lat. superior (τοὺς μετεώρους ὀδόντας = dentes superiores).

  μετοχή. 72 1. Participle. Lat. participium. Cp. D.H. .

  μετρικός. 140 11, 172 2, 174 22, 176 7, 218 19. Metrical. Lat. metricus. 172 2 and 174 22 οἱ μετρικοί = ‘the metrists,’ ‘the theorists on metre’: cp. οἱ ῥυθμικοί 172 20.

  μέτριος. 132 8, 150 9, 214 12, 222 26, 230 22, 234 22, 246 13. Moderate, fair. Lat. aequus.

  μέτρον. 74 5, 84 16, 88 6, 8, 92 22, 118 22, 120 26, 172 17, passim. Measure, metre, verse, line. Lat. metrum, versus. In Aristot. Poet. iv. 7 metres are described as sections of rhythm (τὰ γὰρ μέτρα ὅτι μόρια τῶν ῥυθμῶν ἐστι φανερόν): that is, they are ‘measures,’ or ‘verses’; ‘parts of rhythm,’ which is indefinite and never comes to an end — μέτρον being rhythm cut, as it were, into definite lengths (Cope Introduction to Aristotle’s Rhetoric ). When contrasted with μέλη (cp. Plato Gorg. 502 C τό τε μέλος— ‘the music’ — καὶ τὸν ῥυθμὸν καὶ τὸ μέτρον), μέτρα seems to denote the non-lyrical metres generally (hexameters, iambic trimeters, etc.): see 92 22, 120 26, 192 21, and especially 270 18-23.

  μῆκος. 150 22, 154 6, 204 2, 224 15, 264 4. Length. Lat. longitudo. So μηκύνειν (to lengthen) 132 7, 152 24, 224 8, 13, 246 8. In 246 8 (and also in 276 9, where P gives μηκύνειν and MV give μηκύνειν τὸν λόγον) μηκύνειν is used absolutely (= μακρηγορεῖν: cp. Aristoph. Lys. 1131 πόσους εἴποιμ’ ἂν ἄλλους, εἴ με μηκύνειν δέοι;). In 132 7 the meaning is ‘to prolong, or continue, in the same case with similar terminations’: just as Dionysius himself, inadvertently no doubt, repeats -ων in 132 9, 10.