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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  πίνος. 120 23, 136 16, 212 24, 236 8. Mellowing deposit, tinge of antiquity, flavour of archaism. Lat. antiquitas, antiquitas impexa (Tac. Dial. c. 20), nitor obsoletus (Auct. ad Her. iv. 4. 46). There is a suggestion of négligé or abandon about the word, but on the whole it is not uncomplimentary: cp. Ep. ad Pomp. c. 2 ὅ τε πίνος ὁ τῆς ἀρχαιότητος ἠρέμα αὐτῇ καὶ λεληθότως ἐπιτρέχει, and de Demosth. c. 38 ἀλλ’ [ἵνα] ἐπανθῇ τις αὐταῖς χνοῦς ἀρχαιοπινὴς καὶ χάρις ἀβίαστος. The compound εὐπίνεια is found in Long. de Subl. xxx. 1. There is a scholium (preserved in M) on 120 23, which is, unfortunately, vague and uncertain: πῖνος κυρίως ὁ ῥύπος, ἀφ’ οὗ πιναρὰ ῥάκη. λέγεται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἐπανθοῦν τισὶ χνοῶδες ὡς ἐπὶ μήλων καὶ ἀπίων. ἀπὸ τούτου καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἐπιφαινόμενον αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ συνθήκῃ τῆς λέξεως ποιὸν πίνον ὀνομάζει. ἔστι δὲ πῖνος καὶ ὄνομα τόπου.

  πλάγιος. 106 20. Oblique. Lat. obliquus (casus).

  πλανᾶσθαι. 254 16, 270 18. To wander, to be irregular. Lat. vagari. Used in reference to vague, elastic metre. So περιπεπλανημένα μέτρα in de Demosth. c. 50.

  πλάσμα. 90 6, 118 24. Cast, form. Lat. imago, forma dicendi. Cp. Ep. ad Pomp. c. 4 ὕψος δὲ καὶ κάλλος καὶ μεγαλοπρέπειαν καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον ἰδίως πλάσμα ἱστορικὸν Ἡρόδοτος ἔχει (viz. “elevation, beauty, stateliness, and what is specifically called the ‘historical vein’”); Long. de Subl. xv. 8 ποιητικὸν τοῦ λόγου καὶ μυθῶδες τὸ πλάσμα (the ‘form’). In de Demosth. c. 34 πλάσμα seems to have the same meaning as χαρακτῆρ in c. 33 ibid. [The musical meaning of moulded delivery, modulation does not emerge in the C.V.]

  πλάστης. 264 2. Modeller, in clay or wax. Lat. fictor.

  πλάτος. 210 9, 212 1, 246 19. Breadth. Lat. latitudo. So πλατύς 244 18. In 210 9 the meaning is, ‘belongs to the class of ideas which are regarded with a wide indefiniteness.’ So in Latin platice = πλατικῶς = ‘broadly,’ ‘generally’: cp. Usener Rhein. Mus. xxiv. 311. See also under ἀπαρτίζειν, supra.

  πλεονάζειν. 146 13, 214 12. To exceed due bounds. Lat. redundare. So πλεονασμός, redundantia, 110 15.

  πληγή. 142 4, 16, 144 5. Stroke, impact. Lat. ictus, percussio.

  πληθυντικῶς. 106 18. In the plural number. Lat. pluraliter.

  πλοκή. 72 5, 130 22, 166 9. Combination. Lat. copulatio.

  πλούσιος. 92 18. Rich. Lat. opulentus. The word is contrasted with πτωχός (92 17), beggarly, mendicus: for which cp. the expression τῇ λέξει πτωχεύειν in the passage quoted, from Chrysostom, under ἀπαγγελία supra.

  πνίγειν. 142 18. To stifle, to smother. Lat. suffocare.

  ποίημα. 76 10, 78 5, 100 23, 154 2, 166 4, 192 8, 250 10, 16, 254 4, 7, 272 14. Poem; line of a poem (in this sense, more commonly στίχος or ἔπος). Lat. poëma, versus. So ποιεῖν 208 9, ‘to write poetry,’ and ποιητής 74 8 (but in 214 16 ποιηταί means ‘writers’ generally: cp. de Demosth. c. 37 παρ’ οὐδενὶ οὔτε ἐμμέτρων οὔτε πεζῶν ποιητῇ λόγων). ποίημα sometimes refers specially to epic and dramatic poetry (in contrast to song-poetry). In 64 10 the meaning is ‘product’ simply. For ‘poetry’ ποίησις is found: 214 1, 2, 252 24, 270 21, 274 7, 276 10.

  ποιητικός. 70 2, 4, 108 11, 206 20, 208 8, 19, 252 20, 23, 29, etc. Poetical. Lat. poëticus. In 136 11 the meaning is ‘productive of.’

  ποικιλία. 130 13, 192 18, 196 17, 25, 198 5. Variety, decoration. Lat. varietas. So ποικίλλειν 132 13, 192 20, 196 9; and ποικίλος 110 11, 154 19, 160 10, etc. ποικίλος may be rendered by such adjectives as ‘elaborate,’ ‘curious,’ ‘laborious,’ ‘multifarious,’ ‘kaleidoscopic,’ ‘ever-varying.’

  πολιτικός. 64 15, 72 17, 124 21, 130 10, 214 1, 5, 254 25, 266 7, 272 20. Civil, parliamentary, political, public. Lat. civilis. See D.H. for an explanatory note on πολιτικός. In 72 17, P has ῥητορικοῖς ἀνδράσι, which is an unlikely periphrasis for ῥήτορσι (104 8), but may well indicate the general meaning of πολιτικοῖς ἀνδράσι: cp. de Demosth. c. 23 ταῦτα δὲ πολιτικοῖς καὶ ῥήτορσιν ἀνδράσι μελήσει. Compare generally, in Aristot. Poet. c. vi., the words τῆς πολιτικῆς καὶ ῥητορικῆς ἔργον ἐστίν, and οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι πολιτικῶς ἐποίουν λέγοντας, οἱ δὲ νῦν ῥητορικῶς.

  πολύμετρος. 272 5. Of many measures or metres. Lat. qui multis constat metris.

  πολύμορφος. 160 12. Of many forms. Lat. multiformis. Cp. πολυειδής 196 25, πολυειδῶς 270 11.

  πολυπραγμονεῖν. 264 6. To bother about. Lat. summa cura elaborare.

  πολυσύλλαβος. 126 14, 132 5. With many syllables. Lat. qui syllabis pluribus constat.

  πολύφωνος. 160 23. Of many voices. Lat. qui multas voces emittit. Used of the variety of tones in Homer’s ‘composition.’ In the de Sublim. c. xxxiv. the term is applied to Hypereides, who οὐ πάντα ἑξῆς καὶ μονοτόνως [i.e. at one sustained high pitch] ὡς ὁ Δημοσθένης λέγει.

  πούς. 86 1, 168 12, 172 20, 174 22, 24, 178 7, 184 1, 256 9, 12, 258 19, 260 3. Metrical foot. Lat. pes. τὸ δ’ αὐτὸ καλῶ πόδα καὶ ῥυθμόν 168 11. Aristoxenus, Ῥυθμικὰ στοιχεῖα ii. 16, writes: ᾧ σημαινόμεθα τὸν ῥυθμὸν καὶ γνώριμον ποιοῦμεν τῇ αἰσθήσει, πούς ἐστιν εἷς ἢ πλείους. Cope (Introduction to Aristotle’s Rhetoric ) thinks that Dionysius neglects the important distinction between βάσις, the unit of rhythm, and πούς, the unit of metre. Goodell (Greek Metric ) thus paraphrases a passage of Marius Victorinus ( K.): “Between foot and ‘rhythmus’ there is this difference, that a foot cannot exist without rhythm, but a ‘rhythmus’ moves rhythmically without being divisible into feet.” [It is this kind of ‘rhythmus’ that counts in rhythmical prose.]

  πραγματεία. 68 8, 14, 17, 70 8, etc. Inquiry, treatise, work. Lat. studium, commentatio, opus. So πραγματεύεσθαι 106 5, 10, 140 22, 268 7.

  πραγματικός. 66 6. Pertaining to subject matter or invention. Lat. negotialis. Cp. Quintil. iii. 7. 1 “a parte negotiali, hoc est πραγματικῇ.” The πραγματικὸς τόπος (“tractatio rerum et sententiarum”) covers subject matter, things, thoughts; the λεκτικὸς τόπος includes expression, form, style.

  πραΰς. 162 5, 244 21. Gentle. Lat. lenis. Cp. Demetr. .

  πρέπον, τό. 120 19, 122 13, 124 11, 136 12, 198 13, 14. Propriety, appropriateness, fitness. Lat. decorum. Fr. la convenance. Cp. Cic. Orat. 21. 70 “ut enim in vita, sic in oratione nihil est difficilius quam quid deceat videre. πρέπον appellant hoc Graeci; nos dicamus sane decorum; de quo praeclare et multa praecipiuntur et res est cognitione dignissima: huius ignoratione non modo in vita, sed saepissime et in poëmatis et in oratione peccatur.” The Greek rhetoricians drew the term from the language of ethics. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 7. 1 τὸ δὲ πρέπον ἕξει ἡ λέξις, ἐὰν ᾖ παθητική τε καὶ ἠθικὴ καὶ τοῖς ὑποκειμένοις πράγμασιν ἀνάλογον. So πρεπώδης 106 17.

  πριάπειος. 86 8. Priapean: as a metrical term. Lat. Priapeius. Effeminate and ribald verse, written in honour of Priapus, and involving a mutilation of the heroic line.

  προέκ
θεσις. 242 2. A prefatory account. Lat. expositio antea data.

  πρόθεσις. 70 21, 108 16, 220 6. Preposition. Lat. praepositio.

  πρόνοια. 184 16, 186 1. Deliberation. Lat. consilium.

  προοίμιον. 224 24, 252 3. Introduction. Lat. exordium.

  προπετής. 244 22. Flowing. Lat. volubilis, profluens.

  προσαγόρευσις. 260 22. Address. Lat. allocutio, compellatio.

  προσερανίζειν. 116 4. To augment. Lat. cumulare. The period in question has been aided (so to say) by the alms of expletives. For the metaphor cp. συνερανιζόμενα de Isocr. c. 3 and ἔρανον de Imitat. B. vi. 2.

  προσερείδειν. 148 22. To drive against. Lat. impingere, allidere. In 220 24 προσανίστασθαι is similarly used of ‘rising against.’

  προσεχής. 84 6. Obvious, natural, allied, appropriate. Lat. proximus, cognatus (cum re coniunctus). In 258 24 the sense is ‘adjoining.’

  προσηγορικός. 70 17, 102 17, 18, 218 6, 11, 220 7, 16, 222 24, 230 1. Appellative. Lat. appellativus. ὄνομα προσηγορικόν = common noun, Lat. nomen appellativum. It would appear from Dionysius Thrax (Ars Grammatica Uhlig) that ὄνομα might include προσηγορία (= ὄνομα προσηγορικόν), while προσηγορία could cover participles (μετοχαί) and adjectives (ἐπίθετα) as well as common nouns. But the strict division is that of proper names and general terms, as given by Dionysius Thrax (ibid. p, 34): κύριον μὲν οὖν ἐστι τὸ τὴν ἰδίαν οὐσίαν, σημαῖνον, οἷον Ὅμηρος, Σωκράτης. προσηγορικὸν δέ ἐστι τὸ τὴν κοινὴν οὐσίαν σημαῖνον, οἷον ἄνθρωπος, ἵππος. In such passages as 222 24 and 230 1 ‘adjective’ would be an appropriate modern rendering. Quintil. i. 4. 21 “vocabulum an appellatio dicenda sit προσηγορία et subicienda nomini necne, quia parvi refert, liberum opinaturis relinquo.” In 272 25 προσηγορία = appellation.

  προσίστασθαι. 132 8. To offend. Lat. obstrepere. Cp. de Isocr. c. 2 προσιστάμενος ταῖς ἀκοαῖς, c. 14 ibid. τῷ γὰρ μὴ ἐν καιρῷ γίνεσθαι, μηδ’ ἐν ὥρᾳ, προσίστασθαί φημι ταῖς ἀκοαῖς, Antiqq. Rom. i. 8 μονοειδεῖς γὰρ ἐκεῖναί τε καὶ ταχὺ προσιστάμεναι (= cito offendunt) τοῖς ἀκούουσιν.

  προσκατασκευάζειν. 110 14 (v.l. προκατασκευάζειν). To model further, remodel. Lat. insuper instruere.

  προσοδιακός. 86 3. Processional: see n. ad loc.

  προσῳδία. 128 12, 196 17, 268 20. Accent. Lat. accentus. The word is defined in 196 17 τάσεις φωνῆς αἱ καλούμεναι προσῳδίαι. See further s.v. τόνος infra, and compare Bywater Aristotle on the Art of Poetry “προσῳδία with Aristotle comprises accent, breathing, and quantity — all the elements in the spoken word which in the ancient mode of writing were left to be supplied by the reader.” The symbols used in accentuation are supposed to have been introduced by Aristophanes of Byzantium, if not by some still earlier scholar, in order to recall to Greeks and teach foreign learners the true intonation of the language, which was in danger of being corrupted and forgotten when the Greek world grew vast and came to include so many foreign elements.

  πρόσωπον. 160 18, 198 23. Person, character. Lat. persona. Cp. Demetr. .

  πτῶσις. 106 20, 108 4, 132 7, 212 20, 264 4. Grammatical case. Lat. casus. ‘Verbal cases’ are mentioned in 108 4; in Aristotle the term πτῶσις includes inflexions in general.

  πυρρίχιος. 168 17. Pyrrhic. Lat. pyrrhichius. The metrical foot ᴗ ᴗ.

  ῥῆμα. 70 13, 21, 168 10, 218 6, 7, 264 5. Verb. Lat. verbum. So ῥηματικός 108 4 (verbal), 220 17 (verbal form).

  ῥήτωρ. 74 8, 132 22, 166 12, 200 14, 206 25, 218 21, 236 20, 242 7, 248 15. Orator, rhetorician. Lat. orator, rhetor. As in English we have no similarly two-sided word, it is often hard to decide between the renderings, ‘speaker’ and ‘teacher of speaking.’ So ῥητορικός 68 9, 254 25, 262 20.

  ῥοῖζος. 138 10. A whizzing. Lat. stridor.

  ῥυθμίζειν. 180 13. To bring into rhythm, to scan. Lat. scandere. Cp. the use of βαίνειν and διαιρεῖν.

  ῥυθμός. 120 18, 122 12, 124 6, 9, passim. Rhythm, harmonious movement of speech. Lat. numerus. For le nombre oratoire in Cicero (whose prose, however, like Roman prose generally, must not be taken to follow exclusively Attic standards) see Laurand’s Études p-11, and cp. Cic. Orat. 20. 67 “quicquid est enim, quod sub aurium mensuram aliquam cadat, etiamsi abest a versu — nam id quidem orationis est vitium — numerus vocatur, qui Graece ῥυθμός dicitur.” Quintil. Inst. Or. ix. 4. 45 “omnis structura ac dimensio et copulatio vocum constat aut numeris (numeros ῥυθμούς accipi volo) aut μέτροις, id est dimensione quadam.” It was a suggestive saying of Scaliger’s that metre gives the exact ‘measure’ of the line, rhythm its ‘temperament.’ As Dionysius identifies ῥυθμός and πούς (168 11; c 2, 3), we may translate ῥυθμός by ‘foot’ in 180 11, 182 19 (cp. σπονδεῖος πούς 178 7), 200 17, 206 9, etc. — Cp. Aristot. Rhet. iii. 8. 2 τὸ δὲ ἄρρυθμον ἀπέραντον, δεῖ δὲ πεπεράνθαι μέν, μὴ μέτρῳ δέ· ἀηδὲς γὰρ καὶ ἄγνωστον τὸ ἄπειρον. περαίνεται δὲ ἀριθμῷ πάντα· ὁ δὲ τοῦ σχήματος τῆς λέξεως ἀριθμὸς ῥυθμός ἐστιν, οὗ καὶ τὰ μέτρα τμητά· διὸ ῥυθμὸν δεῖ ἔχειν τὸν λόγον, μέτρον δὲ μή· ποίημα γὰρ ἔσται. ῥυθμὸν δὲ μὴ ἀκριβῶς· τοῦτο δὲ ἔσται ἐὰν μέχρι του ᾖ. So ῥυθμικός 128 18 (where the reference is to lyric metres), 168 8, 172 20 (cp. οἱ μετρικοί), 176 7. Quintilian (ix. 4. 68) provides a good example of the divisions recognized by the rhythmici: “quis enim dubitet, unum sensum in hoc et unum spiritum esse: animadverti, iudices, omnem accusatoris orationem in duas divisam esse partes? tamen et duo prima verba et tria proxima et deinceps duo rursus ac tria suos quasi numeros habent spiritum sustinentes, sicut apud rhythmicos aestimantur.”

  ῥυπαρός. 134 24. Filthy, sordid. Lat. sordidus.

  ῥύσις. 244 21. Flow. Lat. fluxus.

  ῥυσός. 92 10. Wrinkled. Lat. rugosus.

  ῥώθωνες. 144 22, 23, 146 11, 220 25. Nostrils. Lat. nares. In 146 11 διὰ τῶν ῥωθώνων συνηχούμενα = nasal.

  Σαπφικός. 258 7. Of Sappho. Lat. Sapphicus.

  σαφήνεια. 160 22. Clearness, lucidity. Lat. perspicuitas. Fr. clarté, netteté. The adjective σαφής occurs in 210 4.

  σελίς. 186 2. Page. Lat. pagina libri.

  σεμνότης. 84 2, 110 19, 164 20, 166 12, 170 2, 172 11, 236 8. Gravity, majesty. Lat. granditas, dignitas, gravitas. Fr. majesté. So σεμνολογία 120 23, 174 17; σεμνός 68 5, 80 12, 84 8, etc. It is not easy to find a good equivalent for σεμνός, as ‘dignified’ comes nearer to ἀξιωματικός; ‘impressive’ (or the like) to μεγαλοπρεπής; ‘lofty,’ ‘elevated,’ or ‘sublime,’ to ὑψηλός. ‘Solemn,’ ‘majestic,’ ‘august,’ or ‘stately’ will sometimes serve.

  σημαίνειν. 74 3, 134 25. To betoken, to express. Lat. significare.

  σιγμός. 138 10. A hissing. Lat. sibilus. Fr. sifflement.

  σιωπή. 218 16, 220 2, 230 4. Silence, interval, pause. Lat. silentium, intermissio. Modern metrists who confine their attention to syllables are apt to neglect the interrelations of silence and sound. Dionysius would, on the contrary, have recognized that the pauses denoted by punctuation are the key to the metre in such lines as “Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require” (Tempest v. 1
).

  σκαιότης. 250 8. Clumsiness, stupidity. Lat. rusticitas, imperitia. Fr. gaucherie: cp. the editor’s Ancient Boeotians .

  σκευωρία. 264 7. Elaboration. Lat. cura artificiosa. Cp. de Thucyd. c. 5 σκευωρίαν τεχνικήν, c. 29 μᾶλλον δὲ διθυραμβικῆς σκευωρίας οἰκειότερον: Hesych. σκευωρία· κατασκευή.

  σκιερός. 234 13. Shady, dark. Lat. obscurus.

  σκληρός. 132 1, 154 12. Hard. Lat. durus. Cp. D.H. .

  σομφός. 122 25. Thick, husky. Lat. subraucus, fuscus. Cp. Schol. in M, σομφὸν ἤγουν θρυλιγμὸν καὶ ἐκμέλειαν. Some of the MSS. give ἀσύμφωνον, thus repeating a word used a few lines earlier.

  σοφιστής. 190 10, 264 19. Sophist. Lat. sophista. The comprehensiveness of the term is well illustrated by the fact that in the former passage it is applied to Hegesias, in the latter to Isocrates and Plato. In the parallel passage of the de Demosth. (c. 51) ὁρῶν γε δὴ τούτους τοὺς θαυμαζομένους ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ κρατίστων λόγων ποιητὰς νομιζομένους Ἰσοκράτην καὶ Πλάτωνα γλυπτοῖς καὶ τορευτοῖς ἐοικότας ἐκφέροντας λόγους. Cp. Demetr. .

  σπαδονίζειν. 142 9. To emasculate, to cramp. Lat. spadonium sonum reddere. This reading seems preferable on several grounds: (1) it is the more difficult of the two; (2) the sense of ‘choke the voice’ seems to agree well with οὐδὲ συγκόψει τοὺς ἤχους (162 4 ‘and will not impede the voice’); (3) σπανίζειν (intransitive: cp. de Demosth. c. 32, de Thucyd. c. 19) τοῦ ἤχου would be more common than σπανίζειν τὸν ἦχον: (4) σπαδονισμοὺς τῶν ἤχων (‘impediments to sound,’ ‘arrested sounds’) occurs, without variant, in de Demosth. c. 40, and is adopted by U.-R. as well as by other editors; (5) the authority of R seems to support σπαδονίζει rather than (as U.-R. think) σπανίζει.