xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi

genera inter se videntur. Namque unum _subtile_, quod ἰσχνόν vocant, alterum _grande_ atque robustum, quod ἁδρόν dicunt, constituunt; tertium alii _medium_ ex duobus, alii _floridum_ (namque id ἀνθηρόν appellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356 _a_ 2 τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος (those which conciliate good-will—the _medium_, _lene_, _compositum genus_), αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως (those which stir the passions—the _grande genus_), αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι (those which are addressed to the intellect—the _genus subtile_). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.

In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designation _floridum_ (ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on §80.

pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. the _subtile genus_, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’ 45 and the juxtaposition of _tenuis_ here shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere. _Pressum_ is well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia 4 §1. To writers _pressus_ is applied §§46, 102: 2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks that _pressus_ (verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.

tenuia: §64: 2 §19. The Greek equivalents are ἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning of _tenuis_ is ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (like ἰσχνός and _gracilis_), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124 ‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum, _al._ rarum). Cp. _subtilis_ and _simplex_.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—For atque quae, see Crit. Notes.

demum, 3 §13: 6 §5: = ‘only,’ for _tantum_, _dumtaxat_, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, like _adeo_: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.

usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.

sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all three _genera_. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quam 46 iactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. So ὑγιές in Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.

elatior ingenii vis, as in the _grave genus_, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp. _tersior_ §94.

et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive with _magis_: cp. §§74, 77, 88, 94, 120. For _concitata_ cp. §§73, 90, 114, 118: 2 §23: xii. 10, 26.

plena spiritus: see on §27: cp. §§16, 61, 104: 3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his time _plenus_ was generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.

lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on §121 (with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words as _vehemens_, _acer_, &c. makes it probable that _lenis_ is the right reading here, not _levis_ (see Crit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.

nitidi: see on §9.

compositi: see on §79 compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words, §§52, 66: 2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)

de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.

confirmare facultatem dicendi = i.e. acquire the _firma facilitas_ of §1.

I:45 Facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his simillimi, iudicare, ne quisquam queratur omissos forte aliquos quos ipse valde probet; fateor enim plures legendos esse quam qui a me nominabuntur. Sed nunc genera ipsa lectionum, quae praecipue convenire intendentibus ut oratores fiant existimem, persequar. 47 § 45. paucos enim explains _summatim_, ‘for _only_ a few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp. §§3, 8, 27, 31, 35, 42, 67, 87 for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.

studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum 3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (with _iuvenis_) 3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly with _dicendi_): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.

ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, see Crit. Notes.

genera ipsa: here and in §104 _genera_ = classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“For _ipsum_ in the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.

lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeos 47 subdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp. §19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.

ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT (46-84)

§§ 46-84. GREEK LITERATURE.

§§ 46-72. Greek Poetry.

§§46-61. _Epic, didactic, pastoral, elegiac, iambic, and lyric poetry proper._

The praise of Homer, §§46-51: ‘it is much to understand, impossible to rival, his greatness.’ Hesiod is rich in moral maxims, and a master of the ‘middle style’: Antimachus, Panyasis, Apollonius, Aratus, Theocritus, and others, §§52-57. A word in passing about the elegiac poets, represented by Callimachus and Philetas, §58. Of _iambographi_ the typical writer is Archilochus, §§59-60. The chief lyric poets are Pindar (§61), Stesichorus (§62), Alcaeus (§63), and Simonides (§64).

§§65-72. _Dramatic poetry._

The Old Comedy (§§65-66) with its pure Attic diction and freedom of political criticism is more akin to oratory and more fitted to form the orator than any other class of poetry,—always excepting Homer.

Tragedy (§§67-68) is represented by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides: of the latter two Euripides is more useful for the orator. He was imitated by Menander (§§69-72), the ‘mirror of life,’ who might alone suffice to form the orator. Menander’s superiority to all other comic dramatists.

§§73-75. Greek Historians.

The pregnant brevity of Thucydides, the charm and transparency of Herodotus. Theopompus: Philistus (‘the little Thucydides’): Ephorus, and others.

§§76-80. Greek Orators.

Demosthenes the standard of eloquence, in whom there is nothing either too 3 much or too little. Aeschines more diffuse: ‘more flesh, less muscle.’ Hyperides is pleasing, but more at home in less important causes. Lysias resembles a clear spring rather than a full river. Isocrates belongs to the gymnasium rather than to the field of battle: in arrangement punctilious to a fault. Demetrius of Phalerum the last Athenian worthy of the name of orator.

§§81-84. Greek Philosophers.

Both in respect of reasoning power and for beauty of style, Plato holds the first place. Of Xenophon’s artless charm it might be said that ‘Persuasion herself perched upon his lips.’ Aristotle is famous alike for knowledge, productiveness, grace of style, invention, and versatility. Theophrastus owed even his name to the divine splendour of his language. The Stoics were the champions of virtue, and showed their strength in defending their tenets: the grand style they did not affect.

I:46 Igitur, ut Aratus ab Iove incipiendum putat, ita nos rite coepturi ab Homero videmur. Hic enim, quem ad modum ex Oceano dicit ipse omnium _fluminum_ fontiumque cursus initium capere, omnibus eloquentiae partibus exemplum et ortum dedit. 48 Hunc nemo in magnis rebus sublimitate, in parvis proprietate superaverit. Idem laetus ac pressus, iucundus et gravis, tum copia tum brevitate mirabilis, nec poetica modo, sed oratoria virtute eminentissimus.

§ 46. ab Iove incipiendum. Phaenom. 1 ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα. Cic. de Rep. i. §36 imitemur (al. mitabor ergo) Aratum qui magnis de rebus dicere exordiens a Iove incipiendum putat ... rite ab eo dicendi principium capiamus. So Theocr.