CHAPTER II COMPOSITION DEFINED
Composition is, as the very name indicates, a certain arrangement of the parts of speech, or elements of diction, as some call them. These were reckoned as three only by Theodectes and Aristotle and the philosophers of those times, who regarded nouns, verbs and connectives as the primary parts of speech. Their successors, particularly the leaders of the Stoic school, raised the number to four, separating the articles from the connectives. Then the later inquirers divided the appellatives from the substantives, and represented the primary parts of speech as five. Others detached the pronouns from the nouns, and so introduced a sixth element. Others, again, divided the adverbs from the verbs, the prepositions
1 εἶναι F: om PMV 4 ποιητικῆς τε om. P || ἐκμημουμένης P1 5 ποῦ] αὐτοῦ PV: τοῦτο FM: αὐτῷ s 6 ἐγγένοιτο F: γένοιτο PMV 8 ἄρχεται δὲ ἐνθένδ’ ἡ πραγματεία om. s || δὲ om. V || ἔνθεν PF2: ἐντεῦθεν F1MV 9 ἔστι μὲν EFM: ἐστιν PV 13 προῆγον F 14 μετὰ τούτους F: μετ’ αὐτοὺς PMV 16 τεσσάρων F 19 ἀντωνυμίας V 20 τοῦτο PMV 21 ἐπ[ι]ρρήματα cum litura P || διεῖλον PMV: διελόντες F
4. κατασκευῆς: see Gloss., s.v.
5. Usener’s conjecture εὖ τί may derive some colour from the manuscript readings in 72 10. But 270 11 shows that εὖ is not necessary here, and ποῦ is nearer the manuscript tradition. Cp. also 250 3 (κατορθουμένοις), 198 11 (κατόρθωμα), de Thucyd. c. 1 (τῆς δυνάμεως οὐκ ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς ἔργοις κατορθούσης). Other examples are quoted in Long. p. 202.
7. ὑπέρ: cp. 72 3, 17: περί, 68 12.
10. de Demosth. c. 48 τοῖς πρώτοις μορίοις τῆς λέξεως, ἃ δὴ στοιχεῖα ὑπό τινων καλεῖται, εἴτε τρία ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὡς Θεοδέκτῃ τε καὶ Ἀριστοτέλει δοκεῖ, ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα καὶ σύνδεσμοι, εἴτε τέτταρα, ὡς τοῖς περὶ Ζήνωνα τὸν Στωικόν, εἴτε πλείω, δύο ταῦτα ἀκολουθεῖ μέλος καὶ χρόνος ἴσα. Quintil. i. 4. 18, 19 “tum videbit, ad quem hoc pertinet, quot et quae partes orationis; quamquam de numero parum convenit. veteres enim, quorum fuerunt Aristoteles quoque atque Theodectes, verba modo et nomina et convinctiones tradiderunt; videlicet quod in verbis vim sermonis, in nominibus materiam (quia alterum est quod loquimur, alterum de quo loquimur), in convinctionibus autem complexus eorum esse iudicaverunt; quas coniunctiones a plerisque dici scio, sed haec videtur ex συνδέσμῳ magis propria translatio. paulatim a philosophis ac maxime Stoicis auctus est numerus, ac primum convinctionibus articuli adiecti, post praepositiones: nominibus appellatio, deinde pronomen, deinde mixtum verbo participium, ipsis verbis adverbia. noster sermo articulos non desiderat, ideoque in alias partes orationis sparguntur.” Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 15. 10) writes: “a quo non dissentit Theodectes, sive ipsius id opus est, quod de rhetorice nomine eius inscribitur, sive ut creditum est Aristotelis.” It is hardly likely that in i. 4. 18 Quintilian is translating from the de C.V. c. 2; the coincidences are, rather, due to the use of common sources.—Dionysius does not mention Dionysius Thrax, the author of the first Greek Grammar, nor does he seem to take account of Aristot. Poet. c. 20.
13. The Arabic grammarians in the same way reckon ‘verbs,’ ‘nouns,’ and ‘particles.’
15. Cp. 96 8, 12 infra.
17. τὰ προσηγορικὰ διελόντες: cp. Dionysius Thrax Ars Gramm. p. 23 (Uhlig) τοῦ δὲ λόγου μέρη ἐστὶν ὀκτώ· ὄνομα, ῥῆμα, μετοχή, ἄρθρον, ἀντωνυμία, πρόθεσις, ἐπίρρημα, σύνδεσμος· ἡ γὰρ προσηγορία ὡς εἶδος τῷ ὀνόματι ὑποβέβληται.
21. This seems to imply that adverbs were originally included in verbs—that, for example, εὖ ποιεῖν (like bene facere in Plautus) was regarded as a quasi-compound. It is to be remembered that the division of words in writing is a later invention.
τῶν συνδέσμων καὶ τὰς μετοχὰς ἀπὸ τῶν προσηγορικῶν, οἱ δὲ
καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς προσαγαγόντες τομὰς πολλὰ τὰ πρῶτα μόρια
τῆς λέξεως ἐποίησαν· ὑπὲρ ὧν οὐ μικρὸς ἂν εἴη λόγος. πλὴν
ἥ γε τῶν πρῶτων εἴτε τριῶν ἢ τεττάρων εἴθ’ ὅσων δήποτε
ὄντων μερῶν πλοκὴ καὶ παράθεσις τὰ λεγόμενα ποιεῖ 5
κῶλα, ἔπειθ’ ἡ τούτων ἁρμονία τὰς καλουμένας συμπληροῖ
περιόδους, αὗται δὲ τὸν σύμπαντα τελειοῦσι λόγον. ἔστι δὴ
τῆς συνθέσεως ἔργα τά τε ὀνόματα οἰκείως θεῖναι παρ’ ἄλληλα
καὶ τοῖς κώλοις ἀποδοῦναι τὴν προσήκουσαν ἁρμονίαν καὶ ταῖς
περιόδοις διαλαβεῖν εὖ τὸν λόγον. 10
δευτέρα δ’ οὖσα μοῖρα τῶν περὶ τὸν λεκτικὸν τόπον
θεωρημάτων κατὰ γοῦν τὴν τάξιν (ἡγεῖται γὰρ ἡ τῶν
ὀνομάτων ἐκλογὴ καὶ προϋφίσταται ταύτης κατὰ φύσιν)
ἡδονὴν καὶ πειθὼ καὶ κράτος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις οὐκ ὀλίγῳ
κρεῖττον ἐκείνης ἔχει. καὶ μηδεὶς ἡγήσηται παράδοξον, εἰ 15
πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ὄντων θεωρημάτων περὶ τὴν ἐκλογήν,
ὑπὲρ ὧν πολὺς ἐγένετο φιλοσόφοις τε καὶ πολιτικοῖς ἀνδράσι
λόγος, ἡ σύνθεσις δευτέραν ἔχουσα χώραν τῇ τάξει καὶ λόγων
οὐδέ, πολλοῦ δεῖ, τῶν ἴσων ἐκείνῃ τυχοῦσα τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν
ἔχει καὶ δύναμιν ὥστε περιεῖναι πάντων τῶν ἐκείνης ἔργων 20
καὶ κρατεῖν, ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν,
ὅσαι διαφόρους ὕλας λαμβάνουσαι συμφορητὸν ἐκ τούτων
ποιοῦσι τὸ τέλος, ὡς οἰκοδομική τε καὶ τεκτονικὴ καὶ ποικιλτικὴ
καὶ ὅσαι ταῖς τοιαύταις εἰσὶν ὁμοιογενεῖς, αἱ συνθετικαὶ
δυνάμεις τῇ μὲν τάξει δεύτεραι τῶν ἐκλεκτικῶν εἰσι, τῇ δὲ 25
δυνάμει πρότεραι· ὥστ’ εἰ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τὸ αὐτὸ συμβέβηκεν,
οὐκ ἄτοπον ἡγητέον. οὐδὲν δὲ κωλύει καὶ πίστεις παρασχεῖν
[73]
from the connectives and the participles from the appellatives; while others introduced still further subdivisions, and so multiplied the primary parts of speech. The subject would afford scope for quite a long discussion. Enough to say that the combination or juxtaposition of these primary parts, be they three, or four, or whatever may be their number, forms the so-called “members” (or clauses) of a sentence. Further, the fitting together of these clauses constitutes what are termed the “periods,” and these make up the complete discourse. The function of composition is to put words together in an appropriate order, to assign a suitable connexion to clauses, and to distribute the whole discourse properly into periods.
Although in logical order arrangement of words occupies the second place when the department of expression is under investigation, since the selection of them naturally takes precedence and is assumed to be already made; yet it is upon arrangement, far more than upon selection, that persuasion, charm, and literary power depend. And let no one deem it strange that, whereas many serious investigations have been made regarding the choice of words,—investigations which have given rise to much debate among philosophers and political orators,—composition, though it holds the second place in order, and has been the subject of far fewer discussions than the other, yet possesses so much solid strength, so much active energy, that it triumphantly outstrips all the other’s achievements. It must be remembered that, in the case of all the other arts which employ various materials and produce from them a composite result,—arts such as building, carpentry, embroidery, and the like,—the faculties of composition are second in order of time to those of selection, but are nevertheless of greater importance. Hence it must not be thought abnormal that the same principle obtains with respect to discourse. But we may as well submit proofs of this statement,
2 προσαγαγόντες F: εἰσάγοντες PVa: προεισαγαγόντες M 3 οὐ μικρὸς PMV: πολλὺς sic F 4 τῶν τριῶν PMV: * * * τριῶν * * * * F 5 καὶ om. P1 8 οἰκείως θεῖναι τά τε ὀνόματα (verbis in hunc modum dispositis) PMV || παράλληλα PM, corr. F1 9 ἀποδιδόναι F || ἀρμονίαν FP: sic passim 10 λαβεῖν F1 || εὖ τὸν EF: αὐτὸν ὅλον τὸν PMV 11 δὲ PMV 12 κατὰ γοὖν F: κατανοοῦντι EPMV 14 τοῖς EF: om. PMV || ὀλίγον M 15 κρεῖττον EFM: κρείττω PV || ἡγήσεται F 17 καὶ ῥητορικοῖς PMV || ἀνδρᾶσι F: ἀνδράσιν P 18 χώραν ἔχουσα F || συντάξει F1 19 ἐκείνη (sine iota) FP 21 ἐπὶ EF: αἱ περὶ PMV 22 δ(ια)αφόρους P1 || λαμβάνουσιν F: λαμβάνουσι M 23 τε om. EF || πολιτικὴ E 24 ταῖς τοιαύταις PMV: ταύτης F || ὁμοιογενεῖς P: ὁμογενεῖς FMV 25 τῶν λεκτικῶν E
6. ἁρμονία: see Gloss., s.v.
8. Cic. de Orat. iii. 43. 171 “sequitur continuatio verborum, quae duas res maxime, collocationem primum, deinde modum quendam formamque desiderat. collocationis est componere et struere verba sic, ut neve asper eorum concursus neve hiulcus sit, sed quodam modo coagmentatus et levis; in quo lepide soceri mei persona lusit is, qui elegantissime id facere potuit, Lucilius:
quam lepide λέξεις compostae! ut tesserulae omnes
arte pavimento atque emblemate vermiculato.”
9. In the actual contents of his treatise Dionysius pays more attention to the ὀνόματα than to the κῶλα and περίοδοι. The importance of employing periods judiciously is indicated in 118 15.
12. κατανοοῦντι (the more difficult and better supported reading) may be right, cp. 90 12 εἰσπλέοντι (from Thucydides).
13. Cic. Brut. 72. 253 “primoque in libro dixerit (Caesar) verborum dilectum originem esse eloquentiae.”
25. For the antithesis cp. Demosth. Olynth. iii. 15 τὸ γὰρ πράττειν τοῦ λέγειν καὶ χειροτονεῖν ὕστερον ὂν τῇ τάξει, πρότερον τῇ δυνάμει καὶ κρεῖττόν ἐστιν.
τοῦ προκειμένου, μή τι δόξωμεν ἐξ ἑτοίμου λαμβάνειν τῶν ἀμφισβήτησιν ἐχόντων λόγων.
