Complete Works of Plutarch Part 48

[Greek omitted]

As swarms of bees, that pour in ceaseless stream From out the crevice of some hollow rock.

The above and others like them add grace and attractiveness to the narrative.

As a proof of his care in composition we often see he employs two figures in the same verses, as Epanaphora and h.o.m.oioteleuton (I. ii.

382):--

Each sharpen well his spear, his s.h.i.+eld prepare Each to his fiery steeds their forage give.

Belonging to these is the figure called Parison, which is formed out of two or more numbers having an equal number of words (I. vii. 93):--

Shamed to refuse, but fearful to accept.--

and again (I. xvi. 282):--

Had cast away difference, had resumed friends.h.i.+p,--

That this figure gives much ornament of style is very clear.

The like grace comes from Paranomasia, when besides the name in question another similar one is added at a slight interval (I. vi. 130):--

Not long did Dryas' son, Lycurgus brave,--

and in another (I. ii. 758):--

Swift-footed Protheus led.

But the above examples are arranged either by Pleonasm or by some such like artifice. But there is another due to absence of a word. Of thes omitted the sense is plain from what has gone before, as in the following (I. ix. 328):--

Twelve cities have I taken with my s.h.i.+ps, Eleven more by land on Trojan soil,--

where the words "have I taken" are wanting in last line, but are supplied from the preceding one. This is said to be by Ellipse (I. xii.

243):--

One bird best to defend the fatherland,--

where the word "is" is lacking. And (I. xx. 293):--

Alas I the grief to me of great-hearted Aeneas,--

when the words "is present," "comes," or something of the kind, are understood.

There are many kinds of Ellipses in Homer; the effect of the figure is quickness.

Of this sort is Asyndeton when the conjunctions uniting sentences are removed. This is done not only for the sake of celerity, but also of the sake of emotional emphasis. Such as is the following (O. x. 251):--

We went on our way, n.o.ble Odysseus, up through the coppice even as thou didst command; we found within the forest glades the fair halls builded of polished stone of Circe.

In these the conjunction is dropped since the speaker seeks the quickest method of expressing his message. There is among the figures what is called the Incongruous or the Variation. It is used when the ordinary arrangement is made different. And the variety is due either to impressing grace and elegance to the words; the ordinary movements not seeming to be followed, but the alteration has an arrangement of its own.

It often takes place when the genders of nouns are changed as [Greek omitted] instead of [Greek omitted] and [Greek omitted]. It was not unusual for the ancients, and especially among the people of Attica, to use masculine for feminine as superior and more vigorous. Nor did they do this without rhyme and reason, but when they made use of a word, as an epithet apart from the body which was spoken of. For the words concerned with the body are "great, beautiful," those not connected with it, "glorious, fortunate." Besides, they are ambiguous on account of their composition. For in general all compound things are common to either gender. And wherever a verb or participle is used with a masculine and feminine noun, the masculine prevails (I. vi. 567):--

The virgins and the youths minding childish things,--

where the participle is masculine.

Certain things, owing to the peculiarity of the dialect or the custom of that time, are said differently, [Greek omitted] feminine instead of [Greek omitted] (O. i. 53):--

And himself upholds the tall pillars which keep earth and sky asunder.

Often as the narrative proceeds he changes the genders, as in (O, xv.

125):--

I give to you the gift, my dear son.

Son is a neuter substantive to which the adjective agrees; the poet refers it to the person. Of the same kind is that which is said by Dione to Venus (I. v. 382):--

Have patience, dearest child; though much enforced.

a.n.a.logous to it is that (O. xi. 90):--

Anon came the soul of Theban Teiresias, with a golden sceptre in his hand,--

for he made the participle [Greek omitted] agree not with the gender of soul [Greek omitted], but the gender of the body, that is, Teiresias.

For often he looks not to the word but to the sense, as in this pa.s.sage (I. xvi. 280):--

In all their spirit stirred, and the phalanxes moved hoping for the idle son of Peleus from the s.h.i.+ps,--

for the participle [Greek omitted] does not agree with the word "phalanxes," but with the men composing them.

In another way he changes genders, as when he says (O. xii. 75):--

And a dark cloud encompa.s.ses it; this never streams away,--

since [Greek omitted] and [Greek omitted], "cloud," are synonyms, using first [Greek omitted] he afterward makes his adjectives agree with [Greek omitted] understood. Like this are these verses (I. ii. 459):--

As various tribes of winged fowl or geese Or cranes or long necked swans Besides Coysters stream, now here, now there, Disporting, ply their wings.

For having first set down generically the kinds of birds, which are neuter, then after speaking of the species in the masculine he comes back again to the neuter--settling down with a noise giving the proper agreement to the general word of the species.

The poet often changes the number as well as the gender (I. xv. 305):--

The crowd approach the s.h.i.+ps of the Achaeans.

First comes a singular then a plural verb, plainly looking to the sense, for although the word "crowd" is called singular, yet it embraces many individuals.

Like it in the opposite way is when the plural precedes the singular follows (I. xvi. 264):--