Today's Quintilian: 8.6.8-10

VIII. Quaedam etiam parum speciosa dictu per hanc explicantur: "hoc faciunt nimio ne luxu obtunsior usus sit genitali arvo et sulcos oblimet inertes". In totum autem metaphora brevior est similitudo, eoque distat quod illa comparatur rei quam volumus exprimere, haec pro ipsa re dicitur. IX. Comparatio est cum dico fecisse quid hominem "ut leonem", tralatio cum dico de homine "leo est". huius vis omnis quadruplex maxime videtur: cum in rebus animalibus aliud pro alio ponitur, ut de agitatore "gubernator magna contorsit equum vi", aut [ut Livius Scipionem a Catone "adlatrari" solitum refert] inanima pro aliis generis eiusdem sumuntur, ut "classique inmittit habenas", aut pro rebus animalibus inanima: X. "ferron an fato moerus Argivom occidit"? aut contra: "sedet inscius alto accipiens sonitum saxi de vertice pastor".

8. Some things also, which are unfit to be expressed plainly, are intimated metaphorically, as,

Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtusior usus
Sit genitalis arvo, et sulcos oblimet inertes;

This they do, lest by too much indulgence
the action of the genital field should grow
too unenergetic and obstruct the inert furrows.
On the whole, the metaphor is a short comparison, differing from the comparison in this respect, that, in the one, an object is compared with the thing which we wish to illustrate. In the other, the object is put instead of the thing itself. 9. It is a comparison, when I say that a man has done something like a lion; it is a metaphor, when I say of a man that he is a lion.

Of metaphors in general there seem to be four kinds: the first, when one sort of living thing is put for another, as, in speaking of a driver of horses,

Gubernator magnâ contorsit equum vi,

The steersman turn'd his horse with mighty force;
or as Livy says that Scipio used to be barked at by Cato. 10. The second, when one inanimate thing is put for another, as,

Classique inmittit habenas,

He gives his fleet the reins.
The third, when inanimate things are put for things having life, as,

Ferro, non fato, maerus Argivum occidit,

By steel, not fate, the wall of Greece fell down;
and the fourth, when things having life are put for things inanimate,

Sedet insicius alto
Accipiens sonitum saxi de vertice pastor,

The shepherd sits amazed,
Listening the sound from the high mountain's head.

Today's Quintilian: 8.6.6-7

VI. Id facimus aut quia necesse est aut quia significantius est aut, ut dixi, quia decentius. Vbi nihil horum praestabit quod transferetur, inproprium erit. Necessitate rustici "gemmam" in vitibus (quid enim dicerent aliud?) et "sitire segetes" et "fructus laborare", necessitate nos "durum hominem" aut "asperum": non enim proprium erat quod daremus his adfectibus nomen. VII. Iam "incensum ira" et "inflammatum cupiditate" et "lapsum errore" significandi gratia: nihil enim horum suis verbis quam his arcessitis magis proprium erit. Illa ad ornatum, "lumen orationis" et "generis claritatem" et "contionum procellas" et "eloquentiae fulmina", ut Cicero pro Milone Clodium "fontem gloriae eius" vocat et alio loco "segetem ac materiem".

6. This change we make, either because it is necessary, or because it adds to significance, or, as I said, because it is more ornamental. Where the transference produces no one of these effects, it will be vicious. From necessity the rustics speak of the gemma, "bud," of the vines (for how else could they express themselves?) and say that the corn thirsts and that the crops suffer. From necessity we say that a man is hard or rough because there is no proper term for us to give to these dispositions of the mind. 7. But we say that a man is inflamed with anger, burning with desire, and has fallen into error, with a view to significance or force of expression, for none of these phrases would be more significant in its own words than in those adopted metaphorically. The expressions, luminousness of language, illustrious birth, storms of public assemblies, thunderbolts of eloquence, are used merely for ornament; and it is thus that Cicero calls Clodius in one place a source, and in another a harvest and foundation, of glory to Milo.

Today's Quintilian: 8.6.4-5

IV. Incipiamus igitur ab eo qui cum frequentissimus est tum longe pulcherrimus, tralatione dico, quae metaphora Graece vocatur. Quae quidem cum ita est ab ipsa nobis concessa natura ut indocti quoque ac non sentientes ea frequenter utantur, tum ita iucunda atque nitida ut in oratione quamlibet clara proprio tamen lumine eluceat. V. Neque enim vulgaris esse neque humilis nec insuavis haec recte modo adscita potest. Copiam quoque sermonis auget permutando aut mutuando quae non habet, quodque est difficillimum, praestat ne ulli rei nomen deesse videatur. Transfertur ergo nomen aut verbum ex eo loco in quo proprium est in eum in quo aut proprium deest aut tralatum proprio melius est.

4. Let us commence, however, with that species of trope, which is both the most common and by far the most beautiful, I mean that which consists in what we call translatio, and the Greeks μεταφορά (metaphora). Metaphor is not only so natural to us, that the illiterate and others often use it unconsciously, but is so pleasing and ornamental, that, in any composition, however brilliant, it will always make itself apparent by its own luster. 5. If it be but rightly managed, it can never be either vulgar, mean, or disagreeable. It increases the copiousness of a language by allowing it to borrow what it does not naturally possess; and, what is its greatest achievement, it prevents an appellation from being wanting for anything whatever. A noun or a verb is accordingly transferred, as it were, from that place in the language to which it properly belongs, to one in which there is either no proper word, or in which the metaphorical word is preferable to the proper.

Today's Quintilian: 8.6.1-3

[6] I. Tropos est verbi vel sermonis a propria significatione in aliam cum virtute mutatio. Circa quem inexplicabilis et grammaticis inter ipsos et philosophis pugna est quae sint genera, quae species, qui numerus, quis cuique subiciatur. II. Nos, omissis quae nihil ad instruendum oratorem pertinent cavillationibus, necessarios maxime atque in usum receptos exsequemur, haec modo in his adnotasse contenti, quosdam gratia significationis, quosdam decoris adsumi, et esse alios in verbis propriis, alios in tralatis, vertique formas non verborum modo sed et sensuum et compositionis. III. Quare mihi videntur errasse qui non alios crediderunt tropos quam in quibus verbum pro verbo poneretur. Neque illud ignoro, in isdem fere qui significandi gratia adhibentur esse et ornatum, sed non idem accidet contra, eruntque quidam tantum ad speciem accommodati.

1. A trope is the conversion of a word or phrase, from its proper signification to another, in order to increase its force. Concerning tropes grammarians have carried on interminable disputes among themselves and with the philosophers; disputes as to what genera there are of them, what species, what number, and which are subordinate to others. 2. For myself omitting all such subtilties as useless to form an orator, I shall speak only of those tropes which are most important and most in use; and in regard to these, too, I shall content myself with observing, that some are adopted for the purpose of adding to significance, others for the sake of ornament; that some take place in words used properly, and others in words used metaphorically; and that tropes occur, not only in single words, but also in thoughts, and in the structure of composition. 3. Those, therefore, appear to me to have been in error, who thought that there were no tropes but when one word is put for another; nor am I insensible, that in the tropes which are used with a view to significance, there is also embellishment; but the reverse is not the case, as, there are some that are intended for embellishment only.

New Feature/Quintilian on Figures and Tropes

Anyone interested in classical literature can always use more work on figures and tropes, so I'm hoping to blog through the parts of Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria relevant to this, beginning at 8.6. I am hoping to post one passage each day (we'll see whether that actually happens or not) in Latin and English. I'll take the Latin text from here and the English translation from here.

So, as soon as I hit 'publish' for this post I'll get to work posting our first segment--and, as always, feel free to discuss the passages in the comment sections, especially if you have additional bibliographical references that supplement what the big Q is talking about.

At Your Servius

Perhaps this has been up for a while, but I just noticed it for the first time--Servius' commentary on the Aeneid is available at Perseus.

QB, ed., ...

And you thought Warren Moon was just a Hall of Fame quarterback.

MORE: And you thought Pete Rose was just the all-time hits leader, banned from the Hall of Fame.

Sedulian Influence on the Roman Liturgy

Salve, sancta parens, enixa puerpera regem,
Qui caelum terramque tenet per saecula, cuius
Nomen et aeterno conplectens omnia gyro
Imperium sine fine manet; quae uentre beato
Gaudia matris habens cum uirginitatis honore
Nec primam similem uisa es nec habere sequentem:
Sola sine exemplo placuisti femina Christo.
(Sedulius, Paschale Carmen 2. 63-9)

In commenting on the above passage about Mary in his book The Gospel as Epic in Late Antiquity: The Paschale Carmen of Sedulius (Brill 1988), Carl P.E. Springer points out the ecclesiastical influence that this passage was to have. In addition to the incorporation of Salve, sancta parens into the Roman liturgy, '[l]ines 63-4 were adapted with a few small changes as the Introit for the Common feasts of Mary. Lines 67-8 became part of the second antiphon of Christmas Lauds and line 69 was used in the Magnificat antiphon on the feast of the Presentation of Mary' (p. 91). And Vergil aficionados will note the allusion in line 66 (imperium sine fine manet) to Aen.1.279 (imperium sine fine dedi), which comes shortly after the prophecy of a miraculous birth:

Hic iam ter centum totos regnabitur annos
gente sub Hectorea, donec regina sacerdos,
Marte gravis, geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem.
Inde lupae fulvo nutricis tegmine laetus
Romulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet
moenia, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet.
His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono;
imperium sine fine dedi.
(Aen.1.272-9)

For What It's Worth

I was watching the Phillies/Cubs game tonight, and I noticed that the Cubs have a player named Angel Pagan. I thought this a rather odd juxtaposition.

Here's Something I Just Learned

In his recent review of Monte Johnson's Aristotle on Teleology, Thornton Lockwood points out that the word 'teleology' is an 18th century coinage--one which seems to have been minted by the German philosopher Christian Wolff.