Aristotle, Second Part of the RHETORIC Complete

Translated by W. Roberts.

Aristotle Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Aristotle in Print

II: 43 pages - You are on Page 24

"Just like Philammon struggling with his punchball "

is equivalent to 'you would have thought he was Philammon struggling with his punchball'; and

"Those legs of his curl just like parsley leaves "

is equivalent to 'his legs are so curly that you would have thought they were not legs but parsley leaves'. Hyperboles are for young men to use; they show vehemence of character; and this is why angry people use them more than other people.

"Not though he gave me as much as the dust

"or the sands of the sea...

"But her, the daughter of Atreus' son, I never will marry,

"Nay, not though she were fairer than Aphrodite the Golden,

"Defter of hand than Athene... "

(The Attic orators are particularly fond of this method of speech.) Consequently it does not suit an elderly speaker.

Part 12

It should be observed that each kind of rhetoric has its own appropriate style. The style of written prose is not that of spoken oratory, nor are those of political and forensic speaking the same. Both written and spoken have to be known. To know the latter is to know how to speak good Greek. To know the former means that you are not obliged, as otherwise you are, to hold your tongue when you wish to communicate something to the general public.

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