XIII. PHAEAX 1. Aristoph. eq. 1377 sq.: σοφός γʼ ὁ Φαίαξ δεξιῶς τʼ οὐκ ἀπέθανεν. συνερτικὸς γάρ ἐστι καὶ περαντικός καὶ γνωμοτυπικὸς καὶ σαφὴς καὶ κρουστικός καταληπτικός τʼ ἄριστα τοῦ θoρυβητικοῦ.
Observa numerum adiectivorum in -ικός terminantium; videtur sic irrideri certi cuiusdam rhetoris terminologia, probabiliter ipsius Phaeacis. Quae secuntur οὔκουν καταδακτυλικὸς σὺ τοῦ λαλητικοῦ inlustrantur eo quod dixit Eupolis de Phaeace (Dem. fr. 8 Mein.) λαλεῖν ἄριστος ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν. – συνερτικός autem memoriam εἰρομένης apud Aristotelem λέξεως revocat, περαντικός accedit τοῖς πέρασι, quae cum antithetis et paribus iungit Cratinus Iuniοr, v. i. B XVI 5, Aristoteles rhet. 1408 b 26 τὸ δὲ ἄρρυθμον ἀπέραντον, δεῖ δὲ πεπεράνθαι μέν, μὴ μέτρῳ δέ. Quodsi γνωμοτυπικός Phaeax dicitur, adeas schol. nub. 317 γνώμην· ἐνθυμήματα et περὶ γνώμης Aristotelis rhet. 1394 a 19 sq., ibid. 1395 a 6 οἱ γὰρ ἄγροικοι μάλιστα γνωμοτύποι. – κροῦσιν τὸν παραλογισμόν interpretantur schol. nub. 317, 318 vel plenius τὸ ἀπατῆσαι καὶ παραλογίσασθαι τὸν ἀκούοντα οἷον παρακρούσασθαι καὶ συναρπάσαι, Hesychius τὴν πρὸς τὸ λεγόμενον ἐν ταῖς ζητήσεσιν ἀντίρρησιν. Lucianus vero Demosth. enc. 32 reliquos oratores indignos vocat παραβάλλειν τῷ τούτου κρότῳ καὶ τόνῳ καὶ λέξεων εὐρυθμίᾳ καὶ ταῖς τῶν διανοιῶν περιγραφαῖς καὶ συνεχείαις ἀποδείξεων καὶ τῷ συνακτικῷ τε καὶ κρουστικῷ. De eo, quod est καταληπτικός, v. sequentia; semper memineris, in terminis technicis inveniendis priscam rhetoricam multum operae consumpsisse.
2. Aristoph. nub. 317sq. (cf. 320sq.): αἵπερ γνώμην καὶ διάλεξιν καὶ νοῦν ἡμῖν παρέχουσιν καὶ τερατείαν καὶ περίλεξιν καὶ κροῦσιν καὶ κατάληψιν. Ad Phaeacem referenda, quoniam eq. 1B77 sq. γνωμοτυπικός, κρουστικός, καταληπτικός audit. Ceterum cf. Pollux 2, 125: Ἕρμιππος δὲ ὁ κωμικὸς καὶ περιλέγειν εἴρηκε τὸ περιέρχεσθαι τῷ λόγῳ καὶ οἷον περισσὰ λέγειν, schol. nub. 318 περίλεξιν· περιττολογίαν, περίφρασιν... εὐπορίαν καὶ περιττότητα λόγων. Sic Teleclides (Mein. Fr. Com. II 372) de Euripide: ὁ τὰς τραγῳδίας ποιῶν τὰς περιλαλούσας oὗτός ἐστιν τὰς σοφάς, unde ἀπεριλάλητος Aeschylus audit ran. 839. Phaeacem λαλεῖν ἄριστον esse vocatum in adnotatione praecedenti diximus. – Denique κατάληψιν εὕρεσιν schol. nub. 318. Vide praecedentia.
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XIII. Phaeax 1. Aristophanes, Knights 1377-80: What a clever fellow is Phaeax! How cleverly he escaped death! How concise and convincing is his style! What phrases! How clear and to the point! How well he knows how to quell an interruption! Notice the number of adjectives ending in -ikos: it thus seems that some rhetorician’s terminology is being mocked, probably that of Phaeax himself. The following verse (‘you are a fingerer of the art of chattering’) is explained by what Eupolis writes about Phaeax (Dem. fr. 8 Mein.): ‘The best at chattering, the worst at speaking.’ – Synertikos reminds of the lexis eiromene in Aristotle; perantikos is akin to ta perata (limits), which Cratinus the Younger links with antitheses and equal-length phrases, see below, B XVI 5; Aristoteles rhet. 1408b26: ‘What is without rhythm is aperantos (boundless). One must give one’s speech bounds, but not metre.’ Further, as Phaeax is called ‘a sentence smith’, read Schol. Clouds 317: ‘“sentence”: enthymemes’, and ‘on sentences’ Arist. Rhet. 1394 a19 f., ibid. 1395 a6: ‘countryside-dwellers are the best at creating sentences.’ – Krousis (‘hit’) is interpreted as ‘paralogism’ by the Schol. Clouds 317; at greater length Schol. 318: ‘fooling and using paralogisms on the listener, as if throwing down and head-locking a wrestler;’ Hesychius: ‘the contradiction to what is said in the inquiries.’ Lucian, however, in Demosth . Enc. 32 claims all other orators are unworthy of ‘being compared to his sound and strength, to the good rhythm of his phrases, the descriptions of his thoughts, the coherence of his demonstrations, his ability to pull together and to hit.’ On the content of the term kataleptikos see the following; always remember that early rhetoric put lots of energy into coming up with technical terms.
2. Aristophanes, Clouds 317ff.: (The Clouds) supply us with thought and argument, and intelligence and humbug, and circumlocution, and ability to hoax, and comprehension. These words must refer to Phaeax, for in Knights 1377 ff. gnomotypikos, kroustikos, kataleptikos are said of him. See also Pollux 2.125: ‘Hermippos the comedian called it “over-speaking” when one wandered around in one’s speech, as if one were speaking superfluous things’; Schol. Clouds 318: ‘“over-speech”: talking too much, periphrasis; […] abundance and excess of speech.’ So Teleclides (Mein. Fr. Com. II 372) on Euripides: ‘This guy is the one who writes those over-talkative, clever tragedies,’ whence Aeschylus is dubbed ‘not too talkative’ in Frogs 839. In the previous n. we saw that Phaeax was referred to as ‘the best chatterer’. – Finally, katalepsis is explained as ‘invention’ in Schol. Clouds 318. See what precedes. |