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Instances of words that are both proper and synonymous are “going” and “walking”: for these two words are proper and have the same meaning.）1 It has already been stated, as we have said, in the Poetics,2 what each of these things3 is, how many kinds of metaphor there are, and that it is most important both in poetry and in prose. [8] But the orator must devote the greater attention to them in prose, since the latter has fewer resources than verse. It is metaphor above all that gives perspicuity, pleasure, and a foreign air, and it cannot be learnt from anyone else;4 [9] but we must make use of metaphors and epithets that are appropriate. This will be secured by observing due proportion; otherwise there will be a lack of propriety, because it is when placed in juxtaposition that contraries are most evident. We must consider, as a red cloak suits a young man, what suits an old one; [10] for the same garment is not suitable for both. And if we wish to ornament our subject, we must derive our metaphor from the better species under the same genus; if to depreciate it, from the worse. Thus, to say （for you have two opposites belonging to the same genus） that the man who begs prays, or that the man who prays begs （for both are forms of asking）5 is an instance of doing this; as, when Iphicrates6 called Callias7
a mendicant priest instead of a torch-bearer, Callias replied that Iphicrates himself could not be initiated, otherwise he would not have called him mendicant priest but torch-bearer8; both titles indeed have to do with a divinity, but the one is honorable, the other dishonorable. And some call actors flatterers of Dionysus, whereas they call themselves “artists.” Both these names are metaphors, but the one is a term of abuse, the other the contrary. Similarly, pirates now call themselves purveyors9; and so it is allowable to say that the man who has committed a crime has “made a mistake,” that the man who has “made a mistake” is “guilty of crime”, and that one who has committed a theft has either “taken” or “ravaged.” The saying in the Telephus of Euripides, “ Ruling over the oar and having landed in Mysia,
” is inappropriate, because the word ruling exceeds the dignity of the subject, and so the artifice can be seen. [11] Forms of words also are faulty, if they do not express an agreeable sound; for instance, Dionysius the Brazen10 in his elegiacs speaks of poetry as “ the scream of Calliope;
” both are sounds, but the metaphor is bad, because the sounds have no meaning.11 [12] Further, metaphors must not be far-fetched, but we must give names to things that have none by deriving the metaphor from what is akin and of the same kind, so that, as soon as it is uttered, it is clearly seen to be akin,
1 This is a parenthetical note.
3 The different kinds of words.
4 Aristot. Poet. 22.9: “for this alone cannot be borrowed from another.”
5 Begging （as a beggar does） and praying （as a priest might） are both forms of asking, and by substituting one for the other, you can amplify or depreciate.
6 See 1.7.32.
7 Head of a distinguished Athenian family which held the office of torch-bearer at the Eleusinian mysteries. A man of notoriously dissipated character, he took some part in politics.
8 The δᾳδοῦχος or hereditary torch-bearer ranked next to the hierophant or chief priest. In addition to holding the torch during the sacrifices, he took part in the recitation of the ritual and certain purificatory ceremonies. The μητραγύρται or mendicant priests collected alms on behalf of various deities, especially the great Mother Cybele （whence their name）. They included both men and women of profligate character, addicted to every kind of lewdness.
9 Cf. “‘convey’ the wise it call” （Merry Wives, I. iii.）. Either the euphemistic or unfavorable application of the term may be adopted.
10 According to Athenaeus, p. 669, he was a poet and rhetorician who recommended the Athenians to use bronze money.
11 A scream is neither articulate nor agreeable, like the sound of poetry, although both are voices or sound, and to that extent the metaphor is correct.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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