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“ [The spears] were buried in the ground, longing to take their fill of flesh.1
” “ The spear-point sped eagerly through his breast.2
”. For in all these examples there is appearance of actuality, since the objects are represented as animate: “the shameless stone,” “the eager spear-point,” and the rest express actuality. Homer has attached these attributes by the employment of the proportional metaphor; for as the stone is to Sisyphus, so is the shameless one to the one who is shamelessly treated. [4] In his popular similes also he proceeds in the same manner with inanimate things: “ Arched, foam-crested, some in front, others behind;3
” for he gives movement and life to all, and actuality is movement. [5] As we have said before, metaphors should be drawn from objects which are proper to the object, but not too obvious; just as, for instance, in philosophy it needs sagacity to grasp the similarity in things that are apart. Thus Archytas said that there was no difference between an arbitrator and an altar, for the wronged betakes itself to one or the other. Similarly, if one were to say that an anchor and a pot-hook hung up were identical; for both are the same sort of thing, but they differ in this—that one is hung up above and the other below.4 And if one were to say “the cities have been reduced to the same level,” this amounts to the same in the case of things far apart—the equality of “levelling” in regard to superficies and resources.5 [6] Most smart sayings are derived from metaphor,
and also from misleading the hearer beforehand.6 For it becomes more evident to him that he has learnt something, when the conclusion turns out contrary to his expectation, and the mind seems to say, “How true it is! but I missed it.” And smart apophthegms arise from not meaning what one says, as in the apophthegm of Stesichorus, that “the grasshoppers will sing to themselves from the ground.”7 And clever riddles are agreeable for the same reason; for something is learnt, and the expression is also metaphorical. And what Theodorus calls “novel expressions” arise when what follows is paradoxical, and, as he puts it, not in accordance with our previous expectation; just as humorists make use of slight changes in words. The same effect is produced by jokes that turn on a change of letter; for they are deceptive. These novelties occur in poetry as well as in prose; for instance, the following verse does not finish as the hearer expected: “ And he strode on, under his feet—chilblains,
” whereas the hearer thought he was going to say “sandals.” This kind of joke must be clear from the moment of utterance. Jokes that turn on the word are produced, not by giving it the proper meaning, but by perverting it; for instance, when Theodorus said to Nicon, the player on the cithara, “you are troubled” （ θράττει）; for while pretending to say “something troubles you,” he deceives us; for he means something else.8
3 Hom. Il. 13.799. The reference is to the “boiling waves of the loud-roaring sea.”
4 The anchor keeps a ship steady below, the pot hook is above, and the pot hangs down from it.
5 Cope, retaining ἀνωμαλίσθαι （as if from ἀνομαλίζειν, aequalitatem restituere Bonitz, cf. ἀνομάλωσις） says: “the widely dissimilar things here compared are the areas of properties and the state offices and privileges, which are to be alike equalized,” translating: “And the re-equalization of cities, when the same principle is applied to things standing wide apart, viz. to surface （area） and powers （functions, offices）.” （ ἀν- is not negative, but = re.） But the passage quoted by Victorius from Isoc. 5.40: “for I know that all the cities of Greece have been placed on the same level （ ὡμαλίσθαι） by misfortunes” suggests this as a preferable reading here, ὡμαλίσθαι meaning （1） have been levelled to the ground （although the Lexica give no instance of this use）, （2） reduced to the same level of weakness.
6 προεξαπατᾶν. Or, reading προσεξαπατᾶν, “by adding deception.”
7 See 2.21.8.
8 According to Cope, Θρᾷττ᾽ εἶ, “you are no better than a Thracian slave-girl.”
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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