previous next


‘Hence—from the necessity of paying attention to the selection of appropriate language in respect of characters and subjects—may be inferred (διό) the necessity of disguising the art employed, and of avoiding the appearance of speaking, not naturally, but artificially’ (πλάττειν fingere, of fiction, or artificial composition), ‘for the one is persuasive, the other the contrary’, (comp. c. 8 § 1, τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀπίθανον, πεπλάσθαι γὰρ δοκεῖ.) ‘For people take offence at (lit. are at variance with, in opposition to) (one who employs artifice) as at one who has a design upon them, just as they do at mixed wines’.

Victorius quotes Plut. Symp. IV p. 661 D, διὸ φεύγουσι τὸν μεμιγμένον οἶνον οἱ πίνοντες: οἱ δὲ μιγνύοντες πειρῶνται λανθάνειν, ὡς ἐπιβουλεύοντες. From this curious coincidence it seems that “mixed wine” must have been proverbial for a concealed enemy: mixed wine, ‘the mixing of liquors’, being, as was supposed, of a much more intoxicating character than unmixed. Philinus is arguing against ποικίλη τροφή: simple food is always best.

‘And as is the case with Theodorus' voice (lit. Theodorus' voice is affected) in comparison with that of all the rest of the actors’ (there should be a colon, instead of a comma, at μεμιγμένους: καὶ οἷον Θεοδώρου is continued from τοῦτο γὰρ πιθανόν: it is an instance of the art disguising art, an artificial voice assuming the appearance of one natural and simple): ‘for his voice appears to be that of the speaker (though it is in reality disguised), but the others as though they belonged to other people’ (were assumed, with the character represented).

Theodorus, a celebrated tragic actor, is mentioned—generally with Polus or Aristodemus—by Dem. de F. L. § 274, bis; Arist. Pol. IV (VII) 17, sub fin., 1336 b 28, from which it appears that, like other great artists and performers, ancient and modern, he presumed upon his reputation and artistic skill: also by Plutarch, frequently, as Bellone an pace cl. f. Ath. c. 6, 348 F, de sui laud. c. 7, 545 F (a dictum of his to Satyrus the comic poet), Praecepta gerendae reipublicae, c. 21, 816 F, Theodorus and Polus taken as types of τὸν ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ πρωταγωνιστήν: probably, by Diogenes Laertius, who at the end of his account of Aristippus, II 8, § 103, 4, enumerates twenty Theodoruses (including the philosopher who gives occasion to this digression), and amongst them one οὗ τὸ φωνασκικὸν (on the exercise of the voice) βίβλιον παγκαλόν: a subject so germane to the profession of a tragic actor, that, although Diogenes says no more about him, one cannot help suspecting that he must be the same with the one here mentioned. Fabricius in his catalogue of Theodoruses, Vol. X, names him with a special reference to the passage of Aristotle's Politics, and a general one to Plutarch, Valckenaer Diatribe ad Eur. Fragm. p. 182 b. He is omitted in Smith's Biographical Dictionary.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: