[17]
They
may not perhaps have pursued the same ideals as
Demosthenes and Plato, and even these latter
differed in their methods. For it would never have
done to spoil the fine and delicate texture of Lysias
by the introduction of richer rhythms, since he
would thus have lost all that surpassing grace which
he derives from his simple and unaffected tone,
while he would also have sacrificed the impression
of sincerity which he now creates. For it must be
remembered that he wrote his speeches for others
to deliver, so that it was right that they should
suggest a lack of form and artistic structure: indeed
his success in producing this effect actually shows his
mastery of structure.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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