Demetrius, De Elocutione

Extract

In the Classical Quarterly, Vol. XXIII. i, pp. 7–10, Mr. Denniston attempts to revive the ancient and once honoured sport of gloss-chasing. But the day of that perilous pastime has gone, and this latest effort is perhaps less successful than some of its predecessors. In his notes on the De Elocution of Demetrius he hunts and traps the unwary ‘gloss’ in his net of criticism, but unfortunately the snare is faulty, and the ‘catch’ escapes. I propose to discuss each of his suggested ‘glosses’ in his order, basing my arguments against his conclusions—(a) on probabilities; (b) on the usage of Demetrius in this work:

§ 271. καθλου δ νς λEεως τ σϰματα κα ὑπκρισιν κα γνα παρϰει τῷ λοντι, μλιστα τ διαλελυμον, τοτ' στι δειντητα.