822 101 7928 3 1822 01101 7928 *^iA4hu* ^ji--"--rii —ni>ij>>ii unmuin i fWtWigw mwmtmm w /? // EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS ORATORY THE CROWN AND OTHER ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES RANN-KENNEDY THE PUBLISHERS OF €F£'J{rr!M^^QS LlB (B^A<Rjf WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED VOLUMES TO BE COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING THIRTEEN HEADINGS: TRAVEL ^ SCIENCE ^ FICTION THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY HISTORY ^ CLASSICAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ESSAYS ^ ORATORY POETRY & DRAMA BIOGRAPHY REFERENCE ROMANCE IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING : CLOTH, FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP; LEATHER, ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP; LIBRARY BINDING IN CLOTH, & QUARTER PIGSKIN Ltd. London : J. M. DENT & SONS, New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO. HENJ^E) Ml NT ©RRTAR MJ)5 THE CROWN THE PHILIPP I OS • a/icffen oFMr DEMOSTHENES CRANN KENNEDY LONDON-PUBLISHED byJ-MDENT &SONS-EP AND IN NEW YORK BY EP- DUTTONKO INTRODUCTION My principal aim in undertaking this work is to produce a readable version of Demosthenes, adhering to the original as closely as is consistent with the primary object. Brevity and simplicity of style, together with the choice of apt. and forcible words, are the most essential elements of a good translation. It is sometimes asked, and there seem to be various opinions on the question, whether a translation should be literal ? It depends, I say, upon the object which you pro- pose to accomplish. If you are composing a translation to be used in the Hamiltonian method of teaching, or as a mere help to the idle student against his day of examina- tion, then you must be literal. And to perform such a task is not very difficult. But if you seek to accomplish a higher purpose, it is not to be done in this way: a work of another order becomes necessary The primary object of a good translation is, that it may be read with pleasure, or at least without difficulty, by your countrymen; and secondary to this is the assisting of the student in his perusal of the original. It is true that for both these purposes a certain degree of closeness is neces- sary: but the first of these cannot be attained by a literal version, on account of the varying idioms of languages; whereas the second may be accomplished by a good readable version. Nor does the matter rest here. I say that the classical student will derive much greater benefit from a readable version than he could from a literal. I speak of the real and self-improving student, not the cramming idler, nor yet the mere school-boy. Let us only see what his wants are. Such a person, in studying a Greek author, is not to look to a translation for a perfect analysis of the construction of sentences. This he should find out independently, from vii viii The Orations of Demosthenes those principles of grammar wherewith his mind has been long storing itself, from glossaries, notes, and commentaries. A translation which undertook to solve all the student's grammatical difficulties would be nothing more than a long note; having indeed its use, but not performing the service of a good translation. The student, looking elsewhere for a thorough explana- tion of the syntax, may fairly consult the translator as an exponent of the true meaning of ever}'- sentence. And this is one piece of service which the translator renders him. But he has a right to look for much more than this; viz., good English, choice words, and all the other elements of good writing; in short, the full sense of the original ex- pressed in such a way as an Englishman would have expressed it himself, allowing for unavoidable discrepancies. No man will deny the importance of these things. One of the objects of studying foreign languages is, to obtain a more perfect mastery over your own. And a translation, either in prose or verse, may in this respect be made a useful medium of instruction, testing the powers and capabilities of your own tongue in comparison with those of another. Lord Brougham very truly observes: " Even to scholars the experiment is not without interest of trying how far the two languages can be used, so as to render in the one the thoughts couched originally in the other; and even to scholars the comparative trial of the structures of the two, their resemblances, their differences, and their contrasts, is very interesting." To attain the advantage here proposed, it is manifest that the version must be thoroughly English; or there can be no comparison at all. But I must turn now to a another view of the question. While it is the translator's duty to produce (if possible) such a work as, placed side by side with the original, shall be in point of style and composition not unworthy of it, he must be sure to preserve all needful accuracy in regard to the sense and meaning. The term itself implies that he must do this. A translation is different from an imitation. He must adhere to the original. He must be accurate. But, how closely must he adhere ? what degree of accuracy must he observe ? are questions that naturally occur, and Introduction Jx cannot well be answered except practically, by examples. I will give just now some examples to illustrate my views; but will first endeavour, as far as I am able, to express my opinion in general words. It is the business of the translator to express the full sense briefly, simply, forcibly; to add nothing, omit nothing; never to amplify or exaggerate. He should not servilely imitate constructions, or follow the order of words, yet not depart even from them unnecessarily. The pro- duction of good English he will regard as essential; to this everything must give way but the sense of the author. Within the limits of these two conditions, faithful interpre- tation and good writing, he may turn and twist his sentences with a considerable degree of latitude and freedom. But these limits will always preserve him from unreasonable vagaries. While he does not affect to teach grammatical rules, they must be the guide to his own version, or he cannot translate faithfully, so that he will always afford a clue to the construction, and will never mislead. To accomplish all this, not only must you be thoroughly familiar with the language which you translate, but you should have deeply studied your own, and even know several besides. It is an essential condition of producing a good transla- tion, that you should be able to produce a literal one. Only this is far from being all. There are hundreds of good scholars who are able to do this, but who are not competent to write well. And, on the other hand, clever men and practised writers have failed in translation because they never took due pains to study the original language. Hence we have had so many bad translations from opposite causes. The literal translators necessarily fail, for want of a suffi- ciently high aim, a proper conception of their duty. The readable have been men who neglected or despised the niceties of scholastic learning. There are others also, from whose acquirements more might have been expected, who, carried away by the fervour of their imagination, or not liking the trouble of attending to words, have considered it sufficient to give the general meaning of an author, clothing it often in language which is purely their own. I now come to another question, which is of some import- — x The Orations of Demosthenes ance in translating Demosthenes, viz., how the translator is to deal with all the public and political nomenclature of the Athenians, the civil and military titles, names of offices and institutions, terms of law and jurisprudence. On this subject I am not disposed in the least to depart from the principle which I adopted many years ago, when I made my first essay on Demosthenes, and which I stated thus: "As a general rule, I think it better to translate into English than to Anglicise the Greek. Thus I say jury, parish, indictment, in preference to dicast, deme, graphe. It is true that in each of these cases the word but imperfectly describes the thing intended ; for instance, the proceedings upon our indictment are very different from those of the Athenian prosecution so described. But, on the other hand, the vernacular term conveys the idea more pleasingly to the common reader ; and, be it remembered, a translation is more for the use of the unlearned than of the learned. I strive therefore to be as little as possible un-English ; and while I always seek for the word which corresponds most nearly with the original, I am satisfied if it corresponds in some essential points." In short, in the translation of many common words we are compelled by the difference of times and circumstances to be guilty of some inaccuracy. For example, 7rAeu' is rendered to sail, in many cases where not sails but only oars impelled the ship; and it is commonly preferred to the word navigate, as being of more ordinary use. 'I^^eis is rendered knights, though our word conveys a somewhat different idea. Charta and papyrus are called paper, though the material was different from ours. The meals, the articles of dress of the Greeks and Romans, do not corre- spond with ours ; but we make the best of it and translate them. If I call the Roman lectus, a couch, I do not present an idea of its form, or of the mode in which Roman guests were placed at table.