nk that the greater
excellences, though not everywhere equally sustained, ought always to be
voted to the first place in literature, if for no other reason, for the
mere grandeur of soul they evince. Let us take an instance: Apollonius
in his _Argonautica_ has given us a poem actually faultless; and in his
pastoral poetry Theocritus is eminently happy, except when he
occasionally attempts another style. And what then? Would you rather be
a Homer or an Apollonius?

5
Or take Eratosthenes and his _Erigone_; because that little work is
without a flaw, is he therefore a greater poet than Archilochus, with
all his disorderly profusion? greater than that impetuous, that
god-gifted genius, which chafed against the restraints of law? or in
lyric poetry would you choose to be a Bacchylides or a Pindar? in
tragedy a Sophocles or (save the mark!) an Io of Chios? Yet Io and
Bacchylides never stumble, their style is always neat, always pretty;
while Pindar and Sophocles sometimes move onwards with a wide blaze of
splendour, but often drop out of view in sudden and disastrous eclipse.
Nevertheless no one in his senses would deny that a single play of
Sophocles, the _Oedipus_, is of higher value than all the dramas of Io
put together.

XXXIV

If the number and not the loftiness of an author's merits is to be our
standard of success, judged by this test we must admit that Hyperides is
a far superior orator to Demosthenes. For in Hyperides there is a richer
modulation, a greater variety of excellence. He is, we may say, in
everything second-best, like the champion of the _pentathlon_, who,
though in every contest he has to yield the prize to some other
combatant, is superior to the unpractised in all five.

2
Not only has he rivalled the success of Demosthenes in everything but
his manner of composition, but, as though that were not enough, he has
taken in all the excellences and graces of Lysias as well. He knows when
it is proper to speak with simplicity, and does not, like Demosthenes,
continue the same key throughout. His touches of character are racy and
sparkling, and full of a delicate flavour. Then how admirable is his
wit, how polished his raillery! How well-bred he is, how dexterous in
the use of irony! His jests are pointed, but without any of the
grossness and vulgarity of the old Attic comedy. He is skilled in making
light of an opponent's argument, full of a well-aimed satire which
amuses while it stings; and thro