Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator), 8.6.53

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[53] as when Caelius ¹ speaks of the

Clytemnestra who sold her favours for a farthing, who was a Coan in the dining-room and a Nolan in her bedroom.

For although we know the answers, and although they were better known at the time when the words were uttered, they are riddles for all that; and other riddles are, after all, intelligible if you can get someone to explain them.

Institutio Oratoria. Quintilian. Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator). Cambridge, Mass.. 1920-1922.

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Current edition Perseus

Institutio Oratoria (English) (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.)

Editions (1)

Institutio Oratoria Perseus (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, editor. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.) — 8.6.53 focus

[53] ut Caelius quadrantariam Clytaemnestram, et in triclinio Coam, in cubiculo Nolam. namque et nunc quidem solvuntur et tum erant notiora, cum dicerentur; aenigmata sunt tamen, nam et cetera ¹ si quis interpretetur, intelligas. | eo vero genere,

Notes on the current edition

Institutio Oratoria

1. The references are to the licentious character of Clodia. Coa was probably intended to suggest coitus, while nola is best derived from nolle, and is to be regarded as the opposite of coa.

Quintilian Institutio Oratoria 8.6.53

Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator)

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