Before revision: In this discussion, Cicero observed that allusions to "the Syrtis of his patrimony" and "the Charybdis of his possessions" involved similes that were "too far-fetched"; and he advised the orator to, instead, just speak of "the rock" and "the gulf" (respectively) — on the grounds that, "The eyes of the mind are more easily directed to those objects which we have seen, than to those which we have only heard."J.S.
After revision: In this discussion, Cicero said that allusions to "the Syrtis of his patrimony" and "the Charybdis of his possessions" involved similes that were "too far-fetched"; and he advised the orator to, instead, just speak of "the rock" and "the gulf" (respectively) — on the grounds that, "The eyes of the mind are more easily directed to those objects which we have seen, than to those which we have only heard."J.S.