This text is part of:
‘Still, general maxims are to be employed both in narrative and in proof, by reason of the ethical character which belongs to them’. (See II 21. 16, III 16. 8.) This is illustrated by a γνώμη that “it is folly to trust” any one, in the instance of a deposit which has not been returned (Victorius). The maxim is expressed by Epicharmus in the well-known verse, Νᾶφε, καὶ μέμνασ᾽ ἀπιστεῖν: ἄρθρα ταῦτα τῶν φρενῶν, quoted by Polybius, Dio Chrysostom, and Cic. ad Att. I 19. 6. Müller, Fragm. Phil. Gr. p. 144. Epicharm. Fr. 255. ‘And I have given it, and that, knowing all the while “that trust is folly”. If your object is to appeal to the feelings (ἔλεος is the πάθος here appealed to), (express it thus) “And I don't regret it, though I have been wronged: for he (the opponent) it is true has the advantage in profit, but I in justice”’. Compare the first example in c. 16. 9.
Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle. Edward Meredith Cope. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1877.
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.