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§§ 53, 54. With all these advantages on his side, his complaints against my unfairness are not to be listened to. He is just the man to make random assertions without proving them, and to assume that you know what he says is true. Ask him, then, for his proofs, and don't let him shirk the truth by such pretences. Let him follow my example; for I produced witnesses to prove even what really was notorious—the way in which my father was compelled to adopt him. ἐλαττοῦσθαί τι, ‘to get (or consent to take) less than one's due’; ‘to come off second best in a bargain.’ Thuc. I 77 καὶ ἐλασσούμενοι γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ξυμβολαίαις πρὸς τοὺς ξυμμάχους δίκαις—φιλοδικεῖν δοκοῦμεν. Hence Aristotle's ἐλαττωτικός, one who is disposed not to press his full claims, but take somewhat less, opposed to ἀκριβοδίκαιος. See Or. 56 § 14. δεινοπαθῶν The only passage in which the word is found in the Attic orators. S.] πολὺς Violent, vehement. Eur. Hipp. 443, Κύπρις γὰρ οὐ φορητὸς, ἣν πολλὴ ῥυῇ. The repetition of the word may be compared with the formula καλὸς καλὸς, Theoc. VIII 73, Pind. Pyth. II 73, Plat. Phaedr. p. 228 B ἰδὼν μὲν ἰδὼν ῆσθη. ib. p. 242 D δεινὸν, ὧ Φαῖδρε, δεινὸν λόγον—ἐκόμισας.
Select Private Orations of Demosthenes, Part I. F. A. Paley, M.A., LL.D., and J. E. Sandys, Litt. D. 1898. Cambridge University Press.
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