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ἄνδρες γὰρ κ.τ.λ.for when men are humbled in that wherein they claim to excel, what remains of their selfrespect is more thoroughly weakened than if they had not thought to excel (sc. προύχειν) from the first, and while receiving a check from the unexpected outcome of their boast, they give way even more than their real strength necessitates. This we may suppose to be the case with the A. now

αὐτὸ ἑαυτοῦ—a rhetorical device for exhibiting the change in the condition of a thing, which none the less retains its identity.

τῷ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα τοῦ αὐχήματος—if taken together, with Classen and Bolime, this balances παρὰ ἰσχὺν τῆς δυνάμεως better than if τοῦ αὐχήματος is put with σφαλλόμενοι, and τῷ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα (= unexpectedly) taken alone, with Bloomfield, Arnold, and Stahl. See Appendix II.

νῦνthe speaker shows that while they themselves might well anticipate victory, their enemies will look forward to nothing but defeat, and consequently will fail to exert the power which they have. Bloomfield.

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