[13]
Now, it is possible to draw conclusions
and inferences partly from what has been previously demonstrated
syllogistically, partly from what has not, which however needs demonstration,
because it is not probable.1 The first of
these methods is necessarily difficult to follow owing to its length, for the
judge is supposed to be a simple person; the second will obtain little credence,
because it does not depend upon what is either admitted or probable. The
necessary result then is that the enthymeme and the example are concerned with
things which may, generally speaking, be other than they are, the example being
a kind of induction and the enthymeme a kind of syllogism, and deduced from few
premises, often from fewer than the regular2 syllogism; for if any one of these is well
known, there is no need to mention it, for the hearer can add it himself. For
instance, to prove that Dorieus3 was the victor in a contest at which the prize was
a crown,
it is enough to say that he won a victory at the
Olympic games; there is no need to add that the prize at the Olympic games is a
crown, for everybody knows it.
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1 Certain propositions, which seem paradoxical and improbable to a popular audience, must be proved before it is able to understand them.
2 πρῶτος: the primary, typical syllogism of the first figure.
3 Son of Diagoras of Rhodes, and like his father celebrated for his victories in the Greek athletic contests. He played a considerable part in political and naval affairs in support of the Spartans （412-407 B.C.） whom he afterwards offended, and by whom he is said to have been put to death.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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