[5]
Further, if
there is
no question of greater or less; whence it was said, “
Thy father deserves to be pitied for having lost his children; is not
Oeneus then equally to be pitied for having lost an illustrious
offspring?1
” Other instances are: if Theseus did no wrong,2 neither did Alexander
Paris; if the
sons of Tyndareus did no wrong, neither did Alexander; and if Hector did no
wrong in slaying Patroclus, neither did Alexander in slaying Achilles; if no
other professional men are contemptible, then neither are philosophers; if
generals are not despised because they are frequently defeated,3 neither are the sophists; or,
if it behoves a private citizen to take care of your reputation, it is your duty
to take care of that of Greece.
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1 From the Meleager of Antiphon （T.G.F. p. 885）.
2 In carrying off Helen.
3 The Paris ms. has θανατοῦνται, “are 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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