This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
View text chunked by:
[5]
As we have said before, metaphors should be
drawn from objects which are proper to the object, but not too obvious; just as,
for instance, in philosophy it needs sagacity to grasp the similarity in things
that are apart. Thus Archytas said that there was no difference between an
arbitrator and an altar, for the wronged betakes itself to one or the other.
Similarly, if one were to say that an anchor and a pot-hook hung up were
identical; for both are the same sort of thing, but they differ in
this—that one is hung up above and the other below.1 And if
one were to say “the cities have been reduced to the same
level,” this amounts to the same in the case of things far
apart—the equality of “levelling” in regard to
superficies and resources.2
1 The anchor keeps a ship steady below, the pot hook is above, and the pot hangs down from it.
2 Cope, retaining ἀνωμαλίσθαι （as if from ἀνομαλίζειν, aequalitatem restituere Bonitz, cf. ἀνομάλωσις） says: “the widely dissimilar things here compared are the areas of properties and the state offices and privileges, which are to be alike equalized,” translating: “And the re-equalization of cities, when the same principle is applied to things standing wide apart, viz. to surface （area） and powers （functions, offices）.” （ ἀν- is not negative, but = re.） But the passage quoted by Victorius from Isoc. 5.40: “for I know that all the cities of Greece have been placed on the same level （ ὡμαλίσθαι） by misfortunes” suggests this as a preferable reading here, ὡμαλίσθαι meaning （1） have been levelled to the ground （although the Lexica give no instance of this use）, （2） reduced to the same level of weakness.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 22, translated by J. H. Freese. Aristotle. Cambridge and London. Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
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.