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Pythagoras used to assert that in their supplications men should pray simply for "all good things," and not name them singly, as, for example, power, strength, beauty, wealth, and the like; for it frequently happens that any one of these works to the utter ruin of those who receive them in reply to their desire. And this may be recognized by any man who has reflected upon the lines in The Phoenician Maidens of Euripides which give the prayer of Polyneices to the gods, beginning“ Then, gazing Argos-ward,
”and ending“ Yea, from this arm, may smite my brother's breast.
”Eur. Phoen. 1364-1375For Polyneices and Eteocles thought that they were praying for the best things for themselves, whereas in truth they were calling down curses upon their own heads.Const. Exc. 4, p. 295.

Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.

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