μεγαλοπρέπεια] ‘magnificence’ in expenditure, is distinguished from ‘liberality’ merely by this, that whereas the one is περὶ πάσας τὰς ἐν χρήμασι πράξεις (every kind of money transactions), magnificence is περὶ δαπανηρὰς μόνον, ‘those alone in which a large cost is involved’. Eth. N. IV 4, sub init. It is only to men distinguished either by birth or reputation, or anything else that confers distinction, that this virtue is suitable —in others it is no virtue at all, 1122 b 30. Plato and his dramatis personae sometimes add μεγαλοπρέπεια to the four cardinal virtues, the classication which he usually adopts. Meno 74 A, 88 A. Rep. II 402 C, VI 490 E, 494 B, VII 536 A, VIII 560 E. It does not, however, exactly correspond with Aristotle's interpretation, but has a wider and more general signification. See Rep. VI 486 A, where it is applied to the διάνοια. It seems from the definition, (ὅροι, 412 E, ἀξίωσις κατὰ λογισμὸν ὀρθὸν τὸν σεμνότατον), to be a nearer approach to Aristotle's μεγαλοψυχία.
Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle. Edward Meredith Cope. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1877.
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