The κοινὸς τόπος of αὔξησις or amplification naturally falls under the general head or class of laudatory speeches, is especially applicable to all forms of ‘praise’: because its object is to establish a certain ‘superiority’ of the person panegyrized over others, and this ‘superiority’ is an honourable end to aim at. And therefore if we do not compare our hero with the distinguished, it is at all events better to do it with the rest of the world (the average of mankind) because superiority in general, in itself, is thought to be an indication of ‘virtue’. Eth. Nic. IV 8, sub init. οἱ γὰρ εὐγενεῖς ἀξιοῦνται τιμῆς καὶ οἱ δυναστεύοντες ἢ οἱ πλουτοῦντες: ἐν ὑπεροχῇ γάρ, τὸ δ᾽ ἀγαθῷ ὑπερέχον πᾶν ἐντιμότερον.
Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle. Edward Meredith Cope. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1877.
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