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οὐ μέσως, ‘to no ordinary degree’; cp. Thuc. vi. 54 μέσος πολίτης, ‘an ordinary citizen.’ ἑτέροις: dat. after προσγίγνεται understood. ψυχῆς: it is interesting to note the use of this word in Isocr. The chief uses of the word in Greek are: (1) ‘breath’, so ‘life’ (as in § 41, see note); (2) ‘the immortal part of man’, his ‘soul’; (3) ‘soul’ in sense of ‘reason’, ‘mind’, ‘intelligence’. It is used by Isocr. almost invariably in the last sense, the ‘mind’ as opposed to the body (so here and § 27; ad N. 11, 37, 46); in N. C. 59 it means an ‘attitude of mind’. It can even be used of animals, αὐτῶν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμεροῦμεν, ‘we tame their spirits’ (ad N. 12). In short, it is never used in a metaphysical sense. The only passage in these three speeches where it can be rendered ‘soul’ (=‘personality’) is N. C. 7 λόγος ἀληθὴς καὶ νόμιμος καὶ δίκαιος ψυχῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ πιστῆς εἴδωλόν ἐστιν; but here the idea of the mental side of personality is uppermost. ὑπερβολήν: see note on § 1. διήνεγκεν: see note on § 14.
Isocrates Cyprian Orations. Edward S. Forster.
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