[17]
and if the blow was given not
in mistake or in a moment of passion or, if it
was the result of passion which was quite unjustifiable, being due to the fact that the victim
had gone to the assistance of his father or had
made some reply or was a candidate for the same
office as his assailant; or finally we may hint that
he wished to inflict more serious injury than he
succeeded in inflicting. But it is the manner of the
act that contributes most to the impression of its
atrocity, if, for example, the blow was violent or insulting: thus Demosthenes1 seeks to excite hatred
against Midias by emphasising the position of the
blow, the attitude of the assailant and the expression
of his face.
1 in Mid. 72.
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