# Περὶ ἑρμηνείας 4.238

Demetrius of Phaleron, Περὶ ἑρμηνείας, Book 4. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/demetrius-of-phaleron/text/4.238

Ἐν δὲ συνθέσει γίνεται τὸ ξηρόν, ἤτοι ὅταν πυκνὰ ἦ τὰ κόμματα, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς Ἀφορισμοῖς ἔχει· ὁ βίος βραχύς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρά, ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς, ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερά· ἢ ὅταν ἐν μεγάλῳ πράγματι ἀποκεκομμένον ᾖ τὸ κῶλον καὶ μὴ ἔκπλεων, ὥσπερ τις Ἀριστείδου κατηγορῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀφίκετο εἰς τὴν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίαν, ἀλλὰ αὐτόκλητος, ἔφη, ὅτι ἡ μὲν Δημήτηρ ἦλθεν καὶ συνεναυμάχει, Ἀριστείδης δὲ οὔ. ἡ γὰρ ἀποκοπὴ καὶ ἀπρεπὴς καὶ ἄκαιρος. ταῖς μὲν τοιαύταις ἀποκοπαῖς ἐν ἑτέροις χρηστέον.

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Demetrius of Phaleron, Περὶ ἑρμηνείας, ed. William Rhys Roberts. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0613.tlg001.local001/.