# Περὶ ἑρμηνείας 5.294-295

Demetrius of Phaleron, Περὶ ἑρμηνείας, 5.294 to 5.295. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/demetrius-of-phaleron/text/5.294

Καίτοι πολλάκις καὶ οἱ δῆμοι οἱ μεγάλοι καὶ ἰσχυροὶ δέονται τοιούτου εἴδους τῶν λόγων, ὥσπερ οἱ τύραννοι, καθάπερ ὁ Ἀθηναίων δῆμος, ἄρχων τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ κόλακας τρέφων Κλέωνας καὶ Κλεοφῶντας. τὸ μὲν οὖν κολακεύειν αἰσχρόν, τὸ δὲ ἐπιτιμᾶν ἐπισφαλές, ἄριστον δὲ τὸ μεταξύ, τοῦτ’ ἔστι τὸ ἐσχηματισμένον. Καί ποτε αὐτὸν τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα ἐπαινέσομεν, οὐκ ἐφ’ οἷς ἥμαρτεν, ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ οἷς οὐχ ἡμάρτηκεν, οἷον τὸν ὀργιζόμενον, ὅτι χθὲς ἐπῃνεῖτο πρᾷος φανεὶς ἐπὶ τοῖς τοῦ δεῖνος ἁμαρτήμασιν, καὶ ὅτι ζηλωτὸς τοῖς πολίταις σύνεστιν· ἡδέως γὰρ δὴ ἕκαστος μιμεῖται ἑαυτὸν καὶ συνάψαι βούλεται ἐπαίνῳ ἔπαινον, μᾶλλον δ’ ἕνα ὁμαλῆ ἔπαινον ποιῆσαι.

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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/.