# Orationes 13-4

Dio Chrysostomus, Orationes, (9)ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ἢ περὶ ΟΙΚΕΤΩΝ.. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/dio-chrysostomus-soph/orationes/13-4

καὶ μὴν ὅπου οἰκέτης ἐστίν, εὐθὺς διαφθείρονται οἱ γιγνόμενοι παῖδες καὶ ἀργότεροί τε γίγνονται καὶ ὑπερηφανώτεροι, ὄντος μὲν τοῦ διακονοῦντος, ἔχοντες δὲ οὗ καταφρονοῦσιν· ὅπου δʼ ἂν αὐτοὶ ὦσι, πολὺἀνδρειότεροι καὶ ἰσχυρότεροι τῶν πατέρων εὐθὺς ἐξ ἀρχῆς κήδεσθαι μανθάνοντες. ἀλλʼ, ὦ Διόγενες, πένης εἰμι καὶ εἰ μὴ συμφέροι κεκτῆσθαι τὸν οἰκέτην, ἀποδώσομαι αὐτόν. ἔπειτα, ἔφη, οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ, πρῶτον μὲν ἐξαπατῶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, πονηρὸν αὐτῷ ἀποδιδόμενος; ἢ γὰρ οὐκ ἐρεῖς τἀληθὲς ἢ οὐ δυνήσῃ ἀποδόσθαι αὐτόν.

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Dio Chrysostom, Orationes, ed. Hans Friedrich August von Arnim. 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/tlg0612.tlg001.local001/.