# Orationes 19-4

Dio Chrysostomus, Orationes, (8)ΔΙΟΓΕΝΗΣ ἢ ΙΣΘΜΙΚΟΣ.. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/dio-chrysostomus-soph/orationes/19-4

οὐκοῦν, ἔφη ὁ Διογένης, εἴπερ τὸ ταχύτατον εἶναι κράτιστόν ἐστι, πολὺ βέλτιον κόρυδον εἶναι σχεδὸνἢ ἄνθρωπον· ὥστε τὰς ἀηδόνας οὐδέν τι δεῖ οἰκτίρειν οὐδὲ τοὺς ἔποπας, ὅτι ὄρνιθες ἐγένοντο ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ μύθου λέλεκται. ἀλλʼ ἐγώ, ἔφη, ἄνθρωπος ὢν ἀνθρώπων ταχύτατός εἰμι. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐν τοῖς μύρμηξιν, εἶπεν, εἰκὸς ἄλλον ἄλλου ταχύτερον εἶναι; μὴ οὖν θαυμάζουσιν αὐτόν; ἢ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι γελοῖον

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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/.