Living Poets

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Aristotle, ''The Art of Rhetoric'' 3.18.1419a25 = T 27 Radt}}
{{#howtoquote:}}{{#togglenotes:}}
<div class="textwithtranslation">
<div id="maintext">{{AppCritAbbr}}
καὶ {{#lemma: συμπεραινομένου | συμπεραινομένου Richards: συμπεραινόμενον m: πρὸς τὸν συμπεραινόμενον m}}, ἐὰν ἐρώτημα ποιῆι τὸ συμπέρασμα, τὴν αἰτίαν εἰπεῖν, οἷον Σοφοκλῆς, ἐρωτώμενος ὑπὸ Πεισάνδρου εἰ ἔδοξεν αὐτῶι, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις προβούλοις, καταστῆσαι τοὺς τετρακοσίους, ἔφη “τί δέ; οὐ πονηρά σοι ταῦτα ἐδόκει εἶναι;” ἔφη. “οὐκοῦν σὺ ταῦτα ἔπραξας τὰ πονηρά;” “ναί”, ἔφη, “οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄλλα βελτίω.”
</div>

<div id="translation">
When drawing a conclusion, if the conclusion takes the form of a question, state the reason. For example, Sophocles, when asked by Peisander whether he had decided, like the other ''probouloi'', to establish the Four Hundred, said that he had. “But why? Did these measures not seem immoral to you?” Sophocles said that they did. “So you went ahead and enacted these immoral measures?” “Yes,” said Sophocles, “for there was no better alternative.” 
</div>

</div><div style="clear:both"></div>


{{CollectionsBox
|editor=Sarah Burges Watson
|guides=[[Sophocles: A Guide to Selected Sources|Sophocles]]
}}

{{#set:Short title=Aristotle, ''The Art of Rhetoric'' 3.18.1419a25 }}

[[Category:SophoclesCollections]]