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Theocrit. To have a treacherous and most malevolent character always and against all, I add not to the part of the quick-witted, as some think, but to the part of the most wicked.

It is easy to praise, and to blame, what one ought not; but each is of a certain wicked character.

From the works of Serinus. The kings of the Persians, before the sacrifices, discourse concerning piety; and before drinking, concerning temperance; and when about to go to war, concerning courage.

Herodot. The Agathyrsi are most luxurious men and wearers of gold in the extreme. They make intercourse with women common, so that they might be brothers to one another, and being relations, they might not employ either envy or enmity against one another.

DISCOURSE 63. Concerning noble birth and low birth. (15E_442> John 3. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which

is born of the Spirit is spirit. Rom. 9. It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the

promise are counted as offspring. Sol. 3. The end of an unrighteous generation is grievous. Children who exult in contempt and lack of discipline, of their own kinship

defile the nobility. Children whose manner of life is in a good life, of their own parents

will hide the low birth. Basil. We cannot speak of illustrious fathers and ancestors. For the

law of truth demands the praises of each to be their own. For being born of the swiftest does not make a horse swift. But just as the virtue of other animals is seen in each one itself, so also is the praise of a man that which is testified from his own achievements.

(993) The Theologian. Be ashamed when you hear you are wicked, not of low birth. For our ancestors are those long since decayed. Wish to be the first of a lineage, or to dissolve a lineage, That you may be noble, or have been born of noble stock. Gregory of Nyssa. The noble birth and dignity of the proud man has kinship with

the brick. Chrysostom. What is brilliant and distinguished, the prominence of ancestors does not make, but the virtue of the soul

is accustomed to make. (15E_444> Euripides. Noble birth is nothing compared to wealth. For wealth leads the worst man to the first ranks. But whenever the foundation of a family is not laid correctly, it is necessary for the descendants to be unfortunate; Alas, alas, the old saying is not right, A good man could not be born from a bad father. Theopompus. Consider those to be noble, not those from good and noble stock

born; but those who choose good and noble things.

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Θεοκρίτ. Ἐπίβουλον ἦθος καί κακομηχανώτατον διαπαντός ἔχειν καί κατά πάντων, οὐχί τῇ τοῦ ἀγχινόου, ὥς τινες οἴονται, τῇ δέ τοῦ πονηροτάτου μερίδι προστίθημι.

Ῥᾴδιον μέν ἐπαινεῖν, ἅ μή χρή, καί ψέγειν· ἑκάτερον δέ, πονηροῦ τινος ἤθους.

Ἐκ τῶν Σερίνου. Οἱ Περσῶν βασιλεῖς, πρό μέν τῶν θυσιῶν, περί εὐσεβείας διαλέγονται· πρό δέ τοῦ πίνειν, περί σωφροσύνης· πολεμεῖν δέ μέλλοντες, περί ἀνδρείας.

Ἡροδότ. Ἀγάθυρσοι, ἀβρότατοι ἄνδρες εἰσί καί χρυσοφόροι τά μάλιστα. Ἐπίκοινον δέ γυναικῶν τήν μίξιν ποιοῦντα, ἵνα κασίγνητοί τε ἀλλήλων ἐῶσι, καί οἰκεῖοι ἐόντες, μήτε φθόνῳ, μήτε ἔχθει χρέωνται ἐς ἀλλήλους.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΞΓ´. Περί εὐγενείας καί δυσγενείας. (15Ε_442> Ἰωαν. γ´. Τό γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκός, σάρξ ἐστι· καί τό

γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος, πνεῦμα ἐστιν. Ῥωμ. θ´. Οὐ τά τέκνα τῆς σαρκός, ταῦτα τέκνα Θεοῦ· ἀλλά τά τέκνα τῆς

ἐπαγγελίας, λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα. Σολ. γ´. Γενεᾶς ἀδίκου, χαλεπά τά τέλη. Τέκνα ἐν καταφρονήσει καί ἀπαιδευσίᾳ γαυριώμενα, συγγενείας ἑαυτῶν

μολύνουσι τήν εὐγένειαν. Τέκνα ἐν ἀγαθῇ ζωῇ τήν ἀναστροφήν ἔχοντα, τῶν ἰδίων γεννητόρων

κρύψουσι δυσγένειαν. Βασιλείου. Οὐκ ἔχομεν πατέρας λέγειν καί προγόνους περιφανεῖς. Ὁ γάρ τῆς

ἀληθείας νόμος, ἴδια ἑκάστου ἀπαιτεῖ τά ἐγκώμια. Οὐδέ γάρ ἵππον ταχύν ποιεῖ τό ἐκ ταχυτάτων φῦναι. Ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ τῶν ἄλλων ζώων ἡ ἀρετή ἐν ἑαυτῷ θεωρεῖται ἑκάστου, οὕτω καί ἀνδρός ἔπαινος, ὁ ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ κατορθωμάτων ἐκμαρτυρούμενος.

(993) Θεολόγ. Κακός δ᾿ ἀκούων αἰσχύνου, μή δυσγενής. Γένος γάρ εἰσιν, οἱ πάλαι σεσηπότες. Γένους προάρχειν, ἤ λύειν γένος θέλε, Ὡς καλόν εἶναι σ᾿, ἤ καλῶν πεφυκέναι Γρηγορ. Νύσσ. Ἡ εὐγένεια καί ἡ σεμνότης τοῦ ὑπερηφάνου τό συγγενές πρός

τήν πλίνθον ἔχει. Χρυσοστ. Λαμπρόν καί ἐπίσημον, οὐ περιφάνεια προγόνων, ἀλλά ψυχῆς

ἀρετήν ποιεῖν εἴωθε. (15Ε_444> Εὐριπίδ. Οὐδέν ἡ εὐγένεια πρός τά χρήματα. Τόν γάρ κάκιστον πλοῦτος εἰς πρώτους ἄγει. Ὅταν δέ κρηπίς μή καταβληθῇ γένους Ὀρθῶς, ἀνάγκη δυστυχεῖν τούς ἐκγόνους· Φεῦ, φεῦ, παλαιός αἶνος οὐ καλῶς ἔχει, Οὐκ ἄν γένοιτο χρηστός ἐκ κακοῦ πατρός. Θεοπόμπ. Εὐγενεῖς εἶναι νόμιζε, μή τούς ἐκ τῶν καλῶν καί ἀγαθῶν

γεγενημένους· ἀλλά τούς καλά καί ἀγαθά προαιρουμένους.