[954] Even with his limited outlook Aristotle had sufficient astuteness to divine that nature might become the “slave of man,” and expresses himself clearly to that effect; Metaphysics, i, 2. Such a claim may provoke a smile from the modern who reviews the mild conquests of the embryo science of his day.
[955] A few of their utterances may be quoted:
Ἐχθρὸς γάρ μοι κεῖνος ὁμως Αἰδᾶο πύλησιν,
Ὅς χ’ ἕτερον μὲν κεύθῃ ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἄλλο δὲ εἴπῃ.
Iliad, ix, 312.
Ἔργον δ’ οὐδὲν ὄνειδος, ἀεργίη δέ τ’ ὄνειδος.
Op. et Dies, 311.
Μὴ κακὰ κερδαίνειν, κακὰ κέρδεα ἷσ’ ἄτῃσιν.
Ibid., 352.
[956] From the Golden Verses of Pythagoras; Epictetus, iii, 10.