ὡς δ’ (25) ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, φοβερά ἐστιν ὅσα ἐφ’ ἑτέρων γιγνόμενα ἢ μέλ(26)λοντα ἐλεεινά ἐστιν.
(27) τὰ μὲν οὖν φοβερὰ καὶ ἃ φοβοῦνται σχεδὸν ὡς εἰπεῖν τὰ (28) μέγιστα ταῦτ’ ἐστίν, ὡς δὲ διακείμενοι αὐτοὶ φοβοῦνται, νῦν (29) λέγωμεν.
εἰ δή ἐστιν ὁ φόβος μετὰ προσδοκίας τινὸς τοῦ πεί(30)σεσθαί τι φθαρτικὸν πάθος, φανερὸν ὅτι οὐδεὶς φοβεῖται τῶν (31) οἰομένων μηδὲν ἂν παθεῖν,
οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἃ μὴ οἴονται <ἂν> παθεῖν (32) οὐδὲ τούτους ὑφ’ ὧν μὴ οἴονται, οὐδὲ τότε ὅτε μὴ οἴονται.
(33) ἀνάγκη τοίνυν φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς οἰομένους τι παθεῖν ἄν, καὶ (34) τοὺς ὑπὸ τούτων καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τότε.
οὐκ οἴονται δὲ παθεῖν (1383a1) ἂν οὔτε οἱ ἐν εὐτυχίαις μεγάλαις ὄντες καὶ δοκοῦντες
(διὸ (2) ὑβρισταὶ καὶ ὀλίγωροι καὶ θρασεῖς, ποιεῖ δὲ τοιούτους πλοῦ(3)τος ἰσχὺς πολυφιλία δύναμις),
οὔτε οἱ ἤδη πεπονθέναι πάντα (4) νομίζοντες τὰ δεινὰ καὶ ἀπεψυγμένοι πρὸς τὸ μέλλον, ὥσπερ (5) οἱ ἀποτυμπανιζόμενοι ἤδη·
ἀλλὰ δεῖ τινα ἐλπίδα ὑπεῖναι (6) σωτηρίας, περὶ οὗ ἀγωνιῶσιν.
σημεῖον δέ· ὁ γὰρ φόβος (7) βουλευτικοὺς ποιεῖ, καίτοι οὐδεὶς βουλεύεται περὶ τῶν ἀνελ(8)πίστων·
ὥστε δεῖ τοιούτους παρασκευάζειν, ὅταν ᾖ βέλτιον (9) τὸ φοβεῖσθαι αὐτούς, ὅτι τοιοῦτοί εἰσιν οἷον παθεῖν
(καὶ γὰρ (10) ἄλλοι μείζους ἔπαθον),
καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους δεικνύναι πάσχον(11)τας ἢ πεπονθότας,
καὶ ὑπὸ τοιούτων ὑφ’ ὧν οὐκ ᾤοντο, καὶ (12) ταῦτα <ἃ> καὶ τότε ὅτε οὐκ ᾤοντο.
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Speaking generally, anything causes us to feel fear that when it happens to, or threatens, others cause us to feel pity.
The above are, roughly, the chief things that are terrible and are feared. Let us now describe the conditions under which we ourselves feel fear.
If fear is associated with the expectation that something destructive will happen to us, plainly nobody will be afraid who believes nothing can happen to him;
we shall not fear things that we believe cannot happen to us, nor people who we believe cannot inflict them upon us; nor shall we be afraid at times when we think ourselves safe from them.
It follows therefore that fear is felt by those who believe something to be likely to happen to them, at the hands of particular persons, in a particular form, and at a particular time.
People do not believe this when they are, or think they a are, in the midst of great prosperity,
and are in consequence insolent, contemptuous, and reckless — the kind of character produced by wealth, physical strength, abundance of friends, power:
nor yet when they feel they have experienced every kind of horror already and have grown callous about the future, like men who are being flogged and are already nearly dead
— if they are to feel the anguish of uncertainty, there must be some faint expectation of escape.
This appears from the fact that fear sets us thinking what can be done, which of course nobody does when things are hopeless.
Consequently, when it is advisable that the audience should be frightened, the orator must make them feel that they really are in danger of something,
pointing out that it has happened to others who were stronger than they are,
and is happening, or has happened, to people like themselves,
at the hands of unexpected people, in an unexpected form, and at an unexpected time.
