Aristotle in the Topics speaks of virtue in living and being of good courage in dying. Not only the valiant person, if we analyze the term 'of good courage' etymologically, but also the one who possesses his soul well, (is such). But to be sure, if the person of good courage ['well-souled'] is he who possesses his soul well, so also does the just and moderate and prudent person possess a good soul, nor would the valiant one alone be good-souled nor would good courage be valor. That someone 'of good courage' is he who possesses his soul well we shall demonstrate by comparison of the terms. For the person 'of good hope' is the one who hopes well, that is, who hopes for the good. And the the fortunate ['of good-divinity'] is the one who possesses the divinity well.
Arrian [writes]: "one of those particularly demonstrating good courage in terrible circumstances."1Menander [writes]: "it is not fearful that the enemy are superior in numbers, for good courage always prevails over superiority in numbers."2
As in epsilon 3601 and pi 2376, the Suda cites Alexander of Aphrodisias↗’ Commentary on Aristotle's Topics (re Topica 112a32), but attributes the passage to Aristotle. Aristotle does, in fact, deal with the term in question but the wording comes from Alexander, who entitles it 'a commonplace from etymology' (175.29).
The debater tries to show that the opponent has misused a word by referring it to its origin, something always more apparent in Greek than in English. For more detail, see the notes to epsilon 3601 and pi 2376.
1Fr. incert. 17 Roos-Wirth (= FGrH 156 F148), known only from this citation.↩
2A mistaken repetition of the passage from Appian which ends epsilon 3834; it has evidently displaced the one from 'Menander' (sc. Protector).