[Meaning a] human sickness of the soul and [one] eating whatever soul it seizes, just as rust [eats] iron. And erotic desire is the same thing. For them[?], envy calls the divine a most hateful thing, turning the congenital ailment towards those who engendered it.[1]
And iambic verses [sc. are attested as follows]: "having scraped away the second letter of 'envy' [phthonos], you could find written in it 'homicide' [phonos]."[2]
And Sophocles [writes]: "envy creeps towards the one who is well-placed."[3] And elsewhere]:[4] "listeners place credence in what is said against the great, because of envy."[5] And Pindar [writes]: "speeches [are] a relish for the envious."[6]
And elsewhere [it is written]: "despite being a great celebrity among the Athenians, he too was eclipsed by all-comsuming envy; for [...] he was condemned to a sentence of death."[7]