[Meaning] he who takes away others' belongings, from the [verb] kle/ptw [meaning] I covet. Also [sc. attested is] kle/ptw ["I steal"], [meaning] I cheat. Homer [writes]: "do not cheat in your mind."[1] But kle/pths [comes] from the [verb] kalu/ptein ["to hide"].[2] He who has caused some harmful harm is also called kle/pths.
And elsewhere: "[he] stealing and obliterating the supposition ..."[3]
In ancient times theft was not a cause for reproach, unless the thief had been caught. Aristophanes in Wealth [Plutus] [writes]: "if he ought to escape notice, how is stealing not good behavior?"[4] "He [is] not more a thief, but perhaps [more] fortunate. It is a parody from Euripides' Alcestis: "some other woman will get you, not more virtuous, but perhaps [more] fortunate."[5]