The Republic

Plato
TRANSLATED BY BENJAMIN JOWETT
 ROMAN ROADS MEDIA
Classical education, from a Christian perspective, created for the homeschool.

Roman Roads combines its technical expertise with the experience

of established authorities in the field of classical education to create
quality video courses and resources tailored to the homeschooler.
Just as the first century roads of the Roman Empire were the
physical means by which the early church spread the gospel far and
wide, so Roman Roads Media uses today’s technology to bring
timeless truth, goodness, and beauty into your home. By combining
excellent instruction augmented with visual aids and examples, we
help inspire in your children a lifelong love of learning.

The Republic
by Plato
translated by Benjamin Jowett

This text was designed to accompany Roman Roads Media's 4-year

video course Old Western Culture: A Christian Approach to the Great
Books.

For more information visit: www.romanroadsmedia.com.

Other video courses by Roman Roads Media include:

Grammar of Poetry featuring Matt Whitling
Introductory Logic taught by Jim Nance
Intermediate Logic taught by Jim Nance
French Cuisine taught by Francis Foucachon

Copyright © 2013 by Roman Roads Media, LLC

Roman Roads Media
739 S Hayes St, Moscow, Idaho 83843

A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

 The Republic
Plato
TRANSLATED BY BENJAMIN JOWETT

INTRODUCTION
The Republic of Plato is the longest of his works with the exception
of the Laws, and is certainly the greatest of them. There are nearer
approaches to modern metaphysics in the Philebus and in the
Sophist; the Politicus or Statesman is more ideal; the form and
institutions of the State are more clearly drawn out in the Laws; as
works of art, the Symposium and the Protagoras are of higher
excellence. But no other Dialogue of Plato has the same largeness
of view and the same perfection of style; no other shows an equal
knowledge of the world, or contains more of those thoughts which
are new as well as old, and not of one age only but of all. Nowhere
in Plato is there a deeper irony or a greater wealth of humour or
imagery, or more dramatic power. Nor in any other of his writings
is the attempt made to interweave life and speculation, or to
connect politics with philosophy. The Republic is the centre around
which the other Dialogues may be grouped; here philosophy
reaches the highest point (cp, especially in Books V, VI, VII) to
which ancient thinkers ever attained. Plato among the Greeks, like
Bacon among the moderns, was the first who conceived a method
of knowledge, although neither of them always distinguished the
bare outline or form from the substance of truth; and both of them
had to be content with an abstraction of science which was not yet
realized. He was the greatest metaphysical genius whom the world
has seen; and in him, more than in any other ancient thinker, the
germs of future knowledge are contained. The sciences of logic and
psychology, which have supplied so many instruments of thought
to after-ages, are based upon the analyses of Socrates and Plato.
The principles of definition, the law of contradiction, the fallacy of
arguing in a circle, the distinction between the essence and accidents
of a thing or notion, between means and ends, between causes and
conditions; also the division of the mind into the rational,
concupiscent, and irascible elements, or of pleasures and desires
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

into necessary and unnecessary—these and other great forms of

thought are all of them to be found in the Republic, and were
probably first invented by Plato. The greatest of all logical truths,
and the one of which writers on philosophy are most apt to lose
sight, the difference between words and things, has been most
strenuously insisted on by him (cp. Rep.; Polit.; Cratyl), although he
has not always avoided the confusion of them in his own writings
(e.g. Rep.). But he does not bind up truth in logical formulae,—
logic is still veiled in metaphysics; and the science which he
imagines to 'contemplate all truth and all existence' is very unlike
the doctrine of the syllogism which Aristotle claims to have
discovered (Soph. Elenchi).
Neither must we forget that the Republic is but the third part of a
still larger design which was to have included an ideal history of
Athens, as well as a political and physical philosophy. The fragment
of the Critias has given birth to a world-famous fiction, second only
in importance to the tale of Troy and the legend of Arthur; and is
said as a fact to have inspired some of the early navigators of the
sixteenth century. This mythical tale, of which the subject was a
history of the wars of the Athenians against the Island of Atlantis, is
supposed to be founded upon an unfinished poem of Solon, to
which it would have stood in the same relation as the writings of
the logographers to the poems of Homer. It would have told of a
struggle for Liberty (cp. Tim.), intended to represent the conflict of
Persia and Hellas. We may judge from the noble commencement of
the Timaeus, from the fragment of the Critias itself, and from the
third book of the Laws, in what manner Plato would have treated
this high argument. We can only guess why the great design was
abandoned; perhaps because Plato became sensible of some
incongruity in a fictitious history, or because he had lost his interest
in it, or because advancing years forbade the completion of it; and
we may please ourselves with the fancy that had this imaginary
narrative ever been finished, we should have found Plato himself
sympathising with the struggle for Hellenic independence (cp.
Laws), singing a hymn of triumph over Marathon and Salamis,
perhaps making the reflection of Herodotus where he contemplates
the growth of the Athenian empire—'How brave a thing is freedom
of speech, which has made the Athenians so far exceed every other
state of Hellas in greatness!' or, more probably, attributing the

2
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

victory to the ancient good order of Athens and to the favor of

Apollo and Athene (cp. Introd. to Critias).
Again, Plato may be regarded as the 'captain' ('arhchegoz') or leader
of a goodly band of followers; for in the Republic is to be found the
original of Cicero's De Republica, of St. Augustine's City of God, of
the Utopia of Sir Thomas More, and of the numerous other
imaginary States which are framed upon the same model. The
extent to which Aristotle or the Aristotelian school were indebted
to him in the Politics has been little recognised, and the recognition
is the more necessary because it is not made by Aristotle himself.
The two philosophers had more in common than they were
conscious of; and probably some elements of Plato remain still
undetected in Aristotle. In English philosophy too, many affinities
may be traced, not only in the works of the Cambridge Platonists,
but in great original writers like Berkeley or Coleridge, to Plato and
his ideas. That there is a truth higher than experience, of which the
mind bears witness to herself, is a conviction which in our own
generation has been enthusiastically asserted, and is perhaps gaining
ground. Of the Greek authors who at the Renaissance brought a
new life into the world Plato has had the greatest influence. The
Republic of Plato is also the first treatise upon education, of which
the writings of Milton and Locke, Rousseau, Jean Paul, and Goethe
are the legitimate descendants. Like Dante or Bunyan, he has a
revelation of another life; like Bacon, he is profoundly impressed
with the unity of knowledge; in the early Church he exercised a real
influence on theology, and at the Revival of Literature on politics.
Even the fragments of his words when 'repeated at second-hand'
(Symp.) have in all ages ravished the hearts of men, who have seen
reflected in them their own higher nature. He is the father of
idealism in philosophy, in politics, in literature. And many of the
latest conceptions of modern thinkers and statesmen, such as the
unity of knowledge, the reign of law, and the equality of the sexes,
have been anticipated in a dream by him.
The argument of the Republic is the search after Justice, the nature
of which is first hinted at by Cephalus, the just and blameless old
man—then discussed on the basis of proverbial morality by
Socrates and Polemarchus—then caricatured by Thrasymachus and
partially explained by Socrates—reduced to an abstraction by
Glaucon and Adeimantus, and having become invisible in the
3
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

individual reappears at length in the ideal State which is constructed

by Socrates. The first care of the rulers is to be education, of which
an outline is drawn after the old Hellenic model, providing only for
an improved religion and morality, and more simplicity in music
and gymnastic, a manlier strain of poetry, and greater harmony of
the individual and the State. We are thus led on to the conception
of a higher State, in which 'no man calls anything his own,' and in
which there is neither 'marrying nor giving in marriage,' and 'kings
are philosophers' and 'philosophers are kings;' and there is another
and higher education, intellectual as well as moral and religious, of
science as well as of art, and not of youth only but of the whole of
life. Such a State is hardly to be realized in this world and quickly
degenerates. To the perfect ideal succeeds the government of the
soldier and the lover of honour, this again declining into
democracy, and democracy into tyranny, in an imaginary but regular
order having not much resemblance to the actual facts. When 'the
wheel has come full circle' we do not begin again with a new period
of human life; but we have passed from the best to the worst, and
there we end. The subject is then changed and the old quarrel of
poetry and philosophy which had been more lightly treated in the
earlier books of the Republic is now resumed and fought out to a
conclusion. Poetry is discovered to be an imitation thrice removed
from the truth, and Homer, as well as the dramatic poets, having
been condemned as an imitator, is sent into banishment along with
them. And the idea of the State is supplemented by the revelation
of a future life.
The division into books, like all similar divisions (Cp. Sir G.C.
Lewis in the Classical Museum.), is probably later than the age of
Plato. The natural divisions are five in number;—(1) Book I and the
first half of Book II down to the paragraph beginning, 'I had always
admired the genius of Glaucon and Adeimantus,' which is
introductory; the first book containing a refutation of the popular
and sophistical notions of justice, and concluding, like some of the
earlier Dialogues, without arriving at any definite result. To this is
appended a restatement of the nature of justice according to
common opinion, and an answer is demanded to the question—
What is justice, stripped of appearances? The second division (2)
includes the remainder of the second and the whole of the third and
fourth books, which are mainly occupied with the construction of

4
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

the first State and the first education. The third division (3) consists
of the fifth, sixth, and seventh books, in which philosophy rather
than justice is the subject of enquiry, and the second State is
constructed on principles of communism and ruled by
philosophers, and the contemplation of the idea of good takes the
place of the social and political virtues. In the eighth and ninth
books (4) the perversions of States and of the individuals who
correspond to them are reviewed in succession; and the nature of
pleasure and the principle of tyranny are further analysed in the
individual man. The tenth book (5) is the conclusion of the whole,
in which the relations of philosophy to poetry are finally
determined, and the happiness of the citizens in this life, which has
now been assured, is crowned by the vision of another.
Or a more general division into two parts may be adopted; the first
(Books I - IV) containing the description of a State framed generally
in accordance with Hellenic notions of religion and morality, while
in the second (Books V - X) the Hellenic State is transformed into
an ideal kingdom of philosophy, of which all other governments are
the perversions. These two points of view are really opposed, and
the opposition is only veiled by the genius of Plato. The Republic,
like the Phaedrus (see Introduction to Phaedrus), is an imperfect
whole; the higher light of philosophy breaks through the regularity
of the Hellenic temple, which at last fades away into the heavens.
Whether this imperfection of structure arises from an enlargement
of the plan; or from the imperfect reconcilement in the writer's own
mind of the struggling elements of thought which are now first
brought together by him; or, perhaps, from the composition of the
work at different times—are questions, like the similar question
about the Iliad and the Odyssey, which are worth asking, but which
cannot have a distinct answer. In the age of Plato there was no
regular mode of publication, and an author would have the less
scruple in altering or adding to a work which was known only to a
few of his friends. There is no absurdity in supposing that he may
have laid his labours aside for a time, or turned from one work to
another; and such interruptions would be more likely to occur in
the case of a long than of a short writing. In all attempts to
determine the chronological order of the Platonic writings on
internal evidence, this uncertainty about any single Dialogue being
composed at one time is a disturbing element, which must be

5
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

admitted to affect longer works, such as the Republic and the Laws,
more than shorter ones. But, on the other hand, the seeming
discrepancies of the Republic may only arise out of the discordant
elements which the philosopher has attempted to unite in a single
whole, perhaps without being himself able to recognise the
inconsistency which is obvious to us. For there is a judgment of
after ages which few great writers have ever been able to anticipate
for themselves. They do not perceive the want of connexion in their
own writings, or the gaps in their systems which are visible enough
to those who come after them. In the beginnings of literature and
philosophy, amid the first efforts of thought and language, more
inconsistencies occur than now, when the paths of speculation are
well worn and the meaning of words precisely defined. For
consistency, too, is the growth of time; and some of the greatest
creations of the human mind have been wanting in unity. Tried by
this test, several of the Platonic Dialogues, according to our modern
ideas, appear to be defective, but the deficiency is no proof that
they were composed at different times or by different hands. And
the supposition that the Republic was written uninterruptedly and
by a continuous effort is in some degree confirmed by the
numerous references from one part of the work to another.
The second title, 'Concerning Justice,' is not the one by which the
Republic is quoted, either by Aristotle or generally in antiquity, and,
like the other second titles of the Platonic Dialogues, may therefore
be assumed to be of later date. Morgenstern and others have asked
whether the definition of justice, which is the professed aim, or the
construction of the State is the principal argument of the work. The
answer is, that the two blend in one, and are two faces of the same
truth; for justice is the order of the State, and the State is the visible
embodiment of justice under the conditions of human society. The
one is the soul and the other is the body, and the Greek ideal of the
State, as of the individual, is a fair mind in a fair body. In Hegelian
phraseology the state is the reality of which justice is the idea. Or,
described in Christian language, the kingdom of God is within, and
yet developes into a Church or external kingdom; 'the house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens,' is reduced to the
proportions of an earthly building. Or, to use a Platonic image,
justice and the State are the warp and the woof which run through
the whole texture. And when the constitution of the State is

6
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

completed, the conception of justice is not dismissed, but reappears

under the same or different names throughout the work, both as
the inner law of the individual soul, and finally as the principle of
rewards and punishments in another life. The virtues are based on
justice, of which common honesty in buying and selling is the
shadow, and justice is based on the idea of good, which is the
harmony of the world, and is reflected both in the institutions of
states and in motions of the heavenly bodies (cp. Tim.). The
Timaeus, which takes up the political rather than the ethical side of
the Republic, and is chiefly occupied with hypotheses concerning
the outward world, yet contains many indications that the same law
is supposed to reign over the State, over nature, and over man.
Too much, however, has been made of this question both in
ancient and modern times. There is a stage of criticism in which all
works, whether of nature or of art, are referred to design. Now in
ancient writings, and indeed in literature generally, there remains
often a large element which was not comprehended in the original
design. For the plan grows under the author's hand; new thoughts
occur to him in the act of writing; he has not worked out the
argument to the end before he begins. The reader who seeks to find
some one idea under which the whole may be conceived, must
necessarily seize on the vaguest and most general. Thus Stallbaum,
who is dissatisfied with the ordinary explanations of the argument
of the Republic, imagines himself to have found the true argument
'in the representation of human life in a State perfected by justice,
and governed according to the idea of good.' There may be some
use in such general descriptions, but they can hardly be said to
express the design of the writer. The truth is, that we may as well
speak of many designs as of one; nor need anything be excluded
from the plan of a great work to which the mind is naturally led by
the association of ideas, and which does not interfere with the
general purpose. What kind or degree of unity is to be sought after
in a building, in the plastic arts, in poetry, in prose, is a problem
which has to be determined relatively to the subject-matter. To
Plato himself, the enquiry 'what was the intention of the writer,' or
'what was the principal argument of the Republic' would have been
hardly intelligible, and therefore had better be at once dismissed (cp.
the Introduction to the Phaedrus).

7
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Is not the Republic the vehicle of three or four great truths which,
to Plato's own mind, are most naturally represented in the form of
the State? Just as in the Jewish prophets the reign of Messiah, or
'the day of the Lord,' or the suffering Servant or people of God, or
the 'Sun of righteousness with healing in his wings' only convey, to
us at least, their great spiritual ideals, so through the Greek State
Plato reveals to us his own thoughts about divine perfection, which
is the idea of good—like the sun in the visible world;—about
human perfection, which is justice—about education beginning in
youth and continuing in later years—about poets and sophists and
tyrants who are the false teachers and evil rulers of mankind—
about 'the world' which is the embodiment of them—about a
kingdom which exists nowhere upon earth but is laid up in heaven
to be the pattern and rule of human life. No such inspired creation
is at unity with itself, any more than the clouds of heaven when the
sun pierces through them. Every shade of light and dark, of truth,
and of fiction which is the veil of truth, is allowable in a work of
philosophical imagination. It is not all on the same plane; it easily
passes from ideas to myths and fancies, from facts to figures of
speech. It is not prose but poetry, at least a great part of it, and
ought not to be judged by the rules of logic or the probabilities of
history. The writer is not fashioning his ideas into an artistic whole;
they take possession of him and are too much for him. We have no
need therefore to discuss whether a State such as Plato has
conceived is practicable or not, or whether the outward form or the
inward life came first into the mind of the writer. For the
practicability of his ideas has nothing to do with their truth; and the
highest thoughts to which he attains may be truly said to bear the
greatest 'marks of design'—justice more than the external frame-
work of the State, the idea of good more than justice. The great
science of dialectic or the organisation of ideas has no real content;
but is only a type of the method or spirit in which the higher
knowledge is to be pursued by the spectator of all time and all
existence. It is in the fifth, sixth, and seventh books that Plato
reaches the 'summit of speculation,' and these, although they fail to
satisfy the requirements of a modern thinker, may therefore be
regarded as the most important, as they are also the most original,
portions of the work.

8
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

It is not necessary to discuss at length a minor question which has

been raised by Boeckh, respecting the imaginary date at which the
conversation was held (the year 411 B.C. which is proposed by him
will do as well as any other); for a writer of fiction, and especially a
writer who, like Plato, is notoriously careless of chronology (cp.
Rep., Symp., etc.), only aims at general probability. Whether all the
persons mentioned in the Republic could ever have met at any one
time is not a difficulty which would have occurred to an Athenian
reading the work forty years later, or to Plato himself at the time of
writing (any more than to Shakespeare respecting one of his own
dramas); and need not greatly trouble us now. Yet this may be a
question having no answer 'which is still worth asking,' because the
investigation shows that we cannot argue historically from the dates
in Plato; it would be useless therefore to waste time in inventing far-
fetched reconcilements of them in order to avoid chronological
difficulties, such, for example, as the conjecture of C.F. Hermann,
that Glaucon and Adeimantus are not the brothers but the uncles of
Plato (cp. Apol.), or the fancy of Stallbaum that Plato intentionally
left anachronisms indicating the dates at which some of his
Dialogues were written.
The principal characters in the Republic are Cephalus, Polemarchus,
Thrasymachus, Socrates, Glaucon, and Adeimantus. Cephalus
appears in the introduction only, Polemarchus drops at the end of
the first argument, and Thrasymachus is reduced to silence at the
close of the first book. The main discussion is carried on by
Socrates, Glaucon, and Adeimantus. Among the company are
Lysias (the orator) and Euthydemus, the sons of Cephalus and
brothers of Polemarchus, an unknown Charmantides—these are
mute auditors; also there is Cleitophon, who once interrupts, where,
as in the Dialogue which bears his name, he appears as the friend
and ally of Thrasymachus.
Cephalus, the patriarch of the house, has been appropriately
engaged in offering a sacrifice. He is the pattern of an old man who
has almost done with life, and is at peace with himself and with all
mankind. He feels that he is drawing nearer to the world below, and
seems to linger around the memory of the past. He is eager that
Socrates should come to visit him, fond of the poetry of the last
generation, happy in the consciousness of a well-spent life, glad at
having escaped from the tyranny of youthful lusts. His love of
9
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

conversation, his affection, his indifference to riches, even his

garrulity, are interesting traits of character. He is not one of those
who have nothing to say, because their whole mind has been
absorbed in making money. Yet he acknowledges that riches have
the advantage of placing men above the temptation to dishonesty or
falsehood. The respectful attention shown to him by Socrates,
whose love of conversation, no less than the mission imposed upon
him by the Oracle, leads him to ask questions of all men, young and
old alike, should also be noted. Who better suited to raise the
question of justice than Cephalus, whose life might seem to be the
expression of it? The moderation with which old age is pictured by
Cephalus as a very tolerable portion of existence is characteristic,
not only of him, but of Greek feeling generally, and contrasts with
the exaggeration of Cicero in the De Senectute. The evening of life
is described by Plato in the most expressive manner, yet with the
fewest possible touches. As Cicero remarks (Ep. ad Attic.), the aged
Cephalus would have been out of place in the discussion which
follows, and which he could neither have understood nor taken part
in without a violation of dramatic propriety (cp. Lysimachus in the
Laches).
His 'son and heir' Polemarchus has the frankness and
impetuousness of youth; he is for detaining Socrates by force in the
opening scene, and will not 'let him off' on the subject of women
and children. Like Cephalus, he is limited in his point of view, and
represents the proverbial stage of morality which has rules of life
rather than principles; and he quotes Simonides (cp. Aristoph.
Clouds) as his father had quoted Pindar. But after this he has no
more to say; the answers which he makes are only elicited from him
by the dialectic of Socrates. He has not yet experienced the
influence of the Sophists like Glaucon and Adeimantus, nor is he
sensible of the necessity of refuting them; he belongs to the pre-
Socratic or pre-dialectical age. He is incapable of arguing, and is
bewildered by Socrates to such a degree that he does not know
what he is saying. He is made to admit that justice is a thief, and
that the virtues follow the analogy of the arts. From his brother
Lysias (contra Eratosth.) we learn that he fell a victim to the Thirty
Tyrants, but no allusion is here made to his fate, nor to the
circumstance that Cephalus and his family were of Syracusan origin,
and had migrated from Thurii to Athens.

10
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

The 'Chalcedonian giant,' Thrasymachus, of whom we have already

heard in the Phaedrus, is the personification of the Sophists,
according to Plato's conception of them, in some of their worst
characteristics. He is vain and blustering, refusing to discourse
unless he is paid, fond of making an oration, and hoping thereby to
escape the inevitable Socrates; but a mere child in argument, and
unable to foresee that the next 'move' (to use a Platonic expression)
will 'shut him up.' He has reached the stage of framing general
notions, and in this respect is in advance of Cephalus and
Polemarchus. But he is incapable of defending them in a discussion,
and vainly tries to cover his confusion with banter and insolence.
Whether such doctrines as are attributed to him by Plato were really
held either by him or by any other Sophist is uncertain; in the
infancy of philosophy serious errors about morality might easily
grow up—they are certainly put into the mouths of speakers in
Thucydides; but we are concerned at present with Plato's
description of him, and not with the historical reality. The inequality
of the contest adds greatly to the humour of the scene. The
pompous and empty Sophist is utterly helpless in the hands of the
great master of dialectic, who knows how to touch all the springs of
vanity and weakness in him. He is greatly irritated by the irony of
Socrates, but his noisy and imbecile rage only lays him more and
more open to the thrusts of his assailant. His determination to cram
down their throats, or put 'bodily into their souls' his own words,
elicits a cry of horror from Socrates. The state of his temper is quite
as worthy of remark as the process of the argument. Nothing is
more amusing than his complete submission when he has been
once thoroughly beaten. At first he seems to continue the
discussion with reluctance, but soon with apparent good-will, and
he even testifies his interest at a later stage by one or two occasional
remarks. When attacked by Glaucon he is humorously protected by
Socrates 'as one who has never been his enemy and is now his
friend.' From Cicero and Quintilian and from Aristotle's Rhetoric
we learn that the Sophist whom Plato has made so ridiculous was a
man of note whose writings were preserved in later ages. The play
on his name which was made by his contemporary Herodicus (Aris.
Rhet.), 'thou wast ever bold in battle,' seems to show that the
description of him is not devoid of verisimilitude.

11
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

When Thrasymachus has been silenced, the two principal

respondents, Glaucon and Adeimantus, appear on the scene: here,
as in Greek tragedy (cp. Introd. to Phaedo), three actors are
introduced. At first sight the two sons of Ariston may seem to wear
a family likeness, like the two friends Simmias and Cebes in the
Phaedo. But on a nearer examination of them the similarity
vanishes, and they are seen to be distinct characters. Glaucon is the
impetuous youth who can 'just never have enough of fechting' (cp.
the character of him in Xen. Mem. iii. 6); the man of pleasure who
is acquainted with the mysteries of love; the 'juvenis qui gaudet
canibus,' and who improves the breed of animals; the lover of art
and music who has all the experiences of youthful life. He is full of
quickness and penetration, piercing easily below the clumsy
platitudes of Thrasymachus to the real difficulty; he turns out to the
light the seamy side of human life, and yet does not lose faith in the
just and true. It is Glaucon who seizes what may be termed the
ludicrous relation of the philosopher to the world, to whom a state
of simplicity is 'a city of pigs,' who is always prepared with a jest
when the argument offers him an opportunity, and who is ever
ready to second the humour of Socrates and to appreciate the
ridiculous, whether in the connoisseurs of music, or in the lovers of
theatricals, or in the fantastic behaviour of the citizens of
democracy. His weaknesses are several times alluded to by Socrates,
who, however, will not allow him to be attacked by his brother
Adeimantus. He is a soldier, and, like Adeimantus, has been
distinguished at the battle of Megara (anno 456?)...The character of
Adeimantus is deeper and graver, and the profounder objections are
commonly put into his mouth. Glaucon is more demonstrative, and
generally opens the game. Adeimantus pursues the argument
further. Glaucon has more of the liveliness and quick sympathy of
youth; Adeimantus has the maturer judgment of a grown-up man of
the world. In the second book, when Glaucon insists that justice
and injustice shall be considered without regard to their
consequences, Adeimantus remarks that they are regarded by
mankind in general only for the sake of their consequences; and in a
similar vein of reflection he urges at the beginning of the fourth
book that Socrates fails in making his citizens happy, and is
answered that happiness is not the first but the second thing, not
the direct aim but the indirect consequence of the good
government of a State. In the discussion about religion and
12
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

mythology, Adeimantus is the respondent, but Glaucon breaks in

with a slight jest, and carries on the conversation in a lighter tone
about music and gymnastic to the end of the book. It is Adeimantus
again who volunteers the criticism of common sense on the
Socratic method of argument, and who refuses to let Socrates pass
lightly over the question of women and children. It is Adeimantus
who is the respondent in the more argumentative, as Glaucon in the
lighter and more imaginative portions of the Dialogue. For
example, throughout the greater part of the sixth book, the causes
of the corruption of philosophy and the conception of the idea of
good are discussed with Adeimantus. Glaucon resumes his place of
principal respondent; but he has a difficulty in apprehending the
higher education of Socrates, and makes some false hits in the
course of the discussion. Once more Adeimantus returns with the
allusion to his brother Glaucon whom he compares to the
contentious State; in the next book he is again superseded, and
Glaucon continues to the end.
Thus in a succession of characters Plato represents the successive
stages of morality, beginning with the Athenian gentleman of the
olden time, who is followed by the practical man of that day
regulating his life by proverbs and saws; to him succeeds the wild
generalization of the Sophists, and lastly come the young disciples
of the great teacher, who know the sophistical arguments but will
not be convinced by them, and desire to go deeper into the nature
of things. These too, like Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus,
are clearly distinguished from one another. Neither in the Republic,
nor in any other Dialogue of Plato, is a single character repeated.
The delineation of Socrates in the Republic is not wholly consistent.
In the first book we have more of the real Socrates, such as he is
depicted in the Memorabilia of Xenophon, in the earliest Dialogues
of Plato, and in the Apology. He is ironical, provoking, questioning,
the old enemy of the Sophists, ready to put on the mask of Silenus
as well as to argue seriously. But in the sixth book his enmity
towards the Sophists abates; he acknowledges that they are the
representatives rather than the corrupters of the world. He also
becomes more dogmatic and constructive, passing beyond the
range either of the political or the speculative ideas of the real
Socrates. In one passage Plato himself seems to intimate that the
time had now come for Socrates, who had passed his whole life in
13
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

philosophy, to give his own opinion and not to be always repeating

the notions of other men. There is no evidence that either the idea
of good or the conception of a perfect state were comprehended in
the Socratic teaching, though he certainly dwelt on the nature of the
universal and of final causes (cp. Xen. Mem.; Phaedo); and a deep
thinker like him, in his thirty or forty years of public teaching, could
hardly have failed to touch on the nature of family relations, for
which there is also some positive evidence in the Memorabilia
(Mem.) The Socratic method is nominally retained; and every
inference is either put into the mouth of the respondent or
represented as the common discovery of him and Socrates. But any
one can see that this is a mere form, of which the affectation grows
wearisome as the work advances. The method of enquiry has passed
into a method of teaching in which by the help of interlocutors the
same thesis is looked at from various points of view. The nature of
the process is truly characterized by Glaucon, when he describes
himself as a companion who is not good for much in an
investigation, but can see what he is shown, and may, perhaps, give
the answer to a question more fluently than another.
Neither can we be absolutely certain that Socrates himself taught
the immortality of the soul, which is unknown to his disciple
Glaucon in the Republic (cp. Apol.); nor is there any reason to
suppose that he used myths or revelations of another world as a
vehicle of instruction, or that he would have banished poetry or
have denounced the Greek mythology. His favorite oath is retained,
and a slight mention is made of the daemonium, or internal sign,
which is alluded to by Socrates as a phenomenon peculiar to
himself. A real element of Socratic teaching, which is more
prominent in the Republic than in any of the other Dialogues of
Plato, is the use of example and illustration (Greek): 'Let us apply
the test of common instances.' 'You,' says Adeimantus, ironically, in
the sixth book, 'are so unaccustomed to speak in images.' And this
use of examples or images, though truly Socratic in origin, is
enlarged by the genius of Plato into the form of an allegory or
parable, which embodies in the concrete what has been already
described, or is about to be described, in the abstract. Thus the
figure of the cave in Book VII is a recapitulation of the divisions of
knowledge in Book VI. The composite animal in Book IX is an
allegory of the parts of the soul. The noble captain and the ship and

14
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

the true pilot in Book VI are a figure of the relation of the people to
the philosophers in the State which has been described. Other
figures, such as the dog, or the marriage of the portionless maiden,
or the drones and wasps in the eighth and ninth books, also form
links of connexion in long passages, or are used to recall previous
discussions.
Plato is most true to the character of his master when he describes
him as 'not of this world.' And with this representation of him the
ideal state and the other paradoxes of the Republic are quite in
accordance, though they cannot be shown to have been
speculations of Socrates. To him, as to other great teachers both
philosophical and religious, when they looked upward, the world
seemed to be the embodiment of error and evil. The common sense
of mankind has revolted against this view, or has only partially
admitted it. And even in Socrates himself the sterner judgement of
the multitude at times passes into a sort of ironical pity or love.
Men in general are incapable of philosophy, and are therefore at
enmity with the philosopher; but their misunderstanding of him is
unavoidable: for they have never seen him as he truly is in his own
image; they are only acquainted with artificial systems possessing no
native force of truth—words which admit of many applications.
Their leaders have nothing to measure with, and are therefore
ignorant of their own stature. But they are to be pitied or laughed
at, not to be quarrelled with; they mean well with their nostrums, if
they could only learn that they are cutting off a Hydra's head. This
moderation towards those who are in error is one of the most
characteristic features of Socrates in the Republic. In all the
different representations of Socrates, whether of Xenophon or
Plato, and amid the differences of the earlier or later Dialogues, he
always retains the character of the unwearied and disinterested
seeker after truth, without which he would have ceased to be
Socrates.

THE REPUBLIC

PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE:

Socrates, who is the narrator.
Glaucon.
Adeimantus.
15
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Polemarchus.
Cephalus.
Thrasymachus.
Cleitophon.
And others who are mute auditors.

The scene is laid in the house of Cephalus at the Piraeus; and the
whole dialogue is narrated by Socrates the day after it actually took
place to Timaeus, Hermocrates, Critias, and a nameless person, who
are introduced in the Timaeus.

BOOK I.
I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon the son of
Ariston, that I might offer up my prayers to the goddess (Bendis,
the Thracian Artemis.); and also because I wanted to see in what
manner they would celebrate the festival, which was a new thing. I
was delighted with the procession of the inhabitants; but that of the
Thracians was equally, if not more, beautiful. When we had finished
our prayers and viewed the spectacle, we turned in the direction of
the city; and at that instant Polemarchus the son of Cephalus
chanced to catch sight of us from a distance as we were starting on
our way home, and told his servant to run and bid us wait for him.
The servant took hold of me by the cloak behind, and said:
Polemarchus desires you to wait.
I turned round, and asked him where his master was.
There he is, said the youth, coming after you, if you will only wait.
Certainly we will, said Glaucon; and in a few minutes Polemarchus
appeared, and with him Adeimantus, Glaucon's brother, Niceratus
the son of Nicias, and several others who had been at the
procession.
Polemarchus said to me: I perceive, Socrates, that you and your
companion are already on your way to the city.
You are not far wrong, I said.
But do you see, he rejoined, how many we are?
Of course.

16
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And are you stronger than all these? for if not, you will have to
remain where you are.
May there not be the alternative, I said, that we may persuade you
to let us go?
But can you persuade us, if we refuse to listen to you? he said.
Certainly not, replied Glaucon.
Then we are not going to listen; of that you may be assured.
Adeimantus added: Has no one told you of the torch-race on
horseback in honour of the goddess which will take place in the
evening?
With horses! I replied: That is a novelty. Will horsemen carry
torches and pass them one to another during the race?
Yes, said Polemarchus, and not only so, but a festival will be
celebrated at night, which you certainly ought to see. Let us rise
soon after supper and see this festival; there will be a gathering of
young men, and we will have a good talk. Stay then, and do not be
perverse.
Glaucon said: I suppose, since you insist, that we must.
Very good, I replied.
Accordingly we went with Polemarchus to his house; and there we
found his brothers Lysias and Euthydemus, and with them
Thrasymachus the Chalcedonian, Charmantides the Paeanian, and
Cleitophon the son of Aristonymus. There too was Cephalus the
father of Polemarchus, whom I had not seen for a long time, and I
thought him very much aged. He was seated on a cushioned chair,
and had a garland on his head, for he had been sacrificing in the
court; and there were some other chairs in the room arranged in a
semicircle, upon which we sat down by him. He saluted me eagerly,
and then he said:—
You don't come to see me, Socrates, as often as you ought: If I
were still able to go and see you I would not ask you to come to me.
But at my age I can hardly get to the city, and therefore you should
come oftener to the Piraeus. For let me tell you, that the more the
pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure
and charm of conversation. Do not then deny my request, but make
17
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

our house your resort and keep company with these young men; we
are old friends, and you will be quite at home with us.
I replied: There is nothing which for my part I like better, Cephalus,
than conversing with aged men; for I regard them as travellers who
have gone a journey which I too may have to go, and of whom I
ought to enquire, whether the way is smooth and easy, or rugged
and difficult. And this is a question which I should like to ask of
you who have arrived at that time which the poets call the
'threshold of old age'—Is life harder towards the end, or what
report do you give of it?
I will tell you, Socrates, he said, what my own feeling is. Men of my
age flock together; we are birds of a feather, as the old proverb says;
and at our meetings the tale of my acquaintance commonly is—I
cannot eat, I cannot drink; the pleasures of youth and love are fled
away: there was a good time once, but now that is gone, and life is
no longer life. Some complain of the slights which are put upon
them by relations, and they will tell you sadly of how many evils
their old age is the cause. But to me, Socrates, these complainers
seem to blame that which is not really in fault. For if old age were
the cause, I too being old, and every other old man, would have felt
as they do. But this is not my own experience, nor that of others
whom I have known. How well I remember the aged poet
Sophocles, when in answer to the question, How does love suit
with age, Sophocles,—are you still the man you were? Peace, he
replied; most gladly have I escaped the thing of which you speak; I
feel as if I had escaped from a mad and furious master. His words
have often occurred to my mind since, and they seem as good to
me now as at the time when he uttered them. For certainly old age
has a great sense of calm and freedom; when the passions relax
their hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from the grasp not
of one mad master only, but of many. The truth is, Socrates, that
these regrets, and also the complaints about relations, are to be
attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men's
characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature
will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite
disposition youth and age are equally a burden.
I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, that he might
go on—Yes, Cephalus, I said: but I rather suspect that people in

18
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

general are not convinced by you when you speak thus; they think
that old age sits lightly upon you, not because of your happy
disposition, but because you are rich, and wealth is well known to
be a great comforter.
You are right, he replied; they are not convinced: and there is
something in what they say; not, however, so much as they imagine.
I might answer them as Themistocles answered the Seriphian who
was abusing him and saying that he was famous, not for his own
merits but because he was an Athenian: 'If you had been a native of
my country or I of yours, neither of us would have been famous.'
And to those who are not rich and are impatient of old age, the
same reply may be made; for to the good poor man old age cannot
be a light burden, nor can a bad rich man ever have peace with
himself.
May I ask, Cephalus, whether your fortune was for the most part
inherited or acquired by you?
Acquired! Socrates; do you want to know how much I acquired? In
the art of making money I have been midway between my father
and grandfather: for my grandfather, whose name I bear, doubled
and trebled the value of his patrimony, that which he inherited
being much what I possess now; but my father Lysanias reduced
the property below what it is at present: and I shall be satisfied if I
leave to these my sons not less but a little more than I received.
That was why I asked you the question, I replied, because I see that
you are indifferent about money, which is a characteristic rather of
those who have inherited their fortunes than of those who have
acquired them; the makers of fortunes have a second love of money
as a creation of their own, resembling the affection of authors for
their own poems, or of parents for their children, besides that
natural love of it for the sake of use and profit which is common to
them and all men. And hence they are very bad company, for they
can talk about nothing but the praises of wealth.
That is true, he said.
Yes, that is very true, but may I ask another question?—What do
you consider to be the greatest blessing which you have reaped
from your wealth?

19
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

One, he said, of which I could not expect easily to convince others.

For let me tell you, Socrates, that when a man thinks himself to be
near death, fears and cares enter into his mind which he never had
before; the tales of a world below and the punishment which is
exacted there of deeds done here were once a laughing matter to
him, but now he is tormented with the thought that they may be
true: either from the weakness of age, or because he is now drawing
nearer to that other place, he has a clearer view of these things;
suspicions and alarms crowd thickly upon him, and he begins to
reflect and consider what wrongs he has done to others. And when
he finds that the sum of his transgressions is great he will many a
time like a child start up in his sleep for fear, and he is filled with
dark forebodings. But to him who is conscious of no sin, sweet
hope, as Pindar charmingly says, is the kind nurse of his age:
'Hope,' he says, 'cherishes the soul of him who lives in justice and
holiness, and is the nurse of his age and the companion of his
journey;—hope which is mightiest to sway the restless soul of man.'
How admirable are his words! And the great blessing of riches, I do
not say to every man, but to a good man, is, that he has had no
occasion to deceive or to defraud others, either intentionally or
unintentionally; and when he departs to the world below he is not
in any apprehension about offerings due to the gods or debts which
he owes to men. Now to this peace of mind the possession of
wealth greatly contributes; and therefore I say, that, setting one
thing against another, of the many advantages which wealth has to
give, to a man of sense this is in my opinion the greatest.
Well said, Cephalus, I replied; but as concerning justice, what is
it?—to speak the truth and to pay your debts—no more than this?
And even to this are there not exceptions? Suppose that a friend
when in his right mind has deposited arms with me and he asks for
them when he is not in his right mind, ought I to give them back to
him? No one would say that I ought or that I should be right in
doing so, any more than they would say that I ought always to
speak the truth to one who is in his condition.
You are quite right, he replied.
But then, I said, speaking the truth and paying your debts is not a
correct definition of justice.

20
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Quite correct, Socrates, if Simonides is to be believed, said

Polemarchus interposing.
I fear, said Cephalus, that I must go now, for I have to look after
the sacrifices, and I hand over the argument to Polemarchus and
the company.
Is not Polemarchus your heir? I said.
To be sure, he answered, and went away laughing to the sacrifices.
Tell me then, O thou heir of the argument, what did Simonides say,
and according to you truly say, about justice?
He said that the repayment of a debt is just, and in saying so he
appears to me to be right.
I should be sorry to doubt the word of such a wise and inspired
man, but his meaning, though probably clear to you, is the reverse
of clear to me. For he certainly does not mean, as we were just now
saying, that I ought to return a deposit of arms or of anything else
to one who asks for it when he is not in his right senses; and yet a
deposit cannot be denied to be a debt.
True.
Then when the person who asks me is not in his right mind I am by
no means to make the return?
Certainly not.
When Simonides said that the repayment of a debt was justice, he
did not mean to include that case?
Certainly not; for he thinks that a friend ought always to do good to
a friend and never evil.
You mean that the return of a deposit of gold which is to the injury
of the receiver, if the two parties are friends, is not the repayment
of a debt,—that is what you would imagine him to say?
Yes.
And are enemies also to receive what we owe to them?
To be sure, he said, they are to receive what we owe them, and an
enemy, as I take it, owes to an enemy that which is due or proper to
him—that is to say, evil.
21
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Simonides, then, after the manner of poets, would seem to have

spoken darkly of the nature of justice; for he really meant to say that
justice is the giving to each man what is proper to him, and this he
termed a debt.
That must have been his meaning, he said.
By heaven! I replied; and if we asked him what due or proper thing
is given by medicine, and to whom, what answer do you think that
he would make to us?
He would surely reply that medicine gives drugs and meat and drink
to human bodies.
And what due or proper thing is given by cookery, and to what?
Seasoning to food.
And what is that which justice gives, and to whom?
If, Socrates, we are to be guided at all by the analogy of the
preceding instances, then justice is the art which gives good to
friends and evil to enemies.
That is his meaning then?
I think so.
And who is best able to do good to his friends and evil to his
enemies in time of sickness?
The physician.
Or when they are on a voyage, amid the perils of the sea?
The pilot.
And in what sort of actions or with a view to what result is the just
man most able to do harm to his enemy and good to his friend?
In going to war against the one and in making alliances with the
other.
But when a man is well, my dear Polemarchus, there is no need of a
physician?
No.
And he who is not on a voyage has no need of a pilot?

22
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

No.
Then in time of peace justice will be of no use?
I am very far from thinking so.
You think that justice may be of use in peace as well as in war?
Yes.
Like husbandry for the acquisition of corn?
Yes.
Or like shoemaking for the acquisition of shoes,—that is what you
mean?
Yes.
And what similar use or power of acquisition has justice in time of
peace?
In contracts, Socrates, justice is of use.
And by contracts you mean partnerships?
Exactly.
But is the just man or the skilful player a more useful and better
partner at a game of draughts?
The skilful player.
And in the laying of bricks and stones is the just man a more useful
or better partner than the builder?
Quite the reverse.
Then in what sort of partnership is the just man a better partner
than the harp-player, as in playing the harp the harp-player is
certainly a better partner than the just man?
In a money partnership.
Yes, Polemarchus, but surely not in the use of money; for you do
not want a just man to be your counsellor in the purchase or sale of
a horse; a man who is knowing about horses would be better for
that, would he not?
Certainly.

23
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And when you want to buy a ship, the shipwright or the pilot would
be better?
True.
Then what is that joint use of silver or gold in which the just man is
to be preferred?
When you want a deposit to be kept safely.
You mean when money is not wanted, but allowed to lie?
Precisely.
That is to say, justice is useful when money is useless?
That is the inference.
And when you want to keep a pruning-hook safe, then justice is
useful to the individual and to the state; but when you want to use
it, then the art of the vine-dresser?
Clearly.
And when you want to keep a shield or a lyre, and not to use them,
you would say that justice is useful; but when you want to use them,
then the art of the soldier or of the musician?
Certainly.
And so of all other things;—justice is useful when they are useless,
and useless when they are useful?
That is the inference.
Then justice is not good for much. But let us consider this further
point: Is not he who can best strike a blow in a boxing match or in
any kind of fighting best able to ward off a blow?
Certainly.
And he who is most skilful in preventing or escaping from a disease
is best able to create one?
True.
And he is the best guard of a camp who is best able to steal a march
upon the enemy?
Certainly.

24
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Then he who is a good keeper of anything is also a good thief?

That, I suppose, is to be inferred.
Then if the just man is good at keeping money, he is good at
stealing it.
That is implied in the argument.
Then after all the just man has turned out to be a thief. And this is a
lesson which I suspect you must have learnt out of Homer; for he,
speaking of Autolycus, the maternal grandfather of Odysseus, who
is a favourite of his, affirms that
'He was excellent above all men in theft and perjury.'
And so, you and Homer and Simonides are agreed that justice is an
art of theft; to be practised however 'for the good of friends and for
the harm of enemies,'—that was what you were saying?
No, certainly not that, though I do not now know what I did say;
but I still stand by the latter words.
Well, there is another question: By friends and enemies do we mean
those who are so really, or only in seeming?
Surely, he said, a man may be expected to love those whom he
thinks good, and to hate those whom he thinks evil.
Yes, but do not persons often err about good and evil: many who
are not good seem to be so, and conversely?
That is true.
Then to them the good will be enemies and the evil will be their
friends? True.
And in that case they will be right in doing good to the evil and evil
to the good?
Clearly.
But the good are just and would not do an injustice?
True.
Then according to your argument it is just to injure those who do
no wrong?
Nay, Socrates; the doctrine is immoral.
25
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then I suppose that we ought to do good to the just and harm to

the unjust?
I like that better.
But see the consequence:—Many a man who is ignorant of human
nature has friends who are bad friends, and in that case he ought to
do harm to them; and he has good enemies whom he ought to
benefit; but, if so, we shall be saying the very opposite of that which
we affirmed to be the meaning of Simonides.
Very true, he said: and I think that we had better correct an error
into which we seem to have fallen in the use of the words 'friend'
and 'enemy.'
What was the error, Polemarchus? I asked.
We assumed that he is a friend who seems to be or who is thought
good.
And how is the error to be corrected?
We should rather say that he is a friend who is, as well as seems,
good; and that he who seems only, and is not good, only seems to
be and is not a friend; and of an enemy the same may be said.
You would argue that the good are our friends and the bad our
enemies?
Yes.
And instead of saying simply as we did at first, that it is just to do
good to our friends and harm to our enemies, we should further
say: It is just to do good to our friends when they are good and
harm to our enemies when they are evil?
Yes, that appears to me to be the truth.
But ought the just to injure any one at all?
Undoubtedly he ought to injure those who are both wicked and his
enemies.
When horses are injured, are they improved or deteriorated?
The latter.

26
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Deteriorated, that is to say, in the good qualities of horses, not of

dogs?
Yes, of horses.
And dogs are deteriorated in the good qualities of dogs, and not of
horses?
Of course.
And will not men who are injured be deteriorated in that which is
the proper virtue of man?
Certainly.
And that human virtue is justice?
To be sure.
Then men who are injured are of necessity made unjust?
That is the result.
But can the musician by his art make men unmusical?
Certainly not.
Or the horseman by his art make them bad horsemen?
Impossible.
And can the just by justice make men unjust, or speaking generally,
can the good by virtue make them bad?
Assuredly not.
Any more than heat can produce cold?
It cannot.
Or drought moisture?
Clearly not.
Nor can the good harm any one?
Impossible.
And the just is the good?
Certainly.

27
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then to injure a friend or any one else is not the act of a just man,
but of the opposite, who is the unjust?
I think that what you say is quite true, Socrates.
Then if a man says that justice consists in the repayment of debts,
and that good is the debt which a just man owes to his friends, and
evil the debt which he owes to his enemies,—to say this is not wise;
for it is not true, if, as has been clearly shown, the injuring of
another can be in no case just.
I agree with you, said Polemarchus.
Then you and I are prepared to take up arms against any one who
attributes such a saying to Simonides or Bias or Pittacus, or any
other wise man or seer?
I am quite ready to do battle at your side, he said.
Shall I tell you whose I believe the saying to be?
Whose?
I believe that Periander or Perdiccas or Xerxes or Ismenias the
Theban, or some other rich and mighty man, who had a great
opinion of his own power, was the first to say that justice is 'doing
good to your friends and harm to your enemies.'
Most true, he said.
Yes, I said; but if this definition of justice also breaks down, what
other can be offered?
Several times in the course of the discussion Thrasymachus had
made an attempt to get the argument into his own hands, and had
been put down by the rest of the company, who wanted to hear the
end. But when Polemarchus and I had done speaking and there was
a pause, he could no longer hold his peace; and, gathering himself
up, he came at us like a wild beast, seeking to devour us. We were
quite panic-stricken at the sight of him.
He roared out to the whole company: What folly, Socrates, has
taken possession of you all? And why, sillybillies, do you knock
under to one another? I say that if you want really to know what
justice is, you should not only ask but answer, and you should not
seek honour to yourself from the refutation of an opponent, but

28
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

have your own answer; for there is many a one who can ask and
cannot answer. And now I will not have you say that justice is duty
or advantage or profit or gain or interest, for this sort of nonsense
will not do for me; I must have clearness and accuracy.
I was panic-stricken at his words, and could not look at him without
trembling. Indeed I believe that if I had not fixed my eye upon him,
I should have been struck dumb: but when I saw his fury rising, I
looked at him first, and was therefore able to reply to him.
Thrasymachus, I said, with a quiver, don't be hard upon us.
Polemarchus and I may have been guilty of a little mistake in the
argument, but I can assure you that the error was not intentional. If
we were seeking for a piece of gold, you would not imagine that we
were 'knocking under to one another,' and so losing our chance of
finding it. And why, when we are seeking for justice, a thing more
precious than many pieces of gold, do you say that we are weakly
yielding to one another and not doing our utmost to get at the
truth? Nay, my good friend, we are most willing and anxious to do
so, but the fact is that we cannot. And if so, you people who know
all things should pity us and not be angry with us.
How characteristic of Socrates! he replied, with a bitter laugh;—
that's your ironical style! Did I not foresee—have I not already told
you, that whatever he was asked he would refuse to answer, and try
irony or any other shuffle, in order that he might avoid answering?
You are a philosopher, Thrasymachus, I replied, and well know that
if you ask a person what numbers make up twelve, taking care to
prohibit him whom you ask from answering twice six, or three
times four, or six times two, or four times three, 'for this sort of
nonsense will not do for me,'—then obviously, if that is your way
of putting the question, no one can answer you. But suppose that
he were to retort, 'Thrasymachus, what do you mean? If one of
these numbers which you interdict be the true answer to the
question, am I falsely to say some other number which is not the
right one?—is that your meaning?'—How would you answer him?
Just as if the two cases were at all alike! he said.
Why should they not be? I replied; and even if they are not, but
only appear to be so to the person who is asked, ought he not to
say what he thinks, whether you and I forbid him or not?
29
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I presume then that you are going to make one of the interdicted
answers?
I dare say that I may, notwithstanding the danger, if upon reflection
I approve of any of them.
But what if I give you an answer about justice other and better, he
said, than any of these? What do you deserve to have done to you?
Done to me!—as becomes the ignorant, I must learn from the
wise—that is what I deserve to have done to me.
What, and no payment! a pleasant notion!
I will pay when I have the money, I replied.
But you have, Socrates, said Glaucon: and you, Thrasymachus, need
be under no anxiety about money, for we will all make a
contribution for Socrates.
Yes, he replied, and then Socrates will do as he always does—refuse
to answer himself, but take and pull to pieces the answer of some
one else.
Why, my good friend, I said, how can any one answer who knows,
and says that he knows, just nothing; and who, even if he has some
faint notions of his own, is told by a man of authority not to utter
them? The natural thing is, that the speaker should be some one like
yourself who professes to know and can tell what he knows. Will
you then kindly answer, for the edification of the company and of
myself?
Glaucon and the rest of the company joined in my request, and
Thrasymachus, as any one might see, was in reality eager to speak;
for he thought that he had an excellent answer, and would
distinguish himself. But at first he affected to insist on my
answering; at length he consented to begin. Behold, he said, the
wisdom of Socrates; he refuses to teach himself, and goes about
learning of others, to whom he never even says Thank you.
That I learn of others, I replied, is quite true; but that I am
ungrateful I wholly deny. Money I have none, and therefore I pay in
praise, which is all I have; and how ready I am to praise any one
who appears to me to speak well you will very soon find out when
you answer; for I expect that you will answer well.

30
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Listen, then, he said; I proclaim that justice is nothing else than the
interest of the stronger. And now why do you not praise me? But of
course you won't.
Let me first understand you, I replied. Justice, as you say, is the
interest of the stronger. What, Thrasymachus, is the meaning of
this? You cannot mean to say that because Polydamas, the
pancratiast, is stronger than we are, and finds the eating of beef
conducive to his bodily strength, that to eat beef is therefore equally
for our good who are weaker than he is, and right and just for us?
That's abominable of you, Socrates; you take the words in the sense
which is most damaging to the argument.
Not at all, my good sir, I said; I am trying to understand them; and I
wish that you would be a little clearer.
Well, he said, have you never heard that forms of government
differ; there are tyrannies, and there are democracies, and there are
aristocracies?
Yes, I know.
And the government is the ruling power in each state?
Certainly.
And the different forms of government make laws democratical,
aristocratical, tyrannical, with a view to their several interests; and
these laws, which are made by them for their own interests, are the
justice which they deliver to their subjects, and him who
transgresses them they punish as a breaker of the law, and unjust.
And that is what I mean when I say that in all states there is the
same principle of justice, which is the interest of the government;
and as the government must be supposed to have power, the only
reasonable conclusion is, that everywhere there is one principle of
justice, which is the interest of the stronger.
Now I understand you, I said; and whether you are right or not I
will try to discover. But let me remark, that in defining justice you
have yourself used the word 'interest' which you forbade me to use.
It is true, however, that in your definition the words 'of the
stronger' are added.
A small addition, you must allow, he said.

31
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Great or small, never mind about that: we must first enquire

whether what you are saying is the truth. Now we are both agreed
that justice is interest of some sort, but you go on to say 'of the
stronger'; about this addition I am not so sure, and must therefore
consider further.
Proceed.
I will; and first tell me, Do you admit that it is just for subjects to
obey their rulers?
I do.
But are the rulers of states absolutely infallible, or are they
sometimes liable to err?
To be sure, he replied, they are liable to err.
Then in making their laws they may sometimes make them rightly,
and sometimes not?
True.
When they make them rightly, they make them agreeably to their
interest; when they are mistaken, contrary to their interest; you
admit that?
Yes.
And the laws which they make must be obeyed by their subjects,—
and that is what you call justice?
Doubtless.
Then justice, according to your argument, is not only obedience to
the interest of the stronger but the reverse?
What is that you are saying? he asked.
I am only repeating what you are saying, I believe. But let us
consider: Have we not admitted that the rulers may be mistaken
about their own interest in what they command, and also that to
obey them is justice? Has not that been admitted?
Yes.
Then you must also have acknowledged justice not to be for the
interest of the stronger, when the rulers unintentionally command

32
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

things to be done which are to their own injury. For if, as you say,
justice is the obedience which the subject renders to their
commands, in that case, O wisest of men, is there any escape from
the conclusion that the weaker are commanded to do, not what is
for the interest, but what is for the injury of the stronger?
Nothing can be clearer, Socrates, said Polemarchus.
Yes, said Cleitophon, interposing, if you are allowed to be his
witness.
But there is no need of any witness, said Polemarchus, for
Thrasymachus himself acknowledges that rulers may sometimes
command what is not for their own interest, and that for subjects to
obey them is justice.
Yes, Polemarchus,—Thrasymachus said that for subjects to do
what was commanded by their rulers is just.
Yes, Cleitophon, but he also said that justice is the interest of the
stronger, and, while admitting both these propositions, he further
acknowledged that the stronger may command the weaker who are
his subjects to do what is not for his own interest; whence follows
that justice is the injury quite as much as the interest of the
stronger.
But, said Cleitophon, he meant by the interest of the stronger what
the stronger thought to be his interest,—this was what the weaker
had to do; and this was affirmed by him to be justice.
Those were not his words, rejoined Polemarchus.
Never mind, I replied, if he now says that they are, let us accept his
statement. Tell me, Thrasymachus, I said, did you mean by justice
what the stronger thought to be his interest, whether really so or
not?
Certainly not, he said. Do you suppose that I call him who is
mistaken the stronger at the time when he is mistaken?
Yes, I said, my impression was that you did so, when you admitted
that the ruler was not infallible but might be sometimes mistaken.
You argue like an informer, Socrates. Do you mean, for example,
that he who is mistaken about the sick is a physician in that he is
mistaken? or that he who errs in arithmetic or grammar is an
33
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

arithmetician or grammarian at the time when he is making the

mistake, in respect of the mistake? True, we say that the physician
or arithmetician or grammarian has made a mistake, but this is only
a way of speaking; for the fact is that neither the grammarian nor
any other person of skill ever makes a mistake in so far as he is
what his name implies; they none of them err unless their skill fails
them, and then they cease to be skilled artists. No artist or sage or
ruler errs at the time when he is what his name implies; though he is
commonly said to err, and I adopted the common mode of
speaking. But to be perfectly accurate, since you are such a lover of
accuracy, we should say that the ruler, in so far as he is a ruler, is
unerring, and, being unerring, always commands that which is for
his own interest; and the subject is required to execute his
commands; and therefore, as I said at first and now repeat, justice is
the interest of the stronger.
Indeed, Thrasymachus, and do I really appear to you to argue like
an informer?
Certainly, he replied.
And do you suppose that I ask these questions with any design of
injuring you in the argument?
Nay, he replied, 'suppose' is not the word—I know it; but you will
be found out, and by sheer force of argument you will never prevail.
I shall not make the attempt, my dear man; but to avoid any
misunderstanding occurring between us in future, let me ask, in
what sense do you speak of a ruler or stronger whose interest, as
you were saying, he being the superior, it is just that the inferior
should execute—is he a ruler in the popular or in the strict sense of
the term?
In the strictest of all senses, he said. And now cheat and play the
informer if you can; I ask no quarter at your hands. But you never
will be able, never.
And do you imagine, I said, that I am such a madman as to try and
cheat, Thrasymachus? I might as well shave a lion.
Why, he said, you made the attempt a minute ago, and you failed.
Enough, I said, of these civilities. It will be better that I should ask
you a question: Is the physician, taken in that strict sense of which
34
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

you are speaking, a healer of the sick or a maker of money? And

remember that I am now speaking of the true physician.
A healer of the sick, he replied.
And the pilot—that is to say, the true pilot—is he a captain of
sailors or a mere sailor?
A captain of sailors.
The circumstance that he sails in the ship is not to be taken into
account; neither is he to be called a sailor; the name pilot by which
he is distinguished has nothing to do with sailing, but is significant
of his skill and of his authority over the sailors.
Very true, he said.
Now, I said, every art has an interest?
Certainly.
For which the art has to consider and provide?
Yes, that is the aim of art.
And the interest of any art is the perfection of it—this and nothing
else?
What do you mean?
I mean what I may illustrate negatively by the example of the body.
Suppose you were to ask me whether the body is self-sufficing or
has wants, I should reply: Certainly the body has wants; for the
body may be ill and require to be cured, and has therefore interests
to which the art of medicine ministers; and this is the origin and
intention of medicine, as you will acknowledge. Am I not right?
Quite right, he replied.
But is the art of medicine or any other art faulty or deficient in any
quality in the same way that the eye may be deficient in sight or the
ear fail of hearing, and therefore requires another art to provide for
the interests of seeing and hearing—has art in itself, I say, any
similar liability to fault or defect, and does every art require another
supplementary art to provide for its interests, and that another and
another without end? Or have the arts to look only after their own
interests? Or have they no need either of themselves or of

35
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

another?—having no faults or defects, they have no need to correct

them, either by the exercise of their own art or of any other; they
have only to consider the interest of their subject-matter. For every
art remains pure and faultless while remaining true—that is to say,
while perfect and unimpaired. Take the words in your precise sense,
and tell me whether I am not right.
Yes, clearly.
Then medicine does not consider the interest of medicine, but the
interest of the body?
True, he said.
Nor does the art of horsemanship consider the interests of the art
of horsemanship, but the interests of the horse; neither do any
other arts care for themselves, for they have no needs; they care
only for that which is the subject of their art?
True, he said.
But surely, Thrasymachus, the arts are the superiors and rulers of
their own subjects?
To this he assented with a good deal of reluctance.
Then, I said, no science or art considers or enjoins the interest of
the stronger or superior, but only the interest of the subject and
weaker?
He made an attempt to contest this proposition also, but finally
acquiesced.
Then, I continued, no physician, in so far as he is a physician,
considers his own good in what he prescribes, but the good of his
patient; for the true physician is also a ruler having the human body
as a subject, and is not a mere money-maker; that has been
admitted?
Yes.
And the pilot likewise, in the strict sense of the term, is a ruler of
sailors and not a mere sailor?
That has been admitted.

36
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And such a pilot and ruler will provide and prescribe for the interest
of the sailor who is under him, and not for his own or the ruler's
interest?
He gave a reluctant 'Yes.'
Then, I said, Thrasymachus, there is no one in any rule who, in so
far as he is a ruler, considers or enjoins what is for his own interest,
but always what is for the interest of his subject or suitable to his
art; to that he looks, and that alone he considers in everything
which he says and does.
When we had got to this point in the argument, and every one saw
that the definition of justice had been completely upset,
Thrasymachus, instead of replying to me, said: Tell me, Socrates,
have you got a nurse?
Why do you ask such a question, I said, when you ought rather to
be answering?
Because she leaves you to snivel, and never wipes your nose: she
has not even taught you to know the shepherd from the sheep.
What makes you say that? I replied.
Because you fancy that the shepherd or neatherd fattens or tends
the sheep or oxen with a view to their own good and not to the
good of himself or his master; and you further imagine that the
rulers of states, if they are true rulers, never think of their subjects
as sheep, and that they are not studying their own advantage day
and night. Oh, no; and so entirely astray are you in your ideas about
the just and unjust as not even to know that justice and the just are
in reality another's good; that is to say, the interest of the ruler and
stronger, and the loss of the subject and servant; and injustice the
opposite; for the unjust is lord over the truly simple and just: he is
the stronger, and his subjects do what is for his interest, and
minister to his happiness, which is very far from being their own.
Consider further, most foolish Socrates, that the just is always a
loser in comparison with the unjust. First of all, in private contracts:
wherever the unjust is the partner of the just you will find that,
when the partnership is dissolved, the unjust man has always more
and the just less. Secondly, in their dealings with the State: when
there is an income-tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust

37
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

less on the same amount of income; and when there is anything to

be received the one gains nothing and the other much. Observe
also what happens when they take an office; there is the just man
neglecting his affairs and perhaps suffering other losses, and getting
nothing out of the public, because he is just; moreover he is hated
by his friends and acquaintance for refusing to serve them in
unlawful ways. But all this is reversed in the case of the unjust man.
I am speaking, as before, of injustice on a large scale in which the
advantage of the unjust is most apparent; and my meaning will be
most clearly seen if we turn to that highest form of injustice in
which the criminal is the happiest of men, and the sufferers or
those who refuse to do injustice are the most miserable—that is to
say tyranny, which by fraud and force takes away the property of
others, not little by little but wholesale; comprehending in one,
things sacred as well as profane, private and public; for which acts
of wrong, if he were detected perpetrating any one of them singly,
he would be punished and incur great disgrace—they who do such
wrong in particular cases are called robbers of temples, and man-
stealers and burglars and swindlers and thieves. But when a man
besides taking away the money of the citizens has made slaves of
them, then, instead of these names of reproach, he is termed happy
and blessed, not only by the citizens but by all who hear of his
having achieved the consummation of injustice. For mankind
censure injustice, fearing that they may be the victims of it and not
because they shrink from committing it. And thus, as I have shown,
Socrates, injustice, when on a sufficient scale, has more strength
and freedom and mastery than justice; and, as I said at first, justice
is the interest of the stronger, whereas injustice is a man's own
profit and interest.
Thrasymachus, when he had thus spoken, having, like a bath-man,
deluged our ears with his words, had a mind to go away. But the
company would not let him; they insisted that he should remain and
defend his position; and I myself added my own humble request
that he would not leave us. Thrasymachus, I said to him, excellent
man, how suggestive are your remarks! And are you going to run
away before you have fairly taught or learned whether they are true
or not? Is the attempt to determine the way of man's life so small a
matter in your eyes—to determine how life may be passed by each
one of us to the greatest advantage?

38
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And do I differ from you, he said, as to the importance of the

enquiry?
You appear rather, I replied, to have no care or thought about us,
Thrasymachus—whether we live better or worse from not knowing
what you say you know, is to you a matter of indifference. Prithee,
friend, do not keep your knowledge to yourself; we are a large party;
and any benefit which you confer upon us will be amply rewarded.
For my own part I openly declare that I am not convinced, and that
I do not believe injustice to be more gainful than justice, even if
uncontrolled and allowed to have free play. For, granting that there
may be an unjust man who is able to commit injustice either by
fraud or force, still this does not convince me of the superior
advantage of injustice, and there may be others who are in the same
predicament with myself. Perhaps we may be wrong; if so, you in
your wisdom should convince us that we are mistaken in preferring
justice to injustice.
And how am I to convince you, he said, if you are not already
convinced by what I have just said; what more can I do for you?
Would you have me put the proof bodily into your souls?
Heaven forbid! I said; I would only ask you to be consistent; or, if
you change, change openly and let there be no deception. For I
must remark, Thrasymachus, if you will recall what was previously
said, that although you began by defining the true physician in an
exact sense, you did not observe a like exactness when speaking of
the shepherd; you thought that the shepherd as a shepherd tends
the sheep not with a view to their own good, but like a mere diner
or banquetter with a view to the pleasures of the table; or, again, as
a trader for sale in the market, and not as a shepherd. Yet surely the
art of the shepherd is concerned only with the good of his subjects;
he has only to provide the best for them, since the perfection of the
art is already ensured whenever all the requirements of it are
satisfied. And that was what I was saying just now about the ruler. I
conceived that the art of the ruler, considered as ruler, whether in a
state or in private life, could only regard the good of his flock or
subjects; whereas you seem to think that the rulers in states, that is
to say, the true rulers, like being in authority.
Think! Nay, I am sure of it.

39
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then why in the case of lesser offices do men never take them
willingly without payment, unless under the idea that they govern
for the advantage not of themselves but of others? Let me ask you a
question: Are not the several arts different, by reason of their each
having a separate function? And, my dear illustrious friend, do say
what you think, that we may make a little progress.
Yes, that is the difference, he replied.
And each art gives us a particular good and not merely a general
one—medicine, for example, gives us health; navigation, safety at
sea, and so on?
Yes, he said.
And the art of payment has the special function of giving pay: but
we do not confuse this with other arts, any more than the art of the
pilot is to be confused with the art of medicine, because the health
of the pilot may be improved by a sea voyage. You would not be
inclined to say, would you, that navigation is the art of medicine, at
least if we are to adopt your exact use of language?
Certainly not.
Or because a man is in good health when he receives pay you would
not say that the art of payment is medicine?
I should not.
Nor would you say that medicine is the art of receiving pay because
a man takes fees when he is engaged in healing?
Certainly not.
And we have admitted, I said, that the good of each art is specially
confined to the art?
Yes.
Then, if there be any good which all artists have in common, that is
to be attributed to something of which they all have the common
use?
True, he replied.

40
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And when the artist is benefited by receiving pay the advantage is

gained by an additional use of the art of pay, which is not the art
professed by him?
He gave a reluctant assent to this.
Then the pay is not derived by the several artists from their
respective arts. But the truth is, that while the art of medicine gives
health, and the art of the builder builds a house, another art attends
them which is the art of pay. The various arts may be doing their
own business and benefiting that over which they preside, but
would the artist receive any benefit from his art unless he were paid
as well?
I suppose not.
But does he therefore confer no benefit when he works for
nothing?
Certainly, he confers a benefit.
Then now, Thrasymachus, there is no longer any doubt that neither
arts nor governments provide for their own interests; but, as we
were before saying, they rule and provide for the interests of their
subjects who are the weaker and not the stronger—to their good
they attend and not to the good of the superior. And this is the
reason, my dear Thrasymachus, why, as I was just now saying, no
one is willing to govern; because no one likes to take in hand the
reformation of evils which are not his concern without
remuneration. For, in the execution of his work, and in giving his
orders to another, the true artist does not regard his own interest,
but always that of his subjects; and therefore in order that rulers
may be willing to rule, they must be paid in one of three modes of
payment, money, or honour, or a penalty for refusing.
What do you mean, Socrates? said Glaucon. The first two modes of
payment are intelligible enough, but what the penalty is I do not
understand, or how a penalty can be a payment.
You mean that you do not understand the nature of this payment
which to the best men is the great inducement to rule? Of course
you know that ambition and avarice are held to be, as indeed they
are, a disgrace?
Very true.
41
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And for this reason, I said, money and honour have no attraction
for them; good men do not wish to be openly demanding payment
for governing and so to get the name of hirelings, nor by secretly
helping themselves out of the public revenues to get the name of
thieves. And not being ambitious they do not care about honour.
Wherefore necessity must be laid upon them, and they must be
induced to serve from the fear of punishment. And this, as I
imagine, is the reason why the forwardness to take office, instead of
waiting to be compelled, has been deemed dishonourable. Now the
worst part of the punishment is that he who refuses to rule is liable
to be ruled by one who is worse than himself. And the fear of this,
as I conceive, induces the good to take office, not because they
would, but because they cannot help—not under the idea that they
are going to have any benefit or enjoyment themselves, but as a
necessity, and because they are not able to commit the task of ruling
to any one who is better than themselves, or indeed as good. For
there is reason to think that if a city were composed entirely of
good men, then to avoid office would be as much an object of
contention as to obtain office is at present; then we should have
plain proof that the true ruler is not meant by nature to regard his
own interest, but that of his subjects; and every one who knew this
would choose rather to receive a benefit from another than to have
the trouble of conferring one. So far am I from agreeing with
Thrasymachus that justice is the interest of the stronger. This latter
question need not be further discussed at present; but when
Thrasymachus says that the life of the unjust is more advantageous
than that of the just, his new statement appears to me to be of a far
more serious character. Which of us has spoken truly? And which
sort of life, Glaucon, do you prefer?
I for my part deem the life of the just to be the more advantageous,
he answered.
Did you hear all the advantages of the unjust which Thrasymachus
was rehearsing?
Yes, I heard him, he replied, but he has not convinced me.
Then shall we try to find some way of convincing him, if we can,
that he is saying what is not true?
Most certainly, he replied.

42
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

If, I said, he makes a set speech and we make another recounting all
the advantages of being just, and he answers and we rejoin, there
must be a numbering and measuring of the goods which are
claimed on either side, and in the end we shall want judges to
decide; but if we proceed in our enquiry as we lately did, by making
admissions to one another, we shall unite the offices of judge and
advocate in our own persons.
Very good, he said.
And which method do I understand you to prefer? I said.
That which you propose.
Well, then, Thrasymachus, I said, suppose you begin at the
beginning and answer me. You say that perfect injustice is more
gainful than perfect justice?
Yes, that is what I say, and I have given you my reasons.
And what is your view about them? Would you call one of them
virtue and the other vice?
Certainly.
I suppose that you would call justice virtue and injustice vice?
What a charming notion! So likely too, seeing that I affirm injustice
to be profitable and justice not.
What else then would you say?
The opposite, he replied.
And would you call justice vice?
No, I would rather say sublime simplicity.
Then would you call injustice malignity?
No; I would rather say discretion.
And do the unjust appear to you to be wise and good?
Yes, he said; at any rate those of them who are able to be perfectly
unjust, and who have the power of subduing states and nations; but
perhaps you imagine me to be talking of cutpurses. Even this
profession if undetected has advantages, though they are not to be
compared with those of which I was just now speaking.
43
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I do not think that I misapprehend your meaning, Thrasymachus, I

replied; but still I cannot hear without amazement that you class
injustice with wisdom and virtue, and justice with the opposite.
Certainly I do so class them.
Now, I said, you are on more substantial and almost unanswerable
ground; for if the injustice which you were maintaining to be
profitable had been admitted by you as by others to be vice and
deformity, an answer might have been given to you on received
principles; but now I perceive that you will call injustice honourable
and strong, and to the unjust you will attribute all the qualities
which were attributed by us before to the just, seeing that you do
not hesitate to rank injustice with wisdom and virtue.
You have guessed most infallibly, he replied.
Then I certainly ought not to shrink from going through with the
argument so long as I have reason to think that you, Thrasymachus,
are speaking your real mind; for I do believe that you are now in
earnest and are not amusing yourself at our expense.
I may be in earnest or not, but what is that to you?—to refute the
argument is your business.
Very true, I said; that is what I have to do: But will you be so good
as answer yet one more question? Does the just man try to gain any
advantage over the just?
Far otherwise; if he did he would not be the simple amusing
creature which he is.
And would he try to go beyond just action?
He would not.
And how would he regard the attempt to gain an advantage over
the unjust; would that be considered by him as just or unjust?
He would think it just, and would try to gain the advantage; but he
would not be able.
Whether he would or would not be able, I said, is not to the point.
My question is only whether the just man, while refusing to have
more than another just man, would wish and claim to have more
than the unjust?

44
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, he would.
And what of the unjust—does he claim to have more than the just
man and to do more than is just?
Of course, he said, for he claims to have more than all men.
And the unjust man will strive and struggle to obtain more than the
unjust man or action, in order that he may have more than all?
True.
We may put the matter thus, I said—the just does not desire more
than his like but more than his unlike, whereas the unjust desires
more than both his like and his unlike?
Nothing, he said, can be better than that statement.
And the unjust is good and wise, and the just is neither?
Good again, he said.
And is not the unjust like the wise and good and the just unlike
them?
Of course, he said, he who is of a certain nature, is like those who
are of a certain nature; he who is not, not.
Each of them, I said, is such as his like is?
Certainly, he replied.
Very good, Thrasymachus, I said; and now to take the case of the
arts: you would admit that one man is a musician and another not a
musician?
Yes.
And which is wise and which is foolish?
Clearly the musician is wise, and he who is not a musician is foolish.
And he is good in as far as he is wise, and bad in as far as he is
foolish?
Yes.
And you would say the same sort of thing of the physician?
Yes.

45
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And do you think, my excellent friend, that a musician when he

adjusts the lyre would desire or claim to exceed or go beyond a
musician in the tightening and loosening the strings?
I do not think that he would.
But he would claim to exceed the non-musician?
Of course.
And what would you say of the physician? In prescribing meats and
drinks would he wish to go beyond another physician or beyond the
practice of medicine?
He would not.
But he would wish to go beyond the non-physician?
Yes.
And about knowledge and ignorance in general; see whether you
think that any man who has knowledge ever would wish to have the
choice of saying or doing more than another man who has
knowledge. Would he not rather say or do the same as his like in
the same case?
That, I suppose, can hardly be denied.
And what of the ignorant? would he not desire to have more than
either the knowing or the ignorant?
I dare say.
And the knowing is wise?
Yes.
And the wise is good?
True.
Then the wise and good will not desire to gain more than his like,
but more than his unlike and opposite?
I suppose so.
Whereas the bad and ignorant will desire to gain more than both?
Yes.

46
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

But did we not say, Thrasymachus, that the unjust goes beyond
both his like and unlike? Were not these your words?
They were.
And you also said that the just will not go beyond his like but his
unlike?
Yes.
Then the just is like the wise and good, and the unjust like the evil
and ignorant?
That is the inference.
And each of them is such as his like is?
That was admitted.
Then the just has turned out to be wise and good and the unjust
evil and ignorant.
Thrasymachus made all these admissions, not fluently, as I repeat
them, but with extreme reluctance; it was a hot summer's day, and
the perspiration poured from him in torrents; and then I saw what I
had never seen before, Thrasymachus blushing. As we were now
agreed that justice was virtue and wisdom, and injustice vice and
ignorance, I proceeded to another point:
Well, I said, Thrasymachus, that matter is now settled; but were we
not also saying that injustice had strength; do you remember?
Yes, I remember, he said, but do not suppose that I approve of
what you are saying or have no answer; if however I were to
answer, you would be quite certain to accuse me of haranguing;
therefore either permit me to have my say out, or if you would
rather ask, do so, and I will answer 'Very good,' as they say to story-
telling old women, and will nod 'Yes' and 'No.'
Certainly not, I said, if contrary to your real opinion.
Yes, he said, I will, to please you, since you will not let me speak.
What else would you have?
Nothing in the world, I said; and if you are so disposed I will ask
and you shall answer.
Proceed.
47
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then I will repeat the question which I asked before, in order that
our examination of the relative nature of justice and injustice may
be carried on regularly. A statement was made that injustice is
stronger and more powerful than justice, but now justice, having
been identified with wisdom and virtue, is easily shown to be
stronger than injustice, if injustice is ignorance; this can no longer
be questioned by any one. But I want to view the matter,
Thrasymachus, in a different way: You would not deny that a state
may be unjust and may be unjustly attempting to enslave other
states, or may have already enslaved them, and may be holding
many of them in subjection?
True, he replied; and I will add that the best and most perfectly
unjust state will be most likely to do so.
I know, I said, that such was your position; but what I would
further consider is, whether this power which is possessed by the
superior state can exist or be exercised without justice or only with
justice.
If you are right in your view, and justice is wisdom, then only with
justice; but if I am right, then without justice.
I am delighted, Thrasymachus, to see you not only nodding assent
and dissent, but making answers which are quite excellent.
That is out of civility to you, he replied.
You are very kind, I said; and would you have the goodness also to
inform me, whether you think that a state, or an army, or a band of
robbers and thieves, or any other gang of evil-doers could act at all
if they injured one another?
No indeed, he said, they could not.
But if they abstained from injuring one another, then they might act
together better?
Yes.
And this is because injustice creates divisions and hatreds and
fighting, and justice imparts harmony and friendship; is not that
true, Thrasymachus?
I agree, he said, because I do not wish to quarrel with you.

48
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

How good of you, I said; but I should like to know also whether
injustice, having this tendency to arouse hatred, wherever existing,
among slaves or among freemen, will not make them hate one
another and set them at variance and render them incapable of
common action?
Certainly.
And even if injustice be found in two only, will they not quarrel and
fight, and become enemies to one another and to the just?
They will.
And suppose injustice abiding in a single person, would your
wisdom say that she loses or that she retains her natural power?
Let us assume that she retains her power.
Yet is not the power which injustice exercises of such a nature that
wherever she takes up her abode, whether in a city, in an army, in a
family, or in any other body, that body is, to begin with, rendered
incapable of united action by reason of sedition and distraction; and
does it not become its own enemy and at variance with all that
opposes it, and with the just? Is not this the case?
Yes, certainly.
And is not injustice equally fatal when existing in a single person; in
the first place rendering him incapable of action because he is not at
unity with himself, and in the second place making him an enemy to
himself and the just? Is not that true, Thrasymachus?
Yes.
And O my friend, I said, surely the gods are just?
Granted that they are.
But if so, the unjust will be the enemy of the gods, and the just will
be their friend?
Feast away in triumph, and take your fill of the argument; I will not
oppose you, lest I should displease the company.
Well then, proceed with your answers, and let me have the
remainder of my repast. For we have already shown that the just are
clearly wiser and better and abler than the unjust, and that the

49
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

unjust are incapable of common action; nay more, that to speak as

we did of men who are evil acting at any time vigorously together, is
not strictly true, for if they had been perfectly evil, they would have
laid hands upon one another; but it is evident that there must have
been some remnant of justice in them, which enabled them to
combine; if there had not been they would have injured one another
as well as their victims; they were but half-villains in their
enterprises; for had they been whole villains, and utterly unjust, they
would have been utterly incapable of action. That, as I believe, is
the truth of the matter, and not what you said at first. But whether
the just have a better and happier life than the unjust is a further
question which we also proposed to consider. I think that they
have, and for the reasons which I have given; but still I should like
to examine further, for no light matter is at stake, nothing less than
the rule of human life.
Proceed.
I will proceed by asking a question: Would you not say that a horse
has some end?
I should.
And the end or use of a horse or of anything would be that which
could not be accomplished, or not so well accomplished, by any
other thing?
I do not understand, he said.
Let me explain: Can you see, except with the eye?
Certainly not.
Or hear, except with the ear?
No.
These then may be truly said to be the ends of these organs?
They may.
But you can cut off a vine-branch with a dagger or with a chisel,
and in many other ways?
Of course.
And yet not so well as with a pruning-hook made for the purpose?

50
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

True.
May we not say that this is the end of a pruning-hook?
We may.
Then now I think you will have no difficulty in understanding my
meaning when I asked the question whether the end of anything
would be that which could not be accomplished, or not so well
accomplished, by any other thing?
I understand your meaning, he said, and assent.
And that to which an end is appointed has also an excellence? Need
I ask again whether the eye has an end?
It has.
And has not the eye an excellence?
Yes.
And the ear has an end and an excellence also?
True.
And the same is true of all other things; they have each of them an
end and a special excellence?
That is so.
Well, and can the eyes fulfil their end if they are wanting in their
own proper excellence and have a defect instead?
How can they, he said, if they are blind and cannot see?
You mean to say, if they have lost their proper excellence, which is
sight; but I have not arrived at that point yet. I would rather ask the
question more generally, and only enquire whether the things which
fulfil their ends fulfil them by their own proper excellence, and fail
of fulfilling them by their own defect?
Certainly, he replied.
I might say the same of the ears; when deprived of their own
proper excellence they cannot fulfil their end?
True.
And the same observation will apply to all other things?

51
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I agree.
Well; and has not the soul an end which nothing else can fulfil? for
example, to superintend and command and deliberate and the like.
Are not these functions proper to the soul, and can they rightly be
assigned to any other?
To no other.
And is not life to be reckoned among the ends of the soul?
Assuredly, he said.
And has not the soul an excellence also?
Yes.
And can she or can she not fulfil her own ends when deprived of
that excellence?
She cannot.
Then an evil soul must necessarily be an evil ruler and
superintendent, and the good soul a good ruler?
Yes, necessarily.
And we have admitted that justice is the excellence of the soul, and
injustice the defect of the soul?
That has been admitted.
Then the just soul and the just man will live well, and the unjust
man will live ill?
That is what your argument proves.
And he who lives well is blessed and happy, and he who lives ill the
reverse of happy?
Certainly.
Then the just is happy, and the unjust miserable?
So be it.
But happiness and not misery is profitable.
Of course.

52
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Then, my blessed Thrasymachus, injustice can never be more

profitable than justice.
Let this, Socrates, he said, be your entertainment at the Bendidea.
For which I am indebted to you, I said, now that you have grown
gentle towards me and have left off scolding. Nevertheless, I have
not been well entertained; but that was my own fault and not yours.
As an epicure snatches a taste of every dish which is successively
brought to table, he not having allowed himself time to enjoy the
one before, so have I gone from one subject to another without
having discovered what I sought at first, the nature of justice. I left
that enquiry and turned away to consider whether justice is virtue
and wisdom or evil and folly; and when there arose a further
question about the comparative advantages of justice and injustice, I
could not refrain from passing on to that. And the result of the
whole discussion has been that I know nothing at all. For I know
not what justice is, and therefore I am not likely to know whether it
is or is not a virtue, nor can I say whether the just man is happy or
unhappy.

BOOK II.
With these words I was thinking that I had made an end of the
discussion; but the end, in truth, proved to be only a beginning. For
Glaucon, who is always the most pugnacious of men, was
dissatisfied at Thrasymachus' retirement; he wanted to have the
battle out. So he said to me: Socrates, do you wish really to
persuade us, or only to seem to have persuaded us, that to be just is
always better than to be unjust?
I should wish really to persuade you, I replied, if I could.
Then you certainly have not succeeded. Let me ask you now:—
How would you arrange goods—are there not some which we
welcome for their own sakes, and independently of their
consequences, as, for example, harmless pleasures and enjoyments,
which delight us at the time, although nothing follows from them?
I agree in thinking that there is such a class, I replied.
Is there not also a second class of goods, such as knowledge, sight,
health, which are desirable not only in themselves, but also for their
results?
53
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Certainly, I said.
And would you not recognize a third class, such as gymnastic, and
the care of the sick, and the physician's art; also the various ways of
money-making—these do us good but we regard them as
disagreeable; and no one would choose them for their own sakes,
but only for the sake of some reward or result which flows from
them?
There is, I said, this third class also. But why do you ask?
Because I want to know in which of the three classes you would
place justice?
In the highest class, I replied,—among those goods which he who
would be happy desires both for their own sake and for the sake of
their results.
Then the many are of another mind; they think that justice is to be
reckoned in the troublesome class, among goods which are to be
pursued for the sake of rewards and of reputation, but in
themselves are disagreeable and rather to be avoided.
I know, I said, that this is their manner of thinking, and that this
was the thesis which Thrasymachus was maintaining just now, when
he censured justice and praised injustice. But I am too stupid to be
convinced by him.
I wish, he said, that you would hear me as well as him, and then I
shall see whether you and I agree. For Thrasymachus seems to me,
like a snake, to have been charmed by your voice sooner than he
ought to have been; but to my mind the nature of justice and
injustice have not yet been made clear. Setting aside their rewards
and results, I want to know what they are in themselves, and how
they inwardly work in the soul. If you, please, then, I will revive the
argument of Thrasymachus. And first I will speak of the nature and
origin of justice according to the common view of them. Secondly,
I will show that all men who practise justice do so against their will,
of necessity, but not as a good. And thirdly, I will argue that there is
reason in this view, for the life of the unjust is after all better far
than the life of the just—if what they say is true, Socrates, since I
myself am not of their opinion. But still I acknowledge that I am
perplexed when I hear the voices of Thrasymachus and myriads of

54
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

others dinning in my ears; and, on the other hand, I have never yet
heard the superiority of justice to injustice maintained by any one in
a satisfactory way. I want to hear justice praised in respect of itself;
then I shall be satisfied, and you are the person from whom I think
that I am most likely to hear this; and therefore I will praise the
unjust life to the utmost of my power, and my manner of speaking
will indicate the manner in which I desire to hear you too praising
justice and censuring injustice. Will you say whether you approve of
my proposal?
Indeed I do; nor can I imagine any theme about which a man of
sense would oftener wish to converse.
I am delighted, he replied, to hear you say so, and shall begin by
speaking, as I proposed, of the nature and origin of justice.
They say that to do injustice is, by nature, good; to suffer injustice,
evil; but that the evil is greater than the good. And so when men
have both done and suffered injustice and have had experience of
both, not being able to avoid the one and obtain the other, they
think that they had better agree among themselves to have neither;
hence there arise laws and mutual covenants; and that which is
ordained by law is termed by them lawful and just. This they affirm
to be the origin and nature of justice;—it is a mean or compromise,
between the best of all, which is to do injustice and not be
punished, and the worst of all, which is to suffer injustice without
the power of retaliation; and justice, being at a middle point
between the two, is tolerated not as a good, but as the lesser evil,
and honoured by reason of the inability of men to do injustice. For
no man who is worthy to be called a man would ever submit to
such an agreement if he were able to resist; he would be mad if he
did. Such is the received account, Socrates, of the nature and origin
of justice.
Now that those who practise justice do so involuntarily and because
they have not the power to be unjust will best appear if we imagine
something of this kind: having given both to the just and the unjust
power to do what they will, let us watch and see whither desire will
lead them; then we shall discover in the very act the just and unjust
man to be proceeding along the same road, following their interest,
which all natures deem to be their good, and are only diverted into
the path of justice by the force of law. The liberty which we are
55
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

supposing may be most completely given to them in the form of

such a power as is said to have been possessed by Gyges, the
ancestor of Croesus the Lydian. According to the tradition, Gyges
was a shepherd in the service of the king of Lydia; there was a great
storm, and an earthquake made an opening in the earth at the place
where he was feeding his flock. Amazed at the sight, he descended
into the opening, where, among other marvels, he beheld a hollow
brazen horse, having doors, at which he stooping and looking in
saw a dead body of stature, as appeared to him, more than human,
and having nothing on but a gold ring; this he took from the finger
of the dead and reascended. Now the shepherds met together,
according to custom, that they might send their monthly report
about the flocks to the king; into their assembly he came having the
ring on his finger, and as he was sitting among them he chanced to
turn the collet of the ring inside his hand, when instantly he became
invisible to the rest of the company and they began to speak of him
as if he were no longer present. He was astonished at this, and again
touching the ring he turned the collet outwards and reappeared; he
made several trials of the ring, and always with the same result—
when he turned the collet inwards he became invisible, when
outwards he reappeared. Whereupon he contrived to be chosen one
of the messengers who were sent to the court; whereas soon as he
arrived he seduced the queen, and with her help conspired against
the king and slew him, and took the kingdom. Suppose now that
there were two such magic rings, and the just put on one of them
and the unjust the other; no man can be imagined to be of such an
iron nature that he would stand fast in justice. No man would keep
his hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what
he liked out of the market, or go into houses and lie with any one at
his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in
all respects be like a God among men. Then the actions of the just
would be as the actions of the unjust; they would both come at last
to the same point. And this we may truly affirm to be a great proof
that a man is just, not willingly or because he thinks that justice is
any good to him individually, but of necessity, for wherever any one
thinks that he can safely be unjust, there he is unjust. For all men
believe in their hearts that injustice is far more profitable to the
individual than justice, and he who argues as I have been supposing,
will say that they are right. If you could imagine any one obtaining
this power of becoming invisible, and never doing any wrong or
56
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

touching what was another's, he would be thought by the lookers-

on to be a most wretched idiot, although they would praise him to
one another's faces, and keep up appearances with one another
from a fear that they too might suffer injustice. Enough of this.
Now, if we are to form a real judgment of the life of the just and
unjust, we must isolate them; there is no other way; and how is the
isolation to be effected? I answer: Let the unjust man be entirely
unjust, and the just man entirely just; nothing is to be taken away
from either of them, and both are to be perfectly furnished for the
work of their respective lives. First, let the unjust be like other
distinguished masters of craft; like the skilful pilot or physician, who
knows intuitively his own powers and keeps within their limits, and
who, if he fails at any point, is able to recover himself. So let the
unjust make his unjust attempts in the right way, and lie hidden if
he means to be great in his injustice: (he who is found out is
nobody:) for the highest reach of injustice is, to be deemed just
when you are not. Therefore I say that in the perfectly unjust man
we must assume the most perfect injustice; there is to be no
deduction, but we must allow him, while doing the most unjust acts,
to have acquired the greatest reputation for justice. If he have taken
a false step he must be able to recover himself; he must be one who
can speak with effect, if any of his deeds come to light, and who
can force his way where force is required by his courage and
strength, and command of money and friends. And at his side let us
place the just man in his nobleness and simplicity, wishing, as
Aeschylus says, to be and not to seem good. There must be no
seeming, for if he seem to be just he will be honoured and
rewarded, and then we shall not know whether he is just for the
sake of justice or for the sake of honours and rewards; therefore, let
him be clothed in justice only, and have no other covering; and he
must be imagined in a state of life the opposite of the former. Let
him be the best of men, and let him be thought the worst; then he
will have been put to the proof; and we shall see whether he will be
affected by the fear of infamy and its consequences. And let him
continue thus to the hour of death; being just and seeming to be
unjust. When both have reached the uttermost extreme, the one of
justice and the other of injustice, let judgment be given which of
them is the happier of the two.

57
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Heavens! my dear Glaucon, I said, how energetically you polish

them up for the decision, first one and then the other, as if they
were two statues.
I do my best, he said. And now that we know what they are like
there is no difficulty in tracing out the sort of life which awaits
either of them. This I will proceed to describe; but as you may think
the description a little too coarse, I ask you to suppose, Socrates,
that the words which follow are not mine.—Let me put them into
the mouths of the eulogists of injustice: They will tell you that the
just man who is thought unjust will be scourged, racked, bound—
will have his eyes burnt out; and, at last, after suffering every kind
of evil, he will be impaled: Then he will understand that he ought to
seem only, and not to be, just; the words of Aeschylus may be more
truly spoken of the unjust than of the just. For the unjust is
pursuing a reality; he does not live with a view to appearances—he
wants to be really unjust and not to seem only:—
'His mind has a soil deep and fertile,
Out of which spring his prudent counsels.'
In the first place, he is thought just, and therefore bears rule in the
city; he can marry whom he will, and give in marriage to whom he
will; also he can trade and deal where he likes, and always to his
own advantage, because he has no misgivings about injustice; and at
every contest, whether in public or private, he gets the better of his
antagonists, and gains at their expense, and is rich, and out of his
gains he can benefit his friends, and harm his enemies; moreover,
he can offer sacrifices, and dedicate gifts to the gods abundantly
and magnificently, and can honour the gods or any man whom he
wants to honour in a far better style than the just, and therefore he
is likely to be dearer than they are to the gods. And thus, Socrates,
gods and men are said to unite in making the life of the unjust
better than the life of the just.
I was going to say something in answer to Glaucon, when
Adeimantus, his brother, interposed: Socrates, he said, you do not
suppose that there is nothing more to be urged?
Why, what else is there? I answered.
The strongest point of all has not been even mentioned, he replied.

58
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Well, then, according to the proverb, 'Let brother help brother'—if

he fails in any part do you assist him; although I must confess that
Glaucon has already said quite enough to lay me in the dust, and
take from me the power of helping justice.
Nonsense, he replied. But let me add something more: There is
another side to Glaucon's argument about the praise and censure of
justice and injustice, which is equally required in order to bring out
what I believe to be his meaning. Parents and tutors are always
telling their sons and their wards that they are to be just; but why?
not for the sake of justice, but for the sake of character and
reputation; in the hope of obtaining for him who is reputed just
some of those offices, marriages, and the like which Glaucon has
enumerated among the advantages accruing to the unjust from the
reputation of justice. More, however, is made of appearances by this
class of persons than by the others; for they throw in the good
opinion of the gods, and will tell you of a shower of benefits which
the heavens, as they say, rain upon the pious; and this accords with
the testimony of the noble Hesiod and Homer, the first of whom
says, that the gods make the oaks of the just—
'To bear acorns at their summit, and bees in the middle;
And the sheep are bowed down with the weight of their
fleeces,'
and many other blessings of a like kind are provided for them. And
Homer has a very similar strain; for he speaks of one whose fame
is—
'As the fame of some blameless king who, like a god,
Maintains justice; to whom the black earth brings forth
Wheat and barley, whose trees are bowed with fruit,
And his sheep never fail to bear, and the sea gives him fish.'
Still grander are the gifts of heaven which Musaeus and his son
vouchsafe to the just; they take them down into the world below,
where they have the saints lying on couches at a feast, everlastingly
drunk, crowned with garlands; their idea seems to be that an
immortality of drunkenness is the highest meed of virtue. Some
extend their rewards yet further; the posterity, as they say, of the
faithful and just shall survive to the third and fourth generation.
This is the style in which they praise justice. But about the wicked

59
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

there is another strain; they bury them in a slough in Hades, and

make them carry water in a sieve; also while they are yet living they
bring them to infamy, and inflict upon them the punishments which
Glaucon described as the portion of the just who are reputed to be
unjust; nothing else does their invention supply. Such is their
manner of praising the one and censuring the other.
Once more, Socrates, I will ask you to consider another way of
speaking about justice and injustice, which is not confined to the
poets, but is found in prose writers. The universal voice of mankind
is always declaring that justice and virtue are honourable, but
grievous and toilsome; and that the pleasures of vice and injustice
are easy of attainment, and are only censured by law and opinion.
They say also that honesty is for the most part less profitable than
dishonesty; and they are quite ready to call wicked men happy, and
to honour them both in public and private when they are rich or in
any other way influential, while they despise and overlook those
who may be weak and poor, even though acknowledging them to
be better than the others. But most extraordinary of all is their
mode of speaking about virtue and the gods: they say that the gods
apportion calamity and misery to many good men, and good and
happiness to the wicked. And mendicant prophets go to rich men's
doors and persuade them that they have a power committed to
them by the gods of making an atonement for a man's own or his
ancestor's sins by sacrifices or charms, with rejoicings and feasts;
and they promise to harm an enemy, whether just or unjust, at a
small cost; with magic arts and incantations binding heaven, as they
say, to execute their will. And the poets are the authorities to whom
they appeal, now smoothing the path of vice with the words of
Hesiod;—
'Vice may be had in abundance without trouble; the way is
smooth and her dwelling-place is near. But before virtue the
gods have set toil,'
and a tedious and uphill road: then citing Homer as a witness that
the gods may be influenced by men; for he also says:—
'The gods, too, may be turned from their purpose; and men
pray to them and avert their wrath by sacrifices and soothing
entreaties, and by libations and the odour of fat, when they
have sinned and transgressed.'
60
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And they produce a host of books written by Musaeus and

Orpheus, who were children of the Moon and the Muses—that is
what they say—according to which they perform their ritual, and
persuade not only individuals, but whole cities, that expiations and
atonements for sin may be made by sacrifices and amusements
which fill a vacant hour, and are equally at the service of the living
and the dead; the latter sort they call mysteries, and they redeem us
from the pains of hell, but if we neglect them no one knows what
awaits us.
He proceeded: And now when the young hear all this said about
virtue and vice, and the way in which gods and men regard them,
how are their minds likely to be affected, my dear Socrates,—those
of them, I mean, who are quickwitted, and, like bees on the wing,
light on every flower, and from all that they hear are prone to draw
conclusions as to what manner of persons they should be and in
what way they should walk if they would make the best of life?
Probably the youth will say to himself in the words of Pindar—
'Can I by justice or by crooked ways of deceit ascend a loftier
tower which may be a fortress to me all my days?'
For what men say is that, if I am really just and am not also thought
just profit there is none, but the pain and loss on the other hand are
unmistakeable. But if, though unjust, I acquire the reputation of
justice, a heavenly life is promised to me. Since then, as
philosophers prove, appearance tyrannizes over truth and is lord of
happiness, to appearance I must devote myself. I will describe
around me a picture and shadow of virtue to be the vestibule and
exterior of my house; behind I will trail the subtle and crafty fox, as
Archilochus, greatest of sages, recommends. But I hear some one
exclaiming that the concealment of wickedness is often difficult; to
which I answer, Nothing great is easy. Nevertheless, the argument
indicates this, if we would be happy, to be the path along which we
should proceed. With a view to concealment we will establish secret
brotherhoods and political clubs. And there are professors of
rhetoric who teach the art of persuading courts and assemblies; and
so, partly by persuasion and partly by force, I shall make unlawful
gains and not be punished. Still I hear a voice saying that the gods
cannot be deceived, neither can they be compelled. But what if
there are no gods? or, suppose them to have no care of human

61
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

things—why in either case should we mind about concealment?

And even if there are gods, and they do care about us, yet we know
of them only from tradition and the genealogies of the poets; and
these are the very persons who say that they may be influenced and
turned by 'sacrifices and soothing entreaties and by offerings.' Let
us be consistent then, and believe both or neither. If the poets
speak truly, why then we had better be unjust, and offer of the
fruits of injustice; for if we are just, although we may escape the
vengeance of heaven, we shall lose the gains of injustice; but, if we
are unjust, we shall keep the gains, and by our sinning and praying,
and praying and sinning, the gods will be propitiated, and we shall
not be punished. 'But there is a world below in which either we or
our posterity will suffer for our unjust deeds.' Yes, my friend, will
be the reflection, but there are mysteries and atoning deities, and
these have great power. That is what mighty cities declare; and the
children of the gods, who were their poets and prophets, bear a like
testimony.
On what principle, then, shall we any longer choose justice rather
than the worst injustice? when, if we only unite the latter with a
deceitful regard to appearances, we shall fare to our mind both with
gods and men, in life and after death, as the most numerous and the
highest authorities tell us. Knowing all this, Socrates, how can a
man who has any superiority of mind or person or rank or wealth,
be willing to honour justice; or indeed to refrain from laughing
when he hears justice praised? And even if there should be some
one who is able to disprove the truth of my words, and who is
satisfied that justice is best, still he is not angry with the unjust, but
is very ready to forgive them, because he also knows that men are
not just of their own free will; unless, peradventure, there be some
one whom the divinity within him may have inspired with a hatred
of injustice, or who has attained knowledge of the truth—but no
other man. He only blames injustice who, owing to cowardice or
age or some weakness, has not the power of being unjust. And this
is proved by the fact that when he obtains the power, he
immediately becomes unjust as far as he can be.
The cause of all this, Socrates, was indicated by us at the beginning
of the argument, when my brother and I told you how astonished
we were to find that of all the professing panegyrists of justice—
beginning with the ancient heroes of whom any memorial has been
62
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

preserved to us, and ending with the men of our own time—no one
has ever blamed injustice or praised justice except with a view to the
glories, honours, and benefits which flow from them. No one has
ever adequately described either in verse or prose the true essential
nature of either of them abiding in the soul, and invisible to any
human or divine eye; or shown that of all the things of a man's soul
which he has within him, justice is the greatest good, and injustice
the greatest evil. Had this been the universal strain, had you sought
to persuade us of this from our youth upwards, we should not have
been on the watch to keep one another from doing wrong, but
every one would have been his own watchman, because afraid, if he
did wrong, of harbouring in himself the greatest of evils. I dare say
that Thrasymachus and others would seriously hold the language
which I have been merely repeating, and words even stronger than
these about justice and injustice, grossly, as I conceive, perverting
their true nature. But I speak in this vehement manner, as I must
frankly confess to you, because I want to hear from you the
opposite side; and I would ask you to show not only the superiority
which justice has over injustice, but what effect they have on the
possessor of them which makes the one to be a good and the other
an evil to him. And please, as Glaucon requested of you, to exclude
reputations; for unless you take away from each of them his true
reputation and add on the false, we shall say that you do not praise
justice, but the appearance of it; we shall think that you are only
exhorting us to keep injustice dark, and that you really agree with
Thrasymachus in thinking that justice is another's good and the
interest of the stronger, and that injustice is a man's own profit and
interest, though injurious to the weaker. Now as you have admitted
that justice is one of that highest class of goods which are desired
indeed for their results, but in a far greater degree for their own
sakes—like sight or hearing or knowledge or health, or any other
real and natural and not merely conventional good—I would ask
you in your praise of justice to regard one point only: I mean the
essential good and evil which justice and injustice work in the
possessors of them. Let others praise justice and censure injustice,
magnifying the rewards and honours of the one and abusing the
other; that is a manner of arguing which, coming from them, I am
ready to tolerate, but from you who have spent your whole life in
the consideration of this question, unless I hear the contrary from
your own lips, I expect something better. And therefore, I say, not
63
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

only prove to us that justice is better than injustice, but show what
they either of them do to the possessor of them, which makes the
one to be a good and the other an evil, whether seen or unseen by
gods and men.
I had always admired the genius of Glaucon and Adeimantus, but
on hearing these words I was quite delighted, and said: Sons of an
illustrious father, that was not a bad beginning of the Elegiac verses
which the admirer of Glaucon made in honour of you after you had
distinguished yourselves at the battle of Megara:—
'Sons of Ariston,' he sang, 'divine offspring of an illustrious
hero.'
The epithet is very appropriate, for there is something truly divine
in being able to argue as you have done for the superiority of
injustice, and remaining unconvinced by your own arguments. And
I do believe that you are not convinced—this I infer from your
general character, for had I judged only from your speeches I
should have mistrusted you. But now, the greater my confidence in
you, the greater is my difficulty in knowing what to say. For I am in
a strait between two; on the one hand I feel that I am unequal to
the task; and my inability is brought home to me by the fact that
you were not satisfied with the answer which I made to
Thrasymachus, proving, as I thought, the superiority which justice
has over injustice. And yet I cannot refuse to help, while breath and
speech remain to me; I am afraid that there would be an impiety in
being present when justice is evil spoken of and not lifting up a
hand in her defence. And therefore I had best give such help as I
can.
Glaucon and the rest entreated me by all means not to let the
question drop, but to proceed in the investigation. They wanted to
arrive at the truth, first, about the nature of justice and injustice, and
secondly, about their relative advantages. I told them, what I really
thought, that the enquiry would be of a serious nature, and would
require very good eyes. Seeing then, I said, that we are no great wits,
I think that we had better adopt a method which I may illustrate
thus; suppose that a short-sighted person had been asked by some
one to read small letters from a distance; and it occurred to some
one else that they might be found in another place which was larger
and in which the letters were larger—if they were the same and he
64
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

could read the larger letters first, and then proceed to the lesser—
this would have been thought a rare piece of good fortune.
Very true, said Adeimantus; but how does the illustration apply to
our enquiry?
I will tell you, I replied; justice, which is the subject of our enquiry,
is, as you know, sometimes spoken of as the virtue of an individual,
and sometimes as the virtue of a State.
True, he replied.
And is not a State larger than an individual?
It is.
Then in the larger the quantity of justice is likely to be larger and
more easily discernible. I propose therefore that we enquire into the
nature of justice and injustice, first as they appear in the State, and
secondly in the individual, proceeding from the greater to the lesser
and comparing them.
That, he said, is an excellent proposal.
And if we imagine the State in process of creation, we shall see the
justice and injustice of the State in process of creation also.
I dare say.
When the State is completed there may be a hope that the object of
our search will be more easily discovered.
Yes, far more easily.
But ought we to attempt to construct one? I said; for to do so, as I
am inclined to think, will be a very serious task. Reflect therefore.
I have reflected, said Adeimantus, and am anxious that you should
proceed.
A State, I said, arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of mankind;
no one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants. Can any
other origin of a State be imagined?
There can be no other.
Then, as we have many wants, and many persons are needed to
supply them, one takes a helper for one purpose and another for

65
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

another; and when these partners and helpers are gathered together
in one habitation the body of inhabitants is termed a State.
True, he said.
And they exchange with one another, and one gives, and another
receives, under the idea that the exchange will be for their good.
Very true.
Then, I said, let us begin and create in idea a State; and yet the true
creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.
Of course, he replied.
Now the first and greatest of necessities is food, which is the
condition of life and existence.
Certainly.
The second is a dwelling, and the third clothing and the like.
True.
And now let us see how our city will be able to supply this great
demand: We may suppose that one man is a husbandman, another a
builder, some one else a weaver—shall we add to them a
shoemaker, or perhaps some other purveyor to our bodily wants?
Quite right.
The barest notion of a State must include four or five men.
Clearly.
And how will they proceed? Will each bring the result of his labours
into a common stock?—the individual husbandman, for example,
producing for four, and labouring four times as long and as much
as he need in the provision of food with which he supplies others as
well as himself; or will he have nothing to do with others and not
be at the trouble of producing for them, but provide for himself
alone a fourth of the food in a fourth of the time, and in the
remaining three fourths of his time be employed in making a house
or a coat or a pair of shoes, having no partnership with others, but
supplying himself all his own wants?
Adeimantus thought that he should aim at producing food only and
not at producing everything.
66
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Probably, I replied, that would be the better way; and when I hear
you say this, I am myself reminded that we are not all alike; there
are diversities of natures among us which are adapted to different
occupations.
Very true.
And will you have a work better done when the workman has many
occupations, or when he has only one?
When he has only one.
Further, there can be no doubt that a work is spoilt when not done
at the right time?
No doubt.
For business is not disposed to wait until the doer of the business is
at leisure; but the doer must follow up what he is doing, and make
the business his first object.
He must.
And if so, we must infer that all things are produced more
plentifully and easily and of a better quality when one man does one
thing which is natural to him and does it at the right time, and
leaves other things.
Undoubtedly.
Then more than four citizens will be required; for the husbandman
will not make his own plough or mattock, or other implements of
agriculture, if they are to be good for anything. Neither will the
builder make his tools—and he too needs many; and in like manner
the weaver and shoemaker.
True.
Then carpenters, and smiths, and many other artisans, will be
sharers in our little State, which is already beginning to grow?
True.
Yet even if we add neatherds, shepherds, and other herdsmen, in
order that our husbandmen may have oxen to plough with, and
builders as well as husbandmen may have draught cattle, and

67
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

curriers and weavers fleeces and hides,—still our State will not be
very large.
That is true; yet neither will it be a very small State which contains
all these.
Then, again, there is the situation of the city—to find a place where
nothing need be imported is wellnigh impossible.
Impossible.
Then there must be another class of citizens who will bring the
required supply from another city?
There must.
But if the trader goes empty-handed, having nothing which they
require who would supply his need, he will come back empty-
handed.
That is certain.
And therefore what they produce at home must be not only enough
for themselves, but such both in quantity and quality as to
accommodate those from whom their wants are supplied.
Very true.
Then more husbandmen and more artisans will be required?
They will.
Not to mention the importers and exporters, who are called
merchants?
Yes.
Then we shall want merchants?
We shall.
And if merchandise is to be carried over the sea, skilful sailors will
also be needed, and in considerable numbers?
Yes, in considerable numbers.
Then, again, within the city, how will they exchange their
productions? To secure such an exchange was, as you will
remember, one of our principal objects when we formed them into
a society and constituted a State.
68
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Clearly they will buy and sell.

Then they will need a market-place, and a money-token for
purposes of exchange.
Certainly.
Suppose now that a husbandman, or an artisan, brings some
production to market, and he comes at a time when there is no one
to exchange with him,—is he to leave his calling and sit idle in the
market-place?
Not at all; he will find people there who, seeing the want, undertake
the office of salesmen. In well-ordered states they are commonly
those who are the weakest in bodily strength, and therefore of little
use for any other purpose; their duty is to be in the market, and to
give money in exchange for goods to those who desire to sell and to
take money from those who desire to buy.
This want, then, creates a class of retail-traders in our State. Is not
'retailer' the term which is applied to those who sit in the market-
place engaged in buying and selling, while those who wander from
one city to another are called merchants?
Yes, he said.
And there is another class of servants, who are intellectually hardly
on the level of companionship; still they have plenty of bodily
strength for labour, which accordingly they sell, and are called, if I
do not mistake, hirelings, hire being the name which is given to the
price of their labour.
True.
Then hirelings will help to make up our population?
Yes.
And now, Adeimantus, is our State matured and perfected?
I think so.
Where, then, is justice, and where is injustice, and in what part of
the State did they spring up?
Probably in the dealings of these citizens with one another. I cannot
imagine that they are more likely to be found any where else.

69
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I dare say that you are right in your suggestion, I said; we had better
think the matter out, and not shrink from the enquiry.
Let us then consider, first of all, what will be their way of life, now
that we have thus established them. Will they not produce corn, and
wine, and clothes, and shoes, and build houses for themselves? And
when they are housed, they will work, in summer, commonly,
stripped and barefoot, but in winter substantially clothed and shod.
They will feed on barley-meal and flour of wheat, baking and
kneading them, making noble cakes and loaves; these they will serve
up on a mat of reeds or on clean leaves, themselves reclining the
while upon beds strewn with yew or myrtle. And they and their
children will feast, drinking of the wine which they have made,
wearing garlands on their heads, and hymning the praises of the
gods, in happy converse with one another. And they will take care
that their families do not exceed their means; having an eye to
poverty or war.
But, said Glaucon, interposing, you have not given them a relish to
their meal.
True, I replied, I had forgotten; of course they must have a relish—
salt, and olives, and cheese, and they will boil roots and herbs such
as country people prepare; for a dessert we shall give them figs, and
peas, and beans; and they will roast myrtle-berries and acorns at the
fire, drinking in moderation. And with such a diet they may be
expected to live in peace and health to a good old age, and bequeath
a similar life to their children after them.
Yes, Socrates, he said, and if you were providing for a city of pigs,
how else would you feed the beasts?
But what would you have, Glaucon? I replied.
Why, he said, you should give them the ordinary conveniences of
life. People who are to be comfortable are accustomed to lie on
sofas, and dine off tables, and they should have sauces and sweets
in the modern style.
Yes, I said, now I understand: the question which you would have
me consider is, not only how a State, but how a luxurious State is
created; and possibly there is no harm in this, for in such a State we
shall be more likely to see how justice and injustice originate. In my

70
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

opinion the true and healthy constitution of the State is the one
which I have described. But if you wish also to see a State at fever-
heat, I have no objection. For I suspect that many will not be
satisfied with the simpler way of life. They will be for adding sofas,
and tables, and other furniture; also dainties, and perfumes, and
incense, and courtesans, and cakes, all these not of one sort only,
but in every variety; we must go beyond the necessaries of which I
was at first speaking, such as houses, and clothes, and shoes: the
arts of the painter and the embroiderer will have to be set in
motion, and gold and ivory and all sorts of materials must be
procured.
True, he said.
Then we must enlarge our borders; for the original healthy State is
no longer sufficient. Now will the city have to fill and swell with a
multitude of callings which are not required by any natural want;
such as the whole tribe of hunters and actors, of whom one large
class have to do with forms and colours; another will be the votaries
of music—poets and their attendant train of rhapsodists, players,
dancers, contractors; also makers of divers kinds of articles,
including women's dresses. And we shall want more servants. Will
not tutors be also in request, and nurses wet and dry, tirewomen
and barbers, as well as confectioners and cooks; and swineherds,
too, who were not needed and therefore had no place in the former
edition of our State, but are needed now? They must not be
forgotten: and there will be animals of many other kinds, if people
eat them.
Certainly.
And living in this way we shall have much greater need of
physicians than before?
Much greater.
And the country which was enough to support the original
inhabitants will be too small now, and not enough?
Quite true.
Then a slice of our neighbours' land will be wanted by us for
pasture and tillage, and they will want a slice of ours, if, like

71
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

ourselves, they exceed the limit of necessity, and give themselves up

to the unlimited accumulation of wealth?
That, Socrates, will be inevitable.
And so we shall go to war, Glaucon. Shall we not?
Most certainly, he replied.
Then without determining as yet whether war does good or harm,
thus much we may affirm, that now we have discovered war to be
derived from causes which are also the causes of almost all the evils
in States, private as well as public.
Undoubtedly.
And our State must once more enlarge; and this time the
enlargement will be nothing short of a whole army, which will have
to go out and fight with the invaders for all that we have, as well as
for the things and persons whom we were describing above.
Why? he said; are they not capable of defending themselves?
No, I said; not if we were right in the principle which was
acknowledged by all of us when we were framing the State: the
principle, as you will remember, was that one man cannot practise
many arts with success.
Very true, he said.
But is not war an art?
Certainly.
And an art requiring as much attention as shoemaking?
Quite true.
And the shoemaker was not allowed by us to be a husbandman, or
a weaver, or a builder—in order that we might have our shoes well
made; but to him and to every other worker was assigned one work
for which he was by nature fitted, and at that he was to continue
working all his life long and at no other; he was not to let
opportunities slip, and then he would become a good workman.
Now nothing can be more important than that the work of a soldier
should be well done. But is war an art so easily acquired that a man
may be a warrior who is also a husbandman, or shoemaker, or other

72
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

artisan; although no one in the world would be a good dice or

draught player who merely took up the game as a recreation, and
had not from his earliest years devoted himself to this and nothing
else? No tools will make a man a skilled workman, or master of
defence, nor be of any use to him who has not learned how to
handle them, and has never bestowed any attention upon them.
How then will he who takes up a shield or other implement of war
become a good fighter all in a day, whether with heavy-armed or
any other kind of troops?
Yes, he said, the tools which would teach men their own use would
be beyond price.
And the higher the duties of the guardian, I said, the more time, and
skill, and art, and application will be needed by him?
No doubt, he replied.
Will he not also require natural aptitude for his calling?
Certainly.
Then it will be our duty to select, if we can, natures which are fitted
for the task of guarding the city?
It will.
And the selection will be no easy matter, I said; but we must be
brave and do our best.
We must.
Is not the noble youth very like a well-bred dog in respect of
guarding and watching?
What do you mean?
I mean that both of them ought to be quick to see, and swift to
overtake the enemy when they see him; and strong too if, when
they have caught him, they have to fight with him.
All these qualities, he replied, will certainly be required by them.
Well, and your guardian must be brave if he is to fight well?
Certainly.

73
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And is he likely to be brave who has no spirit, whether horse or dog

or any other animal? Have you never observed how invincible and
unconquerable is spirit and how the presence of it makes the soul
of any creature to be absolutely fearless and indomitable?
I have.
Then now we have a clear notion of the bodily qualities which are
required in the guardian.
True.
And also of the mental ones; his soul is to be full of spirit?
Yes.
But are not these spirited natures apt to be savage with one another,
and with everybody else?
A difficulty by no means easy to overcome, he replied.
Whereas, I said, they ought to be dangerous to their enemies, and
gentle to their friends; if not, they will destroy themselves without
waiting for their enemies to destroy them.
True, he said.
What is to be done then? I said; how shall we find a gentle nature
which has also a great spirit, for the one is the contradiction of the
other?
True.
He will not be a good guardian who is wanting in either of these
two qualities; and yet the combination of them appears to be
impossible; and hence we must infer that to be a good guardian is
impossible.
I am afraid that what you say is true, he replied.
Here feeling perplexed I began to think over what had preceded.—
My friend, I said, no wonder that we are in a perplexity; for we have
lost sight of the image which we had before us.
What do you mean? he said.
I mean to say that there do exist natures gifted with those opposite
qualities.

74
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And where do you find them?

Many animals, I replied, furnish examples of them; our friend the
dog is a very good one: you know that well-bred dogs are perfectly
gentle to their familiars and acquaintances, and the reverse to
strangers.
Yes, I know.
Then there is nothing impossible or out of the order of nature in
our finding a guardian who has a similar combination of qualities?
Certainly not.
Would not he who is fitted to be a guardian, besides the spirited
nature, need to have the qualities of a philosopher?
I do not apprehend your meaning.
The trait of which I am speaking, I replied, may be also seen in the
dog, and is remarkable in the animal.
What trait?
Why, a dog, whenever he sees a stranger, is angry; when an
acquaintance, he welcomes him, although the one has never done
him any harm, nor the other any good. Did this never strike you as
curious?
The matter never struck me before; but I quite recognise the truth
of your remark.
And surely this instinct of the dog is very charming;—your dog is a
true philosopher.
Why?
Why, because he distinguishes the face of a friend and of an enemy
only by the criterion of knowing and not knowing. And must not an
animal be a lover of learning who determines what he likes and
dislikes by the test of knowledge and ignorance?
Most assuredly.
And is not the love of learning the love of wisdom, which is
philosophy?
They are the same, he replied.

75
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And may we not say confidently of man also, that he who is likely
to be gentle to his friends and acquaintances, must by nature be a
lover of wisdom and knowledge?
That we may safely affirm.
Then he who is to be a really good and noble guardian of the State
will require to unite in himself philosophy and spirit and swiftness
and strength?
Undoubtedly.
Then we have found the desired natures; and now that we have
found them, how are they to be reared and educated? Is not this an
enquiry which may be expected to throw light on the greater
enquiry which is our final end—How do justice and injustice grow
up in States? for we do not want either to omit what is to the point
or to draw out the argument to an inconvenient length.
Adeimantus thought that the enquiry would be of great service to
us.
Then, I said, my dear friend, the task must not be given up, even if
somewhat long.
Certainly not.
Come then, and let us pass a leisure hour in story-telling, and our
story shall be the education of our heroes.
By all means.
And what shall be their education? Can we find a better than the
traditional sort?—and this has two divisions, gymnastic for the
body, and music for the soul.
True.
Shall we begin education with music, and go on to gymnastic
afterwards?
By all means.
And when you speak of music, do you include literature or not?
I do.
And literature may be either true or false?

76
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes.
And the young should be trained in both kinds, and we begin with
the false?
I do not understand your meaning, he said.
You know, I said, that we begin by telling children stories which,
though not wholly destitute of truth, are in the main fictitious; and
these stories are told them when they are not of an age to learn
gymnastics.
Very true.
That was my meaning when I said that we must teach music before
gymnastics.
Quite right, he said.
You know also that the beginning is the most important part of any
work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is
the time at which the character is being formed and the desired
impression is more readily taken.
Quite true.
And shall we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales
which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their
minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we
should wish them to have when they are grown up?
We cannot.
Then the first thing will be to establish a censorship of the writers
of fiction, and let the censors receive any tale of fiction which is
good, and reject the bad; and we will desire mothers and nurses to
tell their children the authorised ones only. Let them fashion the
mind with such tales, even more fondly than they mould the body
with their hands; but most of those which are now in use must be
discarded.
Of what tales are you speaking? he said.
You may find a model of the lesser in the greater, I said; for they
are necessarily of the same type, and there is the same spirit in both
of them.

77
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Very likely, he replied; but I do not as yet know what you would
term the greater.
Those, I said, which are narrated by Homer and Hesiod, and the
rest of the poets, who have ever been the great story-tellers of
mankind.
But which stories do you mean, he said; and what fault do you find
with them?
A fault which is most serious, I said; the fault of telling a lie, and,
what is more, a bad lie.
But when is this fault committed?
Whenever an erroneous representation is made of the nature of
gods and heroes,—as when a painter paints a portrait not having
the shadow of a likeness to the original.
Yes, he said, that sort of thing is certainly very blameable; but what
are the stories which you mean?
First of all, I said, there was that greatest of all lies in high places,
which the poet told about Uranus, and which was a bad lie too,—I
mean what Hesiod says that Uranus did, and how Cronus retaliated
on him. The doings of Cronus, and the sufferings which in turn his
son inflicted upon him, even if they were true, ought certainly not
to be lightly told to young and thoughtless persons; if possible, they
had better be buried in silence. But if there is an absolute necessity
for their mention, a chosen few might hear them in a mystery, and
they should sacrifice not a common (Eleusinian) pig, but some huge
and unprocurable victim; and then the number of the hearers will
be very few indeed.
Why, yes, said he, those stories are extremely objectionable.
Yes, Adeimantus, they are stories not to be repeated in our State;
the young man should not be told that in committing the worst of
crimes he is far from doing anything outrageous; and that even if he
chastises his father when he does wrong, in whatever manner, he
will only be following the example of the first and greatest among
the gods.
I entirely agree with you, he said; in my opinion those stories are
quite unfit to be repeated.

78
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Neither, if we mean our future guardians to regard the habit of

quarrelling among themselves as of all things the basest, should any
word be said to them of the wars in heaven, and of the plots and
fightings of the gods against one another, for they are not true. No,
we shall never mention the battles of the giants, or let them be
embroidered on garments; and we shall be silent about the
innumerable other quarrels of gods and heroes with their friends
and relatives. If they would only believe us we would tell them that
quarrelling is unholy, and that never up to this time has there been
any quarrel between citizens; this is what old men and old women
should begin by telling children; and when they grow up, the poets
also should be told to compose for them in a similar spirit. But the
narrative of Hephaestus binding Here his mother, or how on
another occasion Zeus sent him flying for taking her part when she
was being beaten, and all the battles of the gods in Homer—these
tales must not be admitted into our State, whether they are
supposed to have an allegorical meaning or not. For a young person
cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal; anything that he
receives into his mind at that age is likely to become indelible and
unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which
the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts.
There you are right, he replied; but if any one asks where are such
models to be found and of what tales are you speaking—how shall
we answer him?
I said to him, You and I, Adeimantus, at this moment are not poets,
but founders of a State: now the founders of a State ought to know
the general forms in which poets should cast their tales, and the
limits which must be observed by them, but to make the tales is not
their business.
Very true, he said; but what are these forms of theology which you
mean?
Something of this kind, I replied:—God is always to be represented
as he truly is, whatever be the sort of poetry, epic, lyric or tragic, in
which the representation is given.
Right.
And is he not truly good? and must he not be represented as such?

79
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Certainly.
And no good thing is hurtful?
No, indeed.
And that which is not hurtful hurts not?
Certainly not.
And that which hurts not does no evil?
No.
And can that which does no evil be a cause of evil?
Impossible.
And the good is advantageous?
Yes.
And therefore the cause of well-being?
Yes.
It follows therefore that the good is not the cause of all things, but
of the good only?
Assuredly.
Then God, if he be good, is not the author of all things, as the
many assert, but he is the cause of a few things only, and not of
most things that occur to men. For few are the goods of human life,
and many are the evils, and the good is to be attributed to God
alone; of the evils the causes are to be sought elsewhere, and not in
him.
That appears to me to be most true, he said.
Then we must not listen to Homer or to any other poet who is
guilty of the folly of saying that two casks
'Lie at the threshold of Zeus, full of lots, one of good, the
other of evil lots,'
and that he to whom Zeus gives a mixture of the two
'Sometimes meets with evil fortune, at other times with good;'
but that he to whom is given the cup of unmingled ill,

80
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

'Him wild hunger drives o'er the beauteous earth.'

And again—
'Zeus, who is the dispenser of good and evil to us.'
And if any one asserts that the violation of oaths and treaties, which
was really the work of Pandarus, was brought about by Athene and
Zeus, or that the strife and contention of the gods was instigated by
Themis and Zeus, he shall not have our approval; neither will we
allow our young men to hear the words of Aeschylus, that
'God plants guilt among men when he desires utterly to destroy
a house.'
And if a poet writes of the sufferings of Niobe—the subject of the
tragedy in which these iambic verses occur—or of the house of
Pelops, or of the Trojan war or on any similar theme, either we
must not permit him to say that these are the works of God, or if
they are of God, he must devise some explanation of them such as
we are seeking; he must say that God did what was just and right,
and they were the better for being punished; but that those who are
punished are miserable, and that God is the author of their
misery—the poet is not to be permitted to say; though he may say
that the wicked are miserable because they require to be punished,
and are benefited by receiving punishment from God; but that God
being good is the author of evil to any one is to be strenuously
denied, and not to be said or sung or heard in verse or prose by any
one whether old or young in any well-ordered commonwealth. Such
a fiction is suicidal, ruinous, impious.
I agree with you, he replied, and am ready to give my assent to the
law.
Let this then be one of our rules and principles concerning the
gods, to which our poets and reciters will be expected to
conform,—that God is not the author of all things, but of good
only.
That will do, he said.
And what do you think of a second principle? Shall I ask you
whether God is a magician, and of a nature to appear insidiously
now in one shape, and now in another—sometimes himself
changing and passing into many forms, sometimes deceiving us
81
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

with the semblance of such transformations; or is he one and the

same immutably fixed in his own proper image?
I cannot answer you, he said, without more thought.
Well, I said; but if we suppose a change in anything, that change
must be effected either by the thing itself, or by some other thing?
Most certainly.
And things which are at their best are also least liable to be altered
or discomposed; for example, when healthiest and strongest, the
human frame is least liable to be affected by meats and drinks, and
the plant which is in the fullest vigour also suffers least from winds
or the heat of the sun or any similar causes.
Of course.
And will not the bravest and wisest soul be least confused or
deranged by any external influence?
True.
And the same principle, as I should suppose, applies to all
composite things—furniture, houses, garments: when good and
well made, they are least altered by time and circumstances.
Very true.
Then everything which is good, whether made by art or nature, or
both, is least liable to suffer change from without?
True.
But surely God and the things of God are in every way perfect?
Of course they are.
Then he can hardly be compelled by external influence to take
many shapes?
He cannot.
But may he not change and transform himself?
Clearly, he said, that must be the case if he is changed at all.
And will he then change himself for the better and fairer, or for the
worse and more unsightly?

82
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

If he change at all he can only change for the worse, for we cannot
suppose him to be deficient either in virtue or beauty.
Very true, Adeimantus; but then, would any one, whether God or
man, desire to make himself worse?
Impossible.
Then it is impossible that God should ever be willing to change;
being, as is supposed, the fairest and best that is conceivable, every
God remains absolutely and for ever in his own form.
That necessarily follows, he said, in my judgment.
Then, I said, my dear friend, let none of the poets tell us that
'The gods, taking the disguise of strangers from other lands,
walk up and down cities in all sorts of forms;'
and let no one slander Proteus and Thetis, neither let any one,
either in tragedy or in any other kind of poetry, introduce Here
disguised in the likeness of a priestess asking an alms
'For the life-giving daughters of Inachus the river of Argos;'
—let us have no more lies of that sort. Neither must we have
mothers under the influence of the poets scaring their children with
a bad version of these myths—telling how certain gods, as they say,
'Go about by night in the likeness of so many strangers and in
divers forms;' but let them take heed lest they make cowards of
their children, and at the same time speak blasphemy against the
gods.
Heaven forbid, he said.
But although the gods are themselves unchangeable, still by
witchcraft and deception they may make us think that they appear
in various forms?
Perhaps, he replied.
Well, but can you imagine that God will be willing to lie, whether in
word or deed, or to put forth a phantom of himself?
I cannot say, he replied.
Do you not know, I said, that the true lie, if such an expression may
be allowed, is hated of gods and men?
83
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

What do you mean? he said.

I mean that no one is willingly deceived in that which is the truest
and highest part of himself, or about the truest and highest matters;
there, above all, he is most afraid of a lie having possession of him.
Still, he said, I do not comprehend you.
The reason is, I replied, that you attribute some profound meaning
to my words; but I am only saying that deception, or being deceived
or uninformed about the highest realities in the highest part of
themselves, which is the soul, and in that part of them to have and
to hold the lie, is what mankind least like;—that, I say, is what they
utterly detest.
There is nothing more hateful to them.
And, as I was just now remarking, this ignorance in the soul of him
who is deceived may be called the true lie; for the lie in words is
only a kind of imitation and shadowy image of a previous affection
of the soul, not pure unadulterated falsehood. Am I not right?
Perfectly right.
The true lie is hated not only by the gods, but also by men?
Yes.
Whereas the lie in words is in certain cases useful and not hateful; in
dealing with enemies—that would be an instance; or again, when
those whom we call our friends in a fit of madness or illusion are
going to do some harm, then it is useful and is a sort of medicine or
preventive; also in the tales of mythology, of which we were just
now speaking—because we do not know the truth about ancient
times, we make falsehood as much like truth as we can, and so turn
it to account.
Very true, he said.
But can any of these reasons apply to God? Can we suppose that he
is ignorant of antiquity, and therefore has recourse to invention?
That would be ridiculous, he said.
Then the lying poet has no place in our idea of God?
I should say not.

84
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Or perhaps he may tell a lie because he is afraid of enemies?

That is inconceivable.
But he may have friends who are senseless or mad?
But no mad or senseless person can be a friend of God.
Then no motive can be imagined why God should lie?
None whatever.
Then the superhuman and divine is absolutely incapable of
falsehood?
Yes.
Then is God perfectly simple and true both in word and deed; he
changes not; he deceives not, either by sign or word, by dream or
waking vision.
Your thoughts, he said, are the reflection of my own.
You agree with me then, I said, that this is the second type or form
in which we should write and speak about divine things. The gods
are not magicians who transform themselves, neither do they
deceive mankind in any way.
I grant that.
Then, although we are admirers of Homer, we do not admire the
lying dream which Zeus sends to Agamemnon; neither will we
praise the verses of Aeschylus in which Thetis says that Apollo at
her nuptials
'Was celebrating in song her fair progeny whose days were to be
long, and to know no sickness. And when he had spoken of my lot
as in all things blessed of heaven he raised a note of triumph and
cheered my soul. And I thought that the word of Phoebus, being
divine and full of prophecy, would not fail. And now he himself
who uttered the strain, he who was present at the banquet, and who
said this—he it is who has slain my son.'
These are the kind of sentiments about the gods which will arouse
our anger; and he who utters them shall be refused a chorus; neither
shall we allow teachers to make use of them in the instruction of

85
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

the young, meaning, as we do, that our guardians, as far as men can
be, should be true worshippers of the gods and like them.
I entirely agree, he said, in these principles, and promise to make
them my laws.

BOOK III.
Such then, I said, are our principles of theology—some tales are to
be told, and others are not to be told to our disciples from their
youth upwards, if we mean them to honour the gods and their
parents, and to value friendship with one another.
Yes; and I think that our principles are right, he said.
But if they are to be courageous, must they not learn other lessons
besides these, and lessons of such a kind as will take away the fear
of death? Can any man be courageous who has the fear of death in
him?
Certainly not, he said.
And can he be fearless of death, or will he choose death in battle
rather than defeat and slavery, who believes the world below to be
real and terrible?
Impossible.
Then we must assume a control over the narrators of this class of
tales as well as over the others, and beg them not simply to revile
but rather to commend the world below, intimating to them that
their descriptions are untrue, and will do harm to our future
warriors.
That will be our duty, he said.
Then, I said, we shall have to obliterate many obnoxious passages,
beginning with the verses,
'I would rather be a serf on the land of a poor and portionless
man than rule over all the dead who have come to nought.'
We must also expunge the verse, which tells us how Pluto feared,
'Lest the mansions grim and squalid which the gods abhor
should be seen both of mortals and immortals.'

86
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And again:—
'O heavens! verily in the house of Hades there is soul and
ghostly form but no mind at all!'
Again of Tiresias:—
'(To him even after death did Persephone grant mind,) that he
alone should be wise; but the other souls are flitting shades.'
Again:—
'The soul flying from the limbs had gone to Hades, lamenting
her fate, leaving manhood and youth.'
Again:—
'And the soul, with shrilling cry, passed like smoke beneath the
earth.'
And,—
'As bats in hollow of mystic cavern, whenever any of them has
dropped out of the string and falls from the rock, fly shrilling
and cling to one another, so did they with shrilling cry hold
together as they moved.'
And we must beg Homer and the other poets not to be angry if we
strike out these and similar passages, not because they are
unpoetical, or unattractive to the popular ear, but because the
greater the poetical charm of them, the less are they meet for the
ears of boys and men who are meant to be free, and who should
fear slavery more than death.
Undoubtedly.
Also we shall have to reject all the terrible and appalling names
which describe the world below—Cocytus and Styx, ghosts under
the earth, and sapless shades, and any similar words of which the
very mention causes a shudder to pass through the inmost soul of
him who hears them. I do not say that these horrible stories may
not have a use of some kind; but there is a danger that the nerves of
our guardians may be rendered too excitable and effeminate by
them.
There is a real danger, he said.

87
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then we must have no more of them.

True.
Another and a nobler strain must be composed and sung by us.
Clearly.
And shall we proceed to get rid of the weepings and wailings of
famous men?
They will go with the rest.
But shall we be right in getting rid of them? Reflect: our principle is
that the good man will not consider death terrible to any other good
man who is his comrade.
Yes; that is our principle.
And therefore he will not sorrow for his departed friend as though
he had suffered anything terrible?
He will not.
Such an one, as we further maintain, is sufficient for himself and his
own happiness, and therefore is least in need of other men.
True, he said.
And for this reason the loss of a son or brother, or the deprivation
of fortune, is to him of all men least terrible.
Assuredly.
And therefore he will be least likely to lament, and will bear with the
greatest equanimity any misfortune of this sort which may befall
him.
Yes, he will feel such a misfortune far less than another.
Then we shall be right in getting rid of the lamentations of famous
men, and making them over to women (and not even to women
who are good for anything), or to men of a baser sort, that those
who are being educated by us to be the defenders of their country
may scorn to do the like.
That will be very right.
Then we will once more entreat Homer and the other poets not to
depict Achilles, who is the son of a goddess, first lying on his side,
88
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

then on his back, and then on his face; then starting up and sailing
in a frenzy along the shores of the barren sea; now taking the sooty
ashes in both his hands and pouring them over his head, or weeping
and wailing in the various modes which Homer has delineated. Nor
should he describe Priam the kinsman of the gods as praying and
beseeching,
'Rolling in the dirt, calling each man loudly by his name.'
Still more earnestly will we beg of him at all events not to introduce
the gods lamenting and saying,
'Alas! my misery! Alas! that I bore the bravest to my sorrow.'
But if he must introduce the gods, at any rate let him not dare so
completely to misrepresent the greatest of the gods, as to make him
say—
'O heavens! with my eyes verily I behold a dear friend of mine
chased round and round the city, and my heart is sorrowful.'
Or again:—
Woe is me that I am fated to have Sarpedon, dearest of men to
me, subdued at the hands of Patroclus the son of Menoetius.'
For if, my sweet Adeimantus, our youth seriously listen to such
unworthy representations of the gods, instead of laughing at them
as they ought, hardly will any of them deem that he himself, being
but a man, can be dishonoured by similar actions; neither will he
rebuke any inclination which may arise in his mind to say and do
the like. And instead of having any shame or self-control, he will be
always whining and lamenting on slight occasions.
Yes, he said, that is most true.
Yes, I replied; but that surely is what ought not to be, as the
argument has just proved to us; and by that proof we must abide
until it is disproved by a better.
It ought not to be.
Neither ought our guardians to be given to laughter. For a fit of
laughter which has been indulged to excess almost always produces
a violent reaction.
So I believe.
89
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then persons of worth, even if only mortal men, must not be

represented as overcome by laughter, and still less must such a
representation of the gods be allowed.
Still less of the gods, as you say, he replied.
Then we shall not suffer such an expression to be used about the
gods as that of Homer when he describes how
'Inextinguishable laughter arose among the blessed gods, when
they saw Hephaestus bustling about the mansion.'
On your views, we must not admit them.
On my views, if you like to father them on me; that we must not
admit them is certain.
Again, truth should be highly valued; if, as we were saying, a lie is
useless to the gods, and useful only as a medicine to men, then the
use of such medicines should be restricted to physicians; private
individuals have no business with them.
Clearly not, he said.
Then if any one at all is to have the privilege of lying, the rulers of
the State should be the persons; and they, in their dealings either
with enemies or with their own citizens, may be allowed to lie for
the public good. But nobody else should meddle with anything of
the kind; and although the rulers have this privilege, for a private
man to lie to them in return is to be deemed a more heinous fault
than for the patient or the pupil of a gymnasium not to speak the
truth about his own bodily illnesses to the physician or to the
trainer, or for a sailor not to tell the captain what is happening
about the ship and the rest of the crew, and how things are going
with himself or his fellow sailors.
Most true, he said.
If, then, the ruler catches anybody beside himself lying in the State,
'Any of the craftsmen, whether he be priest or physician or
carpenter,'
he will punish him for introducing a practice which is equally
subversive and destructive of ship or State.
Most certainly, he said, if our idea of the State is ever carried out.
90
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

In the next place our youth must be temperate?

Certainly.
Are not the chief elements of temperance, speaking generally,
obedience to commanders and self-control in sensual pleasures?
True.
Then we shall approve such language as that of Diomede in Homer,
'Friend, sit still and obey my word,'
and the verses which follow,
'The Greeks marched breathing prowess,
...in silent awe of their leaders,'
and other sentiments of the same kind.
We shall.
What of this line,
'O heavy with wine, who hast the eyes of a dog and the heart
of a stag,'
and of the words which follow? Would you say that these, or any
similar impertinences which private individuals are supposed to
address to their rulers, whether in verse or prose, are well or ill
spoken?
They are ill spoken.
They may very possibly afford some amusement, but they do not
conduce to temperance. And therefore they are likely to do harm to
our young men—you would agree with me there?
Yes.
And then, again, to make the wisest of men say that nothing in his
opinion is more glorious than
'When the tables are full of bread and meat, and the cup-bearer
carries round wine which he draws from the bowl and pours
into the cups,'
is it fit or conducive to temperance for a young man to hear such
words? Or the verse

91
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

'The saddest of fates is to die and meet destiny from hunger?'

What would you say again to the tale of Zeus, who, while other
gods and men were asleep and he the only person awake, lay
devising plans, but forgot them all in a moment through his lust,
and was so completely overcome at the sight of Here that he would
not even go into the hut, but wanted to lie with her on the ground,
declaring that he had never been in such a state of rapture before,
even when they first met one another
'Without the knowledge of their parents;'
or that other tale of how Hephaestus, because of similar goings on,
cast a chain around Ares and Aphrodite?
Indeed, he said, I am strongly of opinion that they ought not to
hear that sort of thing.
But any deeds of endurance which are done or told by famous men,
these they ought to see and hear; as, for example, what is said in the
verses,
'He smote his breast, and thus reproached his heart, Endure,
my heart; far worse hast thou endured!'
Certainly, he said.
In the next place, we must not let them be receivers of gifts or
lovers of money.
Certainly not.
Neither must we sing to them of
'Gifts persuading gods, and persuading reverend kings.'
Neither is Phoenix, the tutor of Achilles, to be approved or deemed
to have given his pupil good counsel when he told him that he
should take the gifts of the Greeks and assist them; but that without
a gift he should not lay aside his anger. Neither will we believe or
acknowledge Achilles himself to have been such a lover of money
that he took Agamemnon's gifts, or that when he had received
payment he restored the dead body of Hector, but that without
payment he was unwilling to do so.
Undoubtedly, he said, these are not sentiments which can be
approved.
92
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Loving Homer as I do, I hardly like to say that in attributing these

feelings to Achilles, or in believing that they are truly attributed to
him, he is guilty of downright impiety. As little can I believe the
narrative of his insolence to Apollo, where he says,
'Thou hast wronged me, O far-darter, most abominable of
deities. Verily I would be even with thee, if I had only the
power;'
or his insubordination to the river-god, on whose divinity he is
ready to lay hands; or his offering to the dead Patroclus of his own
hair, which had been previously dedicated to the other river-god
Spercheius, and that he actually performed this vow; or that he
dragged Hector round the tomb of Patroclus, and slaughtered the
captives at the pyre; of all this I cannot believe that he was guilty,
any more than I can allow our citizens to believe that he, the wise
Cheiron's pupil, the son of a goddess and of Peleus who was the
gentlest of men and third in descent from Zeus, was so disordered
in his wits as to be at one time the slave of two seemingly
inconsistent passions, meanness, not untainted by avarice,
combined with overweening contempt of gods and men.
You are quite right, he replied.
And let us equally refuse to believe, or allow to be repeated, the tale
of Theseus son of Poseidon, or of Peirithous son of Zeus, going
forth as they did to perpetrate a horrid rape; or of any other hero or
son of a god daring to do such impious and dreadful things as they
falsely ascribe to them in our day: and let us further compel the
poets to declare either that these acts were not done by them, or
that they were not the sons of gods;—both in the same breath they
shall not be permitted to affirm. We will not have them trying to
persuade our youth that the gods are the authors of evil, and that
heroes are no better than men—sentiments which, as we were
saying, are neither pious nor true, for we have already proved that
evil cannot come from the gods.
Assuredly not.
And further they are likely to have a bad effect on those who hear
them; for everybody will begin to excuse his own vices when he is
convinced that similar wickednesses are always being perpetrated
by—
93
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

'The kindred of the gods, the relatives of Zeus, whose ancestral

altar, the altar of Zeus, is aloft in air on the peak of Ida,'
and who have
'the blood of deities yet flowing in their veins.'
And therefore let us put an end to such tales, lest they engender
laxity of morals among the young.
By all means, he replied.
But now that we are determining what classes of subjects are or are
not to be spoken of, let us see whether any have been omitted by
us. The manner in which gods and demigods and heroes and the
world below should be treated has been already laid down.
Very true.
And what shall we say about men? That is clearly the remaining
portion of our subject.
Clearly so.
But we are not in a condition to answer this question at present, my
friend.
Why not?
Because, if I am not mistaken, we shall have to say that about men
poets and story-tellers are guilty of making the gravest
misstatements when they tell us that wicked men are often happy,
and the good miserable; and that injustice is profitable when
undetected, but that justice is a man's own loss and another's gain—
these things we shall forbid them to utter, and command them to
sing and say the opposite.
To be sure we shall, he replied.
But if you admit that I am right in this, then I shall maintain that
you have implied the principle for which we have been all along
contending.
I grant the truth of your inference.
That such things are or are not to be said about men is a question
which we cannot determine until we have discovered what justice is,

94
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

and how naturally advantageous to the possessor, whether he seem

to be just or not.
Most true, he said.
Enough of the subjects of poetry: let us now speak of the style; and
when this has been considered, both matter and manner will have
been completely treated.
I do not understand what you mean, said Adeimantus.
Then I must make you understand; and perhaps I may be more
intelligible if I put the matter in this way. You are aware, I suppose,
that all mythology and poetry is a narration of events, either past,
present, or to come?
Certainly, he replied.
And narration may be either simple narration, or imitation, or a
union of the two?
That again, he said, I do not quite understand.
I fear that I must be a ridiculous teacher when I have so much
difficulty in making myself apprehended. Like a bad speaker,
therefore, I will not take the whole of the subject, but will break a
piece off in illustration of my meaning. You know the first lines of
the Iliad, in which the poet says that Chryses prayed Agamemnon
to release his daughter, and that Agamemnon flew into a passion
with him; whereupon Chryses, failing of his object, invoked the
anger of the God against the Achaeans. Now as far as these lines,
'And he prayed all the Greeks, but especially the two sons of
Atreus, the chiefs of the people,'
the poet is speaking in his own person; he never leads us to suppose
that he is any one else. But in what follows he takes the person of
Chryses, and then he does all that he can to make us believe that the
speaker is not Homer, but the aged priest himself. And in this
double form he has cast the entire narrative of the events which
occurred at Troy and in Ithaca and throughout the Odyssey.
Yes.
And a narrative it remains both in the speeches which the poet
recites from time to time and in the intermediate passages?

95
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Quite true.
But when the poet speaks in the person of another, may we not say
that he assimilates his style to that of the person who, as he informs
you, is going to speak?
Certainly.
And this assimilation of himself to another, either by the use of
voice or gesture, is the imitation of the person whose character he
assumes?
Of course.
Then in this case the narrative of the poet may be said to proceed
by way of imitation?
Very true.
Or, if the poet everywhere appears and never conceals himself, then
again the imitation is dropped, and his poetry becomes simple
narration. However, in order that I may make my meaning quite
clear, and that you may no more say, 'I don't understand,' I will
show how the change might be effected. If Homer had said, 'The
priest came, having his daughter's ransom in his hands, supplicating
the Achaeans, and above all the kings;' and then if, instead of
speaking in the person of Chryses, he had continued in his own
person, the words would have been, not imitation, but simple
narration. The passage would have run as follows (I am no poet,
and therefore I drop the metre), 'The priest came and prayed the
gods on behalf of the Greeks that they might capture Troy and
return safely home, but begged that they would give him back his
daughter, and take the ransom which he brought, and respect the
God. Thus he spoke, and the other Greeks revered the priest and
assented. But Agamemnon was wroth, and bade him depart and not
come again, lest the staff and chaplets of the God should be of no
avail to him—the daughter of Chryses should not be released, he
said—she should grow old with him in Argos. And then he told
him to go away and not to provoke him, if he intended to get home
unscathed. And the old man went away in fear and silence, and,
when he had left the camp, he called upon Apollo by his many
names, reminding him of everything which he had done pleasing to
him, whether in building his temples, or in offering sacrifice, and

96
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

praying that his good deeds might be returned to him, and that the
Achaeans might expiate his tears by the arrows of the god,'—and so
on. In this way the whole becomes simple narrative.
I understand, he said.
Or you may suppose the opposite case—that the intermediate
passages are omitted, and the dialogue only left.
That also, he said, I understand; you mean, for example, as in
tragedy.
You have conceived my meaning perfectly; and if I mistake not,
what you failed to apprehend before is now made clear to you, that
poetry and mythology are, in some cases, wholly imitative—
instances of this are supplied by tragedy and comedy; there is
likewise the opposite style, in which the poet is the only speaker—
of this the dithyramb affords the best example; and the
combination of both is found in epic, and in several other styles of
poetry. Do I take you with me?
Yes, he said; I see now what you meant.
I will ask you to remember also what I began by saying, that we had
done with the subject and might proceed to the style.
Yes, I remember.
In saying this, I intended to imply that we must come to an
understanding about the mimetic art,—whether the poets, in
narrating their stories, are to be allowed by us to imitate, and if so,
whether in whole or in part, and if the latter, in what parts; or
should all imitation be prohibited?
You mean, I suspect, to ask whether tragedy and comedy shall be
admitted into our State?
Yes, I said; but there may be more than this in question: I really do
not know as yet, but whither the argument may blow, thither we go.
And go we will, he said.
Then, Adeimantus, let me ask you whether our guardians ought to
be imitators; or rather, has not this question been decided by the
rule already laid down that one man can only do one thing well, and

97
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

not many; and that if he attempt many, he will altogether fail of

gaining much reputation in any?
Certainly.
And this is equally true of imitation; no one man can imitate many
things as well as he would imitate a single one?
He cannot.
Then the same person will hardly be able to play a serious part in
life, and at the same time to be an imitator and imitate many other
parts as well; for even when two species of imitation are nearly
allied, the same persons cannot succeed in both, as, for example,
the writers of tragedy and comedy—did you not just now call them
imitations?
Yes, I did; and you are right in thinking that the same persons
cannot succeed in both.
Any more than they can be rhapsodists and actors at once?
True.
Neither are comic and tragic actors the same; yet all these things are
but imitations.
They are so.
And human nature, Adeimantus, appears to have been coined into
yet smaller pieces, and to be as incapable of imitating many things
well, as of performing well the actions of which the imitations are
copies.
Quite true, he replied.
If then we adhere to our original notion and bear in mind that our
guardians, setting aside every other business, are to dedicate
themselves wholly to the maintenance of freedom in the State,
making this their craft, and engaging in no work which does not
bear on this end, they ought not to practise or imitate anything else;
if they imitate at all, they should imitate from youth upward only
those characters which are suitable to their profession—the
courageous, temperate, holy, free, and the like; but they should not
depict or be skilful at imitating any kind of illiberality or baseness,
lest from imitation they should come to be what they imitate. Did

98
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

you never observe how imitations, beginning in early youth and

continuing far into life, at length grow into habits and become a
second nature, affecting body, voice, and mind?
Yes, certainly, he said.
Then, I said, we will not allow those for whom we profess a care
and of whom we say that they ought to be good men, to imitate a
woman, whether young or old, quarrelling with her husband, or
striving and vaunting against the gods in conceit of her happiness,
or when she is in affliction, or sorrow, or weeping; and certainly not
one who is in sickness, love, or labour.
Very right, he said.
Neither must they represent slaves, male or female, performing the
offices of slaves?
They must not.
And surely not bad men, whether cowards or any others, who do
the reverse of what we have just been prescribing, who scold or
mock or revile one another in drink or out of drink, or who in any
other manner sin against themselves and their neighbours in word
or deed, as the manner of such is. Neither should they be trained to
imitate the action or speech of men or women who are mad or bad;
for madness, like vice, is to be known but not to be practised or
imitated.
Very true, he replied.
Neither may they imitate smiths or other artificers, or oarsmen, or
boatswains, or the like?
How can they, he said, when they are not allowed to apply their
minds to the callings of any of these?
Nor may they imitate the neighing of horses, the bellowing of bulls,
the murmur of rivers and roll of the ocean, thunder, and all that
sort of thing?
Nay, he said, if madness be forbidden, neither may they copy the
behaviour of madmen.
You mean, I said, if I understand you aright, that there is one sort
of narrative style which may be employed by a truly good man

99
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

when he has anything to say, and that another sort will be used by a
man of an opposite character and education.
And which are these two sorts? he asked.
Suppose, I answered, that a just and good man in the course of a
narration comes on some saying or action of another good man,—I
should imagine that he will like to personate him, and will not be
ashamed of this sort of imitation: he will be most ready to play the
part of the good man when he is acting firmly and wisely; in a less
degree when he is overtaken by illness or love or drink, or has met
with any other disaster. But when he comes to a character which is
unworthy of him, he will not make a study of that; he will disdain
such a person, and will assume his likeness, if at all, for a moment
only when he is performing some good action; at other times he
will be ashamed to play a part which he has never practised, nor will
he like to fashion and frame himself after the baser models; he feels
the employment of such an art, unless in jest, to be beneath him,
and his mind revolts at it.
So I should expect, he replied.
Then he will adopt a mode of narration such as we have illustrated
out of Homer, that is to say, his style will be both imitative and
narrative; but there will be very little of the former, and a great deal
of the latter. Do you agree?
Certainly, he said; that is the model which such a speaker must
necessarily take.
But there is another sort of character who will narrate anything,
and, the worse he is, the more unscrupulous he will be; nothing will
be too bad for him: and he will be ready to imitate anything, not as
a joke, but in right good earnest, and before a large company. As I
was just now saying, he will attempt to represent the roll of thunder,
the noise of wind and hail, or the creaking of wheels, and pulleys,
and the various sounds of flutes, pipes, trumpets, and all sorts of
instruments: he will bark like a dog, bleat like a sheep, or crow like a
cock; his entire art will consist in imitation of voice and gesture, and
there will be very little narration.
That, he said, will be his mode of speaking.
These, then, are the two kinds of style?
100
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes.
And you would agree with me in saying that one of them is simple
and has but slight changes; and if the harmony and rhythm are also
chosen for their simplicity, the result is that the speaker, if he speaks
correctly, is always pretty much the same in style, and he will keep
within the limits of a single harmony (for the changes are not great),
and in like manner he will make use of nearly the same rhythm?
That is quite true, he said.
Whereas the other requires all sorts of harmonies and all sorts of
rhythms, if the music and the style are to correspond, because the
style has all sorts of changes.
That is also perfectly true, he replied.
And do not the two styles, or the mixture of the two, comprehend
all poetry, and every form of expression in words? No one can say
anything except in one or other of them or in both together.
They include all, he said.
And shall we receive into our State all the three styles, or one only
of the two unmixed styles? or would you include the mixed?
I should prefer only to admit the pure imitator of virtue.
Yes, I said, Adeimantus, but the mixed style is also very charming:
and indeed the pantomimic, which is the opposite of the one
chosen by you, is the most popular style with children and their
attendants, and with the world in general.
I do not deny it.
But I suppose you would argue that such a style is unsuitable to our
State, in which human nature is not twofold or manifold, for one
man plays one part only?
Yes; quite unsuitable.
And this is the reason why in our State, and in our State only, we
shall find a shoemaker to be a shoemaker and not a pilot also, and a
husbandman to be a husbandman and not a dicast also, and a
soldier a soldier and not a trader also, and the same throughout?
True, he said.

101
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And therefore when any one of these pantomimic gentlemen, who

are so clever that they can imitate anything, comes to us, and makes
a proposal to exhibit himself and his poetry, we will fall down and
worship him as a sweet and holy and wonderful being; but we must
also inform him that in our State such as he are not permitted to
exist; the law will not allow them. And so when we have anointed
him with myrrh, and set a garland of wool upon his head, we shall
send him away to another city. For we mean to employ for our
souls' health the rougher and severer poet or story-teller, who will
imitate the style of the virtuous only, and will follow those models
which we prescribed at first when we began the education of our
soldiers.
We certainly will, he said, if we have the power.
Then now, my friend, I said, that part of music or literary education
which relates to the story or myth may be considered to be finished;
for the matter and manner have both been discussed.
I think so too, he said.
Next in order will follow melody and song.
That is obvious.
Every one can see already what we ought to say about them, if we
are to be consistent with ourselves.
I fear, said Glaucon, laughing, that the word 'every one' hardly
includes me, for I cannot at the moment say what they should be;
though I may guess.
At any rate you can tell that a song or ode has three parts—the
words, the melody, and the rhythm; that degree of knowledge I may
presuppose?
Yes, he said; so much as that you may.
And as for the words, there will surely be no difference between
words which are and which are not set to music; both will conform
to the same laws, and these have been already determined by us?
Yes.
And the melody and rhythm will depend upon the words?
Certainly.
102
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

We were saying, when we spoke of the subject-matter, that we had

no need of lamentation and strains of sorrow?
True.
And which are the harmonies expressive of sorrow? You are
musical, and can tell me.
The harmonies which you mean are the mixed or tenor Lydian, and
the full-toned or bass Lydian, and such like.
These then, I said, must be banished; even to women who have a
character to maintain they are of no use, and much less to men.
Certainly.
In the next place, drunkenness and softness and indolence are
utterly unbecoming the character of our guardians.
Utterly unbecoming.
And which are the soft or drinking harmonies?
The Ionian, he replied, and the Lydian; they are termed 'relaxed.'
Well, and are these of any military use?
Quite the reverse, he replied; and if so the Dorian and the Phrygian
are the only ones which you have left.
I answered: Of the harmonies I know nothing, but I want to have
one warlike, to sound the note or accent which a brave man utters
in the hour of danger and stern resolve, or when his cause is failing,
and he is going to wounds or death or is overtaken by some other
evil, and at every such crisis meets the blows of fortune with firm
step and a determination to endure; and another to be used by him
in times of peace and freedom of action, when there is no pressure
of necessity, and he is seeking to persuade God by prayer, or man
by instruction and admonition, or on the other hand, when he is
expressing his willingness to yield to persuasion or entreaty or
admonition, and which represents him when by prudent conduct he
has attained his end, not carried away by his success, but acting
moderately and wisely under the circumstances, and acquiescing in
the event. These two harmonies I ask you to leave; the strain of
necessity and the strain of freedom, the strain of the unfortunate

103
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

and the strain of the fortunate, the strain of courage, and the strain
of temperance; these, I say, leave.
And these, he replied, are the Dorian and Phrygian harmonies of
which I was just now speaking.
Then, I said, if these and these only are to be used in our songs and
melodies, we shall not want multiplicity of notes or a panharmonic
scale?
I suppose not.
Then we shall not maintain the artificers of lyres with three corners
and complex scales, or the makers of any other many-stringed
curiously-harmonised instruments?
Certainly not.
But what do you say to flute-makers and flute-players? Would you
admit them into our State when you reflect that in this composite
use of harmony the flute is worse than all the stringed instruments
put together; even the panharmonic music is only an imitation of
the flute?
Clearly not.
There remain then only the lyre and the harp for use in the city, and
the shepherds may have a pipe in the country.
That is surely the conclusion to be drawn from the argument.
The preferring of Apollo and his instruments to Marsyas and his
instruments is not at all strange, I said.
Not at all, he replied.
And so, by the dog of Egypt, we have been unconsciously purging
the State, which not long ago we termed luxurious.
And we have done wisely, he replied.
Then let us now finish the purgation, I said. Next in order to
harmonies, rhythms will naturally follow, and they should be subject
to the same rules, for we ought not to seek out complex systems of
metre, or metres of every kind, but rather to discover what rhythms
are the expressions of a courageous and harmonious life; and when
we have found them, we shall adapt the foot and the melody to

104
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

words having a like spirit, not the words to the foot and melody. To
say what these rhythms are will be your duty—you must teach me
them, as you have already taught me the harmonies.
But, indeed, he replied, I cannot tell you. I only know that there are
some three principles of rhythm out of which metrical systems are
framed, just as in sounds there are four notes (i.e. the four notes of
the tetrachord.) out of which all the harmonies are composed; that
is an observation which I have made. But of what sort of lives they
are severally the imitations I am unable to say.
Then, I said, we must take Damon into our counsels; and he will
tell us what rhythms are expressive of meanness, or insolence, or
fury, or other unworthiness, and what are to be reserved for the
expression of opposite feelings. And I think that I have an indistinct
recollection of his mentioning a complex Cretic rhythm; also a
dactylic or heroic, and he arranged them in some manner which I
do not quite understand, making the rhythms equal in the rise and
fall of the foot, long and short alternating; and, unless I am
mistaken, he spoke of an iambic as well as of a trochaic rhythm, and
assigned to them short and long quantities. Also in some cases he
appeared to praise or censure the movement of the foot quite as
much as the rhythm; or perhaps a combination of the two; for I am
not certain what he meant. These matters, however, as I was saying,
had better be referred to Damon himself, for the analysis of the
subject would be difficult, you know? (Socrates expresses himself
carelessly in accordance with his assumed ignorance of the details of
the subject. In the first part of the sentence he appears to be
speaking of paeonic rhythms which are in the ratio of 3/2; in the
second part, of dactylic and anapaestic rhythms, which are in the
ratio of 1/1; in the last clause, of iambic and trochaic rhythms,
which are in the ratio of 1/2 or 2/1.)
Rather so, I should say.
But there is no difficulty in seeing that grace or the absence of grace
is an effect of good or bad rhythm.
None at all.
And also that good and bad rhythm naturally assimilate to a good
and bad style; and that harmony and discord in like manner follow

105
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

style; for our principle is that rhythm and harmony are regulated by
the words, and not the words by them.
Just so, he said, they should follow the words.
And will not the words and the character of the style depend on the
temper of the soul?
Yes.
And everything else on the style?
Yes.
Then beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm
depend on simplicity,—I mean the true simplicity of a rightly and
nobly ordered mind and character, not that other simplicity which is
only an euphemism for folly?
Very true, he replied.
And if our youth are to do their work in life, must they not make
these graces and harmonies their perpetual aim?
They must.
And surely the art of the painter and every other creative and
constructive art are full of them,—weaving, embroidery,
architecture, and every kind of manufacture; also nature, animal and
vegetable,—in all of them there is grace or the absence of grace.
And ugliness and discord and inharmonious motion are nearly allied
to ill words and ill nature, as grace and harmony are the twin sisters
of goodness and virtue and bear their likeness.
That is quite true, he said.
But shall our superintendence go no further, and are the poets only
to be required by us to express the image of the good in their
works, on pain, if they do anything else, of expulsion from our
State? Or is the same control to be extended to other artists, and are
they also to be prohibited from exhibiting the opposite forms of
vice and intemperance and meanness and indecency in sculpture
and building and the other creative arts; and is he who cannot
conform to this rule of ours to be prevented from practising his art
in our State, lest the taste of our citizens be corrupted by him? We
would not have our guardians grow up amid images of moral

106
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

deformity, as in some noxious pasture, and there browse and feed

upon many a baneful herb and flower day by day, little by little, until
they silently gather a festering mass of corruption in their own soul.
Let our artists rather be those who are gifted to discern the true
nature of the beautiful and graceful; then will our youth dwell in a
land of health, amid fair sights and sounds, and receive the good in
everything; and beauty, the effluence of fair works, shall flow into
the eye and ear, like a health-giving breeze from a purer region, and
insensibly draw the soul from earliest years into likeness and
sympathy with the beauty of reason.
There can be no nobler training than that, he replied.
And therefore, I said, Glaucon, musical training is a more potent
instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their
way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily
fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly
educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful; and also
because he who has received this true education of the inner being
will most shrewdly perceive omissions or faults in art and nature,
and with a true taste, while he praises and rejoices over and receives
into his soul the good, and becomes noble and good, he will justly
blame and hate the bad, now in the days of his youth, even before
he is able to know the reason why; and when reason comes he will
recognise and salute the friend with whom his education has made
him long familiar.
Yes, he said, I quite agree with you in thinking that our youth
should be trained in music and on the grounds which you mention.
Just as in learning to read, I said, we were satisfied when we knew
the letters of the alphabet, which are very few, in all their recurring
sizes and combinations; not slighting them as unimportant whether
they occupy a space large or small, but everywhere eager to make
them out; and not thinking ourselves perfect in the art of reading
until we recognise them wherever they are found:
True—
Or, as we recognise the reflection of letters in the water, or in a
mirror, only when we know the letters themselves; the same art and
study giving us the knowledge of both:

107
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Exactly—
Even so, as I maintain, neither we nor our guardians, whom we
have to educate, can ever become musical until we and they know
the essential forms of temperance, courage, liberality, magnificence,
and their kindred, as well as the contrary forms, in all their
combinations, and can recognise them and their images wherever
they are found, not slighting them either in small things or great,
but believing them all to be within the sphere of one art and study.
Most assuredly.
And when a beautiful soul harmonizes with a beautiful form, and
the two are cast in one mould, that will be the fairest of sights to
him who has an eye to see it?
The fairest indeed.
And the fairest is also the loveliest?
That may be assumed.
And the man who has the spirit of harmony will be most in love
with the loveliest; but he will not love him who is of an
inharmonious soul?
That is true, he replied, if the deficiency be in his soul; but if there
be any merely bodily defect in another he will be patient of it, and
will love all the same.
I perceive, I said, that you have or have had experiences of this sort,
and I agree. But let me ask you another question: Has excess of
pleasure any affinity to temperance?
How can that be? he replied; pleasure deprives a man of the use of
his faculties quite as much as pain.
Or any affinity to virtue in general?
None whatever.
Any affinity to wantonness and intemperance?
Yes, the greatest.
And is there any greater or keener pleasure than that of sensual
love?

108
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

No, nor a madder.

Whereas true love is a love of beauty and order—temperate and
harmonious?
Quite true, he said.
Then no intemperance or madness should be allowed to approach
true love?
Certainly not.
Then mad or intemperate pleasure must never be allowed to come
near the lover and his beloved; neither of them can have any part in
it if their love is of the right sort?
No, indeed, Socrates, it must never come near them.
Then I suppose that in the city which we are founding you would
make a law to the effect that a friend should use no other familiarity
to his love than a father would use to his son, and then only for a
noble purpose, and he must first have the other's consent; and this
rule is to limit him in all his intercourse, and he is never to be seen
going further, or, if he exceeds, he is to be deemed guilty of
coarseness and bad taste.
I quite agree, he said.
Thus much of music, which makes a fair ending; for what should be
the end of music if not the love of beauty?
I agree, he said.
After music comes gymnastic, in which our youth are next to be
trained.
Certainly.
Gymnastic as well as music should begin in early years; the training
in it should be careful and should continue through life. Now my
belief is,—and this is a matter upon which I should like to have
your opinion in confirmation of my own, but my own belief is,—
not that the good body by any bodily excellence improves the soul,
but, on the contrary, that the good soul, by her own excellence,
improves the body as far as this may be possible. What do you say?
Yes, I agree.

109
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then, to the mind when adequately trained, we shall be right in

handing over the more particular care of the body; and in order to
avoid prolixity we will now only give the general outlines of the
subject.
Very good.
That they must abstain from intoxication has been already remarked
by us; for of all persons a guardian should be the last to get drunk
and not know where in the world he is.
Yes, he said; that a guardian should require another guardian to take
care of him is ridiculous indeed.
But next, what shall we say of their food; for the men are in training
for the great contest of all—are they not?
Yes, he said.
And will the habit of body of our ordinary athletes be suited to
them?
Why not?
I am afraid, I said, that a habit of body such as they have is but a
sleepy sort of thing, and rather perilous to health. Do you not
observe that these athletes sleep away their lives, and are liable to
most dangerous illnesses if they depart, in ever so slight a degree,
from their customary regimen?
Yes, I do.
Then, I said, a finer sort of training will be required for our warrior
athletes, who are to be like wakeful dogs, and to see and hear with
the utmost keenness; amid the many changes of water and also of
food, of summer heat and winter cold, which they will have to
endure when on a campaign, they must not be liable to break down
in health.
That is my view.
The really excellent gymnastic is twin sister of that simple music
which we were just now describing.
How so?

110
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Why, I conceive that there is a gymnastic which, like our music, is

simple and good; and especially the military gymnastic.
What do you mean?
My meaning may be learned from Homer; he, you know, feeds his
heroes at their feasts, when they are campaigning, on soldiers' fare;
they have no fish, although they are on the shores of the
Hellespont, and they are not allowed boiled meats but only roast,
which is the food most convenient for soldiers, requiring only that
they should light a fire, and not involving the trouble of carrying
about pots and pans.
True.
And I can hardly be mistaken in saying that sweet sauces are
nowhere mentioned in Homer. In proscribing them, however, he is
not singular; all professional athletes are well aware that a man who
is to be in good condition should take nothing of the kind.
Yes, he said; and knowing this, they are quite right in not taking
them.
Then you would not approve of Syracusan dinners, and the
refinements of Sicilian cookery?
I think not.
Nor, if a man is to be in condition, would you allow him to have a
Corinthian girl as his fair friend?
Certainly not.
Neither would you approve of the delicacies, as they are thought, of
Athenian confectionary?
Certainly not.
All such feeding and living may be rightly compared by us to
melody and song composed in the panharmonic style, and in all the
rhythms.
Exactly.
There complexity engendered licence, and here disease; whereas
simplicity in music was the parent of temperance in the soul; and
simplicity in gymnastic of health in the body.

111
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Most true, he said.

But when intemperance and diseases multiply in a State, halls of
justice and medicine are always being opened; and the arts of the
doctor and the lawyer give themselves airs, finding how keen is the
interest which not only the slaves but the freemen of a city take
about them.
Of course.
And yet what greater proof can there be of a bad and disgraceful
state of education than this, that not only artisans and the meaner
sort of people need the skill of first-rate physicians and judges, but
also those who would profess to have had a liberal education? Is it
not disgraceful, and a great sign of want of good-breeding, that a
man should have to go abroad for his law and physic because he
has none of his own at home, and must therefore surrender himself
into the hands of other men whom he makes lords and judges over
him?
Of all things, he said, the most disgraceful.
Would you say 'most,' I replied, when you consider that there is a
further stage of the evil in which a man is not only a life-long
litigant, passing all his days in the courts, either as plaintiff or
defendant, but is actually led by his bad taste to pride himself on his
litigiousness; he imagines that he is a master in dishonesty; able to
take every crooked turn, and wriggle into and out of every hole,
bending like a withy and getting out of the way of justice: and all for
what?—in order to gain small points not worth mentioning, he not
knowing that so to order his life as to be able to do without a
napping judge is a far higher and nobler sort of thing. Is not that
still more disgraceful?
Yes, he said, that is still more disgraceful.
Well, I said, and to require the help of medicine, not when a wound
has to be cured, or on occasion of an epidemic, but just because, by
indolence and a habit of life such as we have been describing, men
fill themselves with waters and winds, as if their bodies were a
marsh, compelling the ingenious sons of Asclepius to find more
names for diseases, such as flatulence and catarrh; is not this, too, a
disgrace?

112
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, he said, they do certainly give very strange and newfangled

names to diseases.
Yes, I said, and I do not believe that there were any such diseases in
the days of Asclepius; and this I infer from the circumstance that
the hero Eurypylus, after he has been wounded in Homer, drinks a
posset of Pramnian wine well besprinkled with barley-meal and
grated cheese, which are certainly inflammatory, and yet the sons of
Asclepius who were at the Trojan war do not blame the damsel who
gives him the drink, or rebuke Patroclus, who is treating his case.
Well, he said, that was surely an extraordinary drink to be given to a
person in his condition.
Not so extraordinary, I replied, if you bear in mind that in former
days, as is commonly said, before the time of Herodicus, the guild
of Asclepius did not practise our present system of medicine, which
may be said to educate diseases. But Herodicus, being a trainer, and
himself of a sickly constitution, by a combination of training and
doctoring found out a way of torturing first and chiefly himself, and
secondly the rest of the world.
How was that? he said.
By the invention of lingering death; for he had a mortal disease
which he perpetually tended, and as recovery was out of the
question, he passed his entire life as a valetudinarian; he could do
nothing but attend upon himself, and he was in constant torment
whenever he departed in anything from his usual regimen, and so
dying hard, by the help of science he struggled on to old age.
A rare reward of his skill!
Yes, I said; a reward which a man might fairly expect who never
understood that, if Asclepius did not instruct his descendants in
valetudinarian arts, the omission arose, not from ignorance or
inexperience of such a branch of medicine, but because he knew
that in all well-ordered states every individual has an occupation to
which he must attend, and has therefore no leisure to spend in
continually being ill. This we remark in the case of the artisan, but,
ludicrously enough, do not apply the same rule to people of the
richer sort.
How do you mean? he said.
113
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I mean this: When a carpenter is ill he asks the physician for a

rough and ready cure; an emetic or a purge or a cautery or the
knife,—these are his remedies. And if some one prescribes for him
a course of dietetics, and tells him that he must swathe and swaddle
his head, and all that sort of thing, he replies at once that he has no
time to be ill, and that he sees no good in a life which is spent in
nursing his disease to the neglect of his customary employment; and
therefore bidding good-bye to this sort of physician, he resumes his
ordinary habits, and either gets well and lives and does his business,
or, if his constitution fails, he dies and has no more trouble.
Yes, he said, and a man in his condition of life ought to use the art
of medicine thus far only.
Has he not, I said, an occupation; and what profit would there be in
his life if he were deprived of his occupation?
Quite true, he said.
But with the rich man this is otherwise; of him we do not say that
he has any specially appointed work which he must perform, if he
would live.
He is generally supposed to have nothing to do.
Then you never heard of the saying of Phocylides, that as soon as a
man has a livelihood he should practise virtue?
Nay, he said, I think that he had better begin somewhat sooner.
Let us not have a dispute with him about this, I said; but rather ask
ourselves: Is the practice of virtue obligatory on the rich man, or
can he live without it? And if obligatory on him, then let us raise a
further question, whether this dieting of disorders, which is an
impediment to the application of the mind in carpentering and the
mechanical arts, does not equally stand in the way of the sentiment
of Phocylides?
Of that, he replied, there can be no doubt; such excessive care of
the body, when carried beyond the rules of gymnastic, is most
inimical to the practice of virtue.
Yes, indeed, I replied, and equally incompatible with the
management of a house, an army, or an office of state; and, what is
most important of all, irreconcileable with any kind of study or

114
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

thought or self-reflection—there is a constant suspicion that

headache and giddiness are to be ascribed to philosophy, and hence
all practising or making trial of virtue in the higher sense is
absolutely stopped; for a man is always fancying that he is being
made ill, and is in constant anxiety about the state of his body.
Yes, likely enough.
And therefore our politic Asclepius may be supposed to have
exhibited the power of his art only to persons who, being generally
of healthy constitution and habits of life, had a definite ailment;
such as these he cured by purges and operations, and bade them
live as usual, herein consulting the interests of the State; but bodies
which disease had penetrated through and through he would not
have attempted to cure by gradual processes of evacuation and
infusion: he did not want to lengthen out good-for-nothing lives, or
to have weak fathers begetting weaker sons;—if a man was not able
to live in the ordinary way he had no business to cure him; for such
a cure would have been of no use either to himself, or to the State.
Then, he said, you regard Asclepius as a statesman.
Clearly; and his character is further illustrated by his sons. Note that
they were heroes in the days of old and practised the medicines of
which I am speaking at the siege of Troy: You will remember how,
when Pandarus wounded Menelaus, they
'Sucked the blood out of the wound, and sprinkled soothing
remedies,'
but they never prescribed what the patient was afterwards to eat or
drink in the case of Menelaus, any more than in the case of
Eurypylus; the remedies, as they conceived, were enough to heal
any man who before he was wounded was healthy and regular in his
habits; and even though he did happen to drink a posset of
Pramnian wine, he might get well all the same. But they would have
nothing to do with unhealthy and intemperate subjects, whose lives
were of no use either to themselves or others; the art of medicine
was not designed for their good, and though they were as rich as
Midas, the sons of Asclepius would have declined to attend them.
They were very acute persons, those sons of Asclepius.

115
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Naturally so, I replied. Nevertheless, the tragedians and Pindar

disobeying our behests, although they acknowledge that Asclepius
was the son of Apollo, say also that he was bribed into healing a
rich man who was at the point of death, and for this reason he was
struck by lightning. But we, in accordance with the principle already
affirmed by us, will not believe them when they tell us both;—if he
was the son of a god, we maintain that he was not avaricious; or, if
he was avaricious, he was not the son of a god.
All that, Socrates, is excellent; but I should like to put a question to
you: Ought there not to be good physicians in a State, and are not
the best those who have treated the greatest number of
constitutions good and bad? and are not the best judges in like
manner those who are acquainted with all sorts of moral natures?
Yes, I said, I too would have good judges and good physicians. But
do you know whom I think good?
Will you tell me?
I will, if I can. Let me however note that in the same question you
join two things which are not the same.
How so? he asked.
Why, I said, you join physicians and judges. Now the most skilful
physicians are those who, from their youth upwards, have
combined with the knowledge of their art the greatest experience of
disease; they had better not be robust in health, and should have
had all manner of diseases in their own persons. For the body, as I
conceive, is not the instrument with which they cure the body; in
that case we could not allow them ever to be or to have been sickly;
but they cure the body with the mind, and the mind which has
become and is sick can cure nothing.
That is very true, he said.
But with the judge it is otherwise; since he governs mind by mind;
he ought not therefore to have been trained among vicious minds,
and to have associated with them from youth upwards, and to have
gone through the whole calendar of crime, only in order that he
may quickly infer the crimes of others as he might their bodily
diseases from his own self-consciousness; the honourable mind
which is to form a healthy judgment should have had no experience
116
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

or contamination of evil habits when young. And this is the reason

why in youth good men often appear to be simple, and are easily
practised upon by the dishonest, because they have no examples of
what evil is in their own souls.
Yes, he said, they are far too apt to be deceived.
Therefore, I said, the judge should not be young; he should have
learned to know evil, not from his own soul, but from late and long
observation of the nature of evil in others: knowledge should be his
guide, not personal experience.
Yes, he said, that is the ideal of a judge.
Yes, I replied, and he will be a good man (which is my answer to
your question); for he is good who has a good soul. But the cunning
and suspicious nature of which we spoke,—he who has committed
many crimes, and fancies himself to be a master in wickedness,
when he is amongst his fellows, is wonderful in the precautions
which he takes, because he judges of them by himself: but when he
gets into the company of men of virtue, who have the experience of
age, he appears to be a fool again, owing to his unseasonable
suspicions; he cannot recognise an honest man, because he has no
pattern of honesty in himself; at the same time, as the bad are more
numerous than the good, and he meets with them oftener, he thinks
himself, and is by others thought to be, rather wise than foolish.
Most true, he said.
Then the good and wise judge whom we are seeking is not this
man, but the other; for vice cannot know virtue too, but a virtuous
nature, educated by time, will acquire a knowledge both of virtue
and vice: the virtuous, and not the vicious, man has wisdom—in my
opinion.
And in mine also.
This is the sort of medicine, and this is the sort of law, which you
will sanction in your state. They will minister to better natures,
giving health both of soul and of body; but those who are diseased
in their bodies they will leave to die, and the corrupt and incurable
souls they will put an end to themselves.
That is clearly the best thing both for the patients and for the State.

117
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And thus our youth, having been educated only in that simple
music which, as we said, inspires temperance, will be reluctant to go
to law.
Clearly.
And the musician, who, keeping to the same track, is content to
practise the simple gymnastic, will have nothing to do with
medicine unless in some extreme case.
That I quite believe.
The very exercises and tolls which he undergoes are intended to
stimulate the spirited element of his nature, and not to increase his
strength; he will not, like common athletes, use exercise and
regimen to develope his muscles.
Very right, he said.
Neither are the two arts of music and gymnastic really designed, as
is often supposed, the one for the training of the soul, the other for
the training of the body.
What then is the real object of them?
I believe, I said, that the teachers of both have in view chiefly the
improvement of the soul.
How can that be? he asked.
Did you never observe, I said, the effect on the mind itself of
exclusive devotion to gymnastic, or the opposite effect of an
exclusive devotion to music?
In what way shown? he said.
The one producing a temper of hardness and ferocity, the other of
softness and effeminacy, I replied.
Yes, he said, I am quite aware that the mere athlete becomes too
much of a savage, and that the mere musician is melted and
softened beyond what is good for him.
Yet surely, I said, this ferocity only comes from spirit, which, if
rightly educated, would give courage, but, if too much intensified, is
liable to become hard and brutal.
That I quite think.
118
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

On the other hand the philosopher will have the quality of

gentleness. And this also, when too much indulged, will turn to
softness, but, if educated rightly, will be gentle and moderate.
True.
And in our opinion the guardians ought to have both these
qualities?
Assuredly.
And both should be in harmony?
Beyond question.
And the harmonious soul is both temperate and courageous?
Yes.
And the inharmonious is cowardly and boorish?
Very true.
And, when a man allows music to play upon him and to pour into
his soul through the funnel of his ears those sweet and soft and
melancholy airs of which we were just now speaking, and his whole
life is passed in warbling and the delights of song; in the first stage
of the process the passion or spirit which is in him is tempered like
iron, and made useful, instead of brittle and useless. But, if he
carries on the softening and soothing process, in the next stage he
begins to melt and waste, until he has wasted away his spirit and cut
out the sinews of his soul; and he becomes a feeble warrior.
Very true.
If the element of spirit is naturally weak in him the change is
speedily accomplished, but if he have a good deal, then the power
of music weakening the spirit renders him excitable;—on the least
provocation he flames up at once, and is speedily extinguished;
instead of having spirit he grows irritable and passionate and is
quite impracticable.
Exactly.
And so in gymnastics, if a man takes violent exercise and is a great
feeder, and the reverse of a great student of music and philosophy,

119
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

at first the high condition of his body fills him with pride and spirit,
and he becomes twice the man that he was.
Certainly.
And what happens? if he do nothing else, and holds no converse
with the Muses, does not even that intelligence which there may be
in him, having no taste of any sort of learning or enquiry or thought
or culture, grow feeble and dull and blind, his mind never waking
up or receiving nourishment, and his senses not being purged of
their mists?
True, he said.
And he ends by becoming a hater of philosophy, uncivilized, never
using the weapon of persuasion,—he is like a wild beast, all violence
and fierceness, and knows no other way of dealing; and he lives in
all ignorance and evil conditions, and has no sense of propriety and
grace.
That is quite true, he said.
And as there are two principles of human nature, one the spirited
and the other the philosophical, some God, as I should say, has
given mankind two arts answering to them (and only indirectly to
the soul and body), in order that these two principles (like the
strings of an instrument) may be relaxed or drawn tighter until they
are duly harmonized.
That appears to be the intention.
And he who mingles music with gymnastic in the fairest
proportions, and best attempers them to the soul, may be rightly
called the true musician and harmonist in a far higher sense than the
tuner of the strings.
You are quite right, Socrates.
And such a presiding genius will be always required in our State if
the government is to last.
Yes, he will be absolutely necessary.
Such, then, are our principles of nurture and education: Where
would be the use of going into further details about the dances of
our citizens, or about their hunting and coursing, their gymnastic

120
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

and equestrian contests? For these all follow the general principle,
and having found that, we shall have no difficulty in discovering
them.
I dare say that there will be no difficulty.
Very good, I said; then what is the next question? Must we not ask
who are to be rulers and who subjects?
Certainly.
There can be no doubt that the elder must rule the younger.
Clearly.
And that the best of these must rule.
That is also clear.
Now, are not the best husbandmen those who are most devoted to
husbandry?
Yes.
And as we are to have the best of guardians for our city, must they
not be those who have most the character of guardians?
Yes.
And to this end they ought to be wise and efficient, and to have a
special care of the State?
True.
And a man will be most likely to care about that which he loves?
To be sure.
And he will be most likely to love that which he regards as having
the same interests with himself, and that of which the good or evil
fortune is supposed by him at any time most to affect his own?
Very true, he replied.
Then there must be a selection. Let us note among the guardians
those who in their whole life show the greatest eagerness to do
what is for the good of their country, and the greatest repugnance
to do what is against her interests.
Those are the right men.

121
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And they will have to be watched at every age, in order that we may
see whether they preserve their resolution, and never, under the
influence either of force or enchantment, forget or cast off their
sense of duty to the State.
How cast off? he said.
I will explain to you, I replied. A resolution may go out of a man's
mind either with his will or against his will; with his will when he
gets rid of a falsehood and learns better, against his will whenever
he is deprived of a truth.
I understand, he said, the willing loss of a resolution; the meaning
of the unwilling I have yet to learn.
Why, I said, do you not see that men are unwillingly deprived of
good, and willingly of evil? Is not to have lost the truth an evil, and
to possess the truth a good? and you would agree that to conceive
things as they are is to possess the truth?
Yes, he replied; I agree with you in thinking that mankind are
deprived of truth against their will.
And is not this involuntary deprivation caused either by theft, or
force, or enchantment?
Still, he replied, I do not understand you.
I fear that I must have been talking darkly, like the tragedians. I only
mean that some men are changed by persuasion and that others
forget; argument steals away the hearts of one class, and time of the
other; and this I call theft. Now you understand me?
Yes.
Those again who are forced, are those whom the violence of some
pain or grief compels to change their opinion.
I understand, he said, and you are quite right.
And you would also acknowledge that the enchanted are those who
change their minds either under the softer influence of pleasure, or
the sterner influence of fear?
Yes, he said; everything that deceives may be said to enchant.

122
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Therefore, as I was just now saying, we must enquire who are the
best guardians of their own conviction that what they think the
interest of the State is to be the rule of their lives. We must watch
them from their youth upwards, and make them perform actions in
which they are most likely to forget or to be deceived, and he who
remembers and is not deceived is to be selected, and he who fails in
the trial is to be rejected. That will be the way?
Yes.
And there should also be toils and pains and conflicts prescribed
for them, in which they will be made to give further proof of the
same qualities.
Very right, he replied.
And then, I said, we must try them with enchantments—that is the
third sort of test—and see what will be their behaviour: like those
who take colts amid noise and tumult to see if they are of a timid
nature, so must we take our youth amid terrors of some kind, and
again pass them into pleasures, and prove them more thoroughly
than gold is proved in the furnace, that we may discover whether
they are armed against all enchantments, and of a noble bearing
always, good guardians of themselves and of the music which they
have learned, and retaining under all circumstances a rhythmical and
harmonious nature, such as will be most serviceable to the
individual and to the State. And he who at every age, as boy and
youth and in mature life, has come out of the trial victorious and
pure, shall be appointed a ruler and guardian of the State; he shall
be honoured in life and death, and shall receive sepulture and other
memorials of honour, the greatest that we have to give. But him
who fails, we must reject. I am inclined to think that this is the sort
of way in which our rulers and guardians should be chosen and
appointed. I speak generally, and not with any pretension to
exactness.
And, speaking generally, I agree with you, he said.
And perhaps the word 'guardian' in the fullest sense ought to be
applied to this higher class only who preserve us against foreign
enemies and maintain peace among our citizens at home, that the
one may not have the will, or the others the power, to harm us. The

123
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

young men whom we before called guardians may be more properly

designated auxiliaries and supporters of the principles of the rulers.
I agree with you, he said.
How then may we devise one of those needful falsehoods of which
we lately spoke—just one royal lie which may deceive the rulers, if
that be possible, and at any rate the rest of the city?
What sort of lie? he said.
Nothing new, I replied; only an old Phoenician tale (Laws) of what
has often occurred before now in other places, (as the poets say,
and have made the world believe,) though not in our time, and I do
not know whether such an event could ever happen again, or could
now even be made probable, if it did.
How your words seem to hesitate on your lips!
You will not wonder, I replied, at my hesitation when you have
heard.
Speak, he said, and fear not.
Well then, I will speak, although I really know not how to look you
in the face, or in what words to utter the audacious fiction, which I
propose to communicate gradually, first to the rulers, then to the
soldiers, and lastly to the people. They are to be told that their
youth was a dream, and the education and training which they
received from us, an appearance only; in reality during all that time
they were being formed and fed in the womb of the earth, where
they themselves and their arms and appurtenances were
manufactured; when they were completed, the earth, their mother,
sent them up; and so, their country being their mother and also
their nurse, they are bound to advise for her good, and to defend
her against attacks, and her citizens they are to regard as children of
the earth and their own brothers.
You had good reason, he said, to be ashamed of the lie which you
were going to tell.
True, I replied, but there is more coming; I have only told you half.
Citizens, we shall say to them in our tale, you are brothers, yet God
has framed you differently. Some of you have the power of
command, and in the composition of these he has mingled gold,

124
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

wherefore also they have the greatest honour; others he has made
of silver, to be auxiliaries; others again who are to be husbandmen
and craftsmen he has composed of brass and iron; and the species
will generally be preserved in the children. But as all are of the same
original stock, a golden parent will sometimes have a silver son, or a
silver parent a golden son. And God proclaims as a first principle to
the rulers, and above all else, that there is nothing which they
should so anxiously guard, or of which they are to be such good
guardians, as of the purity of the race. They should observe what
elements mingle in their offspring; for if the son of a golden or
silver parent has an admixture of brass and iron, then nature orders
a transposition of ranks, and the eye of the ruler must not be pitiful
towards the child because he has to descend in the scale and
become a husbandman or artisan, just as there may be sons of
artisans who having an admixture of gold or silver in them are
raised to honour, and become guardians or auxiliaries. For an oracle
says that when a man of brass or iron guards the State, it will be
destroyed. Such is the tale; is there any possibility of making our
citizens believe in it?
Not in the present generation, he replied; there is no way of
accomplishing this; but their sons may be made to believe in the
tale, and their sons' sons, and posterity after them.
I see the difficulty, I replied; yet the fostering of such a belief will
make them care more for the city and for one another. Enough,
however, of the fiction, which may now fly abroad upon the wings
of rumour, while we arm our earth-born heroes, and lead them
forth under the command of their rulers. Let them look round and
select a spot whence they can best suppress insurrection, if any
prove refractory within, and also defend themselves against
enemies, who like wolves may come down on the fold from
without; there let them encamp, and when they have encamped, let
them sacrifice to the proper Gods and prepare their dwellings.
Just so, he said.
And their dwellings must be such as will shield them against the
cold of winter and the heat of summer.
I suppose that you mean houses, he replied.

125
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, I said; but they must be the houses of soldiers, and not of
shop-keepers.
What is the difference? he said.
That I will endeavour to explain, I replied. To keep watch-dogs,
who, from want of discipline or hunger, or some evil habit or other,
would turn upon the sheep and worry them, and behave not like
dogs but wolves, would be a foul and monstrous thing in a
shepherd?
Truly monstrous, he said.
And therefore every care must be taken that our auxiliaries, being
stronger than our citizens, may not grow to be too much for them
and become savage tyrants instead of friends and allies?
Yes, great care should be taken.
And would not a really good education furnish the best safeguard?
But they are well-educated already, he replied.
I cannot be so confident, my dear Glaucon, I said; I am much more
certain that they ought to be, and that true education, whatever that
may be, will have the greatest tendency to civilize and humanize
them in their relations to one another, and to those who are under
their protection.
Very true, he replied.
And not only their education, but their habitations, and all that
belongs to them, should be such as will neither impair their virtue
as guardians, nor tempt them to prey upon the other citizens. Any
man of sense must acknowledge that.
He must.
Then now let us consider what will be their way of life, if they are to
realize our idea of them. In the first place, none of them should
have any property of his own beyond what is absolutely necessary;
neither should they have a private house or store closed against any
one who has a mind to enter; their provisions should be only such
as are required by trained warriors, who are men of temperance and
courage; they should agree to receive from the citizens a fixed rate
of pay, enough to meet the expenses of the year and no more; and

126
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

they will go to mess and live together like soldiers in a camp. Gold
and silver we will tell them that they have from God; the diviner
metal is within them, and they have therefore no need of the dross
which is current among men, and ought not to pollute the divine by
any such earthly admixture; for that commoner metal has been the
source of many unholy deeds, but their own is undefiled. And they
alone of all the citizens may not touch or handle silver or gold, or
be under the same roof with them, or wear them, or drink from
them. And this will be their salvation, and they will be the saviours
of the State. But should they ever acquire homes or lands or
moneys of their own, they will become housekeepers and
husbandmen instead of guardians, enemies and tyrants instead of
allies of the other citizens; hating and being hated, plotting and
being plotted against, they will pass their whole life in much greater
terror of internal than of external enemies, and the hour of ruin,
both to themselves and to the rest of the State, will be at hand. For
all which reasons may we not say that thus shall our State be
ordered, and that these shall be the regulations appointed by us for
guardians concerning their houses and all other matters?
Yes, said Glaucon.

BOOK IV.
Here Adeimantus interposed a question: How would you answer,
Socrates, said he, if a person were to say that you are making these
people miserable, and that they are the cause of their own
unhappiness; the city in fact belongs to them, but they are none the
better for it; whereas other men acquire lands, and build large and
handsome houses, and have everything handsome about them,
offering sacrifices to the gods on their own account, and practising
hospitality; moreover, as you were saying just now, they have gold
and silver, and all that is usual among the favourites of fortune; but
our poor citizens are no better than mercenaries who are quartered
in the city and are always mounting guard?
Yes, I said; and you may add that they are only fed, and not paid in
addition to their food, like other men; and therefore they cannot, if
they would, take a journey of pleasure; they have no money to
spend on a mistress or any other luxurious fancy, which, as the

127
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

world goes, is thought to be happiness; and many other accusations

of the same nature might be added.
But, said he, let us suppose all this to be included in the charge.
You mean to ask, I said, what will be our answer?
Yes.
If we proceed along the old path, my belief, I said, is that we shall
find the answer. And our answer will be that, even as they are, our
guardians may very likely be the happiest of men; but that our aim
in founding the State was not the disproportionate happiness of any
one class, but the greatest happiness of the whole; we thought that
in a State which is ordered with a view to the good of the whole we
should be most likely to find justice, and in the ill-ordered State
injustice: and, having found them, we might then decide which of
the two is the happier. At present, I take it, we are fashioning the
happy State, not piecemeal, or with a view of making a few happy
citizens, but as a whole; and by-and-by we will proceed to view the
opposite kind of State. Suppose that we were painting a statue, and
some one came up to us and said, Why do you not put the most
beautiful colours on the most beautiful parts of the body—the eyes
ought to be purple, but you have made them black—to him we
might fairly answer, Sir, you would not surely have us beautify the
eyes to such a degree that they are no longer eyes; consider rather
whether, by giving this and the other features their due proportion,
we make the whole beautiful. And so I say to you, do not compel us
to assign to the guardians a sort of happiness which will make them
anything but guardians; for we too can clothe our husbandmen in
royal apparel, and set crowns of gold on their heads, and bid them
till the ground as much as they like, and no more. Our potters also
might be allowed to repose on couches, and feast by the fireside,
passing round the winecup, while their wheel is conveniently at
hand, and working at pottery only as much as they like; in this way
we might make every class happy—and then, as you imagine, the
whole State would be happy. But do not put this idea into our
heads; for, if we listen to you, the husbandman will be no longer a
husbandman, the potter will cease to be a potter, and no one will
have the character of any distinct class in the State. Now this is not
of much consequence where the corruption of society, and
pretension to be what you are not, is confined to cobblers; but
128
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

when the guardians of the laws and of the government are only
seeming and not real guardians, then see how they turn the State
upside down; and on the other hand they alone have the power of
giving order and happiness to the State. We mean our guardians to
be true saviours and not the destroyers of the State, whereas our
opponent is thinking of peasants at a festival, who are enjoying a
life of revelry, not of citizens who are doing their duty to the State.
But, if so, we mean different things, and he is speaking of
something which is not a State. And therefore we must consider
whether in appointing our guardians we would look to their greatest
happiness individually, or whether this principle of happiness does
not rather reside in the State as a whole. But if the latter be the
truth, then the guardians and auxiliaries, and all others equally with
them, must be compelled or induced to do their own work in the
best way. And thus the whole State will grow up in a noble order,
and the several classes will receive the proportion of happiness
which nature assigns to them.
I think that you are quite right.
I wonder whether you will agree with another remark which occurs
to me.
What may that be?
There seem to be two causes of the deterioration of the arts.
What are they?
Wealth, I said, and poverty.
How do they act?
The process is as follows: When a potter becomes rich, will he,
think you, any longer take the same pains with his art?
Certainly not.
He will grow more and more indolent and careless?
Very true.
And the result will be that he becomes a worse potter?
Yes; he greatly deteriorates.

129
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

But, on the other hand, if he has no money, and cannot provide

himself with tools or instruments, he will not work equally well
himself, nor will he teach his sons or apprentices to work equally
well.
Certainly not.
Then, under the influence either of poverty or of wealth, workmen
and their work are equally liable to degenerate?
That is evident.
Here, then, is a discovery of new evils, I said, against which the
guardians will have to watch, or they will creep into the city
unobserved.
What evils?
Wealth, I said, and poverty; the one is the parent of luxury and
indolence, and the other of meanness and viciousness, and both of
discontent.
That is very true, he replied; but still I should like to know, Socrates,
how our city will be able to go to war, especially against an enemy
who is rich and powerful, if deprived of the sinews of war.
There would certainly be a difficulty, I replied, in going to war with
one such enemy; but there is no difficulty where there are two of
them.
How so? he asked.
In the first place, I said, if we have to fight, our side will be trained
warriors fighting against an army of rich men.
That is true, he said.
And do you not suppose, Adeimantus, that a single boxer who was
perfect in his art would easily be a match for two stout and well-to-
do gentlemen who were not boxers?
Hardly, if they came upon him at once.
What, now, I said, if he were able to run away and then turn and
strike at the one who first came up? And supposing he were to do
this several times under the heat of a scorching sun, might he not,
being an expert, overturn more than one stout personage?

130
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Certainly, he said, there would be nothing wonderful in that.

And yet rich men probably have a greater superiority in the science
and practise of boxing than they have in military qualities.
Likely enough.
Then we may assume that our athletes will be able to fight with two
or three times their own number?
I agree with you, for I think you right.
And suppose that, before engaging, our citizens send an embassy to
one of the two cities, telling them what is the truth: Silver and gold
we neither have nor are permitted to have, but you may; do you
therefore come and help us in war, and take the spoils of the other
city: Who, on hearing these words, would choose to fight against
lean wiry dogs, rather than, with the dogs on their side, against fat
and tender sheep?
That is not likely; and yet there might be a danger to the poor State
if the wealth of many States were to be gathered into one.
But how simple of you to use the term State at all of any but our
own!
Why so?
You ought to speak of other States in the plural number; not one of
them is a city, but many cities, as they say in the game. For indeed
any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of
the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another;
and in either there are many smaller divisions, and you would be
altogether beside the mark if you treated them all as a single State.
But if you deal with them as many, and give the wealth or power or
persons of the one to the others, you will always have a great many
friends and not many enemies. And your State, while the wise order
which has now been prescribed continues to prevail in her, will be
the greatest of States, I do not mean to say in reputation or
appearance, but in deed and truth, though she number not more
than a thousand defenders. A single State which is her equal you
will hardly find, either among Hellenes or barbarians, though many
that appear to be as great and many times greater.
That is most true, he said.

131
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And what, I said, will be the best limit for our rulers to fix when
they are considering the size of the State and the amount of
territory which they are to include, and beyond which they will not
go?
What limit would you propose?
I would allow the State to increase so far as is consistent with unity;
that, I think, is the proper limit.
Very good, he said.
Here then, I said, is another order which will have to be conveyed
to our guardians: Let our city be accounted neither large nor small,
but one and self-sufficing.
And surely, said he, this is not a very severe order which we impose
upon them.
And the other, said I, of which we were speaking before is lighter
still,—I mean the duty of degrading the offspring of the guardians
when inferior, and of elevating into the rank of guardians the
offspring of the lower classes, when naturally superior. The
intention was, that, in the case of the citizens generally, each
individual should be put to the use for which nature intended him,
one to one work, and then every man would do his own business,
and be one and not many; and so the whole city would be one and
not many.
Yes, he said; that is not so difficult.
The regulations which we are prescribing, my good Adeimantus, are
not, as might be supposed, a number of great principles, but trifles
all, if care be taken, as the saying is, of the one great thing,—a thing,
however, which I would rather call, not great, but sufficient for our
purpose.
What may that be? he asked.
Education, I said, and nurture: If our citizens are well educated, and
grow into sensible men, they will easily see their way through all
these, as well as other matters which I omit; such, for example, as
marriage, the possession of women and the procreation of children,
which will all follow the general principle that friends have all things
in common, as the proverb says.

132
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

That will be the best way of settling them.

Also, I said, the State, if once started well, moves with accumulating
force like a wheel. For good nurture and education implant good
constitutions, and these good constitutions taking root in a good
education improve more and more, and this improvement affects
the breed in man as in other animals.
Very possibly, he said.
Then to sum up: This is the point to which, above all, the attention
of our rulers should be directed,—that music and gymnastic be
preserved in their original form, and no innovation made. They
must do their utmost to maintain them intact. And when any one
says that mankind most regard
'The newest song which the singers have,'
they will be afraid that he may be praising, not new songs, but a
new kind of song; and this ought not to be praised, or conceived to
be the meaning of the poet; for any musical innovation is full of
danger to the whole State, and ought to be prohibited. So Damon
tells me, and I can quite believe him;—he says that when modes of
music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with
them.
Yes, said Adeimantus; and you may add my suffrage to Damon's
and your own.
Then, I said, our guardians must lay the foundations of their
fortress in music?
Yes, he said; the lawlessness of which you speak too easily steals in.
Yes, I replied, in the form of amusement; and at first sight it
appears harmless.
Why, yes, he said, and there is no harm; were it not that little by
little this spirit of licence, finding a home, imperceptibly penetrates
into manners and customs; whence, issuing with greater force, it
invades contracts between man and man, and from contracts goes
on to laws and constitutions, in utter recklessness, ending at last,
Socrates, by an overthrow of all rights, private as well as public.
Is that true? I said.

133
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

That is my belief, he replied.

Then, as I was saying, our youth should be trained from the first in
a stricter system, for if amusements become lawless, and the youths
themselves become lawless, they can never grow up into well-
conducted and virtuous citizens.
Very true, he said.
And when they have made a good beginning in play, and by the
help of music have gained the habit of good order, then this habit
of order, in a manner how unlike the lawless play of the others! will
accompany them in all their actions and be a principle of growth to
them, and if there be any fallen places in the State will raise them up
again.
Very true, he said.
Thus educated, they will invent for themselves any lesser rules
which their predecessors have altogether neglected.
What do you mean?
I mean such things as these:—when the young are to be silent
before their elders; how they are to show respect to them by
standing and making them sit; what honour is due to parents; what
garments or shoes are to be worn; the mode of dressing the hair;
deportment and manners in general. You would agree with me?
Yes.
But there is, I think, small wisdom in legislating about such
matters,—I doubt if it is ever done; nor are any precise written
enactments about them likely to be lasting.
Impossible.
It would seem, Adeimantus, that the direction in which education
starts a man, will determine his future life. Does not like always
attract like?
To be sure.
Until some one rare and grand result is reached which may be good,
and may be the reverse of good?
That is not to be denied.

134
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And for this reason, I said, I shall not attempt to legislate further
about them.
Naturally enough, he replied.
Well, and about the business of the agora, and the ordinary dealings
between man and man, or again about agreements with artisans;
about insult and injury, or the commencement of actions, and the
appointment of juries, what would you say? there may also arise
questions about any impositions and exactions of market and
harbour dues which may be required, and in general about the
regulations of markets, police, harbours, and the like. But, oh
heavens! shall we condescend to legislate on any of these
particulars?
I think, he said, that there is no need to impose laws about them on
good men; what regulations are necessary they will find out soon
enough for themselves.
Yes, I said, my friend, if God will only preserve to them the laws
which we have given them.
And without divine help, said Adeimantus, they will go on for ever
making and mending their laws and their lives in the hope of
attaining perfection.
You would compare them, I said, to those invalids who, having no
self-restraint, will not leave off their habits of intemperance?
Exactly.
Yes, I said; and what a delightful life they lead! they are always
doctoring and increasing and complicating their disorders, and
always fancying that they will be cured by any nostrum which
anybody advises them to try.
Such cases are very common, he said, with invalids of this sort.
Yes, I replied; and the charming thing is that they deem him their
worst enemy who tells them the truth, which is simply that, unless
they give up eating and drinking and wenching and idling, neither
drug nor cautery nor spell nor amulet nor any other remedy will
avail.
Charming! he replied. I see nothing charming in going into a
passion with a man who tells you what is right.
135
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

These gentlemen, I said, do not seem to be in your good graces.

Assuredly not.
Nor would you praise the behaviour of States which act like the
men whom I was just now describing. For are there not ill-ordered
States in which the citizens are forbidden under pain of death to
alter the constitution; and yet he who most sweetly courts those
who live under this regime and indulges them and fawns upon them
and is skilful in anticipating and gratifying their humours is held to
be a great and good statesman—do not these States resemble the
persons whom I was describing?
Yes, he said; the States are as bad as the men; and I am very far
from praising them.
But do you not admire, I said, the coolness and dexterity of these
ready ministers of political corruption?
Yes, he said, I do; but not of all of them, for there are some whom
the applause of the multitude has deluded into the belief that they
are really statesmen, and these are not much to be admired.
What do you mean? I said; you should have more feeling for them.
When a man cannot measure, and a great many others who cannot
measure declare that he is four cubits high, can he help believing
what they say?
Nay, he said, certainly not in that case.
Well, then, do not be angry with them; for are they not as good as a
play, trying their hand at paltry reforms such as I was describing;
they are always fancying that by legislation they will make an end of
frauds in contracts, and the other rascalities which I was
mentioning, not knowing that they are in reality cutting off the
heads of a hydra?
Yes, he said; that is just what they are doing.
I conceive, I said, that the true legislator will not trouble himself
with this class of enactments whether concerning laws or the
constitution either in an ill-ordered or in a well-ordered State; for in
the former they are quite useless, and in the latter there will be no
difficulty in devising them; and many of them will naturally flow out
of our previous regulations.

136
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

What, then, he said, is still remaining to us of the work of

legislation?
Nothing to us, I replied; but to Apollo, the God of Delphi, there
remains the ordering of the greatest and noblest and chiefest things
of all.
Which are they? he said.
The institution of temples and sacrifices, and the entire service of
gods, demigods, and heroes; also the ordering of the repositories of
the dead, and the rites which have to be observed by him who
would propitiate the inhabitants of the world below. These are
matters of which we are ignorant ourselves, and as founders of a
city we should be unwise in trusting them to any interpreter but our
ancestral deity. He is the god who sits in the centre, on the navel of
the earth, and he is the interpreter of religion to all mankind.
You are right, and we will do as you propose.
But where, amid all this, is justice? son of Ariston, tell me where.
Now that our city has been made habitable, light a candle and
search, and get your brother and Polemarchus and the rest of our
friends to help, and let us see where in it we can discover justice and
where injustice, and in what they differ from one another, and
which of them the man who would be happy should have for his
portion, whether seen or unseen by gods and men.
Nonsense, said Glaucon: did you not promise to search yourself,
saying that for you not to help justice in her need would be an
impiety?
I do not deny that I said so, and as you remind me, I will be as good
as my word; but you must join.
We will, he replied.
Well, then, I hope to make the discovery in this way: I mean to
begin with the assumption that our State, if rightly ordered, is
perfect.
That is most certain.
And being perfect, is therefore wise and valiant and temperate and
just.

137
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

That is likewise clear.

And whichever of these qualities we find in the State, the one which
is not found will be the residue?
Very good.
If there were four things, and we were searching for one of them,
wherever it might be, the one sought for might be known to us
from the first, and there would be no further trouble; or we might
know the other three first, and then the fourth would clearly be the
one left.
Very true, he said.
And is not a similar method to be pursued about the virtues, which
are also four in number?
Clearly.
First among the virtues found in the State, wisdom comes into
view, and in this I detect a certain peculiarity.
What is that?
The State which we have been describing is said to be wise as being
good in counsel?
Very true.
And good counsel is clearly a kind of knowledge, for not by
ignorance, but by knowledge, do men counsel well?
Clearly.
And the kinds of knowledge in a State are many and diverse?
Of course.
There is the knowledge of the carpenter; but is that the sort of
knowledge which gives a city the title of wise and good in counsel?
Certainly not; that would only give a city the reputation of skill in
carpentering.
Then a city is not to be called wise because possessing a knowledge
which counsels for the best about wooden implements?
Certainly not.

138
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Nor by reason of a knowledge which advises about brazen pots, I

said, nor as possessing any other similar knowledge?
Not by reason of any of them, he said.
Nor yet by reason of a knowledge which cultivates the earth; that
would give the city the name of agricultural?
Yes.
Well, I said, and is there any knowledge in our recently-founded
State among any of the citizens which advises, not about any
particular thing in the State, but about the whole, and considers
how a State can best deal with itself and with other States?
There certainly is.
And what is this knowledge, and among whom is it found? I asked.
It is the knowledge of the guardians, he replied, and is found among
those whom we were just now describing as perfect guardians.
And what is the name which the city derives from the possession of
this sort of knowledge?
The name of good in counsel and truly wise.
And will there be in our city more of these true guardians or more
smiths?
The smiths, he replied, will be far more numerous.
Will not the guardians be the smallest of all the classes who receive
a name from the profession of some kind of knowledge?
Much the smallest.
And so by reason of the smallest part or class, and of the
knowledge which resides in this presiding and ruling part of itself,
the whole State, being thus constituted according to nature, will be
wise; and this, which has the only knowledge worthy to be called
wisdom, has been ordained by nature to be of all classes the least.
Most true.
Thus, then, I said, the nature and place in the State of one of the
four virtues has somehow or other been discovered.

139
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And, in my humble opinion, very satisfactorily discovered, he

replied.
Again, I said, there is no difficulty in seeing the nature of courage,
and in what part that quality resides which gives the name of
courageous to the State.
How do you mean?
Why, I said, every one who calls any State courageous or cowardly,
will be thinking of the part which fights and goes out to war on the
State's behalf.
No one, he replied, would ever think of any other.
The rest of the citizens may be courageous or may be cowardly, but
their courage or cowardice will not, as I conceive, have the effect of
making the city either the one or the other.
Certainly not.
The city will be courageous in virtue of a portion of herself which
preserves under all circumstances that opinion about the nature of
things to be feared and not to be feared in which our legislator
educated them; and this is what you term courage.
I should like to hear what you are saying once more, for I do not
think that I perfectly understand you.
I mean that courage is a kind of salvation.
Salvation of what?
Of the opinion respecting things to be feared, what they are and of
what nature, which the law implants through education; and I mean
by the words 'under all circumstances' to intimate that in pleasure or
in pain, or under the influence of desire or fear, a man preserves,
and does not lose this opinion. Shall I give you an illustration?
If you please.
You know, I said, that dyers, when they want to dye wool for
making the true sea-purple, begin by selecting their white colour
first; this they prepare and dress with much care and pains, in order
that the white ground may take the purple hue in full perfection.
The dyeing then proceeds; and whatever is dyed in this manner
becomes a fast colour, and no washing either with lyes or without
140
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

them can take away the bloom. But, when the ground has not been
duly prepared, you will have noticed how poor is the look either of
purple or of any other colour.
Yes, he said; I know that they have a washed-out and ridiculous
appearance.
Then now, I said, you will understand what our object was in
selecting our soldiers, and educating them in music and gymnastic;
we were contriving influences which would prepare them to take
the dye of the laws in perfection, and the colour of their opinion
about dangers and of every other opinion was to be indelibly fixed
by their nurture and training, not to be washed away by such potent
lyes as pleasure—mightier agent far in washing the soul than any
soda or lye; or by sorrow, fear, and desire, the mightiest of all other
solvents. And this sort of universal saving power of true opinion in
conformity with law about real and false dangers I call and maintain
to be courage, unless you disagree.
But I agree, he replied; for I suppose that you mean to exclude mere
uninstructed courage, such as that of a wild beast or of a slave—
this, in your opinion, is not the courage which the law ordains, and
ought to have another name.
Most certainly.
Then I may infer courage to be such as you describe?
Why, yes, said I, you may, and if you add the words 'of a citizen,'
you will not be far wrong;—hereafter, if you like, we will carry the
examination further, but at present we are seeking not for courage
but justice; and for the purpose of our enquiry we have said
enough.
You are right, he replied.
Two virtues remain to be discovered in the State—first,
temperance, and then justice which is the end of our search.
Very true.
Now, can we find justice without troubling ourselves about
temperance?
I do not know how that can be accomplished, he said, nor do I
desire that justice should be brought to light and temperance lost
141
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

sight of; and therefore I wish that you would do me the favour of
considering temperance first.
Certainly, I replied, I should not be justified in refusing your
request.
Then consider, he said.
Yes, I replied; I will; and as far as I can at present see, the virtue of
temperance has more of the nature of harmony and symphony than
the preceding.
How so? he asked.
Temperance, I replied, is the ordering or controlling of certain
pleasures and desires; this is curiously enough implied in the saying
of 'a man being his own master;' and other traces of the same
notion may be found in language.
No doubt, he said.
There is something ridiculous in the expression 'master of himself;'
for the master is also the servant and the servant the master; and in
all these modes of speaking the same person is denoted.
Certainly.
The meaning is, I believe, that in the human soul there is a better
and also a worse principle; and when the better has the worse under
control, then a man is said to be master of himself; and this is a
term of praise: but when, owing to evil education or association, the
better principle, which is also the smaller, is overwhelmed by the
greater mass of the worse—in this case he is blamed and is called
the slave of self and unprincipled.
Yes, there is reason in that.
And now, I said, look at our newly-created State, and there you will
find one of these two conditions realized; for the State, as you will
acknowledge, may be justly called master of itself, if the words
'temperance' and 'self-mastery' truly express the rule of the better
part over the worse.
Yes, he said, I see that what you say is true.
Let me further note that the manifold and complex pleasures and
desires and pains are generally found in children and women and
142
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

servants, and in the freemen so called who are of the lowest and
more numerous class.
Certainly, he said.
Whereas the simple and moderate desires which follow reason, and
are under the guidance of mind and true opinion, are to be found
only in a few, and those the best born and best educated.
Very true.
These two, as you may perceive, have a place in our State; and the
meaner desires of the many are held down by the virtuous desires
and wisdom of the few.
That I perceive, he said.
Then if there be any city which may be described as master of its
own pleasures and desires, and master of itself, ours may claim such
a designation?
Certainly, he replied.
It may also be called temperate, and for the same reasons?
Yes.
And if there be any State in which rulers and subjects will be agreed
as to the question who are to rule, that again will be our State?
Undoubtedly.
And the citizens being thus agreed among themselves, in which
class will temperance be found—in the rulers or in the subjects?
In both, as I should imagine, he replied.
Do you observe that we were not far wrong in our guess that
temperance was a sort of harmony?
Why so?
Why, because temperance is unlike courage and wisdom, each of
which resides in a part only, the one making the State wise and the
other valiant; not so temperance, which extends to the whole, and
runs through all the notes of the scale, and produces a harmony of
the weaker and the stronger and the middle class, whether you
suppose them to be stronger or weaker in wisdom or power or

143
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

numbers or wealth, or anything else. Most truly then may we deem

temperance to be the agreement of the naturally superior and
inferior, as to the right to rule of either, both in states and
individuals.
I entirely agree with you.
And so, I said, we may consider three out of the four virtues to
have been discovered in our State. The last of those qualities which
make a state virtuous must be justice, if we only knew what that
was.
The inference is obvious.
The time then has arrived, Glaucon, when, like huntsmen, we
should surround the cover, and look sharp that justice does not
steal away, and pass out of sight and escape us; for beyond a doubt
she is somewhere in this country: watch therefore and strive to
catch a sight of her, and if you see her first, let me know.
Would that I could! but you should regard me rather as a follower
who has just eyes enough to see what you show him—that is about
as much as I am good for.
Offer up a prayer with me and follow.
I will, but you must show me the way.
Here is no path, I said, and the wood is dark and perplexing; still we
must push on.
Let us push on.
Here I saw something: Halloo! I said, I begin to perceive a track,
and I believe that the quarry will not escape.
Good news, he said.
Truly, I said, we are stupid fellows.
Why so?
Why, my good sir, at the beginning of our enquiry, ages ago, there
was justice tumbling out at our feet, and we never saw her; nothing
could be more ridiculous. Like people who go about looking for
what they have in their hands—that was the way with us—we

144
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

looked not at what we were seeking, but at what was far off in the
distance; and therefore, I suppose, we missed her.
What do you mean?
I mean to say that in reality for a long time past we have been
talking of justice, and have failed to recognise her.
I grow impatient at the length of your exordium.
Well then, tell me, I said, whether I am right or not: You remember
the original principle which we were always laying down at the
foundation of the State, that one man should practise one thing
only, the thing to which his nature was best adapted;—now justice
is this principle or a part of it.
Yes, we often said that one man should do one thing only.
Further, we affirmed that justice was doing one's own business, and
not being a busybody; we said so again and again, and many others
have said the same to us.
Yes, we said so.
Then to do one's own business in a certain way may be assumed to
be justice. Can you tell me whence I derive this inference?
I cannot, but I should like to be told.
Because I think that this is the only virtue which remains in the
State when the other virtues of temperance and courage and
wisdom are abstracted; and, that this is the ultimate cause and
condition of the existence of all of them, and while remaining in
them is also their preservative; and we were saying that if the three
were discovered by us, justice would be the fourth or remaining
one.
That follows of necessity.
If we are asked to determine which of these four qualities by its
presence contributes most to the excellence of the State, whether
the agreement of rulers and subjects, or the preservation in the
soldiers of the opinion which the law ordains about the true nature
of dangers, or wisdom and watchfulness in the rulers, or whether
this other which I am mentioning, and which is found in children
and women, slave and freeman, artisan, ruler, subject,—the quality,

145
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I mean, of every one doing his own work, and not being a
busybody, would claim the palm—the question is not so easily
answered.
Certainly, he replied, there would be a difficulty in saying which.
Then the power of each individual in the State to do his own work
appears to compete with the other political virtues, wisdom,
temperance, courage.
Yes, he said.
And the virtue which enters into this competition is justice?
Exactly.
Let us look at the question from another point of view: Are not the
rulers in a State those to whom you would entrust the office of
determining suits at law?
Certainly.
And are suits decided on any other ground but that a man may
neither take what is another's, nor be deprived of what is his own?
Yes; that is their principle.
Which is a just principle?
Yes.
Then on this view also justice will be admitted to be the having and
doing what is a man's own, and belongs to him?
Very true.
Think, now, and say whether you agree with me or not. Suppose a
carpenter to be doing the business of a cobbler, or a cobbler of a
carpenter; and suppose them to exchange their implements or their
duties, or the same person to be doing the work of both, or
whatever be the change; do you think that any great harm would
result to the State?
Not much.
But when the cobbler or any other man whom nature designed to
be a trader, having his heart lifted up by wealth or strength or the
number of his followers, or any like advantage, attempts to force his

146
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

way into the class of warriors, or a warrior into that of legislators

and guardians, for which he is unfitted, and either to take the
implements or the duties of the other; or when one man is trader,
legislator, and warrior all in one, then I think you will agree with me
in saying that this interchange and this meddling of one with
another is the ruin of the State.
Most true.
Seeing then, I said, that there are three distinct classes, any
meddling of one with another, or the change of one into another, is
the greatest harm to the State, and may be most justly termed evil-
doing?
Precisely.
And the greatest degree of evil-doing to one's own city would be
termed by you injustice?
Certainly.
This then is injustice; and on the other hand when the trader, the
auxiliary, and the guardian each do their own business, that is
justice, and will make the city just.
I agree with you.
We will not, I said, be over-positive as yet; but if, on trial, this
conception of justice be verified in the individual as well as in the
State, there will be no longer any room for doubt; if it be not
verified, we must have a fresh enquiry. First let us complete the old
investigation, which we began, as you remember, under the
impression that, if we could previously examine justice on the larger
scale, there would be less difficulty in discerning her in the
individual. That larger example appeared to be the State, and
accordingly we constructed as good a one as we could, knowing
well that in the good State justice would be found. Let the discovery
which we made be now applied to the individual—if they agree, we
shall be satisfied; or, if there be a difference in the individual, we
will come back to the State and have another trial of the theory.
The friction of the two when rubbed together may possibly strike a
light in which justice will shine forth, and the vision which is then
revealed we will fix in our souls.
That will be in regular course; let us do as you say.
147
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

I proceeded to ask: When two things, a greater and less, are called
by the same name, are they like or unlike in so far as they are called
the same?
Like, he replied.
The just man then, if we regard the idea of justice only, will be like
the just State?
He will.
And a State was thought by us to be just when the three classes in
the State severally did their own business; and also thought to be
temperate and valiant and wise by reason of certain other affections
and qualities of these same classes?
True, he said.
And so of the individual; we may assume that he has the same three
principles in his own soul which are found in the State; and he may
be rightly described in the same terms, because he is affected in the
same manner?
Certainly, he said.
Once more then, O my friend, we have alighted upon an easy
question—whether the soul has these three principles or not?
An easy question! Nay, rather, Socrates, the proverb holds that hard
is the good.
Very true, I said; and I do not think that the method which we are
employing is at all adequate to the accurate solution of this
question; the true method is another and a longer one. Still we may
arrive at a solution not below the level of the previous enquiry.
May we not be satisfied with that? he said;—under the
circumstances, I am quite content.
I too, I replied, shall be extremely well satisfied.
Then faint not in pursuing the speculation, he said.
Must we not acknowledge, I said, that in each of us there are the
same principles and habits which there are in the State; and that
from the individual they pass into the State?—how else can they
come there? Take the quality of passion or spirit;—it would be

148
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

ridiculous to imagine that this quality, when found in States, is not

derived from the individuals who are supposed to possess it, e.g. the
Thracians, Scythians, and in general the northern nations; and the
same may be said of the love of knowledge, which is the special
characteristic of our part of the world, or of the love of money,
which may, with equal truth, be attributed to the Phoenicians and
Egyptians.
Exactly so, he said.
There is no difficulty in understanding this.
None whatever.
But the question is not quite so easy when we proceed to ask
whether these principles are three or one; whether, that is to say, we
learn with one part of our nature, are angry with another, and with a
third part desire the satisfaction of our natural appetites; or whether
the whole soul comes into play in each sort of action—to determine
that is the difficulty.
Yes, he said; there lies the difficulty.
Then let us now try and determine whether they are the same or
different.
How can we? he asked.
I replied as follows: The same thing clearly cannot act or be acted
upon in the same part or in relation to the same thing at the same
time, in contrary ways; and therefore whenever this contradiction
occurs in things apparently the same, we know that they are really
not the same, but different.
Good.
For example, I said, can the same thing be at rest and in motion at
the same time in the same part?
Impossible.
Still, I said, let us have a more precise statement of terms, lest we
should hereafter fall out by the way. Imagine the case of a man who
is standing and also moving his hands and his head, and suppose a
person to say that one and the same person is in motion and at rest
at the same moment—to such a mode of speech we should object,

149
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

and should rather say that one part of him is in motion while
another is at rest.
Very true.
And suppose the objector to refine still further, and to draw the
nice distinction that not only parts of tops, but whole tops, when
they spin round with their pegs fixed on the spot, are at rest and in
motion at the same time (and he may say the same of anything
which revolves in the same spot), his objection would not be
admitted by us, because in such cases things are not at rest and in
motion in the same parts of themselves; we should rather say that
they have both an axis and a circumference, and that the axis stands
still, for there is no deviation from the perpendicular; and that the
circumference goes round. But if, while revolving, the axis inclines
either to the right or left, forwards or backwards, then in no point
of view can they be at rest.
That is the correct mode of describing them, he replied.
Then none of these objections will confuse us, or incline us to
believe that the same thing at the same time, in the same part or in
relation to the same thing, can act or be acted upon in contrary
ways.
Certainly not, according to my way of thinking.
Yet, I said, that we may not be compelled to examine all such
objections, and prove at length that they are untrue, let us assume
their absurdity, and go forward on the understanding that hereafter,
if this assumption turn out to be untrue, all the consequences which
follow shall be withdrawn.
Yes, he said, that will be the best way.
Well, I said, would you not allow that assent and dissent, desire and
aversion, attraction and repulsion, are all of them opposites,
whether they are regarded as active or passive (for that makes no
difference in the fact of their opposition)?
Yes, he said, they are opposites.
Well, I said, and hunger and thirst, and the desires in general, and
again willing and wishing,—all these you would refer to the classes
already mentioned. You would say—would you not?—that the soul

150
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

of him who desires is seeking after the object of his desire; or that
he is drawing to himself the thing which he wishes to possess: or
again, when a person wants anything to be given him, his mind,
longing for the realization of his desire, intimates his wish to have it
by a nod of assent, as if he had been asked a question?
Very true.
And what would you say of unwillingness and dislike and the
absence of desire; should not these be referred to the opposite class
of repulsion and rejection?
Certainly.
Admitting this to be true of desire generally, let us suppose a
particular class of desires, and out of these we will select hunger and
thirst, as they are termed, which are the most obvious of them?
Let us take that class, he said.
The object of one is food, and of the other drink?
Yes.
And here comes the point: is not thirst the desire which the soul
has of drink, and of drink only; not of drink qualified by anything
else; for example, warm or cold, or much or little, or, in a word,
drink of any particular sort: but if the thirst be accompanied by
heat, then the desire is of cold drink; or, if accompanied by cold,
then of warm drink; or, if the thirst be excessive, then the drink
which is desired will be excessive; or, if not great, the quantity of
drink will also be small: but thirst pure and simple will desire drink
pure and simple, which is the natural satisfaction of thirst, as food is
of hunger?
Yes, he said; the simple desire is, as you say, in every case of the
simple object, and the qualified desire of the qualified object.
But here a confusion may arise; and I should wish to guard against
an opponent starting up and saying that no man desires drink only,
but good drink, or food only, but good food; for good is the
universal object of desire, and thirst being a desire, will necessarily
be thirst after good drink; and the same is true of every other desire.
Yes, he replied, the opponent might have something to say.

151
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Nevertheless I should still maintain, that of relatives some have a

quality attached to either term of the relation; others are simple and
have their correlatives simple.
I do not know what you mean.
Well, you know of course that the greater is relative to the less?
Certainly.
And the much greater to the much less?
Yes.
And the sometime greater to the sometime less, and the greater that
is to be to the less that is to be?
Certainly, he said.
And so of more and less, and of other correlative terms, such as the
double and the half, or again, the heavier and the lighter, the swifter
and the slower; and of hot and cold, and of any other relatives;—is
not this true of all of them?
Yes.
And does not the same principle hold in the sciences? The object of
science is knowledge (assuming that to be the true definition), but
the object of a particular science is a particular kind of knowledge; I
mean, for example, that the science of house-building is a kind of
knowledge which is defined and distinguished from other kinds and
is therefore termed architecture.
Certainly.
Because it has a particular quality which no other has?
Yes.
And it has this particular quality because it has an object of a
particular kind; and this is true of the other arts and sciences?
Yes.
Now, then, if I have made myself clear, you will understand my
original meaning in what I said about relatives. My meaning was,
that if one term of a relation is taken alone, the other is taken alone;
if one term is qualified, the other is also qualified. I do not mean to

152
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

say that relatives may not be disparate, or that the science of health
is healthy, or of disease necessarily diseased, or that the sciences of
good and evil are therefore good and evil; but only that, when the
term science is no longer used absolutely, but has a qualified object
which in this case is the nature of health and disease, it becomes
defined, and is hence called not merely science, but the science of
medicine.
I quite understand, and I think as you do.
Would you not say that thirst is one of these essentially relative
terms, having clearly a relation—
Yes, thirst is relative to drink.
And a certain kind of thirst is relative to a certain kind of drink; but
thirst taken alone is neither of much nor little, nor of good nor bad,
nor of any particular kind of drink, but of drink only?
Certainly.
Then the soul of the thirsty one, in so far as he is thirsty, desires
only drink; for this he yearns and tries to obtain it?
That is plain.
And if you suppose something which pulls a thirsty soul away from
drink, that must be different from the thirsty principle which draws
him like a beast to drink; for, as we were saying, the same thing
cannot at the same time with the same part of itself act in contrary
ways about the same.
Impossible.
No more than you can say that the hands of the archer push and
pull the bow at the same time, but what you say is that one hand
pushes and the other pulls.
Exactly so, he replied.
And might a man be thirsty, and yet unwilling to drink?
Yes, he said, it constantly happens.
And in such a case what is one to say? Would you not say that there
was something in the soul bidding a man to drink, and something

153
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

else forbidding him, which is other and stronger than the principle
which bids him?
I should say so.
And the forbidding principle is derived from reason, and that which
bids and attracts proceeds from passion and disease?
Clearly.
Then we may fairly assume that they are two, and that they differ
from one another; the one with which a man reasons, we may call
the rational principle of the soul, the other, with which he loves and
hungers and thirsts and feels the flutterings of any other desire, may
be termed the irrational or appetitive, the ally of sundry pleasures
and satisfactions?
Yes, he said, we may fairly assume them to be different.
Then let us finally determine that there are two principles existing in
the soul. And what of passion, or spirit? Is it a third, or akin to one
of the preceding?
I should be inclined to say—akin to desire.
Well, I said, there is a story which I remember to have heard, and in
which I put faith. The story is, that Leontius, the son of Aglaion,
coming up one day from the Piraeus, under the north wall on the
outside, observed some dead bodies lying on the ground at the
place of execution. He felt a desire to see them, and also a dread
and abhorrence of them; for a time he struggled and covered his
eyes, but at length the desire got the better of him; and forcing
them open, he ran up to the dead bodies, saying, Look, ye wretches,
take your fill of the fair sight.
I have heard the story myself, he said.
The moral of the tale is, that anger at times goes to war with desire,
as though they were two distinct things.
Yes; that is the meaning, he said.
And are there not many other cases in which we observe that when
a man's desires violently prevail over his reason, he reviles himself,
and is angry at the violence within him, and that in this struggle,
which is like the struggle of factions in a State, his spirit is on the

154
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

side of his reason;—but for the passionate or spirited element to

take part with the desires when reason decides that she should not
be opposed, is a sort of thing which I believe that you never
observed occurring in yourself, nor, as I should imagine, in any one
else?
Certainly not.
Suppose that a man thinks he has done a wrong to another, the
nobler he is the less able is he to feel indignant at any suffering,
such as hunger, or cold, or any other pain which the injured person
may inflict upon him—these he deems to be just, and, as I say, his
anger refuses to be excited by them.
True, he said.
But when he thinks that he is the sufferer of the wrong, then he
boils and chafes, and is on the side of what he believes to be justice;
and because he suffers hunger or cold or other pain he is only the
more determined to persevere and conquer. His noble spirit will not
be quelled until he either slays or is slain; or until he hears the voice
of the shepherd, that is, reason, bidding his dog bark no more.
The illustration is perfect, he replied; and in our State, as we were
saying, the auxiliaries were to be dogs, and to hear the voice of the
rulers, who are their shepherds.
I perceive, I said, that you quite understand me; there is, however, a
further point which I wish you to consider.
What point?
You remember that passion or spirit appeared at first sight to be a
kind of desire, but now we should say quite the contrary; for in the
conflict of the soul spirit is arrayed on the side of the rational
principle.
Most assuredly.
But a further question arises: Is passion different from reason also,
or only a kind of reason; in which latter case, instead of three
principles in the soul, there will only be two, the rational and the
concupiscent; or rather, as the State was composed of three classes,
traders, auxiliaries, counsellors, so may there not be in the individual

155
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

soul a third element which is passion or spirit, and when not

corrupted by bad education is the natural auxiliary of reason?
Yes, he said, there must be a third.
Yes, I replied, if passion, which has already been shown to be
different from desire, turn out also to be different from reason.
But that is easily proved:—We may observe even in young children
that they are full of spirit almost as soon as they are born, whereas
some of them never seem to attain to the use of reason, and most
of them late enough.
Excellent, I said, and you may see passion equally in brute animals,
which is a further proof of the truth of what you are saying. And we
may once more appeal to the words of Homer, which have been
already quoted by us,
'He smote his breast, and thus rebuked his soul,'
for in this verse Homer has clearly supposed the power which
reasons about the better and worse to be different from the
unreasoning anger which is rebuked by it.
Very true, he said.
And so, after much tossing, we have reached land, and are fairly
agreed that the same principles which exist in the State exist also in
the individual, and that they are three in number.
Exactly.
Must we not then infer that the individual is wise in the same way,
and in virtue of the same quality which makes the State wise?
Certainly.
Also that the same quality which constitutes courage in the State
constitutes courage in the individual, and that both the State and the
individual bear the same relation to all the other virtues?
Assuredly.
And the individual will be acknowledged by us to be just in the
same way in which the State is just?
That follows, of course.

156
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

We cannot but remember that the justice of the State consisted in

each of the three classes doing the work of its own class?
We are not very likely to have forgotten, he said.
We must recollect that the individual in whom the several qualities
of his nature do their own work will be just, and will do his own
work?
Yes, he said, we must remember that too.
And ought not the rational principle, which is wise, and has the care
of the whole soul, to rule, and the passionate or spirited principle to
be the subject and ally?
Certainly.
And, as we were saying, the united influence of music and
gymnastic will bring them into accord, nerving and sustaining the
reason with noble words and lessons, and moderating and soothing
and civilizing the wildness of passion by harmony and rhythm?
Quite true, he said.
And these two, thus nurtured and educated, and having learned
truly to know their own functions, will rule over the concupiscent,
which in each of us is the largest part of the soul and by nature
most insatiable of gain; over this they will keep guard, lest, waxing
great and strong with the fulness of bodily pleasures, as they are
termed, the concupiscent soul, no longer confined to her own
sphere, should attempt to enslave and rule those who are not her
natural-born subjects, and overturn the whole life of man?
Very true, he said.
Both together will they not be the best defenders of the whole soul
and the whole body against attacks from without; the one
counselling, and the other fighting under his leader, and
courageously executing his commands and counsels?
True.
And he is to be deemed courageous whose spirit retains in pleasure
and in pain the commands of reason about what he ought or ought
not to fear?
Right, he replied.
157
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And him we call wise who has in him that little part which rules,
and which proclaims these commands; that part too being supposed
to have a knowledge of what is for the interest of each of the three
parts and of the whole?
Assuredly.
And would you not say that he is temperate who has these same
elements in friendly harmony, in whom the one ruling principle of
reason, and the two subject ones of spirit and desire are equally
agreed that reason ought to rule, and do not rebel?
Certainly, he said, that is the true account of temperance whether in
the State or individual.
And surely, I said, we have explained again and again how and by
virtue of what quality a man will be just.
That is very certain.
And is justice dimmer in the individual, and is her form different, or
is she the same which we found her to be in the State?
There is no difference in my opinion, he said.
Because, if any doubt is still lingering in our minds, a few
commonplace instances will satisfy us of the truth of what I am
saying.
What sort of instances do you mean?
If the case is put to us, must we not admit that the just State, or the
man who is trained in the principles of such a State, will be less
likely than the unjust to make away with a deposit of gold or silver?
Would any one deny this?
No one, he replied.
Will the just man or citizen ever be guilty of sacrilege or theft, or
treachery either to his friends or to his country?
Never.
Neither will he ever break faith where there have been oaths or
agreements?
Impossible.

158
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

No one will be less likely to commit adultery, or to dishonour his

father and mother, or to fail in his religious duties?
No one.
And the reason is that each part of him is doing its own business,
whether in ruling or being ruled?
Exactly so.
Are you satisfied then that the quality which makes such men and
such states is justice, or do you hope to discover some other?
Not I, indeed.
Then our dream has been realized; and the suspicion which we
entertained at the beginning of our work of construction, that some
divine power must have conducted us to a primary form of justice,
has now been verified?
Yes, certainly.
And the division of labour which required the carpenter and the
shoemaker and the rest of the citizens to be doing each his own
business, and not another's, was a shadow of justice, and for that
reason it was of use?
Clearly.
But in reality justice was such as we were describing, being
concerned however, not with the outward man, but with the
inward, which is the true self and concernment of man: for the just
man does not permit the several elements within him to interfere
with one another, or any of them to do the work of others,—he
sets in order his own inner life, and is his own master and his own
law, and at peace with himself; and when he has bound together the
three principles within him, which may be compared to the higher,
lower, and middle notes of the scale, and the intermediate
intervals—when he has bound all these together, and is no longer
many, but has become one entirely temperate and perfectly adjusted
nature, then he proceeds to act, if he has to act, whether in a matter
of property, or in the treatment of the body, or in some affair of
politics or private business; always thinking and calling that which
preserves and co-operates with this harmonious condition, just and
good action, and the knowledge which presides over it, wisdom,

159
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

and that which at any time impairs this condition, he will call unjust
action, and the opinion which presides over it ignorance.
You have said the exact truth, Socrates.
Very good; and if we were to affirm that we had discovered the just
man and the just State, and the nature of justice in each of them, we
should not be telling a falsehood?
Most certainly not.
May we say so, then?
Let us say so.
And now, I said, injustice has to be considered.
Clearly.
Must not injustice be a strife which arises among the three
principles—a meddlesomeness, and interference, and rising up of a
part of the soul against the whole, an assertion of unlawful
authority, which is made by a rebellious subject against a true
prince, of whom he is the natural vassal,—what is all this confusion
and delusion but injustice, and intemperance and cowardice and
ignorance, and every form of vice?
Exactly so.
And if the nature of justice and injustice be known, then the
meaning of acting unjustly and being unjust, or, again, of acting
justly, will also be perfectly clear?
What do you mean? he said.
Why, I said, they are like disease and health; being in the soul just
what disease and health are in the body.
How so? he said.
Why, I said, that which is healthy causes health, and that which is
unhealthy causes disease.
Yes.
And just actions cause justice, and unjust actions cause injustice?
That is certain.

160
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And the creation of health is the institution of a natural order and

government of one by another in the parts of the body; and the
creation of disease is the production of a state of things at variance
with this natural order?
True.
And is not the creation of justice the institution of a natural order
and government of one by another in the parts of the soul, and the
creation of injustice the production of a state of things at variance
with the natural order?
Exactly so, he said.
Then virtue is the health and beauty and well-being of the soul, and
vice the disease and weakness and deformity of the same?
True.
And do not good practices lead to virtue, and evil practices to vice?
Assuredly.
Still our old question of the comparative advantage of justice and
injustice has not been answered: Which is the more profitable, to be
just and act justly and practise virtue, whether seen or unseen of
gods and men, or to be unjust and act unjustly, if only unpunished
and unreformed?
In my judgment, Socrates, the question has now become ridiculous.
We know that, when the bodily constitution is gone, life is no
longer endurable, though pampered with all kinds of meats and
drinks, and having all wealth and all power; and shall we be told that
when the very essence of the vital principle is undermined and
corrupted, life is still worth having to a man, if only he be allowed
to do whatever he likes with the single exception that he is not to
acquire justice and virtue, or to escape from injustice and vice;
assuming them both to be such as we have described?
Yes, I said, the question is, as you say, ridiculous. Still, as we are
near the spot at which we may see the truth in the clearest manner
with our own eyes, let us not faint by the way.
Certainly not, he replied.

161
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Come up hither, I said, and behold the various forms of vice, those
of them, I mean, which are worth looking at.
I am following you, he replied: proceed.
I said, The argument seems to have reached a height from which, as
from some tower of speculation, a man may look down and see that
virtue is one, but that the forms of vice are innumerable; there
being four special ones which are deserving of note.
What do you mean? he said.
I mean, I replied, that there appear to be as many forms of the soul
as there are distinct forms of the State.
How many?
There are five of the State, and five of the soul, I said.
What are they?
The first, I said, is that which we have been describing, and which
may be said to have two names, monarchy and aristocracy,
accordingly as rule is exercised by one distinguished man or by
many.
True, he replied.
But I regard the two names as describing one form only; for
whether the government is in the hands of one or many, if the
governors have been trained in the manner which we have
supposed, the fundamental laws of the State will be maintained.
That is true, he replied.

BOOK V.
Such is the good and true City or State, and the good and true man
is of the same pattern; and if this is right every other is wrong; and
the evil is one which affects not only the ordering of the State, but
also the regulation of the individual soul, and is exhibited in four
forms.
What are they? he said.
I was proceeding to tell the order in which the four evil forms
appeared to me to succeed one another, when Polemarchus, who

162
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

was sitting a little way off, just beyond Adeimantus, began to

whisper to him: stretching forth his hand, he took hold of the upper
part of his coat by the shoulder, and drew him towards him, leaning
forward himself so as to be quite close and saying something in his
ear, of which I only caught the words, 'Shall we let him off, or what
shall we do?'
Certainly not, said Adeimantus, raising his voice.
Who is it, I said, whom you are refusing to let off?
You, he said.
I repeated, Why am I especially not to be let off?
Why, he said, we think that you are lazy, and mean to cheat us out
of a whole chapter which is a very important part of the story; and
you fancy that we shall not notice your airy way of proceeding; as if
it were self-evident to everybody, that in the matter of women and
children 'friends have all things in common.'
And was I not right, Adeimantus?
Yes, he said; but what is right in this particular case, like everything
else, requires to be explained; for community may be of many
kinds. Please, therefore, to say what sort of community you mean.
We have been long expecting that you would tell us something
about the family life of your citizens—how they will bring children
into the world, and rear them when they have arrived, and, in
general, what is the nature of this community of women and
children—for we are of opinion that the right or wrong
management of such matters will have a great and paramount
influence on the State for good or for evil. And now, since the
question is still undetermined, and you are taking in hand another
State, we have resolved, as you heard, not to let you go until you
give an account of all this.
To that resolution, said Glaucon, you may regard me as saying
Agreed.
And without more ado, said Thrasymachus, you may consider us all
to be equally agreed.
I said, You know not what you are doing in thus assailing me: What
an argument are you raising about the State! Just as I thought that I

163
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

had finished, and was only too glad that I had laid this question to
sleep, and was reflecting how fortunate I was in your acceptance of
what I then said, you ask me to begin again at the very foundation,
ignorant of what a hornet's nest of words you are stirring. Now I
foresaw this gathering trouble, and avoided it.
For what purpose do you conceive that we have come here, said
Thrasymachus,—to look for gold, or to hear discourse?
Yes, but discourse should have a limit.
Yes, Socrates, said Glaucon, and the whole of life is the only limit
which wise men assign to the hearing of such discourses. But never
mind about us; take heart yourself and answer the question in your
own way: What sort of community of women and children is this
which is to prevail among our guardians? and how shall we manage
the period between birth and education, which seems to require the
greatest care? Tell us how these things will be.
Yes, my simple friend, but the answer is the reverse of easy; many
more doubts arise about this than about our previous conclusions.
For the practicability of what is said may be doubted; and looked at
in another point of view, whether the scheme, if ever so practicable,
would be for the best, is also doubtful. Hence I feel a reluctance to
approach the subject, lest our aspiration, my dear friend, should
turn out to be a dream only.
Fear not, he replied, for your audience will not be hard upon you;
they are not sceptical or hostile.
I said: My good friend, I suppose that you mean to encourage me
by these words.
Yes, he said.
Then let me tell you that you are doing just the reverse; the
encouragement which you offer would have been all very well had I
myself believed that I knew what I was talking about: to declare the
truth about matters of high interest which a man honours and loves
among wise men who love him need occasion no fear or faltering in
his mind; but to carry on an argument when you are yourself only a
hesitating enquirer, which is my condition, is a dangerous and
slippery thing; and the danger is not that I shall be laughed at (of
which the fear would be childish), but that I shall miss the truth
164
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

where I have most need to be sure of my footing, and drag my

friends after me in my fall. And I pray Nemesis not to visit upon
me the words which I am going to utter. For I do indeed believe
that to be an involuntary homicide is a less crime than to be a
deceiver about beauty or goodness or justice in the matter of laws.
And that is a risk which I would rather run among enemies than
among friends, and therefore you do well to encourage me.
Glaucon laughed and said: Well then, Socrates, in case you and your
argument do us any serious injury you shall be acquitted beforehand
of the homicide, and shall not be held to be a deceiver; take courage
then and speak.
Well, I said, the law says that when a man is acquitted he is free
from guilt, and what holds at law may hold in argument.
Then why should you mind?
Well, I replied, I suppose that I must retrace my steps and say what
I perhaps ought to have said before in the proper place. The part of
the men has been played out, and now properly enough comes the
turn of the women. Of them I will proceed to speak, and the more
readily since I am invited by you.
For men born and educated like our citizens, the only way, in my
opinion, of arriving at a right conclusion about the possession and
use of women and children is to follow the path on which we
originally started, when we said that the men were to be the
guardians and watchdogs of the herd.
True.
Let us further suppose the birth and education of our women to be
subject to similar or nearly similar regulations; then we shall see
whether the result accords with our design.
What do you mean?
What I mean may be put into the form of a question, I said: Are
dogs divided into hes and shes, or do they both share equally in
hunting and in keeping watch and in the other duties of dogs? or do
we entrust to the males the entire and exclusive care of the flocks,
while we leave the females at home, under the idea that the bearing
and suckling their puppies is labour enough for them?

165
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

No, he said, they share alike; the only difference between them is
that the males are stronger and the females weaker.
But can you use different animals for the same purpose, unless they
are bred and fed in the same way?
You cannot.
Then, if women are to have the same duties as men, they must have
the same nurture and education?
Yes.
The education which was assigned to the men was music and
gymnastic.
Yes.
Then women must be taught music and gymnastic and also the art
of war, which they must practise like the men?
That is the inference, I suppose.
I should rather expect, I said, that several of our proposals, if they
are carried out, being unusual, may appear ridiculous.
No doubt of it.
Yes, and the most ridiculous thing of all will be the sight of women
naked in the palaestra, exercising with the men, especially when they
are no longer young; they certainly will not be a vision of beauty,
any more than the enthusiastic old men who in spite of wrinkles
and ugliness continue to frequent the gymnasia.
Yes, indeed, he said: according to present notions the proposal
would be thought ridiculous.
But then, I said, as we have determined to speak our minds, we
must not fear the jests of the wits which will be directed against this
sort of innovation; how they will talk of women's attainments both
in music and gymnastic, and above all about their wearing armour
and riding upon horseback!
Very true, he replied.
Yet having begun we must go forward to the rough places of the
law; at the same time begging of these gentlemen for once in their
life to be serious. Not long ago, as we shall remind them, the
166
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Hellenes were of the opinion, which is still generally received

among the barbarians, that the sight of a naked man was ridiculous
and improper; and when first the Cretans and then the
Lacedaemonians introduced the custom, the wits of that day might
equally have ridiculed the innovation.
No doubt.
But when experience showed that to let all things be uncovered was
far better than to cover them up, and the ludicrous effect to the
outward eye vanished before the better principle which reason
asserted, then the man was perceived to be a fool who directs the
shafts of his ridicule at any other sight but that of folly and vice, or
seriously inclines to weigh the beautiful by any other standard but
that of the good.
Very true, he replied.
First, then, whether the question is to be put in jest or in earnest, let
us come to an understanding about the nature of woman: Is she
capable of sharing either wholly or partially in the actions of men,
or not at all? And is the art of war one of those arts in which she
can or can not share? That will be the best way of commencing the
enquiry, and will probably lead to the fairest conclusion.
That will be much the best way.
Shall we take the other side first and begin by arguing against
ourselves; in this manner the adversary's position will not be
undefended.
Why not? he said.
Then let us put a speech into the mouths of our opponents. They
will say: 'Socrates and Glaucon, no adversary need convict you, for
you yourselves, at the first foundation of the State, admitted the
principle that everybody was to do the one work suited to his own
nature.' And certainly, if I am not mistaken, such an admission was
made by us. 'And do not the natures of men and women differ very
much indeed?' And we shall reply: Of course they do. Then we shall
be asked, 'Whether the tasks assigned to men and to women should
not be different, and such as are agreeable to their different
natures?' Certainly they should. 'But if so, have you not fallen into a
serious inconsistency in saying that men and women, whose natures
167
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

are so entirely different, ought to perform the same actions?'—

What defence will you make for us, my good Sir, against any one
who offers these objections?
That is not an easy question to answer when asked suddenly; and I
shall and I do beg of you to draw out the case on our side.
These are the objections, Glaucon, and there are many others of a
like kind, which I foresaw long ago; they made me afraid and
reluctant to take in hand any law about the possession and nurture
of women and children.
By Zeus, he said, the problem to be solved is anything but easy.
Why yes, I said, but the fact is that when a man is out of his depth,
whether he has fallen into a little swimming bath or into mid ocean,
he has to swim all the same.
Very true.
And must not we swim and try to reach the shore: we will hope that
Arion's dolphin or some other miraculous help may save us?
I suppose so, he said.
Well then, let us see if any way of escape can be found. We
acknowledged—did we not? that different natures ought to have
different pursuits, and that men's and women's natures are
different. And now what are we saying?—that different natures
ought to have the same pursuits,—this is the inconsistency which is
charged upon us.
Precisely.
Verily, Glaucon, I said, glorious is the power of the art of
contradiction!
Why do you say so?
Because I think that many a man falls into the practice against his
will. When he thinks that he is reasoning he is really disputing, just
because he cannot define and divide, and so know that of which he
is speaking; and he will pursue a merely verbal opposition in the
spirit of contention and not of fair discussion.
Yes, he replied, such is very often the case; but what has that to do
with us and our argument?
168
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

A great deal; for there is certainly a danger of our getting

unintentionally into a verbal opposition.
In what way?
Why we valiantly and pugnaciously insist upon the verbal truth, that
different natures ought to have different pursuits, but we never
considered at all what was the meaning of sameness or difference of
nature, or why we distinguished them when we assigned different
pursuits to different natures and the same to the same natures.
Why, no, he said, that was never considered by us.
I said: Suppose that by way of illustration we were to ask the
question whether there is not an opposition in nature between bald
men and hairy men; and if this is admitted by us, then, if bald men
are cobblers, we should forbid the hairy men to be cobblers, and
conversely?
That would be a jest, he said.
Yes, I said, a jest; and why? because we never meant when we
constructed the State, that the opposition of natures should extend
to every difference, but only to those differences which affected the
pursuit in which the individual is engaged; we should have argued,
for example, that a physician and one who is in mind a physician
may be said to have the same nature.
True.
Whereas the physician and the carpenter have different natures?
Certainly.
And if, I said, the male and female sex appear to differ in their
fitness for any art or pursuit, we should say that such pursuit or art
ought to be assigned to one or the other of them; but if the
difference consists only in women bearing and men begetting
children, this does not amount to a proof that a woman differs
from a man in respect of the sort of education she should receive;
and we shall therefore continue to maintain that our guardians and
their wives ought to have the same pursuits.
Very true, he said.

169
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Next, we shall ask our opponent how, in reference to any of the

pursuits or arts of civic life, the nature of a woman differs from that
of a man?
That will be quite fair.
And perhaps he, like yourself, will reply that to give a sufficient
answer on the instant is not easy; but after a little reflection there is
no difficulty.
Yes, perhaps.
Suppose then that we invite him to accompany us in the argument,
and then we may hope to show him that there is nothing peculiar in
the constitution of women which would affect them in the
administration of the State.
By all means.
Let us say to him: Come now, and we will ask you a question:—
when you spoke of a nature gifted or not gifted in any respect, did
you mean to say that one man will acquire a thing easily, another
with difficulty; a little learning will lead the one to discover a great
deal; whereas the other, after much study and application, no
sooner learns than he forgets; or again, did you mean, that the one
has a body which is a good servant to his mind, while the body of
the other is a hindrance to him?—would not these be the sort of
differences which distinguish the man gifted by nature from the one
who is ungifted?
No one will deny that.
And can you mention any pursuit of mankind in which the male sex
has not all these gifts and qualities in a higher degree than the
female? Need I waste time in speaking of the art of weaving, and
the management of pancakes and preserves, in which womankind
does really appear to be great, and in which for her to be beaten by
a man is of all things the most absurd?
You are quite right, he replied, in maintaining the general inferiority
of the female sex: although many women are in many things
superior to many men, yet on the whole what you say is true.
And if so, my friend, I said, there is no special faculty of
administration in a state which a woman has because she is a

170
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

woman, or which a man has by virtue of his sex, but the gifts of
nature are alike diffused in both; all the pursuits of men are the
pursuits of women also, but in all of them a woman is inferior to a
man.
Very true.
Then are we to impose all our enactments on men and none of
them on women?
That will never do.
One woman has a gift of healing, another not; one is a musician,
and another has no music in her nature?
Very true.
And one woman has a turn for gymnastic and military exercises,
and another is unwarlike and hates gymnastics?
Certainly.
And one woman is a philosopher, and another is an enemy of
philosophy; one has spirit, and another is without spirit?
That is also true.
Then one woman will have the temper of a guardian, and another
not. Was not the selection of the male guardians determined by
differences of this sort?
Yes.
Men and women alike possess the qualities which make a guardian;
they differ only in their comparative strength or weakness.
Obviously.
And those women who have such qualities are to be selected as the
companions and colleagues of men who have similar qualities and
whom they resemble in capacity and in character?
Very true.
And ought not the same natures to have the same pursuits?
They ought.

171
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Then, as we were saying before, there is nothing unnatural in

assigning music and gymnastic to the wives of the guardians—to
that point we come round again.
Certainly not.
The law which we then enacted was agreeable to nature, and
therefore not an impossibility or mere aspiration; and the contrary
practice, which prevails at present, is in reality a violation of nature.
That appears to be true.
We had to consider, first, whether our proposals were possible, and
secondly whether they were the most beneficial?
Yes.
And the possibility has been acknowledged?
Yes.
The very great benefit has next to be established?
Quite so.
You will admit that the same education which makes a man a good
guardian will make a woman a good guardian; for their original
nature is the same?
Yes.
I should like to ask you a question.
What is it?
Would you say that all men are equal in excellence, or is one man
better than another?
The latter.
And in the commonwealth which we were founding do you
conceive the guardians who have been brought up on our model
system to be more perfect men, or the cobblers whose education
has been cobbling?
What a ridiculous question!
You have answered me, I replied: Well, and may we not further say
that our guardians are the best of our citizens?

172
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

By far the best.

And will not their wives be the best women?
Yes, by far the best.
And can there be anything better for the interests of the State than
that the men and women of a State should be as good as possible?
There can be nothing better.
And this is what the arts of music and gymnastic, when present in
such manner as we have described, will accomplish?
Certainly.
Then we have made an enactment not only possible but in the
highest degree beneficial to the State?
True.
Then let the wives of our guardians strip, for their virtue will be
their robe, and let them share in the toils of war and the defence of
their country; only in the distribution of labours the lighter are to be
assigned to the women, who are the weaker natures, but in other
respects their duties are to be the same. And as for the man who
laughs at naked women exercising their bodies from the best of
motives, in his laughter he is plucking
'A fruit of unripe wisdom,'
and he himself is ignorant of what he is laughing at, or what he is
about;—for that is, and ever will be, the best of sayings, That the
useful is the noble and the hurtful is the base.
Very true.
Here, then, is one difficulty in our law about women, which we may
say that we have now escaped; the wave has not swallowed us up
alive for enacting that the guardians of either sex should have all
their pursuits in common; to the utility and also to the possibility of
this arrangement the consistency of the argument with itself bears
witness.
Yes, that was a mighty wave which you have escaped.
Yes, I said, but a greater is coming; you will not think much of this
when you see the next.
173
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Go on; let me see.

The law, I said, which is the sequel of this and of all that has
preceded, is to the following effect,—'that the wives of our
guardians are to be common, and their children are to be common,
and no parent is to know his own child, nor any child his parent.'
Yes, he said, that is a much greater wave than the other; and the
possibility as well as the utility of such a law are far more
questionable.
I do not think, I said, that there can be any dispute about the very
great utility of having wives and children in common; the possibility
is quite another matter, and will be very much disputed.
I think that a good many doubts may be raised about both.
You imply that the two questions must be combined, I replied.
Now I meant that you should admit the utility; and in this way, as I
thought, I should escape from one of them, and then there would
remain only the possibility.
But that little attempt is detected, and therefore you will please to
give a defence of both.
Well, I said, I submit to my fate. Yet grant me a little favour: let me
feast my mind with the dream as day dreamers are in the habit of
feasting themselves when they are walking alone; for before they
have discovered any means of effecting their wishes—that is a
matter which never troubles them—they would rather not tire
themselves by thinking about possibilities; but assuming that what
they desire is already granted to them, they proceed with their plan,
and delight in detailing what they mean to do when their wish has
come true—that is a way which they have of not doing much good
to a capacity which was never good for much. Now I myself am
beginning to lose heart, and I should like, with your permission, to
pass over the question of possibility at present. Assuming therefore
the possibility of the proposal, I shall now proceed to enquire how
the rulers will carry out these arrangements, and I shall demonstrate
that our plan, if executed, will be of the greatest benefit to the State
and to the guardians. First of all, then, if you have no objection, I
will endeavour with your help to consider the advantages of the
measure; and hereafter the question of possibility.

174
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

I have no objection; proceed.

First, I think that if our rulers and their auxiliaries are to be worthy
of the name which they bear, there must be willingness to obey in
the one and the power of command in the other; the guardians
must themselves obey the laws, and they must also imitate the spirit
of them in any details which are entrusted to their care.
That is right, he said.
You, I said, who are their legislator, having selected the men, will
now select the women and give them to them;—they must be as far
as possible of like natures with them; and they must live in common
houses and meet at common meals. None of them will have
anything specially his or her own; they will be together, and will be
brought up together, and will associate at gymnastic exercises. And
so they will be drawn by a necessity of their natures to have
intercourse with each other—necessity is not too strong a word, I
think?
Yes, he said;—necessity, not geometrical, but another sort of
necessity which lovers know, and which is far more convincing and
constraining to the mass of mankind.
True, I said; and this, Glaucon, like all the rest, must proceed after
an orderly fashion; in a city of the blessed, licentiousness is an
unholy thing which the rulers will forbid.
Yes, he said, and it ought not to be permitted.
Then clearly the next thing will be to make matrimony sacred in the
highest degree, and what is most beneficial will be deemed sacred?
Exactly.
And how can marriages be made most beneficial?—that is a
question which I put to you, because I see in your house dogs for
hunting, and of the nobler sort of birds not a few. Now, I beseech
you, do tell me, have you ever attended to their pairing and
breeding?
In what particulars?
Why, in the first place, although they are all of a good sort, are not
some better than others?

175
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

True.
And do you breed from them all indifferently, or do you take care
to breed from the best only?
From the best.
And do you take the oldest or the youngest, or only those of ripe
age?
I choose only those of ripe age.
And if care was not taken in the breeding, your dogs and birds
would greatly deteriorate?
Certainly.
And the same of horses and animals in general?
Undoubtedly.
Good heavens! my dear friend, I said, what consummate skill will
our rulers need if the same principle holds of the human species!
Certainly, the same principle holds; but why does this involve any
particular skill?
Because, I said, our rulers will often have to practise upon the body
corporate with medicines. Now you know that when patients do
not require medicines, but have only to be put under a regimen, the
inferior sort of practitioner is deemed to be good enough; but when
medicine has to be given, then the doctor should be more of a man.
That is quite true, he said; but to what are you alluding?
I mean, I replied, that our rulers will find a considerable dose of
falsehood and deceit necessary for the good of their subjects: we
were saying that the use of all these things regarded as medicines
might be of advantage.
And we were very right.
And this lawful use of them seems likely to be often needed in the
regulations of marriages and births.
How so?
Why, I said, the principle has been already laid down that the best
of either sex should be united with the best as often, and the
176
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

inferior with the inferior, as seldom as possible; and that they

should rear the offspring of the one sort of union, but not of the
other, if the flock is to be maintained in first-rate condition. Now
these goings on must be a secret which the rulers only know, or
there will be a further danger of our herd, as the guardians may be
termed, breaking out into rebellion.
Very true.
Had we not better appoint certain festivals at which we will bring
together the brides and bridegrooms, and sacrifices will be offered
and suitable hymeneal songs composed by our poets: the number of
weddings is a matter which must be left to the discretion of the
rulers, whose aim will be to preserve the average of population?
There are many other things which they will have to consider, such
as the effects of wars and diseases and any similar agencies, in order
as far as this is possible to prevent the State from becoming either
too large or too small.
Certainly, he replied.
We shall have to invent some ingenious kind of lots which the less
worthy may draw on each occasion of our bringing them together,
and then they will accuse their own ill-luck and not the rulers.
To be sure, he said.
And I think that our braver and better youth, besides their other
honours and rewards, might have greater facilities of intercourse
with women given them; their bravery will be a reason, and such
fathers ought to have as many sons as possible.
True.
And the proper officers, whether male or female or both, for
offices are to be held by women as well as by men—
Yes—
The proper officers will take the offspring of the good parents to
the pen or fold, and there they will deposit them with certain nurses
who dwell in a separate quarter; but the offspring of the inferior, or
of the better when they chance to be deformed, will be put away in
some mysterious, unknown place, as they should be.

177
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, he said, that must be done if the breed of the guardians is to be

kept pure.
They will provide for their nurture, and will bring the mothers to
the fold when they are full of milk, taking the greatest possible care
that no mother recognises her own child; and other wet-nurses may
be engaged if more are required. Care will also be taken that the
process of suckling shall not be protracted too long; and the
mothers will have no getting up at night or other trouble, but will
hand over all this sort of thing to the nurses and attendants.
You suppose the wives of our guardians to have a fine easy time of
it when they are having children.
Why, said I, and so they ought. Let us, however, proceed with our
scheme. We were saying that the parents should be in the prime of
life?
Very true.
And what is the prime of life? May it not be defined as a period of
about twenty years in a woman's life, and thirty in a man's?
Which years do you mean to include?
A woman, I said, at twenty years of age may begin to bear children
to the State, and continue to bear them until forty; a man may begin
at five-and-twenty, when he has passed the point at which the pulse
of life beats quickest, and continue to beget children until he be
fifty-five.
Certainly, he said, both in men and women those years are the
prime of physical as well as of intellectual vigour.
Any one above or below the prescribed ages who takes part in the
public hymeneals shall be said to have done an unholy and
unrighteous thing; the child of which he is the father, if it steals into
life, will have been conceived under auspices very unlike the
sacrifices and prayers, which at each hymeneal priestesses and priest
and the whole city will offer, that the new generation may be better
and more useful than their good and useful parents, whereas his
child will be the offspring of darkness and strange lust.
Very true, he replied.

178
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And the same law will apply to any one of those within the
prescribed age who forms a connection with any woman in the
prime of life without the sanction of the rulers; for we shall say that
he is raising up a bastard to the State, uncertified and
unconsecrated.
Very true, he replied.
This applies, however, only to those who are within the specified
age: after that we allow them to range at will, except that a man may
not marry his daughter or his daughter's daughter, or his mother or
his mother's mother; and women, on the other hand, are prohibited
from marrying their sons or fathers, or son's son or father's father,
and so on in either direction. And we grant all this, accompanying
the permission with strict orders to prevent any embryo which may
come into being from seeing the light; and if any force a way to the
birth, the parents must understand that the offspring of such an
union cannot be maintained, and arrange accordingly.
That also, he said, is a reasonable proposition. But how will they
know who are fathers and daughters, and so on?
They will never know. The way will be this:—dating from the day
of the hymeneal, the bridegroom who was then married will call all
the male children who are born in the seventh and tenth month
afterwards his sons, and the female children his daughters, and they
will call him father, and he will call their children his grandchildren,
and they will call the elder generation grandfathers and
grandmothers. All who were begotten at the time when their fathers
and mothers came together will be called their brothers and sisters,
and these, as I was saying, will be forbidden to inter-marry. This,
however, is not to be understood as an absolute prohibition of the
marriage of brothers and sisters; if the lot favours them, and they
receive the sanction of the Pythian oracle, the law will allow them.
Quite right, he replied.
Such is the scheme, Glaucon, according to which the guardians of
our State are to have their wives and families in common. And now
you would have the argument show that this community is
consistent with the rest of our polity, and also that nothing can be
better—would you not?

179
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, certainly.
Shall we try to find a common basis by asking of ourselves what
ought to be the chief aim of the legislator in making laws and in the
organization of a State,—what is the greatest good, and what is the
greatest evil, and then consider whether our previous description
has the stamp of the good or of the evil?
By all means.
Can there be any greater evil than discord and distraction and
plurality where unity ought to reign? or any greater good than the
bond of unity?
There cannot.
And there is unity where there is community of pleasures and
pains—where all the citizens are glad or grieved on the same
occasions of joy and sorrow?
No doubt.
Yes; and where there is no common but only private feeling a State
is disorganized—when you have one half of the world triumphing
and the other plunged in grief at the same events happening to the
city or the citizens?
Certainly.
Such differences commonly originate in a disagreement about the
use of the terms 'mine' and 'not mine,' 'his' and 'not his.'
Exactly so.
And is not that the best-ordered State in which the greatest number
of persons apply the terms 'mine' and 'not mine' in the same way to
the same thing?
Quite true.
Or that again which most nearly approaches to the condition of the
individual—as in the body, when but a finger of one of us is hurt,
the whole frame, drawn towards the soul as a centre and forming
one kingdom under the ruling power therein, feels the hurt and
sympathizes all together with the part affected, and we say that the
man has a pain in his finger; and the same expression is used about

180
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

any other part of the body, which has a sensation of pain at

suffering or of pleasure at the alleviation of suffering.
Very true, he replied; and I agree with you that in the best-ordered
State there is the nearest approach to this common feeling which
you describe.
Then when any one of the citizens experiences any good or evil, the
whole State will make his case their own, and will either rejoice or
sorrow with him?
Yes, he said, that is what will happen in a well-ordered State.
It will now be time, I said, for us to return to our State and see
whether this or some other form is most in accordance with these
fundamental principles.
Very good.
Our State like every other has rulers and subjects?
True.
All of whom will call one another citizens?
Of course.
But is there not another name which people give to their rulers in
other States?
Generally they call them masters, but in democratic States they
simply call them rulers.
And in our State what other name besides that of citizens do the
people give the rulers?
They are called saviours and helpers, he replied.
And what do the rulers call the people?
Their maintainers and foster-fathers.
And what do they call them in other States?
Slaves.
And what do the rulers call one another in other States?
Fellow-rulers.
And what in ours?
181
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Fellow-guardians.
Did you ever know an example in any other State of a ruler who
would speak of one of his colleagues as his friend and of another as
not being his friend?
Yes, very often.
And the friend he regards and describes as one in whom he has an
interest, and the other as a stranger in whom he has no interest?
Exactly.
But would any of your guardians think or speak of any other
guardian as a stranger?
Certainly he would not; for every one whom they meet will be
regarded by them either as a brother or sister, or father or mother,
or son or daughter, or as the child or parent of those who are thus
connected with him.
Capital, I said; but let me ask you once more: Shall they be a family
in name only; or shall they in all their actions be true to the name?
For example, in the use of the word 'father,' would the care of a
father be implied and the filial reverence and duty and obedience to
him which the law commands; and is the violator of these duties to
be regarded as an impious and unrighteous person who is not likely
to receive much good either at the hands of God or of man? Are
these to be or not to be the strains which the children will hear
repeated in their ears by all the citizens about those who are
intimated to them to be their parents and the rest of their kinsfolk?
These, he said, and none other; for what can be more ridiculous
than for them to utter the names of family ties with the lips only
and not to act in the spirit of them?
Then in our city the language of harmony and concord will be more
often heard than in any other. As I was describing before, when any
one is well or ill, the universal word will be 'with me it is well' or 'it
is ill.'
Most true.
And agreeably to this mode of thinking and speaking, were we not
saying that they will have their pleasures and pains in common?

182
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, and so they will.

And they will have a common interest in the same thing which they
will alike call 'my own,' and having this common interest they will
have a common feeling of pleasure and pain?
Yes, far more so than in other States.
And the reason of this, over and above the general constitution of
the State, will be that the guardians will have a community of
women and children?
That will be the chief reason.
And this unity of feeling we admitted to be the greatest good, as
was implied in our own comparison of a well-ordered State to the
relation of the body and the members, when affected by pleasure or
pain?
That we acknowledged, and very rightly.
Then the community of wives and children among our citizens is
clearly the source of the greatest good to the State?
Certainly.
And this agrees with the other principle which we were affirming,—
that the guardians were not to have houses or lands or any other
property; their pay was to be their food, which they were to receive
from the other citizens, and they were to have no private expenses;
for we intended them to preserve their true character of guardians.
Right, he replied.
Both the community of property and the community of families, as
I am saying, tend to make them more truly guardians; they will not
tear the city in pieces by differing about 'mine' and 'not mine;' each
man dragging any acquisition which he has made into a separate
house of his own, where he has a separate wife and children and
private pleasures and pains; but all will be affected as far as may be
by the same pleasures and pains because they are all of one opinion
about what is near and dear to them, and therefore they all tend
towards a common end.
Certainly, he replied.

183
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And as they have nothing but their persons which they can call their
own, suits and complaints will have no existence among them; they
will be delivered from all those quarrels of which money or children
or relations are the occasion.
Of course they will.
Neither will trials for assault or insult ever be likely to occur among
them. For that equals should defend themselves against equals we
shall maintain to be honourable and right; we shall make the
protection of the person a matter of necessity.
That is good, he said.
Yes; and there is a further good in the law; viz. that if a man has a
quarrel with another he will satisfy his resentment then and there,
and not proceed to more dangerous lengths.
Certainly.
To the elder shall be assigned the duty of ruling and chastising the
younger.
Clearly.
Nor can there be a doubt that the younger will not strike or do any
other violence to an elder, unless the magistrates command him;
nor will he slight him in any way. For there are two guardians,
shame and fear, mighty to prevent him: shame, which makes men
refrain from laying hands on those who are to them in the relation
of parents; fear, that the injured one will be succoured by the others
who are his brothers, sons, fathers.
That is true, he replied.
Then in every way the laws will help the citizens to keep the peace
with one another?
Yes, there will be no want of peace.
And as the guardians will never quarrel among themselves there will
be no danger of the rest of the city being divided either against
them or against one another.
None whatever.

184
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

I hardly like even to mention the little meannesses of which they

will be rid, for they are beneath notice: such, for example, as the
flattery of the rich by the poor, and all the pains and pangs which
men experience in bringing up a family, and in finding money to
buy necessaries for their household, borrowing and then
repudiating, getting how they can, and giving the money into the
hands of women and slaves to keep—the many evils of so many
kinds which people suffer in this way are mean enough and obvious
enough, and not worth speaking of.
Yes, he said, a man has no need of eyes in order to perceive that.
And from all these evils they will be delivered, and their life will be
blessed as the life of Olympic victors and yet more blessed.
How so?
The Olympic victor, I said, is deemed happy in receiving a part only
of the blessedness which is secured to our citizens, who have won a
more glorious victory and have a more complete maintenance at the
public cost. For the victory which they have won is the salvation of
the whole State; and the crown with which they and their children
are crowned is the fulness of all that life needs; they receive rewards
from the hands of their country while living, and after death have
an honourable burial.
Yes, he said, and glorious rewards they are.
Do you remember, I said, how in the course of the previous
discussion some one who shall be nameless accused us of making
our guardians unhappy—they had nothing and might have
possessed all things—to whom we replied that, if an occasion
offered, we might perhaps hereafter consider this question, but that,
as at present advised, we would make our guardians truly guardians,
and that we were fashioning the State with a view to the greatest
happiness, not of any particular class, but of the whole?
Yes, I remember.
And what do you say, now that the life of our protectors is made
out to be far better and nobler than that of Olympic victors—is the
life of shoemakers, or any other artisans, or of husbandmen, to be
compared with it?
Certainly not.
185
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

At the same time I ought here to repeat what I have said elsewhere,
that if any of our guardians shall try to be happy in such a manner
that he will cease to be a guardian, and is not content with this safe
and harmonious life, which, in our judgment, is of all lives the best,
but infatuated by some youthful conceit of happiness which gets up
into his head shall seek to appropriate the whole state to himself,
then he will have to learn how wisely Hesiod spoke, when he said,
'half is more than the whole.'
If he were to consult me, I should say to him: Stay where you are,
when you have the offer of such a life.
You agree then, I said, that men and women are to have a common
way of life such as we have described—common education,
common children; and they are to watch over the citizens in
common whether abiding in the city or going out to war; they are to
keep watch together, and to hunt together like dogs; and always and
in all things, as far as they are able, women are to share with the
men? And in so doing they will do what is best, and will not violate,
but preserve the natural relation of the sexes.
I agree with you, he replied.
The enquiry, I said, has yet to be made, whether such a community
be found possible—as among other animals, so also among men—
and if possible, in what way possible?
You have anticipated the question which I was about to suggest.
There is no difficulty, I said, in seeing how war will be carried on by
them.
How?
Why, of course they will go on expeditions together; and will take
with them any of their children who are strong enough, that, after
the manner of the artisan's child, they may look on at the work
which they will have to do when they are grown up; and besides
looking on they will have to help and be of use in war, and to wait
upon their fathers and mothers. Did you never observe in the arts
how the potters' boys look on and help, long before they touch the
wheel?
Yes, I have.

186
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And shall potters be more careful in educating their children and in

giving them the opportunity of seeing and practising their duties
than our guardians will be?
The idea is ridiculous, he said.
There is also the effect on the parents, with whom, as with other
animals, the presence of their young ones will be the greatest
incentive to valour.
That is quite true, Socrates; and yet if they are defeated, which may
often happen in war, how great the danger is! the children will be
lost as well as their parents, and the State will never recover.
True, I said; but would you never allow them to run any risk?
I am far from saying that.
Well, but if they are ever to run a risk should they not do so on
some occasion when, if they escape disaster, they will be the better
for it?
Clearly.
Whether the future soldiers do or do not see war in the days of
their youth is a very important matter, for the sake of which some
risk may fairly be incurred.
Yes, very important.
This then must be our first step,—to make our children spectators
of war; but we must also contrive that they shall be secured against
danger; then all will be well.
True.
Their parents may be supposed not to be blind to the risks of war,
but to know, as far as human foresight can, what expeditions are
safe and what dangerous?
That may be assumed.
And they will take them on the safe expeditions and be cautious
about the dangerous ones?
True.

187
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And they will place them under the command of experienced

veterans who will be their leaders and teachers?
Very properly.
Still, the dangers of war cannot be always foreseen; there is a good
deal of chance about them?
True.
Then against such chances the children must be at once furnished
with wings, in order that in the hour of need they may fly away and
escape.
What do you mean? he said.
I mean that we must mount them on horses in their earliest youth,
and when they have learnt to ride, take them on horseback to see
war: the horses must not be spirited and warlike, but the most
tractable and yet the swiftest that can be had. In this way they will
get an excellent view of what is hereafter to be their own business;
and if there is danger they have only to follow their elder leaders
and escape.
I believe that you are right, he said.
Next, as to war; what are to be the relations of your soldiers to one
another and to their enemies? I should be inclined to propose that
the soldier who leaves his rank or throws away his arms, or is guilty
of any other act of cowardice, should be degraded into the rank of a
husbandman or artisan. What do you think?
By all means, I should say.
And he who allows himself to be taken prisoner may as well be
made a present of to his enemies; he is their lawful prey, and let
them do what they like with him.
Certainly.
But the hero who has distinguished himself, what shall be done to
him? In the first place, he shall receive honour in the army from his
youthful comrades; every one of them in succession shall crown
him. What do you say?
I approve.

188
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And what do you say to his receiving the right hand of fellowship?
To that too, I agree.
But you will hardly agree to my next proposal.
What is your proposal?
That he should kiss and be kissed by them.
Most certainly, and I should be disposed to go further, and say: Let
no one whom he has a mind to kiss refuse to be kissed by him
while the expedition lasts. So that if there be a lover in the army,
whether his love be youth or maiden, he may be more eager to win
the prize of valour.
Capital, I said. That the brave man is to have more wives than
others has been already determined: and he is to have first choices
in such matters more than others, in order that he may have as
many children as possible?
Agreed.
Again, there is another manner in which, according to Homer,
brave youths should be honoured; for he tells how Ajax, after he
had distinguished himself in battle, was rewarded with long chines,
which seems to be a compliment appropriate to a hero in the flower
of his age, being not only a tribute of honour but also a very
strengthening thing.
Most true, he said.
Then in this, I said, Homer shall be our teacher; and we too, at
sacrifices and on the like occasions, will honour the brave according
to the measure of their valour, whether men or women, with hymns
and those other distinctions which we were mentioning; also with
'seats of precedence, and meats and full cups;'
and in honouring them, we shall be at the same time training them.
That, he replied, is excellent.
Yes, I said; and when a man dies gloriously in war shall we not say,
in the first place, that he is of the golden race?
To be sure.

189
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Nay, have we not the authority of Hesiod for affirming that when
they are dead
'They are holy angels upon the earth, authors of good, averters
of evil, the guardians of speech-gifted men'?
Yes; and we accept his authority.
We must learn of the god how we are to order the sepulture of
divine and heroic personages, and what is to be their special
distinction; and we must do as he bids?
By all means.
And in ages to come we will reverence them and kneel before their
sepulchres as at the graves of heroes. And not only they but any
who are deemed pre-eminently good, whether they die from age, or
in any other way, shall be admitted to the same honours.
That is very right, he said.
Next, how shall our soldiers treat their enemies? What about this?
In what respect do you mean?
First of all, in regard to slavery? Do you think it right that Hellenes
should enslave Hellenic States, or allow others to enslave them, if
they can help? Should not their custom be to spare them,
considering the danger which there is that the whole race may one
day fall under the yoke of the barbarians?
To spare them is infinitely better.
Then no Hellene should be owned by them as a slave; that is a rule
which they will observe and advise the other Hellenes to observe.
Certainly, he said; they will in this way be united against the
barbarians and will keep their hands off one another.
Next as to the slain; ought the conquerors, I said, to take anything
but their armour? Does not the practice of despoiling an enemy
afford an excuse for not facing the battle? Cowards skulk about the
dead, pretending that they are fulfilling a duty, and many an army
before now has been lost from this love of plunder.
Very true.

190
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And is there not illiberality and avarice in robbing a corpse, and also
a degree of meanness and womanishness in making an enemy of the
dead body when the real enemy has flown away and left only his
fighting gear behind him,—is not this rather like a dog who cannot
get at his assailant, quarrelling with the stones which strike him
instead?
Very like a dog, he said.
Then we must abstain from spoiling the dead or hindering their
burial?
Yes, he replied, we most certainly must.
Neither shall we offer up arms at the temples of the gods, least of
all the arms of Hellenes, if we care to maintain good feeling with
other Hellenes; and, indeed, we have reason to fear that the offering
of spoils taken from kinsmen may be a pollution unless
commanded by the god himself?
Very true.
Again, as to the devastation of Hellenic territory or the burning of
houses, what is to be the practice?
May I have the pleasure, he said, of hearing your opinion?
Both should be forbidden, in my judgment; I would take the annual
produce and no more. Shall I tell you why?
Pray do.
Why, you see, there is a difference in the names 'discord' and 'war,'
and I imagine that there is also a difference in their natures; the one
is expressive of what is internal and domestic, the other of what is
external and foreign; and the first of the two is termed discord, and
only the second, war.
That is a very proper distinction, he replied.
And may I not observe with equal propriety that the Hellenic race is
all united together by ties of blood and friendship, and alien and
strange to the barbarians?
Very good, he said.

191
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And therefore when Hellenes fight with barbarians and barbarians

with Hellenes, they will be described by us as being at war when
they fight, and by nature enemies, and this kind of antagonism
should be called war; but when Hellenes fight with one another we
shall say that Hellas is then in a state of disorder and discord, they
being by nature friends; and such enmity is to be called discord.
I agree.
Consider then, I said, when that which we have acknowledged to be
discord occurs, and a city is divided, if both parties destroy the
lands and burn the houses of one another, how wicked does the
strife appear! No true lover of his country would bring himself to
tear in pieces his own nurse and mother: There might be reason in
the conqueror depriving the conquered of their harvest, but still
they would have the idea of peace in their hearts and would not
mean to go on fighting for ever.
Yes, he said, that is a better temper than the other.
And will not the city, which you are founding, be an Hellenic city?
It ought to be, he replied.
Then will not the citizens be good and civilized?
Yes, very civilized.
And will they not be lovers of Hellas, and think of Hellas as their
own land, and share in the common temples?
Most certainly.
And any difference which arises among them will be regarded by
them as discord only—a quarrel among friends, which is not to be
called a war?
Certainly not.
Then they will quarrel as those who intend some day to be
reconciled?
Certainly.
They will use friendly correction, but will not enslave or destroy
their opponents; they will be correctors, not enemies?
Just so.
192
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And as they are Hellenes themselves they will not devastate Hellas,
nor will they burn houses, nor ever suppose that the whole
population of a city—men, women, and children—are equally their
enemies, for they know that the guilt of war is always confined to a
few persons and that the many are their friends. And for all these
reasons they will be unwilling to waste their lands and rase their
houses; their enmity to them will only last until the many innocent
sufferers have compelled the guilty few to give satisfaction?
I agree, he said, that our citizens should thus deal with their
Hellenic enemies; and with barbarians as the Hellenes now deal
with one another.
Then let us enact this law also for our guardians:—that they are
neither to devastate the lands of Hellenes nor to burn their houses.
Agreed; and we may agree also in thinking that these, like all our
previous enactments, are very good.
But still I must say, Socrates, that if you are allowed to go on in this
way you will entirely forget the other question which at the
commencement of this discussion you thrust aside:—Is such an
order of things possible, and how, if at all? For I am quite ready to
acknowledge that the plan which you propose, if only feasible,
would do all sorts of good to the State. I will add, what you have
omitted, that your citizens will be the bravest of warriors, and will
never leave their ranks, for they will all know one another, and each
will call the other father, brother, son; and if you suppose the
women to join their armies, whether in the same rank or in the rear,
either as a terror to the enemy, or as auxiliaries in case of need, I
know that they will then be absolutely invincible; and there are
many domestic advantages which might also be mentioned and
which I also fully acknowledge: but, as I admit all these advantages
and as many more as you please, if only this State of yours were to
come into existence, we need say no more about them; assuming
then the existence of the State, let us now turn to the question of
possibility and ways and means—the rest may be left.
If I loiter for a moment, you instantly make a raid upon me, I said,
and have no mercy; I have hardly escaped the first and second
waves, and you seem not to be aware that you are now bringing
upon me the third, which is the greatest and heaviest. When you

193
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

have seen and heard the third wave, I think you will be more
considerate and will acknowledge that some fear and hesitation was
natural respecting a proposal so extraordinary as that which I have
now to state and investigate.
The more appeals of this sort which you make, he said, the more
determined are we that you shall tell us how such a State is possible:
speak out and at once.
Let me begin by reminding you that we found our way hither in the
search after justice and injustice.
True, he replied; but what of that?
I was only going to ask whether, if we have discovered them, we are
to require that the just man should in nothing fail of absolute
justice; or may we be satisfied with an approximation, and the
attainment in him of a higher degree of justice than is to be found
in other men?
The approximation will be enough.
We were enquiring into the nature of absolute justice and into the
character of the perfectly just, and into injustice and the perfectly
unjust, that we might have an ideal. We were to look at these in
order that we might judge of our own happiness and unhappiness
according to the standard which they exhibited and the degree in
which we resembled them, but not with any view of showing that
they could exist in fact.
True, he said.
Would a painter be any the worse because, after having delineated
with consummate art an ideal of a perfectly beautiful man, he was
unable to show that any such man could ever have existed?
He would be none the worse.
Well, and were we not creating an ideal of a perfect State?
To be sure.
And is our theory a worse theory because we are unable to prove
the possibility of a city being ordered in the manner described?
Surely not, he replied.

194
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

That is the truth, I said. But if, at your request, I am to try and show
how and under what conditions the possibility is highest, I must ask
you, having this in view, to repeat your former admissions.
What admissions?
I want to know whether ideals are ever fully realized in language?
Does not the word express more than the fact, and must not the
actual, whatever a man may think, always, in the nature of things,
fall short of the truth? What do you say?
I agree.
Then you must not insist on my proving that the actual State will in
every respect coincide with the ideal: if we are only able to discover
how a city may be governed nearly as we proposed, you will admit
that we have discovered the possibility which you demand; and will
be contented. I am sure that I should be contented—will not you?
Yes, I will.
Let me next endeavour to show what is that fault in States which is
the cause of their present maladministration, and what is the least
change which will enable a State to pass into the truer form; and let
the change, if possible, be of one thing only, or, if not, of two; at
any rate, let the changes be as few and slight as possible.
Certainly, he replied.
I think, I said, that there might be a reform of the State if only one
change were made, which is not a slight or easy though still a
possible one.
What is it? he said.
Now then, I said, I go to meet that which I liken to the greatest of
the waves; yet shall the word be spoken, even though the wave
break and drown me in laughter and dishonour; and do you mark
my words.
Proceed.
I said: 'Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this
world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political
greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures
who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to

195
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils,—nor the
human race, as I believe,—and then only will this our State have a
possibility of life and behold the light of day.' Such was the thought,
my dear Glaucon, which I would fain have uttered if it had not
seemed too extravagant; for to be convinced that in no other State
can there be happiness private or public is indeed a hard thing.
Socrates, what do you mean? I would have you consider that the
word which you have uttered is one at which numerous persons,
and very respectable persons too, in a figure pulling off their coats
all in a moment, and seizing any weapon that comes to hand, will
run at you might and main, before you know where you are,
intending to do heaven knows what; and if you don't prepare an
answer, and put yourself in motion, you will be 'pared by their fine
wits,' and no mistake.
You got me into the scrape, I said.
And I was quite right; however, I will do all I can to get you out of
it; but I can only give you good-will and good advice, and, perhaps,
I may be able to fit answers to your questions better than another—
that is all. And now, having such an auxiliary, you must do your best
to show the unbelievers that you are right.
I ought to try, I said, since you offer me such invaluable assistance.
And I think that, if there is to be a chance of our escaping, we must
explain to them whom we mean when we say that philosophers are
to rule in the State; then we shall be able to defend ourselves: There
will be discovered to be some natures who ought to study
philosophy and to be leaders in the State; and others who are not
born to be philosophers, and are meant to be followers rather than
leaders.
Then now for a definition, he said.
Follow me, I said, and I hope that I may in some way or other be
able to give you a satisfactory explanation.
Proceed.
I dare say that you remember, and therefore I need not remind you,
that a lover, if he is worthy of the name, ought to show his love, not
to some one part of that which he loves, but to the whole.

196
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

I really do not understand, and therefore beg of you to assist my

memory.
Another person, I said, might fairly reply as you do; but a man of
pleasure like yourself ought to know that all who are in the flower
of youth do somehow or other raise a pang or emotion in a lover's
breast, and are thought by him to be worthy of his affectionate
regards. Is not this a way which you have with the fair: one has a
snub nose, and you praise his charming face; the hook-nose of
another has, you say, a royal look; while he who is neither snub nor
hooked has the grace of regularity: the dark visage is manly, the fair
are children of the gods; and as to the sweet 'honey pale,' as they are
called, what is the very name but the invention of a lover who talks
in diminutives, and is not averse to paleness if appearing on the
cheek of youth? In a word, there is no excuse which you will not
make, and nothing which you will not say, in order not to lose a
single flower that blooms in the spring-time of youth.
If you make me an authority in matters of love, for the sake of the
argument, I assent.
And what do you say of lovers of wine? Do you not see them doing
the same? They are glad of any pretext of drinking any wine.
Very good.
And the same is true of ambitious men; if they cannot command an
army, they are willing to command a file; and if they cannot be
honoured by really great and important persons, they are glad to be
honoured by lesser and meaner people,—but honour of some kind
they must have.
Exactly.
Once more let me ask: Does he who desires any class of goods,
desire the whole class or a part only?
The whole.
And may we not say of the philosopher that he is a lover, not of a
part of wisdom only, but of the whole?
Yes, of the whole.
And he who dislikes learning, especially in youth, when he has no
power of judging what is good and what is not, such an one we
197
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

maintain not to be a philosopher or a lover of knowledge, just as he

who refuses his food is not hungry, and may be said to have a bad
appetite and not a good one?
Very true, he said.
Whereas he who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is
curious to learn and is never satisfied, may be justly termed a
philosopher? Am I not right?
Glaucon said: If curiosity makes a philosopher, you will find many a
strange being will have a title to the name. All the lovers of sights
have a delight in learning, and must therefore be included. Musical
amateurs, too, are a folk strangely out of place among philosophers,
for they are the last persons in the world who would come to
anything like a philosophical discussion, if they could help, while
they run about at the Dionysiac festivals as if they had let out their
ears to hear every chorus; whether the performance is in town or
country—that makes no difference—they are there. Now are we to
maintain that all these and any who have similar tastes, as well as
the professors of quite minor arts, are philosophers?
Certainly not, I replied; they are only an imitation.
He said: Who then are the true philosophers?
Those, I said, who are lovers of the vision of truth.
That is also good, he said; but I should like to know what you
mean?
To another, I replied, I might have a difficulty in explaining; but I
am sure that you will admit a proposition which I am about to
make.
What is the proposition?
That since beauty is the opposite of ugliness, they are two?
Certainly.
And inasmuch as they are two, each of them is one?
True again.
And of just and unjust, good and evil, and of every other class, the
same remark holds: taken singly, each of them is one; but from the

198
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

various combinations of them with actions and things and with one
another, they are seen in all sorts of lights and appear many?
Very true.
And this is the distinction which I draw between the sight-loving,
art-loving, practical class and those of whom I am speaking, and
who are alone worthy of the name of philosophers.
How do you distinguish them? he said.
The lovers of sounds and sights, I replied, are, as I conceive, fond
of fine tones and colours and forms and all the artificial products
that are made out of them, but their mind is incapable of seeing or
loving absolute beauty.
True, he replied.
Few are they who are able to attain to the sight of this.
Very true.
And he who, having a sense of beautiful things has no sense of
absolute beauty, or who, if another lead him to a knowledge of that
beauty is unable to follow—of such an one I ask, Is he awake or in
a dream only? Reflect: is not the dreamer, sleeping or waking, one
who likens dissimilar things, who puts the copy in the place of the
real object?
I should certainly say that such an one was dreaming.
But take the case of the other, who recognises the existence of
absolute beauty and is able to distinguish the idea from the objects
which participate in the idea, neither putting the objects in the place
of the idea nor the idea in the place of the objects—is he a dreamer,
or is he awake?
He is wide awake.
And may we not say that the mind of the one who knows has
knowledge, and that the mind of the other, who opines only, has
opinion?
Certainly.

199
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

But suppose that the latter should quarrel with us and dispute our
statement, can we administer any soothing cordial or advice to him,
without revealing to him that there is sad disorder in his wits?
We must certainly offer him some good advice, he replied.
Come, then, and let us think of something to say to him. Shall we
begin by assuring him that he is welcome to any knowledge which
he may have, and that we are rejoiced at his having it? But we
should like to ask him a question: Does he who has knowledge
know something or nothing? (You must answer for him.)
I answer that he knows something.
Something that is or is not?
Something that is; for how can that which is not ever be known?
And are we assured, after looking at the matter from many points
of view, that absolute being is or may be absolutely known, but that
the utterly non-existent is utterly unknown?
Nothing can be more certain.
Good. But if there be anything which is of such a nature as to be
and not to be, that will have a place intermediate between pure
being and the absolute negation of being?
Yes, between them.
And, as knowledge corresponded to being and ignorance of
necessity to not-being, for that intermediate between being and not-
being there has to be discovered a corresponding intermediate
between ignorance and knowledge, if there be such?
Certainly.
Do we admit the existence of opinion?
Undoubtedly.
As being the same with knowledge, or another faculty?
Another faculty.
Then opinion and knowledge have to do with different kinds of
matter corresponding to this difference of faculties?
Yes.
200
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And knowledge is relative to being and knows being. But before I

proceed further I will make a division.
What division?
I will begin by placing faculties in a class by themselves: they are
powers in us, and in all other things, by which we do as we do.
Sight and hearing, for example, I should call faculties. Have I clearly
explained the class which I mean?
Yes, I quite understand.
Then let me tell you my view about them. I do not see them, and
therefore the distinctions of figure, colour, and the like, which
enable me to discern the differences of some things, do not apply to
them. In speaking of a faculty I think only of its sphere and its
result; and that which has the same sphere and the same result I call
the same faculty, but that which has another sphere and another
result I call different. Would that be your way of speaking?
Yes.
And will you be so very good as to answer one more question?
Would you say that knowledge is a faculty, or in what class would
you place it?
Certainly knowledge is a faculty, and the mightiest of all faculties.
And is opinion also a faculty?
Certainly, he said; for opinion is that with which we are able to
form an opinion.
And yet you were acknowledging a little while ago that knowledge is
not the same as opinion?
Why, yes, he said: how can any reasonable being ever identify that
which is infallible with that which errs?
An excellent answer, proving, I said, that we are quite conscious of
a distinction between them.
Yes.
Then knowledge and opinion having distinct powers have also
distinct spheres or subject-matters?
That is certain.
201
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Being is the sphere or subject-matter of knowledge, and knowledge

is to know the nature of being?
Yes.
And opinion is to have an opinion?
Yes.
And do we know what we opine? or is the subject-matter of
opinion the same as the subject-matter of knowledge?
Nay, he replied, that has been already disproven; if difference in
faculty implies difference in the sphere or subject-matter, and if, as
we were saying, opinion and knowledge are distinct faculties, then
the sphere of knowledge and of opinion cannot be the same.
Then if being is the subject-matter of knowledge, something else
must be the subject-matter of opinion?
Yes, something else.
Well then, is not-being the subject-matter of opinion? or, rather,
how can there be an opinion at all about not-being? Reflect: when a
man has an opinion, has he not an opinion about something? Can
he have an opinion which is an opinion about nothing?
Impossible.
He who has an opinion has an opinion about some one thing?
Yes.
And not-being is not one thing but, properly speaking, nothing?
True.
Of not-being, ignorance was assumed to be the necessary
correlative; of being, knowledge?
True, he said.
Then opinion is not concerned either with being or with not-being?
Not with either.
And can therefore neither be ignorance nor knowledge?
That seems to be true.

202
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

But is opinion to be sought without and beyond either of them, in a

greater clearness than knowledge, or in a greater darkness than
ignorance?
In neither.
Then I suppose that opinion appears to you to be darker than
knowledge, but lighter than ignorance?
Both; and in no small degree.
And also to be within and between them?
Yes.
Then you would infer that opinion is intermediate?
No question.
But were we not saying before, that if anything appeared to be of a
sort which is and is not at the same time, that sort of thing would
appear also to lie in the interval between pure being and absolute
not-being; and that the corresponding faculty is neither knowledge
nor ignorance, but will be found in the interval between them?
True.
And in that interval there has now been discovered something
which we call opinion?
There has.
Then what remains to be discovered is the object which partakes
equally of the nature of being and not-being, and cannot rightly be
termed either, pure and simple; this unknown term, when
discovered, we may truly call the subject of opinion, and assign each
to their proper faculty,—the extremes to the faculties of the
extremes and the mean to the faculty of the mean.
True.
This being premised, I would ask the gentleman who is of opinion
that there is no absolute or unchangeable idea of beauty—in whose
opinion the beautiful is the manifold—he, I say, your lover of
beautiful sights, who cannot bear to be told that the beautiful is
one, and the just is one, or that anything is one—to him I would
appeal, saying, Will you be so very kind, sir, as to tell us whether, of

203
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

all these beautiful things, there is one which will not be found ugly;
or of the just, which will not be found unjust; or of the holy, which
will not also be unholy?
No, he replied; the beautiful will in some point of view be found
ugly; and the same is true of the rest.
And may not the many which are doubles be also halves?—doubles,
that is, of one thing, and halves of another?
Quite true.
And things great and small, heavy and light, as they are termed, will
not be denoted by these any more than by the opposite names?
True; both these and the opposite names will always attach to all of
them.
And can any one of those many things which are called by
particular names be said to be this rather than not to be this?
He replied: They are like the punning riddles which are asked at
feasts or the children's puzzle about the eunuch aiming at the bat,
with what he hit him, as they say in the puzzle, and upon what the
bat was sitting. The individual objects of which I am speaking are
also a riddle, and have a double sense: nor can you fix them in your
mind, either as being or not-being, or both, or neither.
Then what will you do with them? I said. Can they have a better
place than between being and not-being? For they are clearly not in
greater darkness or negation than not-being, or more full of light
and existence than being.
That is quite true, he said.
Thus then we seem to have discovered that the many ideas which
the multitude entertain about the beautiful and about all other
things are tossing about in some region which is half-way between
pure being and pure not-being?
We have.
Yes; and we had before agreed that anything of this kind which we
might find was to be described as matter of opinion, and not as
matter of knowledge; being the intermediate flux which is caught
and detained by the intermediate faculty.

204
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Quite true.
Then those who see the many beautiful, and who yet neither see
absolute beauty, nor can follow any guide who points the way
thither; who see the many just, and not absolute justice, and the
like,—such persons may be said to have opinion but not
knowledge?
That is certain.
But those who see the absolute and eternal and immutable may be
said to know, and not to have opinion only?
Neither can that be denied.
The one love and embrace the subjects of knowledge, the other
those of opinion? The latter are the same, as I dare say you will
remember, who listened to sweet sounds and gazed upon fair
colours, but would not tolerate the existence of absolute beauty.
Yes, I remember.
Shall we then be guilty of any impropriety in calling them lovers of
opinion rather than lovers of wisdom, and will they be very angry
with us for thus describing them?
I shall tell them not to be angry; no man should be angry at what is
true.
But those who love the truth in each thing are to be called lovers of
wisdom and not lovers of opinion.
Assuredly.

BOOK VI.
And thus, Glaucon, after the argument has gone a weary way, the
true and the false philosophers have at length appeared in view.
I do not think, he said, that the way could have been shortened.
I suppose not, I said; and yet I believe that we might have had a
better view of both of them if the discussion could have been
confined to this one subject and if there were not many other
questions awaiting us, which he who desires to see in what respect
the life of the just differs from that of the unjust must consider.

205
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And what is the next question? he asked.

Surely, I said, the one which follows next in order. Inasmuch as
philosophers only are able to grasp the eternal and unchangeable,
and those who wander in the region of the many and variable are
not philosophers, I must ask you which of the two classes should
be the rulers of our State?
And how can we rightly answer that question?
Whichever of the two are best able to guard the laws and
institutions of our State—let them be our guardians.
Very good.
Neither, I said, can there be any question that the guardian who is
to keep anything should have eyes rather than no eyes?
There can be no question of that.
And are not those who are verily and indeed wanting in the
knowledge of the true being of each thing, and who have in their
souls no clear pattern, and are unable as with a painter's eye to look
at the absolute truth and to that original to repair, and having
perfect vision of the other world to order the laws about beauty,
goodness, justice in this, if not already ordered, and to guard and
preserve the order of them—are not such persons, I ask, simply
blind?
Truly, he replied, they are much in that condition.
And shall they be our guardians when there are others who, besides
being their equals in experience and falling short of them in no
particular of virtue, also know the very truth of each thing?
There can be no reason, he said, for rejecting those who have this
greatest of all great qualities; they must always have the first place
unless they fail in some other respect.
Suppose then, I said, that we determine how far they can unite this
and the other excellences.
By all means.
In the first place, as we began by observing, the nature of the
philosopher has to be ascertained. We must come to an
understanding about him, and, when we have done so, then, if I am
206
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

not mistaken, we shall also acknowledge that such an union of

qualities is possible, and that those in whom they are united, and
those only, should be rulers in the State.
What do you mean?
Let us suppose that philosophical minds always love knowledge of a
sort which shows them the eternal nature not varying from
generation and corruption.
Agreed.
And further, I said, let us agree that they are lovers of all true being;
there is no part whether greater or less, or more or less honourable,
which they are willing to renounce; as we said before of the lover
and the man of ambition.
True.
And if they are to be what we were describing, is there not another
quality which they should also possess?
What quality?
Truthfulness: they will never intentionally receive into their mind
falsehood, which is their detestation, and they will love the truth.
Yes, that may be safely affirmed of them.
'May be,' my friend, I replied, is not the word; say rather 'must be
affirmed:' for he whose nature is amorous of anything cannot help
loving all that belongs or is akin to the object of his affections.
Right, he said.
And is there anything more akin to wisdom than truth?
How can there be?
Can the same nature be a lover of wisdom and a lover of falsehood?
Never.
The true lover of learning then must from his earliest youth, as far
as in him lies, desire all truth?
Assuredly.

207
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

But then again, as we know by experience, he whose desires are

strong in one direction will have them weaker in others; they will be
like a stream which has been drawn off into another channel.
True.
He whose desires are drawn towards knowledge in every form will
be absorbed in the pleasures of the soul, and will hardly feel bodily
pleasure—I mean, if he be a true philosopher and not a sham one.
That is most certain.
Such an one is sure to be temperate and the reverse of covetous; for
the motives which make another man desirous of having and
spending, have no place in his character.
Very true.
Another criterion of the philosophical nature has also to be
considered.
What is that?
There should be no secret corner of illiberality; nothing can be
more antagonistic than meanness to a soul which is ever longing
after the whole of things both divine and human.
Most true, he replied.
Then how can he who has magnificence of mind and is the
spectator of all time and all existence, think much of human life?
He cannot.
Or can such an one account death fearful?
No indeed.
Then the cowardly and mean nature has no part in true philosophy?
Certainly not.
Or again: can he who is harmoniously constituted, who is not
covetous or mean, or a boaster, or a coward—can he, I say, ever be
unjust or hard in his dealings?
Impossible.

208
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Then you will soon observe whether a man is just and gentle, or
rude and unsociable; these are the signs which distinguish even in
youth the philosophical nature from the unphilosophical.
True.
There is another point which should be remarked.
What point?
Whether he has or has not a pleasure in learning; for no one will
love that which gives him pain, and in which after much toil he
makes little progress.
Certainly not.
And again, if he is forgetful and retains nothing of what he learns,
will he not be an empty vessel?
That is certain.
Labouring in vain, he must end in hating himself and his fruitless
occupation? Yes.
Then a soul which forgets cannot be ranked among genuine
philosophic natures; we must insist that the philosopher should
have a good memory?
Certainly.
And once more, the inharmonious and unseemly nature can only
tend to disproportion?
Undoubtedly.
And do you consider truth to be akin to proportion or to
disproportion?
To proportion.
Then, besides other qualities, we must try to find a naturally well-
proportioned and gracious mind, which will move spontaneously
towards the true being of everything.
Certainly.
Well, and do not all these qualities, which we have been
enumerating, go together, and are they not, in a manner, necessary
to a soul, which is to have a full and perfect participation of being?
209
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

They are absolutely necessary, he replied.

And must not that be a blameless study which he only can pursue
who has the gift of a good memory, and is quick to learn,—noble,
gracious, the friend of truth, justice, courage, temperance, who are
his kindred?
The god of jealousy himself, he said, could find no fault with such a
study.
And to men like him, I said, when perfected by years and education,
and to these only you will entrust the State.
Here Adeimantus interposed and said: To these statements,
Socrates, no one can offer a reply; but when you talk in this way, a
strange feeling passes over the minds of your hearers: They fancy
that they are led astray a little at each step in the argument, owing to
their own want of skill in asking and answering questions; these
littles accumulate, and at the end of the discussion they are found to
have sustained a mighty overthrow and all their former notions
appear to be turned upside down. And as unskilful players of
draughts are at last shut up by their more skilful adversaries and
have no piece to move, so they too find themselves shut up at last;
for they have nothing to say in this new game of which words are
the counters; and yet all the time they are in the right. The
observation is suggested to me by what is now occurring. For any
one of us might say, that although in words he is not able to meet
you at each step of the argument, he sees as a fact that the votaries
of philosophy, when they carry on the study, not only in youth as a
part of education, but as the pursuit of their maturer years, most of
them become strange monsters, not to say utter rogues, and that
those who may be considered the best of them are made useless to
the world by the very study which you extol.
Well, and do you think that those who say so are wrong?
I cannot tell, he replied; but I should like to know what is your
opinion.
Hear my answer; I am of opinion that they are quite right.
Then how can you be justified in saying that cities will not cease
from evil until philosophers rule in them, when philosophers are
acknowledged by us to be of no use to them?
210
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

You ask a question, I said, to which a reply can only be given in a

parable.
Yes, Socrates; and that is a way of speaking to which you are not at
all accustomed, I suppose.
I perceive, I said, that you are vastly amused at having plunged me
into such a hopeless discussion; but now hear the parable, and then
you will be still more amused at the meagreness of my imagination:
for the manner in which the best men are treated in their own
States is so grievous that no single thing on earth is comparable to
it; and therefore, if I am to plead their cause, I must have recourse
to fiction, and put together a figure made up of many things, like
the fabulous unions of goats and stags which are found in pictures.
Imagine then a fleet or a ship in which there is a captain who is
taller and stronger than any of the crew, but he is a little deaf and
has a similar infirmity in sight, and his knowledge of navigation is
not much better. The sailors are quarrelling with one another about
the steering—every one is of opinion that he has a right to steer,
though he has never learned the art of navigation and cannot tell
who taught him or when he learned, and will further assert that it
cannot be taught, and they are ready to cut in pieces any one who
says the contrary. They throng about the captain, begging and
praying him to commit the helm to them; and if at any time they do
not prevail, but others are preferred to them, they kill the others or
throw them overboard, and having first chained up the noble
captain's senses with drink or some narcotic drug, they mutiny and
take possession of the ship and make free with the stores; thus,
eating and drinking, they proceed on their voyage in such manner as
might be expected of them. Him who is their partisan and cleverly
aids them in their plot for getting the ship out of the captain's hands
into their own whether by force or persuasion, they compliment
with the name of sailor, pilot, able seaman, and abuse the other sort
of man, whom they call a good-for-nothing; but that the true pilot
must pay attention to the year and seasons and sky and stars and
winds, and whatever else belongs to his art, if he intends to be really
qualified for the command of a ship, and that he must and will be
the steerer, whether other people like or not—the possibility of this
union of authority with the steerer's art has never seriously entered
into their thoughts or been made part of their calling. Now in
vessels which are in a state of mutiny and by sailors who are
211
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

mutineers, how will the true pilot be regarded? Will he not be called
by them a prater, a star-gazer, a good-for-nothing?
Of course, said Adeimantus.
Then you will hardly need, I said, to hear the interpretation of the
figure, which describes the true philosopher in his relation to the
State; for you understand already.
Certainly.
Then suppose you now take this parable to the gentleman who is
surprised at finding that philosophers have no honour in their cities;
explain it to him and try to convince him that their having honour
would be far more extraordinary.
I will.
Say to him, that, in deeming the best votaries of philosophy to be
useless to the rest of the world, he is right; but also tell him to
attribute their uselessness to the fault of those who will not use
them, and not to themselves. The pilot should not humbly beg the
sailors to be commanded by him—that is not the order of nature;
neither are 'the wise to go to the doors of the rich'—the ingenious
author of this saying told a lie—but the truth is, that, when a man is
ill, whether he be rich or poor, to the physician he must go, and he
who wants to be governed, to him who is able to govern. The ruler
who is good for anything ought not to beg his subjects to be ruled
by him; although the present governors of mankind are of a
different stamp; they may be justly compared to the mutinous
sailors, and the true helmsmen to those who are called by them
good-for-nothings and star-gazers.
Precisely so, he said.
For these reasons, and among men like these, philosophy, the
noblest pursuit of all, is not likely to be much esteemed by those of
the opposite faction; not that the greatest and most lasting injury is
done to her by her opponents, but by her own professing followers,
the same of whom you suppose the accuser to say, that the greater
number of them are arrant rogues, and the best are useless; in which
opinion I agreed.
Yes.

212
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

And the reason why the good are useless has now been explained?
True.
Then shall we proceed to show that the corruption of the majority
is also unavoidable, and that this is not to be laid to the charge of
philosophy any more than the other?
By all means.
And let us ask and answer in turn, first going back to the
description of the gentle and noble nature. Truth, as you will
remember, was his leader, whom he followed always and in all
things; failing in this, he was an impostor, and had no part or lot in
true philosophy.
Yes, that was said.
Well, and is not this one quality, to mention no others, greatly at
variance with present notions of him?
Certainly, he said.
And have we not a right to say in his defence, that the true lover of
knowledge is always striving after being—that is his nature; he will
not rest in the multiplicity of individuals which is an appearance
only, but will go on—the keen edge will not be blunted, nor the
force of his desire abate until he have attained the knowledge of the
true nature of every essence by a sympathetic and kindred power in
the soul, and by that power drawing near and mingling and
becoming incorporate with very being, having begotten mind and
truth, he will have knowledge and will live and grow truly, and then,
and not till then, will he cease from his travail.
Nothing, he said, can be more just than such a description of him.
And will the love of a lie be any part of a philosopher's nature? Will
he not utterly hate a lie?
He will.
And when truth is the captain, we cannot suspect any evil of the
band which he leads?
Impossible.

213
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Justice and health of mind will be of the company, and temperance

will follow after?
True, he replied.
Neither is there any reason why I should again set in array the
philosopher's virtues, as you will doubtless remember that courage,
magnificence, apprehension, memory, were his natural gifts. And
you objected that, although no one could deny what I then said,
still, if you leave words and look at facts, the persons who are thus
described are some of them manifestly useless, and the greater
number utterly depraved; we were then led to enquire into the
grounds of these accusations, and have now arrived at the point of
asking why are the majority bad, which question of necessity
brought us back to the examination and definition of the true
philosopher.
Exactly.
And we have next to consider the corruptions of the philosophic
nature, why so many are spoiled and so few escape spoiling—I am
speaking of those who were said to be useless but not wicked—and,
when we have done with them, we will speak of the imitators of
philosophy, what manner of men are they who aspire after a
profession which is above them and of which they are unworthy,
and then, by their manifold inconsistencies, bring upon philosophy,
and upon all philosophers, that universal reprobation of which we
speak.
What are these corruptions? he said.
I will see if I can explain them to you. Every one will admit that a
nature having in perfection all the qualities which we required in a
philosopher, is a rare plant which is seldom seen among men.
Rare indeed.
And what numberless and powerful causes tend to destroy these
rare natures!
What causes?
In the first place there are their own virtues, their courage,
temperance, and the rest of them, every one of which praiseworthy

214
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

qualities (and this is a most singular circumstance) destroys and

distracts from philosophy the soul which is the possessor of them.
That is very singular, he replied.
Then there are all the ordinary goods of life—beauty, wealth,
strength, rank, and great connections in the State—you understand
the sort of things—these also have a corrupting and distracting
effect.
I understand; but I should like to know more precisely what you
mean about them.
Grasp the truth as a whole, I said, and in the right way; you will
then have no difficulty in apprehending the preceding remarks, and
they will no longer appear strange to you.
And how am I to do so? he asked.
Why, I said, we know that all germs or seeds, whether vegetable or
animal, when they fail to meet with proper nutriment or climate or
soil, in proportion to their vigour, are all the more sensitive to the
want of a suitable environment, for evil is a greater enemy to what
is good than to what is not.
Very true.
There is reason in supposing that the finest natures, when under
alien conditions, receive more injury than the inferior, because the
contrast is greater.
Certainly.
And may we not say, Adeimantus, that the most gifted minds, when
they are ill-educated, become pre-eminently bad? Do not great
crimes and the spirit of pure evil spring out of a fulness of nature
ruined by education rather than from any inferiority, whereas weak
natures are scarcely capable of any very great good or very great
evil?
There I think that you are right.
And our philosopher follows the same analogy—he is like a plant
which, having proper nurture, must necessarily grow and mature
into all virtue, but, if sown and planted in an alien soil, becomes the
most noxious of all weeds, unless he be preserved by some divine

215
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

power. Do you really think, as people so often say, that our youth
are corrupted by Sophists, or that private teachers of the art corrupt
them in any degree worth speaking of? Are not the public who say
these things the greatest of all Sophists? And do they not educate to
perfection young and old, men and women alike, and fashion them
after their own hearts?
When is this accomplished? he said.
When they meet together, and the world sits down at an assembly,
or in a court of law, or a theatre, or a camp, or in any other popular
resort, and there is a great uproar, and they praise some things
which are being said or done, and blame other things, equally
exaggerating both, shouting and clapping their hands, and the echo
of the rocks and the place in which they are assembled redoubles
the sound of the praise or blame—at such a time will not a young
man's heart, as they say, leap within him? Will any private training
enable him to stand firm against the overwhelming flood of popular
opinion? or will he be carried away by the stream? Will he not have
the notions of good and evil which the public in general have—he
will do as they do, and as they are, such will he be?
Yes, Socrates; necessity will compel him.
And yet, I said, there is a still greater necessity, which has not been
mentioned.
What is that?
The gentle force of attainder or confiscation or death, which, as you
are aware, these new Sophists and educators, who are the public,
apply when their words are powerless.
Indeed they do; and in right good earnest.
Now what opinion of any other Sophist, or of any private person,
can be expected to overcome in such an unequal contest?
None, he replied.
No, indeed, I said, even to make the attempt is a great piece of folly;
there neither is, nor has been, nor is ever likely to be, any different
type of character which has had no other training in virtue but that
which is supplied by public opinion—I speak, my friend, of human
virtue only; what is more than human, as the proverb says, is not

216
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

included: for I would not have you ignorant that, in the present evil
state of governments, whatever is saved and comes to good is saved
by the power of God, as we may truly say.
I quite assent, he replied.
Then let me crave your assent also to a further observation.
What are you going to say?
Why, that all those mercenary individuals, whom the many call
Sophists and whom they deem to be their adversaries, do, in fact,
teach nothing but the opinion of the many, that is to say, the
opinions of their assemblies; and this is their wisdom. I might
compare them to a man who should study the tempers and desires
of a mighty strong beast who is fed by him—he would learn how to
approach and handle him, also at what times and from what causes
he is dangerous or the reverse, and what is the meaning of his
several cries, and by what sounds, when another utters them, he is
soothed or infuriated; and you may suppose further, that when, by
continually attending upon him, he has become perfect in all this,
he calls his knowledge wisdom, and makes of it a system or art,
which he proceeds to teach, although he has no real notion of what
he means by the principles or passions of which he is speaking, but
calls this honourable and that dishonourable, or good or evil, or just
or unjust, all in accordance with the tastes and tempers of the great
brute. Good he pronounces to be that in which the beast delights
and evil to be that which he dislikes; and he can give no other
account of them except that the just and noble are the necessary,
having never himself seen, and having no power of explaining to
others the nature of either, or the difference between them, which
is immense. By heaven, would not such an one be a rare educator?
Indeed he would.
And in what way does he who thinks that wisdom is the
discernment of the tempers and tastes of the motley multitude,
whether in painting or music, or, finally, in politics, differ from him
whom I have been describing? For when a man consorts with the
many, and exhibits to them his poem or other work of art or the
service which he has done the State, making them his judges when
he is not obliged, the so-called necessity of Diomede will oblige him
to produce whatever they praise. And yet the reasons are utterly
217
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

ludicrous which they give in confirmation of their own notions

about the honourable and good. Did you ever hear any of them
which were not?
No, nor am I likely to hear.
You recognise the truth of what I have been saying? Then let me
ask you to consider further whether the world will ever be induced
to believe in the existence of absolute beauty rather than of the
many beautiful, or of the absolute in each kind rather than of the
many in each kind?
Certainly not.
Then the world cannot possibly be a philosopher?
Impossible.
And therefore philosophers must inevitably fall under the censure
of the world?
They must.
And of individuals who consort with the mob and seek to please
them?
That is evident.
Then, do you see any way in which the philosopher can be
preserved in his calling to the end? and remember what we were
saying of him, that he was to have quickness and memory and
courage and magnificence—these were admitted by us to be the
true philosopher's gifts.
Yes.
Will not such an one from his early childhood be in all things first
among all, especially if his bodily endowments are like his mental
ones?
Certainly, he said.
And his friends and fellow-citizens will want to use him as he gets
older for their own purposes?
No question.

218
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Falling at his feet, they will make requests to him and do him
honour and flatter him, because they want to get into their hands
now, the power which he will one day possess.
That often happens, he said.
And what will a man such as he is be likely to do under such
circumstances, especially if he be a citizen of a great city, rich and
noble, and a tall proper youth? Will he not be full of boundless
aspirations, and fancy himself able to manage the affairs of Hellenes
and of barbarians, and having got such notions into his head will he
not dilate and elevate himself in the fulness of vain pomp and
senseless pride?
To be sure he will.
Now, when he is in this state of mind, if some one gently comes to
him and tells him that he is a fool and must get understanding,
which can only be got by slaving for it, do you think that, under
such adverse circumstances, he will be easily induced to listen?
Far otherwise.
And even if there be some one who through inherent goodness or
natural reasonableness has had his eyes opened a little and is
humbled and taken captive by philosophy, how will his friends
behave when they think that they are likely to lose the advantage
which they were hoping to reap from his companionship? Will they
not do and say anything to prevent him from yielding to his better
nature and to render his teacher powerless, using to this end private
intrigues as well as public prosecutions?
There can be no doubt of it.
And how can one who is thus circumstanced ever become a
philosopher?
Impossible.
Then were we not right in saying that even the very qualities which
make a man a philosopher may, if he be ill-educated, divert him
from philosophy, no less than riches and their accompaniments and
the other so-called goods of life?
We were quite right.

219
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Thus, my excellent friend, is brought about all that ruin and failure
which I have been describing of the natures best adapted to the best
of all pursuits; they are natures which we maintain to be rare at any
time; this being the class out of which come the men who are the
authors of the greatest evil to States and individuals; and also of the
greatest good when the tide carries them in that direction; but a
small man never was the doer of any great thing either to
individuals or to States.
That is most true, he said.
And so philosophy is left desolate, with her marriage rite
incomplete: for her own have fallen away and forsaken her, and
while they are leading a false and unbecoming life, other unworthy
persons, seeing that she has no kinsmen to be her protectors, enter
in and dishonour her; and fasten upon her the reproaches which, as
you say, her reprovers utter, who affirm of her votaries that some
are good for nothing, and that the greater number deserve the
severest punishment.
That is certainly what people say.
Yes; and what else would you expect, I said, when you think of the
puny creatures who, seeing this land open to them—a land well
stocked with fair names and showy titles—like prisoners running
out of prison into a sanctuary, take a leap out of their trades into
philosophy; those who do so being probably the cleverest hands at
their own miserable crafts? For, although philosophy be in this evil
case, still there remains a dignity about her which is not to be found
in the arts. And many are thus attracted by her whose natures are
imperfect and whose souls are maimed and disfigured by their
meannesses, as their bodies are by their trades and crafts. Is not this
unavoidable?
Yes.
Are they not exactly like a bald little tinker who has just got out of
durance and come into a fortune; he takes a bath and puts on a new
coat, and is decked out as a bridegroom going to marry his master's
daughter, who is left poor and desolate?
A most exact parallel.

220
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

What will be the issue of such marriages? Will they not be vile and
bastard?
There can be no question of it.
And when persons who are unworthy of education approach
philosophy and make an alliance with her who is in a rank above
them what sort of ideas and opinions are likely to be generated?
Will they not be sophisms captivating to the ear, having nothing in
them genuine, or worthy of or akin to true wisdom?
No doubt, he said.
Then, Adeimantus, I said, the worthy disciples of philosophy will be
but a small remnant: perchance some noble and well-educated
person, detained by exile in her service, who in the absence of
corrupting influences remains devoted to her; or some lofty soul
born in a mean city, the politics of which he contemns and neglects;
and there may be a gifted few who leave the arts, which they justly
despise, and come to her;—or peradventure there are some who are
restrained by our friend Theages' bridle; for everything in the life of
Theages conspired to divert him from philosophy; but ill-health
kept him away from politics. My own case of the internal sign is
hardly worth mentioning, for rarely, if ever, has such a monitor
been given to any other man. Those who belong to this small class
have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is, and
have also seen enough of the madness of the multitude; and they
know that no politician is honest, nor is there any champion of
justice at whose side they may fight and be saved. Such an one may
be compared to a man who has fallen among wild beasts—he will
not join in the wickedness of his fellows, but neither is he able
singly to resist all their fierce natures, and therefore seeing that he
would be of no use to the State or to his friends, and reflecting that
he would have to throw away his life without doing any good either
to himself or others, he holds his peace, and goes his own way. He
is like one who, in the storm of dust and sleet which the driving
wind hurries along, retires under the shelter of a wall; and seeing the
rest of mankind full of wickedness, he is content, if only he can live
his own life and be pure from evil or unrighteousness, and depart in
peace and good-will, with bright hopes.
Yes, he said, and he will have done a great work before he departs.

221
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

A great work—yes; but not the greatest, unless he find a State

suitable to him; for in a State which is suitable to him, he will have a
larger growth and be the saviour of his country, as well as of
himself.
The causes why philosophy is in such an evil name have now been
sufficiently explained: the injustice of the charges against her has
been shown—is there anything more which you wish to say?
Nothing more on that subject, he replied; but I should like to know
which of the governments now existing is in your opinion the one
adapted to her.
Not any of them, I said; and that is precisely the accusation which I
bring against them—not one of them is worthy of the philosophic
nature, and hence that nature is warped and estranged;—as the
exotic seed which is sown in a foreign land becomes denaturalized,
and is wont to be overpowered and to lose itself in the new soil,
even so this growth of philosophy, instead of persisting,
degenerates and receives another character. But if philosophy ever
finds in the State that perfection which she herself is, then will be
seen that she is in truth divine, and that all other things, whether
natures of men or institutions, are but human;—and now, I know,
that you are going to ask, What that State is:
No, he said; there you are wrong, for I was going to ask another
question—whether it is the State of which we are the founders and
inventors, or some other?
Yes, I replied, ours in most respects; but you may remember my
saying before, that some living authority would always be required
in the State having the same idea of the constitution which guided
you when as legislator you were laying down the laws.
That was said, he replied.
Yes, but not in a satisfactory manner; you frightened us by
interposing objections, which certainly showed that the discussion
would be long and difficult; and what still remains is the reverse of
easy.
What is there remaining?

222
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

The question how the study of philosophy may be so ordered as

not to be the ruin of the State: All great attempts are attended with
risk; 'hard is the good,' as men say.
Still, he said, let the point be cleared up, and the enquiry will then
be complete.
I shall not be hindered, I said, by any want of will, but, if at all, by a
want of power: my zeal you may see for yourselves; and please to
remark in what I am about to say how boldly and unhesitatingly I
declare that States should pursue philosophy, not as they do now,
but in a different spirit.
In what manner?
At present, I said, the students of philosophy are quite young;
beginning when they are hardly past childhood, they devote only
the time saved from moneymaking and housekeeping to such
pursuits; and even those of them who are reputed to have most of
the philosophic spirit, when they come within sight of the great
difficulty of the subject, I mean dialectic, take themselves off. In
after life when invited by some one else, they may, perhaps, go and
hear a lecture, and about this they make much ado, for philosophy
is not considered by them to be their proper business: at last, when
they grow old, in most cases they are extinguished more truly than
Heracleitus' sun, inasmuch as they never light up again. (Heraclitus
said that the sun was extinguished every evening and relighted every
morning.)
But what ought to be their course?
Just the opposite. In childhood and youth their study, and what
philosophy they learn, should be suited to their tender years: during
this period while they are growing up towards manhood, the chief
and special care should be given to their bodies that they may have
them to use in the service of philosophy; as life advances and the
intellect begins to mature, let them increase the gymnastics of the
soul; but when the strength of our citizens fails and is past civil and
military duties, then let them range at will and engage in no serious
labour, as we intend them to live happily here, and to crown this life
with a similar happiness in another.

223
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

How truly in earnest you are, Socrates! he said; I am sure of that;

and yet most of your hearers, if I am not mistaken, are likely to be
still more earnest in their opposition to you, and will never be
convinced; Thrasymachus least of all.
Do not make a quarrel, I said, between Thrasymachus and me, who
have recently become friends, although, indeed, we were never
enemies; for I shall go on striving to the utmost until I either
convert him and other men, or do something which may profit
them against the day when they live again, and hold the like
discourse in another state of existence.
You are speaking of a time which is not very near.
Rather, I replied, of a time which is as nothing in comparison with
eternity. Nevertheless, I do not wonder that the many refuse to
believe; for they have never seen that of which we are now speaking
realized; they have seen only a conventional imitation of
philosophy, consisting of words artificially brought together, not
like these of ours having a natural unity. But a human being who in
word and work is perfectly moulded, as far as he can be, into the
proportion and likeness of virtue—such a man ruling in a city
which bears the same image, they have never yet seen, neither one
nor many of them—do you think that they ever did?
No indeed.
No, my friend, and they have seldom, if ever, heard free and noble
sentiments; such as men utter when they are earnestly and by every
means in their power seeking after truth for the sake of knowledge,
while they look coldly on the subtleties of controversy, of which the
end is opinion and strife, whether they meet with them in the courts
of law or in society.
They are strangers, he said, to the words of which you speak.
And this was what we foresaw, and this was the reason why truth
forced us to admit, not without fear and hesitation, that neither
cities nor States nor individuals will ever attain perfection until the
small class of philosophers whom we termed useless but not
corrupt are providentially compelled, whether they will or not, to
take care of the State, and until a like necessity be laid on the State
to obey them; or until kings, or if not kings, the sons of kings or

224
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

princes, are divinely inspired with a true love of true philosophy.

That either or both of these alternatives are impossible, I see no
reason to affirm: if they were so, we might indeed be justly ridiculed
as dreamers and visionaries. Am I not right?
Quite right.
If then, in the countless ages of the past, or at the present hour in
some foreign clime which is far away and beyond our ken, the
perfected philosopher is or has been or hereafter shall be compelled
by a superior power to have the charge of the State, we are ready to
assert to the death, that this our constitution has been, and is—yea,
and will be whenever the Muse of Philosophy is queen. There is no
impossibility in all this; that there is a difficulty, we acknowledge
ourselves.
My opinion agrees with yours, he said.
But do you mean to say that this is not the opinion of the
multitude?
I should imagine not, he replied.
O my friend, I said, do not attack the multitude: they will change
their minds, if, not in an aggressive spirit, but gently and with the
view of soothing them and removing their dislike of over-
education, you show them your philosophers as they really are and
describe as you were just now doing their character and profession,
and then mankind will see that he of whom you are speaking is not
such as they supposed—if they view him in this new light, they will
surely change their notion of him, and answer in another strain.
Who can be at enmity with one who loves them, who that is himself
gentle and free from envy will be jealous of one in whom there is
no jealousy? Nay, let me answer for you, that in a few this harsh
temper may be found but not in the majority of mankind.
I quite agree with you, he said.
And do you not also think, as I do, that the harsh feeling which the
many entertain towards philosophy originates in the pretenders,
who rush in uninvited, and are always abusing them, and finding
fault with them, who make persons instead of things the theme of
their conversation? and nothing can be more unbecoming in
philosophers than this.
225
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

It is most unbecoming.
For he, Adeimantus, whose mind is fixed upon true being, has
surely no time to look down upon the affairs of earth, or to be filled
with malice and envy, contending against men; his eye is ever
directed towards things fixed and immutable, which he sees neither
injuring nor injured by one another, but all in order moving
according to reason; these he imitates, and to these he will, as far as
he can, conform himself. Can a man help imitating that with which
he holds reverential converse?
Impossible.
And the philosopher holding converse with the divine order,
becomes orderly and divine, as far as the nature of man allows; but
like every one else, he will suffer from detraction.
Of course.
And if a necessity be laid upon him of fashioning, not only himself,
but human nature generally, whether in States or individuals, into
that which he beholds elsewhere, will he, think you, be an unskilful
artificer of justice, temperance, and every civil virtue?
Anything but unskilful.
And if the world perceives that what we are saying about him is the
truth, will they be angry with philosophy? Will they disbelieve us,
when we tell them that no State can be happy which is not designed
by artists who imitate the heavenly pattern?
They will not be angry if they understand, he said. But how will they
draw out the plan of which you are speaking?
They will begin by taking the State and the manners of men, from
which, as from a tablet, they will rub out the picture, and leave a
clean surface. This is no easy task. But whether easy or not, herein
will lie the difference between them and every other legislator,—
they will have nothing to do either with individual or State, and will
inscribe no laws, until they have either found, or themselves made,
a clean surface.
They will be very right, he said.
Having effected this, they will proceed to trace an outline of the
constitution?
226
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

No doubt.
And when they are filling in the work, as I conceive, they will often
turn their eyes upwards and downwards: I mean that they will first
look at absolute justice and beauty and temperance, and again at the
human copy; and will mingle and temper the various elements of
life into the image of a man; and this they will conceive according to
that other image, which, when existing among men, Homer calls the
form and likeness of God.
Very true, he said.
And one feature they will erase, and another they will put in, until
they have made the ways of men, as far as possible, agreeable to the
ways of God?
Indeed, he said, in no way could they make a fairer picture.
And now, I said, are we beginning to persuade those whom you
described as rushing at us with might and main, that the painter of
constitutions is such an one as we are praising; at whom they were
so very indignant because to his hands we committed the State; and
are they growing a little calmer at what they have just heard?
Much calmer, if there is any sense in them.
Why, where can they still find any ground for objection? Will they
doubt that the philosopher is a lover of truth and being?
They would not be so unreasonable.
Or that his nature, being such as we have delineated, is akin to the
highest good?
Neither can they doubt this.
But again, will they tell us that such a nature, placed under
favourable circumstances, will not be perfectly good and wise if any
ever was? Or will they prefer those whom we have rejected?
Surely not.
Then will they still be angry at our saying, that, until philosophers
bear rule, States and individuals will have no rest from evil, nor will
this our imaginary State ever be realized?
I think that they will be less angry.

227
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Shall we assume that they are not only less angry but quite gentle,
and that they have been converted and for very shame, if for no
other reason, cannot refuse to come to terms?
By all means, he said.
Then let us suppose that the reconciliation has been effected. Will
any one deny the other point, that there may be sons of kings or
princes who are by nature philosophers?
Surely no man, he said.
And when they have come into being will any one say that they
must of necessity be destroyed; that they can hardly be saved is not
denied even by us; but that in the whole course of ages no single
one of them can escape—who will venture to affirm this?
Who indeed!
But, said I, one is enough; let there be one man who has a city
obedient to his will, and he might bring into existence the ideal
polity about which the world is so incredulous.
Yes, one is enough.
The ruler may impose the laws and institutions which we have been
describing, and the citizens may possibly be willing to obey them?
Certainly.
And that others should approve, of what we approve, is no miracle
or impossibility?
I think not.
But we have sufficiently shown, in what has preceded, that all this,
if only possible, is assuredly for the best.
We have.
And now we say not only that our laws, if they could be enacted,
would be for the best, but also that the enactment of them, though
difficult, is not impossible.
Very good.
And so with pain and toil we have reached the end of one subject,
but more remains to be discussed;—how and by what studies and

228
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

pursuits will the saviours of the constitution be created, and at what

ages are they to apply themselves to their several studies?
Certainly.
I omitted the troublesome business of the possession of women,
and the procreation of children, and the appointment of the rulers,
because I knew that the perfect State would be eyed with jealousy
and was difficult of attainment; but that piece of cleverness was not
of much service to me, for I had to discuss them all the same. The
women and children are now disposed of, but the other question of
the rulers must be investigated from the very beginning. We were
saying, as you will remember, that they were to be lovers of their
country, tried by the test of pleasures and pains, and neither in
hardships, nor in dangers, nor at any other critical moment were to
lose their patriotism—he was to be rejected who failed, but he who
always came forth pure, like gold tried in the refiner's fire, was to be
made a ruler, and to receive honours and rewards in life and after
death. This was the sort of thing which was being said, and then the
argument turned aside and veiled her face; not liking to stir the
question which has now arisen.
I perfectly remember, he said.
Yes, my friend, I said, and I then shrank from hazarding the bold
word; but now let me dare to say—that the perfect guardian must
be a philosopher.
Yes, he said, let that be affirmed.
And do not suppose that there will be many of them; for the gifts
which were deemed by us to be essential rarely grow together; they
are mostly found in shreds and patches.
What do you mean? he said.
You are aware, I replied, that quick intelligence, memory, sagacity,
cleverness, and similar qualities, do not often grow together, and
that persons who possess them and are at the same time high-
spirited and magnanimous are not so constituted by nature as to
live orderly and in a peaceful and settled manner; they are driven
any way by their impulses, and all solid principle goes out of them.
Very true, he said.

229
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

On the other hand, those steadfast natures which can better be

depended upon, which in a battle are impregnable to fear and
immovable, are equally immovable when there is anything to be
learned; they are always in a torpid state, and are apt to yawn and go
to sleep over any intellectual toil.
Quite true.
And yet we were saying that both qualities were necessary in those
to whom the higher education is to be imparted, and who are to
share in any office or command.
Certainly, he said.
And will they be a class which is rarely found?
Yes, indeed.
Then the aspirant must not only be tested in those labours and
dangers and pleasures which we mentioned before, but there is
another kind of probation which we did not mention—he must be
exercised also in many kinds of knowledge, to see whether the soul
will be able to endure the highest of all, or will faint under them, as
in any other studies and exercises.
Yes, he said, you are quite right in testing him. But what do you
mean by the highest of all knowledge?
You may remember, I said, that we divided the soul into three parts;
and distinguished the several natures of justice, temperance,
courage, and wisdom?
Indeed, he said, if I had forgotten, I should not deserve to hear
more.
And do you remember the word of caution which preceded the
discussion of them?
To what do you refer?
We were saying, if I am not mistaken, that he who wanted to see
them in their perfect beauty must take a longer and more circuitous
way, at the end of which they would appear; but that we could add
on a popular exposition of them on a level with the discussion
which had preceded. And you replied that such an exposition would
be enough for you, and so the enquiry was continued in what to me

230
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

seemed to be a very inaccurate manner; whether you were satisfied

or not, it is for you to say.
Yes, he said, I thought and the others thought that you gave us a
fair measure of truth.
But, my friend, I said, a measure of such things which in any degree
falls short of the whole truth is not fair measure; for nothing
imperfect is the measure of anything, although persons are too apt
to be contented and think that they need search no further.
Not an uncommon case when people are indolent.
Yes, I said; and there cannot be any worse fault in a guardian of the
State and of the laws.
True.
The guardian then, I said, must be required to take the longer
circuit, and toil at learning as well as at gymnastics, or he will never
reach the highest knowledge of all which, as we were just now
saying, is his proper calling.
What, he said, is there a knowledge still higher than this—higher
than justice and the other virtues?
Yes, I said, there is. And of the virtues too we must behold not the
outline merely, as at present—nothing short of the most finished
picture should satisfy us. When little things are elaborated with an
infinity of pains, in order that they may appear in their full beauty
and utmost clearness, how ridiculous that we should not think the
highest truths worthy of attaining the highest accuracy!
A right noble thought; but do you suppose that we shall refrain
from asking you what is this highest knowledge?
Nay, I said, ask if you will; but I am certain that you have heard the
answer many times, and now you either do not understand me or,
as I rather think, you are disposed to be troublesome; for you have
often been told that the idea of good is the highest knowledge, and
that all other things become useful and advantageous only by their
use of this. You can hardly be ignorant that of this I was about to
speak, concerning which, as you have often heard me say, we know
so little; and, without which, any other knowledge or possession of
any kind will profit us nothing. Do you think that the possession of

231
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

all other things is of any value if we do not possess the good? or the
knowledge of all other things if we have no knowledge of beauty
and goodness?
Assuredly not.
You are further aware that most people affirm pleasure to be the
good, but the finer sort of wits say it is knowledge?
Yes.
And you are aware too that the latter cannot explain what they
mean by knowledge, but are obliged after all to say knowledge of
the good?
How ridiculous!
Yes, I said, that they should begin by reproaching us with our
ignorance of the good, and then presume our knowledge of it—for
the good they define to be knowledge of the good, just as if we
understood them when they use the term 'good'—this is of course
ridiculous.
Most true, he said.
And those who make pleasure their good are in equal perplexity; for
they are compelled to admit that there are bad pleasures as well as
good.
Certainly.
And therefore to acknowledge that bad and good are the same?
True.
There can be no doubt about the numerous difficulties in which
this question is involved.
There can be none.
Further, do we not see that many are willing to do or to have or to
seem to be what is just and honourable without the reality; but no
one is satisfied with the appearance of good—the reality is what
they seek; in the case of the good, appearance is despised by every
one.
Very true, he said.

232
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Of this then, which every soul of man pursues and makes the end
of all his actions, having a presentiment that there is such an end,
and yet hesitating because neither knowing the nature nor having
the same assurance of this as of other things, and therefore losing
whatever good there is in other things,—of a principle such and so
great as this ought the best men in our State, to whom everything is
entrusted, to be in the darkness of ignorance?
Certainly not, he said.
I am sure, I said, that he who does not know how the beautiful and
the just are likewise good will be but a sorry guardian of them; and I
suspect that no one who is ignorant of the good will have a true
knowledge of them.
That, he said, is a shrewd suspicion of yours.
And if we only have a guardian who has this knowledge our State
will be perfectly ordered?
Of course, he replied; but I wish that you would tell me whether
you conceive this supreme principle of the good to be knowledge or
pleasure, or different from either?
Aye, I said, I knew all along that a fastidious gentleman like you
would not be contented with the thoughts of other people about
these matters.
True, Socrates; but I must say that one who like you has passed a
lifetime in the study of philosophy should not be always repeating
the opinions of others, and never telling his own.
Well, but has any one a right to say positively what he does not
know?
Not, he said, with the assurance of positive certainty; he has no
right to do that: but he may say what he thinks, as a matter of
opinion.
And do you not know, I said, that all mere opinions are bad, and
the best of them blind? You would not deny that those who have
any true notion without intelligence are only like blind men who
feel their way along the road?
Very true.

233
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And do you wish to behold what is blind and crooked and base,
when others will tell you of brightness and beauty?
Still, I must implore you, Socrates, said Glaucon, not to turn away
just as you are reaching the goal; if you will only give such an
explanation of the good as you have already given of justice and
temperance and the other virtues, we shall be satisfied.
Yes, my friend, and I shall be at least equally satisfied, but I cannot
help fearing that I shall fail, and that my indiscreet zeal will bring
ridicule upon me. No, sweet sirs, let us not at present ask what is
the actual nature of the good, for to reach what is now in my
thoughts would be an effort too great for me. But of the child of
the good who is likest him, I would fain speak, if I could be sure
that you wished to hear—otherwise, not.
By all means, he said, tell us about the child, and you shall remain in
our debt for the account of the parent.
I do indeed wish, I replied, that I could pay, and you receive, the
account of the parent, and not, as now, of the offspring only; take,
however, this latter by way of interest, and at the same time have a
care that I do not render a false account, although I have no
intention of deceiving you.
Yes, we will take all the care that we can: proceed.
Yes, I said, but I must first come to an understanding with you, and
remind you of what I have mentioned in the course of this
discussion, and at many other times.
What?
The old story, that there is a many beautiful and a many good, and
so of other things which we describe and define; to all of them the
term 'many' is applied.
True, he said.
And there is an absolute beauty and an absolute good, and of other
things to which the term 'many' is applied there is an absolute; for
they may be brought under a single idea, which is called the essence
of each.
Very true.

234
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

The many, as we say, are seen but not known, and the ideas are
known but not seen.
Exactly.
And what is the organ with which we see the visible things?
The sight, he said.
And with the hearing, I said, we hear, and with the other senses
perceive the other objects of sense?
True.
But have you remarked that sight is by far the most costly and
complex piece of workmanship which the artificer of the senses
ever contrived?
No, I never have, he said.
Then reflect; has the ear or voice need of any third or additional
nature in order that the one may be able to hear and the other to be
heard?
Nothing of the sort.
No, indeed, I replied; and the same is true of most, if not all, the
other senses—you would not say that any of them requires such an
addition?
Certainly not.
But you see that without the addition of some other nature there is
no seeing or being seen?
How do you mean?
Sight being, as I conceive, in the eyes, and he who has eyes wanting
to see; colour being also present in them, still unless there be a third
nature specially adapted to the purpose, the owner of the eyes will
see nothing and the colours will be invisible.
Of what nature are you speaking?
Of that which you term light, I replied.
True, he said.

235
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Noble, then, is the bond which links together sight and visibility,
and great beyond other bonds by no small difference of nature; for
light is their bond, and light is no ignoble thing?
Nay, he said, the reverse of ignoble.
And which, I said, of the gods in heaven would you say was the lord
of this element? Whose is that light which makes the eye to see
perfectly and the visible to appear?
You mean the sun, as you and all mankind say.
May not the relation of sight to this deity be described as follows?
How?
Neither sight nor the eye in which sight resides is the sun?
No.
Yet of all the organs of sense the eye is the most like the sun?
By far the most like.
And the power which the eye possesses is a sort of effluence which
is dispensed from the sun?
Exactly.
Then the sun is not sight, but the author of sight who is recognised
by sight?
True, he said.
And this is he whom I call the child of the good, whom the good
begat in his own likeness, to be in the visible world, in relation to
sight and the things of sight, what the good is in the intellectual
world in relation to mind and the things of mind:
Will you be a little more explicit? he said.
Why, you know, I said, that the eyes, when a person directs them
towards objects on which the light of day is no longer shining, but
the moon and stars only, see dimly, and are nearly blind; they seem
to have no clearness of vision in them?
Very true.
But when they are directed towards objects on which the sun
shines, they see clearly and there is sight in them?
236
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Certainly.
And the soul is like the eye: when resting upon that on which truth
and being shine, the soul perceives and understands, and is radiant
with intelligence; but when turned towards the twilight of becoming
and perishing, then she has opinion only, and goes blinking about,
and is first of one opinion and then of another, and seems to have
no intelligence?
Just so.
Now, that which imparts truth to the known and the power of
knowing to the knower is what I would have you term the idea of
good, and this you will deem to be the cause of science, and of
truth in so far as the latter becomes the subject of knowledge;
beautiful too, as are both truth and knowledge, you will be right in
esteeming this other nature as more beautiful than either; and, as in
the previous instance, light and sight may be truly said to be like the
sun, and yet not to be the sun, so in this other sphere, science and
truth may be deemed to be like the good, but not the good; the
good has a place of honour yet higher.
What a wonder of beauty that must be, he said, which is the author
of science and truth, and yet surpasses them in beauty; for you
surely cannot mean to say that pleasure is the good?
God forbid, I replied; but may I ask you to consider the image in
another point of view?
In what point of view?
You would say, would you not, that the sun is not only the author
of visibility in all visible things, but of generation and nourishment
and growth, though he himself is not generation?
Certainly.
In like manner the good may be said to be not only the author of
knowledge to all things known, but of their being and essence, and
yet the good is not essence, but far exceeds essence in dignity and
power.
Glaucon said, with a ludicrous earnestness: By the light of heaven,
how amazing!

237
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, I said, and the exaggeration may be set down to you; for you
made me utter my fancies.
And pray continue to utter them; at any rate let us hear if there is
anything more to be said about the similitude of the sun.
Yes, I said, there is a great deal more.
Then omit nothing, however slight.
I will do my best, I said; but I should think that a great deal will
have to be omitted.
I hope not, he said.
You have to imagine, then, that there are two ruling powers, and
that one of them is set over the intellectual world, the other over
the visible. I do not say heaven, lest you should fancy that I am
playing upon the name ('ourhanoz, orhatoz'). May I suppose that
you have this distinction of the visible and intelligible fixed in your
mind?
I have.
Now take a line which has been cut into two unequal parts, and
divide each of them again in the same proportion, and suppose the
two main divisions to answer, one to the visible and the other to the
intelligible, and then compare the subdivisions in respect of their
clearness and want of clearness, and you will find that the first
section in the sphere of the visible consists of images. And by
images I mean, in the first place, shadows, and in the second place,
reflections in water and in solid, smooth and polished bodies and
the like: Do you understand?
Yes, I understand.
Imagine, now, the other section, of which this is only the
resemblance, to include the animals which we see, and everything
that grows or is made.
Very good.
Would you not admit that both the sections of this division have
different degrees of truth, and that the copy is to the original as the
sphere of opinion is to the sphere of knowledge?
Most undoubtedly.
238
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Next proceed to consider the manner in which the sphere of the

intellectual is to be divided.
In what manner?
Thus:—There are two subdivisions, in the lower of which the soul
uses the figures given by the former division as images; the enquiry
can only be hypothetical, and instead of going upwards to a
principle descends to the other end; in the higher of the two, the
soul passes out of hypotheses, and goes up to a principle which is
above hypotheses, making no use of images as in the former case,
but proceeding only in and through the ideas themselves.
I do not quite understand your meaning, he said.
Then I will try again; you will understand me better when I have
made some preliminary remarks. You are aware that students of
geometry, arithmetic, and the kindred sciences assume the odd and
the even and the figures and three kinds of angles and the like in
their several branches of science; these are their hypotheses, which
they and every body are supposed to know, and therefore they do
not deign to give any account of them either to themselves or
others; but they begin with them, and go on until they arrive at last,
and in a consistent manner, at their conclusion?
Yes, he said, I know.
And do you not know also that although they make use of the
visible forms and reason about them, they are thinking not of these,
but of the ideals which they resemble; not of the figures which they
draw, but of the absolute square and the absolute diameter, and so
on—the forms which they draw or make, and which have shadows
and reflections in water of their own, are converted by them into
images, but they are really seeking to behold the things themselves,
which can only be seen with the eye of the mind?
That is true.
And of this kind I spoke as the intelligible, although in the search
after it the soul is compelled to use hypotheses; not ascending to a
first principle, because she is unable to rise above the region of
hypothesis, but employing the objects of which the shadows below
are resemblances in their turn as images, they having in relation to

239
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

the shadows and reflections of them a greater distinctness, and

therefore a higher value.
I understand, he said, that you are speaking of the province of
geometry and the sister arts.
And when I speak of the other division of the intelligible, you will
understand me to speak of that other sort of knowledge which
reason herself attains by the power of dialectic, using the
hypotheses not as first principles, but only as hypotheses—that is to
say, as steps and points of departure into a world which is above
hypotheses, in order that she may soar beyond them to the first
principle of the whole; and clinging to this and then to that which
depends on this, by successive steps she descends again without the
aid of any sensible object, from ideas, through ideas, and in ideas
she ends.
I understand you, he replied; not perfectly, for you seem to me to
be describing a task which is really tremendous; but, at any rate, I
understand you to say that knowledge and being, which the science
of dialectic contemplates, are clearer than the notions of the arts, as
they are termed, which proceed from hypotheses only: these are
also contemplated by the understanding, and not by the senses: yet,
because they start from hypotheses and do not ascend to a
principle, those who contemplate them appear to you not to
exercise the higher reason upon them, although when a first
principle is added to them they are cognizable by the higher reason.
And the habit which is concerned with geometry and the cognate
sciences I suppose that you would term understanding and not
reason, as being intermediate between opinion and reason.
You have quite conceived my meaning, I said; and now,
corresponding to these four divisions, let there be four faculties in
the soul—reason answering to the highest, understanding to the
second, faith (or conviction) to the third, and perception of
shadows to the last—and let there be a scale of them, and let us
suppose that the several faculties have clearness in the same degree
that their objects have truth.
I understand, he replied, and give my assent, and accept your
arrangement.

240
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

BOOK VII.
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is
enlightened or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in a
underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and
reaching all along the den; here they have been from their
childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they
cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the
chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a
fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners
there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built
along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in
front of them, over which they show the puppets.
I see.
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts
of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and
stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of
them are talking, others silent.
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or
the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite
wall of the cave?
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they
were never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they
would only see the shadows?
Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not
suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from
the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the
passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the
passing shadow?
No question, he replied.

241
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the

shadows of the images.
That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the
prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when
any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and
turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will
suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable
to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the
shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he
saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching
nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he
has a clearer vision,—what will be his reply? And you may further
imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass
and requiring him to name them,—will he not be perplexed? Will
he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than
the objects which are now shown to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have
a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in
the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive
to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown
to him?
True, he said.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep
and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence
of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When
he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be
able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world.
And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men
and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves;
then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the
spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night
better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
242
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Certainly.
Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of
him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and
not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season
and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world,
and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows
have been accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about
him.
And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of
the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would
felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among
themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing
shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which
followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore
best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he
would care for such honours and glories, or envy the possessors of
them? Would he not say with Homer,
'Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,'
and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after
their manner?
Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than
entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the
sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to
have his eyes full of darkness?
To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring
the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the
den, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become
243
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new
habit of sight might be very considerable), would he not be
ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he
came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of
ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to
the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him
to death.
No question, he said.
This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to
the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the
light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you
interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the
intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire,
I have expressed—whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But,
whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge
the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort;
and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all
things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in
this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in
the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who
would act rationally either in public or private life must have his eye
fixed.
I agree, he said, as far as I am able to understand you.
Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this
beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their
souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to
dwell; which desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be
trusted.
Yes, very natural.
And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine
contemplations to the evil state of man, misbehaving himself in a
ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has
become accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled
to fight in courts of law, or in other places, about the images or the
shadows of images of justice, and is endeavouring to meet the
conceptions of those who have never yet seen absolute justice?

244
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Anything but surprising, he replied.

Any one who has common sense will remember that the
bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two
causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the
light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily
eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision
is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first
ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and
is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having
turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And
he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and
he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul
which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in
this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out
of the light into the den.
That, he said, is a very just distinction.
But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be
wrong when they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul
which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes.
They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of
learning exists in the soul already; and that just as the eye was
unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so
too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the
whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of
being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the
brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good.
Very true.
And must there not be some art which will effect conversion in the
easiest and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for
that exists already, but has been turned in the wrong direction, and
is looking away from the truth?
Yes, he said, such an art may be presumed.
And whereas the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be akin
to bodily qualities, for even when they are not originally innate they
can be implanted later by habit and exercise, the virtue of wisdom
245
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

more than anything else contains a divine element which always

remains, and by this conversion is rendered useful and profitable;
or, on the other hand, hurtful and useless. Did you never observe
the narrow intelligence flashing from the keen eye of a clever
rogue—how eager he is, how clearly his paltry soul sees the way to
his end; he is the reverse of blind, but his keen eye-sight is forced
into the service of evil, and he is mischievous in proportion to his
cleverness?
Very true, he said.
But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the
days of their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual
pleasures, such as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights,
were attached to them at their birth, and which drag them down
and turn the vision of their souls upon the things that are below—
if, I say, they had been released from these impediments and turned
in the opposite direction, the very same faculty in them would have
seen the truth as keenly as they see what their eyes are turned to
now.
Very likely.
Yes, I said; and there is another thing which is likely, or rather a
necessary inference from what has preceded, that neither the
uneducated and uninformed of the truth, nor yet those who never
make an end of their education, will be able ministers of State; not
the former, because they have no single aim of duty which is the
rule of all their actions, private as well as public; nor the latter,
because they will not act at all except upon compulsion, fancying
that they are already dwelling apart in the islands of the blest.
Very true, he replied.
Then, I said, the business of us who are the founders of the State
will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which we
have already shown to be the greatest of all—they must continue to
ascend until they arrive at the good; but when they have ascended
and seen enough we must not allow them to do as they do now.
What do you mean?
I mean that they remain in the upper world: but this must not be
allowed; they must be made to descend again among the prisoners
246
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

in the den, and partake of their labours and honours, whether they
are worth having or not.
But is not this unjust? he said; ought we to give them a worse life,
when they might have a better?
You have again forgotten, my friend, I said, the intention of the
legislator, who did not aim at making any one class in the State
happy above the rest; the happiness was to be in the whole State,
and he held the citizens together by persuasion and necessity,
making them benefactors of the State, and therefore benefactors of
one another; to this end he created them, not to please themselves,
but to be his instruments in binding up the State.
True, he said, I had forgotten.
Observe, Glaucon, that there will be no injustice in compelling our
philosophers to have a care and providence of others; we shall
explain to them that in other States, men of their class are not
obliged to share in the toils of politics: and this is reasonable, for
they grow up at their own sweet will, and the government would
rather not have them. Being self-taught, they cannot be expected to
show any gratitude for a culture which they have never received.
But we have brought you into the world to be rulers of the hive,
kings of yourselves and of the other citizens, and have educated you
far better and more perfectly than they have been educated, and you
are better able to share in the double duty. Wherefore each of you,
when his turn comes, must go down to the general underground
abode, and get the habit of seeing in the dark. When you have
acquired the habit, you will see ten thousand times better than the
inhabitants of the den, and you will know what the several images
are, and what they represent, because you have seen the beautiful
and just and good in their truth. And thus our State, which is also
yours, will be a reality, and not a dream only, and will be
administered in a spirit unlike that of other States, in which men
fight with one another about shadows only and are distracted in the
struggle for power, which in their eyes is a great good. Whereas the
truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to
govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State
in which they are most eager, the worst.
Quite true, he replied.

247
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And will our pupils, when they hear this, refuse to take their turn at
the toils of State, when they are allowed to spend the greater part of
their time with one another in the heavenly light?
Impossible, he answered; for they are just men, and the commands
which we impose upon them are just; there can be no doubt that
every one of them will take office as a stern necessity, and not after
the fashion of our present rulers of State.
Yes, my friend, I said; and there lies the point. You must contrive
for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler,
and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State
which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and
gold, but in virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life.
Whereas if they go to the administration of public affairs, poor and
hungering after their own private advantage, thinking that hence
they are to snatch the chief good, order there can never be; for they
will be fighting about office, and the civil and domestic broils which
thus arise will be the ruin of the rulers themselves and of the whole
State.
Most true, he replied.
And the only life which looks down upon the life of political
ambition is that of true philosophy. Do you know of any other?
Indeed, I do not, he said.
And those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task? For, if
they are, there will be rival lovers, and they will fight.
No question.
Who then are those whom we shall compel to be guardians? Surely
they will be the men who are wisest about affairs of State, and by
whom the State is best administered, and who at the same time
have other honours and another and a better life than that of
politics?
They are the men, and I will choose them, he replied.
And now shall we consider in what way such guardians will be
produced, and how they are to be brought from darkness to light,—
as some are said to have ascended from the world below to the
gods?

248
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

By all means, he replied.

The process, I said, is not the turning over of an oyster-shell (In
allusion to a game in which two parties fled or pursued according as
an oyster-shell which was thrown into the air fell with the dark or
light side uppermost.), but the turning round of a soul passing from
a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that
is, the ascent from below, which we affirm to be true philosophy?
Quite so.
And should we not enquire what sort of knowledge has the power
of effecting such a change?
Certainly.
What sort of knowledge is there which would draw the soul from
becoming to being? And another consideration has just occurred to
me: You will remember that our young men are to be warrior
athletes?
Yes, that was said.
Then this new kind of knowledge must have an additional quality?
What quality?
Usefulness in war.
Yes, if possible.
There were two parts in our former scheme of education, were
there not?
Just so.
There was gymnastic which presided over the growth and decay of
the body, and may therefore be regarded as having to do with
generation and corruption?
True.
Then that is not the knowledge which we are seeking to discover?
No.
But what do you say of music, which also entered to a certain extent
into our former scheme?

249
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Music, he said, as you will remember, was the counterpart of

gymnastic, and trained the guardians by the influences of habit, by
harmony making them harmonious, by rhythm rhythmical, but not
giving them science; and the words, whether fabulous or possibly
true, had kindred elements of rhythm and harmony in them. But in
music there was nothing which tended to that good which you are
now seeking.
You are most accurate, I said, in your recollection; in music there
certainly was nothing of the kind. But what branch of knowledge is
there, my dear Glaucon, which is of the desired nature; since all the
useful arts were reckoned mean by us?
Undoubtedly; and yet if music and gymnastic are excluded, and the
arts are also excluded, what remains?
Well, I said, there may be nothing left of our special subjects; and
then we shall have to take something which is not special, but of
universal application.
What may that be?
A something which all arts and sciences and intelligences use in
common, and which every one first has to learn among the
elements of education.
What is that?
The little matter of distinguishing one, two, and three—in a word,
number and calculation:—do not all arts and sciences necessarily
partake of them?
Yes.
Then the art of war partakes of them?
To be sure.
Then Palamedes, whenever he appears in tragedy, proves
Agamemnon ridiculously unfit to be a general. Did you never
remark how he declares that he had invented number, and had
numbered the ships and set in array the ranks of the army at Troy;
which implies that they had never been numbered before, and
Agamemnon must be supposed literally to have been incapable of
counting his own feet—how could he if he was ignorant of

250
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

number? And if that is true, what sort of general must he have

been?
I should say a very strange one, if this was as you say.
Can we deny that a warrior should have a knowledge of arithmetic?
Certainly he should, if he is to have the smallest understanding of
military tactics, or indeed, I should rather say, if he is to be a man at
all.
I should like to know whether you have the same notion which I
have of this study?
What is your notion?
It appears to me to be a study of the kind which we are seeking, and
which leads naturally to reflection, but never to have been rightly
used; for the true use of it is simply to draw the soul towards being.
Will you explain your meaning? he said.
I will try, I said; and I wish you would share the enquiry with me,
and say 'yes' or 'no' when I attempt to distinguish in my own mind
what branches of knowledge have this attracting power, in order
that we may have clearer proof that arithmetic is, as I suspect, one
of them.
Explain, he said.
I mean to say that objects of sense are of two kinds; some of them
do not invite thought because the sense is an adequate judge of
them; while in the case of other objects sense is so untrustworthy
that further enquiry is imperatively demanded.
You are clearly referring, he said, to the manner in which the senses
are imposed upon by distance, and by painting in light and shade.
No, I said, that is not at all my meaning.
Then what is your meaning?
When speaking of uninviting objects, I mean those which do not
pass from one sensation to the opposite; inviting objects are those
which do; in this latter case the sense coming upon the object,
whether at a distance or near, gives no more vivid idea of anything
in particular than of its opposite. An illustration will make my

251
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

meaning clearer:—here are three fingers—a little finger, a second

finger, and a middle finger.
Very good.
You may suppose that they are seen quite close: And here comes
the point.
What is it?
Each of them equally appears a finger, whether seen in the middle
or at the extremity, whether white or black, or thick or thin—it
makes no difference; a finger is a finger all the same. In these cases
a man is not compelled to ask of thought the question what is a
finger? for the sight never intimates to the mind that a finger is
other than a finger.
True.
And therefore, I said, as we might expect, there is nothing here
which invites or excites intelligence.
There is not, he said.
But is this equally true of the greatness and smallness of the fingers?
Can sight adequately perceive them? and is no difference made by
the circumstance that one of the fingers is in the middle and
another at the extremity? And in like manner does the touch
adequately perceive the qualities of thickness or thinness, of
softness or hardness? And so of the other senses; do they give
perfect intimations of such matters? Is not their mode of operation
on this wise—the sense which is concerned with the quality of
hardness is necessarily concerned also with the quality of softness,
and only intimates to the soul that the same thing is felt to be both
hard and soft?
You are quite right, he said.
And must not the soul be perplexed at this intimation which the
sense gives of a hard which is also soft? What, again, is the meaning
of light and heavy, if that which is light is also heavy, and that which
is heavy, light?
Yes, he said, these intimations which the soul receives are very
curious and require to be explained.

252
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, I said, and in these perplexities the soul naturally summons to

her aid calculation and intelligence, that she may see whether the
several objects announced to her are one or two.
True.
And if they turn out to be two, is not each of them one and
different?
Certainly.
And if each is one, and both are two, she will conceive the two as in
a state of division, for if there were undivided they could only be
conceived of as one?
True.
The eye certainly did see both small and great, but only in a
confused manner; they were not distinguished.
Yes.
Whereas the thinking mind, intending to light up the chaos, was
compelled to reverse the process, and look at small and great as
separate and not confused.
Very true.
Was not this the beginning of the enquiry 'What is great?' and 'What
is small?'
Exactly so.
And thus arose the distinction of the visible and the intelligible.
Most true.
This was what I meant when I spoke of impressions which invited
the intellect, or the reverse—those which are simultaneous with
opposite impressions, invite thought; those which are not
simultaneous do not.
I understand, he said, and agree with you.
And to which class do unity and number belong?
I do not know, he replied.
Think a little and you will see that what has preceded will supply the
answer; for if simple unity could be adequately perceived by the
253
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

sight or by any other sense, then, as we were saying in the case of

the finger, there would be nothing to attract towards being; but
when there is some contradiction always present, and one is the
reverse of one and involves the conception of plurality, then
thought begins to be aroused within us, and the soul perplexed and
wanting to arrive at a decision asks 'What is absolute unity?' This is
the way in which the study of the one has a power of drawing and
converting the mind to the contemplation of true being.
And surely, he said, this occurs notably in the case of one; for we
see the same thing to be both one and infinite in multitude?
Yes, I said; and this being true of one must be equally true of all
number?
Certainly.
And all arithmetic and calculation have to do with number?
Yes.
And they appear to lead the mind towards truth?
Yes, in a very remarkable manner.
Then this is knowledge of the kind for which we are seeking, having
a double use, military and philosophical; for the man of war must
learn the art of number or he will not know how to array his troops,
and the philosopher also, because he has to rise out of the sea of
change and lay hold of true being, and therefore he must be an
arithmetician.
That is true.
And our guardian is both warrior and philosopher?
Certainly.
Then this is a kind of knowledge which legislation may fitly
prescribe; and we must endeavour to persuade those who are to be
the principal men of our State to go and learn arithmetic, not as
amateurs, but they must carry on the study until they see the nature
of numbers with the mind only; nor again, like merchants or retail-
traders, with a view to buying or selling, but for the sake of their
military use, and of the soul herself; and because this will be the
easiest way for her to pass from becoming to truth and being.

254
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

That is excellent, he said.

Yes, I said, and now having spoken of it, I must add how charming
the science is! and in how many ways it conduces to our desired
end, if pursued in the spirit of a philosopher, and not of a
shopkeeper!
How do you mean?
I mean, as I was saying, that arithmetic has a very great and
elevating effect, compelling the soul to reason about abstract
number, and rebelling against the introduction of visible or tangible
objects into the argument. You know how steadily the masters of
the art repel and ridicule any one who attempts to divide absolute
unity when he is calculating, and if you divide, they multiply
(Meaning either (1) that they integrate the number because they
deny the possibility of fractions; or (2) that division is regarded by
them as a process of multiplication, for the fractions of one
continue to be units.), taking care that one shall continue one and
not become lost in fractions.
That is very true.
Now, suppose a person were to say to them: O my friends, what are
these wonderful numbers about which you are reasoning, in which,
as you say, there is a unity such as you demand, and each unit is
equal, invariable, indivisible,—what would they answer?
They would answer, as I should conceive, that they were speaking
of those numbers which can only be realized in thought.
Then you see that this knowledge may be truly called necessary,
necessitating as it clearly does the use of the pure intelligence in the
attainment of pure truth?
Yes; that is a marked characteristic of it.
And have you further observed, that those who have a natural talent
for calculation are generally quick at every other kind of knowledge;
and even the dull, if they have had an arithmetical training, although
they may derive no other advantage from it, always become much
quicker than they would otherwise have been.
Very true, he said.

255
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And indeed, you will not easily find a more difficult study, and not
many as difficult.
You will not.
And, for all these reasons, arithmetic is a kind of knowledge in
which the best natures should be trained, and which must not be
given up.
I agree.
Let this then be made one of our subjects of education. And next,
shall we enquire whether the kindred science also concerns us?
You mean geometry?
Exactly so.
Clearly, he said, we are concerned with that part of geometry which
relates to war; for in pitching a camp, or taking up a position, or
closing or extending the lines of an army, or any other military
manoeuvre, whether in actual battle or on a march, it will make all
the difference whether a general is or is not a geometrician.
Yes, I said, but for that purpose a very little of either geometry or
calculation will be enough; the question relates rather to the greater
and more advanced part of geometry—whether that tends in any
degree to make more easy the vision of the idea of good; and
thither, as I was saying, all things tend which compel the soul to
turn her gaze towards that place, where is the full perfection of
being, which she ought, by all means, to behold.
True, he said.
Then if geometry compels us to view being, it concerns us; if
becoming only, it does not concern us?
Yes, that is what we assert.
Yet anybody who has the least acquaintance with geometry will not
deny that such a conception of the science is in flat contradiction to
the ordinary language of geometricians.
How so?
They have in view practice only, and are always speaking, in a
narrow and ridiculous manner, of squaring and extending and

256
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

applying and the like—they confuse the necessities of geometry

with those of daily life; whereas knowledge is the real object of the
whole science.
Certainly, he said.
Then must not a further admission be made?
What admission?
That the knowledge at which geometry aims is knowledge of the
eternal, and not of aught perishing and transient.
That, he replied, may be readily allowed, and is true.
Then, my noble friend, geometry will draw the soul towards truth,
and create the spirit of philosophy, and raise up that which is now
unhappily allowed to fall down.
Nothing will be more likely to have such an effect.
Then nothing should be more sternly laid down than that the
inhabitants of your fair city should by all means learn geometry.
Moreover the science has indirect effects, which are not small.
Of what kind? he said.
There are the military advantages of which you spoke, I said; and in
all departments of knowledge, as experience proves, any one who
has studied geometry is infinitely quicker of apprehension than one
who has not.
Yes indeed, he said, there is an infinite difference between them.
Then shall we propose this as a second branch of knowledge which
our youth will study?
Let us do so, he replied.
And suppose we make astronomy the third—what do you say?
I am strongly inclined to it, he said; the observation of the seasons
and of months and years is as essential to the general as it is to the
farmer or sailor.
I am amused, I said, at your fear of the world, which makes you
guard against the appearance of insisting upon useless studies; and I
quite admit the difficulty of believing that in every man there is an

257
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

eye of the soul which, when by other pursuits lost and dimmed, is
by these purified and re-illumined; and is more precious far than ten
thousand bodily eyes, for by it alone is truth seen. Now there are
two classes of persons: one class of those who will agree with you
and will take your words as a revelation; another class to whom they
will be utterly unmeaning, and who will naturally deem them to be
idle tales, for they see no sort of profit which is to be obtained from
them. And therefore you had better decide at once with which of
the two you are proposing to argue. You will very likely say with
neither, and that your chief aim in carrying on the argument is your
own improvement; at the same time you do not grudge to others
any benefit which they may receive.
I think that I should prefer to carry on the argument mainly on my
own behalf.
Then take a step backward, for we have gone wrong in the order of
the sciences.
What was the mistake? he said.
After plane geometry, I said, we proceeded at once to solids in
revolution, instead of taking solids in themselves; whereas after the
second dimension the third, which is concerned with cubes and
dimensions of depth, ought to have followed.
That is true, Socrates; but so little seems to be known as yet about
these subjects.
Why, yes, I said, and for two reasons:—in the first place, no
government patronises them; this leads to a want of energy in the
pursuit of them, and they are difficult; in the second place, students
cannot learn them unless they have a director. But then a director
can hardly be found, and even if he could, as matters now stand, the
students, who are very conceited, would not attend to him. That,
however, would be otherwise if the whole State became the director
of these studies and gave honour to them; then disciples would
want to come, and there would be continuous and earnest search,
and discoveries would be made; since even now, disregarded as they
are by the world, and maimed of their fair proportions, and
although none of their votaries can tell the use of them, still these
studies force their way by their natural charm, and very likely, if

258
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

they had the help of the State, they would some day emerge into
light.
Yes, he said, there is a remarkable charm in them. But I do not
clearly understand the change in the order. First you began with a
geometry of plane surfaces?
Yes, I said.
And you placed astronomy next, and then you made a step
backward?
Yes, and I have delayed you by my hurry; the ludicrous state of
solid geometry, which, in natural order, should have followed, made
me pass over this branch and go on to astronomy, or motion of
solids.
True, he said.
Then assuming that the science now omitted would come into
existence if encouraged by the State, let us go on to astronomy,
which will be fourth.
The right order, he replied. And now, Socrates, as you rebuked the
vulgar manner in which I praised astronomy before, my praise shall
be given in your own spirit. For every one, as I think, must see that
astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this
world to another.
Every one but myself, I said; to every one else this may be clear, but
not to me.
And what then would you say?
I should rather say that those who elevate astronomy into
philosophy appear to me to make us look downwards and not
upwards.
What do you mean? he asked.
You, I replied, have in your mind a truly sublime conception of our
knowledge of the things above. And I dare say that if a person were
to throw his head back and study the fretted ceiling, you would still
think that his mind was the percipient, and not his eyes. And you
are very likely right, and I may be a simpleton: but, in my opinion,
that knowledge only which is of being and of the unseen can make

259
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

the soul look upwards, and whether a man gapes at the heavens or
blinks on the ground, seeking to learn some particular of sense, I
would deny that he can learn, for nothing of that sort is matter of
science; his soul is looking downwards, not upwards, whether his
way to knowledge is by water or by land, whether he floats, or only
lies on his back.
I acknowledge, he said, the justice of your rebuke. Still, I should like
to ascertain how astronomy can be learned in any manner more
conducive to that knowledge of which we are speaking?
I will tell you, I said: The starry heaven which we behold is wrought
upon a visible ground, and therefore, although the fairest and most
perfect of visible things, must necessarily be deemed inferior far to
the true motions of absolute swiftness and absolute slowness, which
are relative to each other, and carry with them that which is
contained in them, in the true number and in every true figure.
Now, these are to be apprehended by reason and intelligence, but
not by sight.
True, he replied.
The spangled heavens should be used as a pattern and with a view
to that higher knowledge; their beauty is like the beauty of figures
or pictures excellently wrought by the hand of Daedalus, or some
other great artist, which we may chance to behold; any geometrician
who saw them would appreciate the exquisiteness of their
workmanship, but he would never dream of thinking that in them
he could find the true equal or the true double, or the truth of any
other proportion.
No, he replied, such an idea would be ridiculous.
And will not a true astronomer have the same feeling when he
looks at the movements of the stars? Will he not think that heaven
and the things in heaven are framed by the Creator of them in the
most perfect manner? But he will never imagine that the
proportions of night and day, or of both to the month, or of the
month to the year, or of the stars to these and to one another, and
any other things that are material and visible can also be eternal and
subject to no deviation—that would be absurd; and it is equally
absurd to take so much pains in investigating their exact truth.

260
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

I quite agree, though I never thought of this before.

Then, I said, in astronomy, as in geometry, we should employ
problems, and let the heavens alone if we would approach the
subject in the right way and so make the natural gift of reason to be
of any real use.
That, he said, is a work infinitely beyond our present astronomers.
Yes, I said; and there are many other things which must also have a
similar extension given to them, if our legislation is to be of any
value. But can you tell me of any other suitable study?
No, he said, not without thinking.
Motion, I said, has many forms, and not one only; two of them are
obvious enough even to wits no better than ours; and there are
others, as I imagine, which may be left to wiser persons.
But where are the two?
There is a second, I said, which is the counterpart of the one
already named.
And what may that be?
The second, I said, would seem relatively to the ears to be what the
first is to the eyes; for I conceive that as the eyes are designed to
look up at the stars, so are the ears to hear harmonious motions;
and these are sister sciences—as the Pythagoreans say, and we,
Glaucon, agree with them?
Yes, he replied.
But this, I said, is a laborious study, and therefore we had better go
and learn of them; and they will tell us whether there are any other
applications of these sciences. At the same time, we must not lose
sight of our own higher object.
What is that?
There is a perfection which all knowledge ought to reach, and
which our pupils ought also to attain, and not to fall short of, as I
was saying that they did in astronomy. For in the science of
harmony, as you probably know, the same thing happens. The
teachers of harmony compare the sounds and consonances which

261
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

are heard only, and their labour, like that of the astronomers, is in
vain.
Yes, by heaven! he said; and 'tis as good as a play to hear them
talking about their condensed notes, as they call them; they put their
ears close alongside of the strings like persons catching a sound
from their neighbour's wall—one set of them declaring that they
distinguish an intermediate note and have found the least interval
which should be the unit of measurement; the others insisting that
the two sounds have passed into the same—either party setting
their ears before their understanding.
You mean, I said, those gentlemen who tease and torture the strings
and rack them on the pegs of the instrument: I might carry on the
metaphor and speak after their manner of the blows which the
plectrum gives, and make accusations against the strings, both of
backwardness and forwardness to sound; but this would be tedious,
and therefore I will only say that these are not the men, and that I
am referring to the Pythagoreans, of whom I was just now
proposing to enquire about harmony. For they too are in error, like
the astronomers; they investigate the numbers of the harmonies
which are heard, but they never attain to problems—that is to say,
they never reach the natural harmonies of number, or reflect why
some numbers are harmonious and others not.
That, he said, is a thing of more than mortal knowledge.
A thing, I replied, which I would rather call useful; that is, if sought
after with a view to the beautiful and good; but if pursued in any
other spirit, useless.
Very true, he said.
Now, when all these studies reach the point of inter-communion
and connection with one another, and come to be considered in
their mutual affinities, then, I think, but not till then, will the pursuit
of them have a value for our objects; otherwise there is no profit in
them.
I suspect so; but you are speaking, Socrates, of a vast work.
What do you mean? I said; the prelude or what? Do you not know
that all this is but the prelude to the actual strain which we have to

262
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

learn? For you surely would not regard the skilled mathematician as
a dialectician?
Assuredly not, he said; I have hardly ever known a mathematician
who was capable of reasoning.
But do you imagine that men who are unable to give and take a
reason will have the knowledge which we require of them?
Neither can this be supposed.
And so, Glaucon, I said, we have at last arrived at the hymn of
dialectic. This is that strain which is of the intellect only, but which
the faculty of sight will nevertheless be found to imitate; for sight,
as you may remember, was imagined by us after a while to behold
the real animals and stars, and last of all the sun himself. And so
with dialectic; when a person starts on the discovery of the absolute
by the light of reason only, and without any assistance of sense, and
perseveres until by pure intelligence he arrives at the perception of
the absolute good, he at last finds himself at the end of the
intellectual world, as in the case of sight at the end of the visible.
Exactly, he said.
Then this is the progress which you call dialectic?
True.
But the release of the prisoners from chains, and their translation
from the shadows to the images and to the light, and the ascent
from the underground den to the sun, while in his presence they are
vainly trying to look on animals and plants and the light of the sun,
but are able to perceive even with their weak eyes the images in the
water (which are divine), and are the shadows of true existence (not
shadows of images cast by a light of fire, which compared with the
sun is only an image)—this power of elevating the highest principle
in the soul to the contemplation of that which is best in existence,
with which we may compare the raising of that faculty which is the
very light of the body to the sight of that which is brightest in the
material and visible world—this power is given, as I was saying, by
all that study and pursuit of the arts which has been described.
I agree in what you are saying, he replied, which may be hard to
believe, yet, from another point of view, is harder still to deny. This,
however, is not a theme to be treated of in passing only, but will
263
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

have to be discussed again and again. And so, whether our

conclusion be true or false, let us assume all this, and proceed at
once from the prelude or preamble to the chief strain (A play upon
the Greek word, which means both 'law' and 'strain.'), and describe
that in like manner. Say, then, what is the nature and what are the
divisions of dialectic, and what are the paths which lead thither; for
these paths will also lead to our final rest.
Dear Glaucon, I said, you will not be able to follow me here,
though I would do my best, and you should behold not an image
only but the absolute truth, according to my notion. Whether what
I told you would or would not have been a reality I cannot venture
to say; but you would have seen something like reality; of that I am
confident.
Doubtless, he replied.
But I must also remind you, that the power of dialectic alone can
reveal this, and only to one who is a disciple of the previous
sciences.
Of that assertion you may be as confident as of the last.
And assuredly no one will argue that there is any other method of
comprehending by any regular process all true existence or of
ascertaining what each thing is in its own nature; for the arts in
general are concerned with the desires or opinions of men, or are
cultivated with a view to production and construction, or for the
preservation of such productions and constructions; and as to the
mathematical sciences which, as we were saying, have some
apprehension of true being—geometry and the like—they only
dream about being, but never can they behold the waking reality so
long as they leave the hypotheses which they use unexamined, and
are unable to give an account of them. For when a man knows not
his own first principle, and when the conclusion and intermediate
steps are also constructed out of he knows not what, how can he
imagine that such a fabric of convention can ever become science?
Impossible, he said.
Then dialectic, and dialectic alone, goes directly to the first principle
and is the only science which does away with hypotheses in order to
make her ground secure; the eye of the soul, which is literally buried

264
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

in an outlandish slough, is by her gentle aid lifted upwards; and she

uses as handmaids and helpers in the work of conversion, the
sciences which we have been discussing. Custom terms them
sciences, but they ought to have some other name, implying greater
clearness than opinion and less clearness than science: and this, in
our previous sketch, was called understanding. But why should we
dispute about names when we have realities of such importance to
consider?
Why indeed, he said, when any name will do which expresses the
thought of the mind with clearness?
At any rate, we are satisfied, as before, to have four divisions; two
for intellect and two for opinion, and to call the first division
science, the second understanding, the third belief, and the fourth
perception of shadows, opinion being concerned with becoming,
and intellect with being; and so to make a proportion:—
As being is to becoming, so is pure intellect to opinion.
And as intellect is to opinion, so is science to belief, and
understanding to the perception of shadows.
But let us defer the further correlation and subdivision of the
subjects of opinion and of intellect, for it will be a long enquiry,
many times longer than this has been.
As far as I understand, he said, I agree.
And do you also agree, I said, in describing the dialectician as one
who attains a conception of the essence of each thing? And he who
does not possess and is therefore unable to impart this conception,
in whatever degree he fails, may in that degree also be said to fail in
intelligence? Will you admit so much?
Yes, he said; how can I deny it?
And you would say the same of the conception of the good? Until
the person is able to abstract and define rationally the idea of good,
and unless he can run the gauntlet of all objections, and is ready to
disprove them, not by appeals to opinion, but to absolute truth,
never faltering at any step of the argument—unless he can do all
this, you would say that he knows neither the idea of good nor any
other good; he apprehends only a shadow, if anything at all, which
is given by opinion and not by science;—dreaming and slumbering
265
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

in this life, before he is well awake here, he arrives at the world

below, and has his final quietus.
In all that I should most certainly agree with you.
And surely you would not have the children of your ideal State,
whom you are nurturing and educating—if the ideal ever becomes a
reality—you would not allow the future rulers to be like posts
(Literally 'lines,' probably the starting-point of a race-course.),
having no reason in them, and yet to be set in authority over the
highest matters?
Certainly not.
Then you will make a law that they shall have such an education as
will enable them to attain the greatest skill in asking and answering
questions?
Yes, he said, you and I together will make it.
Dialectic, then, as you will agree, is the coping-stone of the sciences,
and is set over them; no other science can be placed higher—the
nature of knowledge can no further go?
I agree, he said.
But to whom we are to assign these studies, and in what way they
are to be assigned, are questions which remain to be considered.
Yes, clearly.
You remember, I said, how the rulers were chosen before?
Certainly, he said.
The same natures must still be chosen, and the preference again
given to the surest and the bravest, and, if possible, to the fairest;
and, having noble and generous tempers, they should also have the
natural gifts which will facilitate their education.
And what are these?
Such gifts as keenness and ready powers of acquisition; for the
mind more often faints from the severity of study than from the
severity of gymnastics: the toil is more entirely the mind's own, and
is not shared with the body.
Very true, he replied.
266
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Further, he of whom we are in search should have a good memory,

and be an unwearied solid man who is a lover of labour in any line;
or he will never be able to endure the great amount of bodily
exercise and to go through all the intellectual discipline and study
which we require of him.
Certainly, he said; he must have natural gifts.
The mistake at present is, that those who study philosophy have no
vocation, and this, as I was before saying, is the reason why she has
fallen into disrepute: her true sons should take her by the hand and
not bastards.
What do you mean?
In the first place, her votary should not have a lame or halting
industry—I mean, that he should not be half industrious and half
idle: as, for example, when a man is a lover of gymnastic and
hunting, and all other bodily exercises, but a hater rather than a
lover of the labour of learning or listening or enquiring. Or the
occupation to which he devotes himself may be of an opposite
kind, and he may have the other sort of lameness.
Certainly, he said.
And as to truth, I said, is not a soul equally to be deemed halt and
lame which hates voluntary falsehood and is extremely indignant at
herself and others when they tell lies, but is patient of involuntary
falsehood, and does not mind wallowing like a swinish beast in the
mire of ignorance, and has no shame at being detected?
To be sure.
And, again, in respect of temperance, courage, magnificence, and
every other virtue, should we not carefully distinguish between the
true son and the bastard? for where there is no discernment of such
qualities states and individuals unconsciously err; and the state
makes a ruler, and the individual a friend, of one who, being
defective in some part of virtue, is in a figure lame or a bastard.
That is very true, he said.
All these things, then, will have to be carefully considered by us;
and if only those whom we introduce to this vast system of
education and training are sound in body and mind, justice herself

267
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

will have nothing to say against us, and we shall be the saviours of
the constitution and of the State; but, if our pupils are men of
another stamp, the reverse will happen, and we shall pour a still
greater flood of ridicule on philosophy than she has to endure at
present.
That would not be creditable.
Certainly not, I said; and yet perhaps, in thus turning jest into
earnest I am equally ridiculous.
In what respect?
I had forgotten, I said, that we were not serious, and spoke with too
much excitement. For when I saw philosophy so undeservedly
trampled under foot of men I could not help feeling a sort of
indignation at the authors of her disgrace: and my anger made me
too vehement.
Indeed! I was listening, and did not think so.
But I, who am the speaker, felt that I was. And now let me remind
you that, although in our former selection we chose old men, we
must not do so in this. Solon was under a delusion when he said
that a man when he grows old may learn many things—for he can
no more learn much than he can run much; youth is the time for
any extraordinary toil.
Of course.
And, therefore, calculation and geometry and all the other elements
of instruction, which are a preparation for dialectic, should be
presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion
of forcing our system of education.
Why not?
Because a freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of
knowledge of any kind. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no
harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under
compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.
Very true.

268
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Then, my good friend, I said, do not use compulsion, but let early
education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to
find out the natural bent.
That is a very rational notion, he said.
Do you remember that the children, too, were to be taken to see
the battle on horseback; and that if there were no danger they were
to be brought close up and, like young hounds, have a taste of
blood given them?
Yes, I remember.
The same practice may be followed, I said, in all these things—
labours, lessons, dangers—and he who is most at home in all of
them ought to be enrolled in a select number.
At what age?
At the age when the necessary gymnastics are over: the period
whether of two or three years which passes in this sort of training is
useless for any other purpose; for sleep and exercise are
unpropitious to learning; and the trial of who is first in gymnastic
exercises is one of the most important tests to which our youth are
subjected.
Certainly, he replied.
After that time those who are selected from the class of twenty
years old will be promoted to higher honour, and the sciences
which they learned without any order in their early education will
now be brought together, and they will be able to see the natural
relationship of them to one another and to true being.
Yes, he said, that is the only kind of knowledge which takes lasting
root.
Yes, I said; and the capacity for such knowledge is the great
criterion of dialectical talent: the comprehensive mind is always the
dialectical.
I agree with you, he said.
These, I said, are the points which you must consider; and those
who have most of this comprehension, and who are most steadfast
in their learning, and in their military and other appointed duties,

269
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

when they have arrived at the age of thirty have to be chosen by

you out of the select class, and elevated to higher honour; and you
will have to prove them by the help of dialectic, in order to learn
which of them is able to give up the use of sight and the other
senses, and in company with truth to attain absolute being: And
here, my friend, great caution is required.
Why great caution?
Do you not remark, I said, how great is the evil which dialectic has
introduced?
What evil? he said.
The students of the art are filled with lawlessness.
Quite true, he said.
Do you think that there is anything so very unnatural or inexcusable
in their case? or will you make allowance for them?
In what way make allowance?
I want you, I said, by way of parallel, to imagine a supposititious
son who is brought up in great wealth; he is one of a great and
numerous family, and has many flatterers. When he grows up to
manhood, he learns that his alleged are not his real parents; but who
the real are he is unable to discover. Can you guess how he will be
likely to behave towards his flatterers and his supposed parents, first
of all during the period when he is ignorant of the false relation, and
then again when he knows? Or shall I guess for you?
If you please.
Then I should say, that while he is ignorant of the truth he will be
likely to honour his father and his mother and his supposed
relations more than the flatterers; he will be less inclined to neglect
them when in need, or to do or say anything against them; and he
will be less willing to disobey them in any important matter.
He will.
But when he has made the discovery, I should imagine that he
would diminish his honour and regard for them, and would become
more devoted to the flatterers; their influence over him would
greatly increase; he would now live after their ways, and openly

270
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

associate with them, and, unless he were of an unusually good

disposition, he would trouble himself no more about his supposed
parents or other relations.
Well, all that is very probable. But how is the image applicable to
the disciples of philosophy?
In this way: you know that there are certain principles about justice
and honour, which were taught us in childhood, and under their
parental authority we have been brought up, obeying and honouring
them.
That is true.
There are also opposite maxims and habits of pleasure which flatter
and attract the soul, but do not influence those of us who have any
sense of right, and they continue to obey and honour the maxims of
their fathers.
True.
Now, when a man is in this state, and the questioning spirit asks
what is fair or honourable, and he answers as the legislator has
taught him, and then arguments many and diverse refute his words,
until he is driven into believing that nothing is honourable any more
than dishonourable, or just and good any more than the reverse,
and so of all the notions which he most valued, do you think that
he will still honour and obey them as before?
Impossible.
And when he ceases to think them honourable and natural as
heretofore, and he fails to discover the true, can he be expected to
pursue any life other than that which flatters his desires?
He cannot.
And from being a keeper of the law he is converted into a breaker
of it?
Unquestionably.
Now all this is very natural in students of philosophy such as I have
described, and also, as I was just now saying, most excusable.
Yes, he said; and, I may add, pitiable.

271
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Therefore, that your feelings may not be moved to pity about our
citizens who are now thirty years of age, every care must be taken in
introducing them to dialectic.
Certainly.
There is a danger lest they should taste the dear delight too early;
for youngsters, as you may have observed, when they first get the
taste in their mouths, argue for amusement, and are always
contradicting and refuting others in imitation of those who refute
them; like puppy-dogs, they rejoice in pulling and tearing at all who
come near them.
Yes, he said, there is nothing which they like better.
And when they have made many conquests and received defeats at
the hands of many, they violently and speedily get into a way of not
believing anything which they believed before, and hence, not only
they, but philosophy and all that relates to it is apt to have a bad
name with the rest of the world.
Too true, he said.
But when a man begins to get older, he will no longer be guilty of
such insanity; he will imitate the dialectician who is seeking for
truth, and not the eristic, who is contradicting for the sake of
amusement; and the greater moderation of his character will
increase instead of diminishing the honour of the pursuit.
Very true, he said.
And did we not make special provision for this, when we said that
the disciples of philosophy were to be orderly and steadfast, not, as
now, any chance aspirant or intruder?
Very true.
Suppose, I said, the study of philosophy to take the place of
gymnastics and to be continued diligently and earnestly and
exclusively for twice the number of years which were passed in
bodily exercise—will that be enough?
Would you say six or four years? he asked.
Say five years, I replied; at the end of the time they must be sent
down again into the den and compelled to hold any military or

272
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

other office which young men are qualified to hold: in this way they
will get their experience of life, and there will be an opportunity of
trying whether, when they are drawn all manner of ways by
temptation, they will stand firm or flinch.
And how long is this stage of their lives to last?
Fifteen years, I answered; and when they have reached fifty years of
age, then let those who still survive and have distinguished
themselves in every action of their lives and in every branch of
knowledge come at last to their consummation: the time has now
arrived at which they must raise the eye of the soul to the universal
light which lightens all things, and behold the absolute good; for
that is the pattern according to which they are to order the State
and the lives of individuals, and the remainder of their own lives
also; making philosophy their chief pursuit, but, when their turn
comes, toiling also at politics and ruling for the public good, not as
though they were performing some heroic action, but simply as a
matter of duty; and when they have brought up in each generation
others like themselves and left them in their place to be governors
of the State, then they will depart to the Islands of the Blest and
dwell there; and the city will give them public memorials and
sacrifices and honour them, if the Pythian oracle consent, as
demigods, but if not, as in any case blessed and divine.
You are a sculptor, Socrates, and have made statues of our
governors faultless in beauty.
Yes, I said, Glaucon, and of our governesses too; for you must not
suppose that what I have been saying applies to men only and not
to women as far as their natures can go.
There you are right, he said, since we have made them to share in all
things like the men.
Well, I said, and you would agree (would you not?) that what has
been said about the State and the government is not a mere dream,
and although difficult not impossible, but only possible in the way
which has been supposed; that is to say, when the true philosopher
kings are born in a State, one or more of them, despising the
honours of this present world which they deem mean and
worthless, esteeming above all things right and the honour that
springs from right, and regarding justice as the greatest and most
273
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

necessary of all things, whose ministers they are, and whose

principles will be exalted by them when they set in order their own
city?
How will they proceed?
They will begin by sending out into the country all the inhabitants
of the city who are more than ten years old, and will take possession
of their children, who will be unaffected by the habits of their
parents; these they will train in their own habits and laws, I mean in
the laws which we have given them: and in this way the State and
constitution of which we were speaking will soonest and most easily
attain happiness, and the nation which has such a constitution will
gain most.
Yes, that will be the best way. And I think, Socrates, that you have
very well described how, if ever, such a constitution might come
into being.
Enough then of the perfect State, and of the man who bears its
image—there is no difficulty in seeing how we shall describe him.
There is no difficulty, he replied; and I agree with you in thinking
that nothing more need be said.

BOOK VIII.
And so, Glaucon, we have arrived at the conclusion that in the
perfect State wives and children are to be in common; and that all
education and the pursuits of war and peace are also to be
common, and the best philosophers and the bravest warriors are to
be their kings?
That, replied Glaucon, has been acknowledged.
Yes, I said; and we have further acknowledged that the governors,
when appointed themselves, will take their soldiers and place them
in houses such as we were describing, which are common to all, and
contain nothing private, or individual; and about their property, you
remember what we agreed?
Yes, I remember that no one was to have any of the ordinary
possessions of mankind; they were to be warrior athletes and
guardians, receiving from the other citizens, in lieu of annual

274
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

payment, only their maintenance, and they were to take care of

themselves and of the whole State.
True, I said; and now that this division of our task is concluded, let
us find the point at which we digressed, that we may return into the
old path.
There is no difficulty in returning; you implied, then as now, that
you had finished the description of the State: you said that such a
State was good, and that the man was good who answered to it,
although, as now appears, you had more excellent things to relate
both of State and man. And you said further, that if this was the
true form, then the others were false; and of the false forms, you
said, as I remember, that there were four principal ones, and that
their defects, and the defects of the individuals corresponding to
them, were worth examining. When we had seen all the individuals,
and finally agreed as to who was the best and who was the worst of
them, we were to consider whether the best was not also the
happiest, and the worst the most miserable. I asked you what were
the four forms of government of which you spoke, and then
Polemarchus and Adeimantus put in their word; and you began
again, and have found your way to the point at which we have now
arrived.
Your recollection, I said, is most exact.
Then, like a wrestler, he replied, you must put yourself again in the
same position; and let me ask the same questions, and do you give
me the same answer which you were about to give me then.
Yes, if I can, I will, I said.
I shall particularly wish to hear what were the four constitutions of
which you were speaking.
That question, I said, is easily answered: the four governments of
which I spoke, so far as they have distinct names, are, first, those of
Crete and Sparta, which are generally applauded; what is termed
oligarchy comes next; this is not equally approved, and is a form of
government which teems with evils: thirdly, democracy, which
naturally follows oligarchy, although very different: and lastly comes
tyranny, great and famous, which differs from them all, and is the
fourth and worst disorder of a State. I do not know, do you? of any

275
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

other constitution which can be said to have a distinct character.

There are lordships and principalities which are bought and sold,
and some other intermediate forms of government. But these are
nondescripts and may be found equally among Hellenes and among
barbarians.
Yes, he replied, we certainly hear of many curious forms of
government which exist among them.
Do you know, I said, that governments vary as the dispositions of
men vary, and that there must be as many of the one as there are of
the other? For we cannot suppose that States are made of 'oak and
rock,' and not out of the human natures which are in them, and
which in a figure turn the scale and draw other things after them?
Yes, he said, the States are as the men are; they grow out of human
characters.
Then if the constitutions of States are five, the dispositions of
individual minds will also be five?
Certainly.
Him who answers to aristocracy, and whom we rightly call just and
good, we have already described.
We have.
Then let us now proceed to describe the inferior sort of natures,
being the contentious and ambitious, who answer to the Spartan
polity; also the oligarchical, democratical, and tyrannical. Let us
place the most just by the side of the most unjust, and when we see
them we shall be able to compare the relative happiness or
unhappiness of him who leads a life of pure justice or pure injustice.
The enquiry will then be completed. And we shall know whether we
ought to pursue injustice, as Thrasymachus advises, or in
accordance with the conclusions of the argument to prefer justice.
Certainly, he replied, we must do as you say.
Shall we follow our old plan, which we adopted with a view to
clearness, of taking the State first and then proceeding to the
individual, and begin with the government of honour?—I know of
no name for such a government other than timocracy, or perhaps
timarchy. We will compare with this the like character in the

276
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

individual; and, after that, consider oligarchy and the oligarchical

man; and then again we will turn our attention to democracy and
the democratical man; and lastly, we will go and view the city of
tyranny, and once more take a look into the tyrant's soul, and try to
arrive at a satisfactory decision.
That way of viewing and judging of the matter will be very suitable.
First, then, I said, let us enquire how timocracy (the government of
honour) arises out of aristocracy (the government of the best).
Clearly, all political changes originate in divisions of the actual
governing power; a government which is united, however small,
cannot be moved.
Very true, he said.
In what way, then, will our city be moved, and in what manner will
the two classes of auxiliaries and rulers disagree among themselves
or with one another? Shall we, after the manner of Homer, pray the
Muses to tell us 'how discord first arose'? Shall we imagine them in
solemn mockery, to play and jest with us as if we were children, and
to address us in a lofty tragic vein, making believe to be in earnest?
How would they address us?
After this manner:—A city which is thus constituted can hardly be
shaken; but, seeing that everything which has a beginning has also
an end, even a constitution such as yours will not last for ever, but
will in time be dissolved. And this is the dissolution:—In plants that
grow in the earth, as well as in animals that move on the earth's
surface, fertility and sterility of soul and body occur when the
circumferences of the circles of each are completed, which in short-
lived existences pass over a short space, and in long-lived ones over
a long space. But to the knowledge of human fecundity and sterility
all the wisdom and education of your rulers will not attain; the laws
which regulate them will not be discovered by an intelligence which
is alloyed with sense, but will escape them, and they will bring
children into the world when they ought not. Now that which is of
divine birth has a period which is contained in a perfect number (i.e.
a cyclical number, such as 6, which is equal to the sum of its
divisors 1, 2, 3, so that when the circle or time represented by 6 is
completed, the lesser times or rotations represented by 1, 2, 3 are
also completed.), but the period of human birth is comprehended in
277
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

a number in which first increments by involution and evolution (or

squared and cubed) obtaining three intervals and four terms of like
and unlike, waxing and waning numbers, make all the terms
commensurable and agreeable to one another. (Probably the
numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 of which the three first = the sides of the
Pythagorean triangle. The terms will then be 3 cubed, 4 cubed, 5
cubed, which together = 6 cubed = 216.) The base of these (3) with
a third added (4) when combined with five (20) and raised to the
third power furnishes two harmonies; the first a square which is a
hundred times as great (400 = 4 x 100) (Or the first a square which
is 100 x 100 = 10,000. The whole number will then be 17,500 = a
square of 100, and an oblong of 100 by 75.), and the other a figure
having one side equal to the former, but oblong, consisting of a
hundred numbers squared upon rational diameters of a square (i.e.
omitting fractions), the side of which is five (7 x 7 = 49 x 100 =
4900), each of them being less by one (than the perfect square
which includes the fractions, sc. 50) or less by (Or, 'consisting of
two numbers squared upon irrational diameters,' etc. = 100. For
other explanations of the passage see Introduction.) two perfect
squares of irrational diameters (of a square the side of which is five
= 50 + 50 = 100); and a hundred cubes of three (27 x 100 = 2700
+ 4900 + 400 = 8000). Now this number represents a geometrical
figure which has control over the good and evil of births. For when
your guardians are ignorant of the law of births, and unite bride and
bridegroom out of season, the children will not be goodly or
fortunate. And though only the best of them will be appointed by
their predecessors, still they will be unworthy to hold their fathers'
places, and when they come into power as guardians, they will soon
be found to fail in taking care of us, the Muses, first by under-
valuing music; which neglect will soon extend to gymnastic; and
hence the young men of your State will be less cultivated. In the
succeeding generation rulers will be appointed who have lost the
guardian power of testing the metal of your different races, which,
like Hesiod's, are of gold and silver and brass and iron. And so iron
will be mingled with silver, and brass with gold, and hence there will
arise dissimilarity and inequality and irregularity, which always and
in all places are causes of hatred and war. This the Muses affirm to
be the stock from which discord has sprung, wherever arising; and
this is their answer to us.

278
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, and we may assume that they answer truly.

Why, yes, I said, of course they answer truly; how can the Muses
speak falsely?
And what do the Muses say next?
When discord arose, then the two races were drawn different ways:
the iron and brass fell to acquiring money and land and houses and
gold and silver; but the gold and silver races, not wanting money
but having the true riches in their own nature, inclined towards
virtue and the ancient order of things. There was a battle between
them, and at last they agreed to distribute their land and houses
among individual owners; and they enslaved their friends and
maintainers, whom they had formerly protected in the condition of
freemen, and made of them subjects and servants; and they
themselves were engaged in war and in keeping a watch against
them.
I believe that you have rightly conceived the origin of the change.
And the new government which thus arises will be of a form
intermediate between oligarchy and aristocracy?
Very true.
Such will be the change, and after the change has been made, how
will they proceed? Clearly, the new State, being in a mean between
oligarchy and the perfect State, will partly follow one and partly the
other, and will also have some peculiarities.
True, he said.
In the honour given to rulers, in the abstinence of the warrior class
from agriculture, handicrafts, and trade in general, in the institution
of common meals, and in the attention paid to gymnastics and
military training—in all these respects this State will resemble the
former.
True.
But in the fear of admitting philosophers to power, because they are
no longer to be had simple and earnest, but are made up of mixed
elements; and in turning from them to passionate and less complex
characters, who are by nature fitted for war rather than peace; and
in the value set by them upon military stratagems and contrivances,
279
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

and in the waging of everlasting wars—this State will be for the

most part peculiar.
Yes.
Yes, I said; and men of this stamp will be covetous of money, like
those who live in oligarchies; they will have, a fierce secret longing
after gold and silver, which they will hoard in dark places, having
magazines and treasuries of their own for the deposit and
concealment of them; also castles which are just nests for their eggs,
and in which they will spend large sums on their wives, or on any
others whom they please.
That is most true, he said.
And they are miserly because they have no means of openly
acquiring the money which they prize; they will spend that which is
another man's on the gratification of their desires, stealing their
pleasures and running away like children from the law, their father:
they have been schooled not by gentle influences but by force, for
they have neglected her who is the true Muse, the companion of
reason and philosophy, and have honoured gymnastic more than
music.
Undoubtedly, he said, the form of government which you describe
is a mixture of good and evil.
Why, there is a mixture, I said; but one thing, and one thing only, is
predominantly seen,—the spirit of contention and ambition; and
these are due to the prevalence of the passionate or spirited
element.
Assuredly, he said.
Such is the origin and such the character of this State, which has
been described in outline only; the more perfect execution was not
required, for a sketch is enough to show the type of the most
perfectly just and most perfectly unjust; and to go through all the
States and all the characters of men, omitting none of them, would
be an interminable labour.
Very true, he replied.
Now what man answers to this form of government-how did he
come into being, and what is he like?

280
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

I think, said Adeimantus, that in the spirit of contention which

characterises him, he is not unlike our friend Glaucon.
Perhaps, I said, he may be like him in that one point; but there are
other respects in which he is very different.
In what respects?
He should have more of self-assertion and be less cultivated, and
yet a friend of culture; and he should be a good listener, but no
speaker. Such a person is apt to be rough with slaves, unlike the
educated man, who is too proud for that; and he will also be
courteous to freemen, and remarkably obedient to authority; he is a
lover of power and a lover of honour; claiming to be a ruler, not
because he is eloquent, or on any ground of that sort, but because
he is a soldier and has performed feats of arms; he is also a lover of
gymnastic exercises and of the chase.
Yes, that is the type of character which answers to timocracy.
Such an one will despise riches only when he is young; but as he
gets older he will be more and more attracted to them, because he
has a piece of the avaricious nature in him, and is not single-minded
towards virtue, having lost his best guardian.
Who was that? said Adeimantus.
Philosophy, I said, tempered with music, who comes and takes up
her abode in a man, and is the only saviour of his virtue throughout
life.
Good, he said.
Such, I said, is the timocratical youth, and he is like the timocratical
State.
Exactly.
His origin is as follows:—He is often the young son of a brave
father, who dwells in an ill-governed city, of which he declines the
honours and offices, and will not go to law, or exert himself in any
way, but is ready to waive his rights in order that he may escape
trouble.
And how does the son come into being?

281
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

The character of the son begins to develope when he hears his

mother complaining that her husband has no place in the
government, of which the consequence is that she has no
precedence among other women. Further, when she sees her
husband not very eager about money, and instead of battling and
railing in the law courts or assembly, taking whatever happens to
him quietly; and when she observes that his thoughts always centre
in himself, while he treats her with very considerable indifference,
she is annoyed, and says to her son that his father is only half a man
and far too easy-going: adding all the other complaints about her
own ill-treatment which women are so fond of rehearsing.
Yes, said Adeimantus, they give us plenty of them, and their
complaints are so like themselves.
And you know, I said, that the old servants also, who are supposed
to be attached to the family, from time to time talk privately in the
same strain to the son; and if they see any one who owes money to
his father, or is wronging him in any way, and he fails to prosecute
them, they tell the youth that when he grows up he must retaliate
upon people of this sort, and be more of a man than his father. He
has only to walk abroad and he hears and sees the same sort of
thing: those who do their own business in the city are called
simpletons, and held in no esteem, while the busy-bodies are
honoured and applauded. The result is that the young man, hearing
and seeing all these things—hearing, too, the words of his father,
and having a nearer view of his way of life, and making
comparisons of him and others—is drawn opposite ways: while his
father is watering and nourishing the rational principle in his soul,
the others are encouraging the passionate and appetitive; and he
being not originally of a bad nature, but having kept bad company,
is at last brought by their joint influence to a middle point, and
gives up the kingdom which is within him to the middle principle of
contentiousness and passion, and becomes arrogant and ambitious.
You seem to me to have described his origin perfectly.
Then we have now, I said, the second form of government and the
second type of character?
We have.
Next, let us look at another man who, as Aeschylus says,
282
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

'Is set over against another State;'

or rather, as our plan requires, begin with the State.
By all means.
I believe that oligarchy follows next in order.
And what manner of government do you term oligarchy?
A government resting on a valuation of property, in which the rich
have power and the poor man is deprived of it.
I understand, he replied.
Ought I not to begin by describing how the change from timocracy
to oligarchy arises?
Yes.
Well, I said, no eyes are required in order to see how the one passes
into the other.
How?
The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is
the ruin of timocracy; they invent illegal modes of expenditure; for
what do they or their wives care about the law?
Yes, indeed.
And then one, seeing another grow rich, seeks to rival him, and
thus the great mass of the citizens become lovers of money.
Likely enough.
And so they grow richer and richer, and the more they think of
making a fortune the less they think of virtue; for when riches and
virtue are placed together in the scales of the balance, the one
always rises as the other falls.
True.
And in proportion as riches and rich men are honoured in the State,
virtue and the virtuous are dishonoured.
Clearly.
And what is honoured is cultivated, and that which has no honour
is neglected.

283
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

That is obvious.
And so at last, instead of loving contention and glory, men become
lovers of trade and money; they honour and look up to the rich
man, and make a ruler of him, and dishonour the poor man.
They do so.
They next proceed to make a law which fixes a sum of money as
the qualification of citizenship; the sum is higher in one place and
lower in another, as the oligarchy is more or less exclusive; and they
allow no one whose property falls below the amount fixed to have
any share in the government. These changes in the constitution they
effect by force of arms, if intimidation has not already done their
work.
Very true.
And this, speaking generally, is the way in which oligarchy is
established.
Yes, he said; but what are the characteristics of this form of
government, and what are the defects of which we were speaking?
First of all, I said, consider the nature of the qualification. Just think
what would happen if pilots were to be chosen according to their
property, and a poor man were refused permission to steer, even
though he were a better pilot?
You mean that they would shipwreck?
Yes; and is not this true of the government of anything?
I should imagine so.
Except a city?—or would you include a city?
Nay, he said, the case of a city is the strongest of all, inasmuch as
the rule of a city is the greatest and most difficult of all.
This, then, will be the first great defect of oligarchy?
Clearly.
And here is another defect which is quite as bad.
What defect?

284
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

The inevitable division: such a State is not one, but two States, the
one of poor, the other of rich men; and they are living on the same
spot and always conspiring against one another.
That, surely, is at least as bad.
Another discreditable feature is, that, for a like reason, they are
incapable of carrying on any war. Either they arm the multitude,
and then they are more afraid of them than of the enemy; or, if they
do not call them out in the hour of battle, they are oligarchs indeed,
few to fight as they are few to rule. And at the same time their
fondness for money makes them unwilling to pay taxes.
How discreditable!
And, as we said before, under such a constitution the same persons
have too many callings—they are husbandmen, tradesmen,
warriors, all in one. Does that look well?
Anything but well.
There is another evil which is, perhaps, the greatest of all, and to
which this State first begins to be liable.
What evil?
A man may sell all that he has, and another may acquire his
property; yet after the sale he may dwell in the city of which he is no
longer a part, being neither trader, nor artisan, nor horseman, nor
hoplite, but only a poor, helpless creature.
Yes, that is an evil which also first begins in this State.
The evil is certainly not prevented there; for oligarchies have both
the extremes of great wealth and utter poverty.
True.
But think again: In his wealthy days, while he was spending his
money, was a man of this sort a whit more good to the State for the
purposes of citizenship? Or did he only seem to be a member of the
ruling body, although in truth he was neither ruler nor subject, but
just a spendthrift?
As you say, he seemed to be a ruler, but was only a spendthrift.

285
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

May we not say that this is the drone in the house who is like the
drone in the honeycomb, and that the one is the plague of the city
as the other is of the hive?
Just so, Socrates.
And God has made the flying drones, Adeimantus, all without
stings, whereas of the walking drones he has made some without
stings but others have dreadful stings; of the stingless class are
those who in their old age end as paupers; of the stingers come all
the criminal class, as they are termed.
Most true, he said.
Clearly then, whenever you see paupers in a State, somewhere in
that neighborhood there are hidden away thieves, and cut-purses
and robbers of temples, and all sorts of malefactors.
Clearly.
Well, I said, and in oligarchical States do you not find paupers?
Yes, he said; nearly everybody is a pauper who is not a ruler.
And may we be so bold as to affirm that there are also many
criminals to be found in them, rogues who have stings, and whom
the authorities are careful to restrain by force?
Certainly, we may be so bold.
The existence of such persons is to be attributed to want of
education, ill-training, and an evil constitution of the State?
True.
Such, then, is the form and such are the evils of oligarchy; and there
may be many other evils.
Very likely.
Then oligarchy, or the form of government in which the rulers are
elected for their wealth, may now be dismissed. Let us next proceed
to consider the nature and origin of the individual who answers to
this State.
By all means.

286
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Does not the timocratical man change into the oligarchical on this
wise?
How?
A time arrives when the representative of timocracy has a son: at
first he begins by emulating his father and walking in his footsteps,
but presently he sees him of a sudden foundering against the State
as upon a sunken reef, and he and all that he has is lost; he may
have been a general or some other high officer who is brought to
trial under a prejudice raised by informers, and either put to death,
or exiled, or deprived of the privileges of a citizen, and all his
property taken from him.
Nothing more likely.
And the son has seen and known all this—he is a ruined man, and
his fear has taught him to knock ambition and passion
headforemost from his bosom's throne; humbled by poverty he
takes to money-making and by mean and miserly savings and hard
work gets a fortune together. Is not such an one likely to seat the
concupiscent and covetous element on the vacant throne and to
suffer it to play the great king within him, girt with tiara and chain
and scimitar?
Most true, he replied.
And when he has made reason and spirit sit down on the ground
obediently on either side of their sovereign, and taught them to
know their place, he compels the one to think only of how lesser
sums may be turned into larger ones, and will not allow the other to
worship and admire anything but riches and rich men, or to be
ambitious of anything so much as the acquisition of wealth and the
means of acquiring it.
Of all changes, he said, there is none so speedy or so sure as the
conversion of the ambitious youth into the avaricious one.
And the avaricious, I said, is the oligarchical youth?
Yes, he said; at any rate the individual out of whom he came is like
the State out of which oligarchy came.
Let us then consider whether there is any likeness between them.
Very good.
287
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

First, then, they resemble one another in the value which they set
upon wealth?
Certainly.
Also in their penurious, laborious character; the individual only
satisfies his necessary appetites, and confines his expenditure to
them; his other desires he subdues, under the idea that they are
unprofitable.
True.
He is a shabby fellow, who saves something out of everything and
makes a purse for himself; and this is the sort of man whom the
vulgar applaud. Is he not a true image of the State which he
represents?
He appears to me to be so; at any rate money is highly valued by
him as well as by the State.
You see that he is not a man of cultivation, I said.
I imagine not, he said; had he been educated he would never have
made a blind god director of his chorus, or given him chief honour.
Excellent! I said. Yet consider: Must we not further admit that
owing to this want of cultivation there will be found in him
dronelike desires as of pauper and rogue, which are forcibly kept
down by his general habit of life?
True.
Do you know where you will have to look if you want to discover
his rogueries?
Where must I look?
You should see him where he has some great opportunity of acting
dishonestly, as in the guardianship of an orphan.
Aye.
It will be clear enough then that in his ordinary dealings which give
him a reputation for honesty he coerces his bad passions by an
enforced virtue; not making them see that they are wrong, or
taming them by reason, but by necessity and fear constraining them,
and because he trembles for his possessions.

288
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

To be sure.
Yes, indeed, my dear friend, but you will find that the natural
desires of the drone commonly exist in him all the same whenever
he has to spend what is not his own.
Yes, and they will be strong in him too.
The man, then, will be at war with himself; he will be two men, and
not one; but, in general, his better desires will be found to prevail
over his inferior ones.
True.
For these reasons such an one will be more respectable than most
people; yet the true virtue of a unanimous and harmonious soul will
flee far away and never come near him.
I should expect so.
And surely, the miser individually will be an ignoble competitor in a
State for any prize of victory, or other object of honourable
ambition; he will not spend his money in the contest for glory; so
afraid is he of awakening his expensive appetites and inviting them
to help and join in the struggle; in true oligarchical fashion he fights
with a small part only of his resources, and the result commonly is
that he loses the prize and saves his money.
Very true.
Can we any longer doubt, then, that the miser and money-maker
answers to the oligarchical State?
There can be no doubt.
Next comes democracy; of this the origin and nature have still to be
considered by us; and then we will enquire into the ways of the
democratic man, and bring him up for judgment.
That, he said, is our method.
Well, I said, and how does the change from oligarchy into
democracy arise? Is it not on this wise?—The good at which such a
State aims is to become as rich as possible, a desire which is
insatiable?
What then?

289
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

The rulers, being aware that their power rests upon their wealth,
refuse to curtail by law the extravagance of the spendthrift youth
because they gain by their ruin; they take interest from them and
buy up their estates and thus increase their own wealth and
importance?
To be sure.
There can be no doubt that the love of wealth and the spirit of
moderation cannot exist together in citizens of the same state to any
considerable extent; one or the other will be disregarded.
That is tolerably clear.
And in oligarchical States, from the general spread of carelessness
and extravagance, men of good family have often been reduced to
beggary?
Yes, often.
And still they remain in the city; there they are, ready to sting and
fully armed, and some of them owe money, some have forfeited
their citizenship; a third class are in both predicaments; and they
hate and conspire against those who have got their property, and
against everybody else, and are eager for revolution.
That is true.
On the other hand, the men of business, stooping as they walk, and
pretending not even to see those whom they have already ruined,
insert their sting—that is, their money—into some one else who is
not on his guard against them, and recover the parent sum many
times over multiplied into a family of children: and so they make
drone and pauper to abound in the State.
Yes, he said, there are plenty of them—that is certain.
The evil blazes up like a fire; and they will not extinguish it, either
by restricting a man's use of his own property, or by another
remedy:
What other?
One which is the next best, and has the advantage of compelling
the citizens to look to their characters:—Let there be a general rule
that every one shall enter into voluntary contracts at his own risk,

290
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

and there will be less of this scandalous money-making, and the

evils of which we were speaking will be greatly lessened in the State.
Yes, they will be greatly lessened.
At present the governors, induced by the motives which I have
named, treat their subjects badly; while they and their adherents,
especially the young men of the governing class, are habituated to
lead a life of luxury and idleness both of body and mind; they do
nothing, and are incapable of resisting either pleasure or pain.
Very true.
They themselves care only for making money, and are as indifferent
as the pauper to the cultivation of virtue.
Yes, quite as indifferent.
Such is the state of affairs which prevails among them. And often
rulers and their subjects may come in one another's way, whether
on a journey or on some other occasion of meeting, on a pilgrimage
or a march, as fellow-soldiers or fellow-sailors; aye and they may
observe the behaviour of each other in the very moment of
danger—for where danger is, there is no fear that the poor will be
despised by the rich—and very likely the wiry sunburnt poor man
may be placed in battle at the side of a wealthy one who has never
spoilt his complexion and has plenty of superfluous flesh—when he
sees such an one puffing and at his wits'-end, how can he avoid
drawing the conclusion that men like him are only rich because no
one has the courage to despoil them? And when they meet in
private will not people be saying to one another 'Our warriors are
not good for much'?
Yes, he said, I am quite aware that this is their way of talking.
And, as in a body which is diseased the addition of a touch from
without may bring on illness, and sometimes even when there is no
external provocation a commotion may arise within—in the same
way wherever there is weakness in the State there is also likely to be
illness, of which the occasion may be very slight, the one party
introducing from without their oligarchical, the other their
democratical allies, and then the State falls sick, and is at war with
herself; and may be at times distracted, even when there is no
external cause.
291
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, surely.
And then democracy comes into being after the poor have
conquered their opponents, slaughtering some and banishing some,
while to the remainder they give an equal share of freedom and
power; and this is the form of government in which the magistrates
are commonly elected by lot.
Yes, he said, that is the nature of democracy, whether the
revolution has been effected by arms, or whether fear has caused
the opposite party to withdraw.
And now what is their manner of life, and what sort of a
government have they? for as the government is, such will be the
man.
Clearly, he said.
In the first place, are they not free; and is not the city full of
freedom and frankness—a man may say and do what he likes?
'Tis said so, he replied.
And where freedom is, the individual is clearly able to order for
himself his own life as he pleases?
Clearly.
Then in this kind of State there will be the greatest variety of human
natures?
There will.
This, then, seems likely to be the fairest of States, being like an
embroidered robe which is spangled with every sort of flower. And
just as women and children think a variety of colours to be of all
things most charming, so there are many men to whom this State,
which is spangled with the manners and characters of mankind, will
appear to be the fairest of States.
Yes.
Yes, my good Sir, and there will be no better in which to look for a
government.
Why?

292
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Because of the liberty which reigns there—they have a complete

assortment of constitutions; and he who has a mind to establish a
State, as we have been doing, must go to a democracy as he would
to a bazaar at which they sell them, and pick out the one that suits
him; then, when he has made his choice, he may found his State.
He will be sure to have patterns enough.
And there being no necessity, I said, for you to govern in this State,
even if you have the capacity, or to be governed, unless you like, or
go to war when the rest go to war, or to be at peace when others
are at peace, unless you are so disposed—there being no necessity
also, because some law forbids you to hold office or be a dicast,
that you should not hold office or be a dicast, if you have a fancy—
is not this a way of life which for the moment is supremely
delightful?
For the moment, yes.
And is not their humanity to the condemned in some cases quite
charming? Have you not observed how, in a democracy, many
persons, although they have been sentenced to death or exile, just
stay where they are and walk about the world—the gentleman
parades like a hero, and nobody sees or cares?
Yes, he replied, many and many a one.
See too, I said, the forgiving spirit of democracy, and the 'don't care'
about trifles, and the disregard which she shows of all the fine
principles which we solemnly laid down at the foundation of the
city—as when we said that, except in the case of some rarely gifted
nature, there never will be a good man who has not from his
childhood been used to play amid things of beauty and make of
them a joy and a study—how grandly does she trample all these fine
notions of ours under her feet, never giving a thought to the
pursuits which make a statesman, and promoting to honour any one
who professes to be the people's friend.
Yes, she is of a noble spirit.
These and other kindred characteristics are proper to democracy,
which is a charming form of government, full of variety and
disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals
alike.
293
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

We know her well.

Consider now, I said, what manner of man the individual is, or
rather consider, as in the case of the State, how he comes into
being.
Very good, he said.
Is not this the way—he is the son of the miserly and oligarchical
father who has trained him in his own habits?
Exactly.
And, like his father, he keeps under by force the pleasures which are
of the spending and not of the getting sort, being those which are
called unnecessary?
Obviously.
Would you like, for the sake of clearness, to distinguish which are
the necessary and which are the unnecessary pleasures?
I should.
Are not necessary pleasures those of which we cannot get rid, and
of which the satisfaction is a benefit to us? And they are rightly
called so, because we are framed by nature to desire both what is
beneficial and what is necessary, and cannot help it.
True.
We are not wrong therefore in calling them necessary?
We are not.
And the desires of which a man may get rid, if he takes pains from
his youth upwards—of which the presence, moreover, does no
good, and in some cases the reverse of good—shall we not be right
in saying that all these are unnecessary?
Yes, certainly.
Suppose we select an example of either kind, in order that we may
have a general notion of them?
Very good.

294
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Will not the desire of eating, that is, of simple food and condiments,
in so far as they are required for health and strength, be of the
necessary class?
That is what I should suppose.
The pleasure of eating is necessary in two ways; it does us good and
it is essential to the continuance of life?
Yes.
But the condiments are only necessary in so far as they are good for
health?
Certainly.
And the desire which goes beyond this, of more delicate food, or
other luxuries, which might generally be got rid of, if controlled and
trained in youth, and is hurtful to the body, and hurtful to the soul
in the pursuit of wisdom and virtue, may be rightly called
unnecessary?
Very true.
May we not say that these desires spend, and that the others make
money because they conduce to production?
Certainly.
And of the pleasures of love, and all other pleasures, the same holds
good?
True.
And the drone of whom we spoke was he who was surfeited in
pleasures and desires of this sort, and was the slave of the
unnecessary desires, whereas he who was subject to the necessary
only was miserly and oligarchical?
Very true.
Again, let us see how the democratical man grows out of the
oligarchical: the following, as I suspect, is commonly the process.
What is the process?
When a young man who has been brought up as we were just now
describing, in a vulgar and miserly way, has tasted drones' honey

295
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

and has come to associate with fierce and crafty natures who are
able to provide for him all sorts of refinements and varieties of
pleasure—then, as you may imagine, the change will begin of the
oligarchical principle within him into the democratical?
Inevitably.
And as in the city like was helping like, and the change was effected
by an alliance from without assisting one division of the citizens, so
too the young man is changed by a class of desires coming from
without to assist the desires within him, that which is akin and alike
again helping that which is akin and alike?
Certainly.
And if there be any ally which aids the oligarchical principle within
him, whether the influence of a father or of kindred, advising or
rebuking him, then there arises in his soul a faction and an opposite
faction, and he goes to war with himself.
It must be so.
And there are times when the democratical principle gives way to
the oligarchical, and some of his desires die, and others are
banished; a spirit of reverence enters into the young man's soul and
order is restored.
Yes, he said, that sometimes happens.
And then, again, after the old desires have been driven out, fresh
ones spring up, which are akin to them, and because he their father
does not know how to educate them, wax fierce and numerous.
Yes, he said, that is apt to be the way.
They draw him to his old associates, and holding secret intercourse
with them, breed and multiply in him.
Very true.
At length they seize upon the citadel of the young man's soul, which
they perceive to be void of all accomplishments and fair pursuits
and true words, which make their abode in the minds of men who
are dear to the gods, and are their best guardians and sentinels.
None better.

296
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

False and boastful conceits and phrases mount upwards and take
their place.
They are certain to do so.
And so the young man returns into the country of the lotus-eaters,
and takes up his dwelling there in the face of all men; and if any
help be sent by his friends to the oligarchical part of him, the
aforesaid vain conceits shut the gate of the king's fastness; and they
will neither allow the embassy itself to enter, nor if private advisers
offer the fatherly counsel of the aged will they listen to them or
receive them. There is a battle and they gain the day, and then
modesty, which they call silliness, is ignominiously thrust into exile
by them, and temperance, which they nickname unmanliness, is
trampled in the mire and cast forth; they persuade men that
moderation and orderly expenditure are vulgarity and meanness,
and so, by the help of a rabble of evil appetites, they drive them
beyond the border.
Yes, with a will.
And when they have emptied and swept clean the soul of him who
is now in their power and who is being initiated by them in great
mysteries, the next thing is to bring back to their house insolence
and anarchy and waste and impudence in bright array having
garlands on their heads, and a great company with them, hymning
their praises and calling them by sweet names; insolence they term
breeding, and anarchy liberty, and waste magnificence, and
impudence courage. And so the young man passes out of his
original nature, which was trained in the school of necessity, into
the freedom and libertinism of useless and unnecessary pleasures.
Yes, he said, the change in him is visible enough.
After this he lives on, spending his money and labour and time on
unnecessary pleasures quite as much as on necessary ones; but if he
be fortunate, and is not too much disordered in his wits, when years
have elapsed, and the heyday of passion is over—supposing that he
then re-admits into the city some part of the exiled virtues, and does
not wholly give himself up to their successors—in that case he
balances his pleasures and lives in a sort of equilibrium, putting the
government of himself into the hands of the one which comes first
and wins the turn; and when he has had enough of that, then into
297
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

the hands of another; he despises none of them but encourages

them all equally.
Very true, he said.
Neither does he receive or let pass into the fortress any true word
of advice; if any one says to him that some pleasures are the
satisfactions of good and noble desires, and others of evil desires,
and that he ought to use and honour some and chastise and master
the others—whenever this is repeated to him he shakes his head
and says that they are all alike, and that one is as good as another.
Yes, he said; that is the way with him.
Yes, I said, he lives from day to day indulging the appetite of the
hour; and sometimes he is lapped in drink and strains of the flute;
then he becomes a water-drinker, and tries to get thin; then he takes
a turn at gymnastics; sometimes idling and neglecting everything,
then once more living the life of a philosopher; often he is busy
with politics, and starts to his feet and says and does whatever
comes into his head; and, if he is emulous of any one who is a
warrior, off he is in that direction, or of men of business, once
more in that. His life has neither law nor order; and this distracted
existence he terms joy and bliss and freedom; and so he goes on.
Yes, he replied, he is all liberty and equality.
Yes, I said; his life is motley and manifold and an epitome of the
lives of many;—he answers to the State which we described as fair
and spangled. And many a man and many a woman will take him
for their pattern, and many a constitution and many an example of
manners is contained in him.
Just so.
Let him then be set over against democracy; he may truly be called
the democratic man.
Let that be his place, he said.
Last of all comes the most beautiful of all, man and State alike,
tyranny and the tyrant; these we have now to consider.
Quite true, he said.

298
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Say then, my friend, In what manner does tyranny arise?—that it

has a democratic origin is evident.
Clearly.
And does not tyranny spring from democracy in the same manner
as democracy from oligarchy—I mean, after a sort?
How?
The good which oligarchy proposed to itself and the means by
which it was maintained was excess of wealth—am I not right?
Yes.
And the insatiable desire of wealth and the neglect of all other
things for the sake of money-getting was also the ruin of oligarchy?
True.
And democracy has her own good, of which the insatiable desire
brings her to dissolution?
What good?
Freedom, I replied; which, as they tell you in a democracy, is the
glory of the State—and that therefore in a democracy alone will the
freeman of nature deign to dwell.
Yes; the saying is in every body's mouth.
I was going to observe, that the insatiable desire of this and the
neglect of other things introduces the change in democracy, which
occasions a demand for tyranny.
How so?
When a democracy which is thirsting for freedom has evil cup-
bearers presiding over the feast, and has drunk too deeply of the
strong wine of freedom, then, unless her rulers are very amenable
and give a plentiful draught, she calls them to account and punishes
them, and says that they are cursed oligarchs.
Yes, he replied, a very common occurrence.
Yes, I said; and loyal citizens are insultingly termed by her slaves
who hug their chains and men of naught; she would have subjects
who are like rulers, and rulers who are like subjects: these are men

299
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

after her own heart, whom she praises and honours both in private
and public. Now, in such a State, can liberty have any limit?
Certainly not.
By degrees the anarchy finds a way into private houses, and ends by
getting among the animals and infecting them.
How do you mean?
I mean that the father grows accustomed to descend to the level of
his sons and to fear them, and the son is on a level with his father,
he having no respect or reverence for either of his parents; and this
is his freedom, and the metic is equal with the citizen and the
citizen with the metic, and the stranger is quite as good as either.
Yes, he said, that is the way.
And these are not the only evils, I said—there are several lesser
ones: In such a state of society the master fears and flatters his
scholars, and the scholars despise their masters and tutors; young
and old are all alike; and the young man is on a level with the old,
and is ready to compete with him in word or deed; and old men
condescend to the young and are full of pleasantry and gaiety; they
are loth to be thought morose and authoritative, and therefore they
adopt the manners of the young.
Quite true, he said.
The last extreme of popular liberty is when the slave bought with
money, whether male or female, is just as free as his or her
purchaser; nor must I forget to tell of the liberty and equality of the
two sexes in relation to each other.
Why not, as Aeschylus says, utter the word which rises to our lips?
That is what I am doing, I replied; and I must add that no one who
does not know would believe, how much greater is the liberty
which the animals who are under the dominion of man have in a
democracy than in any other State: for truly, the she-dogs, as the
proverb says, are as good as their she-mistresses, and the horses and
asses have a way of marching along with all the rights and dignities
of freemen; and they will run at any body who comes in their way if
he does not leave the road clear for them: and all things are just
ready to burst with liberty.

300
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

When I take a country walk, he said, I often experience what you

describe. You and I have dreamed the same thing.
And above all, I said, and as the result of all, see how sensitive the
citizens become; they chafe impatiently at the least touch of
authority, and at length, as you know, they cease to care even for
the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one over them.
Yes, he said, I know it too well.
Such, my friend, I said, is the fair and glorious beginning out of
which springs tyranny.
Glorious indeed, he said. But what is the next step?
The ruin of oligarchy is the ruin of democracy; the same disease
magnified and intensified by liberty overmasters democracy—the
truth being that the excessive increase of anything often causes a
reaction in the opposite direction; and this is the case not only in
the seasons and in vegetable and animal life, but above all in forms
of government.
True.
The excess of liberty, whether in States or individuals, seems only to
pass into excess of slavery.
Yes, the natural order.
And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most
aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme
form of liberty?
As we might expect.
That, however, was not, as I believe, your question—you rather
desired to know what is that disorder which is generated alike in
oligarchy and democracy, and is the ruin of both?
Just so, he replied.
Well, I said, I meant to refer to the class of idle spendthrifts, of
whom the more courageous are the leaders and the more timid the
followers, the same whom we were comparing to drones, some
stingless, and others having stings.
A very just comparison.

301
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

These two classes are the plagues of every city in which they are
generated, being what phlegm and bile are to the body. And the
good physician and lawgiver of the State ought, like the wise bee-
master, to keep them at a distance and prevent, if possible, their
ever coming in; and if they have anyhow found a way in, then he
should have them and their cells cut out as speedily as possible.
Yes, by all means, he said.
Then, in order that we may see clearly what we are doing, let us
imagine democracy to be divided, as indeed it is, into three classes;
for in the first place freedom creates rather more drones in the
democratic than there were in the oligarchical State.
That is true.
And in the democracy they are certainly more intensified.
How so?
Because in the oligarchical State they are disqualified and driven
from office, and therefore they cannot train or gather strength;
whereas in a democracy they are almost the entire ruling power, and
while the keener sort speak and act, the rest keep buzzing about the
bema and do not suffer a word to be said on the other side; hence
in democracies almost everything is managed by the drones.
Very true, he said.
Then there is another class which is always being severed from the
mass.
What is that?
They are the orderly class, which in a nation of traders is sure to be
the richest.
Naturally so.
They are the most squeezable persons and yield the largest amount
of honey to the drones.
Why, he said, there is little to be squeezed out of people who have
little.
And this is called the wealthy class, and the drones feed upon them.
That is pretty much the case, he said.
302
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

The people are a third class, consisting of those who work with
their own hands; they are not politicians, and have not much to live
upon. This, when assembled, is the largest and most powerful class
in a democracy.
True, he said; but then the multitude is seldom willing to congregate
unless they get a little honey.
And do they not share? I said. Do not their leaders deprive the rich
of their estates and distribute them among the people; at the same
time taking care to reserve the larger part for themselves?
Why, yes, he said, to that extent the people do share.
And the persons whose property is taken from them are compelled
to defend themselves before the people as they best can?
What else can they do?
And then, although they may have no desire of change, the others
charge them with plotting against the people and being friends of
oligarchy?
True.
And the end is that when they see the people, not of their own
accord, but through ignorance, and because they are deceived by
informers, seeking to do them wrong, then at last they are forced to
become oligarchs in reality; they do not wish to be, but the sting of
the drones torments them and breeds revolution in them.
That is exactly the truth.
Then come impeachments and judgments and trials of one another.
True.
The people have always some champion whom they set over them
and nurse into greatness.
Yes, that is their way.
This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he
first appears above ground he is a protector.
Yes, that is quite clear.

303
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

How then does a protector begin to change into a tyrant? Clearly

when he does what the man is said to do in the tale of the Arcadian
temple of Lycaean Zeus.
What tale?
The tale is that he who has tasted the entrails of a single human
victim minced up with the entrails of other victims is destined to
become a wolf. Did you never hear it?
Oh, yes.
And the protector of the people is like him; having a mob entirely at
his disposal, he is not restrained from shedding the blood of
kinsmen; by the favourite method of false accusation he brings
them into court and murders them, making the life of man to
disappear, and with unholy tongue and lips tasting the blood of his
fellow citizens; some he kills and others he banishes, at the same
time hinting at the abolition of debts and partition of lands: and
after this, what will be his destiny? Must he not either perish at the
hands of his enemies, or from being a man become a wolf—that is,
a tyrant?
Inevitably.
This, I said, is he who begins to make a party against the rich?
The same.
After a while he is driven out, but comes back, in spite of his
enemies, a tyrant full grown.
That is clear.
And if they are unable to expel him, or to get him condemned to
death by a public accusation, they conspire to assassinate him.
Yes, he said, that is their usual way.
Then comes the famous request for a body-guard, which is the
device of all those who have got thus far in their tyrannical career—
'Let not the people's friend,' as they say, 'be lost to them.'
Exactly.
The people readily assent; all their fears are for him—they have
none for themselves.

304
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Very true.
And when a man who is wealthy and is also accused of being an
enemy of the people sees this, then, my friend, as the oracle said to
Croesus,
'By pebbly Hermus' shore he flees and rests not, and is not ashamed
to be a coward.'
And quite right too, said he, for if he were, he would never be
ashamed again.
But if he is caught he dies.
Of course.
And he, the protector of whom we spoke, is to be seen, not 'larding
the plain' with his bulk, but himself the overthrower of many,
standing up in the chariot of State with the reins in his hand, no
longer protector, but tyrant absolute.
No doubt, he said.
And now let us consider the happiness of the man, and also of the
State in which a creature like him is generated.
Yes, he said, let us consider that.
At first, in the early days of his power, he is full of smiles, and he
salutes every one whom he meets;—he to be called a tyrant, who is
making promises in public and also in private! liberating debtors,
and distributing land to the people and his followers, and wanting
to be so kind and good to every one!
Of course, he said.
But when he has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty,
and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up
some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.
To be sure.
Has he not also another object, which is that they may be
impoverished by payment of taxes, and thus compelled to devote
themselves to their daily wants and therefore less likely to conspire
against him?
Clearly.
305
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And if any of them are suspected by him of having notions of

freedom, and of resistance to his authority, he will have a good
pretext for destroying them by placing them at the mercy of the
enemy; and for all these reasons the tyrant must be always getting
up a war.
He must.
Now he begins to grow unpopular.
A necessary result.
Then some of those who joined in setting him up, and who are in
power, speak their minds to him and to one another, and the more
courageous of them cast in his teeth what is being done.
Yes, that may be expected.
And the tyrant, if he means to rule, must get rid of them; he cannot
stop while he has a friend or an enemy who is good for anything.
He cannot.
And therefore he must look about him and see who is valiant, who
is high-minded, who is wise, who is wealthy; happy man, he is the
enemy of them all, and must seek occasion against them whether he
will or no, until he has made a purgation of the State.
Yes, he said, and a rare purgation.
Yes, I said, not the sort of purgation which the physicians make of
the body; for they take away the worse and leave the better part, but
he does the reverse.
If he is to rule, I suppose that he cannot help himself.
What a blessed alternative, I said:—to be compelled to dwell only
with the many bad, and to be by them hated, or not to live at all!
Yes, that is the alternative.
And the more detestable his actions are to the citizens the more
satellites and the greater devotion in them will he require?
Certainly.
And who are the devoted band, and where will he procure them?

306
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

They will flock to him, he said, of their own accord, if he pays

them.
By the dog! I said, here are more drones, of every sort and from
every land.
Yes, he said, there are.
But will he not desire to get them on the spot?
How do you mean?
He will rob the citizens of their slaves; he will then set them free
and enrol them in his body-guard.
To be sure, he said; and he will be able to trust them best of all.
What a blessed creature, I said, must this tyrant be; he has put to
death the others and has these for his trusted friends.
Yes, he said; they are quite of his sort.
Yes, I said, and these are the new citizens whom he has called into
existence, who admire him and are his companions, while the good
hate and avoid him.
Of course.
Verily, then, tragedy is a wise thing and Euripides a great tragedian.
Why so?
Why, because he is the author of the pregnant saying,
'Tyrants are wise by living with the wise;'
and he clearly meant to say that they are the wise whom the tyrant
makes his companions.
Yes, he said, and he also praises tyranny as godlike; and many other
things of the same kind are said by him and by the other poets.
And therefore, I said, the tragic poets being wise men will forgive us
and any others who live after our manner if we do not receive them
into our State, because they are the eulogists of tyranny.
Yes, he said, those who have the wit will doubtless forgive us.

307
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

But they will continue to go to other cities and attract mobs, and
hire voices fair and loud and persuasive, and draw the cities over to
tyrannies and democracies.
Very true.
Moreover, they are paid for this and receive honour—the greatest
honour, as might be expected, from tyrants, and the next greatest
from democracies; but the higher they ascend our constitution hill,
the more their reputation fails, and seems unable from shortness of
breath to proceed further.
True.
But we are wandering from the subject: Let us therefore return and
enquire how the tyrant will maintain that fair and numerous and
various and ever-changing army of his.
If, he said, there are sacred treasures in the city, he will confiscate
and spend them; and in so far as the fortunes of attainted persons
may suffice, he will be able to diminish the taxes which he would
otherwise have to impose upon the people.
And when these fail?
Why, clearly, he said, then he and his boon companions, whether
male or female, will be maintained out of his father's estate.
You mean to say that the people, from whom he has derived his
being, will maintain him and his companions?
Yes, he said; they cannot help themselves.
But what if the people fly into a passion, and aver that a grown-up
son ought not to be supported by his father, but that the father
should be supported by the son? The father did not bring him into
being, or settle him in life, in order that when his son became a man
he should himself be the servant of his own servants and should
support him and his rabble of slaves and companions; but that his
son should protect him, and that by his help he might be
emancipated from the government of the rich and aristocratic, as
they are termed. And so he bids him and his companions depart,
just as any other father might drive out of the house a riotous son
and his undesirable associates.

308
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

By heaven, he said, then the parent will discover what a monster he

has been fostering in his bosom; and, when he wants to drive him
out, he will find that he is weak and his son strong.
Why, you do not mean to say that the tyrant will use violence?
What! beat his father if he opposes him?
Yes, he will, having first disarmed him.
Then he is a parricide, and a cruel guardian of an aged parent; and
this is real tyranny, about which there can be no longer a mistake: as
the saying is, the people who would escape the smoke which is the
slavery of freemen, has fallen into the fire which is the tyranny of
slaves. Thus liberty, getting out of all order and reason, passes into
the harshest and bitterest form of slavery.
True, he said.
Very well; and may we not rightly say that we have sufficiently
discussed the nature of tyranny, and the manner of the transition
from democracy to tyranny?
Yes, quite enough, he said.

BOOK IX.
Last of all comes the tyrannical man; about whom we have once
more to ask, how is he formed out of the democratical? and how
does he live, in happiness or in misery?
Yes, he said, he is the only one remaining.
There is, however, I said, a previous question which remains
unanswered.
What question?
I do not think that we have adequately determined the nature and
number of the appetites, and until this is accomplished the enquiry
will always be confused.
Well, he said, it is not too late to supply the omission.
Very true, I said; and observe the point which I want to understand:
Certain of the unnecessary pleasures and appetites I conceive to be
unlawful; every one appears to have them, but in some persons they
are controlled by the laws and by reason, and the better desires
309
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

prevail over them—either they are wholly banished or they become

few and weak; while in the case of others they are stronger, and
there are more of them.
Which appetites do you mean?
I mean those which are awake when the reasoning and human and
ruling power is asleep; then the wild beast within us, gorged with
meat or drink, starts up and having shaken off sleep, goes forth to
satisfy his desires; and there is no conceivable folly or crime—not
excepting incest or any other unnatural union, or parricide, or the
eating of forbidden food—which at such a time, when he has
parted company with all shame and sense, a man may not be ready
to commit.
Most true, he said.
But when a man's pulse is healthy and temperate, and when before
going to sleep he has awakened his rational powers, and fed them
on noble thoughts and enquiries, collecting himself in meditation;
after having first indulged his appetites neither too much nor too
little, but just enough to lay them to sleep, and prevent them and
their enjoyments and pains from interfering with the higher
principle—which he leaves in the solitude of pure abstraction, free
to contemplate and aspire to the knowledge of the unknown,
whether in past, present, or future: when again he has allayed the
passionate element, if he has a quarrel against any one—I say,
when, after pacifying the two irrational principles, he rouses up the
third, which is reason, before he takes his rest, then, as you know,
he attains truth most nearly, and is least likely to be the sport of
fantastic and lawless visions.
I quite agree.
In saying this I have been running into a digression; but the point
which I desire to note is that in all of us, even in good men, there is
a lawless wild-beast nature, which peers out in sleep. Pray, consider
whether I am right, and you agree with me.
Yes, I agree.
And now remember the character which we attributed to the
democratic man. He was supposed from his youth upwards to have
been trained under a miserly parent, who encouraged the saving
310
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

appetites in him, but discountenanced the unnecessary, which aim

only at amusement and ornament?
True.
And then he got into the company of a more refined, licentious sort
of people, and taking to all their wanton ways rushed into the
opposite extreme from an abhorrence of his father's meanness. At
last, being a better man than his corruptors, he was drawn in both
directions until he halted midway and led a life, not of vulgar and
slavish passion, but of what he deemed moderate indulgence in
various pleasures. After this manner the democrat was generated
out of the oligarch?
Yes, he said; that was our view of him, and is so still.
And now, I said, years will have passed away, and you must
conceive this man, such as he is, to have a son, who is brought up
in his father's principles.
I can imagine him.
Then you must further imagine the same thing to happen to the son
which has already happened to the father:—he is drawn into a
perfectly lawless life, which by his seducers is termed perfect liberty;
and his father and friends take part with his moderate desires, and
the opposite party assist the opposite ones. As soon as these dire
magicians and tyrant-makers find that they are losing their hold on
him, they contrive to implant in him a master passion, to be lord
over his idle and spendthrift lusts—a sort of monstrous winged
drone—that is the only image which will adequately describe him.
Yes, he said, that is the only adequate image of him.
And when his other lusts, amid clouds of incense and perfumes and
garlands and wines, and all the pleasures of a dissolute life, now let
loose, come buzzing around him, nourishing to the utmost the sting
of desire which they implant in his drone-like nature, then at last
this lord of the soul, having Madness for the captain of his guard,
breaks out into a frenzy: and if he finds in himself any good
opinions or appetites in process of formation, and there is in him
any sense of shame remaining, to these better principles he puts an
end, and casts them forth until he has purged away temperance and
brought in madness to the full.
311
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, he said, that is the way in which the tyrannical man is

generated.
And is not this the reason why of old love has been called a tyrant?
I should not wonder.
Further, I said, has not a drunken man also the spirit of a tyrant?
He has.
And you know that a man who is deranged and not right in his
mind, will fancy that he is able to rule, not only over men, but also
over the gods?
That he will.
And the tyrannical man in the true sense of the word comes into
being when, either under the influence of nature, or habit, or both,
he becomes drunken, lustful, passionate? O my friend, is not that
so?
Assuredly.
Such is the man and such is his origin. And next, how does he live?
Suppose, as people facetiously say, you were to tell me.
I imagine, I said, at the next step in his progress, that there will be
feasts and carousals and revellings and courtezans, and all that sort
of thing; Love is the lord of the house within him, and orders all the
concerns of his soul.
That is certain.
Yes; and every day and every night desires grow up many and
formidable, and their demands are many.
They are indeed, he said.
His revenues, if he has any, are soon spent.
True.
Then comes debt and the cutting down of his property.
Of course.
When he has nothing left, must not his desires, crowding in the nest
like young ravens, be crying aloud for food; and he, goaded on by

312
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

them, and especially by love himself, who is in a manner the captain

of them, is in a frenzy, and would fain discover whom he can
defraud or despoil of his property, in order that he may gratify
them?
Yes, that is sure to be the case.
He must have money, no matter how, if he is to escape horrid pains
and pangs.
He must.
And as in himself there was a succession of pleasures, and the new
got the better of the old and took away their rights, so he being
younger will claim to have more than his father and his mother, and
if he has spent his own share of the property, he will take a slice of
theirs.
No doubt he will.
And if his parents will not give way, then he will try first of all to
cheat and deceive them.
Very true.
And if he fails, then he will use force and plunder them.
Yes, probably.
And if the old man and woman fight for their own, what then, my
friend? Will the creature feel any compunction at tyrannizing over
them?
Nay, he said, I should not feel at all comfortable about his parents.
But, O heavens! Adeimantus, on account of some new-fangled love
of a harlot, who is anything but a necessary connection, can you
believe that he would strike the mother who is his ancient friend
and necessary to his very existence, and would place her under the
authority of the other, when she is brought under the same roof
with her; or that, under like circumstances, he would do the same to
his withered old father, first and most indispensable of friends, for
the sake of some newly-found blooming youth who is the reverse
of indispensable?
Yes, indeed, he said; I believe that he would.

313
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Truly, then, I said, a tyrannical son is a blessing to his father and

mother.
He is indeed, he replied.
He first takes their property, and when that fails, and pleasures are
beginning to swarm in the hive of his soul, then he breaks into a
house, or steals the garments of some nightly wayfarer; next he
proceeds to clear a temple. Meanwhile the old opinions which he
had when a child, and which gave judgment about good and evil,
are overthrown by those others which have just been emancipated,
and are now the body-guard of love and share his empire. These in
his democratic days, when he was still subject to the laws and to his
father, were only let loose in the dreams of sleep. But now that he is
under the dominion of love, he becomes always and in waking
reality what he was then very rarely and in a dream only; he will
commit the foulest murder, or eat forbidden food, or be guilty of
any other horrid act. Love is his tyrant, and lives lordly in him and
lawlessly, and being himself a king, leads him on, as a tyrant leads a
State, to the performance of any reckless deed by which he can
maintain himself and the rabble of his associates, whether those
whom evil communications have brought in from without, or those
whom he himself has allowed to break loose within him by reason
of a similar evil nature in himself. Have we not here a picture of his
way of life?
Yes, indeed, he said.
And if there are only a few of them in the State, and the rest of the
people are well disposed, they go away and become the body-guard
or mercenary soldiers of some other tyrant who may probably want
them for a war; and if there is no war, they stay at home and do
many little pieces of mischief in the city.
What sort of mischief?
For example, they are the thieves, burglars, cut-purses, foot-pads,
robbers of temples, man-stealers of the community; or if they are
able to speak they turn informers, and bear false witness, and take
bribes.
A small catalogue of evils, even if the perpetrators of them are few
in number.

314
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, I said; but small and great are comparative terms, and all these
things, in the misery and evil which they inflict upon a State, do not
come within a thousand miles of the tyrant; when this noxious class
and their followers grow numerous and become conscious of their
strength, assisted by the infatuation of the people, they choose from
among themselves the one who has most of the tyrant in his own
soul, and him they create their tyrant.
Yes, he said, and he will be the most fit to be a tyrant.
If the people yield, well and good; but if they resist him, as he began
by beating his own father and mother, so now, if he has the power,
he beats them, and will keep his dear old fatherland or motherland,
as the Cretans say, in subjection to his young retainers whom he has
introduced to be their rulers and masters. This is the end of his
passions and desires.
Exactly.
When such men are only private individuals and before they get
power, this is their character; they associate entirely with their own
flatterers or ready tools; or if they want anything from anybody,
they in their turn are equally ready to bow down before them: they
profess every sort of affection for them; but when they have gained
their point they know them no more.
Yes, truly.
They are always either the masters or servants and never the friends
of anybody; the tyrant never tastes of true freedom or friendship.
Certainly not.
And may we not rightly call such men treacherous?
No question.
Also they are utterly unjust, if we were right in our notion of
justice?
Yes, he said, and we were perfectly right.
Let us then sum up in a word, I said, the character of the worst
man: he is the waking reality of what we dreamed.
Most true.

315
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And this is he who being by nature most of a tyrant bears rule, and
the longer he lives the more of a tyrant he becomes.
That is certain, said Glaucon, taking his turn to answer.
And will not he who has been shown to be the wickedest, be also
the most miserable? and he who has tyrannized longest and most,
most continually and truly miserable; although this may not be the
opinion of men in general?
Yes, he said, inevitably.
And must not the tyrannical man be like the tyrannical State, and
the democratical man like the democratical State; and the same of
the others?
Certainly.
And as State is to State in virtue and happiness, so is man in relation
to man?
To be sure.
Then comparing our original city, which was under a king, and the
city which is under a tyrant, how do they stand as to virtue?
They are the opposite extremes, he said, for one is the very best and
the other is the very worst.
There can be no mistake, I said, as to which is which, and therefore
I will at once enquire whether you would arrive at a similar decision
about their relative happiness and misery. And here we must not
allow ourselves to be panic-stricken at the apparition of the tyrant,
who is only a unit and may perhaps have a few retainers about him;
but let us go as we ought into every corner of the city and look all
about, and then we will give our opinion.
A fair invitation, he replied; and I see, as every one must, that a
tyranny is the wretchedest form of government, and the rule of a
king the happiest.
And in estimating the men too, may I not fairly make a like request,
that I should have a judge whose mind can enter into and see
through human nature? he must not be like a child who looks at the
outside and is dazzled at the pompous aspect which the tyrannical
nature assumes to the beholder, but let him be one who has a clear

316
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

insight. May I suppose that the judgment is given in the hearing of

us all by one who is able to judge, and has dwelt in the same place
with him, and been present at his dally life and known him in his
family relations, where he may be seen stripped of his tragedy attire,
and again in the hour of public danger—he shall tell us about the
happiness and misery of the tyrant when compared with other men?
That again, he said, is a very fair proposal.
Shall I assume that we ourselves are able and experienced judges
and have before now met with such a person? We shall then have
some one who will answer our enquiries.
By all means.
Let me ask you not to forget the parallel of the individual and the
State; bearing this in mind, and glancing in turn from one to the
other of them, will you tell me their respective conditions?
What do you mean? he asked.
Beginning with the State, I replied, would you say that a city which
is governed by a tyrant is free or enslaved?
No city, he said, can be more completely enslaved.
And yet, as you see, there are freemen as well as masters in such a
State?
Yes, he said, I see that there are—a few; but the people, speaking
generally, and the best of them are miserably degraded and
enslaved.
Then if the man is like the State, I said, must not the same rule
prevail? his soul is full of meanness and vulgarity—the best
elements in him are enslaved; and there is a small ruling part, which
is also the worst and maddest.
Inevitably.
And would you say that the soul of such an one is the soul of a
freeman, or of a slave?
He has the soul of a slave, in my opinion.
And the State which is enslaved under a tyrant is utterly incapable
of acting voluntarily?

317
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Utterly incapable.
And also the soul which is under a tyrant (I am speaking of the soul
taken as a whole) is least capable of doing what she desires; there is
a gadfly which goads her, and she is full of trouble and remorse?
Certainly.
And is the city which is under a tyrant rich or poor?
Poor.
And the tyrannical soul must be always poor and insatiable?
True.
And must not such a State and such a man be always full of fear?
Yes, indeed.
Is there any State in which you will find more of lamentation and
sorrow and groaning and pain?
Certainly not.
And is there any man in whom you will find more of this sort of
misery than in the tyrannical man, who is in a fury of passions and
desires?
Impossible.
Reflecting upon these and similar evils, you held the tyrannical State
to be the most miserable of States?
And I was right, he said.
Certainly, I said. And when you see the same evils in the tyrannical
man, what do you say of him?
I say that he is by far the most miserable of all men.
There, I said, I think that you are beginning to go wrong.
What do you mean?
I do not think that he has as yet reached the utmost extreme of
misery.
Then who is more miserable?
One of whom I am about to speak.

318
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Who is that?
He who is of a tyrannical nature, and instead of leading a private life
has been cursed with the further misfortune of being a public
tyrant.
From what has been said, I gather that you are right.
Yes, I replied, but in this high argument you should be a little more
certain, and should not conjecture only; for of all questions, this
respecting good and evil is the greatest.
Very true, he said.
Let me then offer you an illustration, which may, I think, throw a
light upon this subject.
What is your illustration?
The case of rich individuals in cities who possess many slaves: from
them you may form an idea of the tyrant's condition, for they both
have slaves; the only difference is that he has more slaves.
Yes, that is the difference.
You know that they live securely and have nothing to apprehend
from their servants?
What should they fear?
Nothing. But do you observe the reason of this?
Yes; the reason is, that the whole city is leagued together for the
protection of each individual.
Very true, I said. But imagine one of these owners, the master say
of some fifty slaves, together with his family and property and
slaves, carried off by a god into the wilderness, where there are no
freemen to help him—will he not be in an agony of fear lest he and
his wife and children should be put to death by his slaves?
Yes, he said, he will be in the utmost fear.
The time has arrived when he will be compelled to flatter divers of
his slaves, and make many promises to them of freedom and other
things, much against his will—he will have to cajole his own
servants.

319
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, he said, that will be the only way of saving himself.

And suppose the same god, who carried him away, to surround him
with neighbours who will not suffer one man to be the master of
another, and who, if they could catch the offender, would take his
life?
His case will be still worse, if you suppose him to be everywhere
surrounded and watched by enemies.
And is not this the sort of prison in which the tyrant will be
bound—he who being by nature such as we have described, is full
of all sorts of fears and lusts? His soul is dainty and greedy, and yet
alone, of all men in the city, he is never allowed to go on a journey,
or to see the things which other freemen desire to see, but he lives
in his hole like a woman hidden in the house, and is jealous of any
other citizen who goes into foreign parts and sees anything of
interest.
Very true, he said.
And amid evils such as these will not he who is ill-governed in his
own person—the tyrannical man, I mean—whom you just now
decided to be the most miserable of all—will not he be yet more
miserable when, instead of leading a private life, he is constrained
by fortune to be a public tyrant? He has to be master of others
when he is not master of himself: he is like a diseased or paralytic
man who is compelled to pass his life, not in retirement, but
fighting and combating with other men.
Yes, he said, the similitude is most exact.
Is not his case utterly miserable? and does not the actual tyrant lead
a worse life than he whose life you determined to be the worst?
Certainly.
He who is the real tyrant, whatever men may think, is the real slave,
and is obliged to practise the greatest adulation and servility, and to
be the flatterer of the vilest of mankind. He has desires which he is
utterly unable to satisfy, and has more wants than any one, and is
truly poor, if you know how to inspect the whole soul of him: all his
life long he is beset with fear and is full of convulsions and
distractions, even as the State which he resembles: and surely the
resemblance holds?
320
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Very true, he said.

Moreover, as we were saying before, he grows worse from having
power: he becomes and is of necessity more jealous, more faithless,
more unjust, more friendless, more impious, than he was at first; he
is the purveyor and cherisher of every sort of vice, and the
consequence is that he is supremely miserable, and that he makes
everybody else as miserable as himself.
No man of any sense will dispute your words.
Come then, I said, and as the general umpire in theatrical contests
proclaims the result, do you also decide who in your opinion is first
in the scale of happiness, and who second, and in what order the
others follow: there are five of them in all—they are the royal,
timocratical, oligarchical, democratical, tyrannical.
The decision will be easily given, he replied; they shall be choruses
coming on the stage, and I must judge them in the order in which
they enter, by the criterion of virtue and vice, happiness and misery.
Need we hire a herald, or shall I announce, that the son of Ariston
(the best) has decided that the best and justest is also the happiest,
and that this is he who is the most royal man and king over himself;
and that the worst and most unjust man is also the most miserable,
and that this is he who being the greatest tyrant of himself is also
the greatest tyrant of his State?
Make the proclamation yourself, he said.
And shall I add, 'whether seen or unseen by gods and men'?
Let the words be added.
Then this, I said, will be our first proof; and there is another, which
may also have some weight.
What is that?
The second proof is derived from the nature of the soul: seeing that
the individual soul, like the State, has been divided by us into three
principles, the division may, I think, furnish a new demonstration.
Of what nature?
It seems to me that to these three principles three pleasures
correspond; also three desires and governing powers.
321
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

How do you mean? he said.

There is one principle with which, as we were saying, a man learns,
another with which he is angry; the third, having many forms, has
no special name, but is denoted by the general term appetitive, from
the extraordinary strength and vehemence of the desires of eating
and drinking and the other sensual appetites which are the main
elements of it; also money-loving, because such desires are generally
satisfied by the help of money.
That is true, he said.
If we were to say that the loves and pleasures of this third part were
concerned with gain, we should then be able to fall back on a single
notion; and might truly and intelligibly describe this part of the soul
as loving gain or money.
I agree with you.
Again, is not the passionate element wholly set on ruling and
conquering and getting fame?
True.
Suppose we call it the contentious or ambitious—would the term
be suitable?
Extremely suitable.
On the other hand, every one sees that the principle of knowledge
is wholly directed to the truth, and cares less than either of the
others for gain or fame.
Far less.
'Lover of wisdom,' 'lover of knowledge,' are titles which we may
fitly apply to that part of the soul?
Certainly.
One principle prevails in the souls of one class of men, another in
others, as may happen?
Yes.
Then we may begin by assuming that there are three classes of
men—lovers of wisdom, lovers of honour, lovers of gain?

322
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Exactly.
And there are three kinds of pleasure, which are their several
objects?
Very true.
Now, if you examine the three classes of men, and ask of them in
turn which of their lives is pleasantest, each will be found praising
his own and depreciating that of others: the money-maker will
contrast the vanity of honour or of learning if they bring no money
with the solid advantages of gold and silver?
True, he said.
And the lover of honour—what will be his opinion? Will he not
think that the pleasure of riches is vulgar, while the pleasure of
learning, if it brings no distinction, is all smoke and nonsense to
him?
Very true.
And are we to suppose, I said, that the philosopher sets any value
on other pleasures in comparison with the pleasure of knowing the
truth, and in that pursuit abiding, ever learning, not so far indeed
from the heaven of pleasure? Does he not call the other pleasures
necessary, under the idea that if there were no necessity for them,
he would rather not have them?
There can be no doubt of that, he replied.
Since, then, the pleasures of each class and the life of each are in
dispute, and the question is not which life is more or less
honourable, or better or worse, but which is the more pleasant or
painless—how shall we know who speaks truly?
I cannot myself tell, he said.
Well, but what ought to be the criterion? Is any better than
experience and wisdom and reason?
There cannot be a better, he said.
Then, I said, reflect. Of the three individuals, which has the greatest
experience of all the pleasures which we enumerated? Has the lover
of gain, in learning the nature of essential truth, greater experience

323
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

of the pleasure of knowledge than the philosopher has of the

pleasure of gain?
The philosopher, he replied, has greatly the advantage; for he has of
necessity always known the taste of the other pleasures from his
childhood upwards: but the lover of gain in all his experience has
not of necessity tasted—or, I should rather say, even had he
desired, could hardly have tasted—the sweetness of learning and
knowing truth.
Then the lover of wisdom has a great advantage over the lover of
gain, for he has a double experience?
Yes, very great.
Again, has he greater experience of the pleasures of honour, or the
lover of honour of the pleasures of wisdom?
Nay, he said, all three are honoured in proportion as they attain
their object; for the rich man and the brave man and the wise man
alike have their crowd of admirers, and as they all receive honour
they all have experience of the pleasures of honour; but the delight
which is to be found in the knowledge of true being is known to the
philosopher only.
His experience, then, will enable him to judge better than any one?
Far better.
And he is the only one who has wisdom as well as experience?
Certainly.
Further, the very faculty which is the instrument of judgment is not
possessed by the covetous or ambitious man, but only by the
philosopher?
What faculty?
Reason, with whom, as we were saying, the decision ought to rest.
Yes.
And reasoning is peculiarly his instrument?
Certainly.

324
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

If wealth and gain were the criterion, then the praise or blame of
the lover of gain would surely be the most trustworthy?
Assuredly.
Or if honour or victory or courage, in that case the judgment of the
ambitious or pugnacious would be the truest?
Clearly.
But since experience and wisdom and reason are the judges—
The only inference possible, he replied, is that pleasures which are
approved by the lover of wisdom and reason are the truest.
And so we arrive at the result, that the pleasure of the intelligent
part of the soul is the pleasantest of the three, and that he of us in
whom this is the ruling principle has the pleasantest life.
Unquestionably, he said, the wise man speaks with authority when
he approves of his own life.
And what does the judge affirm to be the life which is next, and the
pleasure which is next?
Clearly that of the soldier and lover of honour; who is nearer to
himself than the money-maker.
Last comes the lover of gain?
Very true, he said.
Twice in succession, then, has the just man overthrown the unjust
in this conflict; and now comes the third trial, which is dedicated to
Olympian Zeus the saviour: a sage whispers in my ear that no
pleasure except that of the wise is quite true and pure—all others
are a shadow only; and surely this will prove the greatest and most
decisive of falls?
Yes, the greatest; but will you explain yourself?
I will work out the subject and you shall answer my questions.
Proceed.
Say, then, is not pleasure opposed to pain?
True.
And there is a neutral state which is neither pleasure nor pain?
325
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

There is.
A state which is intermediate, and a sort of repose of the soul about
either—that is what you mean?
Yes.
You remember what people say when they are sick?
What do they say?
That after all nothing is pleasanter than health. But then they never
knew this to be the greatest of pleasures until they were ill.
Yes, I know, he said.
And when persons are suffering from acute pain, you must have
heard them say that there is nothing pleasanter than to get rid of
their pain?
I have.
And there are many other cases of suffering in which the mere rest
and cessation of pain, and not any positive enjoyment, is extolled by
them as the greatest pleasure?
Yes, he said; at the time they are pleased and well content to be at
rest.
Again, when pleasure ceases, that sort of rest or cessation will be
painful?
Doubtless, he said.
Then the intermediate state of rest will be pleasure and will also be
pain?
So it would seem.
But can that which is neither become both?
I should say not.
And both pleasure and pain are motions of the soul, are they not?
Yes.
But that which is neither was just now shown to be rest and not
motion, and in a mean between them?
Yes.
326
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

How, then, can we be right in supposing that the absence of pain is

pleasure, or that the absence of pleasure is pain?
Impossible.
This then is an appearance only and not a reality; that is to say, the
rest is pleasure at the moment and in comparison of what is painful,
and painful in comparison of what is pleasant; but all these
representations, when tried by the test of true pleasure, are not real
but a sort of imposition?
That is the inference.
Look at the other class of pleasures which have no antecedent pains
and you will no longer suppose, as you perhaps may at present, that
pleasure is only the cessation of pain, or pain of pleasure.
What are they, he said, and where shall I find them?
There are many of them: take as an example the pleasures of smell,
which are very great and have no antecedent pains; they come in a
moment, and when they depart leave no pain behind them.
Most true, he said.
Let us not, then, be induced to believe that pure pleasure is the
cessation of pain, or pain of pleasure.
No.
Still, the more numerous and violent pleasures which reach the soul
through the body are generally of this sort—they are reliefs of pain.
That is true.
And the anticipations of future pleasures and pains are of a like
nature?
Yes.
Shall I give you an illustration of them?
Let me hear.
You would allow, I said, that there is in nature an upper and lower
and middle region?
I should.

327
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And if a person were to go from the lower to the middle region,

would he not imagine that he is going up; and he who is standing in
the middle and sees whence he has come, would imagine that he is
already in the upper region, if he has never seen the true upper
world?
To be sure, he said; how can he think otherwise?
But if he were taken back again he would imagine, and truly
imagine, that he was descending?
No doubt.
All that would arise out of his ignorance of the true upper and
middle and lower regions?
Yes.
Then can you wonder that persons who are inexperienced in the
truth, as they have wrong ideas about many other things, should
also have wrong ideas about pleasure and pain and the intermediate
state; so that when they are only being drawn towards the painful
they feel pain and think the pain which they experience to be real,
and in like manner, when drawn away from pain to the neutral or
intermediate state, they firmly believe that they have reached the
goal of satiety and pleasure; they, not knowing pleasure, err in
contrasting pain with the absence of pain, which is like contrasting
black with grey instead of white—can you wonder, I say, at this?
No, indeed; I should be much more disposed to wonder at the
opposite.
Look at the matter thus:—Hunger, thirst, and the like, are
inanitions of the bodily state?
Yes.
And ignorance and folly are inanitions of the soul?
True.
And food and wisdom are the corresponding satisfactions of either?
Certainly.
And is the satisfaction derived from that which has less or from
that which has more existence the truer?

328
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Clearly, from that which has more.

What classes of things have a greater share of pure existence in your
judgment—those of which food and drink and condiments and all
kinds of sustenance are examples, or the class which contains true
opinion and knowledge and mind and all the different kinds of
virtue? Put the question in this way:—Which has a more pure
being—that which is concerned with the invariable, the immortal,
and the true, and is of such a nature, and is found in such natures;
or that which is concerned with and found in the variable and
mortal, and is itself variable and mortal?
Far purer, he replied, is the being of that which is concerned with
the invariable.
And does the essence of the invariable partake of knowledge in the
same degree as of essence?
Yes, of knowledge in the same degree.
And of truth in the same degree?
Yes.
And, conversely, that which has less of truth will also have less of
essence?
Necessarily.
Then, in general, those kinds of things which are in the service of
the body have less of truth and essence than those which are in the
service of the soul?
Far less.
And has not the body itself less of truth and essence than the soul?
Yes.
What is filled with more real existence, and actually has a more real
existence, is more really filled than that which is filled with less real
existence and is less real?
Of course.
And if there be a pleasure in being filled with that which is
according to nature, that which is more really filled with more real
being will more really and truly enjoy true pleasure; whereas that
329
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

which participates in less real being will be less truly and surely
satisfied, and will participate in an illusory and less real pleasure?
Unquestionably.
Those then who know not wisdom and virtue, and are always busy
with gluttony and sensuality, go down and up again as far as the
mean; and in this region they move at random throughout life, but
they never pass into the true upper world; thither they neither look,
nor do they ever find their way, neither are they truly filled with true
being, nor do they taste of pure and abiding pleasure. Like cattle,
with their eyes always looking down and their heads stooping to the
earth, that is, to the dining-table, they fatten and feed and breed,
and, in their excessive love of these delights, they kick and butt at
one another with horns and hoofs which are made of iron; and they
kill one another by reason of their insatiable lust. For they fill
themselves with that which is not substantial, and the part of
themselves which they fill is also unsubstantial and incontinent.
Verily, Socrates, said Glaucon, you describe the life of the many like
an oracle.
Their pleasures are mixed with pains—how can they be otherwise?
For they are mere shadows and pictures of the true, and are
coloured by contrast, which exaggerates both light and shade, and
so they implant in the minds of fools insane desires of themselves;
and they are fought about as Stesichorus says that the Greeks
fought about the shadow of Helen at Troy in ignorance of the
truth.
Something of that sort must inevitably happen.
And must not the like happen with the spirited or passionate
element of the soul? Will not the passionate man who carries his
passion into action, be in the like case, whether he is envious and
ambitious, or violent and contentious, or angry and discontented, if
he be seeking to attain honour and victory and the satisfaction of
his anger without reason or sense?
Yes, he said, the same will happen with the spirited element also.
Then may we not confidently assert that the lovers of money and
honour, when they seek their pleasures under the guidance and in
the company of reason and knowledge, and pursue after and win
330
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

the pleasures which wisdom shows them, will also have the truest
pleasures in the highest degree which is attainable to them,
inasmuch as they follow truth; and they will have the pleasures
which are natural to them, if that which is best for each one is also
most natural to him?
Yes, certainly; the best is the most natural.
And when the whole soul follows the philosophical principle, and
there is no division, the several parts are just, and do each of them
their own business, and enjoy severally the best and truest pleasures
of which they are capable?
Exactly.
But when either of the two other principles prevails, it fails in
attaining its own pleasure, and compels the rest to pursue after a
pleasure which is a shadow only and which is not their own?
True.
And the greater the interval which separates them from philosophy
and reason, the more strange and illusive will be the pleasure?
Yes.
And is not that farthest from reason which is at the greatest
distance from law and order?
Clearly.
And the lustful and tyrannical desires are, as we saw, at the greatest
distance? Yes.
And the royal and orderly desires are nearest?
Yes.
Then the tyrant will live at the greatest distance from true or natural
pleasure, and the king at the least?
Certainly.
But if so, the tyrant will live most unpleasantly, and the king most
pleasantly?
Inevitably.
Would you know the measure of the interval which separates them?
331
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Will you tell me?

There appear to be three pleasures, one genuine and two spurious:
now the transgression of the tyrant reaches a point beyond the
spurious; he has run away from the region of law and reason, and
taken up his abode with certain slave pleasures which are his
satellites, and the measure of his inferiority can only be expressed in
a figure.
How do you mean?
I assume, I said, that the tyrant is in the third place from the
oligarch; the democrat was in the middle?
Yes.
And if there is truth in what has preceded, he will be wedded to an
image of pleasure which is thrice removed as to truth from the
pleasure of the oligarch?
He will.
And the oligarch is third from the royal; since we count as one royal
and aristocratical?
Yes, he is third.
Then the tyrant is removed from true pleasure by the space of a
number which is three times three?
Manifestly.
The shadow then of tyrannical pleasure determined by the number
of length will be a plane figure.
Certainly.
And if you raise the power and make the plane a solid, there is no
difficulty in seeing how vast is the interval by which the tyrant is
parted from the king.
Yes; the arithmetician will easily do the sum.
Or if some person begins at the other end and measures the interval
by which the king is parted from the tyrant in truth of pleasure, he
will find him, when the multiplication is completed, living 729 times
more pleasantly, and the tyrant more painfully by this same interval.

332
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

What a wonderful calculation! And how enormous is the distance

which separates the just from the unjust in regard to pleasure and
pain!
Yet a true calculation, I said, and a number which nearly concerns
human life, if human beings are concerned with days and nights and
months and years. (729 NEARLY equals the number of days and
nights in the year.)
Yes, he said, human life is certainly concerned with them.
Then if the good and just man be thus superior in pleasure to the
evil and unjust, his superiority will be infinitely greater in propriety
of life and in beauty and virtue?
Immeasurably greater.
Well, I said, and now having arrived at this stage of the argument,
we may revert to the words which brought us hither: Was not some
one saying that injustice was a gain to the perfectly unjust who was
reputed to be just?
Yes, that was said.
Now then, having determined the power and quality of justice and
injustice, let us have a little conversation with him.
What shall we say to him?
Let us make an image of the soul, that he may have his own words
presented before his eyes.
Of what sort?
An ideal image of the soul, like the composite creations of ancient
mythology, such as the Chimera or Scylla or Cerberus, and there are
many others in which two or more different natures are said to
grow into one.
There are said of have been such unions.
Then do you now model the form of a multitudinous, many-headed
monster, having a ring of heads of all manner of beasts, tame and
wild, which he is able to generate and metamorphose at will.

333
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

You suppose marvellous powers in the artist; but, as language is

more pliable than wax or any similar substance, let there be such a
model as you propose.
Suppose now that you make a second form as of a lion, and a third
of a man, the second smaller than the first, and the third smaller
than the second.
That, he said, is an easier task; and I have made them as you say.
And now join them, and let the three grow into one.
That has been accomplished.
Next fashion the outside of them into a single image, as of a man,
so that he who is not able to look within, and sees only the outer
hull, may believe the beast to be a single human creature.
I have done so, he said.
And now, to him who maintains that it is profitable for the human
creature to be unjust, and unprofitable to be just, let us reply that, if
he be right, it is profitable for this creature to feast the
multitudinous monster and strengthen the lion and the lion-like
qualities, but to starve and weaken the man, who is consequently
liable to be dragged about at the mercy of either of the other two;
and he is not to attempt to familiarize or harmonize them with one
another—he ought rather to suffer them to fight and bite and
devour one another.
Certainly, he said; that is what the approver of injustice says.
To him the supporter of justice makes answer that he should ever
so speak and act as to give the man within him in some way or
other the most complete mastery over the entire human creature.
He should watch over the many-headed monster like a good
husbandman, fostering and cultivating the gentle qualities, and
preventing the wild ones from growing; he should be making the
lion-heart his ally, and in common care of them all should be
uniting the several parts with one another and with himself.
Yes, he said, that is quite what the maintainer of justice say.
And so from every point of view, whether of pleasure, honour, or
advantage, the approver of justice is right and speaks the truth, and
the disapprover is wrong and false and ignorant?
334
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes, from every point of view.

Come, now, and let us gently reason with the unjust, who is not
intentionally in error. 'Sweet Sir,' we will say to him, 'what think you
of things esteemed noble and ignoble? Is not the noble that which
subjects the beast to the man, or rather to the god in man; and the
ignoble that which subjects the man to the beast?' He can hardly
avoid saying Yes—can he now?
Not if he has any regard for my opinion.
But, if he agree so far, we may ask him to answer another question:
'Then how would a man profit if he received gold and silver on the
condition that he was to enslave the noblest part of him to the
worst? Who can imagine that a man who sold his son or daughter
into slavery for money, especially if he sold them into the hands of
fierce and evil men, would be the gainer, however large might be
the sum which he received? And will any one say that he is not a
miserable caitiff who remorselessly sells his own divine being to
that which is most godless and detestable? Eriphyle took the
necklace as the price of her husband's life, but he is taking a bribe in
order to compass a worse ruin.'
Yes, said Glaucon, far worse—I will answer for him.
Has not the intemperate been censured of old, because in him the
huge multiform monster is allowed to be too much at large?
Clearly.
And men are blamed for pride and bad temper when the lion and
serpent element in them disproportionately grows and gains
strength?
Yes.
And luxury and softness are blamed, because they relax and weaken
this same creature, and make a coward of him?
Very true.
And is not a man reproached for flattery and meanness who
subordinates the spirited animal to the unruly monster, and, for the
sake of money, of which he can never have enough, habituates him
in the days of his youth to be trampled in the mire, and from being
a lion to become a monkey?
335
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

True, he said.
And why are mean employments and manual arts a reproach? Only
because they imply a natural weakness of the higher principle; the
individual is unable to control the creatures within him, but has to
court them, and his great study is how to flatter them.
Such appears to be the reason.
And therefore, being desirous of placing him under a rule like that
of the best, we say that he ought to be the servant of the best, in
whom the Divine rules; not, as Thrasymachus supposed, to the
injury of the servant, but because every one had better be ruled by
divine wisdom dwelling within him; or, if this be impossible, then
by an external authority, in order that we may be all, as far as
possible, under the same government, friends and equals.
True, he said.
And this is clearly seen to be the intention of the law, which is the
ally of the whole city; and is seen also in the authority which we
exercise over children, and the refusal to let them be free until we
have established in them a principle analogous to the constitution
of a state, and by cultivation of this higher element have set up in
their hearts a guardian and ruler like our own, and when this is done
they may go their ways.
Yes, he said, the purpose of the law is manifest.
From what point of view, then, and on what ground can we say that
a man is profited by injustice or intemperance or other baseness,
which will make him a worse man, even though he acquire money
or power by his wickedness?
From no point of view at all.
What shall he profit, if his injustice be undetected and unpunished?
He who is undetected only gets worse, whereas he who is detected
and punished has the brutal part of his nature silenced and
humanized; the gentler element in him is liberated, and his whole
soul is perfected and ennobled by the acquirement of justice and
temperance and wisdom, more than the body ever is by receiving
gifts of beauty, strength and health, in proportion as the soul is
more honourable than the body.

336
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Certainly, he said.
To this nobler purpose the man of understanding will devote the
energies of his life. And in the first place, he will honour studies
which impress these qualities on his soul and will disregard others?
Clearly, he said.
In the next place, he will regulate his bodily habit and training, and
so far will he be from yielding to brutal and irrational pleasures, that
he will regard even health as quite a secondary matter; his first
object will be not that he may be fair or strong or well, unless he is
likely thereby to gain temperance, but he will always desire so to
attemper the body as to preserve the harmony of the soul?
Certainly he will, if he has true music in him.
And in the acquisition of wealth there is a principle of order and
harmony which he will also observe; he will not allow himself to be
dazzled by the foolish applause of the world, and heap up riches to
his own infinite harm?
Certainly not, he said.
He will look at the city which is within him, and take heed that no
disorder occur in it, such as might arise either from superfluity or
from want; and upon this principle he will regulate his property and
gain or spend according to his means.
Very true.
And, for the same reason, he will gladly accept and enjoy such
honours as he deems likely to make him a better man; but those,
whether private or public, which are likely to disorder his life, he
will avoid?
Then, if that is his motive, he will not be a statesman.
By the dog of Egypt, he will! in the city which is his own he
certainly will, though in the land of his birth perhaps not, unless he
have a divine call.
I understand; you mean that he will be a ruler in the city of which
we are the founders, and which exists in idea only; for I do not
believe that there is such an one anywhere on earth?

337
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

In heaven, I replied, there is laid up a pattern of it, methinks, which

he who desires may behold, and beholding, may set his own house
in order. But whether such an one exists, or ever will exist in fact, is
no matter; for he will live after the manner of that city, having
nothing to do with any other.
I think so, he said.

BOOK X.
Of the many excellences which I perceive in the order of our State,
there is none which upon reflection pleases me better than the rule
about poetry.
To what do you refer?
To the rejection of imitative poetry, which certainly ought not to be
received; as I see far more clearly now that the parts of the soul
have been distinguished.
What do you mean?
Speaking in confidence, for I should not like to have my words
repeated to the tragedians and the rest of the imitative tribe—but I
do not mind saying to you, that all poetical imitations are ruinous to
the understanding of the hearers, and that the knowledge of their
true nature is the only antidote to them.
Explain the purport of your remark.
Well, I will tell you, although I have always from my earliest youth
had an awe and love of Homer, which even now makes the words
falter on my lips, for he is the great captain and teacher of the
whole of that charming tragic company; but a man is not to be
reverenced more than the truth, and therefore I will speak out.
Very good, he said.
Listen to me then, or rather, answer me.
Put your question.
Can you tell me what imitation is? for I really do not know.
A likely thing, then, that I should know.

338
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Why not? for the duller eye may often see a thing sooner than the
keener.
Very true, he said; but in your presence, even if I had any faint
notion, I could not muster courage to utter it. Will you enquire
yourself?
Well then, shall we begin the enquiry in our usual manner:
Whenever a number of individuals have a common name, we
assume them to have also a corresponding idea or form:—do you
understand me?
I do.
Let us take any common instance; there are beds and tables in the
world—plenty of them, are there not?
Yes.
But there are only two ideas or forms of them—one the idea of a
bed, the other of a table.
True.
And the maker of either of them makes a bed or he makes a table
for our use, in accordance with the idea—that is our way of
speaking in this and similar instances—but no artificer makes the
ideas themselves: how could he?
Impossible.
And there is another artist,—I should like to know what you would
say of him.
Who is he?
One who is the maker of all the works of all other workmen.
What an extraordinary man!
Wait a little, and there will be more reason for your saying so. For
this is he who is able to make not only vessels of every kind, but
plants and animals, himself and all other things—the earth and
heaven, and the things which are in heaven or under the earth; he
makes the gods also.
He must be a wizard and no mistake.

339
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Oh! you are incredulous, are you? Do you mean that there is no
such maker or creator, or that in one sense there might be a maker
of all these things but in another not? Do you see that there is a way
in which you could make them all yourself?
What way?
An easy way enough; or rather, there are many ways in which the
feat might be quickly and easily accomplished, none quicker than
that of turning a mirror round and round—you would soon enough
make the sun and the heavens, and the earth and yourself, and other
animals and plants, and all the other things of which we were just
now speaking, in the mirror.
Yes, he said; but they would be appearances only.
Very good, I said, you are coming to the point now. And the painter
too is, as I conceive, just such another—a creator of appearances, is
he not?
Of course.
But then I suppose you will say that what he creates is untrue. And
yet there is a sense in which the painter also creates a bed?
Yes, he said, but not a real bed.
And what of the maker of the bed? were you not saying that he too
makes, not the idea which, according to our view, is the essence of
the bed, but only a particular bed?
Yes, I did.
Then if he does not make that which exists he cannot make true
existence, but only some semblance of existence; and if any one
were to say that the work of the maker of the bed, or of any other
workman, has real existence, he could hardly be supposed to be
speaking the truth.
At any rate, he replied, philosophers would say that he was not
speaking the truth.
No wonder, then, that his work too is an indistinct expression of
truth.
No wonder.

340
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Suppose now that by the light of the examples just offered we

enquire who this imitator is?
If you please.
Well then, here are three beds: one existing in nature, which is made
by God, as I think that we may say—for no one else can be the
maker?
No.
There is another which is the work of the carpenter?
Yes.
And the work of the painter is a third?
Yes.
Beds, then, are of three kinds, and there are three artists who
superintend them: God, the maker of the bed, and the painter?
Yes, there are three of them.
God, whether from choice or from necessity, made one bed in
nature and one only; two or more such ideal beds neither ever have
been nor ever will be made by God.
Why is that?
Because even if He had made but two, a third would still appear
behind them which both of them would have for their idea, and
that would be the ideal bed and not the two others.
Very true, he said.
God knew this, and He desired to be the real maker of a real bed,
not a particular maker of a particular bed, and therefore He created
a bed which is essentially and by nature one only.
So we believe.
Shall we, then, speak of Him as the natural author or maker of the
bed?
Yes, he replied; inasmuch as by the natural process of creation He is
the author of this and of all other things.
And what shall we say of the carpenter—is not he also the maker of
the bed?
341
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes.
But would you call the painter a creator and maker?
Certainly not.
Yet if he is not the maker, what is he in relation to the bed?
I think, he said, that we may fairly designate him as the imitator of
that which the others make.
Good, I said; then you call him who is third in the descent from
nature an imitator?
Certainly, he said.
And the tragic poet is an imitator, and therefore, like all other
imitators, he is thrice removed from the king and from the truth?
That appears to be so.
Then about the imitator we are agreed. And what about the
painter?—I would like to know whether he may be thought to
imitate that which originally exists in nature, or only the creations of
artists?
The latter.
As they are or as they appear? you have still to determine this.
What do you mean?
I mean, that you may look at a bed from different points of view,
obliquely or directly or from any other point of view, and the bed
will appear different, but there is no difference in reality. And the
same of all things.
Yes, he said, the difference is only apparent.
Now let me ask you another question: Which is the art of painting
designed to be—an imitation of things as they are, or as they
appear—of appearance or of reality?
Of appearance.
Then the imitator, I said, is a long way off the truth, and can do all
things because he lightly touches on a small part of them, and that
part an image. For example: A painter will paint a cobbler,
carpenter, or any other artist, though he knows nothing of their
342
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

arts; and, if he is a good artist, he may deceive children or simple

persons, when he shows them his picture of a carpenter from a
distance, and they will fancy that they are looking at a real carpenter.
Certainly.
And whenever any one informs us that he has found a man who
knows all the arts, and all things else that anybody knows, and every
single thing with a higher degree of accuracy than any other man—
whoever tells us this, I think that we can only imagine him to be a
simple creature who is likely to have been deceived by some wizard
or actor whom he met, and whom he thought all-knowing, because
he himself was unable to analyse the nature of knowledge and
ignorance and imitation.
Most true.
And so, when we hear persons saying that the tragedians, and
Homer, who is at their head, know all the arts and all things human,
virtue as well as vice, and divine things too, for that the good poet
cannot compose well unless he knows his subject, and that he who
has not this knowledge can never be a poet, we ought to consider
whether here also there may not be a similar illusion. Perhaps they
may have come across imitators and been deceived by them; they
may not have remembered when they saw their works that these
were but imitations thrice removed from the truth, and could easily
be made without any knowledge of the truth, because they are
appearances only and not realities? Or, after all, they may be in the
right, and poets do really know the things about which they seem to
the many to speak so well?
The question, he said, should by all means be considered.
Now do you suppose that if a person were able to make the original
as well as the image, he would seriously devote himself to the
image-making branch? Would he allow imitation to be the ruling
principle of his life, as if he had nothing higher in him?
I should say not.
The real artist, who knew what he was imitating, would be
interested in realities and not in imitations; and would desire to
leave as memorials of himself works many and fair; and, instead of

343
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

being the author of encomiums, he would prefer to be the theme of

them.
Yes, he said, that would be to him a source of much greater honour
and profit.
Then, I said, we must put a question to Homer; not about medicine,
or any of the arts to which his poems only incidentally refer: we are
not going to ask him, or any other poet, whether he has cured
patients like Asclepius, or left behind him a school of medicine such
as the Asclepiads were, or whether he only talks about medicine and
other arts at second-hand; but we have a right to know respecting
military tactics, politics, education, which are the chiefest and
noblest subjects of his poems, and we may fairly ask him about
them. 'Friend Homer,' then we say to him, 'if you are only in the
second remove from truth in what you say of virtue, and not in the
third—not an image maker or imitator—and if you are able to
discern what pursuits make men better or worse in private or public
life, tell us what State was ever better governed by your help? The
good order of Lacedaemon is due to Lycurgus, and many other
cities great and small have been similarly benefited by others; but
who says that you have been a good legislator to them and have
done them any good? Italy and Sicily boast of Charondas, and there
is Solon who is renowned among us; but what city has anything to
say about you?' Is there any city which he might name?
I think not, said Glaucon; not even the Homerids themselves
pretend that he was a legislator.
Well, but is there any war on record which was carried on
successfully by him, or aided by his counsels, when he was alive?
There is not.
Or is there any invention of his, applicable to the arts or to human
life, such as Thales the Milesian or Anacharsis the Scythian, and
other ingenious men have conceived, which is attributed to him?
There is absolutely nothing of the kind.
But, if Homer never did any public service, was he privately a guide
or teacher of any? Had he in his lifetime friends who loved to
associate with him, and who handed down to posterity an Homeric
way of life, such as was established by Pythagoras who was so
344
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

greatly beloved for his wisdom, and whose followers are to this day
quite celebrated for the order which was named after him?
Nothing of the kind is recorded of him. For surely, Socrates,
Creophylus, the companion of Homer, that child of flesh, whose
name always makes us laugh, might be more justly ridiculed for his
stupidity, if, as is said, Homer was greatly neglected by him and
others in his own day when he was alive?
Yes, I replied, that is the tradition. But can you imagine, Glaucon,
that if Homer had really been able to educate and improve
mankind—if he had possessed knowledge and not been a mere
imitator—can you imagine, I say, that he would not have had many
followers, and been honoured and loved by them? Protagoras of
Abdera, and Prodicus of Ceos, and a host of others, have only to
whisper to their contemporaries: 'You will never be able to manage
either your own house or your own State until you appoint us to be
your ministers of education'—and this ingenious device of theirs
has such an effect in making men love them that their companions
all but carry them about on their shoulders. And is it conceivable
that the contemporaries of Homer, or again of Hesiod, would have
allowed either of them to go about as rhapsodists, if they had really
been able to make mankind virtuous? Would they not have been as
unwilling to part with them as with gold, and have compelled them
to stay at home with them? Or, if the master would not stay, then
the disciples would have followed him about everywhere, until they
had got education enough?
Yes, Socrates, that, I think, is quite true.
Then must we not infer that all these poetical individuals, beginning
with Homer, are only imitators; they copy images of virtue and the
like, but the truth they never reach? The poet is like a painter who,
as we have already observed, will make a likeness of a cobbler
though he understands nothing of cobbling; and his picture is good
enough for those who know no more than he does, and judge only
by colours and figures.
Quite so.
In like manner the poet with his words and phrases may be said to
lay on the colours of the several arts, himself understanding their
nature only enough to imitate them; and other people, who are as
345
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

ignorant as he is, and judge only from his words, imagine that if he
speaks of cobbling, or of military tactics, or of anything else, in
metre and harmony and rhythm, he speaks very well—such is the
sweet influence which melody and rhythm by nature have. And I
think that you must have observed again and again what a poor
appearance the tales of poets make when stripped of the colours
which music puts upon them, and recited in simple prose.
Yes, he said.
They are like faces which were never really beautiful, but only
blooming; and now the bloom of youth has passed away from
them?
Exactly.
Here is another point: The imitator or maker of the image knows
nothing of true existence; he knows appearances only. Am I not
right?
Yes.
Then let us have a clear understanding, and not be satisfied with
half an explanation.
Proceed.
Of the painter we say that he will paint reins, and he will paint a bit?
Yes.
And the worker in leather and brass will make them?
Certainly.
But does the painter know the right form of the bit and reins? Nay,
hardly even the workers in brass and leather who make them; only
the horseman who knows how to use them—he knows their right
form.
Most true.
And may we not say the same of all things?
What?
That there are three arts which are concerned with all things: one
which uses, another which makes, a third which imitates them?

346
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Yes.
And the excellence or beauty or truth of every structure, animate or
inanimate, and of every action of man, is relative to the use for
which nature or the artist has intended them.
True.
Then the user of them must have the greatest experience of them,
and he must indicate to the maker the good or bad qualities which
develop themselves in use; for example, the flute-player will tell the
flute-maker which of his flutes is satisfactory to the performer; he
will tell him how he ought to make them, and the other will attend
to his instructions?
Of course.
The one knows and therefore speaks with authority about the
goodness and badness of flutes, while the other, confiding in him,
will do what he is told by him?
True.
The instrument is the same, but about the excellence or badness of
it the maker will only attain to a correct belief; and this he will gain
from him who knows, by talking to him and being compelled to
hear what he has to say, whereas the user will have knowledge?
True.
But will the imitator have either? Will he know from use whether or
no his drawing is correct or beautiful? or will he have right opinion
from being compelled to associate with another who knows and
gives him instructions about what he should draw?
Neither.
Then he will no more have true opinion than he will have
knowledge about the goodness or badness of his imitations?
I suppose not.
The imitative artist will be in a brilliant state of intelligence about
his own creations?
Nay, very much the reverse.

347
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And still he will go on imitating without knowing what makes a

thing good or bad, and may be expected therefore to imitate only
that which appears to be good to the ignorant multitude?
Just so.
Thus far then we are pretty well agreed that the imitator has no
knowledge worth mentioning of what he imitates. Imitation is only
a kind of play or sport, and the tragic poets, whether they write in
Iambic or in Heroic verse, are imitators in the highest degree?
Very true.
And now tell me, I conjure you, has not imitation been shown by us
to be concerned with that which is thrice removed from the truth?
Certainly.
And what is the faculty in man to which imitation is addressed?
What do you mean?
I will explain: The body which is large when seen near, appears
small when seen at a distance?
True.
And the same object appears straight when looked at out of the
water, and crooked when in the water; and the concave becomes
convex, owing to the illusion about colours to which the sight is
liable. Thus every sort of confusion is revealed within us; and this is
that weakness of the human mind on which the art of conjuring and
of deceiving by light and shadow and other ingenious devices
imposes, having an effect upon us like magic.
True.
And the arts of measuring and numbering and weighing come to
the rescue of the human understanding—there is the beauty of
them—and the apparent greater or less, or more or heavier, no
longer have the mastery over us, but give way before calculation
and measure and weight?
Most true.
And this, surely, must be the work of the calculating and rational
principle in the soul?

348
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

To be sure.
And when this principle measures and certifies that some things are
equal, or that some are greater or less than others, there occurs an
apparent contradiction?
True.
But were we not saying that such a contradiction is impossible—the
same faculty cannot have contrary opinions at the same time about
the same thing?
Very true.
Then that part of the soul which has an opinion contrary to
measure is not the same with that which has an opinion in
accordance with measure?
True.
And the better part of the soul is likely to be that which trusts to
measure and calculation?
Certainly.
And that which is opposed to them is one of the inferior principles
of the soul?
No doubt.
This was the conclusion at which I was seeking to arrive when I
said that painting or drawing, and imitation in general, when doing
their own proper work, are far removed from truth, and the
companions and friends and associates of a principle within us
which is equally removed from reason, and that they have no true
or healthy aim.
Exactly.
The imitative art is an inferior who marries an inferior, and has
inferior offspring.
Very true.
And is this confined to the sight only, or does it extend to the
hearing also, relating in fact to what we term poetry?
Probably the same would be true of poetry.

349
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Do not rely, I said, on a probability derived from the analogy of

painting; but let us examine further and see whether the faculty with
which poetical imitation is concerned is good or bad.
By all means.
We may state the question thus:—Imitation imitates the actions of
men, whether voluntary or involuntary, on which, as they imagine, a
good or bad result has ensued, and they rejoice or sorrow
accordingly. Is there anything more?
No, there is nothing else.
But in all this variety of circumstances is the man at unity with
himself—or rather, as in the instance of sight there was confusion
and opposition in his opinions about the same things, so here also
is there not strife and inconsistency in his life? Though I need
hardly raise the question again, for I remember that all this has been
already admitted; and the soul has been acknowledged by us to be
full of these and ten thousand similar oppositions occurring at the
same moment?
And we were right, he said.
Yes, I said, thus far we were right; but there was an omission which
must now be supplied.
What was the omission?
Were we not saying that a good man, who has the misfortune to
lose his son or anything else which is most dear to him, will bear the
loss with more equanimity than another?
Yes.
But will he have no sorrow, or shall we say that although he cannot
help sorrowing, he will moderate his sorrow?
The latter, he said, is the truer statement.
Tell me: will he be more likely to struggle and hold out against his
sorrow when he is seen by his equals, or when he is alone?
It will make a great difference whether he is seen or not.
When he is by himself he will not mind saying or doing many things
which he would be ashamed of any one hearing or seeing him do?

350
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

True.
There is a principle of law and reason in him which bids him resist,
as well as a feeling of his misfortune which is forcing him to indulge
his sorrow?
True.
But when a man is drawn in two opposite directions, to and from
the same object, this, as we affirm, necessarily implies two distinct
principles in him?
Certainly.
One of them is ready to follow the guidance of the law?
How do you mean?
The law would say that to be patient under suffering is best, and
that we should not give way to impatience, as there is no knowing
whether such things are good or evil; and nothing is gained by
impatience; also, because no human thing is of serious importance,
and grief stands in the way of that which at the moment is most
required.
What is most required? he asked.
That we should take counsel about what has happened, and when
the dice have been thrown order our affairs in the way which reason
deems best; not, like children who have had a fall, keeping hold of
the part struck and wasting time in setting up a howl, but always
accustoming the soul forthwith to apply a remedy, raising up that
which is sickly and fallen, banishing the cry of sorrow by the healing
art.
Yes, he said, that is the true way of meeting the attacks of fortune.
Yes, I said; and the higher principle is ready to follow this
suggestion of reason?
Clearly.
And the other principle, which inclines us to recollection of our
troubles and to lamentation, and can never have enough of them,
we may call irrational, useless, and cowardly?
Indeed, we may.

351
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And does not the latter—I mean the rebellious principle—furnish a

great variety of materials for imitation? Whereas the wise and calm
temperament, being always nearly equable, is not easy to imitate or
to appreciate when imitated, especially at a public festival when a
promiscuous crowd is assembled in a theatre. For the feeling
represented is one to which they are strangers.
Certainly.
Then the imitative poet who aims at being popular is not by nature
made, nor is his art intended, to please or to affect the rational
principle in the soul; but he will prefer the passionate and fitful
temper, which is easily imitated?
Clearly.
And now we may fairly take him and place him by the side of the
painter, for he is like him in two ways: first, inasmuch as his
creations have an inferior degree of truth—in this, I say, he is like
him; and he is also like him in being concerned with an inferior part
of the soul; and therefore we shall be right in refusing to admit him
into a well-ordered State, because he awakens and nourishes and
strengthens the feelings and impairs the reason. As in a city when
the evil are permitted to have authority and the good are put out of
the way, so in the soul of man, as we maintain, the imitative poet
implants an evil constitution, for he indulges the irrational nature
which has no discernment of greater and less, but thinks the same
thing at one time great and at another small—he is a manufacturer
of images and is very far removed from the truth.
Exactly.
But we have not yet brought forward the heaviest count in our
accusation:—the power which poetry has of harming even the good
(and there are very few who are not harmed), is surely an awful
thing?
Yes, certainly, if the effect is what you say.
Hear and judge: The best of us, as I conceive, when we listen to a
passage of Homer, or one of the tragedians, in which he represents
some pitiful hero who is drawling out his sorrows in a long oration,
or weeping, and smiting his breast—the best of us, you know,

352
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

delight in giving way to sympathy, and are in raptures at the

excellence of the poet who stirs our feelings most.
Yes, of course I know.
But when any sorrow of our own happens to us, then you may
observe that we pride ourselves on the opposite quality—we would
fain be quiet and patient; this is the manly part, and the other which
delighted us in the recitation is now deemed to be the part of a
woman.
Very true, he said.
Now can we be right in praising and admiring another who is doing
that which any one of us would abominate and be ashamed of in his
own person?
No, he said, that is certainly not reasonable.
Nay, I said, quite reasonable from one point of view.
What point of view?
If you consider, I said, that when in misfortune we feel a natural
hunger and desire to relieve our sorrow by weeping and
lamentation, and that this feeling which is kept under control in our
own calamities is satisfied and delighted by the poets;—the better
nature in each of us, not having been sufficiently trained by reason
or habit, allows the sympathetic element to break loose because the
sorrow is another's; and the spectator fancies that there can be no
disgrace to himself in praising and pitying any one who comes
telling him what a good man he is, and making a fuss about his
troubles; he thinks that the pleasure is a gain, and why should he be
supercilious and lose this and the poem too? Few persons ever
reflect, as I should imagine, that from the evil of other men
something of evil is communicated to themselves. And so the
feeling of sorrow which has gathered strength at the sight of the
misfortunes of others is with difficulty repressed in our own.
How very true!
And does not the same hold also of the ridiculous? There are jests
which you would be ashamed to make yourself, and yet on the
comic stage, or indeed in private, when you hear them, you are
greatly amused by them, and are not at all disgusted at their

353
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

unseemliness;—the case of pity is repeated;—there is a principle in

human nature which is disposed to raise a laugh, and this which you
once restrained by reason, because you were afraid of being thought
a buffoon, is now let out again; and having stimulated the risible
faculty at the theatre, you are betrayed unconsciously to yourself
into playing the comic poet at home.
Quite true, he said.
And the same may be said of lust and anger and all the other
affections, of desire and pain and pleasure, which are held to be
inseparable from every action—in all of them poetry feeds and
waters the passions instead of drying them up; she lets them rule,
although they ought to be controlled, if mankind are ever to
increase in happiness and virtue.
I cannot deny it.
Therefore, Glaucon, I said, whenever you meet with any of the
eulogists of Homer declaring that he has been the educator of
Hellas, and that he is profitable for education and for the ordering
of human things, and that you should take him up again and again
and get to know him and regulate your whole life according to him,
we may love and honour those who say these things—they are
excellent people, as far as their lights extend; and we are ready to
acknowledge that Homer is the greatest of poets and first of tragedy
writers; but we must remain firm in our conviction that hymns to
the gods and praises of famous men are the only poetry which
ought to be admitted into our State. For if you go beyond this and
allow the honeyed muse to enter, either in epic or lyric verse, not
law and the reason of mankind, which by common consent have
ever been deemed best, but pleasure and pain will be the rulers in
our State.
That is most true, he said.
And now since we have reverted to the subject of poetry, let this
our defence serve to show the reasonableness of our former
judgment in sending away out of our State an art having the
tendencies which we have described; for reason constrained us. But
that she may not impute to us any harshness or want of politeness,
let us tell her that there is an ancient quarrel between philosophy
and poetry; of which there are many proofs, such as the saying of
354
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

'the yelping hound howling at her lord,' or of one 'mighty in the

vain talk of fools,' and 'the mob of sages circumventing Zeus,' and
the 'subtle thinkers who are beggars after all'; and there are
innumerable other signs of ancient enmity between them.
Notwithstanding this, let us assure our sweet friend and the sister
arts of imitation, that if she will only prove her title to exist in a
well-ordered State we shall be delighted to receive her—we are very
conscious of her charms; but we may not on that account betray the
truth. I dare say, Glaucon, that you are as much charmed by her as I
am, especially when she appears in Homer?
Yes, indeed, I am greatly charmed.
Shall I propose, then, that she be allowed to return from exile, but
upon this condition only—that she make a defence of herself in
lyrical or some other metre?
Certainly.
And we may further grant to those of her defenders who are lovers
of poetry and yet not poets the permission to speak in prose on her
behalf: let them show not only that she is pleasant but also useful to
States and to human life, and we will listen in a kindly spirit; for if
this can be proved we shall surely be the gainers—I mean, if there is
a use in poetry as well as a delight?
Certainly, he said, we shall be the gainers.
If her defence fails, then, my dear friend, like other persons who are
enamoured of something, but put a restraint upon themselves when
they think their desires are opposed to their interests, so too must
we after the manner of lovers give her up, though not without a
struggle. We too are inspired by that love of poetry which the
education of noble States has implanted in us, and therefore we
would have her appear at her best and truest; but so long as she is
unable to make good her defence, this argument of ours shall be a
charm to us, which we will repeat to ourselves while we listen to her
strains; that we may not fall away into the childish love of her which
captivates the many. At all events we are well aware that poetry
being such as we have described is not to be regarded seriously as
attaining to the truth; and he who listens to her, fearing for the
safety of the city which is within him, should be on his guard
against her seductions and make our words his law.
355
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Yes, he said, I quite agree with you.

Yes, I said, my dear Glaucon, for great is the issue at stake, greater
than appears, whether a man is to be good or bad. And what will
any one be profited if under the influence of honour or money or
power, aye, or under the excitement of poetry, he neglect justice
and virtue?
Yes, he said; I have been convinced by the argument, as I believe
that any one else would have been.
And yet no mention has been made of the greatest prizes and
rewards which await virtue.
What, are there any greater still? If there are, they must be of an
inconceivable greatness.
Why, I said, what was ever great in a short time? The whole period
of three score years and ten is surely but a little thing in comparison
with eternity?
Say rather 'nothing,' he replied.
And should an immortal being seriously think of this little space
rather than of the whole?
Of the whole, certainly. But why do you ask?
Are you not aware, I said, that the soul of man is immortal and
imperishable?
He looked at me in astonishment, and said: No, by heaven: And are
you really prepared to maintain this?
Yes, I said, I ought to be, and you too—there is no difficulty in
proving it.
I see a great difficulty; but I should like to hear you state this
argument of which you make so light.
Listen then.
I am attending.
There is a thing which you call good and another which you call
evil?
Yes, he replied.

356
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

Would you agree with me in thinking that the corrupting and

destroying element is the evil, and the saving and improving
element the good?
Yes.
And you admit that every thing has a good and also an evil; as
ophthalmia is the evil of the eyes and disease of the whole body; as
mildew is of corn, and rot of timber, or rust of copper and iron: in
everything, or in almost everything, there is an inherent evil and
disease?
Yes, he said.
And anything which is infected by any of these evils is made evil,
and at last wholly dissolves and dies?
True.
The vice and evil which is inherent in each is the destruction of
each; and if this does not destroy them there is nothing else that
will; for good certainly will not destroy them, nor again, that which
is neither good nor evil.
Certainly not.
If, then, we find any nature which having this inherent corruption
cannot be dissolved or destroyed, we may be certain that of such a
nature there is no destruction?
That may be assumed.
Well, I said, and is there no evil which corrupts the soul?
Yes, he said, there are all the evils which we were just now passing
in review: unrighteousness, intemperance, cowardice, ignorance.
But does any of these dissolve or destroy her?—and here do not let
us fall into the error of supposing that the unjust and foolish man,
when he is detected, perishes through his own injustice, which is an
evil of the soul. Take the analogy of the body: The evil of the body
is a disease which wastes and reduces and annihilates the body; and
all the things of which we were just now speaking come to
annihilation through their own corruption attaching to them and
inhering in them and so destroying them. Is not this true?
Yes.
357
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

Consider the soul in like manner. Does the injustice or other evil
which exists in the soul waste and consume her? Do they by
attaching to the soul and inhering in her at last bring her to death,
and so separate her from the body?
Certainly not.
And yet, I said, it is unreasonable to suppose that anything can
perish from without through affection of external evil which could
not be destroyed from within by a corruption of its own?
It is, he replied.
Consider, I said, Glaucon, that even the badness of food, whether
staleness, decomposition, or any other bad quality, when confined
to the actual food, is not supposed to destroy the body; although, if
the badness of food communicates corruption to the body, then we
should say that the body has been destroyed by a corruption of
itself, which is disease, brought on by this; but that the body, being
one thing, can be destroyed by the badness of food, which is
another, and which does not engender any natural infection—this
we shall absolutely deny?
Very true.
And, on the same principle, unless some bodily evil can produce an
evil of the soul, we must not suppose that the soul, which is one
thing, can be dissolved by any merely external evil which belongs to
another?
Yes, he said, there is reason in that.
Either, then, let us refute this conclusion, or, while it remains
unrefuted, let us never say that fever, or any other disease, or the
knife put to the throat, or even the cutting up of the whole body
into the minutest pieces, can destroy the soul, until she herself is
proved to become more unholy or unrighteous in consequence of
these things being done to the body; but that the soul, or anything
else if not destroyed by an internal evil, can be destroyed by an
external one, is not to be affirmed by any man.
And surely, he replied, no one will ever prove that the souls of men
become more unjust in consequence of death.

358
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

But if some one who would rather not admit the immortality of the
soul boldly denies this, and says that the dying do really become
more evil and unrighteous, then, if the speaker is right, I suppose
that injustice, like disease, must be assumed to be fatal to the unjust,
and that those who take this disorder die by the natural inherent
power of destruction which evil has, and which kills them sooner or
later, but in quite another way from that in which, at present, the
wicked receive death at the hands of others as the penalty of their
deeds?
Nay, he said, in that case injustice, if fatal to the unjust, will not be
so very terrible to him, for he will be delivered from evil. But I
rather suspect the opposite to be the truth, and that injustice which,
if it have the power, will murder others, keeps the murderer alive—
aye, and well awake too; so far removed is her dwelling-place from
being a house of death.
True, I said; if the inherent natural vice or evil of the soul is unable
to kill or destroy her, hardly will that which is appointed to be the
destruction of some other body, destroy a soul or anything else
except that of which it was appointed to be the destruction.
Yes, that can hardly be.
But the soul which cannot be destroyed by an evil, whether inherent
or external, must exist for ever, and if existing for ever, must be
immortal?
Certainly.
That is the conclusion, I said; and, if a true conclusion, then the
souls must always be the same, for if none be destroyed they will
not diminish in number. Neither will they increase, for the increase
of the immortal natures must come from something mortal, and all
things would thus end in immortality.
Very true.
But this we cannot believe—reason will not allow us—any more
than we can believe the soul, in her truest nature, to be full of
variety and difference and dissimilarity.
What do you mean? he said.

359
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

The soul, I said, being, as is now proven, immortal, must be the

fairest of compositions and cannot be compounded of many
elements?
Certainly not.
Her immortality is demonstrated by the previous argument, and
there are many other proofs; but to see her as she really is, not as
we now behold her, marred by communion with the body and
other miseries, you must contemplate her with the eye of reason, in
her original purity; and then her beauty will be revealed, and justice
and injustice and all the things which we have described will be
manifested more clearly. Thus far, we have spoken the truth
concerning her as she appears at present, but we must remember
also that we have seen her only in a condition which may be
compared to that of the sea-god Glaucus, whose original image can
hardly be discerned because his natural members are broken off and
crushed and damaged by the waves in all sorts of ways, and
incrustations have grown over them of seaweed and shells and
stones, so that he is more like some monster than he is to his own
natural form. And the soul which we behold is in a similar
condition, disfigured by ten thousand ills. But not there, Glaucon,
not there must we look.
Where then?
At her love of wisdom. Let us see whom she affects, and what
society and converse she seeks in virtue of her near kindred with
the immortal and eternal and divine; also how different she would
become if wholly following this superior principle, and borne by a
divine impulse out of the ocean in which she now is, and
disengaged from the stones and shells and things of earth and rock
which in wild variety spring up around her because she feeds upon
earth, and is overgrown by the good things of this life as they are
termed: then you would see her as she is, and know whether she
have one shape only or many, or what her nature is. Of her
affections and of the forms which she takes in this present life I
think that we have now said enough.
True, he replied.
And thus, I said, we have fulfilled the conditions of the argument;
we have not introduced the rewards and glories of justice, which, as
360
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

you were saying, are to be found in Homer and Hesiod; but justice
in her own nature has been shown to be best for the soul in her
own nature. Let a man do what is just, whether he have the ring of
Gyges or not, and even if in addition to the ring of Gyges he put on
the helmet of Hades.
Very true.
And now, Glaucon, there will be no harm in further enumerating
how many and how great are the rewards which justice and the
other virtues procure to the soul from gods and men, both in life
and after death.
Certainly not, he said.
Will you repay me, then, what you borrowed in the argument?
What did I borrow?
The assumption that the just man should appear unjust and the
unjust just: for you were of opinion that even if the true state of the
case could not possibly escape the eyes of gods and men, still this
admission ought to be made for the sake of the argument, in order
that pure justice might be weighed against pure injustice. Do you
remember?
I should be much to blame if I had forgotten.
Then, as the cause is decided, I demand on behalf of justice that the
estimation in which she is held by gods and men and which we
acknowledge to be her due should now be restored to her by us;
since she has been shown to confer reality, and not to deceive those
who truly possess her, let what has been taken from her be given
back, that so she may win that palm of appearance which is hers
also, and which she gives to her own.
The demand, he said, is just.
In the first place, I said—and this is the first thing which you will
have to give back—the nature both of the just and unjust is truly
known to the gods.
Granted.

361
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

And if they are both known to them, one must be the friend and
the other the enemy of the gods, as we admitted from the
beginning?
True.
And the friend of the gods may be supposed to receive from them
all things at their best, excepting only such evil as is the necessary
consequence of former sins?
Certainly.
Then this must be our notion of the just man, that even when he is
in poverty or sickness, or any other seeming misfortune, all things
will in the end work together for good to him in life and death: for
the gods have a care of any one whose desire is to become just and
to be like God, as far as man can attain the divine likeness, by the
pursuit of virtue?
Yes, he said; if he is like God he will surely not be neglected by him.
And of the unjust may not the opposite be supposed?
Certainly.
Such, then, are the palms of victory which the gods give the just?
That is my conviction.
And what do they receive of men? Look at things as they really are,
and you will see that the clever unjust are in the case of runners,
who run well from the starting-place to the goal but not back again
from the goal: they go off at a great pace, but in the end only look
foolish, slinking away with their ears draggling on their shoulders,
and without a crown; but the true runner comes to the finish and
receives the prize and is crowned. And this is the way with the just;
he who endures to the end of every action and occasion of his
entire life has a good report and carries off the prize which men
have to bestow.
True.
And now you must allow me to repeat of the just the blessings
which you were attributing to the fortunate unjust. I shall say of
them, what you were saying of the others, that as they grow older,
they become rulers in their own city if they care to be; they marry

362
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

whom they like and give in marriage to whom they will; all that you
said of the others I now say of these. And, on the other hand, of
the unjust I say that the greater number, even though they escape in
their youth, are found out at last and look foolish at the end of their
course, and when they come to be old and miserable are flouted
alike by stranger and citizen; they are beaten and then come those
things unfit for ears polite, as you truly term them; they will be
racked and have their eyes burned out, as you were saying. And you
may suppose that I have repeated the remainder of your tale of
horrors. But will you let me assume, without reciting them, that
these things are true?
Certainly, he said, what you say is true.
These, then, are the prizes and rewards and gifts which are
bestowed upon the just by gods and men in this present life, in
addition to the other good things which justice of herself provides.
Yes, he said; and they are fair and lasting.
And yet, I said, all these are as nothing either in number or
greatness in comparison with those other recompenses which await
both just and unjust after death. And you ought to hear them, and
then both just and unjust will have received from us a full payment
of the debt which the argument owes to them.
Speak, he said; there are few things which I would more gladly hear.
Well, I said, I will tell you a tale; not one of the tales which
Odysseus tells to the hero Alcinous, yet this too is a tale of a hero,
Er the son of Armenius, a Pamphylian by birth. He was slain in
battle, and ten days afterwards, when the bodies of the dead were
taken up already in a state of corruption, his body was found
unaffected by decay, and carried away home to be buried. And on
the twelfth day, as he was lying on the funeral pile, he returned to
life and told them what he had seen in the other world. He said that
when his soul left the body he went on a journey with a great
company, and that they came to a mysterious place at which there
were two openings in the earth; they were near together, and over
against them were two other openings in the heaven above. In the
intermediate space there were judges seated, who commanded the
just, after they had given judgment on them and had bound their
sentences in front of them, to ascend by the heavenly way on the
363
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

right hand; and in like manner the unjust were bidden by them to
descend by the lower way on the left hand; these also bore the
symbols of their deeds, but fastened on their backs. He drew near,
and they told him that he was to be the messenger who would carry
the report of the other world to men, and they bade him hear and
see all that was to be heard and seen in that place. Then he beheld
and saw on one side the souls departing at either opening of heaven
and earth when sentence had been given on them; and at the two
other openings other souls, some ascending out of the earth dusty
and worn with travel, some descending out of heaven clean and
bright. And arriving ever and anon they seemed to have come from
a long journey, and they went forth with gladness into the meadow,
where they encamped as at a festival; and those who knew one
another embraced and conversed, the souls which came from earth
curiously enquiring about the things above, and the souls which
came from heaven about the things beneath. And they told one
another of what had happened by the way, those from below
weeping and sorrowing at the remembrance of the things which
they had endured and seen in their journey beneath the earth (now
the journey lasted a thousand years), while those from above were
describing heavenly delights and visions of inconceivable beauty.
The story, Glaucon, would take too long to tell; but the sum was
this:—He said that for every wrong which they had done to any one
they suffered tenfold; or once in a hundred years—such being
reckoned to be the length of man's life, and the penalty being thus
paid ten times in a thousand years. If, for example, there were any
who had been the cause of many deaths, or had betrayed or
enslaved cities or armies, or been guilty of any other evil behaviour,
for each and all of their offences they received punishment ten
times over, and the rewards of beneficence and justice and holiness
were in the same proportion. I need hardly repeat what he said
concerning young children dying almost as soon as they were born.
Of piety and impiety to gods and parents, and of murderers, there
were retributions other and greater far which he described. He
mentioned that he was present when one of the spirits asked
another, 'Where is Ardiaeus the Great?' (Now this Ardiaeus lived a
thousand years before the time of Er: he had been the tyrant of
some city of Pamphylia, and had murdered his aged father and his
elder brother, and was said to have committed many other
abominable crimes.) The answer of the other spirit was: 'He comes
364
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

not hither and will never come. And this,' said he, 'was one of the
dreadful sights which we ourselves witnessed. We were at the
mouth of the cavern, and, having completed all our experiences,
were about to reascend, when of a sudden Ardiaeus appeared and
several others, most of whom were tyrants; and there were also
besides the tyrants private individuals who had been great criminals:
they were just, as they fancied, about to return into the upper world,
but the mouth, instead of admitting them, gave a roar, whenever
any of these incurable sinners or some one who had not been
sufficiently punished tried to ascend; and then wild men of fiery
aspect, who were standing by and heard the sound, seized and
carried them off; and Ardiaeus and others they bound head and
foot and hand, and threw them down and flayed them with
scourges, and dragged them along the road at the side, carding them
on thorns like wool, and declaring to the passers-by what were their
crimes, and that they were being taken away to be cast into hell.'
And of all the many terrors which they had endured, he said that
there was none like the terror which each of them felt at that
moment, lest they should hear the voice; and when there was
silence, one by one they ascended with exceeding joy. These, said
Er, were the penalties and retributions, and there were blessings as
great.
Now when the spirits which were in the meadow had tarried seven
days, on the eighth they were obliged to proceed on their journey,
and, on the fourth day after, he said that they came to a place where
they could see from above a line of light, straight as a column,
extending right through the whole heaven and through the earth, in
colour resembling the rainbow, only brighter and purer; another
day's journey brought them to the place, and there, in the midst of
the light, they saw the ends of the chains of heaven let down from
above: for this light is the belt of heaven, and holds together the
circle of the universe, like the under-girders of a trireme. From
these ends is extended the spindle of Necessity, on which all the
revolutions turn. The shaft and hook of this spindle are made of
steel, and the whorl is made partly of steel and also partly of other
materials. Now the whorl is in form like the whorl used on earth;
and the description of it implied that there is one large hollow
whorl which is quite scooped out, and into this is fitted another
lesser one, and another, and another, and four others, making eight

365
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

in all, like vessels which fit into one another; the whorls show their
edges on the upper side, and on their lower side all together form
one continuous whorl. This is pierced by the spindle, which is
driven home through the centre of the eighth. The first and
outermost whorl has the rim broadest, and the seven inner whorls
are narrower, in the following proportions—the sixth is next to the
first in size, the fourth next to the sixth; then comes the eighth; the
seventh is fifth, the fifth is sixth, the third is seventh, last and eighth
comes the second. The largest (or fixed stars) is spangled, and the
seventh (or sun) is brightest; the eighth (or moon) coloured by the
reflected light of the seventh; the second and fifth (Saturn and
Mercury) are in colour like one another, and yellower than the
preceding; the third (Venus) has the whitest light; the fourth (Mars)
is reddish; the sixth (Jupiter) is in whiteness second. Now the whole
spindle has the same motion; but, as the whole revolves in one
direction, the seven inner circles move slowly in the other, and of
these the swiftest is the eighth; next in swiftness are the seventh,
sixth, and fifth, which move together; third in swiftness appeared to
move according to the law of this reversed motion the fourth; the
third appeared fourth and the second fifth. The spindle turns on the
knees of Necessity; and on the upper surface of each circle is a
siren, who goes round with them, hymning a single tone or note.
The eight together form one harmony; and round about, at equal
intervals, there is another band, three in number, each sitting upon
her throne: these are the Fates, daughters of Necessity, who are
clothed in white robes and have chaplets upon their heads, Lachesis
and Clotho and Atropos, who accompany with their voices the
harmony of the sirens—Lachesis singing of the past, Clotho of the
present, Atropos of the future; Clotho from time to time assisting
with a touch of her right hand the revolution of the outer circle of
the whorl or spindle, and Atropos with her left hand touching and
guiding the inner ones, and Lachesis laying hold of either in turn,
first with one hand and then with the other.
When Er and the spirits arrived, their duty was to go at once to
Lachesis; but first of all there came a prophet who arranged them in
order; then he took from the knees of Lachesis lots and samples of
lives, and having mounted a high pulpit, spoke as follows: 'Hear the
word of Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity. Mortal souls, behold a
new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to

366
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

you, but you will choose your genius; and let him who draws the
first lot have the first choice, and the life which he chooses shall be
his destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honours or dishonours her
he will have more or less of her; the responsibility is with the
chooser—God is justified.' When the Interpreter had thus spoken
he scattered lots indifferently among them all, and each of them
took up the lot which fell near him, all but Er himself (he was not
allowed), and each as he took his lot perceived the number which
he had obtained. Then the Interpreter placed on the ground before
them the samples of lives; and there were many more lives than the
souls present, and they were of all sorts. There were lives of every
animal and of man in every condition. And there were tyrannies
among them, some lasting out the tyrant's life, others which broke
off in the middle and came to an end in poverty and exile and
beggary; and there were lives of famous men, some who were
famous for their form and beauty as well as for their strength and
success in games, or, again, for their birth and the qualities of their
ancestors; and some who were the reverse of famous for the
opposite qualities. And of women likewise; there was not, however,
any definite character in them, because the soul, when choosing a
new life, must of necessity become different. But there was every
other quality, and the all mingled with one another, and also with
elements of wealth and poverty, and disease and health; and there
were mean states also. And here, my dear Glaucon, is the supreme
peril of our human state; and therefore the utmost care should be
taken. Let each one of us leave every other kind of knowledge and
seek and follow one thing only, if peradventure he may be able to
learn and may find some one who will make him able to learn and
discern between good and evil, and so to choose always and
everywhere the better life as he has opportunity. He should
consider the bearing of all these things which have been mentioned
severally and collectively upon virtue; he should know what the
effect of beauty is when combined with poverty or wealth in a
particular soul, and what are the good and evil consequences of
noble and humble birth, of private and public station, of strength
and weakness, of cleverness and dullness, and of all the natural and
acquired gifts of the soul, and the operation of them when
conjoined; he will then look at the nature of the soul, and from the
consideration of all these qualities he will be able to determine
which is the better and which is the worse; and so he will choose,
367
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

giving the name of evil to the life which will make his soul more
unjust, and good to the life which will make his soul more just; all
else he will disregard. For we have seen and know that this is the
best choice both in life and after death. A man must take with him
into the world below an adamantine faith in truth and right, that
there too he may be undazzled by the desire of wealth or the other
allurements of evil, lest, coming upon tyrannies and similar
villainies, he do irremediable wrongs to others and suffer yet worse
himself; but let him know how to choose the mean and avoid the
extremes on either side, as far as possible, not only in this life but in
all that which is to come. For this is the way of happiness.
And according to the report of the messenger from the other world
this was what the prophet said at the time: 'Even for the last comer,
if he chooses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a
happy and not undesirable existence. Let not him who chooses first
be careless, and let not the last despair.' And when he had spoken,
he who had the first choice came forward and in a moment chose
the greatest tyranny; his mind having been darkened by folly and
sensuality, he had not thought out the whole matter before he
chose, and did not at first sight perceive that he was fated, among
other evils, to devour his own children. But when he had time to
reflect, and saw what was in the lot, he began to beat his breast and
lament over his choice, forgetting the proclamation of the prophet;
for, instead of throwing the blame of his misfortune on himself, he
accused chance and the gods, and everything rather than himself.
Now he was one of those who came from heaven, and in a former
life had dwelt in a well-ordered State, but his virtue was a matter of
habit only, and he had no philosophy. And it was true of others
who were similarly overtaken, that the greater number of them
came from heaven and therefore they had never been schooled by
trial, whereas the pilgrims who came from earth having themselves
suffered and seen others suffer, were not in a hurry to choose. And
owing to this inexperience of theirs, and also because the lot was a
chance, many of the souls exchanged a good destiny for an evil or
an evil for a good. For if a man had always on his arrival in this
world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and
had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might,
as the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to
another life and return to this, instead of being rough and

368
 PLATO: THE REPUBLIC

underground, would be smooth and heavenly. Most curious, he

said, was the spectacle—sad and laughable and strange; for the
choice of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a
previous life. There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus
choosing the life of a swan out of enmity to the race of women,
hating to be born of a woman because they had been his murderers;
he beheld also the soul of Thamyras choosing the life of a
nightingale; birds, on the other hand, like the swan and other
musicians, wanting to be men. The soul which obtained the
twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this was the soul of Ajax
the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the
injustice which was done him in the judgment about the arms. The
next was Agamemnon, who took the life of an eagle, because, like
Ajax, he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings. About the
middle came the lot of Atalanta; she, seeing the great fame of an
athlete, was unable to resist the temptation: and after her there
followed the soul of Epeus the son of Panopeus passing into the
nature of a woman cunning in the arts; and far away among the last
who chose, the soul of the jester Thersites was putting on the form
of a monkey. There came also the soul of Odysseus having yet to
make a choice, and his lot happened to be the last of them all. Now
the recollection of former toils had disenchanted him of ambition,
and he went about for a considerable time in search of the life of a
private man who had no cares; he had some difficulty in finding
this, which was lying about and had been neglected by everybody
else; and when he saw it, he said that he would have done the same
had his lot been first instead of last, and that he was delighted to
have it. And not only did men pass into animals, but I must also
mention that there were animals tame and wild who changed into
one another and into corresponding human natures—the good into
the gentle and the evil into the savage, in all sorts of combinations.
All the souls had now chosen their lives, and they went in the order
of their choice to Lachesis, who sent with them the genius whom
they had severally chosen, to be the guardian of their lives and the
fulfiller of the choice: this genius led the souls first to Clotho, and
drew them within the revolution of the spindle impelled by her
hand, thus ratifying the destiny of each; and then, when they were
fastened to this, carried them to Atropos, who spun the threads and
made them irreversible, whence without turning round they passed

369
A ROMAN ROADS ETEXT

beneath the throne of Necessity; and when they had all passed, they
marched on in a scorching heat to the plain of Forgetfulness, which
was a barren waste destitute of trees and verdure; and then towards
evening they encamped by the river of Unmindfulness, whose water
no vessel can hold; of this they were all obliged to drink a certain
quantity, and those who were not saved by wisdom drank more
than was necessary; and each one as he drank forgot all things. Now
after they had gone to rest, about the middle of the night there was
a thunderstorm and earthquake, and then in an instant they were
driven upwards in all manner of ways to their birth, like stars
shooting. He himself was hindered from drinking the water. But in
what manner or by what means he returned to the body he could
not say; only, in the morning, awaking suddenly, he found himself
lying on the pyre.
And thus, Glaucon, the tale has been saved and has not perished,
and will save us if we are obedient to the word spoken; and we shall
pass safely over the river of Forgetfulness and our soul will not be
defiled. Wherefore my counsel is, that we hold fast ever to the
heavenly way and follow after justice and virtue always, considering
that the soul is immortal and able to endure every sort of good and
every sort of evil. Thus shall we live dear to one another and to the
gods, both while remaining here and when, like conquerors in the
games who go round to gather gifts, we receive our reward. And it
shall be well with us both in this life and in the pilgrimage of a
thousand years which we have been describing.

370