Phaedrus — Plato

p. 303barians, and in the thought of this he will dilate and elevate himself in the fullness of vain pomp and senseless pride ? Very true, he said.

Now, when he is in this state of mind, if some one gently comes to him and tells him that he is without sense, which he must have, and that the missing sense is not to be had without serving an apprenticeship, do you think that, under such adverse circumstances, he will be easily induced to listen to him? That would be very unlikely.

But suppose further that there is one person who has feeling, and who, either from some excellence of disposition or natural affinity, is inclined or drawn towards philosophy, and his friends think that they are likely to lose the advantages which they were going to reap from his friendship, what will be the effect upon them ?

Will they not do and say anything to prevent his learning and to render the teacher powerless, using to this end private intrigues as well as public prosecutions? There can be no doubt of that. And how can one who is thus circumstanced ever ^ * become a philosopher ? Impossi ble.

Then, were we not right in saying that even the very qualities , which make a man a philosopher may, if he be ill-educated, serve to divert him from philosophy, no less than riches and their accompaniments and the other so-called goods of life? That was quite true.

Thus, my excellent friend, is brought about the ruin and failure of the natures best adapted to the best of all pursuits, who, as we assert, are rare at any time ; and this is the class out of whom come those who are the authors of the greatest evil to States and individuals; and also of the greatest good when the tide carries them in the direction of good ; but a small man never was the doer of any great thing either to individuals or States.

That is most true, he said. They fall away, and philosophy is left desolate, with her marriage rite incomplete : ® for her own have forsaken her, and ' Compare 491. " Here, as so often. Plato represents the relation between the good soul and the truth by the figure of love and marriage.

p. 304while they are leading a false and unbecoming life, she, li^e an orphan bereft of her kindred, is dishonored by other unworthy persons, who enter in and fasten upon her the reproaches which her reprovers utter ; by whom, as you say, her votaries are affirmed, some of them to be good for nothing, and the greater number deserving of everything that is bad. That is certainly what is said.

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 who run away out of prison into a sanctuary, take a leap out of the arts 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 found in the other arts.

And many are thus attracted by her whose natures are imperfect and whose souls are marred and enervated by their meannesses, as their bodies also are disfigured by their arts and crafts. Is not that true? Yes.

Are they not exactly like a bald little tinker who has just got out of durance and come into a fortune ; he washes the dirt off him and has a new coat, and is decked out as a bridegroom going to marry his master's daughter, who is left poor and desolate ? ^ The figure is exact. ^ And what will be the issue of such marriages ? Will they not be vile and bastard ? There can be no question of that.

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, yet having nothing in them genuine or worthy of or akin to true wisdom ?

No doubt, he said; Then there is a very small remnant, Adeimantus, I said, of worthy disciples of philosophy : perchance some noble nature, brought up under good influences, and in the absence of temptation, who is detained by exile in her service, which he refuses to quit ; or some lofty soul born in a mean city, the politics of which he contemns or neglects ; and perhaps there may be a

THE REPUBLIC 3O5 few who, having a gift for philosophy, leave other arts, which they justly despise ^ and come to her ; and peradventure there are some who are restrained by our friend Theages' bridle (for Theages,^®youknow, had everything to divert him from philosophy ; but his ill-health kept him from politics).

My own case of the internal sign^^ is indeed hardly worth mentioning, as very rarely, if ever, has such a monitor been vouchsafed to any one else.

Those who belong to this small class have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession philosophy is, and have also seen and been satisfied of the madness of the multitude, and known that there is no one who ever acts honestly in the administration of States, nor any helper who will save any one who maintains the cause of the just.

Such a saviour would be like a man who has fallen among wild beasts — unable to join in the wickedness of his fellows, neither would he be able alone to resist all their fierce natures, and therefore he would be of no use to the State or to his friends, and would have to throw away his life before he had done any good to himself or others. ^^ And he reflects upon all this, and holds his peace, and does his own business.

He is like one who retires under the shelter of a wall in the storm of dust and sleet which the driving wind hurries along ; and when he sees 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. And he who does this, he said, will have done a great work before he departs.

Yes, I said, a great work, 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 Enough, then, of the causes why philosophy is in such an evil name; how unjustly, has been explained: and now is there anything more which you wish to say ? • See Book IX, 590. " Mentioned in Apology, 33.

" See Apology, 31 and 40. >^ Plato had personal experiences upon which to base this passage. His master Socrates had been martyred (see Apology, 31, where Socrates tells why he took no part in public affairs). Plato himself had been sold as a slave by the tyrant of Syracuse. His painful experiences in endeavoring to reform the government of Syracuse probably occurred after the writing of the Republic. 20