Timaeus — Plato

ful and vice pleasant.

p. 44

The effect on the fni7id of youth.

Republic II. ' Vice may be had in abundance without trouble ; the way is smooth Apeimantus ^^^ ^^^ dwelling-place is near. But before virtue the gods have set toilS' 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 ^'

They are taught that sins may be easily expiated.

The effects of all this upon the youthful mind.

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 36 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 aff^ected, 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 hfe? 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

^ Hesiod, Works and Days, 287. ^ Homer, Iliad, ix. 493.

'Let us make the best of both worlds.* 45 house ; behind I will trail the subtle and crafty fox, as Republic 11. Archilochus, greatest of sages, recommends. But I hear Adeimantus. 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 things — why in either case should we mind about concealment?

And even if there The existence are gods, and they do care about us, yet we know of them ofj^^g^^^is o ' •' ' •' only known only from tradition and the genealogies of the poets ; and to us through these are the very persons -who say that they may be in- J ^p^^'^'W^o J ^ J J J hkewise asfluenced and turned by * sacrifices and soothing entreaties sure us that and by offerings. Let us be consistent then, and believe brl^bed^and ^ both or neither.

If the poets speak truly, why then we had that they are 366 better be unjust, and offer of the fruits of injustice ; for if we ^rgiv-r ^ *° 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