Timaeus — Plato

And the State which is enslaved under a tyrant is utterly incapable of acting voluntarily? 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 insati- 578 able? 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. 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.

The tyrmit like the owner of slaves. 289 Yes, I replied, but in this high argument you sliould be a Republic ix. Httle more certain, and should not conjecture only ; for of all Socrates, questions, this respecting good and evil is the greatest. Glaucon. 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 in cities there slaves : from them vou may form an idea of the tryant's ^"^^ '"^"^ ■^ ■' J great slavecondition, for they both have slaves ; the only difference is owners, and that he has more slaves. '^^f ^f"" '° protect one Yes, that is the difference. another. 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 But suppose a master say of some fifty slaves, together with his family and ^nd hiTsbves property and slaves, carried off by a god into the wilderness, carried off where there are no freemen to help him — will he not be in an j" ^ness what agony of fear lest he and his wife and children should be put win happen to death by his slaves? isthecoi^ Yes, he said, he will be in the utmost fear. ditionofthe 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.

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 ^^ '^.

'''^ , * •' daintiest of be bound — he who being by nature such as we have described, all men and is full of all sorts of fears and lusts? His soul is- dainty and ^a^ '» '-•"dure •' the hardships greedy, and yet alone, of all men in the city, he is never of a prison. VOL. III. — 34

p. 290

The real tyrant the real slave.

Republic IX. sockates, Glaucon.

Miserable in himself, he is still more miserable if he be in a public station.

He then leads a life worse than the worst.

in unhappiness.

and in wickedness.

The umpire decides that