§326ΣΩ.
οἱ δὲ διδάσκαλοι τούτων τε ἐπιμελοῦνται, καὶ ἐπειδὰν αὖ γράμματα μάθωσιν καὶ μέλλωσιν συνήσειν τὰ γεγραμμένα ὥσπερ τότε τὴν φωνήν, παρατιθέασιν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν βάθρων ἀναγιγνώσκειν ποιητῶν ἀγαθῶν ποιήματα καὶ ἐκμανθάνειν ἀναγκάζουσιν, ἐν οἷς πολλαὶ μὲν νουθετήσεις ἔνεισιν πολλαὶ δὲ διέξοδοι καὶ ἔπαινοι καὶ ἐγκώμια παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἵνα ὁ παῖς ζηλῶν μιμῆται καὶ ὀρέγηται τοιοῦτος γενέσθαι.
Socrates: And the teachers care for these things, and furthermore, as soon as they learn their letters and are about to understand what is written, just as before they understood the spoken voice, they place before them on their benches the works of good poets to read, and force them to learn them by heart, in which there are many admonitions, and many narratives, praises, and encomiums of good men of old, so that the child may eagerly imitate them and strive to become such a person.
οἵ τʼ αὖ κιθαρισταί, ἕτερα τοιαῦτα, σωφροσύνης τε ἐπιμελοῦνται καὶ ὅπως ἂν οἱ νέοι μηδὲν κακουργῶσιν· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ἐπειδὰν κιθαρίζειν μάθωσιν, ἄλλων αὖ ποιητῶν ἀγαθῶν ποιήματα διδάσκουσι μελοποιῶν, εἰς τὰ κιθαρίσματα ἐντείνοντες, καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμούς τε καὶ τὰς ἁρμονίας ἀναγκάζουσιν οἰκειοῦσθαι ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν παίδων, ἵνα ἡμερώτεροί τε ὦσιν, καὶ εὐρυθμότεροι καὶ εὐαρμοστότεροι γιγνόμενοι χρήσιμοι ὦσιν εἰς τὸ λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὐρυθμίας τε καὶ εὐαρμοστίας δεῖται.
On the other hand, the lyre-teachers likewise care for temperance and see to it that the youth do no mischief; and in addition to these, as soon as they learn to play the lyre, they teach them the poems of other good poets, the lyricists, fitting them to the lyre-playing, and they force the rhythms and harmonies to become familiar to the souls of the children, so that they may be gentler, and by becoming more rhythmic and harmonious, they may be useful in both speaking and acting; for the whole life of man has need of rhythm and harmony.
ἔτι τοίνυν πρὸς τούτοις εἰς παιδοτρίβου πέμπουσιν, ἵνα τὰ σώματα βελτίω ἔχοντες ὑπηρετῶσι τῇ διανοίᾳ χρηστῇ οὔσῃ, καὶ μὴ ἀναγκάζωνται ἀποδειλιᾶν διὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν σωμάτων καὶ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις πράξεσιν.
Moreover, in addition to these, they send them to the gymnastics master, so that having better bodies they may serve their good mind, and not be forced to play the coward through the weakness of their bodies, both in wars and in other activities.
καὶ ταῦτα ποιοῦσιν οἱ μάλιστα δυνάμενοι μάλιστα—μάλιστα δὲ δύνανται οἱ πλουσιώτατοι—καὶ οἱ τούτων ὑεῖς, πρῳαίτατα εἰς διδασκάλων τῆς ἡλικίας ἀρξάμενοι φοιτᾶν, ὀψιαίτατα ἀπαλλάττονται.
And those who are most able do these things the most—and the wealthiest are the most able—and their sons, starting to attend the teachers at the earliest age, are the latest to be released from them.
ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἐκ διδασκάλων ἀπαλλαγῶσιν, ἡ πόλις αὖ τούς τε νόμους ἀναγκάζει μανθάνειν καὶ κατὰ τούτους ζῆν κατὰ παράδειγμα, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοὶ ἐφʼ αὑτῶν εἰκῇ πράττωσιν, ἀλλʼ ἀτεχνῶς ὥσπερ οἱ γραμματισταὶ τοῖς μήπω δεινοῖς γράφειν τῶν παίδων ὑπογράψαντες γραμμὰς τῇ γραφίδι οὕτω τὸ γραμματεῖον διδόασιν καὶ ἀναγκάζουσι γράφειν κατὰ τὴν ὑφήγησιν τῶν γραμμῶν, ὣς δὲ καὶ ἡ πόλις νόμους ὑπογράψασα, ἀγαθῶν καὶ παλαιῶν νομοθετῶν εὑρήματα, κατὰ τούτους ἀναγκάζει καὶ ἄρχειν καὶ ἄρχεσθαι, ὃς δʼ ἂν ἐκτὸς βαίνῃ τούτων, κολάζει·
And when they are released from the teachers, the city in turn forces them to learn the laws and to live according to them as a pattern, so that they may not act at random on their own, but just as writing-masters draw guidelines with a stylus for those children who are not yet clever at writing, and so give them the writing-tablet and force them to write according to the guidance of the lines, so indeed the city, having drawn up laws, which are the inventions of good and ancient lawgivers, forces them according to these both to rule and to be ruled, and punishes anyone who goes outside of these.
καὶ ὄνομα τῇ κολάσει ταύτῃ καὶ παρʼ ὑμῖν καὶ ἄλλοθι πολλαχοῦ, ὡς εὐθυνούσης τῆς δίκης, εὐθῦναι.
And the name for this punishment, both among you and in many other places, is called "corrections," since justice straightens.
τοσαύτης οὖν τῆς ἐπιμελείας οὔσης περὶ ἀρετῆς ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ, θαυμάζεις, ὦ Σώκρατες, καὶ ἀπορεῖς εἰ διδακτόν ἐστιν ἀρετή;
Therefore, Socrates, when there is so much care for virtue both privately and publicly, do you wonder and are you puzzled whether virtue is teachable?
ἀλλʼ οὐ χρὴ θαυμάζειν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον εἰ μὴ διδακτόν.
But you ought not to wonder, but much rather if it were not teachable.
§327ΣΩ.
διὰ τί οὖν τῶν ἀγαθῶν πατέρων πολλοὶ ὑεῖς φαῦλοι γίγνονται; τοῦτο αὖ μάθε· οὐδὲν γὰρ θαυμαστόν, εἴπερ ἀληθῆ ἐγὼ ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἔλεγον, ὅτι τούτου τοῦ πράγματος, τῆς ἀρετῆς, εἰ μέλλει πόλις εἶναι, οὐδένα δεῖ ἰδιωτεύειν.
Socrates: "Why then do many sons of good fathers turn out mediocre?" Learn this in turn; for it is nothing to wonder at, if indeed what I said before was true, that in this matter, namely virtue, if a city is to exist, no one must be a layman.
εἰ γὰρ δὴ ὃ λέγω οὕτως ἔχει—ἔχει δὲ μάλιστα πάντων οὕτως—ἐνθυμήθητι ἄλλο τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὁτιοῦν καὶ μαθημάτων προελόμενος.
For if indeed what I say is so—and it is so most of all—consider any other of the pursuits and lessons you choose.
εἰ μὴ οἷόν τʼ ἦν πόλιν εἶναι εἰ μὴ πάντες αὐληταὶ ἦμεν ὁποῖός τις ἐδύνατο ἕκαστος, καὶ τοῦτο καὶ ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ πᾶς πάντα καὶ ἐδίδασκε καὶ ἐπέπληττε τὸν μὴ καλῶς αὐλοῦντα, καὶ μὴ ἐφθόνει τούτου, ὥσπερ νῦν τῶν δικαίων καὶ τῶν νομίμων οὐδεὶς φθονεῖ οὐδʼ ἀποκρύπτεται ὥσπερ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνημάτων—λυσιτελεῖ γὰρ οἶμαι ἡμῖν ἡ ἀλλήλων δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀρετή· διὰ ταῦτα πᾶς παντὶ προθύμως λέγει καὶ διδάσκει καὶ τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ νόμιμα—εἰ οὖν οὕτω καὶ ἐν αὐλήσει πᾶσαν προθυμίαν καὶ ἀφθονίαν εἴχομεν ἀλλήλους διδάσκειν, οἴει ἄν τι, ἔφη, μᾶλλον, ὦ Σώκρατες, τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐλητῶν ἀγαθοὺς αὐλητὰς τοὺς ὑεῖς γίγνεσθαι ἢ τῶν φαύλων;
If it were not possible for a city to exist unless we were all flute-players, each as best he could, and everyone both privately and publicly taught this to everyone and reproved anyone who did not play the flute well, and did not grudge this, just as now no one grudges or hides the matters of justice and the laws, as they do with other crafts—for our mutual justice and virtue profit us, I think; for this reason everyone eagerly tells and teaches everyone what is just and lawful—if then in flute-playing also we had all eagerness and ungrudgingness to teach one another, do you think, he said, Socrates, that the sons of good flute-players would turn out to be good flute-players any more than those of mediocre ones?
οἶμαι μὲν οὔ, ἀλλὰ ὅτου ἔτυχεν ὁ ὑὸς εὐφυέστατος γενόμενος εἰς αὔλησιν, οὗτος ἂν ἐλλόγιμος ηὐξήθη, ὅτου δὲ ἀφυής, ἀκλεής· καὶ πολλάκις μὲν ἀγαθοῦ αὐλητοῦ φαῦλος ἂν ἀπέβη, πολλάκις δʼ ἂν φαύλου ἀγαθός· ἀλλʼ οὖν αὐληταί γʼ ἂν πάντες ἦσαν ἱκανοὶ ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ μηδὲν αὐλήσεως ἐπαΐοντας.
I think not, but whoever's son happened to be most naturally gifted for flute-playing, he would grow up to be famous, and whoever was ungifted, without fame; and often a mediocre player would come from a good flute-player, and often a good one from a mediocre player; but nevertheless they would all be competent flute-players compared to laymen who know nothing of flute-playing.
οὕτως οἴου καὶ νῦν, ὅστις σοι ἀδικώτατος φαίνεται ἄνθρωπος τῶν ἐν νόμοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις τεθραμμένων, δίκαιον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ δημιουργὸν τούτου τοῦ πράγματος, εἰ δέοι αὐτὸν κρίνεσθαι πρὸς ἀνθρώπους οἷς μήτε παιδεία ἐστὶν μήτε δικαστήρια μήτε νόμοι μηδὲ ἀνάγκη μηδεμία διὰ παντὸς ἀναγκάζουσα ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ εἶεν ἄγριοί τινες οἷοίπερ οὓς πέρυσιν Φερεκράτης ὁ ποιητὴς ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ Ληναίῳ.
In this way, believe that even now, whoever seems to you to be the most unjust man of those brought up within laws and human society, he is a just man and a craftsman of this matter, if he had to be judged against people who have neither education nor courts nor laws, nor any necessity forcing them always to care for virtue, but were some savages, such as those the poet Pherecrates produced on the stage at the Lenaea last year.
ἦ σφόδρα ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀνθρώποις γενόμενος, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ χορῷ μισάνθρωποι, ἀγαπήσαις ἂν εἰ ἐντύχοις Εὐρυβάτῳ καὶ Φρυνώνδᾳ, καὶ ἀνολοφύραιʼ ἂν ποθῶν τὴν τῶν ἐνθάδε ἀνθρώπων πονηρίαν.
Truly, if you found yourself among such people, like the misanthropes in that chorus, you would be very glad if you met Eurybatus and Phrynondas, and you would wail, longing for the wickedness of the people here.
νῦν δὲ τρυφᾷς, ὦ Σώκρατες, διότι πάντες διδάσκαλοί εἰσιν ἀρετῆς καθʼ ὅσον δύνανται ἕκαστος, καὶ οὐδείς σοι φαίνεται·
But now you are spoiled, Socrates, because everyone is a teacher of virtue as far as he can be, and no one appears so to you;