§8.553ἀπειργάσθω δὴ ἡμῖν καὶ αὕτη, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἡ πολιτεία, ἣν ὀλιγαρχίαν καλοῦσιν, ἐκ τιμημάτων ἔχουσα τοὺς ἄρχοντας·
"Let this constitution then," I said, "which they call oligarchy, having its rulers from property-assessments, be completed for us.
τὸν δὲ ταύτῃ ὅμοιον μετὰ ταῦτα σκοπῶμεν, ὥς τε γίγνεται οἷός τε γενόμενός ἐστιν. πάνυ μὲν οὖν, ἔφη.
And let us next consider the man similar to it, how he comes to be and what kind of man he is when he has come to be." "By all means," he said.
ἆρʼ οὖν ὧδε μάλιστα εἰς ὀλιγαρχικὸν ἐκ τοῦ τιμοκρατικοῦ ἐκείνου μεταβάλλει; πῶς; ὅταν αὐτοῦ παῖς γενόμενος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ζηλοῖ τε τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὰ ἐκείνου ἴχνη διώκῃ, ἔπειτα αὐτὸν ἴδῃ ἐξαίφνης πταίσαντα ὥσπερ πρὸς ἕρματι πρὸς τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἐκχέαντα τά τε αὑτοῦ καὶ ἑαυτόν, ἢ στρατηγήσαντα ἤ τινʼ ἄλλην μεγάλην ἀρχὴν ἄρξαντα, εἶτα εἰς δικαστήριον ἐμπεσόντα ὑπὸ συκοφαντῶν ἢ ἀποθανόντα ἢ ἐκπεσόντα ἢ ἀτιμωθέντα καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν ἅπασαν ἀποβαλόντα. εἰκός γʼ, ἔφη.
"Does he then change in this way most of all from that timocratic man into the oligarchic one?" "How?" "When a son born to him at first emulates his father and follows in his footsteps, but then sees him suddenly ruined, as if on a reef, against the city, pouring out both his own possessions and himself, either after having served as general or held some other great office, then falling into court at the hands of sycophants and being put to death or exiled or disfranchised and losing his entire property." "It is likely," he said.
ἰδὼν δέ γε, ὦ φίλε, ταῦτα καὶ παθὼν καὶ ἀπολέσας τὰ ὄντα, δείσας οἶμαι εὐθὺς ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν ὠθεῖ ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῇ φιλοτιμίαν τε καὶ τὸ θυμοειδὲς ἐκεῖνο, καὶ ταπεινωθεὶς ὑπὸ πενίας πρὸς χρηματισμὸν τραπόμενος γλίσχρως καὶ κατὰ σμικρὸν φειδόμενος καὶ ἐργαζόμενος χρήματα συλλέγεται.
"And seeing this, my friend, and suffering, and having lost what he had, fearing, I suppose, he immediately pushes headlong from the throne in his own soul ambition and that spirited part, and being humbled by poverty, turning to money-making, greedily and by saving little by little and working, he collects money.
ἆρʼ οὐκ οἴει τὸν τοιοῦτον τότε εἰς μὲν τὸν θρόνον ἐκεῖνον τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν τε καὶ φιλοχρήματον ἐγκαθίζειν καὶ μέγαν βασιλέα ποιεῖν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, τιάρας τε καὶ στρεπτοὺς καὶ ἀκινάκας παραζωννύντα; ἔγωγʼ, ἔφη.
Do you not suppose that such a man then seats on that throne the desiring and money-loving part, and makes it a great king within himself, girding it with tiaras, collars, and scimitars?" "I do," he said.
τὸ δέ γε οἶμαι λογιστικόν τε καὶ θυμοειδὲς χαμαὶ ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν παρακαθίσας ὑπʼ ἐκείνῳ καὶ καταδουλωσάμενος, τὸ μὲν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐᾷ λογίζεσθαι οὐδὲ σκοπεῖν ἀλλʼ ἢ ὁπόθεν ἐξ ἐλαττόνων χρημάτων πλείω ἔσται, τὸ δὲ αὖ θαυμάζειν καὶ τιμᾶν μηδὲν ἄλλο ἢ πλοῦτόν τε καὶ πλουσίους, καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι μηδʼ ἐφʼ ἑνὶ ἄλλῳ ἢ ἐπὶ χρημάτων κτήσει καὶ ἐάν τι ἄλλο εἰς τοῦτο φέρῃ. οὐκ ἔστʼ ἄλλη, ἔφη, μεταβολὴ οὕτω ταχεῖά τε καὶ ἰσχυρὰ ἐκ φιλοτίμου νέου εἰς φιλοχρήματον. ἆρʼ οὖν οὗτος, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὀλιγαρχικός ἐστιν; ἡ γοῦν μεταβολὴ αὐτοῦ ἐξ ὁμοίου ἀνδρός ἐστι τῇ πολιτείᾳ, ἐξ ἧς ἡ ὀλιγαρχία μετέστη.
"And the rational and the spirited parts, I suppose, having seated them on the ground on either side beneath that king and enslaved them, he allows the one to reason and consider nothing else than from what sources more money will come from less, and the other, again, to admire and honor nothing else than wealth and the wealthy, and to love honor for nothing other than the acquisition of money and if anything else contributes to this." "There is no other change," he said, "so rapid and strong from an honor-loving youth to a money-loving one." "Is this man then," I said, "the oligarchic one?" "At any rate, his change is from a man similar to the constitution from which oligarchy arose.
σκοπῶμεν δὴ εἰ ὅμοιος ἂν εἴη. §8.554σκοπῶμεν. οὐκοῦν πρῶτον μὲν τῷ χρήματα περὶ πλείστου ποιεῖσθαι ὅμοιος ἂν εἴη; πῶς δʼ οὔ; καὶ μὴν τῷ γε φειδωλὸς εἶναι καὶ ἐργάτης, τὰς ἀναγκαίους ἐπιθυμίας μόνον τῶν παρʼ αὑτῷ ἀποπιμπλάς, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἀναλώματα μὴ παρεχόμενος, ἀλλὰ δουλούμενος τὰς ἄλλας ἐπιθυμίας ὡς ματαίους. πάνυ μὲν οὖν. αὐχμηρός γέ τις, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὢν καὶ ἀπὸ παντὸς περιουσίαν ποιούμενος, θησαυροποιὸς ἀνήρ—οὓς δὴ καὶ ἐπαινεῖ τὸ πλῆθος —ἢ οὐχ οὗτος ἂν εἴη ὁ τῇ τοιαύτῃ πολιτείᾳ ὅμοιος; ἐμοὶ γοῦν, ἔφη, δοκεῖ· χρήματα γοῦν μάλιστα ἔντιμα τῇ τε πόλει καὶ παρὰ τῷ τοιούτῳ. οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, παιδείᾳ ὁ τοιοῦτος προσέσχηκεν. οὐ δοκῶ, ἔφη· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τυφλὸν ἡγεμόνα τοῦ χοροῦ ἐστήσατο καὶ ἐτίμα μάλιστα. εὖ, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ.
Let us then consider if he would be similar." "Let us consider." "First indeed, would he be similar in holding money of the highest value?" "How could he not be?" "And further, in being frugal and industrious, satisfying only the necessary desires among those in him, but not providing for other expenditures, rather enslaving the other desires as useless." "Entirely so." "A rather squalid sort of man," I said, "and making a surplus from everything, a treasure-hoarder—whom indeed the multitude praises —or would this not be the one similar to such a constitution?" "To me, at least," he said, "it seems so; at any rate, money is held in highest honor both by the city and by such a man." "For I do not suppose," I said, "that such a man has paid attention to education." "I think not," he said, "for otherwise he would not have set up a blind leader of the chorus and honored him most." "Well," I said.
τόδε δὲ σκόπει· κηφηνώδεις ἐπιθυμίας ἐν αὐτῷ διὰ τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν μὴ φῶμεν ἐγγίγνεσθαι, τὰς μὲν πτωχικάς, τὰς δὲ κακούργους, κατεχομένας βίᾳ ὑπὸ τῆς ἄλλης ἐπιμελείας; καὶ μάλʼ, ἔφη.
"And consider this: shall we not say that drone-like desires arise in him because of lack of education, some beggarly, others criminal, held down by force by his other care?" "Very much so," he said.
οἶσθʼ οὖν, εἶπον, οἷ ἀποβλέψας κατόψει αὐτῶν τὰς κακουργίας; ποῖ; ἔφη.
"Do you know then," I said, "where you must look to see their criminality?" "Where?" he said.
εἰς τὰς τῶν ὀρφανῶν ἐπιτροπεύσεις, καὶ εἴ πού τι αὐτοῖς τοιοῦτον συμβαίνει, ὥστε πολλῆς ἐξουσίας λαβέσθαι τοῦ ἀδικεῖν. ἀληθῆ. ἆρʼ οὖν οὐ τούτῳ δῆλον ὅτι ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις συμβολαίοις ὁ τοιοῦτος, ἐν οἷς εὐδοκιμεῖ δοκῶν δίκαιος εἶναι, ἐπιεικεῖ τινὶ ἑαυτοῦ βίᾳ κατέχει ἄλλας κακὰς ἐπιθυμίας ἐνούσας, οὐ πείθων ὅτι οὐκ ἄμεινον, οὐδʼ ἡμερῶν λόγῳ, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκῃ καὶ φόβῳ, περὶ τῆς ἄλλης οὐσίας τρέμων; καὶ πάνυ γʼ, ἔφη.
"To the guardianship of orphans, and if any such thing happens to them, so that they obtain great license to do injustice." "True." "Is it not clear from this then, that in other transactions, in which he has a good reputation by seeming to be just, he restrains other bad desires within him by a certain decent force of himself, not by persuading them that it is not better, nor by taming them with reason, but by necessity and fear, trembling for the rest of his property?" "Very much so," he said.
καὶ νὴ Δία, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὦ φίλε, τοῖς πολλοῖς γε αὐτῶν ἐνευρήσεις, ὅταν δέῃ τἀλλότρια ἀναλίσκειν, τὰς τοῦ κηφῆνος συγγενεῖς ἐνούσας ἐπιθυμίας. καὶ μάλα, ἦ δʼ ὅς, σφόδρα.
"And by Zeus, my friend," I said, "in most of them you will find, when they must spend other people's money, the desires akin to the drone being present." "Indeed, very strongly," he said.
οὐκ ἄρʼ ἂν εἴη ἀστασίαστος ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὐδὲ εἷς ἀλλὰ διπλοῦς τις, ἐπιθυμίας δὲ ἐπιθυμιῶν ὡς τὸ πολὺ κρατούσας ἂν ἔχοι βελτίους χειρόνων. ἔστιν οὕτω. διὰ ταῦτα δὴ οἶμαι εὐσχημονέστερος ἂν πολλῶν ὁ τοιοῦτος εἴη· ὁμονοητικῆς δὲ καὶ ἡρμοσμένης τῆς ψυχῆς ἀληθὴς ἀρετὴ πόρρω ποι ἐκφεύγοι ἂν αὐτόν. δοκεῖ μοι.
"Such a man then would not be free from internal conflict in himself, nor single, but a double sort of man, though having desires for the most part ruling over other desires, the better over the worse." "So it is." "Because of these things indeed, I suppose, such a man would be more respectable than many; but the true virtue of a harmonious and in-tune soul would flee far away from him." "It seems so to me."