§9.577ἆρʼ οὖν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα προκαλούμενος ὀρθῶς ἂν προκαλοίμην, ἀξιῶν κρίνειν περὶ αὐτῶν ἐκεῖνον, ὃς δύναται τῇ διανοίᾳ εἰς ἀνδρὸς ἦθος ἐνδὺς διιδεῖν καὶ μὴ καθάπερ παῖς ἔξωθεν ὁρῶν ἐκπλήττεται ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν τυραννικῶν προστάσεως ἣν πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω σχηματίζονται, ἀλλʼ ἱκανῶς διορᾷ;
"Then," I said, "concerning the men also, if I were to make this same proposal, would I propose rightly in demanding that he who is to judge them should be one who is able to penetrate with his intellect into a man's character and see through it, and not, like a child looking from the outside, be struck with awe by the facade of tyrannical men which they put on for those outside, but rather discern it sufficiently?
εἰ οὖν οἰοίμην δεῖν ἐκείνου πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀκούειν, τοῦ δυνατοῦ μὲν κρῖναι, συνῳκηκότος δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ καὶ παραγεγονότος ἔν τε ταῖς κατʼ οἰκίαν πράξεσιν, ὡς πρὸς ἑκάστους τοὺς οἰκείους ἔχει, ἐν οἷς μάλιστα γυμνὸς ἂν ὀφθείη τῆς τραγικῆς σκευῆς, καὶ ἐν αὖ τοῖς δημοσίοις κινδύνοις, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἰδόντα κελεύοιμεν ἐξαγγέλλειν πῶς ἔχει εὐδαιμονίας καὶ ἀθλιότητος ὁ τύραννος πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους; ὀρθότατʼ ἄν, ἔφη, καὶ ταῦτα προκαλοῖο. βούλει οὖν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, προσποιησώμεθα ἡμεῖς εἶναι τῶν δυνατῶν ἂν κρῖναι καὶ ἤδη ἐντυχόντων τοιούτοις, ἵνα ἔχωμεν ὅστις ἀποκρινεῖται ἃ ἐρωτῶμεν; πάνυ γε.
If, then, I should think we ought all to listen to that man, who is capable of judging, and who has lived in the same house and has been present at his domestic actions, observing how he behaves toward each of his household members—for in these situations especially he would be seen stripped of his tragic costume—and again in public dangers; and if we should bid him, having seen all these things, to report how the tyrant stands in terms of happiness and misery compared to the others, would we be doing so rightly?" "Most rightly," he said, "would you make this proposal too." "Do you wish, then," I said, "that we pretend to be of those who would be able to judge and who have already encountered such people, so that we may have someone who will answer our questions?" "By all means." "Come then," I said, "look at it in this way.
ἴθι δή μοι, ἔφην, ὧδε σκόπει. τὴν ὁμοιότητα ἀναμιμνῃσκόμενος τῆς τε πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ἀνδρός, οὕτω καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐν μέρει ἀθρῶν, τὰ παθήματα ἑκατέρου λέγε. τὰ ποῖα; ἔφη.
Recalling the similarity of the city and the man, and thus looking at each in turn, tell me the experiences of each." "What kind of experiences?" he said.
πρῶτον μέν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὡς πόλιν εἰπεῖν, ἐλευθέραν ἢ δούλην τὴν τυραννουμένην ἐρεῖς; ὡς οἷόν τʼ, ἔφη, μάλιστα δούλην.
"First," I said, "to speak of a city, will you say that the tyrannized city is free or enslaved?" "To the highest degree enslaved," he said.
καὶ μὴν ὁρᾷς γε ἐν αὐτῇ δεσπότας καὶ ἐλευθέρους. ὁρῶ, ἔφη, σμικρόν γέ τι τοῦτο· τὸ δὲ ὅλον, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τὸ ἐπιεικέστατον ἀτίμως τε καὶ ἀθλίως δοῦλον. εἰ οὖν, εἶπον, ὅμοιος ἀνὴρ τῇ πόλει, οὐ καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἀνάγκη τὴν αὐτὴν τάξιν ἐνεῖναι, καὶ πολλῆς μὲν δουλείας τε καὶ ἀνελευθερίας γέμειν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα αὐτῆς τὰ μέρη δουλεύειν, ἅπερ ἦν ἐπιεικέστατα, μικρὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ μοχθηρότατον καὶ μανικώτατον δεσπόζειν; ἀνάγκη, ἔφη.
"And yet you see in it masters and free men." "I see them," he said, "but that is a small part; the whole, so to speak, in it, and even the most decent part, is dishonorably and miserably enslaved." "If, then," I said, "the man is like the city, is it not necessary that the same arrangement exist in him too, and that his soul be full of much slavery and illiberality, and that those very parts of it be enslaved which were the most decent, while a small, most wicked and mad part plays the master?" "Inevitably," he said.
τί οὖν;
"What then?
δούλην ἢ ἐλευθέραν τὴν τοιαύτην φήσεις εἶναι ψυχήν; δούλην δήπου ἔγωγε. οὐκοῦν ἥ γε αὖ δούλη καὶ τυραννουμένη πόλις ἥκιστα ποιεῖ ἃ βούλεται; πολύ γε. καὶ ἡ τυραννουμένη ἄρα ψυχὴ ἥκιστα ποιήσει ἃ ἂν βουληθῇ, ὡς περὶ ὅλης εἰπεῖν ψυχῆς· ὑπὸ δὲ οἴστρου ἀεὶ ἑλκομένη βίᾳ ταραχῆς καὶ μεταμελείας μεστὴ ἔσται. πῶς γὰρ οὔ; πλουσίαν δὲ ἢ πενομένην ἀνάγκη τὴν τυραννουμένην πόλιν εἶναι; πενομένην.
Will you say that such a soul is slave or free?" "Slave, surely, I would say." "And does the enslaved and tyrannized city do least of all what it wishes?" "Very much so." "And therefore the tyrannized soul will also do least of all what it wishes—to speak of the soul as a whole—but always dragged violently by a gadfly, it will be full of confusion and regret." "Of course." "And is it necessary that the tyrannized city be wealthy or poor?" "Poor."