§8.1338bμᾶλλον δʼ ὅτι ποιεῖ θεωρητικὸν τοῦ περὶ τὰ σώματα κάλλους.
or rather because it makes them capable of contemplating the beauty of bodies.
τὸ δὲ ζητεῖν πανταχοῦ τὸ χρήσιμον ἥκιστα ἁρμόττει τοῖς μεγαλοψύχοις καὶ τοῖς ἐλευθερίοις.
But to seek the useful everywhere is least of all fitting for great-souled and free people.
ἐπεὶ δὲ φανερὸν πρότερον τοῖς ἔθεσιν ἢ τῷ λόγῳ παιδευτέον εἶναι, καὶ περὶ τὸ σῶμα πρότερον ἢ τὴν διάνοιαν, δῆλον ἐκ τούτων ὅτι παραδοτέον τοὺς παῖδας γυμναστικῇ καὶ παιδοτριβικῇ· τούτων γὰρ ἡ μὲν ποιάν τινα ποιεῖ τὴν ἕξιν τοῦ σώματος, ἡ δὲ τὰ ἔργα.
Since it is clear that one must be educated by habits before by reason, and concerning the body before the intellect, it is clear from these things that we must hand over the children to gymnastics and physical training; for of these, the former makes the disposition of the body of a certain quality, while the latter makes its actions.
νῦν μὲν οὖν αἱ μάλιστα δοκοῦσαι τῶν πόλεων ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῶν παίδων αἱ μὲν ἀθλητικὴν ἕξιν ἐμποιοῦσι, λωβώμεναι τά τε εἴδη καὶ τὴν αὔξησιν τῶν σωμάτων, οἱ δὲ Λάκωνες ταύτην μὲν οὐχ ἥμαρτον τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, θηριώδεις δʼ ἀπεργάζονται τοῖς πόνοις, ὡς τοῦτο πρὸς ἀνδρείαν μάλιστα συμφέρον.
Now, those of the cities that seem to take the greatest care of their children, some of them produce an athletic disposition, ruining both the appearance and the growth of their bodies, while the Laconians did not indeed commit this error, but render them beastly by their labors, as this being most advantageous towards courage.
καίτοι, καθάπερ εἴρηται πολλάκις, οὔτε πρὸς μίαν οὔτε πρὸς μάλιστα ταύτην βλέποντα ποιητέον τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν· εἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς ταύτην, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐξευρίσκουσιν.
And yet, as has been said many times, one must not make this care looking either to a single virtue or to this one especially; and if indeed to this, they do not even find this.
οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις οὔτε ἐπὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὁρῶμεν τὴν ἀνδρείαν ἀκολουθοῦσαν τοῖς ἀγριωτάτοις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἡμερωτέροις καὶ λεοντώδεσιν ἤθεσιν.
For neither among the other animals nor in the case of nations do we see courage accompanying the most wild, but rather the gentler and lion-like characters.
πολλὰ δʼ ἔστι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἃ πρὸς τὸ κτείνειν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀνθρωποφαγίαν εὐχερῶς ἔχει, καθάπερ τῶν περὶ τὸν Πόντον Ἀχαιοί τε καὶ Ἡνίοχοι καὶ τῶν ἠπειρωτικῶν ἐθνῶν ἕτερα, τὰ μὲν ὁμοίως τούτοις τὰ δὲ μᾶλλον, ἃ λῃστρικὰ μέν ἐστιν, ἀνδρείας δʼ οὐ μετειλήφασιν.
And there are many of the nations that are ready for slaughter and cannibalism, just like the Achaeans and Heniochi around the Pontus, and others of the mainland nations, some similarly to these and others more so, which are predatory indeed, but have no share of courage.
ἔτι δʼ αὐτοὺς τοὺς Λάκωνας ἴσμεν, ἕως μὲν αὐτοὶ προσήδρευον ταῖς φιλοπονίαις, ὑπερέχοντας τῶν ἄλλων, νῦν δὲ κἀν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσι κἀν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς λειπομένους ἑτέρων· οὐ γὰρ τῷ τοὺς νέους γυμνάζειν τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον διέφερον, ἀλλὰ μόνον τῷ πρὸς μὴ ἀσκοῦντας ἀσκεῖν.
And furthermore, we know that the Laconians themselves, as long as they themselves alone applied themselves to laborious exercises, surpassed others, but now are left behind by others both in athletic contests and in warfare; for they did not excel by training their youth in this manner, but only by training against those who did not train.
ὥστε τὸ καλὸν ἀλλʼ οὐ τὸ θηριῶδες δεῖ πρωταγωνιστεῖν· οὐδὲ γὰρ λύκος οὐδʼ οὐδὲν τῶν ἄλλων θηρίων τι ἀγωνίσαιτο ἂν οὐθένα καλὸν κίνδυνον, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός, οἱ δὲ λίαν εἰς ταῦτα ἀνέντες τοὺς παῖδας, καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἀπαιδαγωγήτους ποιήσαντες, βαναύσους κατεργάζονται κατά γε τὸ ἀληθές, πρὸς ἕν τε μόνον ἔργον τῆς πολιτικῆς χρησίμους ποιήσαντες, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο χεῖρον, ὥς φησιν ὁ λόγος, ἑτέρων.
So that the beautiful, and not the beastly, must play the leading part; for neither a wolf nor any other of the wild beasts would contend in any noble danger, but rather a good man; whereas those who have let go of their children too much into these things, and have made them uneducated in necessary things, render them vulgar in truth, making them useful for only one task of civic life, and worse at this, as our argument says, than others.
δεῖ δὲ οὐκ ἐκ τῶν προτέρων ἔργων κρίνειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν νῦν· ἀνταγωνιστὰς γὰρ τῆς παιδείας νῦν ἔχουσι, πρότερον δʼ οὐκ εἶχον.
But one must judge not from their former deeds, but from those of now; for they now have rivals in education, whereas formerly they did not have.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν χρηστέον τῇ γυμναστικῇ, καὶ πῶς χρηστέον, ὁμολογούμενόν ἐστιν (μέχρι μὲν γὰρ ἥβης κουφότερα γυμνάσια προσοιστέον, τὴν βίαιον τροφὴν καὶ τοὺς πρὸς ἀνάγκην πόνους ἀπείργοντας, ἵνα μηθὲν ἐμπόδιον ᾖ πρὸς τὴν αὔξησιν·
That, therefore, we must employ gymnastics, and how we must employ it, is agreed upon (for up to puberty, one must apply lighter exercises, excluding forced diet and compulsory labors, so that nothing may be an obstacle to growth;