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Plato Bilingual Anthology : TYRANNY AND SLAVERY

from Politeia, * 577c--580a, translated by B. Jowett

Greek Fonts / Plato Complete works / Plato Concept


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Page 2

And the tyrannical soul must be always poor and insatiable? 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. Yes, I replied, but in this high argument you should be a little more certain, and should not conjecture only; for of all questions, this respecting good and evil is the greatest. Very true, he said. Καὶ ψυχὴν ἄρα τυραννικὴν πενιχρὰν καὶ ἄπληστον ἀνάγκη ἀεὶ εἶναι. Οὕτως͵ ἦ δ΄ ὅς. Τί δέ; φόβου γέμειν ἆρ΄ οὐκ ἀνάγκη τήν τε τοιαύτην πόλιν τόν τε τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα; Πολλή γε. Ὀδυρμούς τε καὶ στεναγμοὺς καὶ θρήνους καὶ ἀλγηδόνας οἴει ἔν τινι ἄλλῃ πλείους εὑρήσειν; Οὐδαμῶς. Ἐν ἀνδρὶ δὲ ἡγῇ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ πλείω εἶναι ἢ ἐν τῷ μαινομένῳ ὑπὸ ἐπιθυμιῶν τε καὶ ἐρώτων τούτῳ τῷ τυραννικῷ; Πῶς γὰρ ἄν; ἔφη. Εἰς πάντα δὴ οἶμαι ταῦτά τε καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα ἀποβλέψας τήν τε πόλιν τῶν πόλεων ἀθλιωτάτην ἔκρινας Οὐκοῦν ὀρθῶς; ἔφη. Καὶ μάλα͵ ἦν δ΄ ἐγώ. ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὖ τοῦ τυραννικοῦ τί λέγεις εἰς ταὐτὰ ταῦτα ἀποβλέπων; Μακρῷ͵ ἔφη͵ ἀθλιώτατον εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων. Τοῦτο͵ ἦν δ΄ ἐγώ͵ οὐκέτ΄ ὀρθῶς λέγεις. Πῶς; ἦ δ΄ ὅς. Οὔπω͵ ἔφην͵ οἶμαι͵ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοιοῦτος μάλιστα. Ἀλλὰ τίς μήν; Ὅδε ἴσως σοι ἔτι δόξει εἶναι τούτου ἀθλιώτερος. Ποῖος; Ὃς ἄν͵ ἦν δ΄ ἐγώ͵ τυραννικὸς ὢν μὴ ἰδιώτην βίον κατα βιῷ͵ ἀλλὰ δυστυχὴς ᾖ καὶ αὐτῷ ὑπό τινος συμφορᾶς ἐκπορισθῇ ὥστε τυράννῳ γενέσθαι. Τεκμαίρομαί σε͵ ἔφη͵ ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων ἀληθῆ λέγειν. Ναί͵ ἦν δ΄ ἐγώ͵ ἀλλ΄ οὐκ οἴεσθαι χρὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα͵ ἀλλ΄ εὖ μάλα τῷ τοιούτῳ λόγῳ σκοπεῖν· περὶ γάρ τοι τοῦ μεγίστου ἡ σκέψις͵ ἀγαθοῦ τε βίου καὶ κακοῦ. Ὀρθότατα͵ ἦ δ΄ ὅς.
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