Plato, Republic, Paul Shorey (Translator), 3.417

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[417] Gold and silver, we will tell them, they have of the divine quality from the gods always in their souls, and they have no need of the metal of men nor does holiness suffer them to mingle and contaminate that heavenly possession with the acquisition of mortal gold, since many impious deeds have been done about 417a the coin of the multitude, while that which dwells within them is unsullied. But for these only of all the dwellers in the city it is not lawful to handle gold and silver and to touch them nor yet to come under the same roof¹ with them, nor to hang them as ornaments on their limbs nor to drink from silver and gold. So living they would save themselves and save their city.² But whenever they shall acquire for themselves land of their own and houses and coin, they will be house-holders and farmers instead of guardians, and will be transformed 417b from the helpers of their fellow citizens to their enemies and masters,³ and so in hating and being hated,⁴ plotting and being plotted against they will pass their days fearing far more and rather⁵ the townsmen within than the foemen without—and then even then laying the course⁶ of near shipwreck for themselves and the state. For all these reasons, said I, let us declare that such must be the provision for our guardians in lodging and other respects and so legislate. Shall we not? By all means, said Glaucon.

Republic. Plato. Paul Shorey (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-37.

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Current edition Perseus

Republic (English) (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 5-6. Shorey, Paul, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935-37 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Πολιτεία Perseus (Platonis Opera Tomus IV: Tetralogia VIII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 3.417 focus

[417] χρυσίον δὲ καὶ ἀργύριον εἰπεῖν αὐτοῖς ὅτι θεῖον παρὰ θεῶν ἀεὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἔχουσι καὶ οὐδὲν προσδέονται τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου, οὐδὲ ὅσια τὴν ἐκείνου κτῆσιν τῇ τοῦ θνητοῦ χρυσοῦ κτήσει συμμειγνύντας μιαίνειν, διότι πολλὰ καὶ ἀνόσια περὶ τὸ τῶν 417a πολλῶν νόμισμα γέγονεν, τὸ παρʼ ἐκείνοις δὲ ἀκήρατον· ἀλλὰ μόνοις αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει μεταχειρίζεσθαι καὶ ἅπτεσθαι χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου οὐ θέμις, οὐδʼ ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν ὄροφον ἰέναι οὐδὲ περιάψασθαι οὐδὲ πίνειν ἐξ ἀργύρου ἢ χρυσοῦ. καὶ οὕτω μὲν σῴζοιντό τʼ ἂν καὶ σῴζοιεν τὴν πόλιν· ὁπότε δʼ αὐτοὶ γῆν τε ἰδίαν καὶ οἰκίας καὶ νομίσματα κτήσονται, οἰκονόμοι μὲν καὶ γεωργοὶ ἀντὶ φυλάκων ἔσονται, 417b δεσπόται δʼ ἐχθροὶ ἀντὶ συμμάχων τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν γενήσονται, μισοῦντες δὲ δὴ καὶ μισούμενοι καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντες καὶ ἐπιβουλευόμενοι διάξουσι πάντα τὸν βίον, πολὺ πλείω καὶ μᾶλλον δεδιότες τοὺς ἔνδον ἢ τοὺς ἔξωθεν πολεμίους, θέοντες ἤδη τότε ἐγγύτατα ὀλέθρου αὐτοί τε καὶ ἡ ἄλλη πόλις. τούτων οὖν πάντων ἕνεκα, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, φῶμεν οὕτω δεῖν κατεσκευάσθαι τοὺς φύλακας οἰκήσεώς τε πέρι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ ταῦτα νομοθετήσωμεν, ἢ μή;
πάνυ γε, ἦ δʼ ὃς ὁ Γλαύκων.

Notes on the current edition

Republic

1. As if the accursed and tainted metal were a polluted murderer or temple-robber. Cf. my note on Horace, Odes iii. 2. 27

sub isdem trabibus,

Antiphon v. 11.

2. Cf. 621 B-C, and Laws692 A.

3. δεσπόται. Cf. Menexenus 238 E.

4. Cf. Laws 697 D in a passage of similar import,

μισοῦντες μισοῦνται

5. more and rather: so 396 D, 551 B.

6. The image is that of a ship nearing the fatal reef. Cf. Aeschylus, Eumenides 562. The sentiment and the heightened rhetorical tone of the whole passage recalls the last page of the Critias, with Ruskin’s translation and comment in A Crown of Wild Olive.

Commentary

Commentary on Plato, Republic (Plato. The Republic, Vol 1-2. Adam, James, editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902-1903.) focus

ὑπὸ ‐‐ ἰέναι : as though Wealth communicated a taint, like a murderer sub isdem trabibus ( ὁμωρόφιος). The Greek is much more expressive and picturesque than Apelt's conjecture ὑπὸ τὸν αὑτῶν ὄροφον προσιέναι ( Observ. Cr. p. 11).

σῴζοιντό τ’ ἂν καὶ σῴζοιεν . Cf. 621 B μῦθος ἐσώθη—καὶ ἡμᾶς ἂν σώσειεν. σῴζεσθαι of moral salvation is common in Plato: cf. e.g. VI 492 E, 502 B.

ὁπότε δ) αὐτοὶ ‐‐ ἔσονται . From this sentence it seems clear that the community of goods does not extend to the lower classes, although Aristotle complains that Plato has not said anything precise upon the matter ( Pol. B 5. 1264^{a} 15). Aristotle seems, however, to have understood that they were not to have common wives, for he cynically observes that it would have been better if they had, as then they would have been more divided and less likely to combine against the guardians (ib. 4. 1262^{a} 40 ff.).

Plato Republic 3.417

Paul Shorey (Translator)

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