Plato Republic 6.498

τὸ μεταξύ means ‘in the interval before entering upon’ (Richards in Cl. Rev. II p. 324). The correlating or contrasting notion is idiomatically omitted: cf. note on περιαγωγῆς in VII 518 E. Plentiful examples of this usage are supplied by Shilleto on Dem. F. L. 181, and Blaydes on Ar. Ach. 434 μεταξὺ τῶν Ἰνοῦς and Birds 187. With the sentiment cf. 487 C note Richards was, I believe, the first to point out the true meaning of this passage: see also Solomon in Cl. Rev. VII p. 11. The traditional view, that μεταξὺ κτλ. means ‘in the spare moments of housekeeping and business,’ though still given as an alternative by J. and C., is untenable.

οἱ ‐‐ ποιούμενοι : ‘and they it is, forsooth, who are regarded as accomplished in philosophy.’ Sarcasm is often expressed by an appositional participial clause at the end of a sentence: cf. e.g. Ap. 34 A , Crito 51 A. ποιεῖσθαι here is the passive of ποιεῖν in the sense of ‘to construct in fancy,’ ‘represent,’ as e.g. in Theaet. 197 D and infra X 609 C. The usage is at first sight strange, but occurs again in VIII 538 C, IX 573 B and 574 D, where no other meaning is suitable. Stallbaum's attempt to explain the passages differently is unsuccessful, and the proposed emendations (such as Ast's δοκούμενοι for ποιούμενοι) are unsatisfactory in each of the four cases. See notes ad ll.

ἐὰν καί goes with ἐθέλωσιν (Schneider): ‘if they do consent’ (cf. καὶ ἁπτόμενοι above). It is implied that many, or most of them, do not.

μεγάλα κτλ. Plato distinguishes three stages. In the first, τὸ περὶ λόγους is a man's ἔργον after boyhood until he begins practical life; it then becomes his πάρεργον, and he ‘thinks it great things’ to go to an occasional lecture: towards old age all but very few neglect philosophy entirely. The proper study of philosophy reverses all this ( πᾶν τοὐναντίον) as is shewn in B and C.

τοῦ Ἡρακλειτείου ἡλίου . Heraclitus Fr. 32 B ywater νέος ἐφ’ ἡμέρῃ ἥλιος. Heraclitus meant the saying to be taken literally, and not merely as an expression of the universal law of change: see the authorities cited by Bywater ad loc. and Zeller^{5} I p. 684 note 2.

φιλοσοφίαν κτλ. φιλοσοφίαν in its wider sense denotes any ‘liberal’ training or study: cf. Theaet. 143 D , 172 C, and Prot. 335 D with my note ad loc. D. and V. are in error (as Bosanquet remarks) when they translate παιδείαν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν by ‘a course of training in philosophy.’ Nor is Susemihl ( Gen. Entw. II p. 187) right in supposing that the reference is to the musical education of the earlier books. Plato explains what he means in VII 536 D, E.

ἀνδροῦται . The early editors read ἁδροῦται (with Ξ). ἁδροῦμαι is a rare and somewhat obscure word, nowhere found in Plato; and it is better to retain ἀνδροῦται, although the subject is not μειράκια, but σώματα.

ὑπηρεσίαν φιλοσοφίᾳ κτωμένους sums up in a single phrase the Platonic theory of athletics: see on III 410 A ff. and cf. IX 591 C, D.

ἐν ᾗ . Richards would write ἐν ᾧ as in ἐν ᾧ βλαστάνει above, asserting that “ ἡ ἡλικία is their years, not any particular time of life”; but ἡ ἡλικία is often so used, e.g. Symp. 209 B and Men. 89 B . Nor is ἐν ᾧ, ‘while,’ appropriate here. Translate ‘when the years advance, in which the soul begins to reach its maturity.’

γίγνηται κτλ. The subject is still ἡ ῥώμη, ‘their physical strength,’ not τις (as J. and C. assert). In ἀφέτους νέμεσθαι the metaphor (as observed by Heindorf on Prot. 320 A ) is taken de grege numini alicui consecrato: cf. Critias 119 D ἀφέτων ὄντων ταύρων ἐν τῷ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερῷ. νέμεσθαι is properly ‘to graze.’ The effect of the Greek may be conveyed by rendering ‘they roam the sacred fields at will,’ although ἀφέτους of course agrees with the subject of νέμεσθαι .

ἀντιτείνειν κτλ. I formerly read ἀντιτενεῖν with Stephanus and others; but the present, which is in all the MSS, gives a good sense and makes a better balance with λέγειν προθύμως. Translate ‘offer a still more enthusiastic opposition, being not in the least likely to agree.’ The majority of editors retain the present.

ἀπὸ Θρασυμάχου κτλ. Thrasymachus was not likely to agree with so fierce an onslaught on his profession: see 493 A ff., 495 C ff.

οὐδὲ ‐‐ ὄντας . Cf. 1 354 A note

αὖθις γενόμενοι ‘born again’ implies the re-incarnation of the Soul, as described in the end of Book X: see on 608 D ff. It is from casual allusions like the present, made in all seriousness, that we can best understand how profound and practical was Plato's belief in immortality. The seed sown here may bear its fruit in another life, so that the educator need not despair.

εἰς μικρὸν κτλ. is not merely ironical but incredulous. We need not therefore (with J. and C.) be surprised at Glauco's incredulity and wonder in X 608 D. For οὐδέν ‘a mere nothing’ ‘nought,’ the much less expressive οὐδένα was conjectured by Hirschig and others. An exact parallel may be found in X 608 C. The grandeur and elevation of this passage recall VI 486 A.

τοιαῦτ’ ἄττα κτλ. Plato is here alluding to epideictic harangues by sophistical rhetoricians of the school of Gorgias. τοιαῦτ’ ἄττα ῥήματα=‘expressions of this sort’ refers to the jingle in γενόμενον—λεγόμενον, which is an example of the rhetorical device called παρομοίωσις: see Arist. Rhet. III 9. 1410^{a} 24 ff. παρομοίωσις δ’ ἐὰν ὅμοια τὰ ἔσχατα ἔχῃ ἑκάτερον τὸ κῶλον, e.g. ἐν πλείσταις δὲ φροντίσι καὶ ἐν ἐλαχίσταις ἐλπίσι, and many other examples: see Cope ad loc. In ἐξεπίτηδες—ὡμοιωμένα, ‘assimilated to one another of set purpose,’ the same device is meant. Isocrates and his literary brethren employed it constantly: see the references on 495 E.

ἀλλ) οὐκ ‐‐ συμπεσόντα κτλ. : ‘instead of spontaneously chiming together, as in the present case’ etc., where the παρομοίωσις of γενόμενον and λεγόμενον is ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου (‘natural,’ ‘spontaneous,’ ‘accidental’ as opposed to ἐξεπίτηδες). παρισωμένον and ὡμοιωμένον are said with a reference to παρίσωσις (the equality of clauses, as for example in Isocr. Paneg. 76: see Cope l.c. p. 106) and παρομοίωσις. The Many have had quite enough of παρίσωσις etc. in words; but they have never seen a Man παρισώμενον τῇ ἀρετῇ. Plato means that the time for mincing Rhetoric is past; we want a Man ( ἄνδρα is emphatic), “with heart head hand, One still strong man in a blatant land, Who can rule, and dare not lie” (Tennyson). It is highly probable, as Dümmler holds ( Chron. Beitr. p. 14), that Plato has specially in view Isocrates' Panegyricus throughout this passage. The contemptible devices which Plato here ridicules are extraordinarily common in that harangue. For other views of this passage see App. III.