Plato, Republic, ed. John Burnet, 9.575

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[575] τυραννευθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ Ἔρωτος, οἷος ὀλιγάκις ἐγίγνετο ὄναρ, ὕπαρ τοιοῦτος ἀεὶ γενόμενος, οὔτε τινὸς φόνου δεινοῦ ἀφέξεται οὔτε βρώματος οὔτʼ ἔργου, 575a ἀλλὰ τυραννικῶς ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἔρως ἐν πάσῃ ἀναρχίᾳ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ ζῶν, ἅτε αὐτὸς ὢν μόναρχος, τὸν ἔχοντά τε αὐτὸν ὥσπερ πόλιν ἄξει ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τόλμαν, ὅθεν αὑτόν τε καὶ τὸν περὶ αὑτὸν θόρυβον θρέψει, τὸν μὲν ἔξωθεν εἰσεληλυθότα ἀπὸ κακῆς ὁμιλίας, τὸν δʼ ἔνδοθεν ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν τρόπων καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἀνεθέντα καὶ ἐλευθερωθέντα· ἢ οὐχ οὗτος ὁ βίος τοῦ τοιούτου;
οὗτος μὲν οὖν, ἔφη.
καὶ ἂν μέν γε, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὀλίγοι οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἐν πόλει 575b ὦσι καὶ τὸ ἄλλο πλῆθος σωφρονῇ, ἐξελθόντες ἄλλον τινὰ δορυφοροῦσι τύραννον ἢ μισθοῦ ἐπικουροῦσιν, ἐάν που πόλεμος ᾖ· ἐὰν δʼ ἐν εἰρήνῃ τε καὶ ἡσυχίᾳ γένωνται, αὐτοῦ δὴ ἐν τῇ πόλει κακὰ δρῶσι σμικρὰ πολλά.
τὰ ποῖα δὴ λέγεις;
οἷα κλέπτουσι, τοιχωρυχοῦσι, βαλλαντιοτομοῦσι, λωποδυτοῦσιν, ἱεροσυλοῦσιν, ἀνδραποδίζονται· ἔστι δʼ ὅτε συκοφαντοῦσιν, ἐὰν δυνατοὶ ὦσι λέγειν, καὶ ψευδομαρτυροῦσι καὶ δωροδοκοῦσιν. 575c
σμικρά γʼ, ἔφη, κακὰ λέγεις, ἐὰν ὀλίγοι ὦσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι.
τὰ γὰρ σμικρά, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, πρὸς τὰ μεγάλα σμικρά ἐστιν, καὶ ταῦτα δὴ πάντα πρὸς τύραννον πονηρίᾳ τε καὶ ἀθλιότητι πόλεως, τὸ λεγόμενον, οὐδʼ ἵκταρ βάλλει. ὅταν γὰρ δὴ πολλοὶ ἐν πόλει γένωνται οἱ τοιοῦτοι καὶ ἄλλοι οἱ συνεπόμενοι αὐτοῖς, καὶ αἴσθωνται ἑαυτῶν τὸ πλῆθος, τότε οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ τὸν τύραννον γεννῶντες μετὰ δήμου ἀνοίας ἐκεῖνον, ὃς ἂν αὐτῶν μάλιστα αὐτὸς ἐν αὑτῷ μέγιστον καὶ πλεῖστον 575d ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τύραννον ἔχῃ.
εἰκότως γʼ, ἔφη· τυραννικώτατος γὰρ ἂν εἴη.
οὐκοῦν ἐὰν μὲν ἑκόντες ὑπείκωσιν· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἐπιτρέπῃ ἡ πόλις, ὥσπερ τότε μητέρα καὶ πατέρα ἐκόλαζεν, οὕτω πάλιν τὴν πατρίδα, ἐὰν οἷός τʼ ᾖ, κολάσεται ἐπεισαγόμενος νέους ἑταίρους, καὶ ὑπὸ τούτοις δὴ δουλεύουσαν τὴν πάλαι φίλην μητρίδα τε, Κρῆτές φασι, καὶ πατρίδα ἕξει τε καὶ θρέψει. καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τέλος ἂν εἴη τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνδρός. 575e
τοῦτο, ἦ δʼ ὅς, παντάπασί γε.

Republic. Plato. ed. John Burnet. Oxford. 1905.

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Πολιτεία (Greek) (Platonis Opera Tomus IV: Tetralogia VIII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.)

Translations (1)

Republic Perseus (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 5-6. Shorey, Paul, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935-37 (printing).) — 9.575 focus

[575] But now, when under the tyranny of his ruling passion, he is continuously and in waking hours what he rarely became in sleep, and he will refrain from no atrocity of murder nor from any food or deed, 575a but the passion that dwells in him as a tyrant will live in utmost anarchy and lawlessness, and, since it is itself sole autocrat, will urge the polity,¹ so to speak, of him in whom it dwells² to dare anything and everything in order to find support for himself and the hubbub of his henchmen,³ in part introduced from outside by evil associations, and in part released and liberated within by the same habits of life as his. Is not this the life of such a one? It is this, he said. And if, I said, there are only a few of this kind in a city, 575b and the others, the multitude as a whole, are sober-minded, the few go forth into exile and serve some tyrant elsewhere as bodyguard or become mercenaries in any war there may be. But if they spring up in time of peace and tranquillity they stay right there in the city and effect many small evils. What kind of evils do you mean? Oh, they just steal, break into houses, cut purses, strip men of their garments, plunder temples, and kidnap,⁴ and if they are fluent speakers they become sycophants and bear false witness and take bribes. 575c Yes, small evils indeed,⁵ he said, if the men of this sort are few. Why, yes, I said, for small evils are relatively small compared with great, and in respect of the corruption and misery of a state all of them together, as the saying goes, don’t come within hail⁶ of the mischief done by a tyrant. For when men of this sort and their followers become numerous in a state and realize their numbers, then it is they who, in conjunction with the folly of the people, create a tyrant out of that one of them who has 575d the greatest and mightiest tyrant in his own soul. Naturally, he said, for he would be the most tyrannical. Then if the people yield willingly—’tis well,⁷ but if the city resists him, then, just as in the previous case the man chastized his mother and his father, so now in turn will he chastize his fatherland if he can, bringing in new boon companions beneath whose sway he will hold and keep enslaved his once dear motherland⁸—as the Cretans name her—and fatherland. And this would be the end of such a man’s desire.⁹ 575e Yes, he said, this, just this.

Commentary

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

ἅτε αὐτὸς κτλ. : ‘being himself a monarch with sole sway will not only lead the man in whom he dwells as in a city unto every form of daring’ etc. τε is used ἀνακολούθως: see on II 373 B. The words ἅτε αὐτὸς ὢν μόναρχος suggest as the proper supplement of the τε clause something like ‘but will also make him a tyrant too’; and the sentiment appears in a somewhat different form in 575 C, D (where see notes). So Hoefer ( de part. Pl. p. 14) correctly explains the passage. Schneider understands κυβερνῶν or the like (to balance ὤν) after πόλιν—an impossible solution, which he himself abandoned afterwards in his translation. Others cancel τε ( q and Stallbaum), or suggest ἔχοντά τε καὶ τρέφοντα (Richards). Neither proposal is either necessary or probable. The words ὥσπερ πόλιν have also caused difficulty; and Vind. E offers the ingenious emendation πώλον ( sic). Should ὥσπερ πόλιν be connected with τὸν ἔχοντά τε αὐτόν or with ἄξει? The latter view has hitherto, I believe, been held; but the introduction of the parallel is very awkward, and, in point of fact, neither Ἔρως nor even the tyrant himself was said in Book VIII to lead the city into daring deeds (VIII 566 D ff., quoted by Stallbaum, is nothing to the point). On the other view ὥσπερ πόλιν is natural and easy: if ὁ ἔρως is a μόναρχος, ὁ ἔχων τὸν ἔρωτα is the πόλις where he rules. Cf. ἕως ἂν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὥσπερ ἐν πόλει πολιτείαν καταστήσωμεν 590 E.

ὑπὸ τῶν ‐‐ ἑαυτοῦ has been called ‘nonsense’ by Richards, who conjectures for καὶ ἑαυτοῦ either ἑαυτῷ, or καὶ αὐτόν: Herwerden contents himself with deleting καί. The text is assuredly sound; and although Stallbaum is here at fault, Vermehren correctly explained the passage as long ago as 1870 ( Pl. Stud. pp. 112 ff.). καί is quoque, and we should translate ‘by means of the same dispositions in himself also’ (“durch dieselben Eigenschaften auch seiner selbst” Vermehren). τῶν αὐτῶν sc. as those of his evil associates. The history of the State furnishes an exact parallel in the contrast between the foreign mercenaries and the emancipated slaves (VIII 567 D, E). Jowett's translation is right, but in his edition he still takes καί as ‘and.’

κλέπτουσι κτλ. recalls I 344 B (where see note) and 348 D. From Xen. Mem. I 2. 62 and Symp. 4. 36 it would seem that these crimes were commonly cited as instances of ἀδικία in the Socratic school. Cf. also Ar. Thesm. 817 ff.

ἐὰν ‐‐ τοιοῦτοι is bracketed by Herwerden. The words are certainly difficult, if σμικρά γε κακά be taken as ironical, for we have no right to render ἐάν by ‘even if’: “a small catalogue of evils—(even) if there are only a few such men!” J. and C. But there is no irony. The meaning is ‘True, they are small evils, if such men are few in number.’ ‘Yes,’ said I, ‘for small is small in comparison with great.’ Adimantus' caveat prepares us for ὅταν γὰρ δὴ πολλοὶ κτλ. below.

πονηρίᾳ : ‘in respect of a city's wretchedness and misery.’ For the datives cf. VI 509 D ( σαφηνείᾳ καὶ ἀσαφείᾳ), VIII 555 A and infra 576 C. Its union with ἀθλιότητι seems to shew that πονηρία is here ‘wretchedness’ rather than ‘vice,’ although the Greeks did not clearly separate the two ideas (see on I 335 B), and in Plato wickedness is misery.

οὐδ’ ἴκταρ βάλλει : ‘are not within sight of.’ The proverb means οὐδὲ ἐγγύς ἐστιν (Diogen. III 46. The other sources are given in Leutsch u. Schneidewin Paroem. Gr. II p. 43). Eustathius ( in Od. II 292. 27, quoted by Schneider) argues for the rough breathing ἵκταρ (see cr. n.), on the ground that the word comes from ἱκνοῦμαι; but it is clear from his argument, as well as from the other authorities, that ἴκταρ was the regular pronunciation.

ὅταν γὰρ δὴ κτλ. The tyrannical man is like the philosopher in one respect. He does not attain to his full development except in a city meet for him. See VI 497 A and Nettleship Lect. and Rem. II p. 318. With μετὰ δήμου ἀνοίας cf. Solon Frag. 11 ed. Bergk.

πλεῖστον ‐‐ τύραννον . The τύραννος is ἔρως: see 575 A τυραννικῶς ἐν αὐτῷ ὁ Ἔρως—ζῶν and 573 D. This explanation, with which Schneider agrees, is better than to make τύραννος equivalent merely to ‘the tyrannical element’ (cf. II 382 D note) and so weaken the force of τυραννικώτατος γὰρ ἂν εἴη. Plato here ignores the fact that if a successful tyrant has strong passions he is usually not less strong in capacity and will. If he were entirely the slave of Passion, he would not prove successful.

ἐὰν μὲν κτλ. Cf. Prot. 325 D . The idiom, which begins with Homer, is illustrated at length by Herwerden Mn. XIX pp. 338 f. The reference in ὥσπερ τότε is to 574 C. νέους is ‘new’ (Schneider), not ‘young’: cf. VIII 568 A note, and νεωστὶ φίλης, νεωστὶ φίλου 574 B, C. μητρίδα Photius (ed. Porson I p. 268) thus explains: μητρίδα· τὴν πατρίδα. καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Φερεκράτης. Cf. Synes. Ep. 93. 1460 A Migne μητρίδος, ὡς ἂν Κρῆτες εἴποιεν.

ἕξει τε καὶ θρέψει : ‘will have and hold’ (“haben und halten” Schneider). There is no sarcasm in θρέψει (“that is his way of supporting her!” J. and C.): nor does the word in this passage mean more than ‘keep.’

τοιοίδε γίγνονται . τοιοίδε “ad sequentia spectat” (Schneider), and γίγνονται=‘prove themselves,’ ‘shew themselves,’ as often.

Plato Republic 9.575

ed. John Burnet

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