Político

Str. Then, now that we have discovered the various classes in a State, shall I analyse politics after the pattern which weaving supplied ?

Y. Soc. I greatly wish that you would.

Str. Then I must describe the nature of the royal web, and show how the various threads are woven into one piece.

Y. Soc. Clearly.

Str. A task has to be accomplished, which although difficult, appears to be necessary.

Y. Soc. Certainly the attempt must be made.

Str. The art of the king has been separated from the similar arts of shepherds, and, indeed, from all those which have to do with herds at all. There still remain, however, of the causal and co-operative arts those which are immediately concerned with States, and which must first be distinguished from one another.

Y. Soc. Very good.

Str. You know that these arts cannot easily be divided into two halves ; the reason will be very : evident as we proceed.

Y. Soc. Then we had better do so.

Str. Would that we had Socrates, but I have to satisfy myself as well as you ; and in my judgment the figure of the king is not yet perfected ; like statuaries who, in their too great haste, having overdone the several parts of their work, lose time in cutting them down, so too we, partly out of haste, partly out of haste, partly out of a magnanimous desire to expose our former error, and also because we imagined that a king required grand illustrations, have taken up a marvellous lump of fable, and have been obliged to use more than was necessary.

Str. Then the sciences must be divided as before ?

Y. Soc. I dare say.

Str. But yet the division will not be the same ?

Y. Soc. How then ?

Str. They will be divided at some other point.

Y. Soc. Yes.

Str. Where shall we discover the path of the Statesman ? We must find and separate off, and set our seal upon this, and we will set the mark of another class upon all diverging paths. Thus the soul will conceive of ail kinds of knowledge under two classes.

Y. Soc. To find the path is your business, Stranger, and not mine.

Socrates. I owe you many thanks, indeed, Theodorus, for the acquaintance both of Theaetetus and of the Stranger.

Theodorus. And in a little while, Socrates, you will owe me three times as many, when they have completed for you the delineation of the Statesman and of the Philosopher, as well as of the Sophist.

Soc. Sophist, statesman, philosopher ! O my dear Theodorus, do my ears truly witness that this is the estimate formed of them by the great calculator and geometrician ?

Theod. What do you mean, Socrates ?

ESTRANGEIRO — Eis, pois, a que laços eu me referia, dizendo que não seriam absolutamente difíceis de formar, desde que essas duas raças tivessem a mesma opinião sobre o bem e o mal. E aqui está, pois, a verdadeira função dessa arte real de tecedura: jamais permitir o estabelecimento do divórcio entre o caráter moderado e o caráter enérgico, antes uni-los pela comunidade de opiniões, honras e glórias, pela troca de promessas, para fazer deles um tecido flexível e, como se diz, bem cerrado, confiando-lhes sempre em comum as magistraturas nas cidades.

SÓCRATES, O JOVEM — Como?

ESTRANGEIRO — Quanto aos demais, suficientemente bem nascidos para que uma boa formação possa levá-los às virtudes generosas e para que um método hábil possa amalgamá-los uns aos outros, se se inclinarem mais para a energia, pela rigidez de seu caráter, a ciência real marcará o seu lugar na urdidura; os outros que se inclinam mais para a moderação constituem, para essa mesma ciência, e prosseguindo em nossa comparação, o tecido flexível e brando da trama. Sendo opostas suas tendências, a política se esforça por uni-los e entrelaçá-los da seguinte maneira.

ESTRANGEIRO — Não temos assim verificado o primeiro ponto de nossa pesquisa, isto é, que certas partes da virtude, e não pequenas, são por natureza opostas entre si, e engendram, nos espíritos onde residem, as mesmas oposições?

SÓCRATES, O JOVEM — Parece.