[375a]
so far as our strength
allows.” “No, we mustn't.” “Do you
think,” said I, “that there is any difference between
the nature of a well-bred hound for this watch-dog's work and of a well-born
lad?” “What point have you in mind?”
“I mean that each of them must be keen of perception, quick in
pursuit of what it has apprehended,1 and strong too if it has to fight
it out with its captive.” “Why, yes,” said he,
“there is need of all these qualities.” “And
it must, further, be brave2 if it is to fight
well.” “Of course.” “And will a
creature be ready to be brave that is not high-spirited, whether horse or
dog or
1 αἰσθανόμενον: present. There is no pause between perception and pursuit.
2 In common parlance. Philosophically speaking, no brute is brave.Laches 196 D, 430 B.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.