[412a]
by the proper degree of tension
and relaxation of each.” “Yes, so it appears,”
he said. “Then he who best blends gymnastics with music and
applies them most suitably to the soul is the man whom we should most
rightly pronounce to be the most perfect and harmonious musician, far rather
than the one who brings the strings into unison with one another.1” “That seems
likely, Socrates,” he said. “And shall we not also need
in our city, Glaucon, a permanent overseer2 of this kind if its
constitution is to be preserved?”
1 For virtue as “music” Cf. Phaedo61 A, Laches 188 D, and Iago's “There is a daily music in his life.” The “perfect musician” is the professor of the royal art of Politicus 306-308 ff. which harmonizes the two temperaments, not merely by education, but by elminating extremes through judicious marriages.
2 This “epistates” is not the director of education of Laws 765 D ff., though of course he or it will control education. It is rather an anticipation of the philosophic rulers, as appears from 497 C-D, and corresponds to the nocturnal council of Laws 950 B ff. Cf. Unity of Plato's Thought, p. 86, note 650.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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