[429c]
that things to be feared are precisely those which and
such as the lawgiver1 inculcated in their education. Is
not that what you call bravery?” “I don't altogether
understand2 what you
said,” he replied; “but say it again.”
“A kind of conservation,” I said, “is what I
mean by bravery.” “What sort of a conservation3?” “The
conservation of the conviction which the law has created by education about
fearful things—what and what sort of things are to be feared. And
by the phrase ‘under all conditions4’ I mean that the
brave man preserves it both in pain
1 Cf. 442 C, Aristotle Eth. Nic. 1129 b 19προστάττει δ᾽ ὁ νόμος καὶ τὰ τοῦ ἀνδρείου ἔργα ποιεῖν.
2 Cf. on 347 A.
3 σωτηρίαν is the genus;Philebus 34 A, Def. Plat. 412 A-B. Hence ποίαν as often in the minor dialogues sometimes with a play on its idiomatic, contemptuous meaning. Cf. Laches 194 D.
4 In the Laches 191 D-E, and the Laws 633 D also, Plato generalizes courage to include resistance to the lure of pleasure.
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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