[465d]
ignoble and not deserving of mention.”
“Even a blind1 man can see these,”
he said.“From all these, then, they
will be finally free, and they will live a happier life than that men count
most happy, the life of the victors at Olympia.2” “How so?”
“The things for which those are felicitated are a small part of
what is secured for these. Their victory is fairer and their public support
more complete. For the prize of victory that they win is the salvation of
the entire state, the fillet that binds their brows is the public support of
themselves and their children—
1 Proverbial. Cf. Sophist 241 D.
2 Cf. 540B-C, 621D, Laws 715C, 807C, 840A, 946-947, 964C, Cicero Pro Flacco 31 “Olympionicen esse apud Graecos prope maius et gloriosius est quam Romae trimphasse.” The motive is anticipated or parodied by Dracontion, Athenaeus 237 D, where the parasite boasts—γέρα γὰρ αὐτοῖς ταῦτα τοῖς τἀλύμπιανικῶσι δέδοται χρηστότητος οὕνεκα.
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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