[499d]
far beyond our ken, or shall hereafter
be, we are prepared to maintain our contention1 that the
constitution we have described has been, is, or will be2
realized3 when this philosophic Muse has taken control of the state.4 It
is not a thing impossible to happen, nor are we speaking of impossibilities.
That it is difficult we too admit.” “I also think
so,” he said. “But the multitude—are you going
to say?—does not think so,” said I. “That may
be,” he said. “My dear fellow,”
1 For the ellipsis of the first person of the verb Parmen. 137 C, Laches 180 A. The omission of the third person is very frequent.
2 Cf. 492 E, Laws 711 E, 739 C, 888 E.
3 Cf. Vol. I. Introd. p. xxxii, and ibid. on 472 B, and What Plato Said, p. 564, also 540 D, Newman, Aristot.Pol. i. p. 377.
4 This is what I have called the ABA style. Cf. 599 E, Apol. 20 C, Phaedo 57 B, Laches 185 A, Protag. 344 C, Theaet. 185 A, 190 B, etc. It is nearly what Riddell calls binary structure, Apology, pp. 204-217.
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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