Plato, Republic

[550a] and prove himself more of a man than his father, and when the lad goes out he hears and sees the same sort of thing.¹ Men who mind their own affairs² in the city are spoken of as simpletons and are held in slight esteem, while meddlers who mind other people's affairs are honored and praised. Then it is³ that the youth, hearing and seeing such things, and on the other hand listening to the words of his father, and with a near view of his pursuits contrasted with those of other men, is solicited by both, his father [550b] watering and fostering the growth of the rational principle⁴ in his soul and the others the appetitive and the passionate⁵; and as he is not by nature of a bad disposition but has fallen into evil communications,⁶ under these two solicitations he comes to a compromise⁷ and turns over the government in his soul⁸ to the intermediate principle of ambition and high spirit and becomes a man haughty of soul⁹ and covetous of honor.¹⁰” “You have, I think, most exactly described his origin.” [550c] “Then,” said I, “we have our second polity and second type of man.” “We have,” he said.

“Shall we then, as Aeschylus: would say, “‘tell of another champion before another gate,’”Aesch. Seven 451¹¹ or rather, in accordance with our plan,¹² the city first?” “That, by all means,” he said. “The next polity, I believe, would be oligarchy.” “And what kind of a regime,” said he, “do you understand by oligarchy?” “That based on a property qualification,¹³” said I, “wherein the rich hold office [550d] and the poor man is excluded.” “I understand,” said he. “Then, is not the first thing to speak of how democracy passes over into this?” “Yes.” “And truly,” said I, “the manner of the change is plain even to the proverbial blind man.¹⁴” “How so?” “That treasure-house¹⁵ which each possesses filled with gold destroys that polity; for first they invent ways of expenditure for themselves and pervert the laws to this end, [550e] and neither they nor their wives obey them.” “That is likely,” he said. “And then, I take it, by observing and emulating one another they bring the majority of them to this way of thinking.” “That is likely,” he said. “And so, as time goes on, and they advance¹⁶ in the pursuit of wealth, the more they hold that in honor the less they honor virtue. May not the opposition of wealth and virtue¹⁷ be conceived as if each lay in the scale¹⁸ of a balance inclining opposite ways?” “Yes, indeed,” he said. “So, when wealth is honored