[578c]
“What
one?” “The one,” said I, “who, being
of tyrannical temper, does not live out1 his life in private station2 but is so
unfortunate that by some unhappy chance he is enabled to become an actual
tyrant.” “I infer from what has already been
said,” he replied, “that you speak truly.”
“Yes,” said I, “but it is not enough to
suppose such things. We must examine them thoroughly by reason and an
argument such as this.3 For our inquiry concerns the
greatest of all things,4 the good life or the bad
life.” “Quite right,” he replied.
“Consider, then, if there is anything in what I say.
1 Cf. Protag. 355 A, Alc. I. 104 E, 579 C.
2 Stallbaum quotes Plut.De virtut. et vit. p. 101 D, Lucian, Herm. 67ἰδιώτην βίον ζῆν, Philo, Vit. Mos. 3.
3 Adam ad loc. emends τῷ τοιούτῳ to τῶ τοιοῦτω, insisting that the MS. reading cannot be satisfactorily explained.
4 Cf. Vol. I. p. 71, note f on 344 D-E, and What Plato Said, p. 484, on Laches 185 A.
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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