James Adam, The Republic of Plato

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ὧδε δὴ προθώμεθα: ‘let us put it before us in this way.’ The object is easily supplied, and in other respects προτίθεσθαι is used as in II 375 D, Phil. 36 E and elsewhere: so that there is no good reason for suspecting the text. ὑποθώμεθα (Richards) has a different and less suitable meaning.

πράττοντας κτλ. Cf. Aristotle's definition of tragedy as μίμησις πράξεως κτλ. (Poet. 6. 1449^{b} 24) and Plato Laws 817 A ff. See also Stählin Stellung d. Poesie etc. pp. 35 f.

μή τι -- ταῦτα; ‘It was nothing beyond this, was it?’ I have adopted Ast's conjecture (see cr. n.), which Schneider also favours, in preference to omitting ᾖ with q and two other MSS, Stallbaum, and Baiter. The imperfect may be a reminiscence of III 399 A—C. The different usages of μή with the subjunctive have not yet been thoroughly explained (see Cl. Rev. X pp. 150—153, 239—244), but it seems clear that μή cannot in interrogative sentences with the 3rd person subjunctive mean ‘num,’ and the meaning ‘perhaps’ (as in μὴ ἀληθὲς ᾖ） is unsuitable. The only exact parallel to this idiom in Plato is Parm. 163 D where Heindorf similarly restores ἦν, apparently with Waddell's approval. See however on the other hand Goodwin MT. p. 93.