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τὸ δέ γε: ‘yes, but in point of fact.’ For τὸ δέ in this sense cf. I 340 D note τὸ δέ γε ἀληθές below expresses the same meaning more fully and emphatically. δἰ ὃ -- οὕτως. The imperfect ὠφέλει (see cr. n.), ‘for which reason also it was of service to us,’ viz. in discovering the real or original justice, seems to me better than the present. See II 368 D ff. Plato is justifying himself for having taken so much trouble about a mere εἴδωλον; it was in order to learn the original through the copy. So also Hartman. The present could only mean ‘benefits the city’ (so Schneider, Rettig and others). Madvig, strangely enough, suspects the whole phrase. Civic Justice is an εἴδωλον of Justice in the soul as being its reflection in outward conduct. See also on 443 B ff. above. τοιοῦτο takes its meaning from τὸ τὸν μὲν σκυτοτομικόν etc. ‘Justice was indeed something of this kind’ (i.e. a sort of τὰ αὑτοῦ πράττειν), but not περὶ τὴν ἔξω πρᾶξιν. The warning conveyed by εἶδος and τρόπον τινά in 433 A (where see note), 433 B and 432 E is now justified: for Justice is said to be περὶ τὴν ἐντὸς πρᾶξιν, and is therefore not, strictly speaking, that which we have called ‘Civic Justice.’
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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