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ὀλιγάκις -- ὀλίγας . ὀλιγάκις καὶ ὀλίγας is half-proverbial. For καὶ ὀλίγας Stephanus conjectured καὶ ὀλίγοις or καὶ ἐν ὀλίγοις, Richards κἀν ὀλίγοις, comparing Arist. Eth. Nic. VII 11. 1151^{b} 30 διὰ το τὴν ἑτέραν ἐν ὀλίγοις καὶ ὀλιγάκις εἶναι φανεράν. But ἐν ὀλίγοις would be inelegant after ἐν ἀνθρώποις, and Plato could not have written ὀλίγην. A similar but easier change from the generic singular to the plural occurs III 408 B and infra 500 C. Translate, keeping the anacoluthon; ‘that such a nature—one possessed of all the qualities’ etc.—‘such natures are few and far between among mankind.’ ὃ -- ὅτι. Cf. I 330 B note ἀπόλλυσι κτλ. Krohn (Pl. St. p. 114) asks how courage and temperance can tend to corrupt the character. The answer is given by Plato in 494 B ff. They bring their possessor to the front, and therefore expose him to the solicitations of selfish and unscrupulous men. It should be carefully borne in mind that ἀνδρεία and the other virtues are here regarded, not as the result of education, but as natural qualities, derived from the philosopher's native love of truth. We are in fact dealing with the potentiality of the τελέως φιλόσοφος (491 A). It is this which suffers corruption, not the actualized philosopher. Cf. Krohn l.c. p. 115 and Pfleiderer Zur Lösung etc. p. 26.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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