[540c]
Socrates
Well, will the rhapsode know better than the doctor what sort of thing a ruler of a sick man should say?Ion
Not in that case either.Socrates
But he will know the sort for a slave, you say?Ion
Yes.Socrates
For instance, if the slave is a cowherd, you say the rhapsode will know what the other should say to pacify his cows when they get fierce, but the cowherd will not?Ion
That is not so.Socrates
Well, the sort of thing that a woman ought to say—a spinning-woman—about the working of wool?
Well, will the rhapsode know better than the doctor what sort of thing a ruler of a sick man should say?Ion
Not in that case either.Socrates
But he will know the sort for a slave, you say?Ion
Yes.Socrates
For instance, if the slave is a cowherd, you say the rhapsode will know what the other should say to pacify his cows when they get fierce, but the cowherd will not?Ion
That is not so.Socrates
Well, the sort of thing that a woman ought to say—a spinning-woman—about the working of wool?