Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

οἷς ὑπῆρξεν: whose fortune it was. The original meaning of ὑπάρχειν, “to be as a foundation,” “to begin with,” becomes gradually weaker as time goes on. The dat. in the pred. here passes over into the acc. as subj. of the inf. (ἱκανούς and εἶναι) as is frequently the case, especially in long periods. Kr. 55, 2, 5, 7. The cause here lies in the necessary addition of αὐτούς.

ἀρχήν τινα κτἑ.: the word ἀρχή can be applied to any position of power, whether in a democracy or not. Thuc. ii. 65. 9 says of Athens ἐγίγνετό τε λόγῳ μὲν δημοκρατία, ἔργῳ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου ἀνδρὸς (i.e. Pericles) ἀρχή. The idea of τυραννίς is well known; cf. Nepos, Milt. 8. 3. δυναστεία combined with τυραννίς is not infrequently (479 a, Thuc. iii. 62. 3) used of oligarchs, but it is also a designation of princes, both smaller and greater (524 e, 525 d).

αἴσχιον καὶ κάκιον: declare as strongly as possible the inappropriateness of the practice of virtue for such men; it becomes for them really a shame and an evil.

τούτξις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις: pur posely placed at the end of the clause (as above διὰ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀνανδρίαν), and to emphasize the contrast, ἀνθρώπων, which is usually wanting, is added in the next clause after τῶν πολλῶν.—

οἷς ἐξὸν κτἑ.: such connexion of the subordinate to the principal clause is idiomatic in Greek and Latin. Cf. Symp. 174 e οἷ μὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς παῖδά τινα τῶν ἔνδον ἀπαντήσαντα ἄγειν οὗ κατέκειντο οἱ ἄλλοι. Nep. Thrasy. 4. 1 “huic . . . corona a populo data est; quam quod . . . non vis expresserat nullam habuit invidiam.” Notice the necessary shift in ἐξόν and μηδενὸς . . . ὄντος due to the change from impersonal to personal. The participles are both practically concessive, the neg. μή being due to the conditional coloring.

τῶν πολλῶν κτἑ.: notice the assonance (παρίσωσις) in νόμον, λόγον, ψόγον.