Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

τὴν τῶν ἀμυήτων: emphatically added, because what follows applies only to οἱ ἀμύητοι. The soul is here, as a whole, compared to a perforated sieve, whereas, just before, only a part of it was compared with the jar, because thereby was meant only the part attached to the body. But the other part, the soul proper, is brought into service to this bodily part, so that it affords material for it, and even assumes its nature. Cf. Phaedo 66 d δουλεύοντες τῇ τοῦ σώματος θεραπείᾳ.

ἀπιστίαν: no contradiction to the above πειστικόν, which was said only of the ἐπιθυμητικόν of the soul. By yielding to the sensual, the soul loses its power of reception and retention, of belief and knowledge.

ἐπιεικῶς: reasonably, fairly, and then very likely, indeed.

ὑπό τι: somewhat, like ὑπό in ὑποάμουσος Rep. viii. 548 e, belongs to ἄτοπον. Rid. § 131 cites Phaedr. 242 d ὑπό τι ἀσεβῆ (λόγον). Cf. in Lat. subabsurdus, subrusticus, etc.

μήν: yet, moreover, like the more usual μέντοι.

σοί: in Greek, when a pron. has been expressed once with one of the verbs of a series, it is not necessary to express it a second time, even though the second verb would require a different case, as here.

μεταθέσθαι: denotes the change of an opinion or statement. Cf. Rep. i. 334 e ἀλλὰ μεταθώμεθα: κινδυνεύομεν γὰρ οὐκ ὀρθῶς . . . θέσθαι.

38 f.

ἀντὶ . . . ἑλέσθαι: epexegetic, instead of ὥστε ἑλέσθαι.

κοσμίως: chiastically contrasted with ἀκολάστως.

πότερον πείθω: the question shows that Socrates himself attaches no especial cogency to the comparison. Cf. below, μυθολογῶ.