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ἐπειδὰν -- τελευτήσειν: ‘when a man faces the thought that he must die,’ not (with Jowett) ‘when a man thinks himself to be near death,’ which would be ἐπειδάν τις ἐγγὺς εἶναι οἴηται τοῦ τελευτῆσαι, as Herwerden proposes to read (cf. Laws 922 C ὅταν ἤδη μέλλειν ἡγώμεθα τελευτᾶν). “Senum, non iuvenum τὸ οἴεσθαι τελευτήσειν est” (Hartman): the weakness of old age convinces us at last that we too must die. Cf. Simon. 85. 7—10 θνητῶν δ᾽ ὄφρα τις ἄνθος ἔχῃ πολυήρατον ἥβης | κοῦφον ἔχων θυμόν, πόλλ᾽ ἀτέλεστα νοεῖ: | οὔτε γὰρ ἐλπίδ᾽ ἔχει γηρασέμεν οὔτε θανεῖσθαι, | οὐδ᾽ ὑγιὴς ὅταν ᾖ, φροντίδ᾽ ἔχει καμάτου. ἀδικήσαντα -- διδόναι δίκην. Plato is fond of this verbal play: cf Euthyph. 8 B and 8 E τῷ γε ἀδικοῦντι δοτέον δίκην. He who does not render justice in deeds must render justice in punishment: for the tale of justice must be made up. Note that we have here in ἀδικία and δίκη the first casual allusion to the subject of the Republic.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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