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οὐδ̓ ἄρα -- πάντων. Contrast Aesch. Ag. 1485, 1486 Διὸς παναιτίου πανεργέτα. | τί γὰρ βροτοῖς ἄνευ Διὸς τελεῖται; Suppl. 822—824 and many other examples in Nägelsbach Hom. Theol. pp. 26, 51 ff., and Nachhom. Theol. pp. 16, 18, 60 ff., 73 ff. πολὺ γὰρ -- ἡμῖν. An old saying, as appears from Pind. Pyth. 3. 81 ff. μανθάνων οἶσθα προτέρων: | ἓν παρ᾽ ἐσλὸν πήματα σύνδυο δαίονται βροτοῖς | ἀθάνατοι, and Eur. Suppl. 196, 7: cf. also Hom. Il. XXIV 527 ff., Philem. Fr. Inc. 65 (ed. Meineke). Plato and Aristotle make room for it in their philosophies: see e.g. Pol. 273 D, Laws 906 A, and Arist. Probl. X 45. 895^{b} 39 ff. ἡ φύσις φαῦλα μὲν πάντα ποιεῖ, καὶ πλείους καὶ πλείω, σπουδαῖα δ᾽ ἐλάττω, καὶ οὐ πάντα δύναται. The counterpart in the sphere of morals is Bias's οἱ πολλοὶ κακοί: with which may be compared Rep. IV 428 E, 431 A, 442 A, C, IX 588 D. It is a melancholy cry born of the age of iron: in the golden age—so Plato tells us Pol. 273 C —the balance was the other way. ἄλλ̓ ἄττα -- τὰ αἴτια. The dualism should not be taken too seriously, in spite of the good and evil souls in Laws 896 E. Plato is not now constructing a philosophy, but casting moulds for theology and poetry.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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