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οὐ χρυσίου κτλ. Cf. VIII 547 B φύσει ὄντε πλουσίω τὰς ψυχάς and Phaedr. ad fin. πλούσιον δὲ νομίζοιμι τὸν σοφόν. πτωχοὶ κτλ.: ‘men who are poor and an-hungered for lack of goods of their own.’ So Schneider and Bosanquet rightly explain the passage. πεινᾶν is used almost in its original etymological sense (πεῖνα from πέν-ης, πέν-ομαι): cf. Xen. Cyr. VII 5. 50 and VIII 3. 39 ὦ μακάριε σὺ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐκ πένητος πλούσιος γεγένησαι: πολὺ γὰρ οἴομαί σε καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἥδιον πλουτεῖν, ὅτι πεινήσας χρημάτων πεπλούτηκας. The contrast with πλούσιοι, and the presence of πτωχοί, make it easy to catch the meaning. The translation ‘hunger after private advantages’ (D. and V., Jowett) is in my opinion incorrect. τἀγαθόν ‘their good’ (Bosanquet), hardly ‘the chief good’ (Jowett). Not possessing any ἴδια ἀγαθά in the shape of virtue, they are fain to make up for it at the expense of the State. περιμάχητον κτλ. For the construction cf. (with J. and C.) Phaed. 69 B.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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