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τῷ ὄντι δὴ κτλ. It has been conjectured by Brandt (z. Entw. d. plat. Lehr. v. d. Seelenteilen p. 8) that Plato is thinking of Eudoxus; but there is nothing to suggest a specific reference here, as there was in 528 B, C, and as Eudoxus, “the father of scientific astronomical observation in Greece” was preeminently “a practical observer” (Allman Gk. Geometry etc. p. 142), he would hardly be described by Plato in this passage as τῷ ὄντι ἀστρονομικός. See also Hirmer Entst. u. Komp. d. plat. Pol. p. 667. τὰ τοιαῦτα: i.e. ὁρατά, σωματοειδῆ. τῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ δημιουργῷ: the Demiurgus of the Timaeus. τὴν δὲ νυκτὸς κτλ.: with which astronomical observation is concerned. Plato's tone is very different in the Timaeus (47 A ff.) as Grote points out (Plato III p. 235 note, where also an amusing parallel is quoted from Malebranche); but it should be remembered that it is with the educational value of astronomy as a preparation for Dialectic that we are here concerned (note εἰ μέλλομεν—ποιήσειν in B, and see App. II). τῶν ἄλλων ἄστρων: ‘the other stars’ (Schneider), as ταῦτα shews, not ‘the stars besides’ (as Stallbaum). ταῦτα: viz. the Sun and Moon, which make day, night, year, and month.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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