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ἐξουσίαν. See on 557 B. προεστός refers not only to the εἷς προστάτης τοῦ δήμου (565 C note), but to δημαγωγοί in general and all who lead the people whether as orators or as officers (λέγει τε καὶ πράττει). ἐκτὸς ὀλίγων. The leaders in a democracy, says Plato, belong to the class of drones—with a few exceptions. Pericles, for example, was an illustrious exception (Thuc. II 65. 8, 9 and Xen. Symp. 8. 39); and so, according even to Plato himself, was Aristides (Gorg. 526 B). Plato's general attitude towards Athenian demagogues has often been censured; but nearly all the greatest writers of antiquity, except the orators, pronounce the same verdict. τὸ μὲν δριμύτατον -- βομβεῖ. Cf. Dem. Ol. II 29 πολιτεύεσθε κατὰ συμμορίας. ῥήτωρ ἡγέμων ἑκατέρων, καὶ στρατηγὸς ὑπὸ τούτῳ, καὶ οἱ βοησόμενοι τριακόσιοι. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι προσνενέμησθε οἱ μὲν ὡς τούτους, οἱ δὲ ὡς ἐκείνους. προσίζον (used of a bee alighting in Arist. Hist. An. VIII 11. 596^{b} 15) and βομβεῖ keep up the figure. τοῦ ἄλλα λέγοντος. Vermehren proposes του, comparing V 479 A οὐδαμῇ ἀνεχόμενος ἄν τις—φῇ and IX 579 A. If Plato had wished to say ‘any one,’ he would, I think, have written οὐδενός: του is too weak. The article is generic.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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