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τὸ λεγόμενον . τὸν καπνὸν φεύγων εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐνέπεσον. ἐπὶ τῶν τὰ μικρὰ τῶν δεινῶν φευγόντων, καὶ εἰς μείζονα δεινὰ ἐμπιπτόντων. (Diogen. VIII 45 in Leutsch u. Schneidewin Paroem. Gr. I p. 314, where the other authorities are also cited.) φεύγων κτλ.: ‘in trying to escape the smoke of servitude to free men will have fallen into the fire of the masterdom of slaves.’ Herwerden proposes to excise ἐλευθέρων and δούλων (both here and in C below). It is difficult to believe that he had read 567 E and 569 A (δουλεύων τοῖς αὑτοῦ δούλοις) before making this audacious suggestion. The chiasmus δουλείας ἐλευθέρων—δούλων δεσποτείας is in Plato's finest style.
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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