[489a]
a useless fellow, by the sailors in ships managed after this
fashion?” “Quite so,” said Adeimantus.
“You take my meaning, I presume, and do not require us to put the
comparison to the proof1 and show that the
condition2 we have described is
the exact counterpart of the relation of the state to the true
philosophers.” “It is indeed,” he said.
“To begin with, then, teach this parable3 to the man who is surprised that
philosophers are not honored in our cities, and try to convince him that it
would be far more surprising
1 Plato like some modern writers is conscious of his own imagery and frequently interprets his own symbols. Cf. 517 A-B, 531 B, 588 B, Gorg. 493 D, 517 D, Phaedo 87 B, Laws 644 C, Meno 72 A-B, Tim. 19 B, Polit. 297 E. Cf. also the cases where he says he cannot tell what it is but only what it is like, e.g.Rep. 506 E, Phaedr. 246 A, Symp. 215 A 5.
2 διάθεσις and ἕξις are not discriminated by Plato as by Aristotle.
3 Cf. 476 D-E.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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