James Adam, The Republic of Plato

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εἰ δὲ πόλις κτλ. is perhaps the earliest demand in literature for the State-encouragement—we might almost say the State-endowment—of pure science (cf. Krohn Pl. St. p. 169). Plato implies that in his city this claim will be fully satisfied; and the Platonic Utopia is in fact “la revendication du pouvoir pour la science” (Tannery l.c. p. 521).

ξυνεπιστατοῖ κτλ.: ‘should cooperate with the superintendent’ etc. not (as Jowett) ‘become the director of these studies’: for a special ἐπιστάτης—Plato has just said—is needed in any case. Plato's picture of the odium stereometricum, if the phrase may be allowed, is evidently drawn from life. He seems to speak as if he had himself an ἐπιστάτης ready, and wished to secure for him public support in order that students might be willing to work under him. Now although ὡς νῦν ἔχει belongs, strictly speaking, to the following clause, the words may, so far as the Greek is concerned, be connected with ἔπειτα καὶ γενομένου, and will then be equivalent to ὡς νῦν ἐγένετο ἐπιστάτης. I think it not impossible that Plato intended his readers to suspect him of this further meaning. If there is anything in this conjecture, to whom does Plato allude? Not, surely, to himself, although some have suspected the philosopher of blowing his own trumpet in a somewhat similar passage of the Phaedo (78 A): see Lutoslawski's Plato's Logic pp. 263 f. We are told by Plutarch de genio Socratis 7. 579 C that Plato referred the Delian deputation to Eudoxus, telling them that the problem was οὔ τοι φαῦλον οὐδ᾽ ἀμβλὺ διανοίας ὁρώσης, ἄκρως δὲ τὰς γραμμὰς ἠσκημένης ἔργον εἶναι: τοῦτο μὲν οὖν Εὔδοξον αὐτοῖς τὸν Κνίδιον ἢ τὸν Κυζικηνὸν Ἑλικῶνα συντελέσειν κτλ. Now we know that Eudoxus not only himself achieved a solution of the Delian problem (Sturm l.c. pp. 32—37), but was also, in the fullest sense of the term, ‘the founder of scientific Stereometry’ (Günther in Müller's Handbuch V 1, p. 30), and did more for the subject than any of Plato's disciples (Cantor l.c. pp. 208—210). For these reasons I think it not unlikely that Plato has Eudoxus in his mind. Eudoxus and his pupils seem to have been living and working in the Academy along with the followers of Plato sometime between Plato's second and third visits to Sicily (368 B.C. and 361 B.C.: see Allman Gk Geometry etc. p. 178), and it is a pleasing and I hope pardonable conjecture—I do not claim that it is more—to suppose that Plato avails himself of this opportunity to pay a graceful compliment to his fellow-workers. See also on line 19 below and Introd. § 4.

ἐντίμως ἄγουσα. The phrase is illustrated by Lobeck Phryn. p. 419.

ὑπὸ δὲ κτλ. ὑπὸ depends on ἀτιμαζόμενα καὶ κολουόμενα. There is a sense in which the students also ἀτιμάζουσι καὶ κολούουσι a subject, which they ἀσθενῶς ζητοῦσιν (B above). κολουόμενα is in harmony with αὐξάνεται—though cut short, the study still grows or advances. For other views on this sentence see App. VIII.

λόγον κτλ. The ζητοῦντες are the ζητητικοί of B—not, I think, Plato's pupils, but men who cannot explain the true utility of stereometry (as described in 527 D, E), and are unwilling to throw their whole hearts into a ‘useless’ study.

βίᾳ -- αὐξάνεται. Blass (l.c. p. 22) observes that in these words “sine dubio mathematici ex schola Platonis profecti intelligendi sunt.” It is just conceivable —though of course no stress should be laid on the conjecture—that ὑπὸ χάριτος conceals some complimentary allusion to a particular person. If so, Eudoxus may be intended (see above on 528 C). There is, it is true, a tradition that Plato and Eudoxus had not always been on the best of terms (Allman Gk Geom. pp. 128 f.), but during the visit of Eudoxus to Athens between 368 and 361 B.C., they appear to have worked harmoniously and even cordially together (ib. pp. 133, 178). See also 530 A note But we have no evidence to shew that Eudoxus bore the sobriquet of χάρις, though his character and personality (see Arist. Eth. Nic. X 2. 1172^{b} 15 ff.), and even perhaps his name, deserved such a compliment. I think Plato means merely ‘through elegance,’ i.e. through the inherent elegance of the subject: cf. τό γε ἐπίχαρι καὶ διαφερόντως ἔχει. The use of ὑπό is as in ὑπὸ δέους φωνὴν ἔρρηξε and the like: see KühnerGerth Gr. Gr. II 1, p. 523. Badham's ἐπιχάριτα for ὑπὸ χάριτος is an unlucky venture. Dr Jackson suggests that ὑπὸ χάριτος may perhaps mean ‘by grace, favour,’ ‘on sufferance’: but Glauco's reply appears to me against this view.

, D 20 οὐδὲν -- φανῆναι: ‘be brought to light,’ ‘discovered,’ ‘solved’: cf. X 602 D and ηὑρῆσθαι and ἐκφανῆ above. Unless Badham, Madvig, and Baiter had entirely mistaken the meaning of φανῆναι, they could scarcely have conjectured or approved of τοιαῦτα in place of αὐτά. Plato's language seems to point to some exceptional activity in connexion with the study of stereometrical problems, such as may have been occasioned by the application from Delos (527 D note), and to encourage his pupils to hope for success at no distant date.