[537a]
but by play.1 That will
also better enable you to discern the natural capacities of each.”
“There is reason in that,” he said. “And do you
not remember,” I said, “that we also declared2 that we must
conduct the children to war on horseback to be spectators, and wherever it may
be safe, bring them to the front and give them a taste of blood as we do with
whelps?” “I do remember.” “And those who
as time goes on show the most facility in all these toils and studies and alarms
are to be selected and enrolled on a list.3”
1 Cf. 424 E-425 A, Laws 819 B-C, 643 B-D, 797 A-B, Polit. 308 D. Cf. the naive statement in Colvin And Bagley, Human Behavior, p. 41: “The discovery [sic !] by Karl Groos that play was actually a preparation for the business of later life was almost revolutionary from the standpoint of educational theory and practice.”
2 Cf. 467, vol. I. pp. 485-487.
3 ἐγκριτέον cf. 413 D, 377 C, 486 D, Laws 802 B, 820 D, 936 A, 952 A.
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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