[554c]
some the
beggarly, others the rascally, but that they are forcibly restrained by his
general self-surveillance and self- control1?” “We shall indeed,”
he said. “Do you know, then,” said I, “to what
you must look to discern the rascalities of such men?”
“To what?” he said. “To guardianships of
orphans,2 and any
such opportunities of doing injustice with impunity.”
“True.” “And is it not apparent by this that
in other dealings, where he enjoys the repute of a seeming just man, he by
some better3 element in
himself
1 Cf. 552 Eἐπιμελείᾳ βίᾳ. For ἄλλης cf. 368 Bἐκ τοῦ ἄλλου τοῦ ὑμετέρου τρόπου.
2 For the treatment of inferiors and weaker persons as a test of character Cf. Laws 777 D-E, Hesiod, Works and Days, 330, and Murray, Rise of the Greek Epic, pp. 84-85, who, however, errs on the meaning of αἰδώς. For orphans cf. also Laws 926-928, 766 C, 877 C, 909 C-D.
3 ἐπιεικεῖ is here used generally, and not in its special sense of “sweet reasonableness.”
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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