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ε<*>κάζη . It is taken for granted that Poetry is a species of imitation: cf. Laws 668 A—C. τῶν μεγίστων: masculine, not neuter: cf. 378 B. Ἡσίοδος. Theog. 154—181. τὰ δὲ δὴ κτλ . δή emphasizes the case of Cronus as the most important (cf. Prot. 311 D, 312 E): it is so because the delinquent is Zeus, the reigning king of gods and men. The example set by Zeus on this occasion was no doubt sometimes used to justify wrong-doing: see for example Aesch. Eum. 640, 641, Ar. Clouds 904—906 πῶς δῆτα δίκης οὔσης ὁ Ζεὺς | οὐκ ἀπόλωλεν τὸν πατέρ᾽ αὑτοῦ | δήσας; ib. 1079 ff., Eur. H. F. 1317— 1319, and especially Pl. Euthyph. 5 E— 6 A, where Euthyphro urges the analogy in all seriousness to justify his vexatious prosecution of his own father. The pernicious effect of such legends on human conduct is again pointed out in Laws 886 C, 941 B: cf. also Isocr. Bus. 38—43, Luc. Men. 3, and Grote Plato III p. 194 note
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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