James Adam, The Republic of Plato

The reading φαίνονται, which replaces λέγοντες in A^{1}, Π and a majority of MSS, is admittedly corrupt. One Florentine MS has λέγοντες φαίνονται, another φαίνονται λέγοντες: and it is possible that φαίνονται was originally only an adscript intended to be taken with λέγοντες. The emendations proceed for the most part on the assumption that λέγοντες and not φαίνονται is the gloss. This may be so, but unfortunately no satisfactory remedy has yet been suggested on these lines. The most important corrections are ἀποφαίνονται (Cornarius), φαίνοντα (Madvig, taking the participle in agreement with κόσμος and ἐγκράτεια, but φαίνοντα cannot be used for ἀπεργαζόμενα, as Hartman points out), φαίνεσθαι (Hartman, who connects the infinitive with φασί, and construes ὡς boldly as quoniam). Other corrections enumerated by Hartman are φασίν τινα (Dobree), φαμέν (Badham), ἀποφαίνοντες (Richards). Apelt has thought of cancelling the entire clause κρείττω δὴ—τρόπον as an “interpretatio etymologica ad praegressam vocem ἐγκράτεια pertinens” (Obs. cr. in Pl. dialogos, p. 11). It would be easy to multiply conjectures of this sort; but until something better is proposed, we should hold fast to λέγοντες. The λέγεται of the next sentence suits λέγοντες very well, for the phrase κρείττω αὑτοῦ is itself one of the ἴχνη. I have placed a full stop before καὶ ἄλλα. Ast suggested a colon, and wished to add ἅ after τοιαῦτα, but no change is necessary.