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ἐάν τε ἐν μέσῳ κτλ.: i.q. <*>άν τε ἐν μέσῳ ᾖ ὁ ὁρώμενος κτλ. This is said with reference to their size: cf. E below and Phaed. 102 B, C, where the difficulty is explained by the theory of Ideas. Thus b is both great and small, great relatively to a, small relatively to c. Similarly with the other antinomies. The Philebus dismisses such puzzles as τὰ δεδημευμένα τῶν θαυμαστῶν περὶ τὸ ἓν καὶ πολλά (14 D)—an indication perhaps of the priority in date of the Republic (cf. VI 505 C note and Jackson in J. Ph. X pp. 263 ff.). ἀναγκάζεται is said of the ‘Drang nach Wahrheit’: cf. 524 C, E, 525 D and 518 E ff. It is not the ‘nature’ of Soul to acquiesce in falsehood: for man is an οὐράνιον φυτόν, οὐκ ἔγγειον (IV 443 B note). τῶν πολλῶν. Some exceptional natures, who are endowed with an uncommon share of noble curiosity, may find intellectual stimulus even in perceptions such as these: cf. 523 B note Ast, who missed the point, wanted to excise the phrase. Herwerden seriously proposes <μὰ> τὸν Ἀπόλλω. οὐδαμοῦ: ‘at no stage’ viz. in the psychological process, not exactly ‘never’ (as Jowett, D. and V. etc.).
The Republic of Plato. James Adam. 1902. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
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