STRANGER: Hence there necessarily occurs a great they wasted away and wholly disappeared. And the destruction of them, which extends also to the life bodies of those who died by violence at that time of man; few survivors of the race are left, and those quickly passed through the like changes, and in a who remain become the subjects of several novel few days were no more seen.
and remarkable phenomena, and of one in particular, which takes place at the time when the transi-YOUNG SOCRATES: Then how, Stranger, were the tion is made to the cycle opposite to that in which animals created in those days; and in what way were we are now living.
they begotten of one another?
YOUNG SOCRATES: What is it?
STRANGER: It is evident, Socrates, that there was no such thing in the then order of nature as the STRANGER: The life of all animals first came to a procreation of animals from one another; the earth-standstill, and the mortal nature ceased to be or born race, of which we hear in story, was the one look older, and was then reversed and grew young which existed in those days—they rose again from and delicate; the white locks of the aged darkened the ground; and of this tradition, which is now-a-again, and the cheeks the bearded man became days often unduly discredited, our ancestors, who smooth, and recovered their former bloom; the bod-were nearest in point of time to the end of the last ies of youths in their prime grew softer and smaller, period and came into being at the beginning of this, continually by day and night returning and becom-are to us the heralds. And mark how consistent the ing assimilated to the nature of a newly-born child sequel of the tale is; after the return of age to youth, in mind as well as body; in the succeeding stage follows the return of the dead, who are lying in the 74
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earth, to life; simultaneously with the reversal of universe were distributed under the rule of certain the world the wheel of their generation has been inferior deities, as is the way in some places still.
turned back, and they are put together and rise and There were demigods, who were the shepherds of live in the opposite order, unless God has carried the various species and herds of animals, and each any of them away to some other lot. According to one was in all respects sufficient for those of whom this tradition they of necessity sprang from the earth he was the shepherd; neither was there any violence, and have the name of earth-born, and so the above or devouring of one another, or war or quarrel among legend clings to them.
them; and I might tell of ten thousand other bless-ings, which belonged to that dispensation. The rea-YOUNG SOCRATES: Certainly that is quite con-son why the life of man was, as tradition says, spon-sistent with what has preceded; but tell me, was taneous, is as follows: In those days God himself the life which you said existed in the reign of Cronos was their shepherd, and ruled over them, just as in that cycle of the world, or in this? For the change man, who is by comparison a divine being, still rules in the course of the stars and the sun must have over the lower animals. Under him there were no occurred in both.
forms of government or separate possession of women and children; for all men rose again from STRANGER: I see that you enter into my mean-the earth, having no memory of the past. And aling;—no, that blessed and spontaneous life does not though they had nothing of this sort, the earth gave belong to the present cycle of the world, but to the them fruits in abundance, which grew on trees and previous one, in which God superintended the whole shrubs unbidden, and were not planted by the hand revolution of the universe; and the several parts the of man. And they dwelt naked, and mostly in the 75
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open air, for the temperature of their seasons was well as with one another, and learning of every na-mild; and they had no beds, but lay on soft couches ture which was gifted with any special power, and of grass, which grew plentifully out of the earth.
was able to contribute some special experience to Such was the life of man in the days of Cronos, the store of wisdom, there would be no difficulty in Socrates; the character of our present life, which is deciding that they would be a thousand times hap-said to be under Zeus, you know from your own pier than the men of our own day. Or, again, if they experience. Can you, and will you, determine which had merely eaten and drunk until they were full, of them you deem the happier?
and told stories to one another and to the animals—
such stories as are now attributed to them—in this YOUNG SOCRATES: Impossible.
case also, as I should imagine, the answer would be easy. But until some satisfactory witness can be STRANGER: Then shall I determine for you as well found of the love of that age for knowledge and as I can?
discussion, we had better let the matter drop, and give the reason why we have unearthed this tale, YOUNG SOCRATES: By all means.
and then we shall be able to get on. In the fulness of time, when the change was to take place, and the STRANGER: Suppose that the nurslings of Cronos, earth-born race had all perished, and every soul had having this boundless leisure, and the power of hold-completed its proper cycle of births and been sown ing intercourse, not only with men, but with the in the earth her appointed number of times, the brute creation, had used all these advantages with pilot of the universe let the helm go, and retired to a view to philosophy, conversing with the brutes as his place of view; and then Fate and innate desire 76
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reversed the motion of the world. Then also all the From God, the constructor, the world received all inferior deities who share the rule of the supreme that is good in him, but from a previous state came power, being informed of what was happening, let elements of evil and unrighteousness, which, thence go the parts of the world which were under their derived, first of all passed into the world, and were control. And the world turning round with a sud-then transmitted to the animals. While the world den shock, being impelled in an opposite direction was aided by the pilot in nurturing the animals, the from beginning to end, was shaken by a mighty evil was small, and great the good which he pro-earthquake, which wrought a new destruction of duced, but after the separation, when the world was all manner of animals. Afterwards, when sufficient let go, at first all proceeded well enough; but, as time had elapsed, the tumult and confusion and time went on, there was more and more forgetting, earthquake ceased, and the universal creature, once and the old discord again held sway and burst forth more at peace, attained to a calm, and settled down in full glory; and at last small was the good, and into his own orderly and accustomed course, hav-great was the admixture of evil, and there was a ing the charge and rule of himself and of all the danger of universal ruin to the world, and to the creatures which are contained in him, and execut-things contained in him. Wherefore God, the orderer ing, as far as he remembered them, the instructions of all, in his tender care, seeing that the world was of his Father and Creator, more precisely at first, in great straits, and fearing that all might be dis-but afterwords with less exactness. The reason of solved in the storm and disappear in infinite chaos, the falling off was the admixture of matter in him; again seated himself at the helm; and bringing back this was inherent in the primal nature, which was the elements which had fallen into dissolution and full of disorder, until attaining to the present order.
disorder to the motion which had prevailed under 77
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his dispensation, he set them in order and restored of this discourse; for although there might be much them, and made the world imperishable and im-to tell of the lower animals, and of the condition mortal. And this is the whole tale, of which the first out of which they changed and of the causes of the part will suffice to illustrate the nature of the king.
change, about men there is not much, and that little For when the world turned towards the present cycle is more to the purpose. Deprived of the care of God, of generation, the age of man again stood still, and who had possessed and tended them, they were left a change opposite to the previous one was the re-helpless and defenceless, and were torn in pieces sult. The small creatures which had almost disap-by the beasts, who were naturally fierce and had peared grew in and stature, and the newly-born now grown wild. And in the first ages they were children of the earth became grey and died and sank still without skill or resource; the food which once into the earth again. All things changed, imitating grew spontaneously had failed, and as yet they knew and following the condition of the universe, and of not how to procure it, because they had never felt necessity agreeing with that in their mode of con-the pressure of necessity. For all these reasons they ception and generation and nurture; for no animal were in a great strait; wherefore also the gifts spo-was any longer allowed to come into being in the ken of in the old tradition were imparted to man earth through the agency of other creative beings, by the gods, together with so much teaching and but as the world was ordained to be the lord of his education as was indispensable; fire was given to own progress, in like manner the parts were ordained them by Prometheus, the arts by Hephaestus and to grow and generate and give nourishment, as far his fellow-worker, Athene, seeds and plants by othas they could, of themselves, impelled by a similar ers. From these is derived all that has helped to frame movement. And so we have arrived at the real end human life; since the care of the Gods, as I was 78
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saying, had now failed men, and they had to order about a king and statesman of the present cycle their course of life for themselves, and were their and generation, we told of a shepherd of a human own masters, just like the universal creature whom flock who belonged to the other cycle, and of one they imitate and follow, ever changing, as he who was a god when he ought to have been a man; changes, and ever living and growing, at one time and this a great error. Again, we declared him to be in one manner, and at another time in another.
the ruler of the entire State, without explaining how: Enough of the story, which may be of use in show-this was not the whole truth, nor very intelligible; ing us how greatly we erred in the delineation of but still it was true, and therefore the second error the king and the statesman in our previous dis-was not so great as the first.
course.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Very good.
YOUNG SOCRATES: What was this great error of which you speak?
STRANGER: Before we can expect to have a perfect description of the statesman we must define STRANGER: There were two; the first a lesser one, the nature of his office.
the other was an error on a much larger and grander scale.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Certainly.
YOUNG SOCRATES: What do you mean?
STRANGER: And the myth was introduced in order to show, not only that all others are rivals of the STRANGER: I mean to say that when we were asked true shepherd who is the object of our search, but 79
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in order that we might have a clearer view of him YOUNG SOCRATES: Of course.
who is alone worthy to receive this appellation, because he alone of shepherds and herdsmen, ac-STRANGER: To resume:—Do you remember that cording to the image which we have employed, has we spoke of a command-for-self exercised over ani-the care of human beings.
mals, not singly but collectively, which we called the art of rearing a herd?
YOUNG SOCRATES: Very true.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Yes, I remember.
STRANGER: And I cannot help thinking, Socrates, that the form of the divine shepherd is even higher STRANGER: There, somewhere, lay our error; for than that of a king; whereas the statesmen who are we never included or mentioned the Statesman; and now on earth seem to be much more like their sub-we did not observe that he had no place in our no-jects in character, and much more nearly to partake menclature.
of their breeding and education.
YOUNG SOCRATES: How was that?
YOUNG SOCRATES: Certainly.
STRANGER: All other herdsmen ‘rear’ their herds, STRANGER: Still they must be investigated all the but this is not a suitable term to apply to the States-same, to see whether, like the divine shepherd, they man; we should use a name which is common to are above their subjects or on a level with them.
them all.