Meg.O Athenian Stranger,let me tell you what perhaps you do not know,that our family is the proxenus of your state.I imagine that from their earliest youth all boys,when they are told that they are the proxeni of a particular state,feel kindly towards their second and this has certainly been my own feeling.I can well remember from the days of my boyhood,how,when any Lacedaemonians praised or blamed the Athenians,they used to say to me-"See,Megillus,how ill or how well,"as the case might be,"has your state treated us";and having always had to fight your battles against detractors when I heard you assailed,I became warmly attached to you.And I always like to hear the Athenian tongue spoken;the common saying is quite true,that a good Athenian is more than ordinarily good,for he is the only man who is freely and genuinely good by the divine inspiration of his own nature,and is not manufactured.Therefore be assured that I shall like to hear you say whatever you have to say.
Cle.Yes,Stranger;and when you have heard me speak,say boldly what is in your thoughts.Let me remind you of a tie which unites you to Crete.You must have heard here the story of the prophet Epimenides,who was of my family,and came to Athens ten years before the Persian war,in accordance with the response of the Oracle,and offered certain sacrifices which the God commanded.The Athenians were at that time in dread of the Persian invasion;and he said that for ten years they would not come,and that when they came,they would go away again without accomplishing any of their objects,and would suffer more evil than they inflicted.At that time my forefathers formed ties of hospitality with you;thus ancient is the friendship which I and my parents have had for you.
Ath.You seem to be quite ready to listen;and I am also ready to perform as much as I can of an almost impossible task,which I will nevertheless attempt.At the outset of the discussion,let me define the nature and power of education;for this is the way by which our argument must travel onwards to the God Dionysus.
Cle.Let us proceed,if you please.
Ath.Well,then,if I tell you what are my notions of education,will you consider whether they satisfy you?
Cle.Let us hear.
Ath.According to my view,any one who would be good at anything must practise that thing from his youth upwards,both in sport and earnest,in its several branches:for example,he who is to be a good builder,should play at building children's houses;he who is to be a good husbandman,at tilling the ground;and those who have the care of their education should provide them when young with mimic tools.They should learn beforehand the knowledge which they will afterwards require for their art.For example,the future carpenter should learn to measure or apply the line in play;and the future warrior should learn riding,or some other exercise,for amusement,and the teacher should endeavour to direct the children's inclinations and pleasures,by the help of amusements,to their final aim in life.The most important part of education is right training in the nursery.The soul of the child in his play should be guided to the love of that sort of excellence in which when he grows up to manhood he will have to be perfected.Do you agree with me thus far?
Cle.Certainly.
Ath.Then let us not leave the meaning of education ambiguous or ill-defined.At present,when we speak in terms of praise or blame about the bringing-up of each person,we call one man educated and another uneducated,although the uneducated man may be sometimes very well educated for the calling of a retail trader,or of a captain of a ship,and the like.For we are not speaking of education in this narrower sense,but of that other education in virtue from youth upwards,which makes a man eagerly pursue the ideal perfection of citizenship,and teaches him how rightly to rule and how to obey.
This is the only education which,upon our view,deserves the name;that other sort of training,which aims at the acquisition of wealth or bodily strength,or mere cleverness apart from intelligence and justice,is mean and illiberal,and is not worthy to be called education at all.But let us not quarrel with one another about a word,provided that the proposition which has just been granted hold good:to wit,that those who are rightly educated generally become good men.Neither must we cast a slight upon education,which is the first and fairest thing that the best of men can ever have,and which,though liable to take a wrong direction,is capable of reformation.
And this work of reformation is the great business of every man while he lives.
Cle.Very true;and we entirely agree with you.
Ath.And we agreed before that they are good men who are able to rule themselves,and bad men who are not.
Cle.You are quite right.
Ath.Let me now proceed,if I can,to clear up the subject a little further by an illustration which I will offer you.
Cle.Proceed.
Ath.Do we not consider each of ourselves to be one?
Cle.We do.
Ath.And each one of us has in his bosom two counsellors,both foolish and also antagonistic;of which we call the one pleasure,and the other pain.
Cle.Exactly.
Ath.Also there are opinions about the future,which have the general name of expectations;and the specific name of fear,when the expectation is of pain;and of hope,when of pleasure;and further,there is reflection about the good or evil of them,and this,when embodied in a decree by the State,is called Law.
Cle.I am hardly able to follow you;proceed,however,as if I were.
Meg.I am in the like case.
Ath.Let us look at the matter thus:May we not conceive each of us living beings to be a puppet of the Gods,either their plaything only,or created with a purpose-which of the two we cannot certainly know?But we do know,that these affections in us are like cords and strings,which pull us different and opposite ways,and to opposite actions;and herein lies the difference between virtue and vice.