Ath. You shall hear without any fruitless loss of time. That whichhas law and order in a state is the cause of every good, but thatwhich is disordered or ill-ordered is often the ruin of that whichis well-ordered; and at this point the argument is now waiting. Forwith you, Cleinias and Megillus, the common tables of men are, as Isaid, a heaven-born and admirable institution, but you are mistaken inleaving the women unregulated by law. They have no similar institutionof public tables in the light of day, and just that part of thehuman race which is by nature prone to secrecy and stealth onaccount of their weakness-I mean the female sex-has been leftwithout regulation by the legislator, which is a great mistake. And,in consequence of this neglect, many things have grown lax amongyou, which might have been far better, if they had been only regulatedby law; for the neglect of regulations about women may not only beregarded as a neglect of half the entire matter, but in proportionas woman"s nature is inferior to that of men in capacity for virtue,in that degree the consequence of such neglect is more than twice asimportant. The careful consideration of this matter, and the arrangingand ordering on a common principle of all our institutions relatingboth to men and women, greatly conduces to the happiness of the state.
But at present, such is the unfortunate condition of mankind, thatno man of sense will even venture to speak of common tables inplaces and cities in which they have never been established at all;and how can any one avoid being utterly ridiculous, who attempts tocompel women to show in public how much they eat and drink? There isnothing at which the sex is more likely to take offence. For women areaccustomed to creep into dark places, and when dragged out into thelight they will exert their utmost powers of resistance, and be fartoo much for the legislator. And therefore, as I said before, inmost places they will not endure to have the truth spoken withoutraising a tremendous outcry, but in this state perhaps they may. Andif we may assume that our whole discussion about the state has notbeen mere idle talk, I should like to prove to you, if you willconsent to listen, that this institution is good and proper; but ifyou had rather not, I will refrain.
Cle. There is nothing which we should both of us like better,Stranger, than to hear what you have to say.
Ath. Very good; and you must not be surprised if I go back a little,for we have plenty of leisure, and there is nothing to prevent us fromconsidering in every point of view the subject of law.
Cle. True.
Ath. Then let us return once more to what we were saying at first.
Every man should understand that the human race either had nobeginning at all, and will never have an end, but always will be andhas been; or that it began an immense while ago.
Cle. Certainly.
Ath. Well, and have there not been constitutions and destructions ofstates, and all sorts of pursuits both orderly and disorderly, anddiverse desires of meats and drinks always, and in all the world,and all sorts of changes of the seasons in which animals may beexpected to have undergone innumerable transformations of themselves?
Cle. No doubt.
Ath. And may we not suppose that vines appeared, which hadpreviously no existence, and also olives, and the gifts of Demeter andher daughter, of which one Triptolemus was the minister, and that,before these existed, animals took to devouring each other as theydo still?
Cle. True.
Ath. Again, the practice of men sacrificing one another still existsamong many nations; while, on the other hand, we hear of other humanbeings who did not even venture to taste the flesh of a cow and had noanimal sacrifices, but only cakes and fruits dipped in honey, andsimilar pure offerings, but no flesh of animals; from these theyabstained under the idea that they ought not to eat them, and mightnot stain the altars of the Gods with blood. For in those days men aresaid to have lived a sort of Orphic life, having the use of alllifeless things, but abstaining from all living things.
Cle. Such has been the constant tradition, and is very likely true.
Ath. Some one might say to us, What is the drift of all this?
Cle. A very pertinent question, Stranger.
Ath. And therefore I will endeavour, Cleinias, if I can, to draw thenatural inference.
Cle. Proceed.
Ath. I see that among men all things depend upon three wants anddesires, of which the end is virtue, if they are rightly led bythem, or the opposite if wrongly. Now these are eating and drinking,which begin at birth-every animal has a natural desire for them, andis violently excited, and rebels against him who says that he must notsatisfy all his pleasures and appetites, and get rid of all thecorresponding pains-and the third and greatest and sharpest want anddesire breaks out last, and is the fire of sexual lust, whichkindles in men every species of wantonness and madness. And thesethree disorders we must endeavour to master by the three greatprinciples of fear and law and right reason; turning them away fromthat which is called pleasantest to the best, using the Muses andthe Gods who preside over contests to extinguish their increase andinflux.