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[387c] named of lamentation loud, abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate, the people of the infernal pit and of the charnel-house, and all other terms of this type, whose very names send a shudder1 through all the hearers every year. And they may be excellent for other purposes,2 but we are in fear for our guardians lest the habit of such thrills make them more sensitive3 and soft than we would have them.” “And we are right in so fearing.” “We must remove those things then?” “Yes.” “And the opposite type to them is what we must require in speech and in verse?” “Obviously.” “And shall we also do away with the

1 φρίττειν and φρίκη are often used of the thrill or terror of tragedy. Cf. Sophocles Electra 1402, Oedipus Rex. 1306, Aeschylus Prometheus Bound 540.

2 Some say, to frighten the wicked, but more probably for their aesthetic effect. Cf. 390 Aεἰ δέ τινα ἄλλην ἡδονὴν παρέχεται, Laws 886 C.

3 θερμότεροι contains a playful suggestion of the fever following the chill; Cf. Phaedrus 251 A. With μαλακώτεροι the image passes into that of softened metal; cf. 411 B, Laws 666 B-C, 671 B.

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