[550e]
and neither they nor their wives
obey them.” “That is likely,” he said.
“And then, I take it, by observing and emulating one another they
bring the majority of them to this way of thinking.”
“That is likely,” he said. “And so, as time
goes on, and they advance1 in the pursuit of
wealth, the more they hold that in honor the less they honor virtue. May not
the opposition of wealth and virtue2 be conceived as if each
lay in the scale3 of a balance inclining opposite ways?”
“Yes, indeed,” he said. “So, when wealth is
honored
1 εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν: cf. 437 A, 604 B, Prot. 339 D, Symp. 174 D, Polit. 262 D, Soph. 258 C, 261 B, Alc. I. 132 B, Protag. 357 D where ἧς is plainly wrong, Aristoph.Knights 751.
2 Cf. 591 D, Laws 742 E, 705 B, 8931 C ff., 836 A, 919 B with Rep. 421 D; also Aristot.Pol. 1273 a 37-38.
3 Cf. on 544 E, Demosth. v. 12.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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