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[317d]

Socrates
Then we rightly admitted that law is discovery of reality.

Companion
So it appears.

Socrates
Now let us observe this further point about it. Who has knowledge of distributing1 seed over land?

Companion
A farmer.

Socrates
And does he distribute the suitable seed to each sort of land?

Companion
Yes.

Socrates
Then the farmer is a good apportioner of it, and his laws and distributions are right in this matter?

Companion
Yes.

Socrates
And who is a good apportioner of notes struck for a tune, skilled in distributing suitable notes, and who is it whose laws are right here?


1 The words διανέμειν and νομεύς in this passage introduce the primitive meaning of νόμος — “distribution” or “apportionment” of each person's status, property, rights, etc.

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925.

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