Theages (124)

The. To govern the people in the city, I imagine.

Soc. And are the sick people also in the city?

The. Yes, but I mean not these only, but all the rest who are in the city besides.

Soc. Do I understand what art it is that you mean? For you strike me as meaning, not that whereby we know how to govern reapers and harvesters and planters and sowers and threshers, for it is the farmer’s art whereby we govern these, is it not?

The. Yes.

Soc. Nor, I suppose, do you mean that whereby we know how to govern sawyers and borers and planers and turners, as a class together; for is not that carpentry?

The. Yes.

Soc. But perhaps it is that whereby we govern, not only all these, but farmers themselves also, and carpenters, and all craftsmen and ordinary people, whether men or women: that, perhaps, is the wisdom you mean.

The. That, Socrates, is what I have been intending to mean all the time.

Soc. Then can you tell me whether Aegisthus, who slew Agamemnon in Argos, governed all these people that you mean craftsmen and ordinary people, both men and women, or some other persons?

The. No, just those.

Soc. Well now, did not Peleus, son of Aeacus, govern these same people in Phthia?

The. Yes.

Soc. And have you ever heard of Periander, son of Cypselus, and how he governed at Corinth?

The. I have.

Soc. Did he not govern these same people in his city?

The. Yes.

Soc. Or again, do you not consider that Archelaus, son of Perdiccas, who governed recently in Macedonia, governed these same people?

The. I do.

Soc. And who do you think were governed by Hippias, son of Peisistratus, who governed in this city? Were they not these people ?

The. To be sure they were.

Soc. Now, can you tell me what appellation is given to Bacis and Sibyl and our native Amphilytus? [*]

The. Why, soothsayers, of course, Socrates.

Soc. That is correct. But try to answer me in that way regarding those others—Hippias and Periander: what appellation is given them on account of their government?

The. Despots, I suppose; it must be that.

Soc. And when a man desires to govern the whole of the people in his city, he desires the same government as those did—despotism, and to be a despot?

The. Apparently.

Soc. And it is this that you say you desire?

The. It seems so, from what I have said.