The Economist [51]
haste to overtake good things[12] and reap great plenty. Should the master (he proceeded), being a man possessed of so much power, Socrates, to injure the bad workman and reward the zealous --should he suddenly appear, and should his appearance in the labour field produce no visible effect upon his workpeople, I cannot say I envy or admire him. But if the sight of him is followed by a stir of movement, if there come upon[13] each labourer fresh spirit, with mutual rivaly and keen ambition, drawing out the finest qualities of each,[14] of him I should say, Behold a man of kingly disposition. And this, if I mistake not, is the quality of greatest import in every operation which needs the instrumentality of man; but most of all, perhaps, in agriculture. Not that I would maintain that it is a thing to be lightly learnt by a glance of the eye, or hearsay fashion, as a tale that is told. Far from it, I assert that he who is to have this power has need of education; he must have at bottom a good natural disposition; and, what is greatest of all, he must be himself a god- like being.[15] For if I rightly understand this blessed gift, this faculty of command over willing followers, by no means is it, in its entirety, a merely human quality, but it is in part divine. It is a gift plainly given to those truly initiated[16] in the mystery of self-command. Whereas despotism over unwilling slaves, the heavenly ones give, as it seems to me, to those whom they deem worthy to live the life of Tantalus in Hades, of whom it is written[17] "he consumes unending days in apprehension of a second death."
[11] According to Sturz, "Lex." s.v., the {epitropos} is (as a rule, see "Mem." II. viii.) a slave or freedman, the {epistates} a free man. See "Mem." III. v. 18.
[12] Apparently a homely formula, like "make hay whilst the sun shines," "a stitch in time saves nine."
[13] Cf. Hom. "Il." ix. 436, xvii. 625; "Hell." VII. i. 31.
[14] Reading {kratiste ousa}, or if with Heindorf, {kratisteusai}, transl. "to prove himself the best."
[15] See "Cyrop." I. i. 3; Grote, "Plato," vol. iii. 571.
[16] See Plat. "Phaed." 69 C; Xen. "Symp." i. 10.
[17] Or, "it is said." See Eur. "Orest." 5, and Porson ad loc.
End
[11] According to Sturz, "Lex." s.v., the {epitropos} is (as a rule, see "Mem." II. viii.) a slave or freedman, the {epistates} a free man. See "Mem." III. v. 18.
[12] Apparently a homely formula, like "make hay whilst the sun shines," "a stitch in time saves nine."
[13] Cf. Hom. "Il." ix. 436, xvii. 625; "Hell." VII. i. 31.
[14] Reading {kratiste ousa}, or if with Heindorf, {kratisteusai}, transl. "to prove himself the best."
[15] See "Cyrop." I. i. 3; Grote, "Plato," vol. iii. 571.
[16] See Plat. "Phaed." 69 C; Xen. "Symp." i. 10.
[17] Or, "it is said." See Eur. "Orest." 5, and Porson ad loc.
End