the real end of this discourse; for although there might be much to tell

of the lower animals, and of the condition out of which they changed

and of the causes of the change, about men there is not much, and that

little is more to the purpose. Deprived of the care of God, who had

possessed and tended them, they were left helpless and defenceless, and

were torn in pieces by the beasts, who were naturally fierce and had

now grown wild. And in the first ages they were still without skill or

resource; the food which once grew spontaneously had failed, and as

yet they knew not how to procure it, because they had never felt the

pressure of necessity. For all these reasons they were in a great

strait; wherefore also the gifts spoken of in the old tradition

were imparted to man by the gods, together with so much teaching and

education as was indispensable; fire was given to them by Prometheus,

the arts by Hephaestus and his fellow-worker, Athene, seeds and plants

by others. From these is derived all that has helped to frame human

life; since the care of the Gods, as I was saying, had now failed men,

and they had to order their course of life for themselves, and were

their own masters, just like the universal creature whom they imitate

and follow, ever changing, as he changes, and ever living and growing,

at one time in one manner, and at another time in another. Enough of

the story, which may be of use in showing us how greatly we erred in the

delineation of the king and the statesman in our previous discourse.

YOUNG SOCRATES: What was this great error of which you speak?

STRANGER: There were two; the first a lesser one, the other was an error

Statesman