of another class and has thrust himself in, he must get enrolled in

the priesthood. In many parts of Hellas, the duty of offering the most

solemn propitiatory sacrifices is assigned to the highest magistracies,

and here, at Athens, the most solemn and national of the ancient

sacrifices are supposed to be celebrated by him who has been chosen by

lot to be the King Archon.

YOUNG SOCRATES: Precisely.

STRANGER: But who are these other kings and priests elected by lot who

now come into view followed by their retainers and a vast throng, as the

former class disappears and the scene changes?

YOUNG SOCRATES: Whom can you mean?

STRANGER: They are a strange crew.

YOUNG SOCRATES: Why strange?

STRANGER: A minute ago I thought that they were animals of every tribe;

for many of them are like lions and centaurs, and many more like satyrs

and such weak and shifty creatures;--Protean shapes quickly changing

into one another's forms and natures; and now, Socrates, I begin to see

who they are.

YOUNG SOCRATES: Who are they? You seem to be gazing on some strange

Statesman