offer a word of apology. We Athenians are always thought to be fond of
talking, whereas the Lacedaemonian is celebrated for brevity, and the
Cretan is considered to be sagacious and reserved. Now I fear that I may
be charged with spinning a long discourse out of slender materials. For
drinking cannot be rightly ordered without correct principles of music,
and music runs up into education generally, and to discuss all these
matters may be tedious; if you like, therefore, we will pass on to another
part of our subject. 'Are you aware, Athenian, that our family is your
proxenus at Sparta, and that from my boyhood I have regarded Athens as a
second country, and having often fought your battles in my youth, I have
become attached to you, and love the sound of the Attic dialect? The
saying is true, that the best Athenians are more than ordinarily good,
because they are good by nature; therefore, be assured that I shall be
glad to hear you talk as much as you please.' 'I, too,' adds Cleinias,
'have a tie which binds me to you. You know that Epimenides, the Cretan
prophet, came and offered sacrifices in your city by the command of an
oracle ten years before the Persian war. He told the Athenians that the
Persian host would not come for ten years, and would go away again, having
suffered more harm than they had inflicted. Now Epimenides was of my
family, and when he visited Athens he entered into friendship with your
forefathers.' I see that you are willing to listen, and I have the will to
speak, if I had only the ability. But, first, I must define the nature and
power of education, and by this road we will travel on to the God
Dionysus. The man who is to be good at anything must have early training;
--the future builder must play at building, and the husbandman at digging;
the soldier must learn to ride, and the carpenter to measure and use the
rule,--all the thoughts and pleasures of children should bear on their
after-profession.--Do you agree with me? 'Certainly.' And we must remember
further that we are speaking of the education, not of a trainer, or of the
captain of a ship, but of a perfect citizen who knows how to rule and how