and I have now to speak of the third, or Dionysian chorus, which is
composed of those who are between thirty and sixty years old. 'Let us
hear.' We are agreed (are we not?) that men, women, and children should be
always charming themselves with strains of virtue, and that there should
be a variety in the strains, that they may not weary of them? Now the
fairest and most useful of strains will be uttered by the elder men, and
therefore we cannot let them off. But how can we make them sing? For a
discreet elderly man is ashamed to hear the sound of his own voice in
private, and still more in public. The only way is to give them drink;
this will mellow the sourness of age. No one should be allowed to taste
wine until they are eighteen; from eighteen to thirty they may take a
little; but when they have reached forty years, they may be initiated into
the mystery of drinking. Thus they will become softer and more
impressible; and when a man's heart is warm within him, he will be more
ready to charm himself and others with song. And what songs shall he sing?
'At Crete and Lacedaemon we only know choral songs.' Yes; that is because
your way of life is military. Your young men are like wild colts feeding
in a herd together; no one takes the individual colt and trains him apart,
and tries to give him the qualities of a statesman as well as of a
soldier. He who was thus trained would be a greater warrior than those of
whom Tyrtaeus speaks, for he would be courageous, and yet he would know
that courage was only fourth in the scale of virtue. 'Once more, I must
say, Stranger, that you run down our lawgivers.' Not intentionally, my
good friend, but whither the argument leads I follow; and I am trying to
find some style of poetry suitable for those who dislike the common sort.
'Very good.' In all things which have a charm, either this charm is their
good, or they have some accompanying truth or advantage. For example, in
eating and drinking there is pleasure and also profit, that is to say,
health; and in learning there is a pleasure and also truth. There is a
pleasure or charm, too, in the imitative arts, as well as a law of