the first to bestow a benefit, for he would have come when invited,
and would have given to Archelaus that for which Archelaus could
have made no return to Socrates. Even if Archelaus were to give
Socrates gold and silver, if he learned in return for them to
despise gold and silver, would not Socrates be able to repay
Archelaus? Could Socrates receive from him as much value as he
gave, in displaying to him a man skilled in the knowledge of life
and of death, comprehending the true purpose of each? Suppose that
he had found this king, as it were, groping his way in the clear
sunlight, and had taught him the secrets of nature, of which he was
so ignorant, that when there was an eclipse of the sun, he up his
palace, and shaved his son's head, [Footnote: Gertz very reasonably
conjectures that he shaved his own head which reading would require
a very trifling alteration of the text.] which men are wont to do
in times of mourning and distress. What a benefit it would have
been if he had dragged the terror-stricken king out of his hiding-
place, and bidden him be of good cheer, saying, "This is not a
disappearance of the sun, but a conjunction of two heavenly bodies;
for the moon, which proceeds along a lower path, has placed her
disk beneath the sun, and hidden it by the interposition of her own
mass. Sometimes she only hides a small portion of the sun's disk,
because she only grazes it in passing; sometimes she hides more, by
placing more of herself before it; and sometimes she shuts it out
from our sight altogether, if she passes in an exactly even course
between the sun and the earth. Soon, however, their own swift
motion will draw these two bodies apart; soon the earth will
receive back again the light of day. And this system will continue
throughout centuries, having certain days, known beforehand, upon
which the sun cannot display all rays, because of the intervention
of the moon. Wait only for a short time; he will soon emerge, he