L.
Labour, division of, 2. 370, 374 A; 3. 394 E, 395 B, 397 E; 4. 423 E, 433 A, 435 A, 441 E, 443, 453 B [cp. Laws 8. 846, 847].
Lacedaemon, owes its good order to Lycurgus, 10. 599 E;
—constitution of, commonly extolled, 8. 544 D; a timocracy, ib. 545 B:
—Lacedaemonians first after the Cretans to strip in the gymnasia, 5. 452 D.
Lachesis, turns the spindle of Necessity together with Clotho and Atropos, 10. 617 C; her speech, ib. D; apportions a genius to each soul, ib. 620 D.
Lamentation over the dead, to be checked, 3. 387.
Lands, partition of, proclaimed by the would-be tyrant, 8. 565 E, 566 E.
Language, pliability of, 9. 588 D [cp. Soph. 277 B].
Laughter not to be allowed in the guardians, 3. 388 [cp. Laws 5. 732; 11. 935]; nor represented in the gods, ib. 389.
Laws, may be given in error, 1. 339 E; supposed to arise from a convention among mankind, 2. 359 A; cause of, 3. 405; on special subjects of little use, 4. 425, 426 [cp. Laws 7. 788]; treated with contempt in democracies, 8. 563 E; bring help to all in the state, 9. 590.
Lawyers, increase when wealth abounds, 4. 405 A.
Learning, pleasure of, 6. 486 C (cp. 9. 581, 586).
Legislation, cannot reach the minutiae of life, 4. 425, 426; requires the help of God, ib. 425 E. Cp. Laws.
Leontius, story of, 4. 439 E.
Lethe, 10. 621.
Letters, image of the large and small, 2. 368; 3. 402 A.
Liberality, one of the virtues of the philosopher, 6. 485 E.
Liberty, characteristic of democracy, 8. 557 B, 561–563.
Licence, begins in music, 4. 424 E [cp. Laws 3. 701 B]; in democracies, 8. 562 D.
Licentiousness forbidden, 5. 458.
Lie, a, hateful to the philosopher, 6. 490 C (cp. supra 486 E);
—the true lie and the lie in words, 2. 382;
—the royal lie (γενναίον ψεῦδος), 3. 414;
—rulers of the state may lie, 2. 382; 3. 389 A, 414 C; 5. 459 D;
—the Gods not to be represented as lying, 2. 382;
—lies of the poets, ib. 377 foll.; 3. 386, 408 B (cp. 10. 597 foll.).
Life in the early state, 2. 372;
—loses its zest in old age, 1. 329 A; full of evils, 2. 379 C; intolerable without virtue, 4. 445; shortness of, compared to eternity, 10. 608 D;
—the life of virtue toilsome, 2. 364 D;
—the just or the unjust, which is the more advantageous? ib. 347 foll.;
—three kinds of lives among men, 9. 581;
—life of women ought to resemble that of men, 5. 451 foll. [cp. Laws 7. 804 E];
—the necessities of life, 2. 369, 373 A;
—the prime of life, 5. 460 E.
Light, 6. 507 E. Cp. Sight, Vision.
Light and heavy, 5. 479; 7. 524.
Like to like, 4. 425 C.
Literature (λόγοι), included under ‘music’ in education, 2. 376 E.
Litigation, the love of, ignoble, 3. 405.
Logic; method of residues, 4. 427;
—accidents and essence distinguished, 5. 454;
—nature of opposition, 4. 436;
—categories, πρός τι, 4. 437; quality and relation, ibid.;
—fallacies, 6. 487. For Plato’s method of definitions, see Knowledge, Temperance; and cp. Dialectic, Metaphysic.
Lotophagi, 8. 560 C.
Lots, use of, 5. 460 A, 462 E; election by, characteristic of democracy, 8. 557 A.
Love of the beautiful, 3. 402, 403 [cp. 1 Alcib. 131]; bodily love and true love, ib. 403; love and the love of knowledge, 5. 474 foll.; is of the whole, not of the part, ib. C, 475 B; 6. 485 B; a tyrant, 9. 573 B, 574 E (cp. 1. 329 B):
—familiarities which may be allowed between the lover and the beloved, 3. 403 B:
—lovers’ names, 5. 474:
—lovers of wine, ib. 475 A:
—lovers of beautiful sights and sounds, ib. 476 B, 479 A, 480.
Luxury in the state, 2. 372, 373; a cause of disease, 3. 405 E; would not give happiness to the citizens, 4. 420, 421; makes men cowards, 9. 590 B.
Lycaean Zeus, temple of, 8. 565 D.
Lycurgus, the author of the greatness of Lacedaemon, 10. 599 E.
Lydia, kingdom of, obtained by Gyges, 2. 359 C:
—Lydian harmonies, to be rejected, 3. 398 E foll.
Lying, a privilege of the state, 3. 389 A, 414 C; 5. 459 D.
Lyre, the instrument of Apollo, and allowed in the best state, 3. 399 D.
Lysanias, father of Cephalus, 1. 330 B.
Lysias, the brother of Polemarchus, 1. 328 B.
M.
Madman, arms not to be returned to a, 1. 331; fancies of madmen, 8. 573 C.
Magic, 10. 602 D.
Magistrates, elected by lot in democracy, 8. 557 A.
Magnanimity, (μεγαλόπρεπεια), one of the philosopher’s virtues, 6. 486 A, 490 E, 494 A.
Maker, the, not so good a judge as the user, 10. 601 C [cp. Crat. 390].
Man, ‘the master of himself,’ 4. 430 E [cp. Laws 1. 626 E foll.]; ‘the form and likeness of God,’ 6. 501 B [cp. Phaedr. 248 A; Theaet. 176 C; Laws 4. 716 D]; his unimportance, 10. 604 B (cp. 6. 486 A, and Laws 1. 644 E; 7. 803); has the power to choose his own destiny, 10. 617 E;
—the one best man, 6. 502 [cp. Pol. 301]:
—Men are not just of their own will, 2. 366 C; unite in the state in order to supply each other’s wants, ib. 369;
—the nature of men and women, 5. 453–455;
—analogy of men and animals, ib. 459;
—three classes of, 9. 581.
Manners, influenced by education, 4. 424, 425; cannot be made the subject of legislation, ibid.; freedom of, in democracies, 8. 563 A.
‘Many,’ the term, as applied to the beautiful, the good, &c., 6. 507.
Many, the, flatter their leaders into thinking themselves statesmen, 4. 426; wrong in their notions about the honourable and the good, 6. 493 E; would lose their harsh feeling towards philosophy if they could see the true philosopher, ib. 500; their pleasures and pains, 9. 586;
—‘the great beast,’ 6. 493. Cp. Multitude.
Marionette players, 7. 514 B.
Marriage, holiness of, 5. 458 E, 459; age for, ib. 460; prayers and sacrifices at, ibid.;
—marriage festivals, ib. 459, 460.
Marsyas, Apollo to be preferred to, 3. 399 E.
Mathematics, 7. 522–532; use of hypotheses in, 6. 510;
—mathematical notions perceived by a faculty of the soul, 6. 511 C:
—the mathematician not usually a dialectician, 7. 531 E.
Mean, happiness of the, 10. 619 A [cp. Laws 3. 679 A; 5. 728 E; 7. 792 D].
Meanness, unknown to the philosopher, 6. 486 A; characteristic of the oligarchs, 8. 554.
Measurement, art of, corrects the illusions of sight, 10. 602 D.
Meat, roast, the best diet for soldiers, 3. 404 D.
Medicine, cause of, 3. 405; not intended to preserve unhealthy and intemperate subjects, ib. 406 foll., 408 A; 4. 426 A [cp. Tim. 89 B]; the two kinds of, 5. 459 [cp. Laws 4. 720]; use of incantations in, 4. 426 A;
—analogy of, employed in the definition of justice, 1. 332 C.
Megara, battle of, 2. 368 A.
Melody, in education, 3. 398 foll.; its influence, 10. 601 B.
Memory, the philosopher should have a good, 6. 486 D, 490 E, 494 A; 7. 535 B.
Mendicant prophets, 2. 364 C.
Menelaus, treatment of, when wounded, 3. 408 A.
Menoetius, father of Patroclus, 3. 388 C.
Mental blindness, causes of, 7. 518.
Merchants, necessary in the state, 2. 371.
Metaphysics; absolute ideas, 5. 476;
—abstract and relative ideas, 7. 524;
—analysis of knowledge, 6. 510;
—qualifications of relative and correlative, 4. 437 foll.; 7. 524. Cp. Idea, Logic.
Metempsychosis, 10. 617. Cp. Soul.
Midas, wealth of, 3. 408 B.
Might and right, 1. 338 foll. [cp. Gorg. 483, 489; Laws 1. 627; 3. 690; 10. 890].
Miletus, Thales of, 10. 600 A.
Military profession, the, 2. 374.
Mimetic art, in education, 3. 394 foll.; the same person cannot succeed in tragedy and comedy, ib. 395 A; imitations lead to habit, ib. D; men acting women’s part, ib. E; influence on character, ibid. foll. Cp. Imitation.
‘Mine and thine,’ a common cause of dispute, 5. 462.
Ministers of the state must be educated, 7. 519. See Ruler.
Miser, the, typical of the oligarchical state, 8. 555 A (cp. 559 D).
Misfortune, to be borne with patience, 3. 387; 10. 603–606.
Models (or types), by which the poets are to be guided in their compositions, 2. 379 A.
Moderation, necessity of, 5. 466 B [cp. Laws 3. 690 E; 5. 732, 736 E].
Momus (god of jealousy), 6. 487 A.
Monarchy, distinguished from aristocracy as that form of the perfect state in which one rules, 4. 445 C (cp. 9. 576 D, and Pol. 301); the happiest form of government, 9. 576 E (cp. 580 C, 587 B).
Money, needed in the state, 2. 371 B [cp. Laws 11. 918]; not necessary in order to carry on war, 4. 423;
—love of, among the Egyptians and Phoenicians, ib. 435 E; characteristic of timocracy and oligarchy, 8. 548 A, 553, 562 A; referred to the appetitive element of the soul, 9. 580 E; despicable, ib. 589 E, 590 C (cp. 3. 390 E).
Money-lending, in oligarchies, 8. 555, 556.
Money-making, art of, in Cephalus’ family, 1. 330 B; evil of, 8. 556; pleasure of, 9. 581 C, 586 E.
Money-qualifications in oligarchies, 8. 550, 551.
Moon, reputed mother of Orpheus, 2. 364 E.
Motherland, a Cretan word, 9. 575 E [cp. Menex. 237].
Mothers in the state, 5. 460.
Motion and rest, 4. 436;
—motion of the stars, 7. 529, 530; 10. 616 E.
Multitude, the, the great Sophist, 6. 492; their madness, ib. 496 C. Cp. Many.
Musaeus, his pictures of a future life, 2. 363 D, E, 364 E.
Muses, the, Musaeus and Orpheus the children of, 2. 364 E.
Music, to be taught before gymnastic, 2. 376 E (cp. 3. 403 C); includes literature (λόγοι), 2. 376 E;
—in education, ib. 377 foll.; 3. 398 foll.; 7. 522 A (see Poetry, Poets, and cp. Protag. 326; Laws 2. 654, 660); complexity in, to be rejected, 3. 397 [cp. Laws 7. 812]; the severe and the vulgar kind, ibid. [cp. Laws 7. 802]; the end of, the love of beauty, ib. 403 C; like gymnastic, should be studied throughout life, ibid.; the simpler kinds of, foster temperance in the soul, ib. 404 A, 410 A; effect of excessive, ib. 410, 411; ancient forms of, not to be altered, 4. 424 [cp. Laws 2. 657; 7. 799, 801]; must be taught to women, 5. 452.
Music. [Music to the ancients had a far wider significance than to us. It was opposed to gymnastic as ‘mental’ to ‘bodily’ training, and included equally reading and writing, mathematics, harmony, poetry, and music strictly speaking: drawing, as Aristotle tells us (Pol. viii. 3, § 1), was sometimes made a separate division.
I. Music (in this wider sense), Plato says, should precede gymnastic; and, according to a remarkable passage in the Protagoras (325 C), the pupils in a Greek school were actually instructed in reading and writing, made to learn poetry by heart, and taught to play on the lyre, before they went to the gymnasium. The ages at which children should commence these various studies are not stated in the Republic; but in the VIIth Book of the Laws, where the subject is treated more in detail, the children begin going to school at ten, and spend three years in learning to read and write, and another three years in music (Laws 7. 810). This agrees very fairly with the selection of the most promising youth at the age of twenty (Rep. 7. 537), as it would allow a corresponding period of three years for gymnastic training.
II. Music, strictly so called, plays a great part in Plato’s scheme of education. He hopes by its aid to make the lives of his youthful scholars harmonious and gracious, and to implant in their souls true conceptions of good and evil. Music is a gift of the Gods to men, and was never intended, ‘as the many foolishly and blasphemously suppose,’ merely to give us an idle pleasure (Tim. 47 E; Laws 2. 654, 658 E; 7. 802 D). Neither should a freeman aim at attaining perfect execution [cp. Arist. Pol. viii. 6, §§ 7, 15]: in the Laws (7. 810) we are told that every one must go through the three years course of music, ‘neither more nor less, whether he like or whether he dislike the study.’ Both instruments and music are to be of a simple character: in the Republic only the lyre, the pipe, and the flute are tolerated, and the Dorian and Phrygian harmonies. No change in the fashions of music is permitted; for where there is licence in music there will be anarchy in the state. In this desire for simplicity and fixity in music Plato was probably opposed to the tendencies of his own age. The severe harmony which had once characterized Hellenic art was passing out of favour: alike in architecture, sculpture, painting, literature, and music, richer and more ornate styles prevailed. We regard the change as inevitable, and not perhaps wholly to be regretted: to Plato it was a cause rather than a sign of the decline of Hellas.]
Musical amateurs, 5. 475;
—education, 2. 377; 3. 398 foll.; 7. 522 A;
—instruments, the more complex kinds of, rejected, 3. 399 [cp. Laws 7. 812 D];
—modes, ib. 397–399; changes in, involve changes in the laws, 4. 424 C.
Mysteries, 2. 365 A, 366 A, 378 A; 8. 560 E.
Mythology, misrepresentations of the gods in, 2. 378 foll.; 3. 388 foll., 408 C (cp. Gods); like poetry, has an imitative character, 3. 392 D foll.