The Republic
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
Plato presents a conversation led by Socrates about justice in a person and in a city. Its ten books consider education, political rule, knowledge, poetry and the soul through a proposed city and comparisons with other forms of government.
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The opening
BOOK I
I WENT down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon the son of Ariston, that I might offer up my prayers to the goddess; and also because I wanted to see in what manner they would celebrate the festival, which was a new thing. I was delighted with the procession of the inhabitants; but that of the Thracians was equally, if not more, beautiful. When we had finished our prayers and viewed the spectacle, we turned in the direction of the city; and at that instant Polemarchus the son of Cephalus chanced to catch sight of us from a distance as we were starting on our way home, and told his servant to run and bid us wait for him. The servant took hold of me by the cloak behind, and said: Polemarchus desires you to wait.
I turned round, and asked him where his master was.
There he is, said the youth, coming after you, if you will only wait.
Certainly we will, said Glaucon; and in a few minutes Polemarchus appeared, and with him Adeimantus, Glaucon’s brother, Niceratus the son of Nicias, and several others who had been at the procession.
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About this edition
- The words
- Benjamin Jowett's English translation, copied word for word.
- Copied from
Project Gutenberg eBook #150; early-file edition of The Republic, translated by Benjamin Jowett
- Left out
- The source library's header, footer and license
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1
- A preface, foreword or afterword
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 2 places
- Page numbers and running heads from the printed pages
- Kept as written
Its proposals concerning slavery, war, reproduction and the treatment of children are kept as the author wrote them.