e. These things the legislator
should indicate in general outline, and the guardian of the law should
enquire into them and search them out, combining dancing with music, and
assigning to the several sacrificial feasts that which is suitable to
them; and when he has consecrated all of them in due order, he shall for
the future change nothing, whether of dance or song. Thenceforward
the city and the citizens shall continue to have the same pleasures,
themselves being as far as possible alike, and shall live well and
happily.

I have described the dances which are appropriate to noble bodies and
generous souls. But it is necessary also to consider and know uncomely
persons and thoughts, and those which are intended to produce laughter
in comedy, and have a comic character in respect of style, song, and
dance, and of the imitations which these afford. For serious things
cannot be understood without laughable things, nor opposites at all
without opposites, if a man is really to have intelligence of either;
but he cannot carry out both in action, if he is to have any degree of
virtue. And for this very reason he should learn them both, in order
that he may not in ignorance do or say anything which is ridiculous and
out of place--he should command slaves and hired strangers to imitate
such things, but he should never take any serious interest in them
himself, nor should any freeman or freewoman be discovered taking pains
to learn them; and there should always be some element of novelty in
the imitation. Let these then be laid down, both in law and in our
discourse, as the regulations of laughable amusements which are
generally called comedy. And, if any of the serious poets, as they are
termed, who write tragedy, come to us and say--'O strangers, may we go
to your city and country or may we not, and shall we bring with us our
poetry--what is your will about these matters?'--how shall we answer
the divine men? I think that our answer should be as follows: Best of
strangers, we will say to them, we also according to our ability are
tragic poets, and our tragedy is the best and noblest; for our whole
state is an imitation of the best and noblest life, which we affirm to
be indeed the very truth of tragedy. You are poets and we are poets,
both makers of the same strains, rivals and antagonists in the noblest
of dramas, which true law can alone perfect, as our hope is. Do not then
suppose that we shall all in a moment allow you to