than in any of the other
Dialogues of Plato, is the use of example and illustration
('taphorhtika auto prhospherhontez'): "Let us apply the test of common
instances." "You," says Adeimantus, ironically, in the sixth book, "are
so unaccustomed to speak in images." And this use of examples or
images, though truly Socratic in origin, is enlarged by the genius of
Plato into the form of an allegory or parable, which embodies in the
concrete what has been already described, or is about to be described,
in the abstract. Thus the figure of the cave in Book VII is a
recapitulation of the divisions of knowledge in Book VI. The composite
animal in Book IX is an allegory of the parts of the soul. The noble
captain and the ship and the true pilot in Book VI are a figure of the
relation of the people to the philosophers in the State which has been
described. Other figures, such as the dog in the second, third, and
fourth books, or the marriage of the portionless maiden in the sixth
book, or the drones and wasps in the eighth and ninth books, also form
links of connection in long passages, or are used to recall previous
discussions.

Plato is most true to the character of his master when he describes him
as "not of this world." And with this representation of him the ideal
State and the other paradoxes of the Republic are quite in accordance,
though they can not be shown to have been speculations of Socrates. To
him, as to other great teachers both philosophical and religious, when
they looked upward, the world seemed to be the embodiment of error and
evil. The common sense of mankind has revolted against this view, or
has only partially admitted it. And even in Socrates himself the
sterner judgment of the multitude at times passes into a sort of
ironical pity or love. Men in general are incapable of philosophy, and
are therefore at enmity with the philosopher; but their
misunderstanding of him is unavoidable: for they have never seen him as
he truly is in his own image; they are only acquainted with artificial
systems possessing no native force of truth--words which admit of many
applications. Their leaders have nothing to measure with, and are
therefore ignorant of their own stature. But they are to be pitied or
laughed at, not to be quarrelled with; they mean well with their
nostrums, if they could only learn that they are cutting off a Hydra's
head. This moderation towards those who are in error is one of the
most ch