Gryllus
GRYLLUS. Neither of these, king of the Cephallenians.After Homer, Iliad, ii. 631; Odyssey, xxiv. 378; or, taking the pun, King of Brains, Mastermind. But if it is your pleasure to discuss the matter instead of hurling abuse, I shall quickly make you see that we are right to prefer our present life in place of the former one, now that we have tried both.
Gryllus
GRYLLUS. And I, in that case, to instruct you. Let us begin with the virtues, which, we note, inspire you with pride; for you rate yourselves as far superior to animals Cf. 962 a supra; on the virtues of animals see Aristotle, Historia Animal. i. 1 (488 f. 12 ff.); Plato, Laches, 196 e; al. in justice and wisdom and courage and all the rest of them. But answer me this, wisest of men! Once I heard you telling Circe about the land of the Cyclopes,Homer, Odyssey, ix. 108 ff. that though it is not ploughed at all nor does anyone sow there, yet it is naturally so fertile and fecund that it produces spontaneously every kind of crops. Do you, then, rate this land higher than rugged, goat-pasturing Ithaca, Odyssey, xiii. 242 ff.; cf. iv. 606. which barely yields the tiller a meagre, churlish, trifling crop after great efforts and much toil? And see that you don’t lose your temper and give me a patriotic answer that isn’t what you really believe.
