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Stranger
Str. But surely they will say that that which is capable of becoming present or absent exists.
Theaetetus
Theaet. Yes, they say that.
Stranger
Str. Granting, then, that justice and wisdom and virtue in general and their opposites exist, and also, of course, the soul in which they become present, do they say that any of these is visible and tangible, or that they are all invisible?
Theaetetus
Theaet. That none of them is visible, or pretty nearly that.
Stranger
Str. Now here are some other questions. Do they say they possess any body?
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Theaetetus
Theaet. They no longer answer the whole of that question in the same way. They say they believe the soul itself has a sort of body, but as to wisdom and the other several qualities about which you ask, they have not the face either to confess that they have no existence or to assert that they are all bodies.
Stranger
Str. It is clear, Theaetetus, that our men have grown better; for the aboriginal sons of the dragon’s teeth This refers to the story of Cadmus, who killed a dragon and then sowed its teeth, from which sprang fierce warriors to be his companions. Born of the dragon’s teeth and of earth, they would naturally be of the earth, earthy. among them would not shrink from any such utterance; they would maintain that nothing which they cannot squeeze with their hands has any existence at all.
Theaetetus
Theaet. That is pretty nearly what they believe.
