697
Athenian
Ath. Well then, shall we not declare that the distribution of these things is the lawgiver’s task?
Athenian
Ath. Is it your wish that we should hand over the whole distribution to him, to deal with every case and all the details, while we—as legal enthusiasts ourselves also—confine ourselves to making a threefold division, and endeavor to distinguish what comes first in importance, and what second and third?Cp. Plat. Laws 631b, c; Plat. Laws 661a ff.; Plat. Laws 726a ff.; Aristot. Nic. Eth. 1098b 12 ff.
Megillus
Meg. By all means.
5
Athenian
Ath. We declare, then, that a State which is to endure, and to be as happy as it is possible for man to be, must of necessity dispense honors rightly. And the right way is this: it shall be laid down that the goods of the soul are highest in honor and come first, provided that the soul possesses temperance; second come the good and fair things of the body; and third the so-called goods of substance and property. And if any law-giver or State transgresses these rules, either by promoting wealth to honors, or by raising one of the lower goods to a higher rank by means of honors, he will be guilty of a breach both of religion and of statesmanship. Shall this be our declaration, or what?
Megillus
Meg. By all means let us declare this plainly.