With Socrates at a neighborhood event.

I had not realized that Allan Bloom (of The Closing of the American Mind fame, a most prescient tome), had translated Plato.  From The Republic of Plato translated by Allan Bloom.  

Dipping into it, I am charmed by how colloquial it is.  This might be an encounter downtown or on a university campus with its orienting in time and place and characters.  And it all happened 2,500 years ago though it reads as if yesterday.  Well, other than the slave.  Remarkable.

It is so much more accessible than the footnoted and stiff versions with their arch language and near literal translations I read so long ago in university.  Accessible those were not.  

Socrates: I went down to the Piraeus yesterday with Glaucon, son of Ariston, to pray to the goddess; and, at the same time, I wanted to observe how they would put on the festival, since they were now holding it for the first time. Now, in my opinion, the procession of the native inhabitants was fine; but the one the Thracians conducted was no less fitting a show. After we had prayed and looked on, we went off toward town. 

Catching sight of us from afar as we were pressing homewards, Polemarchus, son of Cephalus, ordered his slave boy to run after us and order us to wait for him. The boy took hold of my cloak from behind and said, “Polemarchus orders you to wait.”

And I turned around and asked him where his master was. “He is coming up behind,” he said, “just wait.”

“Of course we’ll wait,” said Glaucon.

A moment later Polemarchus came along with Adeimantus, Glaucon’s brother, Niceratus, son of Nicias, and some others—apparently from the procession. Polemarchus said, “Socrates, I guess you two are hurrying to get away to town.”   

“That’s not a bad guess,” I said.

“Well,” he said, “do you see how many of us there are?”

“Of course.”

“Well, then,” he said, “either prove stronger than these men or stay here.”

“Isn’t there still one other possibility . . .,” I said, “our persuading you that you must let us go?”

“Could you really persuade,” he said, “if we don’t listen?”

“There’s no way,” said Glaucon.

“Well, then, think it over, bearing in mind we won’t listen.”

Then Adeimantus said, “Is it possible you don’t know that at sunset there will be a torch race on horseback for the goddess?”    

“On horseback?” I said. “That is novel. Will they hold torches and pass them to one another while racing the horses, or what do you mean?”

“That’s it,” said Polemarchus, “and, besides, they’ll put on an all-night festival that will be worth seeing. We’ll get up after dinner and go to see it; there we’ll be together with many of the young men and we’ll talk. So stay and do as I tell you.”    

And Glaucon said, “It seems we must stay.”

“Well, if it is so resolved,” I said, “that’s how we must act.”

Then we went to Polemarchus’ home; there we found Lysias and Euthydemus, Polemarchus’ brothers, and, in addition, Thrasymachus, the Chalcedonian and Charmantides, the Paeanian, and Cleitophon, the son of Aristonymus.

Cephalus, Polemarchus’ father, was also at home; and he seemed very old to me, for I had not seen him for some time. He was seated on a sort of cushioned stool and was crowned with a wreath, for he had just performed a sacrifice in the courtyard. We sat down beside him, for some stools were arranged in a circle there. As soon as Cephalus saw me, he greeted me warmly and said:  

“Socrates, you don’t come down to us in the Piraeus very often, yet you ought to. Now if I still had the strength to make the trip to town easily, there would be no need for you to come here; rather we would come to you. As it is, however, you must come here more frequently. I want you to know that as the other pleasures, those connected with the body, wither away in me, the desires and pleasures that have to do with speeches grow the more. Now do as I say: be with these young men, but come here regularly to us as to friends and your very own kin.”