phaedrus   

his eyes he will be compelled to banish from him divine philosophy;

and there is no greater injury which he can inflict upon him than

this. He will contrive that his beloved shall be wholly ignorant,

and in everything shall look to him; he is to be the delight of the

lover's heart, and a curse to himself. Verily, a lover is a profitable

guardian and associate for him in all that relates to his mind.

Let us next see how his master, whose law of life is pleasure and

not good, will keep and train the body of his servant. Will he not

choose a beloved who is delicate rather than sturdy and strong? One

brought up in shady bowers and not in the bright sun, a stranger to

manly exercises and the sweat of toil, accustomed only to a soft and

luxurious diet, instead of the hues of health having the colours of

paint and ornament, and the rest of a piece?-such a life as any one

can imagine and which I need not detail at length. But I may sum up

all that I have to say in a word, and pass on. Such a person in war,

or in any of the great crises of life, will be the anxiety of his

friends and also of his lover, and certainly not the terror of his

enemies; which nobody can deny.

And now let us tell what advantage or disadvantage the beloved

will receive from the guardianship and society of his lover in the

matter of his property; this is the next point to be considered. The

lover will be the first to see what, indeed, will be sufficiently

evident to all men, that he desires above all things to deprive his

beloved of his dearest and best and holiest possessions, father,

mother, kindred, friends, of all whom he thinks may be hinderers or

reprovers of their most sweet converse; he will even cast a jealous

eye upon his gold and silver or other property, because these make him

a less easy prey, and when caught less manageable; hence he is of

necessity displeased at his possession of them and rejoices at their

loss; and he would like him to be wifeless, childless, homeless, as

well; and the longer the better, for the longer he is all this, the

longer he will enjoy him.