Plato · c. 428/427-348/347 BC

Laws

Contents · 83 passages

1. 624a–628eBook I: Who gave the laws of Crete and Sparta? War, peace and the best judge1894 words
2. 629a–633eBook I: The whole of virtue as the lawgiver's aim; Tyrtaeus, Theognis and the common meals2181 words
3. 634a–638eBook I: Courage and pleasure; Ganymede; the Spartan avoidance of wine2250 words
4. 639a–642eBook I: The right test of drinking parties; the sober leader; Epimenides and Athens1751 words
5. 643a–646eBook I: Education defined; the puppet of the gods and the golden cord1829 words
6. 647a–650bBook I: Fear and shame; wine as a test of character1543 words
7. 652a–656eBook II: Education through pleasure and pain; the gods as fellow-dancers; right and wrong taste1832 words
8. 657a–660eBook II: The unchanging art of Egypt; the criterion of music and the educated judge1854 words
9. 661a–664eBook II: The just life is the pleasantest; the Sidonian tale and persuading the young1871 words
10. 665a–669eBook II: The three choirs of Apollo, the Muses and Dionysus; the education of taste in music2190 words
11. 670a–674cBook II: The old as singers; the proper use of wine; the Dionysiac gift2144 words
12. 676a–680eBook III: The origin of government: the floods and the survivors on the hills1978 words
13. 681a–685eBook III: From the family to the city: Homer's Cyclopes, Dardanus and Ilium, and the Dorian settlement2169 words
14. 686a–690eBook III: Why the Dorian league failed: ignorance, wisdom and the claims to rule2265 words
15. 691a–695eBook III: The saving of Sparta by the dual kingship; Persia under Cyrus and his sons2136 words
16. 696a–698eBook III: The corruption of royal heirs; Darius, and the right use of wealth by lawgivers1322 words
17. 699a–702eBook III: Athens at Marathon and Salamis; the theatrocracy; the colony1768 words
18. 704a–708eBook IV: The site of the new city: inland or on the sea; Minos, Salamis and the settlers2038 words
19. 709a–712eBook IV: Chance, the lawgiver and the young tyrant1823 words
20. 713a–715eBook IV: The age of Cronos and the daemons; the aim of laws and the claims to rule1392 words
21. 716a–718eBook IV: God as the measure of all things; honouring the gods, daemons, heroes, parents and kin1386 words
22. 719b–724bBook IV: Preludes to laws; the free doctor and the slave doctor; the first law of marriage2476 words
23. 726a–730eBook V: Honouring the soul, the body, property and strangers2002 words
24. 731a–734eBook V: Self-love, the virtues and the pleasant life1869 words
25. 735a–738eBook V: Founding the city: purging, the foundation and the number of citizens1844 words
26. 739a–741eBook V: The best city and the second best; allotments and the fixed number of homes1363 words
27. 742a–744eBook V: No gold and silver; the order of goods and the classes of property1386 words
28. 745a–747eBook V: The acropolis, the twelve portions and the practicability of the plan1448 words
29. 751a–754eBook VI: The magistrates of the new city; the choice of the Law-wardens1809 words
30. 755a–758eBook VI: Electing the Law-wardens, the generals and the Council; the two kinds of equality1850 words
31. 759a–762eBook VI: Priests and temples, the temple treasurers and the land-stewards1818 words
32. 763a–765eBook VI: The land-stewards' way of life; city and market stewards; the election of the officials of music and gymnastics1291 words
33. 766a–768eBook VI: The Minister of Education; the courts1387 words
34. 769a–772eBook VI: Laws are never finished; revision, the number of the tribes and festivals1713 words
35. 773a–776eBook VI: The laws of marriage: the mixing bowl, the age of marriage, gifts and the new home1797 words
36. 777a–780eBook VI: Slaves, the household and the common meals of the married1826 words
37. 781b–785bBook VI: Women at the common meals; the three desires; the law of procreation1936 words
38. 788a–792eBook VII: The nurture of infants: movement, rocking and the mean between pleasure and pain2180 words
39. 793a–796eBook VII: Unwritten customs, games of the young child, left and right hand, wrestling and the war-dances1821 words
40. 797a–800eBook VII: No innovation in children's games and music; the Egyptian pattern of consecrated song; hymns as laws1867 words
41. 801a–804eBook VII: The laws of hymns and prayers; the praise of the dead; man as the plaything of God1815 words
42. 805a–809eBook VII: The education of girls; the Sauromatides, common meals and the use of the night2273 words
43. 810a–813eBook VII: Letters, the lyre and the choice of texts; this discourse as a model for the schools1761 words
44. 814a–817eBook VII: The two kinds of dance, the pyrrhic and the pacific; comedy and tragedy1848 words
45. 818a–821eBook VII: Arithmetic, geometry and astronomy: the studies of the freeborn1877 words
46. 822a–824aBook VII: The truth about the planets; the end of the education laws; hunting and the prelude1175 words
47. 828a–831eBook VIII: The festivals and the twelve gods; practice in war as a part of religion1669 words
48. 832a–835eBook VIII: Soldiers against traders; gymnastic contests for the training of the citizens1845 words
49. 836a–838eBook VIII: The desires of love: friendship, desire and love; a law against unnatural intercourse1357 words
50. 839a–841eBook VIII: The device for restraining desire; Iccus of Tarentum; the second-best law1325 words
51. 842a–846eBook VIII: Laws of the land: the Boundary-god, trees, grapes and water2312 words
52. 847a–850dBook VIII: Crafts, the villages and the distribution of produce; markets and foreign residents1817 words
53. 853a–856eBook IX: Legal proceedings; temple-robbery and the procedure of trial1781 words
54. 857a–861eBook IX: The lawgiver as student; laws as the finest of writings; justice, beauty and wrongdoing2332 words
55. 862a–865eBook IX: Injury and injustice; the three causes of wrongdoing; the beginning of the laws of homicide1986 words
56. 866a–869eBook IX: Killing in anger: exile, return and the killing of kin2002 words
57. 870a–873eBook IX: Premeditated murder; the ancient tale of vengeance; the avenger of kindred blood2041 words
58. 874a–878eBook IX: Things that kill; the need for law; wounding and the childless house2508 words
59. 879a–882cBook IX: Wounding by children, blows to the old, and outrage against parents1896 words
60. 884a–887eBook X: Violence, sacrilege, and the case for the gods1632 words
61. 888a–892eBook X: The materialists, nature and art, and the priority of soul2508 words
62. 893a–898eBook X: The kinds of motion, and soul as self-moving2784 words
63. 899a–902eBook X: The gods exist; the first objections, and the gods' care of small things1849 words
64. 903a–906eBook X: Providence over the whole, and the fate of the soul1947 words
65. 907a–910dBook X: Penalties for impiety, and private shrines1773 words
66. 913a–915eBook XI: Treasure, lost goods, and the sale of slaves1490 words
67. 916a–919eBook XI: Fraud in sale, oaths in trade, and the problem of retail1974 words
68. 920a–922eBook XI: Craftsmen, debts of work, and the prelude on wills1433 words
69. 923a–925eBook XI: Wills, inheritance, and the heiress1526 words
70. 926a–928eBook XI: Orphans, guardians, and disinheritance1542 words
71. 929a–931eBook XI: Disowning a son, quarrelling spouses, and honour to parents1496 words
72. 932a–933eBook XI: Parents' prayers, poisoning, and sorcery935 words
73. 934a–936eBook XI: Damages, abuse, comedy, beggars, and witnesses1502 words
74. 937a–938cBook XI: Witnesses and the art of perverting justice835 words
75. 941a–944eBook XII: Heralds, theft, and the laws of military service1687 words
76. 945a–947eBook XII: Throwing away arms, and the examiners1483 words
77. 948a–949eBook XII: A corrupt examiner, and oaths in the courts992 words
78. 950a–952eBook XII: Travel abroad, inspectors, and the reception of strangers1494 words
79. 953a–956eBook XII: Strangers, securities, lawsuits, and sacred gifts2079 words
80. 957b–959eBook XII: The courts, the execution of verdicts, and burial1433 words
81. 960a–962eBook XII: Funeral rules, and the Nocturnal Council1616 words
82. 963a–965eBook XII: The unity of virtue, and the education of the guardians1517 words
83. 966a–969dBook XII: The knowledge of the gods, and the founding of the State1670 words