made a blind god director of his chorus . . . . i.e., avarice; the chorus is a group in Greek drama that speaks for the ordinary citizens of the society, and the Choragos was its "director" or spokesman. Socrates' figure seems to mean that the oligarchic man, having no cultivation, will have allowed this "blind god" — greed or the love of money and possessions — to direct his life and speak for him.
magazines places of storage, as a warehouse, storehouse, or military supply depot.
Megara chief town of ancient Megaris, a district located between the Saronic Gulf and the Gulf of Corinth, site of a battle of the Peloponnesian War.
mendicant prophets prophets or holy men who live by begging; Socrates' implication here is that they are assumed by educated persons to be charlatans.
Menelaus king of Sparta, Agamemnon's brother, and husband of Helen of Troy, whose abduction by the Trojan Paris (son of King Priam) was the legendary cause of the Trojan War.
Musaeus a legendary Greek poet thought to have lived before Homer, believed to be the author of Orphic poems and oracles.
mystery in ancient Greece, a religious ceremony or doctrine revealed only to the initiated.
neatherd cowherd.
neither drug nor cautery nor spell nor amulet . . . . Socrates refers here to various contemporary means of treatment employed by physicians as well as pseudo-physicians: Drugs and cauterization were accepted medical treatment; magical spells and amulets (protective objects, charms) were also commonly used.
Nemesis in Greek mythology, the personification of the gods' wrath at man's hubris; the goddess of retributive justice, or vengeance.
nostrum a medicine prepared by the person selling it; a patent medicine, often sold with exaggerated claims.
O heavens! With my eyes . . . . Iliad XXII, 168.
O heavy with wine . . . heart of a stag . . . . Odyssey I, 225.
Odysseus the hero of the Odyssey, a king of Ithaca and one of the Greek leaders in the Trojan War: Latin name Ulysses.
ophthalmia a severe inflammation of the eyeball.
Orpheus a legendary musician from Thrace; according to myth, he played the lyre with such artistry that his music moved rocks and trees and calmed wild animals. Orpheus figures in numerous myths and, like Musaeus, is associated with religious rites.
