Scylla another monster, this one the female personification of a rock, dangerous to ships, on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis (which was personified as Scylla's companion monster).
Scythians warlike and nomadic Indo-Iranian people who lived in ancient Scythia, a region of southeastern Europe on the north coast of the Black Sea.
seats of precedent . . . . Iliad VIII, 162.
Simonides (556?–468? b.c.) Greek lyric poet.
slough a swamp, bog, or marsh, especially one that is part of an inlet or backwater.
smiths i.e., craftsmen, especially metalworkers.
Solon (640?-559? b.c.) Athenian statesman and lawgiver: framed the democratic laws of Athens.
Sons of Ariston i.e., Glaucon and Adeimantus; Ariston was also the father of Plato.
Sophocles (496?–406 b.c.) Greek writer of tragic dramas.
Styx the river encircling Hades over which Charon ferries the souls of the dead (the third river is Lethe).
Suppose that we were painting a statue . . . . although most of those that survive no longer appear to be painted, the statues of this period, of gods, heroes, etc., were actually painted in various natural colors by the artists.
Thales a Greek philosopher (c. 624–546 b.c.) who established the first philosophical school.
Thamyras (or Thamyris) a mythological poet and musician.
the country of the lotus-eaters . . . . one of the mythical lands Odysseus visited on his voyage home from Troy, the country of the lotus-eaters was populated with people who were drugged and lethargic, lacking in ambition; here, Socrates uses the phrase figuratively to describe the state of being of the democratic man who is a slave to physical appetites and useless, degrading pleasures.
the Fates in Greek mythology, the Fates (or Moirai) are the daughters either of Night (in some versions) or of Zeus and Themis (in others). They are the spirits who preside over a person's birth, allotting his or her destiny; they are often personified as three women: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who spin out the thread of life, measure it, and finally cut it off.
the god of jealousy Momus, a son of Night; he is also a personification of censure and criticism.
the goddess i.e., Bendis, the Thracian Artemis (the goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting, in classical Greek mythology; identified with the Roman goddess Diana).
The Greeks marched breathing prowess, . . . . in silent awe of their leaders . . . . Odyssey III, 8; IV, 431.
The kindred of the gods, the relatives of Zeus . . . . Aeschylus, from The Niobe.
the long chines spines or backbones, or (as here) cuts of meat containing the backbone; what are now called "tenderloins."
the Muse of philosophy The nine Muses were mythical daughters of Memory, goddesses of the arts, who were said to watch over or inspire the practitioners of nine specific arts: Calliope, epic poetry; Clio, history; Euterpe, the flute; Melpomene, tragedy; Terpsichore, dance; Erato, the lyre (and lyric poetry); Polyhymnia, sacred song; Urania, astronomy; and Thalia, comedy. There was no Muse assigned to philosophy; Socrates is using this phrase figuratively and fancifully, and perhaps implying that philosophy is more deserving of a Muse than some of these other arts.
The newest song which the singers have . . . . Odyssey I, 352.
the palaestra in ancient Greece, a public place for exercise in wrestling and athletics. (Athletes trained and performed naked; a little later in the dialogue Socrates will refer to this, comparing the Greeks to other peoples who did not follow the custom [barbarians — i.e., non-Hellenes], saying it may have seemed strange when first introduced but was now natural and accepted.)
the Piraeus Athens' port on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea; now a city, Piraeus (or Peiraeus).
the Pythian oracle an older name for the Delphic oracle. (Pythia was the title of the high priestess of Apollo's oracle at Delphi; the word is from the same root as Python, an enormous mythical serpent slain by Apollo.)
The saddest of fates . . . . Odyssey XII, 342.
the wisest of men i.e., Odysseus.
the world below . . . i.e., the Underworld, Hades.
Theages' bridle Scholars identify Socrates' phrase here as referring to a proverb.
Theban a native of Thebes (ancient city in southern Egypt, on the Nile, on the site of modern Luxor and Karnak).
Theseus, son of Poseidon legendary Greek hero, sometimes said to be the son of the sea god Poseidon; he is supposed to have killed the Minotaur and conquered the Amazons, among other feats.
Thetis one of the Nereids (sea-goddesses or sea-nymphs) and the mother of Achilles (whose father was a human man, Peleus); Thetis dipped the infant Achilles in the River Styx in order to make him immortal like the gods, but the heel by which she held him was not affected and so became the site of his mortal wound.
They are holy angels . . . . probably from Hesiod's Works and Days, 121 and following lines.
Thou has wronged me, O far-darter . . . . Iliad XXII, 15 and following lines.
Thracians natives of the ancient country of Thrace (or Thracia) on the Balkan peninsula, which extended to the Danube.
Tiresias a legendary blind soothsayer of Thebes; much respected, he figures in many mythical stories.
tirewomen ladies' maids (from tire, an obsolete form of attire [clothing]).
tragedy here, a collective term for the plays of tragedians such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, etc.
tyrranies plural of tyranny, a form of government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; this was a common form of government among Greek city-states and did not necessarily have the pejorative connotation it has today, although (as shall be seen) Plato regarded it as the worst kind of government.
Uranus, Cronus (Ouranos, Kronos) in Greek mythology (told in Hesiod's Theogony), Cronus was a Titan who, with his brothers and sisters, was imprisoned in Tartarus (the part of the Underworld where guilty souls are punished) by his father Uranus (the Heavens). Cronos escaped and castrated his father, with the help of his mother Ge (the Earth), to become the ruler of the Titans; this is the "retaliation" Socrates refers to.
