Chapter 1

Plato

THE RING OF GYGES

said this I thought I had done There is certainly such a third kind, I said, but
W HEN I HAD
with the diSCUSSion, but evidently this
was only a prelude. Glaucon on this occasion
why do you ask?
Under which of these headings do you put
too showed that boldness which is characteristic justice? he asked.
of him, and refused to accept Thrasymachus' I would myself put it in the finest class, I said,
abandOning the argument. He said: Do you, that which is to be welcomed both for itself and
Socrates, want to appear to have persuaded us, for its consequences by any man who is 'to be
or do you want truly to convince us that it is blessed with happiness.
better in every way to be just than unjust? That is not the opinion of the many. he said;
I would certainly wish to convince you truly. they would put it in the wearisome class, to be
I said, ifI could. pursued for the rewards and popularity which
Well, he said, you are certainly not attaining come from a good reputation, but to be avoided
your wish. Tell me, do you think there is a kind in itself as being difficult.
of good which we welcome not because we I know thC1.t is the general opinion, I said.
desire its consequences but for its own sake: joy, Justice has now for some time been objected to
for example, and all the harmle~s pleasures by Thrasymachus on this score while injustice
which have no further consequences beyond the was extolled, but it seems I am a slow learner.
joy which one finds in them? Come then, he said, listen to me also to see
Certainly, said I, I think there is such a good. whether you are still of the same opinion, for I
Further, there is the good which we welcome think that Thrasymachus gave up before he had
for its. own sake and also for its consequences, to, charmed by you as by a snake charmer. I am
knowledge for example and sight and health. Such not yet satisfied by the demonstration on either
things we somehow welcome on both counts. side. I am eager to hear the nature of each, of
Yes, said L justice and injustice, and what effect its presence
Are you also aware of a third kind, he asked, has upon the soul. I want to leave out of account
such as physical training. being treated when ill. the rewards and consequences ofeach. So. if you
the practice of medicine, and other ways of agree. I will do the following: I will renew the
making money? We should say that these are argument of Thrasymachus; I will first state
wearisome but beneficial to us; we should not what people consider the nature and origin of
want them for their own sake. but because of the justice; secondly. that all who practise it do so
rewards and other benefits which result from unwillingly as being something necessary but
them: not good; thirdly, that they have good reason to
8 Plato

do so, for, according to what people say, the life Even those who practise justice do so against t\
of the unjust man' is much better than that of the their will because they lack the power to do by tI
just. wrong. This we could realize very dearly if we as t1:
It is not that r think so, Socrates, but I am imagined ourselves granting to both the just and that
perplexed and my ears are deafened listening to the unjust the freedom to do whatever they him
Thrasymachus and innumerable other speakers; liked. We could then follow both of them and erty
r have never heard from anyone the sort of observe where their desires led them, and we nity
defence of justice that I want to hear, proving would catch the just man redhanded travelling go i
that it is better than injustice. I want to hear it the same road as the unjust. The reason is the anye
praised for itself. and I think I am most likely to desire for undue gain which every organism by wisl
hear this from you. Therefore I am going to nature pursues as a good, but the law forcibly whi,
speak at length in praise of the unjust life and in sidetracks him to honour equality. The freedom His
doing so I will show you the way I want to hear r just mentioned would most easily occur if thos
you denouncing injustice and praising justice. these men had the power which they say the the;
See whether you want to hear what I suggest. ancestor of the Lydian Gyges possessed. The prO(
I want it more than anything else, I said. story is that he was a shepherd in the service of com
Indeed, what subject would a man of sense talk the ruler of Lydia. There was a violent rainstorm goo,
and hear about more often with enjoyment? and an earthquake which broke open the ground dov
Splendid, he said, then listen while I deal and created a chasm at the place where he was man
with the first subject I mentioned: the nature tending sheep. Seeing this and marvelling, he able
and origin of justice. , went down into it. He saw, besides many other this
They say that to do wrong is naturally good, wonders of which we are told, a hollow bronze whc
to be wronged is bad, but the suffering of injury horse. There were window-like openings in it; opp'
so far exceeds in badness the good of inflicting he climbed through them and caught sight of a Prof
it that when men have done wrong to each corpse which seemed of more than human it to
other and suffered it, and have had a taste of stature, wearing nothing but a ring of gold on prai:
both, those who are unable to avoid the latter its finger. This ring the shepherd put on and for
and practise the former decide that it is profit­ came out. He arrived at the usual monthly seco
able to come to an agreement with each other meeting which reported to the king on the state A
neither to inflict injury nor to suffer it. As a of the flocks, wearing the ring. As he was sitting disc
result they begin to make laws and covenants, among the others he happened to twist the hoop judg
and the law's command they call lawful and just. of the ring towards himself, to the inside of his man
This, they say. is the origin and essence of hand, and as he did this he became invisible to othe
justice; it stands between the best and the worst, those sitting near him and they went on talking mea
the best being to do wrong without paying the as if he had gone. He marvelled at this and, dew
penalty and the worst to be wronged without fingering the ring. he turned the hoop outward justi
the power of revenge. The just then is a mean again and became visible. Perceiving this he First
between two extremes; it is welcomed and tested whether the ring had this power and so it do­
honoured because of men's lack of the power to happened: .if he turned the hoop inwards he disti
do wrong. The man who has that power, the real became invisible, but was visible when he cam
man. would not make a compact with anyone turned it outwards. When he realized this. he at he'i
not to inflict injury or suffer it. For him that once arranged to become one of the messengers thin.
would be madness. This then, Socrates, is, to the king. He went. committed adultery with atw
according to their argument, the nature and the king's wife. attacked the king with her help. isca
origin of justice. killed him. and took over the kingdom. for
 The ring of Gyges 9

Now if there were two such rings, one worn reputation for justice, and our perfectly unjust
by the just man, the other by the unjust, no one, man must be granted perfection in injustice. We
as these people think, would be so incorruptible must not take this from him, but we must allow
that he would stay on the path of justice or bring that, while committing the greatest crimes, he
himself to keep away from other people's prop­ has provided himself with the greatest reputa­
erty and not touch it, when he could with impu­ tion for justice; if he makes a slip he must be
nity take whatever he wanted from the market, able to put it right; he must be a sufficiently
go into houses and have sexual relations with persuasive speaker if some wrongdOing of his is
anyone he wanted, kill anyone, free all those he made public; he must be able to use force, where
wished from prison, and do the other things force is needed, with the help of his courage, his
which would make him like a god among men. strength. and the friends and wealth with which
His actions would be in no way different from he has prOvided himself.
those of the other and they would both follow Having described such a man, let us now in
the same path. This, some would say, is a great our argument put beside him the just man,
proof that no one is iust willinglyl but under simple as he is and noble. who. as Aeschylus put
compulsion, so that justice is not one's private it,2 does not wish to appear just but to be so. We
good. since wherever either thought he could must take away his reputation, for a reputation
do wrong with impunity he would do so. Every for justice would bring him honour and rewards,
man believes that injustice is much more profit­ and it would then not be clear whether he is
able to himself than justice, and any exponent of what he is for justice's sake or for the sake of
this argument will say that he is right. The man rewards and honour. We must strip him of
who did not wish to do wrong with that everything except justice and make him the
opportunity, and did not touch other people's complete opposite of the other. Though he does
property, would be thought by those who knew no wrong, he must have the greatest reputation
it to be very foolish and miserable. They would for wrongdoing so that he may be tested for
praise him in public, thus deceiving one another, justice by not weakening under ill repute and its
for fear of being wronged. So much for my consequences. Let him go his incorruptible way
second topic. until death with a reputation for injustice
As for the choice between the lives we are throughout his life, just though he is, so that our
diSCUSSing, we shall be able to make a correct two men may reach the extremes, one of justice,
judgment about it only if we put the most just the other of injustice, and let them be judged as
man and the most unjust man face to face; to which of the two is the happier.
otherwise we cannot do so. By face to face I Whew! My dear Glaucon, I said, what a
mean this: let us grant to the unjust the fullest mighty scouring you have given those two char­
degree of injustice and to the just the fullest acters, as if they were statues in a competition.
justice, each being perfect in his own pursuit. I do the best I can, he replied. The two being
First, the unjust man will act as clever craftsmen such as I have described, there should be no
do--a top navigator for example or phYSician difficulty in following the argument through as
distinguishes what his craft can do and what it to what kind of life awaits each of them, but it
cannot; the former he will undertake. the latter must be said. And if what I say sounds rather
he will pass by. and when he slips he can put boorish, Socrates, realize that it is not I who
things right. So the unjust man's correct attempts speak, but those who praise injustice as prefer­
at wrongdoing must remain secret; the one who able to justice. They will say that the just man in
is caugh! must be considered a poor performer, these circumstances will be whipped, stretched
for the extreme of injustice is to have a on the rack, imprisoned, have his eyes burnt out,
10 Plato

and. after suffering every kind of evil, he will be arguments opposite to those he mentioned.
impaled and realize that one should not want to those which praise justice and censure injustice.
be just but to appear so. Indeed. Aeschylus' so that what I take to be Glaucon's intention may
words are far more correctly applied to the be clearer. When fathers speak to their sons, they
unjust than to the just, for we shall be told that say one must be just-and so do all who care for
the unjust man pursues a course which is based them, but they do not praise justice itself, only
on truth and not on appearances; he does not the high reputations it leads to, in order that the
want to appear but to be unjust: son. thought to be just, shall enjoy those public
offices, marriages. and the rest which Glaucon
He harvests in his heart a deep furrow mentioned, as they belong to the just man
from which good counsels grow. because of his high repute; they lay even greater
emphasis on the results of reputation. They add
He rules his city because of his reputation for popularity granted by the gods, and mention
justice, he marries into any family he wants to, abundant bleSSings which, they say, the gods
he gives his children in marriage to anyone he grant to the piOUS. So too the noble Hesiod and
wishes, he has contractual and other associa­ Homer declare, 3 the one that for the just the
tions with anyone he may desire, and, beside all gods make "the oak trees bear acorns at the top
these advantages, he benefits in the pursuit of and bees in the middle and their fleecy sheep are
gain because he does not scruple to practise heavy with their burden of wool" and many
injustice. In any contest, public or prlvate, he is other bleSSings of like nature. The other says
the winner, getting the better of his enemies and similar things:
accumulating wealth; he benefits his friends and
does harm to his enemies. To the gods he offers (like the fame) of a goodly king who, in his .
grand sacrifices and gifts which will satisfy piety,
them, he can serve the gods much better than upholds justice; for him the black earth
the just man, and also such men as he wants to, bears wheat
with the result that he is likely to be dearer to and barley and the trees are heavy with fruit;
the gods. This is what they say, Socrates, that his
both from gods and men the unjust mansecures sheep bear lambs continually and the sea
a better life than the just. provides its fish.
After Glaucon has thus spoken I again had it
in mind to say something in reply, but his Musaeus 4 and his son grant from the gods more
brother Adeimantus intervened: You surely do robust pleasures to the just. Their words lead the
not think that enough has been said from this just to the underworld, and, seating them at
point of view, Socrates? table. provide them with a banquet of the saints,
Why not? said I. crown them with wreaths, and make them
The most important thing. that should have spend all their time drinking, as if they thought ,
been said, has not been said, he replied. that. the finest reward of virtue was perpetual
Well then. I said. let brother stand by brother. drunkenness. Others stretch the rewards of
If Glaucon has omitted something. you come to virtue from the gods even further, for they say
his help. Yet what he has said is sufficient to that the children and the children's children and
throw me and to make me incapable of coming the posterity of the pious man who keeps his
to the..help of justice. oaths will survive into the future. Thus, and in
Nonsense, he said. Hear what more I have to other such ways. do they praise justice. The
say, for we should also go fully into the impious and unjust they bury in mud in the
 The ring of Gyges 11

underworld, they force them to carry water in a and a path which is long, rough, and steep;5
sieve, they bring them into disrepute while others quote Homer as a witness that the gods
still living, and they attribute to them all the can be influenced by men, for he too said: 6
punishments which Glaucon enumerated in the
case of the just with a reputation for injustice, the gods themselves can be swayed by
but they have nothing else to say. This then is the prayer, for
way people praise and blame justice and suppliant men can turn them from their
injustice. purpose by
Besides this, Socrates, look at another kind of sacrifices and gentle prayers, by libations and
argument which is spoken in private, and also burnt offerings
by the poets, concerning justice and injustice. whenever anyone has transgressed and
All go on repeating with one voice that justice sinned.
and moderation are beautiful, but certainly diffi­
cult and burdensome, while incontinence and They offer in proof a mass of writings by
injustice are sweet and easy, and shameful only Musaeus and Orpheus, offspring, as they say, of
by repute and by law. They add that unjust deeds Selene and the Muses. In accordance with these
are for the most part more profitable than just they perform their ritual and persuade not only
ones. They freely declare, both in private and in individuals but whole cities that. both for the
public, that the wicked who have wealth and living and for the dead, there are absolutions
other forms of power are happy. They honour and purifications for sin by means of sacrifices
them but pay neither honour nor attention to and pleasurable, playful rituals. These they call
the weak and the poor, though they agree that initiations which free from punishment yonder,
these are better men than the others. where a dreadful fate awaits the uninitiated.
What men say about the gods and virtue is When all such sayings about the attitudes of
the most amazing of all, namely that the gods men and gods toward virtue and vice are so
too inflict misfortunes and a miserable life upon often repeated, what effect, my dear Socrates. do
many good men, and the opposite fate upon we think they have upon the minds of our
their opposites. Begging priests and prophets youth? One who is naturally talented and able,
frequent the doors of the rich and persuade like a bee flitting from flower to flower gathering
them that they possess a god-given power to honey. to flit over these sayings and to gather
remedy by sacrifices and incantations at pleasant from them an impression of what kind of man
festivals any crime that the rich man or one of he should be and of how best to travel along the
his ancestors may have committed. Moreover, if road of life, would surely repeat to himself the
one wishes to harass some enemy. then at little saying of Pindar: should I by justice or by
expense he will be able to harm the just and the crooked deceit scale this high wall and thus live
unjust alike. for by means of spells and enchant­ my life fenced off from other men? The advan­
ments they can persuade the gods to serve them. tages said to be mine if! am just are of no use. I
They bring the poets as witnesses to all this. am told, unless I also appear so; while the trou­
some harping on the easiness of vice. that bles and penalties are obvious. The unjust man,
on the other hand. who has secured for himself
Vice is easy to choose in abundance, the a reputation for justice, lives, they tell me, the
path is life of a god. Therefore, since appearance, as the
smooth and it dwells very near, but sweat is wise men tell me. forcibly overwhelms truth
placed by and controls happiness. this is altogether the
the gods on the way to virtue. way I should live. I should build around me a
12 Plato

fac,::ade that gives the illusion of justice to shall do well at the hands of gods and of men;
r,
those who approach me and keep behind we shall live and die as we intend, for so both
this the greedy and crafty fox of the wise the many and the eminent tell us. From all that
Archilochus.7 has been said, Socrates, what possibility is there
"But surely" someone objects. "it is not easy that any man of power, be it the power of mind
for vice to remain hidden always." We shall reply or of wealth, of body or of birth, will be willing
that nothing is easy which is of great import. to honour justice and not laugh aloud when he
Nevertheless, this is the way we must go if we hears it praised? And surely any man who can
are to be happy, and follow along the lines of all show that what we have said is untrue and has
we have been told. To protect our secret we shall full knowledge that justice is best, will be full of
form sworn conspiratorial societies and political forgiveness, and not of anger, for the unjust.
clubs. Besides, there are teachers of persuasion He knows that only a man of godlike character
who make one clever in dealing with assemblies whom injustice disgusts, or one who has
and with the courts. This will enable us to use superior knowledge, avoids injustice, and that 1
persuasion here and force there, so that we can no other man is willingly just, but through
secure our own advantage without penalty cowardice or old age or some other weakness (

"But one cannot force the gods nor have objects to injustice, because he cannot practise a
secrets from them." Well, if either they do not it. That this is so is obvious, for the first of these
exist or do not concern themselves with human men to acquire power is the first to do wrong as
affairs, why should we worry about secrecy? If much as he is able. a
they do exist and do concern themselves, we The only reason for all this talk. Socrates, r
have heard about them and know them from no which led to Glaucon's speech and mine, is to e
other source than our laws and our genealo­ say to you: Socrates, you strange man, not one of ti
gising poets, and these are the very men who all of you who profess to praise justice, begin­
tell us that the gods can be persuaded and influ­ ning with the heroes of old, whose words are v
enced by gentle prayers and by offerings. We left to us, to the present day-not one has ever il
should believe both or neither. If we believe ' blamed injustice or praised justice in any other ti
them, we should do wrong and then offer sacri­ way than by mentioning the reputations,
fices from the proceeds, If we are just, we shall honours, and rewards which follow justice. No jl
not be punished by the gods but we shall lose one has ever adequately described, either in Ii
the profits of injustice. If we are unjust we shall poetry or in private conversation. what the very tl
get the benefit of sins and transgressions, and presence of justice or injustice in his soul does II

afterwards persuade the gods by prayer and to a man even if it remains hidden from gods sl
escape without punishment. "But in Hades we and men; one is the greatest evil the soul can n
will pay the penalty for the crimes committed contain, while the other. justice, is the greatest tl
here, either ourselves or our children's chil­ good. If you had treated the subject in this way ti
dren." "My friend," the young man will reply as and had persuaded us from youth, we should it:
he does his reckoning, "mystery rites have great then not be watching one another to see we do w
potency, and so have the gods of absolution, as no wrong, but every man would be his own best
the greatest cities tell us, and the children of the guardian and he would be afraid lest, by doing ar
gods who have become poets and prophets tell wrong. he live with the greatest evil.
us that this is so." Thrasymachus or anyone else might say what
For what reason then should we still choose we have said, and perhaps more in discussing G
justice rather than the greatest injustice? If we justice and injustice. I believe they would be
practise the latter with specious decorum we vulgarly distorting the effect of each. To be quite
 The ring of Gyges 13

frank with you, it is because I am eager to hear Sons ofAriston, godlike offspring of a

the opposite from you that I speak with all the famous man.

emphasis I can muster. So do not merely give us a

theoretical proof that justice is better than injus­ That seems well deserved, my friends; you
tice, but tell us how each, in and by itself, affects must be divinely inspired if you are not
a man, the one for good, the other for evil. Follow convinced that injustice is better than justice,
Glaucon's advice and do not take reputations into and yet can speak on its behalf as you have done.
account, for if you do not deprive them of true And I do believe that you are really unconvinced
reputation and attach false reputations to them, by your own words. I base this belief on my
we shall say that you are not praising justice but knowledge of the way you live, for, if I had only
the reputation for it, or blaming injustice but the your words to go by, I would not trust you. The
appearance of it, that you are encouraging one to more I trust you, however, the more I am at a
be unjust in secret, and that you agree with loss what to do. I do not see how I can be of
Thrasymachus that the just is another's good, the help; I feel myself incapable. I see a proof of this
advantage of the stronger, while the unjust is in the fact that I thought what I s<li.d to
one's own advantage and profit, though not the Thrasymachus showed that justice is better than
advantage of the weaker. injustice, but you refuse to accept this as
Since you have agreed that justice is one of adequate. On the other hand I do not see how I
the greatest goods, those which are worthy of can refuse my help, for I fear it is even impious
attainment for their consequences, but much to be present when justice is being charged and
more for their own sake-sight, hearing, knowl­ to fail to come to her help as long as there is
edge, health, and all other goods which are crea­ breath in one's body and one is still able to
tive by what they are and not by what they speak. So the best course is to give her any assist­
seem--do praise justice in this regard: in what ance I can.
way does its very possession benefit a man and
injustice harm him? Leave rewards and reputa­
tions for others to praise. Notes
For others would satisfy me if they praised This of course directly contradicts the famous
justice and blamed injustice in this way, extol­ Socratic paradox that no one is willingly bad and
ling the rewards of the one and denigrating that people do wrong because they have not the
those of the other, but from you, unless you tell knowledge to do right, which is virtue.-TRANS.
me to, I will not accept it, because you have 2 In Seven AgainstThebes, 592-94, it is said ofArnphiaraus
spent your whole life investigating this and that "he did not wish to appear but to be the best,"
nothing else. Do not, therefore, give us a merely and it continues with the words quoted below: "He
theoretical proof that justice is better than injus­ harbours in his heart a deep furrow, from which
tice, but tell us what effect each has in and by good counsels grow." -TRANS.
itself, the one for good, the other for evil, 3 The two quotations which immediately follow are
from Hesiod's Works CIIld Doys, 232-33, and Homer,
whether or not it be hidden from gods and men.
Odyssey, 19, l09.-TRANS.
I had always admired the character ofGlaucon
4 Musaeus was a legendary poet closely connected
and Adeimantus, and on this occasion I was
with the mystery religion ofOrphism.-TRANS.
quite delighted with them as I listened and I 5 Hesiod, WoIks and Days, 287-89.-TRANS.
said: You are the sons of a great man, and 6 Homer, Iliad, 9, 497-501.-TRANs.
Glaucon's Jover began his elegy well when he 7 I.e. the fox mentioned by Archilochus. The fable in
wrote, celebrating the repute you gained at the question is not extant.-TRANs.
battle of Megara: