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each. Then indeed a human soul also arrives into the life of a beast, and from a beast, that was once a man, back into a man.” 13.16.9 And these things indeed in the *Phaedrus*; but in the *Republic*, hear him writing as follows: “For he said he saw the soul that was once Orpheus choosing the life of a swan, out of hatred for the female race because of his death at their hands, unwilling to be born from being conceived in a woman. And he saw that of Thamyras choosing a nightingale's; and he saw a swan, too, changing to the choice of a human life, and 13.16.10 other musical animals likewise. The soul that drew the twentieth lot, he said, chose the life of a lion; it was that of Ajax, son of Telamon, shunning to be born a man, remembering the judgment of the arms. And after this, that of Agamemnon, this one also, from hatred of the human race because of its sufferings, exchanged its life for that of an eagle. And drawing a lot in the middle, the soul of Atalanta, seeing the great honors of a male athlete, could not pass them by, but took them. And after her, he saw that of Epeius, son of Panopeus, passing into the nature of a skillful woman. And far off among the last 13.16.11 he saw the soul of the jester Thersites clothing itself as an ape. And by chance, the soul of Odysseus, having drawn the very last lot of all, came forward to make its choice; and from memory of its former toils, having shed its ambition, it went about for a long time seeking the life of a private man who minds his own business; and with difficulty it found one lying somewhere and neglected by the others, and when it saw it, it said that it would have done the same thing even if it had drawn the first lot, and gladly chose it. And likewise from the other beasts they passed into men and into one another, the unjust changing into wild beasts, and the just into tame, and all sorts of combinations were combined.” 13.16.12 Plato, having said so much about the soul, is clearly following Egyptianizing dogma; for the account is not of the Hebrews, because it is not even friendly to truth. But this is not the time to refute it, because not even he himself attempted the problem through proofs. But one might reasonably point this much out, that it was not consistent for the same man to say that at the same time at death the souls of the impious, departing from here, pay the penalty in Hades for what they have done and are punished there for eternity, and again to claim that they choose the lives here according to their own judgment. 13.16.13 For he says that they are bound to a body by desire for the corporeal. And that those nourished in insolence and gluttony become asses and enter the bodies of other beasts, choosing these things according to their judgment but not according to justice; and that the unjust and rapacious become wolves and kites, coming to this voluntarily. Then that the soul of Orpheus wished to be a swan, that of Thamyras a nightingale, 13.16.14 and Thersites chose the life of an ape. Where then would be the matters of the judgment after departure from here, which, outlining in *On the Soul*, he states as follows: “‘When the dead arrive at the place to which the spirit of each one conveys him, those who are judged to have lived moderately, journeying to the Acheron, embarking on the vessels that are for them, on these they arrive at the lake, and there they dwell and are purified; paying the penalties for their wrongdoings they are released, if anyone has done wrong, and for their good deeds they receive honors, each according to his desert. But those who are judged to be incurable because of the greatness of their sins, having committed many and great sacrileges, or many unjust and lawless murders, or whatever other such things there may be, these their fitting destiny casts into Tartarus, from which they never emerge.’” 13.16.15 And the things concerning the impious he has related in some such way. But concerning the pious, listen to what he says: “‘But of these same, those who have been sufficiently purified by philosophy live altogether without labors for the rest of time and arrive at dwellings even more beautiful than these, which it is neither easy to describe, nor is there sufficient time at present.’” 13.16.16 And in the *Gorgias* also, attend to what he says: “‘The one who has lived his life justly and piously, when he dies, to the isles of the blessed

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ἑκάστη. ἔνθα δὴ καὶ εἰς θηρίου βίον ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ ἀφικνεῖται καὶ ἐκ θηρίου, ὅς ποτε ἄνθρωπος ἦν, πάλιν εἰς ἄνθρωπον.» 13.16.9 Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν Φαίδρῳ· ἐν δὲ τῇ Πολιτείᾳ τοιάδε γράφοντος ἄκουε· «Ἰδεῖν μὲν γὰρ ἔφη ψυχὴν τήν ποτε Ὀρφέως γενομένην κύκνου βίον αἱρουμένην, μίσει τοῦ γυναικείου γένους διὰ τὸν ὑπ' ἐκείνων θάνατον οὐκ ἐθέλουσαν ἐν γυναικὶ γεννηθεῖσαν γενέσθαι. ἰδεῖν δὲ τὴν Θαμύρου ἀηδόνος ἑλομένην· ἰδεῖν δὲ καὶ κύκνον μεταβάλλοντα εἰς ἀνθρωπίνου βίου αἵρεσιν καὶ 13.16.10 ἄλλα ζῷα μουσικὰ ὡσαύτως. εἰκοστὴν δὲ λαχοῦσαν ψυχὴν ἑλέσθαι λέοντος βίον· εἶναι δὲ τὴν Αἴαντος τοῦ Τελαμωνίου, φεύγουσαν ἄνθρωπον γενέσθαι, μεμνημένην τῆς τῶν ὅπλων κρίσεως. τὴν δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ Ἀγαμέμνονος, ἔχθρᾳ καὶ ταύτην τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου γένους διὰ τὰ πάθη, ἀετοῦ διαλλάξαι βίον. ἐν μέσῃ δὲ λαχοῦσαν τὴν Ἀταλάντης ψυχήν, κατιδοῦσαν μεγάλας τιμὰς ἀθλητοῦ ἀνδρὸς οὐ δύνασθαι παρελθεῖν, ἀλλὰ λαβεῖν. μετὰ δὲ ταύτην ἰδεῖν τὴν Ἐπειοῦ τοῦ Πανοπέως εἰς τεχνικῆς γυναικὸς ἰοῦσαν φύσιν. πόρρω δὲ ἐν ὑστά13.16.11 τοις ἰδεῖν τὴν τοῦ γελωτοποιοῦ Θερσίτου πίθηκον ἐνδυομένην. κατὰ τύχην δὲ τὴν Ὀδυσσέως λαχοῦσαν πασῶν ὑστάτην, αἱρησομένην ἰέναι· μνήμῃ δὲ τῶν προτέρων πόνων φιλοτιμίας λελωφηκυῖαν ζητεῖν περιιοῦσαν χρόνον πολὺν βίον ἀνδρὸς ἰδιώτου καὶ ἀπράγμονος καὶ μόγις εὑρεῖν κείμενόν που καὶ παρημελημένον ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ εἰπεῖν ἰδοῦσαν, ὅτι ταῦτ' ἂν ἔπραξε καὶ πρώτη λαχοῦσα, καὶ ἀσμένην ἑλέσθαι. καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ θηρίων ὡσαύτως εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἰέναι καὶ εἰς ἄλληλα, τὰ μὲν ἄδικα εἰς τὰ ἄγρια, τὰ δὲ δίκαια εἰς τὰ ἥμερα μεταβαλόντα, καὶ πάσας μίξεις μίγνυσθαι.» 13.16.12 Τοσαῦτα περὶ ψυχῆς ὁ Πλάτων εἰπὼν δῆλός ἐστιν αἰγυπτιάζων τῷ δόγματι· οὐ γὰρ Ἑβραίων ὁ λόγος, ὅτι μηδὲ ἀληθείᾳ φίλος. τοῦτο δ' οὐ καιρὸς ἀπελέγχειν, ὅτι μηδ' αὐτὸς δι' ἀποδείξεων ἐνεχείρησε τῷ προβλήματι. τοσοῦτον δ' εὐλόγως τις ἂν ἐπισημήναιτο, ὡς οὐκ ἦν σύμφωνα τὸν αὐτὸν λέγειν ἅμα τῇ τελευτῇ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαττομένας δίκας εἰς Ἅιδου ὧν ἔδρασαν διδόναι κἀκεῖσε τιμωρεῖσθαι εἰς ἄπειρον, καὶ πάλιν φάσκειν αὐτὰς τοὺς ἐνταῦθα βίους κατὰ γνώμην οἰκείαν αἱρεῖσθαι. 13.16.13 ἐνδεῖσθαι γὰρ αὐτὰς εἰς σῶμά φησιν ἐπιθυμίᾳ τοῦ σωματοειδοῦς· καὶ τὰς μὲν ὕβρει καὶ γαστριμαργίᾳ ἐντραφείσας ὄνους γίνεσθαι θηρίων τε ἄλλων ὑποδύνειν σώματα, κατὰ γνώμην ἀλλ' οὐ κατὰ δίκην ταῦτα αἱρουμένας· τοὺς δὲ ἀδίκους καὶ ἅρπαγας λύκους καὶ ἰκτῖνας γίγνεσθαι, ἐθελοντὴν ἐπὶ τοῦτ' ἐλθόντας. εἶτα Ὀρφέως μὲν ψυχὴν κύκνον εἶναι θελῆσαι, Θαμύρου δὲ ἀηδόνος, 13.16.14 Θερσίτην δὲ πιθήκου βίον ἑλέσθαι. ποῦ δ' ἂν οὖν εἴη τὰ τῆς μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγὴν κρίσεως, ἣν ἐν μὲν τῷ Περὶ ψυχῆς ὑπογράφων φησὶν ὡς «ἐπειδὰν ἀφίκωνται οἱ τετελευτηκότες εἰς τὸν τόπον οἷ ὁ δαίμων ἕκαστον κομίζει, καὶ οἳ μὲν ἂν δόξωσι μέσως βεβιωκέναι, πορευθέντες ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀχέροντα, ἀναβάντες ἃ δὴ αὐτοῖς ὀχήματά ἐστιν, ἐπὶ τούτων ἀφικνοῦνται εἰς τὴν λίμνην καὶ ἐκεῖ οἰκοῦσί τε καὶ καθαιρόμενοι τῶν τε ἀδικημάτων διδόντες δίκας ἀπολύονται, εἴ τίς τι ἠδίκηκε, τῶν τε εὐεργεσιῶν τιμὰς φέρονται κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστος. οἳ δ' ἂν δόξωσιν ἀνιάτως ἔχειν διὰ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἢ ἱεροσυλίας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἢ φόνους ἀδίκους καὶ παρανόμους πολλοὺς ἐξειργασμένοι ἢ ἄλλα ὅσα τοιαῦτα τυγχάνει ὄντα, τούτους δὲ ἡ προσήκουσα μοῖρα ῥίπτει εἰς τὸν Τάρταρον, ὅθεν οὔ ποτε ἐκβαίνουσι.» 13.16.15 Καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὧδέ πη διῆλθε. περὶ δὲ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐπάκουσον ὥς φησι· «Τούτων δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ φιλοσοφίᾳ ἱκανῶς καθηράμενοι ἄνευ τε καμάτων ζῶσι τὸ παράπαν εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον καὶ εἰς οἰκήσεις ἔτι τούτου καλλίους ἀφικνοῦνται, ἃς οὔτε ῥᾴδιον δηλῶσαι οὔτε ὁ χρόνος ἱκανὸς ἐν τῷ παρόντι.» 13.16.16 Καὶ ἐν τῷ Γοργίᾳ δὲ πρόσχες τί καί φησι· «Τὸν μὲν δικαίως τὸν βίον διελθόντα καὶ ὁσίως, ἐπειδὰν τελευτήσῃ, εἰς μακάρων νήσους