Minos

is best at distributing food to the bodies of men? Is it not the one who distributes what is due?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. Then his distributions and his laws are best, and whoever is most skilled in law about these things is also the best distributor.—Comp. Certainly.—Soc. Who is he?—Comp. 318a A trainer.—Soc. He is the ablest to tend the human herd in its body?¹—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And who is the ablest to tend the herd of sheep? What is his name?—Comp. Shepherd.—Soc. Then the shepherd’s laws are best for the sheep.—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And the oxherd’s for the oxen.—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And whose laws are best for the souls of men? Are they not the king’s? Say so.—Comp. I say so.

Soc. 318b Well said, then. Now could you tell me who among the men of old proved a good lawgiver in the laws for the flute?² Perhaps you are not thinking of him; but do you want me to remind you?—Comp. Certainly.—Soc. Is it Marsyas, then, as is said, and his beloved, Olympus the Phrygian?—Comp. What you say is true.—Soc. Their flute-tunes, indeed, are also the most divine, and they alone move and reveal those who are in need of the gods; and still even 318c now they alone are left, as being divine.³—Comp. That is so.—Soc. And who among the kings of old is said to have proved a good lawgiver, whose lawful usages still even now remain, as being divine?—Comp. I cannot think of one.

Soc. Do you not know which of the Greeks use the oldest laws?

Comp. Do you mean the Lacedaemonians, and Lycurgus the lawgiver?

Soc. But these things, at least, are not yet three hundred years old, perhaps, or a little more than that. But where do the best of these lawful usages 318d come from? Do you know?

Comp. From Crete, they say.⁴

Soc. Then these people use the oldest laws among the Greeks?