Dionysus was driven mad by his stepmother Here, and in order to revenge himself he inspired mankind with Bacchic madness.  But these are stories which I would rather not repeat.  However I do acknowledge that all men are born in an imperfect state, and are at first restless, irrational creatures:  this, as you will remember, has been already said by us.  ’I remember.’  And that Apollo and the Muses and Dionysus gave us harmony and rhythm?  ‘Very true.’  The other story implies that wine was given to punish us and make us mad; but we contend that wine is a balm and a cure; a spring of modesty in the soul, and of health and strength in the body.  Again, the work of the chorus is co-extensive with the work of education; rhythm and melody answer to the voice, and the motions of the body correspond to all three, and the sound enters in and educates the soul in virtue.  ‘Yes.’  And the movement which, when pursued as an amusement, is termed dancing, when studied with a view to the improvement of the body, becomes gymnastic.  Shall we now proceed to speak of this?  ’What Cretan or Lacedaemonian would approve of your omitting gymnastic?’ Your question implies assent; and you will easily understand a subject which is familiar to you.  Gymnastic is based on the natural tendency of every animal to rapid motion; and man adds a sense of rhythm, which is awakened by music; music and dancing together form the choral art.  But before proceeding I must add a crowning word about drinking.  Like other pleasures, it has a lawful use; but if a state or an individual is inclined to drink at will, I cannot allow them.  I would go further than Crete or Lacedaemon and have the law of the Carthaginians, that no slave of either sex should drink wine at all, and no soldier while he is on a campaign, and no magistrate or officer while he is on duty, and that no one should drink by daylight or on a bridal night.  And there are so many other occasions on which wine ought to be prohibited, that there will not be many vines grown or vineyards required in the state.

Book iii.  If a man wants to know the origin of states and societies, he should behold them from the point of view of time.  Thousands of cities have come into being and have passed away again in infinite ages, every one of them having had endless forms of government; and if we can ascertain the cause of these changes in states, that will probably explain their origin.  What do you think of ancient traditions about deluges and destructions of mankind, and the preservation of a remnant?  ’Every one believes in them.’  Then let us suppose the world to have been destroyed by a deluge.  The survivors would be hill-shepherds, small sparks of the human race, dwelling in isolation, and unacquainted with the arts and vices of civilization.  We may further suppose that the cities on the plain and on the coast have been swept away, and that all inventions, and every sort of knowledge, have perished.  ’Why,