To be sure, as above admitted, the interest of Greek thinkers was not marked by the modern sentiment of sympathy for the laborer. Their writings are characterized by a certain aristocratic feeling, and they do not emphasize the worth or importance of the masses. Yet they are far from being indifferent or hostile to them. Aristotle himself was the first to make this false criticism of Plato.[265] But the author of the _Republic_ foresaw that he might be misinterpreted, and excused himself for his indefiniteness in the details of the ideal state.[266] Moreover, Aristotle’s criticism is not borne out by a study of the _Republic_. Plato implies with sufficient clearness that his communistic regulations are limited to the two upper classes.[267] It is not true either, as Aristotle asserts,[268] that there is a rigid caste system in the _Republic_. The very opposite principle is laid down.[269] The myth of the three metals presents an aristocracy based strictly on intellectual and moral excellence. No arbitrary obstacle hinders either the degradation or the rise of any individual from his class. It depends entirely upon the possession of the gold of character and mentality, for which all may strive. Moreover, the life of the so-called first caste is literally dedicated to the best service of the rest. If this be aristocracy, we cannot have too much of it.[270] Neither is Aristotle’s criticism warranted, that Plato makes the happiness of the whole state something different from the sum of its parts.[271] He merely states the principle, universally true, that no class has a right to expect to be happy at the expense of the whole state, and that, in the long run, the prosperity of each is bound up in the prosperity of all. Indeed, he puts the very objections of Aristotle and Grote into the mouth of Adeimantus, and answers them satisfactorily, in his illustration of the painted statue.[272] There could hardly be a better example of Plato’s lofty ideal, that each part is to contribute its share toward the utility, beauty, and happiness of the whole, and that through this cooperation each realizes the highest quantum of happiness for himself. This doctrine of mutual interdependence is the basal principle of Christianity, taught by Jesus and Paul in a strikingly similar figure of the body and its members,[273] though naturally Plato’s idea of brotherhood is narrower in scope.