(I will now, however, resume the thread of my discourse and go back to my starting‐point, like those who, when a race is being started, run ahead out of the line. Well, I was saying, a moment ago, that Plato declares that a man’s real self is his mind and soul, whereas his body and his estate are but his possessions. This is the distinction made in that marvellous work, the Laws. And so if one were to go back to the beginning and say “That man is best equipped for life who makes everything that relates to happiness depend on his mind and intelligence and not on those outside himself who, by doing or faring well or ill force him out of the straight path,” he is not changing or perverting the sense of the words, but expounds and interprets them correctly. And if for Plato’s word “genius”(325) he substitutes the word “God” he has a perfect right to do so. For if Plato gives the control of our whole life to the presiding “genius” within us which is by nature unaffected by sensation and akin to God, but must endure and suffer much because of its association with the body, and therefore gives the impression to the crowd that it also is subject to sensation and death; and if he says that this is true of every man who wishes to be happy, what must we suppose is his opinion about pure intelligence unmixed with earthly substance, which is indeed synonymous with God? To this I say every man, whether he be a private citizen or a king, ought to entrust the reins of his life, and by a king I mean one who is really worthy of the name, and not counterfeit or falsely so called, but one who is aware of God and discerns his nature because of his affinity with him, and being truly wise bows to the divine authority and yields the supremacy to God. For it is senseless and arrogant indeed for those who cultivate virtue not to submit to God once and for all, as far as possible. For we must believe that this above all else is what God approves. Again, no man must neglect the traditional form of worship or lightly regard this method of paying honour to the higher power, but rather consider that to be virtuous is to be scrupulously devout. For Piety is the child of Justice, and that justice is a characteristic of the more divine type of soul is obvious to all who discuss such matters.) Ταῦτά τοι καὶ ἐπαινοῦμεν τὸν Ἕκτορα σπένδειν μὲν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα διὰ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν λύθρον· [71] ἠξιοῦμεν δὲ μηδὲ ἐς ἄστυ ἰίναι μηδὲ ἀπολείπειν τὴν μάχην μέλλοντά γε οὐ στρατηγοῦ καὶ βασιλέως ἐπιτελεῖν ἔργον, διακόνου δὲ καὶ ὑπηρέτου, Ἰδαίου τινὸς ἢ Ταλθυβίου τάξιν ἀναληψόμενον. ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικε γάρ, ὅπερ ἔφαμεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, πρόφασις εὐπρεπὴς(326) εἶναι φυγῆς τοῦτο. καὶ γὰρ ὁπότε τῷ Τελαμωνίῳ ξυνίστατο πεισθεὶς τῷ φήμῃ τοῦ μάντεως, ἀσπασίως διελύθη καὶ ἔδωκε δῶρα, τὸν θάνατον ἐκφυγὼν ἄσμενος·(327) [B] καθόλου δὲ εἰπεῖν, φεύγουσιν ἕπεται θρασέως, αἴτιος δέ ἐστιν οὐδαμοῦ νίκης καὶ τροπῆς, πλὴν ὅτε