69. "But, I think, if it departs from the body polluted and impure, as
having constantly held communion with the body, and having served and
loved it, and been bewitched by it, through desires and pleasures, so as
to think that there is nothing real except what is corporeal, which one
can touch and see, and drink and eat, and employ for sensual purposes;
but what is dark and invisible to the eyes, which is intellectual and
apprehended by philosophy, having been accustomed to hate, fear, and
shun this, do you think that a soul thus affected can depart from the
body by itself, and uncontaminated?"
"By no means whatever," he replied.
"But I think it will be impressed with that which is corporeal, which
the intercourse and communion of the body, through constant association
and great attention, have made natural to it."
"Certainly."
"We must think, my dear Cebes, that this is ponderous and heavy, earthly
and visible, by possessing which such a soul is weighed down, and drawn
again into the visible world through dread of the invisible and of
Hades, wandering, as it is said, among monuments and tombs, about which,
indeed, certain shadowy phantoms of souls have been seen, being such
images as those souls produced which have not departed pure from the
body, but which partake of the visible; on which account, also, they are
visible."
"That is probable, Socrates."
70. "Probable indeed, Cebes; and not that these are the souls of the
good, but of the wicked, which are compelled to wander about such
places, paying the penalty of their former conduct, which was evil; and
they wander about so long until, through the desire of the corporeal
nature that accompanies them, they are again united to a body; and they
are united, as is probable, to animals having the same habits as those
they have given themselves up to during life."
"But what do you say these are, Socrates?"
"For instance, those who have given themselves up to gluttony,
wantonness and drinking, and have put no restraint on themselves, will
probably be clothed in the form of asses and brutes of that kind. Do you
not think so?"
"You say what is very probable."
"And that such as have set great value on injustice, tyranny and rapine,
will be clothed in the species of wolves, hawks and kites! Where else
can we say such souls go?"
"Without doubt," said Cebes, "into such as these."
"Is it not, then, evident," he continued, "as to the rest, whither each
will go, according to the resemblances of their several pursuits?"
71. "It is evident," he replied. "How not?"
"Of these, then," he said, "are not they the most happy, and do they not
go to the best place, who have practiced that social and civilized
virtue which they call temperance and justice, and which is produced
from habit and exercise, without philosophy and reflection?"
"In what respect are these the most happy?"