Plato, Critias 121b · 121b
Greed that looked like happiness
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Critias — πολλάκις ἀνακεραννυμένη, τὸ δὲ ἀνθρώπινον ἦθος ἐπεκράτει, τότε ἤδη τὰ παρόντα φέρειν ἀδυνατοῦντες ἠσχημόνουν, καὶ τῷ δυναμένῳ μὲν ὁρᾶν αἰσχροὶ κατεφαίνοντο, τὰ κάλλιστα ἀπὸ τῶν τιμιωτάτων ἀπολλύντες, τοῖς δὲ ἀδυνατοῦσιν ἀληθινὸν πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν βίον ὁρᾶν τότε δὴ μάλιστα πάγκαλοι μακάριοί τε ἐδοξάζοντο εἶναι, πλεονεξίας ἀδίκου καὶ δυνάμεως ἐμπιμπλάμενοι. θεὸς δὲ ὁ θεῶν Ζεὺς ἐν νόμοις βασιλεύων, ἅτε δυνάμενος καθορᾶν τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐννοήσας γένος ἐπιεικὲς ἀθλίως διατιθέμενον, δίκην αὐτοῖς
mixed in, and the human character prevailed, then at last, unable to bear what they had, they behaved shamefully. To anyone who could see, they appeared base, since they were destroying the finest of their most precious things. But to those who could not see the life that truly leads to happiness, they were then thought altogether fair and blessed, filled as they were with unjust greed and power. And Zeus, the god of gods, who rules by laws, being able to see such things, noticed a decent race in a wretched state, and, as for a penalty on them,
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The setting
The divine part finally loses to the human, and the kings cannot bear what they have. Those who can see think them base, and those who cannot think them blessed. Zeus sees them, and begins to decide on a punishment.
A note on this passage
The sentence says it twice, once for each kind of observer. Tô dynaménōi mèn horân, "to the one who is able to see," the kings look aischroí, base or shameful, because they are apollýntes, destroying, the finest of their most precious things. Toîs dè adynatoûsin, "but to those who are unable," to see alēthinòn pròs eudaimonían bíon, a life that truly leads to happiness, the same men look pánkaloi makárioí te, altogether fair and blessed. The repeated verb adynatoûntes and adynatoûsin, being unable, is used first of the kings, who cannot bear their wealth, and then of the onlookers, who cannot see.
Zeus enters with a short title, theòs dè ho theôn Zeús, "and the god of gods, Zeus." He is en nómois basileúōn, ruling by laws, and he can see, kathorân, which is the verb the kings used when sober in 121a. He notes that the génos, the race, was epieikés, decent or fair, and is now athlíōs, wretchedly, put in its condition. The Greek calls the kings decent even as it says they have gone wrong, so Zeus is judging a fall from a good state.
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