[10] Ib. xxii. 414.

[11] Il. xviii. 54.

[12] Ib. xxii. 168.

[13] Ib. xvi. 433.

[E] Yes, he said, that is most true.

Yes, I replied; but that surely is what ought not to be, as the argument has just proved to us; and by that proof we must abide until it is disproved by a better.

It ought not to be.

Neither are the guardians to be encouraged to laugh by the example of the gods. Neither ought our guardians to be given to laughter. For a fit of laughter which has been indulged to excess almost always produces a violent reaction.

So I believe.

Then persons of worth, even if only mortal men, must not be represented as overcome by laughter, and still less must such a representation of the gods be allowed.