"Yes, that is very true, but may I ask another question?—What do you consider to be the greatest blessing which you have reaped from your wealth? One, he said, of which I could not expect easily to convince others. For let me tell you, Socrates, that when a man thinks himself to be near death, fears and cares enter into his mind which he never had before; the tales of a world below and the punishment which is exacted there of deeds done here were once a laughing matter to him, but now he is tormented with the thought that they may be true: either from the weakness of age, or because he is now drawing nearer to that other place, he has a clearer view of these things; suspicions and alarms crowd thickly upon him, and he begins to reflect and consider what wrongs he has done to others. And when he finds that the sum of his transgressions is great he will many a time like a child start up in his sleep for fear, and he is filled with dark forebodings. But to him who is conscious of no sin, sweet hope, as Pindar charmingly says, is the kind nurse of his age:
‘Hope,’ he says, ‘cherishes the soul of him who lives in justice and holiness, and is the nurse of his age and the companion of his journey;—hope which is mightiest to sway the restless soul of man.’How admirable are his words! And the great blessing of riches, I do not say to every man, but to a good man, is, that he has had no occasion to deceive or to defraud others, either intentionally or unintentionally; and when he departs to the world below he is not in any apprehension about offerings due to the gods or debts which he owes to men. Now to this peace of mind the possession of wealth greatly contributes; and therefore I say, that, setting one thing against another, of the many advantages which wealth has to give, to a man of sense this is in my opinion the greatest."
Plato. The Replublic: The Original Unabridged And Complete Edition (Plato Classics) (p. 8). Global Publishers. Kindle Edition.
To Cephalus, wealth’s best characteristic is that it enables its possessor to live a moral (never being tempted to defraud anyone), and charitable life (having made offerings).
And Cephalus happened to be a very wealthy and largely self-made man:
"May I ask, Cephalus, whether your fortune was for the most part inherited or acquired by you?
Acquired! Socrates; do you want to know how much I acquired? In the art of making money I have been midway between my father and grandfather: for my grandfather, whose name I bear, doubled and trebled the value of his patrimony, that which he inherited being much what I possess now; but my father Lysanias reduced the property below what it is at present: and I shall be satisfied if I leave to these my sons not less but a little more than I received.
That was why I asked you the question, I replied, because I see that you are indifferent about money, which is a characteristic rather of those who have inherited their fortunes than of those who have acquired them; the makers of fortunes have a second love of money as a creation of their own, resembling the affection of authors for their own poems, or of parents for their children, besides that natural love of it for the sake of use and profit which is common to them and all men. And hence they are very bad company, for they can talk about nothing but the praises of wealth."
Plato. The Replublic: The Original Unabridged And Complete Edition (Plato Classics) (pp. 7-8). Global Publishers. Kindle Edition.
It’s unfortunate, though, that he was portrayed as an arms manufacturer whose family produced shields:
“Among these targets of the Thirty was the family of Cephalus , who is the host of the gathering portrayed in Plato’s Republic . Cephalus was a foreigner from Syracuse who had migrated to Athens at the invitation of Pericles. His family ran a large arms factory, making shields.”
However, The Republic is a semi-fictional philosophical work, and we don’t know for sure that he actually was an arms dealer (or if he even really held those views about wealth). The following is an AI overview:
"While it’s a common claim that Cephalus, the character in Plato’s Republic, was an arms dealer, there’s no conclusive evidence to confirm that he was in real life.
Here’s why:
- Plato’s Republic is a philosophical dialogue: The Republic is a work of philosophy, not a historical document. Plato uses characters like Cephalus to explore philosophical ideas about justice, not necessarily to depict historical figures accurately.
- Limited historical evidence: While some sources suggest Cephalus was a wealthy metic (a foreign resident of Athens) and possibly involved in manufacturing, there’s no definitive proof that he specifically dealt in arms.
- Potential for interpretation: The claim that Cephalus was an arms dealer might stem from interpretations of his wealth and his connection to the character Polemarchus, who is associated with war and military matters.
In summary:
- Cephalus was likely a real person, a wealthy metic living in Athens.
- There’s no solid historical evidence to definitively label him an arms dealer.
- The idea of Cephalus as an arms dealer might be an interpretation based on his wealth and connections within the context of Plato’s philosophical dialogue."
Here is an interesting write-up on his role in The Republic:
I thought the passages I shared from The Republic on morality and wealth were interesting and worth sharing.
Renaldo