Note 208 — Chapter XXXIX · LEGES AND EPINOMIS. (continued 2)
Reading edition
Plato, Legg. vi. p. 773 C-D.
Compare the Politikus, pp. 310-311, where the necessity is insisted on of coupling in marriage two persons of opposite dispositions — τὸ ἀνδρεῖον ἦθος with τὸ κόσμιον ἦθος. There is a natural inclination (Plato says) for the ἀνδρεῖοι to intermarry with each other, and for the κόσμιοι to do the like: but the lawgiver must contend against this. If this be permitted, each of the breeds will degenerate through excess of its own peculiarity.