Note 97 — Chapter XXXIX · LEGES AND EPINOMIS.

Plato, Legg. ii. p. 663 D. ἐπ’ ἀγαθῷ ψεύδεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς νέους, &c. Also 664 A. So, in the Bacchæ of Euripides (332), the two old men, Kadmus and Teiresias, after vainly attempting to inculcate upon Pentheus the belief in and the worship of Dionysus, at last appeal to his prudence, and admonish him of the danger of unbelief:—

κεὶ μὴ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς οὗτος, ὡς σὺ φής, παρὰ σοὶ λεγέσθω, καὶ καταψεύδου καλῶς ὡς ἔστι, Σεμέλη θ’ ἵνα δοκῇ θεὸν τεκεῖν, ἡμῖν τε τιμὴ Ἀκταίωνος ἄθλιον μόρον; … ὃ μὴ παθῇς σύ.