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Shall I tell you whose I believe the saying to be?

Whose?

I believe that Periander or Perdiccas or Xerxes or Ismenias the

Theban, or some other rich and mighty man, who had a great

opinion of his own power, was the first to say that justice is

'doing good to your friends and harm to your enemies.'

Most true, he said.

Yes, I said; but if this definition of justice also breaks down,

what other can be offered?

Several times in the course of the discussion Thrasymachus had

made an attempt to get the argument into his own hands, and had

been put down by the rest of the company, who wanted to hear the

end. But when Polemarchus and I had done speaking and there was a

pause, he could no longer hold his peace; and, gathering himself

up, he came at us like a wild beast, seeking to devour us. We

were quite panic-stricken at the sight of him.