317 a

COMP. You speak the truth.
SOC. Is it not the case that those who are knowledgeable will not write different things about the same matters at different times?
COMP. No.
SOC. Nor will they ever change one set of laws for another regarding the same things?
COMP. Certainly not.
SOC. If we see people anywhere doing this, shall we say that those who do so are knowledgeable or unknowledgeable?
COMP. Unknowledgeable.
SOC. Shall we say that whatever is correct is the law for each thing, whether it is the medical law, the cooking law, or the gardening law?
COMP. Yes.
SOC. And whatever is not correct, we shall no longer say this is a law?
COMP. No longer.
SOC. It becomes lawless, therefore.
COMP. That is necessary.
SOC. Therefore, in the writings regarding just and unjust things, and generally regarding the ordering of a city and how one ought to administer a city, the correct part is the kingly law, while the incorrect part is not—which seems to be law to those who do not know—for it is lawless.
COMP. Yes.
SOC. We correctly agreed, therefore, that law is a discovery of what is.
COMP. It seems so.
SOC. Let us examine this further within the same subject. Who is knowledgeable about distributing seeds upon the earth?
COMP. The farmer.
SOC. Does he distribute the appropriate seeds to each soil?
COMP. Yes.
SOC. The farmer, therefore, is a good distributor original: "νομεύς" (shepherd/distributor) of these things, and his laws and distributions regarding them are correct?
COMP. Yes.
SOC. Who is a good distributor of musical notes to the melodies, and of distributing the appropriate ones? And whose laws are correct in this?
COMP. Those of the flute-player and the lyre-player.
SOC. The one most skilled in laws nomikotatos most law-abiding/skilled in law in these matters is the one most skilled in the flute.
COMP. Yes.