पृष्ठ 794 / 1391

Clearly, he said, that must be the case if he is changed at all.

And will he then change himself for the better and fairer, or for

the worse and more unsightly?

If he change at all he can only change for the worse, for we

cannot suppose him to be deficient either in virtue or beauty.

Very true, Adeimantus; but then, would any one, whether God or

man, desire to make himself worse?

Impossible.

Then it is impossible that God should ever be willing to change;

being, as is supposed, the fairest and best that is conceivable,

every God remains absolutely and for ever in his own form.

That necessarily follows, he said, in my judgment.

Then, I said, my dear friend, let none of the poets tell us that

'The gods, taking the disguise of strangers from other lands,

walk up and down cities in all sorts of forms;'

and let no one slander Proteus and Thetis, neither let any one,

either in tragedy or in any other kind of poetry, introduce Here

disguised in the likeness of a priestess asking an alms