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They should observe what elements mingle in their offspring; for

if the son of a golden or silver parent has an admixture of brass

and iron, then nature orders a transposition of ranks, and the

eye of the ruler must not be pitiful towards the child because he

has to descend in the scale and become a husbandman or artisan,

just as there may be sons of artisans who having an admixture of

gold or silver in them are raised to honour, and become guardians

or auxiliaries. For an oracle says that when a man of brass or

iron guards the State, it will be destroyed. Such is the tale; is

there any possibility of making our citizens believe in it?

Not in the present generation, he replied; there is no way of

accomplishing this; but their sons may be made to believe in the

tale, and their sons' sons, and posterity after them.