Athenian:  There is a tradition or story, which has somehow crept about the world, that Dionysus was robbed of his wits by his stepmother Here, and that out of revenge he inspires Bacchic furies and dancing madnesses in others; for which reason he gave men wine.  Such traditions concerning the Gods I leave to those who think that they may be safely uttered (compare Euthyph.; Republic); I only know that no animal at birth is mature or perfect in intelligence; and in the intermediate period, in which he has not yet acquired his own proper sense, he rages and roars without rhyme or reason; and when he has once got on his legs he jumps about without rhyme or reason; and this, as you will remember, has been already said by us to be the origin of music and gymnastic.

Cleinias:  To be sure, I remember.

Athenian:  And did we not say that the sense of harmony and rhythm sprang from this beginning among men, and that Apollo and the Muses and Dionysus were the Gods whom we had to thank for them?

Cleinias:  Certainly.

Athenian:  The other story implied that wine was given man out of revenge, and in order to make him mad; but our present doctrine, on the contrary, is, that wine was given him as a balm, and in order to implant modesty in the soul, and health and strength in the body.

Cleinias:  That, Stranger, is precisely what was said.

Athenian:  Then half the subject may now be considered to have been discussed; shall we proceed to the consideration of the other half?

Cleinias:  What is the other half, and how do you divide the subject?

Athenian:  The whole choral art is also in our view the whole of education; and of this art, rhythms and harmonies form the part which has to do with the voice.

Cleinias:  Yes.

Athenian:  The movement of the body has rhythm in common with the movement of the voice, but gesture is peculiar to it, whereas song is simply the movement of the voice.

Cleinias:  Most true.

Athenian:  And the sound of the voice which reaches and educates the soul, we have ventured to term music.

Cleinias:  We were right.

Athenian:  And the movement of the body, when regarded as an amusement, we termed dancing; but when extended and pursued with a view to the excellence of the body, this scientific training may be called gymnastic.

Cleinias:  Exactly.

Athenian:  Music, which was one half of the choral art, may be said to have been completely discussed.  Shall we proceed to the other half or not?  What would you like?

Cleinias:  My good friend, when you are talking with a Cretan and Lacedaemonian, and we have discussed music and not gymnastic, what answer are either of us likely to make to such an enquiry?

Athenian:  An answer is contained in your question; and I understand and accept what you say not only as an answer, but also as a command to proceed with gymnastic.