But some of these stories must be modified, because Homer and the other poets and storytellers often tell us stories in which the gods commit bad acts, crimes, duplicitous homicides. We must therefore teach them stories of the heroes and the gods, much as our fathers did for us. Thus, Socrates says, the future Guardians of the state must be educated morally they must be instilled with good morals. The family dog may be said to be moral in the rude sense. So the dog may be said to possess a kind of knowledge he does not, like a wild dog, attack at random from ignorance ( amathia). So we may liken their training to that of the family dog, who is trained to befriend his master and the familial circle, but who will courageously attack any threat to the family or, indeed, the neighborhood. But we do not want them to turn against their fellow citizens.
We have agreed, says Socrates, that the Guardians must be warlike and fierce in their defense against the enemies of the state.
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