The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic, 2016a

30 Physical Training
See 403c-404e. The guardians need to be strong, alert, and resilient, “like
sleepless hounds,” keen of sight and hearing, with a kind of health that adapts to
the changes in temperature and diet typical of a soldier’s life in the field. To this
end, Socrates recommends a regime of diet and exercise similar in kind to the
training in music and poetry already described, the emphasis being on simplicity.
They are to work out like athletes but keep to the simplest foods such as plain
roasted meats. They are to avoid drunkenness, fancy dishes, and prostitutes.
What if someone were to object that restricting experiences in the way
Socrates recommends is no way to teach the kind of toughness he is looking
for. If you someone to develop a cast iron stomach, then you should work
as much variety into their diet as possible: hot and cold preparations, large
and small portions, sweet dishes, peppery dishes, bland dishes, etc. The
same goes for exercising the body. Long-distance running is fine, but
sprinting should also be included, and pole vaulting, and racquetball, and
swimming, and shot putt, and wrestling, and tightrope walking, and so on.
In general, if the idea is to prepare people to cope with difficulties arising
from changing conditions, then simplicity in diet and exercise is
undesirable. How might Socrates reply? What value does he see in keeping
diet and exercise simple?
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