Mortal combat: Plato, Critias 107B4

For the difficult 'Greek passage', C.F. Hermann proposed 'Greek passage'. But from what follows immediately, Critias' audience does not yet know these issues, and an explanation has to be offered. Analysing the course of Critias' introductory comments, and his uses of the contrast 'Greek passage' in these comments, I propose 'Greek passage' and 'Greek passage'. In Plato and some contemporaries like Xenophon, Isocrates and Demosthenes, 'Greek passage' and cognates - contrasted with 'Greek passage', and 'Greek passage' - refer to hostile or combative attitudes of mind rather than to the older sense of outright physical war. So is the only appearance of the adverbial 'Greek passage', together with 'Greek passage', in Plato: Theaet.168b3, in the context of a philosophical debate. The words of encouragement to Critias uttered by the general Hermocrates at 108a5-b7 emphasize the need for a "fighting spirit" in what Critias is about to expose.