a potentially disturbing undertaking.

一项有潜在困扰的工作
Those who embark on the quest for knowledge of the best regime may not

那些开始追求最佳政体知识的人
return the same people that they were before.

可能最终完全变了一个人
You may return with very different loyalties

可能变得具有不一样的忠诚
and allegiances than you had in the beginning.

比一开始还要忠诚
But there is some compensation for this, I think.

但我觉得对此还是有补偿的地方
The ancients had a beautiful word,

古人有一个美丽的字眼
or at least the Greeks had a beautiful word,

或至少希腊文有个美丽的字眼
for this quest, for this desire for knowledge of the best regime.

赠与寻道者赠与这种对最佳政体知识追求的渴望
They called it eros, or love, right?

他们称之为爱不是吗
The quest for knowledge of the best regime must necessarily be

追求最佳政体知识必定需要
accompanied, sustained, and elevated by eros.

用爱来相伴延续和鼓舞