- Source
- Polybius. Vols. 1-4. Büttner-Wobst, Theodor, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0543.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.26c.1-12.26c.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The author criticizes Timaeus's excessive paradoxes for turning his subjects into laughingstocks, comparing his approach to the futile skeptical disputations of the Academy that distract the youth from useful philosophy.
λοιπὸν ἐκ τούτων διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς παραδοξολογίας οὐκ εἰς σύγκρισιν, ἀλλʼ εἰς καταμώκησιν ἄγει καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ τὰς πράξεις ὧν1 βούλεται προΐστασθαι, καὶ σχεδὸν εἰς τὸ παραπλήσιον ἐμπίπτει τοῖς περὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ λόγους πρὸς τὸν προχειρότατον λόγον ἠσκηκόσι.2
Consequently, because of the excess of his paradox-mongering in these matters, he brings both the men and the deeds he wishes to champion not into comparison, but into ridicule, and falls into almost the exact same state as those who have practiced arguments in the Academy for any ready debate.
καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνων τινὲς βουλόμενοι περί τε τῶν προφανῶς καταληπτῶν εἶναι δοκούντων καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀκαταλήπτων εἰς ἀπορίαν ἄγειν τοὺς προσδιαλεγομένους τοιαύταις χρῶνται παραδοξολογίαις καὶ τοιαύτας εὐποροῦσι πιθανότητας ὥστε διαπορεῖν εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι τοὺς ἐν Ἀθήναις ὄντας ὀσφραίνεσθαι τῶν ἑψομένων ᾠῶν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ καὶ διστάζειν μή πως,3 καθʼ ὃν καιρὸν ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ διαλέγονται περὶ τούτων, οὐχ ὕπαρ, ἀλλʼ ὄναρ ἐν οἴκῳ κατακείμενοι τούτους διατίθενται τοὺς λόγους.
For indeed, some of them, wishing to lead their interlocutors into perplexity concerning both things that seem obviously comprehensible and things that are incomprehensible, employ such paradoxes and are so fertile in plausible arguments that they wonder whether it is possible for those in Athens to smell eggs being boiled in Ephesus, and doubt whether somehow, at the very time they are debating these matters in the Academy, they are delivering these arguments not awake, but dreaming, lying down at home.
ἐξ ὧν διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς παραδοξολογίας εἰς διαβολὴν ἤχασι τὴν ὅλην αἵρεσιν, ὥστε καὶ τὰ καλῶς ἀπορούμενα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς ἀπιστίαν ἦχθαι.
As a result of this, due to the excess of their paradox-mongering, they have brought the entire sect into disrepute, so that even things that are rightly doubted among men have been brought into disbelief.
καὶ χωρὶς τῆς ἰδίας ἀστοχίας καὶ τοῖς νέοις τοιοῦτον ἐντετόκασι ζῆλον, ὥστε τῶν μὲν ἠθικῶν καὶ πραγματικῶν λόγων μηδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν4 ἐπίνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι συμβαίνει, διʼ ὧν ὄνησις τοῖς φιλοσοφοῦσι, περὶ δὲ τὰς ἀνωφελεῖς καὶ παραδόξους εὑρεσιλογίας κενοδοξοῦντες κατατρίβουσι τοὺς βίους.
And apart from their own specific failure, they have also implanted such a zeal in the young that it happens that they pay not even the slightest consideration to ethical and practical discourses, through which those who study philosophy are benefited, but, seeking empty glory in useless and paradoxical word-play, they waste their lives.
- 12.26c.1ὧν
The relative pronoun ὧν (genitive plural) is attracted to the genitive case because the following middle verb προΐστασθαι (to champion, to advocate) takes its object in the genitive, despite its antecedents τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ τὰς πράξεις being in the accusative case.
- 12.26c.1τοῖς... ἠσκηκόσι
Dative plural of the perfect active participle of ἀσκέω. It functions as the dative complement of εἰς τὸ παραπλήσιον (or depends on the verb ἐμπίπτει), meaning "falls into almost the same state as those who have practiced...".
- 12.26c.2μή πως
Conjunction introducing a object clause after the verb of doubting διστάζειν (to doubt). It expresses apprehension or uncertainty ("whether perhaps" or "lest somehow"), indicating the contents of their doubt.
- 12.26c.4τὴν τυχοῦσαν
Second aorist active participle (feminine accusative singular) of τυγχάνω. Combined with the negative μηδέ, it forms an idiomatic expression meaning "not even the ordinary" or "not the slightest" consideration.