§0τὰ περὶ τῆς εἱμαρμένης δοκοῦνθʼ ἡμῖν, ὡς οἷόν τε σαφῶς καὶ συντόμως πειράσομαι ἐπιστεῖλαί σοι, φίλτατε Πείσων, ἐπειδὴ σὺ τοῦτʼ ἠξίωσας οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ἣν ἔχω πρὸς τὸ γράφειν εὐλάβειαν.
I will try to write to you, my dearest Peiso, our views on fate as clearly and briefly as possible, since you have requested this, not being ignorant of the caution I have toward writing.
§1πρῶτον τοίνυν ἴσθι, ὅτι εἱμαρμένη διχῶς καὶ λέγεται καὶ νοεῖται· ἡ μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἐνέργεια ἡ δʼ οὐσία.
First of all, then, know that fate is spoken of and conceived in two ways: for one is activity and the other is substance.
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἐνέργειαν τύπῳ ὑπέγραψεν ὁ Πλάτων ἔν τε τῷ Φαίδρῳ λέγων
θεσμός τε Ἀδραστείας ὅδε, ἥτις ἂν ψυχὴ θεῷ ξυνοπαδὸς γενομένη· ἐν δὲ τῷ Τιμαίῳ
νόμους
οὓς ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ παντὸς φύσει ὁ θεὸς εἶπε ταῖς ἀθανάτοις ψυχαῖς· ἐν δὲ τῇ Πολιτείᾳ
ἀνάγκης θυγατρὸς κόρης Λαχέσεως λόγον
φησὶν εἶναι τὴν εἱμαρμένην, οὐ τραγικῶς ἀλλὰ θεολογικῶς τὸ ἀρέσκον αὑτῷ ἀποφαινόμενος.
First, then, Plato outlined fate as activity in general terms, saying in the *Phaedrus*: “And this is a decree of Adrasteia, that whatever soul, having become a companion to a god...” and in the *Timaeus*: “laws which the god spoke to the immortal souls concerning the nature of the universe”; and in the *Republic* “the doctrine of Lachesis, the virgin daughter of Necessity,” he says is fate, declaring his approval not in a tragic but in a theological manner.
εἰ δὲ κοινότερον ἐθέλοι τις ταῦτα μεταλαβὼν ὑπογράψαι, ὡς μὲν ἐν Φαίδρῳ λέγοιτʼ ἂν ἡ εἱμαρμένη λόγος θεῖος ἀπαράβατος διʼ αἰτίαν ἀνεμπόδιστον· ὡς δʼ ἐν τῷ Τιμαίῳ νόμος ἀκόλουθος τῇ τοῦ παντὸς φύσει, καθʼ ὃν διεξάγεται τὰ γιγνόμενα. τοῦτο γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἡ Λάχεσις ἐργάζεται, ἡ τῆς Ἀνάγκης ἀληθῶς θυγάτηρ, ὡς καὶ πρότερον παρελάβομεν καὶ ὕστερον ἔτι μᾶλλον εἰσόμεθʼ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ σχολὴν λόγοις.
And if one wished to translate and outline these more generally, fate as spoken of in the *Phaedrus* would be defined as “a divine logos, inviolable through an unobstructed cause”; and as in the *Timaeus*, “a law consistent with the nature of the universe, according to which what comes to be is carried out.” For this is what Lachesis does there, she who is truly the daughter of Necessity, as we have also received before and shall know even more later in our lectures.
ἥδε μὲν οὖν ἡ κατʼ ἐνέργειαν εἱμαρμένη.
This, then, is fate according to activity.
§2ἡ δὲ κατʼ οὐσίαν ἔοικεν εἶναι σύμπασʼ ἡ τοῦ κόσμου ψυχὴ τριχῇ διανεμηθεῖσα, εἴς τε τὴν ἀπλανῆ μοῖραν καὶ εἰς τὴν πλανᾶσθαι νομιζομένην, καὶ τρίτην τὴν ὑπουράνιον τὴν περὶ γῆν ὑπάρχουσαν ὧν μὲν ἀνωτάτω Κλωθὼ προσαγορεύεται, ἡ δὲ μετʼ αὐτὴν Ἄτροπος, ἡ κατωτάτω δʼ αὖ Λάχεσις, δεχομένη μὲν τὰς οὐρανίας τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐνεργείας, συμπλέκουσα δὲ καὶ διαδιδοῦσα ταύτας εἰς τὰ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τεταγμένα τὰ ἐπίγεια.
On the other hand, fate according to substance seems to be the entire soul of the world divided into three parts: into the non-wandering sphere, the sphere believed to wander, and thirdly, the sublunary sphere around the earth. Of these, the highest is called Clotho, the one after her Atropos, and the lowest again Lachesis, who receives the heavenly activities of her sisters, and weaving them together, distributes them to the terrestrial things stationed under her.
δυνάμει μὲν οὖν εἴρηται, ὁποῖα χρὴ λέγεσθαι περὶ τῆς κατʼ οὐσίαν εἱμαρμένης· καὶ γὰρ ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ πόση τις καὶ ὁποία καὶ ὅπως τέτακται καὶ ὅπως ἔχει αὐτή τε πρὸς ἑαυτὴν καὶ δὴ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ εἴρηται·
In potential, therefore, it has been stated what sort of things ought to be said about fate according to substance; for both what it is, how great it is, of what kind it is, how it is ordered, and how it relates to itself and indeed to us, has been stated in summary.
τὰ δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστα περὶ τούτων ὁ ἕτερος μῦθος ὁ ἐν τῇ Πολιτείᾳ μετρίως αἰνίττεται, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς δύναμίν σοι ταῦτʼ ἐπειράθημεν ἐξηγήσασθαι.
The individual details concerning these things are moderately hinted at by the other myth in the *Republic*, and we have tried to explain these to you to the best of our ability.
§3πάλιν γε μὴν τὴν κατʼ ἐνέργειαν εἱμαρμένην ἀναλαβόντες λέγωμεν περὶ γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ πολλὰ ζητήματα φυσικά τε καὶ ἠθικὰ καὶ διαλεκτικὰ τυγχάνει ὄντα.
But taking up once again fate according to activity, let us speak; for around this there happen to be many inquiries, both physical, ethical, and dialectical.
τίς μὲν οὖν ἐστιν, ἐπιεικῶς ἀφώρισται· ὁποία δʼ ἐστίν, ἑξῆς ῥητέον, εἰ καὶ πολλοῖς ἄτοπον φαίνεται.
What it is, therefore, has been reasonably defined; but what kind of thing it is must be stated next, even if it appears strange to many.
ἀπείρων γὰρ ἐξ ἀπείρου καὶ εἰς ἄπειρον ὄντων τῶν γιγνομένων, τὰ πάντα περιβαλοῦσʼ ἐν κύκλῳ ἡ εἱμαρμένη οὐκ ἄπειρος;
For since the things that come to be are infinite from infinity and into infinity, is fate, which encompasses all things in a circle, not infinite?
ἀλλὰ πεπερασμένη ἐστίν οὔτε γὰρ νόμος οὔτε λόγος οὔτε τι θεῖον ἄπειρον ἂν εἴη.
On the contrary, it is finite; for neither law, nor logos, nor anything divine could be infinite.
ἔτι δʼ ἂν μάθοις τὸ λεγόμενον, νοήσας τήν ὅλην περίοδον καὶ τὸν σύμπαντα χρόνον,
ὅταν τῶν ὀκτὼ περιόδων
ὥς φησιν ὁ Τίμαιος
τὰ πρὸς ἄλληλα συμπερανθέντα τάχη σχῇ κεφαλήν, τῷ τοῦ ταὐτοῦ καὶ ὁμοίως ἰόντος ἀναμετρηθέντα κύκλῳ. ἐν γὰρ τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ὡρισμένῳ τʼ ὄντι καὶ θεωρουμένῳ πάνθʼ ὅσα τε κατʼ οὐρανὸν ἃ τʼ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἄνωθεν συνίσταται, πάλιν μὲν εἰς ταὐτὸ καταστήσεται, πάλιν δʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὅλα κατὰ ταὐτὰ ὡσαύτως ἀποδοθήσεται.
And you would understand what is said even better if you consider the entire cycle and the whole of time, “when the speeds of the eight periods,” as the *Timaeus* says, “having completed their courses relative to one another, reach their head, measured by the circle of the Same and similarly moving.” For in this ratio, which is defined and contemplated, all things both in heaven and those on earth that are necessarily established from above will return again to the same state, and again from the beginning all things will be restored in the same manner.
μόνη γοῦν ἡ κατʼ οὐρανὸν σχέσις αὐτή τε πρὸς ἑαυτὴν κατὰ πάντα τεταγμένη πρός τε τὴν γῆν καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἐπίγεια πάντα διὰ μακρῶν περιόδων πάλιν ἐπανήξει ποτέ· αἵ τε μετʼ αὐτὴν ἐφεξῆς καὶ ἐχόμεναι ἀλλήλαις ἐχομένως παρέσονται, ἑκάστη τὰ αὑτῆς ἐξ ἀνάγκης φέρουσαι.
At any rate, the heavenly relation alone, ordered in all things both toward itself and toward the earth and all terrestrial things, will return again at some point through long periods; and those that follow after it in order and are connected to one another will be present, each carrying its own things by necessity.
ἔστω δὲ πρὸς τὸ σαφὲς τῶν περὶ ἡμᾶς νῦν ὄντων, ὅτι οὐ συμβαίνει ἀπὸ τῶν οὐρανίων, ὡς πάντων αἰτιῶν ὄντων, καὶ τὸ ἐμὲ γράφειν νυνὶ τάδε καὶ ὡδὶ σέ τε πράττειν ἅπερ καὶ ὅπως τυγχάνεις πράττων· πάλιν τοίνυν ἐπειδὰν ἡ αὐτὴ ἀφίκηται αἰτία, ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως οἱ αὐτοὶ γενόμενοι πράξομεν.
But for the sake of clarity concerning our present circumstances, let it be assumed that it does not happen from the heavenly bodies, as if they were the causes of all things, that I am now writing these very things and in this way, and that you are doing what you happen to be doing; therefore, when the same cause arrives again, we, becoming the same people, shall do the same things in the same manner.
οὕτω δὲ καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι καὶ τὰ γʼ ἑξῆς κατὰ τὴν ἑξῆς αἰτίαν γενήσεται καὶ πραχθήσεται, καὶ πάνθʼ ὅλα καὶ κατὰ μίαν τὴν ὅλην περίοδον καὶ καθʼ ἑκάστην τῶν ὅλων ὡσαύτως ἀποδοθήσεται.
And so all human beings and successive events will come to be and be done according to the successive cause, and all things both during one entire period and during each of the entire periods will be restored in the same manner.
φανερὸν τοίνυν ἤδη ὅ τι ἔφαμεν, τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἄπειρον τρόπον τινὰ οὖσαν μὴ ἄπειρον εἶναι, καὶ τό γε ῥηθέν, ὅτι κύκλος τίς ἐστι, μετρίως που κατῶπται· ὡς γὰρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ κύκλου κίνησις ὅ τε ταύτην παραμετρῶν χρόνος κύκλος τίς ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τῶν κατὰ κύκλον γιγνομένων ὁ λόγος κύκλος ἂν νομισθείη.
It is therefore already clear what we meant by saying that fate, being in a sense infinite, is not infinite, and the statement that it is a kind of circle has been moderately perceived; for just as the motion of the circle and the time that measures it is a kind of circle, so also the logos of things coming to be in a circle would be considered a circle.