§78ΦΑΙΔ. πόθεν οὖν, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, τῶν τοιούτων ἀγαθὸν ἐπῳδὸν ληψόμεθα, ἐπειδὴ σύ, ἔφη, ἡμᾶς ἀπολείπεις; πολλὴ μὲν ἡ Ἑλλάς, ἔφη, ὦ Κέβης, ἐν ᾗ ἔνεισί που ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν βαρβάρων γένη, οὓς πάντας χρὴ διερευνᾶσθαι ζητοῦντας τοιοῦτον ἐπῳδόν, μήτε χρημάτων φειδομένους μήτε πόνων, ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν εἰς ὅτι ἂν εὐκαιρότερον ἀναλίσκοιτε χρήματα.
Phaedo: ““Then from where, Socrates,” he said, “shall we get a good singer of incantations for such things, since you,” he said, “are leaving us?”” ““Greece is large, Cebes,” he said, “in which there are surely good men, and there are many tribes of barbarians as well, all of whom you must search through, looking for such a singer, sparing neither money nor labors, since there is nothing on which you could spend money more opportunely.
ζητεῖν δὲ χρὴ καὶ αὐτοὺς μετ’ ἀλλήλων· ἴσως γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲ ῥᾳδίως εὕροιτε μᾶλλον ὑμῶν δυναμένους τοῦτο ποιεῖν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν δή, ἔφη, ὑπάρξει, ὁ Κέβης·
And you must also seek among yourselves with one another; for perhaps you would not easily find anyone more capable than yourselves of doing this.”” ““But these things, indeed,” said Cebes, “shall be done.
ὅθεν δὲ ἀπελίπομεν ἐπανέλθωμεν, εἴ σοι ἡδομένῳ ἐστίν. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἡδομένῳ γε· πῶς γὰρ οὐ μέλλει; καλῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις. οὐκοῦν τοιόνδε τι, ἦ δ’ ὃς ὁ Σωκράτης, δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἀνερέσθαι ἑαυτούς, τῷ ποίῳ τινὶ ἄρα προσήκει τοῦτο τὸ πάθος πάσχειν, τὸ διασκεδάννυσθαι, καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ποίου τινὸς δεδιέναι μὴ πάθῃ αὐτό, καὶ τῷ ποίῳ τινὶ οὔ·
But let us return to where we left off, if it is pleasing to you.”” ““Indeed, it is pleasing to me; for how could it not be?”” ““You speak well,” said Socrates. “Then must we not ask ourselves something like this: to what kind of thing does it belong to undergo this undergoing, namely, to be dispersed, and for what kind of thing should we fear lest it undergo this, and for what kind of thing not?
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο αὖ ἐπισκέψασθαι πότερον ψυχή ἐστιν, καὶ ἐκ τούτων θαρρεῖν ἢ δεδιέναι ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ψυχῆς; ἀληθῆ, ἔφη, λέγεις.
And after this, in turn, to examine which of the two the soul is, and from these things to be confident or to fear for our own soul?”” ““You speak the truth,” he said.
ἆρ’ οὖν τῷ μὲν συντεθέντι τε καὶ συνθέτῳ ὄντι φύσει προσήκει τοῦτο πάσχειν, διαιρεθῆναι ταύτῃ ᾗπερ συνετέθη· εἰ δέ τι τυγχάνει ὂν ἀσύνθετον, τούτῳ μόνῳ προσήκει μὴ πάσχειν ταῦτα, εἴπερ τῳ ἄλλῳ; δοκεῖ μοι, ἔφη, οὕτως ἔχειν, ὁ Κέβης. οὐκοῦν ἅπερ ἀεὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχει, ταῦτα μάλιστα εἰκὸς εἶναι τὰ ἀσύνθετα, τὰ δὲ ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλως καὶ μηδέποτε κατὰ ταὐτά, ταῦτα δὲ σύνθετα; ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ οὕτως. ἴωμεν δή, ἔφη, ἐπὶ ταὐτὰ ἐφ’ ἅπερ ἐν τῷ ἔμπροσθεν λόγῳ.
“Is it not, then, to that which has been put together and is by nature composite, that it belongs to undergo this, namely, to be divided in the very way it was put together; but if anything happens to be incomposite, to this alone, if indeed to anything else, does it belong not to undergo these things?”” ““It seems to me,” said Cebes, “to be so.”” ““Then, is it not most likely that the things which are always in the same state and in the same way are the incomposite, and those which are now in one way and now in another, and never in the same state, are the composite?”” ““To me, at least, it seems so.”” ““Let us then,” he said, “go to the same things to which we went in the previous argument.
αὐτὴ ἡ οὐσία ἧς λόγον δίδομεν τοῦ εἶναι καὶ ἐρωτῶντες καὶ ἀποκρινόμενοι, πότερον ὡσαύτως ἀεὶ ἔχει κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἢ ἄλλοτ’ ἄλλως;
That very reality of whose existence we give an account both in asking and answering, does it always remain in the same state and in the same way, or now in one way and now in another?
αὐτὸ τὸ ἴσον, αὐτὸ τὸ καλόν, αὐτὸ ἕκαστον ὃ ἔστιν, τὸ ὄν, μή ποτε μεταβολὴν καὶ ἡντινοῦν ἐνδέχεται;
Does the equal itself, the beautiful itself, each thing itself which is, the reality, ever admit of any change whatsoever?
ἢ ἀεὶ αὐτῶν ἕκαστον ὃ ἔστι, μονοειδὲς ὂν αὐτὸ καθ’ αὑτό, ὡσαύτως κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχει καὶ οὐδέποτε οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς ἀλλοίωσιν οὐδεμίαν ἐνδέχεται; ὡσαύτως, ἔφη, ἀνάγκη, ὁ Κέβης, κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχειν, ὦ Σώκρατες. τί δὲ τῶν πολλῶν καλῶν, οἷον ἀνθρώπων ἢ ἵππων ἢ ἱματίων ἢ ἄλλων ὡντινωνοῦν τοιούτων, ἢ ἴσων ἢ πάντων τῶν ἐκείνοις ὁμωνύμων;
Or does each of them which is, being uniform by itself, always remain in the same state and in the same way, and never in any place or in any way admit of any alteration whatsoever?”” ““It is necessary, Socrates,” said Cebes, “that they remain in the same state and in the same way.”” ““But what about the many beautiful things, such as human beings or horses or cloaks or any other such things whatsoever, or the equal things, or all those that share a name with them?
ἆρα κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχει, ἢ πᾶν τοὐναντίον ἐκείνοις οὔτε αὐτὰ αὑτοῖς οὔτε ἀλλήλοις οὐδέποτε ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν οὐδαμῶς κατὰ ταὐτά; οὕτως αὖ, ἔφη ὁ Κέβης, ταῦτα· οὐδέποτε ὡσαύτως ἔχει.
Do they remain in the same state, or, entirely the opposite of those, are they never, so to speak, in any way in the same state, either in relation to themselves or to one another?”” ““These, on the other hand,” said Cebes, “are so; they never remain in the same way.””