§396ΣΩ. φαίνεται δὲ καὶ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ λεγομένῳ τῷ Διὶ παγκάλως τὸ ὄνομα κεῖσθαι· ἔστι δὲ οὐ ῥᾴδιον κατανοῆσαι.
SOCRATES: And indeed, for his father who is called Zeus, the name seems to be established most beautifully, though it is not easy to understand.
ἀτεχνῶς γάρ ἐστιν οἷον λόγος τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ὄνομα, διελόντες δὲ αὐτὸ διχῇ οἱ μὲν τῷ ἑτέρῳ μέρει, οἱ δὲ τῷ ἑτέρῳ χρώμεθα— οἱ μὲν γὰρ
Ζῆνα,
οἱ δὲ
Δία
καλοῦσιν—συντιθέμενα δʼ εἰς ἓν δηλοῖ τὴν φύσιν τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃ δὴ προσήκειν φαμὲν ὀνόματι οἵῳ τε εἶναι ἀπεργάζεσθαι.
For the name of Zeus is literally like a discourse; we divide it in two, some of us using one part, and some the other—for some call him "Zena" and others "Dia"—but when these are combined into one, they show the nature of the god, which is indeed what we say a name should be able to accomplish.
οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἡμῖν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν ὅστις ἐστὶν αἴτιος μᾶλλον τοῦ ζῆν ἢ ὁ ἄρχων τε καὶ βασιλεὺς τῶν πάντων.
For there is no one who is more the cause of life for us and all others than he who is the ruler and king of all.
συμβαίνει οὖν ὀρθῶς ὀνομάζεσθαι οὗτος ὁ θεὸς εἶναι, διʼ ὃν ζῆν ἀεὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ζῶσιν ὑπάρχει·
Therefore, it turns out that this god is correctly named as being the one through whom living always belongs to all living things.
διείληπται δὲ δίχα, ὥσπερ λέγω, ἓν ὂν τὸ ὄνομα, τῷ
Διὶ
καὶ τῷ
Ζηνί. τοῦτον δὲ Κρόνου ὑὸν ὑβριστικὸν μὲν ἄν τις δόξειεν εἶναι ἀκούσαντι ἐξαίφνης, εὔλογον δὲ μεγάλης τινὸς διανοίας ἔκγονον εἶναι τὸν Δία· κόρον γὰρ σημαίνει οὐ παῖδα, ἀλλὰ τὸ καθαρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκήρατον τοῦ νοῦ.
But the name, though being one, has been divided in two, as I say, into "Dia" and "Zena." Now, anyone hearing this suddenly might think it is impious to call him the son of Cronus, but it is reasonable that Zeus is the offspring of some great intellect; for "koros" signifies not a child, but the pure and unmixed nature of his mind.
ἔστι δὲ οὗτος Οὐρανοῦ ὑός, ὡς λόγος·
And he is the son of Uranus, as the story goes.
ἡ δὲ αὖ ἐς τὸ ἄνω ὄψις καλῶς ἔχει τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα καλεῖσθαι,
οὐρανία,
ὁρῶσα τὰ ἄνω, ὅθεν δὴ καί φασιν, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, τὸν καθαρὸν νοῦν παραγίγνεσθαι οἱ μετεωρολόγοι, καὶ τῷ οὐρανῷ ὀρθῶς τὸ ὄνομα κεῖσθαι·
On the other hand, looking upward is fitting to be called by this name, "urania," looking at the things above, from where indeed, Hermogenes, the meteorologists say that pure mind comes, and that the name is correctly established for heaven.
εἰ δʼ ἐμεμνήμην τὴν Ἡσιόδου γενεαλογίαν, τίνας ἔτι τοὺς ἀνωτέρω προγόνους λέγει τούτων, οὐκ ἂν ἐπαυόμην διεξιὼν ὡς ὀρθῶς αὐτοῖς τὰ ὀνόματα κεῖται, ἕως ἀπεπειράθην τῆς σοφίας ταυτησὶ τί ποιήσει, εἰ ἄρα ἀπερεῖ ἢ οὔ, ἣ ἐμοὶ ἐξαίφνης νῦν οὑτωσὶ προσπέπτωκεν ἄρτι οὐκ οἶδʼ ὁπόθεν.
And if I remembered Hesiod's genealogy, and whom he says are the ancestors even further back than these, I would not stop going through how correctly their names are established, until I made a trial of this wisdom to see what it will do, and whether it will give up or not—the wisdom which has suddenly fallen upon me just now, I know not from where.
ΕΡΜ. καὶ μὲν δή, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἀτεχνῶς γέ μοι δοκεῖς ὥσπερ οἱ ἐνθουσιῶντες ἐξαίφνης χρησμῳδεῖν.
HERMOGENES: Indeed, Socrates, you seem to me literally to be uttering prophecies suddenly, like those who are inspired.
ΣΩ. καὶ αἰτιῶμαί γε, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, μάλιστα αὐτὴν ἀπὸ Εὐθύφρονος τοῦ Προσπαλτίου προσπεπτωκέναι μοι· ἕωθεν γὰρ πολλὰ αὐτῷ συνῆ καὶ παρεῖχον τὰ ὦτα.
SOCRATES: Yes, Hermogenes, and I suspect most of all that it has fallen upon me from Euthyphro of Prospalta; for from early morning I was with him for a long time and lent him my ears.
κινδυνεύει οὖν ἐνθουσιῶν οὐ μόνον τὰ ὦτά μου ἐμπλῆσαι τῆς δαιμονίας σοφίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπειλῆφθαι.
He is likely, therefore, in his inspiration, not only to have filled my ears with his divine wisdom, but also to have taken hold of my soul.
δοκεῖ οὖν μοι χρῆναι οὑτωσὶ ἡμᾶς ποιῆσαι· τὸ μὲν τήμερον εἶναι χρήσασθαι αὐτῇ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐπισκέψασθαι, αὔριον δέ, ἂν καὶ ὑμῖν συνδοκῇ, ἀποδιοπομπησόμεθά τε αὐτὴν καὶ καθαρούμεθα ἐξευρόντες ὅστις τὰ τοιαῦτα δεινὸς καθαίρειν, εἴτε τῶν ἱερέων τις εἴτε τῶν σοφιστῶν.
It seems to me, therefore, that we should do as follows: for today, to use it and investigate the rest of the things about names, but tomorrow, if it also seems good to you, we will exorcise it and purify ourselves, finding someone who is clever at purifying such things, whether some priest or some sophist.
§397ΕΡΜ. ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ μὲν συγχωρῶ· πάνυ γὰρ ἂν ἡδέως τὰ ἐπίλοιπα περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀκούσαιμι.
HERMOGENES: I agree to this; for I would very gladly hear the remaining things about names.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ χρὴ οὕτω ποιεῖν.
SOCRATES: Indeed, we must do so.
πόθεν οὖν βούλει ἀρξώμεθα διασκοποῦντες, ἐπειδήπερ εἰς τύπον τινὰ ἐμβεβήκαμεν, ἵνα εἰδῶμεν εἰ ἄρα ἡμῖν ἐπιμαρτυρήσει αὐτὰ τὰ ὀνόματα μὴ πάνυ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου οὕτως ἕκαστα κεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἔχειν τινὰ ὀρθότητα;
Where then do you wish us to begin our inquiry, since we have entered into a certain mold, so that we may see whether the names themselves will testify to us that each of them is not established entirely by chance, but has a certain correctness?
τὰ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἡρώων καὶ ἀνθρώπων λεγόμενα ὀνόματα ἴσως ἂν ἡμᾶς ἐξαπατήσειεν· πολλὰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν κεῖται κατὰ προγόνων ἐπωνυμίας, οὐδὲν προσῆκον ἐνίοις, ὥσπερ κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐλέγομεν, πολλὰ δὲ ὥσπερ εὐχόμενοι τίθενται, οἷον
Εὐτυχίδην
καὶ
Σωσίαν
καὶ
Θεόφιλον
καὶ ἄλλα πολλά.
Now, the names given to heroes and men might perhaps deceive us; for many of them are established according to the names of ancestors, not fitting some at all, as we were saying at the beginning, and many are established as if making a prayer, such as "Eutychides," "Sosias," "Theophilus," and many others.
τὰ μὲν οὖν τοιαῦτα δοκεῖ μοι χρῆναι ἐᾶν· εἰκὸς δὲ μάλιστα ἡμᾶς εὑρεῖν τὰ ὀρθῶς κείμενα περὶ τὰ ἀεὶ ὄντα καὶ πεφυκότα.
Therefore, it seems to me that we should leave such things alone; but we are most likely to find those correctly established in the case of things that always exist and are natural.
ἐσπουδάσθαι γὰρ ἐνταῦθα μάλιστα πρέπει τὴν θέσιν τῶν ὀνομάτων· ἴσως δʼ ἔνια αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπὸ θειοτέρας δυνάμεως ἢ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐτέθη.
For here the establishment of names must have been most seriously pursued; and perhaps some of them were also established by a power more divine than that of men.
ΕΡΜ. δοκεῖς μοι καλῶς λέγειν, ὦ Σώκρατες.
HERMOGENES: You seem to me to speak well, Socrates.
ΣΩ. ἆρʼ οὖν οὐ δίκαιον ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν ἄρχεσθαι, σκοπουμένους πῇ ποτε αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα οἱ
θεοὶ
ὀρθῶς ἐκλήθησαν;
SOCRATES: Is it not then right to begin with the gods, investigating how this very name "gods" was correctly given to them?
ΕΡΜ. εἰκός γε.
HERMOGENES: That is likely.
ΣΩ. τοιόνδε τοίνυν ἔγωγε ὑποπτεύω· φαίνονταί μοι οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τούτους μόνους ἡγεῖσθαι οὕσπερ νῦν πολλοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ γῆν καὶ ἄστρα καὶ οὐρανόν· ἅτε οὖν αὐτὰ ὁρῶντες πάντα ἀεὶ ἰόντα δρόμῳ καὶ θέοντα, ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς φύσεως τῆς τοῦ δαήμονες
θεοὺς
αὐτοὺς ἐπονομάσαι· ὕστερον δὲ κατανοοῦντες τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας ἤδη τούτῳ τῷ ὀνόματι προσαγορεύειν.
SOCRATES: I suspect, then, something of this sort: the first of the men around Greece seem to me to have held these alone to be gods, just as many of the barbarians do now, namely the sun, the moon, the earth, the stars, and the heaven; since they saw them all always moving in a course and running, from this nature of running they called them "gods"; but later, comprehending all the others, they already addressed them by this name.
ἔοικέ τι ὃ λέγω τῷ ἀληθεῖ ἢ οὐδέν;
Does what I say seem to have some resemblance to the truth, or none?
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν ἔοικεν.
HERMOGENES: Indeed, it seems very much like it.
ΣΩ. τί οὖν ἂν μετὰ τοῦτο σκοποῖμεν;
SOCRATES: What then should we investigate after this?
ΕΡΜ. δῆλον δὴ ὅτι δαίμονας.
HERMOGENES: Clearly, spirits.
ΣΩ. καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, τί ἄν ποτε νοοῖ τὸ ὄνομα οἱ
δαίμονες
;
SOCRATES: And truly, Hermogenes, what could the name "spirits" ever mean?
σκέψαι ἄν τί σοι δόξω εἰπεῖν.
Consider whether you think I am saying anything.
ΕΡΜ. λέγε μόνον.
HERMOGENES: Just speak.
ΣΩ. οἶσθα οὖν τίνας φησὶν Ἡσίοδος εἶναι τοὺς δαίμονας;
SOCRATES: Do you know, then, whom Hesiod says the spirits are?
ΕΡΜ. οὐκ ἐννοῶ.
HERMOGENES: I do not recall.
ΣΩ. οὐδὲ ὅτι χρυσοῦν γένος τὸ πρῶτόν φησιν γενέσθαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων;
SOCRATES: Nor even that he says the first race of men to come into being was a golden one?
ΕΡΜ. οἶδα τοῦτό γε.
HERMOGENES: That much I know.