§401ΣΩ. εἰ οὖν βούλει, σκοπῶμεν ὥσπερ προειπόντες τοῖς θεοῖς ὅτι περὶ αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἡμεῖς σκεψόμεθα—οὐ γὰρ ἀξιοῦμεν οἷοί τʼ ἂν εἶναι σκοπεῖν—ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἥν ποτέ τινα δόξαν ἔχοντες ἐτίθεντο αὐτοῖς τὰ ὀνόματα·
SOCRATES: If you wish, then, let us investigate after first declaring to the gods that we shall examine nothing about them—for we do not deem ourselves capable of such an investigation—but about men, and what kind of opinion they had when they established these names for them; for this is not bringer of divine wrath.
τοῦτο γὰρ ἀνεμέσητον. ΕΡΜ. ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖς, ὦ Σώκρατες, μετρίως λέγειν, καὶ οὕτω ποιῶμεν.
HERMOGENES: Indeed, Socrates, you seem to speak reasonably, and let us do so.
ΣΩ. ἄλλο τι οὖν ἀφʼ Ἑστίας ἀρχώμεθα κατὰ τὸν νόμον;
SOCRATES: Shall we then, according to custom, begin with Hestia?
ΕΡΜ. δίκαιον γοῦν.
HERMOGENES: That is indeed just.
ΣΩ. τί οὖν ἄν τις φαίη διανοούμενον τὸν ὀνομάσαντα Ἑστίαν ὀνομάσαι;
SOCRATES: What, then, would one say that the person who named Hestia had in mind when he named her?
ΕΡΜ. οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία οὐδὲ τοῦτο οἶμαι ῥᾴδιον εἶναι.
HERMOGENES: By Zeus, I do not think this is easy either.
ΣΩ. κινδυνεύουσι γοῦν, ὠγαθὲ Ἑρμόγενες, οἱ πρῶτοι τὰ ὀνόματα τιθέμενοι οὐ φαῦλοι εἶναι ἀλλὰ μετεωρολόγοι καὶ ἀδολέσχαι τινές.
SOCRATES: It is likely, my good Hermogenes, that those who first established names were no ordinary people, but rather stargazers and some sort of talkative philosophers.
ΕΡΜ. τί δή;
HERMOGENES: Why so?
ΣΩ. καταφαίνεταί μοι ἡ θέσις τῶν ὀνομάτων τοιούτων τινῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἐάν τις τὰ ξενικὰ ὀνόματα ἀνασκοπῇ, οὐχ ἧττον ἀνευρίσκεται ὃ ἕκαστον βούλεται.
SOCRATES: The establishment of names appears to me to be the work of some such men; and if one examines foreign names as well, no less is it discovered what each name intends.
οἷον καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ὃ ἡμεῖς
οὐσίαν
καλοῦμεν, εἰσὶν οἳ
ἐσσίαν
καλοῦσιν, οἳ δʼ αὖ
ὠσίαν.
For example, even in this case of what we call "ousia", there are some who call it "essia", and others again "osia".
πρῶτον μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὸ ἕτερον ὄνομα τούτων ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων οὐσία
Ἑστία
καλεῖσθαι ἔχει λόγον, καὶ ὅτι γε αὖ ἡμεῖς τὸ τῆς οὐσίας μετέχον
ἔστιν
φαμέν, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ὀρθῶς ἂν καλοῖτο
Ἑστία
· ἐοίκαμεν γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ παλαιὸν
ἐσσίαν
καλεῖν τὴν οὐσίαν.
First, then, according to the former of these names, it makes sense that the essence of things is called "Hestia"; and also because we, in turn, say of that which participates in essence that it "is", and according to this too it would be correctly called "Hestia", for we too seem of old to have called essence "essia".
ἔτι δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὰς θυσίας ἄν τις ἐννοήσας ἡγήσαιτο οὕτω νοεῖν ταῦτα τοὺς τιθεμένους· τὸ γὰρ πρὸ πάντων θεῶν τῇ Ἑστίᾳ πρώτῃ προθύειν εἰκὸς ἐκείνους οἵτινες τὴν πάντων οὐσίαν
ἐσσίαν
ἐπωνόμασαν.
Furthermore, if one considers the sacrifices, one would think that those who established these names thought in this way; for it is natural that those who named the essence of all things "essia" should sacrifice first to Hestia before all other gods.
ὅσοι δʼ αὖ
ὠσίαν,
σχεδόν τι αὖ οὗτοι καθʼ Ἡράκλειτον ἂν ἡγοῖντο τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν· τὸ οὖν αἴτιον καὶ τὸ ἀρχηγὸν αὐτῶν εἶναι τὸ ὠθοῦν, ὅθεν δὴ καλῶς ἔχειν αὐτὸ
ὠσίαν
ὠνομάσθαι.
On the other hand, those who call it "osia" would in turn, almost in accordance with Heraclitus, hold that all existing things move and nothing remains; therefore, the cause and leader of them is that which pushes, whence indeed it is well that it has been named "osia".
καὶ ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ταύτῃ ὡς παρὰ μηδὲν εἰδότων εἰρήσθω· μετὰ δʼ Ἑστίαν δίκαιον Ῥέαν καὶ Κρόνον ἐπισκέψασθαι.
And let these things indeed be spoken in this way, as if from those who know nothing; but after Hestia, it is just to examine Rhea and Cronus.
καίτοι τό γε τοῦ Κρόνου ὄνομα ἤδη διήλθομεν.
And yet, we have already gone through the name of Cronus.
ἴσως μέντοι οὐδὲν λέγω.
But perhaps I am speaking nonsense.
ΕΡΜ. τί δή, ὦ Σώκρατες;
HERMOGENES: Why so, Socrates?
ΣΩ. ὠγαθέ, ἐννενόηκά τι σμῆνος σοφίας.
SOCRATES: My good friend, I have thought of a whole swarm of wisdom.
ΕΡΜ. ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο;
HERMOGENES: What sort of swarm is that?
§402ΣΩ. γελοῖον μὲν πάνυ εἰπεῖν, οἶμαι μέντοι τινὰ πιθανότητα ἔχον.
SOCRATES: It is quite ridiculous to say, but I think it has some plausibility.
ΕΡΜ. τίνα ταύτην;
HERMOGENES: What is this plausibility?
ΣΩ. τὸν Ἡράκλειτόν μοι δοκῶ καθορᾶν παλαίʼ ἄττα σοφὰ λέγοντα, ἀτεχνῶς τὰ ἐπὶ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας, ἃ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἔλεγεν.
SOCRATES: I seem to discern Heraclitus speaking of some ancient wisdom, literally of the times of Cronus and Rhea, which Homer also used to speak of.
ΕΡΜ. πῶς τοῦτο λέγεις;
HERMOGENES: How do you mean this?
ΣΩ. λέγει που Ἡράκλειτος ὅτι
πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει,
καὶ ποταμοῦ ῥοῇ ἀπεικάζων τὰ ὄντα λέγει ὡς
δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης.
SOCRATES: Heraclitus says somewhere that "all things move and nothing remains", and, comparing existing things to the flow of a river, he says that "you could not step twice into the same river".
ΕΡΜ. ἔστι ταῦτα.
HERMOGENES: That is so.
ΣΩ. τί οὖν;
SOCRATES: What then?
δοκεῖ σοι ἀλλοιότερον Ἡρακλείτου νοεῖν ὁ τιθέμενος τοῖς τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν προγόνοις
Ῥέαν
τε καὶ
Κρόνον
;
Do you think the one who established "Rhea" and "Cronus" for the ancestors of the other gods thought differently from Heraclitus?
ἆρα οἴει ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου αὐτὸν ἀμφοτέροις ῥευμάτων ὀνόματα θέσθαι;
Do you suppose he established names of streams for both of them by mere chance?
ὥσπερ αὖ Ὅμηρος
Ὠκεανόν τε θεῶν γένεσίν
φησιν
καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν· οἶμαι δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδος.
Just as Homer, in turn, says "Oceanus, origin of gods, and mother Tethys"; and I think Hesiod does too.
λέγει δέ που καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ὅτι
"
Ὠκεανὸς πρῶτος καλλίρροος ἦρξε γάμοιο,
"
"
ὅς ῥα κασιγνήτην ὁμομήτορα Τηθὺν ὄπυιεν. "
ταῦτʼ οὖν σκόπει ὅτι καὶ ἀλλήλοις συμφωνεῖ καὶ πρὸς τὰ τοῦ Ἡρακλείτου πάντα τείνει.
And Orpheus also says somewhere: "First, fair-flowing Oceanus began marriage, who indeed wedded his sister of the same mother, Tethys." Consider then that these things both agree with one another and all tend toward the doctrine of Heraclitus.
ΕΡΜ. φαίνῃ τί μοι λέγειν, ὦ Σώκρατες· τὸ μέντοι τῆς Τηθύος οὐκ ἐννοῶ ὄνομα τί βούλεται.
HERMOGENES: You seem to have a point, Socrates; however, I do not understand what the name of Tethys intends.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ μὴν τοῦτό γε ὀλίγου αὐτὸ λέγει ὅτι πηγῆς ὄνομα ἐπικεκρυμμένον ἐστίν.
SOCRATES: But surely this almost tells us itself that it is a hidden name for a source.
τὸ γὰρ διαττώμενον καὶ τὸ ἠθούμενον πηγῆς ἀπείκασμά ἐστιν· ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ
Τηθὺς
τὸ ὄνομα σύγκειται.
For that which is strained and that which is filtered is an imitation of a source; and from both of these names, the name Tethys is composed.
ΕΡΜ. τοῦτο μέν, ὦ Σώκρατες, κομψόν.
HERMOGENES: This indeed, Socrates, is ingenious.
ΣΩ. τί δʼ οὐ μέλλει;
SOCRATES: Why should it not be?
ἀλλὰ τί τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο;
But what is next?
τὸν μὲν Δία εἴπομεν.
We have spoken of Zeus.
ΕΡΜ. ναί.
HERMOGENES: Yes.
ΣΩ. τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς δὴ αὐτοῦ λέγωμεν, τόν τε Ποσειδῶ καὶ τὸν Πλούτωνα καὶ τὸ ἕτερον ὄνομα ὃ ὀνομάζουσιν αὐτόν.
SOCRATES: Let us then speak of his brothers, Poseidon and Pluto, and the other name by which they call Pluto.
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ γε.
HERMOGENES: By all means.
ΣΩ. τὸ μὲν τοίνυν τοῦ Ποσειδῶνός μοι φαίνεται ὠνομάσθαι, ὅτι αὐτὸν βαδίζοντα ἐπέσχεν ἡ τῆς θαλάττης φύσις καὶ οὐκέτι εἴασεν προελθεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ δεσμὸς τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῷ ἐγένετο.
SOCRATES: First, then, the name of Poseidon seems to me to have been given because the nature of the sea held him back as he walked, and did not let him go further, but became like a fetter for his feet.
τὸν οὖν ἄρχοντα τῆς δυνάμεως ταύτης θεὸν ὠνόμασεν
Ποσειδῶνα,
ὡς
ποσίδεσμον
ὄντα· τὸ δὲ ε ἔγκειται ἴσως εὐπρεπείας ἕνεκα.
Therefore, the one who named the god ruling over this power named him "Poseidon", as being a "foot-fetter"; and the epsilon was perhaps inserted for the sake of euphony.