§407ΕΡΜ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
HERMOGENES: Yes, indeed.
ΣΩ.
Παλλάδα
μὲν τοίνυν ταύτῃ.
SOCRATES: On this account, then, she is "Pallas".
ΕΡΜ. καὶ ὀρθῶς γε.
HERMOGENES: And correctly so.
ἀλλὰ δὴ τὸ ἕτερον πῶς λέγεις;
But indeed, what do you say of the other name?
ΣΩ. τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς;
SOCRATES: That of Athena?
ΕΡΜ. ναί.
HERMOGENES: Yes.
ΣΩ. τοῦτο ἐμβριθέστερον, ὦ φίλε.
SOCRATES: This is more solemn, my friend.
ἐοίκασι δὴ καὶ οἱ παλαιοὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν νομίζειν ὥσπερ οἱ νῦν περὶ Ὅμηρον δεινοί.
Indeed, the ancients also seem to have thought of Athena just like those who are now clever about Homer.
καὶ γὰρ τούτων οἱ πολλοὶ ἐξηγούμενοι τὸν ποιητήν φασι τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν αὐτὸν νοῦν τε καὶ διάνοιαν πεποιηκέναι, καὶ ὁ τὰ ὀνόματα ποιῶν ἔοικε τοιοῦτόν τι περὶ αὐτῆς διανοεῖσθαι, ἔτι δὲ μειζόνως λέγων θεοῦ νόησιν ὡσπερεὶ λέγει ὅτι
ἁ θεονόα
ἐστὶν αὕτη, τῷ ἄλφα ξενικῶς ἀντὶ τοῦ ἦτα χρησάμενος καὶ τὸ ἰῶτα καὶ τὸ σῖγμα ἀφελών.
For most of these, in explaining the poet, say that he has made Athena to be intellect and mind, and the name-maker seems to have thought some such thing about her, and speaking of it in a still grander way as "the understanding of God", he says, as it were, that she is "the mind of God", using the alpha in a foreign way instead of the eta, and taking away the iota and the sigma.
ἴσως δὲ οὐδὲ ταύτῃ, ἀλλʼ ὡς τὰ θεῖα νοούσης αὐτῆς διαφερόντως τῶν ἄλλων
Θεονόην
ἐκάλεσεν.
But perhaps not even in this way, but because she understands divine things outstandingly compared to others, he called her "Theonoe".
οὐδὲν δὲ ἀπέχει καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ ἤθει νόησιν ὡς οὖσαν τὴν θεὸν ταύτην
Ἠθονόην
μὲν βούλεσθαι προσειπεῖν· παραγαγὼν δὲ ἢ αὐτὸς ἤ τινες ὕστερον ἐπὶ τὸ κάλλιον ὡς ᾤοντο,
Ἀθηνάαν
ἐκάλεσαν.
And nothing prevents him from wishing to address this goddess as "Ethonoe", as being understanding in character; but having distorted it, either he himself or some later people, to a more beautiful form as they thought, they called her "Athenaa".
ΕΡΜ. τί δὲ δὴ τὸν Ἥφαιστον, πῇ λέγεις;
HERMOGENES: And what indeed of Hephaestus, how do you say?
ΣΩ. ἦ τὸν γενναῖον τὸν
φάεος ἵστορα
ἐρωτᾷς;
SOCRATES: Are you asking about the noble "knower of light"?
ΕΡΜ. ἔοικα.
HERMOGENES: It seems so.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν οὗτος μὲν παντὶ δῆλος
Φαῖστος
ὤν, τὸ ἦτα προσελκυσάμενος;
SOCRATES: Then is he not clear to everyone as being "Phaestus", having attracted the eta?
ΕΡΜ. κινδυνεύει, ἐὰν μή πῄ σοι, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἔτι ἄλλῃ δόξῃ.
HERMOGENES: It is likely, unless, as it seems, you have some other opinion.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ, τὸν Ἄρη ἐρώτα.
SOCRATES: Well, lest that seem so, ask about Ares.
ΕΡΜ. ἐρωτῶ.
HERMOGENES: I ask.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν, εἰ μὲν βούλει, κατὰ τὸ ἄρρεν τε καὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀνδρεῖον
Ἄρης
ἂν εἴη· εἰ δʼ αὖ κατὰ τὸ σκληρόν τε καὶ ἀμετάστροφον, ὃ δὴ
ἄρρατον
καλεῖται, καὶ ταύτῃ ἂν πανταχῇ πολεμικῷ θεῷ πρέποι
Ἄρη
καλεῖσθαι.
SOCRATES: Now, if you wish, he would be "Ares" in accordance with the male and the manly; but if on the other hand in accordance with the hard and unbending, which indeed is called "unbroken", in this way too it would be fitting in every way for a warlike god to be called "Ares".
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
HERMOGENES: Yes, indeed.
ΣΩ. ἐκ μὲν οὖν τῶν θεῶν πρὸς θεῶν ἀπαλλαγῶμεν, ὡς ἐγὼ δέδοικα περὶ αὐτῶν διαλέγεσθαι·
SOCRATES: Let us, then, by the gods, depart from the gods, since I fear to speak about them.
περὶ δὲ ἄλλων ὧν τινων βούλει προβαλλέ μοι,
ὄφρα ἴδηαι οἷοι
Εὐθύφρονος
ἵπποι.
But propose to me about any other things you wish, "so that you may see what kind of horses those of Euthyphro are".
ΕΡΜ. ἀλλὰ ποιήσω ταῦτα, ἔτι γε ἓν ἐρόμενός σε περὶ Ἑρμοῦ, ἐπειδή με καὶ οὔ φησιν Κρατύλος Ἑρμογένη εἶναι.
HERMOGENES: Well, I will do this, asking you still one more thing about Hermes, since Cratylus says that I am not even Hermogenes.
πειρώμεθα οὖν τὸν
Ἑρμῆν
σκέψασθαι τί καὶ νοεῖ τὸ ὄνομα, ἵνα καὶ εἰδῶμεν εἰ τὶ ὅδε λέγει.
Let us try, then, to examine Hermes, what indeed the name means, so that we may also know if he speaks some truth.
§408ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ μὴν τοῦτό γε ἔοικε περὶ λόγον τι εἶναι ὁ
Ἑρμῆς,
καὶ τὸ ἑρμηνέα εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἄγγελον καὶ τὸ κλοπικόν τε καὶ τὸ ἀπατηλὸν ἐν λόγοις καὶ τὸ ἀγοραστικόν, περὶ λόγου δύναμίν ἐστιν πᾶσα αὕτη ἡ πραγματεία·
SOCRATES: But indeed, this Hermes seems to be something concerning speech, and being an interpreter, and a messenger, and thievish and deceitful in speeches, and busy in trade—all this business is concerning the power of speech.
ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἐλέγομεν, τὸ
εἴρειν
λόγου χρεία ἐστί, τὸ δέ, οἷον καὶ Ὅμηρος πολλαχοῦ λέγει,
ἐμήσατό
φησιν, τοῦτο δὲ μηχανήσασθαί ἐστιν.
As indeed we were saying before, "to speak" is the use of speech, and that which Homer says in many places, "he contrived", is to devise.
ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων οὖν τούτων τὸν τὸ λέγειν τε καὶ τὸν λόγον μησάμενον—τὸ δὲ λέγειν δή ἐστιν εἴρειν—τοῦτον τὸν θεὸν ὡσπερεὶ ἐπιτάττει ἡμῖν ὁ νομοθέτης· ὦ ἄνθρωποι, ὃς τὸ εἴρειν ἐμήσατο, δικαίως ἂν καλοῖτο ὑπὸ ὑμῶν εἰρέμης
·
From both of these, then, the lawgiver as it were commands us, concerning him who contrived speaking and speech—and speaking is indeed "eirein"—: "O men, he who contrived speaking would justly be called by you 'Eiremes'".
νῦν δὲ ἡμεῖς, ὡς οἰόμεθα, καλλωπίζοντες τὸ ὄνομα
Ἑρμῆν
καλοῦμεν.
But now we, as we think, embellishing the name, call him "Hermes".
ΕΡΜ. νὴ τὸν Δία, εὖ ἄρα μοι δοκεῖ Κρατύλος λέγειν τὸ ἐμὲ μὴ εἶναι Ἑρμογένη· οὔκουν εὐμήχανός γέ εἰμι λόγου.
HERMOGENES: By Zeus, Cratylus seems to me to speak well indeed in saying that I am not Hermogenes; for I am certainly not handy with speech.
ΣΩ. καὶ τό γε τὸν Πᾶνα τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ εἶναι ὑὸν διφυῆ ἔχει τὸ εἰκός, ὦ ἑταῖρε.
SOCRATES: And that Pan is the double-natured son of Hermes has much probability, my companion.
ΕΡΜ. πῶς δή;
HERMOGENES: How so?
ΣΩ. οἶσθα ὅτι ὁ λόγος τὸ πᾶν σημαίνει καὶ κυκλεῖ καὶ πολεῖ ἀεί, καὶ ἔστι διπλοῦς, ἀληθής τε καὶ ψευδής.
SOCRATES: You know that speech signifies "the all", and revolves and moves always, and is double, both true and false.
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ γε.
HERMOGENES: Yes, indeed.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς αὐτοῦ λεῖον καὶ θεῖον καὶ ἄνω οἰκοῦν ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς, τὸ δὲ ψεῦδος κάτω ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τραχὺ καὶ τραγικόν· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ πλεῖστοι οἱ μῦθοί τε καὶ τὰ ψεύδη ἐστίν, περὶ τὸν τραγικὸν βίον.
SOCRATES: Well then, the true part of it is smooth and divine and dwells above among the gods, but the false is below among the many men, and is rough and tragic (goat-like); for there are most myths and falsehoods there, around the tragic life.
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ γε.
HERMOGENES: Yes, indeed.
ΣΩ. ὀρθῶς ἄρʼ ἂν ὁ πᾶν μηνύων καὶ ἀεὶ πολῶν
Πὰν αἰπόλος
εἴη, διφυὴς Ἑρμοῦ ὑός, τὰ μὲν ἄνωθεν λεῖος, τὰ δὲ κάτωθεν τραχὺς καὶ τραγοειδής.
SOCRATES: Correctly, then, he who declares all and revolves always would be "Pan the goat-herd", the double-natured son of Hermes, smooth in his upper parts, but rough and goat-like in his lower parts.
καὶ ἔστιν ἤτοι λόγος ἢ λόγου ἀδελφὸς ὁ Πάν, εἴπερ Ἑρμοῦ ὑός ἐστιν· ἀδελφῷ δὲ ἐοικέναι ἀδελφὸν οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν.
And Pan is either speech or the brother of speech, if indeed he is the son of Hermes; and it is not at all surprising for a brother to resemble a brother.
ἀλλʼ ὅπερ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, ὦ μακάριε, ἀπαλλαγῶμεν ἐκ τῶν θεῶν.
But as I was saying, my blessed friend, let us depart from the gods.
ΕΡΜ. τῶν γε τοιούτων, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰ βούλει.
HERMOGENES: From such gods, Socrates, if you wish.
περὶ τῶν τοιῶνδε δὲ τί σε κωλύει διελθεῖν, οἷον ἡλίου τε καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων καὶ γῆς καὶ αἰθέρος καὶ ἀέρος καὶ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος καὶ ὡρῶν καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ;
But concerning things of this sort, what prevents you from going through them, such as the sun, and the moon, and stars, and earth, and aether, and air, and fire, and water, and seasons, and the year?
ΣΩ. συχνὰ μέν μοι προστάττεις, ὅμως δέ, εἴπερ σοι κεχαρισμένον ἔσται, ἐθέλω.
SOCRATES: You enjoin many things upon me, but still, if it will be pleasing to you, I am willing.
ΕΡΜ. καὶ μὴν χαριῇ.
HERMOGENES: Indeed, it will be pleasing.
ΣΩ. τί δὴ οὖν πρῶτον βούλει;
SOCRATES: What, then, do you wish first?
ἢ ὥσπερ εἶπες τὸν ἥλιον διέλθωμεν;
Or shall we go through the sun, just as you said?
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ γε.
HERMOGENES: Yes, indeed.