§417ΕΡΜ. ταῦτα τὰ περὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν τε καὶ καλόν, συμφέροντά τε καὶ λυσιτελοῦντα καὶ ὠφέλιμα καὶ κερδαλέα καὶ τἀναντία τούτων.
HERMOGENES: These things concerning the good and the beautiful: the advantageous, the profitable, the useful, the gainful, and their opposites.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τὸ μὲν
συμφέρον
ἤδη που κἂν σὺ εὕροις ἐκ τῶν πρότερον ἐπισκοπῶν· τῆς γὰρ ἐπιστήμης ἀδελφόν τι φαίνεται.
SOCRATES: Well, then, the advantageous you yourself could perhaps already find from our previous examinations; for it seems to be a kind of brother to 'knowledge'.
οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο δηλοῖ ἢ τὴν ἅμα φορὰν τῆς ψυχῆς μετὰ τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου πραττόμενα
συμφέροντά
τε καὶ
σύμφορα
κεκλῆσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ συμπεριφέρεσθαι ἔοικε, τὸ δέ γε
κερδαλέον
ἀπὸ τοῦ κέρδους.
For it signifies nothing other than the simultaneous movement of the soul with things, and the actions performed by such a state seem to have been called 'advantageous' and 'expedient' from 'moving along together with'; on the other hand, the gainful comes from 'gain'.
κέρδος
δὲ νῦ ἀντὶ τοῦ δέλτα ἀποδιδόντι ἐς τὸ ὄνομα δηλοῖ ὃ βούλεται· τὸ γὰρ ἀγαθὸν κατʼ ἄλλον τρόπον ὀνομάζει.
And 'gain' reveals what it wants to mean if one restores the nu in place of the delta in the name; for it names the good in another way.
ὅτι γὰρ κεράννυται ἐς πάντα διεξιόν, ταύτην αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ἐπονομάζων ἔθετο τοὔνομα· δέλτα δʼ ἐνθεὶς ἀντὶ τοῦ νῦ
κέρδος
ἐφθέγξατο.
For since it mixes itself going through all things, the name-giver established the name by naming this power of it; but by inserting a delta in place of the nu, he pronounced it 'kerdos'.
ΕΡΜ.
Λυσιτελοῦν
δὲ τί δή;
HERMOGENES: But what about 'profitable'?
ΣΩ. ἔοικεν, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, οὐχὶ καθάπερ οἱ κάπηλοι αὐτῷ χρῶνται, ἐὰν τὸ ἀνάλωμα ἀπολύῃ, οὐ ταύτῃ λέγειν μοι δοκεῖ τὸ
λυσιτελοῦν,
ἀλλʼ ὅτι τάχιστον ὂν τοῦ ὄντος ἵστασθαι οὐκ ἐᾷ τὰ πράγματα, οὐδὲ τέλος λαβοῦσαν τὴν φορὰν τοῦ φέρεσθαι στῆναί τε καὶ παύσασθαι, ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ λύει αὐτῆς ἄν τι ἐπιχειρῇ τέλος ἐγγίγνεσθαι, καὶ παρέχει ἄπαυστον καὶ ἀθάνατον αὐτήν, ταύτῃ μοι δοκεῖ ἐπιφημίσαι τὸ ἀγαθὸν λυσιτελοῦν·
SOCRATES: It seems, Hermogenes, not in the way retail dealers use it, when it "acquits" the expense—not in this way, it seems to me, does it mean 'profitable', but because, being the swiftest of what is, it does not allow things to stop, nor does it allow the movement, having reached an end, to stand and cease from moving, but always dissolves any end that attempts to arise in it, and renders it ceaseless and immortal.
τὸ γὰρ τῆς φορᾶς λύον τὸ τέλος
λυσιτελοῦν
καλέσαι.
In this way it seems to me to have designated the good as 'profitable'; for that which dissolves the end of movement, he called 'profitable'.
ὠφέλιμον
δὲ ξενικὸν τοὔνομα, ᾧ καὶ Ὅμηρος πολλαχοῦ κέχρηται, τῷ
ὀφέλλειν
· ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ αὔξειν καὶ ποιεῖν ἐπωνυμία.
And 'useful' is a foreign word, which Homer also uses in many places, namely 'to increase'; and this is a name for increasing and producing.
ΕΡΜ. τὰ δὲ δὴ τούτων ἐναντία πῶς ἔχει ἡμῖν;
HERMOGENES: But what about the opposites of these for us?
ΣΩ. ὅσα μὲν ἀπόφησιν αὐτῶν, ὥς γέ μοι δοκεῖ, οὐδὲν δεῖ ταῦτα διεξιέναι.
SOCRATES: As for those which are negations of them, as it seems to me, there is no need to go through them.
ΕΡΜ. ποῖα ταῦτα;
HERMOGENES: What sort of things are these?
ΣΩ.
ἀσύμφορον
καὶ
ἀνωφελὲς
καὶ
ἀλυσιτελὲς
καὶ
ἀκερδές.
SOCRATES: The disadvantageous, the useless, the unprofitable, and the gainless.
ΕΡΜ. ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
HERMOGENES: You speak the truth.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ
βλαβερόν
γε καὶ
ζημιῶδες.
SOCRATES: But rather 'harmful' and 'damaging'.
ΕΡΜ. ναί.
HERMOGENES: Yes.
ΣΩ. καὶ τὸ μέν γε
βλαβερὸν
τὸ βλάπτον τὸν ῥοῦν εἶναι λέγει· τὸ δὲ
βλάπτον
αὖ σημαίνει βουλόμενον ἅπτειν· τὸ δὲ
ἅπτειν
καὶ δεῖν ταὐτόν ἐστι, τοῦτο δὲ πανταχοῦ ψέγει.
SOCRATES: And 'harmful' indeed says that it is that which "harms" the flow; and 'harming', in turn, signifies "wishing to bind"; and "binding" and "fettering" are the same thing, and this is everywhere blamed.
τὸ βουλόμενον οὖν ἅπτειν ῥοῦν ὀρθότατα μὲν ἂν εἴη
βουλαπτεροῦν,
καλλωπισθὲν δὲ καλεῖσθαί μοι φαίνεται
βλαβερόν.
Therefore, that which wishes to bind the flow would most correctly be 'boulapteroun', but, being beautified, it seems to me to be called 'harmful'.
ΕΡΜ. ποικίλα γέ σοι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐκβαίνει τὰ ὀνόματα.
HERMOGENES: How varied, Socrates, are the names that turn out for you.
καὶ γὰρ νῦν μοι ἔδοξας ὥσπερ τοῦ τῆς Ἀθηνάας νόμου προαύλιον στομαυλῆσαι, τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα προειπὼν τὸ
βουλαπτεροῦν.
Indeed, just now you seemed to me to blow a flute prelude, as it were, to the hymn of Athena, by pronouncing this name 'boulapteroun'.
§418ΣΩ. οὐκ ἐγώ, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, αἴτιος, ἀλλʼ οἱ θέμενοι τὸ ὄνομα.
SOCRATES: I am not the cause, Hermogenes, but those who established the name.
ΕΡΜ. ἀληθῆ λέγεις· ἀλλὰ δὴ τὸ
ζημιῶδες
τί ἂν εἴη;
HERMOGENES: You speak the truth; but then, what would 'damaging' be?
ΣΩ. τί δʼ ἂν εἴη ποτὲ
ζημιῶδες
;
SOCRATES: What on earth could 'damaging' be?
θέασαι, ὦ Ἑρμόγενες, ὡς ἐγὼ ἀληθῆ λέγω λέγων ὅτι προστιθέντες γράμματα καὶ ἐξαιροῦντες σφόδρα ἀλλοιοῦσι τὰς τῶν ὀνομάτων διανοίας, οὕτως ὥστε σμικρὰ πάνυ παραστρέφοντες ἐνίοτε τἀναντία ποιεῖν σημαίνειν.
Behold, Hermogenes, how truly I speak in saying that by adding and removing letters, people greatly alter the meanings of names, so that by twisting them very slightly, they sometimes make them signify the opposite.
οἷον καὶ ἐν τῷ
δέοντι
·
As, for example, in 'binding'.
ἐνενόησα γὰρ αὐτὸ καὶ ἀνεμνήσθην ἄρτι ἀπὸ τοῦδε ὃ ἔμελλόν σοι ἐρεῖν ὅτι ἡ μὲν νέα φωνὴ ἡμῖν ἡ καλὴ αὑτηὶ καὶ τοὐναντίον περιέτρεψε μηνύειν τὸ
δέον
καὶ τὸ
ζημιῶδες,
ἀφανίζουσα ὅτι νοεῖ, ἡ δὲ παλαιὰ ἀμφότερον δηλοῖ ὃ βούλεται τοὔνομα.
For I thought of it and remembered just now from what I was about to tell you, that this fine new pronunciation of ours has turned around even the opposites to indicate 'binding' and 'damaging', hiding what they mean, whereas the ancient pronunciation makes clear what both names want to mean.
ΕΡΜ. πῶς λέγεις;
HERMOGENES: How do you mean?
ΣΩ. ἐγώ σοι ἐρῶ.
SOCRATES: I will tell you.
οἶσθα ὅτι οἱ παλαιοὶ οἱ ἡμέτεροι τῷ ἰῶτα καὶ τῷ δέλτα εὖ μάλα ἐχρῶντο, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα αἱ γυναῖκες, αἵπερ μάλιστα τὴν ἀρχαίαν φωνὴν σῴζουσι.
You know that our ancestors made very good use of iota and delta, and not least the women, who especially preserve the ancient speech.
νῦν δὲ ἀντὶ μὲν τοῦ ἰῶτα ἢ εἶ ἢ ἦτα μεταστρέφουσιν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ δέλτα ζῆτα, ὡς δὴ μεγαλοπρεπέστερα ὄντα.
But now, instead of iota, they change it to ei or eta, and instead of delta, to zeta, on the ground that these are more majestic.
ΕΡΜ. πῶς δή;
HERMOGENES: How so?
ΣΩ. οἷον οἱ μὲν ἀρχαιότατοι
ἱμέραν
τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκάλουν, οἱ δὲ
ἑμέραν,
οἱ δὲ νῦν
ἡμέραν.
SOCRATES: For instance, the oldest people called 'day' 'himera', and others 'hemera', and people now call it 'hēmera'.
ΕΡΜ. ἔστι ταῦτα.
HERMOGENES: That is so.
ΣΩ. οἶσθα οὖν ὅτι μόνον τούτων δηλοῖ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ὄνομα τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ θεμένου;
SOCRATES: Do you know, then, that of these, only the ancient name reveals the intention of the one who established it?
ὅτι γὰρ ἁσμένοις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ ἱμείρουσιν ἐκ τοῦ σκότους τὸ φῶς ἐγίγνετο, ταύτῃ ὠνόμασαν
ἱμέραν.
For because the light came from the darkness to the pleased and desiring humans, they named it 'himera' on this account.
ΕΡΜ. φαίνεται.
HERMOGENES: It seems so.
ΣΩ. νῦν δέ γε τετραγῳδημένον οὐδʼ ἂν κατανοήσαις ὅτι βούλεται ἡ
ἡμέρα.
SOCRATES: But now, having been decorated like tragedy, you would not even understand what 'hēmera' wants to mean.
καίτοι τινὲς οἴονται, ὡς δὴ ἡ ἡμέρα ἥμερα ποιεῖ, διὰ ταῦτα ὠνομάσθαι αὐτὴν οὕτως.
And yet some think that because the day makes things 'tame', it was named so on this account.
ΕΡΜ. δοκεῖ μοι.
HERMOGENES: So it seems to me.
ΣΩ. καὶ τό γε
ζυγὸν
οἶσθα ὅτι
δυογὸν
οἱ παλαιοὶ ἐκάλουν.
SOCRATES: And you know that the ancients called the yoke 'dyogon'?
ΕΡΜ. πάνυ γε.
HERMOGENES: Certainly.
ΣΩ. καὶ τὸ μέν γε
ζυγὸν
οὐδὲν δηλοῖ, τὸ δὲ τοῖν δυοῖν ἕνεκα τῆς δέσεως ἐς τὴν ἀγωγὴν ἐπωνόμασται
δυογὸν
δικαίως· νῦν δὲ
ζυγόν.
SOCRATES: And 'yoke' indeed reveals nothing, but 'dyogon' was justly named on account of the binding of the two for pulling; but now it is called 'yoke'.
καὶ ἄλλα πάμπολλα οὕτως ἔχει.
And very many other things are in this state.
ΕΡΜ. φαίνεται.
HERMOGENES: It seems so.
ΣΩ. κατὰ ταὐτὰ τοίνυν πρῶτον μὲν τὸ
δέον
οὕτω λεγόμενον τοὐναντίον σημαίνει πᾶσι τοῖς περὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὀνόμασιν· ἀγαθοῦ γὰρ ἰδέα οὖσα τὸ δέον φαίνεται δεσμὸς εἶναι καὶ κώλυμα φορᾶς, ὥσπερ ἀδελφὸν ὂν τοῦ βλαβεροῦ.
SOCRATES: In the same way, then, first of all, 'binding' being spoken of in this way signifies the opposite to all names concerning the good; for though 'binding' is an aspect of the good, it seems to be a fetter and a hindrance to movement, as if it were a brother to 'harmful'.
ΕΡΜ. καὶ μάλα, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὕτω φαίνεται.
HERMOGENES: And indeed, Socrates, it seems so.