§203ΣΩ. βασανίζωμεν δὴ αὐτὰ ἀναλαμβάνοντες, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡμᾶς αὐτούς, οὕτως ἢ οὐχ οὕτως γράμματα ἐμάθομεν.
SOCRATES: Let us indeed examine these things by taking them up again, or rather ourselves, to see whether we learned letters in this way or not.
φέρε πρῶτον· ἆρʼ αἱ μὲν συλλαβαὶ λόγον ἔχουσι, τὰ δὲ στοιχεῖα ἄλογα;
Come first: do syllables indeed have an account, but elements have no account?
ΘΕΑΙ. ἴσως.
THEAETETUS: Perhaps.
ΣΩ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐμοὶ φαίνεται.
SOCRATES: Indeed it seems so to me as well.
Σωκράτους γοῦν εἴ τις ἔροιτο τὴν πρώτην συλλαβὴν οὑτωσί· ὦ Θεαίτητε, λέγε τί ἐστι ΣΩ
;
At any rate, if someone were to ask about the first syllable of 'Socrates' in this way: "O Theaetetus, tell me, what is SO?" what would you reply?
τί ἀποκρινῇ; ΘΕΑΙ. ὅτι σῖγμα καὶ ὦ.
THEAETETUS: That it is sigma and omega.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τοῦτον ἔχεις λόγον τῆς συλλαβῆς;
SOCRATES: Therefore you have this as the account of the syllable?
ΘΕΑΙ. ἔγωγε.
THEAETETUS: I do.
ΣΩ. ἴθι δή, οὕτως εἰπὲ καὶ τὸν τοῦ σῖγμα λόγον.
SOCRATES: Come now, in the same way, tell me also the account of sigma.
ΘΕΑΙ. καὶ πῶς τοῦ στοιχείου τις ἐρεῖ στοιχεῖα;
THEAETETUS: And how will anyone say the elements of an element?
καὶ γὰρ δή, ὦ Σώκρατες, τό τε σῖγμα τῶν ἀφώνων ἐστί, ψόφος τις μόνον, οἷον συριττούσης τῆς γλώττης· τοῦ δʼ αὖ βῆτα οὔτε φωνὴ οὔτε ψόφος, οὐδὲ τῶν πλείστων στοιχείων.
For indeed, Socrates, sigma is one of the voiceless letters, merely a certain noise, like the tongue hissing; and as for beta, on the other hand, there is neither voice nor noise, nor is there in most of the elements.
ὥστε πάνυ εὖ ἔχει τὸ λέγεσθαι αὐτὰ ἄλογα, ὧν γε τὰ ἐναργέστατα αὐτὰ τὰ ἑπτὰ φωνὴν μόνον ἔχει, λόγον δὲ οὐδʼ ὁντινοῦν.
So that it is very well said that they themselves are without account, of which indeed the most distinct seven have voice only, but no account whatsoever.
ΣΩ. τουτὶ μὲν ἄρα, ὦ ἑταῖρε, κατωρθώκαμεν περὶ ἐπιστήμης.
SOCRATES: This point then, my friend, we have established correctly concerning knowledge.
ΘΕΑΙ. φαινόμεθα.
THEAETETUS: So we seem.
ΣΩ. τί δέ;
SOCRATES: What then?
τὸ μὴ γνωστὸν εἶναι τὸ στοιχεῖον ἀλλὰ τὴν συλλαβὴν ἆρʼ ὀρθῶς ἀποδεδείγμεθα;
Have we demonstrated rightly that the element is not knowable, but the syllable is?
ΘΕΑΙ. εἰκός γε.
THEAETETUS: It is likely, indeed.
ΣΩ. φέρε δή, τὴν συλλαβὴν πότερον λέγομεν τὰ ἀμφότερα στοιχεῖα, καὶ ἐὰν πλείω ᾖ ἢ δύο, τὰ πάντα, ἢ μίαν τινὰ ἰδέαν γεγονυῖαν συντεθέντων αὐτῶν;
SOCRATES: Come now, do we say that the syllable is both elements (or all of them, if there are more than two), or some single form that has come to be when they are put together?
ΘΕΑΙ. τὰ ἅπαντα ἔμοιγε δοκοῦμεν.
THEAETETUS: To me at least, we seem to mean all of them.
ΣΩ. ὅρα δὴ ἐπὶ δυοῖν, σῖγμα καὶ ὦ.
SOCRATES: Look then in the case of the two, sigma and omega.
ἀμφότερά ἐστιν ἡ πρώτη συλλαβὴ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὀνόματος.
Both are the first syllable of my name.
ἄλλο τι ὁ γιγνώσκων αὐτὴν τὰ ἀμφότερα γιγνώσκει;
Does the one who knows it know anything else than both?
ΘΕΑΙ. τί μήν;
THEAETETUS: Of course.
ΣΩ. τὸ σῖγμα καὶ τὸ ὦ ἄρα γιγνώσκει.
SOCRATES: He knows, then, sigma and omega.
ΘΕΑΙ. ναί.
THEAETETUS: Yes.
ΣΩ. τί δʼ;
SOCRATES: What then?
ἑκάτερον ἄρʼ ἀγνοεῖ καὶ οὐδέτερον εἰδὼς ἀμφότερα γιγνώσκει;
Is he ignorant of each of them, and knowing neither of them, does he know both?
ΘΕΑΙ. ἀλλὰ δεινὸν καὶ ἄλογον, ὦ Σώκρατες.
THEAETETUS: But that is strange and irrational, Socrates.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ μέντοι εἴ γε ἀνάγκη ἑκάτερον γιγνώσκειν, εἴπερ ἀμφότερά τις γνώσεται, προγιγνώσκειν τὰ στοιχεῖα ἅπασα ἀνάγκη τῷ μέλλοντί ποτε γνώσεσθαι συλλαβήν, καὶ οὕτως ἡμῖν ὁ καλὸς λόγος ἀποδεδρακὼς οἰχήσεται.
SOCRATES: Yet surely, if it is necessary to know each of them if one is to know both, it is absolutely necessary for the one who is ever to know a syllable to know the elements beforehand, and thus our beautiful argument will have run away and vanished.
ΘΕΑΙ. καὶ μάλα γε ἐξαίφνης.
THEAETETUS: And very suddenly, too.
ΣΩ. οὐ γὰρ καλῶς αὐτὸν φυλάττομεν.
SOCRATES: For we are not guarding it well.
χρῆν γὰρ ἴσως τὴν συλλαβὴν τίθεσθαι μὴ τὰ στοιχεῖα ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἐκείνων ἕν τι γεγονὸς εἶδος, ἰδέαν μίαν αὐτὸ αὑτοῦ ἔχον, ἕτερον δὲ τῶν στοιχείων.
For perhaps we ought to have posited that the syllable is not the elements, but some single form that has arisen from them, having a single idea of its own, and being different from the elements.
ΘΕΑΙ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν· καὶ τάχα γʼ ἂν μᾶλλον οὕτως ἢ ʼκείνως ἔχοι.
THEAETETUS: Absolutely so; and perhaps it would be better this way than that.
ΣΩ. σκεπτέον καὶ οὐ προδοτέον οὕτως ἀνάνδρως μέγαν τε καὶ σεμνὸν λόγον.
SOCRATES: We must examine this and not betray so unmanfully a great and solemn argument.
ΘΕΑΙ. οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
THEAETETUS: Certainly not.