§230ΞΕ. τὸ μὲν ἀρχαιοπρεπές τι πάτριον, ᾧ πρὸς τοὺς ὑεῖς μάλιστʼ ἐχρῶντό τε καὶ ἔτι πολλοὶ χρῶνται τὰ νῦν, ὅταν αὐτοῖς ἐξαμαρτάνωσί τι, τὰ μὲν χαλεπαίνοντες, τὰ δὲ μαλθακωτέρως παραμυθούμενοι· τὸ δʼ οὖν σύμπαν αὐτὸ ὀρθότατα εἴποι τις ἂν νουθετητικήν.
STR. One is a traditional, ancestral way, which they used to employ especially toward their sons, and many still employ nowadays, when they commit some error, sometimes being angry with them, and at other times more gently admonishing them; and the whole of this, to speak most correctly, one might call the art of admonition.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἔστιν οὕτως.
THEAI. It is so.
ΞΕ. τὸ δέ γε, εἴξασί τινες αὖ λόγον ἑαυτοῖς δόντες ἡγήσασθαι πᾶσαν ἀκούσιον ἀμαθίαν εἶναι, καὶ μαθεῖν οὐδέν ποτʼ ἂν ἐθέλειν τὸν οἰόμενον εἶναι σοφὸν τούτων ὧν οἴοιτο πέρι δεινὸς εἶναι, μετὰ δὲ πολλοῦ πόνου τὸ νουθετητικὸν εἶδος τῆς παιδείας σμικρὸν ἀνύτειν.
STR. But as for the other, some seem, on the contrary, having given an account to themselves, to have come to the conclusion that all ignorance is involuntary, and that a person who thinks he is wise would never be willing to learn any of those things about which he thinks he is clever, and consequently that the admonitory form of education achieves little with great labor.
ΘΕΑΙ. ὀρθῶς γε νομίζοντες.
THEAI. Indeed, they think correctly.
ΞΕ. τῷ τοι ταύτης τῆς δόξης ἐπὶ ἐκβολὴν ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ στέλλονται.
STR. For this very reason, they set out to expel this opinion in another way.
ΘΕΑΙ. τίνι δή;
THEAI. In what way?
ΞΕ. διερωτῶσιν ὧν ἂν οἴηταί τίς τι πέρι λέγειν λέγων μηδέν· εἶθʼ ἅτε πλανωμένων τὰς δόξας ῥᾳδίως ἐξετάζουσι, καὶ συνάγοντες δὴ τοῖς λόγοις εἰς ταὐτὸν τιθέασι παρʼ ἀλλήλας, τιθέντες δὲ ἐπιδεικνύουσιν αὐτὰς αὑταῖς ἅμα περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πρὸς τὰ αὐτὰ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἐναντίας.
STR. They cross-examine someone about those things on which he thinks he is saying something, when he is saying nothing; then, because his opinions are wandering, they easily examine them, and bringing them together in their arguments, they place them side by side, and by doing so they show that they are contradictory to themselves at the same time about the same things in relation to the same points and in the same respects.
οἱ δʼ ὁρῶντες ἑαυτοῖς μὲν χαλεπαίνουσι, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ἡμεροῦνται, καὶ τούτῳ δὴ τῷ τρόπῳ τῶν περὶ αὑτοὺς μεγάλων καὶ σκληρῶν δοξῶν ἀπαλλάττονται πασῶν ἀπαλλαγῶν ἀκούειν τε ἡδίστην καὶ τῷ πάσχοντι βεβαιότατα γιγνομένην.
And those who see this are angry with themselves, but become gentle toward others, and in this way they are freed from all the great and rigid opinions about themselves, an evacuation which of all is the most pleasant to hear and produces the most stable effect for the sufferer.
νομίζοντες γάρ, ὦ παῖ φίλε, οἱ καθαίροντες αὐτούς, ὥσπερ οἱ περὶ τὰ σώματα ἰατροὶ νενομίκασι μὴ πρότερον ἂν τῆς προσφερομένης τροφῆς ἀπολαύειν δύνασθαι σῶμα, πρὶν ἂν τὰ ἐμποδίζοντα ἐντός τις ἐκβάλῃ, ταὐτὸν καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς διενοήθησαν ἐκεῖνοι, μὴ πρότερον αὐτὴν ἕξειν τῶν προσφερομένων μαθημάτων ὄνησιν, πρὶν ἂν ἐλέγχων τις τὸν ἐλεγχόμενον εἰς αἰσχύνην καταστήσας, τὰς τοῖς μαθήμασιν ἐμποδίους δόξας ἐξελών, καθαρὸν ἀποφήνῃ καὶ ταῦτα ἡγούμενον ἅπερ οἶδεν εἰδέναι μόνα, πλείω δὲ μή.
For, my dear boy, those who purify them think, just as physicians of the body believe that the body cannot enjoy the food offered to it until someone expels the obstacles within, so those people too have thought the same about the soul, that it would not have any benefit from the lessons offered to it until someone, by cross-examining, puts the cross-examined to shame, expels the opinions that are obstacles to the lessons, and exhibits it in a pure state, believing that it knows only those things which it actually knows, and no more.
ΘΕΑΙ. βελτίστη γοῦν καὶ σωφρονεστάτη τῶν ἕξεων αὕτη.
THEAI. This is certainly the best and most temperate of all states.
ΞΕ. διὰ ταῦτα δὴ πάντα ἡμῖν, ὦ Θεαίτητε, καὶ τὸν ἔλεγχον λεκτέον ὡς ἄρα μεγίστη καὶ κυριωτάτη τῶν καθάρσεών ἐστι, καὶ τὸν ἀνέλεγκτον αὖ νομιστέον, ἂν καὶ τυγχάνῃ βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας ὤν, τὰ μέγιστα ἀκάθαρτον ὄντα, ἀπαίδευτόν τε καὶ αἰσχρὸν γεγονέναι ταῦτα ἃ καθαρώτατον καὶ κάλλιστον ἔπρεπε τὸν ὄντως ἐσόμενον εὐδαίμονα εἶναι.
STR. For all these reasons, Theaetetus, we must say that the cross-examination is the greatest and most authoritative of purifications, and on the other hand, we must regard the unexamined person, even if he happens to be the Great King, as being unpurified in the most important matters, and as having become uneducated and ugly in those respects in which he who is to be truly happy ought to be most pure and beautiful.
ΘΕΑΙ. παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
THEAI. Entirely so.
§231ΞΕ. τί δέ;
STR. What then?
τοὺς ταύτῃ χρωμένους τῇ τέχνῃ τίνας φήσομεν;
Whom shall we say are those who use this art?
ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ φοβοῦμαι σοφιστὰς φάναι. ΘΕΑΙ. τί δή;
For my part, I am afraid to say 'sophists.' THEAI. Why so?
ΞΕ. μὴ μεῖζον αὐτοῖς προσάπτωμεν γέρας.
STR. Lest we attach too great an honor to them.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἀλλὰ μὴν προσέοικέ γε τοιούτῳ τινὶ τὰ νῦν εἰρημένα.
THEAI. And yet, what has just been said resembles some such person.
ΞΕ. καὶ γὰρ κυνὶ λύκος, ἀγριώτατον ἡμερωτάτῳ.
STR. Yes, for a wolf resembles a dog, the most savage resembles the most gentle.
τὸν δὲ ἀσφαλῆ δεῖ πάντων μάλιστα περὶ τὰς ὁμοιότητας ἀεὶ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν φυλακήν· ὀλισθηρότατον γὰρ τὸ γένος.
But a safe man must keep guard above all and always against resemblances, for it is a most slippery class.
ὅμως δὲ ἔστω· οὐ γὰρ περὶ σμικρῶν ὅρων τὴν ἀμφισβήτησιν οἴομαι γενήσεσθαι τότε ὁπόταν ἱκανῶς φυλάττωσιν.
Nevertheless, let it be so; for I do not think the dispute will be about small definitions when they are sufficiently on their guard.
ΘΕΑΙ. οὔκουν τό γε εἰκός.
THEAI. At least that is likely.
ΞΕ. ἔστω δὴ διακριτικῆς τέχνης καθαρτική, καθαρτικῆς δὲ τὸ περὶ ψυχὴν μέρος ἀφωρίσθω, τούτου δὲ διδασκαλική, διδασκαλικῆς δὲ παιδευτική· τῆς δὲ παιδευτικῆς ὁ περὶ τὴν μάταιον δοξοσοφίαν γιγνόμενος ἔλεγχος ἐν τῷ νῦν λόγῳ παραφανέντι μηδὲν ἄλλʼ ἡμῖν εἶναι λεγέσθω πλὴν ἡ γένει γενναία σοφιστική.
STR. Let us agree, then, that there is a purifying art within the discriminative art, and let the part of the purifying art concerning the soul be set apart, and within this let there be the instructive art, and within the instructive let there be the educational; and within the educational, let the cross-examination concerning empty wisdom-fancy, which has appeared in our present discourse, be called nothing else by us than the sophistry noble in descent.
ΘΕΑΙ. λεγέσθω μέν· ἀπορῶ δὲ ἔγωγε ἤδη διὰ τὸ πολλὰ πεφάνθαι, τί χρή ποτε ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγοντα καὶ διισχυριζόμενον εἰπεῖν ὄντως εἶναι τὸν σοφιστήν.
THEAI. Let it be so called; but I am already at a loss, because so many images have appeared, what one should ever say is the real sophist, speaking the truth and making a firm assertion.
ΞΕ. εἰκότως γε σὺ ἀπορῶν.
STR. It is reasonable that you are at a loss.
ἀλλά τοι κἀκεῖνον ἡγεῖσθαι χρὴ νῦν ἤδη σφόδρα ἀπορεῖν ὅπῃ ποτὲ ἔτι διαδύσεται τὸν λόγον· ὀρθὴ γὰρ ἡ παροιμία, τὸ τὰς ἁπάσας μὴ ῥᾴδιον εἶναι διαφεύγειν. νῦν οὖν καὶ μάλιστα ἐπιθετέον αὐτῷ.
But indeed, you must believe that he too is now in great difficulty as to where he can still slip through the argument; for the proverb is correct, that 'it is not easy to escape all nets.' So now especially we must set upon him.
ΘΕΑΙ. καλῶς λέγεις.
THEAI. Well said.
ΞΕ. πρῶτον δὴ στάντες οἷον ἐξαναπνεύσωμεν, καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς διαλογισώμεθα ἅμα ἀναπαυόμενοι, φέρε, ὁπόσα ἡμῖν ὁ σοφιστὴς πέφανται.
STR. First, then, let us stand and, as it were, take a breath, and while resting let us calculate among ourselves, come, how many the sophist has appeared to us.
δοκῶ μὲν γάρ, τὸ πρῶτον ηὑρέθη νέων καὶ πλουσίων ἔμμισθος θηρευτής.
I think, first, he was found to be a hired hunter of the young and wealthy.
ΘΕΑΙ. ναί.
THEAI. Yes.
ΞΕ. τὸ δέ γε δεύτερον ἔμπορός τις περὶ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μαθήματα.
STR. And second, a merchant in the learning of the soul.
ΘΕΑΙ. πάνυ γε.
THEAI. Certainly.
ΞΕ. τρίτον δὲ ἆρα οὐ περὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα κάπηλος ἀνεφάνη;
STR. Third, did he not appear as a retailer of these very things?
ΘΕΑΙ. ναί, καὶ τέταρτόν γε αὐτοπώλης περὶ τὰ μαθήματα ἡμῖν ἦν.
THEAI. Yes, and fourth, he was a seller of his own learning to us.
ΞΕ. ὀρθῶς ἐμνημόνευσας.
STR. You have remembered correctly.
πέμπτον δʼ ἐγὼ πειράσομαι μνημονεύειν· τῆς γὰρ ἀγωνιστικῆς περὶ λόγους ἦν τις ἀθλητής, τὴν ἐριστικὴν τέχνην ἀφωρισμένος.
And the fifth I will try to remember: he was an athlete of combat in words, having set apart the eristic art.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἦν γὰρ οὖν.
THEAI. He was indeed.
ΞΕ. τό γε μὴν ἕκτον ἀμφισβητήσιμον μέν, ὅμως δʼ ἔθεμεν αὐτῷ συγχωρήσαντες δοξῶν ἐμποδίων μαθήμασιν περὶ ψυχὴν καθαρτὴν αὐτὸν εἶναι.
STR. The sixth is indeed disputable, but nevertheless we agreed to posit him as a purifier of the soul from opinions that are obstacles to learning.
ΘΕΑΙ. παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
THEAI. Entirely so.