§256ΞΕ. ἔστι δέ γε διὰ τὸ μετέχειν τοῦ ὄντος.
STR. Yet it is, because of participating in being.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἔστιν.
THEAE. It is.
ΞΕ. αὖθις δὴ πάλιν ἡ κίνησις ἕτερον ταὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
STR. Then again, motion is other than 'the same'.
ΘΕΑΙ. σχεδόν.
THEAE. Pretty much.
ΞΕ. οὐ ταὐτὸν ἄρα ἐστίν.
STR. It is not, then, 'the same'.
ΘΕΑΙ. οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
THEAE. Indeed not.
ΞΕ. ἀλλὰ μὴν αὕτη γʼ ἦν ταὐτὸν διὰ τὸ μετέχειν αὖ πάντʼ αὐτοῦ.
STR. But surely it was 'the same' because all things in turn participate in it.
ΘΕΑΙ. καὶ μάλα.
THEAE. Completely so.
ΞΕ. τὴν κίνησιν δὴ ταὐτόν τʼ εἶναι καὶ μὴ ταὐτὸν ὁμολογητέον καὶ οὐ δυσχεραντέον.
STR. Thus we must agree that motion is both 'the same' and not 'the same', and we must not be troubled by this.
οὐ γὰρ ὅταν εἴπωμεν αὐτὴν ταὐτὸν καὶ μὴ ταὐτόν, ὁμοίως εἰρήκαμεν, ἀλλʼ ὁπόταν μὲν ταὐτόν, διὰ τὴν μέθεξιν ταὐτοῦ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν οὕτω λέγομεν, ὅταν δὲ μὴ ταὐτόν, διὰ τὴν κοινωνίαν αὖ θατέρου, διʼ ἣν ἀποχωριζομένη ταὐτοῦ γέγονεν οὐκ ἐκεῖνο ἀλλʼ ἕτερον, ὥστε ὀρθῶς αὖ λέγεται πάλιν οὐ ταὐτόν.
For when we say that it is 'the same' and not 'the same', we do not speak in the same way, but when we say 'the same', we say so because of its participation in 'the same' in relation to itself, whereas when we say 'not the same', we say so because of its association in turn with 'the other', through which, being separated from 'the same', it has become not that but 'other', so that it is in turn rightly called 'not the same'.
ΘΕΑΙ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
THEAE. By all means.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν κἂν εἴ πῃ μετελάμβανεν αὐτὴ κίνησις στάσεως, οὐδὲν ἂν ἄτοπον ἦν στάσιμον αὐτὴν προσαγορεύειν;
STR. Therefore, even if motion itself participated in some way in rest, there would be nothing strange in calling it 'at rest'?
ΘΕΑΙ. ὀρθότατά γε, εἴπερ τῶν γενῶν συγχωρησόμεθα τὰ μὲν ἀλλήλοις ἐθέλειν μείγνυσθαι, τὰ δὲ μή.
THEAE. Most correctly indeed, if we are to agree that some of the genera are willing to mix with one another, and others not.
ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν ἐπί γε τὴν τούτου πρότερον ἀπόδειξιν ἢ τῶν νῦν ἀφικόμεθα, ἐλέγχοντες ὡς ἔστι κατὰ φύσιν ταύτῃ.
STR. And indeed, we arrived at the proof of this before the things we are discussing now, demonstrating that it is so according to nature.
ΘΕΑΙ. πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
THEAE. Of course.
ΞΕ. λέγωμεν δὴ πάλιν·
STR.
ἡ κίνησίς ἐστιν ἕτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου, καθάπερ ταὐτοῦ τε ἦν ἄλλο καὶ τῆς στάσεως;
Let us then speak again: is motion other than 'the other', just as it was different from 'the same' and from 'rest'?
ΘΕΑΙ. ἀναγκαῖον.
THEAE. Necessarily.
ΞΕ. οὐχ ἕτερον ἄρʼ ἐστί πῃ καὶ ἕτερον κατὰ τὸν νυνδὴ λόγον.
STR. Therefore it is in a way not-other, and also other, according to the argument just now.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἀληθῆ.
THEAE. True.
ΞΕ. τί οὖν δὴ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο;
STR. What then is next after this?
ἆρʼ αὖ τῶν μὲν τριῶν ἕτερον αὐτὴν φήσομεν εἶναι, τοῦ δὲ τετάρτου μὴ φῶμεν, ὁμολογήσαντες αὐτὰ εἶναι πέντε, περὶ ὧν καὶ ἐν οἷς προυθέμεθα σκοπεῖν;
Shall we say that it is other than three of them, but not say so of the fourth, after having agreed that they are five, which we proposed to examine and among which we proposed to do so?
ΘΕΑΙ. καὶ πῶς;
THEAE. How indeed?
ἀδύνατον γὰρ συγχωρεῖν ἐλάττω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ νυνδὴ φανέντος.
For it is impossible to agree to a smaller number than what has just appeared.
ΞΕ. ἀδεῶς ἄρα τὴν κίνησιν ἕτερον εἶναι τοῦ ὄντος διαμαχόμενοι λέγωμεν;
STR. Shall we then fearlessly contend and say that motion is other than being?
ΘΕΑΙ. ἀδεέστατα μὲν οὖν.
THEAE. Most fearlessly indeed.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν δὴ σαφῶς ἡ κίνησις ὄντως οὐκ ὄν ἐστι καὶ ὄν, ἐπείπερ τοῦ ὄντος μετέχει;
STR. Therefore, motion is clearly really not-being, and also being, since it participates in being?
ΘΕΑΙ. σαφέστατά γε.
THEAE. Most clearly indeed.
ΞΕ. ἔστιν ἄρα ἐξ ἀνάγκης τὸ μὴ ὂν ἐπί τε κινήσεως εἶναι καὶ κατὰ πάντα τὰ γένη·
STR.
κατὰ πάντα γὰρ ἡ θατέρου φύσις ἕτερον ἀπεργαζομένη τοῦ ὄντος ἕκαστον οὐκ ὂν ποιεῖ, καὶ σύμπαντα δὴ κατὰ ταὐτὰ οὕτως οὐκ ὄντα ὀρθῶς ἐροῦμεν, καὶ πάλιν, ὅτι μετέχει τοῦ ὄντος, εἶναί τε καὶ ὄντα.
It is therefore necessary for not-being to be in the case of motion, and in respect of all the genera; for in respect of all of them, the nature of 'the other', by making each of them other than being, makes it not-being, and so we shall rightly call all of them not-being in this same way, and again, because they participate in being, we shall say they exist and are.
ΘΕΑΙ. κινδυνεύει.
THEAE. It seems so.
ΞΕ. περὶ ἕκαστον ἄρα τῶν εἰδῶν πολὺ μέν ἐστι τὸ ὄν, ἄπειρον δὲ πλήθει τὸ μὴ ὄν.
STR. Therefore, in the case of each of the forms, being is much, but not-being is unlimited in quantity.
ΘΕΑΙ. ἔοικεν.
THEAE. So it seems.