§126ἐπειδὴ Ἀθήναζε οἴκοθεν ἐκ Κλαζομενῶν ἀφικόμεθα, κατʼ ἀγορὰν ἐνετύχομεν Ἀδειμάντῳ τε καὶ Γλαύκωνι·
When we arrived at Athens from our home in Clazomenae, we met Adeimantus and Glaucon in the marketplace.
καί μου λαβόμενος τῆς χειρὸς ὁ Ἀδείμαντος, Χαῖρʼ, ἔφη, ὦ Κέφαλε, καὶ εἴ του δέῃ τῶν τῇδε ὧν ἡμεῖς δυνατοί, φράζε.
Adeimantus took me by the hand and said, "Welcome, Cephalus!
ἀλλὰ μὲν δή, εἶπον ἐγώ, πάρειμί γε ἐπʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, δεησόμενος ὑμῶν. λέγοις ἄν, ἔφη, τὴν δέησιν.
If there is anything you need here that we are able to do, just tell us." "Indeed," I said, "that is the very reason I am here, to make a request of you." "Tell us your request," he said.
καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον· τῷ ἀδελφῷ ὑμῶν τῷ ὁμομητρίῳ τί ἦν ὄνομα;
And I said, "What was the name of your half-brother?
οὐ γὰρ μέμνημαι.
For I do not remember.
παῖς δέ που ἦν, ὅτε τὸ πρότερον ἐπεδήμησα δεῦρο ἐκ Κλαζομενῶν· πολὺς δὲ ἤδη χρόνος ἐξ ἐκείνου.
He was, I suppose, a child when I previously stayed here from Clazomenae, and a long time has already passed since then.
τῷ μὲν γὰρ πατρί, δοκῶ, Πυριλάμπης ὄνομα. πάνυ γε, ἔφη.
His father's name, I believe, was Pyrilampes." "Exactly," he said.
αὐτῷ δέ γε; Ἀντιφῶν.
"And his own?" "Antiphon.
ἀλλὰ τί μάλιστα πυνθάνῃ; οἵδε, εἶπον ἐγώ, πολῖταί τʼ ἐμοί εἰσι, μάλα φιλόσοφοι, ἀκηκόασί τε ὅτι οὗτος ὁ Ἀντιφῶν Πυθοδώρῳ τινὶ Ζήνωνος ἑταίρῳ πολλὰ ἐντετύχηκε, καὶ τοὺς λόγους, οὕς ποτε Σωκράτης καὶ Ζήνων καὶ Παρμενίδης διελέχθησαν, πολλάκις ἀκούσας τοῦ Πυθοδώρου ἀπομνημονεύει. ἀληθῆ, ἔφη, λέγεις.
But why do you ask in particular?" "These men," I said, "are my fellow citizens, very devoted to philosophy, and they have heard that this Antiphon met many times with a certain Pythodorus, a friend of Zeno, and that having heard many times the arguments which Socrates, Zeno, and Parmenides once discussed, he remembers them by heart from Pythodorus." "You speak the truth," he said.
τούτων τοίνυν, εἶπον, δεόμεθα διακοῦσαι. ἀλλʼ οὐ χαλεπόν, ἔφη·
"We want, then," I said, "to hear them through." "That is not difficult," he said.
μειράκιον γὰρ ὢν αὐτοὺς εὖ μάλα διεμελέτησεν, ἐπεὶ νῦν γε κατὰ τὸν πάππον τε καὶ ὁμώνυμον πρὸς ἱππικῇ τὰ πολλὰ διατρίβει.
"For when he was a youth, he practiced them very thoroughly, though now, following his grandfather and namesake, he spends most of his time on horsemanship.
ἀλλʼ εἰ δεῖ, ἴωμεν παρʼ αὐτόν· ἄρτι γὰρ ἐνθένδε οἴκαδε οἴχεται, οἰκεῖ δὲ ἐγγὺς ἐν Μελίτῃ. §127ταῦτα εἰπόντες ἐβαδίζομεν, καὶ κατελάβομεν τὸν Ἀντιφῶντα οἴκοι, χαλινόν τινα χαλκεῖ ἐκδιδόντα σκευάσαι·
But if necessary, let us go to him; for he has just now gone home from here, and he lives nearby in Melite." Having said this, we walked on, and we found Antiphon at home, giving a certain bridle to a blacksmith to be made.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐκείνου ἀπηλλάγη οἵ τε ἀδελφοὶ ἔλεγον αὐτῷ ὧν ἕνεκα παρεῖμεν, ἀνεγνώρισέν τέ με ἐκ τῆς προτέρας ἐπιδημίας καί με ἠσπάζετο, καὶ δεομένων ἡμῶν διελθεῖν τοὺς λόγους, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὤκνει—πολὺ γὰρ ἔφη ἔργον εἶναι— ἔπειτα μέντοι διηγεῖτο.
When he was free of that man, and his brothers told him the reason we were there, he recognized me from my previous stay and welcomed me. When we requested him to go through the arguments, at first he hesitated—for he said it was a big task—but then indeed he related them.
ἔφη δὲ δὴ ὁ Ἀντιφῶν λέγειν τὸν Πυθόδωρον ὅτι ἀφίκοιντό ποτε εἰς Παναθήναια τὰ μεγάλα Ζήνων τε καὶ Παρμενίδης.
Antiphon said that Pythodorus said that once Zeno and Parmenides arrived for the Great Panathenaea.
τὸν μὲν οὖν Παρμενίδην εὖ μάλα ἤδη πρεσβύτην εἶναι, σφόδρα πολιόν, καλὸν δὲ κἀγαθὸν τὴν ὄψιν, περὶ ἔτη μάλιστα πέντε καὶ ἑξήκοντα· Ζήνωνα δὲ ἐγγὺς τῶν τετταράκοντα τότε εἶναι, εὐμήκη δὲ καὶ χαρίεντα ἰδεῖν, καὶ λέγεσθαι αὐτὸν παιδικὰ τοῦ Παρμενίδου γεγονέναι.
Parmenides was already very old, extremely grey, but handsome and noble in appearance, about sixty-five years of age; Zeno was then close to forty, tall and fair to look upon, and it was said that he had been the favorite of Parmenides.
καταλύειν δὲ αὐτοὺς ἔφη παρὰ τῷ Πυθοδώρῳ ἐκτὸς τείχους ἐν Κεραμεικῷ· οἷ δὴ καὶ ἀφικέσθαι τόν τε Σωκράτη καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς μετʼ αὐτοῦ πολλούς, ἐπιθυμοῦντας ἀκοῦσαι τῶν τοῦ Ζήνωνος γραμμάτων—τότε γὰρ αὐτὰ πρῶτον ὑπʼ ἐκείνων κομισθῆναι—Σωκράτη δὲ εἶναι τότε σφόδρα νέον.
He said they were staying with Pythodorus outside the wall in Cerameicus; and there Socrates and many others with him arrived, desiring to hear Zeno's writings—for they had then been brought by them for the first time—and Socrates was then very young.
ἀναγιγνώσκειν οὖν αὐτοῖς τὸν Ζήνωνα αὐτόν, τὸν δὲ Παρμενίδην τυχεῖν ἔξω ὄντα· καὶ εἶναι πάνυ βραχὺ ἔτι λοιπὸν τῶν λόγων ἀναγιγνωσκομένων, ἡνίκα αὐτός τε ἐπεισελθεῖν ἔφη ὁ Πυθόδωρος ἔξωθεν καὶ τὸν Παρμενίδην μετʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλη τὸν τῶν τριάκοντα γενόμενον, καὶ σμίκρʼ ἄττα ἔτι ἐπακοῦσαι τῶν γραμμάτων· οὐ μὴν αὐτός γε, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρότερον ἀκηκοέναι τοῦ Ζήνωνος.
Zeno himself was reading to them, while Parmenides happened to be outside; and there was still a very short part of the arguments left to be read when, as Pythodorus said, he himself came in from outside, and Parmenides with him, and Aristotle, the one who became one of the Thirty, and they heard a small part of the writings; though he himself had heard Zeno before.
τὸν οὖν Σωκράτη ἀκούσαντα πάλιν τε κελεῦσαι τὴν πρώτην ὑπόθεσιν τοῦ πρώτου λόγου ἀναγνῶναι, καὶ ἀναγνωσθείσης, πῶς, φάναι, ὦ Ζήνων, τοῦτο λέγεις;
Then Socrates, having heard, asked him to read again the first hypothesis of the first argument, and when it was read, he said, "Zeno, how do you mean this?
εἰ πολλά ἐστι τὰ ὄντα, ὡς ἄρα δεῖ αὐτὰ ὅμοιά τε εἶναι καὶ ἀνόμοια, τοῦτο δὲ δὴ ἀδύνατον· οὔτε γὰρ τὰ ἀνόμοια ὅμοια οὔτε τὰ ὅμοια ἀνόμοια οἷόν τε εἶναι;
If the things that exist are many, must they then be both like and unlike, but this indeed is impossible; for neither can unlike things be like, nor like things unlike?
οὐχ οὕτω λέγεις; οὕτω, φάναι τὸν Ζήνωνα.
Is this not what you say?" "Just so," said Zeno.
οὐκοῦν εἰ ἀδύνατον τά τε ἀνόμοια ὅμοια εἶναι καὶ τὰ ὅμοια ἀνόμοια, ἀδύνατον δὴ καὶ πολλὰ εἶναι;
"Therefore, if it is impossible for unlike things to be like and like things unlike, is it also impossible for there to be many?
εἰ γὰρ πολλὰ εἴη, πάσχοι ἂν τὰ ἀδύνατα.
For if there were many, they would suffer impossible things.
ἆρα τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ βούλονταί σου οἱ λόγοι, οὐκ ἄλλο τι ἢ διαμάχεσθαι παρὰ πάντα τὰ λεγόμενα ὡς οὐ πολλά ἐστι;
Is this what your arguments intend, nothing other than to contend against all that is said, showing that there is no many?
καὶ τούτου αὐτοῦ οἴει σοι τεκμήριον εἶναι ἕκαστον τῶν λόγων, ὥστε καὶ ἡγῇ τοσαῦτα τεκμήρια παρέχεσθαι, ὅσουσπερ λόγους γέγραφας, ὡς οὐκ ἔστι πολλά;
And do you think that each of your arguments is a proof of this very thing, so that you believe you offer as many proofs as the arguments you have written, showing that there is 128a¦ no many?
οὕτω λέγεις, ἢ ἐγὼ οὐκ ὀρθῶς καταμανθάνω;
Is this what you say, or do I not understand correctly?"