§227ΣΩ. ὦ φίλε Φαῖδρε, ποῖ δὴ καὶ πόθεν;
SOCRATES: My dear Phaedrus, where are you going, and where have you come from?
ΦΑΙ. παρὰ Λυσίου, ὦ Σώκρατες, τοῦ Κεφάλου, πορεύομαι δὲ πρὸς περίπατον ἔξω τείχους·
PHAEDRUS: From Lysias, Socrates, the son of Cephalus; and I am going for a walk outside the wall.
συχνὸν γὰρ ἐκεῖ διέτριψα χρόνον καθήμενος ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ.
For I spent a long time there, sitting since early morning.
τῷ δὲ σῷ καὶ ἐμῷ ἑταίρῳ πειθόμενος Ἀκουμενῷ κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺς ποιοῦμαι τοὺς περιπάτους· φησὶ γὰρ ἀκοπωτέρους εἶναι τῶν ἐν τοῖς δρόμοις.
And following the advice of Acumenus, your friend and mine, I am taking my walk along the roads; for he says they are less tiring than those in the race-courses.
ΣΩ. καλῶς γάρ, ὦ ἑταῖρε, λέγει.
SOCRATES: He is right, my friend.
ἀτὰρ Λυσίας ἦν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐν ἄστει.
But Lysias, it seems, was in town.
ΦΑΙ. ναί, παρʼ Ἐπικράτει, ἐν τῇδε τῇ πλησίον τοῦ Ὀλυμπίου οἰκίᾳ τῇ Μορυχίᾳ.
PHAEDRUS: Yes, at Epicrates' house, the one which used to belong to Morychus, near the temple of Olympian Zeus.
ΣΩ. τίς οὖν δὴ ἦν ἡ διατριβή;
SOCRATES: What was your pastime, then?
ἢ δῆλον ὅτι τῶν λόγων ὑμᾶς Λυσίας εἱστία;
Or is it clear that Lysias feasted you with speeches?
ΦΑΙ. πεύσῃ, εἴ σοι σχολὴ προϊόντι ἀκούειν.
PHAEDRUS: You shall hear, if you have leisure to go along and listen.
ΣΩ. τί δέ;
SOCRATES: What?
οὐκ ἂν οἴει με κατὰ Πίνδαρον
"καὶ ἀσχολίας ὑπέρτερον πρᾶγμα"
ποιήσασθαι τὸ τεήν τε καὶ Λυσίου διατριβὴν ἀκοῦσαι;
Do you not think that, in Pindar's words, I should make it "a matter superior even to lack of leisure" to hear how you and Lysias passed your time?
ΦΑΙ. πρόαγε δή.
PHAEDRUS: Lead on, then.
ΣΩ. λέγοις ἄν.
SOCRATES: Speak on.
ΦΑΙ. καὶ μήν, ὦ Σώκρατες, προσήκουσα γέ σοι ἡ ἀκοή·
PHAEDRUS: And indeed, Socrates, the story is well suited for your ears.
ὁ γάρ τοι λόγος ἦν, περὶ ὃν διετρίβομεν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅντινα τρόπον ἐρωτικός.
For the speech we discussed was, in some fashion, about love.
γέγραφε γὰρ δὴ ὁ Λυσίας πειρώμενόν τινα τῶν καλῶν, οὐχ ὑπʼ ἐραστοῦ δέ, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ κεκόμψευται· λέγει γὰρ ὡς χαριστέον μὴ ἐρῶντι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐρῶντι.
Lysias has written about a beautiful boy being courted, but not by a lover; and this is the very cleverness of it: he claims that one should yield to a non-lover rather than to a lover.
ΣΩ. ὢ γενναῖος.
SOCRATES: Oh, noble indeed!
εἴθε γράψειεν ὡς χρὴ πένητι μᾶλλον ἢ πλουσίῳ, καὶ πρεσβυτέρῳ ἢ νεωτέρῳ, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐμοί τε πρόσεστι καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἡμῶν· ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἀστεῖοι καὶ δημωφελεῖς εἶεν οἱ λόγοι.
I wish he would write that one should yield to a poor man rather than to a rich one, and to an older man rather than to a younger one, and to all the other qualities that belong to me and to most of us; for then his speeches would be witty and of public benefit.
ἔγωγʼ οὖν οὕτως ἐπιτεθύμηκα ἀκοῦσαι, ὥστʼ ἐὰν βαδίζων ποιῇ τὸν περίπατον Μέγαράδε καὶ κατὰ Ἡρόδικον προσβὰς τῷ τείχει πάλιν ἀπίῃς, οὐ μή σου ἀπολειφθῶ.
At any rate, I am so eager to hear it that even if you walk all the way to Megara, and, as Herodicus recommends, go up to the wall and turn back again, I will certainly not be left behind by you.
§228ΦΑΙ. πῶς λέγεις, ὦ βέλτιστε Σώκρατες;
PHAEDRUS: What do you mean, my excellent Socrates?
οἴει με, ἃ Λυσίας ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ κατὰ σχολὴν συνέθηκε, δεινότατος ὢν τῶν νῦν γράφειν, ταῦτα ἰδιώτην ὄντα ἀπομνημονεύσειν ἀξίως ἐκείνου;
Do you think that I, an amateur, can memorize, in a manner worthy of Lysias, what he, the cleverest writer of our day, composed at his leisure over a long period?
πολλοῦ γε δέω· καίτοι ἐβουλόμην γʼ ἂν μᾶλλον ἤ μοι πολὺ χρυσίον γενέσθαι.
I am far from capable of it; though I would rather have that ability than possess a great sum of gold.
ΣΩ. ὦ Φαῖδρε, εἰ ἐγὼ Φαῖδρον ἀγνοῶ, καὶ ἐμαυτοῦ ἐπιλέλησμαι.
SOCRATES: O Phaedrus, if I do not know Phaedrus, I have forgotten myself.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐδέτερά ἐστι τούτων· εὖ οἶδα ὅτι Λυσίου λόγον ἀκούων ἐκεῖνος οὐ μόνον ἅπαξ ἤκουσεν, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις ἐπαναλαμβάνων ἐκέλευέν οἱ λέγειν, ὁ δὲ ἐπείθετο προθύμως.
But neither is the case; I know well that when he was listening to Lysias' speech, he did not hear it only once, but repeatedly asked him to repeat it, and Lysias readily complied.
τῷ δὲ οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἦν ἱκανά, ἀλλὰ τελευτῶν παραλαβὼν τὸ βιβλίον ἃ μάλιστα ἐπεθύμει ἐπεσκόπει, καὶ τοῦτο δρῶν ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ καθήμενος ἀπειπὼν εἰς περίπατον ᾔει, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ οἶμαι, νὴ τὸν κύνα, ἐξεπιστάμενος τὸν λόγον, εἰ μὴ πάνυ τι ἦν μακρός.
And even this was not enough for him, but finally he took the book and examined the passages he especially desired; and doing this, sitting since early morning, he grew tired and went for a walk, having, as I believe, by the dog, learned the speech by heart, unless it was extremely long.
ἐπορεύετο δʼ ἐκτὸς τείχους ἵνα μελετῴη.
And he was going outside the wall in order to practice it.
ἀπαντήσας δὲ τῷ νοσοῦντι περὶ λόγων ἀκοήν, ἰδὼν μέν, ἰδών, ἥσθη ὅτι ἕξοι τὸν συγκορυβαντιῶντα, καὶ προάγειν ἐκέλευε.
And meeting the man who is diseased with the passion for hearing speeches, when he saw him, yes, saw him, he was delighted that he would have a fellow-reveler, and urged him to lead on.
δεομένου δὲ λέγειν τοῦ τῶν λόγων ἐραστοῦ, ἐθρύπτετο ὡς δὴ οὐκ ἐπιθυμῶν λέγειν· τελευτῶν δὲ ἔμελλε καὶ εἰ μή τις ἑκὼν ἀκούοι βίᾳ ἐρεῖν.
But when the lover of speeches begged him to speak, he put on airs as if he did not care to speak, though in the end he was going to speak even if one would not listen voluntarily, forcing himself upon him.
σὺ οὖν, ὦ Φαῖδρε, αὐτοῦ δεήθητι ὅπερ τάχα πάντως ποιήσει νῦν ἤδη ποιεῖν.
So, Phaedrus, entreat him to do now what he will soon do in any case.
ΦΑΙ. ἐμοὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς πολὺ κράτιστόν ἐστιν οὕτως ὅπως δύναμαι λέγειν, ὥς μοι δοκεῖς σὺ οὐδαμῶς με ἀφήσειν πρὶν ἂν εἴπω ἁμῶς γέ πως.
PHAEDRUS: For me, in truth, it is by far the best to speak as well as I can, since it seems to me that you will by no means let me go until I speak in one way or another.
ΣΩ. πάνυ γάρ σοι ἀληθῆ δοκῶ.
SOCRATES: Indeed, you have my true intention.
ΦΑΙ. οὑτωσὶ τοίνυν ποιήσω.
PHAEDRUS: Then I will do so.
τῷ ὄντι γάρ, ὦ Σώκρατες, παντὸς μᾶλλον τά γε ῥήματα οὐκ ἐξέμαθον· τὴν μέντοι διάνοιαν σχεδὸν ἁπάντων, οἷς ἔφη διαφέρειν τὰ τοῦ ἐρῶντος ἢ τὰ τοῦ μή, ἐν κεφαλαίοις ἕκαστον ἐφεξῆς δίειμι, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου.
For indeed, Socrates, I have by no means learned the exact words by heart; however, the general meaning of nearly all the points in which he said the case of the lover differed from that of the non-lover, I will go through in summary, each in order, beginning from the first.
ΣΩ. δείξας γε πρῶτον, ὦ φιλότης, τί ἄρα ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ ἔχεις ὑπὸ τῷ ἱματίῳ· τοπάζω γάρ σε ἔχειν τὸν λόγον αὐτόν.
SOCRATES: Yes, after you have first shown me, my dear friend, what you have there in your left hand under your cloak; for I suspect you have the speech itself.
εἰ δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν, οὑτωσὶ διανοοῦ περὶ ἐμοῦ, ὡς ἐγώ σε πάνυ μὲν φιλῶ, παρόντος δὲ καὶ Λυσίου, ἐμαυτόν σοι ἐμμελετᾶν παρέχειν οὐ πάνυ δέδοκται. ἀλλʼ ἴθι, δείκνυε.
And if this is so, understand this about me: that though I love you very much, when Lysias is present, I have by no means decided to offer myself to you for you to practice on. Come now, show it.
ΦΑΙ. παῦε.
PHAEDRUS: Stop.
ἐκκέκρουκάς με ἐλπίδος, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἣν εἶχον ἐν σοὶ ὡς ἐγγυμνασόμενος.
You have dashed the hope I had, Socrates, of practicing on you.
ἀλλὰ ποῦ δὴ βούλει καθιζόμενοι ἀναγνῶμεν;
But where do you wish us to sit down and read?