§229ΣΩ. δεῦρʼ ἐκτραπόμενοι κατὰ τὸν Ἰλισὸν ἴωμεν, εἶτα ὅπου ἂν δόξῃ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καθιζησόμεθα.
SOCRATES: Let us turn aside here and go along the Ilissus, and then we will sit down in a quiet place wherever it seems best.
ΦΑΙ. εἰς καιρόν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀνυπόδητος ὢν ἔτυχον· σὺ μὲν γὰρ δὴ ἀεί.
PHAEDRUS: It is opportune, as it seems, that I happen to be barefoot; for you, of course, always are.
ῥᾷστον οὖν ἡμῖν κατὰ τὸ ὑδάτιον βρέχουσι τοὺς πόδας ἰέναι, καὶ οὐκ ἀηδές, ἄλλως τε καὶ τήνδε τὴν ὥραν τοῦ ἔτους τε καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας.
It will be easiest for us, then, to go along wetting our feet in the water, and not unpleasant, especially at this season of the year and time of day.
ΣΩ. πρόαγε δή, καὶ σκόπει ἅμα ὅπου καθιζησόμεθα.
SOCRATES: Lead on, then, and at the same time look out for a place where we may sit down.
ΦΑΙ. ὁρᾷς οὖν ἐκείνην τὴν ὑψηλοτάτην πλάτανον;
PHAEDRUS: Do you see that tallest plane tree over there?
ΣΩ. τί μήν;
SOCRATES: Of course.
ΦΑΙ. ἐκεῖ σκιά τʼ ἐστὶν καὶ πνεῦμα μέτριον, καὶ πόα καθίζεσθαι ἢ ἂν βουλώμεθα κατακλινῆναι.
PHAEDRUS: There is shade there, and a moderate breeze, and grass to sit on or, if we like, to lie down upon.
ΣΩ. προάγοις ἄν.
SOCRATES: Go on, then.
ΦΑΙ. εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐκ ἐνθένδε μέντοι ποθὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰλισοῦ λέγεται ὁ Βορέας τὴν Ὠρείθυιαν ἁρπάσαι;
PHAEDRUS: Tell me, Socrates, isn't it from somewhere hereabouts along the Ilissus that Boreas is said to have carried off Oreithyia?
ΣΩ. λέγεται γάρ.
SOCRATES: Yes, so it is said.
ΦΑΙ. ἆρʼ οὖν ἐνθένδε;
PHAEDRUS: Is it then from this very spot?
χαρίεντα γοῦν καὶ καθαρὰ καὶ διαφανῆ τὰ ὑδάτια φαίνεται, καὶ ἐπιτήδεια κόραις παίζειν παρʼ αὐτά.
The water, at any rate, appears lovely, pure, and transparent, and suitable for girls to play beside it.
ΣΩ. οὔκ, ἀλλὰ κάτωθεν ὅσον δύʼ ἢ τρία στάδια, ᾗ πρὸς τὸ ἐν Ἄγρας διαβαίνομεν· καὶ πού τίς ἐστι βωμὸς αὐτόθι Βορέου.
SOCRATES: No, but about two or three stades lower down, where we cross over to the temple in Agra; and there is, I believe, an altar of Boreas somewhere there.
ΦΑΙ. οὐ πάνυ νενόηκα· ἀλλʼ εἰπὲ πρὸς Διός, ὦ Σώκρατες, σὺ τοῦτο τὸ μυθολόγημα πείθῃ ἀληθὲς εἶναι;
PHAEDRUS: I haven't noticed it particularly; but tell me, by Zeus, Socrates, do you believe this myth to be true?
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ εἰ ἀπιστοίην, ὥσπερ οἱ σοφοί, οὐκ ἂν ἄτοπος εἴην, εἶτα σοφιζόμενος φαίην αὐτὴν πνεῦμα Βορέου κατὰ τῶν πλησίον πετρῶν σὺν Φαρμακείᾳ παίζουσαν ὦσαι, καὶ οὕτω δὴ τελευτήσασαν λεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Βορέου ἀνάρπαστον γεγονέναι—ἢ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου· λέγεται γὰρ αὖ καὶ οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ὡς ἐκεῖθεν ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐνθένδε ἡρπάσθη.
SOCRATES: Why, if I were to disbelieve it, as the wise do, I should not be out of place; and then I might rationalize and say that as she was playing with Pharmacia on the neighboring rocks, a gust of the North Wind (Boreas) pushed her down, and having died in this manner, she was said to have been carried off by Boreas — or from the Areopagus; for there is also another story, that she was carried off from there and not from here.
ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ Φαῖδρε, ἄλλως μὲν τὰ τοιαῦτα χαρίεντα ἡγοῦμαι, λίαν δὲ δεινοῦ καὶ ἐπιπόνου καὶ οὐ πάνυ εὐτυχοῦς ἀνδρός, κατʼ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδέν, ὅτι δʼ αὐτῷ ἀνάγκη μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ τῶν Ἱπποκενταύρων εἶδος ἐπανορθοῦσθαι, καὶ αὖθις τὸ τῆς Χιμαίρας, καὶ ἐπιρρεῖ δὲ ὄχλος τοιούτων Γοργόνων καὶ Πηγάσων καὶ ἄλλων ἀμηχάνων πλήθη τε καὶ ἀτοπίαι τερατολόγων τινῶν φύσεων·
But for my part, Phaedrus, I think such explanations are amusing enough, but they are the work of a very clever, industrious, and not altogether fortunate man, for no other reason than because he must next explain the form of the Centaurs, and again that of the Chimaera, and a crowd of such Gorgons and Pegasuses flows in upon him, and a host of other impossible and strange monster-like natures.
αἷς εἴ τις ἀπιστῶν προσβιβᾷ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἕκαστον, ἅτε ἀγροίκῳ τινὶ σοφίᾳ χρώμενος, πολλῆς αὐτῷ σχολῆς δεήσει.
If anyone, disbelieving in these, tries to reduce each of them to a reasonable probability, employing a sort of rustic wisdom, he will need a great deal of leisure.
§230ΣΩ. ἐμοὶ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὰ οὐδαμῶς ἐστι σχολή· τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, ὦ φίλε, τούτου τόδε.
SOCRATES: But I have no leisure at all for these things; and the cause of it, my friend, is this.
οὐ δύναμαί πω κατὰ τὸ Δελφικὸν γράμμα γνῶναι ἐμαυτόν· γελοῖον δή μοι φαίνεται τοῦτο ἔτι ἀγνοοῦντα τὰ ἀλλότρια σκοπεῖν.
I am not yet able, according to the Delphic inscription, to know myself; so it seems to me ridiculous to examine other things while I am still ignorant of this.
ὅθεν δὴ χαίρειν ἐάσας ταῦτα, πειθόμενος δὲ τῷ νομιζομένῳ περὶ αὐτῶν, ὃ νυνδὴ ἔλεγον, σκοπῶ οὐ ταῦτα ἀλλʼ ἐμαυτόν, εἴτε τι θηρίον ὂν τυγχάνω Τυφῶνος πολυπλοκώτερον καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπιτεθυμμένον, εἴτε ἡμερώτερόν τε καὶ ἁπλούστερον ζῷον, θείας τινὸς καὶ ἀτύφου μοίρας φύσει μετέχον.
Therefore, bidding farewell to these matters and accepting what is customary about them, as I just said, I examine not them but myself, to see whether I happen to be a beast more complex and more puffed up with passion than Typhon, or a gentler and simpler creature, sharing by nature in some divine and humble lot.
ἀτάρ, ὦ ἑταῖρε, μεταξὺ τῶν λόγων, ἆρʼ οὐ τόδε ἦν τὸ δένδρον ἐφʼ ὅπερ ἦγες ἡμᾶς;
But, my friend, in the midst of our talk, was not this the tree to which you were leading us?
ΦΑΙ. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν αὐτό.
PHAEDRUS: Yes, this is the very one.
ΣΩ. νὴ τὴν Ἥραν, καλή γε ἡ καταγωγή.
SOCRATES: By Hera, it is a lovely resting-place.
ἥ τε γὰρ πλάτανος αὕτη μάλʼ ἀμφιλαφής τε καὶ ὑψηλή, τοῦ τε ἄγνου τὸ ὕψος καὶ τὸ σύσκιον πάγκαλον, καὶ ὡς ἀκμὴν ἔχει τῆς ἄνθης, ὡς ἂν εὐωδέστατον παρέχοι τὸν τόπον·
For this plane tree is very spreading and high, and the height and shadiness of the agnus-castus are extremely beautiful, and as it is in full bloom, it must make the place most fragrant.
ἥ τε αὖ πηγὴ χαριεστάτη ὑπὸ τῆς πλατάνου ῥεῖ μάλα ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, ὥστε γε τῷ ποδὶ τεκμήρασθαι.
And the spring, too, is most delightful as it flows under the plane tree with very cold water, to judge by my foot.
Νυμφῶν τέ τινων καὶ Ἀχελῴου ἱερὸν ἀπὸ τῶν κορῶν τε καὶ ἀγαλμάτων ἔοικεν εἶναι.
It seems to be a sanctuary of some Nymphs and of Achelous, to judge from the figurines and statues.
εἰ δʼ αὖ βούλει, τὸ εὔπνουν τοῦ τόπου ὡς ἀγαπητὸν καὶ σφόδρα ἡδύ·
And if you like, how welcome and exceedingly sweet is the breeziness of the place!
θερινόν τε καὶ λιγυρὸν ὑπηχεῖ τῷ τῶν τεττίγων χορῷ.
It echoes with a summer-like and shrill song of the chorus of cicadas.
πάντων δὲ κομψότατον τὸ τῆς πόας, ὅτι ἐν ἠρέμα προσάντει ἱκανὴ πέφυκε κατακλινέντι τὴν κεφαλὴν παγκάλως ἔχειν.
But the most charming of all is the grass, because on a gentle slope it is naturally suited to support the head of one who lies down in perfect comfort.
ὥστε ἄριστά σοι ἐξενάγηται, ὦ φίλε Φαῖδρε.
So you have been the best of guides, my dear Phaedrus.
ΦΑΙ. σὺ δέ γε, ὦ θαυμάσιε, ἀτοπώτατός τις φαίνῃ.
PHAEDRUS: And you, my admirable friend, appear to be a most strange person.
ἀτεχνῶς γάρ, ὃ λέγεις, ξεναγουμένῳ τινὶ καὶ οὐκ ἐπιχωρίῳ ἔοικας· οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος οὔτʼ εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἀποδημεῖς, οὔτʼ ἔξω τείχους ἔμοιγε δοκεῖς τὸ παράπαν ἐξιέναι.
For you are exactly like what you say, a stranger who is being guided and not a native of the place; so entirely do you never travel abroad from the city into foreign lands, nor even, as it seems to me, go outside the wall at all.
ΣΩ. συγγίγνωσκέ μοι, ὦ ἄριστε.
SOCRATES: Forgive me, my excellent friend.
φιλομαθὴς γάρ εἰμι· τὰ μὲν οὖν χωρία καὶ τὰ δένδρα οὐδέν μʼ ἐθέλει διδάσκειν, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῷ ἄστει ἄνθρωποι.
For I am a lover of learning; and the country places and the trees will teach me nothing, but the people in the city do.
σὺ μέντοι δοκεῖς μοι τῆς ἐμῆς ἐξόδου τὸ φάρμακον ηὑρηκέναι.
Yet you seem to me to have found the medicine for my going out.
ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ τὰ πεινῶντα θρέμματα θαλλὸν ἤ τινα καρπὸν προσείοντες ἄγουσιν, σὺ ἐμοὶ λόγους οὕτω προτείνων ἐν βιβλίοις τήν τε Ἀττικὴν φαίνῃ περιάξειν ἅπασαν καὶ ὅποι ἂν ἄλλοσε βούλῃ.
For just as people lead hungry beasts by waving a green branch or some fruit before them, you, by holding out speeches in books in this way, will seem to lead me all over Attica, and wherever else you please.
νῦν δʼ οὖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι δεῦρʼ ἀφικόμενος ἐγὼ μέν μοι δοκῶ κατακείσεσθαι, σὺ δʼ ἐν ὁποίῳ σχήματι οἴει ῥᾷστα ἀναγνώσεσθαι, τοῦθʼ ἑλόμενος ἀναγίγνωσκε.
Now, therefore, having arrived here for the present, I think I shall lie down, and do you choose whatever posture you think will be easiest for you to read in, and read.
ΦΑΙ. ἄκουε δή.
PHAEDRUS: Listen, then.