§235ΣΩ. τί δέ;
SOCRATES: What indeed?
καὶ ταύτῃ δεῖ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ τε καὶ σοῦ τὸν λόγον ἐπαινεθῆναι, ὡς τὰ δέοντα εἰρηκότος τοῦ ποιητοῦ, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκείνῃ μόνον, ὅτι σαφῆ καὶ στρογγύλα, καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἕκαστα τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀποτετόρνευται;
Must the speech be praised by both you and me in this respect, on the ground that the author has said what is necessary, and not only in that respect, because the words are clear and well-rounded, and each of the words is precisely turned as on a lathe?
εἰ γὰρ δεῖ, συγχωρητέον χάριν σήν, ἐπεὶ ἐμέ γε ἔλαθεν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμῆς οὐδενίας· τῷ γὰρ ῥητορικῷ αὐτοῦ μόνῳ τὸν νοῦν προσεῖχον, τοῦτο δὲ οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸν ᾤμην Λυσίαν οἴεσθαι ἱκανὸν εἶναι.
For if we must do so, it must be conceded for your sake, since it escaped me because of my own insignificance; for I was paying attention only to his rhetoric, and as for this, I would not have thought that Lysias himself would consider it sufficient.
καὶ οὖν μοι ἔδοξεν, ὦ Φαῖδρε, εἰ μή τι σὺ ἄλλο λέγεις, δὶς καὶ τρὶς τὰ αὐτὰ εἰρηκέναι, ὡς οὐ πάνυ εὐπορῶν τοῦ πολλὰ λέγειν περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἢ ἴσως οὐδὲν αὐτῷ μέλον τοῦ τοιούτου· καὶ ἐφαίνετο δή μοι νεανιεύεσθαι ἐπιδεικνύμενος ὡς οἷός τε ὢν ταὐτὰ ἑτέρως τε καὶ ἑτέρως λέγων ἀμφοτέρως εἰπεῖν ἄριστα.
And so it seemed to me, Phaedrus, unless you say otherwise, that he has said the same things twice and thrice, as if he were not very well-stocked with resources to say many things on the same subject, or perhaps caring nothing for such a thing; and indeed he seemed to me to be showing off, displaying that he is able to say the same things in different ways, and to speak best in both ways.
ΦΑΙ. οὐδὲν λέγεις, ὦ Σώκρατες· αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ μάλιστα ὁ λόγος ἔχει.
PHAEDRUS: You are talking nonsense, Socrates; for this is the very thing the speech has most of all.
τῶν γὰρ ἐνόντων ἀξίως ῥηθῆναι ἐν τῷ πράγματι οὐδὲν παραλέλοιπεν, ὥστε παρὰ τὰ ἐκείνῳ εἰρημένα μηδένʼ ἄν ποτε δύνασθαι εἰπεῖν ἄλλα πλείω καὶ πλείονος ἄξια.
For of the things that are in the subject and worthy to be said, he has omitted nothing, so that no one could ever say other things more abundant and of more value than those said by him.
ΣΩ. τοῦτο ἐγώ σοι οὐκέτι οἷός τʼ ἔσομαι πιθέσθαι· παλαιοὶ γὰρ καὶ σοφοὶ ἄνδρες τε καὶ γυναῖκες περὶ αὐτῶν εἰρηκότες καὶ γεγραφότες ἐξελέγξουσί με, ἐάν σοι χαριζόμενος συγχωρῶ.
SOCRATES: In this I shall no longer be able to agree with you; for ancient and wise men and women, who have spoken and written about these things, will refute me if I concede it to gratify you.
ΦΑΙ. τίνες οὗτοι;
PHAEDRUS: Who are these?
καὶ ποῦ σὺ βελτίω τούτων ἀκήκοας;
And where have you heard better things than these?
ΣΩ. νῦν μὲν οὕτως οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν· δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τινῶν ἀκήκοα, ἤ που Σαπφοῦς τῆς καλῆς ἢ Ἀνακρέοντος τοῦ σοφοῦ ἢ καὶ συγγραφέων τινῶν.
SOCRATES: At the moment I cannot say so offhand; but it is clear that I have heard it from some people, perhaps from the beautiful Sappho, or the wise Anacreon, or even from some prose writers.
πόθεν δὴ τεκμαιρόμενος λέγω;
On what ground do I say this?
πλῆρές πως, ὦ δαιμόνιε, τὸ στῆθος ἔχων αἰσθάνομαι παρὰ ταῦτα ἂν ἔχειν εἰπεῖν ἕτερα μὴ χείρω.
Somehow, my divine friend, I feel my chest full, so that I would have other things to say not worse than these, differing from them.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν παρά γε ἐμαυτοῦ οὐδὲν αὐτῶν ἐννενόηκα, εὖ οἶδα, συνειδὼς ἐμαυτῷ ἀμαθίαν· λείπεται δὴ οἶμαι ἐξ ἀλλοτρίων ποθὲν ναμάτων διὰ τῆς ἀκοῆς πεπληρῶσθαί με δίκην ἀγγείου.
Now, that I have thought of none of them from myself, I know well, being conscious of my own ignorance; it remains then, I think, that from some foreign streams, through hearing, I have been filled like a vessel.
ὑπὸ δὲ νωθείας αὖ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐπιλέλησμαι, ὅπως τε καὶ ὧντινων ἤκουσα.
But because of my sluggishness, I have in turn forgotten this very thing, both how and from whom I heard it.
ΦΑΙ. ἀλλʼ, ὦ γενναιότατε, κάλλιστα εἴρηκας.
PHAEDRUS: But, most noble friend, you have spoken most excellently.
σὺ γὰρ ἐμοὶ ὧντινων μὲν καὶ ὅπως ἤκουσας μηδʼ ἂν κελεύω εἴπῃς, τοῦτο δὲ αὐτὸ ὃ λέγεις ποίησον· τῶν ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ βελτίω τε καὶ μὴ ἐλάττω ἕτερα ὑπέσχησαι εἰπεῖν τούτων ἀπεχόμενος, καί σοι ἐγώ, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐννέα ἄρχοντες, ὑπισχνοῦμαι χρυσῆν εἰκόνα ἰσομέτρητον εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀναθήσειν, οὐ μόνον ἐμαυτοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ σήν.
For do not tell me from whom and how you heard it, even if I bid you, but do this very thing which you say; you have promised to say other things better than and not fewer than those in the book, keeping away from them, and I promise you, like the nine archons, to set up a golden statue of equal measure at Delphi, not only of myself but also of you.