Humanitext Reader

Plato · Theages §129

Warnings of the Daimonion and Timarchus's Fate

Passage 7 of 8 · Greek

Summary

Socrates relates the specific episode of Timarchus who met a tragic end after ignoring the daimonion's warning, and prophesies the fate of Sannio who is currently on an expedition, explaining the decisive influence of this spiritual power on his companions.

§129ΣΩ. ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἤσκει· ἄξιον οὖν πυθέσθαι αὐτοῦ ἃ αὐτῷ συνέβη ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς ἀσκήσεως.
Socrates: Having said these things, he went on to train; so it is worthwhile to learn from him what happened to him as a result of this training.
εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε, τὸν Τιμάρχου ἀδελφὸν Κλειτόμαχον ἔρεσθε τί εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τίμαρχος ἡνίκα ἀποθανούμενος ᾔει εὐθὺ τοῦ δαιμονίου, ἐκεῖνός τε καὶ Εὔαθλος ὁ σταδιοδρομῶν ὃς Τίμαρχον ὑπεδέξατο φεύγοντα· ἐρεῖ γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι εἶπεν αὐτῷ ταυτί.
But if you wish, ask Cleitomachus, the brother of Timarchus, what Timarchus said to him when he went straight to his death following the daimonion, both he and Euathlus the stade-runner who received Timarchus when he was fleeing; for he will tell you that he said these very things to him.
ΘΕ. τί;
Theages: What?
ΣΩ. ὦ Κλειτόμαχε, ἔφη, ἐγὼ μέντοι ἔρχομαι ἀποθανούμενος νυνί, διότι Σωκράτει οὐκ ἤθελον πείθεσθαι. τί δὴ οὖν ποτε τοῦτο εἶπεν ὁ Τίμαρχος;
Socrates: "O Cleitomachus," he said, "I am going now to my death, because I did not wish to obey Socrates." Why on earth then did Timarchus ever say this?
ἐγὼ φράσω.
I will explain.
ὅτε ἀνίστατο ἐκ τοῦ συμποσίου ὁ Τίμαρχος καὶ Φιλήμων ὁ Φιλημονίδου ἀποκτενοῦντες Νικίαν τὸν Ἡροσκαμάνδρου, ἠπιστάσθην μὲν αὐτὼ μόνω τὴν ἐπιβουλήν, ὁ δὲ Τίμαρχος ἀνιστάμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ εἶπεν, τί λέγεις, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες;
When Timarchus and Philemon the son of Philemonides rose from the banquet to kill Nicias the son of Heroscamandrus, I knew that those two alone were in on the plot, and Timarchus as he was rising said to me: "What do you say, Socrates?
ὑμεῖς μὲν πίνετε, ἐμὲ δὲ δεῖ ποι ἐξαναστῆναι· ἥξω δὲ ὀλίγον ὕστερον, ἐὰν τύχω. καί μοι ἐγένετο ἡ φωνή, καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν, μηδαμῶς, ἔφην, ἀναστῇς· γέγονε γάρ μοι τὸ εἰωθὸς σημεῖον τὸ δαιμόνιον. καὶ ὃς ἐπέσχε.
You keep on drinking, but I must get up and go somewhere; and I will return a little later, if I happen to succeed." And the voice occurred to me, and I said to him: "By no means get up; for the customary sign, the daimonion, has occurred to me." And he stayed.
καὶ διαλιπὼν χρόνον αὖθις ὡρμᾶτο ἰέναι, καὶ ἔφη· εἶμι δή, Σώκρατες. αὖθις ἐγένετο ἡ φωνή· αὖθις οὖν αὐτὸν ἠνάγκασα ἐπισχεῖν.
And after waiting some time, he again started to go, and said: "I am going, Socrates." Again the voice occurred; so again I forced him to stay.
τὸ τρίτον, βουλόμενός με λαθεῖν, ἀνέστη οὐκέτι εἰπών μοι οὐδὲν ἀλλὰ λαθών, ἐπιτηρήσας ἄλλοσε τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα· καὶ οὕτως ᾤχετο ἀπιὼν καὶ διεπράξατο ἐξ ὧν ᾔει ἀποθανούμενος.
The third time, wishing to escape my notice, he got up without saying anything more to me but escaping my notice, having watched for me keeping my mind elsewhere; and thus he went away and committed the deed from which he went to his death.
ὅθεν δὴ τοῦτο εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὅπερ νῦν ὑμῖν ἐγώ, ὅτι ἴοι ἀποθανούμενος διὰ τὸ ἐμοὶ ἀπιστῆσαι.
Hence indeed he said to his brother just what I am now telling you, that he was going to his death because he did not believe me.
ἔτι τοίνυν περὶ τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ πολλῶν ἀκούσεσθον ἃ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον περὶ τῆς διαφθορᾶς τοῦ στρατοπέδου.
Furthermore, concerning those in Sicily, you will hear from many what I was saying about the destruction of the army.
καὶ τὰ μὲν παρεληλυθότα τῶν εἰδότων ἔστιν ἀκοῦσαι· πεῖραν δʼ ἔξεστι νυνὶ λαβεῖν τοῦ σημείου εἰ ἄρα τὶ λέγει.
And as for the past, it is possible to hear from those who know; but it is possible now to take a test of the sign to see if it speaks truly.
ἐπὶ γὰρ τῇ ἐπὶ στρατείαν ἐξορμῇ Σαννίωνος τοῦ καλοῦ ἐγένετό μοι τὸ σημεῖον, οἴχεται δὲ νῦν μετὰ Θρασύλλου στρατευσόμενος εὐθὺ Ἐφέσου καὶ Ἰωνίας.
For at the setting out for the expedition of the beautiful Sannio, the sign occurred to me, and he has now gone with Thrasyllus to campaign straight to Ephesus and Ionia.
ἐγὼ οὖν οἴομαι ἐκεῖνον ἢ ἀποθανεῖσθαι ἢ ὁμοῦ τι τούτῳ γʼ ἐλᾶν, καὶ περί γε τῆς στρατιᾶς τῆς ἄλλης πάνυ φοβοῦμαι.
I therefore think that he will either die or meet with something very close to it, and concerning the rest of the army indeed I am very afraid.
ταῦτα δὴ πάντα εἴρηκά σοι, ὅτι ἡ δύναμις αὕτη τοῦ δαιμονίου τούτου καὶ εἰς τὰς συνουσίας τῶν μετʼ ἐμοῦ συνδιατριβόντων τὸ ἅπαν δύναται.
I have said all these things to you because this power of this daimonion is of all-determining importance for the associations of those who spend time with me.
πολλοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐναντιοῦται, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τούτοις ὠφεληθῆναι μετʼ ἐμοῦ διατρίβουσιν, ὥστε οὐχ οἷόν τέ μοι τούτοις συνδιατρίβειν· πολλοῖς δὲ συνεῖναι μὲν οὐ διακωλύει, ὠφελοῦνται δὲ οὐδὲν συνόντες.
For it opposes many, and it is not possible for these to be benefited by spending time with me, so that it is not possible for me to associate with them; but to many it does not prevent me from being with them, yet they are not benefited at all by being with me.
οἷς δʼ ἂν συλλάβηται τῆς συνουσίας ἡ τοῦ δαιμονίου δύναμις, οὗτοί εἰσιν ὧν καὶ σὺ ᾔσθησαι· ταχὺ γὰρ παραχρῆμα ἐπιδιδόασιν.
But those whose association the power of the daimonion assists, these are the ones whom you yourself have noticed; for they make progress quickly and on the spot.

Notes

  1. 129aεὐθὺ τοῦ δαιμονίου — The adverb εὐθύ with a genitive typically means "straight towards" a place. Here, εὐθὺ τοῦ δαιμονίου is syntactческого challenging since τοῦ δαιμονίου is not a place. It can be interpreted as "straight to his death in consequence of the daimonion's sign" or "immediately after the sign of the daimonion."
  2. 129bἠπιστάσθην μὲν αὐτὼ μόνω τὴν ἐπιβουλήν — The verb ἠπιστάσθην (imperfect of ἐπίσταμαι) takes the accusative τὴν ἐπιβουλήν as its direct object, and αὐτὼ μόνω is a dual accusative acting as the subject/topic of the action within the implied clause, meaning "I knew that they two alone were involved in the plot."
  3. 129cἐπιτηρήσας ἄλλοσε τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα — The aorist participle ἐπιτηρήσας (having watched for) takes as its object the accusative participle ἔχοντα agreeing with an omitted με (me). The phrase means "having watched for me keeping my mind elsewhere."
  4. 129dἢ ὁμοῦ τι τούτῳ γʼ ἐλᾶν — The word ἐλᾶν is the future infinitive of ἐλαύνω (to drive, or to be driven/harassed). ὁμοῦ τι is an adverbial phrase meaning "nearly" or "almost." τούτῳ is a dative referencing the preceding ἀποθανεῖσθαι. Thus, the phrase means "or to be driven to something very close to this [death]."
  5. 129eοἷς δʼ ἂν συλλάβηται τῆς συνουσίας — The verb συλλαμβάνω (in the middle voice συλλαμβάνομαι) takes the dative οἷς (persons) and the genitive τῆς συνουσίας (the association) to mean "to assist/help someone in an association." The construction with ἄν forms a generalizing relative clause.

Cite this passage

Plato, Theages §129. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg017.humanitext-grc2:129

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