§331ΣΩ. εἴποιμʼ ἂν ἔγωγε ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ὀρθῶς ἤκουσας, ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἐμὲ οἴει εἰπεῖν τοῦτο, παρήκουσας· Πρωταγόρας γὰρ ὅδε ταῦτα ἀπεκρίνατο, ἐγὼ δὲ ἠρώτων. εἰ οὖν εἴποι· ἀληθῆ ὅδε λέγει, ὦ Πρωταγόρα;
Socrates: "‘I for my part would say, "In other respects you heard correctly, but in thinking that I too said this, you misheard; for Protagoras here answered these things, while I was asking." If then he should say, "Is this man speaking the truth, Protagoras?
σὺ φῂς οὐκ εἶναι τὸ ἕτερον μόριον οἷον τὸ ἕτερον τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς;
Do you say that one part of virtue is not like another?
σὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος ἐστίν; τί ἂν αὐτῷ ἀποκρίναιο; —
ἀνάγκη,
ἔφη,
ὦ Σώκρατες, ὁμολογεῖν. τί οὖν, ὦ Πρωταγόρα, ἀποκρινούμεθα αὐτῷ, ταῦτα ὁμολογήσαντες, ἐὰν ἡμᾶς ἐπανέρηται· οὐκ ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁσιότης οἷον δίκαιον εἶναι πρᾶγμα, οὐδὲ δικαιοσύνη οἷον ὅσιον ἀλλʼ οἷον μὴ ὅσιον·
Is this statement yours?" what would you answer him?’ ‘It is necessary, Socrates,’ he said, ‘to agree.’ ‘What then, Protagoras, shall we answer him, having agreed to this, if he should question us further: "Is holiness then not the kind of thing that is just, nor is justice the kind of thing that is holy, but rather the kind of thing that is not holy?
ἡ δʼ ὁσιότης οἷον μὴ δίκαιον, ἀλλʼ ἄδικον ἄρα, τὸ δὲ ἀνόσιον; τί αὐτῷ ἀποκρινούμεθα;
And is holiness the kind of thing that is not just, and therefore unjust, and the other unholy?" What shall we answer him?
ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς ὑπέρ γε ἐμαυτοῦ φαίην ἂν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὅσιον εἶναι καὶ τὴν ὁσιότητα δίκαιον· καὶ ὑπὲρ σοῦ δέ, εἴ με ἐῴης, ταὐτὰ ἂν ταῦτα ἀποκρινοίμην, ὅτι ἤτοι ταὐτόν γʼ ἐστιν δικαιότης ὁσιότητι ἢ ὅτι ὁμοιότατον, καὶ μάλιστα πάντων ἥ τε δικαιοσύνη οἷον ὁσιότης καὶ ἡ ὁσιότης οἷον δικαιοσύνη.
For I myself, on my own behalf, would say both that justice is holy and that holiness is just; and on your behalf too, if you would permit me, I would make these same answers, that justice is either the same thing as holiness or extremely like it, and most of all, that justice is like holiness and holiness like justice.
ἀλλʼ ὅρα εἰ διακωλύεις ἀποκρίνεσθαι, ἢ καὶ σοὶ συνδοκεῖ οὕτως. —
οὐ πάνυ μοι δοκεῖ,
ἔφη,
ὦ Σώκρατες, οὕτως ἁπλοῦν εἶναι, ὥστε συγχωρῆσαι τήν τε δικαιοσύνην ὅσιον εἶναι καὶ τὴν ὁσιότητα δίκαιον, ἀλλά τί μοι δοκεῖ ἐν αὐτῷ διάφορον εἶναι.
But see if you forbid me to answer so, or if you also agree with this.’ ‘It does not seem to me, Socrates,’ he said, ‘to be so simple as to grant that justice is holy and holiness is just; rather, there seems to me to be some difference in it.
ἀλλὰ τί τοῦτο διαφέρει; ἔφη· εἰ γὰρ βούλει, ἔστω ἡμῖν καὶ δικαιοσύνη ὅσιον καὶ ὁσιότης δίκαιον. —μή μοι, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· οὐδὲν γὰρ δέομαι τὸ
εἰ βούλει
τοῦτο καὶ
εἴ σοι δοκεῖ
ἐλέγχεσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐμέ τε καὶ σέ· τὸ δʼ
ἐμέ τε καὶ σέ
τοῦτο λέγω, οἰόμενος οὕτω τὸν λόγον βέλτιστʼ ἂν ἐλέγχεσθαι, εἴ τις τὸ
εἴ
ἀφέλοι αὐτοῦ. —
ἀλλὰ μέντοι,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
προσέοικέν τι δικαιοσύνη ὁσιότητι·
But what does this matter?’ he said; ‘if you like, let indeed justice be holy and holiness just for us.’ ‘Not so to me,’ I said; ‘for I have no need to examine this "if you like" and "if it seems to you," but rather myself and you; and I say this "myself and you," thinking that the argument would be best examined if one were to take the "if" away from it.’ ‘But indeed,’ he said, ‘justice does resemble holiness in some way; for indeed anything resembles anything else in some way or other.
καὶ γὰρ ὁτιοῦν ὁτῳοῦν ἁμῇ γέ πῃ προσέοικεν. τὸ γὰρ λευκὸν τῷ μέλανι ἔστιν ὅπῃ προσέοικεν, καὶ τὸ σκληρὸν τῷ μαλακῷ, καὶ τἆλλα ἃ δοκεῖ ἐναντιώτατα εἶναι ἀλλήλοις· καὶ ἃ τότε ἔφαμεν ἄλλην δύναμιν ἔχειν καὶ οὐκ εἶναι τὸ ἕτερον οἷον τὸ ἕτερον, τὰ τοῦ προσώπου μόρια, ἁμῇ γέ πῃ προσέοικεν καὶ ἔστιν τὸ ἕτερον οἷον τὸ ἕτερον.
For white resembles black in some respect, and hard resembles soft, and the other things which seem to be most opposite to one another; and the things which we said then had different powers and were not like one another, namely, the parts of the face, do resemble one another in some way, and one is like another.
ὥστε τούτῳ γε τῷ τρόπῳ κἂν ταῦτα ἐλέγχοις, εἰ βούλοιο, ὡς ἅπαντά ἐστιν ὅμοια ἀλλήλοις.
So in this way indeed, you could examine even these things, if you liked, to show that all things are like one another.
ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ τὰ ὅμοιόν τι ἔχοντα ὅμοια δίκαιον καλεῖν, οὐδὲ τὰ ἀνόμοιόν τι ἔχοντα ἀνόμοια, κἂν πάνυ σμικρὸν ἔχῃ τὸ ὅμοιον. —καὶ ἐγὼ θαυμάσας εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· ἦ γὰρ οὕτω σοι τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ ὅσιον πρὸς ἄλληλα ἔχει, ὥστε ὅμοιόν τι σμικρὸν ἔχειν ἀλλήλοις; —
But it is not right to call things "like" which have some likeness, nor "unlike" which have some unlikeness, even if the likeness they have is very small.’ And I, astonished, said to him: ‘Is it really so for you, that the just and the holy are related to one another in this way, so as to have only some small likeness to one another?’"