§295ΙΠ. ναὶ μὰ Δία, ὦ Σώκρατες, καὶ μάλα ἔμοιγε ἀτόπως.
HIPPIAS: Yes, by Zeus, Socrates, and indeed very strangely.
ΣΩ. ἀλλὰ μέντοι, ὦ ἑταῖρε, μήπω γε ἀνῶμεν αὐτό· ἔτι γάρ τινα ἐλπίδα ἔχω ἐκφανήσεσθαι τί ποτʼ ἐστὶν τὸ καλόν.
SOCRATES: But still, my friend, let us not yet give it up; for I still have some hope that what the beautiful is will be revealed.
ΙΠ. πάντως δήπου, ὦ Σώκρατες· οὐδὲ γὰρ χαλεπόν ἐστιν εὑρεῖν.
HIPPIAS: Certainly indeed, Socrates; for it is not even difficult to find.
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι, εἰ ὀλίγον χρόνον εἰς ἐρημίαν ἐλθὼν σκεψαίμην πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ἀκριβέστερον ἂν αὐτό σοι εἴποιμι τῆς ἁπάσης ἀκριβείας.
I know well that if I should go into a quiet place for a short time and examine it by myself, I could tell it to you more precisely than any precision.
ΣΩ. ἆ μὴ μέγα, ὦ Ἱππία, λέγε.
SOCRATES: Oh, Hippias, do not speak so big.
ὁρᾷς ὅσα πράγματα ἡμῖν ἤδη παρέσχηκε· μὴ καὶ ὀργισθὲν ἡμῖν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἀποδρᾷ.
You see how much trouble it has already caused us; let it not, by being angry with us, escape even more.
καίτοι οὐδὲν λέγω· σὺ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαι ῥᾳδίως αὐτὸ εὑρήσεις, ἐπειδὰν μόνος γένῃ.
And yet I am talking nonsense; for you, I think, will easily find it when you are alone.
ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεῶν ἐμοῦ ἐναντίον αὐτὸ ἔξευρε, εἰ δὲ βούλει, ὥσπερ νῦν ἐμοὶ συζήτει·
But by the gods, find it out in my presence, or if you prefer, search for it with me as you are doing now.
καὶ ἐὰν μὲν εὕρωμεν, κάλλιστα ἕξει, εἰ δὲ μή, στέρξω οἶμαι ἐγὼ τῇ ἐμῇ τύχῃ, σὺ δʼ ἀπελθὼν ῥᾳδίως εὑρήσεις·
And if we find it, that will be best; but if not, I shall, I think, be content with my fortune, and you will easily find it when you depart.
καὶ ἐὰν μὲν νῦν εὕρωμεν, ἀμέλει οὐκ ὀχληρὸς ἔσομαί σοι πυνθανόμενος ὅτι ἦν ἐκεῖνο ὃ κατὰ σαυτὸν ἐξηῦρες·
And if we find it now, of course I shall not be troublesome to you by asking what that was which you found by yourself.
νῦν δὲ θέασαι αὐτὸ ὅ σοι δοκεῖ εἶναι τὸ καλόν.
But now look at what seems to you to be the beautiful.
λέγω δὴ αὐτὸ εἶναι—ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπισκόπει μοι πάνυ προσέχων τὸν νοῦν μὴ παραληρήσω—τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ ἔστω ἡμῖν καλόν, ὃ ἂν χρήσιμον ᾖ. εἶπον δὲ ἐκ τῶνδε ἐννοούμενος·
I say that it is this—but examine it for me, paying close attention, lest I talk nonsense—let this indeed be the beautiful for us, whatever is useful.
καλοί, φαμέν, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί εἰσιν, οὐχ οἳ ἂν δοκῶσι τοιοῦτοι εἶναι οἷοι μὴ δυνατοὶ ὁρᾶν, ἀλλʼ οἳ ἂν δυνατοί τε καὶ χρήσιμοι πρὸς τὸ ἰδεῖν.
I say this thinking of these things: eyes, we say, are beautiful, not those which seem to be such as to be unable to see, but those that are capable and useful for seeing.
ἦ γάρ;
Is it not so?
ΙΠ. ναί.
HIPPIAS: Yes.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ τὸ ὅλον σῶμα οὕτω λέγομεν καλὸν εἶναι, τὸ μὲν πρὸς δρόμον, τὸ δὲ πρὸς πάλην, καὶ αὖ τὰ ζῷα πάντα, ἵππον καλὸν καὶ ἀλεκτρυόνα καὶ ὄρτυγα, καὶ τὰ σκεύη πάντα καὶ τὰ ὀχήματα τά τε πεζὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ πλοῖά τε καὶ τριήρεις, καὶ τά γε ὄργανα πάντα τά τε ὑπὸ τῇ μουσικῇ καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ ταῖς ἄλλαις τέχναις, εἰ δὲ βούλει, τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα καὶ τοὺς νόμους, σχεδόν τι πάντα ταῦτα καλὰ προσαγορεύομεν τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ· ἀποβλέποντες πρὸς ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ᾗ πέφυκεν, ᾗ εἴργασται, ᾗ κεῖται, τὸ μὲν χρήσιμον καὶ ᾗ χρήσιμον καὶ πρὸς ὃ χρήσιμον καὶ ὁπότε χρήσιμον καλόν φαμεν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ ταύτῃ πάντῃ ἄχρηστον αἰσχρόν·
SOCRATES: Therefore we also say that the whole body is beautiful in this way, one for running, another for wrestling, and again all animals, a beautiful horse and a cock and a quail, and all utensils and carriages both on land and ships and triremes in the sea, and all instruments both under music and under the other arts, or, if you prefer, customs and laws; we call almost all of these beautiful in the same way, looking to each of them in respect of how it is by nature, how it is crafted, how it is situated, and we say that what is useful, both in the way it is useful, for what it is useful, and when it is useful, is beautiful, but what is in every way useless in this respect is ugly.
ἆρʼ οὐ καὶ σοὶ δοκεῖ οὕτως, ὦ Ἱππία;
Does it not seem so to you also, Hippias?
ΙΠ. ἔμοιγε.
HIPPIAS: To me at least.
ΣΩ. ὀρθῶς ἄρα νῦν λέγομεν ὅτι τυγχάνει παντὸς ὂν μᾶλλον καλὸν τὸ χρήσιμον;
SOCRATES: Are we then speaking correctly now, that the useful happens to be beautiful above all?
ΙΠ. ὀρθῶς μέντοι, ὦ Σώκρατες.
HIPPIAS: Correctly indeed, Socrates.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν τὸ δυνατὸν ἕκαστον ἀπεργάζεσθαι, εἰς ὅπερ δυνατόν, εἰς τοῦτο καὶ χρήσιμον, τὸ δὲ ἀδύνατον ἄχρηστον;
SOCRATES: Therefore, is that which is capable of accomplishing each thing, in so far as it is capable, also useful to this extent, but the incapable is useless?
ΙΠ. πάνυ γε.
HIPPIAS: Certainly.
ΣΩ. δύναμις μὲν ἄρα καλόν, ἀδυναμία δὲ αἰσχρόν;
SOCRATES: Power then is beautiful, but lack of power is ugly?