§539ΣΩ.
"
δαιμόνιοι, τί κακὸν τόδε πάσχετε;
SOC: "'Wretched men, what is this evil you suffer?
νυκτὶ μὲν ὑμέων
εἰλύαται κεφαλαί τε πρόσωπά τε νέρθε τε γυῖα,
οἰμωγὴ δὲ δέδηε, δεδάκρυνται δὲ παρειαί· εἰδώλων τε πλέον πρόθυρον, πλείη δὲ καὶ αὐλὴ
ἱεμένων ἔρεβόσδε ὑπὸ ζόφον· ἠέλιος δὲ
οὐρανοῦ ἐξαπόλωλε, κακὴ δʼ ἐπιδέδρομεν ἀχλύς· "
πολλαχοῦ δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἰλιάδι, οἷον καὶ ἐπὶ τειχομαχίᾳ· λέγει γὰρ καὶ ἐνταῦθα --
"
ὄρνις γάρ σφιν ἐπῆλθε περησέμεναι μεμαῶσιν,
αἰετὸς ὑψιπέτης, ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ λαὸν ἐέργων,
φοινήεντα δράκοντα φέρων ὀνύχεσσι πέλωρον,
ζῷον, ἔτʼ ἀσπαίροντα·
With night your heads and faces and limbs below are shrouded, and wailing blazes, and cheeks are wet with tears; the porch is full of ghosts, and the courtyard also is full of those hastening to the underworld, under the darkness; and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist has spread over.'" And in many places also in the Iliad, for example, on the battle at the wall; for he speaks also there— "'For a bird came upon them as they were eager to cross, a high-flying eagle, skirting the host on the left, bearing in its talons a monstrous blood-red serpent, alive, still gasping; and it had not yet forgotten the fight.
καὶ οὔπω λήθετο χάρμης. κόψε γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔχοντα κατὰ στῆθος παρὰ δειρὴν
ἰδνωθεὶς ὀπίσω, ὁ δʼ ἀπὸ ἕθεν ἧκε χαμᾶζε
ἀλγήσας ὀδύνῃσι, μέσῳ δʼ ἐνὶ κάββαλʼ ὁμίλῳ· αὐτὸς δὲ κλάγξας πέτετο πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.
For it bit him, who held it, on the breast beside the neck, bending backward; and he let it go from him to the ground, grieved by the pain, and dropped it in the midst of the crowd; and he himself with a clang flew away on the blasts of the wind.'" These things and suchlike I shall say belong to the seer both to examine and to judge.
"
ταῦτα φήσω καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῷ μάντει προσήκειν καὶ σκοπεῖν καὶ κρίνειν. ΙΩΝ. ἀληθῆ γε σὺ λέγων, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ION: You speak very truly, Socrates.
ΣΩ. καὶ σύ γε, ὦ Ἴων, ἀληθῆ ταῦτα λέγεις.
SOC: And you too, Ion, speak the truth in this.
ἴθι δὴ καὶ σὺ ἐμοί, ὥσπερ ἐγὼ σοὶ ἐξέλεξα καὶ ἐξ Ὀδυσσείας καὶ ἐξ Ἰλιάδος ὁποῖα τοῦ μάντεώς ἐστι καὶ ὁποῖα τοῦ ἰατροῦ καὶ ὁποῖα τοῦ ἁλιέως, οὕτω καὶ σὺ ἐμοὶ ἔκλεξον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἐμπειρότερος εἶ ἐμοῦ τῶν Ὁμήρου, ὁποῖα τοῦ ῥαψῳδοῦ ἐστιν, ὦ Ἴων, καὶ τῆς τέχνης τῆς ῥαψῳδικῆς, ἃ τῷ ῥαψῳδῷ προσήκει καὶ σκοπεῖσθαι καὶ διακρίνειν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους.
Come then, you also for me, just as I selected for you both from the Odyssey and from the Iliad what kind of things belong to the seer, and what to the doctor, and what to the fisherman, so you also select for me, since you are more experienced than I in the works of Homer, what kind of things belong to the rhapsode, Ion, and to the rhapsodic art, which it belongs to the rhapsode both to examine and to distinguish beyond other men.
ΙΩΝ. ἐγὼ μέν φημι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἅπαντα.
ION: I say, Socrates, all things.
ΣΩ. οὐ σύ γε φῄς, ὦ Ἴων, ἅπαντα·
SOC: You certainly do not say all things, Ion; or are you so forgetful?
ἢ οὕτως ἐπιλήσμων εἶ; καίτοι οὐκ ἂν πρέποι γε ἐπιλήσμονα εἶναι ῥαψῳδὸν ἄνδρα.
And yet it would not be fitting at least for a rhapsode to be forgetful.
§540ΙΩΝ. τί δὲ δὴ ἐπιλανθάνομαι;
ION: But what indeed am I forgetting?
ΣΩ. οὐ μέμνησαι ὅτι ἔφησθα τὴν ῥαψῳδικὴν τέχνην ἑτέραν εἶναι τῆς ἡνιοχικῆς;
SOC: Do you not remember that you said the rhapsodic art was different from the charioteering art?
ΙΩΝ. μέμνημαι.
ION: I remember.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ ἑτέραν οὖσαν ἕτερα γνώσεσθαι ὡμολόγεις;
SOC: Then did you not also agree that, being different, it would know different things?
ΙΩΝ. ναί.
ION: Yes.
ΣΩ. οὐκ ἄρα πάντα γε γνώσεται ἡ ῥαψῳδικὴ κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον οὐδὲ ὁ ῥαψῳδός.
SOC: Then, according to your account, the rhapsodic art will not know all things, nor will the rhapsode.
ΙΩΝ. πλήν γε ἴσως τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ION: Except, perhaps, for such things, Socrates.
ΣΩ. τὰ τοιαῦτα δὲ λέγεις πλὴν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν σχεδόν τι· ἀλλὰ ποῖα δὴ γνώσεται, ἐπειδὴ οὐχ ἅπαντα;
SOC: By "such things" you mean, roughly speaking, except the things of the other arts; but what kind of things indeed will it know, since not all?
ΙΩΝ. ἃ πρέπει, οἶμαι ἔγωγε, ἀνδρὶ εἰπεῖν καὶ ὁποῖα γυναικί, καὶ ὁποῖα δούλῳ καὶ ὁποῖα ἐλευθέρῳ, καὶ ὁποῖα ἀρχομένῳ καὶ ὁποῖα ἄρχοντι.
ION: The things, I think, that are fitting for a man to say, and what kind of things for a woman, and what kind for a slave and what kind for a free man, and what kind for a subject and what kind for a ruler.
ΣΩ. ἆρα ὁποῖα ἄρχοντι, λέγεις, ἐν θαλάττῃ χειμαζομένου πλοίου πρέπει εἰπεῖν, ὁ ῥαψῳδὸς γνώσεται κάλλιον ἢ ὁ κυβερνήτης;
SOC: Do you mean that what is fitting for a ruler to say when a ship is tempest-tossed at sea, the rhapsode will know better than the helmsman?
ΙΩΝ. οὔκ, ἀλλὰ ὁ κυβερνήτης τοῦτό γε.
ION: No, the helmsman for that, indeed.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ὁποῖα ἄρχοντι κάμνοντος πρέπει εἰπεῖν, ὁ ῥαψῳδὸς γνώσεται κάλλιον ἢ ὁ ἰατρός;
SOC: But what is fitting for a ruler of a sick person to say, will the rhapsode know better than the doctor?
ΙΩΝ. οὐδὲ τοῦτο.
ION: Not that either.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ οἷα δούλῳ πρέπει, λέγεις;
SOC: But do you mean the things fitting for a slave?
ΙΩΝ. ναί.
ION: Yes.
ΣΩ. οἷον βουκόλῳ λέγεις δούλῳ ἃ πρέπει εἰπεῖν ἀγριαινουσῶν βοῶν παραμυθουμένῳ, ὁ ῥαψῳδὸς γνώσεται ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὁ βουκόλος;
SOC: For example, do you say that what is fitting for a slave who is a herdsman to say when soothing wild cows, the rhapsode will know, and not the herdsman?
ΙΩΝ. οὐ δῆτα.
ION: Certainly not.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ οἷα γυναικὶ πρέποντά ἐστιν εἰπεῖν ταλασιουργῷ περὶ ἐρίων ἐργασίας;
SOC: But what is fitting for a woman who spins wool to say about the working of wool?
ΙΩΝ. οὔ.
ION: No.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ οἷα ἀνδρὶ πρέπει εἰπεῖν γνώσεται στρατηγῷ στρατιώταις παραινοῦντι;
SOC: But will he know what is fitting for a man who is a general to say when exhorting his soldiers?
ΙΩΝ. ναί, τὰ τοιαῦτα γνώσεται ὁ ῥαψῳδός.
ION: Yes, such things the rhapsode will know.
ΣΩ. τί δέ;
SOC: What then?
ἡ ῥαψῳδικὴ τέχνη στρατηγική ἐστιν;
Is the rhapsodic art the general's art?
ΙΩΝ. Γνοίην γοῦν ἂν ἔγωγε οἷα στρατηγὸν πρέπει εἰπεῖν.
ION: I, at least, would know what is fitting for a general to say.
ΣΩ. ἴσως γὰρ εἶ καὶ στρατηγικός, ὦ Ἴων.
SOC: For perhaps you are also skilled in generalship, Ion.
καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἐτύγχανες ἱππικὸς ὢν ἅμα καὶ κιθαριστικός, ἔγνως ἂν ἵππους εὖ καὶ κακῶς ἱππαζομένους· ἀλλʼ εἴ σʼ ἐγὼ ἠρόμην·
Indeed, if you happened to be skilled in horsemanship as well as in cithara-playing, you would have known horses well and poorly ridden; but if I asked you: "By which indeed of the arts, Ion, do you know the well-ridden horses?
ποτέρᾳ δὴ τέχνῃ, ὦ Ἴων, γιγνώσκεις τοὺς εὖ ἱππαζομένους ἵππους; ᾗ ἱππεὺς εἶ ἢ ᾗ κιθαριστής; τί ἄν μοι ἀπεκρίνω;
In that you are a horseman, or in that you are a cithara-player?" What would you answer me?
ΙΩΝ. ἧι ἱππεύς, ἔγωγʼ ἄν.
ION: In that I am a horseman, I would say.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν εἰ καὶ τοὺς εὖ κιθαρίζοντας διεγίγνωσκες, ὡμολόγεις ἄν, ᾗ κιθαριστὴς εἶ, ταύτῃ διαγιγνώσκειν, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ᾗ ἱππεύς.
SOC: Then if you also distinguished those who play the cithara well, you would agree that you distinguish by this, in that you are a cithara-player, but not in that you are a horseman.
ΙΩΝ. ναί.
ION: Yes.
ΣΩ. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ γιγνώσκεις, πότερον ᾗ στρατηγικὸς εἶ γιγνώσκεις ἢ ᾗ ῥαψῳδὸς ἀγαθός;
SOC: And since you know military matters, do you know them in that you are skilled in generalship, or in that you are a good rhapsode?
ΙΩΝ. οὐδὲν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ διαφέρειν.
ION: It seems to me to make no difference at all.