§541ΣΩ. πῶς;
SOC: How?
οὐδὲν λέγεις διαφέρειν;
You say it makes no difference at all?
μίαν λέγεις τέχνην εἶναι τὴν ῥαψῳδικὴν καὶ τὴν στρατηγικὴν ἢ δύο;
Do you say that the rhapsodic art and the general's art are one art, or two?
ΙΩΝ. μία ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ.
ION: One, it seems to me.
ΣΩ. ὅστις ἄρα ἀγαθὸς ῥαψῳδός ἐστιν, οὗτος καὶ ἀγαθὸς στρατηγὸς τυγχάνει ὤν;
SOC: Then whoever is a good rhapsode happens to be a good general as well?
ΙΩΝ. μάλιστα, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ION: Certainly, Socrates.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ ὅστις ἀγαθὸς στρατηγὸς τυγχάνει ὤν, ἀγαθὸς καὶ ῥαψῳδός ἐστιν.
SOC: And then, whoever happens to be a good general is a good rhapsode as well?
ΙΩΝ. οὐκ αὖ μοι δοκεῖ τοῦτο.
ION: That, on the other hand, does not seem so to me.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο μὴν δοκεῖ σοι, ὅστις γε ἀγαθὸς ῥαψῳδός, καὶ στρατηγὸς ἀγαθὸς εἶναι;
SOC: But still, does that other point seem true to you, that whoever indeed is a good rhapsode is also a good general?
ΙΩΝ. πάνυ γε.
ION: Yes, entirely.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν σὺ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄριστος ῥαψῳδὸς εἶ;
SOC: Then are you the best rhapsode of the Greeks?
ΙΩΝ. πολύ γε, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ION: By far, Socrates.
ΣΩ. ἦ καὶ στρατηγός, ὦ Ἴων, τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄριστος εἶ;
SOC: And are you also, Ion, the best general of the Greeks?
ΙΩΝ. εὖ ἴσθι, ὦ Σώκρατες· καὶ ταῦτά γε ἐκ τῶν Ὁμήρου μαθών.
ION: Know well, Socrates, and that too by having learned these very things from Homer.
ΣΩ. τί δή ποτʼ οὖν πρὸς τῶν θεῶν, ὦ Ἴων, ἀμφότερα ἄριστος ὢν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, καὶ στρατηγὸς καὶ ῥαψῳδός, ῥαψῳδεῖς μὲν περιιὼν τοῖς Ἕλλησι, στρατηγεῖς δʼ οὔ;
SOC: Why in the world then, by the gods, Ion, being the best of the Greeks in both, both as a general and as a rhapsode, do you go about reciting as a rhapsode to the Greeks, but do not act as a general?
ἢ ῥαψῳδοῦ μὲν δοκεῖ σοι χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ ἐστεφανωμένου πολλὴ χρεία εἶναι τοῖς Ἕλλησι, στρατηγοῦ δὲ οὐδεμία;
Or does it seem to you that there is great need of a rhapsode crowned with a golden crown for the Greeks, but of a general none at all?
ΙΩΝ. ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἡμετέρα, ὦ Σώκρατες, πόλις ἄρχεται ὑπὸ ὑμῶν καὶ στρατηγεῖται καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖται στρατηγοῦ, ἡ δὲ ὑμετέρα καὶ ἡ Λακεδαιμονίων οὐκ ἄν με ἕλοιτο στρατηγόν· αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴεσθε ἱκανοὶ εἶναι.
ION: For our city, Socrates, is ruled and generaled by you and has no need of a general, while yours and that of the Lacedaemonians would not choose me as general; for you yourselves think you are sufficient.
ΣΩ. ὦ βέλτιστε Ἴων, Ἀπολλόδωρον οὐ γιγνώσκεις τὸν Κυζικηνόν;
SOC: My excellent Ion, do you not know Apollodorus of Cyzicus?
ΙΩΝ. ποῖον τοῦτον;
ION: What sort of man is he?
ΣΩ. ὃν Ἀθηναῖοι πολλάκις ἑαυτῶν στρατηγὸν ᾕρηνται ξένον ὄντα· καὶ Φανοσθένη τὸν Ἄνδριον καὶ Ἡρακλείδην τὸν Κλαζομένιον, οὓς ἥδε ἡ πόλις ξένους ὄντας, ἐνδειξαμένους ὅτι ἄξιοι λόγου εἰσί, καὶ εἰς στρατηγίας καὶ εἰς τὰς ἄλλας ἀρχὰς ἄγει·
SOC: The one whom the Athenians have often chosen as their general, though he is a foreigner; and Phanosthenes of Andros, and Heracleides of Clazomenae, whom this city, though they are foreigners, because they showed themselves to be of account, leads to generalships and other offices.
Ἴωνα δʼ ἄρα τὸν Ἐφέσιον οὐχ αἱρήσεται στρατηγὸν καὶ τιμήσει, ἐὰν δοκῇ ἄξιος λόγου εἶναι;
Will it not then choose Ion of Ephesus as general and honor him, if he seems to be of account?
τί δέ;
What indeed?
οὐκ Ἀθηναῖοι μέν ἐστε οἱ Ἐφέσιοι τὸ ἀρχαῖον, καὶ ἡ Ἔφεσος οὐδεμιᾶς ἐλάττων πόλεως;
Are you Ephesians not Athenians of old, and is Ephesus second to no city?
ἀλλὰ γὰρ σύ, ὦ Ἴων, εἰ μὲν ἀληθῆ λέγεις ὡς τέχνῃ καὶ ἐπιστήμῃ οἷός τε εἶ Ὅμηρον ἐπαινεῖν, ἀδικεῖς, ὅστις ἐμοὶ ὑποσχόμενος ὡς πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ περὶ Ὁμήρου ἐπίστασαι καὶ φάσκων ἐπιδείξειν, ἐξαπατᾷς με καὶ πολλοῦ δεῖς ἐπιδεῖξαι, ὅς γε οὐδὲ ἅττα ἐστὶ ταῦτα περὶ ὧν δεινὸς εἶ ἐθέλεις εἰπεῖν, πάλαι ἐμοῦ λιπαροῦντος, §542ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ ἀτεχνῶς ὥσπερ ὁ Πρωτεὺς παντοδαπὸς γίγνῃ στρεφόμενος ἄνω καὶ κάτω, ἕως τελευτῶν διαφυγών με στρατηγὸς ἀνεφάνης, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιδείξῃς ὡς δεινὸς εἶ τὴν περὶ Ὁμήρου σοφίαν.
But in fact, Ion, if you speak the truth when you say that by art and knowledge you are able to praise Homer, you are doing wrong, who, having promised me that you know many beautiful things about Homer and saying you would demonstrate them, are deceiving me and are far from demonstrating them, seeing that you are not even willing to say what these things are in which you are clever, though I have been entreating you for a long time, SOC: But like Proteus you turn and twist up and down, becoming all kinds of things, until finally, escaping me, you have turned up as a general, so that you might not demonstrate how clever you are in your wisdom about Homer.
εἰ μὲν οὖν τεχνικὸς ὤν, ὅπερ νυνδὴ ἔλεγον, περὶ Ὁμήρου ὑποσχόμενος ἐπιδείξειν ἐξαπατᾷς με, ἄδικος εἶ· εἰ δὲ μὴ τεχνικὸς εἶ, ἀλλὰ θείᾳ μοίρᾳ κατεχόμενος ἐξ Ὁμήρου μηδὲν εἰδὼς πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ λέγεις περὶ τοῦ ποιητοῦ, ὥσπερ ἐγὼ εἶπον περὶ σοῦ, οὐδὲν ἀδικεῖς.
If, then, being skilled in the art, as I was saying just now, and having promised to make a demonstration about Homer, you are deceiving me, you are unjust; but if you are not skilled, but possessed by a divine dispensation, knowing nothing of Homer, you say many beautiful things about the poet, just as I said about you, you do no wrong at all.
ἑλοῦ οὖν πότερα βούλει νομίζεσθαι ὑπὸ ἡμῶν ἄδικος ἀνὴρ εἶναι ἢ θεῖος.
Choose, then, which you wish to be thought of by us, as an unjust man or as a divine one.
ΙΩΝ. πολὺ διαφέρει, ὦ Σώκρατες· πολὺ γὰρ κάλλιον τὸ θεῖον νομίζεσθαι.
ION: There is a great difference, Socrates; for it is much more beautiful to be thought divine.
ΣΩ. τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ κάλλιον ὑπάρχει σοι παρʼ ἡμῖν, ὦ Ἴων, θεῖον εἶναι καὶ μὴ τεχνικὸν περὶ Ὁμήρου ἐπαινέτην.
SOC: This more beautiful thing, then, is yours in our judgment, Ion: to be a divine and not an artistic praiser of Homer.