§21ΚΡ. πρὸς δὲ Κριτίαν τὸν ἡμέτερον πάππον εἶπεν, ὡς ἀπεμνημόνευεν αὖ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁ γέρων, ὅτι μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τῆσδʼ εἴη παλαιὰ ἔργα τῆς πόλεως ὑπὸ χρόνου καὶ φθορᾶς ἀνθρώπων ἠφανισμένα, πάντων δὲ ἓν μέγιστον, οὗ νῦν ἐπιμνησθεῖσιν πρέπον ἂν ἡμῖν εἴη σοί τε ἀποδοῦναι χάριν καὶ τὴν θεὸν ἅμα ἐν τῇ πανηγύρει δικαίως τε καὶ ἀληθῶς οἷόνπερ ὑμνοῦντας ἐγκωμιάζειν.
Critias: And he spoke to our grandfather Critias, as the old man in turn remembered and related to us, saying that there were ancient, great and wonderful deeds of this city which had disappeared through time and the destruction of men, and one especially, the greatest of all, which it would be fitting for us now to recall, both to repay our favor to you and at the same time justly and truly to praise the goddess in her festival, as if celebrating her with hymns.
ΣΩ. εὖ λέγεις.
Socrates: Well said.
ἀλλὰ δὴ ποῖον ἔργον τοῦτο Κριτίας οὐ λεγόμενον μέν, ὡς δὲ πραχθὲν ὄντως ὑπὸ τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως ἀρχαῖον διηγεῖτο κατὰ τὴν Σόλωνος ἀκοήν;
But what was this ancient deed which Critias described according to Solon's account, not as a mere legend, but as actually performed by this city?
ΚΡ. ἐγὼ φράσω, παλαιὸν ἀκηκοὼς λόγον οὐ νέου ἀνδρός.
Critias: I will tell you, having heard an old story from a man who was not young.
ἦν μὲν γὰρ δὴ τότε Κριτίας, ὡς ἔφη, σχεδὸν ἐγγὺς ἤδη τῶν ἐνενήκοντα ἐτῶν, ἐγὼ δέ πῃ μάλιστα δεκέτης·
For at that time Critias, as he said, was already nearly ninety years old, and I was about ten.
ἡ δὲ Κουρεῶτις ἡμῖν οὖσα ἐτύγχανεν Ἀπατουρίων.
It happened to be the day of Koureotis of the Apaturia for us.
τὸ δὴ τῆς ἑορτῆς σύνηθες ἑκάστοτε καὶ τότε συνέβη τοῖς παισίν· ἆθλα γὰρ ἡμῖν οἱ πατέρες ἔθεσαν ῥαψῳδίας.
The usual custom of the festival occurred for the children on that occasion too; for our fathers set up contests of rhapsody for us.
πολλῶν μὲν οὖν δὴ καὶ πολλὰ ἐλέχθη ποιητῶν ποιήματα, ἅτε δὲ νέα κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ὄντα τὰ Σόλωνος πολλοὶ τῶν παίδων ᾔσαμεν.
Many poems of many poets were recited, and since those of Solon were new at that time, many of us children sang them.
εἶπεν οὖν τις τῶν φρατέρων, εἴτε δὴ δοκοῦν αὐτῷ τότε εἴτε καὶ χάριν τινὰ τῷ Κριτίᾳ φέρων, δοκεῖν οἱ τά τε ἄλλα σοφώτατον γεγονέναι Σόλωνα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν αὖ τῶν ποιητῶν πάντων ἐλευθεριώτατον.
Then one of our clansmen said—whether because he really thought so then, or to do some favor to Critias—that it seemed to him that Solon was not only the wisest in other matters, but also in his poetry the most noble of all poets.
ὁ δὴ γέρων— σφόδρα γὰρ οὖν μέμνημαι—μάλα τε ἥσθη καὶ διαμειδιάσας εἶπεν· εἴ γε, ὦ Ἀμύνανδρε, μὴ παρέργῳ τῇ ποιήσει κατεχρήσατο, ἀλλʼ ἐσπουδάκει καθάπερ ἄλλοι, τόν τε λόγον ὃν ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου δεῦρο ἠνέγκατο ἀπετέλεσεν, καὶ μὴ διὰ τὰς στάσεις ὑπὸ κακῶν τε ἄλλων ὅσα ηὗρεν ἐνθάδε ἥκων ἠναγκάσθη καταμελῆσαι, κατά γε ἐμὴν δόξαν οὔτε Ἡσίοδος οὔτε Ὅμηρος οὔτε ἄλλος οὐδεὶς ποιητὴς εὐδοκιμώτερος ἐγένετο ἄν ποτε αὐτοῦ. τίς δʼ ἦν ὁ λόγος,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ὦ Κριτία;
The old man—for I remember it very well—was greatly pleased and said with a smile: "If only, Amynander, he had not used poetry as a mere pastime, but had taken it seriously like others, and had completed the story which he brought here from Egypt, and had not been forced to neglect it because of the factions and other evils he found here upon his return, in my opinion neither Hesiod nor Homer nor any other poet would ever have been more famous than he." "And what was this story, Critias?" he asked.
ἦ περὶ μεγίστης,
ἔφη,
καὶ ὀνομαστοτάτης πασῶν δικαιότατʼ ἂν πράξεως οὔσης, ἣν ἥδε ἡ πόλις ἔπραξε μέν, διὰ δὲ χρόνον καὶ φθορὰν τῶν ἐργασαμένων οὐ διήρκεσε δεῦρο ὁ λόγος. λέγε ἐξ ἀρχῆς,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
τί τε καὶ πῶς καὶ παρὰ τίνων ὡς ἀληθῆ διακηκοὼς ἔλεγεν ὁ Σόλων. ἔστιν τις κατʼ Αἴγυπτον,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἐν τῷ Δέλτα, περὶ ὃν κατὰ κορυφὴν σχίζεται τὸ τοῦ Νείλου ῥεῦμα Σαϊτικὸς ἐπικαλούμενος νομός, τούτου δὲ τοῦ νομοῦ μεγίστη πόλις Σάις—ὅθεν δὴ καὶ Ἄμασις ἦν ὁ βασιλεύς—οἷς τῆς πόλεως θεὸς ἀρχηγός τίς ἐστιν, Αἰγυπτιστὶ μὲν τοὔνομα Νηίθ, Ἑλληνιστὶ δέ, ὡς ὁ ἐκείνων λόγος, Ἀθηνᾶ·
"It was about a deed," he replied, "which would most justly be called the greatest and most famous of all, which this city actually performed, but because of time and the destruction of those who did it, the story has not survived to our day." "Tell us from the beginning," he said, "what Solon said, how he heard it, and from whom he related it as true." "There is in Egypt," he said, "in the Delta, where the stream of the Nile divides at the summit, a province called Saitic, and the greatest city of this province is Sais—from which also king Amasis came—the citizens of which have a goddess as their founder; her name in Egyptian is Neith, and in Greek, as they say, Athena.
μάλα δὲ φιλαθήναιοι καί τινα τρόπον οἰκεῖοι τῶνδʼ εἶναί φασιν.
They are very fond of the Athenians and say they are in some way related to them."