§1.624ΑΘ. θεὸς ἤ τις ἀνθρώπων ὑμῖν, ὦ ξένοι, εἴληφε τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τῶν νόμων διαθέσεως;
Athenian: Strangers, is a god or some human credited by you with the cause of the establishment of your laws?
ΚΛ. θεός, ὦ ξένε, θεός, ὥς γε τὸ δικαιότατον εἰπεῖν·
Cleinias: A god, stranger, a god, to say what is most just.
παρὰ μὲν ἡμῖν Ζεύς, παρὰ δὲ Λακεδαιμονίοις, ὅθεν ὅδε ἐστίν, οἶμαι φάναι τούτους Ἀπόλλωνα.
With us it is Zeus, while with the Lacedaemonians, from where this companion of ours comes, I believe they say it is Apollo.
ἦ γάρ;
Is that not so?
ΜΕ. ναί.
Megillus: Yes.
ΑΘ. μῶν οὖν καθʼ Ὅμηρον λέγεις ὡς τοῦ Μίνω φοιτῶντος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς ἑκάστοτε συνουσίαν διʼ ἐνάτου ἔτους καὶ κατὰ τὰς παρʼ ἐκείνου φήμας ταῖς πόλεσιν ὑμῖν θέντος τοὺς νόμους;
Athenian: Do you then speak in the manner of Homer, saying that Minos used to go every ninth year to hold converse with his father, and established the laws for your cities in accordance with his divine utterances?
§1.625ΚΛ. λέγεται γὰρ οὕτω παρʼ ἡμῖν·
Cleinias: Yes, that is indeed how it is told among us.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφόν γε αὐτοῦ Ῥαδάμανθυν—ἀκούετε γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα—δικαιότατον γεγονέναι.
And furthermore, they say his brother Rhadamanthys—for surely you have heard the name—was most just.
τοῦτον οὖν φαῖμεν ἂν ἡμεῖς γε οἱ Κρῆτες, ἐκ τοῦ τότε διανέμειν τὰ περὶ τὰς δίκας, ὀρθῶς τοῦτον τὸν ἔπαινον αὐτὸν εἰληφέναι.
We Cretans at least would say that, from his distributing justice in those days, he rightly won this very praise.
ΑΘ. καὶ καλόν γε τὸ κλέος ὑεῖ τε Διὸς μάλα πρέπον.
Athenian: An honorable fame indeed, and highly fitting for a son of Zeus.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐν τοιούτοις ἤθεσι τέθραφθε νομικοῖς σύ τε καὶ ὅδε, προσδοκῶ οὐκ ἂν ἀηδῶς περί τε πολιτείας τὰ νῦν καὶ νόμων τὴν διατριβήν, λέγοντάς τε καὶ ἀκούοντας ἅμα κατὰ τὴν πορείαν, ποιήσασθαι.
Since you and our companion here have been brought up under such legal customs, I expect that we might, without unpleasantness, now pass the time in talking and listening about constitutions and laws during our journey.
πάντως δʼ ἥ γε ἐκ Κνωσοῦ ὁδὸς εἰς τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἄντρον καὶ ἱερόν, ὡς ἀκούομεν, ἱκανή, καὶ ἀνάπαυλαι κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ὡς εἰκός, πνίγους ὄντος τὰ νῦν, ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς δένδρεσίν εἰσι σκιαραί, καὶ ταῖς ἡλικίαις πρέπον ἂν ἡμῶν εἴη τὸ διαναπαύεσθαι πυκνὰ ἐν αὐταῖς, λόγοις τε ἀλλήλους παραμυθουμένους τὴν ὁδὸν ἅπασαν οὕτω μετὰ ῥᾳστώνης διαπερᾶναι.
In any case, the road from Knossos to the cave and sanctuary of Zeus is, as we hear, of considerable length, and along the way there are shady resting-places, as is natural during the present heat, among the tall trees, where it would be suitable for our ages to rest frequently, and, comforting one another with conversation, thus to complete the entire journey with ease.
ΚΛ. καὶ μὴν ἔστιν γε, ὦ ξένε, προϊόντι κυπαρίττων τε ἐν τοῖς ἄλσεσιν ὕψη καὶ κάλλη θαυμάσια, καὶ λειμῶνες ἐν οἷσιν ἀναπαυόμενοι διατρίβοιμεν ἄν.
Cleinias: And indeed, stranger, as we go forward, there are cypresses of wonderful height and beauty in the groves, and meadows where we might spend time resting.
ΑΘ. ὀρθῶς λέγεις.
Athenian: You are right.
ΚΛ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν·
Cleinias: Indeed, quite so.
ἰδόντες δὲ μᾶλλον φήσομεν.
We shall say so even more when we have seen them.
ἀλλʼ ἴωμεν ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ.
But let us go, with good fortune.
ΑΘ. ταῦτʼ εἴη.
Athenian: May it be so.
καί μοι λέγε· κατὰ τί τὰ συσσίτιά τε ὑμῖν συντέταχεν ὁ νόμος καὶ τὰ γυμνάσια καὶ τὴν τῶν ὅπλων ἕξιν;
And tell me, for what purpose has the law ordained for you your common meals, your gymnasia, and your possession of arms?
ΚΛ. οἶμαι μέν, ὦ ξένε, καὶ παντὶ ῥᾴδιον ὑπολαβεῖν εἶναι τά γε ἡμέτερα.
Cleinias: I think, stranger, that our institutions are easy for anyone to understand.
τὴν γὰρ τῆς χώρας πάσης Κρήτης φύσιν ὁρᾶτε ὡς οὐκ ἔστι, καθάπερ ἡ τῶν Θετταλῶν, πεδιάς, διὸ δὴ καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἵπποις ἐκεῖνοι χρῶνται μᾶλλον, δρόμοισιν δὲ ἡμεῖς· ἥδε γὰρ ἀνώμαλος αὖ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν πεζῇ δρόμων ἄσκησιν μᾶλλον σύμμετρος.
For you see that the nature of the entire Cretan land is not, like that of the Thessalians, flat; therefore, while they use horses more, we use running, since this land is uneven and more suitable for the practice of running on foot.
ἐλαφρὰ δὴ τὰ ὅπλα ἀναγκαῖον ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ κεκτῆσθαι καὶ μὴ βάρος ἔχοντα θεῖν· τῶν δὴ τόξων καὶ τοξευμάτων ἡ κουφότης ἁρμόττειν δοκεῖ.
In such terrain, it is necessary to possess light arms and to run without carrying heavy weight; the lightness of bows and arrows seems to be appropriate.
ταῦτʼ οὖν πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἡμῖν ἅπαντα ἐξήρτυται, καὶ πάνθʼ ὁ νομοθέτης, ὥς γʼ ἐμοὶ φαίνεται, πρὸς τοῦτο βλέπων συνετάττετο·
Therefore, all these things are equipped for us with a view to war, and the lawgiver, it seems to me, ordained everything looking to this.
ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ συσσίτια κινδυνεύει συναγαγεῖν, ὁρῶν ὡς πάντες ὁπόταν στρατεύωνται, τόθʼ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πράγματος ἀναγκάζονται φυλακῆς αὑτῶν ἕνεκα συσσιτεῖν τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον.
For he is likely to have instituted the common meals also because he saw that when everyone is on a campaign, they are then forced by the very nature of the case, for their own protection, to eat together during that time.
ἄνοιαν δή μοι δοκεῖ καταγνῶναι τῶν πολλῶν ὡς οὐ μανθανόντων ὅτι πόλεμος ἀεὶ πᾶσιν διὰ βίου συνεχής ἐστι πρὸς ἁπάσας τὰς πόλεις·
Thus, he seems to me to have condemned the folly of the many who do not learn that war is always continuous for all throughout life against all other cities.