§2.312ἦλθον ἐγὼ εἰς Σικελίαν δόξαν ἔχων πολὺ τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ διαφέρειν, βουλόμενος δὲ ἐλθὼν εἰς Συρακούσας συμμάρτυρα λαβεῖν σέ, ἵνα μοι τιμῷτο φιλοσοφία καὶ παρὰ τῷ πλήθει.
I went to Sicily holding a reputation of being far superior to others in philosophy, and wishing, having come to Syracuse, to gain you as my joint witness, so that philosophy might be honored for me even among the multitude.
τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ εὐαγές μοι ἀπέβη.
But this did not turn out auspiciously for me.
τὸ δʼ αἴτιον οὐ λέγω ὅπερ ἂν πολλοὶ εἴποιεν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι ἐφαίνου οὐ πάνυ ἐμοὶ πιστεύειν σύ, ἀλλʼ ἐμὲ μέν πως ἀποπέμψασθαι ἐθέλειν, ἑτέρους δὲ μεταπέμψασθαι, καὶ ζητεῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα τί τὸ ἐμόν ἐστιν, ἀπιστῶν, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ·
And I do not state the cause of this which many would say, but that you appeared to have no great trust in me, but rather wished somehow to send me away and to send for others, and to investigate my teaching, being distrustful, as it seems to me.
καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τούτοις βοῶντες πολλοὶ ἦσαν, λέγοντες ὡς σὺ ἐμοῦ μὲν καταπεφρόνηκας, ἄλλα δʼ ἐσπούδακας.
And those who shouted about these things were many, saying that you had despised me and were enthusiastic about other things.
ταῦτα δὴ διαβεβόηται.
This indeed has been widely rumored.
ὃ δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα δίκαιόν ἐστι ποιεῖν, ἄκουε, ἵνα σοι καὶ ἀποκρίνωμαι ὃ σὺ ἐρωτᾷς, πῶς χρὴ ἔχειν ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους.
Hear, then, what is just to do after this, so that I may also answer what you ask, how you and I ought to behave toward one another.
εἰ μὲν ὅλως φιλοσοφίας καταπεφρόνηκας, ἐᾶν χαίρειν, εἰ δὲ παρʼ ἑτέρου ἀκήκοας ἢ αὐτὸς βελτίονα ηὕρηκας τῶν παρʼ ἐμοί, ἐκεῖνα τίμα· εἰ δʼ ἄρα τὰ παρʼ ἡμῶν σοι ἀρέσκει, τιμητέον καὶ ἐμὲ μάλιστα.
If indeed you altogether despise philosophy, let it go; but if you have heard from another or have yourself found better things than mine, honor those; but if, after all, our teachings please you, you must honor me most of all.
νῦν οὖν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, σὺ καθηγοῦ, ἕψομαι δὲ ἐγώ· τιμώμενος γὰρ ὑπὸ σοῦ τιμήσω σέ, μὴ τιμώμενος δὲ ἡσυχίαν ἕξω.
Now then, just as from the beginning, you lead, and I will follow; for being honored by you, I will honor you, but if not honored, I will keep quiet.
ἔτι δὲ σὺ μὲν ἐμὲ τιμῶν καὶ τούτου καθηγούμενος φιλοσοφίαν δόξεις τιμᾶν, καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι διεσκόπεις καὶ ἄλλους, πρὸς πολλῶν εὐδοξίαν σοι οἴσει ὡς φιλοσόφῳ ὄντι.
And further, if you honor me and lead in this, you will seem to honor philosophy, and this very thing, that you examined others as well, will bring you good reputation among many as being a philosopher.
ἐγὼ δὲ σὲ τιμῶν μὴ τιμῶντα πλοῦτον δόξω θαυμάζειν τε καὶ διώκειν, τοῦτο δʼ ἴσμεν ὅτι παρὰ πᾶσιν ὄνομα οὐ καλὸν ἔχει·
But if I honor you who do not honor me, I shall seem to admire and pursue wealth, and we know that this has no good name among all men.
ὡς δʼ ἐν κεφαλαίῳ εἰπεῖν, σοῦ μὲν τιμῶντος ἀμφοτέροις κόσμος, ἐμοῦ δὲ ὄνειδος ἀμφοῖν.
To put it in a word, if you honor me, there is honor for both; but if I [honor you unilaterally], it is a disgrace for both.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ταῦτα.
So much, then, for these things.
τὸ δὲ σφαιρίον οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔχει· δηλώσει δέ σοι Ἀρχέδημος, ἐπειδὰν ἔλθῃ.
As for the sphere, it is not correct; Archedemus will explain to you when he comes.
καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τοῦδε, ὃ δὴ τούτου τιμιώτερόν τʼ ἐστὶν καὶ θειότερον, καὶ μάλα σφόδρʼ αὐτῷ δηλωτέον, ὑπὲρ οὗ σὺ πέπομφας ἀπορούμενος.
And indeed concerning this, which is more precious and more divine than that, and which you sent about in perplexity, it must be explained to you very clearly by him.
φῂς γὰρ δὴ κατὰ τὸν ἐκείνου λόγον, οὐχ ἱκανῶς ἀποδεδεῖχθαί σοι περὶ τῆς τοῦ πρώτου φύσεως.
For you say, according to his report, that it has not been sufficiently demonstrated to you concerning the nature of the first.
φραστέον δή σοι διʼ αἰνιγμῶν, ἵνʼ ἄν τι ἡ δέλτος ἢ πόντου ἢ γῆς ἐν πτυχαῖς πάθῃ, ὁ ἀναγνοὺς μὴ γνῷ. ὧδε γὰρ ἔχει.
I must then speak to you in riddles, so that if the tablet suffers anything in the folds of sea or land, he who reads may not understand.
περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον ἁπάντων τῶν καλῶν· δεύτερον δὲ πέρι τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τρίτον πέρι τὰ τρίτα.
For it is thus: all things are around the king of all, and all things are for his sake, and that is the cause of all beautiful things; and around the second are the second things, and around the third are the third things.
§2.313ἡ οὖν ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ περὶ αὐτὰ ὀρέγεται μαθεῖν ποῖʼ ἄττα ἐστίν, βλέπουσα εἰς τὰ αὑτῆς συγγενῆ, ὧν οὐδὲν ἱκανῶς ἔχει.
Therefore the human soul yearns to learn what sort of things these are, looking toward its own kindred things, of which none is sufficient.
τοῦ δὴ βασιλέως πέρι καὶ ὧν εἶπον, οὐδέν ἐστιν τοιοῦτον—τὸ δὴ μετὰ τοῦτο ἡ ψυχή φησιν— ἀλλὰ ποῖόν τι μήν; τοῦτʼ ἐστίν, ὦ παῖ Διονυσίου καὶ Δωρίδος, τὸ ἐρώτημα ὃ πάντων αἴτιόν ἐστιν κακῶν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ περὶ τούτου ὠδὶς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἐγγιγνομένη, ἣν εἰ μή τις ἐξαιρεθήσεται, τῆς ἀληθείας ὄντως οὐ μή ποτε τύχῃ.
Concerning the king and those of whom I spoke, there is nothing of such a kind—indeed, after this the soul says—"But what sort of thing is it then?" This, O son of Dionysius and Doris, is the question which is the cause of all evils, or rather the labor-pain concerning this arising in the soul, which if one does not rid himself of, he will never in truth attain reality.
σὺ δὲ τοῦτο πρὸς ἐμὲ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ ὑπὸ ταῖς δάφναις αὐτὸς ἔφησθα ἐννενοηκέναι καὶ εἶναι σὸν εὕρημα·
You yourself said to me in the garden under the laurels that you had thought this out and that it was your own discovery.
καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον ὅτι τοῦτο εἰ φαίνοιτό σοι οὕτως ἔχειν, πολλῶν ἂν εἴης λόγων ἐμὲ ἀπολελυκώς.
And I said that if this appeared to you to be so, you would have released me from many arguments.
οὐ μὴν ἄλλῳ γέ ποτʼ ἔφην ἐντετυχηκέναι τοῦθʼ ηὑρηκότι, ἀλλὰ ἡ πολλή μοι πραγματεία περὶ τοῦτʼ εἴη·
Yet I said that I had never met anyone else who had discovered this, but that my chief concern was about this.
σὺ δὲ ἴσως μὲν ἀκούσας του, τάχα δʼ ἂν θείᾳ μοίρᾳ κατὰ τοῦθʼ ὁρμήσας, ἔπειτα αὐτοῦ τὰς ἀποδείξεις ὡς ἔχων βεβαίως οὐ κατέδησας, ἀλλʼ ᾄττει σοι τοτὲ μὲν οὕτως, τοτὲ δὲ ἄλλως περὶ τὸ φανταζόμενον, τὸ δὲ οὐδέν ἐστιν τοιοῦτον.
But you, perhaps having heard it from someone, or perhaps having been driven toward this by some divine dispensation, then did not bind fast its proofs so as to hold them securely, but it flits for you now this way, now that, around the appearance, whereas the thing itself is not of such a kind.
καὶ τοῦτο οὐ σοὶ μόνῳ γέγονεν, ἀλλʼ εὖ ἴσθι μηδένα πώποτέ μου τὸ πρῶτον ἀκούσαντα ἔχειν ἄλλως πως ἢ οὕτως κατʼ ἀρχάς, καὶ ὁ μὲν πλείω ἔχων πράγματα, ὁ δὲ ἐλάττω, μόγις ἀπαλλάττονται, σχεδὸν δὲ οὐδεὶς ὀλίγα.
And this has happened not to you alone, but know well that no one who has heard it from me for the first time has it in any other way than this at the beginning; and one having more trouble, another less, they are freed with difficulty, and almost no one with little.
τούτων δὴ γεγονότων καὶ ἐχόντων οὕτω, σχεδὸν κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν δόξαν ηὑρήκαμεν ὃ σὺ ἐπέστειλας, ὅπως δεῖ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡμᾶς ἔχειν.
Since these things have happened and are so, we have almost, in my opinion, found what you wrote about, how we ought to behave toward one another.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ βασανίζεις αὐτὰ συγγιγνόμενός τε ἄλλοις καὶ παραθεώμενος παρὰ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων καὶ αὐτὰ καθʼ αὑτά, νῦν σοι ταῦτά τε, εἰ ἀληθὴς ἡ βάσανος, προσφύσεται, καὶ οἰκεῖος τούτοις τε καὶ ἡμῖν ἔσῃ.
For since you are testing these things both by associating with others and by comparing them with the teachings of others, and also by themselves, now these things, if the test is true, will grow onto you, and you will be a friend both to them and to us.
πῶς οὖν αὐτά τʼ ἔσται καὶ πάντα ἃ εἰρήκαμεν;
How then will these things and all that we have said be preserved?
τὸν Ἀρχέδημον νῦν τε ὀρθῶς ἐποίησας πέμψας, καὶ τὸ λοιπόν, ἐπειδὰν ἔλθῃ πρὸς σὲ καὶ ἀπαγγείλῃ τὰ παρʼ ἐμοῦ, μετὰ ταῦτα ἴσως ἄλλαι σε ἀπορίαι λήψονται.
You did well now in sending Archedemus, and for the future, when he comes to you and reports what is from me, after this perhaps other perplexities will seize you.
πέμψεις οὖν αὖθις, ἂν ὀρθῶς βουλεύῃ, παρʼ ἐμὲ τὸν Ἀρχέδημον, ὁ δʼ ἐμπορευσάμενος ἥξει πάλιν· καὶ τοῦτο ἐὰν δὶς ἢ τρὶς ποιήσῃς καὶ βασανίσῃς τὰ παρʼ ἐμοῦ πεμφθέντα ἱκανῶς, θαυμάζοιμʼ ἂν εἰ μὴ τὰ νῦν ἀπορούμενα πολύ σοι διοίσει ἢ νῦν.
You will then send Archedemus back to me, if you counsel well, and he having made the journey will come again; and if you do this twice or thrice, and sufficiently test the things sent from me, I should be surprised if what is now doubted does not differ greatly for you than now.