§5.5#1δοκεῖ δέ τισι καὶ τὸ ἀντιπεπονθὸς εἶναι ἁπλῶς δίκαιον, ὥσπερ οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι ἔφασαν· ὡρίζοντο γὰρ ἁπλῶς τὸ δίκαιον τὸ ἀντιπεπονθὸς ἄλλῳ.
To some, reciprocal action seems to be unconditionally just, as the Pythagoreans claimed; for they defined the just unconditionally as reciprocal action toward another.
τὸ δʼ ἀντιπεπονθὸς οὐκ ἐφαρμόττει οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τὸ νεμητικὸν δίκαιον οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τὸ διορθωτικόν—καίτοι βούλονταί γε τοῦτο λέγειν καὶ τὸ Ῥαδαμάνθυος δίκαιον· "
εἴ κε πάθοι τά τʼ ἔρεξε, δίκη κʼ ἰθεῖα γένοιτο
"
—πολλαχοῦ γὰρ διαφωνεῖ· οἷον εἰ ἀρχὴν ἔχων ἐπάταξεν, οὐ δεῖ ἀντιπληγῆναι, καὶ εἰ ἄρχοντα ἐπάταξεν, οὐ πληγῆναι μόνον δεῖ ἀλλὰ καὶ κολασθῆναι.
But reciprocal action fits neither distributive justice nor corrective justice—though indeed they wish to mean this by the justice of Rhadamanthys too: "Should a man suffer what he did, right justice would be done"—for in many cases it disagrees; for example, if one holding office has struck, he ought not to be struck in return, and if one has struck an officer, he ought not only to be struck but also to be punished.
ἔτι τὸ ἑκούσιον καὶ τὸ ἀκούσιον διαφέρει πολύ.
Moreover, the voluntary and the involuntary differ greatly.
ἀλλʼ ἐν μὲν ταῖς κοινωνίαις ταῖς ἀλλακτικαῖς συνέχει τὸ τοιοῦτον δίκαιον, τὸ ἀντιπεπονθὸς κατʼ ἀναλογίαν καὶ μὴ κατʼ ἰσότητα.
But in exchange associations, this kind of justice holds them together—reciprocal action according to proportion and not according to equality.
τῷ ἀντιποιεῖν γὰρ ἀνάλογον συμμένει ἡ πόλις.
For it is by reciprocal action in proportion that the city remains together.
ἢ γὰρ τὸ κακῶς ζητοῦσιν· εἰ δὲ μή, δουλεία δοκεῖ εἶναι· ἢ τὸ εὖ· εἰ δὲ μή, μετάδοσις οὐ γίνεται, τῇ μεταδόσει δὲ συμμένουσιν.
For people seek either to return evil for evil, and if they cannot, it seems to be slavery; or to return good for good, and if they cannot, no sharing takes place, and it is by sharing that they hold together.
διὸ καὶ Χαρίτων ἱερὸν ἐμποδὼν ποιοῦνται, ἵνʼ ἀνταπόδοσις ᾖ· τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον χάριτος· ἀνθυπηρετῆσαι γὰρ δεῖ τῷ χαρισαμένῳ, καὶ πάλιν αὐτὸν ἄρξαι χαριζόμενον.
Therefore they establish the temple of the Graces in a prominent place, so that there may be requital; for this is characteristic of grace (charis)—since one must return service to the one who was gracious, and in turn himself take the lead in being gracious again.
ποιεῖ δὲ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν τὴν κατʼ ἀναλογίαν ἡ κατὰ διάμετρον σύζευξις.
And diagonal conjunction produces the reciprocal exchange according to proportion.
οἰκοδόμος ἐφʼ ᾧ α, σκυτοτόμος ἐφʼ ᾧ β, οἰκία ἐφʼ ᾧ γ, ὑπόδημα ἐφʼ ᾧ δ.
Let the builder be A, the shoemaker B, the house C, and the shoe D.
δεῖ οὖν λαμβάνειν τὸν οἰκοδόμον παρὰ τοῦ σκυτοτόμου τὸ ἐκείνου ἔργον, καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκείνῳ μεταδιδόναι τὸ αὑτοῦ.
The builder must therefore receive from the shoemaker his work, and must himself share with him his own.
ἐὰν οὖν πρῶτον ᾖ τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ἴσον, εἶτα τὸ ἀντιπεπονθὸς γένηται, ἔσται τὸ λεγόμενον.
If, then, there is first established the equal according to proportion, and then the reciprocal action takes place, what is mentioned will be achieved.
εἰ δὲ μή, οὐκ ἴσον, οὐδὲ συμμένει· οὐθὲν γὰρ κωλύει κρεῖττον εἶναι τὸ θατέρου ἔργον ἢ τὸ θατέρου· δεῖ οὖν ταῦτα ἰσασθῆναι.
But if not, it is not equal, and the association does not hold together; for nothing prevents the work of one from being better than that of the other, and so these must be equalized.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν· ἀνῃροῦντο γὰρ ἄν, εἰ μὴ ὃ ἐποίει τὸ ποιοῦν καὶ ὅσον καὶ οἷον, καὶ τὸ πάσχον ἔπασχε τοῦτο καὶ τοσοῦτον καὶ τοιοῦτον.
This is the case with the other arts as well; for they would be destroyed if what the active factor produced in quantity and quality were not received by the passive factor in the same quantity and quality.
οὐ γὰρ ἐκ δύο ἰατρῶν γίνεται κοινωνία, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἰατροῦ καὶ γεωργοῦ, καὶ ὅλως ἑτέρων καὶ οὐκ ἴσων· ἀλλὰ τούτους δεῖ ἰσασθῆναι.
For an association is formed not from two physicians, but from a physician and a farmer, and generally from those who are different and not equal; but these must be equalized.
διὸ πάντα συμβλητὰ δεῖ πως εἶναι, ὧν ἐστὶν ἀλλαγή.
Therefore, all things that are exchanged must be in some way comparable.
ἐφʼ ὃ τὸ νόμισμʼ ἐλήλυθε, καὶ γίνεταί πως μέσον· πάντα γὰρ μετρεῖ, ὥστε καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν καὶ τὴν ἔλλειψιν, πόσα ἄττα δὴ ὑποδήματʼ ἴσον οἰκίᾳ ἢ τροφῇ.
This is what money has been introduced for, and it becomes in a way a mean; for it measures all things, and therefore also excess and defect, such as how many shoes are equal to a house or to food.
δεῖ τοίνυν ὅπερ οἰκοδόμος πρὸς σκυτοτόμον, τοσαδὶ ὑποδήματα πρὸς οἰκίαν ἢ τροφήν.
Therefore, as a builder is to a shoemaker, so must so many shoes be to a house or to food.
εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔσται ἀλλαγὴ οὐδὲ κοινωνία. τοῦτο δʼ, εἰ μὴ ἴσα εἴη πως, οὐκ ἔσται.
For if this is not the case, there will be no exchange and no association; and this will not be, unless they are in some way equal.
δεῖ ἄρα ἑνί τινι πάντα μετρεῖσθαι, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη πρότερον.
Therefore, all things must be measured by some single thing, as was said before.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ τῇ μὲν ἀληθείᾳ ἡ χρεία, ἣ πάντα συνέχει· εἰ γὰρ μηθὲν δέοιντο ἢ μὴ ὁμοίως, ἢ οὐκ ἔσται ἀλλαγὴ ἢ οὐχ ἡ αὐτή·
And this is in truth need, which holds all things together; for if people needed nothing, or not in the same way, there would either be no exchange or not the same exchange.
οἷον δʼ ὑπάλλαγμα τῆς χρείας τὸ νόμισμα γέγονε κατὰ συνθήκην· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὔνομα ἔχει νόμισμα, ὅτι οὐ φύσει ἀλλὰ νόμῳ ἐστί, καὶ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν μεταβαλεῖν καὶ ποιῆσαι ἄχρηστον.
But money has become by agreement a sort of representative of need; and for this reason it has the name "money" (nomisma), because it exists not by nature (physis) but by law or convention (nomos), and it is in our power to change it and make it useless.
ἔσται δὴ ἀντιπεπονθός, ὅταν ἰσασθῇ, ὥστε ὅπερ γεωργὸς πρὸς σκυτοτόμον, τὸ ἔργον τὸ τοῦ σκυτοτόμου πρὸς τὸ τοῦ γεωργοῦ.
There will indeed be reciprocal action, when it is equalized, so that as a farmer is to a shoemaker, so is the work of the shoemaker to the work of the farmer.
εἰς σχῆμα δʼ ἀναλογίας οὐ δεῖ ἄγειν, ὅταν ἀλλάξωνται (εἰ δὲ μή, ἀμφοτέρας ἕξει τὰς ὑπεροχὰς τὸ ἕτερον ἄκρον), ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἔχωσι τὰ αὑτῶν.
But they must not bring them into a form of proportion when they have already made the exchange (otherwise one extreme will have both excesses), but when they still have their own.