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Epinomis · 980b–981a
Ancient Greek
p. 20γαγόντι τὸν βίον τῆς ἅμα τελευτῆς ἀρίστης τε καὶ καλλίστης τυχεῖν.
ΑΘ. Πῶς οὖν, ὦ Κλεινία, λέγομεν; ἦ δοκεῖ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμνοῦντες σφόδρα τιμῶμεν, εὐχόμενοι τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ ἄριστα περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιέναι λέγειν ἡμῖν; οὕτως ἢ πῶς λέγεις;
980cΚΛ. Θαυμαστῶς μὲν οὖν οὕτως. ἀλλ’, ὦ δαιμόνιε, πιστεύσας τοῖς θεοῖς εὔχου τε καὶ λέγε τὸν ἐπιόντα σοι λόγον τῶν καλῶν περὶ τοὺς θεούς τε καὶ τὰς θεάς.
ΑΘ. Ἔσται ταῦτα, ἂν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν ὑφηγῆται. συνεύχου μόνον.
ΚΛ. Λέγοις ἂν τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο.
ΑΘ. Θεογονίαν τοίνυν καὶ ζῳογονίαν ἀναγκαῖον, ὡς ἔοικεν, πρῶτόν μοι, κακῶς ἀπεικασάντων τῶν ἔμπροσθεν, βέλτιον ἀπεικάσαι κατὰ τὸν ἔμπροσθεν λόγον, ἀναλαβόντα 980d ὃν πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἐπικεχείρηκα λέγων, φράζων ὡς εἰσὶν θεοὶ ἐπιμελούμενοι πάντων, σμικρῶν καὶ μειζόνων, καὶ σχεδὸν ἀπαραμύθητοι τῶν περὶ τὰ δίκαιά εἰσιν πράγματα— εἰ δὴ μέμνησθέ γε, ὦ Κλεινία· ἐλάβετε μὲν γὰρ δὴ καὶ ὑπομνήματα—καὶ γὰρ ἦν τὰ ῥηθέντα τότε καὶ μάλα ἀληθῆ· τόδε δὲ αὐτῶν ἦν τὸ μέγιστον, ὅτι πρεσβύτερον εἴη ψυχὴ σώματος ἅπασα παντός—ἆρα μέμνησθε; ἢ πάντως που τοῦτό γε;—ὃ γὰρ ἄμεινον καὶ παλαιότερον καὶ θεοειδέστερον, 980e πιθανὸν ὅτι τοῦ †νέου καὶ νεωτέρου καὶ ἀτιμοτέρου, πανταχῇ τε ἄρχον ἀρχομένου πρεσβύτερον καὶ ἄγον ἀγομένου πάντῃ. λάβωμεν δὴ τοῦτό γε, ὡς ψυχὴ πρεσβύτερόν ἐστι σώματος. 981a εἰ δ’ ἔχει τοῦτο οὕτως, τό γε πρῶτον ἡμῖν τοῦ πρώτου τῆς γενέσεως πιθανώτερον ἂν εἴη σχεδὸν ὑπηργμένον· καὶ θῶμεν δὴ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἀρχῆς εὐσχημονέστερον ἔχειν, καὶ τῶν μεγίστων σοφίας περὶ θεῶν γενέσεως ὀρθότατα ἐπιβαίνειν ἡμᾶς.
ΚΛ. Ἔστω ταῦτα εἰς δύναμιν λεγόμενα.
Epinomis
p. 21passed your life, should meet with the end that is at once the best and the finest.
Ath. How, then, Clinias, do we say it? Does it seem good that we honor the gods greatly by hymning them, praying that the finest and best things to say about them may come to us? So, or how do you say?
Clin. 980c Wonderfully so, indeed. But, my good sir, trusting in the gods, pray, and speak the account of fine things about the gods and the goddesses that comes to you.
Ath. It shall be so, if the god himself leads the way for us. Only join me in prayer.
Clin. Please say what comes after this.
Ath. The generation of gods, then, and of living beings, since those before us likened it badly, I must first, it seems, liken it better, following the account given before, taking up again 980d the one I have attempted, speaking against the impious, declaring that there are gods who care for all things, small and greater, and that in matters of what is just they are very nearly not to be soothed1 — if indeed you remember, Clinias; for you even took notes — for what was said then was very true indeed; and the greatest of it was this, that all soul is older than all body — do you remember? or surely this, at least? — for what is better and more ancient and more godlike is, 980e it is plausible, older than what is † young and younger and less honored; and everywhere what rules is older than what is ruled, and what leads than what is led, in every way.2 Let us take this, then, at least: that soul is older than body. 981a And if this is so, the first part, at least, of the first in coming into being would, very nearly, have been begun by us more plausibly; and let us set down that the beginning of the beginning stands more seemly, and that we are setting foot most rightly on the greatest matters of wisdom, about the coming into being of the gods.
Clin. Let this stand as said to the best of our power.
Socrates
Reading Epinomis · Epinomis · 980b–981a
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete Epinomis, 973a–992e: the Athenian stranger, Clinias, and Megillus examine wisdom, number, the soul, and the ordered heavens. Burnet’s Greek faces a new Diotimos Editions English translation, with an introduction, key words, outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and linked translator notes. Transmitted under Plato’s name, the dialogue’s authorship is disputed; the supplied Introduction presents the question without deciding it.
Historical Text and Translation
Greek: Epinomis, transmitted under Plato’s name, with disputed authorship, in John Burnet, Platonis Opera, volume V, part II (Oxford, 1907; a later impression printed by John Johnson, issued 1936–1945). The words were taken from the Perseus Digital Library transcription and checked against the printed pages by the supplied edition; Burnet’s lineation and critical apparatus are retained. The digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, under CC BY-SA 4.0. English translation and editorial matter: Diotimos Editions, 2026.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The new English translation and editorial matter are credited to Diotimos Editions, 2026; no open license is stated in the supplied edition.
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