Epinomis

Name: Epinomis
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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EpinomisEpinomis · 982d–983c

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Epinomis · 982d–983c

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Ancient Greek

p. 26

τοῖς ἄφροσι συνεφέσπετο τὸ πλῆθος, ὡς τὸ μὲν ἀνθρώπινον ἔμφρον καὶ ζῶν ὡς κινούμενον ὑπολαβεῖν, τὸ δὲ θεῖον ἄφρον ὡς μένον ἐν ταῖς αὐταῖς φοραῖς· ἐξῆν δὲ ἀνθρώπῳ γε ἐπὶ 982e τὰ καλλίω καὶ βελτίω καὶ φίλα τιθεμένῳ λαμβάνειν ὡς διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ ἔμφρον δεῖ νομίζειν τὸ κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως καὶ διὰ ταὐτὰ πρᾶττον ἀεί, τοῦτο δ’ εἶναι τὴν τῶν ἄστρων φύσιν, ἰδεῖν μὲν καλλίστην, πορείαν δὲ καὶ χορείαν πάντων χορῶν καλλίστην καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην χορεύοντα πᾶσι τοῖς ζῶσι τὸ δέον ἀποτελεῖν. καὶ μὴν ὅτι γε δικαίως 983a ἔμψυχα αὐτὰ λέγομεν, πρῶτον τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῶν διανοηθῶμεν. οὐ γάρ, ὡς σμικρὰ φαντάζεται, τηλικαῦτα ὄντως ἐστίν, ἀλλ’ ἀμήχανον ἕκαστον αὐτῶν τὸν ὄγκον—πιστεῦσαι δ’ ἄξιον· ἀποδείξεσιν γὰρ ἱκαναῖς λαμβάνεται—τὸν γὰρ ἥλιον ὅλον τῆς γῆς ὅλης μείζω διανοηθῆναι δυνατὸν ὀρθῶς, καὶ πάντα δὴ τὰ φερόμενα ἄστρα θαυμαστόν τι μέγεθος ἔχει. λάβωμεν δὴ τίς τρόπος ἂν εἴη τοσοῦτον περιφέρειν ὄγκον τινὰ φύσιν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον, ὅσον καὶ νῦν περιφέρεται. 983b θεὸν δή φημι τὸν αἴτιον ἔσεσθαι, καὶ οὔποθ’ ἑτέρως εἶναι δυνατόν· ἔμψυχον μὲν γὰρ οὔποτε γένοιτ’ ἂν ἑτέρᾳ πλὴν διὰ θεόν, ὡς ἡμεῖς ἀπεφηνάμεθα. ὅτε δὲ τοῦτο οἷός τέ ἐστιν θεός, ἅπασα αὐτῷ ῥᾳστώνη γέγονεν τοῦ πρῶτον μὲν ζῷον γεγονέναι πᾶν σῶμα καὶ ὄγκον σύμπαντα, ἔπειτα, ᾗπερ ἂν διανοηθῇ βέλτιστα, ταύτῃ φέρειν. νῦν δὴ περὶ ἁπάντων τούτων ἕνα λόγον λέγοιμεν ἀληθῆ· οὐκ ἔστιν γῆν τε καὶ 983c οὐρανὸν ἅπαντάς τε ἀστέρας ὄγκους τε ἐκ τούτων σύμπαντας, μὴ ψυχῆς πρὸς ἑκάστῳ γενομένης ἢ καὶ ἐν ἑκάστοις, εἶτα εἰς ἀκρίβειαν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν οὕτω πορεύεσθαι κατὰ μῆνάς τε καὶ ἡμέρας, καὶ σύμπαντα τὰ γιγνόμενα σύμπασιν ἡμῖν ἀγαθὰ γίγνεσθαι.

Δεῖ δέ, ὅσῳ φλαυρότερόν ἐστ’ ἄνθρωπος, μή τοι ληροῦντά γε, σαφῶς δέ τι λέγοντα φαίνεσθαι. ῥύμας μὲν οὖν εἴ τις αἰτίας τινὰς ἐρεῖ σωμάτων ἢ φύσεις ἤ τι

Epinomis

p. 27

did the multitude follow the unintelligent as to take the human as intelligent and alive because it moves, and the divine as unintelligent because it stays in the same motions; but it was open to a man, at least, 982e who took the side of what is finer and better and dear, to grasp that for this very reason we must hold intelligent what always acts in the same respects and in the same way and for the same reasons, and that this is the nature of the stars, finest to see, and that, dancing a procession and dance the finest and most magnificent of all dances, they accomplish for all living things what is needed. And indeed, that 983a we call them ensouled justly, at least, let us first think about their size. For they are not really as small as they appear, but each of them is immense in bulk — and it deserves belief, for it is grasped by proofs good enough — for it is possible to think rightly that the sun as a whole is larger than the earth as a whole, and all the stars that are carried along have some wonderful size. Let us grasp, then, what way there could be for some nature to carry round so great a bulk always in the same time in which it is carried round now. 983b A god, I say, will be the cause, and it is never possible otherwise; for a thing could never become ensouled in any other way than through a god, as we have shown. And since a god is able to do this, it has been altogether easy for him, first, that every body and every bulk should become a living being, and then to carry it in whatever way he has in mind as best. Now, then, about all these may we speak one true account: it is not possible for earth and 983c heaven and all the stars and all the bulks made of these, if a soul had not come to be with each, or even in each, then to travel so precisely, year by year, by months and by days, and for all the things that come about to come about as goods for us all.

And the poorer a thing man is, the more he must appear, not, certainly, talking nonsense, but saying something clearly. Now if anyone will say that rushes of bodies, or natures, or some

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.