Epinomis

Name: Epinomis
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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EpinomisEpinomis · 983c–984c

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English Page · Branch 17 of 32

Epinomis · 983c–984c

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Ancient Greek

p. 28

τοιοῦτον, οὐδὲν σαφὲς ἐρεῖ· τὸ δὲ παρ’ ἡμῶν εἰρημένον 983d σφόδρ’ ἀναλαβεῖν χρή, πότερον ἔχει λόγον ὁ λόγος ἢ πάντως ὑστερεῖ, τὸ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ὄντα εἶναι δύο, τὸ μὲν ψυχήν, τὸ δὲ σῶμα, καὶ πολλὰ ἑκατέρου, πάντα δὲ ἀλλήλων ἄλλα καὶ ἑκάτερα ἑκατέρων, καὶ τρίτον ἄλλο οὐδὲν κοινὸν οὐδενί, διαφέρειν δὲ ψυχὴν σώματος. ἔμφρον μέν που, τὸ δὲ ἄφρον θήσομεν, ἄρχον δέ, τὸ δὲ ἀρχόμενον, καὶ τὸ μὲν αἴτιον ἁπάντων, τὸ δὲ ἀναίτιον πάσης πάθης· ὥστε τά γε δὴ κατ’ 983e οὐρανὸν ὑπ’ ἄλλου του φάναι γεγονέναι, καὶ μὴ ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος οὕτως εἶναι γεννήματα, πολλὴ μωρία τε καὶ ἀλογία. εἰ δ’ οὖν δεῖ νικᾶν τοὺς περὶ ἁπάντων τῶν τοιούτων λόγους καὶ πιστῶς θεῖα φαίνεσθαι γεγονέναι τὰ τοιαῦτα σύμπαντα, δυοῖν τοι θάτερα θετέον αὐτά· ἢ γὰρ θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ταῦτα ὑμνητέον ὀρθότατα, ἢ θεῶν εἰκόνας ὡς ἀγάλματα 984a ὑπολαβεῖν γεγονέναι, θεῶν αὐτῶν ἐργασαμένων· οὐ γὰρ ἀνοήτων γε οὐδὲ βραχέος ἀξίων, ἀλλ’ ὅπερ εἰρήκαμεν, τούτων ἡμῖν θάτερα θετέα, τὰ δὲ τεθέντα τιμητέον πάντων ἀγαλμάτων διαφερόντως· οὐ γὰρ μήποτε φανῇ καλλίω καὶ κοινότερα συμπάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀγάλματα, οὐδ’ ἐν διαφέρουσιν τόποις ἱδρυμένα, καθαριότητι καὶ σεμνότητι καὶ συμ984bπάσῃ ζωῇ διαφέροντα ἢ ταύτῃ ὡς πάντῃ ταύτῃ γεγένηται. νῦν οὖν δὴ περὶ θεῶν ἐγχειρῶμεν τό γε τοσοῦτον, τὰ δύο κατιδόντες ζῷα ὁρατὰ ἡμῖν, ἅ φαμεν ἀθάνατον, τὸ δὲ γήινον ἅπαν θνητὸν γεγονέναι, τὰ τρία τὰ μέσα τῶν πέντε τὰ μεταξὺ τούτων σαφέστατα κατὰ δόξαν τὴν ἐπιεικῆ γεγονότα πειραθῆναι λέγειν. αἰθέρα μὲν γὰρ μετὰ τὸ πῦρ θῶμεν, ψυχὴν δ’ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τιθῶμεν πλάττειν ζῷα δύναμιν ἔχοντα, ὥσπερ 984c τῶν ἄλλων γενῶν, τὸ πολὺ μὲν τῆς αὐτοῦ φύσεως, τὰ δὲ σμικρότερα συνδέσμου χάριν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων γενῶν· μετὰ δὲ τὸν αἰθέρα ἐξ ἀέρος πλάττειν τὴν ψυχὴν γένος ἕτερον

Epinomis

p. 29

such thing, are certain causes, he will say nothing clear; but what has been said by us 983d we must take up again very firmly, whether the account has reason in it or falls short in every way:¹ first, that the things that are are two, the one soul, the other body, and many of each, all of them other than one another, and those of each kind other than those of the other, and no third thing common to any; and that soul differs from body. The one, I suppose, we shall set down as intelligent, the other as unintelligent; the one as ruling, the other as ruled; and the one as the cause of all things, the other as the cause of no affection at all; so that 983e to say that the things in the heaven, at least, have come into being by something else, and are not thus the offspring of soul and of body, is great folly and want of reason. If, then, the accounts about all such things are to win, and all such things are credibly to appear to have come into being divine, we must certainly set them down as one of two: for either we must hymn them, most rightly, as gods themselves, or 984a take them to have come into being as images of gods, like statues, the gods themselves having made them; for they are not the work of the senseless, at least, nor of those of little worth; but, as we have said, we must set down one of these two, and once they are set down we must honor them above all statues; for never will statues appear finer and more common to all mankind, nor set up in more excellent places, nor 984b more excellent in purity and solemnity and in all their life, than in this way, as in every way they have come to be in this way. Now, then, about gods let us attempt this much, at least: having observed the two living beings visible to us, of which we say that one is immortal² and that the earthly one has come into being wholly mortal, to try to speak of the three in the middle of the five, those that, according to the fair opinion, have most clearly come into being between these. For let us set down ether after fire, and let us set down that soul molds from it living beings that have power, as 984c with the other kinds, for the most part of its own nature, and in the smaller parts, for the sake of a bond, from the other kinds; and that after the ether the soul molds from air another kind

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.