Epinomis

Name: Epinomis
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon

EpinomisEpinomis · 989c–990b

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

English Page · Branch 24 of 32

Epinomis · 989c–990b

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 42

989cταύταις ταῖς φύσεσιν δυναμένη μανθάνειν καὶ μνήμων οὖσα, εὖ μάλα χαίρειν τούτοις αὐτοῖς δύναιτ’ ἂν φιλομαθὴς ὥστ’ εἶναι. ταῦτα γὰρ οὔτε ῥᾴδια φύεσθαι, γενόμενά τε, καὶ τροφῆς καὶ παιδείας τυχόντα ἧς δεῖ, τοὺς πλείστους αὐτῶν καὶ χείρους κατέχειν ὀρθότατα δύναιτ’ ἂν τῷ φρονεῖν καὶ πράττειν καὶ λέγειν περὶ θεοὺς ἕκαστα ὡς δεῖ τε καὶ ὅτε δεῖ, περὶ θυσίας τε καὶ καθαρμοὺς τῶν περὶ θεούς τε καὶ ἀνθρώπους, οὐ σχήμασι τεχνάζοντας, ἀλλὰ ἀληθείᾳ τιμῶντας 989d ἀρετήν, ὃ δὴ καὶ μέγιστόν ἐστι συμπάντων πάσῃ τῇ πόλει. τοῦτο δὴ οὖν τὸ μέρος εἶναί φαμεν φύσει κυριώτατον καὶ δυνατὸν ὡς οἷόν τε κάλλιστα καὶ ἄριστα μαθεῖν, εἰ διδάσκοι τις. ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἂν διδάξειεν, εἰ μὴ θεὸς ὑφηγοῖτο· εἰ τ’ οὖν διδάσκοι, κατὰ τρόπον δὲ μὴ δρῷ τὸ τοιοῦτον, κρεῖττον μὴ μανθάνειν. ὅμως δ’ ἐκ τῶν νῦν λεγομένων ἀνάγκη μαθεῖν ταῦτα καὶ ἐμὲ λέγειν τὴν τοιαύτην τε καὶ ἀρίστην φύσιν. 989e πειρώμεθα δὴ τῷ τε λόγῳ διεξελθεῖν ἅ τ’ ἐστὶν καὶ οἷα καὶ ὡς δεῖ μανθάνειν, κατὰ δύναμιν τήν τ’ ἐμὴν τοῦ λέγοντος 990a καὶ τὴν τῶν δυναμένων εἰσακοῦσαι, θεοσεβείας ᾧτινι τρόπῳ τις τίνα μαθήσεται. σχεδὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἄτοπον ἀκούσαντι, τὸ δ’ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ λέγομεν ἡμεῖς γε, ὅ τις οὐκ ἄν ποτε δόξειεν δι’ ἀπειρίαν τοῦ πράγματος—ἀστρονομίαν—ἀγνοεῖ τε ὅτι σοφώτατον ἀνάγκη τὸν ἀληθῶς ἀστρονόμον εἶναι, μὴ τὸν καθ’ Ἡσίοδον ἀστρονομοῦντα καὶ πάντας τοὺς τοιούτους, οἷον δυσμάς τε καὶ ἀνατολὰς ἐπεσκεμμένον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῶν ὀκτὼ περιόδων τὰς ἑπτὰ περιόδους, διεξιούσης τὸν αὑτῶν κύκλον 990b ἑκάστης οὕτως ὡς οὐκ ἂν ῥᾳδίως ποτὲ πᾶσα φύσις ἱκανὴ γένοιτο θεωρῆσαι, μὴ θαυμαστῆς μετέχουσα φύσεως. ὃ νῦν εἰρήκαμεν ἐροῦμέν τε, ὥς φαμεν, ὅπῃ δεῖ τε καὶ ὅπως χρεὼν μανθάνειν· πρῶτον δ’ ἡμῖν τόδε λεγέσθω.

Epinomis

p. 43

989cthese natures able to learn, and having a good memory, it would be able to delight very much in these very things, so as to be a lover of learning. For these are not easy to grow; but once they have come into being, and have met with the nourishment and education they need, they would be able most rightly to hold in check the most of them, and the worse ones, by being intelligent and by doing and saying each thing about the gods as one must and when one must, concerning the sacrifices and purifications that bear on gods and men; not contriving with outward show, but honoring 989d virtue in truth, which is indeed the greatest thing of all for the whole city. This part, then, we say is by nature the most sovereign, and able to learn as finely and as well as is possible, if someone should teach it. But one would not even teach it unless a god led the way; and if, then, someone should teach, but not do such a thing in the right way, it is preferable not to learn. Nevertheless, from what is now being said, the nature of this kind and the best must learn these things, and I must say them. 989e Let us try, then, to go through in the account what these things are, and of what sort, and how one must learn them, according to the power both of me as the speaker 990a and of those able to give ear: in what way one will learn what things of reverence toward the gods. It is very nearly strange, then, to one who hears it; but we, at least, say its name — a name that one would never expect, through inexperience of the matter: astronomy; and one is ignorant that the true astronomer must be the wisest: not the one who does astronomy after Hesiod’s fashion, and all such men, as one who has looked into settings and risings,¹ but the one who has looked into the seven circuits of the eight circuits,² 990b each going through its own cycle in such a way as no nature would ever easily become good enough to contemplate, unless it shares in a wonderful nature. What we have now spoken of we shall also tell, as we say: where one must learn it and how one must; but first let this be said by us.

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.