Epinomis

Name: Epinomis
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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EpinomisEpinomis · 991e–992d

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Epinomis · 991e–992d

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Ancient Greek

p. 48

ἀναφανῆναι δεῖ τῷ κατὰ τρόπον μανθάνοντι, φανήσεται δέ, ἄν, ὃ λέγομεν, ὀρθῶς τις εἰς ἓν βλέπων μανθάνῃ—δεσμὸς 992a γὰρ πεφυκὼς πάντων τούτων εἷς ἀναφανήσεται διανοουμένοις —εἰ δ’ ἄλλως πως ταῦτα μεταχειριεῖταί τις, τύχην δεῖ καλεῖν, ὥσπερ καὶ λέγομεν. οὐ γὰρ ἄνευ γε τούτων μήποτέ τις ἐν πόλεσιν εὐδαίμων γένηται φύσις, ἀλλ’ οὗτος ὁ τρόπος, αὕτη ἡ τροφή, ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα· εἴτε χαλεπὰ εἴτε ῥᾴδια, ταύτῃ πορευτέον. ἀμελῆσαι δὲ οὐ θεμιτόν ἐστιν θεῶν, καταφανοῦς γενομένης τῆς πάντων αὐτῶν κατὰ τρόπον λεγομένης φήμης 992b εὐτυχοῦς. τὸν δὲ σύμπαντα ταῦτα οὕτως εἰληφότα, τοῦτον λέγω τὸν ἀληθέστατα σοφώτατον· ὃν καὶ διισχυρίζομαι παίζων καὶ σπουδάζων ἅμα, ὅτε θανάτῳ τις τῶν τοιούτων τὴν αὑτοῦ μοῖραν ἀναπλήσει, σχεδὸν ἐάνπερ ἔτ’ ἀποθανὼν ᾖ, μήτε μεθέξειν ἔτι πολλῶν τότε καθάπερ νῦν αἰσθήσεων, μιᾶς τε μοίρας μετειληφότα μόνον καὶ ἐκ πολλῶν ἕνα γεγονότα, εὐδαίμονά τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ σοφώτατον ἅμα καὶ μακάριον, εἴτε τις ἐν ἠπείροις εἴτ’ ἐν νήσοις μακάριος ὢν 992c ζῇ, κἀκεῖνον μεθέξειν τῆς τοιαύτης ἀεὶ τύχης, κεἴτε δημοσίᾳ τις ἐπιτηδεύσας ταῦτα εἴτε ἰδίᾳ διαβιῷ, τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως αὐτὸν πράξειν παρὰ θεῶν. ὃ δὲ κατ’ ἀρχάς τε ἐλέγομεν, καὶ νῦν αὑτὸς πάρεστι λόγος ἀληθὴς ὄντως, ὡς οὐ δυνατὸν ἀνθρώποις τελέως μακαρίοις τε καὶ εὐδαίμοσι γενέσθαι πλὴν ὀλίγων, ἔστιν ταῦτα ὀρθῶς εἰρημένα· ὁπόσοι γὰρ θεῖοι καὶ σώφρονες ἅμα τῆς ἄλλης τε μετέχοντες ἀρετῆς φύσει, πρὸς 992d δὲ τούτοις ὅσα μαθήματος ἔχεται μακαρίου πάντα εἰληφότες —ἃ δ’ ἔστιν εἰρήκαμεν—τούτοισιν μόνοις τὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου σύμπαντα ἱκανῶς εἴληχέ τε καὶ ἔχει. τοῖς μὲν οὖν ταῦτα οὕτω διαπονήσασιν ἰδίᾳ λέγομεν καὶ δημοσίᾳ κατὰ νόμον

Epinomis

p. 49

must come to light for the one who learns in the right way; and it will appear if, as we say, someone learns rightly looking to one thing — 992a for one bond of all these, by nature, will come to light to those who think about them — but if someone takes these things in hand in some other way, one must call on fortune, as we also say. For without these, at least, no nature in cities will ever become happy; but this is the way, this the nourishment, these the subjects of learning; whether hard or easy, one must travel this way. And it is not permitted to neglect the gods, now that the report about them all, spoken in the right way, has become plain and 992b fortunate. The one who has taken up all these things in this way, him I call the most truly wisest; of whom I also affirm, in play and in earnest at once, that when such a one fills up his own portion by death, if indeed, very nearly, he still is when he has died, he will no longer then share, as now, in many perceptions, but, having had a share in one portion only and having become one out of many, will be happy, and at once wisest and blessed; and whether one 992c lives blessed on the mainlands or on the islands, that one too will always share in such fortune; and whether one passes his life having pursued these things in public or in private, he will fare the same and in the same way at the hands of the gods.¹ And what we were saying at the beginning, the same account is present now too as really true: that it is not possible for human beings to become completely blessed and happy, except for a few: this has been rightly said.² For as many as are divine and temperate at once, and share by nature in the rest of virtue, 992d and, in addition to these, have taken up all that belongs to the blessed subject of learning — and what they are we have said — to these alone have all the things of the daimonic fallen as their lot well enough, and are theirs.³ As for those, then, who have labored at these things in this way, we say in private, and in public, by law,

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.