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Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition

Plato

Epinomis

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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EpinomisEpinomis · 992d–992e

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Epinomis · 992d–992e

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Ancient Greek

p. 50

τίθεμεν, εἰς πρεσβύτου τέλος ἀφικομένοις τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς παραδίδοσθαι δεῖν, τοὺς δ’ ἄλλους τούτοις συνεπομένους εὐφημεῖν πάντας θεοὺς ἅμα καὶ πάσας, καὶ τὸν νυκτερινὸν σύλλογον ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν σοφίαν ἱκανῶς γνόντας 992e τε καὶ δοκιμάσαντας ἡμᾶς ὀρθότατα πάντας παρακαλεῖν.

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Epinomis

p. 51

set down that, when they have come to the completion of old age, the greatest offices must be handed over to them; and that the others, following them, must speak auspiciously of all the gods and all the goddesses at once; and that 992e all of us, having come to know it well enough and having scrutinized it, must most rightly summon the nocturnal council to this wisdom.1

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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.