Epinomis

Note on this Edition

How the volume was made

The Greek was taken from the Perseus Digital Library’s digital transcription of Burnet and cut into Burnet’s lines by reading every line-end from the photographs of his page, in the impression described in the Editorial Note. Accents, breathings and iota subscripts were read on the sharpest photograph of each page, and a doubtful mark was settled by setting it beside sure examples of each form on the same page. The section letters and line numbers in the margin were worked out from the Stephanus divisions rather than copied, and were then compared with Burnet’s margin, page by page, across the 710 lines of the dialogue.

The dialogue was made in three blocks (Burnet pages 1–9, 10–17 and 18–25). Each block was checked by four independent reviewers: two, dividing its pages between them, compared the Greek and the apparatus with the page images letter by letter, one compared the English with the Greek clause by clause, and one checked every fact and reference in the notes and in the Editorial Note. Each finding was examined again against the evidence before it was adopted, and not all were adopted. What those checks caught is recorded at the end of this Note.

The volume was then read through again as one text, since a check made block by block cannot see some kinds of error: a word rendered one way in one block and another way in the next, a recapitulation that states a step in other words than the step itself, a sentence whose sense drifts across a page turn. The translator read the whole, and four further reviewers read it independently: one for the consistency of terms across the whole book and with the earlier volumes of the series, two for sense, omissions and continuity in its two halves, and one for the Editorial Note against the scan of Burnet’s volume. The Introduction, the Key Words of the Dialogue, the Outline and the Glossary were then written from the finished English, and three more reviewers checked them, claim by claim and citation by citation, together with the corrections made in the final reading.

What the final reading caught

It found some seventy points in the English and its notes, most of them small, that the block checks had passed or, in three places (977c, 977d and the page join at 981e), that their corrections had brought in; and a few in the Editorial Note, in On reading this edition and on the title page. They fall into a few classes.

The largest class was renderings that had drifted from one English word for one Greek word, most often across the boundary between two blocks. The verb the Athenian uses for the lawgiver’s account of the gods, apeikazein, was “making his likeness” in the first block (980a) and “liken” in the second (980c, 985b), where it picks up the same act; it is now “liken” in all three places. Phaneros is “manifest” at 973b too, where the draft had “clear”; theōros, the happy man after death, is “contemplator” (986d), with theōria and theōrein “contemplation” and “contemplate”; phainesthai is “appear” (976c, 983c), kept apart from anaphainesthai “come to light” and from “be seen”; poreuesthai is “travel” at 982b and 983c, as at 986b and 987b; morphē, the living being’s “shape” (981a–b), is kept apart from eidos, “form”; axioun is “claim” (988d), kept apart from nomizein “hold”; presbytatos keeps its family as “oldest” (988c, and the note at 992e), where the draft had “eldest”; schedon is “very nearly” at 978a and 979b, where the draft had “more or less”; and tithenai, phrazein, prosagoreuein and themis were brought into line with their rulings (973b, 978e, 984b, 984d; 979e; 987b; 986b).

Some renderings changed the sense or missed the Greek. At 977d the negation now covers the whole clause: the man without wisdom “would no longer ever become completely good, and so happy”. At 976e the god, “having given” number, preserves us. At 979a the reckoning is of “all things in relation to one another”. At 985b the demigod of water is likened “as having come into being from it, and as being sometimes seen”; at 986c–d the happy man’s wonder and love of learning are a general statement, in the present; at 986e the one with sense “must lead these, which are three”; at 988d the sentence that answers “But now, when we say” ends where Burnet ends it; at 990b the moon comes “first”, before the sun; and at 991b–c the emphatic denial “no one … will ever pray to take over with ease” now reads as the Greek construes it. Small words that Burnet prints had gone untranslated (973c, 976c, 979d, 983a, 989a, 989d, 991a), words with no Greek behind them were removed (976b, 978c, 980a, 982c, 984b, 991c), two page joins were redrawn (980b, 981e), and phrases that followed a published translation more closely than the Greek requires were reworded (973b, 975e, 976b, 976e, 978d, 980a, 982c, 984b, 986d, 986e, 987b). In the notes, the note on the daimons at 977a now describes them in the words of 984e, and the notes at 987a, 988c, 990a and 991c use the text’s own renderings.

On the title page the copy is now described as “issued 1936–1945”, as the Editorial Note dates it, and the title block reads “the complete dialogue”. The Vatican manuscript 1029 is now dated, the Editorial Note says that a sign that did not print is supplied as well as one that is broken (992d6), and the places at which Theon of Smyrna quotes the dialogue were confirmed in Hiller’s text.

What remains undone

The manuscript that Burnet cites as “cod. Voss.” has not been identified with certainty; the Editorial Note describes it as Burnet’s siglum does. The line numbers of Theon’s quotations in Hiller’s edition are not given, since they could not be checked on the printed page; the pages are given. Dindorf’s text of Eusebius reads λόγον at 980d1, where Burnet reports λέγων; the later edition of Eusebius has not been consulted, and Burnet’s report is printed as it stands. Grou’s French translation was not seen, and his conjecture at 985e3 rests on Burnet’s report.

At a few places the construal of the Greek is disputed and the English takes one side. At 984b the words “according to the fair opinion, have most clearly come into being” are taken with the coming into being of the three middle kinds, as the Block II reviewers took them, and as a published translation does; a reviewer in the final reading held that “most clearly” goes with “speak”, and a reader may take it so. “Shape” for morphē (981a–b) and “claim” for axioun (988d) also agree with a published translation; they are the ordinary senses of the words. At 979a the English keeps the god as the subject of “began to see every number together in relation to number”, where “all things” may be the subject instead. The mathematical passage (990c–991b) is rendered word for word, and the notes give the usual interpretation of it, marked as interpretation, and work out the arithmetic of the means (991b).

The apparatus is Burnet’s alone. It has not been collated against the manuscripts, and readings proposed since 1907 are not reported. The translation follows Burnet’s text even where later scholars would print something else.

The notes are a reader’s aid, not a commentary. They were chosen to explain what the English cannot carry, and they label the more doubtful interpretations as such. The question of who wrote the dialogue is set out in the Introduction but not argued; a reader who wants the scholarly debate will need a commentary.

The checks described above were made by independent reviewers working from the same page images. The volume has not been read by a specialist outside the project, and a reader who finds an error is asked to report it.

The record of the blocks

The notes that follow were written when each block was finished, and are kept as a record of what its check found. Where the final reading changed something they report, the text above says so.

Block I: 973a–980b (Burnet pages 1–9)

How it was made. Burnet pages 1–9 (scan pp. 157–165), 259 lines, from Clinias’ reminder of the question the Laws left open to his wish, at 980b, for the goal of the Athenian’s laws. The Greek was set line for line from the photographs of Burnet’s page, with his apparatus, and the English written and annotated; independent reviewers then checked the Greek and the apparatus against the photographs letter by letter, the English against the Greek clause by clause, and every note and the Editorial Note against their sources.

What the reviewers caught. The Greek text and the apparatus were confirmed letter by letter, and the doubtful marks settled on the page: the rough breathings of αὑτούς, αὑτόν and αὑτῷ (974c5, 977b3–4), which print like acute accents; the broken brackets round ἃς at 978d2, which are square brackets; a speck, not a point, in the apparatus at 975a8. In the English, two constructions had been misread: at 978d1 heaven “does not cease rolling” these things round, the participle completing the verb, and at 980b Clinias’ wish is for the Athenian himself, as the dative requires. Small words that Burnet prints against another reading had gone untranslated (τότε at 974b3 and 976b6; ἔτι at 977c3, 977d4 and 978a1; the article at 977d7, “the present account”), and the two members of 974e1 had been divided at the wrong place. Four Stephanus letters were moved to the first word of their section, and the first page join now keeps “from” with the Greek page that has ἐξ. Renderings were brought into line with the earlier volumes (“my dear Clinias”, “concur”, “think”, “fortune”, “reasonably”, “advantageous”, “good enough”, “what suits”), and phrases that followed a published translation more closely than the Greek requires were reworded. In the notes, the first place of sophia was corrected (974b); the note on routine now says of what Socrates speaks in the Gorgias, and adds the pairing of memory and routine at 501a; the story of men once eating one another is no longer said to come from the Laws, which reports it; and the notes on the father (978c) and on the readings at 978d1 were made exact. Two notes were added where Burnet’s reading changes the sense, at 978a1 (an tis for mantis) and 980a9 (paidia, “play”, for paideia, “education”). In the Editorial Note, the third bracketed word (979c) was added; Theon’s quotation was located; the correcting hands L² and O², the history of O and the dates of Humphrey Milford, which set an upper limit to the impression, were stated exactly; and the spaced points, the angle brackets and et were explained.

Not applied. A reviewer’s identification of “cod. Voss.” with a particular manuscript at Leiden, and a date for the Vatican manuscript 1029, are not printed until they can be confirmed.

Block II: 980b–986e (Burnet pages 10–17)

How it was made. Burnet pages 10–17 (scan pp. 166–173), 245 lines, from the close of Clinias’ wish at 980b, through the Athenian’s account of the generation of gods and living beings from soul and the five bodies, the stars as intelligent gods, the daimons and the demigods, and the honors the lawgiver owes the visible gods, to the eight powers of the heaven and the barbarian who first observed them (986e). It was made as Block I was: the Greek set line for line from the photographs, with the apparatus; the English written and annotated; then independent reviewers checked the Greek and the apparatus in two halves, the English clause by clause, and the notes and the Editorial Note against their sources.

What the reviewers caught. The Greek text was confirmed letter by letter. In the apparatus one breathing was wrong: at 985d5 Burnet reports αὑτὸς, with the rough breathing, as what A really has, and the entry had been transcribed with the smooth; the note at that place, which had said that A has the other form, was rewritten. In the English, several constructions had been misread: at 981a1–2 the comparative belongs to a perfect passive (“would … have been begun by us more plausibly”); at 981c7 Burnet’s ἕκαστον agrees with “living being”; at 982e5 it is the stars, not their nature, that accomplish what is needed; at 984b2–6 “most clearly” belongs to the coming into being of the three middle kinds, not to the speaking; at 984e1 Burnet’s δέ, against Stallbaum’s γε, sets “the kind of air” beside the daimons; at 985a1 it is the two living beings that are quick to learn; and at 985d6 the Athenian speaks of “other gods”. Small words had gone untranslated (γε at 981a1, ἅμα at 985a3 and 985e1, δή at 985b1, ποτέ at 985e1), παλαιότερον had been rendered “older” beside πρεσβύτερον, and πιθανόν and πιστῶς had shared one English word. Five Stephanus letters were moved to the first word of their section (981c, 982e, 983e, 984b, 986d), and two page joins (pages 11–12 and 12–13) now keep with each Greek page the words it has. Renderings were brought into line with the series and within the block (“my good sir”, “set down”, “really”, “cycles”, “visible”, “reverence toward the gods”), and phrases that followed a published translation more closely than the Greek requires were reworded. A note was added on the words “the one” at 984b3, which Burnet does not print and the English supplies. In the notes, Burnet’s deletion at 986b2 is now said to be of a word all three manuscripts have; the passages of the Laws that the dialogue answers were added at 980d (885b) and 982c (960c–d); the places in the Timaeus were made exact; and a phrase that followed a published translation of the Timaeus was replaced. In the Editorial Note, the places at which Eusebius quotes the dialogue were corrected and completed, Grou was named, the round brackets at 986b2 and the remark sed ί in ras. were explained, and the signatures were described.

Not applied. A reviewer found that Dindorf’s text of Eusebius reads λόγον at 980d1, where Burnet reports λέγων. Burnet’s apparatus is reproduced as it stands; the difference is recorded above, under What remains undone.

Block III: 987a–992e (Burnet pages 18–25)

How it was made. Burnet pages 18–25 (scan pp. 174–181), 206 lines, from the barbarians who first observed the planets (987a) through the Greeks’ care for the gods, the soul as cause of every motion, the best natures and the subjects they must learn — number, geometry, stereometry, the means of music, astronomy — to the wise man’s portion after death and the summons to the nocturnal council (992e). It was made as the earlier blocks were: the Greek set line for line from the photographs, with the apparatus; the English written and annotated; then independent reviewers checked the Greek and the apparatus in two halves, the English clause by clause, and the notes and the Editorial Note against their sources.

What the reviewers caught. The Greek text was confirmed letter by letter, with the three places where a scaffold word had to be divided or joined at a dash (991e5, 992a1–2, 992d1–2). In the apparatus one breathing was wrong: at 988b5 Burnet reports αὑτὸ, with the rough breathing, as the word a corrector of O adds. In the English, several constructions had been misread: at 987a5 the subject of “have reached” is the things about the stars; at 987a8 Burnet’s τὰ δὲ τίμια is “the others honored”; at 987b4 the neuter “fitting” belongs to the whole statement; at 988d3 soul is the subject of “disbelieve”; at 989a4 the Athenian says that we seem to be without judgment; at 990c4–5 it is the pupil who is a boy and a young man; at 990e4 nature stamps out form and kind; at 991b4 the gift of rhythm and harmony is made by the dance of the Muses; and at 992a7 “fortunate” is said of the report. One English word had stood for two Greek words, or two for one, in several places (the titles and the names of 987a–b; “way” for both τρόπος and ὁδός; “take up” for both λαμβάνειν and παραλαμβάνειν; “better” for both ἄμεινον and κρεῖττον), and καθορᾶν is now “see” here and at 986a; Block I’s “in harmony” at 974c became “concordantly”, leaving “harmony” to ἁρμονία. Small words had gone untranslated (δή at 986e9 and 988e6, ἅμα at 988a2, καί at 987a6 and 992b2, οἷον at 990a6), two Stephanus letters were moved (988c, 992d), the spelling “Cronus” was brought into line with the series, and phrases that followed a published translation more closely than the Greek requires were reworded. In the notes, the places in Hesiod and the Laws were made exact, the reading of A at 987c4 and the reading stereometria at 990d8 were added, and the nocturnal council’s knowledge is now stated in the Laws’ own terms. In the Editorial Note, every place at which Theon of Smyrna quotes the dialogue was located, and the round brackets at 988d2, the remark ὠβέλισται and the abbreviations of this block were explained.

Not applied. The line numbers of Theon’s quotations in Hiller’s edition are not given, since they could not be checked on the printed page; the pages are given.