Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 14 of 19
Hipparchus · 231c–232a
Ancient Greek
p. 22ΕΤ. Ἀπορῶ ἔγωγε ὅτι εἴπω.
ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἀδίκως γε σὺ ἀπορῶν. ἔτι γὰρ καὶ τόδε ἀπόκριναι· ἐάν τις ἔλαττον ἀναλώσας πλέον κτήσηται, φῂς κέρδος εἶναι;
ΕΤ. Οὔτι κακόν γε λέγω, ἀλλ’ ἐὰν χρυσίον ἢ ἀργύριον ἔλαττον ἀναλώσας πλέον λάβῃ.
231dΣΩ. Καὶ ἐγὼ μέλλω τοῦτο ἐρήσεσθαι. φέρε γάρ, ἐάν τις χρυσίου σταθμὸν ἥμισυν ἀναλώσας διπλάσιον λάβῃ ἀργυρίου, κέρδος ἢ ζημίαν εἴληφεν;
ΕΤ. Ζημίαν δήπου, ὦ Σώκρατες· ἀντὶ δωδεκαστασίου γὰρ διστάσιον αὐτῷ καθίσταται τὸ χρυσίον.
ΣΩ. Καὶ μὴν πλέον γ’ εἴληφεν· ἢ οὐ πλέον ἐστὶ τὸ διπλάσιον τοῦ ἡμίσεος;
ΕΤ. Οὔτι τῇ ἀξίᾳ γε ἀργύριον χρυσίου.
ΣΩ. Δεῖ ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικε, τῷ κέρδει τοῦτο προσεῖναι, τὴν ἀξίαν. νῦν γοῦν τὸ μὲν ἀργύριον πλέον ὂν τοῦ χρυσίου οὐ φῂς ἄξιον εἶναι, τὸ δὲ χρυσίον ἔλαττον ὂν ἄξιον φῂς εἶναι.
231eΕΤ. Σφόδρα· ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως.
ΣΩ. Τὸ μὲν ἄξιον ἄρα κερδαλέον ἐστίν, ἐάντε σμικρὸν ᾖ ἐάντε μέγα, τὸ δὲ ἀνάξιον ἀκερδές.
ΕΤ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Τὸ δὲ ἄξιον λέγεις ἄξιον εἶναι ἄλλο τι ἢ κεκτῆσθαι;
ΕΤ. Ναί, κεκτῆσθαι.
ΣΩ. Τὸ δὲ ἄξιον αὖ λέγεις κεκτῆσθαι τὸ ἀνωφελὲς ἢ τὸ ὠφέλιμον;
ΕΤ. Τὸ ὠφέλιμον δήπου.
232aΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν τὸ ὠφέλιμον ἀγαθόν ἐστιν;
ΕΤ. Ναί.
ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν, ὦ ἀνδρειότατε πάντων, οὐ τὸ κερδαλέον ἀγαθὸν αὖ πάλιν τρίτον ἢ τέταρτον ἥκει ἡμῖν ὁμολογούμενον;
ΕΤ. Ἔοικεν.
Hipparchus
p. 23Comp. I am at a loss what to say.1
Soc. Not unjustly, at any rate, are you at a loss. For answer one thing more: if someone, spending less, acquires more, do you say it is gain?2
Comp. It is not something bad that I mean, at any rate, but if, spending less gold or silver, he gets more.
Soc. 231d And that is just what I am going to ask. For come: if someone spends half a weight of gold and gets twice that weight of silver, has he got gain or loss?
Comp. Loss, surely, Socrates: for instead of twelve times its weight his gold becomes for him twice its weight.3
Soc. And yet he has got more, at any rate; or is the double not more than the half?
Comp. Not in worth, at any rate, is silver more than gold.
Soc. Then, it seems, gain must have this belonging to it as well: worth. Now, at any rate, the silver, though more than the gold, you say is not of worth,4 and the gold, though less, you say is of worth.
Comp. 231e Very much so: that is how it is.
Soc. Then what is of worth is gainful, whether it is small or great, and what is of no worth is without gain.
Comp. Yes.
Soc. And when you say that something is of worth, you mean that it is worth possessing, don’t you?
Comp. Yes: possessing.
Soc. And by what is worth possessing, in turn, do you mean what is of no benefit, or what is beneficial?
Comp. What is beneficial, surely.
Soc. 232a Then what is beneficial is good?
Comp. Yes.
Soc. Then, most courageous of all men, hasn’t it come round to us once again, agreed for the third or fourth time, that what is gainful is good?5
Comp. It seems so.
Socrates
Reading Hipparchus · Hipparchus · 231c–232a
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Socrates and an unnamed companion examine the love of gain, the difference between gain and loss, and whether everyone desires what is good. This complete revised edition presents the dialogue, 225a–232c, across twelve Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, Key Words of the Dialogue, an outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and translator’s notes. The dialogue is transmitted among Plato’s works; its authorship remains disputed.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows John Burnet’s Platonis Opera, volume II (Oxford, 1901; second edition, 1910), in a later impression printed by John Johnson. The words were taken from the Perseus Digital Library transcription and checked against the supplied printed pages. Burnet’s lineation, verse quotations, editorial signs, and critical apparatus are retained. The supplied PDF preserves the complete printed layout.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared and revised this independent English translation directly from the Greek, preserving the argument’s distinctions, consistent key terms, and Socrates’ humor. Each English dialogue page translates the Greek page opposite it. All 26 translator’s notes accompany their passages. The introduction and Key Words of the Dialogue precede the text; the Outline, Editorial Note, Glossary of Key Terms, and Note on this Edition follow it. Introductory and concluding matter reflows for the screen.
Rights
The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, and reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The independent English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.