Diotimos Library · Plato Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 4 of 19
Hipparchus · 225a–225c
Ancient Greek
p. 2ΙΠΠΑΡΧΟΣ
ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ ΕΤΑΙΡΟΣ
225aΣΩ. Τί γὰρ τὸ φιλοκερδές; τί ποτέ ἐστιν, καὶ τίνες οἱ φιλοκερδεῖς;
ΕΤ. Ἐμοὶ μὲν δοκοῦσιν οἳ ἂν κερδαίνειν ἀξιῶσιν ἀπὸ τῶν μηδενὸς ἀξίων.
ΣΩ. Πότερον οὖν σοι δοκοῦσιν γιγνώσκοντες ὅτι οὐδενός ἐστιν ἄξια, ἢ ἀγνοοῦντες; εἰ γὰρ ἀγνοοῦντες, ἀνοήτους λέγεις τοὺς φιλοκερδεῖς.
ΕΤ. Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀνοήτους λέγω, ἀλλὰ πανούργους καὶ 225b πονηροὺς καὶ ἥττους τοῦ κέρδους, γιγνώσκοντας ὅτι οὐδενὸς ἄξιά ἐστιν ἀφ’ ὧν τολμῶσι κερδαίνειν, ὅμως τολμᾶν φιλοκερδεῖν δι’ ἀναισχυντίαν.
ΣΩ. Ἆρ’ οὖν τοιόνδε λέγεις τὸν φιλοκερδῆ, οἷον ἐὰν φυτεύων γεωργὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ γιγνώσκων ὅτι οὐδενὸς ἄξιον τὸ φυτόν, ἀξιοῖ ἀπὸ τούτου ἐκτραφέντος κερδαίνειν; ἆρα τοιοῦτον αὐτὸν λέγεις;
ΕΤ. Ἀπὸ παντὸς ὅ γε φιλοκερδής, ὦ Σώκρατες, οἴεται δεῖν κερδαίνειν.
ΣΩ. Μή μοι οὕτως εἰκῇ, ὥσπερ τι ἠδικημένος ὑπό τινος, 225c ἀλλὰ προσέχων ἐμοὶ τὸν νοῦν ἀπόκριναι, ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πάλιν ἠρώτων· οὐχὶ ὁμολογεῖς τὸν φιλοκερδῆ ἐπιστήμονα εἶναι περὶ τῆς ἀξίας τούτου ὅθεν κερδαίνειν ἀξιοῖ;
Hipparchus
p. 3Soc. 225a What, then, is the love of gain? What is it, after all, and who are the lovers of gain?1
Comp. To me they seem to be those who think fit to gain from things worth nothing.2
Soc. Do they seem to you, then, to know that these are worth nothing, or to be ignorant of it? For if they are ignorant, it is senseless men you are calling lovers of gain.
Comp. No, I don’t call them senseless; I call them unscrupulous and 225b base, and no match for gain, men who know that the things from which they dare to gain are worth nothing, and yet dare to love gain, out of shamelessness.
Soc. Then is the lover of gain you mean someone like this: if a farmer, planting, and knowing that the plant is worth nothing, thinks fit to gain from it when it has grown? Is that the kind of man you mean?
Comp. The lover of gain, at any rate, Socrates, thinks he ought to gain from everything.
Soc. Don’t answer me so at random, as though someone had done you some wrong, 225c but pay attention to me and answer, just as if I were asking again from the beginning: don’t you agree that the lover of gain has knowledge of the worth of that from which he thinks fit to gain?
Socrates
Reading Hipparchus · Hipparchus · 225a–225c
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.