Minos

Name: Minos
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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MinosMinos · 319b–320a

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Minos · 319b–320a

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Ancient Greek

p. 20

καὶ ἐνενήκοντα πόληες, τῇσι δέ, φησίν—

ἔνι Κνωσὸς μεγάλη πόλις, ἔνθα τε Μίνωςἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής.

319cἔστιν οὖν τοῦτο Ὁμήρου ἐγκώμιον εἰς Μίνων διὰ βραχέων εἰρημένον, οἷον οὐδ’ εἰς ἕνα τῶν ἡρώων ἐποίησεν Ὅμηρος. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ὁ Ζεὺς σοφιστής ἐστιν καὶ ἡ τέχνη αὕτη παγκάλη ἐστί, πολλαχοῦ καὶ ἄλλοθι δηλοῖ, ἀτὰρ καὶ ἐνταῦθα. λέγει γὰρ τὸν Μίνων συγγίγνεσθαι ἐνάτῳ ἔτει τῷ Διὶ ἐν λόγοις καὶ φοιτᾶν παιδευθησόμενον ὡς ὑπὸ σοφιστοῦ ὄντος τοῦ Διός. ὅτι οὖν τοῦτο τὸ γέρας οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτῳ ἀπένειμεν Ὅμηρος τῶν ἡρώων, ὑπὸ Διὸς πεπαιδεῦσθαι, ἄλλῳ ἢ Μίνῳ, 319d τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἔπαινος θαυμαστός. καὶ Ὀδυσσείας ἐν Νεκυίᾳ δικάζοντα χρυσοῦν σκῆπτρον ἔχοντα πεποίηκε τὸν Μίνων, οὐ τὸν Ῥαδάμανθυν· Ῥαδάμανθυν δὲ οὔτ’ ἐνταῦθα δικάζοντα πεποίηκεν οὔτε συγγιγνόμενον τῷ Διὶ οὐδαμοῦ. διὰ ταῦτά φημ’ ἐγὼ Μίνων ἁπάντων μάλιστα ὑπὸ Ὁμήρου ἐγκεκωμιάσθαι. τὸ γὰρ Διὸς ὄντα παῖδα μόνον ὑπὸ Διὸς πεπαιδεῦσθαι οὐκ ἔχει ὑπερβολὴν ἐπαίνου—τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ ἔπος τὸ—

ἐννέωρος βασίλευε Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής,

319eσυνουσιαστὴν τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι τὸν Μίνων. οἱ γὰρ ὄαροι λόγοι εἰσίν, καὶ ὀαριστὴς συνουσιαστής ἐστιν ἐν λόγοις—ἐφοίτα οὖν δι’ ἐνάτου ἔτους εἰς τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἄντρον ὁ Μίνως, τὰ μὲν μαθησόμενος, τὰ δὲ ἀποδειξόμενος ἃ τῇ προτέρᾳ ἐννεετηρίδι ἐμεμαθήκει παρὰ τοῦ Διός. εἰσὶν δὲ οἳ ὑπολαμβάνουσι τὸν ὀαριστὴν συμπότην καὶ συμπαιστὴν εἶναι τοῦ Διός, ἀλλὰ τῷδε ἄν τις τεκμηρίῳ χρῷτο ὅτι οὐδὲν λέγουσιν οἱ οὕτως 320a ὑπολαμβάνοντες· πολλῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ Ἑλ-

319b 5.Source editor’s annotationκνωσσὸς A F

319b 6.Source editor’s annotationἐννέωρος A: ἐννέορος F (et infra d9)

319c 4.Source editor’s annotationπαγκάλη A: παγκάλης F

319c 5.Source editor’s annotationλέγει F: λέγοι A

319c 5.Source editor’s annotationμίνων A: μίνω F

319d 1.Source editor’s annotationνεκυία F: νεκυείᾳ A

319d 3.Source editor’s annotationῥαδάμανθυν alterum A: om. F

319d 3.Source editor’s annotationδικάζοντα πεποίηκεν A: πεποίηκε δικάζοντα F

319d 5.Source editor’s annotation÷ ἁπάντων A: πάντων F

319d 9.Source editor’s annotationὁ ἀριστής F (et mox)

319e 4.Source editor’s annotationπροτέρᾳ F: προτεραίᾳ A

319e 5.Source editor’s annotationἐμεμαθήκει A: μεμάθηκε F

Minos

p. 21

and ninety cities, “and among them,” he says,

is Cnossus, a great city, where Minos was king, nine-yearly confidant of great Zeus.¹

319cThis, then, is Homer’s eulogy of Minos, spoken briefly, such as Homer made for not a single one of the heroes. For that Zeus is a sophist, and that this craft is a very fine one, he reveals in many other places, and here too. For he says that Minos used to come to be with Zeus in the ninth year, in words, and to go to be educated by Zeus, as by a sophist. That this privilege, then, to have been educated by Zeus, is one Homer distributed to no other of the heroes than Minos, 319d this is wonderful praise. And in the Nekyia of the Odyssey he has made Minos the one judging, holding a golden scepter, not Rhadamanthys;² but Rhadamanthys he has made neither judging there nor coming to be with Zeus anywhere. That is why I say that Minos has been eulogized by Homer above all men. For to have been, as a son of Zeus, the only one educated by Zeus leaves no room to praise more highly; for this is what the verse means—

was king, nine-yearly confidant of great Zeus,³

319ethat Minos was one who was with Zeus. For confidences are words, and a confidant is one who is with another in words. So Minos used to go every ninth year to the cave of Zeus, to learn some things, and to show the things he had learned from Zeus in the nine years before. There are some who take the confidant to be Zeus’s drinking-companion and playfellow; but one might use this as evidence that those who 320a take it so are talking nonsense: for though there are many peoples, Greek

About This Reading Edition

Socrates and an unnamed companion ask what law is, testing custom, civic decrees, true opinion, and the discovery of what is. The conversation turns to the crafts and to Minos as the lawgiver of Crete, before ending with an unanswered question about what improves the soul. This complete edition presents the dialogue, 313a–321d, across thirteen Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, key words, outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and thirty translator’s notes. Transmitted among Plato’s works, its authorship is disputed.

Historical Text and Translation

The Greek follows John Burnet’s Platonis Opera, volume V (Oxford, 1907), in the supplied later impression printed by John Johnson, not before 1936. The supplied edition checks the Perseus Digital Library transcription against the printed pages. Burnet’s speaker names, quoted verse, editorial signs, and critical apparatus remain available. The companion PDF preserves the printed lineation and complete page layout.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the independent English translation and notes. Each English dialogue page translates the Greek page opposite it, with Stephanus references in the margin and all thirty translator’s notes attached to 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.

Rights

The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s historical text 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 editorial matter were prepared by Diotimos Editions, 2026, and are published with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown.