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Plato

Minos

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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MinosMinos · 321c–321d

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Minos · 321c–321d

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Ancient Greek

p. 26

ΕΤ. Πάνυ μὲν οὖν.

ΣΩ. Φέρε δὴ πρὸς Διὸς φιλίου· εἴ τις ἡμᾶς ἔροιτο, ὁ τῷ σώματι ἀγαθὸς νομοθέτης τε καὶ νομεὺς τί ἐστιν ταῦτα ἃ διανέμων ἐπὶ τὸ σῶμα βέλτιον αὐτὸ ποιεῖ, εἴποιμεν ἂν καλῶς τε καὶ διὰ βραχέων ἀποκρινόμενοι, ὅτι τροφήν τε καὶ πόνους, τῇ μὲν αὔξων, τοῖς δὲ γυμνάζων καὶ συνιστὰς τὸ σῶμα αὐτό.

ΕΤ. Ὀρθῶς γε.

321dΣΩ. Εἰ οὖν δὴ μετὰ τοῦτο ἔροιτο ἡμᾶς, “Τί δὲ δή ποτε ἐκεῖνά ἐστιν, ⟨ἃ⟩ ὁ ἀγαθὸς νομοθέτης τε καὶ νομεὺς διανέμων ἐπὶ τὴν ψυχὴν βελτίω αὐτὴν ποιεῖ;” τί ἂν ἀποκρινάμενοι οὐκ ἂν αἰσχυνθεῖμεν καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας αὑτῶν;

ΕΤ. Οὐκέτι τοῦτ’ ἔχω εἰπεῖν.

ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μέντοι αἰσχρόν γε τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἑκατέρου, τὰ μὲν ἐν αὐταῖς φαίνεσθαι μὴ εἰδυίας, ἐν οἷς αὐταῖς ἔνεστι καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ φλαῦρον, τὰ δὲ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐσκέφθαι.

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Minos

p. 27

Comp. Certainly.

Soc. Come then, by Zeus of Friendship:1 if someone should ask us what these things are that the good lawgiver and distributor for the body distributes to the body and so makes it better, we would say, answering well and briefly, that they are food and labors: by the one making the body grow, by the others exercising it and giving it firmness.

Comp. Rightly.

Soc. 321d If after this, then, he should ask us, “And what, pray, are those things ⟨that⟩ the good lawgiver and distributor distributes to the soul and so makes it better?”, what answer could we give and not be ashamed for ourselves and for our age?2

Comp. This I can no longer say.

Soc. And yet it is shameful, surely, for the soul of each of us that our souls should appear not to know the things within them, in which both what is good and what is poor are present in them, while they have looked into the things of the body and of the others.

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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.