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Plato

Minos

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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MinosMinos · 313c–314c

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Minos · 313c–314c

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Ancient Greek

p. 4

καὶ ἄλλο μὲν ἀκοή, ἄλλο δὲ τὰ ἀκουόμενα, καὶ ἄλλο δὴ νόμος, ἄλλο δὲ τὰ νομιζόμενα; οὕτως ἢ πῶς σοι δοκεῖ;

ΕΤ. Ἄλλο μοι νῦν ἐφάνη.

ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα νόμος ἐστὶν τὰ νομιζόμενα.

ΕΤ. Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ.

ΣΩ. Τί δῆτ’ ἂν εἴη νόμος; ἐπισκεψώμεθ’ αὐτὸ ὧδε. εἴ τις ἡμᾶς τὰ νυνδὴ λεγόμενα ἀνήρετο, “Ἐπειδὴ ὄψει φατὲ 314a τὰ ὁρώμενα ὁρᾶσθαι, τίνι ὄντι τῇ ὄψει ὁρᾶται;” ἀπεκρινάμεθ’ ἂν αὐτῷ ὅτι αἰσθήσει ταύτῃ τῇ διὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν δηλούσῃ τὰ πράγματα· εἰ δ’ αὖ ἤρετο ἡμᾶς, “Τί δέ; ἐπειδὴ ἀκοῇ τὰ ἀκουόμενα ἀκούεται, τίνι ὄντι τῇ ἀκοῇ;” ἀπεκρινάμεθ’ ἂν αὐτῷ ὅτι αἰσθήσει ταύτῃ τῇ διὰ τῶν ὤτων δηλούσῃ ἡμῖν τὰς φωνάς. οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ εἰ ἀνέροιτο ἡμᾶς, “Ἐπειδὴ νόμῳ τὰ νομιζόμενα νομίζεται, τίνι ὄντι τῷ νόμῳ νομίζεται; 314b πότερον αἰσθήσει τινὶ ἢ δηλώσει, ὥσπερ τὰ μανθανόμενα μανθάνεται δηλούσῃ τῇ ἐπιστήμῃ, ἢ εὑρέσει τινί, ὥσπερ τὰ εὑρισκόμενα εὑρίσκεται, οἷον τὰ μὲν ὑγιεινὰ καὶ νοσώδη ἰατρικῇ, ἃ δὲ οἱ θεοὶ διανοοῦνται, ὥς φασιν οἱ μάντεις, μαντικῇ; ἡ γάρ που τέχνη ἡμῖν εὕρεσίς ἐστιν τῶν πραγμάτων· ἦ γάρ;”

ΕΤ. Πάνυ γε.

ΣΩ. Τί οὖν ἂν τούτων ὑπολάβοιμεν μάλιστα τὸν νόμον εἶναι;

ΕΤ. Τὰ δόγματα ταῦτα καὶ ψηφίσματα, ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ. τί γὰρ ἂν ἄλλο τις φαίη νόμον εἶναι; ὥστε κινδυνεύει, ὃ 314c σὺ ἐρωτᾷς, τὸ ὅλον τοῦτο, νόμος, δόγμα πόλεως εἶναι.

ΣΩ. Δόξαν, ὡς ἔοικε, λέγεις πολιτικὴν τὸν νόμον.

ΕΤ. Ἔγωγε.

4

Minos

p. 5

and hearing one thing and the things heard another, and so law one thing and what is accepted another? Is it so, or how does it seem to you?

Comp. Now they appear to me to be different.

Soc. So law is not what is accepted.

Comp. I do not think so.

Soc. Then what might law be? Let us look into it in this way. If someone had asked us about the things we were just saying, “Since you say that 314a the things seen are seen by sight, what is the sight by which they are seen?”, we would have answered him that it is perception, the kind that reveals things through the eyes. And if again he had asked us, “Well? Since the things heard are heard by hearing, what is the hearing?”, we would have answered him that it is perception, the kind that reveals sounds to us through the ears. So too, then, if he should ask us, “Since what is accepted is accepted by law, what is the law by which it is accepted? 314b Is it some perception or revealing, as the things learned are learned by knowledge revealing them, or some finding, as the things found are found: what is healthy and what is sickly, for instance, by medicine, and what the gods have in mind, as the prophets say, by prophecy? For craft, I suppose, is our finding of things; isn’t that so?”

Comp. Certainly.

Soc. Then which of these would we most take law to be?

Comp. These resolutions and decrees,1 I think. For what else would anyone say law is? So it looks as though what 314c you are asking about, this whole thing, law, is a resolution of the city.

Soc. It is opinion, it seems, that you say law is: political opinion.

Comp. I do.

5

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.