Minos

Name: Minos
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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MinosMinos · 314c–315a

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 6 of 20

Minos · 314c–315a

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Ancient Greek

p. 6

ΣΩ. Καὶ ἴσως καλῶς λέγεις· τάχα δὲ ὧδε ἄμεινον εἰσόμεθα. λέγεις τινὰς σοφούς;—ΕΤ. Ἔγωγε.—ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν οἱ σοφοί εἰσιν σοφίᾳ σοφοί;—ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Τί δέ; οἱ δίκαιοι δικαιοσύνῃ δίκαιοι;—ΕΤ. Πάνυ γε.—ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν καὶ οἱ νόμιμοι νόμῳ νόμιμοι;—ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Οἱ δὲ 314d ἄνομοι ἀνομίᾳ ἄνομοι;—ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Οἱ δὲ νόμιμοι δίκαιοι;—ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Οἱ δὲ ἄνομοι ἄδικοι;—ΕΤ. Ἄδικοι. —ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν κάλλιστον ἡ δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ὁ νόμος;— ΕΤ. Οὕτως.—ΣΩ. Αἴσχιστον δὲ ἡ ἀδικία τε καὶ ἡ ἀνομία; —ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Καὶ τὸ μὲν σῴζει τὰς πόλεις καὶ τἆλλα πάντα, τὸ δὲ ἀπόλλυσι καὶ ἀνατρέπει;—ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Ὡς περὶ καλοῦ ἄρα τινὸς ὄντος δεῖ τοῦ νόμου διανοεῖσθαι, καὶ ὡς ἀγαθὸν αὐτὸ ζητεῖν.—ΕΤ. Πῶς δ’ οὔ;

ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν δόγμα ἔφαμεν εἶναι πόλεως τὸν νόμον;— 314e ΕΤ. Ἔφαμεν γάρ.—ΣΩ. Τί οὖν; οὐκ ἔστιν τὰ μὲν χρηστὰ δόγματα, τὰ δὲ πονηρά;—ΕΤ. Ἔστιν μὲν οὖν.—ΣΩ. Καὶ μὴν νόμος γε οὐκ ἦν πονηρός.—ΕΤ. Οὐ γάρ.—ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα ὀρθῶς ἔχει ἀποκρίνεσθαι οὕτως ἁπλῶς ὅτι νόμος ἐστὶ δόγμα πόλεως.—ΕΤ. Οὐκ ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ.—ΣΩ. Οὐκ ἄρα ἁρμόττοι ἂν τὸ πονηρὸν δόγμα νόμος εἶναι.—ΕΤ. Οὐ δῆτα.

ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μὴν δόξα γέ τις καὶ αὐτῷ μοι καταφαίνεται ὁ νόμος εἶναι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐχ ἡ πονηρὰ δόξα, ἆρα οὐκ ἤδη τοῦτο κατάδηλον, ὡς ἡ χρηστή, εἴπερ δόξα νόμος ἐστί;— ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Δόξα δὲ χρηστὴ τίς ἐστιν; οὐχ ἡ ἀληθής; 315a —ΕΤ. Ναί.—ΣΩ. Οὐκοῦν ἡ ἀληθὴς δόξα τοῦ ὄντος ἐστὶν ἐξεύρεσις;—ΕΤ. Ἔστιν γάρ.—ΣΩ. Ὁ νόμος ἄρα βούλεται τοῦ ὄντος εἶναι ἐξεύρεσις.

ΕΤ. Πῶς οὖν, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰ ὁ νόμος ἐστὶν τοῦ ὄντος ἐξεύρεσις, οὐκ ἀεὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς νόμοις χρώμεθα περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν, εἰ τὰ ὄντα γε ἡμῖν ἐξηύρηται;

Minos

p. 7

Soc. And perhaps you speak well; but perhaps we shall know better in this way. Do you say that some people are wise?—Comp. I do.—Soc. Then the wise are wise by wisdom?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. Well? The just are just by justice?—Comp. Certainly.—Soc. Then the lawful too are lawful by law?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And the 314d lawless are lawless by lawlessness?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And the lawful are just?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And the lawless unjust?—Comp. Unjust.—Soc. Then justice and law are something most fine?—Comp. Just so.—Soc. And injustice and lawlessness most shameful?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And the one preserves cities and everything else, and the other destroys and overturns them?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. Then we must think about law as about something fine, and seek it as a good.—Comp. Of course.

Soc. Now, we said that law is a resolution of the city?—Comp. 314e We did.—Soc. Well then? Are there not decent resolutions, and base ones?—Comp. There are indeed.—Soc. And law, at least, was not base.—Comp. No.—Soc. Then it is not right to answer so simply that law is a resolution of the city.—Comp. I do not think so.—Soc. Then a base resolution could not fittingly be law.—Comp. No indeed.

Soc. And yet to me too law appears to be opinion of some kind; and since it is not the base opinion, is it not now quite clear that it is the decent one, if law is opinion?—Comp. Yes.—Soc. And what opinion is decent? Is it not the true one?—Comp. 315a Yes.—Soc. Then true opinion is the discovery of what is?—Comp. It is.—Soc. Law, then, wishes to be the discovery of what is.¹

Comp. How then, Socrates, if law is the discovery of what is, do we not always use the same laws about the same things, if the things that are have indeed been discovered by us?

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.