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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 15 of 20
The Lovers · 138b–138d
Ancient Greek
p. 24Ἀληθῆ λέγεις, ἔφη.
Καὶ πολιτικὴ ἄρα αὑτή ἐστιν.
Συνεδόκει.
Τί δὲ ὅταν εἷς ἀνὴρ ὀρθῶς πόλιν διοικῇ, ὄνομά γε τούτῳ οὐ τύραννός τε καὶ βασιλεύς;
Φημί.
Οὐκοῦν βασιλικῇ τε καὶ τυραννικῇ τέχνῃ διοικεῖ;
Οὕτως.
Καὶ αὗται ἄρ’ αἱ αὐταὶ τέχναι εἰσὶν ἐκείναις;
Φαίνονται.
138cΤί δ’ ὅταν εἷς ὢν ἀνὴρ οἰκίαν διοικῇ ὀρθῶς, τί ὄνομα τούτῳ ἐστίν; οὐκ οἰκονόμος τε καὶ δεσπότης;
Ναί.
Πότερον οὖν καὶ οὗτος δικαιοσύνῃ εὖ ἂν τὴν οἰκίαν διοικοῖ ἢ κἄλλῃ τινὶ τέχνῃ;
Δικαιοσύνῃ.
Ἔστιν ἄρα ταὐτόν, ὡς ἔοικε, βασιλεύς, τύραννος, πολιτικός, οἰκονόμος, δεσπότης, σώφρων, δίκαιος. καὶ μία τέχνη ἐστὶν βασιλική, τυραννική, πολιτική, δεσποτική, οἰκονομική, δικαιοσύνη, σωφροσύνη.
Φαίνεται, ἔφη, οὕτως.
138dΠότερον οὖν τῷ φιλοσόφῳ, ὅταν μὲν ἰατρὸς περὶ τῶν καμνόντων τι λέγῃ, αἰσχρὸν μήθ’ ἕπεσθαι τοῖς λεγομένοις δύνασθαι μήτε συμβάλλεσθαι μηδὲν περὶ τῶν λεγομένων ἢ πραττομένων, καὶ ὁπόταν ἄλλος τις τῶν δημιουργῶν, ὡσαύτως· ὅταν δὲ δικαστὴς ἢ βασιλεὺς ἢ ἄλλος τις ὧν νυνδὴ διεληλύθαμεν, οὐκ αἰσχρὸν περὶ τούτων μήτε ἕπεσθαι δύνασθαι μήτε συμβάλλεσθαι περὶ αὐτῶν;
The Lovers
p. 25“What you say is true,” he said.
“Then the statesman’s art too is the same.”
He thought so too.
“Well, when one man orders a city rightly, is not his name, at least, tyrant and king?”1
“I say so.”
“Then he orders it by the kingly and tyrannical craft?”
“Just so.”
“Then these crafts too are the same as those?”
“They appear so.”
138c“Well, when one man on his own orders a household rightly, what is his name? Is it not household manager and master?”
“Yes.”
“Then is it by justice that this man too would order the household well, or by some other craft as well?”
“By justice.”
“Then king, tyrant, statesman, household manager, master, temperate man, just man are, it seems, the same. And there is one craft: the kingly, the tyrannical, the statesman’s, the master’s, the household manager’s, justice, temperance.”2
“It appears to be so,” he said.
138d“Then is it shameful for the philosopher, when a doctor says something about the sick, to be able neither to follow what is said nor to contribute anything about what is said or done, and likewise whenever some other craftsman does; but when a judge does, or a king, or some other of those we have just gone through, not shameful, in these matters, to be able neither to follow nor to contribute about them?”
Socrates
Reading The Lovers · The Lovers · 138b–138d
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Socrates recalls a debate between two rival lovers about what philosophy is: much learning, a knowledge of many crafts, or the knowledge by which we know ourselves and judge rightly. This complete edition presents the dialogue, 132a–139a, across thirteen Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, Key Words of the Dialogue, an outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and thirty 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 Oxford impression printed by John Johnson. The supplied edition checks the Perseus Digital Library transcription against the printed pages and retains Burnet’s paragraphing, verse, editorial signs, and critical apparatus. The supplied PDF preserves the complete printed layout.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Socrates’ narration, the rival lovers’ exchanges, and the distinctions between learning, craft, usefulness, justice, and temperance remain aligned with the Greek. All thirty 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.
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.
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