Divine likeness

Use in the book

At 133c1–6 Socrates asks whether anything in soul is more divine than the region concerned with knowing and intelligent thinking. Alcibiades can name none. Socrates concludes that this region resembles the god, and that looking into it and knowing the divine enables one to know oneself most of all. These claims belong to the text before the supplied divine-mirror passage.

This distinction is central to responsible interpretation. The supplement may intensify the divine object's superiority by calling god purer, brighter, and the finest mirror. It does not introduce divinity into an otherwise entirely secular analogy. Conversely, the preceding likeness claim does not by itself contain every stronger claim made by the supplement. A part of soul resembling the god is not yet the statement that god is a clearer mirror than that part.

The expression “region” should also be handled cautiously. The dialogue singles out knowing and intelligence as soul's best activity. It does not provide a full anatomy of incorporeal parts or equate a particular named psychological faculty with a separately existing deity. The argument needs an excellent, divine-like focus for self-understanding; its complete metaphysical status remains unstated.

At 134d–e the bright divine becomes an orientation of action. Just and temperate conduct looks toward it, whereas unjust conduct looks toward what is godless and dark. That contrast gives the knowing imagery ethical force. It does not merely praise abstract contemplation independently of the city's needs.

Places to read

1. 133b–133c6Wisdom and intelligence identify soul’s most divine region and its likeness to god
2. 133c1–5 (apparatus)2345Alternative readings affect the description of the region and the phrase about god and intelligence
3. 134d–134eDivine brightness and godless darkness orient contrary kinds of action

Translation in this edition

Burnet prints θειότερον from T and W; B has νοερώτερον, “more intellectual,” while Cobet proposes κυριώτερον, “having more authority.” At 133c4 the printed θεῷ, “god,” differs from T's θείῳ, “divine.” The article describes the printed reading and does not silently combine these alternatives.

ἄθεος

Attested: ἄθεον (atheon; 134e). Godless or without the divine; the object of unjust orientation is called godless and dark, not presented as a classification of a modern philosophical atheist. Lexical identification: lemma: ἄθεος. See Divine likeness; God and the divine.

ἔοικα

Attested: ἔοικεν (eoiken; 133c). At 133c: The knowing region of soul resembles the god; likeness is asserted, not identity. Lexical identification: lemma: ἔοικα. See Divine likeness.

θεῖος

Attested: θειότερον (theioteron; 133c); θεῖον (theion; 133c). At 133c: More divine: the comparative marks the preeminence of soul's knowing region in Burnet's printed reading. Divine; the comparative at 133c calls the knowing region more divine. Lexical identification: lemma: θεῖος. See Divine likeness; God and the divine.

θεός

Attested: τῷ θεῷ (tōi theōi; 133c); θεὸν (theon; 105d); Θεός (theos; 124c). At 133c: The god to whom the knowing region of soul is said to be like, before the supplied mirror extension. God, particularly the agency Socrates calls his guardian and associated with his sign. Lexical identification: lemma: θεός. See Divine likeness; God and the divine.

νοερός

Attested: νοερώτερον (noerōteron; 133c1; apparatus). At 133c1: More intellectual: B’s alternative to the printed more divine, not a second predicate asserted by the dialogue. The article discusses the text actually printed. Lexical identification: lemma: νοερός. See Divine likeness.

ὅμοιος

Attested: ὅμοιον (homoion; 133b). At 133b: Resembling the relevant knowing region, allowing the analogy to extend beyond a single human soul. Lexical identification: lemma: ὅμοιος. See Divine likeness.

σκοτεινός

Attested: σκοτεινὸν (skoteinon; 134e). Dark or obscure; paired with godless as the contrary of the bright divine orientation associated with self-knowledge. Lexical identification: lemma: σκοτεινός. See Divine likeness.