Divine movement disclosure and need

Use in the book

The tunes of Marsyas and Olympus are described as uniquely able to move and reveal those in need of the gods (318b). Grammatically, the people are the objects of both verbs. The tunes do not merely convey a proposition about the gods, and the sentence does not say that they disclose the gods themselves. They reveal a condition of their hearers.

This is a distinctive kind of evidence in a dialogue that has already associated law with discovery and expertise. At 314a–b perception and knowledge reveal their objects; here music makes a human need evident through its effect. The shared family of disclosure is suggestive, but no explicit equation turns musical response into propositional knowledge or correct civic legislation.

The sentence's next claim is survival: these tunes alone remain, “as being divine” (318b–c). Socrates immediately asks for the comparable kingly lawgiver whose usages still remain as divine. Divinity, efficacy, and endurance therefore mediate the move from music to old law. The description is Socrates' argument for choosing an example, not independent proof that every surviving custom is divine.

The supplied note brings in Symposium 215c, where the tunes are said to possess hearers and reveal their need of gods and initiations. The Minos' own wording stops at movement, disclosure, and need of the gods. “Initiations” and a term for possession should not be added to its lexical register as though they were attested here. The distinction matters because the comparison can illuminate the passage without replacing it.

Places to read

1. 318bτὰ αὐλήματα θειότατά ἐστι — The tunes receive the superlative divine designation
2. 318bμόνα κινεῖ καὶ ἐκφαίνει — The singular verbs take the neuter plural tunes as their subject
3. 318bτοὺς τῶν θεῶν ἐν χρείᾳ ὄντας — The people in need of the gods are what music moves and reveals
4. 318b–cκαὶ ἔτι καὶ νῦν μόνα λοιπά, ὡς θεῖα ὄντα — The tunes' continuing survival is joined to their divinity
5. 318cτὰ νόμιμα μένει ὡς θεῖα ὄντα — The next question transfers the persistence-and-divinity pattern to a king's usages

Translation in this edition

“Move and reveal” preserves both actions; “those who are in need of the gods” preserves their personal object and the genitive's meaning. The translation does not replace the phrase with a diagnosis of madness, religious conversion, or emotional susceptibility. Its note clearly separates the fuller Symposium parallel from the wording of the Minos.

Most divine — θεῖος (theios)

θεῖος (theios)

Most divine. The superlative evaluation of the tunes of Marsyas and Olympus, connected with their effect on hearers and their survival. Attested: θειότατά (318b). Divine movement disclosure and need.

Divine — θεῖος (theios)

θεῖος (theios)

Divine. Qualifying enduring tunes and then a king’s continuing lawful usages; the parallel motivates the search for an ancient civic lawgiver. Attested: θεῖα (318c). Divine movement disclosure and need.

Move — κινεῖν (kinein)

κινεῖν (kinein)

Move. To move or stir hearers through music. The people in need of the gods, not the gods themselves, are the verb’s object. Attested: κινεῖ (318b). Divine movement disclosure and need.

Need — χρεία (chreia)

χρεία (chreia)

Need. Need or want in the expression “being in need of the gods.” It identifies a condition disclosed by the musical response. Attested: χρείᾳ (318b). Divine movement disclosure and need.

Reveal — ἐκφαίνειν (ekphainein)

ἐκφαίνειν (ekphainein)

Reveal. To bring to light or make manifest; the tunes reveal those who are in need of the gods. The sentence does not specify a doctrine transmitted to them. Attested: ἐκφαίνει (318b). Divine movement disclosure and need.