Farming and harvesting

Use in the book

At 125b harvesting is one candidate activity of the people whom Alcibiades' good ruler would govern. He excludes it, as he excludes sick people and sailors, in the effort to isolate political competence. The mention shows how underspecified “ruling men” remains without an account of what those men are doing.

At 131a–b farmers join the other craftsmen in the class whose expertise knows things further removed from the self than bodily matters: provisions through which the body is tended. The classification is about the craft's object, not an assertion that farmers never know themselves in any respect. The subsequent description of these crafts as menial invokes a social hierarchy the dialogue adopts and reworks through its argument about self-knowledge.

Places to read

1. 125bHarvesters illustrate a group defined by a practical task other than the civic activity sought
2. 131a–131bFarming expertise is directed toward the body’s provisions, not by itself toward the self

Translation in this edition

The edition uses “farmers” for γεωργοί and “men harvesting” for θεριζόντων, preserving the difference between occupation and current action. It does not name a specific agricultural art at the earlier occurrence.

γεωργός

Attested: γεωργοὶ (geōrgoi; 131a). At 131a: Farmers whose craft knows provisions for tending the body. Lexical identification: lemma: γεωργός. See Farming and harvesting.

θερίζω

Attested: θεριζόντων (therizontōn; 125b). To reap or harvest; directing harvesters is another specialized activity distinguished from civic rule. Lexical identification: lemma: θερίζω. See Farming and harvesting.

Use in the book

Farming follows the making of meal and flour in the catalogue of necessities (975b). Even cultivation of all land does not confer complete wisdom. The reason given is striking: humans appear to have handled earth not by craft but by nature, under the god. This is the Athenian's local explanation, not a technical account denying every learned procedure to every farmer. The limiting “appear” and the phrase “under the god” should remain visible.

The clause relocates the source of successful cultivation. What human beings handle depends on an enabling natural and divine order. At 977b Heaven provides seasons and nourishment, and at 979a measured winds and rains make fruits and the earth's fertility possible. These later statements give content to the early subordination without supplying a modern agronomy. The numerical and calendrical order is presented as more fundamental than one occupation's use of it.

The shift also exposes a pressure in the argument. Farming is denied the rank of wisdom partly through a contrast with nature, while the capacity to understand number is itself a gift planted in human nature (978c). Natural origin cannot therefore be the sufficient reason for every exclusion. What differs is the kind of understanding achieved and its relation to the whole, not simply whether nature contributed anything.

When the final account rejects “astronomy after Hesiod's fashion” (990a), farming's practical use of celestial signs is again implicitly relevant. The edition explains the Hesiodic background, but the dialogue does not say that such observation is useless or false. Its target is the identification of seasonal competence with the wisdom required of the best rulers.

Places to read

1. 975bχώρας συμπάσης γεωργία — The exclusion extends even to farming all the land
2. 975bοὐ γὰρ τέχνῃ ἀλλὰ φύσει κατὰ θεόν — Nature under the god, rather than craft, supplies the stated contrast
3. 975bγῆν μετακεχειρίσθαι — Cultivation is described as taking earth in hand
4. 977bὥρας τε καὶ τροφὴν πᾶσιν παρέχεται — Heaven provides seasons and nourishment
5. 979aκαρποί τε καὶ ἐγκύμων ἡ γῆ — Fruits and the pregnant earth are effects of the beneficent order

Translation in this edition

“Under the god” retains the divine qualification in κατὰ θεόν. “Appear” keeps the statement's verbal form rather than strengthening it into an unqualified historical claim. The broad “farming” corresponds to geōrgia, not to an otherwise unattested list of crop-specific techniques.

Qualified account of cultivation — φαίνεσθαι (phainesthai)

φαίνεσθαι (phainesthai)

Qualified account of cultivation. Humans appear to have handled earth by nature under the god rather than craft; the verb preserves the stated mode of assessment. Attested: φαινόμεθα (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Object of cultivation — γῆ (gē)

γῆ (gē)

Object of cultivation. Earth is taken in hand by humans under nature and the god in the brief exclusion of farming. Attested: γῆν (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Cultivation as insufficient wisdom — γεωργία (geōrgia)

γεωργία (geōrgia)

Cultivation as insufficient wisdom. Cultivation, even of all land, is excluded; the Athenian says humans seem to handle earth by nature under the god rather than by craft. Attested: γεωργία (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Benefit of measured seasons — καρπός (karpos)

καρπός (karpos)

Benefit of measured seasons. Fruits result from the celestial and seasonal order in the Athenian’s account of nourishment for living beings. Attested: καρποί (979a). Farming nature and divine provision.

Taking earth in hand — μεταχειρίζεσθαι (metacheirizesthai)

μεταχειρίζεσθαι (metacheirizesthai)

Taking earth in hand. The perfect infinitive describes human cultivation as the handling of earth, attributed to nature under the god. Attested: μετακεχειρίσθαι (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Scope of cultivation — χώρα (chōra)

χώρα (chōra)

Scope of cultivation. All land is included in the farming example, so extending an occupation’s scale does not make it the wisdom sought. Attested: χώρας (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Basis of cultivation — φύσις (physis)

φύσις (physis)

Basis of cultivation. Farming is attributed to nature under the god rather than to craft, as part of its exclusion from complete wisdom. Attested: φύσει (975b). Farming nature and divine provision.

Image of fertile earth — ἐγκύμων (enkymōn)

ἐγκύμων (enkymōn)

Image of fertile earth. Earth is described as pregnant, explaining the nourishment its fertility provides under measured winds and rains. Attested: ἐγκύμων (979a). Farming nature and divine provision.

Not by craft but by nature under the god (contextual phrase)

οὐ γὰρ τέχνῃ ἀλλὰ φύσει κατὰ θεόν (975b)

The dative contrast explains farming’s exclusion in the Athenian’s account. The surrounding verb says humans appear to have taken earth in hand in this way. Nature’s contribution cannot be a universal disqualification, since the later ability to learn number is also naturally provided; the clause is a local assessment of cultivation. Farming nature and divine provision.