---
title: "Epinomis Lexicon"
subtitle: "A Philological and Philosophical Reading Companion"
author: []
lang: en-US
date: "October 2026"
---


# Contents {#contents}


- [Introduction and argument map](#introduction) (p. 5)

- [Full articles](#lexicon) (p. 12)

- [Defined vocabulary register](#defined-register) (p. 132)

- [Contextual phrase glosses](#contextual-glosses) (p. 270)

- [Lexical index](#lexical-index) (p. 306)

- [Passage index](#passage-index) (p. 352)

- [Thematic index](#thematic-index) (p. 389)

- [Source guide and notes](#source-guide) (p. 396)


## Full article contents {#article-contents}


- [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12)

- [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13)

- [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15)

- [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16)

- [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18)

- [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19)

- [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21)

- [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22)

- [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24)

- [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26)

- [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27)

- [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29)

- [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31)

- [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32)

- [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34)

- [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35)

- [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37)

- [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39)

- [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40)

- [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42)

- [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43)

- [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45)

- [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46)

- [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48)

- [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49)

- [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51)

- [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52)

- [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53)

- [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55)

- [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57)

- [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58)

- [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59)

- [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61)

- [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62)

- [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64)

- [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65)

- [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67)

- [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68)

- [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70)

- [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71)

- [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73)

- [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75)

- [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76)

- [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77)

- [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79)

- [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80)

- [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82)

- [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84)

- [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85)

- [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87)

- [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88)

- [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90)

- [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91)

- [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93)

- [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94)

- [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96)

- [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97)

- [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99)

- [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100)

- [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102)

- [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103)

- [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106)

- [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107)

- [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109)

- [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110)

- [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112)

- [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114)

- [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115)

- [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117)

- [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118)

- [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120)

- [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121)

- [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123)

- [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124)

- [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126)

- [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128)

- [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129)

# Introduction and argument map {#introduction}

The *Epinomis* asks what a mortal must learn to become wise. Its answer is an astronomy understood through number, the priority of soul, the ordered movement of living gods, and a demanding mathematical education. It ends by assigning the greatest offices to those who have completed that education and by summoning the nocturnal council to its wisdom. The argument is therefore simultaneously educational, theological, and political. Its confident claims are accompanied by qualifications that matter: only a few achieve complete happiness; the stars may be immortal or extraordinarily long-lived; they may be gods themselves or god-made images; the mathematical descriptions require interpretation; and the concluding hope about a life beyond death is not an unqualified report of knowledge.

This lexicon accompanies the supplied Diotimos Editions *Epinomis* of 2026, whose Greek follows John Burnet's 1907 text in a later Oxford impression and whose English translation, introduction, glossary, and notes belong to the supplied edition. It is designed for sustained reading of that particular Greek and English work. It does not replace the dialogue with a summary or treat each occurrence of a word as having a single fixed philosophical sense. Its purpose is to show how words acquire their argumentative work, what examples establish or fail to establish, and where the edition's textual decisions determine the English a reader encounters.

Full articles examine lexical families, persons, examples, and problems in connected prose. Each follows the established sequence: The word, In the work, The places, In this edition, and See also. The defined vocabulary register gives shorter explanations of actual contextual uses, distinguishing an organizing headword from the inflected form printed in the Greek. Contextual phrase glosses preserve constructions and qualifications that can disappear in word-by-word lookup. The lexical, passage, and thematic indexes provide three different routes through the same material. Index references are navigational aids, not additional definitions.

## Title authorship and dramatic situation

The title Ἐπινομίς is conventionally understood as an addition or appendix to the *Laws*. The three persons are the same as in that work: Clinias of Crete, an unnamed Athenian stranger, and Megillus of Sparta. Clinias addresses the Athenian; Megillus is present but never speaks. The *Epinomis* supplies no new narrated setting or date. The road from Cnossus to the cave and shrine of Zeus belongs to the opening of the *Laws* (1.625a–b), as the supplied edition explains; its geographical setting should not be silently imported as a newly stated fact in the *Epinomis*.

Clinias recalls a shared undertaking. The laws have been considered, but the greatest question remains: what learning makes a mortal wise? His opening charge of incompleteness gives the work its practical occasion. The Athenian is not merely appending a list of school subjects. He argues that without the proper account of intelligence, soul, and divinity, the work of legislation cannot reach its intended end. The extensive monologue grows from that request. Clinias' short responses encourage, assent, or invite the Athenian to pray; their brevity does not turn every subsequent inference into a jointly demonstrated result.

The supplied introduction reports both the ancient placement of the dialogue among Plato's works and the disputed attribution to Philip of Opus. Diogenes Laertius records the report about Philip at 3.37 and the ancient arrangements at 3.60–62. Ancient inclusion, the historical report, and modern arguments about authorship are different kinds of evidence. This lexicon does not decide the authorship question. It normally speaks of the dialogue, the Athenian, or the argument, rather than attributing every claim directly to Plato. Nor is the speaker automatically a historical witness to the opinions of either Plato or Philip.

## The relation to the Laws and other dialogues

The *Laws* is a necessary reference point because the *Epinomis* explicitly recalls its earlier argument against impiety and explicitly returns to its nocturnal council. The recalled theology concerns the gods' existence, their care, and their resistance to being won over by gifts, with the priority of soul to body central to the first question (*Laws* 10.885b–907b). The *Epinomis* presupposes that prior proof and makes it the starting point for its own account of divine and mortal living beings. It does not reproduce the full proof afresh.

At the other end, the council's knowledge and education have already been discussed in *Laws* 12.951d and 966d–968e. The closing summons at 992e makes the present curriculum a proposed completion of that problem. Whether it is an adequate completion is an interpretive question; the verbal connection does not itself prove that everything is continuous or that all differences are trivial.

Comparison with the *Timaeus* is especially tempting and especially liable to erase distinctions. This dialogue names five bodies, including ether, and correlates kinds of living beings with them. The *Timaeus* passages cited by the edition distinguish the four elemental solids from the fifth figure and describe ether as a kind of air. The present fivefold scheme must be read on its own terms. Likewise, comparison of the musical means with *Timaeus* 35c–36b helps to explain the arithmetic; it does not authorize importing that dialogue's whole construction of soul into a few compressed lines here. The references to the *Theaetetus*, *Gorgias*, *Statesman*, and *Symposium* are similarly aids to a particular word or problem, not licenses to amalgamate the works into a uniform doctrine.

## Greek forms renderings and evidence

A Greek headword normally gives a recognizable lexical form. A register record separately supplies a form actually present in the dialogue and a Stephanus location. The distinction prevents a dictionary nominative or infinitive from being mistaken for the precise form in the text. Several related words may share an article; one word may receive more than one contextual explanation. The short attestations are evidence for the discussed usage, not an exhaustive concordance of every repeated function word or inflection.

The lexicon's breadth is defined by the reading task: the argument, its examples and transitions, the vocabulary carrying them, the significant constructions, and the edition's consequential textual choices. It does not claim to be a new critical edition or a complete morphological index. A word appearing only in Burnet's apparatus is not thereby spoken by the Athenian. Deletions and conjectures are identified as such; the title and speaker labels are likewise distinct from the dialogue's spoken text.

The supplied English deliberately keeps wisdom, intelligence, sense, and knowledge apart. Those English words represent σοφία, φρόνησις, νοῦς, and ἐπιστήμη and their families; they should not be casually interchanged in a paraphrase. Conversely, λόγος requires different English expressions in different constructions: account, reason, and the ability to give an account belong together lexically without meaning exactly the same thing on each occasion. The same care applies to form and shape, visible and manifest, divine and daimonic, kind and generation, number and reckoning, and contemplation and ordinary seeing.

An entry's general explanation of a word's range is distinct from its account of the local use. An English gloss such as “land-measuring” explains the name geometry; it does not settle what the Athenian means by the course of study. The mathematical articles mark reconstruction as reconstruction. The numerical examples explain the ratios without presenting every explanatory numeral as a quotation from the Greek.

## References and navigation

Stephanus references identify the ancient text. Thus 981b–c refers to sections b and c of traditional page 981, not pages of this lexicon. A range may span the end of one section and the start of the next; the endpoints are meaningful. Burnet's printed pages are another system, and the supplied edition reproduces twenty-five of them. References to other works name the work so that their numbers cannot be confused with those of the *Epinomis*.

Page references in contents and indexes refer to the accompanying PDF and its corresponding fixed-layout Word rendering. In the reflowable EPUB and Markdown, internal links are the primary route; screen size and reading software will change any displayed page count. The three indexes are complementary. The lexical index searches by an English headword and its Greek; the passage index moves continuously through the dialogue; the thematic index gathers articles that need to be read together even when their headwords differ.

## Argument map

### 973a to 974d The unfinished question

Clinias recalls their agreement and asks what a mortal must learn to be wise. The Athenian introduces a disturbing claim about the scarcity of happiness, limits it to the living, and offers a fine hope concerning death. The burdens of generation, nourishment, education, and age make ordinary life an inadequate measure of the highest good. Wisdom seems naturally promised to the soul yet escapes when sought among the familiar crafts. Clinias agrees in the hope of arriving at the truest opinion, not by claiming already to possess knowledge.

### 974d to 976c The inventory of insufficient expertise

The Athenian separates useful accomplishments from what makes their possessor truly wise. Food production, agriculture, building, equipment, hunting, prophecy, interpretation, imitation, war, medicine, navigation, and forensic speech each receive a reason for exclusion. Their differences matter. Some serve bodily necessity; some imitate; some work through opinion, luck, or unmasterable circumstances; interpretation can report an utterance without knowing its truth. Quick learning and memory do not by themselves cure the deficiency. The inventory is not a claim that civilization can dispense with the crafts.

### 976c to 979b Number and the education supplied by heaven

The sought knowledge is introduced by asking what loss would make human beings most unintelligent. Number is indispensable even to the crafts just set aside. Heaven gives it through the repeated alternation of day and night, lunar appearances, months, and the year. Number makes reasoned accounts possible and is associated with order and goodness. The argument nevertheless expressly allows courage and temperance without full rational achievement; complete virtue and happiness are the stronger requirements. The practical gifts of seasons and nourishment belong to the same heavenly beneficence.

### 979b to 980c Disagreement about wisdom and a prayerful restart

Agreement is easier about other virtues than about which wisdom is necessary. The Athenian admits the scale of his undertaking; Clinias encourages him to continue. Legislation and the honoring of gods provide the transition. The possibility of representing the gods better than predecessors did requires both a new account and a prayer for good speech. “Play” in this transition already complicates the earlier dismissal of imitative amusement.

### 980c to 982a Soul and the fivefold living world

The prior argument against impiety supplies the priority of soul. Soul is active in forming a body into a living being. The five bodies are fire, water, air, earth, and ether; the account of living kinds uses predominance rather than requiring a chemically pure body of one element. Mortal earthly life and the fiery stars provide the immediately visible contrast. The stellar race is described under an alternative: immortality or a life long enough to fulfill its divine function.

### 982a to 984b Why orderly stars should be honored

The Athenian reverses the popular inference from repeated motion to lack of life. Regularity is evidence of intelligence and of a soul's settled best deliberation. Necessity and the Fates express the firmness of that intelligent order. The stars' dance accomplishes what other life needs. Their immense size adds an argument that a divine cause must move them. The conclusion preserves an alternative: hymn them as gods themselves, or regard them as god-made images, deserving a higher honor than human-made images.

### 984b to 986a Middle kinds and the duties of worship

Ether, air, and water fill the intermediate region between fiery gods and earthly human beings. Their visibility, intelligence, receptivity to pain, and powers of communication distinguish them. Ethereal and aerial beings interpret between humans and the highest gods; the watery kind is likened to a demigod. The text's ordinal wording should not be forced into one regularized enumeration. Traditional divine names may be located as people choose; ancestral sacrifices are not to be recklessly disrupted. Yet the manifest heavenly gods are inadequately honored, and a lawgiver who recognized this but failed to speak would be culpable.

### 986a to 988b The heavenly powers and learning across peoples

Eight related powers are presented. The sun, moon, stellar power, and five other motions are not simply a modern list of planets in distance order. The Dawn-bringer and Evening Star are one; divine titles attach to the unnamed planetary motions. The eighth counter-circulation and the details of leadership depend in part on Burnet's textual choices. Egypt and Syria receive credit for sustained observation, followed by a claim about Greek improvement of what is learned from others. The argument then rejects the fear that studying divine things is forbidden: the god is neither unintelligent nor envious and has already taught mortals to count.

### 988b to 990b Cause goodness and the right students

The Athenian contrasts his account with bodily-first explanations. Soul causes movement; the best soul leads toward good, and the opposite corresponds to the contrary. The return to the question of wisdom makes piety central and identifies the naturally suitable learners. Courageous and temperate dispositions, ease of learning, memory, and love of learning are required together; divine leadership is also invoked. “Astronomy” names the goal, but seasonal lore after Hesiod's fashion does not satisfy it. The true astronomer studies seven circuits within the eightfold whole.

### 990b to 991b The mathematical preparation

The pupil must be prepared from childhood and youth. The course begins with numbers themselves, proceeds to geometry and solid measurement, and considers doubling, proportions, and means. The descriptions are compressed and sometimes textually difficult. On the interpretation supplied by the edition, the means between six and twelve disclose the ratios of the fifth and fourth. That explanation is not a substitute for the passage's own larger claim that related numerical structures inform nature, rhythm, and harmony.

### 991b to 992a Testing and seeing the bond

The difficult route reaches the most divine nature of visible things. It also requires bringing particulars under forms or kinds, asking questions, and rejecting what is not well said. Accurate time and the priority of soul support the saying that everything is full of gods. Diagrams, numerical systems, harmony, and the stars' revolutions are to be seen together through one natural bond. This is a program of integration and examination, not a list of unrelated school attainments.

### 992a to 992e The final hope and political completion

The way must be traveled whether difficult or easy. The most truly wise person has taken up the studies in the specified way; possession of disconnected information is insufficient. In play and earnest together, the Athenian describes becoming one from many and a blessed condition after death, retaining the conditional wording of the passage. The opening restriction to a few returns. Such people should receive the greatest offices in old age, while others follow them; the nocturnal council is finally called to this wisdom.

## Questions the lexicon keeps open

The dialogue denies the title of wisdom to practical arts partly because they depend on opinion and uncertain conditions. How fully does its own astronomical theology meet that demanding test? Regularity may be evidence of an intelligence; does it by itself demonstrate the particular account of deliberating divine souls? The supplementary appeal to stellar size changes the grounds of the argument without removing that question.

Religious continuity is also a question to examine rather than resolve by a slogan. The lawgiver protects ancestral practices and leaves the placement of traditional divine names open, while demanding new recognition of visible gods. The argument neither simply abolishes traditional cult nor leaves it philosophically untouched. Its vocabulary of reverence, piety, honors, prayer, and interpretation distributes different tasks among inherited practice, knowledge, and legislation.

Finally, the promised education is selective. It needs a favorable nature, preparation, arduous study, questioning, divine assistance, and a comprehensive vision of relations. The political ending raises the stakes of that selection: the completed students become rulers. The narrowness of the path and the persistence of hope belong to the conclusion just as much as its affirmative identification of astronomy with wisdom.


# Full articles {#lexicon}


## Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation {#entry-ancestral-rites}

*πάτριος νόμος (patrios nomos); νομοθέτης (nomothetēs); καινοτομεῖν (kainotomein); θεοσέβεια (theosebeia); θυσία (thysia); ἀποκωλύειν (apokōlyein)*

**The word.** Patrios nomos is ancestral law or inherited usage. Nomothetēs is a lawgiver, kainotomein to innovate, and theosebeia reverence toward the gods. Thysia is sacrifice; apokōlyein to prevent or obstruct. The innovation under criticism is described by its direction and lack of clarity, not by a bare command never to do anything new.

**In the work.** At 985c–d the lawgiver who possesses even the slightest sense will not dare, by innovating, to turn his own city toward a reverence that has nothing clear about it. The sentence follows reports of dreams, voices, oracles, and experiences that have generated private and public beliefs and sacred rites. Its practical setting is the danger of changing a city's religion without adequate knowledge.

The lawgiver also will not prevent what ancestral law says about sacrifices, since he knows nothing about such matters and mortal nature cannot know them. The stated reason is epistemic restraint, not a demonstration that every inherited account is literally true in every detail. The inherited practice has a claim against unauthorized interference because the reformer lacks the knowledge required to overturn it responsibly.

This conservatism has a sharply defined complement. The very next question condemns silence about gods genuinely manifest to us and deprived of their appropriate honors. If the injunction at 985c were expanded into an absolute ban on new cultic recognition, it would collide with the ensuing demand for feasts, sacrifices, and assigned times for visible heavenly beings. The work draws a contrast between speculative alteration of uncertain worship and disclosure of neglected objects it considers evident.

The contrast does not remove all difficulty. Calling a star manifest does not by itself demonstrate every detail of the proposed worship, and the earlier theology used likelihood and alternatives. The lawgiver's confidence therefore rests on the preceding arguments for soul, intelligence, and divinity, not merely on the fact that a light is visible in the sky. A close reading should identify the claim to a better basis rather than certify that the distinction solves every religious or political problem.

The lawgiver's own city is the object of the action. The passage is not simply private advice about whether an individual may entertain a different interpretation. Publicly redirecting worship and obstructing established sacrifices have communal consequences. The earlier account against the impious and the final educational leadership of the nocturnal council show why theological knowledge matters to legislation throughout the work.

The wording also resists a crude opposition between piety and knowledge. Theosebeia is what the lawgiver must guide responsibly, while later astronomy is described as the learning of the matters of reverence. Ignorance warrants restraint; it does not become the ideal condition for every religious decision. The dialogue seeks an educated form of piety while preserving inherited practices where the requisite certainty is lacking.

**The places.**

- **985c.** νομοθέτης, ὅστις νοῦν κέκτηται καὶ τὸν βραχύτατον — Even minimal sense constrains a lawgiver
- **985c.** οὔποτε μὴ τολμήσῃ καινοτομῶν — The prohibition concerns daring innovation in the described circumstances
- **985c–d.** ἐπὶ θεοσέβειαν ἥτις μὴ σαφὲς ἔχει τι τρέψαι πόλιν — The dangerous direction is worship without anything clear
- **985d.** ὁ πάτριος νόμος … περὶ θυσιῶν — Ancestral law governs sacrifices
- **985d.** ἀποκωλύσει — The lawgiver must not obstruct those prescriptions
- **985d.** μηδὲν τὸ παράπαν εἰδώς — His lack of knowledge grounds restraint

**In this edition.** “Reverence toward the gods” consistently renders theosebeia, while εὐσέβεια later is “piety.” The translation keeps the long governing construction, so that “innovating” remains attached to turning the city toward uncertain worship. Extracting the single word as a universal condemnation of all change would misstate the restriction.

**See also.** [Dreams and oracles](#entry-dreams-oracles) · [Traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors) · [Divine care](#entry-divine-affection)

## Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions {#entry-aphrodite-hermes}

*ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros); ἕσπερος (hesperos); Ἀφροδίτη (Aphroditē); Ἑρμῆς (Hermēs); ἐπωνυμία (epōnymia); ὁμόδρομος (homodromos)*

**The word.** Heōsphoros means “Dawn-bringer”; hesperos belongs to evening and here names the Evening Star. Epōnymia is an appellation or title, distinguished in this passage from an onoma, a name of the heavenly body itself. Homodromos means running the same course. The divine names in the heading are dictionary forms; the text has the genitives Aphroditēs and Hermou, “Aphrodite's” and “Hermes'.” Those possessives matter: the account attaches a god's designation to a celestial body rather than introducing a modern astronomical naming convention.

**In the work.** After identifying sun, moon, and stars as three of the eight powers, the Athenian calls the fourth and fifth motions approximately equal in speed to the sun, “on the whole” (986e). He then names the sun, the Dawn-bringer, and a third whose own name he cannot give. This initial absence of a name does not prevent him from identifying the third through its common course and, subsequently, Hermes' title. Nor does it mean that the body has no observable identity.

The explanation of the missing names invokes the non-Greek origin of the observations. At 987b the Athenian expressly distinguishes the lack of proper names from the acquisition of gods' titles. The Dawn-bringer is the same body as the Evening Star, and the edition identifies that body as Venus. The phrase about its belonging to Aphrodite “very nearly” having reason, and being particularly fitting for a Syrian lawgiver, joins astronomical identification to a culturally situated act of religious naming. The dialogue does not itself give a detailed history of Syrian cult or explain every step by which a Greek divine title translated a foreign one.

Hermes' body is distinguished relationally: it runs the same course with the sun and with the Dawn-bringer. The supplied note identifies it as Mercury. The stated common speed should not be inflated into a claim that all three occupy the same position, have identical appearances, or move at precisely the same apparent rate at every moment. The qualifications “very nearly” and “on the whole” belong to the original description. Likewise, the statement that one with adequate sense must “lead” the three follows an editorially difficult clause at 986e; it does not securely name a particular leader in an independently specified celestial mechanism.

The interpretive point is inclusion. Bodies whose names are unfamiliar must not therefore be withheld from the common divine family and its honors. Naming supplies an intelligible way for the proposed lawgiver and learner to speak of previously neglected gods.

**The places.**

- **986e.** ἡλίου τ’ εἶναι καὶ ἑωσφόρου — The sun and the Dawn-bringer are named together
- **986e.** ὡς μὲν ὀνόματι φράζειν οὐκ ἔστιν — The third cannot be declared by its own name
- **987b.** ἐπωνυμίαν εἰλήφασιν θεῶν — The bodies have taken gods' titles
- **987b.** ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἑωσφόρος ἕσπερός τε ὢν αὑτὸς — The Dawn-bringer is also the same Evening Star
- **987b.** Ἀφροδίτης; Συρίῳ νομοθέτῃ πρέπον — Aphrodite's designation is fitting for a Syrian lawgiver
- **987b.** ὁ δ’ ὁμόδρομος ἡλίῳ; σχεδὸν Ἑρμοῦ — The other common-course body is very nearly Hermes'

**In this edition.** The English distinguishes “names” from “titles,” renders the two appearances as “Dawn-bringer” and “Evening Star,” and identifies Venus and Mercury in the note. It prints the reflexive-looking contracted αὑτός as “the same” in the naming clause, while recording the different manuscript form in the apparatus. The renderings should not be silently replaced by “Venus” and “Mercury” in quotations from the dialogue.

**See also.** [Circuits, their ordering, and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order); [Cronus, Zeus, Ares, and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares); [Egypt, Syria, and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers).

## Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom {#entry-astronomy-hesiod}

*ἀστρονομία (astronomia); ἀστρονόμος (astronomos); ἀστρονομεῖν (astronomein); Ἡσίοδος (Hēsiodos); δυσμή (dysmē); ἀνατολή (anatolē)*

**The word.** Astronomia is the study of the stars, astronomos its practitioner, and astronomein the corresponding activity. These related expressions do not guarantee that every person to whom the name is applied possesses the same kind or degree of understanding. Dysmē and anatolē are setting and rising. They name useful observable events without themselves specifying the full science the Athenian demands.

**In the work.** The delayed announcement of astronomy answers the opening question about what a mortal must learn to be wise. Its name comes as a surprise because the uninitiated hearer lacks experience of the actual subject (990a). The surprise also depends on the dialogue's earlier dismissal of other activities as insufficient for wisdom. The positive answer must show why this subject is more than another useful specialized skill.

The Athenian accordingly distinguishes the true astronomer from one who does astronomy “after Hesiod's fashion.” He gives risings and settings as examples of the latter's objects. The supplied note points to the agricultural timing of the *Works and Days*: the Pleiades, Arcturus, and Orion mark activities of the farmer's year. Those references explain the polemical example. The dialogue does not claim that a farmer's observations are false or that Hesiod never speaks of anything except these events. It excludes their practical use, taken by itself, from the highest wisdom under discussion.

The positive description concerns the seven circuits within the full set of eight. These are the moon's, the sun's, and the five planetary circuits; the contrary eighth belongs to the full celestial ordering described earlier. Each of the seven goes through its own cycle, and contemplating this adequately requires an exceptional nature (990a–b). The distinction is therefore at once about the object's extent, the learner's capacities, and the kind of understanding attained.

The following curriculum supplies the omitted content: pure number, geometry, stereometry, proportions and musical relations, then the divine visible order, examined through questioning and brought into a unified understanding. Astronomy names this culminating field within an educational and theological project. Calling it “modern astronomy” without qualification would conceal the soul-based causation, divine honors, and ethical requirements built into the claim. Calling it mere religious symbolism would equally conceal its demand for differentiated motions, mathematical relations, and precision.

The boast that the true astronomer “must” be wisest is the Athenian's conclusion. It is not a concession that every competent observer or calculator is already good. The end requires both the natural virtues and the studies, taken up in the right way.

**The places.**

- **990a.** δι’ ἀπειρίαν τοῦ πράγματος — Inexperience of the matter accounts for the unexpected name
- **990a.** ἀστρονομίαν — The name finally given to the sought subject
- **990a.** τὸν ἀληθῶς ἀστρονόμον — The qualification “truly” distinguishes the required practitioner
- **990a.** τὸν καθ’ Ἡσίοδον ἀστρονομοῦντα — The expressly excluded Hesiodic model
- **990a.** δυσμάς τε καὶ ἀνατολὰς — Settings and risings exemplify that model's observations
- **990a–b.** τῶν ὀκτὼ περιόδων τὰς ἑπτὰ περιόδους — The seven circuits are studied within an eightfold ordering

**In this edition.** “Astronomy,” “astronomer,” and “does astronomy” preserve the repeated family. “Circuit” renders periodos and “cycle” kyklos. The note identifies the seven; it does not turn the text into a tabulation of modern orbital periods. The title “wisest” remains attached to the true astronomer and to the complete course's properly formed recipient.

**See also.** [Circuits, their ordering, and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies); [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Best natures and the formation of learners {#entry-best-natures}

*φύσις (physis); εὔκολος (eukolos); πρᾷος (praios); εὐπειθής (eupeithēs); μνήμων (mnēmōn); φιλομαθής (philomathēs)*

**The word.** Physis can name nature, a constitution, or the inborn disposition of a particular being. Here the plural physeis designates kinds of human aptitude. Eukolos describes an easy or good-natured disposition; praios is gentle, represented in the passage by the adverb praōs. Eupeithēs is ready to be persuaded, mnēmōn retentive or possessing a good memory, and philomathēs fond of learning. These are complementary traits rather than synonyms for completed wisdom.

**In the work.** The Athenian describes the best natures as rare in origin and maximally beneficial when they do appear (989b). Their excellence is not reduced to rapid intellectual performance. A soul must receive the characteristics of a slow nature and its contrary moderately and gently. The compressed expression is best retained as a balanced receptiveness to contrasting dispositions; the text does not supply a technical psychological classification with fixed names and measured proportions.

Such a soul admires courage and is persuadable toward temperance. Its capacity to learn, memory, and delight in learning are then added as especially important (989b–c). This returns to the quickness and memory rejected as sufficient titles to wisdom at 976b–c. There is no contradiction if those abilities are treated here as qualifications for education. Being able to learn and remember is different from having learned the right things, understood their relations, and acquired the required moral orientation.

Nature also does not make nourishment and education dispensable. The rare learners must receive the upbringing they need. Only then can they properly restrain the greater and worse part of the civic population by intelligent action and speech about gods, sacrifices, and purifications. Their claim to rule depends upon true honor of virtue, not manipulation through appearances (989c–d). This passage is selective and hierarchical: its “best” is the Athenian's normative category, not a claim that the studies are equally available to all without differences in aptitude.

The astronomical description sharpens the restriction: no nature will easily become adequate to contemplate the seven circuits without a share in a wonderful nature (990a–b). The ending again joins naturally possessed virtue with the full blessed subject of learning (992c–d). A reader should therefore avoid both reducing the account to hereditary privilege and turning it into a modern promise that technique alone will produce the same wisdom in everyone. The text requires a conjunction of disposition, moral responsiveness, education, and sustained practice.

**The places.**

- **989b.** ἐν ταῖς ἀρίσταις φύσεσιν — Even the best natures have lacked the relevant piety through ignorance
- **989b.** μετρίως ἀποδεχομένη ψυχὴ καὶ πρᾴως — Moderate and gentle reception characterizes the suitable soul
- **989b.** εὔκολος; πρὸς τὸ σωφρονεῖν εὐπειθής — Good nature and persuadability toward temperance
- **989c.** δυναμένη μανθάνειν καὶ μνήμων οὖσα — Capacity for learning and memory
- **989c.** φιλομαθὴς ὥστ’ εἶναι — Delight makes the soul a lover of learning
- **989c.** τροφῆς καὶ παιδείας τυχόντα ἧς δεῖ — The natures must also obtain the required nourishment and education
- **990b.** μὴ θαυμαστῆς μετέχουσα φύσεως — The exceptional nature required for contemplation

**In this edition.** The English keeps “nature” across this passage, rather than replacing it everywhere with “talent.” It renders eukolos “good-natured,” mnēmōn “having a good memory,” and philomathēs “a lover of learning.” Those choices preserve the movement from disposition to enjoyment, instruction, and civic usefulness.

**See also.** [Piety, virtue, and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies); [Old age, offices, and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices).

## Building equipment and what suits the people {#entry-building-equipment}

*συνυφή (synuphē); οἰκοδομία (oikodomia); σκεῦος (skeuos); χαλκεία (chalkeia); ὄργανον (organon); παρασκευή (paraskeuē); πρόσφορος (prosphoros)*

**The word.** Synuphē is a weaving or joining together; oikodomia building; skeuos an item of equipment or an implement. Chalkeia is smithing or metalwork. Organon is an instrument or tool, and paraskeuē its preparation or furnishing. Prosphoros means suited to something or serviceable for it; the substantivized τὸ πρόσφορον is “what suits.” The catalogue's various forms should be read as an articulated group of productive activities, not compressed into one modern profession.

**In the work.** The passage moves from dwellings to all building and the production of equipment, then specifies smithing and the furnishing of carpentry, modeling, plaiting, and other instruments (975b–c). The inclusive language gives this category considerable scope. Architecture or a spectacular manufactured object cannot escape the governing question merely by being more elaborate than the first example.

The verdict is qualified rather than indiscriminately destructive. This production has what suits the people, but is not spoken of for virtue. Suitability names its practical relation to collective needs; virtue names the further standard it fails to satisfy. The speech does not claim that equipment cannot be used virtuously, or that a builder cannot possess virtues from another source. It denies that this expertise, as such, gives the qualification being sought.

The word organon returns immediately in the imitative arts, where performers use instruments and bodies (975d). An instrument can serve productive work or imitation; its possession does not settle the character of the activity. Likewise, “what suits” returns in the account of a quick-witted person who recalls a fitting response and acts promptly (976c). Fitness to a local need is admirable enough to explain a reputation for intelligence, but it still falls short of demonstrating comprehensive wisdom.

The list later supplies part of the evidence for arithmetic's ubiquity. Even when all these pursuits are allowed the name of craft, their operations cannot survive the removal of arithmetic (977d–e). Their practical usefulness is retained and explained through a more fundamental dependence.

**The places.**

- **975b.** ἡ τῶν οἰκήσεών γε συνυφή — Dwellings are described through a joining or weaving together
- **975b–c.** σύμπασα οἰκοδομία καὶ σκευῶν πάντων ἀπεργαστική — Building and the production of equipment are comprehensively included
- **975c.** πλαστικῶν καὶ πλεκτικῶν — Modeling and plaiting belong to the specified instrument-producing activities
- **975c.** συμπάντων ὀργάνων παρασκευή — The list opens out to the furnishing of all instruments
- **975c.** δήμῳ τὸ πρόσφορον ἔχουσα — Practical suitability is related to the people
- **975c.** ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπ’ ἀρετῇ λεγομένη — The denial concerns the further attribution of virtue

**In this edition.** “Weaving together of dwellings” preserves the unusual synuphē rather than silently replacing it with a narrower building technique. “Equipment” and “instruments” keep skeuē and organa distinct. “Modeling” represents the plastic craft and should not be taken as the use of modern synthetic plastic.

**See also.** [Craft and necessity](#entry-craft-necessity); [Imitation and the arts](#entry-imitation-arts); [Memory and quickness](#entry-memory-quickness); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Celestial procession dance and what living things need {#entry-celestial-dance}

*πορεία (poreia); χορεία (choreia); χορός (choros); χορεύειν (choreuein); τὸ δέον (to deon)*

**The word.** Poreia is a journey or procession; choreia a dance, especially coordinated choral movement; choros the dance or chorus; choreuein to dance. To deon is what is needed or due. The passage brings these terms together so that beauty of movement and fulfillment of a task belong to the same celestial action.

**In the work.** At 982e the stars' nature is finest to see, and the stars dance the finest and most magnificent procession and dance of all dances. This is not a momentary comparison with a disorderly festival. It follows the defense of regular motion as intelligent action for consistent reasons. Choral coordination expresses the order the argument has just interpreted as rational.

The grammatical agents who dance and accomplish what is needed are the stars. Their nature is described as finest to see, but the participial description turns to the heavenly beings themselves. This matters because the passage assigns purposive accomplishment to the living agents rather than to an abstract property called “stellar nature.” The bodily spectacle is the visible expression of ensouled activity.

The final clause gives the dance a beneficiary: all living things. Earlier, heavenly movements supplied seasons, nourishment, and instruction in number. Here the formula is broad, “what is needed.” It gathers those benefits without individually listing them again. One should not identify the dance's sole purpose as entertainment for human viewers, or reduce its function to one agricultural calendar. Its beauty, regularity, and service are presented together.

The image also links theology to the dialogue's later account of mathematical music. At 991b the means and proportions that give humans commensurate musical use are said to be given by the happy dance of the Muses. That is a genuine recurrence of dance vocabulary, but it is not an explicit statement that the stars produce audible music through space. The Epinomis joins harmonious ratios and heavenly revolution within one curriculum; the famous phrase “music of the spheres” should not be inserted as if it were the wording or separately demonstrated physics of this passage.

The contrast with the imitative arts at 975d is similarly local rather than contradictory. Those arts did not by themselves make their practitioner wise. Here dance images coordinated divine action, and later musical relations form part of the preparation for wisdom. Neither use means every dancer is an astronomer or every pleasing performance is a proof of divine intelligence. The inquiry selects the intelligible order within the image.

**The places.**

- **982e.** ἰδεῖν μὲν καλλίστην — The stellar nature is finest to see
- **982e.** πορείαν δὲ καὶ χορείαν — Journeying is figured as a procession and dance
- **982e.** πάντων χορῶν καλλίστην καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην — The celestial dance exceeds all others in beauty and magnificence
- **982e.** χορεύοντα πᾶσι τοῖς ζῶσι τὸ δέον ἀποτελεῖν — The dancing stars accomplish what all living things need
- **991b.** εὐδαίμονι χορείᾳ Μουσῶν δεδομένη — The later mathematical music invokes the happy dance of the Muses

**In this edition.** “Procession and dance” keeps poreia distinct from choreia, while “living things” renders the participle ζῶσι rather than the noun zōion. The translation's repeated dancing language follows the Greek's cognate accumulation. It is therefore purposeful, not a duplication to be silently edited away.

**See also.** [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence) · [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation)

## Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth {#entry-circuits-order}

*περίοδος (periodos); κύκλος (kyklos); φορά (phora); διέξοδος (diexodos); πόλος (polos); σύνδρομος (syndromos); ἐναντίος (enantios)*

**The word.** Periodos is a circuit or going around; kyklos a circle or cycle; phora motion or being carried; diexodos a course through; polos the orbit or revolving course assigned here to each power. Syndromos describes what runs along with something else. Enantios marks opposition, whose respect must be supplied by the construction: here the eighth travels contrary to the others. These words describe related aspects of celestial travel, not seven interchangeable names for a fully specified physical model.

**In the work.** The dialogue presents its eightfold scheme more than once, and the sequences should not be collapsed. At 986a–b it first names three powers: the sun's, the moon's, and that of the stars mentioned earlier. Five remain. At 986e the “fourth” and “fifth” motions are the two broadly equal in speed to the sun, subsequently identified through Aphrodite and Hermes. The three still to be described are the slower planets. At 987b, however, the contrary motion is called the “eighth.” This is a reorganization of the same ensemble, not a warrant to identify the initially third-mentioned power as a new ninth body.

The natural reconstruction is seven distinct celestial circuits plus the contrary circuit of the stellar whole. The edition's identification of the unnamed stars at 986b as fixed stars is explicitly tentative, especially because Burnet removes the transmitted adjective “wandering.” Its note at 990a is firmer about the seven: moon, sun, and the five planets. The dialogue does not give a single uninterrupted table with every position numbered and every apparent motion resolved.

Within the planetary group, the explicit order of slowness is Cronus, then Zeus, then Ares (987c). At 990b the learning sequence instead begins with the moon, whose own circuit is traversed most quickly; the sun is second, together with its companions. “First” and “second” there concern the instructional presentation, while the moon's speed is stated relative to its own circuit. They must not be combined uncritically with the order of mention at 986b or the slowest-first sequence at 987c.

The seven motions are said to travel to the right; the eighth travels contrary to them (987b). The Greek here gives a directional contrast without a diagram, an observational viewpoint, numerical periods, or a complete explanation of the combined appearances. The further statement that the eighth is “not leading” the others depends upon Burnet's added negation. Thus a confident mechanical reconstruction, or the assertion that the manuscripts all deny the eighth's leadership, would go beyond this edition's evidence.

The significance for wisdom is the difficulty of understanding the distinct courses together. At 990a the true astronomer studies seven of the eight because their own circuits require special preparation. The whole eightfold family remains divine; a curricular focus on seven is not the exclusion of the eighth from honor.

**The places.**

- **986b.** μία μὲν ἡλίου, μία δὲ σελήνης — Sun and moon head the initial enumeration
- **986c.** τὸν αὑτοῦ πόλον — Each is assigned the time of its own orbit
- **986e.** ἡ τετάρτη δὲ φορὰ; καὶ πέμπτη — The two solar companions occupy the next stated positions
- **987b.** ἐπὶ δεξιὰ πορευομένων — The sevenfold group's directional description
- **987b.** ἕνα δὲ τὸν ὄγδοον; ἐναντίος ἐκείνοις σύμπασιν — The eighth is one and travels contrary to all those
- **990a.** τὰς ἑπτὰ περιόδους; τὸν αὑτῶν κύκλον — Seven circuits, each traversing its own cycle
- **990b.** Σελήνη μὲν περίοδον τὴν αὑτῆς τάχιστα διέξεισιν — The moon's own circuit is the quickest
- **990b.** δεύτερον δὲ κατανοεῖν δεῖ τὸν ἥλιον — The sun comes second in the resumed instruction

**In this edition.** The different motion words receive distinct English equivalents. At 986b the bracketed πλανητῶν is not translated and is not an accepted-text attestation for a “wandering stars” lemma. At 987b ⟨οὐκ⟩ is visibly supplied by Burnet. The edition's ordinary “cosmos” for the eighth preserves the description's breadth rather than silently introducing a technical “sphere of fixed stars.”

**See also.** [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers); [Aphrodite, Hermes, and the names of the sun's companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes); [Cronus, Zeus, Ares, and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares); [Astronomy, Hesiod, and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod).

## Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar {#entry-counting-calendar}

*ἡμέρα (hēmera); νύξ (nyx); σελήνη (selēnē); μήν (mēn); ἐνιαυτός (eniautos); περίοδος (periodos); κύκλος (kyklos); λογίζεσθαι (logizesthai); συνορᾶν (synhoran)*

**The word.** Hēmera is day and nyx night; selēnē moon; mēn month; eniautos year. Periodos is a circuit or going-round, kyklos a cycle. Logizesthai is to reckon, and synhoran to see together. The account develops from separate instances to relations among counted periods, so distinctions between these words carry an educational argument rather than merely embellishing a calendar description.

**In the work.** The Athenian asks how we learned to count (978b). Humans have from the universe a nature able to think one and two; many other living beings lack the capacity even to learn counting from the father. The god first establishes receptivity and then supplies instruction through visible difference. Day and night furnish distinguishable appearances; their repeated alternation teaches one and two and permits thinking three, four, and many (978c–d).

The slowest learner is explicitly included, but only within the class to which the god has given the nature of being able to learn (978e). The passage therefore neither limits elementary counting to a brilliant few nor makes an unqualified claim about every creature. Its lesson depends on repeated appearances and a receptive nature, not on a teacher first reciting an abstract definition of number.

The moon gives the next unit. Appearing larger and smaller, it displays another day until fifteen days and nights; the text then speaks of a circuit if one chooses to set down the whole cycle as one. The wording is compressed. It names a fifteen-day sequence and the formation of a counted whole, but does not provide a complete technical explanation of the modern lunar month. It would be misleading to silently replace its period with a modern numerical value or assert that fifteen days are the full synodic month.

The central educational contrast comes at 979a. Counting each thing one by one differs from continually reckoning number with all things in relation to one another. The god composes months in relation to the year, and number is seen together in relation to number. This is the step from serial accumulation to ordered comparison. The supplied translation retains the god as the subject of the final seeing-together clause, while its later editorial discussion acknowledges another possible construal. The interpretation should remain visible rather than presented as grammatically certain.

The calendar is not isolated from life. Fruits, fertile earth, nourishment, measured winds, and measured rain follow in the account. Poor results are assigned to humans' unjust distribution of their life rather than to divine nature (979a–b). This is an ethical claim about cosmic provision and human ordering; it does not explain every natural disaster or assign individual guilt for every adverse season. Its transition into lawgiving shows the purpose of counting: an intelligible order that bears on how people live together.

**The places.**

- **978b.** πῶς ἐμάθομεν ἀριθμεῖν — The inquiry asks for the origin of learned counting
- **978c.** παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀριθμεῖν — The “father” comparison has more than one possible referent
- **978d.** τρία καὶ τέτταρα καὶ πολλά — Repeated visible differences permit extension beyond one and two
- **978d–e.** μέχρι πεντεκαίδεκα ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν — The stated lunar sequence reaches fifteen days and nights
- **978e.** τὸν κύκλον ἕνα ὅλον εἰς ἓν τιθέναι — A whole cycle is set down as one unit
- **979a.** τὸ δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα πάντα ἀριθμὸν ἀεὶ λογίζεσθαι — Reckoning considers things in relation to one another
- **979a.** μῆνας πρὸς τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν συνεστήσατο — Months are composed in relation to the year
- **979b.** οὐκ ἐν δίκῃ διανέμουσαν τὸν αὑτῶν βίον — Human failure concerns unjust distribution of life

**In this edition.** “Circuit” and “cycle” distinguish periodos and kyklos; “reckon” differs from merely “count.” At 978d Burnet prints ὅταν and deletes the relative ἃς; the English consequently makes Heaven persist in rolling the days and nights, rather than ceasing. At 979a the edition's acknowledged uncertainty about the subject of συνορᾶν should remain part of the reading.

**See also.** [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Farming and nature](#entry-farming-nature); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom {#entry-craft-necessity}

*τέχνη (technē); τεχνικός (technikos); ἀναγκαῖος (anankaios); ἐπιτήδευμα (epitēdeuma); ἐπιτήδευσις (epitēdeusis)*

**The word.** Technē is a craft or organized expertise, not only a manual trade. Technikos describes something as full of craft or skill. Anankaios means necessary; the substantivized plural names the necessities of life. Epitēdeuma is a pursuit or practice, while epitēdeusis is the activity of pursuing or practicing. The dialogue's survey includes productive trades, performance, divination, military direction, medicine, navigation, and forensic assistance; “craft” should not be restricted to a modern industrial category.

**In the work.** The survey is introduced by a functional test: which kinds of knowledge make their possessor wise? Necessary kinds come first because mortal life first needs them (974d–e). Their temporal and practical priority is acknowledged before their insufficiency is asserted. The Athenian's argument is therefore not that necessities are unnecessary, or that doing without food and shelter is a route to wisdom.

Different exclusions have different grounds. Food-making receives an express concession of goodness; farming is attributed to nature under the god rather than craft; equipment suits the people without conferring virtue; interpretation knows an utterance without its truth; imitative production lacks the required seriousness; military and medical aid depend on fortune or opinion; forensic help misses real justice. The catalogue is unified by its governing question, not by a single demonstrated defect shared identically by every occupation.

Social estimation enters the reasoning. Some necessary knowledges may once have conferred a reputation for wisdom, whereas now they bring reproach; aspirants to being the best man avoid them (974e–975a). At 976d the knowledge sought must leave its possessor neither menial nor an idiot. These expressions reveal the evaluation operating in the speech. They should be reported rather than accepted as proof that manual labor is inherently ignorant or morally inferior. The argument's epistemic demands and its social valuations are related but distinguishable.

Number changes the catalogue's use. At 977d–e the Athenian allows all the earlier pursuits to count as crafts and says that none would remain if arithmetic were removed. The crafts that do not confer complete wisdom still depend on its proposed foundation. This dependence gives number a breadth no individual occupation possesses. It does not entail that all practitioners already possess the final astronomical and theological wisdom.

The later course of learning can itself be approached “by education or by craft” (989a), and stereometry is another craft (990d–e). The opening exclusions consequently do not ban the category technē from the solution. They disqualify particular claimants under a stronger test than ordinary utility, reputation, or dexterity.

**The places.**

- **974b.** τῶν λεγομένων τεχνῶν — The initial search among the so-called crafts is unsuccessful
- **974d–e.** ἀναγκαιόταται … πρῶται — The necessities are conceded the highest practical priority
- **975c–d.** τὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων … κτῆσιν διὰ τέχνης — Acquisition of necessities is achieved through craft
- **976d.** οὔτε βάναυσος οὔτ’ ἠλίθιος — Social and intellectual disqualifications are separately stated
- **977d–e.** ἐῶντες εἶναι πάσας τὰς τέχνας — The Athenian allows all the earlier candidates to be crafts
- **977e.** ὅταν ἀριθμητικήν τις ἀνέλῃ — Their dependence on arithmetic gives the catalogue a new role

**In this edition.** Technē is consistently “craft.” A craft is sometimes named by a feminine adjective with the noun understood, as in stratēgikē or iatrikē; the English can make the activity explicit without claiming that the noun technē occurs on every occasion. “Menial” renders banausos at 976d and preserves the speech's valuation without warranting an independent sociological generalization.

**See also.** [Food-making](#entry-food-making); [The helping crafts](#entry-helping-crafts); [Imitation and the arts](#entry-imitation-arts); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic).

## Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars {#entry-cronus-zeus-ares}

*Κρόνος (Kronos); Ζεύς (Zeus); Ἄρης (Arēs); βραδύτης (bradytēs); ἐρυθρός (erythros); ἀστήρ (astēr)*

**The word.** Bradytēs is slowness, a relational description rather than a numerical orbital period. Erythros is red; the superlative erythrotaton makes one body's color the reddest in the stated comparison. Astēr is a star or heavenly body and therefore includes what English calls a planet. Cronus, Zeus, and Ares are named in possessive forms, giving the planets gods' titles.

**In the work.** Three bodies remain after the sun's companions have been described. The Athenian identifies one by its outstanding slowness, remarking that some utter Cronus' title for it. He then instructs that the next in slowness should be called Zeus', and the one after that Ares'; the last also has the reddest color (987c). The supplied note identifies these as Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. The sequence is explicit: slowest Cronus, then Zeus, then Ares. Reversing it because one has supplied a different modern order would lose the text's stated criterion.

The gods' names are not all introduced with identical force. “Some” use Cronus' title; the name of Zeus is prescribed with “must”; Ares' body receives a distinctive visible color. These differences show the Athenian drawing on received nomenclature while instructing his hearers. The account combines speed, relative sequence, appellation, and color. It does not claim that name alone constitutes adequate astronomical knowledge.

The literary context is the duty to honor all the celestial powers. The neglected slow-moving bodies require an assigned portion and time no less than the sun and moon, whose year and month are familiar. Their less immediate place in ordinary calendars cannot justify withholding divine status. Yet the passage stops short of legislating a complete calendar of specific festivals for Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

At 987c–d the Athenian adds that apprehending these things is not difficult when someone explains them; the learner must then think accordingly. The later claim that the circuits are difficult to understand is not necessarily inconsistent. Identifying the named bodies through an explanation is a more limited achievement than comprehending the astronomical and mathematical relations that qualify the true astronomer.

The reading “Cronus” has a particularly important textual history in this edition. It is the accepted reading of L and a correcting hand of O, while other witnesses give a solar designation and early printed editions another name. Those alternatives are evidence about the text's transmission; they are not additional accepted names spoken by the Athenian in Burnet's reading text.

**The places.**

- **987c.** λοιποὶ δὴ τρεῖς ἀστέρες — Three heavenly bodies remain to be named
- **987c.** βραδυτῆτι διαφέρων — One is distinguished by slowness
- **987c.** Κρόνου δ’ αὐτόν τινες ἐπωνυμίαν φθέγγονται — Some utter Cronus' title for it
- **987c.** τὸν δὲ μετὰ τοῦτον βραδυτῆτι; Διός — Zeus' is next by the same criterion
- **987c.** Ἄρεως δὲ ὁ μετὰ τοῦτον — Ares' follows Zeus'
- **987c.** ἐρυθρώτατον ἔχει χρῶμα — Ares' has the reddest color
- **987c–d.** φράζοντός τινος; μαθόντα — Explanation and learning mediate apprehension

**In this edition.** The English uses “Cronus,” whereas the transliteration Kronos makes the Greek kappa visible. Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars belong to the explanatory note. The accepted inflections are Κρόνου, Διός, and Ἄρεως; alternative names reported in the apparatus should not be counted as dialogue attestations.

**See also.** [Aphrodite, Hermes, and the names of the sun's companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes); [Circuits, their ordering, and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus).

## Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven {#entry-daimon-interpretation}

*δαίμων (daimōn); ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia); ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (hermēneuesthai); διαπορεία (diaporeia); εὔφημος (euphēmos); ῥύμη (rhymē)*

**The word.** Daimōn names a divine being or power; its local rank must be determined from context. Hermēneia is interpretation, and hermēneuesthai to interpret or communicate meaning. Diaporeia is passage; euphēmos means auspicious, properly spoken, or free of ill omen. Rhymē is a rush or impetus. Together the words explain a mediating activity, not merely a dictionary translation between human languages.

**In the work.** At 984d–e the Athenian places daimons next after and below the visible stellar gods, then the aerial kind in the third and middle seat. The supplied reading distinguishes these with δέ, “and/but,” rather than identifying every daimon as aerial through the apparatus alternative γε. The following sentence discusses two kinds, ether and air, together. In the sequence, the ethereal kind is naturally associated with the daimons immediately below the stars, while the aerial kind occupies the next seat.

The aerial kind is called the cause of interpretation, and prayerful honor is required for the sake of auspicious passage. The exact scope of “passage” should not be over-specified as a detailed posthumous journey. The text soon describes the middle beings' own movement to earth and throughout heaven, and that gives a concrete context for intermediation. A fully elaborated itinerary for dead souls is not supplied here.

At 985a–b both finer middle kinds know all human thought and respond to the good and bad among us. They then interpret everyone and everything to one another and to the highest gods. The breadth of πάντας τε καὶ πάντα is important. The account makes the inhabited universe communicatively connected, not simply a one-direction dispatch of human requests upward. Their light rush enables movement both to earth and across the whole heaven.

The earlier dismissal of human prophecy and interpretation at 975c is not the same claim. There the arts fail to make a practitioner wise because the interpreter knows what is said without having learned its truth. Here the divine middle beings themselves possess extraordinary intelligence and memory. A theory that communication occurs does not prove the wisdom of every mortal who reports, decodes, or claims to receive it. The epistemic gap explains why later cult reports are treated cautiously.

The edition compares Diotima's account in Symposium 202e, where the daimonic interprets and conveys between gods and humans. That comparison identifies a related mediating function, not identity in all classifications. The Epinomis uses a five-bodied cosmos and distinguishes ether from air. The supplied passage also says that the highest god knows comprehensively. Mediation should therefore not be described as a remedy for ignorance that the same text expressly denies to completed divinity.

Finally, the courteous δαιμόνιε addressed to the Athenian at 980c and the substantive τὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου at 992d belong to different constructions. Neither automatically names the ethereal species in the technical sequence. The local sense of the word-family must be preserved instead of flattening all its occurrences into this single hierarchy.

**The places.**

- **984d–e.** μετὰ δὲ τούτους καὶ ὑπὸ τούτοις ἑξῆς δαίμονας — Daimons stand after and below the stellar gods
- **984e.** τῆς ἑρμηνείας αἴτιον — The aerial kind supplies interpretation
- **984e.** εὐχαῖς τιμᾶν … χάριν τῆς εὐφήμου διαπορείας — Auspicious passage calls for prayerful honor
- **985a.** γιγνώσκειν μὲν σύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν αὐτὰ διάνοιαν — The two finer kinds know all human thought
- **985b.** ἑρμηνεύεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀκροτάτους θεούς — Communication joins the intermediaries and the highest gods
- **985b.** πάντας τε καὶ πάντα — Its objects are all persons and all things
- **985b.** ἐλαφρᾷ φερόμενα ῥύμῃ — Their light movement enables passage through the whole

**In this edition.** “Daimon” avoids the alien associations of the English “demon.” “Interpret” retains the link with the earlier art of interpretation without erasing the difference in the agents' knowledge. “Know our thought” does not say literally that they hear silent speech; hearing belongs separately to human encounters with voices and oracles at 985c.

**See also.** [Middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds) · [Divine affection](#entry-divine-affection) · [Dreams and oracles](#entry-dreams-oracles) · [Prayer and hymn](#entry-prayer-hymn)

## Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge {#entry-divine-affection}

*ἐπιμελεῖσθαι (epimeleisthai); ἀπαραμύθητος (aparamythētos); εὐμαθής (eumathēs); μνήμων (mnēmōn); διάνοια (dianoia); λύπη (lypē); ἡδονή (hēdonē)*

**The word.** Epimeleisthai is to care for or attend to; aparamythētos means not to be soothed or won over. Eumathēs is quick to learn, mnēmōn retentive or of good memory. Dianoia is thought or understanding; lypē pain and hēdonē pleasure. These predicates distribute different capacities across gods and the middle beings, rather than giving one undifferentiated picture of divine psychology.

**In the work.** At 980d the recalled account against the impious asserts gods who care for everything, small and greater, and are very nearly not to be soothed concerning justice. The supplied note connects this with Laws 10's rejection of the claim that sacrifices and prayers can buy the gods off. The phrase does not mean that divine care has vanished or that the gods are incapable of any response whatever. Its focus is the resistance of justice to attempted appeasement.

At 984e–985a the ethereal and aerial beings share extraordinary intelligence because their kind is quick to learn and remembers well. Both kinds are the subjects of these capacities. The description does not assign learning to one and memory to the other. They know all human thought, warmly welcome the fine and good among us, and hate the very bad, because they already share in pain. Cognitive penetration and affective response are joined in their intermediary condition.

The parenthesis about the completed god makes a contrast. The god who possesses the completion of the divine portion is outside pain and pleasure but fully shares in intelligence and knowing. Absence of these affects is therefore not lack of awareness. The passage expressly gives complete knowledge to the being placed beyond pleasure and pain. Nor is it safe to restate it as “gods have no emotions of any kind,” since the named exclusion is these two affects and the work elsewhere employs language of divine rejoicing and lack of envy.

Care also cannot simply be equated with suffering alongside a recipient. The opening theological premise affirms universal care, while the completed divine condition excludes pain and pleasure. The system thereby distinguishes attention and knowledgeable beneficence from the particular affective involvement attributed to middle beings. It does not work out a complete theory of how all these predicates interrelate, but it gives enough to block the inference that an unaffected god must be indifferent.

Human memory provides a useful contrast. At 976b–c quick learning and excellent memory do not suffice to make a human wise. The same capacities support the intermediaries' wonderful intelligence without being declared the entire definition of wisdom. The later education of the best human natures again requires learning and memory. Repetition of a capacity is not identity of rank or completed achievement.

At 991d the claim that all is full of gods is joined to the denial that superior beings slight us through forgetfulness or neglect. This recalls both memory and care. The cosmology is supposed to make human life intelligibly attended to, not merely surrounded by invisible observers. What remains an assertion of the Athenian's theology should not be reported as an independently verified fact about human thoughts or unseen beings.

**The places.**

- **980d.** θεοὶ ἐπιμελούμενοι πάντων, σμικρῶν καὶ μειζόνων — Divine care includes the small and the greater
- **980d.** σχεδὸν ἀπαραμύθητοι — Divine justice is very nearly not to be soothed
- **984e–985a.** γένους ὄντα εὐμαθοῦς τε καὶ μνήμονος — Both finer intermediary kinds are quick-learning and retentive
- **985a.** σύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν … διάνοιαν — Their knowledge reaches all human thought
- **985a.** λύπης μετέχοντα ἤδη — They already participate in pain
- **985a.** ἔξω τούτων εἶναι, λύπης τε καὶ ἡδονῆς — The completed god is outside both pain and pleasure
- **985a.** τοῦ … γιγνώσκειν κατὰ πάντα μετειληφέναι — Complete divinity nevertheless includes comprehensive knowledge
- **991d.** μηδέποτε λήθῃ μηδὲ ἀμελείᾳ — The final theology denies divine forgetfulness and neglect

**In this edition.** “Pain and pleasure” preserves the balanced exclusion. “Quick to learn and of good memory” is a characterization of the two ethereal and aerial living kinds, not of their human beneficiaries. “Not to be soothed” keeps the word-family linked to the earlier human attempt at soothing at 976a while the note specifies its judicial and religious application here.

**See also.** [Daimons and interpretation](#entry-daimon-interpretation) · [Necessity and the Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) · [Dreams and oracles](#entry-dreams-oracles) · [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites)

## Divine generation and the work of likening {#entry-divine-generation}

*θεογονία (theogonia); ζῳογονία (zōiogonia); γένεσις (genesis); ἀπεικάζειν (apeikazein)*

**The word.** Theogonia is the generation of gods; zōiogonia the generation of living beings. Genesis names coming into being more generally. Apeikazein is to represent by likeness or liken. Its use does not by itself mean either that the account is a deliberate fiction or that every resemblance is a demonstrated identity. The quality of the likeness is the issue: predecessors have likened badly, and the present speaker undertakes to liken better.

**In the work.** The paired accusatives Θεογονίαν and ζῳογονίαν at 980c identify one program with two related subjects. The Athenian does not recount a genealogy of named divine parents and children. He begins with the priority of soul, defines a living being through soul and body, and distinguishes bodily constitutions. The stellar gods can thereby be included among living beings without being assimilated to mortal earthly life. The joint heading explains why a discussion of divinity turns immediately into an account of animation and bodily kinds.

The new beginning explicitly resumes a previous account against the impious. That account established gods who exist, care, and cannot readily be soothed concerning justice; its greatest conclusion was the priority of soul. The edition identifies the background as Laws 10. The Epinomis does not reproduce that book's full proofs. Instead it takes their result as the beginning from which a better account can be constructed. The claim of continuity is the Athenian's own, while the actual development, including five bodies and a hierarchy of middle beings, must be read in this work's words.

The verb apeikazein frames this procedure at 980a and 980c and returns at 985b. There, one who likens rightly would liken the water-kind to a demigod. The repeated verb makes classification partly an act of fitting description: a familiar religious designation is attached to the properties of a bodily kind. It does not establish that every familiar story about demigods has been accepted. In particular, the watery class is not here defined as the genealogical offspring of a god and a human parent.

The language of beginnings at 981a is emphatic and self-conscious: “the first part, at least, of the first,” “the beginning of the beginning,” and the speakers' setting foot upon great matters of wisdom. These expressions mark foundational priority, not a dated first event in an independently narrated cosmic history. The repeated perfect and participial language of coming into being should likewise not be silently converted into a modern creation-from-nothing doctrine. What the passage supplies is an explanatory beginning in soul and the production of composite living beings.

The claim that predecessors likened badly is broad. The later recapitulation at 988c distinguishes early accounts of the gods from subsequent accounts that make bodies older than soul. Those remarks illuminate the polemic, but the text here does not name its targets one by one. The parentage of the dialogue itself is also disputed in the supplied introduction. It is safer to describe this as the Epinomis' reformulation than as an unqualified statement of what Plato always taught.

**The places.**

- **980a.** κάλλιον … καὶ ἄμεινον ἀπεικάζοντι — A lawgiver may represent the gods more finely and better
- **980c.** Θεογονίαν τοίνυν καὶ ζῳογονίαν — Divine and animate generation form the announced subject
- **980c.** κακῶς ἀπεικασάντων τῶν ἔμπροσθεν — The predecessors' representation is criticized
- **981a.** τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἀρχῆς — The new account emphasizes its foundational starting point
- **985b.** ἡμίθεον μὲν ἀπεικάσειεν ἄν τις ὀρθῶς ἀπεικάζων — The water-kind is appropriately likened to a demigod

**In this edition.** “Liken” is deliberately retained at the three principal occurrences; “generation of gods,” “of living beings,” and “coming into being” keep the compounds distinct from genesis. The supplied translation's “our story” at 980a renders μῦθον, but does not make the later λόγος merely a tale. These words identify different aspects of the speaker's undertaking rather than competing guarantees of truth.

**See also.** [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority) · [Living being](#entry-living-being) · [Five bodies](#entry-five-bodies) · [Middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds)

## Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching {#entry-divine-guidance}

*ὑφηγεῖσθαι (hyphēgeisthai); διδάσκειν (didaskein); μανθάνειν (manthanein); κατὰ τρόπον (kata tropon); δύναμις (dynamis)*

**The word.** Hyphēgeisthai is to lead the way or guide. Didaskein and manthanein distinguish teaching from the learner's acquisition of what is taught. Kata tropon means in the fitting or right way; it evaluates the manner of an activity without itself supplying a complete method. Dynamis here is the power or capacity of teacher and hearers, not the specialized mathematical sense of “power” later in the curriculum.

**In the work.** At the beginning of the theological account, the Athenian promises to speak if the god himself leads the way (980c). The condition returns when the best natures' education is at issue (989d). Such a nature is able to learn supremely well if someone teaches it, yet the teacher would not even teach unless a god led. These are linked conditions, not rival alternatives in which either divine inspiration or human instruction makes the other unnecessary.

The next restriction is severe: if the teaching is not carried out in the right way, it is better not to learn. The passage therefore refuses to treat the mere transmission of impressive material as beneficial. Theology and mathematics can fail in their educational purpose when wrongly handled. The text does not enumerate every possible pedagogical error at this point. The subsequent insistence on preparation, correct questioning, and synoptic understanding fills out what “the right way” demands.

The Athenian nevertheless accepts his own obligation to speak, and the best nature's obligation to learn. He proposes to explain what the studies are, of what sort, and how they should be learned, within the capacity of himself as speaker and of those able to hear (989d–990a). Human limitation remains inside the positive undertaking. The claim of guidance does not dispense with argument, nor does the qualification about capacity mean that nothing can be said.

Near the culmination, a properly received study brings great benefit; otherwise it is better always to call on a god (991d). At 992a a similarly framed alternative is to call on fortune when the subjects are handled otherwise than through their natural bond. These appeals should not be turned into a procedural shortcut that licenses neglecting instruction. Their contrast is with the reliably specified educational route: right preparation and right comprehension are what the account itself undertakes to provide.

Divine teaching also has a less exceptional sense elsewhere: the celestial cycles teach humanity number by repeatedly displaying countable differences. The special guidance of the advanced course continues that larger pedagogy, while adding a qualified human teacher and a rare qualified learner.

**The places.**

- **980c.** ἂν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν ὑφηγῆται — The god's guidance conditions the first theological undertaking
- **989d.** εἰ διδάσκοι τις — A teacher is needed even for the best nature
- **989d.** εἰ μὴ θεὸς ὑφηγοῖτο — The teacher in turn requires divine guidance
- **989d.** κατὰ τρόπον δὲ μὴ δρῷ; κρεῖττον μὴ μανθάνειν — Learning is worse than abstaining if teaching is wrongly conducted
- **989e–990a.** κατὰ δύναμιν; τῶν δυναμένων εἰσακοῦσαι — Speaker and hearers have capacities within which instruction proceeds
- **991d.** θεὸν ἄμεινον ἀεὶ καλεῖν — The fallback appeal to a god does not replace right reception

**In this edition.** “Leads the way” keeps the recurrence of hyphēgeisthai at 980c and 989d. “In the right way” gives kata tropon its normative force while leaving the reader to obtain the method from the curriculum and its synthesis. The English distinguishes “preferable” for kreitton at 989d from “better” for ameinon at 991d.

**See also.** [Prayer, hymning, and the beginning of theology](#entry-prayer-hymn); [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies); [Questioning, refutation, and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test).

## Divine teaching without envy {#entry-divine-envy}

*τὸ θεῖον (to theion); φθόνος (phthonos); χαλεπαίνειν (chalepainein); συγχαίρειν (synchairein); πραγματεύεσθαι (pragmateuesthai)*

**The word.** To theion is “the divine,” a substantivized adjective rather than a name of one particular god. Phthonos is envy or begrudging another's good; chalepainein is to be angry or resentful; synchairein is to rejoice with someone. Pragmateuesthai means to occupy oneself or engage seriously in a matter. These words make divine attitudes toward human study part of the defense of that study.

**In the work.** Having urged Greek improvement of received celestial worship, the Athenian rejects a possible objection: mortals should not busy themselves with divine things (988a). The objection would make the investigation itself impious. His answer starts from divine intelligence and knowledge of human nature. The divine knows that a human learner can follow its teaching, and knows that what is being learned is number and counting (988a–b).

The argument depends upon the earlier educational account of heaven. The cycles do not merely furnish raw material that people steal against a god's will. They are represented as instruction from a god who has also made the human nature capable of understanding what is shown. Resenting the successful learner would therefore be a failure of divine self-knowledge. The Athenian calls such ignorance the most unintelligent condition of all, an intolerable description of the divine.

“Without envy” completes the positive description: the god rejoices with the person who has become good through a god. The phrase does not simply state that curiosity is always harmless. The human result being approved is goodness, and the inquiry must still respect mortal capacity, adequate preparation, and the right way of teaching. Permission to study the divine does not remove these conditions or authorize claims beyond what the evidence supports.

The argument also changes the relation between piety and astronomy. Where study of celestial necessity could be suspected of undermining divine agency, this dialogue presents properly understood astronomical order as a god's gift and as evidence of intelligent soul. One becomes more reverent through learning it, rather than less. The edition's contextual reference to the *Laws* explains that polemical setting; the local proof is the Athenian's own chain from divine intelligence to teaching and shared joy.

The absence of envy is therefore a reasoned theological claim within the dialogue. It should neither be treated as an independently established description of all ancient religion nor generalized into an unconditional promise that divine study automatically improves any student.

**The places.**

- **988a.** περὶ τὰ θεῖά ποτε πραγματεύεσθαι θνητοὺς ὄντας — The feared activity is mortal engagement with divine things
- **988a.** οὔτε ἄφρον ἐστίν ποτε τὸ θεῖον — The divine is never unintelligent
- **988a–b.** διδάσκοντος αὐτοῦ συνακολουθήσει — Human nature can follow when the divine teaches
- **988b.** μανθάνομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς ἀριθμόν τε καὶ ἀριθμεῖν — Number and counting identify the teaching's content
- **988b.** αὐτὸ αὑτὸ ἀγνοοῖ — Resentful divinity would fail to know itself
- **988b.** συγχαῖρον ἄνευ φθόνου — Rejoicing with the learner is without envy
- **988b.** διὰ θεὸν ἀγαθῷ γενομένῳ — The approved learner has become good through a god

**In this edition.** “The divine,” “being angry,” and “rejoicing with it, without envy” preserve both the abstraction and the interpersonal language. The clause does not contain an adjective meaning “unenvious”; its exact attestation is the phrase ἄνευ φθόνου. A normalized register must not invent an unattested adjective from that paraphrase.

**See also.** [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance); [Egypt, Syria, and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks); [Piety, virtue, and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue); [Astronomy, Hesiod, and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod).

## Doubling power and proportion {#entry-doubling-proportion}

*διπλάσιος (diplasios); δύναμις (dynamis); ἀναλογία (analogia); λόγος (logos); ἀποτυποῦσθαι (apotypousthai)*

**The word.** Diplasios means double; its neuter to diplasion names the double or doubling relation. Analogia is proportion. Logos here is ratio, the mathematical relation of terms, rather than the account or reason it names elsewhere. Dynamis has a broad sense of power and a mathematical association with a square; deciding its precise local application requires the surrounding dimensional sequence. Apotypousthai is to stamp out or impress a form, used figuratively of nature's articulation.

**In the work.** The paragraph follows number, plane geometry, and the study of solids. The Athenian finds something divine and wonderful in the way power and its contrary turn about the double, so that the whole of nature stamps out form and kind in each proportion (990e). This is a compressed programmatic claim, not a worked demonstration that every natural object has already been mathematically derived.

The next sentences distinguish the double “in number,” one in relation to two in ratio, a double associated with power, and a development into the solid and tangible that passes from one to eight (991a). The edition's note interprets the sequence through dimensional increase: 1:2 in numbers, 1:4 in squares, and 1:8 in cubes. If a side is doubled, its square has four times the area and its cube eight times the volume. This gives an intelligible mathematical setting to the transitions without pretending that the Greek explains every intermediate operation in those terms.

The distinction between doubling a side, doubling an area, and doubling a volume must be maintained. A square twice another square's area has a side in the ratio square-root-of-two to one; it does not have a side twice as long. A cube twice another cube's volume has a side in the ratio cube-root-of-two to one, not two to one. These explanatory examples make the difference between dimensional scaling and making unlike quantities alike clear. They do not establish that the passage expressly poses a particular classical construction problem.

The “opposite” power is not independently defined in this brief passage. It can be discussed as the reverse or complementary operation in the proportional setting, but it should not be presented as an unambiguous technical name for a modern algebraic operation. Likewise, the language of form and kind here emerges from mathematical relationships; it is not by itself a proof of a separately existing realm of Forms.

The proportional sequence leads into the two means between six and twelve. Its educational role is to prepare recognition of one mathematical order across arithmetic, plane and solid magnitude, music, and celestial movement. Its obscurity is consequential: the lexicon can exhibit the edition's interpretation and its arithmetic, while preserving what the text leaves compressed.

**The places.**

- **990e.** περὶ τὸ διπλάσιον — The double is the focus of the passage
- **990e.** τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἐναντίας ταύτῃ — Power and what stands contrary to it
- **990e.** καθ’ ἑκάστην ἀναλογίαν — The shaping proceeds in each proportion
- **990e–991a.** εἶδος καὶ γένος ἀποτυποῦται πᾶσα ἡ φύσις — Nature stamps out form and kind
- **991a.** ἓν πρὸς δύο κατὰ λόγον — One to two as a ratio
- **991a.** ἡ κατὰ δύναμιν οὖσα — The next relation is described through power
- **991a.** ἀφ’ ἑνὸς εἰς ὀκτὼ διαπορευθεῖσα — The solid development passes from one to eight

**In this edition.** “Power,” “proportion,” and “ratio” distinguish dynamis, analogia, and the mathematical logos. The 1:2, 1:4, 1:8 explanation belongs to the edition's note and is explicitly interpretive. The accepted reading text contains “one,” “two,” and “eight”; an explanatory diagram must not be mistaken for a fuller numerical table printed by the Athenian.

**See also.** [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Stereometry and three-dimensional number](#entry-stereometry); [Means, musical ratios, and the Muses' gift](#entry-means-music); [Forms, kinds, and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds).

## Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report {#entry-dreams-oracles}

*ὕπνος (hypnos); ὀνειροπολία (oneiropolia); φήμη (phēmē); μαντεία (manteia); ἀκοή (akoē); δόξα (doxa); ἱερόν (hieron)*

**The word.** Hypnos is sleep; oneiropolia dreaming or a dream experience. Phēmē can be an utterance, voice, or report; manteia an oracle or prophetic communication. Akoē is hearing. Doxa is opinion, here the beliefs that arise from experiences and reports. Hieron in the plural refers here to sacred rites or institutions. These words name a movement from encounter to report and from report to practice.

**In the work.** At 985c the Athenian gathers different ways in which human beings have met with the five living kinds: sleep and dreaming, voices and oracles heard by people healthy or ill, and experiences associated with the end of life. Opinions arise privately and publicly; many sacred rites have arisen from them and others will arise. The sentence supplies a broad account of the experiential background of religion without selecting one report as a new indisputable revelation.

The opening expression calls the five living kinds genuinely existent within the account. It does not certify every particular dream, voice, or interpretation as accurate. The ensuing distinction is crucial: claims about the universe's population and assessments of a given human encounter are different. The lawgiver's refusal to alter uncertain worship rests partly on inability to know about such matters. The confidence of the cosmological scheme and the uncertainty of individual religious reports remain in tension.

The catalogue includes health as well as sickness. It should not be reduced either to ordinary waking observation or to a claim that all religious experience is pathological. Nor does the reference to life's ending establish a modern narrative of a person clinically dead and resuscitated. The Greek names the circumstance of the encounter without supplying those details. A source-faithful lexicon leaves that indeterminacy visible.

Hearing at this point belongs to human recipients of voices and oracles. It is not the mechanism by which the middle beings know all our thought in the preceding paragraph. That statement uses the verb of knowing and the noun dianoia. The two descriptions may fit a theology of communication, but they should not be merged into a literal claim that daimons listen to an audible interior monologue.

The early exclusion of prophecy and interpretation from sufficient wisdom provides another qualification. At 975c the practitioner knows what was said but has not learned whether it is true. The existence of oracular reports at 985c does not cancel that epistemic limitation. Later, Delphic oracles can cooperate with education and lawful service at 988a. Across these passages the dialogue leaves room for religious communication without making its human interpretation the whole of wisdom.

The private–public pair is important for legislation. A report becomes more consequential when a city establishes a sacred observance on its basis. The lawgiver must therefore take seriously both inherited practices and the weakness of his knowledge. This prepares the contrast with visible stellar beings, whose public availability is presented as a firmer basis for announcing neglected honors.

**The places.**

- **985c.** καθ’ ὕπνον ἐν ὀνειροπολίᾳ — Encounters may occur in sleep and dreaming
- **985c.** κατὰ φήμας τε καὶ μαντείας — Voices and oracles provide another channel
- **985c.** ἐν ἀκοαῖς ὑγιαίνουσιν ἢ καὶ κάμνουσιν — Reports are heard in health or sickness
- **985c.** τελευτῇ βίου — Life's ending supplies another circumstance
- **985c.** ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ δόξας — Beliefs arise in private and public
- **985c.** ἱερὰ πολλὰ πολλῶν γέγονεν — Numerous sacred practices arise from such beliefs
- **985d.** οὐδ’ ὂν δυνατὸν εἰδέναι τῇ θνητῇ φύσει — Mortal knowledge of these matters is explicitly limited

**In this edition.** “Voices” is the local rendering of phēmai, not a ruling that every occurrence of the family elsewhere means an acoustic event. “Oracles” translates manteiai; the earlier mantikē is the art of prophecy. The long sentence is retained to keep the chain from encounters through opinions to rites visible rather than turning the catalogue into a series of separately endorsed claims.

**See also.** [Daimons and interpretation](#entry-daimon-interpretation) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible) · [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors)

## Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder {#entry-earthly-kind}

*γήινος (gēinos); πολύπους (polypous); ἄπους (apous); πορεύσιμος (poreusimos); μόνιμος (monimos); ῥίζα (rhiza); ἀταξία (ataxia)*

**The word.** Gēinos means earthly or made predominantly of earth. Polypous and apous describe many-footed and footless beings; poreusimos here designates those able to move about, while monimos designates what stays in place. Rhiza is a root. Ataxia is lack of order, and does not mean mere motion. The grouping includes different bodily forms and locomotor capacities within one earthly kind.

**In the work.** The earthly kind is the first living class explained at 981c–d. It includes all human beings and creatures with many feet or none, moving organisms and those held fast by roots. Its unity lies in constitution: all are mixed from all the bodily kinds, but earth and solid nature predominate. The enumeration does not make humanity a sixth class, nor separate plants from living beings because they are stationary.

The list deliberately crosses a possible boundary between mobile and immobile organisms. Roots anchor a living body, but lack of locomotion is not lack of life. This becomes especially useful when the Athenian challenges the many's view of the stars. The many have treated changing movement as evidence of life and uniform motion as absence of soul. The dialogue has already defined life by the combination of soul and body rather than by the visible novelty of a trajectory.

At 982a–b earthly movement is contrasted with celestial order. The Athenian calls disorderly movement unintelligent, then qualifies the earthly application: this is what the living being “about us” does for the most part. The qualification ὡς τὸ πολύ is important. It does not say that every motion of every human or earthly organism is always irrational. Such an absolute claim would also sit badly with the whole inquiry into how human beings may acquire intelligence and become wise. The comparison establishes a predominant difference and a normative direction for education.

The later hierarchy closes with “us human beings” at 984d, and the earthly living kind is said to be wholly mortal at 984b. This groups human beings with other earthly life under a common limit. It does not yet settle the destiny of an educated soul after the death of its bodily compound. The last pages' conditional hope for the wise must be interpreted alongside, rather than used to erase, the present class of mortal living beings.

“Earthly” should also be kept apart from “earth,” the body named in the fivefold list, and from the earth as a cosmic bulk at 983c. The individual creature, its predominant constituent, and the cosmic body are three related uses of the material vocabulary. A claim made about the movements of terrestrial organisms should not automatically be transferred to a theory of the earth's astronomical trajectory.

**The places.**

- **981c–d.** γήινον μὲν τιθῶμεν τὸ πρῶτον ἡμῖν ἕν — The earthly is the first living kind in the exposition
- **981d.** πάντας μὲν ἀνθρώπους — Human beings belong within that kind
- **981d.** ὅσα πολύποδα καὶ ἄποδα — Differences in limbs do not divide the principal kind
- **981d.** ὅσα πορεύσιμα καὶ ὅσα μόνιμα — Movement and remaining in place are both included
- **981d.** διειλημμένα ῥίζαις — Rooted life is explicitly present
- **982a–b.** ὅπερ ὡς τὸ πολὺ δρᾷ τὸ περὶ ἡμᾶς ζῷον — The charge of disorder is qualified as usual rather than universal
- **984b.** τὸ δὲ γήινον ἅπαν θνητὸν — The earthly living kind is wholly mortal

**In this edition.** “Living being” allows the inclusion of plants without a change of English headword. “Held fast by roots” states the visible characteristic of the stationary group; it is not a declaration that every stationary thing is alive. “For the most part” preserves the limitation that a summary calling terrestrial life simply irrational would lose.

**See also.** [Living being](#entry-living-being) · [Five bodies](#entry-five-bodies) · [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence) · [Mortality and longevity](#entry-immortality-longevity)

## Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation {#entry-egypt-syria-greeks}

*Αἴγυπτος (Aigyptos); Συρία (Syria); Ἕλλην (Hellēn); βάρβαρος (barbaros); θερινός (therinos); παραλαμβάνειν (paralambanein); θεραπεία (therapeia)*

**The word.** Barbaros here identifies the non-Greek observer and the peoples from whom Greek learners receive celestial knowledge. The word should not automatically be translated as a judgment of intellectual incapacity: the argument explicitly makes these observers prior in discovery. Therinos is summery or belonging to summer. Paralambanein is to receive or take over, and therapeia is service or attendance, here religious service to gods rather than medical treatment.

**In the work.** The explanation begins with the first observer's being a barbarian (986e). An ancient “way” nourished the earliest thinkers, through the beauty of the summer season in Egypt and Syria, where the stars were seen with a freedom from clouds and waters advantageous to observation (987a). The claimed long accumulation and testing of observations explains how this knowledge could travel elsewhere, including Greece. It is a story of inherited and tested knowledge, not spontaneous Greek invention.

The climatic argument then changes direction. Greece is praised as intermediate between winter conditions and the summer nature (987d). Its relative deficiency in summer explains its later apprehension of the gods of the cosmos, while its intermediate situation is treated as excellent for virtue. These are claims made within the Athenian's cultural account. They are not an independently established climatology, a neutral assessment of national character, or a quantitative comparison of ancient observational records.

The striking claim that whatever Greeks receive from barbarians they bring more finely to completion is followed by a qualification: discovering all these matters beyond dispute is difficult (987d–e). What is offered is a fine hope that Greeks will attend to all the celestial gods more finely and justly than the report and service they inherited (988a). The proposed improvement includes education, Delphic oracles, and legally established service. Thus “completion” is wider than technical astronomy: it is also the reorganization and justification of reverence.

The source of astronomical knowledge and the proposed authority to improve its civic use remain distinct. A faithful account should recognize both the acknowledgment of non-Greek priority and the Greek speaker's claim to superiority. Neither should erase the other. The reference to Aphrodite's title being fitting for a Syrian lawgiver belongs to this negotiation of received knowledge and locally intelligible divine naming.

The adjective “tested” and the immense duration serve as warrants for confidence in legislation. They do not supply a documented chronology, nor demonstrate that every element of the inherited report is already free from dispute. The dialogue's confidence and its explicit acknowledgment of difficulty coexist.

**The places.**

- **986e.** ὁ πρῶτος ταῦτα κατιδὼν βάρβαρος ὤν — The first observer was non-Greek
- **987a.** Αἴγυπτός τε Συρία θ’ — Egypt and Syria possess the favored summer conditions
- **987a.** νεφῶν καὶ ὑδάτων ἀπόπροσθεν — Distance from clouds and waters explains the observational advantage
- **987a.** βεβασανισμένα χρόνῳ μυριετεῖ τε καὶ ἀπείρῳ — A vast testing period warrants confidence
- **987d.** μέσος ἂν εἴη χειμώνων τε καὶ τῆς θερινῆς φύσεως — Greece's intermediate climate is praised
- **987d–e.** Ἕλληνες βαρβάρων παραλάβωσι; κάλλιον τοῦτο εἰς τέλος ἀπεργάζονται — Receipt and claimed finer completion
- **987e.** ἀναμφισβητήτως ἐξευρίσκειν — Discovery beyond dispute remains difficult
- **988a.** ἐκ Δελφῶν μαντείαις; κατὰ νόμους θεραπείᾳ — Oracles and lawful service enter the proposed completion

**In this edition.** The English prints “way” for τρόπος at 987a, not “place,” the alternative reading reported for Eusebius. At 987d the next geographical discussion genuinely uses τόπος, “place.” “Take over” and “service” preserve the educational and religious senses; they should not be replaced by the anachronistic language of scientific ownership or professional healthcare.

**See also.** [Aphrodite, Hermes, and the names of the sun's companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes); [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers); [Piety, virtue, and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue).

## Eight powers and equal celestial kinship {#entry-eight-powers}

*ὀκτώ (oktō); δύναμις (dynamis); ἀδελφή (adelphē); ἀδελφός (adelphos); γνήσιος (gnēsios); ὄχημα (ochēma); μοῖρα (moira)*

**The word.** Dynamis is a power or capacity; in this passage the plural names the eight celestial powers. Adelphē and adelphos are sister and brother. Gnēsios means genuine or true-born, carrying familial legitimacy into the account. Ochēma is something in which one rides, a vehicle. Moira is an allotted share or portion, here linked to the time and honor assigned to a celestial power.

**In the work.** The Athenian's disclosure of eight powers answers his claim that he must make neglected manifest gods known (986a). They are sisters of one another. Sun, moon, and previously mentioned stars are followed by five others. The account immediately forbids a division into gods and non-gods, or legitimate and illegitimate members of the group (986b). Its celestial enumeration is therefore also an argument about religious inclusion.

The sentence distinguishes the powers and “those that are in them.” It then leaves open whether these beings go of themselves or are carried in vehicles. The alternative should survive a lexical explanation. The passage does not settle whether the body is a god in the most immediate sense, an instrument of divine motion, or the vehicle of a divine occupant. Its practical conclusion is firmer than the mechanism: no member of the eightfold family is to be deprived of divine standing and appropriate honor.

The shift from sisters to brothers and sister portions follows the grammar and the objects under discussion. “Powers” are feminine; the divine beings receive masculine familial language. This does not add a second set of eight. The metaphor makes common origin or kind and equal entitlement intelligible, while allowing differences in course and period.

The sun already has a year and the moon a month. The Athenian objects to assigning the others neither a portion nor a time in which each completes its orbit (986c). Equal divine kinship does not mean identical speeds or equal-length calendar periods. Rather, each must be recognized according to its own course as contributing to the visible cosmos. The text does not here furnish all the numerical periods or a completed festival calendar. It states the obligation such an account should satisfy.

The “most divine” reason that orders the visible cosmos links this recognition to the dialogue's larger account of intelligence. The learner's wonder and desire to understand follow immediately. Honoring the eight is not a detached cultic appendix to the scientific curriculum: differentiated astronomical understanding makes the neglected honors possible, while their divine kinship supplies a reason to pursue that understanding.

**The places.**

- **986a.** ὀκτὼ δυνάμεις — The celestial ensemble is announced as eight powers
- **986a.** ἀδελφὰς ἀλλήλων — The powers are sisters of one another
- **986b.** εἴτε αὐτοὺς ἰόντας εἴτε φερομένους ἐν ὀχήμασι — Self-travel and carriage in vehicles remain alternatives
- **986b.** οἱ μὲν θεοί εἰσιν αὐτῶν, οἱ δ’ οὔ — The proposed division into gods and non-gods is forbidden
- **986b.** οἱ μὲν γνήσιοι — A division by legitimacy is likewise excluded
- **986c.** ἀδελφούς τ’ εἶναι καὶ ἐν ἀδελφαῖς μοίραις — Brothers occupy sister portions
- **986c.** μὴ τῷ μὲν ἐνιαυτόν, τῷ δὲ μῆνα — Familiar allocations of year and month must not exhaust recognition
- **986c.** συναποτελῶν κόσμον — Each contributes to completing the cosmos

**In this edition.** “Powers,” “brothers,” “sister portions,” and “vehicles” keep the different images audible. The text's alternative construction is translated rather than resolved into one astronomical mechanism. Dynamis here should not be assigned the specialized meaning “square” merely because the mathematical curriculum later uses the same word.

**See also.** [Circuits, their ordering, and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order); [Gods and divine images](#entry-gods-images); [The visible gods and their neglected honors](#entry-visible-honors); [Wonder, initiation, and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation).

## Farming nature and divine provision {#entry-farming-nature}

*γεωργία (geōrgia); χώρα (chōra); γῆ (gē); φύσις (physis); μεταχειρίζεσθαι (metacheirizesthai)*

**The word.** Geōrgia is farming or cultivation; chōra the land or territory cultivated; gē earth or ground. Physis is nature, whose local force depends on whether the text concerns an ability, a living constitution, or the order under which activity takes place. Metacheirizesthai is to take in hand or handle, here the perfect infinitive μετακεχειρίσθαι, describing humans' having taken the earth in hand.

**In the work.** 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.

**The places.**

- **975b.** χώρας συμπάσης γεωργία — The exclusion extends even to farming all the land
- **975b.** οὐ γὰρ τέχνῃ ἀλλὰ φύσει κατὰ θεόν — Nature under the god, rather than craft, supplies the stated contrast
- **975b.** γῆν μετακεχειρίσθαι — Cultivation is described as taking earth in hand
- **977b.** ὥρας τε καὶ τροφὴν πᾶσιν παρέχεται — Heaven provides seasons and nourishment
- **979a.** καρποί τε καὶ ἐγκύμων ἡ γῆ — Fruits and the pregnant earth are effects of the beneficent order

**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.

**See also.** [Food-making](#entry-food-making); [Craft and necessity](#entry-craft-necessity); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number).

## Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death {#entry-final-perception}

*αἴσθησις (aisthēsis); μετέχειν (metechein); μεταλαμβάνειν (metalambanein); μοῖρα (moira); εἷς (heis); παίζειν (paizein); σπουδάζειν (spoudazein); μακάριος (makarios)*

**The word.** Aisthēsis is perception; the plural names the manifold perceptions of present human experience. Metechein is to have a share; metalambanein is to partake or receive a share, represented here by a perfect participle. Moira is a portion or lot. Heis is one, contrasted with the many. Paizein and spoudazein are to play and to be in earnest. Makarios is blessed, distinguished in this edition from eudaimōn, happy. None of these terms by itself supplies a technical description of a disembodied soul's organs or activities.

**In the work.** After describing the unified studies, the Athenian calls their rightly formed recipient the “most truly wisest” (992b). He then affirms something about such a person's death “in play and in earnest at once.” Both attitudes belong to the affirmation. The play does not cancel the earnest hope, but the earnestness does not authorize suppressing the playful register. This joins the dialogue's earlier fine play in honoring gods and its mathematical account of musical play.

The crucial condition follows: when such a person completes his portion by death, “if indeed, very nearly, he still is when he has died,” he will no longer share in many perceptions as now. He will have participated in one portion and become one out of many, and will be happy, wisest, and blessed. The awkward qualification is printed and translated. It must not disappear beneath the stronger summary “the philosopher is proved immortal.” The opening had offered a fine hope concerning death; the end develops its content without providing a separate demonstration of personal survival.

The unity has resonances with the single intelligence of the initiated contemplator at 986d and with the single bond of the sciences at 991e–992a. Resonance is not identity. The passage does not explicitly say that all senses fuse into one new sense, that the person becomes the whole cosmos, that individual identity is annihilated, or that the soul becomes a particular star. It contrasts present perceptual multiplicity with a unified condition and blessed portion. Any more determinate metaphysics would need evidence beyond this wording.

The blessing is independent of whether one lives on mainland or islands and whether the practices are pursued publicly or privately (992b–c). The edition suggests a possible allusion to the Islands of the Blessed, but labels it interpretation. These alternatives emphasize divine treatment rather than a literal itinerary of the dead with identified destinations.

Finally, the opening restriction returns: complete blessedness and happiness are possible for only a few (992c). Those few combine natural temperance and the other virtues with all of the blessed learning. The closing hope is thus carefully selective. It is not a general doctrine promising the same outcome to every observer of the sky or to every human being regardless of formation.

**The places.**

- **973c.** καλὴ δὲ ἐλπὶς — The opening offers a fine hope after death
- **992b.** παίζων καὶ σπουδάζων ἅμα — The final affirmation is playful and earnest together
- **992b.** σχεδὸν ἐάνπερ ἔτ’ ἀποθανὼν ᾖ — Continued existence after death remains explicitly qualified
- **992b.** μήτε μεθέξειν ἔτι πολλῶν τότε καθάπερ νῦν αἰσθήσεων — Future unity is contrasted with present perceptual multiplicity
- **992b.** μιᾶς τε μοίρας μετειληφότα μόνον — Participation in a single portion
- **992b.** ἐκ πολλῶν ἕνα γεγονότα — Becoming one out of many
- **992c.** κεἴτε δημοσίᾳ; εἴτε ἰδίᾳ — The blessed practices may belong to public or private life
- **992c.** πλὴν ὀλίγων — The restriction to a few is reaffirmed

**In this edition.** The English preserves “perceptions,” “portion,” “one out of many,” and the difficult condition concerning continued existence. It does not substitute “immortality” for that condition. The exact participles παίζων and σπουδάζων, rather than the normalized infinitives in the heading, are the local attestations. The rendering “in play and in earnest at once” must be read as a conjunction.

**See also.** [Wonder, initiation, and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond); [Means, musical ratios, and the Muses' gift](#entry-means-music); [Imitation and the arts of play](#entry-imitation-arts); [Immortality and longevity](#entry-immortality-longevity).

## Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether {#entry-five-bodies}

*στερεὸν σῶμα (stereon sōma); πῦρ (pyr); ὕδωρ (hydōr); ἀήρ (aēr); γῆ (gē); αἰθήρ (aithēr); ἡγεμονία (hēgemonia)*

**The word.** The passage speaks of “solid bodies,” στερεὰ σώματα, and names fire, water, air, earth, and ether. Hēgemonia is leadership or predominance: under the leadership of these bodies, the living kinds are produced. “Element” is convenient explanatory English, but the word στοιχεῖον is not the term employed in this enumeration. Aithēr denotes ether or the bright upper air; here it is numerically distinct from aēr, air.

**In the work.** At 981b the Athenian says, “according to the likely account,” that there are five solid bodies out of which the finest and best things can be molded. The express list at 981c is fire, water, third air, fourth earth, fifth ether. This is a fivefold account. Substituting the familiar quartet of earth, water, air, and fire would remove a premise required by the later five kinds of living beings.

The list's order is not yet a descending theological hierarchy. Earth is fourth in the bodily enumeration but the earthly living kind is introduced first; fire is first in that enumeration but the fiery living kind is introduced second. At 984b–d the account then descends from the visible stellar gods through ether, air, and water toward earthly human beings. The numerical labels have to be read with their local objects. They cannot all be copied into a single column as if the passage maintained one uninterrupted ordinal list.

Predominance, rather than unmixed purity, determines the bodily character of each living kind. The earthly beings are made from all the kinds but chiefly from earth and solid nature. The stellar beings consist chiefly of fire but also contain earth, air, and small parts of all the others. The ethereal beings similarly contain chiefly ether, with smaller portions from the other kinds for a bond. At 982a the fiery kind is described in compressed terms as “wholly of fire,” qualified by “as it would seem.” This does not cancel the immediately preceding explicit account of admixture.

The source's comparison with the Timaeus is a guard against careless assimilation. Its note recalls that four regular solids there are assigned to the four elements, while the fifth figure is used for the whole; ether is there a particularly clear kind of air. The Epinomis instead explicitly gives ether the status of a fifth body. The present text neither repeats the Timaeus' entire construction nor names a regular polyhedron for each of its five bodies. A reader should not silently insert an ether–dodecahedron identification as an attested sentence here.

The qualification “likely account” also matters. The enumeration is proposed as an appropriate cosmological account, then used to classify life. It is not accompanied by an experimental isolation of five materials. The interest is explanatory and theological: every bodily kind can be used by soul, and the fullness of life in heaven reflects the range of material resources. The classification therefore bridges cosmology and religious hierarchy while retaining distinctions that the hierarchy alone cannot explain.

**The places.**

- **981b.** Στερεὰ δὲ σώματα … πέντε — The bodies are expressly five
- **981b.** κατὰ τὸν εἰκότα λόγον — Their enumeration is presented as a likely account
- **981c.** πῦρ … καὶ ὕδωρ … καὶ τρίτον ἀέρα — Fire, water, and third air
- **981c.** τέταρτον δὲ γῆν, πέμπτον δὲ αἰθέρα — Earth is fourth, ether fifth in this bodily list
- **981c.** τούτων δ’ ἐν ἡγεμονίαις — The bodies determine predominant constitutions
- **981d.** πάντα μὲν ἐξ ἁπάντων — The earthly kind is nevertheless mixed
- **984c.** τὰ δὲ σμικρότερα συνδέσμου χάριν — Minor constituents supply a bond in the ethereal constitution

**In this edition.** “Solid bodies” does not mean that every named body is solid in the modern opposition to liquid and gas. “Ether” is consistently separate from “air.” The Timaeus references, 55c–56b and 58d, are supplied comparisons, not alternative readings of this passage. The text itself controls the number and the actual sequence.

**See also.** [Soul as craftsman](#entry-soul-craftsman) · [Earthly kind](#entry-earthly-kind) · [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind) · [Middle kinds and their numbering](#entry-middle-kinds)

## Food making lawful eating and the first necessities {#entry-food-making}

*ἀλληλοφαγία (allēlophagia); ἐδωδή (edōdē); ἄλφιτον (alphiton); ἄλευρον (aleuron); ποίησις (poiēsis); τροφή (trophē)*

**The word.** Allēlophagia is the eating of one another; edōdē is eating or food, here qualified as lawful. Alphiton and aleuron are the headwords for the barley-meal and wheat-flour named in the genitives ἀλφίτων and ἀλεύρων. Poiēsis is making or production. Its presence does not mean that this passage is about poetry. Trophē is nourishment and, according to context, the provision or rearing by which a living being is sustained.

**In the work.** The first necessary knowledge is introduced through a story of moving away from mutual eating and toward lawful food (975a). The story is explicitly marked “as the story has it.” It describes a civilizing benefit before the speech turns to the limits of the resulting expertise. The Athenian's blessing on the predecessors likewise keeps the rejection from being simple abuse of those who made human subsistence possible.

The central concession is clear despite the textual difficulty nearby: making meal and flour, with nourishment, is fine and good, but will never produce a man completely wise (975b). Fine and good production and completed wisdom are not synonymous. The word “completely” matters: the target is the outcome specified by the larger inquiry, not whether the producer can competently make food.

The following explanation is obscure. The name of “making” is said to produce distaste for the things made. The edition proposes that naming the activity as a trade may lower the products' standing, but explicitly labels this an interpretation. A lexicon should not turn that tentative social explanation into an established etymology or a clear philosophical deduction from the noun poiēsis. The nearby corrupt farewell to the first men is likewise not a secure basis for identifying a named inventor or cult figure.

Nourishment returns when Heaven provides the seasons and sustenance for all (977b) and when measured winds and rains allow fruits and a pregnant earth to nourish living beings (979a). Food is not removed from the account of good life; its production is placed inside a larger cosmic order. At the ending the educational way itself is called nourishment (992a), so the same family can concern bodily maintenance and the formation of the learner without making food production the wisdom sought.

**The places.**

- **975a.** τῆς ἀλληλοφαγίας — Mutual eating is the condition from which the story describes a departure
- **975a.** ὡς ὁ μῦθός ἐστιν — The report is explicitly framed as a story
- **975a.** εἰς τὴν νόμιμον ἐδωδήν — The alternative is lawful eating
- **975b.** ἡ … ἀλφίτων τε καὶ ἀλεύρων ποίησις — The named products are meal and flour
- **975b.** τροφὴ καλὴ μὲν καὶ ἀγαθή — Nourishment receives a positive concession
- **975b.** σοφὸν δὲ ἄνδρα τελέως — The denied outcome is a completely wise man
- **979a.** τροφὴν πᾶσι τοῖς ζῴοις — Nourishment later belongs to the benefits of measured celestial order

**In this edition.** The dagger at 975b belongs to the corrupt preceding farewell; the explanatory note does not claim to repair it. “Making” translates poiēsis literally, and the interpretation of the following distaste clause is marked as doubtful. The note's parallel in Laws 6 is background supplied by the edition, not an additional spoken occurrence in Epinomis.

**See also.** [Craft and necessity](#entry-craft-necessity); [Farming and nature](#entry-farming-nature); [Life and labor](#entry-life-age-labor); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number).

## Forms kinds and the organization of particulars {#entry-forms-kinds}

*εἶδος (eidos); γένος (genos); τὸ καθ’ ἕν (to kath’ hen); κατ’ εἴδη (kat’ eidē); προσάγειν (prosagein)*

**The word.** Eidos is form, appearance, or an identifiable kind; genos a kind, stock, or class. The local uses must decide whether a classification, mathematical configuration, or other explanatory object is meant. To kath’ hen is what is taken one by one; kat’ eidē is according to forms. Prosagein is to bring toward or apply to, here connecting the treatment of single items to the treatment by forms.

**In the work.** The mathematical passage says that the whole of nature stamps out form and kind in every proportion (990e). Eidos and genos here accompany the claim that numerical and dimensional relations articulate nature. The sentence does not explain a separate ontology of immaterial Forms, define the distinction between eidos and genos, or supply a complete classificatory tree. Its immediate setting is proportional mathematics.

At 991c the Athenian requires bringing “what is one by one” to “what is by forms” in each gathering. The edition interprets this as bringing single things under their forms. That interpretation makes the cognitive movement clear: particular cases are not to remain an unrelated accumulation. They should be ordered by the relevant general structures or kinds, and statements about them submitted to question and correction.

The conjunction with questioning and refutation matters. The passage is not a license to assign any convenient label to a collection and declare the inquiry complete. The forms under which particulars are brought must be used within a practice that tests what has not been well said. Conversely, the demand for unity at 991e–992a does not erase distinctions. Geometry, number, harmony, and the stars remain differentiated domains whose relations must become visible.

It is reasonable to describe this as an element of dialectical organization, but the noun “dialectic” is not printed here. Nor does this sentence explicitly name the procedure of division, diairesis. A lexicon may explain how sorting according to kinds and testing accounts evokes familiar classificatory methods without inserting those technical words into the Greek register as local attestations. Where division is used as an explanatory term, it must mean the discrimination of relevant kinds, not a separately narrated sequence of cuts absent from the dialogue.

The edition's careful distinction between morphē, “shape,” in the definition of a living being at 981a and eidos, “form,” here further discourages treating every English “form” or “shape” as one invariant technical object. The inferential task is local: identify what is being grouped, the respect of likeness, the account offered, and whether it survives the stated test.

**The places.**

- **990e.** εἶδος καὶ γένος — Form and kind are articulated in the proportional account
- **990e.** καθ’ ἑκάστην ἀναλογίαν — Their local setting is each proportion
- **991c.** τὸ καθ’ ἓν τῷ κατ’ εἴδη προσακτέον — Single-item consideration must be brought to consideration by forms
- **991c.** ἐν ἑκάσταις ταῖς συνουσίαις — The procedure belongs in each gathering
- **991c.** ἐρωτῶντά τε καὶ ἐλέγχοντα — Organization is joined to questioning and refutation
- **991e.** εἰς ἓν βλέπων μανθάνῃ — Learning must look toward one unifying object or relation

**In this edition.** “Form” for eidos remains distinct from “shape” for morphē. The note labels the subsumption of single things under forms as interpretation. Neither a capitalized “Forms” nor an automatic doctrine of separate existence is imposed on the local words. The heading gives normalized καθ’ ἕν, while the continuous accentuation of the cited phrase is καθ’ ἓν.

**See also.** [Questioning, refutation, and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test); [Doubling, power, and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond); [Living being, combination, and shape](#entry-living-being).

## Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect {#entry-full-of-gods}

*θεῶν πάντα πλέα (theōn panta plea); λήθη (lēthē); ἀμέλεια (ameleia); παρολιγωρεῖν (paroligōrein); κρείττων (kreittōn)*

**The word.** Pleos means full, with the genitive naming what fills something; the text's order is θεῶν εἶναι πάντα πλέα, “that all things are full of gods.” Lēthē is forgetfulness, ameleia neglect, and paroligōrein to slight or treat as of little account. Kreittōn means stronger or superior; “those who are stronger” here refers to the divine beings whose care is under discussion.

**In the work.** The maxim appears at the culmination of the curriculum (991d). The learner has grasped the precision of celestial time and trusts the account that soul is both older and more divine than body. From that conjunction the statement that all things are full of gods can be recognized as finely and adequately spoken. It is the outcome of the preceding theological and mathematical education, not an isolated slogan standing in place of it.

The wording recalls the earlier claim that soul filled heaven with living beings, including the unseen middle kinds (984c–985b). It also recalls the argument against the impious: gods exist and care for all things (980c–d). The final sentence adds that human beings have never been slighted through forgetfulness or neglect by their superiors. “Full” therefore has implications for both the population of the cosmos and the availability of divine care.

The inference is conditional upon the learner's acceptance of the account and right reception of the studies. Precision is not presented as a neutral observation from which every modern observer must infer precisely the same theology. The Athenian has already argued for intelligent soul as the cause of ordered motion; the maxim becomes intelligible within that argumentative frame.

Nor does “full of gods” mean that every physical object has here been individually proved to be a god, or that every event is pleasing to human wishes. The dialogue distinguishes gods, middle living beings, and mortal earthly beings. Its account of bad things invokes differences among souls and human responsibility rather than pretending that all experienced events are good without qualification. The maxim should be understood alongside those distinctions.

The supplied note records Aristotle's attribution of the saying to Thales and its use in the *Laws*. This gives a history of the formula. It does not make Thales a speaker in the *Epinomis* or guarantee that all three contexts deploy it in an identical metaphysical sense. In this dialogue its particular task is to join precision, psychic priority, and divine concern at the educational goal.

**The places.**

- **984c.** ὅλον οὐρανὸν ἐμπλῆσαι — Soul is said to have filled heaven with living beings
- **991d.** πρεσβύτερόν τ’ ἐστὶν ἅμα καὶ θειότερον ψυχὴ σώματος — Psychic priority underlies the final judgment
- **991d.** θεῶν εἶναι πάντα πλέα — The exact formulation of the maxim
- **991d.** μηδέποτε λήθῃ μηδὲ ἀμελείᾳ — Forgetfulness and neglect are denied of the gods' relation to us
- **991d.** τῶν κρειττόνων ἡμᾶς παρωλιγωρῆσθαι — The superior beings have not slighted us
- **991d.** ἐὰν μέν τις ἕκαστα τούτων ὀρθῶς λαμβάνῃ — Right reception remains the condition of benefit

**In this edition.** “Full of gods,” “forgetfulness,” “neglect,” and “slighted” preserve the several parts of the claim. The normalized adjective πλέος is represented by πλέα in the quoted sentence; an isolated nominative lemma should not be presented as the exact local wording. The note's Thales attribution is contextual evidence, not a dialogue attestation of his name.

**See also.** [Time, precision, and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision); [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority); [The middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds); [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil).

## Generalship courage and the need for good fortune {#entry-generalship-fortune}

*πολεμικός (polemikos); στρατηγικός (stratēgikos); εὐτυχία (eutychia); ἀνδρεία (andreia); τύχη (tychē)*

**The word.** Polemikos concerns war; stratēgikos concerns the general's expertise. The text has πολεμική and στρατηγικὴ τέχνη, feminine forms naming the art. Eutychia is good fortune; andreia courage; tychē fortune. The forms should not be made synonyms: courage is a quality of the agent, fortune concerns the favorable outcome or circumstances on which effective action may depend.

**In the work.** Generalship is called the greatest help and help for the most things, and is most esteemed for usefulness (975e). This unusually strong concession gives the exclusion weight. The speech is not choosing an obviously worthless occupation as an easy foil; it addresses an expertise of high civic consequence.

Its need for the greatest good fortune weakens its claim to wisdom. Its endowment is attributed by nature to courage rather than wisdom (975e–976a). The contrast does not make courage bad. At 977c–d courage and temperance are expressly allowed even where the full reason required by wisdom is missing. The general's capacity can therefore be valuable without being the knowledge that completes virtue.

The ensuing judgment that the practices are carried along without measure and conjectured through opinions appears after medicine and covers the immediately discussed help-giving fields. It supplies an epistemic criticism beside the appeal to fortune. A lexicon should not quietly project a detailed empirical theory of warfare into these few clauses; no campaign or named commander is examined.

Fortune returns in the positive numerical account with a different role. The giver of number is said to be a god rather than some fortune (976e), while “by happy fortune” appears in the difficult calendrical account (979a). The dialogue thus does not expunge the word tychē from every favorable explanation. It prefers divine intelligent provision as the ground of number, while retaining ordinary evaluative idioms of favorable outcome. The later fallback of calling on fortune when studies are handled otherwise (992a) again marks the difference between systematic understanding and dependence on chance.

**The places.**

- **975e.** πολεμικὴ κληθεῖσα, στρατηγικὴ τέχνη — War and the general's craft name the leading helper
- **975e.** εὐτυχίας πλείστης δεομένη — Its effectiveness needs the greatest good fortune
- **975e–976a.** μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνδρείᾳ κατὰ φύσιν ἢ σοφίᾳ δεδομένη — Natural courage is distinguished from wisdom
- **976a.** ἄμετρα γὰρ δόξαις φορεῖται τοπαζόμενα — The criticism concerns conjecture by opinions without measure
- **976e.** θεὸν … μᾶλλον ἤ τινα τύχην — The source of number is preferred as divine rather than chance

**In this edition.** “The general's craft” makes stratēgikē concrete without substituting a modern system of military science. The translation distinguishes “good fortune” from “fortune,” and preserves “rather than,” which compares courage and wisdom without simply denying the general every intellectual capacity.

**See also.** [The helping crafts](#entry-helping-crafts); [Medicine and seasons](#entry-medicine-seasons); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number).

## Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers {#entry-geometry-assimilation}

*γεωμετρία (geōmetria); ὁμοίωσις (homoiōsis); ὅμοιος (homoios); ἐπίπεδος (epipedos); διαφανής (diaphanēs)*

**The word.** Geōmetria literally suggests land-measuring. Homoiōsis is a making alike or assimilation; homoios means like, and its opposite anomoios unlike. Epipedos is plane or on a surface. Diaphanēs means evident or transparent to view, here qualifying the making alike that the learner can recognize. The vocabulary concerns a relation displayed through plane figures, not a claim that distinct numbers cease to be distinct.

**In the work.** Geometry follows the study of numbers themselves (990c–d). The Athenian calls its familiar name ridiculous because the higher subject he is describing is not exhausted by measuring land. He redescribes it as the evident making alike of numbers not like one another by nature, with respect to the portion of plane figures. The phrase states a mathematical transformation of the terms of comparison, but it is too compressed to supply its own complete worked example.

The edition interprets it through numbers whose ratio is not the ratio of two squares, taking 1 and 2 as an example. They can be represented by squares with those areas, while the corresponding sides are incommensurable in length. In modern notation the side ratio is 1 to the square root of 2. The sides do not share a common measuring length, even though their squares have the determinate numerical ratio 1:2. This is the sense in which the plane treatment reveals an intelligible relation unavailable if one expects all corresponding lengths to be expressible as a ratio of whole numbers.

That explanation must not be turned into “geometry makes irrational numbers rational” or “incommensurable lengths become commensurable lengths.” It is precisely the respect of comparison that changes: the areas or squares can have a numerical relation where the sides do not have a common measure. The source's note invokes the mathematical discussion in the *Theaetetus* as context and labels the explanation interpretation. The terms “irrational” and “incommensurable” are explanatory vocabulary, not Greek words explicitly printed in this sentence of the *Epinomis*.

The subject is called a divine rather than human wonder to the person able to understand it. The marvel lies in the relation disclosed, not in an exemption from rational explanation. The subsequent solid-dimensional study extends the movement beyond plane figures, and the final synoptic requirement asks learners to recognize the relation of these studies to the whole mathematical and celestial order.

The local use of likeness thus differs from the earlier theological verb “liken,” apeikazein. One should not read a mathematical construction as merely an imaginative image of a god, nor assume that every occurrence of likeness throughout the dialogue names one technical operation.

**The places.**

- **990d.** σφόδρα γελοῖον ὄνομα γεωμετρίαν — The familiar name is sharply mocked
- **990d.** τῶν οὐκ ὄντων δὲ ὁμοίων ἀλλήλοις φύσει ἀριθμῶν — The numbers are not naturally like one another
- **990d.** ὁμοίωσις — The positive redefinition is a making alike
- **990d.** πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐπιπέδων μοῖραν — The relevant respect is the portion of plane figures
- **990d.** γεγονυῖά ἐστιν διαφανής — This making alike has become evident
- **990d.** θαῦμα οὐκ ἀνθρώπινον ἀλλὰ γεγονὸς θεῖον — The intelligible relation is declared a divine wonder

**In this edition.** “Geometry” is retained and explained through “land-measuring”; “making alike” keeps the unusual substantive rather than substituting an established modern theorem. The note's area-and-side explanation is an interpretive aid. Neither ἄλογος nor ἀσύμμετρος is attested by this passage merely because those concepts help explain it.

**See also.** [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves); [Stereometry and three-dimensional number](#entry-stereometry); [Doubling, power, and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Gods themselves or god made images {#entry-gods-images}

*θεός (theos); εἰκών (eikōn); ἄγαλμα (agalma); ὑμνεῖν (hymnein); τιμᾶν (timan)*

**The word.** Theos is a god; eikōn an image or likeness; agalma an object of honor or delight, here a divine image compared with a statue. Hymnein and timan mean to hymn and honor. The distinction between god and image is explicit. Agalma should not be translated with a term that already condemns its object as a false or worthless idol.

**In the work.** At 983e–984a the argument draws a religious conclusion from the heavenly beings' ensouled and divine character. One of two accounts must be adopted: either hymn them as gods themselves, or take them as images of gods, like statues, made by the gods themselves. The second alternative is not an account of human fabrication projected onto the sky. Divine makers are expressly named, and their intelligence and worth rule out the thought that the images are senselessly or contemptibly made.

Both alternatives lead to honor. Whichever is accepted, these beings should be honored above all statues. The comparison names their greater beauty, their common availability to all humanity, their excellent locations, purity, solemnity, and life. “Common” here concerns their relation to all people, not lack of distinction or possession by one particular city. Their heavenly placement gives them an accessibility that a local cult object does not share in the same way.

The argument does not choose between the two alternatives at the moment it states them. Its immediate practical conclusion is deliberately stable across either account. The heavens deserve exceptional honor whether they are divine agents themselves or especially excellent representations made by divine agents. Later calling the stars “visible gods” must be read in relation to this prior disjunction, rather than used to erase it without comment.

At the same time, the images are not treated as inert manufactured stones. Their excellence includes life, and the preceding argument has insisted on soul. The analogy “like statues” therefore marks a relation of representation and honor, not a complete identity in material constitution or animation. Treating the second alternative as soulless astronomy would contradict the causal account that leads into it.

The language of images also differs from the Athenian's own act of likening. His apeikazein makes a better verbal representation of the gods; these eikones are heavenly objects, on the second alternative, produced by gods. The common concern with likeness does not make the speaker their creator. Nor does it guarantee that a human theological description has the same excellence as a divine image.

The passage's comparative honors prepare the later legislative demand. Neglected visible gods are to receive rites and appropriate portions of time. The connection is positive: heavenly objects' exceptional public presence supports cultic recognition. It does not entail destruction of inherited statues or abolition of ancestral worship, which the Athenian shortly refuses to authorize.

**The places.**

- **983e.** δυοῖν τοι θάτερα θετέον αὐτά — An explicit two-way alternative is introduced
- **983e.** θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ταῦτα ὑμνητέον — They may be hymned as gods themselves
- **983e–984a.** θεῶν εἰκόνας ὡς ἀγάλματα — Or regarded as divine images, like statues
- **984a.** θεῶν αὐτῶν ἐργασαμένων — The makers of these images are the gods themselves
- **984a.** τιμητέον πάντων ἀγαλμάτων διαφερόντως — Either account leads to exceptional honor
- **984a.** κοινότερα συμπάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀγάλματα — Their relation to all humanity is a ground of superiority
- **984a–b.** καθαριότητι καὶ σεμνότητι καὶ συμπάσῃ ζωῇ — Purity, solemnity, and life are among their excellences

**In this edition.** “Images of gods, like statues” keeps eikōn and agalma distinct. The supplied translation repeats the alternatives instead of smoothing them into a single settled identification. Its rendering of the awkward repeated ταύτῃ at 984a–b follows Burnet's reading and does not supply a new doctrinal distinction at that point.

**See also.** [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind) · [Prayer and hymn](#entry-prayer-hymn) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible) · [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors)

## Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation {#entry-heaven-number}

*οὐρανός (ouranos); Οὐρανός (Ouranos); κόσμος (kosmos); ὄλυμπος (olympos); δόσις (dosis); θεωρία (theōria); συνακολουθεῖν (synakolouthein)*

**The word.** Ouranos is heaven or sky, and Ouranos the same word presented as the god Heaven. Kosmos names the ordered world, while olympos is offered here as another designation for the heavenly object. Dosis is a giving or gift, the noun in “gift of numbers.” Theōria is contemplation, and synakolouthein following along. These latter words give the recipient's response a role: a gift can require attentive pursuit.

**In the work.** At 976e the Athenian says that a god, rather than some fortune, has given number and preserves us. The god is named at 977a as “Heaven, very nearly.” The qualification belongs to the naming and should not disappear in a confident summary. The argument extends the acknowledged source of other goods to the greatest good, intelligence. This is its reason for identifying the giver, not an independent observation of a deity handing over a numeral system.

The following invitation is broad about names but exacting about conduct. Call the object cosmos, olympus, or heaven as one pleases, but follow how it adorns itself, turns the stars through their courses, and supplies seasons and nourishment (977b). Flexibility of designation is not indifference to the thing designated. The important task is right contemplation of its activity.

The gift is both past and prospective. Heaven has given number and will give it again if one is willing to follow. The conditional qualification makes education ongoing: the visible order is there, but the learner must receive the gift and go through the whole circuit. The passage therefore exceeds a one-time story about the first inventor of counting.

At 978c the god first installs in humans a capacity to understand what is shown and then shows it. At 978d Heaven never ceases teaching through the repeated day-night alternation. Cosmic order and human receptivity cooperate in this account. The phrase “from the father” in the comparison with other animals is left open by the edition: it may refer to the god or to the creature's own parent. A lexicon should not use the theological setting to erase that grammatical and interpretive uncertainty.

The later work deepens the account by describing the stars as living beings, connecting order with intelligence, and distinguishing five bodily kinds, including ether. Those arguments are not all already contained in the word ouranos. The opening teaches the reader to look for a systematic relation between heavenly order and human understanding; the rest must supply the account that makes this contemplation wisdom.

**The places.**

- **976e.** δόντα ἡμῖν σῴζειν ἡμᾶς — Having given number, the god preserves us
- **977a.** σχεδὸν Οὐρανόν — The name is Heaven, with an explicit qualification
- **977a–b.** ἔτι δὲ καὶ δώσειν, ἐάν τις θέλῃ συνακολουθεῖν — The continuing gift depends on willingness to follow
- **977b.** εἴτε κόσμον εἴτε ὄλυμπον εἴτε οὐρανόν — Alternative names do not replace contemplation
- **977b.** τὴν ἀριθμῶν αὐτοῦ δόσιν δεξάμενος — The learner receives his gift of numbers
- **978c.** πρῶτον ἐνῴκισεν ὁ θεός — Human receptivity is first established by the god
- **978d.** παύεται διδάσκων ἀνθρώπους ἕν τε καὶ δύο — In the surrounding negative construction Heaven never ceases teaching one and two

**In this edition.** The capitalized “Heaven” at 977a marks the divine name; the alternatives at 977b follow Burnet's lowercase printing. “Contemplation” is distinguished from ordinary seeing and observing. The last quotation must be read with οὐδέποτε before it across the Burnet page break: removing the negative would reverse the sentence.

**See also.** [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar); [Intelligence](#entry-intelligence); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning).

## Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise {#entry-helping-crafts}

*βοήθεια (boētheia); βοηθός (boēthos); χρεία (chreia); εὐδόκιμος (eudokimos)*

**The word.** Boētheia is help or assistance; boēthos a helper. Chreia is use or need. Eudokimos means well reputed or esteemed, with εὐδοκιμωτάτη at 975e the feminine superlative. These words identify both the service supplied and the public valuation of it. Reputation for useful help is not already the truest wisdom.

**In the work.** Once the preceding productive and imitative activities have been achieved, the Athenian introduces help of countless kinds for countless people (975e). The organization is conceptual rather than a chronology of technological invention. The speech turns from making life's provisions and representations to protecting, restoring, directing, or supporting people amid risks.

Generalship is the greatest and most widely applicable help in this class. Medicine is another form, meeting damage caused by untimely seasons. Pilots and sailors help amid uncertain winds; forensic speakers claim to help in lawsuits. The shared label enables comparison across occupations whose objects differ substantially. It does not make their defects identical: military success needs fortune, medical and military practice are assessed as conjectural, navigation cannot know the wind's dispositions, and forensic persuasion is faulted for missing real justice.

The catalogue's usefulness is therefore acknowledged before its intellectual insufficiency is asserted. To call these people helpers is not to say that their help always succeeds; equally, denying them wisdom does not deny every benefit. The distinction matters because the positive knowledge sought is supposed to make a good citizen whether ruling or ruled (976d). The solution must explain good civic conduct at a level the separately helpful skills have not reached.

The plural “helpers” in the forensic example includes a claim made by the practitioners themselves. The Athenian does not endorse their self-description without reservation. This distance between declared assistance and truth about justice is sharper than the straightforwardly conceded usefulness of generalship. The umbrella category thus permits differences of status within it.

**The places.**

- **975e.** βοήθεια γίγνοιτ’ ἂν μυρία μυρίοις — The new class is countless assistance for countless people
- **975e.** εὐδοκιμωτάτη πρὸς χρείαν — Generalship's high reputation is explicitly related to use
- **976a.** βοήθεια δέ που καὶ αὕτη — Medicine too is provisionally classified as help
- **976a.** βοηθοὺς … τοὺς κυβερνήτας ἅμα καὶ τοὺς ναύτας — Pilots and sailors receive the same category
- **976b.** βοηθοὶ δίκαις … φασὶ γίγνεσθαι — Forensic helpers claim this role for themselves

**In this edition.** “Help” and “helpers” make the repeated family visible. The translation preserves such qualifications as “I suppose” and “claim,” rather than giving every member an equally unqualified endorsement. Chreia is “use” here; it should not automatically be converted into a universal moral good.

**See also.** [Generalship and fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune); [Medicine and seasons](#entry-medicine-seasons); [Pilots and wind](#entry-pilots-wind); [Lawsuits and opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion).

## Hope happiness and the opening limit {#entry-hope-happiness}

*ἐλπίς (elpis); εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn); εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia); μακάριος (makarios); τελευτᾶν (teleutan)*

**The word.** Elpis is hope or expectation. Eudaimōn is happy or flourishing in the edition's consistent rendering, eudaimonia happiness, and makarios blessed. Teleutan is to come to an end or die. In these passages the double vocabulary of happy and blessed is deliberate: one English word should not absorb both Greek predicates.

**In the work.** The Athenian's opening pronouncement is bounded in two ways. Human beings cannot become blessed and happy “except for a few,” and the limit is specified as lasting while we live (973c). Neither qualification may be dropped. The statement is not that no living human can be happy, nor that death automatically brings happiness to everyone. The ensuing “fine hope” concerns obtaining what one has striven for by living as finely as possible and meeting an appropriate end.

Hope next becomes a condition of inquiry rather than only an expectation beyond death. At 974c the search and perplexity about wisdom exceed the seeker's hope; Clinias nevertheless concurs in hope of arriving, with the Athenian and over time, at the truest opinion. He assents provisionally to continue learning. His hope is neither the content of a demonstrated theorem nor a withdrawal from the conversation.

Number enters the ethical claim at 977d. A person without wisdom cannot become completely good and so happy. Here happiness is connected to complete virtue by an explicit negative argument, with wisdom its greatest part. It does not follow that the mere ability to count is a sufficient recipe for happiness. The Athenian has not yet completed the account of the wisdom that must be learned, and he renews that demand at 979d.

The positive theology supplies a prospect for this hope. The happy person wonders at the visible order and loves to learn as much as mortal nature permits (986c–d). The final affirmation, made in play and earnest together, describes the wise person's condition after death, but retains its difficult qualification about still being when dead (992b). It should not be rewritten as an unqualified demonstration of immortality. At 992c the opening limit is recalled with “completely” now explicit: the few who have natural virtue and the required studies are distinguished from the many.

The lawgiver's hymns and happiness at 980a–b connect the hope to a present manner of life. Clinias' wish is directed to the Athenian himself: may his celebration of the gods and purer life meet the best and finest end. The wish supports the conversation's solemn transition without yet proving the theology about to be offered.

**The places.**

- **973c.** μακαρίοις τε καὶ εὐδαίμοσιν … πλὴν ὀλίγων — The exception of a few belongs to the initial claim
- **973c.** μέχριπερ ἂν ζῶμεν τοῦτο διορίζομαι — The Athenian explicitly delimits his statement
- **973c.** καλὴ δὲ ἐλπὶς τελευτήσαντι — The expectation after death is called a fine hope
- **974c–d.** Συμφήσομεν ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι σοι ἴσως — Clinias' concurrence is qualified by hope and “perhaps”
- **977d.** τελέως ἀγαθὸς γενόμενος εὐδαίμων — Complete goodness and happiness are connected inside a negative construction
- **980a–b.** ὕμνοις τε καὶ εὐδαιμονίᾳ γεραίροντι — Honoring gods is joined to hymns and happiness
- **992c.** τελέως μακαρίοις τε καὶ εὐδαίμοσι — The closing recapitulation makes completeness explicit

**In this edition.** “Happy” and “blessed” remain distinct; the ordinary rendering of eudaimōn does not by itself explain the later daimonic allotment. At 977d the edition expressly preserves the negation over the entire claim, so that the wisdomless person does not first become completely good and only afterward fail to become happy.

**See also.** [Life and age](#entry-life-age-labor); [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise); [Inquiry and assent](#entry-inquiry-assent); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Hunting skill and magnificence {#entry-hunting}

*θηρευτική (thēreutikē); τεχνικός (technikos); μεγαλοπρεπής (megaloprepēs)*

**The word.** Thēreutikē is the art of hunting, a feminine adjective used substantivally. Technikos means skilled or full of craft. Megaloprepēs is magnificent or grand in a fitting way; the substantivized τὸ μεγαλοπρεπές names magnificence. The lemma is not a claim that the dictionary masculine form is what the dialogue prints.

**In the work.** Hunting closes the immediately productive part of the catalogue before prophecy and interpretation (975c). Its treatment is brief but distinctive. The Athenian explicitly allows that the whole hunting art has become extensive and skillful, yet denies that it yields magnificence together with wisdom. The scale and technical sophistication of an activity therefore do not by themselves secure the highest intellectual standing.

The sentence adds something not supplied by the earlier building example. Equipment was serviceable to the people but not credited with virtue; hunting is considered under the paired ideals of wisdom and magnificence. The speech's standard includes the worthiness or elevation of an occupation as well as its efficacy. This helps explain why the catalogue is not simply an investigation of whether particular trades can predict their results with certainty.

Nothing in this short clause specifies prey, hunting methods, legal restrictions, or the hunter's ethical character. Nor does it supply a general theory of acquisition. Those topics should not be manufactured out of a general headword. Its precise role is to block an inference from a large and developed skill to the wisdom under inquiry.

Magnificence later returns in a positive setting: the stars perform the finest and most magnificent dance (982e). That later adjective does not provide a missing proof against hunting. It does, however, reveal the type of scale and order toward which the Athenian's attention moves after rejecting human accomplishments as final answers.

**The places.**

- **975c.** ἡ σύμπασα θηρευτική — The whole hunting art is included
- **975c.** πολλή περ καὶ τεχνικὴ γεγονυῖα — Extent and technical accomplishment are conceded
- **975c.** τό γε μεγαλοπρεπὲς σὺν τῷ σοφῷ οὐκ ἀποδίδωσιν — These achievements do not yield magnificence with wisdom
- **982e.** μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην — The superlative later praises the celestial dance

**In this edition.** “The whole art of hunting” makes the substantival adjective clear. “Full of craft” translates technikē without suppressing the concession that hunting is technically developed. The brief example is not expanded by the edition into an account of named hunters or kinds of prey.

**See also.** [Craft and necessity](#entry-craft-necessity); [Building and equipment](#entry-building-equipment); [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise).

## Imitation music and the changing value of play {#entry-imitation-arts}

*μιμητική (mimētikē); μιμεῖσθαι (mimeisthai); μίμημα (mimēma); παιδιά (paidia); σπουδαῖος (spoudaios); μοῦσα (mousa); γραφική (graphikē)*

**The word.** Mimētikē is imitative art; mimeisthai to imitate; mimēma an imitation. Paidia is play, distinct from paideia, education. Spoudaios is serious, while spoudē names seriousness or earnest application. Mousa can denote the musical or poetic art here included comprehensively; graphikē is painting, portrayed as mother of many elaborate products. These are the actual lexical families, not interchangeable headings for all aesthetic activity.

**In the work.** After necessities the Athenian turns to a kind of play, largely imitative and “in no way serious” (975d). The examples span instruments, bodily imitations, words, all music, and painting's offspring in moist and dry materials. This breadth prevents reducing the criticism to dramatic poetry alone. The bodies' imitations are also qualified as not altogether seemly, giving the passage an evaluative dimension that exceeds mere accuracy of representation.

The closing clause produces a pointed tension: even someone who works with the greatest seriousness at these things is not made wise in anything by imitative art. Personal diligence and the philosophical rank of an activity are separated. The artist's effort is not denied; its sufficiency for wisdom is. The text supplies no inventory of particular artworks to test the conclusion, and the lexicon should not invent one.

Music soon re-enters more positively. The things of all music need movements and sounds counted out (978a). Its numerical structure becomes evidence of number's reach. This does not simply reverse the earlier verdict: an imitator's practical production and the rational understanding of what makes musical order possible are different objects of assessment. At 991a–b musical proportions belong to the preparatory studies, with rhythm and harmony explicitly given for play.

Most importantly, play is not uniformly derogatory. The lawgiver at 980a may liken the gods more finely and employ a “fine play” in honoring them. Clinias wishes that the Athenian's celebratory play should culminate in the best life and end. At 992b the Athenian affirms the wise person's destiny “in play and in earnest at once.” These uses keep the opening dismissal from becoming a rule that every act called play is intellectually worthless. The adjective “fine,” the object of representation, the account of truth, and the relation to the whole alter the force.

The reading at 980a is consequential: Burnet chooses paidia from the manuscript margins against paideia in their main texts. The edition's fine-play interpretation therefore follows an editorial choice, not an uncontested sequence of letters in every witness.

**The places.**

- **975d.** παιδιά τις … μιμητικὴ μὲν τὸ πλεῖστον — The category is a kind of play, mostly imitative
- **975d.** ἀλλ’ οὐδαμῇ σπουδαία — The Athenian denies it seriousness in the relevant sense
- **975d.** τά τε κατὰ λόγους καὶ μοῦσαν πᾶσαν — Words and all music are included
- **975d.** ὅσων γραφικὴ μήτηρ — Painting is mother of further products
- **975d.** σπουδῇ τῇ μεγίστῃ δημιουργοῦντα — The maker can nevertheless work with utmost seriousness
- **978a.** κινήσεώς τε καὶ φθόγγων — Counted movements and sounds expose music's numerical basis
- **980a.** παιδιᾷ καλῇ χρωμένῳ — The lawgiver's play is explicitly fine
- **992b.** παίζων καὶ σπουδάζων ἅμα — Play and earnestness are finally joined

**In this edition.** “Play” at 980a translates the adopted παιδιᾷ, not the apparatus alternative παιδείᾳ. The note marks the identification of this play with honoring the gods as interpretation. “All music” for μοῦσαν πᾶσαν belongs to the local rendering and should not be mistaken for a claim that only instrumental music is in view.

**See also.** [Craft and necessity](#entry-craft-necessity); [Building and equipment](#entry-building-equipment); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Hope and happiness](#entry-hope-happiness).

## Inquiry agreement and qualified assent {#entry-inquiry-assent}

*ὁμολογία (homologia); συμφάναι (symphanai); συνομολογεῖν (synhomologein); ζητεῖν (zētein); ἀπορία (aporia); ἐξετάζειν (exetazein); μῦθος (mythos)*

**The word.** Homologia is agreement; the opening genitive ὁμολογίας refers to the agreement under which the three meet. Symphanai is to concur or say together; synhomologein intensifies the language of agreeing. Zētein is to seek, aporia a state of perplexity or lack of a way forward, and exetazein to examine. Mythos is a story or account, here the Athenian's own “our story” at 980a, rather than a ready-made verdict that a claim is false.

**In the work.** The speakers begin with a fulfilled agreement to meet, but an unfinished intellectual task. Clinias insists that lawgiving remains incomplete if they fail to discover what learning makes a mortal wise (973a–b). Agreement about procedure thus precedes, and does not replace, agreement about the answer. The Athenian's speeches dominate the work, yet their status remains shaped by Clinias' reminders, assents, and requests.

At 974c the Athenian describes intelligent examination of oneself and others through arguments and asks whether the speakers concur that the situation is “so, or thereabouts.” Clinias answers with “perhaps,” in hope of forming the truest opinion later. His wording is not a flat rejection, but it is more provisional than certainty. The dialogue makes room for agreeing to continue under a tentative assessment.

The exclusions that follow are an ordered inquiry: dispose of inappropriate claimants, seek the knowledge whose absence would make us most deficient, then test whether the proposed knower is wise and good. Number receives substantial advocacy without eliminating the need for the further account expressly requested at 979d. A reader should therefore resist treating every apparent conclusion as the completion of the opening problem.

At 979c–d the Athenian contrasts broad agreement that a soul should be just, temperate, brave, and wise with disagreement about which wisdom it must possess. This is agreement about an evaluative title alongside disagreement about its determinate content. Clinias' remark about “great things about great things” recognizes the scale of the undertaking. The Athenian adds the difficulty that his claims are wholly true; that assertion of truth is part of his speech, not a substitute for the account he owes.

The shared commitment is renewed when Clinias promises, for himself and Megillus, not to tire of listening. The dual forms preserve the silent third participant. At 980a the Athenian begins again, seeking one name or an articulated plurality. His “our story” makes the account part of a jointly pursued construction connected with the Laws. It licenses neither dismissing the argument as fiction nor removing its self-conscious status as an account under development. Later questioning and refutation (991c) show that sustained scrutiny, not mere accumulated assent, belongs to the recommended learning.

**The places.**

- **973a.** Πρὸς μὲν τὸ τῆς ὁμολογίας — The initial agreement concerns their coming together
- **973b.** τοῦτο οὔτε εἴπομεν οὔτε ηὕρομεν — The essential answer remains both unsaid and undiscovered
- **974c.** ἡ περὶ σοφίαν ἀπορία καὶ ζήτησις — Perplexity and search remain paired
- **974c.** οὐχ οὕτως ἢ ταύτῃ συμφήσομεν — The invitation to assent allows approximation
- **979c–d.** ἥντινα δὲ σοφίαν … οὐδεὶς οὐδενὶ … συνομολογεῖ — Agreement fails at identifying the required wisdom
- **979e.** ὑπὲρ ἀμφοῖν — Clinias promises attention on behalf of both listeners
- **980a.** κατὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον μῦθον — The inquiry names its own account “our story”

**In this edition.** “Concur” renders the forms of symphanai, while “agrees” and “agreement” keep related but distinct forms audible. The dual “you two” at 979e is translated explicitly. “Our story” follows mythos without importing a modern opposition between myth and rational argument that the local phrasing does not establish.

**See also.** [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Hope and happiness](#entry-hope-happiness); [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning).

## Intelligence and its human and divine measures {#entry-intelligence}

*φρόνησις (phronēsis); φρόνιμος (phronimos); ἔμφρων (emphrōn); ἄφρων (aphrōn); φρονίμως (phronimōs); φρονεῖν (phronein)*

**The word.** Phronēsis is intelligence or practical understanding in the edition's vocabulary; phronimos and emphrōn are both “intelligent,” while aphrōn is “unintelligent.” The last is a separate adjective, not a form of anoētos, “senseless.” Phronimōs names acting or examining intelligently. The verbal family is important because intelligence here is shown in conduct, understanding, and ordered movement rather than defined as a detached store of facts.

**In the work.** The opening aim is a human state in the finest condition with regard to intelligence, as much as a human can possess (973a). This is not yet the assertion that human intelligence and divine intelligence have identical scope. Nor does it follow that phronēsis and sophia are unrelated: the question about becoming wise immediately specifies the inquiry's educational target. Distinguishing the words lets their relation remain a problem rather than settling it by translation.

At 974b “some intelligence,” the crafts, and plural “intelligences” occur among the places where the sought wisdom runs away. The plural makes visible the fragmented or specialized understandings that can claim the name. The Athenian does not deny that people exercise any intelligence before possessing complete wisdom; he himself speaks of people capable of examining themselves and others intelligently at 974c. At 976c “the intelligent” become the competent judges who would refuse to call memory and quickness genuine wisdom.

The positive account makes number the condition of intelligence. Heaven is credited with the greatest good, intelligence, at 977a, and the removal of number would prevent human beings from becoming intelligent in anything at 977c. The statement is stronger than the claim that arithmetic improves one useful skill. Its argument reaches the ability to give an account rather than possess perceptions and memories alone. Nevertheless, the passage expressly leaves room for courage and temperance without complete wisdom; the reader should not silently replace all distinctions of virtue with a single yes-or-no measure of intelligence.

The later astronomy extends the criterion beyond human accomplishments. Ordered motion is offered as evidence that stars are intelligent (982b), while the many mistake unchanging regularity for lack of soul. The same family thus names a human educational goal and a property attributed to divine living beings. The extension depends on the Athenian's argument about order, deliberation, and soul. It is not a lexical proof that every regular process thinks. The middle beings of ether and air share wonderful intelligence, and the highest god knows in every respect (985a); these differences of degree prevent the family from naming one undifferentiated mental condition throughout the cosmic hierarchy.

**The places.**

- **973a.** πρὸς φρόνησιν ὅσην δυνατὸν ἀνθρώπῳ σχεῖν — Intelligence is sought within the stated human capacity
- **974b.** τεχνῶν ἢ φρονήσεων — Crafts and “intelligences” appear among the unsatisfactory candidates
- **974c.** φρονίμως αὑτοὺς ἄλλους τε ἐξετάσαι — Intelligent examination concerns oneself and others
- **976c.** οὐδεὶς τῶν ἐμφρόνων — The intelligent withhold the title wise from mere quickness
- **976d.** ἀνοητότατον ἂν καὶ ἀφρονέστατον — Number's removal yields both senselessness and unintelligence
- **977c.** οὐκ ἄν ποτέ τι φρόνιμοι γενοίμεθα — The dependence on number is stated broadly
- **982b.** μέγα τεκμήριον … τοῦ φρόνιμον εἶναι — Ordered celestial motion becomes evidence of intelligence

**In this edition.** The rendering “intelligence” is a deliberate distinction, not a denial of the ordinary overlap between Greek words for understanding. Both phronimos and emphrōn become “intelligent”; the Greek should be consulted when the exact adjective matters. The superlative ἀφρονέστατον at 976d is actually attested, whereas the lemma ἄφρων supplies its organizing headword.

**See also.** [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise); [Sense and attention](#entry-sense-attention); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number).

## Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion {#entry-knowledge-learning}

*ἐπιστήμη (epistēmē); ἐπιστήμων (epistēmōn); μανθάνειν (manthanein); διδάσκειν (didaskein); δύναμις (dynamis)*

**The word.** Epistēmē is knowledge, with plural epistēmai rendered “kinds of knowledge”; epistēmōn is the person who knows a subject. Manthanein is to learn, and didaskein to teach. Dynamis names a power or capacity. The infinitives used as headwords here are organizing forms; the dialogue also has participles such as μαθών, “having learned,” and μεμαθηκότα, “one who has learned.”

**In the work.** The opening question asks for the learning by which a mortal would become wise. It does not presume that all learning has this effect. At 974d the Athenian first sets aside the kinds of knowledge that fail to make wise the person who takes them up and possesses them. Possession is therefore insufficient unless the object and quality of knowledge are appropriate. Equally, his terminology does not simply revoke their status as knowledge: they are introduced as “called” kinds of knowledge and are assessed for their failure to produce the desired result.

The distinction is sharpened by prophecy and interpretation. Knowing what has been said is separated from having learned whether it is true (975c). The opposition is not between knowing words and learning nothing at all. It concerns the limited object of a competence. The later example of effortless learning is equally specific: someone can learn whatever he encounters easily, retain much securely, and respond fittingly, yet this natural aptitude does not settle the question of wisdom (976b–c).

The divine pedagogy of counting distinguishes capacity from instruction. The god first establishes in humans the ability to understand what is shown, and then shows it (978c). Repeated days and nights teach until even the slowest learner within the capable class can count. Nature supplies receptivity, the ordered phenomena supply recurrent instruction, and the learner comes to recognize one, two, three, and more. “Even the slowest” must not be detached from the qualification concerning beings given the nature of being able to learn (978e).

This broad account of elementary numerical acquisition differs from the selective final curriculum. The best natures later require good memory, delight in learning, nourishment, and appropriate education; unsuitable teaching is worse than not learning (989b–d). Ordinary counting is thus widely teachable, while the deepest understanding of the heavenly circuits requires unusual capacity and lengthy preparation. The distinction resolves an apparent conflict between the slow learner of 978d and the exceptional learner of 990b without making either passage say less than it does.

Finally, knowledge of numerical matters remains open to assessment at 979d. Calling someone epistēmōn does not by itself prove that the person is wise and good. The dialogue repeatedly tests the passage from learning an object to becoming a certain kind of person.

**The places.**

- **973b.** τί ποτε μαθών — What learning would make the mortal wise?
- **974d.** ἐπιστῆμαι … σοφὸν δὲ οὐκ ἀποτελοῦσιν — Kinds of knowledge are tested by what they fail to accomplish
- **975c.** τὸ λεγόμενον γὰρ οἶδεν μόνον — Knowledge of an utterance is limited in object
- **976b–c.** ῥᾳδίως … μανθάνοντα — Ease of learning is a power, not the completed wisdom
- **978c.** ἔπειτ’ ἔδειξεν καὶ δείκνυσιν — Divine showing follows the provision of receptivity
- **978d.** ὁ δυσμαθέστατος ἱκανῶς μάθῃ ἀριθμεῖν — Repeated instruction reaches even the slowest learner
- **979d.** ὁ ταῦτ’ ἐπιστήμων — Knowing these things leaves a further evaluative question

**In this edition.** “Knowledge” is kept apart from “wisdom” and “intelligence”; “subjects of learning” later renders mathēmata. The English “power” for dynamis in the opening is an ability, whereas the later mathematical use needs its own contextual explanation. A single rendering does not erase this development.

**See also.** [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise); [Memory and quickness](#entry-memory-quickness); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar); [Prophecy and interpretation](#entry-prophecy-interpretation).

## Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion {#entry-lawsuits-opinion}

*δίκη (dikē); ῥώμη (rhōmē); μνήμη (mnēmē); τριβή (tribē); δόξα (doxa); ἦθος (ēthos); ἀλήθεια (alētheia)*

**The word.** Dikē in the plural δίκαις here names lawsuits, while elsewhere the same family concerns justice. Rhōmē is strength or power, assigned to speaking. Mnēmē is memory; tribē practiced routine or habituated facility. Doxa is opinion, and ēthos character; alētheia is truth. Their arrangement, not their isolated dictionary meanings, explains the forensic example.

**In the work.** Some speakers claim to help in lawsuits through the strength of their speaking (976b). Their effective practice uses memory and the routine of opinion while attending to characters. The Athenian then says they have slipped outside the truth of things really just. Persuasive facility and knowledge of justice are distinguished. The objection is not merely that the speaker forgets facts or expresses himself poorly: skillful attention to an audience may itself operate without the required truth.

The “helpers” are introduced through what they say of themselves. Their practical claim remains at issue. The passage does not identify them by the noun sophist or offer the full constitutional organization of Athenian courts. It would therefore be imprecise to define an unattested occupational label as though it were the dialogue's own classification. What the text gives is a functional description of assistance in lawsuits.

Doxa has more than one role across the opening. A childish opinion affects one's reckoning of life at 974a; practices are guessed at by opinions at 976a; a reputation for wisdom is at stake at 976b; and true opinion reappears in the treatment of counting out the just, good, and fine at 978b. These uses are connected by judgment or appearance, but their objects differ. The existence of an expressly true opinion prevents a simple rule that every doxa in the work is false.

The text's positive demand is correspondingly stronger than winning assent. Number is linked with the ability to give an account, and at 978b knowledge and true opinion enter a claim about persuading oneself and another concerning the evaluative terms. The clause is compressed and should not be rewritten as a fully developed theory of the relation between knowledge and true opinion. It does, however, oppose the earlier distance between speaking power and truth.

Memory itself is not condemned. Its sufficiency is denied, and its good use later depends on what is learned and how. The same capacity can serve habitual forensic adaptation or the best educational natures. This prevents the criticism of rhetoric from becoming an indiscriminate criticism of remembering.

**The places.**

- **976b.** βοηθοὶ δίκαις — The claimed service is assistance in lawsuits
- **976b.** ἐν τῇ τοῦ λέγειν ῥώμῃ — Its vehicle is the strength of speaking
- **976b.** μνήμῃ καὶ τριβῇ δόξης — Memory and the routine of opinion describe the method
- **976b.** ἤθεσιν προσέχοντες τὸν νοῦν — Attention is directed to characters
- **976b.** ἀληθείας δὲ τῶν ὄντως δικαίων ἐκτὸς παρεσφαλμένοι — The decisive deficit is missing the truth of the really just
- **978b.** ἀληθοῦς δόξης ἐπιλαβόμενος — True opinion later occurs within a different demand for justified persuasion

**In this edition.** “Routine” retains tribē as distinct from craft. The note's Gorgias comparison is explicitly a comparison with what Socrates says there; this work's speaker is the Athenian. “Characters” follows Burnet's ἤθεσιν rather than the conjectural division ἢ ἔθεσιν reported in the apparatus.

**See also.** [Sense and attention](#entry-sense-attention); [Memory and quickness](#entry-memory-quickness); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Life age and the reckoning of labor {#entry-life-age-labor}

*βίος (bios); ζῆν (zēn); γῆρας (gēras); πόνος (ponos); λογισμός (logismos); ἀναπνοή (anapnoē)*

**The word.** Bios is life as lived, including its course and manner; zēn is to live. Gēras is old age, ponos labor or toil, and logismos reckoning. Anapnoē literally names a breathing or breathing space and gives the opening account its brief interval of relief. These words describe an appraisal of mortal life, not a clinical classification of moods or a neutral demographic survey.

**In the work.** The Athenian begins with difficulty before birth: the condition of gestation, birth itself, nourishment, and education all involve countless labors (973d–974a). Education first appears inside this burdensome life-course, well before the final curriculum names the studies that can make life worthwhile. The later educational promise consequently does not rest on the idea that learning is effortless.

The time counted as moderate is brief; the Athenian expressly distinguishes it from the worthless part of life. The brief interval is a breathing space around life's middle. Old age quickly overtakes it, and a person who reckons up the life already lived would not wish to live it again unless full of childish opinion. These are strong evaluations spoken by the Athenian. The “childish” designation characterizes a judgment, not the biological age of everyone who dissents.

Logismos in this setting is retrospective reckoning. It is not yet a lesson in arithmetic, though the recurrence of the family becomes suggestive when number is introduced as indispensable to reason. The argument passes from assessing the worth of a life to identifying the knowledge that could transform it. The text itself presents the difficulty of finding wisdom as evidence akin to the difficulty of living; the correspondence is an argumentative comparison, not a proof that every event in life can be assigned a numerical value.

The later treatment of age complicates a purely negative reading. Preparation must begin in childhood and youth (990c), while the greatest offices are to be entrusted to those who have completed the studies and reached old age (992d). The life stage that exposes ordinary disappointment at the opening becomes the stage of qualified public responsibility at the ending. The difference lies in the kind of life and education under discussion, not in a denial that age brings limits.

The opening speakers are themselves old men in the edition's dramatic introduction, continuing the Laws. Their ages make the question urgent, but the dialogue does not supply precise birthdays or an exact interval between conversations. The language of old age should not be converted into invented biography.

**The places.**

- **973d.** τὸ γενέσθαι χαλεπὸν ἅπαντι ζῴῳ — Coming into being is difficult for every living being
- **973d–974a.** τὸ τρέφεσθαι καὶ παιδεύεσθαι, διὰ πόνων μυρίων — Nourishment and education belong to the laborious course
- **974a.** ἀναπνοὴν … κατὰ μέσον πῃ βίον — The moderate interval is a breathing space near life's middle
- **974a.** λογισάμενον τὸν βεβιωμένον ἑαυτῷ βίον — Life is retrospectively reckoned
- **974a.** παιδικῆς δόξης — “Childish” qualifies the opinion that resists the appraisal
- **992d.** εἰς πρεσβύτου τέλος ἀφικομένοις — Completion of old age becomes the time for the greatest offices

**In this edition.** “Reckoning” keeps logismos visible beside the verb “reckoned up.” “Breathing space” preserves the physical image rather than turning it into a technical stage of flourishing. The death-related language is translated as part of the dialogue's argument, not endorsed by the lexicon as advice about a reader's life.

**See also.** [Hope and happiness](#entry-hope-happiness); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Living being combination and one shape {#entry-living-being}

*ζῷον (zōion); σύστασις (systasis); μορφή (morphē); ἀποτίκτειν (apotiktein)*

**The word.** Zōion is a living being. Systasis is a putting-together, constitution, or combination; morphē is shape. Apotiktein is to bring forth, using the language of birth for what the combination produces. The headword apotiktein represents the attested subjunctive ἀποτέκῃ. “Combination” is not an additional living substance alongside soul and body, and “shape” is not automatically the separately developed philosophical sense of a Form.

**In the work.** At 981a the Athenian asks whether what is most truly called a living being by nature is what results when one combination of soul and body comes together and brings forth one shape. Clinias answers “Rightly.” The Athenian then repeats the naming question and receives “Yes.” This unusually explicit exchange fixes the term used throughout the cosmology: earthly organisms and heavenly stars must both be judged against the same account of animation.

The two occurrences of “one” matter. A living being is a unity constituted from soul and body, not simply two things placed next to one another in a list. The sentence does not, however, specify that soul and body cease to be different kinds. At 983d their distinction is asserted strongly and the plurality of each is preserved. The definition makes composite unity intelligible within that distinction. It does not solve every later question about how an invisible soul relates spatially to a visible body.

The scope of zōion extends beyond ordinary examples of moving animals. The earthly kind at 981d includes human beings, many-footed and footless creatures, moving beings and those fixed by roots. The last group includes plants. The fiery kind includes the stars, endowed with body and soul. Ether, air, and water then provide three further kinds. Translating zōion throughout as “animal” in a narrow modern sense would prejudice the classification by making plants and celestial bodies sound like exceptions to an already restricted definition.

The phrase also distinguishes the living being from its predominant body. Fire is not itself called a star merely because fire is one of the five bodies. A celestial living being has a composite bodily constitution and soul. Similarly, an airy or ethereal being is not just an empty region of atmosphere. The bodies supply material conditions and distinctions; the soul–body combination makes the thing a living being.

The definition's bodily requirement is important when the account reaches beings that are transparent or normally unseen. Their failure to appear plainly does not make them bodiless. Soul alone has that status at 981b; the middle beings remain composites. At 983c the Athenian leaves a further alternative in the soul's relation to heavenly bodies, saying soul must have come to be “with each, or even in each.” That disjunction prevents treating the initial combination as an exact anatomical account of psychic location.

**The places.**

- **981a.** ζῷόν γε ἀληθέστατα λέγεσθαι κατὰ φύσιν — The question concerns the truest natural application of “living being”
- **981a.** μία συνελθοῦσα σύστασις ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος — A single combination joins soul and body
- **981a.** ἀποτέκῃ μίαν μορφήν — The combination brings forth one shape
- **981d.** ὅσα μόνιμα, διειλημμένα ῥίζαις — Rooted beings belong to the earthly class
- **983c.** ψυχῆς πρὸς ἑκάστῳ γενομένης ἢ καὶ ἐν ἑκάστοις — Soul's relation to each heavenly body is not reduced to one spatial formula
- **984c.** πάντων μὲν μετόχων τοῦ ζῆν γεγονότων — All five bodily kinds can contribute to beings that share in life

**In this edition.** Zōion is consistently “living being”; the participial ζῶσι at 982e is “living things.” Morphē is “shape,” kept apart from εἶδος, “form,” in the later curriculum. Systasis will recur in the “combination of harmony” at 991e; that recurrence invites comparison of ordered composition without making a harmonic combination a living being.

**See also.** [Soul as craftsman](#entry-soul-craftsman) · [Earthly kind](#entry-earthly-kind) · [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible)

## Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses {#entry-means-music}

*μέσος (mesos); ἄκρον (akron); ἡμιόλιος (hēmiolios); ἐπίτριτος (epitritos); σύμφωνος (symphōnos); σύμμετρος (symmetros); ῥυθμός (rhythmos); ἁρμονία (harmonia); Μοῦσα (Mousa)*

**The word.** Mesos means middle; in the proportional account it designates a mean between extremes, akra. Hēmiolios is one-and-a-half, or a ratio of 3:2; epitritos is one-and-a-third, or 4:3. Symphōnos means concordant and can carry a musical sense; symmetros means commensurate or proportionate. Rhythmos and harmonia name rhythm and harmony, while the Muses personify the musical gift's divine setting.

**In the work.** Two kinds of mean are described at 991a. One exceeds the lesser extreme by exactly as much as it falls short of the greater. This is the arithmetic mean. The other exceeds and is exceeded by the same fraction of the respective extremes. This is the harmonic mean. The Greek describes their relations; it does not print those two technical English labels as names.

The extremes given are six and twelve. The arithmetic mean is nine: 9−6 equals 12−9, each difference being three. The harmonic mean is eight: 8−6 is two, one third of six, while 12−8 is four, one third of twelve. Thus eight is not the arithmetic mean and nine is not the harmonic mean. Equal absolute differences define the first; equal relative parts of the extremes define the second.

These terms provide the musical ratios. The pairs 9:6 and 12:8 both yield 3:2, the one-and-a-half ratio associated with the fifth. The pairs 8:6 and 12:9 both yield 4:3, the one-and-a-third ratio associated with the fourth. The endpoints themselves are in the double ratio 12:6. The source's explanatory note works out this arithmetic and compares the *Timaeus*. Eight and nine as the inserted means are results of that explanation; the Greek sentence explicitly names six and twelve, not a displayed sequence “6, 8, 9, 12.”

The account assigns humankind a concordant and commensurate use for the play of rhythm and harmony, a gift of the Muses' happy dance (991b). Play here is beneficial and divinely grounded. This qualifies any reading of the earlier dismissal of imitative arts as an absolute condemnation of all musical activity. The earlier criticism denied that serious effort in imitation by itself makes its practitioner wise; the present passage studies the numerical relations that help prepare wisdom.

Music thereby mediates between abstract ratios and human practice without exhausting their significance. The curriculum passes from these relations to the divine visible order. Its final demand includes every combination of harmony among the things to be grasped as one. The numerical account must therefore be learned as part of a connected structure, not merely memorized as a set of useful tuning proportions.

**The places.**

- **991a.** ἴσως δὲ τοῦ ἐλάττονος πλέον ἔλαττόν τε τοῦ μείζονος — Equal differences identify the arithmetic mean
- **991a.** τῷ αὐτῷ μέρει τῶν ἄκρων αὐτῶν — Equal fractional parts of the extremes identify the harmonic mean
- **991a–b.** ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τοῦ ἓξ πρὸς τὰ δώδεκα — Six and twelve are the stated extremes
- **991b.** τό τε ἡμιόλιον καὶ ἐπίτριτον — The one-and-a-half and one-and-a-third relations
- **991b.** σύμφωνον χρείαν καὶ σύμμετρον — Concordant and commensurate human use
- **991b.** παιδιᾶς ῥυθμοῦ τε καὶ ἁρμονίας χάριν — The purpose includes the play of rhythm and harmony
- **991b.** εὐδαίμονι χορείᾳ Μουσῶν δεδομένη — The gift comes through the Muses' happy dance

**In this edition.** “One-and-a-half” and “one-and-a-third” keep the Greek ratio names recognizable, while the note gives fifth and fourth and the arithmetic of the means. The edition's “commensurate” at 991b does not assert that the incommensurable side-lengths relevant to geometry at 990d have become commensurable. The same broad proportional vocabulary must be interpreted in each construction.

**See also.** [Doubling, power, and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion); [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Imitation and the arts of play](#entry-imitation-arts); [The celestial dance](#entry-celestial-dance); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help {#entry-medicine-seasons}

*ἰατρική (iatrikē); ὥρα (hōra); ψῦχος (psychos); καῦμα (kauma); ἄκαιρος (akairos); λῄζεσθαι (lēizesthai); τοπάζειν (topazein)*

**The word.** Iatrikē is medicine, a feminine adjective naming the medical art. Hōra is a season or appropriate time; psychos cold and kauma heat. Akairos is untimely, a failure of the fitting occasion. Lēizesthai is to plunder, used in the passage as an image of the seasons' assault on living nature. Topazein is to conjecture or guess; the passive participle τοπαζόμενα describes the practices under criticism as guessed at.

**In the work.** Medicine is placed among helpers, after generalship (976a). Its object is the damage that seasons inflict on living beings through untimely cold, heat, and similar conditions. The seasonal image ties medical necessity to the bodily vulnerability already described at the opening. Life needs assistance because natural conditions can be experienced as hostile or mistimed.

The Athenian then denies the truest wisdom to the practices under discussion: they are carried along without measure, guessed at through opinions. This is a judgment of the speech, not a factual assessment of modern medicine. Nor is it a blanket claim that medical intervention never helps; classification as help has just been conceded. The distinction is between beneficial practical response and the knowledge that the argument wants to call highest wisdom.

The medical example also creates a tension the reader should retain. At 979a the celestial order supplies winds and rains that are not violent or without measure, while poor outcomes are attributed to human nature's unjust distribution of its life. The earlier medical passage nevertheless plainly speaks of untimely seasonal damage. The dialogue does not give a full reconciliation of every illness and every weather event with its beneficent cosmic order. It would be unwarranted to infer that it proves each sick person's illness to be that person's fault.

The later astronomical account relies on regularity, measure, and an attribution of intelligent causation. Medicine's exclusion helps define the desired contrast, but the dialogue does not submit astronomy to an identical case-by-case test of predictive success. That asymmetry is a legitimate interpretive pressure, already noticed by the supplied introduction. The lexicon should identify it rather than use the rejection of medicine as independent proof of astronomy's superiority.

**The places.**

- **976a.** ἣν δὲ καλοῦσι μὲν ἰατρικήν — The practice is introduced under its familiar name
- **976a.** βοήθεια δέ που καὶ αὕτη — Medicine too is help
- **976a.** ψύχει καὶ καύματι ἀκαίρῳ — The threats are cold and untimely heat
- **976a.** ληίζονται τὴν τῶν ζῴων φύσιν — The seasons metaphorically plunder living nature
- **976a.** δόξαις … τοπαζόμενα — Opinion and conjecture qualify the epistemic verdict
- **979a.** οὐκ ἐξαισίων οὐδὲ ἀμέτρων — The later account praises winds and rains that lack violence and excess

**In this edition.** “Plunder” preserves the metaphor rather than replacing it with a modern disease mechanism. “Untimely” belongs grammatically to the stated heat phrase; the surrounding “and all such things” broadens the class of damaging conditions. “The truest wisdom” retains the superlative standard being applied.

**See also.** [The helping crafts](#entry-helping-crafts); [Generalship and fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar); [Life and labor](#entry-life-age-labor).

## Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude {#entry-memory-quickness}

*μνήμη (mnēmē); μνημονεύειν (mnēmoneuein); διαμνημονεύειν (diamnēmoneuein); ἀγχίνοια (anchinoia); φύσις (physis); πρόσφορος (prosphoros)*

**The word.** Mnēmē is memory; mnēmoneuein to remember; diamnēmoneuein to keep in mind or remember through the relevant circumstances. Anchinoia is quick-wittedness, paired here with nature in the genitive. Physis in this example names natural aptitude. Prosphoros is what suits a case. The passage's actual verb forms and constructions are more informative than reducing its subject to a modern measure of “intelligence.”

**In the work.** After the crafts the Athenian identifies one remaining power that wins a reputation for wisdom (976b–c). It consists of learning whatever is encountered easily, securely remembering many things, recalling what suits each occasion, and acting quickly on the fitting response. The profile includes practical responsiveness as well as retention. It is not just a person who can repeat a large list by rote.

Different observers name the same powers differently: nature, wisdom, or quick-wittedness of nature. The intelligent, the Athenian says, will never call anyone really wise for any of them. This is a refusal to infer completed wisdom from aptitude. It need not imply that the powers are worthless, acquired only mechanically, or impossible to combine with wisdom.

The numerical argument soon confirms the limitation. A living being may possess perceptions and memories yet be unable to give an account without number (977c). Retention preserves experience but does not alone make its relations intelligible or accountable. The distinction is especially important because the earlier lawsuit helpers already used memory without reaching the truth of justice.

The later education gives these same capacities a positive role. The best natures can learn, remember, and delight in learning (989b–c), while the middle beings of ether and air are described as quick-learning and of good memory (985a). The recurrence shows that the catalogue excludes a sufficiency claim, not the capacities themselves. An excellent aptitude must receive the right content, nourishment, and education; the best nature can still lack the piety the argument seeks to supply.

The slow learner of the elementary counting account gives the reverse comparison. A person need not possess spectacular quickness to learn one and two from repeated days and nights (978d). That broad elementary teaching is different from the capacity needed to apprehend all celestial circuits. The work thus separates speed, receptivity, memory, elementary achievement, and completed understanding instead of treating them as one scale.

**The places.**

- **976b.** πρὸς δόξαν σοφίας — The initial issue is a reputation for wisdom
- **976b–c.** ῥᾳδίως … μανθάνοντα — Learning easily is the first natural power
- **976c.** πολλὰ καὶ ἀσφαλῶς μνημονεύοντα — Memory combines extent and security
- **976c.** τὸ πρόσφορον ἑκάστῳ διαμνημονεύῃ — The person recalls what fits each case
- **976c.** ἀγχίνοιαν … φύσεως — One possible name is natural quick-wittedness
- **977c.** αἰσθήσεις καὶ μνήμας — Perceptions and memories can be acquired without the ability to give an account
- **989c.** δυναμένη μανθάνειν καὶ μνήμων οὖσα — Learning capacity and memory later qualify the best educational nature

**In this edition.** “Quick-wittedness of nature” preserves the genitival expression rather than treating anchinoia as wisdom already secured. The distinction between μνήμη and the plural μνήμας follows the printed forms. “What suits” links this case to useful equipment at 975c, while leaving the different recipients, people and particular situations, clear.

**See also.** [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Lawsuits and opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar).

## Mortality indestructibility and life long enough {#entry-immortality-longevity}

*θνητός (thnētos); ἀθάνατος (athanatos); ἀνώλεθρος (anōlethros); μακραίων (makraiōn); βίος (bios); ζωή (zōē)*

**The word.** Thnētos means mortal; athanatos immortal, literally not subject to death; anōlethros indestructible. Makraiōn describes what lasts for long ages. Bios and zōē both concern life, but the sentence at 982a uses the former for a long-lived course and the latter for the life of which each being has enough. The distinction between endlessness and sufficiency is important to the argument.

**In the work.** At 981e–982a the Athenian says that the stellar kind should receive, in opinion, one of two portions. Either each being is indestructible, immortal, and altogether divine by every necessity, or each has a life of long ages sufficient for it, such that it would never need more. The second possibility is not an alternative of ordinary human mortality. It secures an exceptionally durable and sufficient life without making indestructibility the sole available account.

Both sides of the disjunction support the privileged stellar condition. The point is not to resolve, by a newly supplied proof, every question about the duration of a generated god. The opening “we must, very nearly, give them in opinion” also signals the manner of assent. Doxa here is the proposed assessment of their condition, not merely the public reputation of a mortal claimant to wisdom. A summary that says only “the stars are proved immortal” suppresses both the alternative and its stated epistemic framing.

The passage later tightens its language. At 984b the two visible living kinds are contrasted as immortal and wholly mortal, with the earthly kind as the latter. That recapitulation uses the first side of the earlier alternative without separately demonstrating why the other has now been excluded. The lexicon should show this rather than repair the movement by inserting an argument. The earlier sufficiency condition remains part of the work even when the later classification becomes categorical.

Mortality concerns the earthly living kind, the compound defined from body and soul. The final promise for the wise after death is a different claim, made with its own qualification at 992b. The present contrast does not prove that an individual human compound survives forever, and the ending should not be used to convert human bodily life into the stellar constitution. Conversely, saying that the earthly kind is mortal does not by itself refute the text's hope for a soul's transformed condition. The objects and qualifications differ.

The terminology joins duration to happiness without identifying them. At 981e the stars have the happiest and best soul; the following alternatives concern the life adequate to that condition. The phrase “would never need any more” shifts attention from sheer quantity of years to fulfilled life. That is why the long-lived alternative cannot be paraphrased simply as a grudging retreat to “eventually they die.” It presents sufficiency as a positive status.

**The places.**

- **981e.** δυοῖν … μοιρῶν τὴν ἑτέραν — One of two portions must be assigned
- **981e–982a.** ἀνώλεθρόν τε καὶ ἀθάνατον — The first alternative is indestructibility and immortality
- **982a.** μακραίωνα βίον — The other is a life of long ages
- **982a.** οὐδέν τι πλείονος ἂν προσδεῖσθαί ποτε — Sufficiency means never needing more
- **984b.** ἀθάνατον, τὸ δὲ γήινον ἅπαν θνητὸν — The later contrast uses immortal and wholly mortal

**In this edition.** “Life of long ages” preserves the force of makraiōn without turning it into “eternal.” At 984b Burnet prints ἀθάνατον without τὸ μέν, “the one,” which a later hand supplies; the English supplies “one” to make the contrast intelligible. That supplied English is not evidence that τὸ μέν belongs to the Greek reading text.

**See also.** [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind) · [Earthly kind](#entry-earthly-kind) · [Necessity and the Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) · [Gods and images](#entry-gods-images)

## Motion toward good and toward its contrary {#entry-motion-good-evil}

*ἀγαθός (agathos); φλαῦρος (phlauros); ἄριστος (aristos); ἐναντίος (enantios); νικᾶν (nikan); θερμότης (thermotēs); ψῦξις (psyxis)*

**The word.** Agathos is good, aristos best, and phlauros poor or inferior; the local contrast need not make every use of phlauros a synonym of extreme moral wickedness. Enantios is contrary, requiring a specified counterpart. Nikan is to conquer or prevail. Thermotēs and psyxis are heat and cooling or coldness, the physical conditions named in the account the Athenian rejects.

**In the work.** The resumption at 988c distinguishes two unsatisfactory ways of speaking about gods. The first accounts of divine origins and deeds fail to please the temperate. The “second” accounts make fire, water, and other bodies oldest and soul later, giving priority to the motion a body produces through heat, cooling, and related conditions. The edition identifies this second group as those who came after the poets, but that historical identification is explanatory interpretation, not a list of named thinkers in the dialogue.

The Athenian reverses the explanatory order. Soul can move both itself and the body in which it is present, and bodily weight is not a decisive objection (988d). That reversal belongs to the broader account of soul's priority and causation. The moral qualification added here is equally important: motion toward the good belongs to the best soul, whereas motion toward the contrary belongs to the contrary soul (988e).

It follows that “soul causes motion” is not equivalent to “every motion caused by any soul is good.” The text itself distinguishes the direction and quality of psychic causation. Nor does its language require identifying exactly two cosmic souls, one good and one evil, as the only possible beings. The contrast gives a principle for evaluating opposed motions; the dialogue does not here inventory the number, rank, and sphere of every bad soul.

The final assertion says that good things must have conquered and must conquer things that are not such. The perfect infinitive and present infinitive make achieved and continuing prevalence audible. This is a normative-cosmological claim about the ascendancy of good, not a demonstration that bad events never occur or that a particular person's suffering proves divine abandonment. Earlier disorder and human misdistribution had already been admitted.

The paragraph closes by recalling the justice that avenges the unholy (988e). Its concern is not simply choosing between two mechanical theories. An account of causation affects how the divine is honored, what goodness means, and whether the learner can become wise about just things. The transition back to the human curriculum follows from that connection.

**The places.**

- **988c.** πρεσβύτατα μὲν τὰ πυρὸς ἐλέγετο καὶ ὕδατος — The rejected ordering makes bodily elements oldest
- **988c–d.** θερμότητι καὶ ψύξεσιν — Physical conditions are the earlier account's means of motion
- **988d.** ψυχῆς οὔσης αἰτίας τοῦ ὅλου — Psychic causation supplies the new explanatory starting point
- **988e.** τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τἀγαθὸν φορὰν καὶ κίνησιν τῆς ἀρίστης ψυχῆς εἶναι — The best soul explains movement toward good
- **988e.** τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τοὐναντίον ἐναντίαν — The contrary direction receives a contrary psychic cause
- **988e.** νενικηκέναι δεῖ καὶ νικᾶν τὰ ἀγαθὰ — Good must have prevailed and prevail
- **988e.** τὴν τῶν ἀνοσίων τιμωρὸν; δίκην — Avenging justice frames the theological conclusion

**In this edition.** “Motion” and “movement” distinguish phora and kinēsis; “poor” preserves phlauros beside stronger terms for badness elsewhere. The unclear words at 988c are not repaired into a confident historical thesis. The exact good-motion qualification is preserved rather than absorbed into an unrestricted claim that soul as such guarantees goodness.

**See also.** [Soul as cause](#entry-soul-causation); [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority); [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence); [Full of gods, and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods).

## Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates {#entry-necessity-fates}

*ἀνάγκη (anankē); νοῦς (nous); βουλεύεσθαι (bouleuesthai); βουλή (boulē); μεταβουλεύεσθαι (metabouleuesthai); ἀμετάστροφος (ametastrophos); Μοῖραι (Moirai)*

**The word.** Anankē is necessity or constraint. Nous is sense or intelligence in its directive aspect, rendered “sense” in the edition. Bouleuesthai is to deliberate, boulē deliberation or counsel, and metabouleuesthai to deliberate anew or change one's decision. Ametastrophos means not to be turned back. The Moirai are the Fates; the related common noun μοῖρα means a portion or allotment.

**In the work.** At 982b the Athenian calls the necessity belonging to a soul that has acquired sense the greatest of all necessities. He immediately explains that it gives law as ruler, not as something ruled. Necessity is thereby located within intelligent agency. The stars' stability need not show domination by an external mindless force; on this account it expresses the persistence of a soul's best rational decision.

The next clause connects the irreversible with completed deliberation. When soul has deliberated what is best according to the best sense, the result is complete and in accordance with sense. Not even adamant could be stronger or less reversible. Adamant is an image of unsurpassable firmness, not the proposed bodily material out of which the planets are made. The three Fates then hold fast and preserve the completeness of what each god has deliberated with the best counsel.

Their appearance does not supply three new elemental species. They enter as divine guarantors of a decision's fixed completion. The edition's note compares Laws 12.960c–d, where the Athenian names the Fates and associates the third with the irreversible. The Epinomis itself gives the number and collective name but does not name each Fate separately. Individual names drawn from another text therefore belong to comparative explanation, not to the local attestation list.

The contrast with changing one's mind comes at 982c–d. The heavens persist in decisions made long ago for a wonderfully long time. They do not deliberate anew up and down, act now one way and now another, wander, and change their cycles. The polemic is not against every reconsideration by a fallible human being. Its subject is a perfectly or supremely good decision by divine intelligence, a decision whose need for correction the account denies. Importing that divine condition into ordinary legislation would turn the image of lawgiving into an unsupported ban on all human revision.

This account also clarifies why order becomes evidence of intelligence. Stability is interpreted as constancy of good purpose. The argument's force depends on the priority of soul and the adequacy of its counsel, not simply on the bare fact that an event repeats. The Fates dramatize that completed counsel's permanence; they do not replace counsel with arbitrary destiny.

**The places.**

- **982b.** ἡ ψυχῆς δὲ ἀνάγκη νοῦν κεκτημένης — Necessity belongs to a soul possessing sense
- **982b.** ἄρχουσα γὰρ ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀρχομένη νομοθετεῖ — It gives law as ruler, not as ruled
- **982b–c.** ψυχὴ τὸ ἄριστον κατὰ τὸν ἄριστον βουλεύσηται νοῦν — The fixed result presupposes the best deliberation
- **982c.** οὐδὲ ἀδάμας — Adamant supplies the comparison for firmness
- **982c.** τρεῖς Μοῖραι κατέχουσαι φυλάττουσι — Three Fates hold fast and guard the completed decision
- **982c.** τὸ βελτίστῃ βουλῇ βεβουλευμένον — The protected thing is what has been deliberated with best counsel
- **982d.** οὐ μεταβουλευόμενον ἄνω καὶ κάτω — Divine constancy is contrasted with unsettled revision

**In this edition.** “Sense” preserves the ordinary force of nous, while “necessity” is kept for anankē even when the necessity is psychic and legislative. At 982c Burnet prints ἐκβαίνει, “comes out,” from a marginal corrective tradition instead of the manuscripts' ἐσβαίνει; the argument here follows the printed outcome. “Fates” capitalizes the named goddesses, distinct from the ordinary portions elsewhere.

**See also.** [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence) · [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation) · [Celestial dance](#entry-celestial-dance)

## Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform {#entry-visible-honors}

*τιμή (timē); προσήκων (prosēkōn); ἀνοργίαστος (anorgiastos); ἄμοιρος (amoiros); ἑορτή (heortē); θυσία (thysia); διανέμειν (dianemein)*

**The word.** Timē is honor or an honored share; prosēkōn describes what belongs or is fitting. Anorgiastos means without rites, not initiated into or supplied with sacred observance in the relevant sense. Amoiros means without a portion. Heortē is a feast or festival; thysia sacrifice; dianemein to distribute or allot. These terms move the theological argument from description into an obligation of public recognition.

**In the work.** At 985d the Athenian asks whether the same account condemns those who dare not speak about the gods genuinely manifest to us and make it manifest that there are other gods without rites or fitting honors. The demonstrative evidence and the rhetorical language of daring reverse the preceding case. Where an uninformed innovation would be reckless, silence about what the speaker takes to be clear would now be culpable.

The example is a person who has seen the sun or moon coming into being and looking down on everyone yet does not declare it. Their being “without a portion of honor” makes the omission unjust. The observer should do his own part by bringing them, plainly seen, into an honored place, arranging feasts and sacrifices, and setting apart appropriate times. The point is not literally to move celestial bodies to a civic platform. The language makes their acknowledged place in religious life the object of reform.

The phrase about times and the seasons of longer and shorter years leads toward the eight heavenly powers. The immediate proposal is that different heavenly beings should receive corresponding temporal honors; the next passage objects to giving one a year and another a month while giving others no portion or time. The unequal distribution of recognition is the wrong being corrected. The present sentence does not yet provide a complete festival calendar with dates or institutional procedures.

The conditional example becomes personal at 986a. Clinias agrees that the silent observer would be worst of all; the Athenian tells him that this is now happening in his own case. His announcement of the eight powers is thus made under a self-imposed duty to disclose what he knows. The transition is dramatic as well as doctrinal: the speaker identifies himself with the person who must not withhold the theological observation.

The reform is not stated as the abolition of traditional gods. The preceding paragraph protects ancestral sacrifices. Nor does the argument amount to a neutral classification of astronomical objects. It explicitly demands feasts, sacrifices, and honors, and judges failure to announce them morally bad. A reader may question the argument's authority, but the proposed result is genuinely cultic and legislative.

The phrase “other gods” also needs its force preserved. The visible gods' neglected standing is being made explicit alongside practices already known, rather than simply asserting that old rites had always fully honored every celestial body. Later names taken from traditional gods can assist recognition without erasing the distinction between divine titles and the heavenly powers to which honors are due.

**The places.**

- **985d.** ἀνοργιάστους τε ὄντας ἑτέρους θεούς — Other gods are without rites
- **985d.** τιμὰς μὴ δεχομένους τὰς προσηκούσας αὐτοῖς — They do not receive the honors belonging to them
- **985e.** ἥλιον ἢ σελήνην — The hypothetical observer's examples are the sun and moon
- **985e.** τιμῆς τε ἀμοίρους — Their deprivation is expressed as lack of a portion of honor
- **985e.** εἰς ἔντιμον χώραν καταφανεῖς ἄγων — Public acknowledgment brings the plainly seen beings into an honored place
- **985e.** ἑορτάς τε … καὶ θυσίας — Festivals and sacrifices are the proposed response
- **985e–986a.** ἐνιαυτῶν ὥρας διανέμειν — Appropriate times are to be distributed
- **986a.** περὶ ἐμὲ νῦν γιγνόμενον — The Athenian applies the obligation to himself

**In this edition.** “Without rites” avoids narrowing anorgiastos to one particular mystery cult, and “other gods” retains ἑτέρους. At 985e Burnet prints ἀδύνατος, “unable,” where Grou proposed δυνατός, “able.” The English preserves the awkward inability to declare the observation; the apparatus alternative must not be presented as the passage's actual word. At 985d αὑτός is the contracted “the same,” not αὐτός, “himself.”

**See also.** [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible) · [Gods and images](#entry-gods-images) · [Prayer and hymn](#entry-prayer-hymn) · [Traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods)

## Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom {#entry-nocturnal-council}

*νυκτερινὸς σύλλογος (nykterinos syllogos); παρακαλεῖν (parakalein); δοκιμάζειν (dokimazein); γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)*

**The word.** Nykterinos means nocturnal or belonging to the night. Syllogos is an assembly or gathering. Parakalein is to summon or call toward something, and dokimazein to test, examine, or scrutinize. The council's name identifies an institution; it does not itself state all that institution's membership, powers, or curriculum.

**In the work.** The dialogue ends by summoning the Nocturnal Council to “this wisdom” (992d–e). The deictic phrase points to the wisdom just unfolded, not merely to generic prudence or a familiar civic convention. The final call thus joins the mathematical and theological curriculum to the political project announced at the opening, where the speakers had agreed that the legislation remained incomplete without saying what makes a mortal wise.

The edition explains the institutional reference through the *Laws*. Its council meets from dawn until sunrise, and its members are to know the priority of soul and the ordering of celestial things by sense. “Nocturnal” should therefore not be paraphrased as an assembly that necessarily meets at midnight. The *Epinomis* itself supplies no new meeting timetable in its final sentence; the note gives contextual information from the earlier work.

The grammatical qualifications belong to the summoning group: “all of us,” having sufficiently known and scrutinized the wisdom, are to call the council to it. The closing command is not simply to accept the preceding speech unexamined. Knowledge and testing are built into the stated civic adoption. They recall the earlier standard of questioning and refuting poorly stated accounts, although the final verb is dokimazein rather than elenchein.

The greatest offices are first assigned to the aged who have labored at the studies, and the others are to follow them and speak auspiciously of all gods and goddesses. The council's summons closes this sequence. The passage supports a strong connection between education and authoritative civic guardianship, but it does not independently enumerate offices, prescribe a new constitution in detail, or specify that every mathematician automatically becomes a council member.

The ending is therefore both a conclusion and a practical directive. The work identifies the learning to which the council must be brought. Its final word of scrutiny also leaves readers responsible for assessing the account's compressed mathematics, theological assumptions, and stated limits rather than mistaking institutional adoption for a substitute for understanding.

**The places.**

- **973b.** περὶ νόμων θέσιν — The opening recalls the setting down of laws
- **992d.** τὸν νυκτερινὸν σύλλογον — The institution is expressly named
- **992d.** ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν σοφίαν — The summons points to the wisdom just described
- **992d–e.** ἱκανῶς γνόντας τε καὶ δοκιμάσαντας — Sufficient knowledge and scrutiny qualify the summoners
- **992e.** ἡμᾶς ὀρθότατα πάντας παρακαλεῖν — All the speakers' company are to issue the call most rightly

**In this edition.** The English uses lowercase “nocturnal council” and “summon,” and keeps “having scrutinized it” rather than substituting mere assent. The contextual note cites *Laws* 12.951d and 966d–967e. These passages explain the institutional background; their Greek is not part of the *Epinomis*' local lexical attestations.

**See also.** [Old age, offices, and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices); [Questioning, refutation, and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test); [Astronomy, Hesiod, and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer {#entry-number-arithmetic}

*ἀριθμός (arithmos); ἀριθμητική (arithmētikē); ἀριθμητικός (arithmētikos); ἀριθμεῖν (arithmein); διαριθμεῖσθαι (diarithmeisthai); ὑποτίθεσθαι (hypotithesthai)*

**The word.** Arithmos is number; arithmētikē arithmetic or the expertise concerned with number; arithmētikos describes an ability to count. Arithmein is to count, while diarithmeisthai is to count out or enumerate. Hypotithesthai means to lay down underneath or posit; at 977d the edition renders the argument's necessary placing of number as laying it down “as a foundation.” The title brings together a field of related words without pretending that number, counting, and arithmetic are the same grammatical item.

**In the work.** Number enters through a counterfactual test (976d–e). Which knowledge, if absent or removed, would leave human beings most senseless and unintelligent? The answer is the knowledge that has given number to the mortal race. This identifies a pervasive dependency rather than an activity merely more prestigious than the rejected crafts. The giver is then identified as a god, Heaven, not an accidental fortune.

At 977c–d the argument joins numerical discrimination to reason. Someone who does not know two and three, odd and even, cannot give an account of what he has merely perceived and remembered. Without true reason there is no wisdom, and without wisdom there is no complete goodness and consequent happiness. The text expressly allows courage and temperance notwithstanding the deficiency. The foundation is therefore necessary for complete virtue in the argument; the passage does not deny every virtue or every good action to an uncounting being.

The Athenian acknowledges that fully explaining this necessity would take longer than the entire foregoing discussion. His immediate supplementary argument is that all the previously surveyed crafts disappear if arithmetic is removed. Their rejection as wisdom is compatible with their dependence on number. Arithmetic's ubiquity is the point, not an assertion that building, medicine, or navigation are now useless.

At 977e–978b the claim grows much stronger. Number is not needed only for small practical things, even though these are important. It enters the distinction of divine and mortal generation and the recognition of reverence for gods; movements and sounds in music must be counted. Finally it is declared the cause of all goods and of no evils, while disorderly motion and whatever shares in evil have been left without number. This is an ethical and cosmological use of numerical order. It cannot be read literally as a denial that a destructive action has a countable duration or uses a measurable instrument. The speech associates goodness with ordered, measured relations, while leaving the most ambitious causal claim asserted more broadly than the preceding examples establish.

The later first study of “numbers themselves,” without bodies (990c), develops number beyond the acquisition of elementary counting. But the opening does not already teach the whole mathematical curriculum. At 979d whether the knower is wise and good still needs an account. Treating number as necessary, treating numerical order as good, and identifying the fully educated wise person are successive argumentative tasks.

**The places.**

- **976e.** ἡ τὸν ἀριθμὸν δοῦσα παντὶ τῷ θνητῷ γένει — The decisive knowledge has given number to mortals
- **977c.** ἀριθμὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἐξέλοιμεν — The removal test states a dependency
- **977d.** ἀριθμὸν μὲν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ὑποτίθεσθαι — Number must be laid down as a foundation
- **977d–e.** πάντα δ’ ἀπολείπεται … ὅταν ἀριθμητικήν τις ἀνέλῃ — The other crafts fail if arithmetic is taken away
- **978a.** ἀγαθῶν ὡς πάντων αἴτιον — The claim is enlarged to number as cause of all goods
- **978a–b.** ἐπιλέλειπται παντὸς ἀριθμοῦ — Whatever shares in badness is described as left without number
- **990c.** ἀριθμῶν αὐτῶν ἀλλ’ οὐ σώματα ἐχόντων — The later curriculum begins with numbers themselves, without bodies

**In this edition.** The translations “number,” “count,” “count out,” “able to count,” and “arithmetic” keep noun, action, capacity, and discipline distinguishable. At 977c Burnet brackets a redundant ἔχοι; it is not an independent assertion of the printed argument. The register should not count deleted words as adopted attestations.

**See also.** [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Odd and even](#entry-odd-even); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study {#entry-numbers-themselves}

*ἀριθμοὶ αὐτοί (arithmoi autoi); περιττός (perittos); ἄρτιος (artios); γένεσις (genesis); δύναμις (dynamis); τὰ ὄντα (ta onta)*

**The word.** Arithmoi autoi is the normalized expression for numbers themselves; the actual construction at 990c is genitive, arithmōn autōn. Perittos and artios designate odd and even. Genesis is coming into being or generation, dynamis power, and ta onta the things that are. The curriculum's wording treats numerical structures and their capacities as objects of learning in their own right.

**In the work.** Number had first appeared as the divine gift without which human beings could neither reason adequately nor possess the whole of virtue. The culminating course begins with a more particular educational demand: not numbers that have bodies, but numbers themselves, and the whole generation and power of odd and even as it contributes to the nature of what is (990c).

“Numbers that have bodies” contrasts the arithmetic of counted bodily items with the study of numerical relations considered in themselves. The expression does not require imagining bodily numerals physically written on a page. Nor does the opposite phrase, by itself, establish a separately existing realm of mathematical objects. The emphasis is on the object and generality of the inquiry: it must explain numerical nature rather than merely enumerate useful collections.

The odd-even distinction links this advanced curriculum to the basic cognitive deprivation imagined at 977c. A creature ignorant of two, three, odd, even, and number altogether cannot give an account of what it perceives and remembers. At the ending, what was a basic condition of reason becomes a systematic field to be understood in its full generation and power. The transition is from possessing elementary numerical discrimination to investigating the structures it makes available.

The sequence also explains why the next subjects do not abandon number. Geometry is introduced as a making alike of numbers in relation to plane figures, and stereometry extends the treatment into solid-dimensional relations. Musical means then disclose ratios useful in rhythm and harmony. A reader should not impose a rigid modern division between pure arithmetic, geometry, and physics before seeing how the text links them.

The phrase “greatest and first” describes the foundational place of this subject, while the course's goal remains the divine visible order. “First” is not a claim that memorizing elementary counting immediately confers the final wisdom. Preparation, progressive study, testing, and unity remain necessary. Similarly, the mention of numerical contribution to the nature of what is is a wide programmatic claim, not an already supplied mathematical derivation of everything that exists.

**The places.**

- **977c.** μηδὲ περιττὸν μηδὲ ἄρτιον — Ignorance of odd and even is part of the deprivation of number
- **990c.** τὸ δὲ μέγιστόν τε καὶ πρῶτον — The first mathematical subject has foundational priority
- **990c.** ἀριθμῶν αὐτῶν ἀλλ’ οὐ σώματα ἐχόντων — Numbers themselves are distinguished from embodied counted numbers
- **990c.** τοῦ περιττοῦ τε καὶ ἀρτίου — Odd and even return as objects of systematic study
- **990c.** γενέσεώς τε καὶ δυνάμεως — Their generation and power are to be learned
- **990c.** πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὄντων φύσιν — Numerical inquiry bears on the nature of what is

**In this edition.** “Numbers themselves, but not of numbers that have bodies” retains the unusual Greek contrast. “Coming into being and power” avoids silently substituting a modern algebraic syllabus. The mathematical square-sense of dynamis becomes relevant in the following passage; it need not be forced upon every occurrence of “power” in the curriculum's opening sentence.

**See also.** [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Stereometry and three-dimensional number](#entry-stereometry); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study {#entry-odd-even}

*περιττός (perittos); ἄρτιος (artios); δύο (dyo); τρία (tria)*

**The word.** Perittos is odd and artios even in the numerical contexts here. The substantivized neuters περιττόν and ἄρτιον at 977c name the odd and the even; later genitives τοῦ περιττοῦ τε καὶ ἀρτίου concern their generation and power. The ordinary broader ranges of these adjectives do not need to be imported into passages where the numerical meaning is explicit. Dyo and tria are the forms “two” and “three” used in the elementary example.

**In the work.** A being that knows neither two and three nor odd and even and is altogether ignorant of number cannot give an account of what it only perceives and remembers (977c). The progression joins individual small numbers to a classification within number. Knowing odd and even is therefore more than being able to repeat the words “two” and “three”; it indicates an elementary grasp of numerical distinctions.

The passage is a negative test, not a complete positive curriculum. The Athenian does not assert that identifying one even and one odd number is already sufficient for wisdom. Nor does the example define reason exclusively as parity calculation. Numerical discrimination stands at the threshold of the accountable understanding that the argument requires, while the fuller account of why number is foundational is deferred.

The soul's later description includes memory and reckoning in odd and even changes (981c). The phrase connects the psychic capacity to the numerical vocabulary but is compressed; the dialogue does not explain a specific algorithm or identify a particular alternation of astronomical periods at that point. It should not become a platform for unmarked reconstruction.

The curriculum finally requires the whole generation and power of the odd and even and what it contributes to the nature of things (990c). Elementary discrimination has become systematic inquiry into numbers themselves. The development matters: the earlier threshold and later comprehensive study belong to different stages, and the latter helps explain why ordinary practical counting has not already answered the question of wisdom.

**The places.**

- **977c.** δύο καὶ τρία — Small numbers supply the first concrete illustration
- **977c.** μηδὲ περιττὸν μηδὲ ἄρτιον — Odd and even are explicit objects of missing knowledge
- **977c.** ἀγνοοῖ δὲ τὸ παράπαν ἀριθμόν — The deficiency is completed as ignorance of number altogether
- **981c.** ἐν περιτταῖς τε καὶ ἀρτίαις ἅμα μεταβολαῖς — Odd and even changes enter the description of soul's reckoning
- **990c.** τοῦ περιττοῦ τε καὶ ἀρτίου γενέσεώς τε καὶ δυνάμεως — The later study concerns their whole generation and power

**In this edition.** The consistent “odd” and “even” make the three passages comparable while leaving their constructions different. “Power” in the curricular phrase requires attention to its mathematical setting; it should not be assumed to be identical with every earlier natural capacity called dynamis.

**See also.** [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar).

## Old age offices and educated authority {#entry-old-age-offices}

*πρεσβύτης (presbytēs); τέλος (telos); ἀρχή (archē); παραδιδόναι (paradidonai); συνέπεσθαι (synepesthai); εὐφημεῖν (euphēmein)*

**The word.** Presbytēs is an old man, distinct in grammatical form from the comparative presbyteros, “older,” used in the argument for soul's priority. Telos is an end or completion. Archē can mean beginning or rule; its plural here means offices of government. Paradidonai is to hand over, synepesthai to follow along with, and euphēmein to speak auspiciously or reverently.

**In the work.** The ending makes the course politically consequential. Those who have labored at the studies in the required way are to receive the greatest offices when they arrive at the completion of old age (992d). The rest are to follow them, honoring all gods and goddesses with auspicious speech. The assembly's summons to wisdom follows this assignment.

The restriction “in this way” carries the full preceding account into the political prescription. The recipients are not merely older people, people with an astronomical reputation, or technically clever mathematicians. They are the people described immediately before: divine and temperate, sharing naturally in the remaining virtue, and having acquired all the blessed learning (992c–d). Age supplies a further condition of developed qualification, not a substitute for it.

This positive use of old age should be compared with the opening account of mortal life's burdens. At 974a old age comes quickly after the short middle breathing space and makes repetition of life unattractive. At the end, the long labor of rightly directed education can culminate in public authority. The two passages do not simply contradict each other. The work's exceptional possibility for a few answers its broadly pessimistic description of ordinary life.

The text states that the rule is to be affirmed privately and set down publicly by law. That distinction makes the recommendation more than the Athenian's private wish for personal honor. Yet no specific list of magistracies, appointment procedure, fixed qualifying age, or tenure is supplied. “Greatest offices” should not be inflated into a fully described constitutional mechanism or a claim that mathematical expertise alone warrants unrestricted power.

The followers' auspicious speech is part of the public religious order under the educated leaders. Euphēmein is not identical to mechanically repeating their propositions: its object is all gods and goddesses. The scope recalls the earlier insistence that all eight celestial powers receive their appropriate honor. Civic leadership is thus connected to informed, inclusive divine service, rather than separated from the theology that justified the curriculum.

**The places.**

- **974a.** ταχύ γε μὴν ἐπιλαβὸν γῆρας — The opening presents rapidly arriving old age as a burden
- **992d.** τοῖς μὲν οὖν ταῦτα οὕτω διαπονήσασιν — The qualification is labor at these things in this way
- **992d.** ἰδίᾳ λέγομεν καὶ δημοσίᾳ κατὰ νόμον τίθεμεν — Private affirmation is joined to public law
- **992d.** εἰς πρεσβύτου τέλος ἀφικομένοις — The beneficiaries have reached the completion of old age
- **992d.** τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς παραδίδοσθαι — The greatest offices are to be handed over
- **992d.** τοὺς δ’ ἄλλους τούτοις συνεπομένους — The others are to follow them
- **992d.** εὐφημεῖν πάντας θεοὺς ἅμα καὶ πάσας — Auspicious speech encompasses gods and goddesses alike

**In this edition.** “Completion of old age” keeps the telos expression and does not assign an age the Greek does not give. “Offices” identifies the civic sense of archai, distinct from the work's uses of archē for a beginning. “Speak auspiciously” preserves the religious force of euphēmein rather than reducing it to ordinary praise.

**See also.** [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council); [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures); [Piety, virtue, and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers).

## Order intelligence and the reversal of the many {#entry-order-intelligence}

*τάξις (taxis); ἀταξία (ataxia); φρόνιμος (phronimos); ἔμφρων (emphrōn); ἄφρων (aphrōn); τεκμήριον (tekmērion)*

**The word.** Taxis is order or arrangement; ataxia lack of order. Phronimos and emphrōn both mean intelligent in the edition; aphrōn is unintelligent. Tekmērion is evidence or a sign offered in support of an inference. It is not the same word as a mathematical proof, and its adequacy has to be assessed from what the speaker actually infers.

**In the work.** The comparison at 982a begins from the two visible living kinds. Earthly life ordinarily moves in disorder; the fiery kind moves in complete order. Disorder is to count as unintelligence, while an ordered path in heaven is to count as great evidence of intelligence. The fuller reason is that what travels, acts, and is acted upon in the same respects and in the same way always provides sufficient evidence of living intelligently.

The argument is not merely “the stars move, therefore they live.” The many already take movement as a sign of human life. What divides their interpretation from the Athenian's is the significance of regularity. They take the same activity performed in the same way as a sign that the stars have no soul, while regarding variable human movement as intelligent and alive. The Athenian reverses precisely that valuation. Constancy can express a settled best decision; constant revision can indicate wandering rather than freedom or superior understanding.

At 982e the formulation adds “for the same reasons” to “in the same respects and in the same way.” This additional phrase gives the regularity a rational content. The account interprets observed recurrence as action for stable reasons, then connects it with intelligence. That interpretive move is the argumentative center, and also an exposed assumption: visible regularity does not by itself state the deliberation that produced it. The Athenian's appeal to best counsel and intelligent necessity supplies the bridge.

The hostile description of the majority has a rhetorical force. The multitude is said to have followed the unintelligent, and the alternative is presented as taking the side of what is finer, better, and dear. The account is therefore both evidential and evaluative. It asks the listener to prefer a rational and beneficent reading of heaven, not simply to record a neutral observation. A lexicon should preserve that normative dimension without pretending it constitutes a separate demonstration of the intended cause.

The conclusion also remains compatible with human improvement. The earthly charge is “for the most part”; the dialogue's entire educational project aims to make selected human beings intelligent enough to grasp celestial order. The stars' settled activity can thus serve as the object of study and a model for ordered human understanding without making ordinary human inconsistency a mark of divinity.

**The places.**

- **982a.** τὸ μὲν γήινον ἐν ἀταξίᾳ — Earthly movement is characterized by disorder
- **982a.** τὸ δ’ ἐκ πυρὸς ἐν τάξει πάσῃ κινούμενον — Fiery movement is completely ordered
- **982b.** μέγα τεκμήριον … τοῦ φρόνιμον εἶναι — Ordered motion is offered as great evidence of intelligence
- **982b.** κατὰ ταὐτὰ … καὶ ὡσαύτως — Sameness of respects and manner grounds the inference
- **982d.** τοῦθ’ ἡμῶν τοῖς πολλοῖς αὐτὸ τοὐναντίον ἔδοξεν — The many reached the opposite judgment about that same feature
- **982d.** ψυχὴν οὐκ ἔχειν — They took regularity to indicate lack of soul
- **982e.** καὶ διὰ ταὐτὰ πρᾶττον ἀεί — The argument explicitly adds stable reasons for action

**In this edition.** “Intelligent” covers phronimos and emphrōn without making either identical to σοφός, “wise,” or to νοῦς, “sense.” The wording “evidence good enough” at 982b preserves the claim of sufficiency. It is the speaker's assessment of the evidence, not an editorial certification that his inference is demonstratively necessary.

**See also.** [Necessity and the Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) · [Celestial dance](#entry-celestial-dance) · [Stellar size](#entry-stellar-size) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation)

## Persons names and the silent participant {#entry-persons-dialogue}

*Κλεινίας (Kleinias); Μέγιλλος (Megillos); ξένος (xenos)*

**The word.** A proper name identifies a person; it does not supply that person's philosophical role without context. Ξένος means a stranger or guest and can also be an ordinary form of address. Here “stranger” addresses the Athenian, whose personal name is never supplied. The title-page labels identify Clinias as Cretan and Megillus as Lacedaemonian; they are not additional spoken assertions within the opening sentence.

**In the work.** Clinias identifies the three present at 973a: himself, the Athenian, and “Megillus here.” The deictic wording makes Megillus' presence explicit even though he has no reply in the dialogue. Later dual forms address the two listeners together. A lexicon that treats only audible speaking turns would miss this quiet continuation of the group in the *Laws*.

Clinias begins from an undertaking shared by all three. He is neither a pupil introduced for the first time nor a neutral narrator. He recalls the work already completed and presses the unresolved question of wisdom. At 974c–d he concurs in hope of a later truest opinion, marking a provisional epistemic position. Around 979d–981b his encouragement allows the Athenian's more ambitious account to begin; he asks for prayer and a fine account of gods and goddesses. At 986a his emphatic response condemns silence about manifest gods when one has recognized them.

The Athenian's reminder at 980d that Clinias even took notes connects the discussion with remembered inquiry. The detail gives the largely solemn discourse a personal and mildly teasing moment. It does not license a claim that the transmitted *Laws* is literally Clinias' notebook. Similarly, the first-person plural can mark the three speakers, a proposed agreement, Greeks, or human beings depending on context. Its scope must be read in each sentence.

No Socrates speaks in the *Epinomis*. Comparisons with Socratic dialogue help locate differences of manner, but the Athenian's extended exposition, Clinias' encouragement, and Megillus' silence are the actual dramatic arrangement. The end's “all of us” calls this group toward examining and summoning the nocturnal council to the proposed wisdom. It does not stage a meeting of that council within the dialogue.

**The places.**

- **973a.** Μέγιλλος ὅδε identifies the silent third participant
- **973b.** Ὦ φίλε Κλεινία is the Athenian's personal address to Clinias
- **974c–d.** Clinias' qualified concurrence concerns the hope of a later truest opinion
- **979d–980c.** Clinias encourages the undertaking and invites the prayerful account
- **980d.** εἰ δὴ μέμνησθέ γε, ὦ Κλεινία introduces the reminder of the former argument
- **986a.** Clinias endorses the condemnation of failing to declare the visible gods
- **992e.** The closing summons concerns the nocturnal council; its members do not become new speakers

**In this edition.** “Clin.” and “Ath.” identify speaking turns. Megillus' silence is stated in the supplied introduction and reflected by the absence of any Megillus speech. The title “Plato” is the conventional attribution of the work, while the introduction keeps authorship disputed. The lexicon therefore separates named dramatic speakers, the authorial attribution, and editorial explanations.

**See also.** [Inquiry and assent](#entry-inquiry-assent); [Prayer and hymn](#entry-prayer-hymn); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [The nocturnal council](#entry-nocturnal-council).

## Piety virtue and truthful civic worship {#entry-piety-virtue}

*εὐσέβεια (eusebeia); θεοσέβεια (theosebeia); ἀρετή (aretē); ἀμαθία (amathia); θυσία (thysia); καθαρμός (katharmos); σχῆμα (schēma)*

**The word.** Eusebeia is piety or the proper reverent relation to gods and, more broadly in Greek usage, those entitled to respect. Theosebeia specifies reverence toward gods. Aretē is excellence or virtue, amathia ignorance or stupidity, thysia sacrifice, and katharmos purification. Schēma is shape, posture, or outward form; the plural here enters a contrast between contrivance through appearances and true honor of virtue.

**In the work.** The return to human wisdom begins with an acknowledgment of the speakers' inadequate judgment concerning just things (988e–989a). The Athenian diagnoses a failure to practice the greatest part of virtue well, then forbids persuasion that anything of virtue is greater for the mortal race than piety (989b). This is the ethical pivot of the astronomical curriculum: the wisdom sought must correct a deficiency in reverence, not merely extend technical competence.

The cause is the greatest amathia, present even among the best natures. That claim prevents an easy equation of good natural disposition with completed piety. The missing content must be learned. When the subject is finally named astronomy, it is introduced as the answer to what things of theosebeia one must learn and how (989e–990a). Eusebeia and theosebeia converge in the proposed education while remaining distinct Greek words and distinct English renderings.

The suitable learners' conduct makes the civic stakes explicit. With the right nourishment and education they can act and speak about gods, sacrifices, and purifications as required and at the required times (989c). This is not a proposal to abolish all ritual in favor of private mathematical contemplation. The earlier protection of ancestral rites remains relevant; the new astronomical honors and informed service must join a properly ordered city's religious life.

The contrast with outward show is decisive. The rulers are not to contrive by schemata but to honor virtue in truth. Their authority therefore requires more than success in managing appearances or manipulating the population's beliefs. The Athenian grounds civic benefit in a claimed correspondence between understanding, virtue, and practice. Whether his astronomical theology sufficiently establishes that correspondence remains a question for interpretation, not a fact secured by translating eusebeia as “piety.”

The claim of piety's supremacy must also be read beside the earlier designation of wisdom as the greatest part of virtue. The dialogue does not pause to build a formal hierarchy resolving every possible comparison among named virtues. Its solution is to connect true wisdom with rightly understood divine things. The reader should preserve that connection without pretending the work has supplied a separate definitional proof that the two words are interchangeable in every context.

**The places.**

- **989a.** τὸ δὴ μέγιστον ἀρετῆς οὐ καλῶς πραττόμενον — The failure concerns the greatest aspect of virtue
- **989b.** τῆς εὐσεβείας — Piety is named in the superlative ethical claim
- **989b.** δι’ ἀμαθίαν τὴν μεγίστην — The cause of its absence is the greatest stupidity
- **989c.** ὡς δεῖ τε καὶ ὅτε δεῖ — Right manner and right occasion govern religious action and speech
- **989c.** περὶ θυσίας τε καὶ καθαρμοὺς — Sacrifices and purifications remain among the educated person's concerns
- **989c–d.** οὐ σχήμασι τεχνάζοντας, ἀλλὰ ἀληθείᾳ τιμῶντας ἀρετήν — Genuine honor is opposed to contrivance by outward show
- **990a.** θεοσεβείας ᾧτινι τρόπῳ τις τίνα μαθήσεται — Reverence toward gods is an explicit object of learning

**In this edition.** Eusebeia is “piety,” theosebeia “reverence toward the gods,” and amathia “stupidity.” The strong last word is the edition's rendering, not a clinical or intellectual diagnosis of actual people. “Outward show” gives schemata its local rhetorical force without making every occurrence of schēma elsewhere mean deceit.

**See also.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance); [Astronomy, Hesiod, and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod); [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites); [Old age, offices, and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices).

## Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind {#entry-pilots-wind}

*κυβερνήτης (kybernētēs); ναύτης (nautēs); κυβερνητική (kybernētikē); πνεῦμα (pneuma); ὀργή (orgē); φιλία (philia); παραμυθεῖσθαι (paramytheisthai)*

**The word.** Kybernētēs is a pilot or steersman; nautēs a sailor; kybernētikē the pilot's art. Pneuma here is wind, not a metaphysical “spirit.” Orgē is anger or a fierce disposition, philia friendliness. Paramytheisthai is to soothe, a verb the Athenian uses to resist reassuring praise of the sailor as wise.

**In the work.** Pilots and sailors are jointly classified as helpers (976a). The category includes both directing a vessel and the broader labor that makes navigation possible. No one among them is to be proclaimed wise as a soothing assurance. The strong prohibition targets the attribution of the title, not every claim that a pilot can steer competently.

The reason is the inability to know the wind's anger or friendliness (976a–b). The personification brings the variability of conditions into view: the art desires favorable wind but cannot secure knowledge of its changing disposition. The local obstacle is therefore dependence on something beyond the practitioner's guaranteed command. It is related to generalship's need for fortune but expressed through a different example.

This image should not be expanded into a ban on all empirical weather knowledge. The speech does not survey forecasting methods or distinguish particular sailing routes. Its assertion is sweeping at the level relevant to the wisdom inquiry, but its stated example remains the wind. Modern navigation or meteorology cannot be judged by a lexical gloss on pneuma.

The later calendar gives winds and rains a place in measured divine provision (979a). That cosmological assurance is not itself a demonstration that a particular pilot can predict a particular gust. The distinction helps preserve the distance between the whole's alleged intelligible order and an individual's uncertain practical situation.

The soothing verb also returns negatively of the gods, who cannot be soothed concerning justice (980d). The recurrence links the rhetoric of assurance with a broader refusal to replace what is true or just by comforting persuasion, without claiming that the two contexts are identical.

**The places.**

- **976a.** τοὺς κυβερνήτας ἅμα καὶ τοὺς ναύτας — Pilots and sailors are taken together
- **976a.** παραμυθούμενος — The speech resists soothing proclamation of their wisdom
- **976a–b.** πνεύματος ὀργὴν οὐδὲ φιλίαν — Anger and friendliness personify the wind's uncertain condition
- **976b.** ὃ προσφιλὲς ἁπάσῃ κυβερνητικῇ — Favorable wind is dear to the pilot's whole art
- **979a.** ἀνέμων τε καὶ ὑετῶν — Winds and rains later enter the account of measured provision

**In this edition.** “Pilot” and “sailor” remain separate, as do “wind's anger” and “friendliness.” The conspicuous personification is retained rather than flattened into “bad weather.” The apparatus has a variant for the negative particle, but the article follows the printed text.

**See also.** [The helping crafts](#entry-helping-crafts); [Generalship and fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune); [Medicine and seasons](#entry-medicine-seasons); [Counting and the calendar](#entry-counting-calendar).

## Prayer hymn and the new beginning {#entry-prayer-hymn}

*εὔχεσθαι (euchesthai); συνεύχεσθαι (syneuchesthai); ὑμνεῖν (hymnein); ὑφηγεῖσθαι (hyphēgeisthai)*

**The word.** Euchesthai is to pray or express a wish; hymnein is to celebrate in a hymn. The compound syneuchesthai makes prayer shared, and hyphēgeisthai is to lead the way or guide. Here these verbs describe the manner in which an account of the gods should begin. They do not name four stages of a separately established ritual. The quoted imperatives εὔχου and συνεύχου are actual forms; the infinitives above are organizing headwords.

**In the work.** At 980b the Athenian asks whether the speakers should honor the gods greatly by hymning them and praying that the finest and best things to say about them may occur to them. The prayer asks for worthy speech. It does not request a favorable outcome irrespective of what is true, and it does not authorize the speaker to announce every thought that occurs to him as revelation. Clinias invites him to trust the gods and speak the account of fine things about gods and goddesses that comes to him. The response remains conditional: it will happen if the god himself leads the way. The Athenian asks Clinias to join in prayer and then proceeds with an argument.

This exchange prepares a theological correction. The Athenian will represent the generation of gods and living beings better than his predecessors did. Prayer and correction therefore coexist. Reverence does not require repeating inherited accounts unchanged; it requires that criticism seek a finer account of its divine subjects. The prayer also places the speaker within the account's hierarchy. The mortal investigator needs divine guidance before explaining how divine intelligence orders the world. That dependence will recur when the education of the best natures is said to require a god's leadership at 989d.

The passage follows the lawgiver's “fine play,” his hymns, and Clinias' wish for his best and finest end. It anticipates the alternative at 983e: heavenly beings must either be hymned as gods themselves or regarded as god-made images. Hymning is consequently more than a decorative opening. It is one appropriate response to the theological conclusion. The later demand to honor the ethereal and aerial beings with prayers at 984e also prevents identifying all prayer here solely with the visible stars.

The words “gods and goddesses” at 980c are inclusive cult language, not a list of the five bodily kinds. The conclusion returns to the same inclusiveness when the other citizens are to speak auspiciously of all gods and all goddesses at 992d–e. Nor does Clinias' address δαιμόνιε make the Athenian one of the middle beings later called daimons. In the edition it is the courteous “my good sir.” A familiar address and a cosmological classification must be kept apart.

**The places.**

- **980b.** τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμνοῦντες — Honoring the gods by hymning them
- **980b.** εὐχόμενοι τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ ἄριστα — The prayer concerns the finest and best things to say
- **980c.** πιστεύσας τοῖς θεοῖς εὔχου τε καὶ λέγε — Clinias joins trust, prayer, and speech
- **980c.** ἂν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν ὑφηγῆται — Divine guidance remains an explicit condition
- **980c.** συνεύχου μόνον — The listener is asked to join in prayer
- **989d.** εἰ μὴ θεὸς ὑφηγοῖτο — The later teaching also requires divine leadership

**In this edition.** “Hymning” preserves the verb instead of replacing it with a general “praising.” “Leads the way” makes the later recurrence of the same guidance audible. The printed dialogue gives the proposal and shared invocation without inserting a separate metrical hymn or a further prayer text. Such a text should not be supplied by the commentator.

**See also.** [Divine generation and likeness](#entry-divine-generation) · [Gods and images](#entry-gods-images) · [Daimons and interpretation](#entry-daimon-interpretation) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors)

## Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation {#entry-preliminary-studies}

*μάθημα (mathēma); προδιδάσκειν (prodidaskein); ἐθίζειν (ethizein); διαπονεῖσθαι (diaponeisthai); παῖς (pais); νεανίσκος (neaniskos); τροφή (trophē)*

**The word.** Mathēma is something learned, a lesson or subject of learning. Prodidaskein is to teach beforehand; ethizein to accustom or habituate; diaponeisthai to labor thoroughly at something. Pais and neaniskos identify the boy and young man who is being prepared. Trophē is nourishment or upbringing, a term that can include the cultivation required for an intellectual life.

**In the work.** After naming astronomy and distinguishing its seven difficult circuits, the Athenian begins with moon and sun, then declines to repeat the remaining courses (990b–c). Their difficulty creates the need for preparation. Suitable natures must receive much teaching beforehand and be habituated while the learner is a boy and a young man. The age expressions describe the pupil, not a young teacher.

The order is progressive: numbers themselves; geometry; stereometry; the double and the means of musical ratio; then the divine visible nature (990c–991b). The account does not merely append several prestigious sciences to an otherwise complete education. The later objects depend on earlier ways of understanding quantity, likeness, dimensional relation, and proportion. The warning that the final object cannot be taken over with ease without these studies insists on that dependence.

Habit and intellectual understanding are not opposed. Early repeated work makes the learner capable of sustained engagement with difficult relations, but rote habituation alone is not the goal. The final method requires questioning inadequately stated claims, grasping precision, and seeing the natural bond among subjects. One can complete disconnected exercises without yet having taken up the curriculum “in this way.”

The closing triad identifies the method as a way, nourishment, and subjects of learning (992a). Trophē recalls the nourishment and education required by the best natures at 989c, giving intellectual formation the character of sustained care rather than a sudden revelation. Yet the command to travel this way “whether hard or easy” should not be converted into a claim that every person has the same capacity. The preceding selection of natures remains in force.

The studies also have a lifelong consequence. Those who have thoroughly labored at them become eligible for the greatest offices in old age. The youthful preparation and aged civic authority form the two ends of the same educational trajectory. The text gives no detailed timetable, compulsory number of years, examination schedule, or graded textbook sequence, so a modern syllabus constructed from it would be an adaptation rather than a transcription.

**The places.**

- **990c.** παρασκευάζοντας φύσεις — Suitable natures must be prepared
- **990c.** πολλὰ προδιδάσκοντα καὶ ἐθίζοντα — Much preliminary teaching and habituation are required
- **990c.** ἀεὶ διαπονήσασθαι παῖδα ὄντα καὶ νεανίσκον — The pupil's sustained labor begins in youth
- **990c.** μαθημάτων δέον ἂν εἴη — Hence the need for subjects of learning
- **991b–c.** ἄνευ τῶν νῦν διειρημένων — The final study depends on the subjects just set out
- **992a.** οὗτος ὁ τρόπος, αὕτη ἡ τροφή, ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα — Way, nourishment, and subjects summarize the education
- **992a.** εἴτε χαλεπὰ εἴτε ῥᾴδια — Difficulty does not cancel the prescribed route

**In this edition.** Mathēmata is consistently “subjects of learning,” not automatically “mathematics” in its modern disciplinary sense. The “always” at 990c translates Burnet's correction ἀεί; the manuscripts' different reading is reported separately. “Nourishment” retains the link to the care of the learner rather than replacing the metaphor everywhere with “curriculum.”

**See also.** [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves); [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Stereometry and three-dimensional number](#entry-stereometry); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond); [Old age, offices, and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices).

## Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true {#entry-prophecy-interpretation}

*μαντική (mantikē); ἑρμηνευτική (hermēneutikē); μαντεύεσθαι (manteuesthai); ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia); ἀληθής (alēthēs)*

**The word.** Mantikē is prophecy or divinatory expertise; hermēneutikē the art of interpretation, here concerned with signs and oracular speech. Manteuesthai is to divine, whose participle μαντευομένης occurs earlier of the soul. Hermēneia, the noun “interpretation,” belongs to the later account of intermediary beings. Alēthēs is true: its neuter ἀληθές at 975c asks whether what is said is true.

**In the work.** Prophecy and interpretation are denied the title of wisdom because the relevant competence knows only what is said, not whether it is true (975c). The contrast is epistemic and precise. Transmission or exposition of an utterance does not amount to justified knowledge of its truth. The clause does not assert that every prophecy is false; the stated defect is that truth has not been learned.

The criticism follows hunting and precedes imitation. It should not be absorbed into a general denunciation of all religion. The ensuing positive account identifies a god as giver of number and requires reverence for the gods. The dialogue can reject a human claim to wisdom based on handling oracles while defending divine instruction through the order of the heavens.

Earlier, the soul “divines” that it has wisdom's capacity by some nature (974b–c). This is suggestive rather than self-contradictory: strong expectation of a power is distinguished from discovery of its identity, occasion, and method. The soul's divining therefore belongs to the problem that inquiry must resolve. It does not make every inward conviction a completed source of knowledge.

Later, beings of ether and air are credited with knowing human thought and interpreting between men and the highest gods (984e–985b). Their assigned mediation is supported within the dialogue by a description of their nature and cognition. It is not identical to the human art criticized at 975c. The lexicon should make the recurrence visible without quietly turning the later intermediaries into human prophets or attributing their knowledge to every interpreter.

The text at 978a is especially important. Burnet prints ἄν τις, “just anyone,” where the apparatus records μάντις, “prophet,” as a manuscript reading. The printed argument about number therefore contains no further spoken occurrence of mantis at that point. An apparatus reading can illuminate an editorial choice without becoming an attestation in the adopted text.

**The places.**

- **974b–c.** τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς … μαντευομένης — The soul divines its capacity without yet finding its determinate content
- **975c.** οὐδὲ μαντική γε οὐδ’ ἑρμηνευτική — Both prophecy and interpretation are excluded as sufficient wisdom
- **975c.** τὸ λεγόμενον γὰρ οἶδεν μόνον — The known object is what has been said
- **975c.** εἰ δ’ ἀληθές, οὐκ ἔμαθεν — The truth of the saying has not been learned
- **984e.** τῆς ἑρμηνείας αἴτιον — Interpretation later belongs to the account of middle beings
- **985b.** ἑρμηνεύεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀκροτάτους θεούς — Their mediation reaches one another and the highest gods

**In this edition.** The note identifies the local interpretation as interpretation of signs and oracles. Its comparisons with Statesman and Symposium are explanatory background. The reading ἄν τις at 978a must remain separate from μάντις in the apparatus; no register entry here counts that rejected alternative as dialogue vocabulary.

**See also.** [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account); [Heaven's gift of number](#entry-heaven-number); [Inquiry and assent](#entry-inquiry-assent).

## Questioning refutation and the test of an account {#entry-questioning-test}

*ἐρωτᾶν (erōtan); ἐλέγχειν (elenchein); βάσανος (basanos); συνουσία (synousia); προσποιεῖσθαι (prospoieisthai); μάταιος (mataios)*

**The word.** Erōtan is to ask or question. Elenchein is to test, expose error in, or refute; its precise force depends on what is examined and with what result. Basanos is a touchstone or test. Synousia is being together or a gathering, here an occasion of joint inquiry. Prospoieisthai is to pretend or claim an appearance, and mataios futile or vain.

**In the work.** At 991c the movement from single items to forms is joined directly to questioning and refuting what has not been well said. The object of correction is an inadequate statement, not a person's social identity or the mere fact that someone disagrees. The procedure is to be used in each gathering, giving the curriculum a shared and discursive dimension.

The Athenian calls this the finest and first test for human beings. He then denounces pretended tests as the most futile labor. This contrast qualifies the educational value of labor itself. Persistent effort is necessary, but effort spent on an appearance of testing does not confer understanding. What matters is whether the activity genuinely examines the relevant claims and exposes what is wrongly formulated.

The description does not supply a transcript of the anticipated future questioning. It is also striking that the surrounding dialogue has become largely an Athenian monologue. A reader may reasonably notice the distance between the recommended testing procedure and the limited testing dramatized here. The lexical force of basanos does not authorize claiming that every theological or mathematical assertion in the speech has already undergone a fully displayed refutation procedure.

Nor is the word a synonym for empirical measurement alone. The surrounding passage requires classification, mathematical preparation, and attention to celestial precision, but the immediate test is conducted through questions and accounts. Its evidential setting is broad, while the correction of poorly stated propositions is explicit.

At the very end the summons to the Nocturnal Council is qualified by sufficient knowledge and scrutiny (992d–e). The different verb dokimazein reinforces an analogous responsibility to examine the wisdom before institutional adoption. The ending therefore carries testing into civic reception rather than allowing reverence for the proposed curriculum to excuse uncritical acceptance.

The sequence allows a useful distinction among a test, an appearance of a test, an account that has survived questioning, and a proposition merely pronounced solemnly. These distinctions are interpretive responsibilities imposed by the dialogue's own language; they should remain visible even where the Athenian states his conclusions with confidence.

**The places.**

- **991c.** ἐν ἑκάσταις ταῖς συνουσίαις — Each gathering is an occasion for the procedure
- **991c.** ἐρωτῶντά τε καὶ ἐλέγχοντα — Questioning and refutation are conjoined
- **991c.** τὰ μὴ καλῶς ῥηθέντα — The target is what has not been well said
- **991c.** καλλίστη καὶ πρώτη βάσανος — This is declared the finest and first test
- **991c.** ὅσαι δὲ οὐκ οὖσαι προσποιοῦνται — Pretended tests lack the reality they claim
- **991c.** ματαιότατος πόνος ἁπάντων — Their labor is maximally futile
- **992d–e.** γνόντας τε καὶ δοκιμάσαντας — Knowledge and scrutiny qualify the final summons

**In this edition.** “Questioning,” “refuting,” “test,” and “gatherings” keep the procedure concrete. The edition does not insert a noun meaning “dialectic” into the Greek. The lexical lemma ἐλέγχειν is represented locally by ἐλέγχοντα; ἐλέγχεσθαι or ἔλεγχος would be different forms and should not be fabricated as attestations of this sentence.

**See also.** [Forms, kinds, and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond); [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance).

## Reading the text and apparatus {#entry-text-apparatus}

*Editorial signs and readings in the supplied Burnet text*

**The word.** This is a reading article rather than an entry for a single Greek lemma. A critical apparatus records the relationship between a printed reading and readings reported in witnesses or proposed by editors. Its vocabulary of omission, addition, deletion, and conjecture must be kept distinct from the Athenian's own words. The apparatus in the supplied edition is Burnet's. The present lexicon explains consequential decisions without claiming to have inspected manuscripts or to have established a new Greek text.

**In the work.** Some of the dialogue's most important claims reach the reader through an editorial decision. At 975b the dismissive account of the earliest food providers contains a word Burnet marks as corrupt. A fluent paraphrase can make the argument seem more secure than the transmitted wording warrants. At 980e the priority of soul is coupled to another daggered word, νέου, “young.” The primary argument is intelligible, but the exact contrast around that word is not thereby repaired. The English keeps the dagger in each case.

Other differences can change the subject or relation under discussion. At 978a the printed ἄν τις, supported by correcting hands, yields the edition's indefinite reference to anyone, whereas μάντις in the manuscripts would make a prophet the subject. The latter cannot be added to a list of the Athenian's spoken references to prophecy as if Burnet printed it. At 980a the supplied text reads παιδιᾷ, “play,” from marginal readings, against παιδείᾳ, “education,” in the manuscripts. Both are intelligible in a dialogue about education and honoring gods; only one is the reading translated here. The difference matters when following the work's several uses of play.

Brackets also carry an editorial judgment. The supplied English omits the bracketed words at 977c, 978d, 979c, 986b, and 988e. Of these, [πλανητῶν] at 986b is especially significant. Burnet deletes the word “wandering” which the manuscripts have; Ast had proposed “fixed.” The English “stars” follows Burnet's deletion. To identify that third power as the fixed stars is a contextual interpretation, not a translation of a surviving ἀπλανῶν in the printed text. A commentary should distinguish the cosmological reconstruction from the actual wording on the page.

The mechanics of the eight motions are likewise affected by editorial work. At 986e Burnet prints δεῖ, “must,” for the manuscripts' ἀεί, “always.” The edition takes the following infinitive with its genitive complement to say that the one with adequate sense must lead the three; its note acknowledges another construal involving thinking or judging. At 987b Burnet prints ἄν in place of ἄνω and adds ⟨οὐκ⟩. The resulting description says that the eighth does not lead the others. Without the addition, the transmitted wording gives the opposite relation. A diagram silently based on one version can look like neutral astronomical fact while hiding precisely the textual choice that makes it possible.

The divine title of the slowest planet is another instructive case. At 987c Burnet's Κρόνου, “Cronus',” follows L and a corrector of O. The apparatus reports the Sun's name in A and O and a different title in early printed editions. The lexicon uses the edition's Cronus and the modern identification Saturn for explanation, but does not collapse those different textual forms into a single uncontested proper name.

Not every difficult clause receives a dagger or an editorial remedy. At 988c the edition preserves wording translated “and the one” and says in its note that the words make no clear sense. The existence of an English phrase therefore does not certify a secure construction. An interpretation of the sequence of earlier theological accounts should leave that local uncertainty visible.

The curriculum includes still more consequential readings. At 990c Burnet changes δεῖ to ἀεί, the reverse of his 986e correction: the pupil is to labor at the learning “always.” At 990d τρίς, “three times,” is Bekker's correction of τρεῖς, “three,” and στερεομετρία, “stereometry,” is the reading of Theon of Smyrna and a corrector of L against γεωμετρία in A and O. The familiar progression from geometry to stereometry fits the edition, but its ease of recognition must not erase the textual history reported below the Greek.

Some supplied words concern translation rather than the Greek text itself. At 984b the English adds “the one” before “immortal” so that the contrast with the earthly kind can be read. Burnet does not print the corresponding τὸ μέν, although his apparatus reports it. The distinction is small but important: an English grammatical supplement is not an ancient phrase quoted from the printed line. The same principle governs explanatory modern numerals in the mathematical notes and modern planetary identifications.

**The places.**

- **975b.** The daggered wording in the treatment of the earliest food providers remains corrupt in Burnet's text
- **978a.** ἄν τις is the printed reading; μάντις belongs to the apparatus alternative
- **980a.** παιδιᾷ is the reading behind “play”; παιδείᾳ is the reported alternative
- **980e.** †νέου† marks a corrupt word rather than a settled explanation of soul and body
- **984b.** “The one” is an English supplement before “immortal,” not a phrase printed there by Burnet
- **986b.** [πλανητῶν] is bracketed for deletion, making the identification of fixed stars interpretive
- **986e.** δεῖ is Burnet's correction, affecting the claim about the leadership of three motions
- **987b.** ἄν and ⟨οὐκ⟩ are Burnet's interventions in the eighth motion's description
- **987c.** Κρόνου stands among reported rival readings for the slowest planet's title
- **988c.** καὶ ὁ μὲν is preserved although its local sense remains unclear in the edition
- **990c–d.** ἀεί, τρίς, and στερεομετρία involve correction or choice among readings

**In this edition.** The supplied Editorial Note explains the sigla and signs and describes the printing history of its source. Its report that the Greek reproduces Burnet should not be turned into a claim that this lexicon independently re-collated either the manuscripts or the photographs. The lexicon's Greek evidence is checked against the supplied electronic edition. Its illustrative quotations normally join words split by a printed line ending; that typographic joining is not an emendation. Where a substantive reading is doubtful, the discussion identifies the doubt instead of smoothing it away.

The dagger † marks words judged corrupt; square brackets identify deletion; angle brackets identify addition. An apparatus lemma before ] is the reading under discussion, not another deletion mark. *Scripsi*, *seclusi*, and *addidi* identify Burnet's own writing, deletion, and addition. *Ci.* marks a conjecture; *om.* omission; *in marg.* a marginal reading; *s. v.* a reading above the line. A correcting hand is not interchangeable with the original hand of a manuscript. These distinctions are sufficient to keep the chief philosophical consequences in view without asking the reader to mistake this companion for a manuscript catalogue.

**See also.** [Imitation and the arts](#entry-imitation-arts); [Soul and its priority](#entry-soul-priority); [The eight powers](#entry-eight-powers); [Circuits and their order](#entry-circuits-order); [Geometry and making alike](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Stereometry](#entry-stereometry); [Source guide and notes](#source-guide).

## Reason account and what an argument must establish {#entry-reason-account}

*λόγος (logos); διδόναι λόγον (didonai logon); λόγον λαμβάνειν (logon lambanein)*

**The word.** Logos is the dialogue's word for an account, argument, or reason, according to its construction and task. The lexical unity matters, but does not require one English equivalent everywhere. An account that someone utters, the rational capacity a soul lacks, and the justification demanded of a claim belong to a connected field; they are not interchangeable in a sentence.

**In the work.** Clinias asks by what account the inquiry into intelligence should be conducted (973a). The Athenian then announces a strange account about human happiness, and later uses what is being sought in the argument as evidence for the difficulty of human life (974a–b). Logos thus names the unfolding discourse before it becomes an explicit criterion of wisdom. The discourse can contain qualifications, requests for assent, and an acknowledged need for more argument.

At 977c–d the word occurs in three closely joined roles. A soul lacking logos cannot attain all virtue. A being ignorant of number cannot “give an account” of things it has merely perceived and remembered. Deprivation of true logos prevents wisdom. The numerical argument therefore distinguishes a rationally accountable understanding from the retention of appearances. It does not simply say that an uncounting animal has no perceptions or no memory; those capacities are explicitly allowed.

The next clause gives a necessary caution: explaining why number must be laid down as a foundation would require an account longer than everything already said (977d). The Athenian supplies a further claim about the crafts' dependence on arithmetic, rather than delivering that complete explanation immediately. A lexicon should preserve this admitted incompleteness. It would be misleading to expand “lay down” into a finished deduction whose omitted premises the dialogue never states.

At 979d an account is still required of whether the person who knows the numerical matters is genuinely wise and good. The demand prevents the first success in identifying a necessary knowledge from becoming the final answer by verbal substitution. Later, the question whether “the account has reason in it” (983d) plays on the same noun. A logos can be put forward without yet being shown to possess logos in the sense of rational validity. The later educational demand for questioning and refutation (991c) gives this distinction practical force.

The mathematical passages add “ratio” as another contextual use of logos (991a). The relation should be noticed, not turned into the claim that every earlier argument is already a numerical ratio. Likewise, the most divine reason that orders the visible cosmos at 986c belongs to the dialogue's cosmic explanation; it should not be smuggled into every casual reference to an account at the opening.

**The places.**

- **973a.** τίνι ποτὲ χρὴ λόγῳ διεξελθεῖν — Clinias asks for the account by which to proceed
- **974c.** διὰ λόγων πάντων καὶ πάντῃ λεγομένων — Intelligent examination is conducted through arguments
- **977c.** ὅτου λόγος ἀπείη — A soul's deficiency is described as the absence of reason
- **977c.** διδόναι λόγον — Giving an account exceeds mere perception and memory
- **977d.** στερόμενος δὲ ἀληθοῦς λόγου — True reason is necessary for wisdom
- **979d.** τούτου δὴ πέρι λόγον δεῖ λαβεῖν — The wise and good status of the knower needs an account
- **983d.** πότερον ἔχει λόγον ὁ λόγος — An account must be examined for reason in it

**In this edition.** The note at 977d explicitly identifies “reason,” “account,” and “reason” as renderings of the same Greek word. This is a translation disclosure rather than a proposal that the English words be collapsed. The article's dictionary-form heading does not imply that λόγος, λόγῳ, and λόγον are separate lemmas.

**See also.** [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Inquiry and assent](#entry-inquiry-assent); [Odd and even](#entry-odd-even); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic).

## Sense attention and the mind that rules {#entry-sense-attention}

*νοῦς (nous); ἀνόητος (anoētos); προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν (prosechein ton noun)*

**The word.** Nous is sense or mind. The idiom “have sense” makes its ordinary force audible; the word need not always designate a separately theorized cosmic entity. The accusative νοῦν is the form used with having or acquiring sense and in “pay attention.” Anoētos, “senseless,” is organized here as a related negative term, without conflating it with aphrōn, “unintelligent.”

**In the work.** The first occurrence in the opening survey is easy to overlook because English naturally renders the whole idiom: the helpers in lawsuits are “paying attention” to characters (976b). Their possession and direction of attention do not establish wisdom. The problem is what they attend to and by what means: memory and the routine of opinion, while remaining outside the truth of what is really just. The lexical presence of nous therefore cannot by itself certify the activity in which it appears.

Soon afterward the counterfactual loss of number would render the human living being “most senseless and most unintelligent” (976d). The paired superlatives stress intellectual deprivation, yet retain two word families. Number is not introduced as one optional subject among many; losing it would undercut the capacities by which human beings understand and account for their experience.

The fully developed positive use comes in the account of the stars. A soul that has acquired sense rules, gives law, and deliberates what is best (982b–c). Its unalterable activity is explained through a settled best decision, not through an incapacity to change. In this argument nous is the standard according to which the best decision is made and the characteristic whose presence regular motion is supposed to reveal. One must distinguish the proposed inference from its vocabulary: saying that the stars “have sense” states the conclusion the Athenian is defending.

The phrase also has less exalted uses. Even the smallest acquisition of sense should restrain a lawgiver from ignorant innovation in established rites (985c). At 986e sufficient sense qualifies the leader of the three equal-speed motions in the edition's construal. At 988c κατὰ νοῦν means “to the liking of” the temperate. These local idioms resist a blanket translation of every occurrence as a technical metaphysical “Intellect.” The dialogue can use a familiar word both in practical judgments and in cosmic explanation without making those uses identical.

**The places.**

- **976b.** ἤθεσιν προσέχοντες τὸν νοῦν — Forensic helpers direct their attention to characters
- **976d.** ἀνοητότατον — The human creature deprived of number would be most senseless
- **982b.** ψυχῆς … νοῦν κεκτημένης — Sense is acquired by the soul that rules
- **982c.** τοῦ νοῦν ἔχειν ἄστρα — The stars' having sense is the disputed inference from regularity
- **985c.** νοῦν κέκτηται καὶ τὸν βραχύτατον — Even minimal sense imposes caution on a lawgiver
- **988c.** μὴ κατὰ νοῦν τοῖς σώφροσιν — An idiom of what fails to please the temperate

**In this edition.** Nous is normally “sense”; “pay attention” and “to the liking of” render complete idioms. The absence of the English noun in these two places is not an omission of the Greek concept. The word “senseless” at 984a likewise belongs to the noetic family, not to the separately translated intelligence family.

**See also.** [Intelligence](#entry-intelligence); [Lawsuits and opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Reason and account](#entry-reason-account).

## Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement {#entry-soul-causation}

*αἴτιος (aitios); ἀναίτιος (anaitios); πάθη (pathē); κινεῖν (kinein); περιφέρειν (peripherein); ἑαυτόν (heauton)*

**The word.** Aitios means responsible or causal; anaitios not responsible or without causation. Pathē here is an affection or undergoing, not necessarily emotional pain. Kinein means to move, peripherein to carry round. Reflexive forms identify movement of the agent itself. “Self-movement” is an explanatory heading for the phrases used at 988c–d; αὐτοκίνητος is not supplied as an attested lemma in this passage.

**In the work.** At 983c–d the Athenian rejects an appeal to bodily rushes, natures, or something of that sort as giving no clear account. He then asks whether his own account has reason or falls short. The contrast is categorical: beings are of two kinds, soul and body; there are many of each, different both within each kind and across the two kinds, with no third common thing. Soul is intelligent and ruling, body unintelligent and ruled; soul is cause of all, body cause of no affection at all.

This is stronger than saying that soul is one cause among several coordinate efficient causes. Nevertheless, the denial of bodily causal initiative does not erase the body's constitutive role. The heavenly things are immediately called offspring of soul and body. The body supplies what is molded and moved, and the particular bodily mixture distinguishes kinds. Constituting a living compound and originating its purposive movement are not the same explanatory task.

The phrase “the account has reason” also keeps scrutiny in view. The speaker offers a division that he thinks defeats unintelligent bodily explanations. A sympathetic exposition can show its internal coherence without claiming that every possible rival account is individually refuted. The reference to unspecified “natures” is polemical; it is not a catalogue of named thinkers with their exact positions.

The later recapitulation at 988c–e contrasts bodies said to move themselves through heat, coldness, and similar conditions with soul moving body and itself. The approved statement is that, if soul comes to be in a body, it moves and carries round both that body and itself. The passage does not merely say that soul is pushed by body and passes the push onward. It assigns the origin of movement to soul while acknowledging its embodied operation. The old priority claim is thus restated dynamically.

A further distinction limits the moral inference. At 988e soul is cause of all motion, but motion toward the good belongs to the best soul, while contrary motion belongs to the contrary. “Soul causes” does not therefore mean “every psychic cause is equally good.” The theological argument requires the best soul to explain the heavens' beneficent order. The concluding assertion that good has conquered and must conquer adds that evaluative condition to the general causal thesis.

Finally, the soul's bodily location is not consistently reduced to one formula. At 983c soul is with each cosmic body “or even in each”; at 988d embodiment appears as a condition. The text supplies distinctions of agency and dependence more confidently than a detailed physical mechanism. Importing a full later metaphysics of immaterial causation would exceed what these formulations themselves establish.

**The places.**

- **983c–d.** πότερον ἔχει λόγον ὁ λόγος — The account itself is subjected to a test of reason
- **983d.** τὸ μὲν ψυχήν, τὸ δὲ σῶμα — Soul and body are the two explanatory kinds
- **983d.** τὸ μὲν αἴτιον ἁπάντων, τὸ δὲ ἀναίτιον πάσης πάθης — Causal activity and passivity are sharply divided
- **983e.** ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος … γεννήματα — Heavenly things remain offspring of both soul and body
- **988c–d.** ψυχὴ σῶμά τε καὶ ἑαυτήν — Soul carries body and itself
- **988d.** κινεῖν τε καὶ περιφέρειν τοῦτο καὶ ἑαυτήν — Embodied soul moves the body and itself
- **988e.** τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τἀγαθὸν φορὰν καὶ κίνησιν τῆς ἀρίστης ψυχῆς εἶναι — Good-directed motion requires the best soul

**In this edition.** “Cause of no affection at all” preserves the force of anaitios rather than quietly weakening it to “secondary cause.” “Motion” and “movement” distinguish φορά and κίνησις in the later statement. The Laws comparison concerns the argument recalled by this speaker; authorship uncertainty makes “the Epinomis argues” preferable to treating the entire passage as an uncontested summary of Plato's doctrine.

**See also.** [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority) · [Soul as craftsman](#entry-soul-craftsman) · [Stellar size](#entry-stellar-size) · [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence)

## Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded {#entry-soul-craftsman}

*πλάττειν (plattein); πλάττεσθαι (plattesthai); δημιουργεῖν (dēmiourgein); ἀσώματος (asōmatos); νοητός (noētos)*

**The word.** Plattein is to mold or shape; its passive plattesthai is to be molded. Dēmiourgein is to work as a craftsman or produce by craft. Asōmatos means bodiless, and noētos intelligible, an object of understanding. The opposition between active and passive forms is part of the explanatory argument. The text uses a verb of crafting; it does not at this point introduce a separately named person called “the Demiurge.”

**In the work.** At 981b the Athenian sets five solid bodies over against the other kind, soul. Soul alone is described as bodiless and entirely without color. It is “very nearly” the only kind to which molding and crafting belong; body, in turn, is molded, comes into being, and is seen. The sequence links agency and cognitive capacity to soul, receivable shape and visibility to body. Its contrast is functional as well as classificatory.

The speaker interrupts himself to insist that soul's features deserve repetition. It is invisible, knowing, intelligible, and participates in memory and reckoning, in odd and even changes alike. The last words connect this theology to the dialogue's earlier defense of number and its later mathematical curriculum. They do not supply a worked psychology of odd and even mental states. The difficult compressed phrase should remain tied to the text's attribution of reckoning rather than expanded into an unsupported numerical mechanism for every psychic operation.

The shaping verbs return when the three middle kinds are introduced at 984b–c. Soul molds living beings from ether and from air and produces the watery kind. The bodies are not each described as chemically pure. The dominant kind supplies the largest share; smaller portions from other kinds are present for the sake of a bond. Crafting therefore works through composition. The created living beings possess both the animating principle and a material constitution, however hard some of those bodies are for human sight to detect.

At 984c the agent is again soul: having crafted all these, it plausibly fills the whole heaven with living beings, using all the kinds to their capacity. The argument does not specify a sequence of factory-like operations or identify how many individual crafting souls act. Nor does the grammatical singular by itself prove that a single universal soul is the only soul. At 983d the Athenian expressly speaks of many souls and many bodies. One must distinguish the generic singular “soul” from a quantified theory of the cosmos's sole artisan.

The earlier dismissal of human crafts as sufficient for wisdom is not withdrawn. What the later crafting language supplies is a model of ordered productive agency. A mortal worker's successful manufacture and the soul's explanatory priority do different work in the dialogue. The same verb-family can connect them without putting every practical artisan among the wise or treating all intelligent making as bodily manual labor.

**The places.**

- **981b.** πλὴν τὸ θειότατον ὄντως ψυχῆς γένος — Soul is the exceptionally divine bodiless kind
- **981b.** πλάττειν καὶ δημιουργεῖν προσήκει — Molding and crafting belong to soul
- **981c.** πλάττεσθαι καὶ γίγνεσθαι καὶ ὁρᾶσθαι — Body is molded, generated, and seen
- **981c.** ἀοράτῳ τε εἶναι καὶ γιγνώσκοντι νοητῷ τε — Soul is invisible, knowing, and intelligible
- **981c.** μνήμης μεταλαβόντι λογισμοῦ τε — Memory and reckoning belong to its cognitive characterization
- **984b.** ψυχὴν δ’ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τιθῶμεν πλάττειν ζῷα — Soul molds beings from ether
- **984c.** πάντα δὲ δημιουργήσασαν ταῦτα ψυχὴν — The heavenly population is the result of soul's crafting

**In this edition.** “Mold,” “craft,” and “be molded” keep the active–passive contrast; “knowing” and “intelligible” preserve two distinct predicates. The source's Timaeus comparisons concern the bodies and ether, not an authorization to import every feature of that dialogue's craftsman story into these sentences. “Very nearly” translates σχεδόν and should not disappear when the causal division is summarized.

**See also.** [Soul's priority](#entry-soul-priority) · [Five bodies](#entry-five-bodies) · [Middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation)

## Soul body and what is older {#entry-soul-priority}

*ψυχή (psychē); σῶμα (sōma); πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros); παλαιότερος (palaioteros); θεοειδής (theoeidēs)*

**The word.** Psychē is soul and sōma body. Presbyteros means older and can carry the standing or precedence of a senior; palaioteros is more ancient. Theoeidēs means godlike in character or appearance. The passage's comparative θεοειδέστερον organizes a graded contrast. These words do not establish that chronological age, ethical goodness, divine likeness, and authority are synonyms. The argument joins them in order to support soul's precedence.

**In the work.** At 980d the Athenian recalls the greatest conclusion of his former argument: all soul is older than all body. The distributive force of ἅπασα παντός matters. This is not merely the observation that a particular person's soul existed before that person's adult body, or that an elder's soul deserves deference. The claim concerns soul and body as explanatory kinds. It supplies the foundation for a theology in which intelligence and ruling agency cannot be late products of originally independent bodily motion.

The recollection is tied to the claim that Clinias and his companions took notes. That detail situates the Epinomis as a continuation of an earlier legislative inquiry and makes remembered agreement do argumentative work. The supplied note points to Laws 10.891e–896c for the proof of soul's priority. Here the Athenian invokes the result rather than repeating that complete proof. His brief justification speaks of what is better, more ancient, more godlike, and ruling as older than what is younger, less honored, ruled, and led. This makes the connection between seniority and authority especially visible; it is not an independent physical measurement of ages.

The text also marks the reasoning as plausible. Πιθανόν qualifies the comparative inference, and the following conditional εἰ δ’ ἔχει τοῦτο οὕτως makes its use as a foundation explicit. Clinias lets the statement stand “to the best of our power.” These qualifications need not be read as disbelief, but they prevent turning every stage of the passage into a separate, unconditional demonstration. The argument proceeds from a recalled conclusion and a proposed explanatory hierarchy.

The same hierarchy is developed materially at 981b–c, where soul molds and body is molded, and causally at 983d, where soul rules and is responsible while body is ruled and lacks causal initiative. At 988c the rival order makes fire, water, and the other bodies oldest and soul later. At 991d the approved account returns as the conjunction “older and more divine.” Its significance persists beyond the initial page: mathematical study of heavenly precision is supposed to make the priority of intelligent soul credible.

None of this eliminates the body from the living being. The compound requires both soul and body, and the divine stars have exceptionally fine bodies. Priority is a relation of explanatory and ruling precedence, not a declaration that visible embodiment is intrinsically evil. Nor should the comparative “more divine” be expanded into a claim that every human soul already possesses the completed divine condition described at 985a.

**The places.**

- **980d.** πρεσβύτερον εἴη ψυχὴ σώματος ἅπασα παντός — The recalled proposition is universal in scope
- **980d.** ἄμεινον καὶ παλαιότερον καὶ θεοειδέστερον — Goodness, antiquity, and divine likeness support precedence
- **980e.** ἄρχον ἀρχομένου πρεσβύτερον — Ruling is aligned with seniority
- **980e.** ψυχὴ πρεσβύτερόν ἐστι σώματος — The foundational claim is restated
- **988c.** πρεσβύτατα μὲν τὰ πυρὸς ἐλέγετο — The contrary account makes bodily things oldest
- **991d.** πρεσβύτερόν τ’ ἐστὶν ἅμα καὶ θειότερον ψυχὴ σώματος — The concluding curriculum recalls priority and divinity together

**In this edition.** “Older” consistently renders presbyteros, while “more ancient” renders palaioteros. At 980e Burnet daggers †νέου, “young,” and reports χείρονος, “worse,” from later manuscripts. The latter is an apparatus alternative, not an attested word of the supplied reading sentence. The dagger must survive a citation of the doubtful phrase; the cleaner alternative must not be silently substituted into the lexicon's evidence.

**See also.** [Soul as craftsman](#entry-soul-craftsman) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation) · [Living being](#entry-living-being) · [Necessity and the Fates](#entry-necessity-fates)

## Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover {#entry-stellar-size}

*μέγεθος (megethos); ὄγκος (onkos); φαντάζεσθαι (phantazesthai); ἀπόδειξις (apodeixis); περιφέρειν (peripherein)*

**The word.** Megethos is size or magnitude, onkos bulk. Phantazesthai is to appear or present an appearance; apodeixis is a demonstration or proof. Peripherein is to carry round. These terms establish two distinct steps: the stars are much larger than their visual appearance suggests, and moving such immense bodies with constant timing requires an adequate cause.

**In the work.** At 983a the Athenian introduces size as support for calling the heavenly beings ensouled. They are not really as small as they appear. Each has immense bulk; this deserves belief, he says, because sufficient proofs establish it. The specific comparison is that the whole sun can rightly be thought larger than the whole earth. The dialogue does not reproduce the geometrical demonstrations by which that conclusion is supposed to be secured. “Proofs good enough” reports an available warrant asserted by the speaker, not a calculation performed on this page.

The next question asks what sort of nature can carry such a bulk round in the same time always. The answer is a god, with the assertion that no other explanation is possible. Size alone does not carry the whole inference. Size is combined with recurrent timing, and the explanation presupposes the earlier distinction between intelligent soul and passive body. The argument also appeals to what the speakers have already declared: a thing becomes ensouled through a god.

Once divine ability is granted, no further difficulty arises for the god in making a body and its entire bulk a living being or moving it as he thinks best. What looks overwhelmingly difficult to the human observer is not difficult relative to divine agency. This supplies a reply to a possible mismatch between an immaterial soul and a massive body, a concern made explicit again at 988d when soul is not to be thought incapable of carrying weight.

At 983c the argument broadens to earth, heaven, stars, and all their bulks. Without a soul with each, or even in each, their exact movement by years, months, and days and their beneficial results could not occur. The prepositional alternative preserves uncertainty about how soul is associated with a body. The speaker does not here reduce all motion to a mechanically specified location of a tiny internal driver.

The relation between appearance and inference must remain clear. Celestial visibility supplies observations but can mislead about scale. The demand for mathematical study later in the dialogue is consistent with this limitation: merely seeing a bright point is not yet knowing its nature. Conversely, the passage is not a modern astronomical measurement. Its place in the argument is the ancient speaker's defense of adequate psychic and divine causation, and its asserted demonstrations should be assessed at that level.

**The places.**

- **983a.** πρῶτον τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῶν διανοηθῶμεν — Size is introduced as evidence relevant to animation
- **983a.** οὐ γάρ, ὡς σμικρὰ φαντάζεται — Small appearance is distinguished from actual size
- **983a.** ἀποδείξεσιν γὰρ ἱκαναῖς λαμβάνεται — The speaker appeals to adequate proofs without displaying them
- **983a.** τὸν γὰρ ἥλιον ὅλον τῆς γῆς ὅλης μείζω — The entire sun is said to exceed the entire earth
- **983a.** τοσοῦτον περιφέρειν ὄγκον — Great bulk needs an adequate cause of revolution
- **983b.** θεὸν δή φημι τὸν αἴτιον ἔσεσθαι — The Athenian identifies that cause as a god
- **983c.** εἰς ἀκρίβειαν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν — Exact annual movement joins magnitude in the explanation

**In this edition.** “Size” and “bulk” distinguish the two nouns; “appear” does not mean that the stars themselves are unreal. “Proofs good enough” is the translation of the speaker's appeal, and should not be amplified into a claim that the supplied edition independently verifies a particular ancient proof.

**See also.** [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence) · [Soul and causation](#entry-soul-causation) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible) · [Stellar kind](#entry-stellar-kind)

## Stereometry and three dimensional number {#entry-stereometry}

*στερεομετρία (stereometria); στερεός (stereos); τρίς (tris); αὐξάνειν (auxanein); ἀνόμοιος (anomoios); ὁμοιοῦν (homoioun)*

**The word.** Stereometria is solid-measuring, the study corresponding to solid rather than plane magnitude. Stereos means solid, tris three times, and auxanein to increase. Anomoios is unlike, and homoioun to make like. The accepted phrase “three times increased” introduces a three-dimensional setting; it should not be confused with a claim about exactly three separate numbers.

**In the work.** After geometry's making alike in relation to plane figures, the Athenian turns to the numbers “three times increased” and like the solid nature (990d). The supplied note interprets these as products of three factors, such as cubes. A cube is a particularly clear example because its three factors are equal; the broader description of three-dimensional numbers need not be limited to that example.

Numbers that have become unlike are again made like by another craft, called stereometry by those who have encountered it. The recurrence of likeness extends the previous explanatory pattern. A new dimensional treatment makes relations intelligible without making all magnitudes numerically identical. The text compresses the operation and does not give a specific construction with a stated diagram, named instrument, and sequence of steps.

The following account of doubling reaches the solid and tangible by passing from one to eight (991a). On the edition's interpretation, doubling the side of a cube multiplies its volume by eight. This is distinct from finding a cube whose volume is twice a given cube's volume. The latter calls for a cube-root relation in modern terms. The adjacency of solids and doubling makes comparison with such problems natural, but the lexicon should not assert that the sentence explicitly states and solves “the duplication of the cube.”

The name has a consequential textual basis. Burnet prints stereometria, supported by Theon of Smyrna and a corrector of L, where A and O have geometria. The accepted text thus distinguishes the plane and solid studies by different names. The normalized headword is legitimate because the accusative στερεομετρίαν actually stands in that reading text. Its manuscript competitors belong to the apparatus, not to a second speech in which the Athenian changes the title.

The movement from arithmetic through plane and solid dimensions prepares the more general proportional claim that nature articulates form and kind. Stereometry is therefore a necessary stage in the supplied order, not a decorative addition or a digression into practical surveying. Its place in the unified curriculum matters as much as the familiar etymology of its name.

**The places.**

- **990d.** τοὺς τρὶς ηὐξημένους — The numbers are described as three times increased
- **990d.** τῇ στερεᾷ φύσει ὁμοίους — The relevant likeness is to solid nature
- **990d.** τοὺς δὲ ἀνομοίους — The contrary case consists of unlike numbers
- **990d.** ἑτέρᾳ τέχνῃ ὁμοιοῖ — A further craft makes them like
- **990d.** στερεομετρίαν ἐκάλεσαν — The accepted name is stereometry
- **991a.** εἰς τὸ στερεόν τε καὶ ἁπτὸν — The subsequent proportional sequence reaches solid and tangible magnitude
- **991a.** ἀφ’ ἑνὸς εἰς ὀκτὼ — Its stated numerical reach is from one to eight

**In this edition.** The note explains both “three times increased” and the reading “stereometry,” marking the mathematical expansion as interpretation. “Three times” translates τρίς, Bekker's correction; “three” as a cardinal number would follow a different reading. The English distinguishes this study from geometry rather than silently harmonizing their titles.

**See also.** [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Doubling, power, and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion); [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus).

## The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul {#entry-stellar-kind}

*ἄστρον (astron); θεῖος (theios); ἔμψυχος (empsychos); φύσις (physis); πῦρ (pyr)*

**The word.** Astron is a star or heavenly body; the dialogue uses the plural broadly in its celestial discussion. Theios means divine; empsychos ensouled. Physis can name the character or nature of the stellar kind, not merely a physical location. Fire identifies its predominant bodily constituent. Neither fire alone nor the visible star alone removes soul from the account of a living being.

**In the work.** After the earthly class, a second visible living kind is introduced at 981d–e. It is mainly fire, with earth, air, and small parts of all the remaining kinds. At the turn of the page the celestial population is called the divine kind of stars, having obtained the finest body and the happiest and best soul. Bodily beauty and psychic excellence are therefore combined. The stars are not good despite an essentially degraded embodiment; they provide a particularly fine instance of the soul–body compound.

The description is initially a theological classification to be supported by the ensuing arguments. At 982a–e regular motion is offered as evidence of intelligence. At 983a–c immense bulk and exact recurrent movement support an appeal to divine causation. At 983e–984b worship follows under the alternative of gods themselves or god-made images. It would reverse the order of the passage to report that the word “star” already contains all those conclusions in its lexical meaning. The argument has to establish the appropriateness of divine predicates.

The fiery constitution does not exhaust the stars' nature. Their finest body is paired with an excellent soul; the later charge against purely bodily causes insists on that distinction. Nor is their visibility sufficient proof by itself. The same argument calls earthly beings visible. What distinguishes the stellar kind is the combination of fine embodiment, regular intelligent behavior, cosmological benefit, and the soul's agency that the Athenian takes those features to require.

The text permits two different qualifications that must remain visible. At 981e–982a it allows either immortality or sufficiently long life. At 983e–984a it allows either identification as gods or treatment as images produced by gods. The later language becomes firmer, naming them visible gods and calling one visible kind immortal. That movement in confidence is a feature to be read, not a license to delete the earlier alternatives retrospectively.

The divine kind is also a collective classification, not a full astronomical catalogue. The eight powers introduced at 986a and the later naming of particular planets add distinctions within the celestial sphere. Their planetary order should not be read back into the present contrast as if the fiery kind numbered exactly one bodily object. The recurring singular “kind” and plural “stars” work at different levels.

**The places.**

- **981d–e.** τὸ γὰρ πλεῖστον πυρὸς ἔχει — Fire predominates in the second visible kind
- **981e.** θεῖον γένος ἄστρων — The heavenly beings are classified as a divine stellar kind
- **981e.** σώματος μὲν τυχὸν καλλίστου — Their embodiment is exceptionally fine
- **981e.** ψυχῆς δ’ εὐδαιμονεστάτης τε καὶ ἀρίστης — Their soul is happiest and best
- **982e.** τὴν τῶν ἄστρων φύσιν — The stellar nature is the subject of the inference from uniform action
- **982e–983a.** δικαίως ἔμψυχα αὐτὰ λέγομεν — Their being called ensouled is presented as a justified claim

**In this edition.** “Happiest” translates εὐδαιμονεστάτης and should not be flattened into “immortal”: felicity and duration are distinct predicates. “Ensouled” preserves the positive presence of soul. The edition's broad “stars” needs its local setting before a reader decides whether the fixed stars, planets, or heavenly beings collectively are meant.

**See also.** [Mortality and longevity](#entry-immortality-longevity) · [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence) · [Stellar size](#entry-stellar-size) · [Gods and images](#entry-gods-images)

## The synoptic bond of the studies {#entry-synoptic-bond}

*διάγραμμα (diagramma); σύστημα (systēma); σύστασις (systasis); ὁμολογία (homologia); δεσμός (desmos); ἀναφαίνεσθαι (anaphainesthai)*

**The word.** Diagramma is a figure or diagram; systēma a structured system; systasis a combination or constitution; homologia agreement; and desmos a bond. Anaphainesthai is to come to light or become manifest. These are distinct ways of naming organized plurality. Their juxtaposition lets the Athenian state a unity of studies without replacing all their objects by one undifferentiated substance.

**In the work.** The culminating prescription gathers every diagram, every numerical system, every combination of harmony, and the agreement of the stars' revolution (991e). All must come to light as one to the person learning in the right way. The repeated comprehensive expressions forbid treating mastery of a single isolated specialty as the full wisdom described here.

The condition is methodological: one must learn while looking toward one. The reason offered is that one bond naturally belonging to all these will become manifest to those who think (991e–992a). “By nature” makes the unity more than an arbitrary arrangement invented by the teacher. Yet the passage does not name the bond by a single technical formula or demonstrate each relation in turn. Number, proportion, and orderly motion provide the surrounding clues; identifying the bond exclusively as one modern mathematical structure would exceed the wording.

The bond also does not eliminate each study's distinctive objects. A diagram is not simply a musical interval, and a celestial revolution is not literally a geometrical drawing. The point is to understand relationships that make them mutually illuminating. The immediate preceding demand to bring particulars to forms and test inadequate statements prevents a merely decorative assertion that “everything is connected” from satisfying the requirement.

The consequences are substantial. Handling the studies otherwise leaves one dependent on fortune; no nature in cities will become happy without them; this is the way, nourishment, and learning one must pursue (992a). The expression is programmatically demanding. The text's confidence about the necessity of the route should not be confused with a displayed proof that every possible form of human happiness has been eliminated.

The learner's unity of understanding also prepares the final hope that the properly formed person becomes one out of many after death. The educational and eschatological unities echo each other, but the account does not identify them as the same event. The bond of sciences concerns how understanding is achieved now; the final condition concerns the wise person's hoped-for portion beyond death.

**The places.**

- **991e.** πᾶν διάγραμμα — Every diagram enters the synthesis
- **991e.** ἀριθμοῦ τε σύστημα — Number contributes its structured systems
- **991e.** ἁρμονίας σύστασιν ἅπασαν — Every combination of harmony is included
- **991e.** τῆς τε τῶν ἄστρων περιφορᾶς τὴν ὁμολογίαν — Agreement belongs to the stars' revolution
- **991e.** ὀρθῶς τις εἰς ἓν βλέπων μανθάνῃ — Right learning looks toward one
- **991e–992a.** δεσμὸς γὰρ πεφυκὼς πάντων τούτων εἷς — One natural bond joins all these
- **992a.** ἀναφανήσεται διανοουμένοις — Thinking makes that bond come to light

**In this edition.** “System,” “combination,” “agreement,” and “bond” keep systēma, systasis, homologia, and desmos distinguishable. The agreement here is structural, whereas agreement between speakers is another application of the same word-family. “Come to light” gives anaphainesthai its force and is kept apart from ordinary “appear.”

**See also.** [Forms, kinds, and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds); [Questioning, refutation, and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test); [Means, musical ratios, and the Muses' gift](#entry-means-music); [Final perception, unity, and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception); [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council).

## The three middle kinds and their changing numbers {#entry-middle-kinds}

*μέσος (mesos); μεταξύ (metaxy); αἰθήρ (aithēr); ἀήρ (aēr); ὕδωρ (hydōr); ἡμίθεος (hēmitheos); πέμπτος (pemptos)*

**The word.** Mesos means middle; metaxy between. Here the middle kinds occupy the interval between fiery stellar life and earthly life. Hēmitheos is a demigod, the religious likeness assigned to the water-kind. Pemptos means fifth. Numerical adjectives have local reference: fifth in a list of bodies, fifth in the order of exposition, and fifth in a descending hierarchy need not designate the same item.

**In the work.** At 984b the Athenian turns from the two visible kinds to the three middle kinds of the five. He proposes ether after fire; soul molds ethereal living beings chiefly from ether, with smaller portions of the other bodies for a bond. After ether comes air, and the third of these middle kinds is from water. All are ensouled bodily beings. Their material fineness or uncertain visibility does not remove them from the definition of living being.

At 984c–d the enumeration is recast as a descent from manifest gods to human beings: second, third, fourth, and fifth end in us. At 984d–e the stars are first, then daimons, then the aerial kind holding the third and middle seat. In this descending pattern ether is naturally associated with the daimons immediately below the stars; air is third; water lies between air and earthly humanity. The text next discusses ether and air together. This sequence gives a basis for understanding the two finer intermediary kinds, but the assignment “ethereal daimons” is a contextual identification, not a quoted two-word definition in the passage.

At 985b water is nevertheless expressly called fifth: τὸ δὲ ὕδατος πέμπτον ὄν. This must not be regularized to “fourth.” The exposition has introduced earthly beings, fiery beings, ether, air, and finally water, so the local fifth can be understood by the order in which the five living kinds have been presented. The descending hierarchy, however, placed air third and ended with humans. Recognizing the two frames makes the change intelligible without pretending that the dialogue maintains one consistently numbered scale at every point.

Water's likeness to a demigod is also qualified. Someone likening rightly “would liken” it so. The account characterizes it through intermittent visibility: sometimes seen, sometimes hidden and unclear, producing wonder for dim sight. It does not tell a genealogy from a divine and mortal parent or identify this class with a catalogue of named heroes. The category is being fitted to the passage's own material and perceptual distinctions.

The middle beings make heaven full of life and connect levels otherwise far apart. Yet the text gives ether and air far more cognitive and communicative detail than it gives water. One should not automatically transfer every statement about their memory, knowledge of thoughts, or interpretive journeys to the watery kind. The latter belongs in the fivefold animated whole but receives a different local description.

**The places.**

- **984b.** τὰ τρία τὰ μέσα τῶν πέντε — Three middle kinds are distinguished within five
- **984b.** αἰθέρα μὲν γὰρ μετὰ τὸ πῦρ θῶμεν — Ether is placed after fire
- **984c.** καὶ τὸ τρίτον ἐξ ὕδατος — Water is third among the middle kinds
- **984c–d.** δεύτερα δὲ καὶ τρίτα καὶ τέταρτα καὶ πέμπτα — The descending sequence follows the manifest gods
- **984d.** εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀποτελευτᾶν — That sequence ends in human beings
- **984e.** ἔχον ἕδραν τρίτην καὶ μέσην — Air holds the third, central seat
- **985b.** τὸ δὲ ὕδατος πέμπτον ὂν — The water-kind is locally called fifth
- **985b.** ἡμίθεον μὲν ἀπεικάσειεν — It is likened to a demigod

**In this edition.** The edition preserves “fifth” at 985b and distinguishes the daimons from “the kind of air” with Burnet's δέ at 984e. It does not adopt the apparatus alternative γε. At 984b its “most clearly” is construed with the middle kinds' coming into being; the final editorial note acknowledges the alternative of taking it with “speak.” The claim therefore retains both the phrase “according to the fair opinion” and the source's notice of syntactic uncertainty.

**See also.** [Five bodies](#entry-five-bodies) · [Daimons and interpretation](#entry-daimon-interpretation) · [Visible and invisible](#entry-visible-invisible) · [Divine affection](#entry-divine-affection)

## Time precision and celestial accomplishment {#entry-time-precision}

*χρόνος (chronos); ἀκρίβεια (akribeia); ἀκριβῶς (akribōs); ἀποτελεῖν (apotelein); τροπή (tropē); πανσέληνος (panselēnos)*

**The word.** Chronos is time; akribeia exactness or precision, and akribōs precisely. Apotelein is to accomplish or bring to completion. Tropē is a turning, here the sun's solstitial turning, and panselēnos the full moon. The calendrical words describe intelligible recurrent stages rather than an abstract time detached from celestial processes.

**In the work.** From the first account of learning number, repeated days, nights, lunar changes, and years make temporal order instructive. When the eight powers are introduced, each is to receive the time in which it completes its own orbit (986c). Acknowledging different periods is part of acknowledging different divine powers, rather than privileging only the familiar year and month.

At 990b the moon brings on the month and full moon, and the sun its turnings through the whole circuit. These phenomena lead back into the preliminary studies required to understand celestial routes. The account moves from what can be recognized in repeated appearance to a more exact comprehension of the relations within those appearances.

The final demand is to grasp the precision of time and how precisely it accomplishes everything that comes about in the heaven (991c–d). This extends the earlier claim that celestial bodies travel precisely by year, month, and day because of soul (983c). Precision is not an alternative to psychic causation in the Athenian's account; it is one of the grounds upon which intelligent divine order is recognized.

The formulation does not make time a newly introduced independent cosmic soul or name it as a second rival cause. Its language of accomplishment personifies or assigns efficacy to the exact temporal order, while the accompanying sentence reasserts soul's priority over body. It would also be anachronistic to read it as a statement of a modern theory of absolute time or relativity.

No numerical observational error bars or exact measured periods are supplied. The reader receives a demand to understand precision, not a data table that could settle every disputed ancient model. This distinction is especially important where the earlier description says that the sun's companions have nearly the same speed “on the whole.” Precision of order and qualified descriptions of particular appearances need to be considered together rather than forcing one to erase the other.

The ethical-theological result is the conviction that all things are full of gods and that divine superiors do not overlook humanity. The temporal vocabulary therefore belongs to the dialogue's account of how mathematical understanding reforms reverence and confidence in divine care.

**The places.**

- **983c.** εἰς ἀκρίβειαν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν — Earlier celestial precision is specified by the year
- **986c.** μήτε τινὰ χρόνον ἐν ᾧ διεξέρχεται — Withholding a body's period would withhold due recognition
- **990b.** μῆνα καὶ πανσέληνον — Month and full moon belong to the moon's circuit
- **990b.** τροπὰς ἄγοντα — The sun brings on the turnings
- **991c.** τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ χρόνου — Temporal precision is expressly required
- **991c.** ὡς ἀκριβῶς ἀποτελεῖ — The exact accomplishment of celestial events is the object of understanding
- **991c–d.** πάντα τὰ κατ’ οὐρανὸν γιγνόμενα — The scope is all that comes about in heaven

**In this edition.** “Precision” and “precisely” preserve the noun-adverb relation. The note explains the sun's “turnings” as solstices and takes “first” with the moon before the sun's “second.” The main text's wording should not be replaced by numerical orbital periods absent from it.

**See also.** [Circuits, their ordering, and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order); [Full of gods, and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods); [Order and intelligence](#entry-order-intelligence); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond).

## Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom {#entry-virtue-goodness}

*ἀρετή (aretē); ἀνδρεία (andreia); σωφροσύνη (sōphrosynē); δίκαιος (dikaios); ἀγαθός (agathos); καλός (kalos); χρηστός (chrēstos); ἐνδίκως (endikōs)*

**The word.** Aretē is virtue or excellence; andreia courage and sōphrosynē temperance. Dikaios is just, agathos good, kalos fine, and chrēstos decent or serviceable according to what is described. Endikōs means justly. The dialogue relates these terms without making them synonyms: a fine and good product, a useful instrument, a brave person, and a completely good soul need not possess the same excellence in the same way.

**In the work.** The crafts are assessed under an ethical as well as intellectual demand. Equipment has what suits the people but is not credited with virtue (975c); generalship is given more to courage than wisdom (975e–976a). The sought knowledge must make its possessor a wise and good citizen, justly ruler and ruled, and in tune (976d). Wisdom is required to bear on a person's place in a city, not merely on an isolated technical feat.

At 977c–d the Athenian makes a carefully articulated claim. Number is needed for giving an account and for true reason; without true reason one cannot be wise; wisdom is the greatest part of all virtue; without it one cannot become completely good and happy. But he expressly says that nothing prevents the other virtue, courage and temperance, in the being being considered. The concession is not an accidental exception to be erased in summary. It separates partial virtue from the complete configuration under inquiry.

The enlargement at 978a–b links number to every good and denies it as a cause of evil. The just, good, and fine then become objects that must be known and counted out with true opinion if one is to persuade oneself and another. This is the dialogue's attempt to connect numerical order with ethical understanding. The text does not supply a practical numerical formula that calculates the justice of a verdict or the goodness of a life; the explanatory bridge remains more ambitious than the examples already offered.

At 979b–d the Athenian returns to lawgiving. The relative ease of grasping what is advantageous contrasts with the exceptional difficulty of becoming decent. Possessing property or a suitable body does not settle the soul's goodness. People agree that it should be just, temperate, brave, and wise, but do not agree which wisdom would make it so. Agreement on virtues' names is therefore not yet knowledge of their educational content.

This renewed difficulty also qualifies the status of the numerical candidate. The person who has learned the preceding matters may seem wise; whether he is wise and good requires an account. The later elevation of piety as the greatest element for mortals (989b) should be compared with the earlier designation of wisdom as the greatest part. The dialogue is moving toward their integration in astronomy and right worship, rather than simply offering two independent lists that can be interchanged without explanation.

**The places.**

- **975c.** οὐκ ἐπ’ ἀρετῇ λεγομένη — Equipment's usefulness does not itself establish virtue
- **976d.** σοφὸς δὲ καὶ ἀγαθὸς … πολίτης — The sought result is a wise and good citizen
- **976d.** ἄρχων καὶ ἀρχόμενος ἐνδίκως — The ethical demand concerns ruling and being ruled
- **977c–d.** τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἀρετήν, ἀνδρείαν καὶ σωφροσύνην, οὐδὲν ἀποκωλύει — Courage and temperance are expressly left possible
- **977d.** πάσης ἀρετῆς τὸ μέγιστον μέρος — Wisdom is the greatest part, not simply another name for every virtue
- **979c.** τὸ δὲ τίνα τρόπον χρὴ γίγνεσθαι χρηστοὺς ἀνθρώπους παγχάλεπον — Becoming decent is exceptionally hard
- **979c–d.** ἥντινα δὲ σοφίαν — The unresolved question concerns which wisdom the good soul needs

**In this edition.** “Virtue,” “good,” “fine,” and “decent” preserve different Greek families. The corrected translation at 977d puts the entire claim about becoming completely good and happy under the negation. The reader should not infer that the wisdomless person first becomes completely good and then fails only at happiness, nor that the passage excludes courage and temperance altogether.

**See also.** [Wisdom](#entry-wisdom-wise); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Hope and happiness](#entry-hope-happiness); [Inquiry and assent](#entry-inquiry-assent); [Generalship and fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune).

## Visible manifest invisible and seen through {#entry-visible-invisible}

*ὁρατός (horatos); φανερός (phaneros); ἀόρατος (aoratos); διορᾶν (dioran); κατάδηλος (katadēlos); ἄδηλος (adēlos); ἀμυδρός (amydros)*

**The word.** Horatos means visible, phaneros manifest or openly evident, aoratos invisible. Dioran can mean to see through; the participle διορώμενον is understood here of what is seen through. Katadēlos means plain, adēlos unclear or unseen, and amydros dim. These words identify different relations to perception. They should not all be collapsed into a single opposition of “real” and “unreal.”

**In the work.** At 981b–c soul is bodiless, without color, and invisible, while body is molded and seen. The two principal visible living kinds are earthly and fiery. Their visibility gives a common point of comparison but not a common level of excellence: celestial order, soul, and causal agency must still be argued. The eyes establish an appearance, not the entire theological interpretation.

The middle beings complicate any easy equation of invisibility and incorporeality. Ether and air have bodies, yet each kind is wholly seen through and, even when nearby, does not become plain to us. The account's transparency explains why proximity does not secure recognition. This is different from soul's being bodiless and invisible by nature. A transparent bodily living being and the invisible soul that animates it do not become the same kind of entity.

Water adds a third condition. Its living kind is sometimes seen and sometimes hidden, becoming unseen and producing wonder for dim sight. The description does not simply classify it as permanently invisible. It focuses on unstable human access to its appearance, a feature that helps prepare the range of reported encounters at 985c. The weakness of sight belongs to the epistemic setting and must not be replaced with an invented exact optical mechanism.

For the stellar gods, phaneros has special religious force. They are manifest, yet their rightful status and honors are not adequately made manifest to the community. At 985d the lawgiver must speak of them and “make manifest” that they are other gods, presently without rites. The recurrence joins sensory availability with public acknowledgment. Seeing a heavenly body and recognizing its theological standing are distinguishable achievements.

At 984d the stars are themselves called sharpest-sighted everywhere. Visibility is therefore not one-way: the beings humans see are represented as perceiving beings. At 985e the sun and moon look down on all of us. Those predicates contribute to the picture of divine care and intelligence, but they should not be expanded into a material anatomy of divine eyes. The account uses perception-language to describe cosmic attention.

This article also marks a textual hazard. Burnet's reading at 984e is διορώμενον, not the negated or rewritten alternatives recorded in the apparatus. A lexical account based on one of those variants would turn the supplied translation's transparency into a different claim. The reading edition's distinction must govern local attestations even when a commentator discusses possible alternatives.

**The places.**

- **981c.** ἀοράτῳ τε εἶναι — Soul's invisibility belongs to its contrast with body
- **982a.** ὁρατὰ μὲν ἀμφότερα — Both earthly and fiery living kinds are visible
- **984d.** θεοὺς δὲ δὴ τοὺς ὁρατούς — Stellar divinity is expressly visible
- **984e.** διορώμενον ὅλον αὐτῶν ἑκάτερον — Each of the ethereal and aerial kinds is wholly seen through
- **984e.** παρὸν δὴ πλησίον οὐ κατάδηλον — Nearness need not make the middle being plain
- **985b–c.** ἄδηλον γιγνόμενον … κατ’ ἀμυδρὰν ὄψιν — Watery life becomes unseen and is approached with dim sight
- **985d.** τοὺς δὲ ὄντως ἡμῖν φανεροὺς ὄντας θεούς — The manifest gods create an obligation of acknowledgment

**In this edition.** “Visible,” “manifest,” “invisible,” “seen through,” “plain,” and “unseen” preserve meaningful lexical differences. The apparatus at 984e reports οὐ διορώμενον and οὐδ’ ὁρώμενον as alternatives; neither should be entered as an occurrence of the supplied reading text. The later καταφανεῖς, “plainly seen,” at 985e is another form, not a reason to replace κατάδηλον in the earlier citation.

**See also.** [Living being](#entry-living-being) · [Middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds) · [Dreams and oracles](#entry-dreams-oracles) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors)

## Wisdom and the right to be called wise {#entry-wisdom-wise}

*σοφία (sophia); σοφός (sophos); σοφώτατος (sophōtatos)*

**The word.** Sophia is wisdom; sophos is wise, and sophōtatos its superlative. These dictionary forms organize the inflected occurrences below: σοφίας is not a second headword, and the plural σοφίας at 979d means “kinds of wisdom.” The dialogue makes the right to this name a question. It does not assume that every impressive skill conventionally called wisdom meets its proposed standard.

**In the work.** Clinias asks what a mortal must learn to become wise (973b). The wording combines a human limit with an educational demand. Intelligence may be attainable only as far as human beings can possess it, yet the inquiry must identify a subject of learning rather than merely praise wisdom. The Athenian's opening claim about life's unhappiness does not answer the question by declaring learning pointless. It explains why finding a knowledge that changes the quality of life matters.

At 974b the soul confidently divines that it possesses a capacity for wisdom but cannot discover what that capacity is, when it is realized, or how. The subsequent exclusions therefore examine possible answers, not useless activities. Food production is fine and good; the general's craft is useful and highly esteemed; quick learning and memory are impressive natural powers. Their failure is to make the possessor completely wise. The recurring language of naming, seeming, and reputation marks the distance between an established title and a justified one.

The positive demand at 976c–d is unusually strong. The relevant knowledge must make its possessor genuinely wise and a good citizen, whether ruling or ruled. Number is then introduced by considering what human beings would become without it. This establishes its indispensable role; it does not yet establish that elementary arithmetic is the entire wisdom sought. At 979d the Athenian expressly asks for an account of whether the person who knows these things is wise and good. The distinction between seeming wise and being wise survives the first positive proposal.

The restart at 980a permits two forms of answer: one name, if possible, or an enumeration of the kinds of knowledge by which one becomes wise. The eventual name, astronomy (990a), belongs to a demanding educational and theological account, not simply to the ability to identify a constellation. At 992b “most truly wisest” describes someone who has taken up all the studies in the required way. The adverb and superlative together tighten the claim beyond professional reputation. Because authorship is disputed, these are best treated as commitments of the Athenian and the dialogue's argument, not silently presented as an uncontested statement of Plato's own doctrine.

**The places.**

- **973b.** τί ποτε μαθὼν θνητὸς ἄνθρωπος σοφὸς ἂν εἴη — The question joins learning, mortality, and becoming wise
- **974b–c.** ἡ περὶ σοφίαν ἀπορία καὶ ζήτησις — Wisdom is the object of perplexity and search
- **976c.** σοφὸς ὄντως ὢν καὶ μὴ μόνον δοξαζόμενος — Being really wise is distinguished from being reputed so
- **977d.** σοφία … πάσης ἀρετῆς τὸ μέγιστον μέρος — Wisdom is called the greatest part of all virtue
- **979d.** εἰ δ’ ἔστιν σοφὸς ὁ ταῦτ’ ἐπιστήμων καὶ ἀγαθός — Whether this knower is wise and good still needs an account
- **980a.** ἑνὶ λαβεῖν ὀνόματι — The renewed inquiry seeks, if possible, one name
- **992b.** τὸν ἀληθέστατα σοφώτατον — The culminating designation combines truth and the superlative

**In this edition.** “Wisdom,” “wise,” and “wisest” consistently represent the sophia family. The translation keeps it apart from phronēsis, “intelligence,” epistēmē, “knowledge,” and nous, “sense.” The plural “kinds of wisdom” at 979d preserves the possibility of multiple claimants without certifying each as genuine wisdom.

**See also.** [Intelligence](#entry-intelligence); [Knowledge and learning](#entry-knowledge-learning); [Number and arithmetic](#entry-number-arithmetic); [Virtue and complete goodness](#entry-virtue-goodness).

## Wonder initiation and contemplation {#entry-wonder-initiation}

*θαυμάζειν (thaumazein); ἔρως (erōs); καταμανθάνειν (katamanthanein); μυεῖν (myein); θεωρός (theōros); θεωρεῖν (theōrein)*

**The word.** Thaumazein is to wonder at or admire; erōs desire or love; katamanthanein to learn thoroughly or observe with understanding. Myein is to initiate into mysteries, represented locally by the perfect passive participle memuēmenos, “initiated.” Theōros is a spectator or contemplator and theōrein to contemplate. The religious and visual vocabulary describes an educational transformation without specifying a historical mystery cult.

**In the work.** The happy person first wonders at the visible cosmos and then develops a love of learning all that is possible for mortal nature (986c). Wonder is a beginning, not the final cognitive achievement. It becomes desire for thorough learning, and that desire is expressly bounded by mortal capacity. The sequence prevents both passive admiration from being mistaken for wisdom and unlimited comprehension from being promised to human learners.

The account then projects a life passed well and fortunately and, after death, a journey to places appropriate to virtue (986c–d). The person is truly and really initiated, one participant in one intelligence, and remains a contemplator of the finest visible things. The language of initiation gives the transformation solemnity and completion. Nothing here identifies a particular sanctuary, ritual fee, secret password, or series of rites that substitutes for the subsequent studies.

The curriculum later explains what such preparation involves. “Contemplate” reappears in the description of the exceptional nature capable of understanding the seven circuits (990b). The continuity links the promise at 986d to a demanding cognitive practice rather than leaving it as decorative religious language. Still, the word theōros retains its relationship to seeing, and the account speaks of the finest things “as many as there are for sight.” It should not be paraphrased as wholly abandoning every relation to the visible.

The final hope that the wise person becomes one out of many and no longer shares in many perceptions echoes the earlier unity of intelligence (992b). The echo is strong, but the later statement adds an explicit condition about continued existence after death. The two passages should therefore be read together without converting either into a demonstrated physiological account of posthumous sight or a guaranteed individual immortality.

Wonder also marks the mathematical relations as divine at 990d–e. The learner's admiration is progressively educated: first the ordered cosmos, then the unexpected intelligibility of geometrical and proportional relations, then their unified contemplation. The word-family records a change from being struck by an appearance to recognizing the grounds on which the appearance is intelligible.

**The places.**

- **986c.** πρῶτον μὲν ἐθαύμασεν — Wonder is the first response
- **986c.** ἔρωτα ἔσχεν τοῦ καταμαθεῖν — Wonder develops into love of thorough learning
- **986c.** ὁπόσα θνητῇ φύσει δυνατά — Mortal possibility limits the promised understanding
- **986d.** μεμυημένος ἀληθῶς τε καὶ ὄντως — The transformed learner is truly and really initiated
- **986d.** μεταλαβὼν φρονήσεως εἷς ὢν μιᾶς — One person shares in one intelligence
- **986d.** θεωρὸς τῶν καλλίστων — The resulting role is contemplator of the finest things
- **990b.** θεωρῆσαι — The contemplation of circuits becomes an explicit educational demand
- **990d.** τῷ δυναμένῳ συννοεῖν — The mathematical wonder is available to the person able to understand

**In this edition.** “Wonder,” “love of learning thoroughly,” “initiated,” and “contemplator” keep the successive changes of register. The glossary separates contemplation from observing and apprehending. The perfect μεμυημένος is the attested form; μυεῖν is the explanatory lemma. No name of a particular mystery cult is supplied by the local passage.

**See also.** [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers); [Astronomy, Hesiod, and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod); [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation); [Final perception, unity, and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception).

## Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods {#entry-traditional-gods}

*Ζεύς (Zeus); Ἥρα (Hēra); νόμος (nomos); πάγιος (pagios); τιθέναι (tithenai)*

**The word.** Zeus and Hera are named gods; the local forms are Δία and Ἥραν. Nomos is law or established usage; pagios fixed or firm. Tithenai means to set or place, but here a person's “setting down” of gods belongs to an account or accepted arrangement. It does not necessarily describe physically relocating a cult statue.

**In the work.** At 984d, after the fivefold account of life, the Athenian says that anyone may set Zeus, Hera, and all the other gods where he wishes, according to the same law, and keep that account fixed. He then explicitly identifies the visible gods as the stellar nature and what is perceived with it. The transition leaves the traditional named gods less tightly located in the new hierarchy than the visible stars and middle kinds.

The permissive formulation should neither be suppressed nor exaggerated. It grants room to place the traditional gods within an accepted law or usage, but the sentence also demands that the account be held fixed. It is not a general manifesto that every theological claim is equally true, or permission to invent any rite whatsoever. The immediate task is to specify the visible divine order while leaving the inherited named pantheon without a newly imposed exhaustive mapping.

Conversely, the passage does not announce that Zeus and Hera are false gods. It calls them gods and follows with a prohibition on obstructing ancestral sacrifices. The new astronomical theology coexists with inherited worship, although the coexistence raises a genuine interpretive question: does the stellar account complete familiar religion, transform its basis, or shift attention away from the old narratives? The source's introduction marks that question as a difficulty, and the dialogue does not close it with a table equating each Olympian and elemental kind.

The later planetary names add a different relation. At 987b–c the heavenly bodies have taken the titles of gods; one is Zeus', while others are associated with Aphrodite, Hermes, Cronus, and Ares. The text distinguishes titles from proper names in that context. It does not retroactively identify every traditional story about Zeus with the astronomical behavior of one planet, nor does it give Hera a parallel planet in that list. A divine name can enter more than one theological construction.

The opening invitation to speak well about both gods and goddesses and the closing command to honor all gods and goddesses prevent an exclusively male reading of the religious project. Hera's mention is not merely ornamental; it helps make the inherited pantheon collectively present before the visible classification is specified. The account's selective naming should not be expanded into a complete pantheon unattested in the passage.

**The places.**

- **984d.** Θεοὺς μὲν δή, Δία τε καὶ Ἥραν — Zeus and Hera enter as gods already named by tradition
- **984d.** καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας — Their mention includes the remaining gods collectively
- **984d.** ὅπῃ τις ἐθέλει — The individual is permitted latitude of placement
- **984d.** κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν … νόμον — That placement is related to the same law or usage
- **984d.** πάγιον ἐχέτω τοῦτον τὸν λόγον — The account is to be held fixed
- **984d.** θεοὺς δὲ δὴ τοὺς ὁρατούς — The visible gods then receive a definite identification
- **987b.** ἐπωνυμίαν εἰλήφασιν θεῶν — The later planets bear titles of gods

**In this edition.** “Set them down where he wishes” preserves the latitude; “by the same law” and “keep this account fixed” preserve the limits in the same sentence. The Zeus headword is nominative, while Δία is the actual accusative at 984d and Διός the later genitive at 987c. These inflected forms are not separate gods.

**See also.** [Middle kinds](#entry-middle-kinds) · [Gods and images](#entry-gods-images) · [Ancestral rites](#entry-ancestral-rites) · [Honors for visible gods](#entry-visible-honors)

# Defined vocabulary register {#defined-register}


The register gives contextual meanings and attested forms. A headword organizes a lexical family; it need not itself occur in that dictionary form. Separate senses below one headword describe different work done by the word in different passages. The full articles develop the argument around these shorter definitions.


### Accomplish ἀποτελεῖν {#register-001}


*ἀποτελεῖν (apotelein)*


**Failure to make wise.** The excluded kinds of knowledge fail to accomplish wisdom in the person who acquires and possesses them. The test concerns formation of the possessor. Attested: ἀποτελοῦσιν (974d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Temporal completion of events.** Time is described as precisely accomplishing heavenly events; the language does not replace soul's accompanying explanatory priority. Attested: ἀποτελεῖ (991c). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Accomplish διαπράττειν {#register-002}


*διαπράττειν (diaprattein)*


**Disclaimed achievement.** The perfect asserts that recognizing the powers is no great accomplishment peculiar to the speaker; another can do it too. Attested: διαπέπραγμαι (986a–b). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Account and reason λόγος {#register-003}


*λόγος (logos)*


**Plan of inquiry.** An account through which the matter of intelligence is to be examined. It names an explanatory discourse, not yet a completed proof. Attested: λόγῳ (973a). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Means of examination.** Arguments by which capable people examine themselves and others intelligently and concordantly. Attested: λόγων (974c). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Rational capacity.** Reason whose absence prevents the living being’s soul from attaining all virtue. The next clauses link it to giving an account rather than retaining experiences only. Attested: λόγος (977c). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Give an account.** An explanation of what has otherwise only been perceived and remembered; total ignorance of number prevents this capacity. Attested: λόγον (977c). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**True reason.** The condition required for wisdom, explicitly qualified as true; courage and temperance are not thereby excluded. Attested: λόγου (977d). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Required justification.** The further account still needed to establish whether the person who knows the proposed numerical matters is actually wise and good. Attested: λόγον (979d). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**A test of reasonableness.** In the formula the account has reason, the first logos names rational adequacy and the second the account under examination. The repeated word has distinct grammatical jobs. Attested: λόγον (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


**An inherited account kept fixed.** The account concerning the placement of Zeus, Hera, and the other gods is to be held fixed alongside latitude of placement according to law. Attested: λόγον (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Mathematical one-to-two relation.** One in relation to two is stated according to ratio; this specialized sense differs from account and reason elsewhere. Attested: λόγον (991a). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Accustom ἐθίζειν {#register-004}


*ἐθίζειν (ethizein)*


**Habituation of the learner.** Repeated formative work accompanies preliminary instruction; habituation alone is not the final synoptic understanding. Attested: ἐθίζοντα (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Adamant ἀδάμας {#register-005}


*ἀδάμας (adamas)*


**Image of firmness.** Adamant supplies a comparison for exceptional strength and resistance to reversal. Even it cannot exceed the firmness of the best divine decision. Attested: ἀδάμας (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Admire ἄγασθαι {#register-006}


*ἄγασθαι (agasthai)*


**Positive regard for courage.** The suitable nature admires courage as well as being persuadable toward temperance; intellectual aptitude is not its sole criterion. Attested: ἀγαμένη (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Adorn with variety ποικίλλειν {#register-007}


*ποικίλλειν (poikillein)*


**Heaven’s varied display.** Heaven varies or adorns itself while turning the stars within itself, providing the visible differences the learner follows. Attested: ποικίλλων (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Aerial ἀέριος {#register-008}


*ἀέριος (aerios)*


**Third middle seat.** The aerial kind is distinguished from the preceding daimons by Burnet’s reading and is designated cause of interpretation. The following account assigns communicative capacities to ether and air together. Attested: ἀέριον (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Affection or undergoing πάθη {#register-009}


*πάθη (pathē)*


**What body does not originate.** The noun means an affection or undergoing within the causal division. It should not be restricted to emotional pain, for which the passage later uses lypē. Attested: πάθης (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Affirm firmly διισχυρίζεσθαι {#register-010}


*διισχυρίζεσθαι (diischyrizesthai)*


**Eightfold claim.** The Athenian firmly affirms the number of celestial powers before completing their identification. Attested: διισχυρίζομαι (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


**Qualified final affirmation.** The same forceful verb introduces a playful-and-earnest claim whose conditional wording about posthumous existence must still be retained. Attested: διισχυρίζομαι (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Agree together συνομολογεῖν {#register-011}


*συνομολογεῖν (synhomologein)*


**Failure of agreement on content.** No one of the many agrees with another about which wisdom is required, despite agreement that the soul should be wise. Attested: συνομολογεῖ (979c–d). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Agreement ὁμολογία {#register-012}


*ὁμολογία (homologia)*


**Agreement to meet.** The prior arrangement fulfilled when Clinias, the Athenian, and Megillus come together; fulfillment of this agreement leaves their substantive inquiry unfinished. Attested: ὁμολογίας (973a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Coherence of celestial revolution.** The agreement of the stars' revolution contributes to the unity of studies; this local sense is structural rather than an interlocutor's assent. Attested: ὁμολογίαν (991e). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Air ἀήρ {#register-013}


*ἀήρ (aēr)*


**Third named body.** Air is third in the five-body enumeration and is distinct from ether. Its ordinal here must be distinguished from the aerial living kind’s position in the hierarchy. Attested: ἀέρα (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Fine intermediary constitution.** Air supplies the kind next after ether, one of the two transparent, highly intelligent middle classes discussed together. Attested: ἀέρος (984e). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Ancestral πάτριος {#register-014}


*πάτριος (patrios)*


**Inherited sacrificial law.** Ancestral qualifies the law governing sacrifices. Its protection is justified by the reformer’s lack of knowledge rather than by a separate proof of every inherited religious narrative. Attested: πάτριος (985d). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Anger ὀργή {#register-015}


*ὀργή (orgē)*


**Hostile wind personified.** The wind’s fierce or angry disposition supplies one side of the uncertainty confronting nautical expertise. Attested: ὀργὴν (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Aphrodite Ἀφροδίτη {#register-016}


*Ἀφροδίτη (Aphroditē)*


**Divine designation of Venus.** The genitive assigns the common morning-and-evening body to Aphrodite, fittingly for a Syrian lawgiver. Attested: Ἀφροδίτης (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Appear φαίνεσθαι {#register-017}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


**Needed knowledge must emerge.** Some knowledge must appear which makes its possessor genuinely wise rather than merely reputed so. Appearance here introduces a demanded candidate, not a disqualification by itself. Attested: φανῆναί (976c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Lunar appearance.** The moon appears larger and smaller in the counting lesson; the phrasing describes observed phases without stating that its substance grows and shrinks. Attested: φαινομένη (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Appear φαντάζεσθαι {#register-018}


*φαντάζεσθαι (phantazesthai)*


**Misleading apparent scale.** The heavenly bodies appear small but are not that small in reality. The limitation belongs to perception of scale, not to their existence. Attested: φαντάζεται (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Apprehend κατανοεῖν {#register-019}


*κατανοεῖν (katanoein)*


**Learned recognition of planets.** Apprehension is said to be accessible when another explains these bodies; it is less than the complete difficult understanding of all circuits. Attested: κατανοῆσαί (987c–d). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Apprehension κατανόημα {#register-020}


*κατανόημα (katanoēma)*


**Later Greek recognition.** The local noun names the apprehension of cosmic gods acquired later under the Greek climatic conditions. Attested: κατανόημα (987d). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Ares Ἄρης {#register-021}


*Ἄρης (Arēs)*


**Title of the reddish planet.** The body after Zeus' in slowness has Ares' title and the reddest color, identified as Mars in the note. Attested: Ἄρεως (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Arithmetic and numerical ability ἀριθμητικός {#register-022}


*ἀριθμητικός (arithmētikos)*


**Discipline supporting every craft.** The feminine substantivized ἀριθμητικήν names arithmetic, whose removal would leave none of the earlier crafts intact. Attested: ἀριθμητικήν (977e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Competence within its limits.** The capable living being becomes very able to count as far as these elementary phenomena extend, looking at each thing one by one. Attested: ἀριθμητικὸν (978e–979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Assign τάττειν {#register-023}


*τάττειν (tattein)*


**Allot time.** The Athenian opposes leaving some powers without a portion or time for their own orbit. Attested: τάττωμεν (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


**Order the visible cosmos.** The most divine reason is said to have ordered the cosmos as visible; the verb connects arrangement with intelligible order. Attested: ἔταξεν (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Astronomer ἀστρονόμος {#register-024}


*ἀστρονόμος (astronomos)*


**Properly qualified practitioner.** Only the true astronomer is called necessarily wisest, with the adjective true excluding mere practical expertise. Attested: ἀστρονόμον (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Astronomy ἀστρονομία {#register-025}


*ἀστρονομία (astronomia)*


**Culminating study of divine order.** The unexpectedly named wisdom includes the seven circuits and their mathematical preparation; it is not identical to every practical study of star appearances. Attested: ἀστρονομίαν (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Attend προσέχειν {#register-026}


*προσέχειν (prosechein)*


**Attention to characters.** With the mind as object, the participle describes directing attention to characters in persuasive practice. The idiom is translated as a whole. Attested: προσέχοντες (976b). [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107).


### Auspicious εὔφημος {#register-027}


*εὔφημος (euphēmos)*


**A fitting passage.** Auspicious qualifies the passage for whose sake prayers honor intermediaries. Its religious force should remain without specifying an itinerary the text does not give. Attested: εὐφήμου (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Avenging τιμωρός {#register-028}


*τιμωρός (timōros)*


**Justice's punitive function.** Justice is characterized as avenger of the unholy at the conclusion of the causal reversal. Attested: τιμωρὸν (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Bad κακός {#register-029}


*κακός (kakos)*


**Evil outside numerical order.** Everything that has a share in badness is declared left without number; this is the speech’s expansive ethical claim, not merely a calculation rule. Attested: κακοῦ (978a–b). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Barley meal ἄλφιτον {#register-030}


*ἄλφιτον (alphiton)*


**Necessary food product.** Barley-meal is paired with wheat-flour as a fine and good product whose making nevertheless does not make the producer completely wise. Attested: ἀλφίτων (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Be advantageous συμφέρειν {#register-031}


*συμφέρειν (sympherein)*


**Practical discernment.** Knowing what is likely advantageous and disadvantageous makes many ordinary pursuits comparatively easy, unlike the problem of becoming decent. Attested: συμφέρειν (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Be angry χαλεπαίνειν {#register-032}


*χαλεπαίνειν (chalepainein)*


**Rejected divine resentment.** Anger at a capable learner would contradict the divine teacher's knowledge of its own beneficent activity. Attested: χαλεπαῖνον (988b). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Be confident θαρρεῖν {#register-033}


*θαρρεῖν (tharrein)*


**Confidence for legislation.** The inherited, long-tested observations are offered as grounds for confidently placing appropriate divine recognition into law. Attested: θαρροῦντα (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Be deprived στέρεσθαι {#register-034}


*στέρεσθαι (steresthai)*


**Lack of true reason.** The present middle participle of steromai describes the person lacking true reason who therefore cannot become wise. Its stem differs from the regular contracted participle of stereō. Attested: στερόμενος (977d). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


### Be educated παιδεύεσθαι {#register-035}


*παιδεύεσθαι (paideuesthai)*


**Labor of formation.** Education enters the dialogue as one of the difficult processes of a living being’s development, before the final curriculum is specified. Attested: παιδεύεσθαι (973d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Be exceeded ὑπερέχεσθαι {#register-036}


*ὑπερέχεσθαι (hyperechesthai)*


**Mean below the greater.** The complementary passive describes the greater endpoint's excess over the mean, needed to distinguish the harmonic relation from equal differences. Attested: ὑπερεχόμενον (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Be fitting πρέπειν {#register-037}


*πρέπειν (prepein)*


**Appropriate action.** What would be fitting if done is recalled by the naturally adept person; fittingness and prompt performance remain insufficient for wisdom. Attested: πρέποι (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Be healthy ὑγιαίνειν {#register-038}


*ὑγιαίνειν (hygiainein)*


**One condition of reception.** The recipients of religious voices may be healthy as well as sick. The balanced catalogue prevents treating all such reports as restricted to illness. Attested: ὑγιαίνουσιν (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Be ignorant ἀγνοεῖν {#register-039}


*ἀγνοεῖν (agnoein)*


**Complete absence of number.** The hypothetical being is altogether ignorant of number, a stronger description than making an occasional calculation error. Attested: ἀγνοοῖ (977c). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Be ill κάμνειν {#register-040}


*κάμνειν (kamnein)*


**Another condition of reception.** Some encounters occur during illness. The inclusion does not establish that every religious experience is pathological or that illness makes the report certain. Attested: κάμνουσιν (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Be in earnest σπουδάζειν {#register-041}


*σπουδάζειν (spoudazein)*


**Seriousness joined to play.** The conjunction at the final affirmation combines earnestness with play instead of choosing one and excluding the other. Attested: σπουδάζων (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Be nourished τρέφεσθαι {#register-042}


*τρέφεσθαι (trephesthai)*


**Early-life dependency.** Being nourished follows gestation and birth among the conditions requiring countless labors. Attested: τρέφεσθαι (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Beginning ἀρχή {#register-043}


*ἀρχή (archē)*


**The beginning of the beginning.** The repeated language of beginning makes soul’s priority the explanatory foundation of the new account. Here archē is a starting point, not one of the political offices assigned at the work’s close. Attested: ἀρχὴν (981a). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


**Highest civic responsibility.** The plural greatest offices names governmental authority entrusted to properly formed aged learners, distinct from the noun's beginning-sense elsewhere. Attested: ἀρχὰς (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Benefit ὄφελος {#register-044}


*ὄφελος (ophelos)*


**Value of rare natures.** The best natures are difficult to produce but of the greatest benefit when properly formed. Attested: ὄφελος (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


**Effect of right learning.** The studies yield great benefit only to the learner who takes them over in the right way. Attested: ὄφελος (991d). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Best ἄριστος {#register-045}


*ἄριστος (aristos)*


**Qualified good psychic cause.** The best soul, rather than soul without qualification, is assigned motion and movement toward good. Attested: ἀρίστης (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Between μεταξύ {#register-046}


*μεταξύ (metaxy)*


**Theological interval.** The middle living kinds arise between the two visible extremes. This locates them in the fivefold classification without making them a bodiless interval or empty space. Attested: μεταξὺ (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Beyond dispute ἀναμφισβητήτως {#register-047}


*ἀναμφισβητήτως (anamphisbētētōs)*


**Limit on discovery.** Discovering all these divine-celestial matters beyond dispute is acknowledged to be difficult, qualifying confidence in Greek completion. Attested: ἀναμφισβητήτως (987e). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Blame αἰτιᾶσθαι {#register-048}


*αἰτιᾶσθαι (aitiasthai)*


**Human responsibility.** The Athenian directs blame toward human nature for not distributing its life justly, not toward divine provision. This is not a worked explanation of every individual misfortune. Attested: αἰτιᾶσθαι (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Blessed μακάριος {#register-049}


*μακάριος (makarios)*


**Rare mortal fulfillment.** Blessedness is paired with happiness and denied to living human beings except for a few. The exception and the lifetime limit both belong to the claim. Attested: μακαρίοις (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Bodiless ἀσώματος {#register-050}


*ἀσώματος (asōmatos)*


**Soul’s exceptional status.** Bodiless belongs exceptionally to the kind of soul, which also lacks color. The transparent middle living beings are not thereby bodiless; they have fine material constitutions. Attested: ἀσώματον (981b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Body σῶμα {#register-051}


*σῶμα (sōma)*


**Object of comparatively easy acquisition.** A body of the needed or unneeded sort is contrasted with the harder question of forming the good soul. The passage does not yet give the later soul-body ontology. Attested: σῶμα (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**What follows soul.** Body is the term relative to which soul’s seniority and rule are asserted. It remains a necessary constituent of living beings rather than being removed from the divine cosmos. Attested: σώματος (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Five bodily kinds.** The solid bodies number five. The explicit inclusion of ether prevents substitution of a four-element scheme. Attested: σώματα (981b). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Passive explanatory kind.** Body is contrasted with intelligent ruling soul as ruled and without causal initiative. This does not cancel the body’s constitutive role in their living offspring. Attested: σῶμα (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Bond δεσμός {#register-052}


*δεσμός (desmos)*


**Natural unity of studies.** A single natural bond joins diagrams, number, harmony, and celestial motion; the passage does not name it through a unique modern mathematical formula. Attested: δεσμὸς (991e–992a). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Bond σύνδεσμος {#register-053}


*σύνδεσμος (syndesmos)*


**Function of minor constituents.** Smaller shares of other bodies are included in an ethereal being for a bond. The material mixture contributes to unity even though one constituent predominates. Attested: συνδέσμου (984c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


### Both ἄμφω {#register-054}


*ἄμφω (amphō)*


**The two listeners.** The genitive dual includes Clinias and the silent Megillus when Clinias promises their continued attention. Attested: ἀμφοῖν (979e). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Boundless ἄπειρος {#register-055}


*ἄπειρος (apeiros)*


**Vast observational time.** The testing time is called without limit; it is rhetorical duration in this historical account, not an explicit mathematical definition of infinity. Attested: ἀπείρῳ (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Boy παῖς {#register-056}


*παῖς (pais)*


**Young learner.** The accusative age designation belongs to the pupil undergoing preparation, not to the teacher. Attested: παῖδα (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Brave ἀνδρεῖος {#register-057}


*ἀνδρεῖος (andreios)*


**Agreed quality of soul.** Bravery is an agreed desirable quality of the soul, contrasted with the unresolved specification of wisdom. Attested: ἀνδρείαν (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Breathing space ἀναπνοή {#register-058}


*ἀναπνοή (anapnoē)*


**Brief relief.** A physical image for the moderate interval near the middle of human life, quickly overtaken by old age. Attested: ἀναπνοὴν (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Bring forth ἀποτίκτειν {#register-059}


*ἀποτίκτειν (apotiktein)*


**Generation of a living unity.** The subjunctive uses birth-language for the production of one shape by soul–body combination. It describes the general condition for a living being rather than only sexual reproduction. Attested: ἀποτέκῃ (981a). [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


### Bring toward προσάγειν {#register-060}


*προσάγειν (prosagein)*


**Relation of particulars to forms.** Single-item consideration must be brought to consideration according to forms, as part of questioning and correction. Attested: προσακτέον (991c). [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49).


### Brother ἀδελφός {#register-061}


*ἀδελφός (adelphos)*


**Divine fraternity.** The celestial beings are to be called brothers, joining their common divine standing to the sister-language of powers and portions. Attested: ἀδελφούς (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Building οἰκοδομία {#register-062}


*οἰκοδομία (oikodomia)*


**Productive expertise.** All building is included among useful productive activities that do not, as such, confer the virtue and wisdom sought. Attested: οἰκοδομία (975b). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Bulk ὄγκος {#register-063}


*ὄγκος (onkos)*


**Magnitude requiring a mover.** Immense bulk, combined with unvarying timing, is used to motivate the need for a divine cause of movement. Attested: ὄγκον (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Bulk animated as a whole.** A god can make every body and its entire bulk a living being before carrying it as he judges best. Physical magnitude is not an obstacle to divine animation. Attested: ὄγκον (983b). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Care ἐπιμελεῖσθαι {#register-064}


*ἐπιμελεῖσθαι (epimeleisthai)*


**Universal divine attention.** The gods of the recalled argument care for everything, small and greater. Their attention is not equated with emotional suffering, and it remains compatible with the later completed god’s freedom from pain. Attested: ἐπιμελούμενοι (980d). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Carpentry τεκτονικός {#register-065}


*τεκτονικός (tektonikos)*


**Carpentry instruments.** The genitive plural identifies the carpentry-related class within the furnishing of tools. It is an attested adjectival form, not an occurrence of a separately named carpenter. Attested: τεκτονικῶν (975b–c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Carry round περιφέρειν {#register-066}


*περιφέρειν (peripherein)*


**Moving immense stars.** The question asks what nature can carry such bulk round in the same time always. Size and timing together prompt the divine explanation. Attested: περιφέρειν (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Soul moves body and itself.** Embodied soul carries round the body and itself. The reflexive object preserves a distinction from the rejected account of bodily self-motion through heat and cold. Attested: περιφέρειν (988d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Cause αἴτιος {#register-067}


*αἴτιος (aitios)*


**From other goods to intelligence.** The giver of all other goods is inferred to be the cause of intelligence, the greatest good. The adjective names an explanatory role within the argument. Attested: αἴτιον (976e–977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Adequate divine mover.** The Athenian identifies a god as the cause that can animate and move immense celestial bodies with exact regularity. Attested: αἴτιον (983b). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Soul’s causal initiative.** Soul is set down as cause of all things, in contrast with body’s lack of causal agency. The strength of the statement should not be silently weakened. Attested: αἴτιον (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


**Interpretive function.** The aerial middle kind is a cause of interpretation. The same causal vocabulary now specifies a communicative function within the populated cosmos. Attested: αἴτιον (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Celebrate in play προσπαίζειν {#register-068}


*προσπαίζειν (prospaizein)*


**Positive divine celebration.** The participle describes the Athenian’s celebratory play toward the gods in Clinias’ wish. It is related to paidia, not an occurrence of paideia. Attested: προσπαίσαντι (980b). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Change μεταβολή {#register-069}


*μεταβολή (metabolē)*


**Odd and even changes.** The plural occurs in the difficult phrase that associates soul’s memory and reckoning with odd and even changes. The text does not identify a fully worked mechanism behind the expression. Attested: μεταβολαῖς (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Change cycles μετακυκλεῖσθαι {#register-070}


*μετακυκλεῖσθαι (metakykleisthai)*


**Instability denied.** The stars are denied the kind of cycle-changing that would follow unsettled counsel. The term belongs to the regularity argument, not a modern theory of orbital perturbation. Attested: μετακυκλεῖσθαι (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Character ἦθος {#register-071}


*ἦθος (ēthos)*


**Object of forensic attention.** Characters are what the lawsuit helpers attend to, using memory and routine. The adopted word is not the apparatus conjecture habits divided differently. Attested: ἤθεσιν (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Childish παιδικός {#register-072}


*παιδικός (paidikos)*


**An opinion’s immaturity.** The adjective describes an opinion that would resist the Athenian’s appraisal of life, rather than assigning an age to its holder. Attested: παιδικῆς (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Chorus or dance χορός {#register-073}


*χορός (choros)*


**Comparative excellence.** The stars’ dance is finest and most magnificent among all dances. The comparative emphasizes coordinated excellence without identifying a specific human festival as its model. Attested: χορῶν (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Circuit περίοδος {#register-074}


*περίοδος (periodos)*


**Whole celestial course.** The receiver of number is invited to go through the entire circuit rather than rest with an isolated benefit. Attested: περίοδον (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Lunar counted whole.** The sequence of lunar appearances is called a circuit when its whole cycle is set down as one unit; the text’s fifteen-day wording remains compressed. Attested: περίοδος (978e). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Differentiated celestial traversal.** The true astronomer studies seven circuits of the eight, each with its own cycle; the contrary eighth retains divine status. Attested: περιόδων; περιόδους (990a). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Citizen πολίτης {#register-075}


*πολίτης (politēs)*


**Civic result of wisdom.** The correct knowledge must make its possessor a wise and good citizen, both in ruling and in being ruled. Attested: πολίτης (976d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Clear σαφής {#register-076}


*σαφής (saphēs)*


**Required basis for religious direction.** The missing clear element is what makes the proposed turn in worship reckless. The contrast prepares the stronger claim of evidence for visible gods. Attested: σαφὲς (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Clinias Κλεινίας {#register-077}


*Κλεινίας (Kleinias)*


**Clinias.** The Cretan participant who opens the question about wisdom and answers the Athenian. His brief encouragements are part of the dramatic exchange rather than independent demonstrations of every conclusion. Attested: Κλεινία (973b). [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


### Cloud νέφος {#register-078}


*νέφος (nephos)*


**Obstacle to observation.** Clouds are among the conditions from which the named observers' view of the stars is said to be distant. Attested: νεφῶν (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Cold ψῦχος {#register-079}


*ψῦχος (psychos)*


**Seasonal bodily harm.** Cold is one of the conditions by which the seasons are said to plunder living beings, giving medicine a helping role. Attested: ψύχει (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Color χρῶμα {#register-080}


*χρῶμα (chrōma)*


**Absence from soul.** The absence of any color helps distinguish soul from visible corporeal kinds. It is not a statement that every hard-to-see body is soul. Attested: χρῶμα (981b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Observable distinguishing property.** Color helps identify Ares' planet, whereas the other remaining bodies are chiefly distinguished by relative slowness. Attested: χρῶμα (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Combination σύστασις {#register-081}


*σύστασις (systasis)*


**Constitution of one being.** The coming-together of soul and body produces a unified living shape. The combination is not an extra third substance named alongside the two kinds. Attested: σύστασις (981a). [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


**Constitution of harmony.** Every harmonic combination joins the other studies in the synthesis; the same noun's earlier soul-body combination has a different local object. Attested: σύστασιν (991e). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Come to light ἀναφαίνεσθαι {#register-082}


*ἀναφαίνεσθαι (anaphainesthai)*


**Disclosure through right learning.** The unity and natural bond of the studies become manifest to thinkers who learn while looking toward one. Attested: ἀναφανῆναι; ἀναφανήσεται (991e–992a). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Come together ἥκειν {#register-083}


*ἥκειν (hēkein)*


**Arrival under an agreement.** The three have arrived in accordance with their arrangement. The verb establishes the resumed conversation, without supplying a narrated place or date. Attested: ἥκομεν (973a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Coming into being γένεσις {#register-084}


*γένεσις (genesis)*


**Divine and mortal generation.** The consideration of divine and mortal coming into being is offered as a larger field in which number and reverence toward gods become recognizable. Attested: γενέσεως (977e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**A foundational account.** Coming into being is the field whose first beginning the soul-priority argument supplies. The word does not by itself specify creation from nothing or a measurable first cosmic date. Attested: γενέσεως (981a). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


**A descending range of life.** The sequence beginning from manifest gods ends with human beings. The term locates the kinds within a generated living order, without resolving the passage’s changing ordinal frames. Attested: γενέσεως (984d). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Generation of number.** The generation of odd and even is part of pure-number study; it need not mean that numerals are bodily things produced in a workshop. Attested: γενέσεώς (990c). [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


**Divine culminating object.** After the prerequisites the learner approaches divine coming into being and the finest visible nature, linking the curriculum to the prior cosmic account. Attested: γένεσιν (991b). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Commensurate σύμμετρος {#register-085}


*σύμμετρος (symmetros)*


**Proportionate musical relation.** Commensurate qualifies the use bestowed through musical proportions; it does not reverse the geometry note's incommensurability of certain side-lengths. Attested: σύμμετρον (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Common κοινός {#register-086}


*κοινός (koinos)*


**Shared celestial availability.** The heavenly images are more common to all humanity than other statues. The comparative concerns shared relation and availability, not inferiority or lack of distinction. Attested: κοινότερα (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Complete τέλεος {#register-087}


*τέλεος (teleos)*


**Completed divine decision.** Completeness belongs to the outcome guarded by the Fates. A settled best decision requires no corrective reversal. Attested: τέλεον (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Completely τελέως {#register-088}


*τελέως (teleōs)*


**Scope of ethical completion.** The adverb belongs to the denied achievement of complete goodness and happiness without wisdom, preserving the difference from partial virtue. Attested: τελέως (977d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Compose συνιστάναι {#register-089}


*συνιστάναι (synistanai)*


**Calendrical arrangement.** The god brings months together in relation to the year, making their order a matter of comparison rather than simple accumulation. Attested: συνεστήσατο (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Concordant σύμφωνος {#register-090}


*σύμφωνος (symphōnos)*


**Musical usability.** The proportions assign human beings concordant use in rhythm and harmony, linking numerical structure to musical practice. Attested: σύμφωνον (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Concordantly συμφώνως {#register-091}


*συμφώνως (symphōnōs)*


**Manner of examination.** The adverb qualifies intelligent examination through arguments. Its local use should not be silently replaced by the later technical vocabulary of musical harmony. Attested: συμφώνως (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Concur συμφάναι {#register-092}


*συμφάναι (symphanai)*


**Provisional assent.** Clinias will concur perhaps, in hope of attaining the truest opinion with the Athenian over time; the form does not express unconditional certainty. Attested: Συμφήσομεν (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Conquer νικᾶν {#register-093}


*νικᾶν (nikan)*


**Achieved and continuing good prevalence.** Good things must have conquered and must conquer what is not good; the two verbal forms make completed and ongoing prevalence audible. Attested: νενικηκέναι; νικᾶν (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Contemplate θεωρεῖν {#register-094}


*θεωρεῖν (theōrein)*


**Demanding understanding of circuits.** Adequate contemplation of the seven requires an exceptional nature and the subsequent mathematical education. Attested: θεωρῆσαι (990b). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Contemplation θεωρία {#register-095}


*θεωρία (theōria)*


**Right attention to Heaven.** The learner approaches a right contemplation of the heavenly object, whatever acceptable name he prefers to give it. Attested: θεωρίαν (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Contemplator θεωρός {#register-096}


*θεωρός (theōros)*


**Enduring spectator of beauty.** The initiated person's hoped-for role is contemplator of the finest things available to sight. Attested: θεωρὸς (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Contest ἀγών {#register-097}


*ἀγών (agōn)*


**Aspiration to human excellence.** The contest before would-be best men explains, in the Athenian’s social evaluation, their avoidance of the necessary trades. Attested: ἀγὼν (975a). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Continue διατελεῖν {#register-098}


*διατελεῖν (diatelein)*


**Continuance of contemplation.** The verb presents the contemplated blessed condition as enduring for the remaining time without separately proving immortality. Attested: διατελεῖ (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Contrary ἐναντίος {#register-099}


*ἐναντίος (enantios)*


**Opposed celestial travel.** The eighth travels contrary to all the previously grouped courses; the respect is direction, not inferior divinity. Attested: ἐναντίος (987b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


**Opposed psychic quality.** The psychic cause of motion contrary to good is itself contrary; the passage does not fix a total inventory of two cosmic souls. Attested: ἐναντίαν (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


**Mathematical counterpart.** The power contrary to the power around doubling is mentioned but not separately defined as a named modern operation. Attested: ἐναντίας (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Contrive τεχνάζειν {#register-100}


*τεχνάζειν (technazein)*


**Manipulation through appearances.** The verb describes the rejected use of outward show in civic religious conduct; it is not a rejection of every craft as such. Attested: τεχνάζοντας (989c). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Cooling ψῦξις {#register-101}


*ψῦξις (psyxis)*


**Rejected bodily explanatory priority.** Cooling or coldness accompanies heat among the conditions through which body was wrongly accorded the superior motion. Attested: ψύξεσιν (988c). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Cosmos κόσμος {#register-102}


*κόσμος (kosmos)*


**Alternative name for the contemplated object.** Cosmos is one of three permitted names at the beginning of heavenly contemplation; flexibility in name does not remove the demand to follow the object’s courses. Attested: κόσμον (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Name for the contrary eighth.** The single contrary course can especially be called cosmos; identifying it mechanically as the fixed-star sphere is an explanatory reconstruction. Attested: κόσμον (987b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Council σύλλογος {#register-103}


*σύλλογος (syllogos)*


**Institution summoned to wisdom.** The Nocturnal Council is the final civic recipient of the mathematical-theological curriculum, linking the work's conclusion to its legislative opening. Attested: σύλλογον (992d). [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84).


### Count ἀριθμεῖν {#register-104}


*ἀριθμεῖν (arithmein)*


**Learning from visible order.** The verb names the elementary learning explained through day, night, and lunar changes, distinct from later reckoning relations among periods. Attested: ἀριθμεῖν (978b). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Count out διαριθμεῖσθαι {#register-105}


*διαριθμεῖσθαι (diarithmeisthai)*


**Articulated evaluative reckoning.** The verb concerns counting out the just, good, and fine so as to persuade oneself and another, in a compressed clause requiring knowledge and true opinion. Attested: διαριθμήσεται (978b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Courage ἀνδρεία {#register-106}


*ἀνδρεία (andreia)*


**Natural military capacity.** Generalship is given by nature more to courage than to wisdom. The contrast does not declare courage bad. Attested: ἀνδρείᾳ (975e–976a). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


**Permitted partial virtue.** Courage is one of the virtues expressly left possible despite the absence of the full reason required for wisdom. Attested: ἀνδρείαν (977c–d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Course διέξοδος {#register-107}


*διέξοδος (diexodos)*


**Routes through Heaven.** The stars’ courses are followed as Heaven supplies seasons and nourishment. The word is kept distinct from circuit and cycle. Attested: διεξόδους (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Celestial traversal.** The term accompanies motion in describing the sun's companions and their approximate common speed. Attested: διέξοδος (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Craft τέχνη {#register-108}


*τέχνη (technē)*


**Insufficient candidate.** Crafts are among the forms of competence in which wisdom is first unsuccessfully sought. Attested: τεχνῶν (974b). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


**Acquisition of necessities.** Craft makes the acquisition of necessities possible, while none of those crafts makes its possessor wise in the required sense. Attested: τέχνης (975c–d). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


**Dependent on arithmetic.** The earlier candidates are all allowed to count as crafts for the argument that none survives the removal of arithmetic. Attested: τέχνας (977d–e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Craft or make δημιουργεῖν {#register-109}


*δημιουργεῖν (dēmiourgein)*


**Earnest artistic making.** The imitative maker can craft with utmost seriousness and yet fail to acquire wisdom through that art. Attested: δημιουργοῦντα (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Soul’s productive function.** Crafting names soul’s productive function beside molding. The verb does not introduce a separately named artisan god called the Demiurge. Attested: δημιουργεῖν (981b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Population of heaven.** The aorist participle summarizes soul’s crafting of all the living classes, followed by the claim that heaven is filled with them. Attested: δημιουργήσασαν (984c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Cronus Κρόνος {#register-110}


*Κρόνος (Kronos)*


**Title of the slowest remaining planet.** Some give this title to the slowest of the three remaining bodies, identified as Saturn in the edition's note. Attested: Κρόνου (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Cycle κύκλος {#register-111}


*κύκλος (kyklos)*


**A whole counted as one.** The observer may set down the cycle as a single whole, converting a succession of appearances into one counted unit. Attested: κύκλον (978e). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Course proper to each.** Each of the seven circuits goes through its own cycle; the distinct term is not replaced by periodos in this edition. Attested: κύκλον (990a). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Daimon δαίμων {#register-112}


*δαίμων (daimōn)*


**Divine co-honorers.** Daimons and gods alike are invoked as honoring Heaven. Their detailed hierarchy is not yet supplied in this opening occurrence. Attested: δαίμονες (977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Divine intermediary rank.** Daimons follow below the stellar gods and precede the aerial kind. The ensuing ether–air pairing supports associating this rank with ethereal beings; it does not justify translating the word as a malevolent demon. Attested: δαίμονας (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Dance χορεία {#register-113}


*χορεία (choreia)*


**Coordinated stellar action.** The celestial dance expresses regular, rational movement and accomplishes what living things need. Its beauty is also functional. Attested: χορείαν (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


**Mathematical musical gift.** The happy dance of the Muses gives the human use of rhythm and harmony. This recurrence does not explicitly assert an audible music emitted by the stars. Attested: χορείᾳ (991b). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Dance as an action χορεύειν {#register-114}


*χορεύειν (choreuein)*


**Stars as agents.** The stars themselves dance and accomplish the needful. The participle’s agency should not be reassigned to an abstract stellar nature. Attested: χορεύοντα (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Dare τολμᾶν {#register-115}


*τολμᾶν (tolman)*


**Reckless innovation avoided.** A lawgiver must not dare the uncertain turn in worship. Boldness would be a failure of judgment in that setting. Attested: τολμήσῃ (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


**Culpable silence.** The same vocabulary reverses force when people fail to dare speaking about the manifest gods. Here reluctance suppresses a duty to disclose and honor. Attested: τολμῶντας (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Dawn bringer ἑωσφόρος {#register-116}


*ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros)*


**Morning appearance of Venus.** The solar companion later identified as the same body as the Evening Star; its planetary identity is supplied by the edition's note. Attested: ἑωσφόρου (986e). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Day ἡμέρα {#register-117}


*ἡμέρα (hēmera)*


**Visible basis of counting.** Day is contrasted with night as an appearance from which numerical distinction can be learned, then counted within lunar progression. Attested: ἡμέρας (978c). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Death θάνατος {#register-118}


*θάνατος (thanatos)*


**Completion of the human portion.** Death fills up the wise person's portion before the qualified account of unified blessed existence. Attested: θανάτῳ (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Decent χρηστός {#register-119}


*χρηστός (chrēstos)*


**Human goodness to be formed.** Becoming decent people is exceptionally difficult, contrasted with acquiring other decent things such as property and a suitable body. Attested: χρηστοὺς (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Declare φράζειν {#register-120}


*φράζειν (phrazein)*


**The obligation to announce.** The hypothetical observer fails to declare the seen sun or moon. The duty concerns communicating their divine standing and fitting honors, not simply reporting a light in the sky. Attested: ἔφραζεν (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Deliberate βουλεύεσθαι {#register-121}


*βουλεύεσθαι (bouleuesthai)*


**Best decision.** A soul deliberates the best according to the best sense; the ensuing settled result is what the Fates guard. Attested: βουλεύσηται (982b–c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


**Decision long ago.** The stars act on matters deliberated long ago, explaining their stable activity as persistence of purpose rather than absence of soul. Attested: βεβουλευμένα (982c). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Deliberate anew μεταβουλεύεσθαι {#register-122}


*μεταβουλεύεσθαι (metabouleuesthai)*


**Unsettled revision denied.** The stars do not repeatedly reconsider up and down, performing different acts and changing cycles. The contrast presupposes their original best counsel, not the infallibility of ordinary human choices. Attested: μεταβουλευόμενον (982d). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Deliberation βουλή {#register-123}


*βουλή (boulē)*


**Best counsel.** The best deliberation qualifies the decision preserved complete for each god. The noun does not here refer to a city’s administrative council. Attested: βουλῇ (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Delimit διορίζειν {#register-124}


*διορίζειν (diorizein)*


**Express limit of a thesis.** The Athenian explicitly limits his claim concerning human happiness to the time while humans live. Attested: διορίζομαι (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Delphi Δελφοί {#register-125}


*Δελφοί (Delphoi)*


**Oracle authority.** Oracles from Delphi are joined with education and lawful service in the proposed Greek care of cosmic gods. Attested: Δελφῶν (988a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Demigod ἡμίθεος {#register-126}


*ἡμίθεος (hēmitheos)*


**Likeness of watery life.** A fitting likeness for the water-kind, whose appearance is intermittent. The passage does not define it by a human–divine parentage or identify named heroes. Attested: ἡμίθεον (985b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Diagram διάγραμμα {#register-127}


*διάγραμμα (diagramma)*


**Geometrical object in the synthesis.** Every diagram belongs among the studies to be understood through one natural bond, rather than as an isolated drawing. Attested: διάγραμμα (991e). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Dim ἀμυδρός {#register-128}


*ἀμυδρός (amydros)*


**Weak visual access.** Dim qualifies sight in the account of the watery kind’s wonder. The text names a limitation of perception without a detailed optical explanation. Attested: ἀμυδρὰν (985b). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Discover fully ἐξευρίσκειν {#register-129}


*ἐξευρίσκειν (exheuriskein)*


**Missing determination.** The soul cannot discover the identity, occasion, and mode of the power it confidently believes it possesses. Attested: ἐξευρίσκειν (974c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Disorder ἀταξία {#register-130}


*ἀταξία (ataxia)*


**Predominant earthly movement.** Disorder characterizes earthly movement in contrast with the celestial path. The next clause qualifies the behavior around us as occurring for the most part. Attested: ἀταξίᾳ (982a). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Disordered ἄτακτος {#register-131}


*ἄτακτος (ataktos)*


**Motion without order.** Disorder is one feature of the motion associated with the lack of number, alongside failures of reckoning, rhythm, and harmony. Attested: ἄτακτος (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Distaste δυσχέρεια {#register-132}


*δυσχέρεια (dyschereia)*


**Obscure devaluation of making.** The distaste supposedly produced by the name of making in the food-production passage. Its precise explanation is not secured by the text. Attested: δυσχέρειαν (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Distribute διανέμειν {#register-133}


*διανέμειν (dianemein)*


**Order a life justly.** Human nature fails to distribute its life in justice; the verb connects the calendrical account to the question of right human ordering and lawgiving. Attested: διανέμουσαν (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Allotment of sacred time.** Appropriate seasons of years are to be distributed to the heavenly recipients. The sentence leads to the eight powers but does not yet supply an operational festival calendar. Attested: διανέμειν (986a). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Divine θεῖος {#register-134}


*θεῖος (theios)*


**Celestial living status.** The stellar kind is divine in the account that pairs excellent body and soul. This classification is developed through the subsequent arguments about regularity and causation. Attested: θεῖον (981e). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Soul’s comparative divinity.** The later conclusion calls soul more divine than body. The comparative marks explanatory and evaluative precedence without denying the divinity of embodied stars. Attested: θειότερον (991d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Divine μαντεύεσθαι {#register-135}


*μαντεύεσθαι (manteuesthai)*


**Intimation of a capacity.** The soul divines that it has wisdom by some nature. This anticipatory confidence remains short of discovering what, when, and how. Attested: μαντευομένης (974b). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


### Do astronomy ἀστρονομεῖν {#register-136}


*ἀστρονομεῖν (astronomein)*


**Hesiodic practice contrasted.** The participle describes observing in Hesiod's manner, exemplified by risings and settings and distinguished from the required full study. Attested: ἀστρονομοῦντα (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Double διπλάσιος {#register-137}


*διπλάσιος (diplasios)*


**Proportional organizing relation.** The double anchors the transition from number to square and cube relations and then the means; the text does not equate doubling length with doubling area. Attested: διπλάσιον (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Dreaming ὀνειροπολία {#register-138}


*ὀνειροπολία (oneiropolia)*


**Dream experience.** Dreaming accompanies sleep in the catalogue of encounters from which religious beliefs arise. Its inclusion describes a channel of experience rather than a universal guarantee of truth. Attested: ὀνειροπολίᾳ (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Dry ξηρός {#register-139}


*ξηρός (xēros)*


**Material of imitation.** Dry materials pair with moist materials in the broad description of intricate imitative production; no named pigment or technique is specified. Attested: ξηροῖς (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Dwelling οἴκησις {#register-140}


*οἴκησις (oikēsis)*


**Structures joined together.** Dwellings are the objects of the weaving-together image in the catalogue of productive expertise. Attested: οἰκήσεών (975b). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Eagerness προθυμεῖσθαι {#register-141}


*προθυμεῖσθαι (prothymeisthai)*


**Striving to live finely.** The hopeful prospect is related to what someone would be eager to attain through living as finely as possible within his power. Attested: προθυμοῖτ’ (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Earth γῆ {#register-142}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


**Fertile earth.** Earth is called pregnant in the account of fruits and nourishment made possible by measured seasons. Attested: γῆ (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Fourth named body.** Earth is fourth in the material list, although earthly living beings are first in the subsequent exposition. Attested: γῆν (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Predominant earthly constituent.** Earth supplies most of the earthly living kind’s bodily constitution. The kind is still compounded from all the bodies. Attested: γῆς (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


**A cosmic bulk.** Earth enters the broad list of cosmic bodies whose exact ordered behavior is said to require soul. This occurrence is not interchangeable with the motions of terrestrial organisms. Attested: γῆν (983b–c). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Earthly γήινος {#register-143}


*γήινος (gēinos)*


**First living class explained.** The earthly kind includes humans, animals, and rooted beings, united by earth’s predominance rather than by locomotion. Attested: γήινον (981c). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


**Mortal visible kind.** The visible earthly class is described as wholly mortal in contrast with the immortal celestial kind. This concerns living compounds, not a complete denial of every posthumous hope. Attested: γήινον (984b). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### Ease ῥᾳστώνη {#register-144}


*ῥᾳστώνη (rhaistōnē)*


**Denied shortcut to the goal.** The final divine visible study cannot be taken over with ease without the prerequisites just described. Attested: ῥᾳστώνῃ (991c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Easily ῥᾳδίως {#register-145}


*ῥᾳδίως (rhaidiōs)*


**Ease without guaranteed wisdom.** The adverb qualifies learning whatever one learns, one feature of the natural power that attracts a reputation for wisdom. Attested: ῥᾳδίως (976b). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Easy ῥᾴδιος {#register-146}


*ῥᾴδιος (rhaidios)*


**Accessible identification.** Recognizing the celestial powers is said to be easy for another, distinct from mastering the later difficult circuits. Attested: ῥᾴδιον (986b). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


**Demand despite difficulty.** Whether the studies are hard or easy, the prescribed educational way must be traveled. Attested: ῥᾴδια (992a). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Eating ἐδωδή {#register-147}


*ἐδωδή (edōdē)*


**Lawful subsistence.** Eating is the regulated activity established by the story of human departure from mutual consumption. Attested: ἐδωδὴν (975a). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Egypt Αἴγυπτος {#register-148}


*Αἴγυπτος (Aigyptos)*


**Region of earlier observation.** One of the two named lands whose summer conditions support prior astronomical observation; the dialogue supplies a cultural explanation, not a modern climate survey. Attested: Αἴγυπτός (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Eight ὀκτώ {#register-149}


*ὀκτώ (oktō)*


**Eight celestial powers.** The full number of related heavenly powers, including the seven differentiated circuits and the contrary eighth; the numeral does not imply eight planets in modern classification. Attested: ὀκτὼ δυνάμεις (986a). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Eighth ὄγδοος {#register-150}


*ὄγδοος (ogdoos)*


**Contrary collective course.** The single eighth course is contrary to the seven and may especially be called cosmos; it reorganizes the initial enumeration. Attested: ὄγδοον (987b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### End or die τελευτᾶν {#register-151}


*τελευτᾶν (teleutan)*


**Death and hope.** The participle refers to someone who has died and for whom a fine hope is entertained. It marks the other side of the stated lifetime limit. Attested: τελευτήσαντι (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Happy completion.** Ending life happily is the goal attached to thinking rightly about number and good order. Attested: τελευτήσειν (978b). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Transition in the early hope.** The learner's death introduces the hope of arriving at places appropriate to virtue and continuing as contemplator. Attested: τελευτήσας (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Ending τελευτή {#register-152}


*τελευτή (teleutē)*


**The close of human life.** Life’s ending is a further setting for the catalogue of encounters. The words give no detailed narrative of death followed by return to bodily life. Attested: τελευτῇ (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Ensouled ἔμψυχος {#register-153}


*ἔμψυχος (empsychos)*


**A defended stellar predicate.** The stars are called ensouled, and their size is introduced as further justification. The adjective asserts the presence of soul, not mere visible movement. Attested: ἔμψυχα (983a). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Animation through a god.** The Athenian says that ensoulment cannot arise otherwise than through a god, invoking what has already been declared. This premise contributes to the inference from enormous ordered bodies. Attested: ἔμψυχον (983b). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Envy φθόνος {#register-154}


*φθόνος (phthonos)*


**Absence of begrudging.** The exact phrase without envy qualifies divine shared joy at the learner's goodness; no separate adjective meaning unenvious is printed here. Attested: φθόνου (988b). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Equipment σκεῦος {#register-155}


*σκεῦος (skeuos)*


**Useful manufactured things.** All equipment is included in the productive art, whose practical fitness for the people is distinguished from virtue. Attested: σκευῶν (975b). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Esteemed εὐδόκιμος {#register-156}


*εὐδόκιμος (eudokimos)*


**Reputation tied to usefulness.** The superlative describes the general’s craft as most esteemed for use, distinguishing practical standing from truest wisdom. Attested: εὐδοκιμωτάτη (975e). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


### Ether αἰθήρ {#register-157}


*αἰθήρ (aithēr)*


**Fifth body.** Ether is expressly the fifth body and must not be merged into air. The supplied Timaeus comparison highlights rather than removes this difference. Attested: αἰθέρα (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Body of the upper intermediary kind.** Placed after fire, ether supplies the chief material of a middle living kind. The descending sequence associates this level with the daimons below the stellar gods. Attested: αἰθέρα (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Even ἄρτιος {#register-158}


*ἄρτιος (artios)*


**Elementary parity.** The even is the paired numerical category whose total ignorance accompanies the inability to give an account of perceived and remembered things. Attested: ἄρτιον (977c). [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88).


**Fundamental numerical class.** Even complements odd in the first mathematical study, whose contribution to the nature of what is must be learned. Attested: ἀρτίου (990c). [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


### Evening Star ἕσπερος {#register-159}


*ἕσπερος (hesperos)*


**Evening appearance of Venus.** The evening designation refers to the same celestial body as the Dawn-bringer, not another member added to the eight. Attested: ἕσπερός (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Evidence τεκμήριον {#register-160}


*τεκμήριον (tekmērion)*


**Life and the difficult search.** The Athenian asks what the appraisal of life is evidence of, connecting it to the naturally difficult search for wisdom. Attested: τεκμήριον (974a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**A sign of intelligence.** Celestial order is offered as evidence good enough for intelligent life. The sufficiency is the speaker’s claim; the passage’s bridge from regularity to rational counsel remains open to assessment. Attested: τεκμήριον (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Evident διαφανής {#register-161}


*διαφανής (diaphanēs)*


**Disclosure of mathematical relation.** The making alike becomes evident to understanding; the term is distinct from the description of invisible middle beings being seen through. Attested: διαφανής (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Examine ἐπισκέπτεσθαι {#register-162}


*ἐπισκέπτεσθαι (episkeptesthai)*


**Examination of intelligence.** The purpose of the three men’s meeting: looking into what account will put the human condition at its best with respect to attainable intelligence. Attested: ἐπισκεψόμενοι (973a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Examine critically ἐξετάζειν {#register-163}


*ἐξετάζειν (exetazein)*


**Reflexive and interpersonal scrutiny.** Capable persons examine both themselves and others through arguments; the activity is not restricted to inspecting external objects. Attested: ἐξετάσαι (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Exceed ὑπερέχειν {#register-164}


*ὑπερέχειν (hyperechein)*


**Mean above the lesser.** The middle term exceeds the lesser extreme while being exceeded by the greater in the same fractional relation. Attested: ὑπερέχον (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Extreme ἄκρον {#register-165}


*ἄκρον (akron)*


**Endpoints of a mean relation.** The extremes are the terms whose equal fractions specify the harmonic-mean relation; six and twelve supply the example. Attested: ἄκρων (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Fair or reasonable ἐπιεικής {#register-166}


*ἐπιεικής (epieikēs)*


**Qualified account of middle kinds.** Fair qualifies the opinion according to which the middle living kinds have come into being. The phrase supplies an epistemic qualification alongside the syntactically disputed most clearly. Attested: ἐπιεικῆ (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Farming γεωργία {#register-167}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### Fast ταχύς {#register-168}


*ταχύς (tachys)*


**Moon's circuit.** The moon goes through its own circuit most quickly; this belongs to the seven differentiated circuits, not an unqualified comparison with the contrary eighth. Attested: τάχιστα (990b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Fates Μοῖραι {#register-169}


*Μοῖραι (Moirai)*


**Three divine guardians.** The three Fates hold fast and guard the completeness of each god’s best deliberation. The Epinomis gives their number and collective name without naming each separately. Attested: Μοῖραι (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Father πατήρ {#register-170}


*πατήρ (patēr)*


**Ambiguous source of instruction.** The source from whom other creatures might learn to count, if naturally capable. The edition allows either the god or a creature’s own parent as interpretation. Attested: πατρὸς (978c). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Fear φοβεῖσθαι {#register-171}


*φοβεῖσθαι (phobeisthai)*


**Unwarranted religious hesitation.** No Greek should fear that the mortal status of the learner makes all divine inquiry inappropriate. Attested: φοβηθῇ (988a). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Feast or festival ἑορτή {#register-172}


*ἑορτή (heortē)*


**Cultic recognition.** Feasts are to be made for the visible gods alongside sacrifices. The reform is genuinely religious and civic, not merely a new astronomical naming convention. Attested: ἑορτάς (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Few ὀλίγος {#register-173}


*ὀλίγος (oligos)*


**Restricted complete happiness.** Only a few may become completely blessed and happy; the final claim joins natural virtue and all the blessed learning. Attested: ὀλίγων (992c). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Fifteen πεντεκαίδεκα {#register-174}


*πεντεκαίδεκα (pentekaideka)*


**Stated lunar sequence.** The number marks the days and nights through which the moon’s differing appearances have passed. The passage does not give a complete modern lunar-period definition. Attested: πεντεκαίδεκα (978d–e). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Fifth πέμπτος {#register-175}


*πέμπτος (pemptos)*


**Ether in the bodily list.** Fifth here identifies ether, the last body named after fire, water, air, and earth. Attested: πέμπτον (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Water in the order of exposition.** Fifth here identifies the water-kind. It can be understood as the fifth living kind introduced, but it does not match the descending rank that places humans last; the wording must not be emended silently. Attested: πέμπτον (985b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Second solar companion in enumeration.** The fifth motion is introduced together with the fourth as a broadly equal-speed companion of the sun. Attested: πέμπτη (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Fill up ἀναπίμπλημι {#register-176}


*ἀναπίμπλημι (anapimplēmi)*


**Completion of allotted life.** The wise person fills up his own portion through death; this metaphor does not itself prove what follows after dying. Attested: ἀναπλήσει (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Find εὑρίσκειν {#register-177}


*εὑρίσκειν (heuriskein)*


**Unfulfilled discovery.** The decisive object, the learning that makes a mortal wise, has neither been found nor said. Attested: ηὕρομεν (973b). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Candidate knowledge.** The difficult task is to find a knowledge other than the excluded kinds, one that deserves the name of wisdom. Attested: εὑρεῖν (976c–d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Find out ἀνευρίσκειν {#register-178}


*ἀνευρίσκειν (aneuriskein)*


**New candidate discovered.** The Athenian says they are discovering a nontrivial kind of wisdom beside the earlier candidates, while still asking whether its knower is actually wise and good. Attested: ἀνευρίσκομεν (979d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Fine καλός {#register-179}


*καλός (kalos)*


**Fine hope.** The hope entertained for the person who has sought to live as well as possible is described as fine. Attested: καλὴ (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Good nourishment.** The adjective praises nourishment together with good, preserving the concession before the exclusion from wisdom. Attested: καλὴ (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**Fine play.** The lawgiver’s honoring of gods is described through fine play, showing that play is not uniformly condemned. Attested: καλῇ (980a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Fire πῦρ {#register-180}


*πῦρ (pyr)*


**First body in the list.** Fire is named first among the five bodies, but the fiery living kind is introduced second after earthly life. Attested: πῦρ (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Predominant stellar material.** Fire supplies the largest share of the stellar body, alongside smaller portions of other bodily kinds. Predominance does not mean purity. Attested: πυρὸς (981d). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


### Firm or solid στερέμνιος {#register-181}


*στερέμνιος (steremnios)*


**Earthly material nature.** The adjective qualifies nature in the description of the earthly class’s firm, solid constitution. The attested feminine genitive agrees with φύσεως; it does not name a sixth body. The normalized lemma is confirmed by the [LSJ entry](https://atlas.perseus.tufts.edu/dictionaries/entry/urn%3Acite2%3Ascaife-viewer%3Adictionaries.v1%3Alsj-n96544/). Attested: στερεμνίας (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Fitting or belonging προσήκειν {#register-182}


*προσήκειν (prosēkein)*


**Honor that is owed.** The participle qualifies honors as belonging to the manifest gods. The issue is a just allocation of recognition rather than the observer’s personal preference for a new cult. Attested: προσηκούσας (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


**Destination appropriate to virtue.** The hoped-for posthumous places are fitting for virtue; the passage does not map their exact location. Attested: προσήκοντας (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Fixed πάγιος {#register-183}


*πάγιος (pagios)*


**Stability of accepted account.** The account concerning the traditional gods is to be held fixed. The word limits the permissive placement clause rather than declaring every theological assertion equally true. Attested: πάγιον (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


### Flee φεύγειν {#register-184}


*φεύγειν (pheugein)*


**Elusive wisdom.** The object sought is personified as fleeing in flight when approached through the familiar crafts and intelligences. Attested: φεύγει (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Follow ἕπεσθαι {#register-185}


*ἕπεσθαι (hepesthai)*


**Invitation to assess.** The imperative invites Clinias to follow the Athenian’s account and see whether it speaks well; following is not itself blanket assent. Attested: ἕπου (973c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Follow along συνακολουθεῖν {#register-186}


*συνακολουθεῖν (synakolouthein)*


**Condition of continuing instruction.** Heaven will continue giving number if the learner is willing to follow along; the gift requires an active receptive response. Attested: συνακολουθεῖν (977a–b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Response to divine teaching.** Human nature can follow the divine teacher and learn what is taught; the god knows this capacity. Attested: συνακολουθήσει (988b). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Follow along συνέπεσθαι {#register-187}


*συνέπεσθαι (synepesthai)*


**Relation of others to educated leaders.** The rest are to follow the aged qualified officeholders, within the final prescription for civic religious order. Attested: συνεπομένους (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Folly μωρία {#register-188}


*μωρία (mōria)*


**Denial of psychic causation.** Great folly characterizes denying that heavenly things arise as offspring of soul and body. The evaluative word marks the force of the speaker’s polemic, not an independently named school. Attested: μωρία (983e). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Footless ἄπους {#register-189}


*ἄπους (apous)*


**Lack of feet within earthly life.** Footless beings remain members of earthly living nature. The classification does not make a particular bodily organ necessary for life. Attested: ἄποδα (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Forgetfulness λήθη {#register-190}


*λήθη (lēthē)*


**A divine failure denied.** The higher divine beings have not slighted humanity through forgetfulness. The denial develops the earlier conjunction of divine knowledge and care. Attested: λήθῃ (991d). [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Form εἶδος {#register-191}


*εἶδος (eidos)*


**Mathematical articulation.** Form paired with kind is what nature stamps out in the proportional setting; separate Forms are not independently established by the noun. Attested: εἶδος (990e). [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49).


**Organization of particulars.** The plural in according to forms names the general structures or kinds toward which single items are brought during tested inquiry. Attested: εἴδη (991c). [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49).


### Form an opinion and be reputed δοξάζειν {#register-192}


*δοξάζειν (doxazein)*


**Hoped-for true judgment.** Clinias hopes that continued inquiry with the Athenian will let them form the truest opinion later; his present assent remains qualified. Attested: δοξάσαι (974d). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Be reputed wise.** The passive verb describes the changing public estimation of the necessary crafts: their knowledgeable practitioner is no longer reputed wise. Attested: δοξάζεται (974e). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


**Reputation distinguished from reality.** The passive participle names being reputed wise, explicitly contrasted with actually being wise and having the knowledge that produces this condition. Attested: δοξαζόμενος (976c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Fortunate εὐτυχής {#register-193}


*εὐτυχής (eutychēs)*


**Expected manner of living.** The observer expects to pass life most fortunately through the pursuit of the cosmic understanding described. Attested: εὐτυχέστατά (986c). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Fortune τύχη {#register-194}


*τύχη (tychē)*


**Rejected ultimate explanation.** The Athenian prefers a god to some fortune as the giver of number and preserver of humans. Attested: τύχην (976e). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


**Favorable numerical result.** Happy fortune qualifies the difficult claim about seeing number together in relation to number; its presence does not retract the surrounding divine pedagogy. Attested: τύχῃ (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Fallback when method fails.** Handling the studies otherwise than through their bond leaves one calling on fortune, in contrast to the specified educational route. Attested: τύχην (992a). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Four τέτταρες {#register-195}


*τέτταρες (tettares)*


**Extension beyond the first pair.** The neuter τέτταρα is one of the further numbers conceived from recurring appearances after learning one and two. Attested: τέτταρα (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Fourth τέταρτος {#register-196}


*τέταρτος (tetartos)*


**First solar companion in enumeration.** The fourth motion in the initial order is one of two roughly equal in speed to the sun; numbering is not an uninterrupted slowest-to-fastest table. Attested: τετάρτη (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Friendliness φιλία {#register-197}


*φιλία (philia)*


**Favorable wind personified.** The wind’s friendliness names the favorable condition dear to the pilot’s art, yet not guaranteed by its knowledge. Attested: φιλίαν (976b). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Fruit καρπός {#register-198}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### Full πλέος {#register-199}


*πλέος (pleos)*


**Divine fullness.** All things are said to be full of gods when celestial precision and soul's priority are rightly understood; this does not identify each material object as a god without distinction. Attested: πλέα (991d). [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51).


### Full συμπλήρης {#register-200}


*συμπλήρης (symplērēs)*


**A populated and connected heaven.** The heaven is full of living beings, providing the setting for the intermediaries’ communication throughout it. Fullness belongs to the cosmological account, not to an empirical census reproduced in the dialogue. Attested: συμπλήρους (985b). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Full moon πανσέληνος {#register-201}


*πανσέληνος (panselēnos)*


**Lunar temporal stage.** The moon's circuit brings the month and full moon; the following first-second sequence is interpreted instructionally by the edition. Attested: πανσέληνον (990b). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Full of craft τεχνικός {#register-202}


*τεχνικός (technikos)*


**Technical accomplishment conceded.** Hunting has become extensive and skillful; that concession makes its failure to confer the desired wisdom distinct from simple incompetence. Attested: τεχνικὴ (975c). [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61).


### Furnishing παρασκευή {#register-203}


*παρασκευή (paraskeuē)*


**Provision of instruments.** The preparation or supplying of instruments completes the list of useful productive activities. Attested: παρασκευή (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Futile μάταιος {#register-204}


*μάταιος (mataios)*


**Unproductive examination.** The superlative characterizes labor devoted to sham tests, showing that exertion alone does not guarantee learning. Attested: ματαιότατος (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Gathering συνουσία {#register-205}


*συνουσία (synousia)*


**Setting of collective inquiry.** Each gathering is an occasion for bringing particulars to forms and testing what has not been well said. Attested: συνουσίαις (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### General’s craft στρατηγικός {#register-206}


*στρατηγικός (stratēgikos)*


**Useful expertise with external dependencies.** The general’s art is highly useful but needs abundant good fortune and is attributed more to natural courage than to wisdom. Attested: στρατηγικὴ (975e). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


### Generation of gods θεογονία {#register-207}


*θεογονία (theogonia)*


**Theological starting point.** The generation of gods is paired with that of living beings as the subject to be represented better. The exposition proceeds through soul and bodies rather than a genealogy of named divine parents. Attested: Θεογονίαν (980c). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


### Generation of living beings ζῳογονία {#register-208}


*ζῳογονία (zōiogonia)*


**Animation within theology.** Generation of living beings is the second member of the announced program. Its pairing with divine generation prepares the inclusion of stars among ensouled bodily creatures. Attested: ζῳογονίαν (980c). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


### Gentle πρᾷος {#register-209}


*πρᾷος (praios)*


**Manner of reception.** The adverb gently qualifies the suitable soul's response to opposed dispositions and complements moderate balance. Attested: πρᾴως (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Geometry γεωμετρία {#register-210}


*γεωμετρία (geōmetria)*


**Plane-number inquiry.** The familiar land-measuring name is criticized and replaced by an account of making unlike numbers alike with respect to plane figures. Attested: γεωμετρίαν (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Gestation κύεσθαι {#register-211}


*κύεσθαι (kyesthai)*


**Being carried in the womb.** The participle identifies the gestational state as the first phase of the laborious process of coming into being. Attested: κυουμένων (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Gift δόσις {#register-212}


*δόσις (dosis)*


**Reception of number.** The learner receives Heaven’s gift of numbers and should go through the whole circuit; reception calls for continued study. Attested: δόσιν (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Give ear εἰσακούειν {#register-213}


*εἰσακούειν (eisakouein)*


**Capable hearing.** The account proceeds within the powers of those able to listen, making the hearer's capacity part of successful instruction. Attested: εἰσακοῦσαι (990a). [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32).


### Give law νομοθετεῖν {#register-214}


*νομοθετεῖν (nomothetein)*


**Soul’s rational governance.** The intelligent soul gives law as ruler rather than being ruled. Legislative language expresses the source of stable order, not a literal written cosmic statute. Attested: νομοθετεῖ (982b). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Goal τέλος {#register-215}


*τέλος (telos)*


**Clinias’ wish for lawgiving.** The goal is what Clinias wishes for the Athenian’s laws and life, in connection with divine celebration and a finest end. Attested: τέλος (980b). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Full divine condition.** Completion of the divine portion marks the condition beyond pleasure and pain while retaining comprehensive knowledge. It is a degree of divine fulfillment, not the death of this god. Attested: τέλος (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Culmination in old age.** The expression completion of an old man or old age is the stage at which the trained person is assigned public authority. Attested: τέλος (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### God θεός {#register-216}


*θεός (theos)*


**Objects of hymn.** The gods are the recipients of honor and the subjects about whom the speakers seek the finest speech. Attested: θεοὺς (980b). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Caring and just divinity.** The recalled argument affirms gods who attend to all things and cannot readily be soothed in matters of justice. Attested: θεοὶ (980d). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**God or image alternative.** Calling heavenly beings gods themselves is the first of two permitted accounts; the second identifies divine images produced by gods. Attested: θεοὺς (983e). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


**Completed divine condition.** The god possessing the completion of the divine portion is outside pain and pleasure while comprehensively intelligent and knowing. Attested: θεὸν (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Manifest yet neglected divinity.** The stars are presented as genuinely manifest gods whose lack of rites makes knowledgeable silence culpable. Their visibility and their public acknowledgment are distinct. Attested: θεοὺς (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Goddess θεά {#register-217}


*θεά (thea)*


**Inclusive divine address.** Clinias explicitly includes goddesses in the requested fine account. The phrase does not identify a separate elemental class or provide an exhaustive named pantheon. Attested: θεάς (980c). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Godlike θεοειδής {#register-218}


*θεοειδής (theoeidēs)*


**Comparative divine likeness.** More godlike is joined to better and more ancient in the case for priority. The comparative supports a hierarchy and does not mean that every soul already possesses completed divine perfection. Attested: θεοειδέστερον (980d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Good ἀγαθός {#register-219}


*ἀγαθός (agathos)*


**Beneficial nourishment.** Nourishment is fine and good, though its making cannot by itself produce a completely wise person. Attested: ἀγαθή (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**Civic result.** The knowledge sought should make its possessor a good citizen and able to rule and be ruled justly. Attested: ἀγαθὸς (976d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Complete goodness.** The completely good condition cannot be attained without wisdom; the denial does not exclude partial virtues. Attested: ἀγαθὸς (977d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Soul’s agreed requirement.** All agree the soul should be good; how it is to acquire the necessary wisdom remains unsettled. Attested: ἀγαθὴν (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Good fortune εὐτυχία {#register-220}


*εὐτυχία (eutychia)*


**Military dependence.** The greatest good fortune is required by generalship, limiting the claim that the expertise alone controls its successful result. Attested: εὐτυχίας (975e). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


### Good natured εὔκολος {#register-221}


*εὔκολος (eukolos)*


**Temperamental suitability.** The soul's balanced and gentle receptivity makes it good-natured, a qualification for education rather than completed wisdom. Attested: εὔκολος (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Gracious ἵλεως {#register-222}


*ἵλεως (hileōs)*


**Blessing on predecessors.** The Athenian wishes the predecessors gracious and says they are so before dismissing their achievements as insufficient for wisdom. Attested: ἵλεῳ (975a). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Grant συγχωρεῖν {#register-223}


*συγχωρεῖν (synchōrein)*


**Common ethical assent.** Everyone grants everyone else that the soul should be good, before disagreement appears over the specific wisdom it needs. Attested: συγχωρεῖ (979c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Great μέγας {#register-224}


*μέγας (megas)*


**Scale of the undertaking.** Clinias’ paired accusative and genitive describe the Athenian as attempting to declare great things about great things, acknowledging the scope rather than supplying proof. Attested: μεγάλων μεγάλα (979d). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Greek Ἕλλην {#register-225}


*Ἕλλην (Hellēn)*


**Recipient and claimed improver.** Greeks are urged to recognize non-Greek priority and to fulfill the speaker's claim of finer completion in education and divine service. Attested: Ἕλληνες (987d). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Grow weary ἀποκάμνειν {#register-226}


*ἀποκάμνειν (apokamnein)*


**Sustained speaking and listening.** Clinias asks the Athenian not to tire of speaking; the reply reciprocally asks the two listeners not to tire of listening. Attested: ἀποκάμῃς (979e). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Guard φυλάττειν {#register-227}


*φυλάττειν (phylattein)*


**Preservation of divine counsel.** The Fates guard the completed decision. The image presents destiny as preserving rational counsel rather than displacing it with arbitrary force. Attested: φυλάττουσι (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Guess τοπάζειν {#register-228}


*τοπάζειν (topazein)*


**Conjectural practice.** The helping practices are described as guessed at through opinions, grounding the Athenian’s denial of truest wisdom. Attested: τοπαζόμενα (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Hand over παραδιδόναι {#register-229}


*παραδιδόναι (paradidonai)*


**Transfer of office.** The greatest offices are to be entrusted to those qualified by study, virtue, and age; the text does not specify the administrative appointment mechanism. Attested: παραδίδοσθαι (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Handle μεταχειρίζεσθαι {#register-230}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### Happiness εὐδαιμονία {#register-231}


*εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia)*


**Life of divine honor.** The noun joins hymns as the means or accompaniment of glorifying gods while passing one’s life. Attested: εὐδαιμονίᾳ (980b). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Happy εὐδαίμων {#register-232}


*εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)*


**Qualified human possibility.** Happiness is paired with blessedness in the opening claim that only a few can attain it while living. Attested: εὐδαίμοσιν (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Completion through goodness.** The wisdomless person cannot become completely good and hence happy; the negative governs the entire progression. Attested: εὐδαίμων (977d). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**End of a life.** The person who is to end life happy must understand the relation between numerical order and goodness. Attested: εὐδαίμονα (978b). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Stellar soul’s excellence.** The superlative describes the happiest soul possessed by the stellar kind. Happiness is distinct from the separate question whether its life is immortal or sufficiently long. Attested: εὐδαιμονεστάτης (981e). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


### Harmony ἁρμονία {#register-233}


*ἁρμονία (harmonia)*


**Mathematical musical order.** Harmony is the musical field in which the ratios are useful and later one of the structures integrated into the unified studies. Attested: ἁρμονίας (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Hate μισεῖν {#register-234}


*μισεῖν (misein)*


**Response to very bad humans.** The middle beings hate the very bad. The text associates their moral response with participation in pain, not with ignorance of human thought. Attested: μισεῖν (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Hearing ἀκοή {#register-235}


*ἀκοή (akoē)*


**Human reception of voices.** Hearing belongs to people who receive voices and oracles. It must not be transferred into a literal acoustic mechanism for intermediaries’ knowledge of human thought. Attested: ἀκοαῖς (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Heat θερμότης {#register-236}


*θερμότης (thermotēs)*


**Rejected bodily explanatory priority.** Heat is one bodily condition invoked by the account that gives physical self-motion priority over soul. Attested: θερμότητι (988c). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Heat καῦμα {#register-237}


*καῦμα (kauma)*


**Untimely heat.** Heat, explicitly qualified as untimely, is one of the seasonal threats against which medicine helps. Attested: καύματι (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Heaven οὐρανός {#register-238}


*οὐρανός (ouranos)*


**Divine giver and teacher.** Heaven is named, with very nearly as qualification, as the god who gives number; the same word later names the continuously teaching sky. Attested: Οὐρανόν (977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Help βοήθεια {#register-239}


*βοήθεια (boētheia)*


**Organizing category.** After productive and imitative activities, countless kinds of help for countless people form the next group of practical expertise. Attested: βοήθεια (975e). [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


**Medical assistance.** Medicine too is classified as help against damage from untimely seasonal conditions. Attested: βοήθεια (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Help complete συναποτελεῖν {#register-240}


*συναποτελεῖν (synapotelein)*


**Contribution to the whole.** Each celestial course contributes to completing the ordered visible cosmos rather than functioning as an unrelated motion. Attested: συναποτελῶν (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Helper βοηθός {#register-241}


*βοηθός (boēthos)*


**Practical assistant.** Pilots and sailors are classified as helpers; forensic speakers then claim the same role. The shared name permits differences in how firmly benefit is conceded. Attested: βοηθοὺς (976a). [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


### Hera Ἥρα {#register-242}


*Ἥρα (Hēra)*


**Named goddess within inherited worship.** Hera accompanies Zeus as a representative of the traditional gods. Her mention includes goddesses without assigning her a corresponding planet in the later list. Attested: Ἥραν (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


### Hermes Ἑρμῆς {#register-243}


*Ἑρμῆς (Hermēs)*


**Divine designation of Mercury.** The unnamed common-course body is very nearly Hermes'; the modern planetary identification is supplied in the note. Attested: Ἑρμοῦ (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Hesiod Ἡσίοδος {#register-244}


*Ἡσίοδος (Hēsiodos)*


**Practical calendrical exemplar.** The poet stands for a mode of astronomy concerned with risings and settings; his name does not amount to a refutation of every part of his poetry. Attested: Ἡσίοδον (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Hide ἀποκρύπτειν {#register-245}


*ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein)*


**Withdrawal of watery appearance.** The passive participle describes the water-kind as hidden at other times. Its visibility changes, providing a setting for wonder and uncertain encounter. Attested: ἀποκρυφθὲν (985b). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Highest ἄκρος {#register-246}


*ἄκρος (akros)*


**Upper recipients of mediation.** The superlative identifies the highest gods to whom the middle beings interpret. It marks hierarchical height without implying that those gods otherwise lack knowledge. Attested: ἀκροτάτους (985b). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Hold in check κατέχειν {#register-247}


*κατέχειν (katechein)*


**Educated civic restraint.** Properly nourished and educated best natures can restrain the more numerous and worse people through intelligent conduct and speech. Attested: κατέχειν (989c). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Hold or regard νομίζειν {#register-248}


*νομίζειν (nomizein)*


**Judgment from disorder.** The listener is required to hold disorderly movement unintelligent. The verb marks the interpretive judgment attached to an observed pattern. Attested: νομίζειν (982a). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**A contrary judgment from constancy.** The same verb directs the corrected judgment that stable action for stable reasons is intelligent. The contrast with the many concerns how the movement is understood. Attested: νομίζειν (982e). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Honor τιμᾶν {#register-249}


*τιμᾶν (timan)*


**Response to divine provision.** Heaven is to be honored above all, in recognition of its gifts and in comparison with the other divine beings’ honoring of it. Attested: τιμᾶν (977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Preferential honor of heavenly images.** The verbal adjective requires exceptional honor whichever account is accepted: gods themselves or images made by gods. Attested: τιμητέον (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


**Prayerful honor of intermediaries.** The middle beings are to be honored with prayers for auspicious passage. Their invisibility does not exclude them from religious recognition. Attested: τιμᾶν (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Honor τιμή {#register-250}


*τιμή (timē)*


**Owed religious recognition.** Honors should fit the manifest gods, whose neglect is the problem the lawgiver must disclose. Attested: τιμὰς (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


**A missing portion.** The sun and moon are hypothetically without a portion of honor, making the observer’s failure to promote feasts and sacrifices culpable. Attested: τιμῆς (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Honored ἔντιμος {#register-251}


*ἔντιμος (entimos)*


**A place in public worship.** The honored place is the recognized standing into which the observer should bring the plainly seen gods. It does not require physically moving celestial bodies into the city. Attested: ἔντιμον (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Hope ἐλπίς {#register-252}


*ἐλπίς (elpis)*


**Hope after death.** The fine expectation that the person who has striven to live as finely as possible may meet the desired end; it is not stated as an automatic reward for every death. Attested: ἐλπὶς (973c). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Hope within inquiry.** The expectation on which Clinias provisionally concurs, that inquiry with the Athenian may later yield the truest opinion. Attested: ἐλπίδι (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Finer religious care.** The prospect of Greek improvement is a great and fine hope, not a claim that all disputed matters are already settled. Attested: ἐλπὶς (988a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Human ἀνθρώπινος {#register-253}


*ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos)*


**Human limit.** The adjective distinguishes the condition under inquiry as human, anticipating the limits imposed by mortality and the later comparison with divine intelligence. Attested: ἀνθρωπίνην (973a). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


### Hunting θηρευτική {#register-254}


*θηρευτική (thēreutikē)*


**Skilled pursuit without the required wisdom.** The whole hunting art is granted extent and technical accomplishment, but not the magnificence joined with wisdom demanded here. Attested: θηρευτική (975c). [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61).


### Hymn ὑμνεῖν {#register-255}


*ὑμνεῖν (hymnein)*


**Reverent speech.** Hymning describes honoring the gods through speech worthy of them; the dialogue gives the proposal to hymn without supplying a separate metrical composition. Attested: ὑμνοῦντες (980b). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Hymnic recognition of divinity.** The verbal adjective states what must be done if heavenly beings are taken as gods themselves. It is one side of an explicit alternative whose other side regards them as god-made images. Attested: ὑμνητέον (983e). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Hymn ὕμνος {#register-256}


*ὕμνος (hymnos)*


**Honoring the gods in speech.** Hymns accompany happiness in the lawgiver’s life of honoring and glorifying gods; this is a positive role for expressive activity after the imitative critique. Attested: ὕμνοις (980b). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Idiot ἠλίθιος {#register-257}


*ἠλίθιος (ēlithios)*


**Intellectual disqualification.** The ideal possessor of the sought knowledge will not be an idiot; this is paired with, but distinct from, the social term menial. Attested: ἠλίθιος (976d). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Image εἰκών {#register-258}


*εἰκών (eikōn)*


**God-made celestial representation.** Images of gods are the second alternative to gods themselves. The makers are divine, and the images remain living and worthy of extraordinary honor. Attested: εἰκόνας (983e). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Imitate μιμεῖσθαι {#register-259}


*μιμεῖσθαι (mimeisthai)*


**Varied representational media.** Imitation occurs through many instruments and bodily representations; the breadth prevents limiting the criticism to poetry alone. Attested: μιμοῦνται (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Imitation μίμημα {#register-260}


*μίμημα (mimēma)*


**Bodily representation.** The imitations performed by bodies themselves are qualified as not altogether seemly, adding an evaluative concern to their representational status. Attested: μιμήμασιν (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Imitative art μιμητικός {#register-261}


*μιμητικός (mimētikos)*


**Production without completed wisdom.** The feminine adjective describes the art that imitates through instruments, bodies, words, music, and painting-derived products, without making its maker wise. Attested: μιμητικὴ (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Immortal ἀθάνατος {#register-262}


*ἀθάνατος (athanatos)*


**An expressly alternative status.** Immortality is first one of two possible assessments of the stars, alongside life long enough never to require more. Attested: ἀθάνατον (981e). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Categorical later contrast.** The recapitulation calls the celestial visible kind immortal while the earthly kind is mortal. It does not separately explain why the earlier longevity alternative has fallen out of the summary. Attested: ἀθάνατον (984b). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### Impious ἀσεβής {#register-263}


*ἀσεβής (asebēs)*


**Targets of the recalled argument.** The impious are those addressed by the earlier argument concerning divine existence, care, and resistance to appeasement. The source identifies the recalled argument with Laws 10. Attested: ἀσεβεῖς (980d). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### In tune ἐμμελής {#register-264}


*ἐμμελής (emmelēs)*


**Fitting civic character.** The ideal wise citizen is also in tune; the expression adds a fitting or harmonious quality to the account without providing a technical music theory here. Attested: ἐμμελής (976d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Increase αὐξάνειν {#register-265}


*αὐξάνειν (auxanein)*


**Solid-number formation.** The perfect passive participle describes numbers increased three times, interpreted through three-dimensional products such as cubes. Attested: ηὐξημένους (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Indestructible ἀνώλεθρος {#register-266}


*ἀνώλεθρος (anōlethros)*


**First duration alternative.** Indestructibility joins immortality and complete divinity on one side of the stellar-life disjunction. It is not the only possibility initially allowed. Attested: ἀνώλεθρόν (981e). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### Inexperience ἀπειρία {#register-267}


*ἀπειρία (apeiria)*


**Reason for the surprising subject-name.** The hearer's unfamiliarity with the matter makes astronomy an unexpected answer to the search for wisdom. Attested: ἀπειρίαν (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Initiate μυεῖν {#register-268}


*μυεῖν (myein)*


**Completed educational transformation.** Mystery-initiation vocabulary characterizes the learner as truly initiated; no particular cult or historical rite is named. Attested: μεμυημένος (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Innovate καινοτομεῖν {#register-269}


*καινοτομεῖν (kainotomein)*


**Changing worship without clarity.** Innovation is forbidden when it turns the city toward a reverence with nothing clear in it. The construction is narrower than a universal ban on recognizing new duties of honor. Attested: καινοτομῶν (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Instrument ὄργανον {#register-270}


*ὄργανον (organon)*


**Productive tool.** The preparation of all instruments broadens the building-and-equipment catalogue beyond its named examples. Attested: ὀργάνων (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


**Instrument of imitation.** The imitative arts work with many instruments as well as bodily representations; an instrument’s use does not determine that the activity yields wisdom. Attested: ὀργάνοις (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Intelligence φρόνησις {#register-271}


*φρόνησις (phronēsis)*


**Attainable human intelligence.** The cognitive excellence sought only as far as a human being can possess it; the phrase sets a mortal limit without defining the subject of learning. Attested: φρόνησιν (973a). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Specialized intelligences.** The plural groups putative understandings with crafts among the fields where the sought wisdom eludes inquiry. Attested: φρονήσεων (974b). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Greatest divine benefit.** Intelligence is named the greatest of Heaven’s benefits, in the inference that the giver of other goods also gives this one. Attested: φρονήσεως (977a). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Intermediary cognitive excellence.** Wonderful intelligence is shared by both finer middle kinds, supported by readiness to learn and memory. The capacities are not split between ether and air. Attested: φρονήσεως (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Intelligent φρόνιμος {#register-272}


*φρόνιμος (phronimos)*


**Number as necessary condition.** The plural adjective states what humans could never become in anything if number were removed from human nature. Attested: φρόνιμοι (977c). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Inference from order.** An ordered heavenly path is great evidence of being intelligent. The word names the state inferred from regular action, not the whole completed human wisdom sought by the dialogue. Attested: φρόνιμον (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Intelligent person ἔμφρων {#register-273}


*ἔμφρων (emphrōn)*


**Competent refusal of a title.** The intelligent are those who will not call anyone genuinely wise merely for natural quickness and memory. Attested: ἐμφρόνων (976c). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Consistent rational action.** What acts always in the same respects, way, and for the same reasons should be held intelligent. The edition translates this adjective and phronimos alike while preserving their actual forms. Attested: ἔμφρον (982e). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Soul as cognitive ruler.** Soul is characterized as intelligent against body’s unintelligence. The predicate is part of the causal division rather than a separate account of every soul’s moral excellence. Attested: ἔμφρον (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Intelligently φρονίμως {#register-274}


*φρονίμως (phronimōs)*


**Examining oneself and others.** The adverb qualifies the conduct of examination through arguments, showing that some intelligence is exercised before complete wisdom is established. Attested: φρονίμως (974c). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**A way of living.** Living intelligently is the condition for which uniform traveling, action, and undergoing are said to supply adequate evidence. The adverb keeps the claim about a way of life explicit. Attested: φρονίμως (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Intelligible νοητός {#register-275}


*νοητός (noētos)*


**Soul as an object of understanding.** The adjective presents soul as intelligible and accompanies the separate active description knowing. It should not absorb both predicates into an undifferentiated mental quality. Attested: νοητῷ (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Interpret ἑρμηνεύεσθαι {#register-276}


*ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (hermēneuesthai)*


**Universal communicative mediation.** The middle beings interpret everyone and everything to one another and to the highest gods. The claim establishes connectedness rather than proving every human interpreter wise. Attested: ἑρμηνεύεσθαι (985b). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Interpretation ἑρμηνεία {#register-277}


*ἑρμηνεία (hermēneia)*


**Communication between levels.** Interpretation is the function assigned especially to the aerial middle kind. The later sentence expands communication to the ethereal and aerial beings together. Attested: ἑρμηνείας (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Interpretive art ἑρμηνευτική {#register-278}


*ἑρμηνευτική (hermēneutikē)*


**Exposition of signs and oracles.** The human art handles what is said but, in the Athenian’s criticism, does not know its truth. It is not identical to later divine mediation. Attested: ἑρμηνευτικὴ (975c). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


### Intricate design ποίκιλμα {#register-279}


*ποίκιλμα (poikilma)*


**Elaborate imitative product.** Many and diverse designs result in different moist and dry materials, extending the catalogue beyond one medium. Attested: ποικιλμάτων (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Invisible ἀόρατος {#register-280}


*ἀόρατος (aoratos)*


**Soul’s perceptual status.** Soul is invisible while body is seen. This belongs to the bodiless cognitive principle and is distinct from the transparency or intermittent visibility of bodily middle beings. Attested: ἀοράτῳ (981c). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Irreversible ἀμετάστροφος {#register-281}


*ἀμετάστροφος (ametastrophos)*


**Stability of best counsel.** The irreversible is linked to the soul’s best deliberation and its completed outcome. It is rational constancy, not a praise of arbitrary inflexibility. Attested: ἀμετάστροφον (982b). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


**Beyond adamant in firmness.** The comparative denies that even adamant could be less reversible than the completed divine decision. The material serves as a comparison, not a stellar constituent. Attested: ἀμεταστροφώτερον (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Island νῆσος {#register-282}


*νῆσος (nēsos)*


**Possible blessed-island allusion.** The islands are one alternative location of blessed life; the edition's allusion to Islands of the Blessed is explicitly interpretive. Attested: νήσοις (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Join in prayer συνεύχεσθαι {#register-283}


*συνεύχεσθαι (syneuchesthai)*


**Shared invocation.** The Athenian asks Clinias to pray with him before the new theological account. The prefix makes the listener a participant in the appeal for divine guidance. Attested: συνεύχου (980c). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Just δίκαιος {#register-284}


*δίκαιος (dikaios)*


**Real justice.** The substantivized plural concerns what is really just, whose truth the forensic helpers miss. Attested: δικαίων (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


**Object of evaluative knowledge.** The just is paired with good and fine as something one must know in the argument about counting out and persuading. Attested: δίκαιόν (978b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Agreed quality of the soul.** Everyone grants that the soul should be just, temperate, and brave, even while the identity of its required wisdom remains disputed. Attested: δικαίαν (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Justice and lawsuit δίκη {#register-285}


*δίκη (dikē)*


**Forensic case.** The plural names lawsuits in which speakers claim to help by the strength of their speaking. Attested: δίκαις (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


**Just distribution.** The dative in the phrase in justice qualifies the proper ordering of human life, whose absence explains the assigned human fault. Attested: δίκῃ (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Justly ἐνδίκως {#register-286}


*ἐνδίκως (endikōs)*


**Norm of civic roles.** The adverb qualifies the person’s ruling and being ruled in the city as effects expected from genuine wisdom. Attested: ἐνδίκως (976d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Keep in mind διαμνημονεύειν {#register-287}


*διαμνημονεύειν (diamnēmoneuein)*


**Recall what fits.** The quick-witted person keeps in mind the suitable response for each case and promptly carries it out. Attested: διαμνημονεύῃ (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Kind γένος {#register-288}


*γένος (genos)*


**Material and living classification.** The earthly beings are made from all the bodily kinds. Genos here supplies a classificatory term without implying modern biological species. Attested: γενῶν (981d). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**The stellar collective.** The divine kind of stars is a collective class of living beings. Its singular name does not say that the class contains just one star. Attested: γένος (981e). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Articulation by proportion.** Kind accompanies form in the account of mathematical nature; the passage does not define a technical genus-species hierarchy. Attested: γένος (990e). [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49).


### Know εἰδέναι {#register-289}


*εἰδέναι (eidenai)*


**Limited object of knowledge.** The interpreter knows the thing said, but not whether it is true; the limitation concerns the object and warrant of the knowledge. Attested: οἶδεν (975c). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


**Uncertain wind.** No practitioner could know the wind’s anger or friendliness in the exclusion of pilots and sailors as wise. Attested: εἰδείη (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Knowledge ἐπιστήμη {#register-290}


*ἐπιστήμη (epistēmē)*


**Plural competences.** The familiar kinds of knowledge that fail to confer the wisdom under inquiry. Their plurality is part of the survey. Attested: ἐπιστημῶν (974b). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Knowledge insufficient for wisdom.** Called kinds of knowledge can be taken up and possessed without making the recipient wise. Attested: ἐπιστῆμαι (974d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Positive object sought.** The required knowledge must make the possessor really wise and a good citizen, rather than merely reputed wise. Attested: ἐπιστήμην (976c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Knowledgeable ἐπιστήμων {#register-291}


*ἐπιστήμων (epistēmōn)*


**A knower still to be assessed.** The person who knows the proposed matters is not thereby proven wise and good; the Athenian explicitly demands a further account. Attested: ἐπιστήμων (979d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Labor πόνος {#register-292}


*πόνος (ponos)*


**Pains of coming into being.** The countless labors through which gestation, birth, nourishment, and education are said to occur. Attested: πόνων (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Labor thoroughly διαπονεῖν {#register-293}


*διαπονεῖν (diaponein)*


**Completed qualification for office.** The active participle identifies those who have thoroughly labored at the specified studies in the right way and are later assigned offices. Attested: διαπονήσασιν (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Labor thoroughly διαπονεῖσθαι {#register-294}


*διαπονεῖσθαι (diaponeisthai)*


**Sustained youthful preparation.** The pupil is to work through the preparatory studies while a boy and young man. Attested: διαπονήσασθαι (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Land χώρα {#register-295}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### Lawful νόμιμος {#register-296}


*νόμιμος (nomimos)*


**Regulated eating.** The adjective qualifies the eating to which the first food-related achievement directed humans, opposing it to mutual eating. Attested: νόμιμον (975a). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Lawgiver νομοθέτης {#register-297}


*νομοθέτης (nomothetēs)*


**Better account of the gods.** The lawgiver may speak in likening the gods more finely than earlier accounts, joining fine play, honor, hymns, and happiness. Attested: νομοθέτῃ (980a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Responsibility under limited knowledge.** The civic agent must restrain uncertain religious innovation and respect ancestral sacrifices. The next argument also requires him to disclose and honor neglected manifest divinity. Attested: νομοθέτης (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Laws νόμος {#register-298}


*νόμος (nomos)*


**Unfinished lawgiving.** The preceding discussion of setting down laws is treated as incomplete until the learning required for wisdom is found. Attested: νόμων (973b). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**A rule for traditional placement.** The gods may be set where one wishes according to the same law. The phrase qualifies the latitude and is followed by a demand to keep the account fixed. Attested: νόμον (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Ancestral sacrificial authority.** Ancestral law’s prescriptions about sacrifices are not to be obstructed by a lawgiver who lacks knowledge of the religious matters involved. Attested: νόμος (985d). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Lay as a foundation ὑποτίθεσθαι {#register-299}


*ὑποτίθεσθαι (hypotithesthai)*


**Necessary numerical starting point.** Number must be laid down as foundational, although the Athenian says fully explaining the necessity would require a longer account. Attested: ὑποτίθεσθαι (977d). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Lead ἄγειν {#register-300}


*ἄγειν (agein)*


**Leading and being led.** What leads is contrasted with what is led in the priority argument. The participle extends the ruling relation without introducing another substance besides soul and body. Attested: ἄγον (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Lead the way ὑφηγεῖσθαι {#register-301}


*ὑφηγεῖσθαι (hyphēgeisthai)*


**Divine guidance of inquiry.** The Athenian makes the success of his proposed speech conditional on the god himself leading the speakers. The condition expresses dependence rather than a report that every subsequent clause is dictated. Attested: ὑφηγῆται (980c). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Divine guidance of teaching.** Even a capable human teacher would not teach without a god leading the way. This condition connects the prayerful opening with the education supported by the theological inquiry. Attested: ὑφηγοῖτο (989d). [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Learn μανθάνειν {#register-302}


*μανθάνειν (manthanein)*


**Learning that makes wise.** The opening aorist participle asks what someone must have learned in order to be wise. Attested: μαθὼν (973b). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Suitable knowledge to learn.** After putting inadequate candidates aside, the speakers are to set out and learn the kinds of knowledge they need. Attested: μανθάνειν (974d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Truth not learned.** The human interpreter’s defect is not having learned whether the saying is true. Attested: ἔμαθεν (975c). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


**Elementary achievement.** Even the slowest capable learner eventually learns to count sufficiently from the repeated celestial instruction. Attested: μάθῃ (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Learn thoroughly καταμανθάνειν {#register-303}


*καταμανθάνειν (katamanthanein)*


**Informed observation.** The object of the happy observer's love is learning the cosmos as thoroughly as mortal capacity allows. Attested: καταμαθεῖν (986c). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Less honored ἄτιμος {#register-304}


*ἄτιμος (atimos)*


**Lower standing in a hierarchy.** The comparative describes what is less honored relative to the better and more godlike ruling principle. It supplies an evaluative dimension to the claim of seniority. Attested: ἀτιμοτέρου (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Life βίος {#register-305}


*βίος (bios)*


**Experience of life.** Life as encountered is the basis for the common account that human beings cannot be happy. Attested: βίῳ (973b–c). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Reckoned life-course.** The life already lived is what the older person retrospectively reckons in deciding whether he would want to live it again. Attested: βίον (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Distribution of human life.** Life is something humans order or distribute justly or unjustly; the phrase assigns responsibility for poor results to human ordering. Attested: βίον (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Long enough life.** The life-course of long ages is said to be adequate for each stellar being. The value is sufficiency rather than indefinite accumulation of years. Attested: βίον (982a). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Human life’s ending.** The ending of life is one circumstance in the list of religious encounters. No narrative of clinical death and resuscitation is supplied. Attested: βίου (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Life ζωή {#register-306}


*ζωή (zōē)*


**Life of which one needs no more.** The noun gives the life whose quantity is sufficient in the long-lived alternative. The following relative clause emphasizes freedom from need for more. Attested: ζωῆς (982a). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Excellence of divine images.** The heavenly images excel in their whole life as well as beauty, purity, and solemnity. The statue analogy therefore does not make them lifeless objects. Attested: ζωῇ (984b). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Light ἐλαφρός {#register-307}


*ἐλαφρός (elaphros)*


**Ease of intermediary movement.** Light qualifies the rush that carries middle beings to earth and through the whole heaven. Their ease of passage supplies the spatial basis for their communicative work. Attested: ἐλαφρᾷ (985b). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Like ὅμοιος {#register-308}


*ὅμοιος (homoios)*


**Numbers and dimensions.** Numbers unlike one another by nature are considered in a plane relation, and the next numbers are likened to solid nature; likeness does not erase numerical difference. Attested: ὁμοίων; ὁμοίους (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Likely εἰκός {#register-309}


*εἰκός (eikos)*


**A fitting cosmological account.** The adjective qualifies the account according to which the bodies are five. The phrase marks a proposed fitting explanation rather than a reported experimental isolation of substances. Attested: εἰκότα (981b). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**A heaven full of life.** It is likely that soul, using all bodily kinds, has filled heaven with living beings. The explanatory claim retains a stated likelihood. Attested: εἰκὸς (984c). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Liken ἀπεικάζειν {#register-310}


*ἀπεικάζειν (apeikazein)*


**Improved divine representation.** The lawgiver’s speech likens the gods more finely and better than what was previously said, preparing the renewed theological account. Attested: ἀπεικάζοντι (980a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Better verbal representation.** The Athenian undertakes to represent divine and animate generation better than his predecessors. A likeness can be better or worse; the verb alone neither proves nor dismisses the proposed account. Attested: ἀπεικάσαι (980c). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


**A fitting religious classification.** The water-kind would appropriately be likened to a demigod. The cautious classification is not a genealogy from a god and a mortal parent. Attested: ἀπεικάσειεν (985b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Live again ἀναβιοῦν {#register-311}


*ἀναβιοῦν (anabioun)*


**Rejected repetition.** To return to life and live again is what the retrospective reckoning would make a person unwilling to do; this clause supplies no doctrine of reincarnation. Attested: ἀναβιῶναι (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Living being ζῷον {#register-312}


*ζῷον (zōion)*


**Burdened living creature.** Every living being is included in the initial difficulty of coming into being. The term later also permits comparisons of human numerical capacity with that of other creatures. Attested: ζῴῳ (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Soul–body unity.** A living being is what results when one combination of soul and body brings forth one shape. The term’s local scope includes organisms, stars, and middle kinds. Attested: ζῷόν (981a). [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


**The two visible kinds.** The earthy and fiery living kinds can both be seen, making their differing patterns of motion available for comparison. Attested: ζῷα (982a). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Five inhabited kinds.** The five classes provide the framework for reports of human encounters. Their asserted existence does not independently authenticate each dream or oracular interpretation. Attested: ζῴων (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Long lived μακραίων {#register-313}


*μακραίων (makraiōn)*


**Life over long ages.** The adjective offers an enduring and sufficient life as an alternative to indestructible immortality. It does not lexically mean everlasting. Attested: μακραίωνα (982a). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### Look down upon ἐφορᾶν {#register-314}


*ἐφορᾶν (ephoran)*


**Celestial attention to humanity.** The sun or moon is imagined as looking down upon all humans in the observer example. The visible beings are also presented as perceiving; the phrase does not describe divine ocular anatomy. Attested: ἐφορῶντάς (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Love ἔρως {#register-315}


*ἔρως (erōs)*


**Desire for understanding.** Love is directed toward thorough learning of the cosmic order, not merely enjoyment of its appearance. Attested: ἔρωτα (986c). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Lover of learning φιλομαθής {#register-316}


*φιλομαθής (philomathēs)*


**Delight in the right studies.** The suitable soul enjoys learning, joining intellectual capacity and memory to an active desire to study. Attested: φιλομαθὴς (989c). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Magnificent μεγαλοπρεπής {#register-317}


*μεγαλοπρεπής (megaloprepēs)*


**Dignity paired with wisdom.** The substantivized neuter names the magnificence hunting fails to render together with what is wise. Attested: μεγαλοπρεπὲς (975c). [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61).


**Superlative celestial display.** The superlative describes the grandeur of the stars’ coordinated dance. It is paired with beauty and productive benefit, not used as a substitute for the argument about intelligence. Attested: μεγαλοπρεπεστάτην (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Mainland ἤπειρος {#register-318}


*ἤπειρος (ēpeiros)*


**Location independent of blessing.** Mainlands are set beside islands to state that geographical situation does not alter the divine fortune of the qualified person. Attested: ἠπείροις (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Make like ὁμοιοῦν {#register-319}


*ὁμοιοῦν (homoioun)*


**Solid-dimensional treatment.** Another craft makes unlike numbers alike, extending the geometrical language into the solid domain. Attested: ὁμοιοῖ (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Making ποίησις {#register-320}


*ποίησις (poiēsis)*


**Food production and its name.** Making meal and flour is praised as good, while the obscure following clause says the name of making causes distaste for what is made. A trade-status explanation remains interpretation. Attested: ποίησις (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Making alike ὁμοίωσις {#register-321}


*ὁμοίωσις (homoiōsis)*


**Geometrical assimilation.** The evident relation of naturally unlike numbers in the plane domain; the edition's interpretation uses areas whose sides are incommensurable. Attested: ὁμοίωσις (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Manifest φανερός {#register-322}


*φανερός (phaneros)*


**Declared aim of clarity.** The initial shared undertaking was to make matters manifest from beginning to end; the phrase concerns explanatory completion. Attested: φανερὰ (973b). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Starting point of the hierarchy.** The hierarchy begins with manifest gods and descends through four further levels to human beings. Attested: φανερῶν (984d). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Evidence and public acknowledgment.** The gods are manifest to us yet must be made manifest as other gods lacking rites. The repetition distinguishes visibility from acknowledged religious standing. Attested: φανεροὺς (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Manifestly φανερῶς {#register-323}


*φανερῶς (phanerōs)*


**Recognition of the speaker’s situation.** Clinias is told to know plainly that the obligation to disclose neglected divinity now applies to the Athenian himself. The adverb makes the dramatic transition to the eight powers explicit. Attested: φανερῶς (986a). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Many footed πολύπους {#register-324}


*πολύπους (polypous)*


**Limb variation within one kind.** Many-footed beings are included with human beings and footless creatures in the earthly class. Difference in the number of feet does not create another principal bodily kind. Attested: πολύποδα (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Medicine ἰατρικός {#register-325}


*ἰατρικός (iatrikos)*


**Help under uncertainty.** The feminine substantivized form names medicine, useful against seasonal assaults but not credited with the truest wisdom. Attested: ἰατρικήν (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Megillus Μέγιλλος {#register-326}


*Μέγιλλος (Megillos)*


**Megillus here.** The third man explicitly present in Clinias' opening enumeration. He remains silent; later address to two listeners can include him without supplying an unreported speech. Attested: Μέγιλλος (973a). [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


### Memory μνήμη {#register-327}


*μνήμη (mnēmē)*


**Forensic technique.** Memory works with the routine of opinion in the practice of persuasive assistance, which can remain outside the truth of justice. Attested: μνήμῃ (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


**Retained experiences.** Memories are acquired together with perceptions by the hypothetical being that cannot give an account without number. Attested: μνήμας (977c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


**Soul’s cognitive capacity.** Memory is paired with reckoning in the account of invisible knowing soul. Its attribution helps connect animation with capacities needed for intelligent order. Attested: μνήμης (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Menial βάναυσος {#register-328}


*βάναυσος (banausos)*


**Social qualification of the ideal knower.** The sought knowledge must leave its possessor neither menial nor an idiot. The description preserves the speech’s social valuation without proving manual labor intrinsically ignorant. Attested: βάναυσος (976d). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Middle μέσος {#register-329}


*μέσος (mesos)*


**Between visible extremes.** The three middle kinds stand between fiery stellar life and earthly mortality. Middle names their structural position, not identical properties shared by all three. Attested: μέσα (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Central aerial seat.** The aerial kind occupies the third and middle seat in the descending hierarchy. Its placement is distinct from air’s ordinal among the five named bodies. Attested: μέσην (984e). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Proportional mean.** The mean between doubled extremes is explained through equal differences and equal fractional parts, corresponding to arithmetic and harmonic means. Attested: μέσον (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Modeling πλαστικός {#register-330}


*πλαστικός (plastikos)*


**Modeling instruments.** The adjective belongs to the craft of molding or modeling within the catalogue of furnished instruments; it is unrelated to modern synthetic plastic. Attested: πλαστικῶν (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Moderate μέτριος {#register-331}


*μέτριος (metrios)*


**Tolerable portion of life.** What anyone would take as moderate is the part of life measured as brief; the text does not call all life uniformly unbearable. Attested: μέτριον (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Moderately μετρίως {#register-332}


*μετρίως (metriōs)*


**Balanced reception.** The suitable soul receives slow and contrary natural characteristics moderately; the text does not spell out a technical personality taxonomy. Attested: μετρίως (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Moist ὑγρός {#register-333}


*ὑγρός (hygros)*


**Material of imitation.** Moist kinds of material are paired with dry kinds in describing the varied media of painting and related production. Attested: ὑγροῖς (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Mold πλάττειν {#register-334}


*πλάττειν (plattein)*


**Active and passive shaping.** Molding belongs to soul as productive agent; the contrasting passive at 981c assigns being molded to body. Attested: πλάττειν (981b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Being shaped.** This passive form of the same verb describes body’s receptive place in the relation. It must not be mistaken for a second independent maker. Attested: πλάττεσθαι (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Formation of ether-life.** Soul molds living beings from ether, chiefly of that nature and partly of other kinds for a bond. Attested: πλάττειν (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Month μήν {#register-335}


*μήν (mēn)*


**Relational calendrical unit.** Months are composed relative to the year, shifting the account from successive units to the comparison of larger ordered periods. Attested: μῆνας (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Moon σελήνη {#register-336}


*σελήνη (selēnē)*


**Lunar numerical instruction.** The moon appears larger and smaller and makes another day visible through the stated fifteen-day sequence, enabling a cycle to be counted as one. Attested: σελήνην (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Visible object of owed honor.** The moon accompanies the sun as an obvious heavenly being whose neglect would be blameworthy. The local emphasis is recognition and worship, not a new account of lunar arithmetic. Attested: σελήνην (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### More ancient παλαιότερος {#register-337}


*παλαιότερος (palaioteros)*


**Antiquity in the priority argument.** This comparative means more ancient and is one of the predicates supporting soul’s precedence. It is distinct in Greek from presbyteros, rendered older. Attested: παλαιότερον (980d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Mortal θνητός {#register-338}


*θνητός (thnētos)*


**Mortal learner.** The person whose education is sought is mortal. The qualification persists when the work promises access to divine matters without making human knowledge unlimited. Attested: θνητὸς (973b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Earthly compound’s condition.** The earthly living kind is wholly mortal. The statement concerns the bodily animated class and must be read separately from the final conditional hope for the wise after death. Attested: θνητὸν (984b). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Limits of human religious knowledge.** Mortal nature cannot know the matters involved in uncertain inherited religious reports. That limit supports restraint in overturning sacrifices. Attested: θνητῇ (985d). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


**Limit of the learner.** Human mortal nature bounds the amount of divine order that can be thoroughly learned. Attested: θνητῇ (986c). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Motion φορά {#register-339}


*φορά (phora)*


**Ethically characterized motion.** The motion here is characterized as without reckoning, order, seemliness, rhythm, and harmony; the claim concerns ordered quality, not inability to count its duration. Attested: φορά (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Repeated celestial patterns.** The gods remain in the same motions, the very feature the many mistake for absence of intelligence. Attested: φοραῖς (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Direction toward good.** Motion toward the good belongs to the best soul, while contrary motion belongs to the contrary. Soul's causing motion does not make every motion good. The edition distinguishes this noun from kinēsis, movement. Attested: φορὰν (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


**Celestial movement.** The fourth and fifth motions are described by their approximately equal speed to the sun, distinct from a claim of identical position. Attested: φορὰ (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Move κινεῖν {#register-340}


*κινεῖν (kinein)*


**Soul’s dynamic agency.** Soul in a body can move that body and itself. The phrase is the local warrant for speaking of self-movement; the technical adjective autokinētos is not attested here. Attested: κινεῖν (988d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Movement κίνησις {#register-341}


*κίνησις (kinēsis)*


**Counted musical movement.** Movement in all music must be counted along with sounds, providing a concrete example of number’s wider role. Attested: κινήσεώς (978a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Psychic origin and moral direction.** Soul is cause of every movement, but good-directed movement is specifically assigned to the best soul. Psychic causation and moral excellence are related without being identical. Attested: κινήσεως (988e). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Moving about πορεύσιμος {#register-342}


*πορεύσιμος (poreusimos)*


**Mobile earthly organisms.** The adjective identifies creatures able to move about, paired with those that remain in place. Both are living through the same soul–body account. Attested: πορεύσιμα (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Multitude πλῆθος {#register-343}


*πλῆθος (plēthos)*


**Majority judgment under criticism.** The multitude follows unintelligent interpreters in treating divine uniformity as soullessness. The term marks the social reach of the rejected inference rather than numerical evidence for its truth. Attested: πλῆθος (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Music and poetic art μοῦσα {#register-344}


*μοῦσα (mousa)*


**Comprehensive imitative field.** All mousa is included alongside works in words in the imitative catalogue. The edition renders it all music, without restricting it to a named instrument. Attested: μοῦσαν (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Divine giver of musical relations.** The Muses' happy dance gives the concordant and commensurate use; no individual Muse is named. Attested: Μουσῶν (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Mutual eating ἀλληλοφαγία {#register-345}


*ἀλληλοφαγία (allēlophagia)*


**Pre-civilized food story.** The eating of one another among living beings from which the first food-producing knowledge is said, according to the story, to have drawn humans away. Attested: ἀλληλοφαγίας (975a). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### My good sir daimonic δαιμόνιος {#register-346}


*δαιμόνιος (daimonios)*


**Courteous address.** Clinias addresses the Athenian as my good sir. The vocative is a courteous idiom, not a literal assignment of the speaker to the later ethereal class of daimons. Attested: δαιμόνιε (980c). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Name ὄνομα {#register-347}


*ὄνομα (onoma)*


**One name or several kinds.** The renewed inquiry would ideally identify wisdom in one name; if unable, it will enumerate the kinds by which someone becomes wise. Attested: ὀνόματι (980a). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Unavailable proper name.** The third solar-related body is initially said to lack a known name although its course and later divine title identify it. Attested: ὀνόματι (986e). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


**Misleading subject-title.** Geometry's familiar name is criticized because land-measuring does not capture the higher plane-number inquiry. Attested: ὄνομα (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Name or address προσαγορεύειν {#register-348}


*προσαγορεύειν (prosagoreuein)*


**Naming the eighth cosmos.** The potential naming formula is printed with Burnet's an; it is not the manuscript reading meaning above. Attested: προσαγορεύοι (987b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Name or designation ἐπίκλησις {#register-349}


*ἐπίκλησις (epiklēsis)*


**The title wisdom.** The familiar kinds of competence do not deserve to receive the designation wisdom about human matters. The naming claim is part of the argument’s test. Attested: ἐπίκλησιν (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**The name making.** The name of making is said to bring distaste for what is made in the obscure food-production clause. A social explanation through trade status remains interpretation. Attested: ἐπίκλησις (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Nature φύσις {#register-350}


*φύσις (physis)*


**Presumed capacity for wisdom.** The soul divines that wisdom’s capacity belongs to it by some nature, but cannot yet identify what it is or how it is realized. Attested: φύσιν (974b–c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


**Natural quickness.** One conventional name for easy learning, extensive memory, and prompt fitting action is nature rather than wisdom. Attested: φύσιν (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


**Receptivity to number.** The nature received from the universe allows humans to think of one and two and understand what the god shows. Attested: φύσιν (978b–c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Human responsibility.** Human nature, rather than divine nature, is blamed for failing to distribute its life justly. Attested: φύσιν (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Near πλησίον {#register-351}


*πλησίον (plēsion)*


**Unrecognized nearby presence.** Nearness is explicitly insufficient to make the ethereal and aerial kinds plain to us. The phrase prevents assuming that spatial distance alone explains their hiddenness. Attested: πλησίον (984e). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Necessary ἀναγκαῖος {#register-352}


*ἀναγκαῖος (anankaios)*


**Priority of subsistence.** The first kinds of expertise are conceded to be very nearly most necessary and truly first, before being denied complete wisdom. Attested: ἀναγκαιόταται (974d–e). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Necessity ἀνάγκη {#register-353}


*ἀνάγκη (anankē)*


**Foundational requirement.** Every necessity is invoked for laying down number as a foundation, while the full account of why it is necessary is expressly deferred. Attested: ἀνάγκη (977d). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Required new beginning.** The dative expresses of necessity in the decision to speak again from the beginning. Burnet adopts this form against the manuscripts’ nominative necessity. Attested: ἀνάγκῃ (980a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Necessity of a rational soul.** The greatest necessity belongs to a soul possessing sense. It is described as ruling and giving law, so it must not be reduced to external mindless compulsion. Attested: ἀνάγκη (982b). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Neglect ἀμέλεια {#register-354}


*ἀμέλεια (ameleia)*


**A divine failure denied.** Neglect accompanies forgetfulness as an explanation the final theology rejects. The populated cosmos is presented as an attended order rather than merely a collection of remote beings. Attested: ἀμελείᾳ (991d). [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Night νύξ {#register-355}


*νύξ (nyx)*


**Visible difference and repetition.** Night presents everything differently from day, and its repeated alternation helps teach one, two, and further numbers. Attested: νυκτὸς (978c). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Nocturnal νυκτερινός {#register-356}


*νυκτερινός (nykterinos)*


**Council's institutional designation.** The adjective identifies the council known from the Laws; its contextual dawn meeting time is supplied by the edition's note, not restated here. Attested: νυκτερινὸν (992d). [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84).


### Non Greek βάρβαρος {#register-357}


*βάρβαρος (barbaros)*


**Prior observer.** The first observer of the celestial motions is described as non-Greek, grounding the account's acknowledgment of foreign priority. Attested: βάρβαρος (986e). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Source of Greek learning.** Greeks take over knowledge from non-Greeks and claim to complete it more finely; priority and claimed superiority are distinct claims. Attested: βαρβάρων (987d). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Not to be soothed ἀπαραμύθητος {#register-358}


*ἀπαραμύθητος (aparamythētos)*


**Justice not readily appeased.** The gods are very nearly not to be soothed in matters of justice. The source links this with the Laws’ opposition to buying divine favor through gifts, sacrifices, or prayers. Attested: ἀπαραμύθητοι (980d). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Notice and understand συννοεῖν {#register-359}


*συννοεῖν (synnoein)*


**Recognize an aptitude.** With the participial description of a learner, the verb means noticing someone’s easy learning and memory; it is not yet the later mathematical understanding. Attested: συννοῇ (976b). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


**Understand what is shown.** The god establishes human receptivity so people can understand what is demonstrated, then supplies the continuing lesson through visible order. This infinitival use differs from noticing a learner’s aptitude at 976b. Attested: συννοεῖν (978c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Nourish τρέφειν {#register-360}


*τρέφειν (trephein)*


**Cultural nurture of observers.** The ancient way nourished the first celestial thinkers under favorable summer conditions. Attested: ἔθρεψεν (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Nourishment τροφή {#register-361}


*τροφή (trophē)*


**Bodily provision.** Nourishment accompanying meal and flour is explicitly fine and good, though its provision does not produce complete wisdom. Attested: τροφὴ (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**Heavenly provision.** Nourishment for all is a benefit of Heaven’s turning stars and supplying seasons. Attested: τροφὴν (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Seasonal fertility.** Nourishment for all living beings results from fruits and fertile earth under measured winds and rains. Attested: τροφὴν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Formation of the learner.** The rare natures need appropriate nourishment and education before they can govern intelligently. Attested: τροφῆς (989c). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


**Sustaining intellectual course.** The final curriculum is described as nourishment together with way and subjects, making formation more than accumulation of information. Attested: τροφή (992a). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Number ἀριθμός {#register-362}


*ἀριθμός (arithmos)*


**Indispensable gift.** Number is what the decisive knowledge has given to the mortal race and what the Athenian attributes to a preserving god. Attested: ἀριθμὸν (976e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Condition of account-giving.** Removal of number makes intelligence impossible and prevents giving an account beyond perceptions and memories. Attested: ἀριθμὸν (977c). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Ethical and cosmic order.** Number is asserted as cause of all good and none of evil, extending its significance beyond useful calculations. Attested: ἀριθμὸς (977e–978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Relational reckoning.** Number is considered in relation to number when months are arranged relative to the year, beyond counting isolated items. Attested: ἀριθμὸν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Numbers considered in themselves.** The first study concerns numbers themselves rather than counted bodily collections; this is a methodological contrast, not by itself proof of separate mathematical existence. Attested: ἀριθμῶν αὐτῶν (990c). [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


### Observe καθορᾶν {#register-363}


*καθορᾶν (kathoran)*


**Discern the decisive dependency.** The exhortation asks the speakers to observe which knowledge, if lost or never present, would most diminish human intelligence. The object is an explanatory dependency, not merely something visible to the eyes. Attested: κατίδωμεν (976d). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Recognize the celestial powers.** The Athenian claims to have seen the eight powers while disclaiming an extraordinary personal achievement. Attested: καθεώρακα (986a). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Occupy oneself πραγματεύεσθαι {#register-364}


*πραγματεύεσθαι (pragmateuesthai)*


**Study of divine things.** The Athenian rejects fear that mortals should refrain from engaging seriously with divine things. Attested: πραγματεύεσθαι (988a). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Odd περιττός {#register-365}


*περιττός (perittos)*


**Elementary parity.** Knowing the odd is paired with knowing the even as a minimal numerical distinction missing from the being that cannot give an account. Attested: περιττὸν (977c). [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88).


**Fundamental numerical class.** The whole generation and power of odd is studied with even, extending the elementary distinction into a systematic subject. Attested: περιττοῦ (990c). [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


### Offspring γέννημα {#register-366}


*γέννημα (gennēma)*


**Composite celestial products.** The heavenly beings are offspring of soul and body. The generation metaphor keeps both constituents present despite the strong division of active cause from passive material. Attested: γεννήματα (983e). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Old age γῆρας {#register-367}


*γῆρας (gēras)*


**Retrospective judgment.** Old age arrives quickly and prompts the appraisal of whether the already lived life is worth repeating. Attested: γῆρας (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Old man πρεσβύτης {#register-368}


*πρεσβύτης (presbytēs)*


**Aged qualification for authority.** The person who has completed the long educational labor receives the greatest offices at the completion of old age; no numerical qualifying age is given. Attested: πρεσβύτου (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Older πρεσβύτερος {#register-369}


*πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros)*


**Soul’s explanatory precedence.** The comparative assigns all soul precedence over all body. The argument connects seniority with superiority and ruling rather than merely biological age. Attested: πρεσβύτερον (980d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Priority joined to divinity.** The later educational argument recalls soul as at once older and more divine than body. The same priority must become credible through the study of celestial precision. Attested: πρεσβύτερόν (991d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Olympus ὄλυμπος {#register-370}


*ὄλυμπος (olympos)*


**Alternative heavenly designation.** Olympus is offered alongside cosmos and heaven as a name the observer may prefer, without a separate geographical description of a mountain. Attested: ὄλυμπον (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### One εἷς {#register-371}


*εἷς (heis)*


**Unit acquired and formed.** The neuter ἕν names one in the first lesson and the unity assigned to a whole cycle; units can be single appearances or an organized whole. Attested: ἓν (978b). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Unity after multiplicity.** Becoming one out of many describes the hoped-for wise condition after death, without specifying merger with the cosmos or loss of personal identity. Attested: ἕνα (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### One and a half ἡμιόλιος {#register-372}


*ἡμιόλιος (hēmiolios)*


**Ratio of the fifth.** The 3:2 relation occurs as 9:6 and 12:8 in the note's worked example; the wording names the ratio rather than those inserted terms. Attested: ἡμιόλιον (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### One and a third ἐπίτριτος {#register-373}


*ἐπίτριτος (epitritos)*


**Ratio of the fourth.** The 4:3 relation occurs as 8:6 and 12:9 in the note's example and is distinguished from the 3:2 fifth. Attested: ἐπίτριτον (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Opinion and reputation δόξα {#register-374}


*δόξα (doxa)*


**Childish appraisal.** An immature opinion fills the person who would want to repeat the life already lived despite its burdens. Attested: δόξης (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Conjectural practice.** Opinions are the basis through which the helping practices are described as guessed at and carried along without measure. Attested: δόξαις (976a). [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


**Routine of opinion.** Forensic helpers use memory and habitual opinion while attending to characters, without the truth of real justice. Attested: δόξης (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


**Reputation for wisdom.** Public estimation of a naturally quick learner and good rememberer, distinguished from real wisdom. Attested: δόξαν (976b). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


**True evaluative judgment.** True opinion appears in the compressed requirement concerning counting out the just, good, and fine so as to persuade oneself and another. Attested: δόξης (978b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Qualified assignment of stellar duration.** Opinion is the mode in which one of the two stellar portions is assigned. It should not be silently promoted to a separately supplied demonstration. Attested: δόξῃ (981e). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Fair account of middle life.** The fair opinion qualifies the introduction of the middle kinds. The supplied edition notes uncertainty over the placement of most clearly in the same construction. Attested: δόξαν (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Religious beliefs arising from encounters.** Private and public opinions arise from dreams, voices, oracles, and other encounters and can lead to sacred practices. Their occurrence is distinct from proof of each report. Attested: δόξας (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Oracle μαντεία {#register-375}


*μαντεία (manteia)*


**Prophetic communication heard by people.** Oracles are among reported religious encounters in health or sickness. The noun names a communication, distinct from mantikē as the art of prophecy and from a proof of its interpretation. Attested: μαντείας (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Orbit πόλος {#register-376}


*πόλος (polos)*


**Individual heavenly course.** The course each celestial being traverses in its allotted time; the text does not furnish a modern orbital-element specification. Attested: πόλον (986c). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Order τάξις {#register-377}


*τάξις (taxis)*


**Regular celestial movement.** The fiery living kind moves in complete order. The Athenian interprets this stable pattern as evidence of rational life. Attested: τάξει (982a). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Out of harmony ἀνάρμοστος {#register-378}


*ἀνάρμοστος (anarmostos)*


**Lack of fitting agreement.** Unharmonious motion completes the negative series before the claim that all things sharing badness are left without number. Attested: ἀνάρμοστός (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Outward form σχῆμα {#register-379}


*σχῆμα (schēma)*


**Rejected religious show.** The plural outward forms is opposed to honoring virtue in truth; educated leaders should not merely manipulate appearances. Attested: σχήμασι (989c). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Pain λύπη {#register-380}


*λύπη (lypē)*


**Affective middle condition.** The ethereal and aerial beings already share in pain, helping explain their positive and negative responses to people. Attested: λύπης (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Excluded from completed divinity.** Pain, together with pleasure, lies outside the completed god’s condition. This exclusion coexists with full intelligence and knowing. Attested: λύπης (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Painting γραφικός {#register-381}


*γραφικός (graphikos)*


**Mother of further products.** The feminine substantivized form names painting, described as mother of many intricate products in moist and dry media. Attested: γραφικὴ (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Part μέρος {#register-382}


*μέρος (meros)*


**Minor material constituents.** Small parts of all the remaining bodily kinds occur in the mainly fiery stellar body. Their presence makes explicit that the classification follows predominance. Attested: μέρη (981e). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Relative share defining a mean.** The same part of each extreme means equal fractions of different endpoints, not equal absolute differences. Attested: μέρει (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Pass one's life διάγειν {#register-383}


*διάγειν (diagein)*


**Life directed by contemplation.** The happy learner expects this inquiry to shape the way he passes his life, linking knowledge to lived good fortune. Attested: διάξειν (986c–d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Passage διαπορεία {#register-384}


*διαπορεία (diaporeia)*


**The heavens’ intelligent course.** The collective passage of the stars should be evidence that they possess sense. The noun gathers their stable traveling into a single object of interpretation. Attested: διαπορείαν (982c). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Auspicious intermediary passage.** Prayers honor the middle beings for auspicious passage. Their movements to earth and through heaven contextualize the phrase without establishing a complete afterlife itinerary. Attested: διαπορείας (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Path πόρος {#register-385}


*πόρος (poros)*


**Ordered way in heaven.** The ordered path of the fiery kind is the observable pattern from which intelligence is inferred. It is not yet one of the later individually catalogued planetary circuits. Attested: πόρον (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### People δῆμος {#register-386}


*δῆμος (dēmos)*


**Recipients of utility.** The people are those for whom manufactured equipment is serviceable. The local phrase supplies no detailed constitutional classification. Attested: δήμῳ (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Perception αἴσθησις {#register-387}


*αἴσθησις (aisthēsis)*


**Experience without account.** Perceptions may be acquired together with memories by a being lacking number, but these possessions do not by themselves allow it to give an account. Attested: αἰσθήσεις (977c). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Multiplicity of present experience.** The wise person's hoped-for unified condition is contrasted with present many perceptions; the text does not describe a new sensory apparatus. Attested: αἰσθήσεων (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Perhaps ἴσως {#register-388}


*ἴσως (isōs)*


**Qualified concurrence.** Clinias includes perhaps when concurring in hope of later forming the truest opinion with the Athenian. The qualification prevents treating his answer as unreserved certainty. Attested: ἴσως (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Permitted θέμις {#register-389}


*θέμις (themis)*


**Religious propriety of speech.** It is not permitted to voice the degrading alternative to true-born divinity for members of the celestial family. Attested: θέμις (986b). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Permitted θεμιτός {#register-390}


*θεμιτός (themitos)*


**Prohibition of neglect.** Once the favorable divine account is plain, neglecting the gods is not religiously permissible. Attested: θεμιτόν (992a). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Perplexity ἀπορία {#register-391}


*ἀπορία (aporia)*


**Difficulty finding a way.** The impasse concerning wisdom is paired with search and is said to exceed the seeker’s hope. Attested: ἀπορία (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Persuade and trust πείθειν {#register-392}


*πείθειν (peithein)*


**Perfect-active confidence.** The perfect-active participle of peithein has the intransitive sense trust or be confident: the soul strongly trusts its capacity, without yet discovering its identity, occasion, and manner. Attested: πεποιθυίας (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Self and other convinced.** Persuasion concerning the just, good, and fine is directed both to oneself and to another and must be connected with knowledge and true opinion. Attested: πεῖσαι (978b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Piety εὐσέβεια {#register-393}


*εὐσέβεια (eusebeia)*


**Highest mortal virtue in the local claim.** Nothing of virtue is to be held greater for the mortal race; astronomy will be connected to repairing the ignorance that obstructs it. Attested: εὐσεβείας (989b). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Pilot κυβερνήτης {#register-394}


*κυβερνήτης (kybernētēs)*


**Steering under uncertain conditions.** The pilot is helpful but is not to be proclaimed wise, because the wind’s anger or friendliness cannot be known in the required way. Attested: κυβερνήτας (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Pilot’s art κυβερνητικός {#register-395}


*κυβερνητικός (kybernētikos)*


**Desire for favorable conditions.** The feminine substantivized form names the whole pilot’s art to which the wind’s friendliness is dear. Attested: κυβερνητικῇ (976b). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Place τόπος {#register-396}


*τόπος (topos)*


**Hoped-for destination.** Places befitting virtue occur in the prospect after death without a named geographical itinerary. Attested: τόπους (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Comparative climate.** The Greek place is praised as intermediate in climate, unlike the different accepted word tropos at 987a. Attested: τόπον (987d). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Plain κατάδηλος {#register-397}


*κατάδηλος (katadēlos)*


**Failure of proximity to reveal.** The middle being does not become plain to human observers even when near. This is a limitation of perception, not proof of bodilessness. Attested: κατάδηλον (984e). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Plainly seen καταφανής {#register-398}


*καταφανής (kataphanēs)*


**Publicly evident divinity.** The heavenly beings are brought forward as plainly seen recipients of honor. This adjective is distinct from katadēlos, plain, in the earlier description of transparent intermediaries. Attested: καταφανεῖς (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Plaiting πλεκτικός {#register-399}


*πλεκτικός (plektikos)*


**Plaiting instruments.** The adjective identifies another tool-producing activity in the comprehensive catalogue of useful equipment. Attested: πλεκτικῶν (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Plane ἐπίπεδος {#register-400}


*ἐπίπεδος (epipedos)*


**Two-dimensional domain.** The substantivized plural marks the plane figures with respect to which numerical likeness becomes evident. Attested: ἐπιπέδων (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Plausible πιθανός {#register-401}


*πιθανός (pithanos)*


**Qualified inference.** The comparative argument from superiority to seniority is called plausible. This is a marker of persuasion, not a second complete proof of the Laws’ recalled conclusion. Attested: πιθανὸν (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**A more plausible beginning.** If soul’s priority is accepted, the account’s first beginning will have been made more plausibly. The comparative remains within an explicit conditional. Attested: πιθανώτερον (981a). [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


### Play παιδιά {#register-402}


*παιδιά (paidia)*


**Imitative amusement.** The arts following necessity are called a kind of play, largely imitative and in no way serious for the wisdom inquiry. Attested: παιδιά (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Fine divine celebration.** The lawgiver who likens the gods better is compared to someone using fine play in honoring them. This follows Burnet’s adopted reading rather than the apparatus alternative education. Attested: παιδιᾷ (980a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Beneficent musical activity.** Rhythmic and harmonic play receives the numerical gift, showing that the earlier critique of imitation does not condemn all play. Attested: παιδιᾶς (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Play παίζειν {#register-403}


*παίζειν (paizein)*


**Register of the final affirmation.** The Athenian makes his afterlife affirmation in play together with earnestness; the participle does not cancel either its seriousness or its qualifications. Attested: παίζων (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Pleasure ἡδονή {#register-404}


*ἡδονή (hēdonē)*


**The balanced divine exclusion.** Pleasure is excluded from the completed god along with pain. Omitting it would turn the statement into a different claim about merely painless happiness. Attested: ἡδονῆς (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Plunder ληίζεσθαι {#register-405}


*ληίζεσθαι (lēizesthai)*


**Metaphor of seasonal injury.** The seasons plunder living nature by harmful conditions. The image preserves vulnerability without specifying a modern disease mechanism. Attested: ληίζονται (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Poor φλαῦρος {#register-406}


*φλαῦρος (phlauros)*


**Adverse outcome.** What turns out toward the poor or bad contrary to the favorable order is assigned to human rather than divine nature in the argument. Attested: φλαῦρον (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Inferior effects.** The poor things are distinguished from good things in the account of differing psychic causes; the adjective is not everywhere identical to extreme wickedness. Attested: φλαύρων (988d). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Portion μοῖρα {#register-407}


*μοῖρα (moira)*


**Two possible stellar conditions.** The two portions are immortality and a life of sufficiently long ages. The wording marks a genuine alternative in the speaker’s assessment. Attested: μοιρῶν (981e). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Completed divine allotment.** The divine portion has a completion possessed by the god who stands outside pain and pleasure. This is a rank or condition, not simply a quantity of years. Attested: μοίρας (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Allotted celestial share.** Each god's portion includes appropriate recognition and time; sister portions need not be equal-length periods. Attested: μοίραις (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


**Plane domain.** The portion of plane figures specifies the respect in which geometry makes unlike numbers alike. Attested: μοῖραν (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


**Life completed by death.** The wise person's own portion is filled up in dying; the subsequent condition of blessed unity remains qualified. Attested: μοῖραν (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


**Single posthumous share.** A single portion contrasts with present participation in many perceptions; it is not named as a new physical sensory organ. Attested: μοίρας (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Power or capacity δύναμις {#register-408}


*δύναμις (dynamis)*


**Capacity sought.** The power for becoming wise is presumed to be present in each, yet eludes discovery among ordinary kinds of expertise. Attested: δυνάμεως (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Aptitude that wins reputation.** The strange power of easy learning, secure memory, and quick action attracts the name wisdom without deserving it. Attested: δύναμις (976b). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


**Number’s scope.** The extent of the power for which number is responsible reaches beyond the small practical uses of crafts. Attested: δυνάμεως (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Capacity of the ethereal living kind.** The ethereal living beings are molded as beings having power. The local expression does not yet identify the eight astronomical powers catalogued after 986a. Attested: δύναμιν (984b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Use according to capacity.** Soul uses all the bodily kinds according to capacity when filling heaven with living beings. The phrase situates production within what those constitutions allow. Attested: δύναμιν (984c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Celestial power.** One of the eight sister powers associated with celestial beings and their motions; not the later specialized square-sense. Attested: δυνάμεις (986a). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


**Capacity of instruction.** The speaker's and hearers' available powers set the human scope within which the account of reverence can be taught. Attested: δύναμιν (989e). [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32).


**Numerical efficacy.** The capacity of odd and even, together with their generation, in relation to the nature of what is. Attested: δυνάμεως (990c). [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


**Mathematical power.** The power around the double, interpreted by the edition in the dimensional sequence involving squares; this specialized setting must not be imposed on all occurrences. Attested: δυνάμεως (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Practice ἐπιτήδευσις {#register-409}


*ἐπιτήδευσις (epitēdeusis)*


**Pursuit of an occupation.** Practice accompanies acquired intelligence in the explanation of why aspirants to the best standing avoid the necessary trades; the speech joins occupational practice and reputation. Attested: ἐπιτηδεύσεως (975a). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Pray εὔχεσθαι {#register-410}


*εὔχεσθαι (euchesthai)*


**Response to the giver.** Prayer to Heaven accompanies exceptional honor in the first naming of the source of number. Attested: εὔχεσθαι (977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Prayer for worthy speech.** The speakers pray that the finest and best things to say about the gods may occur to them. The request concerns the quality of theological speech, not permission to report every thought as revelation. Attested: εὐχόμενοι (980b). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Prayer εὐχή {#register-411}


*εὐχή (euchē)*


**Honor through prayer.** Prayers are the manner of honoring the middle beings for the sake of auspicious passage. The passage places prayer within a communicatively connected divine order without specifying a complete itinerary for human souls. Attested: εὐχαῖς (984e). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Precisely ἀκριβῶς {#register-412}


*ἀκριβῶς (akribōs)*


**Manner of celestial accomplishment.** The adverb explains the precision that the curriculum requires one to understand, without supplying numerical error measurements. Attested: ἀκριβῶς (991c). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Precision ἀκρίβεια {#register-413}


*ἀκρίβεια (akribeia)*


**Exact cosmic timing.** Yearly, monthly, and daily precision is said to require soul associated with the cosmic bodies. It supplements the appeal to size with the pattern of movement. Attested: ἀκρίβειαν (983c). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Exact temporal order.** The learner must grasp time's precision in accomplishing celestial events, within the argument for soul's priority and divine care. Attested: ἀκρίβειαν (991c). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Predominance ἡγεμονία {#register-414}


*ἡγεμονία (hēgemonia)*


**Bodily leadership.** The bodies lead in the constitutions of the living kinds. The phrase explains why a class can be called earthy or fiery despite including portions of all the other bodies. Attested: ἡγεμονίαις (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


### Pregnant ἐγκύμων {#register-415}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### Prepare παρασκευάζειν {#register-416}


*παρασκευάζειν (paraskeuazein)*


**Formation for advanced study.** Suitable natures must be prepared for the difficult celestial routes rather than immediately exposed to the final object without prerequisites. Attested: παρασκευάζοντας (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Preserve σῴζειν {#register-417}


*σῴζειν (sōizein)*


**Continuing divine benefit.** The god, having already given number, preserves humans. The participial sequence distinguishes giving from the continuing benefit. Attested: σῴζειν (976e). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Pretend προσποιεῖσθαι {#register-418}


*προσποιεῖσθαι (prospoieisthai)*


**False claim to testing.** Practices that are not genuine tests nevertheless pretend to be, making their labor futile. Attested: προσποιοῦνται (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Prevent ἀποκωλύειν {#register-419}


*ἀποκωλύειν (apokōlyein)*


**Obstruction of inherited rites.** The lawgiver will not prevent what ancestral law prescribes about sacrifices. The prohibition concerns interference, distinct from the ensuing positive obligation to honor visible gods. Attested: ἀποκωλύσει (985d). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Privately ἰδίᾳ {#register-420}


*ἰδίᾳ (idiai)*


**Individual religious beliefs.** Opinions can arise privately from encounters. Their individual origin is distinguished from the public formation of beliefs and cultic institutions. Attested: ἰδίᾳ (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


**Private practice of learning.** The person pursuing the studies privately is not excluded from the same divine fortune by lacking a public setting. Attested: ἰδίᾳ (992c). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Procession πορεία {#register-421}


*πορεία (poreia)*


**Celestial journey as spectacle.** The stars’ journey is coupled with dance as the finest coordinated movement. The edition distinguishes procession from choreia rather than translating both as one generic motion. Attested: πορείαν (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Produce ἀπεργάζεσθαι {#register-422}


*ἀπεργάζεσθαι (apergazesthai)*


**Production of a wise person.** Food-making will not produce a completely wise man, although its nourishment is fine and good; the object of this producing is the person’s achieved condition. Attested: ἀπεργάσασθαι (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**Production of lunar unity.** The god’s producing of the moon introduces the larger and smaller appearances by which the learner forms a counted cycle. Attested: ἀπεργασάμενος (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Claimed Greek improvement.** The speaker asserts that Greeks carry received things more finely to completion; this is his cultural claim rather than an independently established comparative history. Attested: ἀπεργάζονται (987e). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Productive art ἀπεργαστικός {#register-423}


*ἀπεργαστικός (apergastikos)*


**Manufacture of equipment.** The feminine substantivized adjective names the art that produces every kind of equipment; it is grouped with building and smithing. Attested: ἀπεργαστική (975b–c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Proof ἀπόδειξις {#register-424}


*ἀπόδειξις (apodeixis)*


**An asserted warrant for size.** The speaker invokes adequate proofs for celestial size. The proofs themselves are not displayed, so the lexicon must not describe this page as performing a measurement. Attested: ἀποδείξεσιν (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Property οὐσία {#register-425}


*οὐσία (ousia)*


**Acquisition unlike soul formation.** Property is one of the other things that can be acquired, in necessary or unnecessary amounts; its possession does not answer how the soul becomes good. Attested: οὐσίαν (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Prophecy μαντική {#register-426}


*μαντική (mantikē)*


**Knowing a saying without its truth.** Prophecy is excluded with interpretation because the competence knows only what is said and has not learned whether it is true. Attested: μαντική (975c). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


### Proportion ἀναλογία {#register-427}


*ἀναλογία (analogia)*


**Structured mathematical relation.** Each proportion is a setting in which nature is said to stamp out form and kind, a programmatic claim rather than a completed derivation of every natural thing. Attested: ἀναλογίαν (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Publicly δημοσίᾳ {#register-428}


*δημοσίᾳ (dēmosiai)*


**Collective religious beliefs.** Public opinion concerning encounters contributes to the sacred practices that a lawgiver must consider. Collective acceptance is not presented as direct knowledge of each report’s truth. Attested: δημοσίᾳ (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


**Public practice of learning.** Pursuing the studies publicly receives the same divine treatment as private practice, provided the required formation is present. Attested: δημοσίᾳ (992c). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Purification καθαρμός {#register-429}


*καθαρμός (katharmos)*


**Informed ritual practice.** Purifications concerning gods and humans remain objects of educated action alongside sacrifices; astronomy does not simply abolish ritual. Attested: καθαρμοὺς (989c). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Purity καθαριότης {#register-430}


*καθαριότης (kathariotēs)*


**Excellence of heavenly images.** Purity is one of the grounds on which celestial images exceed other honored objects. The passage does not specify a purification rite as the cause of this excellence. Attested: καθαριότητι (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Pursuit ἐπιτήδευμα {#register-431}


*ἐπιτήδευμα (epitēdeuma)*


**Relative ease of ordinary practices.** The other pursuits are said not to be very hard beside discovering how humans should become decent. Attested: ἐπιτηδεύματα (979b–c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Question ἐρωτᾶν {#register-432}


*ἐρωτᾶν (erōtan)*


**Active examination.** Questioning is joined to refutation as the genuine test of inadequately stated accounts, rather than mere authoritative repetition. Attested: ἐρωτῶντά (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Quick to learn εὐμαθής {#register-433}


*εὐμαθής (eumathēs)*


**A property of both finer intermediaries.** The ethereal and aerial beings belong to a kind quick to learn. The adjective helps explain their intelligence without making quick learning alone sufficient human wisdom. Attested: εὐμαθοῦς (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Quick wittedness ἀγχίνοια {#register-434}


*ἀγχίνοια (anchinoia)*


**Natural responsiveness.** One of the names given to easy learning, memory, and rapid fitting action, explicitly distinguished from the title truly wise. Attested: ἀγχίνοιαν (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Rain ὑετός {#register-435}


*ὑετός (hyetos)*


**Measured seasonal rain.** Rains accompany winds that are neither violent nor without measure in the account of earthly nourishment. Attested: ὑετῶν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Ready to be persuaded εὐπειθής {#register-436}


*εὐπειθής (eupeithēs)*


**Responsiveness to temperance.** The good learner is persuadable toward being temperate, giving moral direction to teachability. Attested: εὐπειθής (989b). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Really ὄντως {#register-437}


*ὄντως (ontōs)*


**Truth beyond reputation.** The adverb distinguishes being genuinely wise from possessing a reputation based on aptitude. It is an argumentative contrast, not decorative emphasis. Attested: ὄντως (976c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Recall ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι {#register-438}


*ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι (anamimnēiskesthai)*


**Revisiting the argument.** The speakers are asked to recall their preceding insight by going back a little in the arguments, preparing the explicit number-removal test. Attested: ἀναμνησθῶμεν (977b–c). [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


### Receive παραλαμβάνειν {#register-439}


*παραλαμβάνειν (paralambanein)*


**Appropriation of knowledge.** Greeks receive from non-Greeks; the claim concerns a transmission before the proposed finer completion. Attested: παραλάβωσι (987e). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Beneficial taking-over of studies.** The learner receives great benefit only when the subjects are taken over in the right way. Attested: παραλαμβάνοντι (991d). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Reckon λογίζεσθαι {#register-440}


*λογίζεσθαι (logizesthai)*


**Relations among numbers.** Reckoning number with all things in relation to one another is contrasted with counting isolated things; months relative to a year supply the example. Attested: λογίζεσθαι (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Reckon the life already lived.** Retrospective reckoning of one’s lived life motivates the Athenian’s claim that old age would make repetition unwanted. The same verb later describes numerical relations. Attested: λογισάμενον (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Reckoning λογισμός {#register-441}


*λογισμός (logismos)*


**Appraisal of a life.** Reckoning distinguishes the brief moderate portion of life from its worthless portion. The word anticipates, without already explaining, the later numerical argument. Attested: λογισμὸν (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Soul and numerical change.** Reckoning accompanies memory and the mention of odd and even changes. The compressed phrase establishes a numerical cognitive role without describing a complete arithmetic psychology. Attested: λογισμοῦ (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν {#register-442}


*γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)*


**Shared judgment of life.** Greeks and barbarians are said to know in a way the difficulty of coming into being. The qualification limits the asserted universal agreement. Attested: γιγνώσκομέν (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Numerical knowledge.** The hypothetical being fails to know two and three or odd and even, and so cannot give an account beyond perceptions and memories. Attested: γιγνώσκοι (977c). [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88).


**Evaluative knowledge.** Knowing the just, good, and fine is required in the compressed clause about counting out and persuading with true opinion. Attested: γιγνώσκων (978b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Soul as knowing.** Knowing is a predicate of soul, set beside being intelligible, invisible, and capable of memory and reckoning. Attested: γιγνώσκοντι (981c). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Knowledge of human thought.** Both ethereal and aerial beings are said to know all human thought. The verb specifies cognitive access without stating that silent thoughts are literally heard. Attested: γιγνώσκειν (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Complete divine knowledge.** The completed god shares in knowing in every respect despite standing outside pain and pleasure. Lack of affect is expressly distinguished from ignorance. Attested: γιγνώσκειν (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Red ἐρυθρός {#register-443}


*ἐρυθρός (erythros)*


**Distinctive planetary color.** The superlative identifies Ares' body as the reddest of the compared bodies; it supplements naming and motion with visible appearance. Attested: ἐρυθρώτατον (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Refute ἐλέγχειν {#register-444}


*ἐλέγχειν (elenchein)*


**Correction of inadequate statements.** The participle targets what has not been well said; it does not simply mean defeating a person regardless of the account's truth. Attested: ἐλέγχοντα (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Rejoice with συγχαίρειν {#register-445}


*συγχαίρειν (synchairein)*


**Divine pleasure in human improvement.** The divine rejoices with the person who becomes good through a god, rather than begrudging the result of its teaching. Attested: συγχαῖρον (988b). [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Remaining in place μόνιμος {#register-446}


*μόνιμος (monimos)*


**Rooted living beings.** The stationary group is specified by roots. Remaining fixed does not disqualify it from life, so locomotion alone cannot be the general criterion of animation. Attested: μόνιμα (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Remember μνημονεύειν {#register-447}


*μνημονεύειν (mnēmoneuein)*


**Extent and security of retention.** The learner remembers many things securely, but these accomplishments do not by themselves make him genuinely wise. Attested: μνημονεύοντα (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Remembering notes ὑπόμνημα {#register-448}


*ὑπόμνημα (hypomnēma)*


**Written aid to recollection.** The Athenian reminds his companions that they took notes of the previous account. The detail makes remembered agreement support the present resumption; the notes themselves are not reproduced. Attested: ὑπομνήματα (980d). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Remove ἀναιρεῖν {#register-449}


*ἀναιρεῖν (anairein)*


**Counterfactual abolition of arithmetic.** Removing arithmetic is the test by which the dependence of every surveyed craft on number is asserted. Attested: ἀνέλῃ (977e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Render ἀποδιδόναι {#register-450}


*ἀποδιδόναι (apodidonai)*


**Give due honors.** The celestial beings must receive the honors owed them rather than being divided into honored and neglected members. Attested: ἀποδιδῶμεν (986c). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Reproach ὄνειδος {#register-451}


*ὄνειδος (oneidos)*


**Social depreciation.** The possessor of the earliest necessary knowledge now receives reproach rather than the reputation for wisdom it may once have conferred. Attested: ὀνείδη (974e–975a). [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### Retentive μνήμων {#register-452}


*μνήμων (mnēmōn)*


**Good memory in middle life.** The same two middle kinds possess good memory. Their retentiveness contributes to cognitive excellence and contrasts with the fear that divine superiors might forget human beings. Attested: μνήμονος (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Memory as qualification.** A good memory supports learning in the best natures; it is necessary capacity, not a sufficient title to wisdom by itself. Attested: μνήμων (989c). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Reverence toward gods θεοσέβεια {#register-453}


*θεοσέβεια (theosebeia)*


**A civic religious direction.** The lawgiver must not turn the city toward an unclear reverence. Knowledge and restraint concern how worship is directed, not whether religion should be removed from civic life. Attested: θεοσέβειαν (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


**Learnable divine regard.** The curriculum answers what things of reverence toward gods can be learned and how; it is not merely a practical observing skill. Attested: θεοσεβείας (990a). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Reverent toward gods θεοσεβής {#register-454}


*θεοσεβής (theosebēs)*


**Religious significance of number.** The substantivized neuter names reverence toward gods as something recognized through considering divine and mortal generation. Attested: θεοσεβὲς (977e). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Revolution περιφορά {#register-455}


*περιφορά (periphora)*


**Celestial turning in the synthesis.** The stars' revolution is included through its agreement with the mathematical and harmonic order. Attested: περιφορᾶς (991e). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Rhythm ῥυθμός {#register-456}


*ῥυθμός (rhythmos)*


**Ordered musical play.** Rhythm with harmony is the human practice served by the numerical proportions and the Muses' gift. Attested: ῥυθμοῦ (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Ridiculous γελοῖος {#register-457}


*γελοῖος (geloios)*


**Criticism of a name.** The emphatic adjective evaluates the name geometry as inadequate to the subject's higher content, not the mathematical inquiry as worthless. Attested: γελοῖον (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Right ὀρθός {#register-458}


*ὀρθός (orthos)*


**Right contemplation.** The adjective qualifies the contemplation of Heaven from which the learner follows the varied display, stellar courses, and gifts of number. Attested: ὀρθὴν (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Right hand δεξιός {#register-459}


*δεξιός (dexios)*


**Direction of seven motions.** The phrase toward the right describes the seven motions opposed to the eighth, without supplying the observational diagram needed for a complete mechanical reconstruction. Attested: δεξιὰ (987b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Rising ἀνατολή {#register-460}


*ἀνατολή (anatolē)*


**Practical celestial event.** Risings paired with settings identify the contrast class to the true astronomer's seven-circuit study. Attested: ἀνατολὰς (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Roll round ἑλίττειν {#register-461}


*ἑλίττειν (helittein)*


**Persistent celestial repetition.** Heaven does not cease rolling days and nights around, and therefore does not cease teaching numerical distinctions. Attested: ἑλίττων (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Root ῥίζα {#register-462}


*ῥίζα (rhiza)*


**Attachment of plants.** Roots explain how some earthly living beings are held in place. The phrase includes plants without classifying every immobile object as alive. Attested: ῥίζαις (981d). [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Route ὁδός {#register-463}


*ὁδός (hodos)*


**Difficult celestial paths.** The remaining routes already described are difficult to understand and therefore require extensive prior preparation. Attested: ὁδοὺς (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Routine τριβή {#register-464}


*τριβή (tribē)*


**Practiced facility in persuasion.** Routine of opinion accompanies memory in attending to characters; its repeated use does not make it knowledge of real justice. Attested: τριβῇ (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Rule ἄρχειν {#register-465}


*ἄρχειν (archein)*


**Ruling and being ruled justly.** The active and passive participles describe the civic roles the sought knowledge should fit a person to perform justly. Attested: ἄρχων καὶ ἀρχόμενος (976d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Precedence of the ruler.** What rules is said to be older than what is ruled. The claim connects authority and explanatory precedence rather than describing the age of every actual political ruler. Attested: ἄρχον (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Intelligent necessity rules.** The soul possessing sense gives law as ruler, not as something ruled. Its necessity is represented as the stability of rational agency. Attested: ἄρχουσα (982b). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Run together σύνδρομος {#register-466}


*σύνδρομος (syndromos)*


**Solar companions in instruction.** The bodies running with the sun are included when it comes second in the resumed educational sequence. Attested: συνδρόμους (990b). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Rush or impetus ῥύμη {#register-467}


*ῥύμη (rhymē)*


**Inadequate bodily explanation.** Bodily rushes are rejected as an unclear causal account when offered in place of soul. The rejection concerns their explanatory role. Attested: ῥύμας (983c). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


**Light movement of intermediaries.** A light rush carries the middle beings through earth and heaven. The word can describe movement within an ensouled account even though bodily rushes alone failed as ultimate causes. Attested: ῥύμῃ (985b). [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Sacred rite ἱερόν {#register-468}


*ἱερόν (hieron)*


**Institutions arising from belief.** Many sacred rites arise from private and public opinions about encounters, and further ones will arise. The plural is contextual religious practice, not merely a list of temple buildings. Attested: ἱερὰ (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Sacrifice θυσία {#register-469}


*θυσία (thysia)*


**Inherited practice protected.** Sacrifices prescribed by ancestral law are not to be obstructed without knowledge. Attested: θυσιῶν (985d). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


**Newly acknowledged divine recipients.** Sacrifices for manifest but neglected gods accompany feasts and temporal honors. Their proposal shows that the preceding restraint is not an absolute ban on all religious change. Attested: θυσίας (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Sailor ναύτης {#register-470}


*ναύτης (nautēs)*


**Companion in nautical help.** Sailors are joined to pilots in the helping category; the text does not reduce all nautical labor to steering. Attested: ναύτας (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Same course ὁμόδρομος {#register-471}


*ὁμόδρομος (homodromos)*


**Hermes' solar companionship.** The celestial body assigned to Hermes runs the same course with the sun and the Dawn-bringer; this does not assert identical position. Attested: ὁμόδρομος (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Scrutinize δοκιμάζειν {#register-472}


*δοκιμάζειν (dokimazein)*


**Condition of the final summons.** Those summoning the council must have sufficiently known and tested the wisdom; institutional adoption is not to replace examination. Attested: δοκιμάσαντας (992e). [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84).


### Search ζήτησις {#register-473}


*ζήτησις (zētēsis)*


**Sustained inquiry.** The search concerning wisdom accompanies perplexity; it is not abandoned simply because current candidates fail. Attested: ζήτησις (974c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Season ὥρα {#register-474}


*ὥρα (hōra)*


**Untimely assault.** The seasons metaphorically plunder living nature through cold, untimely heat, and similar conditions. Attested: ὧραι (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


**Measured provision.** Heaven’s courses supply seasons and nourishment, giving the same field a positive place in cosmic provision. Attested: ὥρας (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Time assigned to divine honors.** Seasons or periods of years are the times to be allotted. The local concern is proportional religious recognition of heavenly beings. Attested: ὥρας (986a). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Seat ἕδρα {#register-475}


*ἕδρα (hedra)*


**Aerial rank.** The aerial kind holds a third and middle seat. The image gives its rank within the hierarchy; it need not be converted into the coordinates of a physically mapped throne. Attested: ἕδραν (984e). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Securely ἀσφαλῶς {#register-476}


*ἀσφαλῶς (asphalōs)*


**Reliable retention.** The adverb qualifies memory in the natural aptitude example; the criticism therefore is not that the memory is unreliable. Attested: ἀσφαλῶς (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### See into ἐγκαθορᾶν {#register-477}


*ἐγκαθορᾶν (enkathoran)*


**Discerning proportion.** Those who see into and think about the doubling relations can recognize their divine and wonderful character. Attested: ἐγκαθορῶσί (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### See together συνορᾶν {#register-478}


*συνορᾶν (synhoran)*


**Relational numerical vision.** Every number is seen together in relation to number. The edition keeps the god as subject but acknowledges another possible construal in its editorial discussion. Attested: συνορᾶν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Seek ζητεῖν {#register-479}


*ζητεῖν (zētein)*


**Search for wisdom.** The shared task is to discover how the speakers will become wise, presupposing a capacity whose realization remains elusive. Attested: ζητοῦμεν (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Earlier lawgiving inquiry.** The Athenian recalls the speakers’ search concerning laws when contrasting readily understood advantages with the difficulty of becoming decent. Attested: ζητοῦσιν (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Seem or think δοκεῖν {#register-480}


*δοκεῖν (dokein)*


**Appraisal of life.** The moderate interval seems to provide a breathing space around the middle of life; the assessment is attributed to the Athenian’s argument. Attested: δοκεῖ (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Seeming wise still open to test.** The learner of the proposed numerical matters seems wise, but the Athenian immediately requires an account of whether he is wise and good. Attested: δοκεῖν (979d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Seemly εὐσχήμων {#register-481}


*εὐσχήμων (euschēmōn)*


**Qualified bodily imitation.** The bodily imitations are not altogether seemly; the adjective evaluates their presentation rather than denying that they are imitations. Attested: εὐσχήμοσι (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Seen through διορᾶν {#register-482}


*διορᾶν (dioran)*


**Transparency of fine bodies.** The passive participle describes each ethereal and aerial kind as wholly seen through. The reading explains their lack of plain appearance despite bodily presence and must be distinguished from negated apparatus variants. Attested: διορώμενον (984e). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Sense νοῦς {#register-483}


*νοῦς (nous)*


**Directed attention.** In the idiom paying attention, nous is directed toward characters by forensic helpers. Its occurrence does not certify their possession of wisdom. Attested: νοῦν (976b). [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107).


**Directive understanding.** Possessing sense makes soul’s necessity rational and legislative. The edition keeps nous as sense, distinct from the intelligence family. Attested: νοῦν (982b). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


**Best deliberative standard.** The best sense directs the soul’s best deliberation, grounding a decision that need not be reversed. Attested: νοῦν (982c). [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


**Minimal legislative judgment.** Even the slightest sense should keep a lawgiver from turning his city toward unclear worship or obstructing ancestral sacrifices without knowledge. Attested: νοῦν (985c). [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Senseless ἀνόητος {#register-484}


*ἀνόητος (anoētos)*


**Loss of numerical understanding.** The superlative describes what human beings would become if the decisive knowledge were removed; it is paired with most unintelligent. Attested: ἀνοητότατον (976d). [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107).


**Excluded character of divine makers.** The heavenly images cannot be works of senseless makers. Their production is attributed to gods whose intelligence and worth support the honor owed to the result. Attested: ἀνοήτων (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Serious σπουδαῖος {#register-485}


*σπουδαῖος (spoudaios)*


**Denied status of imitative play.** The imitative play is said to be in no way serious under the inquiry’s standard, even though its maker can work earnestly. Attested: σπουδαία (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Seriousness σπουδή {#register-486}


*σπουδή (spoudē)*


**Diligence insufficient for wisdom.** The maker may work with the greatest seriousness without being made wise by imitative art. Effort and intellectual rank are distinguished. Attested: σπουδῇ (975d). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Service θεραπεία {#register-487}


*θεραπεία (therapeia)*


**Religious attendance.** The care and service of gods received from non-Greeks is to be improved through education, oracles, and law; this is not medical therapy. Attested: θεραπείας (988a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Set down τιθέναι {#register-488}


*τιθέναι (tithenai)*


**A theological assignment.** The imperative allows a person to place Zeus, Hera, and the other gods within an account according to law. It need not mean physically relocating statues. Attested: τιθέσθω (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


### Setting δυσμή {#register-489}


*δυσμή (dysmē)*


**Practical celestial event.** Settings are paired with risings as the observations exemplifying Hesiodic astronomy, useful but insufficient for the highest wisdom. Attested: δυσμάς (990a). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Setting down θέσις {#register-490}


*θέσις (thesis)*


**Legislative establishment.** The putting down or establishment of laws already discussed; this practical achievement remains short of the educational account sought now. Attested: θέσιν (973b). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Settle within ἐνοικίζειν {#register-491}


*ἐνοικίζειν (enoikizein)*


**Implanted learning capacity.** The god first settles in humans the ability to understand what is shown, before supplying the demonstrations themselves. Attested: ἐνῴκισεν (978c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Shape μορφή {#register-492}


*μορφή (morphē)*


**One living appearance.** The one shape brought forth by a combination marks the unity of the living being. The edition keeps shape distinct from eidos, form, in the later curriculum. Attested: μορφήν (981a). [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


### Share in μεταλαμβάνειν {#register-493}


*μεταλαμβάνειν (metalambanein)*


**One intelligence.** The initiated person, as one, has obtained a share of one intelligence; this prepares but does not mechanically define the later unity of perception. Attested: μεταλαβὼν (986d). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Having received a single portion.** The perfect participle describes having had a share in one portion in the qualified final hope. This belongs to a different verb from metechein, although both concern participation. Attested: μετειληφότα (992b). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Share in μετέχειν {#register-494}


*μετέχειν (metechein)*


**Present perceptual multiplicity left behind.** Within the qualified prospect after death, the wise person will no longer share in many perceptions as now. The verb also describes sharing in the blessed fortune that follows. Attested: μεθέξειν (992b–c). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Sharp ὀξύς {#register-495}


*ὀξύς (oxys)*


**Acuteness of divine sight.** The superlative qualifies the visible gods’ seeing: they see most sharply everywhere. Visible divinity is represented as perceptive, not merely as an object exposed to human sight. Attested: ὀξύτατον (984d). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Show δεικνύναι {#register-496}


*δεικνύναι (deiknynai)*


**Continuing divine instruction.** The god showed and still shows after first establishing receptivity; the sequence distinguishes capacity from instruction. Attested: ἔδειξεν καὶ δείκνυσιν (978c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Sight ὄψις {#register-497}


*ὄψις (opsis)*


**Condition of observing difference.** The observer has sight when passing from day’s kind to night’s part; visible contrast underlies the counting lesson. Attested: ὄψιν (978c). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


**Perception confronted by wonder.** Sight is dim in the observer’s encounter with intermittently visible watery life. Seeing here does not amount to complete knowledge of what is seen. Attested: ὄψιν (985b). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Sister ἀδελφή {#register-498}


*ἀδελφή (adelphē)*


**Common celestial kinship.** The feminine powers are sisters; later their portions are also called sister portions, indicating common entitlement without identical courses. Attested: ἀδελφὰς (986a). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Six ἕξ {#register-499}


*ἕξ (hex)*


**Lower extreme.** Six is explicitly named as the lower endpoint whose double is twelve; the inserted eight and nine are calculated in the note. Attested: ἓξ (991a). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Size μέγεθος {#register-500}


*μέγεθος (megethos)*


**Actual celestial magnitude.** The stars’ actual size exceeds their tiny visual appearance. The speaker appeals to sufficient proofs without reproducing their calculations. Attested: μέγεθος (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Sleep ὕπνος {#register-501}


*ὕπνος (hypnos)*


**Setting of a religious encounter.** Sleep is one circumstance in which people meet with the living kinds as described. The passage does not authenticate every dream or collapse all religious experience into sleep. Attested: ὕπνον (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Slight παρολιγωρεῖν {#register-502}


*παρολιγωρεῖν (paroligōrein)*


**Disregard refused of gods.** The perfect passive denies that humanity has been treated as insignificant through divine forgetfulness or neglect. Attested: παρωλιγωρῆσθαι (991d). [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51).


### Slip aside παρασφάλλεσθαι {#register-503}


*παρασφάλλεσθαι (parasphallesthai)*


**Forensic misdirection.** The perfect participle presents speakers as having fallen outside the truth of the really just, rather than merely failing to speak fluently. Attested: παρεσφαλμένοι (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Slow βραδύς {#register-504}


*βραδύς (bradys)*


**Relative pace.** The solar companions are said to be neither slower nor faster on the whole; the comparison carries express qualifications. Attested: βραδυτέρα (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Slow to learn δυσμαθής {#register-505}


*δυσμαθής (dysmathēs)*


**Elementary teaching reaches the slowest.** The superlative describes the slowest learner within the class naturally capable of learning, not an assertion about every creature without qualification. Attested: δυσμαθέστατος (978d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Slowness βραδύτης {#register-506}


*βραδύτης (bradytēs)*


**Order of the three slower bodies.** The sequence Cronus, Zeus, Ares is expressly ordered by slowness, not by the initial list's positions or a supplied modern radius. Attested: βραδυτῆτι (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Smithing χαλκεία {#register-507}


*χαλκεία (chalkeia)*


**Metalworking example.** Smithing specifies one of the equipment-producing activities; its inclusion does not identify a particular metal object or manufacturing method. Attested: χαλκεία (975b–c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Solemnity σεμνότης {#register-508}


*σεμνότης (semnotēs)*


**Dignity of celestial images.** Solemnity or august dignity accompanies purity and life in the heavenly comparison. It supports honor without deciding between gods themselves and divine images. Attested: σεμνότητι (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Solid στερεός {#register-509}


*στερεός (stereos)*


**Corporeal bodies.** Solid qualifies the five bodies, including fire, water, air, earth, and ether. It must not be restricted to the modern solid state opposed to liquid and gas. Attested: Στερεὰ (981b). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Three-dimensional magnitude.** The mathematical solid nature follows plane geometry; later solid and tangible names the dimensional stage reaching one to eight. Attested: στερεᾷ (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Soothe παραμυθεῖσθαι {#register-510}


*παραμυθεῖσθαι (paramytheisthai)*


**Reassuring but unwarranted praise.** The Athenian resists someone soothing the speakers by proclaiming a sailor or pilot wise. The soothing force is distinct from proof of the title. Attested: παραμυθούμενος (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Soul ψυχή {#register-511}


*ψυχή (psychē)*


**Confidence without discovery.** The soul is confident and divines that it has wisdom’s capacity, yet cannot determine what it is, when, or how. Attested: ψυχῆς (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Priority over body.** Soul is taken as older than body, a foundational relation of explanatory and ruling precedence rather than a measurement of the age of an individual organism. Attested: ψυχὴ (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Constituent of a living unity.** Soul combines with body to bring forth one shape. The living being’s unity does not erase the distinction between the two constituent kinds. Attested: ψυχῆς (981a). [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


**Crafting principle.** Soul molds ethereal living beings from a predominant bodily kind with smaller admixtures. The generic singular does not settle the number of individual crafting souls. Attested: ψυχὴν (984b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Mover of itself and body.** Embodied soul can move and carry round the body and itself. Psychic agency is treated as explanatory rather than as a late effect of independent bodily motion. Attested: ψυχὴν (988d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Sound φθόγγος {#register-512}


*φθόγγος (phthongos)*


**Counted musical sound.** Musical sounds are counted with movements; the passage connects music’s organization with number rather than merely with imitation. Attested: φθόγγων (978a). [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Sovereign κύριος {#register-513}


*κύριος (kyrios)*


**Authority of the best part.** The educated best nature or part is called most sovereign by nature and maximally capable of learning; the claim belongs to a selective civic hierarchy. Attested: κυριώτατον (989d). [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16).


### Speak auspiciously εὐφημεῖν {#register-514}


*εὐφημεῖν (euphēmein)*


**Comprehensive divine reverence.** The followers are to speak auspiciously of all gods and goddesses, extending the earlier refusal to neglect divine members of the cosmos. Attested: εὐφημεῖν (992d). [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### Speed τάχος {#register-515}


*τάχος (tachos)*


**Qualified common pace.** The fourth and fifth motions are nearly equal to the sun in speed, on the whole; exact equality at every moment is not asserted. Attested: τάχει (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Stamp out ἀποτυποῦσθαι {#register-516}


*ἀποτυποῦσθαι (apotypousthai)*


**Nature's mathematical articulation.** The middle verb figuratively gives nature the action of stamping form and kind in each proportion. Attested: ἀποτυποῦται (990e). [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Star ἄστρον {#register-517}


*ἄστρον (astron)*


**Heavenly teaching through motion.** The stars within Heaven are turned through all their courses, contributing the ordered phenomena associated with number’s gift. Attested: ἄστρα (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Divine living collective.** Stars name the heavenly living kind endowed with a fine body and excellent soul. Particular planetary distinctions are supplied later, not by this noun alone. Attested: ἄστρων (981e). [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Subject of the regularity argument.** The stars’ recurring passage should be interpreted as evidence of sense, according to the Athenian, instead of as a sign of soullessness. Attested: ἄστρα (982c). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### State ἕξις {#register-518}


*ἕξις (hexis)*


**Human condition.** The human state that the sought understanding should put in its finest condition; the phrase does not provide a technical classification of habits. Attested: ἕξιν (973a). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Gestational condition.** The condition of beings carried in the womb, included in the account of the difficulty of coming into being. Attested: ἕξεως (973d). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Statue or honored image ἄγαλμα {#register-519}


*ἄγαλμα (agalma)*


**Analogy for celestial representation.** The celestial images are like statues in their relation to gods and honor. The likeness does not render them lifeless or human-made. Attested: ἀγάλματα (983e). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


**Superiority to local cult objects.** Whichever divine account is adopted, the celestial beings deserve greater honor than all statues because of beauty, shared accessibility, placement, purity, solemnity, and life. Attested: ἀγαλμάτων (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Stereometry στερεομετρία {#register-520}


*στερεομετρία (stereometria)*


**Study of solids.** The accepted reading names the craft following plane geometry; products of three factors and cubes are explanatory interpretations. Attested: στερεομετρίαν (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Story μῦθος {#register-521}


*μῦθος (mythos)*


**Reported subsistence story.** The qualification introducing the claim that a first expertise ended some forms of mutual eating and established lawful eating. Attested: μῦθός (975a). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**The shared account.** The Athenian’s designation for the account according to which the identified kind or kinds of knowledge would make someone wise. It does not itself mean falsehood. Attested: μῦθον (980a). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Strange ἄτοπος {#register-522}


*ἄτοπος (atopos)*


**Qualified strangeness.** The Athenian calls his account strange and, in a way, not strange: familiar judgments about life frame a disquieting thesis about happiness. Attested: ἄτοπον (973b). [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Stranger ξένος {#register-523}


*ξένος (xenos)*


**Stranger.** Clinias' form of address to the unnamed Athenian. The word describes the speaker's relationship to the other participants and does not supply a personal name. Attested: ξένε (973a). [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


### Strength ῥώμη {#register-524}


*ῥώμη (rhōmē)*


**Power of speaking.** Forensic helpers claim effectiveness through speaking’s strength; persuasive power remains separate from knowledge of what is really just. Attested: ῥώμῃ (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Stronger κρείττων {#register-525}


*κρείττων (kreittōn)*


**Divine superiors.** The substantivized comparative names those stronger than humans whose care the maxim affirms; it is not an unidentified human political faction. Attested: κρειττόνων (991d). [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51).


### Stupidity ἀμαθία {#register-526}


*ἀμαθία (amathia)*


**Obstacle even in excellent natures.** The greatest ignorance or stupidity explains the failure of piety even among the best natural dispositions. Attested: ἀμαθίαν (989b). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Subject of learning μάθημα {#register-527}


*μάθημα (mathēma)*


**Prerequisite disciplines.** The plural covers the ordered subjects required for astronomy, including numbers, plane and solid relations, and musical proportion. Attested: μαθημάτων (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


**Blessed total learning.** The singular belongs to the complete blessed learning acquired alongside natural virtue, not an isolated technical exercise. Attested: μαθήματος (992d). [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Sufficient ἱκανός {#register-528}


*ἱκανός (hikanos)*


**Receptive capacity.** The plural describes humans as sufficiently able to understand what is shown; it sets a threshold rather than claiming exhaustive knowledge. Attested: ἱκανοῖς (978c). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Life sufficient for a star.** A life of long ages is sufficient for each stellar being and would require no more. Adequacy concerns a fulfilled condition, not merely a large duration. Attested: ἱκανὸν (982a). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


**Sufficient evidential sign.** Uniform action is called evidence sufficient for intelligent life. This is the Athenian’s assessment of the sign’s force. Attested: ἱκανὸν (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Sufficient demonstrations.** The proofs of stellar magnitude are said to be adequate, but the dialogue does not supply their calculations. The adjective characterizes an asserted warrant. Attested: ἱκαναῖς (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Sufficiently ἱκανῶς {#register-529}


*ἱκανῶς (hikanōs)*


**Adequate elementary learning.** The slowest capable learner eventually counts well enough; the adverb specifies adequate achievement, not instant attainment of the entire astronomical wisdom. Attested: ἱκανῶς (978d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Suitable πρόσφορος {#register-530}


*πρόσφορος (prosphoros)*


**Suited to the people.** Equipment has what is suitable for the people, a practical concession distinguished from its not being credited with virtue. Attested: πρόσφορον (975c). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


**Suited to the case.** A quick-witted person remembers what suits each occasion and promptly acts on it; situational fitness still does not prove complete wisdom. Attested: πρόσφορον (976c). [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Summer θερινός {#register-531}


*θερινός (therinos)*


**Observational advantage.** The summer season's beauty in Egypt and Syria explains an advantage in seeing the stars. Attested: θερινῆς (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Summon παρακαλεῖν {#register-532}


*παρακαλεῖν (parakalein)*


**Call toward the specified wisdom.** All are to call the council to this wisdom after knowledge and scrutiny; the deictic object is the course just described. Attested: παρακαλεῖν (992e). [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84).


### Sun ἥλιος {#register-533}


*ἥλιος (hēlios)*


**Magnitude beyond apparent size.** The whole sun is said to be larger than the whole earth. The comparison illustrates asserted real scale without an accompanying numerical estimate. Attested: ἥλιον (983a). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Neglected visible god.** The sun is one example in the hypothetical duty to declare seen divinity and institute fitting honors. The example leads into the wider eightfold celestial account. Attested: ἥλιον (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Syria Συρία {#register-534}


*Συρία (Syria)*


**Region of earlier observation.** Alongside Egypt, the country receives credit for favorable skies and an early observational tradition. Attested: Συρία (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Syrian Σύριος {#register-535}


*Σύριος (Syrios)*


**Cultural fitness of a name.** The adjective qualifies the lawgiver for whom Aphrodite's designation is particularly fitting. Attested: Συρίῳ (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### System σύστημα {#register-536}


*σύστημα (systēma)*


**Ordered number.** The system of number is one differentiated structure integrated with diagrams, harmony, and celestial revolution. Attested: σύστημα (991e). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Take or suppose ὑπολαμβάνειν {#register-537}


*ὑπολαμβάνειν (hypolambanein)*


**The many’s faulty inference.** The multitude takes human movement as intelligent life and the divine as unintelligent because its motions remain the same. The verb identifies the assessment under criticism. Attested: ὑπολαβεῖν (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**The image alternative.** The second option is to take the celestial beings as images like statues made by gods. Supposition here belongs to an explicit allowed alternative, not a dismissal of their reality. Attested: ὑπολαβεῖν (984a). [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Tangible ἁπτός {#register-538}


*ἁπτός (haptos)*


**Solid dimensional stage.** The adjective accompanies solid in the sequence that reaches from one to eight; it does not make the whole number curriculum a study of bodily counting. Attested: ἁπτὸν (991a). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Teach διδάσκειν {#register-539}


*διδάσκειν (didaskein)*


**Repetition as instruction.** The participle belongs to the negative construction that Heaven never ceases teaching humans one and two until even a slow learner can count sufficiently. Attested: διδάσκων (978d). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Conditional instruction.** The best nature needs a teacher, and teaching done wrongly may be worse than not learning. Attested: διδάσκοι (989d). [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32).


### Teach beforehand προδιδάσκειν {#register-540}


*προδιδάσκειν (prodidaskein)*


**Prerequisite instruction.** Much must be taught in advance during the pupil's youth, grounding later astronomical comprehension. Attested: προδιδάσκοντα (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Temperance σωφροσύνη {#register-541}


*σωφροσύνη (sōphrosynē)*


**Virtue expressly permitted.** Temperance, with courage, is not prevented by the deficiency under discussion; the argument denies complete virtue, not every virtue. Attested: σωφροσύνην (977c–d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Temperate σώφρων {#register-542}


*σώφρων (sōphrōn)*


**Agreed quality of soul.** The soul should be temperate, along with just and brave, according to the agreement the Athenian reports. Attested: σώφρονα (979c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Ten thousand year μυριετής {#register-543}


*μυριετής (myrietēs)*


**Enormous duration.** The adjective magnifies the age of tested observation without supplying a documented chronological calculation. Attested: μυριετεῖ (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Test βασανίζειν {#register-544}


*βασανίζειν (basanizein)*


**Long-tested observations.** The received celestial observations have been tested through a vast duration, offered as a reason for confident legislation. Attested: βεβασανισμένα (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Test βάσανος {#register-545}


*βάσανος (basanos)*


**Genuine examination of claims.** The questioning procedure is called the finest and first test for humans, in contrast to apparent tests that lack reality. Attested: βάσανος (991c). [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Think of ἐπινοεῖν {#register-546}


*ἐπινοεῖν (epinoein)*


**Extension to further numbers.** Seeing repeated day-night appearances allows each observer to think of three, four, and many as well. Attested: ἐπινοήσειεν (978d). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Think or regard ἡγεῖσθαι {#register-547}


*ἡγεῖσθαι (hēgeisthai)*


**Identify the giver of number.** The first-person verb marks the Athenian’s judgment that a god rather than fortune has given number and preserves humans. Attested: ἡγοῦμαι (976e). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Leadership construal.** The edition takes the infinitive with the genitive of the three equal-speed motions as lead; an alternative construal as think is noted, not silently settled. Attested: ἡγεῖσθαι (986e). [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


**Learned judgment.** After the names and slower motions are explained, the learner is required to think accordingly; here the edition uses the cognitive sense. Attested: ἡγεῖσθαι (987d). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Think through διανοεῖσθαι {#register-548}


*διανοεῖσθαι (dianoeisthai)*


**Considered understanding.** The opening construction makes thinking something through part of what improves the human condition in relation to intelligence. Attested: διανοηθῇ (973a). [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Recognition of the bond.** The natural connection is disclosed to those thinking through the studies, not automatically to anyone who memorizes their separate contents. Attested: διανοουμένοις (992a). [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Thought διάνοια {#register-549}


*διάνοια (dianoia)*


**Human interior understanding.** All human thought is said to be known by ethereal and aerial beings. The noun does not itself assert an audible internal voice or describe a physiological mechanism. Attested: διάνοιαν (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Three τρεῖς {#register-550}


*τρεῖς (treis)*


**Extension of counting.** The neuter τρία appears among the small numbers the ignorant being lacks and among the further numbers inferred from repeated appearances. Attested: τρία (977c). [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88).


### Three times τρίς {#register-551}


*τρίς (tris)*


**Dimensional increase.** The accepted adverb describes three-times-increased numbers, interpreted as products of three factors; it is not the cardinal three from the alternative reading. Attested: τρὶς (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Time χρόνος {#register-552}


*χρόνος (chronos)*


**Brief moderate interval.** The time judged moderate is short in the reckoning and supplies only a breathing space near life’s middle. Attested: χρόνος (974a). [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Measured celestial fulfillment.** The exactness of time concerns the whole celestial order and supports recognition of divine care; it is not separately introduced as a rival cosmic cause. Attested: χρόνου (991c). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Title ἐπωνυμία {#register-553}


*ἐπωνυμία (epōnymia)*


**Divine appellation.** The heavenly bodies have received gods' titles despite lacking their own familiar names; title and name are deliberately distinguished. Attested: ἐπωνυμίαν (987b). [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Travel πορεύεσθαι {#register-554}


*πορεύεσθαι (poreuesthai)*


**Uniform recurrent movement.** Traveling in the same respects and manner always supplies the central example of rational regularity. Attested: πορευόμενον (982b). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Precise cosmic travel.** Earth, heaven, and stars are said to require soul in order to travel with yearly, monthly, and daily precision. Attested: πορεύεσθαι (983c). [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Trivial φαῦλος {#register-555}


*φαῦλος (phaulos)*


**Nontrivial candidate.** The feminine adjective is negated in describing the newly discovered kind of wisdom. It marks importance without yet establishing that its knower is genuinely wise and good. Attested: φαύλην (979d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### True ἀληθής {#register-556}


*ἀληθής (alēthēs)*


**Truth of an utterance.** The criterion prophecy and interpretation have not learned: whether what is said is true, beyond knowing the saying itself. Attested: ἀληθές (975c). [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


### True born γνήσιος {#register-557}


*γνήσιος (gnēsios)*


**Rejected division of gods.** Familial legitimacy is invoked in a division the Athenian forbids: some celestial beings must not be called genuine while others are demeaned. Attested: γνήσιοι (986b). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Trust πιστεύειν {#register-558}


*πιστεύειν (pisteuein)*


**Trust before speaking.** Clinias tells the Athenian to trust the gods, pray, and speak. Trust accompanies a request for the finer account; it does not replace the ensuing argument about soul and bodily kinds. Attested: πιστεύσας (980c). [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Truth ἀλήθεια {#register-559}


*ἀλήθεια (alētheia)*


**Truth of real justice.** The standard from which the forensic helpers have slipped aside, despite the strength and practiced effectiveness of their speaking. Attested: ἀληθείας (976b). [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Turn στρέφειν {#register-560}


*στρέφειν (strephein)*


**Celestial courses.** Heaven turns the stars within itself through their courses; the motion supplies seasons and sustenance. Attested: στρέφων (977b). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Turning τροπή {#register-561}


*τροπή (tropē)*


**Solar solstice.** The sun brings the turnings through its circuit, explained by the edition as solstices rather than arbitrary changes of direction. Attested: τροπὰς (990b). [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


### Twelve δώδεκα {#register-562}


*δώδεκα (dōdeka)*


**Upper extreme.** Twelve is the stated doubled endpoint from which arithmetic and harmonic means yield the musical relations. Attested: δώδεκα (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Two δύο {#register-563}


*δύο (dyo)*


**Elementary numerical distinction.** Two is paired with three in the account of what the uncounting being does not know, and with one in the account of learning through day and night. Attested: δύο (977c). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Unable ἀδύνατος {#register-564}


*ἀδύνατος (adynatos)*


**Awkward limitation in the observer example.** Burnet retains unable in the description of the observer who does not declare what he has seen. Grou’s able is an apparatus conjecture and must not silently replace the printed difficulty. Attested: ἀδύνατος (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Understand συνιέναι {#register-565}


*συνιέναι (synienai)*


**Practical comprehension.** The aorist infinitive concerns understanding what is said about ordinary advantages, paired with being able to act on it. The text contrasts this with the harder task of becoming decent. Attested: συνεῖναι (979b). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Understanding σύννοια {#register-566}


*σύννοια (synnoia)*


**Right divine apprehension.** Even a small share of right and divine understanding makes the direction of true wisdom apparent. Attested: συννοίας (987c). [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Unfinished ἀτελής {#register-567}


*ἀτελής (atelēs)*


**Incomplete lawgiving project.** What the speakers undertook would remain unfinished if they abandoned the question of wisdom, despite having discussed the other legislative matters. Attested: ἀτελὲς (973b). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Unholy ἀνόσιος {#register-568}


*ἀνόσιος (anosios)*


**Target of avenging justice.** The theological account is framed as accordant with justice avenging the unholy; this is distinct from the earlier impious-word family. Attested: ἀνοσίων (988e). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Unintelligent ἄφρων {#register-569}


*ἄφρων (aphrōn)*


**Loss of numerical understanding.** The superlative characterizes the human living being deprived of the knowledge that gives number; it remains distinct from senseless. Attested: ἀφρονέστατον (976d). [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Interpretation of disorder.** The unintelligent is what moves without order. This criterion drives the contrast with the regular stars. Attested: ἄφρον (982a). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Mistaken judgment about divinity.** The many call the divine unintelligent because it remains in the same motions. The Athenian treats that assessment as the inverse of the correct inference. Attested: ἄφρον (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


**Body without psychic direction.** Body is set down as unintelligent in contrast with intelligent soul. The distinction assigns cognition to the ruling principle, not to matter by itself. Attested: ἄφρον (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Universe τὸ πᾶν {#register-570}


*τὸ πᾶν (to pan)*


**Source of human receptivity.** The substantivized whole is that from which humans possess the nature enabling thought of one and two. Attested: παντὸς (978c). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Unlike ἀνόμοιος {#register-571}


*ἀνόμοιος (anomoios)*


**Objects of solid assimilation.** The unlike numbers are made like by the further craft of stereometry; the operation is not spelled out as a full construction. Attested: ἀνομοίους (990d). [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### Unseemly ἀσχήμων {#register-572}


*ἀσχήμων (aschēmōn)*


**Misshapen or unfitting motion.** The adjective joins the negative series describing motion without numerical order; it is not a judgment of a named artwork or body here. Attested: ἀσχήμων (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Unseen or unclear ἄδηλος {#register-573}


*ἄδηλος (adēlos)*


**Intermittent water-kind appearance.** The watery being becomes unseen after being hidden. The account contrasts this occasional hiddenness with occasional visibility, not permanent incorporeality. Attested: ἄδηλον (985b). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Untimely ἄκαιρος {#register-574}


*ἄκαιρος (akairos)*


**Failure of fitting time.** The adjective qualifies heat in the medical example; its damaging character involves inappropriate timing, not heat as invariably evil. Attested: ἀκαίρῳ (976a). [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75).


### Use χρεία {#register-575}


*χρεία (chreia)*


**Ground of practical esteem.** Use is the respect in which the general’s craft receives its high reputation. It does not itself prove the intellectual title wise. Attested: χρείαν (975e). [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


**Benefit of mathematical music.** The concordant and commensurate use assigned to people is for rhythmic and harmonic play, a positive role distinct from mere practical sufficiency for wisdom. Attested: χρείαν (991b). [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Vehicle ὄχημα {#register-576}


*ὄχημα (ochēma)*


**Possible carriage of celestial beings.** Vehicles are one expressly retained alternative to divine beings' going of themselves; the passage does not settle the mechanism. Attested: ὀχήμασι (986b). [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Very nearly σχεδόν {#register-577}


*σχεδόν (schedon)*


**Qualification of the divine name.** The adverb qualifies the identification of the giver of number as Heaven; omitting it makes the naming less guarded than the printed sentence. Attested: σχεδὸν (977a). [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Qualified cosmic contrast.** The description of motion without reckoning and order begins with this qualifier before the wider claim about everything sharing in badness. Attested: σχεδὸν (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**A qualified theological assertion.** The adverb qualifies the gods’ resistance to being soothed concerning justice. Its presence restrains the exact assertion and should survive summary. Attested: σχεδὸν (980d). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


**Qualified exclusivity of soul.** The statement that molding and crafting belong to soul alone is qualified as very nearly. The later strong causal distinction should be read alongside this local wording. Attested: σχεδὸν (981b). [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


**Qualified stellar assessment.** Very nearly qualifies the assignment in opinion of one of two stellar portions. It reinforces the need to preserve the alternative rather than report an unqualified proof of immortality. Attested: σχεδόν (981e). [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### Violent or excessive ἐξαίσιος {#register-578}


*ἐξαίσιος (exaisios)*


**Excluded seasonal excess.** Winds and rains are said not to have this excessive character in the beneficent order described; the phrase does not catalogue every actual storm. Attested: ἐξαισίων (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Virtue ἀρετή {#register-579}


*ἀρετή (aretē)*


**Standard beyond usefulness.** The productive equipment arts suit the people but are not spoken of on account of virtue. Attested: ἀρετῇ (975c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Complete virtue.** The soul without reason cannot attain all virtue, with wisdom later named its greatest part. Attested: ἀρετὴν (977c). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Partial virtue permitted.** Courage and temperance are explicitly not prevented even in the numerical and rational deficiency under consideration. Attested: ἀρετὴν (977c–d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Visible ὁρατός {#register-580}


*ὁρατός (horatos)*


**Shared perceptibility.** The earthly and fiery living kinds are both visible, though their order and excellence differ. Attested: ὁρατὰ (982a). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Visible gods.** The stars are identified as gods that can be seen. Their perceptibility is not identical with the community’s acknowledgment of the honors they deserve. Attested: ὁρατούς (984d). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Voice or report φήμη {#register-581}


*φήμη (phēmē)*


**Heard religious utterance.** The plural is rendered voices beside oracles, describing what some people hear. Elsewhere the word-family can mean a report; this local sense must not govern every occurrence automatically. Attested: φήμας (985c). [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Wander πλανᾶσθαι {#register-582}


*πλανᾶσθαι (planasthai)*


**Erratic movement denied of stars.** Wandering accompanies the rejected picture of changing deliberation and variable activity. Here the denial concerns disorder, not a denial that the later planets have differentiated regular paths. Attested: πλανᾶσθαί (982d). [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Wane φθίνειν {#register-583}


*φθίνειν (phthinein)*


**Decline of the moon’s appearance.** Waning is the paired lunar change through which the god organizes months in relation to the year. Attested: φθίνουσαν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Want of reason ἀλογία {#register-584}


*ἀλογία (alogia)*


**An inadequate rival account.** Want of reason accompanies folly in the rejection of accounts that bypass the soul–body origin of the heavens. It contrasts with the immediately preceding test whether the account has logos. Attested: ἀλογία (983e). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Warlike art πολεμικός {#register-585}


*πολεμικός (polemikos)*


**Military assistance.** The feminine adjective identifies the art of war as the greatest and most widely applicable help before the more specific name generalship. Attested: πολεμικὴ (975e). [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


### Water ὕδωρ {#register-586}


*ὕδωρ (hydōr)*


**A distinct body.** Water is one of five bodies in the explicit enumeration. It later supplies a middle living kind rather than merely the ordinary animals that happen to swim. Attested: ὕδωρ (981c). [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


**Last middle kind introduced.** The water-kind is locally called fifth and likened to a demigod. That ordinal differs from its expected fourth position in the descending hierarchy that ends with earthly humans. Attested: ὕδατος (985b). [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Atmospheric obscurity.** The plural waters accompanies clouds in the climate argument; this is a local observational sense, distinct from water as one of five bodies. Attested: ὑδάτων (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Wax αὐξάνεσθαι {#register-587}


*αὐξάνεσθαι (auxanesthai)*


**Growth of the moon’s appearance.** The moon’s waxing is paired with waning in the explanation of months arranged relative to a year; the wording does not imply literal growth of its substance. Attested: αὐξανομένην (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Way τρόπος {#register-588}


*τρόπος (tropos)*


**Ancient practice of observation.** The accepted text says an ancient way nourished the first observers; place is a variant, not the printed word here. Attested: τρόπος (987a). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Right conduct of study.** In the phrase kata tropon, it names the manner required for beneficial instruction and unified learning, supplied by the surrounding curriculum. Attested: τρόπον (989d). [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32).


### Weaving together συνυφή {#register-589}


*συνυφή (synuphē)*


**Image of construction.** The joining of dwellings is described as a weaving together before the text broadens to all building. Attested: συνυφὴ (975b). [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Weight βάρος {#register-590}


*βάρος (baros)*


**Objection to psychic movement.** The claim that soul cannot carry any weight is refused in defending its ability to carry itself and body. Attested: βάρος (988d). [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Welcome ἀσπάζεσθαι {#register-591}


*ἀσπάζεσθαι (aspazesthai)*


**Positive response to good humans.** The finer middle beings warmly welcome the fine and good among us. Their response belongs to the affective condition that the passage contrasts with completed divinity. Attested: ἀσπάζεσθαι (985a). [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### What is needed δέον {#register-592}


*δέον (deon)*


**Benefit accomplished by heaven.** The needful is what the dancing stars accomplish for all living things. The broad formula recalls seasons, nourishment, and number without restricting the benefit to one of them. Attested: δέον (982e). [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Wheat flour ἄλευρον {#register-593}


*ἄλευρον (aleuron)*


**Necessary food product.** Wheat-flour is the second named staple product, acknowledging bodily benefit without identifying its producer’s craft with complete wisdom. Attested: ἀλεύρων (975b). [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Wind ἄνεμος {#register-594}


*ἄνεμος (anemos)*


**Measured seasonal wind.** The plural winds, distinct from pneuma in the navigation example, belong with rains to the favorable conditions sustaining fertility. Attested: ἀνέμων (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Wind πνεῦμα {#register-595}


*πνεῦμα (pneuma)*


**Uncertain nautical condition.** The wind’s anger and friendliness personify the external conditions the pilot cannot reliably know. Here pneuma is not a metaphysical spirit. Attested: πνεύματος (976a). [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Winter χειμών {#register-596}


*χειμών (cheimōn)*


**Climatic contrast.** Greece is praised as intermediate between winter conditions and the summer nature advantageous in the earlier observing regions. Attested: χειμώνων (987d). [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Wisdom σοφία {#register-597}


*σοφία (sophia)*


**Denied title.** The surveyed ordinary competences do not deserve the name of wisdom concerning human affairs. Attested: σοφίας (974b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Greatest part of virtue.** Wisdom is identified as the greatest part of all virtue and a condition for complete goodness and happiness. Attested: σοφία (977d). [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Disputed content.** People agree that a soul should be wise but not which wisdom it needs. Attested: σοφίαν (979c). [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


**Plural candidates.** The former kinds of wisdom are the candidates against which the newly identified one is compared; the plural does not validate all of them. Attested: σοφίας (979d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Wise σοφός {#register-598}


*σοφός (sophos)*


**Educational target.** The mortal would be wise through learning something still to be identified. The adjective describes a person’s achieved condition. Attested: σοφὸς (973b). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Not merely reputed.** The truly wise person must possess the appropriate knowledge, as distinct from being called wise by others. Attested: σοφὸς (976c). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Unestablished result.** Whether the knower of the proposed matters is wise and good is expressly left for a further account. Attested: σοφὸς (979d). [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Without a share ἄμοιρος {#register-599}


*ἄμοιρος (amoiros)*


**Deprivation of honor.** The visible gods are described as lacking a portion of honor. The allotment vocabulary prepares the distribution of times and festivals. Attested: ἀμοίρους (985e). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Without causal responsibility ἀναίτιος {#register-600}


*ἀναίτιος (anaitios)*


**Body’s passivity.** Body is described as cause of no affection at all. It remains a constituent of living beings, so lack of causal initiative does not mean absence from the explanation of their composition. Attested: ἀναίτιον (983d). [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Without judgment ἀγνώμων {#register-601}


*ἀγνώμων (agnōmōn)*


**Confessed ethical deficit.** The speakers would lack judgment of just things without the wisdom being sought; the Athenian says they seem to be in that condition. Attested: ἀγνώμονες (989a). [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Without measure ἄμετρος {#register-602}


*ἄμετρος (ametros)*


**Unregulated conjecture.** The helping practices are carried along without measure and conjectured through opinions; the adjective is part of the epistemic criticism. Attested: ἄμετρα (976a). [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


**Measure in weather.** Winds and rains in the account of beneficent provision are said not to be without measure. Attested: ἀμέτρων (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Without reckoning ἀλόγιστος {#register-603}


*ἀλόγιστος (alogistos)*


**Disordered motion.** The adjective begins the sequence of negative descriptions of motion left without number and associated with badness. Attested: ἀλόγιστός (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Without rhythm ἄρρυθμος {#register-604}


*ἄρρυθμος (arrythmos)*


**Temporal disorder.** Rhythmless motion belongs to the series of conditions from which the Athenian contrasts numerical goodness. Attested: ἄρρυθμος (978a). [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Without rites ἀνοργίαστος {#register-605}


*ἀνοργίαστος (anorgiastos)*


**Neglected divine honor.** The manifest gods lack the sacred observances that should belong to them. The word is not restricted here to initiation in one particular mystery cult. Attested: ἀνοργιάστους (985d). [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Wonder θαῦμα {#register-606}


*θαῦμα (thauma)*


**Response to uncertain appearance.** The watery kind presents a wonder to dim sight. Wonder marks the surprising experience, not proof that every interpretation generated by it is true. Attested: θαῦμα (985b). [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Divine mathematical intelligibility.** The geometrical relation is described as a divine wonder to the person capable of understanding it, not as an exemption from explanation. Attested: θαῦμα (990d). [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Wonder at θαυμάζειν {#register-607}


*θαυμάζειν (thaumazein)*


**Beginning of learning.** The happy person's first response to the visible cosmos precedes a love of learning what mortals can understand. Attested: ἐθαύμασεν (986c). [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Year ἐνιαυτός {#register-608}


*ἐνιαυτός (eniautos)*


**Whole for comparing months.** The year supplies the larger relation within which months are composed; the text does not state a detailed intercalation rule here. Attested: ἐνιαυτὸν (979a). [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Young νέος {#register-609}


*νέος (neos)*


**Textually doubtful inferior term.** Burnet marks this word, young, as corrupt in the contrast with what is older. The apparatus alternative worse is not the reading text and must not be substituted as an attested form. Attested: †νέου (980e). [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### Young man νεανίσκος {#register-610}


*νεανίσκος (neaniskos)*


**Continuing educational stage.** The learner's young manhood continues the earlier preparation; the text gives no precise numerical age boundary. Attested: νεανίσκον (990c). [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Zeus Ζεύς {#register-611}


*Ζεύς (Zeus)*


**Traditional named god.** Zeus is named with Hera and all the other gods whose placement is left to established law and the individual’s stated choice. This sentence does not give an exhaustive cosmic mapping. Attested: Δία (984d). [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Planetary title of Zeus.** The body next after Cronus' in slowness must be called Zeus', identified as Jupiter in the edition's note. The divine title does not by itself identify every traditional narrative about Zeus with that planet's behavior. Attested: Διός (987c). [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26); [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


# Contextual phrase glosses {#contextual-glosses}


These glosses explain constructions as units. Ellipses mark omitted intervening words, not a continuous quotation; nearby qualifications belong to the construction when they limit the claim. Headings are explanatory labels, while the Greek and references identify the textual evidence.


### A meeting fulfills an agreement not an answer {#phrase-001}


*Πρὸς μὲν τὸ τῆς ὁμολογίας ἥκομεν ἅπαντες ὀρθῶς* (973a)


The phrase τὸ τῆς ὁμολογίας concerns the matter of their agreement: all three have duly come together. Its fulfillment is contrasted immediately with the uncompleted question of what learning makes a mortal wise. The agreement is procedural and dramatic, not evidence that they already share the intellectual answer. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### As much intelligence as a human can have {#phrase-002}


*πρὸς φρόνησιν ὅσην δυνατὸν ἀνθρώπῳ σχεῖν* (973a)


The relative ὅσην limits the intelligence under inquiry to what is possible for a human to possess. This limit is part of the initial aspiration, not a later retreat after failure. It allows the dialogue to advocate learning about divine things without identifying mortal knowledge with everything a god knows. [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


### Megillus here {#phrase-003}


*Μέγιλλος ὅδε* (973a)


The demonstrative marks the third man's presence even though he has no speaking turn. His silence does not reduce the group to two people. [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


### What must be learned to become wise? {#phrase-004}


*τί ποτε μαθὼν θνητὸς ἄνθρωπος σοφὸς ἂν εἴη* (973b)


The aorist participle μαθών makes the question concern what a person has learned as the condition of being wise; the potential optative ἂν εἴη presents the result being sought. The phrase does not ask merely who has a reputation for wisdom or which activity is useful. [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Neither said nor found {#phrase-005}


*τοῦτο οὔτε εἴπομεν οὔτε ηὕρομεν* (973b)


The paired negatives distinguish declaring the answer from discovering it and concede that neither has been achieved. The reference is the greatest remaining issue in the legislative project. It prevents the opening continuation of the Laws from being mistaken for the repetition of an answer already secured. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Strange and in a way not strange {#phrase-006}


*ἄτοπον μὴν ἀκούσεσθαί σε λόγον οἶμαι, καί τινα τρόπον οὐκ ἄτοπον αὖ* (973b)


The Athenian qualifies the strangeness of his own forthcoming account. Its denial of ordinary human blessedness is disquieting, but it is connected with familiar appraisals of a laborious life. The second clause does not simply cancel the first: τινα τρόπον marks the respect in which the account is also familiar. [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### The exception and the temporal limit {#phrase-007}


*πλὴν ὀλίγων—μέχριπερ ἂν ζῶμεν τοῦτο διορίζομαι* (973c)


The exception of a few and the explicit limit while we live jointly qualify the pronouncement about blessedness and happiness. Dropping either strengthens the claim beyond the text. The subsequent fine hope after death also remains hope, not a statement that death automatically makes everyone happy. [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### A fine hope for one who has died {#phrase-008}


*καλὴ δὲ ἐλπὶς τελευτήσαντι* (973c)


The dative participle identifies the recipient of the hope. Its surrounding explanation relates the hoped-for end to striving to live as finely as possible. The phrasing should therefore be preserved as an ethically conditioned expectation rather than rewritten into an unconditional proof of posthumous blessedness. [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### A breathing space near life’s middle {#phrase-009}


*ἀναπνοὴν … κατὰ μέσον πῃ βίον τὸν ἀνθρώπινον* (974a)


The omitted words connect the image to what the Athenian takes as a moderate interval. Ἀναπνοή gives relief a bodily image, while πῃ leaves the location near life’s middle approximate. The text does not define a numerical age bracket or assert a precise biological timetable. [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Reckoning the life already lived {#phrase-010}


*λογισάμενον τὸν βεβιωμένον ἑαυτῷ βίον* (974a)


The aorist participle describes the retrospective appraisal that would make the older person unwilling to repeat his life. The perfect participle βεβιωμένον marks the life as already lived. The wording introduces reckoning before arithmetic becomes the explicit subject, but supplies no quantitative formula for a life’s value. [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


### Wisdom runs away in flight {#phrase-011}


*ἡ δὲ φυγῇ φεύγει* (974b)


The cognate noun and verb reinforce the image of escape. The object pursued eludes those who approach one of the familiar crafts or intelligences. This rhetorical doubling conveys frustration in inquiry; it does not say that every craft is useless or that no one can ever attain wisdom. [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Confident divination without determination {#phrase-012}


*τίς δέ ἐστιν καὶ πότε καὶ πῶς* (974c)


The three questions specify what the soul cannot discover about the power it confidently divines: its identity, when it is realized, and how. The sequence keeps a strong inward conviction distinct from a determinate account. It also anticipates the educational demand for content and method rather than merely natural aptitude. [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Examination of oneself and others {#phrase-013}


*φρονίμως αὑτοὺς ἄλλους τε ἐξετάσαι συμφώνως* (974c)


The reflexive and the reference to others make examination both self-directed and interpersonal. The adverbs qualify its intelligent and concordant manner. The speech therefore presupposes some capacity for intelligent inquiry before the highest wisdom is found; it does not classify every current questioner as wholly irrational. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Assent in hope and perhaps {#phrase-014}


*Συμφήσομεν ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι σοι ἴσως* (974c)


Clinias agrees to concur but qualifies the agreement by hope and perhaps. The following words explain the hope as a later arrival at the truest opinion with the Athenian. This is a commitment to continue under a provisional assessment, not a guarantee that every ensuing assertion has already been established. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Taking up and possessing do not ensure wisdom {#phrase-015}


*τὸν λαμβάνοντά τε αὐτὰς καὶ ἔχοντα* (974d)


The participles jointly identify the person who acquires and possesses the kinds of knowledge under review. Both stages can occur without those knowledges making the possessor wise. The test therefore concerns what the content accomplishes in a person, rather than merely whether knowledge can be received or retained. [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Most necessary and genuinely first {#phrase-016}


*ἀναγκαιόταται σχεδὸν ἀληθῶς τε πρῶται* (974d–e)


The strongest concession of need and priority precedes the rejection of subsistence expertise as wisdom. The qualifications concern what mortals first need, not the highest rank in the educational argument. Practical indispensability and the power to produce a completely wise person are deliberately separated. [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### As the story has it {#phrase-017}


*ὡς ὁ μῦθός ἐστιν* (975a)


This parenthetic qualification marks the account of food knowledge moving humans away from mutual eating. It tells the reader the status of the civilizing narrative. It is not a documentary claim about an identified prehistoric event, nor does its use make every subsequent sentence merely fictional. [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Fine and good but not completely wise {#phrase-018}


*καλὴ μὲν καὶ ἀγαθή, σοφὸν δὲ ἄνδρα τελέως* (975b)


The extract shows the μέν–δέ contrast between nourishment’s conceded goodness and the denied result of its making: a completely wise man. The following negative supplies the denial. Because the contrast concerns different objects and predicates, there is no contradiction in valuing food production while withholding the ultimate intellectual title. [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


### Not by craft but by nature under the god {#phrase-019}


*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](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43).


### What suits the people without the virtue claim {#phrase-020}


*δήμῳ τὸ πρόσφορον ἔχουσα, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐπ’ ἀρετῇ λεγομένη* (975c)


The productive art possesses what is serviceable to the people, but its reputation does not rest on virtue. The dative identifies the recipients of its practical suitability. The sentence does not assert that every builder lacks personal virtues or that equipment can never be used well. [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18).


### Great skill without magnificence and wisdom {#phrase-021}


*πολλή περ καὶ τεχνικὴ γεγονυῖα* (975c)


The concessive περ grants hunting extent and technical development before the denial that it renders magnificence together with wisdom. The argument is therefore not an accusation that hunting lacks all skill. Scale and expertise themselves fail to answer the work’s stronger evaluative question. [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61).


### Knowing what is said not whether it is true {#phrase-022}


*τὸ λεγόμενον γὰρ οἶδεν μόνον, εἰ δ’ ἀληθές, οὐκ ἔμαθεν* (975c)


The art’s known object is the utterance; the indirect question εἰ ἀληθές makes its truth a further object of learning. The distinction does not say that every oracle is false. It denies that handling or interpreting the saying alone gives the truth-knowledge required for wisdom. [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100).


### Mostly imitative in no way serious {#phrase-023}


*μιμητικὴ μὲν τὸ πλεῖστον ἀλλ’ οὐδαμῇ σπουδαία* (975d)


The first qualification allows that the category is largely rather than absolutely imitative; the second strongly denies its seriousness under the present standard. Later fine play shows that this is not a permanent lexical equation of all play with worthlessness. The local art and its ability to produce wisdom are at issue. [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Greatest seriousness without wisdom {#phrase-024}


*σπουδῇ τῇ μεγίστῃ δημιουργοῦντα* (975d)


The maker can work with maximal earnestness while the imitative art still does not present him as wise. The adverbial dative concerns how he works; the earlier denial of seriousness concerns the activity’s rank in the wisdom inquiry. Keeping those grammatical tasks separate reveals the point of the apparent paradox. [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### Countless help for countless people {#phrase-025}


*βοήθεια γίγνοιτ’ ἂν μυρία μυρίοις* (975e)


The repeated numerical adjective gives the new practical category breadth. The potential construction introduces what would remain after the preceding activities: aid of many kinds for many recipients. It is an organizing transition, not a literal enumeration of ten thousand services. [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


### More courage than wisdom {#phrase-026}


*μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνδρείᾳ κατὰ φύσιν ἢ σοφίᾳ δεδομένη* (975e–976a)


The paired datives and comparative construction attribute the general’s craft more to natural courage than to wisdom. The phrase does not condemn courage; the later partial-virtue concession explicitly leaves it possible without full reason. It challenges the inference from military capacity to complete intellectual excellence. [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52).


### Carried along without measure guessed by opinions {#phrase-027}


*ἄμετρα γὰρ δόξαις φορεῖται τοπαζόμενα* (976a)


The participle explains the practices as conjectured through opinions, while the finite verb pictures their being carried along without measure. The immediately preceding helpers are being assessed against truest wisdom. This is the Athenian’s epistemic verdict, not a modern evaluation of medical or military research. [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58).


### The wind’s anger or friendliness {#phrase-028}


*πνεύματος ὀργὴν οὐδὲ φιλίαν* (976a–b)


The genitive assigns both personified dispositions to the wind. Their surrounding negative says no one could know them in the sense required for the pilot’s claim to wisdom. The favorable member is dear to navigation, showing desire for good conditions without claiming control over them. [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


### Memory and the routine of opinion {#phrase-029}


*μνήμῃ καὶ τριβῇ δόξης* (976b)


The datives describe how forensic speakers attend to characters. The genitive δόξης is retained as printed and associates the routine with opinion; the apparatus reports alternate construals, but they are not adopted here. The context contrasts this practiced attention with truth about what is really just. [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Outside the truth of what is really just {#phrase-030}


*ἀληθείας δὲ τῶν ὄντως δικαίων ἐκτὸς παρεσφαλμένοι* (976b)


The perfect participle gives the forensic helpers a settled result of having slipped aside. The nested genitive identifies the truth missed as truth concerning the really just. Their deficiency is therefore compatible with speaking strongly and remembering effectively; persuasive success alone does not meet the standard. [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Remembering what suits each case {#phrase-031}


*τὸ πρόσφορον ἑκάστῳ διαμνημονεύῃ* (976c)


The person’s memory concerns what fits each occasion, followed by the condition of its being appropriate if done and the fact of prompt action. The aptitude is practical and discriminating, not merely storage of disconnected facts. Its insufficiency for wisdom is therefore a demanding claim. [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76).


### Truly wise and not only reputed {#phrase-032}


*σοφὸς ὄντως ὢν καὶ μὴ μόνον δοξαζόμενος* (976c)


The participles distinguish actual condition from public attribution. The knowledge sought must explain the former; natural aptitude, occupational prestige, or a conventional name supplies only the latter unless the further criterion is met. This distinction continues after number has been proposed. [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### Ruler and ruled justly {#phrase-033}


*πολίτης τε καὶ ἄρχων καὶ ἀρχόμενος ἐνδίκως* (976d)


The coordinated civic roles make the desired result relevant both to directing the city and to living under direction. Justice qualifies the civic achievement rather than merely efficient command. The knowledge sought must therefore do more than provide a specialist technique applicable to one separate task. [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### What if the knowledge departed or never arrived? {#phrase-034}


*ἐπιστήμη μία διεξελθοῦσα ἢ μὴ παραγενομένη* (976d)


The two participles test both loss and original absence of one currently present knowledge. The question is comparative: which missing knowledge would make humans most senseless and unintelligent? Identifying the indispensable foundation does not itself establish that possessing an elementary part of it is sufficient for completed wisdom. [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Having given the god preserves {#phrase-035}


*δόντα ἡμῖν σῴζειν ἡμᾶς* (976e)


The aorist participle δόντα presents the giving of number as accomplished relative to the preserving expressed by the infinitive. The god’s benefaction is thus not merely an initial event without ongoing significance. The phrase depends on the preceding identification of a god rather than some fortune as subject. [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Heaven very nearly {#phrase-036}


*σχεδὸν Οὐρανόν* (977a)


The divine name is given with σχεδόν, the edition’s very nearly. The qualification should be preserved even though the argument thereafter treats the visible heavenly order as teacher and giver. Capitalization reflects the naming of Heaven as a god in the adopted presentation. [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Call it as you like but follow {#phrase-037}


*λεγέτω μέν, ἀκολουθείτω δὲ* (977b)


The μέν–δέ pair permits freedom among the offered names cosmos, olympus, and heaven while insisting on following the object’s ordered activity. The liberty concerns designation, not indifference to truth about the courses, seasons, and nourishment supplied. [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Receive the gift and go through the circuit {#phrase-038}


*τὴν ἀριθμῶν αὐτοῦ δόσιν δεξάμενος ἐπεξέλθῃ πᾶσαν τὴν περίοδον* (977b)


The participle and subsequent verb connect receiving numerical provision with completing a course of attention. The gift does not cancel the learner’s work. The whole circuit also anticipates the later demand that the studies be understood together rather than as isolated achievements. [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


### Only perceptions and memories {#phrase-039}


*περὶ ὧν αἰσθήσεις καὶ μνήμας … μόνον εἴη κεκτημένον* (977c)


The omitted material is Burnet’s bracketed ἔχοι, excluded from the adopted sense. The perfect construction describes the possession of perceptions and memories while the surrounding clause denies the ability to give an account. The distinction is between retained experience and accountable understanding, not between experience and total insensibility. [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


### The express concession of partial virtue {#phrase-040}


*τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἀρετήν, ἀνδρείαν καὶ σωφροσύνην, οὐδὲν ἀποκωλύει* (977c–d)


The adversative δέ preserves a real qualification: nothing prevents courage and temperance in the being under discussion. The surrounding argument denies complete virtue, wisdom, and complete happiness without true reason. Reading the passage as denying any virtue whatsoever to an uncounting being directly erases this concession. [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Deprived of true reason {#phrase-041}


*στερόμενος δὲ ἀληθοῦς λόγου σοφὸς οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο* (977d)


The deprivation concerns logos qualified as true, and the negative potential construction denies becoming wise. Logos connects rational capacity and the ability to give an account in the preceding lines. The sentence does not independently prove all the steps by which number is necessary for such reason. [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


### The greatest part of all virtue {#phrase-042}


*πάσης ἀρετῆς τὸ μέγιστον μέρος* (977d)


The apposition identifies wisdom as virtue’s greatest part. Calling it a part allows the earlier courage-and-temperance concession, while its superlative rank explains why complete goodness cannot be attained without it. The later emphasis on piety must be related to this claim rather than silently substituted for it. [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### A foundation with a fuller explanation deferred {#phrase-043}


*ἀριθμὸν μὲν ἀνάγκη πᾶσα ὑποτίθεσθαι* (977d)


The infinitive makes number what must be posited underneath the ensuing account. The next clause says that explaining why this is necessary would require a still longer argument. Foundational status is asserted, but the dialogue acknowledges rather than supplies the full explanation at this point. [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Even the crafts depend on arithmetic {#phrase-044}


*ὅταν ἀριθμητικήν τις ἀνέλῃ* (977e)


The indefinite temporal condition imagines someone removing arithmetic. In the surrounding claim all the formerly surveyed crafts disappear with it. The rejection of those crafts as complete wisdom is compatible with their being genuine skills and with their indispensable numerical dependence. [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


### All good and no bad {#phrase-045}


*ἀγαθῶν ὡς πάντων αἴτιον, ὅτι δὲ κακῶν οὐδενός* (978a)


The compressed clause enlarges number’s significance from useful technique to universal ethical causation. Its contrast should not be weakened to a claim about accurate bookkeeping, but neither should it be paraphrased as proof that harmful events have no measurable duration. The text associates number with good order and leaves the full causal thesis ambitious. [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Left without every number {#phrase-046}


*ἐπιλέλειπται παντὸς ἀριθμοῦ* (978a–b)


The perfect marks deprivation as the condition of motion without reckoning, order, shape, rhythm, and harmony, and of everything sharing in badness. The genitive expresses what is lacking. The statement concerns numerical ordering in the argument, rather than literal uncountability of all bad objects. [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


### Persuading oneself as well as another {#phrase-047}


*πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτόν τε καὶ ἕτερον πεῖσαι* (978b)


The purpose construction makes justified persuasion reflexive and interpersonal. It follows the demand involving knowledge, true opinion, and counting out the just, good, and fine. The aim therefore exceeds the lawsuit helpers’ ability to influence a hearer by attending to characters. [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68).


### Capacity first showing afterward {#phrase-048}


*πρῶτον ἐνῴκισεν ὁ θεός … ἔπειτ’ ἔδειξεν καὶ δείκνυσιν* (978c)


The temporal sequence distinguishes the god’s establishment of human receptivity from the subsequent and continuing exhibition of what is to be learned. Nature and instruction are complementary here. The present δείκνυσιν makes the lesson ongoing rather than confined to an unrepeatable prehistoric event. [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Learning from the father {#phrase-049}


*παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀριθμεῖν* (978c)


The phrase belongs to the comparison with other living beings that lack the nature enabling this learning. The father may be the god or a creature’s own parent, as the supplied note allows. Neither identification should be silently promoted from plausible interpretation to an uncontested attested name. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Heaven does not cease rolling {#phrase-050}


*ἑλίττων δὴ ταῦτα αὐτὰ ὅταν μὴ παύηται* (978d)


The participle completes the verb of ceasing: Heaven does not cease rolling these same days and nights round. It does not mean that Heaven stops and then teaches. Burnet adopts ὅταν and deletes the following relative ἃς; the edition’s English follows that text. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Until even the slowest has learned {#phrase-051}


*πρὶν ἂν καὶ ὁ δυσμαθέστατος ἱκανῶς μάθῃ ἀριθμεῖν* (978d)


The temporal construction describes the endpoint of repeated instruction. Even the slowest learns sufficiently to count, but the later qualification restricts the claim to beings naturally capable of learning. The statement concerns elementary number, not immediate mastery of the final astronomical curriculum. [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


### Fifteen days and nights {#phrase-052}


*μέχρι πεντεκαίδεκα ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν* (978d–e)


This is the precise number in the moon’s sequence of changing appearances. The next sentence calls the sequence a circuit if its cycle is put down as one whole. The compressed formulation should not be silently corrected into a modern month or mistaken for a fully explained statement that a synodic month lasts fifteen days. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### A whole cycle counted as one {#phrase-053}


*τὸν κύκλον ἕνα ὅλον εἰς ἓν τιθέναι* (978e)


The single whole is treated as a unit of counting. A collection or temporal sequence can thereby enter a higher-order comparison, preparing for months considered in relation to a year. The clause describes the formation of a numerical unit, not merely naming another individual day. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### One by one and in relation to one another {#phrase-054}


*τὸ καθ’ ἓν αὐτὸ σκοποῦν· τὸ δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα πάντα ἀριθμὸν ἀεὶ λογίζεσθαι* (979a)


The contrast separates inspecting each item itself, one at a time, from reckoning number with all things in mutual relation. It is the educational step from serial counting to comparison of orders. The following arrangement of months relative to the year gives the contrast concrete calendrical content. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Months relative to the year {#phrase-055}


*μῆνας πρὸς τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν συνεστήσατο* (979a)


The accusative object and πρός construction describe months composed in relation to the year. The clause establishes relational organization, not a detailed intercalation procedure. The god is the subject in the supplied translation, and the next seeing-together clause has an acknowledged interpretive difficulty. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Seeing every number with number {#phrase-056}


*πάντα ἀριθμὸν πρὸς ἀριθμὸν ἤρξατο συνορᾶν* (979a)


The compounded verb emphasizes seeing together rather than noticing isolated units. The edition retains the god as the subject of began to see, while its later note admits an alternative involving all things as subject. The lexical companion follows the rendering while keeping that uncertainty visible. [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22).


### Do not blame the divine nature {#phrase-057}


*οὐ τὴν θείαν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην αἰτιᾶσθαι χρὴ φύσιν* (979a–b)


The accusatives give the contrasted objects of blame, with the following clause specifying humans’ unjust distribution of their life. The statement supports the dialogue’s defense of divine provision. It is not a demonstrated allocation of personal blame for every illness, storm, or other bad event. [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Becoming decent is exceptionally hard {#phrase-058}


*τὸ δὲ τίνα τρόπον χρὴ γίγνεσθαι χρηστοὺς ἀνθρώπους παγχάλεπον* (979c)


The substantivized question concerns the manner of becoming decent people. Its exceptional difficulty is contrasted with the relative ease of knowing ordinary advantages and acquiring other goods. The problem is the formation of persons, not merely the acquisition of useful possessions. [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


### Everyone grants that the soul should be good {#phrase-059}


*ἀγαθὴν δεῖ, συγχωρεῖ πᾶς παντί* (979c)


The feminine adjective takes the soul named immediately before this clause (979c) as its subject. Universal agreement concerns the requirement of goodness, not an agreed account of which wisdom brings it about. Retaining that scope prevents the statement from becoming blanket philosophical assent. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Which wisdom? {#phrase-060}


*ἥντινα δὲ σοφίαν* (979c)


The interrogative specification is the unresolved issue after agreement that the soul should be wise. It asks for determinate intellectual content rather than another endorsement of wisdom’s value. Number’s importance has narrowed the inquiry but has not yet abolished the need for this question. [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### An account still required of the wise and good knower {#phrase-061}


*εἰ δ’ ἔστιν σοφὸς ὁ ταῦτ’ ἐπιστήμων καὶ ἀγαθός, τούτου δὴ πέρι λόγον δεῖ λαβεῖν* (979d)


The indirect issue is whether the knowledgeable person actually has the desired intellectual and moral status. The need to obtain an account expressly preserves a gap between seeming wise after the numerical discussion and being shown wise and good. It is the clearest opening safeguard against treating elementary arithmetic as sufficient wisdom. [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


### Both listeners are still present {#phrase-062}


*μηδὲ σφὼ τοίνυν ἀκούοντε* (979e)


The pronoun σφώ and participle ἀκούοντε are dual, addressing Clinias and Megillus together. The omitted verb is supplied from Clinias’ request not to grow weary. Megillus’ silence therefore does not remove him from the dramatic or pedagogical situation. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### One name or which and how many {#phrase-063}


*ἑνὶ λαβεῖν ὀνόματι … τίνες εἰσίν ποτε καὶ ὁπόσαι τινές* (980a)


The preferred answer identifies wisdom in one name; the fallback enumerates the kinds, with feminine plurals that the edition relates to the earlier kinds of wisdom. This articulates a genuine alternative form of answer rather than presupposing that there must be one simple technique. [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


### According to our story {#phrase-064}


*κατὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον μῦθον* (980a)


The first-person plural places the account within the speakers’ shared undertaking. Mythos here should neither be replaced without notice by a modern technical proof nor dismissed as known falsehood. The edition relates this usage to the Laws’ self-description of the city constructed in words. [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64).


### Fine play in honoring gods {#phrase-065}


*οἷον παιδιᾷ καλῇ χρωμένῳ καὶ τιμῶντι θεούς* (980a–b)


The comparison joins fine play and honoring the gods in the lawgiver’s improved representation. The positive adjective and religious purpose differentiate it from the imitative activity dismissed at 975d. Burnet prints παιδιᾷ, play, from marginal readings; the main-text alternative παιδείᾳ, education, is not the adopted attestation. [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


### The wish is for the Athenian himself {#phrase-066}


*εἰ γάρ σοι τοῦτο τέλος εἴη τῶν νόμων* (980b)


The optative with εἰ γάρ expresses Clinias’ wish, and σοι directs it to the Athenian. The following participles likewise concern his celebrating the gods and living more purely. The wish is not a claim that the laws themselves have already reached their goal or that the coming theology has been proved. [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


### Praying for the right things to say {#phrase-067}


*εὐχόμενοι τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ ἄριστα περὶ αὐτῶν ἐπιέναι λέγειν ἡμῖν* (980b)


The participle praying governs the wish that the finest and best things to say about the gods may come to the speakers. The requested gift is worthy theological speech. The phrase does not say that anything whatsoever which occurs to the speaker is thereby guaranteed to be true. [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### If the god himself leads {#phrase-068}


*ἂν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν ὑφηγῆται* (980c)


The clause makes success conditional on divine guidance. The emphatic αὐτός belongs to the god himself; it is not the contracted αὑτός, the same, found at 985d. The first-person plural includes the listeners in the need for guidance. [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### A shared rather than solitary prayer {#phrase-069}


*συνεύχου μόνον* (980c)


The present imperative tells Clinias to join in prayer. The compound συν- makes his participation explicit, while μόνον, only, presents that participation as the immediate request before the Athenian begins the account. No unprinted liturgical text is implied. [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


### Better likeness after bad predecessors {#phrase-070}


*κακῶς ἀπεικασάντων τῶν ἔμπροσθεν, βέλτιον ἀπεικάσαι* (980c)


The genitive absolute names the predecessors’ bad representation, and the comparative adverb sets the present undertaking against it. Repetition of the same verb locates improvement in the quality of the likeness. It does not name the predecessors individually or settle authorship of the work. [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


### Care for small and greater things {#phrase-071}


*θεοὶ ἐπιμελούμενοι πάντων, σμικρῶν καὶ μειζόνων* (980d)


The participle describes the gods as caring, and the genitives specify the full range of objects, including small as well as greater things. This universal attention is one recalled premise of the earlier argument; the later absence of pain and pleasure must not be read as automatic indifference. [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Justice that cannot readily be soothed {#phrase-072}


*σχεδὸν ἀπαραμύθητοι τῶν περὶ τὰ δίκαιά εἰσιν πράγματα* (980d)


The adjective not to be soothed is qualified by σχεδόν, very nearly, and restricted to the matters concerning justice. The source links it to the Laws’ rejection of buying divine favor. It does not abolish prayer or assert an undifferentiated incapacity for divine response. [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### All soul and all body {#phrase-073}


*πρεσβύτερον εἴη ψυχὴ σώματος ἅπασα παντός* (980d)


The distributive words ἅπασα and παντός strengthen the scope of the contrast: all soul is older than all body. The statement is recalled from the preceding argument, rather than proved afresh by the surrounding brief comparison. The neuter comparative functions predicatively without turning soul into a neuter noun. [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### The reminder addressed to Clinias and his companion {#phrase-074}


*εἰ δὴ μέμνησθέ γε, ὦ Κλεινία* (980d)


The vocative names Clinias, while the plural verb addresses the listeners. It is not the singular 'if you remember' in the Greek, and the personal recollection does not turn the dialogue into a literal transcript of notes. [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


### Ruling and leading precedence {#phrase-075}


*πανταχῇ τε ἄρχον ἀρχομένου πρεσβύτερον καὶ ἄγον ἀγομένου πάντῃ* (980e)


Active and passive participles align ruling with being ruled and leading with being led. The repeated universal adverbs make the hierarchy strong. This supports soul’s priority as governing principle; it should not be converted into a biographical rule that every actual officeholder is older than every subject. [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


### A conditional first foundation {#phrase-076}


*εἰ δ’ ἔχει τοῦτο οὕτως* (981a)


If this is so makes the accepted priority of soul a condition for the claimed better beginning that follows. The clause does not undermine the Athenian’s commitment, but it preserves the structure of the reasoning: the construction proceeds from a premise already taken up. [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31).


### One combination brings forth one shape {#phrase-077}


*μία συνελθοῦσα σύστασις ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἀποτέκῃ μίαν μορφήν* (981a)


The repeated μία joins the unity of combination to the unity of resulting shape. Soul and body remain grammatically distinct constituents. The phrase defines the condition for calling something a living being, without reducing that being either to an isolated soul or to its predominant material alone. [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


### According to the likely account {#phrase-078}


*κατὰ τὸν εἰκότα λόγον πέντε* (981b)


The numeral five is explicitly framed by a likely account. The qualification belongs to the cosmological proposal, not to a permission to replace five with the more familiar four. The following list makes the content precise even though its manner of explanation remains qualified. [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


### The bodiless exception {#phrase-079}


*πλὴν τὸ θειότατον ὄντως ψυχῆς γένος* (981b)


Except the truly most divine kind of soul limits the preceding denial that any other thing could be bodiless and wholly without color. The exception concerns soul itself. Ethereal and aerial living beings remain bodily composites even though their fine bodies are not plainly visible. [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Molding versus being molded {#phrase-080}


*πλάττειν καὶ δημιουργεῖν προσήκει* (981b)


It belongs to mold and craft gives soul the active productive role. The matching passive πλάττεσθαι at 981c belongs to body. The alternation is central to the division of functions and should not be smoothed into a claim that both constituents originate the living being in the same way. [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### A deliberate repetition about soul {#phrase-081}


*λέγωμεν πάλιν· οὐ γὰρ ἅπαξ ῥητέον* (981c)


Let us say it again, for it must not be said once, interrupts the exposition before soul’s invisibility and cognition are restated. The repetition marks a premise the listener must retain, especially when visible bodies become the immediate object of argument. [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### Odd and even changes in a psychic context {#phrase-082}


*μνήμης μεταλαβόντι λογισμοῦ τε ἐν περιτταῖς τε καὶ ἀρτίαις ἅμα μεταβολαῖς* (981c)


Memory and reckoning are attributed to soul together with odd and even changes. The compression ties the psychological account to number, but the text does not unpack an arithmetic mechanism for every mental alteration. A gloss should preserve the association and the difficulty rather than inventing a technical psychology. [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110).


### One kind made from all {#phrase-083}


*πάντα μὲν ἐξ ἁπάντων ταῦτ’ ἔστιν τῶν γενῶν* (981d)


All earthly beings are made from all the bodily kinds. The following clause singles out earth as predominant. The apparent paradox of one kind and all kinds is resolved by distinguishing a living class from its material constituents; it does not imply unmixed elemental bodies. [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


### Living without locomotion {#phrase-084}


*ὅσα πορεύσιμα καὶ ὅσα μόνιμα, διειλημμένα ῥίζαις* (981d)


The coordinated relative expressions include both things that move about and things that stay in place, the latter held by roots. Mobility is therefore not the general definition of life. This classification prepares the later criticism of judging soul by novelty of visible motion. [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Fire predominates but does not stand alone {#phrase-085}


*τὸ γὰρ πλεῖστον πυρὸς ἔχει* (981d)


Most of fire identifies the predominant material of the stellar kind. The subsequent clauses add earth, air, and small portions of the other bodies. The later shorthand as if wholly of fire at 982a must be read alongside this explicit mixed constitution. [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


### Two portions for stellar duration {#phrase-086}


*δυοῖν δὲ αὐτοῖς μοιρῶν τὴν ἑτέραν χρὴ δόξῃ μεταδιδόναι σχεδόν* (981e)


One of two portions must, very nearly, be assigned to the stars in opinion. The dual and the following either/or structure establish a real choice between indestructible immortality and sufficiently long life. The later categorical use of immortal cannot erase this earlier formulation. [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### A life needing nothing longer {#phrase-087}


*ἧς οὐδέν τι πλείονος ἂν προσδεῖσθαί ποτε* (982a)


The relative clause refers to the life of which each stellar being has enough. The language stresses sufficiency, never needing any more, rather than simply conceding that a long life must end. It is the positive condition of the second side of the duration alternative. [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77).


### For the most part among us {#phrase-088}


*ὅπερ ὡς τὸ πολὺ δρᾷ τὸ περὶ ἡμᾶς ζῷον* (982a–b)


The clause qualifies the attribution of disorder to living beings around us. For the most part prevents an absolute assertion that every earthly act is unintelligent. The distinction is necessary for a dialogue that also offers some humans an education toward genuine wisdom. [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39).


### Acting and undergoing in a stable way {#phrase-089}


*κατὰ ταὐτὰ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὡσαύτως πορευόμενον ἀεὶ καὶ ποιοῦν καὶ πάσχον* (982b)


The regularity involves traveling, acting, and undergoing, not locomotion alone. Sameness of respects and manner provides the evidence from which the speaker infers intelligent life. The phrase does not display the stars’ deliberation directly; the following account of rational necessity supplies that interpretation. [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### Ruling and not ruled it gives law {#phrase-090}


*ἄρχουσα γὰρ ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀρχομένη νομοθετεῖ* (982b)


The paired participles distinguish a soul that gives law from a recipient of external rule. This is the explanation of why rational psychic necessity is greatest. It should not be flattened into the idea that the stars are mechanically compelled by a power independent of intelligence. [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Best counsel preserved complete {#phrase-091}


*τρεῖς Μοῖραι κατέχουσαι φυλάττουσι τέλεον εἶναι τὸ βελτίστῃ βουλῇ βεβουλευμένον* (982c)


The Fates hold fast and guard the result of the best deliberation so that it remains complete. Their agency protects rationally settled counsel rather than replacing it. The three are collectively named here; individual names belong only to the supplied comparative background. [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80).


### Decided long ago not repeatedly reconsidered {#phrase-092}


*διὰ τὸ βεβουλευμένα πάλαι πράττειν* (982c)


The causal construction explains repeated celestial action by an old settled decision. The perfect participle treats the deliberation as accomplished and still effective. Constancy is therefore read as fidelity to good counsel rather than as the absence of a thinking subject. [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### The many reverse the evidence {#phrase-093}


*τοῦθ’ ἡμῶν τοῖς πολλοῖς αὐτὸ τοὐναντίον ἔδοξεν* (982d)


This very thing seemed the opposite to the many: the same observed regularity supports contrary interpretations. The sentence identifies a disagreement about what motion means, not disagreement about whether the stars recur in stable patterns. The subsequent account makes the minority inference explicitly normative. [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### The same respects manner and reasons {#phrase-094}


*τὸ κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως καὶ διὰ ταὐτὰ πρᾶττον ἀεί* (982e)


The third phrase, for the same reasons, adds explanatory purpose to stable respects and manner. The inference depends on interpreting observed recurrence as rationally motivated action. Leaving out διὰ ταὐτά would conceal an important step in the theological reasoning. [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91).


### The dance accomplishes the needful {#phrase-095}


*χορεύοντα πᾶσι τοῖς ζῶσι τὸ δέον ἀποτελεῖν* (982e)


The stars are the dancing agents and all living things the beneficiaries. What is needed gathers the earlier gifts of seasons, nourishment, and number without narrowing celestial action to human entertainment. The grammatical subject must not be reassigned to an abstract nature. [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19).


### Small appearance and immense reality {#phrase-096}


*οὐ γάρ, ὡς σμικρὰ φαντάζεται, τηλικαῦτα ὄντως ἐστίν* (983a)


The stars are not in reality of the small size they appear to possess. The contrast is about scale, not the unreality of the objects. The next appeal to proofs asserts a basis beyond unaided visual impression without reproducing the relevant measurement. [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### The sun as a whole and the earth as a whole {#phrase-097}


*τὸν γὰρ ἥλιον ὅλον τῆς γῆς ὅλης μείζω* (983a)


Whole qualifies both sides of the size comparison, ensuring that the claim concerns entire bodies. The sun is said to be larger than the earth; the text gives no numerical ratio and does not display the geometry that supposedly supports the comparison. [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Immense bulk in the same time {#phrase-098}


*τοσοῦτον περιφέρειν ὄγκον τινὰ φύσιν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον* (983a)


The question joins the magnitude of what moves to the constancy of its period. A proposed nature must explain both. The inference to a god therefore depends on bulk plus ordered timing and the prior account of soul, not on size alone. [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


### Soul with each or in each {#phrase-099}


*μὴ ψυχῆς πρὸς ἑκάστῳ γενομένης ἢ καὶ ἐν ἑκάστοις* (983c)


Without soul having come to be with each, or even in each, the exact celestial activity is denied. The alternative prepositions preserve latitude about soul’s relation to the body. They should not be reduced to a single anatomical location for a material driver. [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71).


### Does the account have reason? {#phrase-100}


*πότερον ἔχει λόγον ὁ λόγος ἢ πάντως ὑστερεῖ* (983d)


The first λόγον is the reason or rational adequacy that an account can possess; the second λόγος is that account itself. The alternative, or falls short entirely, marks the speaker’s invitation to scrutinize the explanation rather than treating its solemn delivery as its only warrant. [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Many of each no third common thing {#phrase-101}


*καὶ πολλὰ ἑκατέρου, πάντα δὲ ἀλλήλων ἄλλα καὶ ἑκάτερα ἑκατέρων* (983d)


The division into soul and body is compatible with a plurality within each kind, with differences both within and between kinds. Generic singular soul elsewhere cannot therefore by itself prove a single individual world-maker. The following denial of a third common thing sharpens the twofold division. [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Cause of all and cause of none {#phrase-102}


*τὸ μὲν αἴτιον ἁπάντων, τὸ δὲ ἀναίτιον πάσης πάθης* (983d)


The balanced construction gives soul causal initiative and body none with respect to any affection. This is stronger than a bland statement that mind is important. The next description still calls heavenly beings offspring of soul and body, distinguishing causation from material constitution. [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### Two possible objects of religious acknowledgment {#phrase-103}


*ἢ γὰρ θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ταῦτα ὑμνητέον ὀρθότατα, ἢ θεῶν εἰκόνας ὡς ἀγάλματα ὑπολαβεῖν γεγονέναι* (983e–984a)


The either/or presents gods themselves and divine images as alternative accounts of the same heavenly beings. Both ground honor. The latter alternative does not say that they are human inventions; the following phrase makes the gods themselves their makers. [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### The gods themselves have made them {#phrase-104}


*θεῶν αὐτῶν ἐργασαμένων* (984a)


The genitive absolute attributes the making of celestial images to the gods themselves. Their divine origin and living excellence distinguish them from ordinary human statues even while a statue-like relation of representation is used to explain their honor. [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Shared by all humanity {#phrase-105}


*κοινότερα συμπάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀγάλματα* (984a)


Commoner to all humanity is comparative accessibility and relation, not a judgment of vulgarity. The phrase supports exceptional celestial honor alongside beauty, placement, purity, solemnity, and life. It does not transfer ownership of existing civic sanctuaries. [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55).


### Small admixtures for a bond {#phrase-106}


*τὰ δὲ σμικρότερα συνδέσμου χάριν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων γενῶν* (984c)


Minor constituents of an ethereal living being come from the other bodies for the sake of a bond. The purpose phrase explains why predominance leaves room for mixture. It does not identify the bond as a sixth material kind. [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46).


### From manifest gods down to us {#phrase-107}


*ἀπὸ θεῶν τῶν φανερῶν ἀρξάμενα γενέσεως, εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀποτελευτᾶν* (984d)


The sequence is now described as starting from manifest gods and ending in human beings. This descending frame differs from the earlier order in which the living kinds were introduced. The later water-kind’s local fifth cannot be made fourth merely to regularize the hierarchy. [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Where one wishes with an account held fixed {#phrase-108}


*ὅπῃ τις ἐθέλει, ταύτῃ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τιθέσθω νόμον* (984d)


The paired adverbs where and there give latitude in placing the traditional gods, while according to the same law qualifies that placement. The following requirement to keep the account fixed prevents treating the sentence as unlimited permission to invent arbitrary worship. [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


### Third and central air {#phrase-109}


*ἀέριον δὲ γένος, ἔχον ἕδραν τρίτην καὶ μέσην* (984e)


The aerial kind is distinguished with δέ and assigned the third, middle seat. The following two-kind discussion identifies ether and air separately. Reading the apparatus alternative γε here would change how the aerial kind relates to the preceding daimons, so it cannot be silently substituted. [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Present nearby but not plain {#phrase-110}


*παρὸν δὴ πλησίον οὐ κατάδηλον ἡμῖν γίγνεσθαι* (984e)


The middle being’s nearness does not make it evident to us. The preceding description of being seen through supplies the perceptual context. Bodily presence and failure of recognition coexist, so hiddenness does not establish incorporeality. [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Both kinds know all our thought {#phrase-111}


*γιγνώσκειν μὲν σύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν αὐτὰ διάνοιαν* (985a)


The plural αὐτά refers to the two finer living kinds just described, ether and air. Their knowledge covers all human thought. The sentence gives no acoustic mechanism; hearing in the next catalogue belongs to human recipients of voices and oracles. [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Beyond pain and pleasure with complete knowing {#phrase-112}


*ἔξω τούτων εἶναι, λύπης τε καὶ ἡδονῆς* (985a)


The paired genitives explain the things outside which the completed god stands: pain and pleasure alike. The following clause immediately attributes comprehensive intelligence and knowing. Excluding either half of the pair or inferring ignorance from affective freedom would distort the contrast. [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29).


### Everyone and everything communicated {#phrase-113}


*ἑρμηνεύεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους τε καὶ τοὺς ἀκροτάτους θεοὺς πάντας τε καὶ πάντα* (985b)


The pronouns broaden mediation to all persons and things, while the destinations include one another and the highest gods. The picture is of universal connectedness, not only the upward delivery of human petitions. The highest gods’ knowledge is affirmed separately, so mediation does not establish their ignorance. [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27).


### Water called fifth {#phrase-114}


*τὸ δὲ ὕδατος πέμπτον ὂν* (985b)


The numeral really is fifth in the supplied Greek. Water is the final living class introduced after earth, fire, ether, and air, although the descending hierarchy puts air third and ends in humans. A contextual explanation may distinguish the frames, but an exact lexicon must retain the local wording. [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


### Sometimes seen at other times hidden {#phrase-115}


*τοτὲ μὲν ὁρώμενον, ἄλλοτε δὲ ἀποκρυφθὲν ἄδηλον γιγνόμενον* (985b)


The temporal pair contrasts intermittent visibility and hiddenness of the water-kind. It does not place the kind permanently outside embodied perception. The next phrase about dim sight explains why its appearance can become an occasion for wonder and uncertain belief. [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


### Sleep dreams voices and oracles {#phrase-116}


*ἢ καθ’ ὕπνον ἐν ὀνειροπολίᾳ προστυχόντες, ἢ κατὰ φήμας τε καὶ μαντείας* (985c)


The alternatives catalogue different channels of reported encounters, rather than identifying one universally authoritative method. They feed the subsequent description of private and public opinion. The existence of such reports does not itself make their mortal interpreters wise. [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Heard in health or illness {#phrase-117}


*λεχθέν τισιν ἐν ἀκοαῖς ὑγιαίνουσιν ἢ καὶ κάμνουσιν* (985c)


Some receive utterances in their hearing while healthy or ill. The balanced conditions resist reducing the whole catalogue either to normal waking observation or exclusively to pathological experience. The passage does not supply criteria for authenticating a particular utterance. [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Private belief and public institutions {#phrase-118}


*ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ δόξας παραγενομένας* (985c)


The adverbs distinguish individual and civic settings in which opinions arise. The next clause traces many sacred practices to such beliefs. That genealogy explains the lawgiver’s responsibility toward established rites without independently verifying every originating encounter. [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37).


### Even the least sense forbids the unclear turn {#phrase-119}


*ὅστις νοῦν κέκτηται καὶ τὸν βραχύτατον* (985c)


The relative clause sets a deliberately low threshold: even a lawgiver with the smallest measure of sense should avoid the described uncertain innovation. The force is a rebuke to reckless public action, not a claim that minimal understanding suffices for the later astronomical wisdom. [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Innovation toward worship without clarity {#phrase-120}


*καινοτομῶν, ἐπὶ θεοσέβειαν ἥτις μὴ σαφὲς ἔχει τι τρέψαι πόλιν ἑαυτοῦ* (985c–d)


The participle innovating belongs to turning one’s own city toward a reverence containing nothing clear. The object and direction restrict the prohibition. Read apart from that construction, the word would wrongly appear to forbid the new honors for manifest gods demanded immediately afterward. [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Ancestral sacrifices and mortal limits {#phrase-121}


*μηδὲν τὸ παράπαν εἰδώς* (985d)


Knowing nothing at all explains why the lawgiver must not obstruct inherited sacrificial prescriptions. The phrase is emphatic about the epistemic limit in these matters; it does not assert that the lawgiver knows nothing about every subject or that inquiry into visible divinity is forbidden. [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12).


### Manifest gods must also be made manifest {#phrase-122}


*τοὺς δὲ ὄντως ἡμῖν φανεροὺς ὄντας θεοὺς* (985d)


The gods are already truly manifest to us, yet the sentence requires people to speak and make manifest their neglected status. The repetition distinguishes sensory availability from public theological acknowledgment. Their presence in the sky does not mean their cultic honors have already been supplied. [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Other gods without rites {#phrase-123}


*ἀνοργιάστους τε ὄντας ἑτέρους θεοὺς καὶ τιμὰς μὴ δεχομένους τὰς προσηκούσας αὐτοῖς* (985d)


Other gods lack rites and do not receive the honors that fit them. The religious deficit is the point of the disclosure, not an assertion that every older god must be abandoned. Appropriate honor connects the astronomy to civic allocation and justice. [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### Unable to declare as Burnet prints {#phrase-124}


*μὴ ἔφραζεν ἀδύνατος ὤν πῃ φράζειν* (985e)


The printed example says the observer did not declare what he saw, being in some way unable to declare it. Grou’s able is only an apparatus conjecture. The awkwardness must remain visible rather than being silently repaired in a quotation or a supposedly exact paraphrase. [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### An honored place for plainly seen beings {#phrase-125}


*εἰς ἔντιμον χώραν καταφανεῖς ἄγων αὐτούς* (985e)


Bringing them into an honored place concerns the visible gods’ acknowledged standing in worship. It is not a practical instruction to move celestial bodies. The phrase leads directly to feasts and sacrifices, showing that the proposal goes beyond a verbal naming convention. [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### The speaker assumes the obligation {#phrase-126}


*περὶ ἐμὲ νῦν γιγνόμενον ἴσθι φανερῶς* (986a)


The Athenian tells Clinias to recognize that the hypothetical case is now his own. This makes the transition to the eight powers an act of disclosure required by the preceding moral argument. It does not present him as the sole human capable of the observation. [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82).


### No exceptional personal discovery {#phrase-127}


*καὶ οὐδὲν μέγα διαπέπραγμαι* (986a–b)


The Athenian interrupts his disclosure of the eight powers to disclaim a great achievement of his own. The following statement that another can do it easily concerns recognizing the powers, not the complete mastery later required of the true astronomer. [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Two possible modes of divine travel {#phrase-128}


*εἴτε αὐτοὺς ἰόντας εἴτε φερομένους ἐν ὀχήμασι* (986b)


The paired alternatives leave open whether the celestial beings travel themselves or are carried in vehicles. The injunction to honor all of them does not depend on settling this mechanical question. Neither side should be silently removed in a summary. [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### Brothers in sister portions {#phrase-129}


*ἀδελφούς τ’ εἶναι καὶ ἐν ἀδελφαῖς μοίραις* (986c)


Masculine brothers describe the divine beings, while feminine sister portions continue the familial language associated with the powers. The grammatical variation does not add another class of beings. Kinship warrants recognition of all while allowing different courses and periods. [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42).


### As much as mortal nature allows {#phrase-130}


*ὁπόσα θνητῇ φύσει δυνατά* (986c)


The extent of the observer's desired learning is bounded by what is possible for mortal nature. Wonder and aspiration do not amount to a promise of unlimited human knowledge of divine matters. [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### One participant in one intelligence {#phrase-131}


*μεταλαβὼν φρονήσεως εἷς ὢν μιᾶς* (986d)


The word order brings the person's unity and the intelligence's unity into correspondence. It anticipates the final one-out-of-many hope, but does not by itself identify the person with the cosmos or define the mechanics of perception after death. [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


### Nearly equal in speed {#phrase-132}


*τάχει μὲν ἡλίῳ σχεδὸν ἴση* (986e)


The solar companions are described as nearly equal to the sun in speed. The qualification prevents rewriting the sentence as exact equality of all apparent motions at every moment, and says nothing about occupying identical positions. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### On the whole {#phrase-133}


*τό γ’ ἐπίπαν* (986e)


This limits the comparison that the fourth and fifth motions are neither slower nor faster than the sun. It belongs to the astronomical description and should not be dropped when the surrounding claim is compressed. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### A difficult leadership clause {#phrase-134}


*δεῖ τούτων τριῶν ὄντων τὸν νοῦν ἱκανὸν ἔχοντα ἡγεῖσθαι* (986e)


The edition reads this as requiring the one with adequate sense to lead the three. It notes that taking the genitive differently permits a construal involving thinking instead. The printed δεῖ is Burnet's correction. The sentence cannot securely supply an otherwise unstated named leader of the three bodies. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### So to speak always visible {#phrase-135}


*φανεροὺς μὲν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἀστέρας ἀεὶ σύμπαντας* (987a)


The conventional qualification so to speak accompanies the sweeping claim that all the stars are always visible to the favored observers. It allows the climate argument's rhetorical generality to remain visible rather than turning it into a literal denial of daylight, weather, or horizon limits. [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Tested by enormous time {#phrase-136}


*βεβασανισμένα χρόνῳ μυριετεῖ τε καὶ ἀπείρῳ* (987a)


The perfect passive and enormous duration make inherited observations appear tested rather than newly conjectured. This supplies a reason for confidence in legislation, but is not a dated observational archive or proof that every detail is beyond dispute. [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### The same morning and evening body {#phrase-137}


*ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἑωσφόρος ἕσπερός τε ὢν αὑτὸς* (987b)


The clause identifies the Dawn-bringer with the Evening Star. Its function is numerical and astronomical: two appearances do not require two additional powers. The edition renders the contracted αὑτός as the same and identifies the body as Venus in its note. [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Fitting for a Syrian lawgiver {#phrase-138}


*καὶ μάλα Συρίῳ νομοθέτῃ πρέπον* (987b)


The neuter fitting evaluates the naming statement as a whole, namely the appropriateness of Aphrodite's designation, rather than grammatically describing a masculine star. The phrase locates divine naming culturally without supplying a complete history of Syrian worship. [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13).


### Contrary to all those {#phrase-139}


*ἐναντίος ἐκείνοις σύμπασιν πορεύεται* (987b)


The eighth travels opposite to the seven-course group. The phrase establishes directional opposition while withholding a complete diagram, viewpoint, or account of combined apparent motions. It does not make the eighth less divine. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### The added negation in not leading {#phrase-140}


*⟨οὐκ⟩ ἄγων τοὺς ἄλλους* (987b)


The negative is Burnet's visibly marked addition. The transmitted words lack it, so the leadership claim changes with the editorial choice. A reader may quote the supplied reading, but must not present the negation as unanimously transmitted or remove its brackets in an exact attestation. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### As it would appear to the little informed {#phrase-141}


*ὥς γε ἀνθρώποις φαίνοιτ’ ἂν ὀλίγα τούτων εἰδόσιν* (987b)


The reference to what appears to men knowing little qualifies the surrounding leadership discussion. It marks an epistemic limit within the astronomical account, rather than authorizing a confident reconstruction of every aspect of the eighth motion. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### Some utter the title {#phrase-142}


*Κρόνου δ’ αὐτόν τινες ἐπωνυμίαν φθέγγονται* (987c)


The naming of Cronus is attributed to some speakers, unlike the subsequent instruction that the next body must be called Zeus'. This retains the difference between reporting an appellation and prescribing one. The edition's modern identification is Saturn. [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26).


### Receiving and improving {#phrase-143}


*ὅτιπερ ἂν Ἕλληνες βαρβάρων παραλάβωσι* (987d–e)


The generalizing whatever-clause introduces the Athenian's claim that Greek reception yields finer completion. It acknowledges receipt from non-Greeks before asserting Greek superiority; neither part should erase the other in a historical summary. [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Discovery beyond dispute remains hard {#phrase-144}


*χαλεπὸν μὲν πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀναμφισβητήτως ἐξευρίσκειν* (987e)


The difficulty concerns discovering all such matters without dispute. The following prospect is a great and fine hope of improved divine service, so the Athenian's cultural confidence does not amount to claiming that every controversy has already been resolved. [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


### Without envy at divine assisted goodness {#phrase-145}


*ἄνευ φθόνου διὰ θεὸν ἀγαθῷ γενομένῳ* (988b)


The person with whom the divine rejoices has become good through a god. The absence of envy is thus grounded in the teacher's acknowledgment of its own successful beneficence, not an unconditional endorsement of every possible inquiry or use of knowledge. [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


### Soul moving both body and itself {#phrase-146}


*κινεῖν τε καὶ περιφέρειν τοῦτο καὶ ἑαυτήν* (988d)


The two objects distinguish the body, this, from the soul itself. The phrase grounds an explanatory description of psychic self-movement without supplying the unattested adjective autokinētos. Its contrast is with the rival account of bodies moving themselves through heat, cold, and related conditions. [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


### The best soul for movement toward good {#phrase-147}


*τὴν δ’ ἐπὶ τἀγαθὸν φορὰν καὶ κίνησιν τῆς ἀρίστης ψυχῆς εἶναι* (988e)


Good-directed motion is specifically assigned to the best soul after soul has been made cause of all movement. The moral qualification matters: psychic causation alone does not make every motion good. The following contrary case confirms that distinction. [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Must have prevailed and must prevail {#phrase-148}


*νενικηκέναι δεῖ καὶ νικᾶν* (988e)


The perfect and present infinitives join achieved victory to ongoing ascendancy. The asserted prevalence of good is not equivalent to the nonexistence of inferior events or to a completed proof about the fate of each individual. [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79).


### Manner and occasion together {#phrase-149}


*ὡς δεῖ τε καὶ ὅτε δεῖ* (989c)


The educated person's acts and speech about the gods must be right both in how they are done and when. This keeps informed practice and timing within piety rather than reducing it to a set of abstract propositions. [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### True honor rather than contrived show {#phrase-150}


*οὐ σχήμασι τεχνάζοντας, ἀλλὰ ἀληθείᾳ τιμῶντας ἀρετήν* (989c–d)


The opposition distinguishes manipulation through external forms from real honor of virtue. It does not say that every ritual form is false; it evaluates the educated ruler's orientation and manner of conduct. [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


### Better not to learn if teaching is wrong {#phrase-151}


*κατὰ τρόπον δὲ μὴ δρῷ τὸ τοιοῦτον, κρεῖττον μὴ μανθάνειν* (989d)


Wrongly conducted instruction can make abstaining from learning preferable. The phrase prevents technical subject matter from being treated as beneficial irrespective of method, moral formation, preparation, or the learner's understanding. [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32).


### An unexpected name through inexperience {#phrase-152}


*ὅ τις οὐκ ἄν ποτε δόξειεν δι’ ἀπειρίαν τοῦ πράγματος* (990a)


Astronomy is surprising because the hearer lacks experience of what the subject really comprises. The surprise is not the same as the Athenian admitting that the proposed wisdom is arbitrary or unsupported. [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15).


### Seven circuits within eight {#phrase-153}


*τῶν ὀκτὼ περιόδων τὰς ἑπτὰ περιόδους* (990a)


The genitive full set and accusative studied set distinguish the whole celestial order from the seven difficult differentiated circuits. Curricular focus on seven does not exclude the eighth from divine kinship or due honor. [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21).


### The pupil is the boy and young man {#phrase-154}


*παῖδα ὄντα καὶ νεανίσκον* (990c)


The age designations belong to the learner undergoing sustained preparation. They should not be attached to the teacher or turned into a fully specified age schedule absent from the passage. [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Numbers themselves without bodily collections {#phrase-155}


*ἀριθμῶν αὐτῶν ἀλλ’ οὐ σώματα ἐχόντων* (990c)


The opposition directs study toward number and its relations considered in themselves rather than the counting of bodies. It does not independently prove a separate ontological realm or describe written numerals as the rejected bodily numbers. [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87).


### Likeness with respect to plane figures {#phrase-156}


*πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἐπιπέδων μοῖραν* (990d)


The prepositional phrase specifies the respect in which geometry's making alike takes place. In the edition's interpretation, areas can have a definite numerical ratio while their sides are incommensurable; the sides are not thereby turned into commensurable lengths. [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53).


### Three times increased {#phrase-157}


*τοὺς τρὶς ηὐξημένους* (990d)


The accepted adverb is three times, not the cardinal three. The edition interprets the expression through products of three factors, such as cubes, while the sentence itself supplies no complete stereometric construction. [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


### One to two in ratio {#phrase-158}


*ἓν πρὸς δύο κατὰ λόγον* (991a)


Logos here specifies a mathematical ratio. The relation 1:2 begins the interpreted progression through squares and cubes; it should not be conflated with doubling an area by doubling its side, which would instead quadruple the area. [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35).


### Equal differences around the arithmetic mean {#phrase-159}


*ἴσως δὲ τοῦ ἐλάττονος πλέον ἔλαττόν τε τοῦ μείζονος* (991a)


The mean exceeds the smaller by as much as it falls short of the larger. Between six and twelve it is nine: each difference is three. Equal absolute differences distinguish this from the following harmonic construction. [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Equal fractions around the harmonic mean {#phrase-160}


*τῷ αὐτῷ μέρει τῶν ἄκρων αὐτῶν* (991a)


The same part refers to the same fraction of each endpoint, not the same absolute difference. Eight exceeds six by one third of six and falls short of twelve by one third of twelve. This identifies the harmonic mean, while nine is the arithmetic mean. [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Six and twelve as the named extremes {#phrase-161}


*ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τοῦ ἓξ πρὸς τὰ δώδεκα* (991a–b)


The dialogue explicitly names six and twelve. Eight and nine are the means calculated in the note, not additional numerals printed in this sentence. The resulting ratios give the fourth and fifth as explained in the full article. [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73).


### Particulars brought to forms {#phrase-162}


*τὸ καθ’ ἓν τῷ κατ’ εἴδη προσακτέον* (991c)


The single-item treatment is to be related to treatment according to forms or kinds. The edition's subsumption interpretation is useful, but the clause alone neither states separate Forms nor prints a technical noun for division or dialectic. [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49).


### Question what has not been well said {#phrase-163}


*ἐρωτῶντά τε καὶ ἐλέγχοντα τὰ μὴ καλῶς ῥηθέντα* (991c)


Questioning and refutation target the inadequately stated account. The phrase joins classification to a test of claims rather than making authoritative labeling sufficient for knowledge. [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


### Things full of gods {#phrase-164}


*θεῶν εἶναι πάντα πλέα* (991d)


The infinitival formulation states what the educated learner will judge well said after grasping temporal precision and soul's priority. The accompanying denial of divine neglect gives it a providential force beyond a count of divine beings. [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51).


### Learning while looking toward one {#phrase-165}


*ὀρθῶς τις εἰς ἓν βλέπων μανθάνῃ* (991e)


The participial qualification makes a unifying orientation part of right learning. It requires perceiving the natural relations among differentiated subjects, not merely pronouncing that everything is one. [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### One bond by nature {#phrase-166}


*δεσμὸς γὰρ πεφυκὼς πάντων τούτων εἷς* (991e–992a)


The unity is presented as a natural bond of all the preceding studies. The claim rules out a purely arbitrary collection of disciplines but does not identify the bond through a unique technical formula supplied in the sentence. [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


### Whether hard or easy this way {#phrase-167}


*εἴτε χαλεπὰ εἴτε ῥᾴδια, ταύτῃ πορευτέον* (992a)


The paired alternatives deny that the difficulty of the studies excuses taking another route. They do not annul the preceding restrictions concerning appropriate natures, preparation, and guidance. [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


### Play and earnest together {#phrase-168}


*παίζων καὶ σπουδάζων ἅμα* (992b)


The conjunction and together combine two attitudes in the final affirmation. Play does not cancel the hope's earnestness, and earnestness does not permit erasing the playful register or the explicit condition about continued existence after death. [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### If indeed he still is after dying {#phrase-169}


*σχεδὸν ἐάνπερ ἔτ’ ἀποθανὼν ᾖ* (992b)


The difficult condition is retained by the edition: the person, very nearly, if indeed he still exists after death. It prevents presenting the ensuing unified blessedness as a separately demonstrated guarantee of personal immortality. [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### One out of many {#phrase-170}


*ἐκ πολλῶν ἕνα γεγονότα* (992b)


The perfect participle describes the wise person's hoped-for transformation from multiplicity to unity. The surrounding contrast concerns perceptions and a single portion; the wording does not specify absorption into the cosmos, a new sensory organ, or a named star. [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### The same divine treatment in public and private {#phrase-171}


*κεἴτε δημοσίᾳ τις ἐπιτηδεύσας ταῦτα εἴτε ἰδίᾳ διαβιῷ* (992c)


The crasis κεἴτε is the printed form. Public and private pursuit are alternatives under the same divine outcome, provided the person's virtues and learning satisfy the surrounding conditions. Public office is not made a prerequisite of every hoped-for blessing. [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45).


### Those who have labored in this way {#phrase-172}


*τοῖς μὲν οὖν ταῦτα οὕτω διαπονήσασιν* (992d)


The demonstratives carry the full specified curriculum and manner of learning into the political prescription. Merely being old, reputed astronomical, or technically quick does not suffice for the greatest offices. [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


### After knowing and scrutiny {#phrase-173}


*ἱκανῶς γνόντας τε καὶ δοκιμάσαντας* (992d–e)


The participles qualify those summoning the council: they must first have sufficient knowledge and have examined the proposed wisdom. The final civic directive incorporates scrutiny rather than replacing it with institutional authority. [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84).


# Lexical index {#lexical-index}


English headwords and Greek headwords both lead to the defined register. An index line is a route to a definition, not an additional entry. Page references identify the accompanying PDF.


## English headwords


### A


- [Accomplish · ἀποτελεῖν](#register-001) (p. 132)

- [Accomplish · διαπράττειν](#register-002) (p. 132)

- [Account and reason · λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132)

- [Accustom · ἐθίζειν](#register-004) (p. 133)

- [Adamant · ἀδάμας](#register-005) (p. 133)

- [Adequate or sufficient · ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251)

- [Admire · ἄγασθαι](#register-006) (p. 134)

- [Adorn with variety · ποικίλλειν](#register-007) (p. 134)

- [Aerial · ἀέριος](#register-008) (p. 134)

- [Affection or undergoing · πάθη](#register-009) (p. 134)

- [Affirm firmly · διισχυρίζεσθαι](#register-010) (p. 134)

- [Agree together · συνομολογεῖν](#register-011) (p. 135)

- [Agreement · ὁμολογία](#register-012) (p. 135)

- [Air · ἀήρ](#register-013) (p. 135)

- [Ancestral · πάτριος](#register-014) (p. 135)

- [Anger · ὀργή](#register-015) (p. 136)

- [Aphrodite · Ἀφροδίτη](#register-016) (p. 136)

- [Appear · φαίνεσθαι](#register-017) (p. 136)

- [Appear · φαντάζεσθαι](#register-018) (p. 136)

- [Apprehend · κατανοεῖν](#register-019) (p. 137)

- [Apprehension · κατανόημα](#register-020) (p. 137)

- [Ares · Ἄρης](#register-021) (p. 137)

- [Arithmetic and numerical ability · ἀριθμητικός](#register-022) (p. 137)

- [Assign · τάττειν](#register-023) (p. 137)

- [Astronomer · ἀστρονόμος](#register-024) (p. 138)

- [Astronomy · ἀστρονομία](#register-025) (p. 138)

- [Attend · προσέχειν](#register-026) (p. 138)

- [Auspicious · εὔφημος](#register-027) (p. 138)

- [Avenging · τιμωρός](#register-028) (p. 138)

### B


- [Bad · κακός](#register-029) (p. 139)

- [Barley-meal · ἄλφιτον](#register-030) (p. 139)

- [Be advantageous · συμφέρειν](#register-031) (p. 139)

- [Be angry · χαλεπαίνειν](#register-032) (p. 139)

- [Be confident · θαρρεῖν](#register-033) (p. 139)

- [Be deprived · στέρεσθαι](#register-034) (p. 140)

- [Be educated · παιδεύεσθαι](#register-035) (p. 140)

- [Be exceeded · ὑπερέχεσθαι](#register-036) (p. 140)

- [Be fitting · πρέπειν](#register-037) (p. 140)

- [Be healthy · ὑγιαίνειν](#register-038) (p. 140)

- [Be ignorant · ἀγνοεῖν](#register-039) (p. 141)

- [Be ill · κάμνειν](#register-040) (p. 141)

- [Be in earnest · σπουδάζειν](#register-041) (p. 141)

- [Be nourished · τρέφεσθαι](#register-042) (p. 141)

- [Beginning · ἀρχή](#register-043) (p. 141)

- [Belong fittingly · προσήκειν](#register-182) (p. 172)

- [Benefit · ὄφελος](#register-044) (p. 142)

- [Best · ἄριστος](#register-045) (p. 142)

- [Between · μεταξύ](#register-046) (p. 142)

- [Beyond dispute · ἀναμφισβητήτως](#register-047) (p. 142)

- [Blame · αἰτιᾶσθαι](#register-048) (p. 142)

- [Blessed · μακάριος](#register-049) (p. 143)

- [Bodiless · ἀσώματος](#register-050) (p. 143)

- [Body · σῶμα](#register-051) (p. 143)

- [Bond · δεσμός](#register-052) (p. 143)

- [Bond · σύνδεσμος](#register-053) (p. 144)

- [Both · ἄμφω](#register-054) (p. 144)

- [Boundless · ἄπειρος](#register-055) (p. 144)

- [Boy · παῖς](#register-056) (p. 144)

- [Brave · ἀνδρεῖος](#register-057) (p. 144)

- [Breathing space · ἀναπνοή](#register-058) (p. 145)

- [Bring forth · ἀποτίκτειν](#register-059) (p. 145)

- [Bring toward · προσάγειν](#register-060) (p. 145)

- [Brother · ἀδελφός](#register-061) (p. 145)

- [Building · οἰκοδομία](#register-062) (p. 145)

- [Bulk · ὄγκος](#register-063) (p. 146)

### C


- [Care · ἐπιμελεῖσθαι](#register-064) (p. 146)

- [Carpentry · τεκτονικός](#register-065) (p. 146)

- [Carry round · περιφέρειν](#register-066) (p. 146)

- [Cause · αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147)

- [Celebrate in play · προσπαίζειν](#register-068) (p. 147)

- [Change · μεταβολή](#register-069) (p. 147)

- [Change cycles · μετακυκλεῖσθαι](#register-070) (p. 147)

- [Character · ἦθος](#register-071) (p. 148)

- [Childish · παιδικός](#register-072) (p. 148)

- [Chorus or dance · χορός](#register-073) (p. 148)

- [Circuit · περίοδος](#register-074) (p. 148)

- [Citizen · πολίτης](#register-075) (p. 149)

- [Clear · σαφής](#register-076) (p. 149)

- [Clinias · Κλεινίας](#register-077) (p. 149)

- [Cloud · νέφος](#register-078) (p. 149)

- [Cold · ψῦχος](#register-079) (p. 149)

- [Color · χρῶμα](#register-080) (p. 150)

- [Combination · σύστασις](#register-081) (p. 150)

- [Come to light · ἀναφαίνεσθαι](#register-082) (p. 150)

- [Come together · ἥκειν](#register-083) (p. 150)

- [Coming into being · γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150)

- [Commensurate · σύμμετρος](#register-085) (p. 151)

- [Common · κοινός](#register-086) (p. 151)

- [Complete · ἀπεργάζεσθαι](#register-422) (p. 229)

- [Complete · τέλεος](#register-087) (p. 151)

- [Completely · τελέως](#register-088) (p. 152)

- [Completion · τέλος](#register-215) (p. 179)

- [Compose · συνιστάναι](#register-089) (p. 152)

- [Concordant · σύμφωνος](#register-090) (p. 152)

- [Concordantly · συμφώνως](#register-091) (p. 152)

- [Concur · συμφάναι](#register-092) (p. 152)

- [Conquer · νικᾶν](#register-093) (p. 152)

- [Contemplate · θεωρεῖν](#register-094) (p. 153)

- [Contemplation · θεωρία](#register-095) (p. 153)

- [Contemplator · θεωρός](#register-096) (p. 153)

- [Contest · ἀγών](#register-097) (p. 153)

- [Continue · διατελεῖν](#register-098) (p. 153)

- [Contrary · ἐναντίος](#register-099) (p. 154)

- [Contrive · τεχνάζειν](#register-100) (p. 154)

- [Cooling · ψῦξις](#register-101) (p. 154)

- [Cosmos · κόσμος](#register-102) (p. 154)

- [Council · σύλλογος](#register-103) (p. 155)

- [Count · ἀριθμεῖν](#register-104) (p. 155)

- [Count out · διαριθμεῖσθαι](#register-105) (p. 155)

- [Courage · ἀνδρεία](#register-106) (p. 155)

- [Course · διέξοδος](#register-107) (p. 155)

- [Craft · δημιουργεῖν](#register-109) (p. 156)

- [Craft · τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156)

- [Craft or make · δημιουργεῖν](#register-109) (p. 156)

- [Cronus · Κρόνος](#register-110) (p. 156)

- [Cycle · κύκλος](#register-111) (p. 157)

### D


- [Daimon · δαίμων](#register-112) (p. 157)

- [Dance · χορεία](#register-113) (p. 157)

- [Dance as an action · χορεύειν](#register-114) (p. 157)

- [Dare · τολμᾶν](#register-115) (p. 158)

- [Dawn-bringer · ἑωσφόρος](#register-116) (p. 158)

- [Day · ἡμέρα](#register-117) (p. 158)

- [Death · θάνατος](#register-118) (p. 158)

- [Decent · χρηστός](#register-119) (p. 158)

- [Declare · φράζειν](#register-120) (p. 159)

- [Deliberate · βουλεύεσθαι](#register-121) (p. 159)

- [Deliberate anew · μεταβουλεύεσθαι](#register-122) (p. 159)

- [Deliberation · βουλή](#register-123) (p. 159)

- [Delimit · διορίζειν](#register-124) (p. 159)

- [Delphi · Δελφοί](#register-125) (p. 160)

- [Demigod · ἡμίθεος](#register-126) (p. 160)

- [Diagram · διάγραμμα](#register-127) (p. 160)

- [Die · τελευτᾶν](#register-151) (p. 165)

- [Dim · ἀμυδρός](#register-128) (p. 160)

- [Discover fully · ἐξευρίσκειν](#register-129) (p. 160)

- [Disorder · ἀταξία](#register-130) (p. 160)

- [Disordered · ἄτακτος](#register-131) (p. 161)

- [Distaste · δυσχέρεια](#register-132) (p. 161)

- [Distribute · διανέμειν](#register-133) (p. 161)

- [Divine · θεῖος](#register-134) (p. 161)

- [Divine · μαντεύεσθαι](#register-135) (p. 162)

- [Do astronomy · ἀστρονομεῖν](#register-136) (p. 162)

- [Double · διπλάσιος](#register-137) (p. 162)

- [Dreaming · ὀνειροπολία](#register-138) (p. 162)

- [Dry · ξηρός](#register-139) (p. 162)

- [Dwelling · οἴκησις](#register-140) (p. 163)

### E


- [Eagerness · προθυμεῖσθαι](#register-141) (p. 163)

- [Earth · γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163)

- [Earthly · γήινος](#register-143) (p. 163)

- [Ease · ῥᾳστώνη](#register-144) (p. 164)

- [Easily · ῥᾳδίως](#register-145) (p. 164)

- [Easy · ῥᾴδιος](#register-146) (p. 164)

- [Eating · ἐδωδή](#register-147) (p. 164)

- [Egypt · Αἴγυπτος](#register-148) (p. 164)

- [Eight · ὀκτώ](#register-149) (p. 165)

- [Eighth · ὄγδοος](#register-150) (p. 165)

- [End or die · τελευτᾶν](#register-151) (p. 165)

- [Ending · τελευτή](#register-152) (p. 165)

- [Ensouled · ἔμψυχος](#register-153) (p. 166)

- [Envy · φθόνος](#register-154) (p. 166)

- [Equipment · σκεῦος](#register-155) (p. 166)

- [Esteemed · εὐδόκιμος](#register-156) (p. 166)

- [Ether · αἰθήρ](#register-157) (p. 166)

- [Even · ἄρτιος](#register-158) (p. 167)

- [Evening Star · ἕσπερος](#register-159) (p. 167)

- [Evidence · τεκμήριον](#register-160) (p. 167)

- [Evident · διαφανής](#register-161) (p. 167)

- [Examine · ἐπισκέπτεσθαι](#register-162) (p. 168)

- [Examine critically · ἐξετάζειν](#register-163) (p. 168)

- [Exceed · ὑπερέχειν](#register-164) (p. 168)

- [Extreme · ἄκρον](#register-165) (p. 168)

### F


- [Fair or reasonable · ἐπιεικής](#register-166) (p. 168)

- [Farming · γεωργία](#register-167) (p. 169)

- [Fast · ταχύς](#register-168) (p. 169)

- [Fates · Μοῖραι](#register-169) (p. 169)

- [Father · πατήρ](#register-170) (p. 169)

- [Fear · φοβεῖσθαι](#register-171) (p. 169)

- [Feast or festival · ἑορτή](#register-172) (p. 170)

- [Few · ὀλίγος](#register-173) (p. 170)

- [Fifteen · πεντεκαίδεκα](#register-174) (p. 170)

- [Fifth · πέμπτος](#register-175) (p. 170)

- [Fill up · ἀναπίμπλημι](#register-176) (p. 171)

- [Find · εὑρίσκειν](#register-177) (p. 171)

- [Find out · ἀνευρίσκειν](#register-178) (p. 171)

- [Fine · καλός](#register-179) (p. 171)

- [Fire · πῦρ](#register-180) (p. 172)

- [Firm or solid · στερέμνιος](#register-181) (p. 172)

- [Fitting or belonging · προσήκειν](#register-182) (p. 172)

- [Fixed · πάγιος](#register-183) (p. 172)

- [Flee · φεύγειν](#register-184) (p. 173)

- [Follow · ἕπεσθαι](#register-185) (p. 173)

- [Follow along · συνακολουθεῖν](#register-186) (p. 173)

- [Follow along · συνέπεσθαι](#register-187) (p. 173)

- [Folly · μωρία](#register-188) (p. 173)

- [Footless · ἄπους](#register-189) (p. 174)

- [Forgetfulness · λήθη](#register-190) (p. 174)

- [Form · εἶδος](#register-191) (p. 174)

- [Form an opinion and be reputed · δοξάζειν](#register-192) (p. 174)

- [Fortunate · εὐτυχής](#register-193) (p. 175)

- [Fortune · τύχη](#register-194) (p. 175)

- [Four · τέτταρες](#register-195) (p. 175)

- [Fourth · τέταρτος](#register-196) (p. 175)

- [Friendliness · φιλία](#register-197) (p. 175)

- [Fruit · καρπός](#register-198) (p. 176)

- [Full · πλέος](#register-199) (p. 176)

- [Full · συμπλήρης](#register-200) (p. 176)

- [Full moon · πανσέληνος](#register-201) (p. 176)

- [Full of craft · τεχνικός](#register-202) (p. 176)

- [Furnishing · παρασκευή](#register-203) (p. 177)

- [Futile · μάταιος](#register-204) (p. 177)

### G


- [Gathering · συνουσία](#register-205) (p. 177)

- [General’s craft · στρατηγικός](#register-206) (p. 177)

- [Generation of gods · θεογονία](#register-207) (p. 177)

- [Generation of living beings · ζῳογονία](#register-208) (p. 177)

- [Gentle · πρᾷος](#register-209) (p. 178)

- [Geometry · γεωμετρία](#register-210) (p. 178)

- [Gestation · κύεσθαι](#register-211) (p. 178)

- [Gift · δόσις](#register-212) (p. 178)

- [Give ear · εἰσακούειν](#register-213) (p. 178)

- [Give law · νομοθετεῖν](#register-214) (p. 179)

- [Goal · τέλος](#register-215) (p. 179)

- [God · θεός](#register-216) (p. 179)

- [Goddess · θεά](#register-217) (p. 180)

- [Godlike · θεοειδής](#register-218) (p. 180)

- [Good · ἀγαθός](#register-219) (p. 180)

- [Good fortune · εὐτυχία](#register-220) (p. 181)

- [Good-natured · εὔκολος](#register-221) (p. 181)

- [Gracious · ἵλεως](#register-222) (p. 181)

- [Grant · συγχωρεῖν](#register-223) (p. 181)

- [Great · μέγας](#register-224) (p. 181)

- [Greek · Ἕλλην](#register-225) (p. 182)

- [Grow weary · ἀποκάμνειν](#register-226) (p. 182)

- [Guard · φυλάττειν](#register-227) (p. 182)

- [Guess · τοπάζειν](#register-228) (p. 182)

### H


- [Hand over · παραδιδόναι](#register-229) (p. 182)

- [Handle · μεταχειρίζεσθαι](#register-230) (p. 182)

- [Happiness · εὐδαιμονία](#register-231) (p. 183)

- [Happy · εὐδαίμων](#register-232) (p. 183)

- [Harmony · ἁρμονία](#register-233) (p. 183)

- [Hate · μισεῖν](#register-234) (p. 183)

- [Have a share · μεταλαμβάνειν](#register-493) (p. 244)

- [Hearing · ἀκοή](#register-235) (p. 184)

- [Heat · θερμότης](#register-236) (p. 184)

- [Heat · καῦμα](#register-237) (p. 184)

- [Heaven · οὐρανός](#register-238) (p. 184)

- [Help · βοήθεια](#register-239) (p. 184)

- [Help complete · συναποτελεῖν](#register-240) (p. 185)

- [Helper · βοηθός](#register-241) (p. 185)

- [Hera · Ἥρα](#register-242) (p. 185)

- [Hermes · Ἑρμῆς](#register-243) (p. 185)

- [Hesiod · Ἡσίοδος](#register-244) (p. 185)

- [Hide · ἀποκρύπτειν](#register-245) (p. 186)

- [Highest · ἄκρος](#register-246) (p. 186)

- [Hold in check · κατέχειν](#register-247) (p. 186)

- [Hold or regard · νομίζειν](#register-248) (p. 186)

- [Honor · τιμᾶν](#register-249) (p. 186)

- [Honor · τιμή](#register-250) (p. 187)

- [Honor as an action · τιμᾶν](#register-249) (p. 186)

- [Honored · ἔντιμος](#register-251) (p. 187)

- [Hope · ἐλπίς](#register-252) (p. 187)

- [Human · ἀνθρώπινος](#register-253) (p. 188)

- [Hunting · θηρευτική](#register-254) (p. 188)

- [Hymn · ὑμνεῖν](#register-255) (p. 188)

- [Hymn · ὕμνος](#register-256) (p. 188)

### I


- [Idiot · ἠλίθιος](#register-257) (p. 188)

- [Image · εἰκών](#register-258) (p. 189)

- [Imitate · μιμεῖσθαι](#register-259) (p. 189)

- [Imitation · μίμημα](#register-260) (p. 189)

- [Imitative art · μιμητικός](#register-261) (p. 189)

- [Immortal · ἀθάνατος](#register-262) (p. 189)

- [Impious · ἀσεβής](#register-263) (p. 190)

- [In tune · ἐμμελής](#register-264) (p. 190)

- [Increase · αὐξάνειν](#register-265) (p. 190)

- [Indestructible · ἀνώλεθρος](#register-266) (p. 190)

- [Inexperience · ἀπειρία](#register-267) (p. 190)

- [Initiate · μυεῖν](#register-268) (p. 191)

- [Innovate · καινοτομεῖν](#register-269) (p. 191)

- [Instrument · ὄργανον](#register-270) (p. 191)

- [Intelligence · φρόνησις](#register-271) (p. 191)

- [Intelligent · φρόνιμος](#register-272) (p. 192)

- [Intelligent person · ἔμφρων](#register-273) (p. 192)

- [Intelligent-minded · ἔμφρων](#register-273) (p. 192)

- [Intelligently · φρονίμως](#register-274) (p. 192)

- [Intelligible · νοητός](#register-275) (p. 193)

- [Interpret · ἑρμηνεύεσθαι](#register-276) (p. 193)

- [Interpretation · ἑρμηνεία](#register-277) (p. 193)

- [Interpretive art · ἑρμηνευτική](#register-278) (p. 193)

- [Intricate design · ποίκιλμα](#register-279) (p. 193)

- [Invisible · ἀόρατος](#register-280) (p. 194)

- [Irreversible · ἀμετάστροφος](#register-281) (p. 194)

- [Island · νῆσος](#register-282) (p. 194)

### J


- [Join in prayer · συνεύχεσθαι](#register-283) (p. 194)

- [Just · δίκαιος](#register-284) (p. 194)

- [Justice and lawsuit · δίκη](#register-285) (p. 195)

- [Justly · ἐνδίκως](#register-286) (p. 195)

### K


- [Keep in mind · διαμνημονεύειν](#register-287) (p. 195)

- [Kind · γένος](#register-288) (p. 195)

- [Know · γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233)

- [Know · εἰδέναι](#register-289) (p. 196)

- [Knowledge · ἐπιστήμη](#register-290) (p. 196)

- [Knowledgeable · ἐπιστήμων](#register-291) (p. 196)

### L


- [Labor · πόνος](#register-292) (p. 197)

- [Labor thoroughly · διαπονεῖν](#register-293) (p. 197)

- [Labor thoroughly · διαπονεῖσθαι](#register-294) (p. 197)

- [Land · χώρα](#register-295) (p. 197)

- [Law or usage · νόμος](#register-298) (p. 198)

- [Lawful · νόμιμος](#register-296) (p. 197)

- [Lawgiver · νομοθέτης](#register-297) (p. 197)

- [Laws · νόμος](#register-298) (p. 198)

- [Lay as a foundation · ὑποτίθεσθαι](#register-299) (p. 198)

- [Lead · ἄγειν](#register-300) (p. 198)

- [Lead or think · ἡγεῖσθαι](#register-547) (p. 255)

- [Lead the way · ὑφηγεῖσθαι](#register-301) (p. 198)

- [Learn · μανθάνειν](#register-302) (p. 199)

- [Learn thoroughly · καταμανθάνειν](#register-303) (p. 199)

- [Less honored · ἄτιμος](#register-304) (p. 199)

- [Life · βίος](#register-305) (p. 199)

- [Life · ζωή](#register-306) (p. 200)

- [Life-course · βίος](#register-305) (p. 199)

- [Light · ἐλαφρός](#register-307) (p. 200)

- [Like · ὅμοιος](#register-308) (p. 200)

- [Likely · εἰκός](#register-309) (p. 201)

- [Liken · ἀπεικάζειν](#register-310) (p. 201)

- [Live again · ἀναβιοῦν](#register-311) (p. 201)

- [Living being · ζῷον](#register-312) (p. 201)

- [Long-lived · μακραίων](#register-313) (p. 202)

- [Look down upon · ἐφορᾶν](#register-314) (p. 202)

- [Love · ἔρως](#register-315) (p. 202)

- [Lover of learning · φιλομαθής](#register-316) (p. 202)

### M


- [Magnificent · μεγαλοπρεπής](#register-317) (p. 203)

- [Mainland · ἤπειρος](#register-318) (p. 203)

- [Make like · ὁμοιοῦν](#register-319) (p. 203)

- [Making · ποίησις](#register-320) (p. 203)

- [Making alike · ὁμοίωσις](#register-321) (p. 203)

- [Manifest · φανερός](#register-322) (p. 204)

- [Manifestly · φανερῶς](#register-323) (p. 204)

- [Many-footed · πολύπους](#register-324) (p. 204)

- [Medicine · ἰατρικός](#register-325) (p. 204)

- [Megillus · Μέγιλλος](#register-326) (p. 205)

- [Memory · μνήμη](#register-327) (p. 205)

- [Menial · βάναυσος](#register-328) (p. 205)

- [Middle · μέσος](#register-329) (p. 205)

- [Modeling · πλαστικός](#register-330) (p. 206)

- [Moderate · μέτριος](#register-331) (p. 206)

- [Moderately · μετρίως](#register-332) (p. 206)

- [Moist · ὑγρός](#register-333) (p. 206)

- [Mold · πλάττειν](#register-334) (p. 206)

- [Month · μήν](#register-335) (p. 207)

- [Moon · σελήνη](#register-336) (p. 207)

- [More ancient · παλαιότερος](#register-337) (p. 207)

- [Mortal · θνητός](#register-338) (p. 207)

- [Motion · φορά](#register-339) (p. 208)

- [Move · κινεῖν](#register-340) (p. 208)

- [Movement · κίνησις](#register-341) (p. 208)

- [Moving about · πορεύσιμος](#register-342) (p. 209)

- [Multitude · πλῆθος](#register-343) (p. 209)

- [Muse · μοῦσα](#register-344) (p. 209)

- [Music and poetic art · μοῦσα](#register-344) (p. 209)

- [Mutual eating · ἀλληλοφαγία](#register-345) (p. 209)

- [My good sir; daimonic · δαιμόνιος](#register-346) (p. 210)

### N


- [Name · ὄνομα](#register-347) (p. 210)

- [Name or address · προσαγορεύειν](#register-348) (p. 210)

- [Name or designation · ἐπίκλησις](#register-349) (p. 210)

- [Nature · φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211)

- [Near · πλησίον](#register-351) (p. 211)

- [Necessary · ἀναγκαῖος](#register-352) (p. 211)

- [Necessity · ἀνάγκη](#register-353) (p. 211)

- [Neglect · ἀμέλεια](#register-354) (p. 212)

- [Night · νύξ](#register-355) (p. 212)

- [Nocturnal · νυκτερινός](#register-356) (p. 212)

- [Non-Greek · βάρβαρος](#register-357) (p. 212)

- [Not to be soothed · ἀπαραμύθητος](#register-358) (p. 213)

- [Notice and understand · συννοεῖν](#register-359) (p. 213)

- [Nourish · τρέφειν](#register-360) (p. 213)

- [Nourishment · τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213)

- [Number · ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214)

### O


- [Observe · καθορᾶν](#register-363) (p. 214)

- [Occupy oneself · πραγματεύεσθαι](#register-364) (p. 215)

- [Odd · περιττός](#register-365) (p. 215)

- [Office · ἀρχή](#register-043) (p. 141)

- [Offspring · γέννημα](#register-366) (p. 215)

- [Old age · γῆρας](#register-367) (p. 215)

- [Old man · πρεσβύτης](#register-368) (p. 216)

- [Older · πρεσβύτερος](#register-369) (p. 216)

- [Olympus · ὄλυμπος](#register-370) (p. 216)

- [One · εἷς](#register-371) (p. 216)

- [One-and-a-half · ἡμιόλιος](#register-372) (p. 216)

- [One-and-a-third · ἐπίτριτος](#register-373) (p. 217)

- [Opinion · δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217)

- [Opinion and reputation · δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217)

- [Oracle · μαντεία](#register-375) (p. 218)

- [Orbit · πόλος](#register-376) (p. 218)

- [Order · τάξις](#register-377) (p. 218)

- [Out of harmony · ἀνάρμοστος](#register-378) (p. 218)

- [Outward form · σχῆμα](#register-379) (p. 218)

### P


- [Pain · λύπη](#register-380) (p. 219)

- [Painting · γραφικός](#register-381) (p. 219)

- [Part · μέρος](#register-382) (p. 219)

- [Pass one's life · διάγειν](#register-383) (p. 219)

- [Passage · διαπορεία](#register-384) (p. 219)

- [Path · πόρος](#register-385) (p. 220)

- [People · δῆμος](#register-386) (p. 220)

- [Perception · αἴσθησις](#register-387) (p. 220)

- [Perhaps · ἴσως](#register-388) (p. 220)

- [Permitted · θέμις](#register-389) (p. 221)

- [Permitted · θεμιτός](#register-390) (p. 221)

- [Perplexity · ἀπορία](#register-391) (p. 221)

- [Persuade and trust · πείθειν](#register-392) (p. 221)

- [Piety · εὐσέβεια](#register-393) (p. 221)

- [Pilot · κυβερνήτης](#register-394) (p. 222)

- [Pilot’s art · κυβερνητικός](#register-395) (p. 222)

- [Place · τόπος](#register-396) (p. 222)

- [Plain · κατάδηλος](#register-397) (p. 222)

- [Plainly seen · καταφανής](#register-398) (p. 222)

- [Plaiting · πλεκτικός](#register-399) (p. 223)

- [Plane · ἐπίπεδος](#register-400) (p. 223)

- [Plausible · πιθανός](#register-401) (p. 223)

- [Play · παιδιά](#register-402) (p. 223)

- [Play · παίζειν](#register-403) (p. 224)

- [Pleasure · ἡδονή](#register-404) (p. 224)

- [Plunder · ληίζεσθαι](#register-405) (p. 224)

- [Poor · φλαῦρος](#register-406) (p. 224)

- [Portion · μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224)

- [Power · δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225)

- [Power or capacity · δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225)

- [Practice · ἐπιτήδευσις](#register-409) (p. 226)

- [Pray · εὔχεσθαι](#register-410) (p. 226)

- [Prayer · εὐχή](#register-411) (p. 226)

- [Precisely · ἀκριβῶς](#register-412) (p. 227)

- [Precision · ἀκρίβεια](#register-413) (p. 227)

- [Predominance · ἡγεμονία](#register-414) (p. 227)

- [Pregnant · ἐγκύμων](#register-415) (p. 227)

- [Prepare · παρασκευάζειν](#register-416) (p. 227)

- [Preserve · σῴζειν](#register-417) (p. 228)

- [Pretend · προσποιεῖσθαι](#register-418) (p. 228)

- [Prevent · ἀποκωλύειν](#register-419) (p. 228)

- [Privately · ἰδίᾳ](#register-420) (p. 228)

- [Procession · πορεία](#register-421) (p. 228)

- [Produce · ἀπεργάζεσθαι](#register-422) (p. 229)

- [Productive art · ἀπεργαστικός](#register-423) (p. 229)

- [Proof · ἀπόδειξις](#register-424) (p. 229)

- [Property · οὐσία](#register-425) (p. 229)

- [Prophecy · μαντική](#register-426) (p. 230)

- [Proportion · ἀναλογία](#register-427) (p. 230)

- [Publicly · δημοσίᾳ](#register-428) (p. 230)

- [Purification · καθαρμός](#register-429) (p. 230)

- [Purity · καθαριότης](#register-430) (p. 230)

- [Pursuit · ἐπιτήδευμα](#register-431) (p. 231)

### Q


- [Question · ἐρωτᾶν](#register-432) (p. 231)

- [Quick to learn · εὐμαθής](#register-433) (p. 231)

- [Quick-wittedness · ἀγχίνοια](#register-434) (p. 231)

### R


- [Rain · ὑετός](#register-435) (p. 231)

- [Ratio · λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132)

- [Ready to be persuaded · εὐπειθής](#register-436) (p. 232)

- [Really · ὄντως](#register-437) (p. 232)

- [Recall · ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι](#register-438) (p. 232)

- [Receive · παραλαμβάνειν](#register-439) (p. 232)

- [Reckon · λογίζεσθαι](#register-440) (p. 232)

- [Reckoning · λογισμός](#register-441) (p. 233)

- [Recognize or know · γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233)

- [Red · ἐρυθρός](#register-443) (p. 234)

- [Refute · ἐλέγχειν](#register-444) (p. 234)

- [Rejoice with · συγχαίρειν](#register-445) (p. 234)

- [Remaining in place · μόνιμος](#register-446) (p. 234)

- [Remember · μνημονεύειν](#register-447) (p. 234)

- [Remembering notes · ὑπόμνημα](#register-448) (p. 234)

- [Remove · ἀναιρεῖν](#register-449) (p. 235)

- [Render · ἀποδιδόναι](#register-450) (p. 235)

- [Reproach · ὄνειδος](#register-451) (p. 235)

- [Retentive · μνήμων](#register-452) (p. 235)

- [Reverence toward gods · θεοσέβεια](#register-453) (p. 235)

- [Reverent toward gods · θεοσεβής](#register-454) (p. 236)

- [Revolution · περιφορά](#register-455) (p. 236)

- [Rhythm · ῥυθμός](#register-456) (p. 236)

- [Ridiculous · γελοῖος](#register-457) (p. 236)

- [Right · ὀρθός](#register-458) (p. 236)

- [Right-hand · δεξιός](#register-459) (p. 237)

- [Rising · ἀνατολή](#register-460) (p. 237)

- [Roll round · ἑλίττειν](#register-461) (p. 237)

- [Root · ῥίζα](#register-462) (p. 237)

- [Route · ὁδός](#register-463) (p. 237)

- [Routine · τριβή](#register-464) (p. 238)

- [Rule · ἄρχειν](#register-465) (p. 238)

- [Run together · σύνδρομος](#register-466) (p. 238)

- [Rush or impetus · ῥύμη](#register-467) (p. 238)

### S


- [Sacred rite · ἱερόν](#register-468) (p. 239)

- [Sacrifice · θυσία](#register-469) (p. 239)

- [Sailor · ναύτης](#register-470) (p. 239)

- [Same-course · ὁμόδρομος](#register-471) (p. 239)

- [Scrutinize · δοκιμάζειν](#register-472) (p. 239)

- [Search · ζήτησις](#register-473) (p. 240)

- [Season · ὥρα](#register-474) (p. 240)

- [Seat · ἕδρα](#register-475) (p. 240)

- [Securely · ἀσφαλῶς](#register-476) (p. 240)

- [See · καθορᾶν](#register-363) (p. 214)

- [See into · ἐγκαθορᾶν](#register-477) (p. 240)

- [See together · συνορᾶν](#register-478) (p. 241)

- [Seek · ζητεῖν](#register-479) (p. 241)

- [Seem or think · δοκεῖν](#register-480) (p. 241)

- [Seemly · εὐσχήμων](#register-481) (p. 241)

- [Seen through · διορᾶν](#register-482) (p. 241)

- [Sense · νοῦς](#register-483) (p. 242)

- [Senseless · ἀνόητος](#register-484) (p. 242)

- [Serious · σπουδαῖος](#register-485) (p. 242)

- [Seriousness · σπουδή](#register-486) (p. 243)

- [Service · θεραπεία](#register-487) (p. 243)

- [Set down · τιθέναι](#register-488) (p. 243)

- [Setting · δυσμή](#register-489) (p. 243)

- [Setting down · θέσις](#register-490) (p. 243)

- [Settle within · ἐνοικίζειν](#register-491) (p. 243)

- [Shape · μορφή](#register-492) (p. 244)

- [Share in · μεταλαμβάνειν](#register-493) (p. 244)

- [Share in · μετέχειν](#register-494) (p. 244)

- [Sharp · ὀξύς](#register-495) (p. 244)

- [Show · δεικνύναι](#register-496) (p. 244)

- [Sight · ὄψις](#register-497) (p. 245)

- [Sister · ἀδελφή](#register-498) (p. 245)

- [Six · ἕξ](#register-499) (p. 245)

- [Size · μέγεθος](#register-500) (p. 245)

- [Sleep · ὕπνος](#register-501) (p. 245)

- [Slight · παρολιγωρεῖν](#register-502) (p. 246)

- [Slip aside · παρασφάλλεσθαι](#register-503) (p. 246)

- [Slow · βραδύς](#register-504) (p. 246)

- [Slow to learn · δυσμαθής](#register-505) (p. 246)

- [Slowness · βραδύτης](#register-506) (p. 246)

- [Smithing · χαλκεία](#register-507) (p. 247)

- [Solemnity · σεμνότης](#register-508) (p. 247)

- [Solid · στερεός](#register-509) (p. 247)

- [Soothe · παραμυθεῖσθαι](#register-510) (p. 247)

- [Soul · ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247)

- [Sound · φθόγγος](#register-512) (p. 248)

- [Sovereign · κύριος](#register-513) (p. 248)

- [Speak auspiciously · εὐφημεῖν](#register-514) (p. 248)

- [Speed · τάχος](#register-515) (p. 248)

- [Stamp out · ἀποτυποῦσθαι](#register-516) (p. 249)

- [Star · ἄστρον](#register-517) (p. 249)

- [State · ἕξις](#register-518) (p. 249)

- [Statue or honored image · ἄγαλμα](#register-519) (p. 249)

- [Stereometry · στερεομετρία](#register-520) (p. 250)

- [Story · μῦθος](#register-521) (p. 250)

- [Strange · ἄτοπος](#register-522) (p. 250)

- [Stranger · ξένος](#register-523) (p. 250)

- [Strength · ῥώμη](#register-524) (p. 250)

- [Stronger · κρείττων](#register-525) (p. 251)

- [Stupidity · ἀμαθία](#register-526) (p. 251)

- [Subject of learning · μάθημα](#register-527) (p. 251)

- [Sufficient · ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251)

- [Sufficiently · ἱκανῶς](#register-529) (p. 252)

- [Suitable · πρόσφορος](#register-530) (p. 252)

- [Summer · θερινός](#register-531) (p. 252)

- [Summon · παρακαλεῖν](#register-532) (p. 252)

- [Sun · ἥλιος](#register-533) (p. 252)

- [Syria · Συρία](#register-534) (p. 253)

- [Syrian · Σύριος](#register-535) (p. 253)

- [System · σύστημα](#register-536) (p. 253)

### T


- [Take or suppose · ὑπολαμβάνειν](#register-537) (p. 253)

- [Tangible · ἁπτός](#register-538) (p. 254)

- [Teach · διδάσκειν](#register-539) (p. 254)

- [Teach beforehand · προδιδάσκειν](#register-540) (p. 254)

- [Temperance · σωφροσύνη](#register-541) (p. 254)

- [Temperate · σώφρων](#register-542) (p. 254)

- [Ten-thousand-year · μυριετής](#register-543) (p. 255)

- [Test · βασανίζειν](#register-544) (p. 255)

- [Test · βάσανος](#register-545) (p. 255)

- [Think · διανοεῖσθαι](#register-548) (p. 256)

- [Think of · ἐπινοεῖν](#register-546) (p. 255)

- [Think or regard · ἡγεῖσθαι](#register-547) (p. 255)

- [Think through · διανοεῖσθαι](#register-548) (p. 256)

- [Thought · διάνοια](#register-549) (p. 256)

- [Three · τρεῖς](#register-550) (p. 256)

- [Three times · τρίς](#register-551) (p. 256)

- [Time · χρόνος](#register-552) (p. 256)

- [Title · ἐπωνυμία](#register-553) (p. 257)

- [Travel · πορεύεσθαι](#register-554) (p. 257)

- [Trivial · φαῦλος](#register-555) (p. 257)

- [True · ἀληθής](#register-556) (p. 257)

- [True-born · γνήσιος](#register-557) (p. 257)

- [Trust · πιστεύειν](#register-558) (p. 258)

- [Truth · ἀλήθεια](#register-559) (p. 258)

- [Turn · στρέφειν](#register-560) (p. 258)

- [Turning · τροπή](#register-561) (p. 258)

- [Twelve · δώδεκα](#register-562) (p. 258)

- [Two · δύο](#register-563) (p. 258)

### U


- [Unable · ἀδύνατος](#register-564) (p. 259)

- [Understand · συνιέναι](#register-565) (p. 259)

- [Understanding · σύννοια](#register-566) (p. 259)

- [Unfinished · ἀτελής](#register-567) (p. 259)

- [Unholy · ἀνόσιος](#register-568) (p. 259)

- [Unintelligent · ἄφρων](#register-569) (p. 260)

- [Universe · τὸ πᾶν](#register-570) (p. 260)

- [Unlike · ἀνόμοιος](#register-571) (p. 260)

- [Unseemly · ἀσχήμων](#register-572) (p. 260)

- [Unseen or unclear · ἄδηλος](#register-573) (p. 261)

- [Untimely · ἄκαιρος](#register-574) (p. 261)

- [Use · χρεία](#register-575) (p. 261)

### V


- [Vehicle · ὄχημα](#register-576) (p. 261)

- [Very nearly · σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261)

- [Violent or excessive · ἐξαίσιος](#register-578) (p. 262)

- [Virtue · ἀρετή](#register-579) (p. 262)

- [Visible · ὁρατός](#register-580) (p. 263)

- [Voice or report · φήμη](#register-581) (p. 263)

### W


- [Wander · πλανᾶσθαι](#register-582) (p. 263)

- [Wane · φθίνειν](#register-583) (p. 263)

- [Want of reason · ἀλογία](#register-584) (p. 263)

- [Warlike art · πολεμικός](#register-585) (p. 264)

- [Water · ὕδωρ](#register-586) (p. 264)

- [Wax · αὐξάνεσθαι](#register-587) (p. 264)

- [Way · τρόπος](#register-588) (p. 264)

- [Weaving together · συνυφή](#register-589) (p. 265)

- [Weight · βάρος](#register-590) (p. 265)

- [Welcome · ἀσπάζεσθαι](#register-591) (p. 265)

- [What is needed · δέον](#register-592) (p. 265)

- [Wheat-flour · ἄλευρον](#register-593) (p. 265)

- [Wind · ἄνεμος](#register-594) (p. 266)

- [Wind · πνεῦμα](#register-595) (p. 266)

- [Winter · χειμών](#register-596) (p. 266)

- [Wisdom · σοφία](#register-597) (p. 266)

- [Wise · σοφός](#register-598) (p. 267)

- [Without a share · ἄμοιρος](#register-599) (p. 267)

- [Without causal responsibility · ἀναίτιος](#register-600) (p. 267)

- [Without judgment · ἀγνώμων](#register-601) (p. 267)

- [Without measure · ἄμετρος](#register-602) (p. 268)

- [Without reckoning · ἀλόγιστος](#register-603) (p. 268)

- [Without rhythm · ἄρρυθμος](#register-604) (p. 268)

- [Without rites · ἀνοργίαστος](#register-605) (p. 268)

- [Wonder · θαῦμα](#register-606) (p. 268)

- [Wonder at · θαυμάζειν](#register-607) (p. 269)

### Y


- [Year · ἐνιαυτός](#register-608) (p. 269)

- [Young · νέος](#register-609) (p. 269)

- [Young man · νεανίσκος](#register-610) (p. 269)

### Z


- [Zeus · Ζεύς](#register-611) (p. 269)


## Greek headwords


### Α


- [ἀγαθός · Good](#register-219) (p. 180)

- [ἄγαλμα · Statue or honored image](#register-519) (p. 249)

- [ἄγασθαι · Admire](#register-006) (p. 134)

- [ἄγειν · Lead](#register-300) (p. 198)

- [ἀγνοεῖν · Be ignorant](#register-039) (p. 141)

- [ἀγνώμων · Without judgment](#register-601) (p. 267)

- [ἀγχίνοια · Quick-wittedness](#register-434) (p. 231)

- [ἀγών · Contest](#register-097) (p. 153)

- [ἀδάμας · Adamant](#register-005) (p. 133)

- [ἀδελφή · Sister](#register-498) (p. 245)

- [ἀδελφός · Brother](#register-061) (p. 145)

- [ἄδηλος · Unseen or unclear](#register-573) (p. 261)

- [ἀδύνατος · Unable](#register-564) (p. 259)

- [ἀέριος · Aerial](#register-008) (p. 134)

- [ἀήρ · Air](#register-013) (p. 135)

- [ἀθάνατος · Immortal](#register-262) (p. 189)

- [Αἴγυπτος · Egypt](#register-148) (p. 164)

- [αἰθήρ · Ether](#register-157) (p. 166)

- [αἴσθησις · Perception](#register-387) (p. 220)

- [αἰτιᾶσθαι · Blame](#register-048) (p. 142)

- [αἴτιος · Cause](#register-067) (p. 147)

- [ἄκαιρος · Untimely](#register-574) (p. 261)

- [ἀκοή · Hearing](#register-235) (p. 184)

- [ἀκρίβεια · Precision](#register-413) (p. 227)

- [ἀκριβῶς · Precisely](#register-412) (p. 227)

- [ἄκρον · Extreme](#register-165) (p. 168)

- [ἄκρος · Highest](#register-246) (p. 186)

- [ἄλευρον · Wheat-flour](#register-593) (p. 265)

- [ἀλήθεια · Truth](#register-559) (p. 258)

- [ἀληθής · True](#register-556) (p. 257)

- [ἀλληλοφαγία · Mutual eating](#register-345) (p. 209)

- [ἀλογία · Want of reason](#register-584) (p. 263)

- [ἀλόγιστος · Without reckoning](#register-603) (p. 268)

- [ἄλφιτον · Barley-meal](#register-030) (p. 139)

- [ἀμαθία · Stupidity](#register-526) (p. 251)

- [ἀμέλεια · Neglect](#register-354) (p. 212)

- [ἀμετάστροφος · Irreversible](#register-281) (p. 194)

- [ἄμετρος · Without measure](#register-602) (p. 268)

- [ἄμοιρος · Without a share](#register-599) (p. 267)

- [ἀμυδρός · Dim](#register-128) (p. 160)

- [ἄμφω · Both](#register-054) (p. 144)

- [ἀναβιοῦν · Live again](#register-311) (p. 201)

- [ἀναγκαῖος · Necessary](#register-352) (p. 211)

- [ἀνάγκη · Necessity](#register-353) (p. 211)

- [ἀναιρεῖν · Remove](#register-449) (p. 235)

- [ἀναίτιος · Without causal responsibility](#register-600) (p. 267)

- [ἀναλογία · Proportion](#register-427) (p. 230)

- [ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι · Recall](#register-438) (p. 232)

- [ἀναμφισβητήτως · Beyond dispute](#register-047) (p. 142)

- [ἀναπίμπλημι · Fill up](#register-176) (p. 171)

- [ἀναπνοή · Breathing space](#register-058) (p. 145)

- [ἀνάρμοστος · Out of harmony](#register-378) (p. 218)

- [ἀνατολή · Rising](#register-460) (p. 237)

- [ἀναφαίνεσθαι · Come to light](#register-082) (p. 150)

- [ἀνδρεία · Courage](#register-106) (p. 155)

- [ἀνδρεῖος · Brave](#register-057) (p. 144)

- [ἄνεμος · Wind](#register-594) (p. 266)

- [ἀνευρίσκειν · Find out](#register-178) (p. 171)

- [ἀνθρώπινος · Human](#register-253) (p. 188)

- [ἀνόητος · Senseless](#register-484) (p. 242)

- [ἀνόμοιος · Unlike](#register-571) (p. 260)

- [ἀνοργίαστος · Without rites](#register-605) (p. 268)

- [ἀνόσιος · Unholy](#register-568) (p. 259)

- [ἀνώλεθρος · Indestructible](#register-266) (p. 190)

- [ἀόρατος · Invisible](#register-280) (p. 194)

- [ἀπαραμύθητος · Not to be soothed](#register-358) (p. 213)

- [ἀπεικάζειν · Liken](#register-310) (p. 201)

- [ἀπειρία · Inexperience](#register-267) (p. 190)

- [ἄπειρος · Boundless](#register-055) (p. 144)

- [ἀπεργάζεσθαι · Produce](#register-422) (p. 229)

- [ἀπεργαστικός · Productive art](#register-423) (p. 229)

- [ἀπόδειξις · Proof](#register-424) (p. 229)

- [ἀποδιδόναι · Render](#register-450) (p. 235)

- [ἀποκάμνειν · Grow weary](#register-226) (p. 182)

- [ἀποκρύπτειν · Hide](#register-245) (p. 186)

- [ἀποκωλύειν · Prevent](#register-419) (p. 228)

- [ἀπορία · Perplexity](#register-391) (p. 221)

- [ἀποτελεῖν · Accomplish](#register-001) (p. 132)

- [ἀποτίκτειν · Bring forth](#register-059) (p. 145)

- [ἀποτυποῦσθαι · Stamp out](#register-516) (p. 249)

- [ἄπους · Footless](#register-189) (p. 174)

- [ἁπτός · Tangible](#register-538) (p. 254)

- [ἀρετή · Virtue](#register-579) (p. 262)

- [Ἄρης · Ares](#register-021) (p. 137)

- [ἀριθμεῖν · Count](#register-104) (p. 155)

- [ἀριθμητικός · Arithmetic and numerical ability](#register-022) (p. 137)

- [ἀριθμός · Number](#register-362) (p. 214)

- [ἄριστος · Best](#register-045) (p. 142)

- [ἁρμονία · Harmony](#register-233) (p. 183)

- [ἄρρυθμος · Without rhythm](#register-604) (p. 268)

- [ἄρτιος · Even](#register-158) (p. 167)

- [ἄρχειν · Rule](#register-465) (p. 238)

- [ἀρχή · Beginning](#register-043) (p. 141)

- [ἀσεβής · Impious](#register-263) (p. 190)

- [ἀσπάζεσθαι · Welcome](#register-591) (p. 265)

- [ἄστρον · Star](#register-517) (p. 249)

- [ἀστρονομεῖν · Do astronomy](#register-136) (p. 162)

- [ἀστρονομία · Astronomy](#register-025) (p. 138)

- [ἀστρονόμος · Astronomer](#register-024) (p. 138)

- [ἀσφαλῶς · Securely](#register-476) (p. 240)

- [ἀσχήμων · Unseemly](#register-572) (p. 260)

- [ἀσώματος · Bodiless](#register-050) (p. 143)

- [ἄτακτος · Disordered](#register-131) (p. 161)

- [ἀταξία · Disorder](#register-130) (p. 160)

- [ἀτελής · Unfinished](#register-567) (p. 259)

- [ἄτιμος · Less honored](#register-304) (p. 199)

- [ἄτοπος · Strange](#register-522) (p. 250)

- [αὐξάνειν · Increase](#register-265) (p. 190)

- [αὐξάνεσθαι · Wax](#register-587) (p. 264)

- [Ἀφροδίτη · Aphrodite](#register-016) (p. 136)

- [ἄφρων · Unintelligent](#register-569) (p. 260)

### Β


- [βάναυσος · Menial](#register-328) (p. 205)

- [βάρβαρος · Non-Greek](#register-357) (p. 212)

- [βάρος · Weight](#register-590) (p. 265)

- [βασανίζειν · Test](#register-544) (p. 255)

- [βάσανος · Test](#register-545) (p. 255)

- [βίος · Life](#register-305) (p. 199)

- [βοήθεια · Help](#register-239) (p. 184)

- [βοηθός · Helper](#register-241) (p. 185)

- [βουλεύεσθαι · Deliberate](#register-121) (p. 159)

- [βουλή · Deliberation](#register-123) (p. 159)

- [βραδύς · Slow](#register-504) (p. 246)

- [βραδύτης · Slowness](#register-506) (p. 246)

### Γ


- [γελοῖος · Ridiculous](#register-457) (p. 236)

- [γένεσις · Coming into being](#register-084) (p. 150)

- [γέννημα · Offspring](#register-366) (p. 215)

- [γένος · Kind](#register-288) (p. 195)

- [γεωμετρία · Geometry](#register-210) (p. 178)

- [γεωργία · Farming](#register-167) (p. 169)

- [γῆ · Earth](#register-142) (p. 163)

- [γήινος · Earthly](#register-143) (p. 163)

- [γῆρας · Old age](#register-367) (p. 215)

- [γιγνώσκειν · Recognize or know](#register-442) (p. 233)

- [γνήσιος · True-born](#register-557) (p. 257)

- [γραφικός · Painting](#register-381) (p. 219)

### Δ


- [δαιμόνιος · My good sir; daimonic](#register-346) (p. 210)

- [δαίμων · Daimon](#register-112) (p. 157)

- [δεικνύναι · Show](#register-496) (p. 244)

- [Δελφοί · Delphi](#register-125) (p. 160)

- [δεξιός · Right-hand](#register-459) (p. 237)

- [δέον · What is needed](#register-592) (p. 265)

- [δεσμός · Bond](#register-052) (p. 143)

- [δημιουργεῖν · Craft or make](#register-109) (p. 156)

- [δῆμος · People](#register-386) (p. 220)

- [δημοσίᾳ · Publicly](#register-428) (p. 230)

- [διάγειν · Pass one's life](#register-383) (p. 219)

- [διάγραμμα · Diagram](#register-127) (p. 160)

- [διαμνημονεύειν · Keep in mind](#register-287) (p. 195)

- [διανέμειν · Distribute](#register-133) (p. 161)

- [διανοεῖσθαι · Think through](#register-548) (p. 256)

- [διάνοια · Thought](#register-549) (p. 256)

- [διαπονεῖν · Labor thoroughly](#register-293) (p. 197)

- [διαπονεῖσθαι · Labor thoroughly](#register-294) (p. 197)

- [διαπορεία · Passage](#register-384) (p. 219)

- [διαπράττειν · Accomplish](#register-002) (p. 132)

- [διαριθμεῖσθαι · Count out](#register-105) (p. 155)

- [διατελεῖν · Continue](#register-098) (p. 153)

- [διαφανής · Evident](#register-161) (p. 167)

- [διδάσκειν · Teach](#register-539) (p. 254)

- [διέξοδος · Course](#register-107) (p. 155)

- [διισχυρίζεσθαι · Affirm firmly](#register-010) (p. 134)

- [δίκαιος · Just](#register-284) (p. 194)

- [δίκη · Justice and lawsuit](#register-285) (p. 195)

- [διορᾶν · Seen through](#register-482) (p. 241)

- [διορίζειν · Delimit](#register-124) (p. 159)

- [διπλάσιος · Double](#register-137) (p. 162)

- [δοκεῖν · Seem or think](#register-480) (p. 241)

- [δοκιμάζειν · Scrutinize](#register-472) (p. 239)

- [δόξα · Opinion and reputation](#register-374) (p. 217)

- [δοξάζειν · Form an opinion and be reputed](#register-192) (p. 174)

- [δόσις · Gift](#register-212) (p. 178)

- [δύναμις · Power or capacity](#register-408) (p. 225)

- [δύο · Two](#register-563) (p. 258)

- [δυσμαθής · Slow to learn](#register-505) (p. 246)

- [δυσμή · Setting](#register-489) (p. 243)

- [δυσχέρεια · Distaste](#register-132) (p. 161)

- [δώδεκα · Twelve](#register-562) (p. 258)

### Ε


- [ἐγκαθορᾶν · See into](#register-477) (p. 240)

- [ἐγκύμων · Pregnant](#register-415) (p. 227)

- [ἕδρα · Seat](#register-475) (p. 240)

- [ἐδωδή · Eating](#register-147) (p. 164)

- [ἐθίζειν · Accustom](#register-004) (p. 133)

- [εἰδέναι · Know](#register-289) (p. 196)

- [εἶδος · Form](#register-191) (p. 174)

- [εἰκός · Likely](#register-309) (p. 201)

- [εἰκών · Image](#register-258) (p. 189)

- [εἷς · One](#register-371) (p. 216)

- [εἰσακούειν · Give ear](#register-213) (p. 178)

- [ἐλαφρός · Light](#register-307) (p. 200)

- [ἐλέγχειν · Refute](#register-444) (p. 234)

- [ἑλίττειν · Roll round](#register-461) (p. 237)

- [Ἕλλην · Greek](#register-225) (p. 182)

- [ἐλπίς · Hope](#register-252) (p. 187)

- [ἐμμελής · In tune](#register-264) (p. 190)

- [ἔμφρων · Intelligent person](#register-273) (p. 192)

- [ἔμψυχος · Ensouled](#register-153) (p. 166)

- [ἐναντίος · Contrary](#register-099) (p. 154)

- [ἐνδίκως · Justly](#register-286) (p. 195)

- [ἐνιαυτός · Year](#register-608) (p. 269)

- [ἐνοικίζειν · Settle within](#register-491) (p. 243)

- [ἔντιμος · Honored](#register-251) (p. 187)

- [ἕξ · Six](#register-499) (p. 245)

- [ἐξαίσιος · Violent or excessive](#register-578) (p. 262)

- [ἐξετάζειν · Examine critically](#register-163) (p. 168)

- [ἐξευρίσκειν · Discover fully](#register-129) (p. 160)

- [ἕξις · State](#register-518) (p. 249)

- [ἑορτή · Feast or festival](#register-172) (p. 170)

- [ἕπεσθαι · Follow](#register-185) (p. 173)

- [ἐπιεικής · Fair or reasonable](#register-166) (p. 168)

- [ἐπίκλησις · Name or designation](#register-349) (p. 210)

- [ἐπιμελεῖσθαι · Care](#register-064) (p. 146)

- [ἐπινοεῖν · Think of](#register-546) (p. 255)

- [ἐπίπεδος · Plane](#register-400) (p. 223)

- [ἐπισκέπτεσθαι · Examine](#register-162) (p. 168)

- [ἐπιστήμη · Knowledge](#register-290) (p. 196)

- [ἐπιστήμων · Knowledgeable](#register-291) (p. 196)

- [ἐπιτήδευμα · Pursuit](#register-431) (p. 231)

- [ἐπιτήδευσις · Practice](#register-409) (p. 226)

- [ἐπίτριτος · One-and-a-third](#register-373) (p. 217)

- [ἐπωνυμία · Title](#register-553) (p. 257)

- [ἑρμηνεία · Interpretation](#register-277) (p. 193)

- [ἑρμηνεύεσθαι · Interpret](#register-276) (p. 193)

- [ἑρμηνευτική · Interpretive art](#register-278) (p. 193)

- [Ἑρμῆς · Hermes](#register-243) (p. 185)

- [ἐρυθρός · Red](#register-443) (p. 234)

- [ἔρως · Love](#register-315) (p. 202)

- [ἐρωτᾶν · Question](#register-432) (p. 231)

- [ἕσπερος · Evening Star](#register-159) (p. 167)

- [εὐδαιμονία · Happiness](#register-231) (p. 183)

- [εὐδαίμων · Happy](#register-232) (p. 183)

- [εὐδόκιμος · Esteemed](#register-156) (p. 166)

- [εὔκολος · Good-natured](#register-221) (p. 181)

- [εὐμαθής · Quick to learn](#register-433) (p. 231)

- [εὐπειθής · Ready to be persuaded](#register-436) (p. 232)

- [εὑρίσκειν · Find](#register-177) (p. 171)

- [εὐσέβεια · Piety](#register-393) (p. 221)

- [εὐσχήμων · Seemly](#register-481) (p. 241)

- [εὐτυχής · Fortunate](#register-193) (p. 175)

- [εὐτυχία · Good fortune](#register-220) (p. 181)

- [εὐφημεῖν · Speak auspiciously](#register-514) (p. 248)

- [εὔφημος · Auspicious](#register-027) (p. 138)

- [εὔχεσθαι · Pray](#register-410) (p. 226)

- [εὐχή · Prayer](#register-411) (p. 226)

- [ἐφορᾶν · Look down upon](#register-314) (p. 202)

- [ἑωσφόρος · Dawn-bringer](#register-116) (p. 158)

### Ζ


- [Ζεύς · Zeus](#register-611) (p. 269)

- [ζητεῖν · Seek](#register-479) (p. 241)

- [ζήτησις · Search](#register-473) (p. 240)

- [ζωή · Life](#register-306) (p. 200)

- [ζῳογονία · Generation of living beings](#register-208) (p. 177)

- [ζῷον · Living being](#register-312) (p. 201)

### Η


- [ἡγεῖσθαι · Think or regard](#register-547) (p. 255)

- [ἡγεμονία · Predominance](#register-414) (p. 227)

- [ἡδονή · Pleasure](#register-404) (p. 224)

- [ἦθος · Character](#register-071) (p. 148)

- [ἥκειν · Come together](#register-083) (p. 150)

- [ἠλίθιος · Idiot](#register-257) (p. 188)

- [ἥλιος · Sun](#register-533) (p. 252)

- [ἡμέρα · Day](#register-117) (p. 158)

- [ἡμίθεος · Demigod](#register-126) (p. 160)

- [ἡμιόλιος · One-and-a-half](#register-372) (p. 216)

- [ἤπειρος · Mainland](#register-318) (p. 203)

- [Ἥρα · Hera](#register-242) (p. 185)

- [Ἡσίοδος · Hesiod](#register-244) (p. 185)

### Θ


- [θάνατος · Death](#register-118) (p. 158)

- [θαρρεῖν · Be confident](#register-033) (p. 139)

- [θαῦμα · Wonder](#register-606) (p. 268)

- [θαυμάζειν · Wonder at](#register-607) (p. 269)

- [θεά · Goddess](#register-217) (p. 180)

- [θεῖος · Divine](#register-134) (p. 161)

- [θέμις · Permitted](#register-389) (p. 221)

- [θεμιτός · Permitted](#register-390) (p. 221)

- [θεογονία · Generation of gods](#register-207) (p. 177)

- [θεοειδής · Godlike](#register-218) (p. 180)

- [θεός · God](#register-216) (p. 179)

- [θεοσέβεια · Reverence toward gods](#register-453) (p. 235)

- [θεοσεβής · Reverent toward gods](#register-454) (p. 236)

- [θεραπεία · Service](#register-487) (p. 243)

- [θερινός · Summer](#register-531) (p. 252)

- [θερμότης · Heat](#register-236) (p. 184)

- [θέσις · Setting down](#register-490) (p. 243)

- [θεωρεῖν · Contemplate](#register-094) (p. 153)

- [θεωρία · Contemplation](#register-095) (p. 153)

- [θεωρός · Contemplator](#register-096) (p. 153)

- [θηρευτική · Hunting](#register-254) (p. 188)

- [θνητός · Mortal](#register-338) (p. 207)

- [θυσία · Sacrifice](#register-469) (p. 239)

### Ι


- [ἰατρικός · Medicine](#register-325) (p. 204)

- [ἰδίᾳ · Privately](#register-420) (p. 228)

- [ἱερόν · Sacred rite](#register-468) (p. 239)

- [ἱκανός · Sufficient](#register-528) (p. 251)

- [ἱκανῶς · Sufficiently](#register-529) (p. 252)

- [ἵλεως · Gracious](#register-222) (p. 181)

- [ἴσως · Perhaps](#register-388) (p. 220)

### Κ


- [καθαριότης · Purity](#register-430) (p. 230)

- [καθαρμός · Purification](#register-429) (p. 230)

- [καθορᾶν · Observe](#register-363) (p. 214)

- [καινοτομεῖν · Innovate](#register-269) (p. 191)

- [κακός · Bad](#register-029) (p. 139)

- [καλός · Fine](#register-179) (p. 171)

- [κάμνειν · Be ill](#register-040) (p. 141)

- [καρπός · Fruit](#register-198) (p. 176)

- [κατάδηλος · Plain](#register-397) (p. 222)

- [καταμανθάνειν · Learn thoroughly](#register-303) (p. 199)

- [κατανοεῖν · Apprehend](#register-019) (p. 137)

- [κατανόημα · Apprehension](#register-020) (p. 137)

- [καταφανής · Plainly seen](#register-398) (p. 222)

- [κατέχειν · Hold in check](#register-247) (p. 186)

- [καῦμα · Heat](#register-237) (p. 184)

- [κινεῖν · Move](#register-340) (p. 208)

- [κίνησις · Movement](#register-341) (p. 208)

- [Κλεινίας · Clinias](#register-077) (p. 149)

- [κοινός · Common](#register-086) (p. 151)

- [κόσμος · Cosmos](#register-102) (p. 154)

- [κρείττων · Stronger](#register-525) (p. 251)

- [Κρόνος · Cronus](#register-110) (p. 156)

- [κυβερνήτης · Pilot](#register-394) (p. 222)

- [κυβερνητικός · Pilot’s art](#register-395) (p. 222)

- [κύεσθαι · Gestation](#register-211) (p. 178)

- [κύκλος · Cycle](#register-111) (p. 157)

- [κύριος · Sovereign](#register-513) (p. 248)

### Λ


- [λήθη · Forgetfulness](#register-190) (p. 174)

- [ληίζεσθαι · Plunder](#register-405) (p. 224)

- [λογίζεσθαι · Reckon](#register-440) (p. 232)

- [λογισμός · Reckoning](#register-441) (p. 233)

- [λόγος · Account and reason](#register-003) (p. 132)

- [λύπη · Pain](#register-380) (p. 219)

### Μ


- [μάθημα · Subject of learning](#register-527) (p. 251)

- [μακάριος · Blessed](#register-049) (p. 143)

- [μακραίων · Long-lived](#register-313) (p. 202)

- [μανθάνειν · Learn](#register-302) (p. 199)

- [μαντεία · Oracle](#register-375) (p. 218)

- [μαντεύεσθαι · Divine](#register-135) (p. 162)

- [μαντική · Prophecy](#register-426) (p. 230)

- [μάταιος · Futile](#register-204) (p. 177)

- [μεγαλοπρεπής · Magnificent](#register-317) (p. 203)

- [μέγας · Great](#register-224) (p. 181)

- [μέγεθος · Size](#register-500) (p. 245)

- [Μέγιλλος · Megillus](#register-326) (p. 205)

- [μέρος · Part](#register-382) (p. 219)

- [μέσος · Middle](#register-329) (p. 205)

- [μεταβολή · Change](#register-069) (p. 147)

- [μεταβουλεύεσθαι · Deliberate anew](#register-122) (p. 159)

- [μετακυκλεῖσθαι · Change cycles](#register-070) (p. 147)

- [μεταλαμβάνειν · Share in](#register-493) (p. 244)

- [μεταξύ · Between](#register-046) (p. 142)

- [μεταχειρίζεσθαι · Handle](#register-230) (p. 182)

- [μετέχειν · Share in](#register-494) (p. 244)

- [μέτριος · Moderate](#register-331) (p. 206)

- [μετρίως · Moderately](#register-332) (p. 206)

- [μήν · Month](#register-335) (p. 207)

- [μιμεῖσθαι · Imitate](#register-259) (p. 189)

- [μίμημα · Imitation](#register-260) (p. 189)

- [μιμητικός · Imitative art](#register-261) (p. 189)

- [μισεῖν · Hate](#register-234) (p. 183)

- [μνήμη · Memory](#register-327) (p. 205)

- [μνημονεύειν · Remember](#register-447) (p. 234)

- [μνήμων · Retentive](#register-452) (p. 235)

- [μοῖρα · Portion](#register-407) (p. 224)

- [Μοῖραι · Fates](#register-169) (p. 169)

- [μόνιμος · Remaining in place](#register-446) (p. 234)

- [μορφή · Shape](#register-492) (p. 244)

- [μοῦσα · Music and poetic art](#register-344) (p. 209)

- [μυεῖν · Initiate](#register-268) (p. 191)

- [μῦθος · Story](#register-521) (p. 250)

- [μυριετής · Ten-thousand-year](#register-543) (p. 255)

- [μωρία · Folly](#register-188) (p. 173)

### Ν


- [ναύτης · Sailor](#register-470) (p. 239)

- [νεανίσκος · Young man](#register-610) (p. 269)

- [νέος · Young](#register-609) (p. 269)

- [νέφος · Cloud](#register-078) (p. 149)

- [νῆσος · Island](#register-282) (p. 194)

- [νικᾶν · Conquer](#register-093) (p. 152)

- [νοητός · Intelligible](#register-275) (p. 193)

- [νομίζειν · Hold or regard](#register-248) (p. 186)

- [νόμιμος · Lawful](#register-296) (p. 197)

- [νομοθετεῖν · Give law](#register-214) (p. 179)

- [νομοθέτης · Lawgiver](#register-297) (p. 197)

- [νόμος · Laws](#register-298) (p. 198)

- [νοῦς · Sense](#register-483) (p. 242)

- [νυκτερινός · Nocturnal](#register-356) (p. 212)

- [νύξ · Night](#register-355) (p. 212)

### Ξ


- [ξένος · Stranger](#register-523) (p. 250)

- [ξηρός · Dry](#register-139) (p. 162)

### Ο


- [ὄγδοος · Eighth](#register-150) (p. 165)

- [ὄγκος · Bulk](#register-063) (p. 146)

- [ὁδός · Route](#register-463) (p. 237)

- [οἴκησις · Dwelling](#register-140) (p. 163)

- [οἰκοδομία · Building](#register-062) (p. 145)

- [ὀκτώ · Eight](#register-149) (p. 165)

- [ὀλίγος · Few](#register-173) (p. 170)

- [ὄλυμπος · Olympus](#register-370) (p. 216)

- [ὁμόδρομος · Same-course](#register-471) (p. 239)

- [ὅμοιος · Like](#register-308) (p. 200)

- [ὁμοιοῦν · Make like](#register-319) (p. 203)

- [ὁμοίωσις · Making alike](#register-321) (p. 203)

- [ὁμολογία · Agreement](#register-012) (p. 135)

- [ὄνειδος · Reproach](#register-451) (p. 235)

- [ὀνειροπολία · Dreaming](#register-138) (p. 162)

- [ὄνομα · Name](#register-347) (p. 210)

- [ὄντως · Really](#register-437) (p. 232)

- [ὀξύς · Sharp](#register-495) (p. 244)

- [ὁρατός · Visible](#register-580) (p. 263)

- [ὄργανον · Instrument](#register-270) (p. 191)

- [ὀργή · Anger](#register-015) (p. 136)

- [ὀρθός · Right](#register-458) (p. 236)

- [οὐρανός · Heaven](#register-238) (p. 184)

- [οὐσία · Property](#register-425) (p. 229)

- [ὄφελος · Benefit](#register-044) (p. 142)

- [ὄχημα · Vehicle](#register-576) (p. 261)

- [ὄψις · Sight](#register-497) (p. 245)

### Π


- [πάγιος · Fixed](#register-183) (p. 172)

- [πάθη · Affection or undergoing](#register-009) (p. 134)

- [παιδεύεσθαι · Be educated](#register-035) (p. 140)

- [παιδιά · Play](#register-402) (p. 223)

- [παιδικός · Childish](#register-072) (p. 148)

- [παίζειν · Play](#register-403) (p. 224)

- [παῖς · Boy](#register-056) (p. 144)

- [παλαιότερος · More ancient](#register-337) (p. 207)

- [πανσέληνος · Full moon](#register-201) (p. 176)

- [παραδιδόναι · Hand over](#register-229) (p. 182)

- [παρακαλεῖν · Summon](#register-532) (p. 252)

- [παραλαμβάνειν · Receive](#register-439) (p. 232)

- [παραμυθεῖσθαι · Soothe](#register-510) (p. 247)

- [παρασκευάζειν · Prepare](#register-416) (p. 227)

- [παρασκευή · Furnishing](#register-203) (p. 177)

- [παρασφάλλεσθαι · Slip aside](#register-503) (p. 246)

- [παρολιγωρεῖν · Slight](#register-502) (p. 246)

- [πατήρ · Father](#register-170) (p. 169)

- [πάτριος · Ancestral](#register-014) (p. 135)

- [πείθειν · Persuade and trust](#register-392) (p. 221)

- [πέμπτος · Fifth](#register-175) (p. 170)

- [πεντεκαίδεκα · Fifteen](#register-174) (p. 170)

- [περίοδος · Circuit](#register-074) (p. 148)

- [περιττός · Odd](#register-365) (p. 215)

- [περιφέρειν · Carry round](#register-066) (p. 146)

- [περιφορά · Revolution](#register-455) (p. 236)

- [πιθανός · Plausible](#register-401) (p. 223)

- [πιστεύειν · Trust](#register-558) (p. 258)

- [πλανᾶσθαι · Wander](#register-582) (p. 263)

- [πλαστικός · Modeling](#register-330) (p. 206)

- [πλάττειν · Mold](#register-334) (p. 206)

- [πλεκτικός · Plaiting](#register-399) (p. 223)

- [πλέος · Full](#register-199) (p. 176)

- [πλῆθος · Multitude](#register-343) (p. 209)

- [πλησίον · Near](#register-351) (p. 211)

- [πνεῦμα · Wind](#register-595) (p. 266)

- [ποίησις · Making](#register-320) (p. 203)

- [ποικίλλειν · Adorn with variety](#register-007) (p. 134)

- [ποίκιλμα · Intricate design](#register-279) (p. 193)

- [πολεμικός · Warlike art](#register-585) (p. 264)

- [πολίτης · Citizen](#register-075) (p. 149)

- [πόλος · Orbit](#register-376) (p. 218)

- [πολύπους · Many-footed](#register-324) (p. 204)

- [πόνος · Labor](#register-292) (p. 197)

- [πορεία · Procession](#register-421) (p. 228)

- [πορεύεσθαι · Travel](#register-554) (p. 257)

- [πορεύσιμος · Moving about](#register-342) (p. 209)

- [πόρος · Path](#register-385) (p. 220)

- [πραγματεύεσθαι · Occupy oneself](#register-364) (p. 215)

- [πρᾷος · Gentle](#register-209) (p. 178)

- [πρέπειν · Be fitting](#register-037) (p. 140)

- [πρεσβύτερος · Older](#register-369) (p. 216)

- [πρεσβύτης · Old man](#register-368) (p. 216)

- [προδιδάσκειν · Teach beforehand](#register-540) (p. 254)

- [προθυμεῖσθαι · Eagerness](#register-141) (p. 163)

- [προσάγειν · Bring toward](#register-060) (p. 145)

- [προσαγορεύειν · Name or address](#register-348) (p. 210)

- [προσέχειν · Attend](#register-026) (p. 138)

- [προσήκειν · Fitting or belonging](#register-182) (p. 172)

- [προσπαίζειν · Celebrate in play](#register-068) (p. 147)

- [προσποιεῖσθαι · Pretend](#register-418) (p. 228)

- [πρόσφορος · Suitable](#register-530) (p. 252)

- [πῦρ · Fire](#register-180) (p. 172)

### Ρ


- [ῥᾴδιος · Easy](#register-146) (p. 164)

- [ῥᾳδίως · Easily](#register-145) (p. 164)

- [ῥᾳστώνη · Ease](#register-144) (p. 164)

- [ῥίζα · Root](#register-462) (p. 237)

- [ῥυθμός · Rhythm](#register-456) (p. 236)

- [ῥύμη · Rush or impetus](#register-467) (p. 238)

- [ῥώμη · Strength](#register-524) (p. 250)

### Σ


- [σαφής · Clear](#register-076) (p. 149)

- [σελήνη · Moon](#register-336) (p. 207)

- [σεμνότης · Solemnity](#register-508) (p. 247)

- [σκεῦος · Equipment](#register-155) (p. 166)

- [σοφία · Wisdom](#register-597) (p. 266)

- [σοφός · Wise](#register-598) (p. 267)

- [σπουδάζειν · Be in earnest](#register-041) (p. 141)

- [σπουδαῖος · Serious](#register-485) (p. 242)

- [σπουδή · Seriousness](#register-486) (p. 243)

- [στερέμνιος · Firm or solid](#register-181) (p. 172)

- [στερεομετρία · Stereometry](#register-520) (p. 250)

- [στερεός · Solid](#register-509) (p. 247)

- [στέρεσθαι · Be deprived](#register-034) (p. 140)

- [στρατηγικός · General’s craft](#register-206) (p. 177)

- [στρέφειν · Turn](#register-560) (p. 258)

- [συγχαίρειν · Rejoice with](#register-445) (p. 234)

- [συγχωρεῖν · Grant](#register-223) (p. 181)

- [σύλλογος · Council](#register-103) (p. 155)

- [σύμμετρος · Commensurate](#register-085) (p. 151)

- [συμπλήρης · Full](#register-200) (p. 176)

- [συμφάναι · Concur](#register-092) (p. 152)

- [συμφέρειν · Be advantageous](#register-031) (p. 139)

- [σύμφωνος · Concordant](#register-090) (p. 152)

- [συμφώνως · Concordantly](#register-091) (p. 152)

- [συνακολουθεῖν · Follow along](#register-186) (p. 173)

- [συναποτελεῖν · Help complete](#register-240) (p. 185)

- [σύνδεσμος · Bond](#register-053) (p. 144)

- [σύνδρομος · Run together](#register-466) (p. 238)

- [συνέπεσθαι · Follow along](#register-187) (p. 173)

- [συνεύχεσθαι · Join in prayer](#register-283) (p. 194)

- [συνιέναι · Understand](#register-565) (p. 259)

- [συνιστάναι · Compose](#register-089) (p. 152)

- [συννοεῖν · Notice and understand](#register-359) (p. 213)

- [σύννοια · Understanding](#register-566) (p. 259)

- [συνομολογεῖν · Agree together](#register-011) (p. 135)

- [συνορᾶν · See together](#register-478) (p. 241)

- [συνουσία · Gathering](#register-205) (p. 177)

- [συνυφή · Weaving together](#register-589) (p. 265)

- [Συρία · Syria](#register-534) (p. 253)

- [Σύριος · Syrian](#register-535) (p. 253)

- [σύστασις · Combination](#register-081) (p. 150)

- [σύστημα · System](#register-536) (p. 253)

- [σχεδόν · Very nearly](#register-577) (p. 261)

- [σχῆμα · Outward form](#register-379) (p. 218)

- [σῴζειν · Preserve](#register-417) (p. 228)

- [σῶμα · Body](#register-051) (p. 143)

- [σωφροσύνη · Temperance](#register-541) (p. 254)

- [σώφρων · Temperate](#register-542) (p. 254)

### Τ


- [τάξις · Order](#register-377) (p. 218)

- [τάττειν · Assign](#register-023) (p. 137)

- [τάχος · Speed](#register-515) (p. 248)

- [ταχύς · Fast](#register-168) (p. 169)

- [τεκμήριον · Evidence](#register-160) (p. 167)

- [τεκτονικός · Carpentry](#register-065) (p. 146)

- [τέλεος · Complete](#register-087) (p. 151)

- [τελευτᾶν · End or die](#register-151) (p. 165)

- [τελευτή · Ending](#register-152) (p. 165)

- [τελέως · Completely](#register-088) (p. 152)

- [τέλος · Goal](#register-215) (p. 179)

- [τέταρτος · Fourth](#register-196) (p. 175)

- [τέτταρες · Four](#register-195) (p. 175)

- [τεχνάζειν · Contrive](#register-100) (p. 154)

- [τέχνη · Craft](#register-108) (p. 156)

- [τεχνικός · Full of craft](#register-202) (p. 176)

- [τιθέναι · Set down](#register-488) (p. 243)

- [τιμᾶν · Honor](#register-249) (p. 186)

- [τιμή · Honor](#register-250) (p. 187)

- [τιμωρός · Avenging](#register-028) (p. 138)

### Π


- [τὸ πᾶν · Universe](#register-570) (p. 260)

### Τ


- [τολμᾶν · Dare](#register-115) (p. 158)

- [τοπάζειν · Guess](#register-228) (p. 182)

- [τόπος · Place](#register-396) (p. 222)

- [τρεῖς · Three](#register-550) (p. 256)

- [τρέφειν · Nourish](#register-360) (p. 213)

- [τρέφεσθαι · Be nourished](#register-042) (p. 141)

- [τριβή · Routine](#register-464) (p. 238)

- [τρίς · Three times](#register-551) (p. 256)

- [τροπή · Turning](#register-561) (p. 258)

- [τρόπος · Way](#register-588) (p. 264)

- [τροφή · Nourishment](#register-361) (p. 213)

- [τύχη · Fortune](#register-194) (p. 175)

### Υ


- [ὑγιαίνειν · Be healthy](#register-038) (p. 140)

- [ὑγρός · Moist](#register-333) (p. 206)

- [ὕδωρ · Water](#register-586) (p. 264)

- [ὑετός · Rain](#register-435) (p. 231)

- [ὑμνεῖν · Hymn](#register-255) (p. 188)

- [ὕμνος · Hymn](#register-256) (p. 188)

- [ὑπερέχειν · Exceed](#register-164) (p. 168)

- [ὑπερέχεσθαι · Be exceeded](#register-036) (p. 140)

- [ὕπνος · Sleep](#register-501) (p. 245)

- [ὑπολαμβάνειν · Take or suppose](#register-537) (p. 253)

- [ὑπόμνημα · Remembering notes](#register-448) (p. 234)

- [ὑποτίθεσθαι · Lay as a foundation](#register-299) (p. 198)

- [ὑφηγεῖσθαι · Lead the way](#register-301) (p. 198)

### Φ


- [φαίνεσθαι · Appear](#register-017) (p. 136)

- [φανερός · Manifest](#register-322) (p. 204)

- [φανερῶς · Manifestly](#register-323) (p. 204)

- [φαντάζεσθαι · Appear](#register-018) (p. 136)

- [φαῦλος · Trivial](#register-555) (p. 257)

- [φεύγειν · Flee](#register-184) (p. 173)

- [φήμη · Voice or report](#register-581) (p. 263)

- [φθίνειν · Wane](#register-583) (p. 263)

- [φθόγγος · Sound](#register-512) (p. 248)

- [φθόνος · Envy](#register-154) (p. 166)

- [φιλία · Friendliness](#register-197) (p. 175)

- [φιλομαθής · Lover of learning](#register-316) (p. 202)

- [φλαῦρος · Poor](#register-406) (p. 224)

- [φοβεῖσθαι · Fear](#register-171) (p. 169)

- [φορά · Motion](#register-339) (p. 208)

- [φράζειν · Declare](#register-120) (p. 159)

- [φρόνησις · Intelligence](#register-271) (p. 191)

- [φρόνιμος · Intelligent](#register-272) (p. 192)

- [φρονίμως · Intelligently](#register-274) (p. 192)

- [φυλάττειν · Guard](#register-227) (p. 182)

- [φύσις · Nature](#register-350) (p. 211)

### Χ


- [χαλεπαίνειν · Be angry](#register-032) (p. 139)

- [χαλκεία · Smithing](#register-507) (p. 247)

- [χειμών · Winter](#register-596) (p. 266)

- [χορεία · Dance](#register-113) (p. 157)

- [χορεύειν · Dance as an action](#register-114) (p. 157)

- [χορός · Chorus or dance](#register-073) (p. 148)

- [χρεία · Use](#register-575) (p. 261)

- [χρηστός · Decent](#register-119) (p. 158)

- [χρόνος · Time](#register-552) (p. 256)

- [χρῶμα · Color](#register-080) (p. 150)

- [χώρα · Land](#register-295) (p. 197)

### Ψ


- [ψῦξις · Cooling](#register-101) (p. 154)

- [ψυχή · Soul](#register-511) (p. 247)

- [ψῦχος · Cold](#register-079) (p. 149)

### Ω


- [ὥρα · Season](#register-474) (p. 240)


# Passage index {#passage-index}


The index follows every section actually present in the dialogue, from 973a to 992e. There is no 973e in this text. The summary identifies the local movement; links lead to related full articles and contextual definitions, which may also trace the term elsewhere.


## 973a {#passage-973a}


Clinias recalls the three men's agreement to investigate the intelligence attainable by human beings.


**Full articles.** [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Agreement ὁμολογία](#register-012) (p. 135); [Come together ἥκειν](#register-083) (p. 150); [Examine ἐπισκέπτεσθαι](#register-162) (p. 168); [Human ἀνθρώπινος](#register-253) (p. 188); [Intelligence φρόνησις](#register-271) (p. 191); [Megillus Μέγιλλος](#register-326) (p. 205); [State ἕξις](#register-518) (p. 249); [Stranger ξένος](#register-523) (p. 250); [Think through διανοεῖσθαι](#register-548) (p. 256).


**Phrases.** [A meeting fulfills an agreement not an answer](#phrase-001) (p. 270); [As much intelligence as a human can have](#phrase-002) (p. 270); [Megillus here](#phrase-003) (p. 270).


## 973b {#passage-973b}


The unfinished question is what a mortal must learn to become wise, and the Athenian introduces a strange yet familiar account.


**Full articles.** [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Clinias Κλεινίας](#register-077) (p. 149); [Find εὑρίσκειν](#register-177) (p. 171); [Laws νόμος](#register-298) (p. 198); [Learn μανθάνειν](#register-302) (p. 199); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199); [Manifest φανερός](#register-322) (p. 204); [Mortal θνητός](#register-338) (p. 207); [Setting down θέσις](#register-490) (p. 243); [Strange ἄτοπος](#register-522) (p. 250); [Unfinished ἀτελής](#register-567) (p. 259); [Wise σοφός](#register-598) (p. 267).


**Phrases.** [What must be learned to become wise?](#phrase-004) (p. 270); [Neither said nor found](#phrase-005) (p. 271); [Strange and in a way not strange](#phrase-006) (p. 271).


## 973c {#passage-973c}


The Athenian limits happiness in life to a few while holding out a fine hope after death.


**Full articles.** [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Blessed μακάριος](#register-049) (p. 143); [Delimit διορίζειν](#register-124) (p. 159); [Eagerness προθυμεῖσθαι](#register-141) (p. 163); [End or die τελευτᾶν](#register-151) (p. 165); [Fine καλός](#register-179) (p. 171); [Follow ἕπεσθαι](#register-185) (p. 173); [Happy εὐδαίμων](#register-232) (p. 183); [Hope ἐλπίς](#register-252) (p. 187); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199).


**Phrases.** [The exception and the temporal limit](#phrase-007) (p. 271); [A fine hope for one who has died](#phrase-008) (p. 271).


## 973d {#passage-973d}


Coming into being, birth, nurture and education involve countless labors for living beings.


**Full articles.** [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Be educated παιδεύεσθαι](#register-035) (p. 140); [Be nourished τρέφεσθαι](#register-042) (p. 141); [Gestation κύεσθαι](#register-211) (p. 178); [Labor πόνος](#register-292) (p. 197); [Living being ζῷον](#register-312) (p. 201); [Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233); [State ἕξις](#register-518) (p. 249).


## 974a {#passage-974a}


Life offers only a brief respite before old age, and reckoning its burdens introduces the difficulty of finding wisdom.


**Full articles.** [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68); [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70); [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Breathing space ἀναπνοή](#register-058) (p. 145); [Childish παιδικός](#register-072) (p. 148); [Evidence τεκμήριον](#register-160) (p. 167); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199); [Live again ἀναβιοῦν](#register-311) (p. 201); [Moderate μέτριος](#register-331) (p. 206); [Old age γῆρας](#register-367) (p. 215); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Reckon λογίζεσθαι](#register-440) (p. 232); [Reckoning λογισμός](#register-441) (p. 233); [Seem or think δοκεῖν](#register-480) (p. 241); [Time χρόνος](#register-552) (p. 256).


**Phrases.** [A breathing space near life’s middle](#phrase-009) (p. 271); [Reckoning the life already lived](#phrase-010) (p. 272).


## 974b {#passage-974b}


Wisdom eludes the search among reputed crafts and kinds of knowledge even though the soul divines a natural capacity for it.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Craft τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156); [Divine μαντεύεσθαι](#register-135) (p. 162); [Flee φεύγειν](#register-184) (p. 173); [Intelligence φρόνησις](#register-271) (p. 191); [Knowledge ἐπιστήμη](#register-290) (p. 196); [Name or designation ἐπίκλησις](#register-349) (p. 210); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Persuade and trust πείθειν](#register-392) (p. 221); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Seek ζητεῖν](#register-479) (p. 241); [Soul ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247); [Wisdom σοφία](#register-597) (p. 266).


**Phrases.** [Wisdom runs away in flight](#phrase-011) (p. 272).


## 974c {#passage-974c}


Perplexity persists despite intelligent examination, and Clinias begins a qualified, hopeful concurrence.


**Full articles.** [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Concordantly συμφώνως](#register-091) (p. 152); [Concur συμφάναι](#register-092) (p. 152); [Discover fully ἐξευρίσκειν](#register-129) (p. 160); [Examine critically ἐξετάζειν](#register-163) (p. 168); [Hope ἐλπίς](#register-252) (p. 187); [Intelligently φρονίμως](#register-274) (p. 192); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Perhaps ἴσως](#register-388) (p. 220); [Perplexity ἀπορία](#register-391) (p. 221); [Search ζήτησις](#register-473) (p. 240).


**Phrases.** [Confident divination without determination](#phrase-012) (p. 272); [Examination of oneself and others](#phrase-013) (p. 272); [Assent in hope and perhaps](#phrase-014) (p. 272).


## 974d {#passage-974d}


Clinias hopes for a truer eventual opinion, and the Athenian proposes first to exclude kinds of knowledge that do not make their possessors wise.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Accomplish ἀποτελεῖν](#register-001) (p. 132); [Form an opinion and be reputed δοξάζειν](#register-192) (p. 174); [Knowledge ἐπιστήμη](#register-290) (p. 196); [Learn μανθάνειν](#register-302) (p. 199); [Necessary ἀναγκαῖος](#register-352) (p. 211).


**Phrases.** [Taking up and possessing do not ensure wisdom](#phrase-015) (p. 273); [Most necessary and genuinely first](#phrase-016) (p. 273).


## 974e {#passage-974e}


The most necessary and earliest skills no longer confer the reputation for wisdom they may once have held.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Form an opinion and be reputed δοξάζειν](#register-192) (p. 174); [Necessary ἀναγκαῖος](#register-352) (p. 211); [Reproach ὄνειδος](#register-451) (p. 235).


**Phrases.** [Most necessary and genuinely first](#phrase-016) (p. 273).


## 975a {#passage-975a}


The catalogue begins with the provision of lawful food in place of mutual eating among living beings.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Contest ἀγών](#register-097) (p. 153); [Eating ἐδωδή](#register-147) (p. 164); [Gracious ἵλεως](#register-222) (p. 181); [Lawful νόμιμος](#register-296) (p. 197); [Mutual eating ἀλληλοφαγία](#register-345) (p. 209); [Practice ἐπιτήδευσις](#register-409) (p. 226); [Reproach ὄνειδος](#register-451) (p. 235); [Story μῦθος](#register-521) (p. 250).


**Phrases.** [As the story has it](#phrase-017) (p. 273).


## 975b {#passage-975b}


Food production, farming and building are distinguished from the attainment of complete wisdom.


**Full articles.** [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43); [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Appear φαίνεσθαι](#register-017) (p. 136); [Barley-meal ἄλφιτον](#register-030) (p. 139); [Building οἰκοδομία](#register-062) (p. 145); [Carpentry τεκτονικός](#register-065) (p. 146); [Distaste δυσχέρεια](#register-132) (p. 161); [Dwelling οἴκησις](#register-140) (p. 163); [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Equipment σκεῦος](#register-155) (p. 166); [Farming γεωργία](#register-167) (p. 169); [Fine καλός](#register-179) (p. 171); [Good ἀγαθός](#register-219) (p. 180); [Handle μεταχειρίζεσθαι](#register-230) (p. 182); [Land χώρα](#register-295) (p. 197); [Making ποίησις](#register-320) (p. 203); [Name or designation ἐπίκλησις](#register-349) (p. 210); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Nourishment τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213); [Produce ἀπεργάζεσθαι](#register-422) (p. 229); [Productive art ἀπεργαστικός](#register-423) (p. 229); [Smithing χαλκεία](#register-507) (p. 247); [Weaving together συνυφή](#register-589) (p. 265); [Wheat-flour ἄλευρον](#register-593) (p. 265).


**Phrases.** [Fine and good but not completely wise](#phrase-018) (p. 273); [Not by craft but by nature under the god](#phrase-019) (p. 273).


## 975c {#passage-975c}


Equipment-making and hunting are excluded, and prophecy and interpretation are limited to knowing what is said rather than whether it is true.


**Full articles.** [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37); [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Carpentry τεκτονικός](#register-065) (p. 146); [Craft τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156); [Full of craft τεχνικός](#register-202) (p. 176); [Furnishing παρασκευή](#register-203) (p. 177); [Hunting θηρευτική](#register-254) (p. 188); [Instrument ὄργανον](#register-270) (p. 191); [Interpretive art ἑρμηνευτική](#register-278) (p. 193); [Know εἰδέναι](#register-289) (p. 196); [Learn μανθάνειν](#register-302) (p. 199); [Magnificent μεγαλοπρεπής](#register-317) (p. 203); [Modeling πλαστικός](#register-330) (p. 206); [People δῆμος](#register-386) (p. 220); [Plaiting πλεκτικός](#register-399) (p. 223); [Productive art ἀπεργαστικός](#register-423) (p. 229); [Prophecy μαντική](#register-426) (p. 230); [Smithing χαλκεία](#register-507) (p. 247); [Suitable πρόσφορος](#register-530) (p. 252); [True ἀληθής](#register-556) (p. 257); [Virtue ἀρετή](#register-579) (p. 262).


**Phrases.** [What suits the people without the virtue claim](#phrase-020) (p. 274); [Great skill without magnificence and wisdom](#phrase-021) (p. 274); [Knowing what is said not whether it is true](#phrase-022) (p. 274).


## 975d {#passage-975d}


Imitative activities in instruments, bodies, words, music and visual materials are treated as play that does not make the practitioner wise.


**Full articles.** [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19); [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Craft τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156); [Craft or make δημιουργεῖν](#register-109) (p. 156); [Dry ξηρός](#register-139) (p. 162); [Imitate μιμεῖσθαι](#register-259) (p. 189); [Imitation μίμημα](#register-260) (p. 189); [Imitative art μιμητικός](#register-261) (p. 189); [Instrument ὄργανον](#register-270) (p. 191); [Intricate design ποίκιλμα](#register-279) (p. 193); [Moist ὑγρός](#register-333) (p. 206); [Music and poetic art μοῦσα](#register-344) (p. 209); [Painting γραφικός](#register-381) (p. 219); [Play παιδιά](#register-402) (p. 223); [Seemly εὐσχήμων](#register-481) (p. 241); [Serious σπουδαῖος](#register-485) (p. 242); [Seriousness σπουδή](#register-486) (p. 243).


**Phrases.** [Mostly imitative in no way serious](#phrase-023) (p. 274); [Greatest seriousness without wisdom](#phrase-024) (p. 274).


## 975e {#passage-975e}


Generalship exemplifies useful assistance that depends heavily on fortune and natural courage.


**Full articles.** [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Courage ἀνδρεία](#register-106) (p. 155); [Esteemed εὐδόκιμος](#register-156) (p. 166); [General’s craft στρατηγικός](#register-206) (p. 177); [Good fortune εὐτυχία](#register-220) (p. 181); [Help βοήθεια](#register-239) (p. 184); [Use χρεία](#register-575) (p. 261); [Warlike art πολεμικός](#register-585) (p. 264).


**Phrases.** [Countless help for countless people](#phrase-025) (p. 275); [More courage than wisdom](#phrase-026) (p. 275).


## 976a {#passage-976a}


Medicine and navigation are denied the truest wisdom amid conjectural opinion and the uncertainty of natural conditions.


**Full articles.** [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58); [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68); [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75); [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Anger ὀργή](#register-015) (p. 136); [Cold ψῦχος](#register-079) (p. 149); [Courage ἀνδρεία](#register-106) (p. 155); [Guess τοπάζειν](#register-228) (p. 182); [Heat καῦμα](#register-237) (p. 184); [Help βοήθεια](#register-239) (p. 184); [Helper βοηθός](#register-241) (p. 185); [Know εἰδέναι](#register-289) (p. 196); [Medicine ἰατρικός](#register-325) (p. 204); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Pilot κυβερνήτης](#register-394) (p. 222); [Plunder ληίζεσθαι](#register-405) (p. 224); [Sailor ναύτης](#register-470) (p. 239); [Season ὥρα](#register-474) (p. 240); [Soothe παραμυθεῖσθαι](#register-510) (p. 247); [Untimely ἄκαιρος](#register-574) (p. 261); [Wind πνεῦμα](#register-595) (p. 266); [Without measure ἄμετρος](#register-602) (p. 268).


**Phrases.** [More courage than wisdom](#phrase-026) (p. 275); [Carried along without measure guessed by opinions](#phrase-027) (p. 275); [The wind’s anger or friendliness](#phrase-028) (p. 275).


## 976b {#passage-976b}


Courtroom advocacy relies on memory and routine opinion, and natural quickness begins a final candidate for reputed wisdom.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Attend προσέχειν](#register-026) (p. 138); [Character ἦθος](#register-071) (p. 148); [Easily ῥᾳδίως](#register-145) (p. 164); [Friendliness φιλία](#register-197) (p. 175); [Just δίκαιος](#register-284) (p. 194); [Justice and lawsuit δίκη](#register-285) (p. 195); [Memory μνήμη](#register-327) (p. 205); [Notice and understand συννοεῖν](#register-359) (p. 213); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Pilot’s art κυβερνητικός](#register-395) (p. 222); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Routine τριβή](#register-464) (p. 238); [Sense νοῦς](#register-483) (p. 242); [Slip aside παρασφάλλεσθαι](#register-503) (p. 246); [Strength ῥώμη](#register-524) (p. 250); [Truth ἀλήθεια](#register-559) (p. 258).


**Phrases.** [The wind’s anger or friendliness](#phrase-028) (p. 275); [Memory and the routine of opinion](#phrase-029) (p. 276); [Outside the truth of what is really just](#phrase-030) (p. 276).


## 976c {#passage-976c}


Secure memory and apt quick action are insufficient for genuine wisdom, whose corresponding knowledge still has to be found.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Appear φαίνεσθαι](#register-017) (p. 136); [Be fitting πρέπειν](#register-037) (p. 140); [Find εὑρίσκειν](#register-177) (p. 171); [Form an opinion and be reputed δοξάζειν](#register-192) (p. 174); [Intelligent person ἔμφρων](#register-273) (p. 192); [Keep in mind διαμνημονεύειν](#register-287) (p. 195); [Knowledge ἐπιστήμη](#register-290) (p. 196); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Quick-wittedness ἀγχίνοια](#register-434) (p. 231); [Really ὄντως](#register-437) (p. 232); [Remember μνημονεύειν](#register-447) (p. 234); [Securely ἀσφαλῶς](#register-476) (p. 240); [Suitable πρόσφορος](#register-530) (p. 252); [Wise σοφός](#register-598) (p. 267).


**Phrases.** [Remembering what suits each case](#phrase-031) (p. 276); [Truly wise and not only reputed](#phrase-032) (p. 276).


## 976d {#passage-976d}


The desired knowledge must make someone a good citizen, ruler and subject, and its counterfactual absence would leave humanity unintelligent.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Citizen πολίτης](#register-075) (p. 149); [Find εὑρίσκειν](#register-177) (p. 171); [Good ἀγαθός](#register-219) (p. 180); [Idiot ἠλίθιος](#register-257) (p. 188); [In tune ἐμμελής](#register-264) (p. 190); [Justly ἐνδίκως](#register-286) (p. 195); [Menial βάναυσος](#register-328) (p. 205); [Observe καθορᾶν](#register-363) (p. 214); [Rule ἄρχειν](#register-465) (p. 238); [Senseless ἀνόητος](#register-484) (p. 242); [Unintelligent ἄφρων](#register-569) (p. 260).


**Phrases.** [Ruler and ruled justly](#phrase-033) (p. 276); [What if the knowledge departed or never arrived?](#phrase-034) (p. 277).


## 976e {#passage-976e}


Number is identified as the indispensable gift by which a god preserves human beings.


**Full articles.** [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Cause αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147); [Fortune τύχη](#register-194) (p. 175); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Preserve σῴζειν](#register-417) (p. 228); [Think or regard ἡγεῖσθαι](#register-547) (p. 255).


**Phrases.** [Having given the god preserves](#phrase-035) (p. 277).


## 977a {#passage-977a}


Heaven is named as the divine giver of number and intelligence and as a recipient of special honor and prayer.


**Full articles.** [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Cause αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147); [Daimon δαίμων](#register-112) (p. 157); [Follow along συνακολουθεῖν](#register-186) (p. 173); [Heaven οὐρανός](#register-238) (p. 184); [Honor τιμᾶν](#register-249) (p. 186); [Intelligence φρόνησις](#register-271) (p. 191); [Pray εὔχεσθαι](#register-410) (p. 226); [Very nearly σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [Heaven very nearly](#phrase-036) (p. 277).


## 977b {#passage-977b}


Right contemplation follows the heavens' courses, seasons and nourishment and receives their continuing gift of number.


**Full articles.** [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43); [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48); [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Adorn with variety ποικίλλειν](#register-007) (p. 134); [Circuit περίοδος](#register-074) (p. 148); [Contemplation θεωρία](#register-095) (p. 153); [Cosmos κόσμος](#register-102) (p. 154); [Course διέξοδος](#register-107) (p. 155); [Follow along συνακολουθεῖν](#register-186) (p. 173); [Gift δόσις](#register-212) (p. 178); [Nourishment τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213); [Olympus ὄλυμπος](#register-370) (p. 216); [Recall ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι](#register-438) (p. 232); [Right ὀρθός](#register-458) (p. 236); [Season ὥρα](#register-474) (p. 240); [Star ἄστρον](#register-517) (p. 249); [Turn στρέφειν](#register-560) (p. 258).


**Phrases.** [Call it as you like but follow](#phrase-037) (p. 277); [Receive the gift and go through the circuit](#phrase-038) (p. 278).


## 977c {#passage-977c}


Without number a living being cannot give an account beyond its perceptions and memories.


**Full articles.** [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87); [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Be ignorant ἀγνοεῖν](#register-039) (p. 141); [Courage ἀνδρεία](#register-106) (p. 155); [Even ἄρτιος](#register-158) (p. 167); [Intelligent φρόνιμος](#register-272) (p. 192); [Memory μνήμη](#register-327) (p. 205); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Odd περιττός](#register-365) (p. 215); [Perception αἴσθησις](#register-387) (p. 220); [Recall ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι](#register-438) (p. 232); [Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233); [Temperance σωφροσύνη](#register-541) (p. 254); [Three τρεῖς](#register-550) (p. 256); [Two δύο](#register-563) (p. 258); [Virtue ἀρετή](#register-579) (p. 262).


**Phrases.** [Only perceptions and memories](#phrase-039) (p. 278); [The express concession of partial virtue](#phrase-040) (p. 278).


## 977d {#passage-977d}


Courage and temperance may remain without true reason, but wisdom, complete goodness and happiness require number.


**Full articles.** [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Be deprived στέρεσθαι](#register-034) (p. 140); [Completely τελέως](#register-088) (p. 152); [Courage ἀνδρεία](#register-106) (p. 155); [Craft τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156); [Good ἀγαθός](#register-219) (p. 180); [Happy εὐδαίμων](#register-232) (p. 183); [Lay as a foundation ὑποτίθεσθαι](#register-299) (p. 198); [Necessity ἀνάγκη](#register-353) (p. 211); [Temperance σωφροσύνη](#register-541) (p. 254); [Virtue ἀρετή](#register-579) (p. 262); [Wisdom σοφία](#register-597) (p. 266).


**Phrases.** [The express concession of partial virtue](#phrase-040) (p. 278); [Deprived of true reason](#phrase-041) (p. 278); [The greatest part of all virtue](#phrase-042) (p. 278); [A foundation with a fuller explanation deferred](#phrase-043) (p. 279).


## 977e {#passage-977e}


Arithmetic sustains the crafts, while number's larger significance concerns divine and mortal coming into being and reverence for the gods.


**Full articles.** [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18); [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Arithmetic and numerical ability ἀριθμητικός](#register-022) (p. 137); [Coming into being γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150); [Craft τέχνη](#register-108) (p. 156); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Remove ἀναιρεῖν](#register-449) (p. 235); [Reverent toward gods θεοσεβής](#register-454) (p. 236).


**Phrases.** [Even the crafts depend on arithmetic](#phrase-044) (p. 279).


## 978a {#passage-978a}


Music requires counted movement and sound, and number is associated with good order rather than disorder and evil.


**Full articles.** [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bad κακός](#register-029) (p. 139); [Disordered ἄτακτος](#register-131) (p. 161); [Motion φορά](#register-339) (p. 208); [Movement κίνησις](#register-341) (p. 208); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Out of harmony ἀνάρμοστος](#register-378) (p. 218); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Sound φθόγγος](#register-512) (p. 248); [Unseemly ἀσχήμων](#register-572) (p. 260); [Very nearly σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261); [Without reckoning ἀλόγιστος](#register-603) (p. 268); [Without rhythm ἄρρυθμος](#register-604) (p. 268).


**Phrases.** [All good and no bad](#phrase-045) (p. 279); [Left without every number](#phrase-046) (p. 279).


## 978b {#passage-978b}


Ethical judgment and persuasion are linked to true opinion and ordered reckoning before the question turns to how counting was learned.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bad κακός](#register-029) (p. 139); [Count ἀριθμεῖν](#register-104) (p. 155); [Count out διαριθμεῖσθαι](#register-105) (p. 155); [End or die τελευτᾶν](#register-151) (p. 165); [Happy εὐδαίμων](#register-232) (p. 183); [Just δίκαιος](#register-284) (p. 194); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [One εἷς](#register-371) (p. 216); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Persuade and trust πείθειν](#register-392) (p. 221); [Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233).


**Phrases.** [Left without every number](#phrase-046) (p. 279); [Persuading oneself as well as another](#phrase-047) (p. 280).


## 978c {#passage-978c}


Human capacity to learn number is attributed to divine provision, with day and night supplying contrasting visible examples.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43); [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Day ἡμέρα](#register-117) (p. 158); [Father πατήρ](#register-170) (p. 169); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Night νύξ](#register-355) (p. 212); [Notice and understand συννοεῖν](#register-359) (p. 213); [Settle within ἐνοικίζειν](#register-491) (p. 243); [Show δεικνύναι](#register-496) (p. 244); [Sight ὄψις](#register-497) (p. 245); [Sufficient ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251); [Universe τὸ πᾶν](#register-570) (p. 260).


**Phrases.** [Capacity first showing afterward](#phrase-048) (p. 280); [Learning from the father](#phrase-049) (p. 280).


## 978d {#passage-978d}


Heaven's repeated days and nights teach counting, and the moon introduces a further organized unit.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Appear φαίνεσθαι](#register-017) (p. 136); [Fifteen πεντεκαίδεκα](#register-174) (p. 170); [Four τέτταρες](#register-195) (p. 175); [Learn μανθάνειν](#register-302) (p. 199); [Moon σελήνη](#register-336) (p. 207); [Produce ἀπεργάζεσθαι](#register-422) (p. 229); [Roll round ἑλίττειν](#register-461) (p. 237); [Slow to learn δυσμαθής](#register-505) (p. 246); [Sufficiently ἱκανῶς](#register-529) (p. 252); [Teach διδάσκειν](#register-539) (p. 254); [Think of ἐπινοεῖν](#register-546) (p. 255).


**Phrases.** [Heaven does not cease rolling](#phrase-050) (p. 280); [Until even the slowest has learned](#phrase-051) (p. 280); [Fifteen days and nights](#phrase-052) (p. 281).


## 978e {#passage-978e}


The moon's changing appearance through fifteen days and nights illustrates a cycle and makes counting accessible even to slow learners.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Arithmetic and numerical ability ἀριθμητικός](#register-022) (p. 137); [Circuit περίοδος](#register-074) (p. 148); [Cycle κύκλος](#register-111) (p. 157); [Fifteen πεντεκαίδεκα](#register-174) (p. 170).


**Phrases.** [Fifteen days and nights](#phrase-052) (p. 281); [A whole cycle counted as one](#phrase-053) (p. 281).


## 979a {#passage-979a}


Relations among numbers, months and years are connected with nourishment, fruitfulness and measured winds and rains.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43); [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48); [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75); [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Arithmetic and numerical ability ἀριθμητικός](#register-022) (p. 137); [Compose συνιστάναι](#register-089) (p. 152); [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Fortune τύχη](#register-194) (p. 175); [Fruit καρπός](#register-198) (p. 176); [Month μήν](#register-335) (p. 207); [Nourishment τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Pregnant ἐγκύμων](#register-415) (p. 227); [Rain ὑετός](#register-435) (p. 231); [Reckon λογίζεσθαι](#register-440) (p. 232); [See together συνορᾶν](#register-478) (p. 241); [Violent or excessive ἐξαίσιος](#register-578) (p. 262); [Wane φθίνειν](#register-583) (p. 263); [Wax αὐξάνεσθαι](#register-587) (p. 264); [Wind ἄνεμος](#register-594) (p. 266); [Without measure ἄμετρος](#register-602) (p. 268); [Year ἐνιαυτός](#register-608) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [One by one and in relation to one another](#phrase-054) (p. 281); [Months relative to the year](#phrase-055) (p. 281); [Seeing every number with number](#phrase-056) (p. 281); [Do not blame the divine nature](#phrase-057) (p. 282).


## 979b {#passage-979b}


Poor outcomes are attributed to human misdistribution rather than divine nature, and legislation returns the inquiry to human benefit.


**Full articles.** [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Be advantageous συμφέρειν](#register-031) (p. 139); [Blame αἰτιᾶσθαι](#register-048) (p. 142); [Distribute διανέμειν](#register-133) (p. 161); [Justice and lawsuit δίκη](#register-285) (p. 195); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199); [Nature φύσις](#register-350) (p. 211); [Poor φλαῦρος](#register-406) (p. 224); [Pursuit ἐπιτήδευμα](#register-431) (p. 231); [Seek ζητεῖν](#register-479) (p. 241); [Understand συνιέναι](#register-565) (p. 259).


**Phrases.** [Do not blame the divine nature](#phrase-057) (p. 282).


## 979c {#passage-979c}


Acquiring other advantages is easier than becoming good, while justice, temperance and courage command agreement more readily than wisdom.


**Full articles.** [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Agree together συνομολογεῖν](#register-011) (p. 135); [Body σῶμα](#register-051) (p. 143); [Brave ἀνδρεῖος](#register-057) (p. 144); [Decent χρηστός](#register-119) (p. 158); [Good ἀγαθός](#register-219) (p. 180); [Grant συγχωρεῖν](#register-223) (p. 181); [Just δίκαιος](#register-284) (p. 194); [Property οὐσία](#register-425) (p. 229); [Pursuit ἐπιτήδευμα](#register-431) (p. 231); [Temperate σώφρων](#register-542) (p. 254); [Wisdom σοφία](#register-597) (p. 266).


**Phrases.** [Becoming decent is exceptionally hard](#phrase-058) (p. 282); [Everyone grants that the soul should be good](#phrase-059) (p. 282); [Which wisdom?](#phrase-060) (p. 282).


## 979d {#passage-979d}


Disagreement about which wisdom is needed remains unresolved, and knowledge of number must still be shown to make someone wise and good.


**Full articles.** [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Agree together συνομολογεῖν](#register-011) (p. 135); [Find out ἀνευρίσκειν](#register-178) (p. 171); [Great μέγας](#register-224) (p. 181); [Knowledgeable ἐπιστήμων](#register-291) (p. 196); [Seem or think δοκεῖν](#register-480) (p. 241); [Trivial φαῦλος](#register-555) (p. 257); [Wisdom σοφία](#register-597) (p. 266); [Wise σοφός](#register-598) (p. 267).


**Phrases.** [An account still required of the wise and good knower](#phrase-061) (p. 282).


## 979e {#passage-979e}


Clinias urges the Athenian to continue the difficult account, promising attention on behalf of both listeners.


**Full articles.** [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Both ἄμφω](#register-054) (p. 144); [Grow weary ἀποκάμνειν](#register-226) (p. 182).


**Phrases.** [Both listeners are still present](#phrase-062) (p. 283).


## 980a {#passage-980a}


The inquiry restarts by seeking a name or enumeration for wisdom, and the lawgiver may offer better likenesses of the gods in fine play.


**Full articles.** [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62); [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Fine καλός](#register-179) (p. 171); [Lawgiver νομοθέτης](#register-297) (p. 197); [Liken ἀπεικάζειν](#register-310) (p. 201); [Name ὄνομα](#register-347) (p. 210); [Necessity ἀνάγκη](#register-353) (p. 211); [Play παιδιά](#register-402) (p. 223); [Story μῦθος](#register-521) (p. 250).


**Phrases.** [One name or which and how many](#phrase-063) (p. 283); [According to our story](#phrase-064) (p. 283); [Fine play in honoring gods](#phrase-065) (p. 283).


## 980b {#passage-980b}


Hymns, a well-lived life and a fine ending frame the proposal to pray before speaking about the gods.


**Full articles.** [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Celebrate in play προσπαίζειν](#register-068) (p. 147); [Goal τέλος](#register-215) (p. 179); [God θεός](#register-216) (p. 179); [Happiness εὐδαιμονία](#register-231) (p. 183); [Hymn ὑμνεῖν](#register-255) (p. 188); [Hymn ὕμνος](#register-256) (p. 188); [Pray εὔχεσθαι](#register-410) (p. 226).


**Phrases.** [Fine play in honoring gods](#phrase-065) (p. 283); [The wish is for the Athenian himself](#phrase-066) (p. 284); [Praying for the right things to say](#phrase-067) (p. 284).


## 980c {#passage-980c}


Clinias joins the prayer, and the Athenian undertakes a better account of the generation of gods and living beings under divine guidance.


**Full articles.** [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Generation of gods θεογονία](#register-207) (p. 177); [Generation of living beings ζῳογονία](#register-208) (p. 177); [Goddess θεά](#register-217) (p. 180); [Join in prayer συνεύχεσθαι](#register-283) (p. 194); [Lead the way ὑφηγεῖσθαι](#register-301) (p. 198); [Liken ἀπεικάζειν](#register-310) (p. 201); [My good sir; daimonic δαιμόνιος](#register-346) (p. 210); [Trust πιστεύειν](#register-558) (p. 258).


**Phrases.** [If the god himself leads](#phrase-068) (p. 284); [A shared rather than solitary prayer](#phrase-069) (p. 284); [Better likeness after bad predecessors](#phrase-070) (p. 284).


## 980d {#passage-980d}


The earlier case against impiety is recalled, including divine care, resistance to bribery and the priority of every soul to every body.


**Full articles.** [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Care ἐπιμελεῖσθαι](#register-064) (p. 146); [God θεός](#register-216) (p. 179); [Godlike θεοειδής](#register-218) (p. 180); [Impious ἀσεβής](#register-263) (p. 190); [More ancient παλαιότερος](#register-337) (p. 207); [Not to be soothed ἀπαραμύθητος](#register-358) (p. 213); [Older πρεσβύτερος](#register-369) (p. 216); [Remembering notes ὑπόμνημα](#register-448) (p. 234); [Very nearly σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [Care for small and greater things](#phrase-071) (p. 285); [Justice that cannot readily be soothed](#phrase-072) (p. 285); [All soul and all body](#phrase-073) (p. 285); [The reminder addressed to Clinias and his companion](#phrase-074) (p. 285).


## 980e {#passage-980e}


Soul's priority is supported through the language of age, dignity and rule, although the comparison includes a corrupt word.


**Full articles.** [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Body σῶμα](#register-051) (p. 143); [Lead ἄγειν](#register-300) (p. 198); [Less honored ἄτιμος](#register-304) (p. 199); [Plausible πιθανός](#register-401) (p. 223); [Rule ἄρχειν](#register-465) (p. 238); [Soul ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247); [Young νέος](#register-609) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [Ruling and leading precedence](#phrase-075) (p. 285).


## 981a {#passage-981a}


The new beginning leads to a definition of a living being as one combination of soul and body producing one shape.


**Full articles.** [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31); [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Beginning ἀρχή](#register-043) (p. 141); [Bring forth ἀποτίκτειν](#register-059) (p. 145); [Combination σύστασις](#register-081) (p. 150); [Coming into being γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150); [Living being ζῷον](#register-312) (p. 201); [Plausible πιθανός](#register-401) (p. 223); [Shape μορφή](#register-492) (p. 244); [Soul ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247).


**Phrases.** [A conditional first foundation](#phrase-076) (p. 286); [One combination brings forth one shape](#phrase-077) (p. 286).


## 981b {#passage-981b}


Five solid bodies are proposed, while bodiless soul is distinguished as the agent that molds and crafts.


**Full articles.** [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bodiless ἀσώματος](#register-050) (p. 143); [Body σῶμα](#register-051) (p. 143); [Color χρῶμα](#register-080) (p. 150); [Craft or make δημιουργεῖν](#register-109) (p. 156); [Likely εἰκός](#register-309) (p. 201); [Mold πλάττειν](#register-334) (p. 206); [Solid στερεός](#register-509) (p. 247); [Very nearly σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [According to the likely account](#phrase-078) (p. 286); [The bodiless exception](#phrase-079) (p. 286); [Molding versus being molded](#phrase-080) (p. 286).


## 981c {#passage-981c}


Soul's invisible knowing activity contrasts with formed visible body, and fire, water, air, earth and ether are enumerated.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88); [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Air ἀήρ](#register-013) (p. 135); [Change μεταβολή](#register-069) (p. 147); [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Earthly γήινος](#register-143) (p. 163); [Ether αἰθήρ](#register-157) (p. 166); [Fifth πέμπτος](#register-175) (p. 170); [Fire πῦρ](#register-180) (p. 172); [Intelligible νοητός](#register-275) (p. 193); [Invisible ἀόρατος](#register-280) (p. 194); [Memory μνήμη](#register-327) (p. 205); [Mold πλάττειν](#register-334) (p. 206); [Predominance ἡγεμονία](#register-414) (p. 227); [Reckoning λογισμός](#register-441) (p. 233); [Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233); [Water ὕδωρ](#register-586) (p. 264).


**Phrases.** [A deliberate repetition about soul](#phrase-081) (p. 287); [Odd and even changes in a psychic context](#phrase-082) (p. 287).


## 981d {#passage-981d}


Earthly creatures, including rooted plants, are mixtures dominated by earth, while a second visible kind is predominantly fiery.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Fire πῦρ](#register-180) (p. 172); [Firm or solid στερέμνιος](#register-181) (p. 172); [Footless ἄπους](#register-189) (p. 174); [Kind γένος](#register-288) (p. 195); [Many-footed πολύπους](#register-324) (p. 204); [Moving about πορεύσιμος](#register-342) (p. 209); [Remaining in place μόνιμος](#register-446) (p. 234); [Root ῥίζα](#register-462) (p. 237).


**Phrases.** [One kind made from all](#phrase-083) (p. 287); [Living without locomotion](#phrase-084) (p. 287); [Fire predominates but does not stand alone](#phrase-085) (p. 287).


## 981e {#passage-981e}


The divine stellar kind has the finest body and best soul, and its lifespan is introduced through alternatives.


**Full articles.** [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Divine θεῖος](#register-134) (p. 161); [Happy εὐδαίμων](#register-232) (p. 183); [Immortal ἀθάνατος](#register-262) (p. 189); [Indestructible ἀνώλεθρος](#register-266) (p. 190); [Kind γένος](#register-288) (p. 195); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Part μέρος](#register-382) (p. 219); [Portion μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224); [Star ἄστρον](#register-517) (p. 249); [Very nearly σχεδόν](#register-577) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [Two portions for stellar duration](#phrase-086) (p. 288).


## 982a {#passage-982a}


Immortality or sufficiently long life is allowed to the stars, whose orderly motion contrasts with the earthly kind's disorder.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77); [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Disorder ἀταξία](#register-130) (p. 160); [Hold or regard νομίζειν](#register-248) (p. 186); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199); [Life ζωή](#register-306) (p. 200); [Living being ζῷον](#register-312) (p. 201); [Long-lived μακραίων](#register-313) (p. 202); [Order τάξις](#register-377) (p. 218); [Sufficient ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251); [Unintelligent ἄφρων](#register-569) (p. 260); [Visible ὁρατός](#register-580) (p. 263).


**Phrases.** [A life needing nothing longer](#phrase-087) (p. 288); [For the most part among us](#phrase-088) (p. 288).


## 982b {#passage-982b}


Regular celestial movement is evidence of intelligence, and the necessity of a rational soul is described as ruling and lawgiving.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80); [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Deliberate βουλεύεσθαι](#register-121) (p. 159); [Evidence τεκμήριον](#register-160) (p. 167); [Give law νομοθετεῖν](#register-214) (p. 179); [Intelligent φρόνιμος](#register-272) (p. 192); [Intelligently φρονίμως](#register-274) (p. 192); [Irreversible ἀμετάστροφος](#register-281) (p. 194); [Necessity ἀνάγκη](#register-353) (p. 211); [Path πόρος](#register-385) (p. 220); [Rule ἄρχειν](#register-465) (p. 238); [Sense νοῦς](#register-483) (p. 242); [Sufficient ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251); [Travel πορεύεσθαι](#register-554) (p. 257).


**Phrases.** [For the most part among us](#phrase-088) (p. 288); [Acting and undergoing in a stable way](#phrase-089) (p. 288); [Ruling and not ruled it gives law](#phrase-090) (p. 288).


## 982c {#passage-982c}


Best deliberation is held firm by the Fates, and the stars' unvarying activity should demonstrate their possession of sense.


**Full articles.** [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Adamant ἀδάμας](#register-005) (p. 133); [Complete τέλεος](#register-087) (p. 151); [Deliberate βουλεύεσθαι](#register-121) (p. 159); [Deliberation βουλή](#register-123) (p. 159); [Fates Μοῖραι](#register-169) (p. 169); [Guard φυλάττειν](#register-227) (p. 182); [Irreversible ἀμετάστροφος](#register-281) (p. 194); [Passage διαπορεία](#register-384) (p. 219); [Sense νοῦς](#register-483) (p. 242); [Star ἄστρον](#register-517) (p. 249).


**Phrases.** [Best counsel preserved complete](#phrase-091) (p. 289); [Decided long ago not repeatedly reconsidered](#phrase-092) (p. 289).


## 982d {#passage-982d}


The many mistakenly infer soullessness from regular motion while taking variable human movement as evidence of intelligence.


**Full articles.** [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80); [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Change cycles μετακυκλεῖσθαι](#register-070) (p. 147); [Deliberate anew μεταβουλεύεσθαι](#register-122) (p. 159); [Motion φορά](#register-339) (p. 208); [Multitude πλῆθος](#register-343) (p. 209); [Take or suppose ὑπολαμβάνειν](#register-537) (p. 253); [Unintelligent ἄφρων](#register-569) (p. 260); [Wander πλανᾶσθαι](#register-582) (p. 263).


**Phrases.** [The many reverse the evidence](#phrase-093) (p. 289).


## 982e {#passage-982e}


The Athenian reverses that inference and praises the stars' orderly procession and dance as beneficial to living things.


**Full articles.** [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19); [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Chorus or dance χορός](#register-073) (p. 148); [Dance χορεία](#register-113) (p. 157); [Dance as an action χορεύειν](#register-114) (p. 157); [Hold or regard νομίζειν](#register-248) (p. 186); [Intelligent person ἔμφρων](#register-273) (p. 192); [Magnificent μεγαλοπρεπής](#register-317) (p. 203); [Procession πορεία](#register-421) (p. 228); [What is needed δέον](#register-592) (p. 265).


**Phrases.** [The same respects manner and reasons](#phrase-094) (p. 289); [The dance accomplishes the needful](#phrase-095) (p. 289).


## 983a {#passage-983a}


The stars' immense size, including a sun larger than the earth, supports an argument for divine causation of their regular motion.


**Full articles.** [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Appear φαντάζεσθαι](#register-018) (p. 136); [Bulk ὄγκος](#register-063) (p. 146); [Carry round περιφέρειν](#register-066) (p. 146); [Ensouled ἔμψυχος](#register-153) (p. 166); [Proof ἀπόδειξις](#register-424) (p. 229); [Size μέγεθος](#register-500) (p. 245); [Sufficient ἱκανός](#register-528) (p. 251); [Sun ἥλιος](#register-533) (p. 252).


**Phrases.** [Small appearance and immense reality](#phrase-096) (p. 290); [The sun as a whole and the earth as a whole](#phrase-097) (p. 290); [Immense bulk in the same time](#phrase-098) (p. 290).


## 983b {#passage-983b}


Divine power is said to make bodies living beings and carry them in the best way.


**Full articles.** [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bulk ὄγκος](#register-063) (p. 146); [Cause αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147); [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Ensouled ἔμψυχος](#register-153) (p. 166).


## 983c {#passage-983c}


Precise heavenly movements require soul beside or within each body, and merely bodily explanations are challenged.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117); [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Earth γῆ](#register-142) (p. 163); [Precision ἀκρίβεια](#register-413) (p. 227); [Rush or impetus ῥύμη](#register-467) (p. 238); [Travel πορεύεσθαι](#register-554) (p. 257).


**Phrases.** [Soul with each or in each](#phrase-099) (p. 290).


## 983d {#passage-983d}


Soul and body are distinguished as intelligent ruler and unintelligent subject, with causal priority assigned to soul.


**Full articles.** [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Affection or undergoing πάθη](#register-009) (p. 134); [Body σῶμα](#register-051) (p. 143); [Cause αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147); [Intelligent person ἔμφρων](#register-273) (p. 192); [Unintelligent ἄφρων](#register-569) (p. 260); [Without causal responsibility ἀναίτιος](#register-600) (p. 267).


**Phrases.** [Does the account have reason?](#phrase-100) (p. 290); [Many of each no third common thing](#phrase-101) (p. 291); [Cause of all and cause of none](#phrase-102) (p. 291).


## 983e {#passage-983e}


Celestial beings must be honored either as gods themselves or as god-made images of gods.


**Full articles.** [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Folly μωρία](#register-188) (p. 173); [God θεός](#register-216) (p. 179); [Hymn ὑμνεῖν](#register-255) (p. 188); [Image εἰκών](#register-258) (p. 189); [Offspring γέννημα](#register-366) (p. 215); [Statue or honored image ἄγαλμα](#register-519) (p. 249); [Want of reason ἀλογία](#register-584) (p. 263).


**Phrases.** [Two possible objects of religious acknowledgment](#phrase-103) (p. 291).


## 984a {#passage-984a}


The celestial images, if understood that way, surpass ordinary statues in common accessibility, beauty, purity and dignity.


**Full articles.** [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Common κοινός](#register-086) (p. 151); [Honor τιμᾶν](#register-249) (p. 186); [Purity καθαριότης](#register-430) (p. 230); [Senseless ἀνόητος](#register-484) (p. 242); [Solemnity σεμνότης](#register-508) (p. 247); [Statue or honored image ἄγαλμα](#register-519) (p. 249); [Take or suppose ὑπολαμβάνειν](#register-537) (p. 253).


**Phrases.** [Two possible objects of religious acknowledgment](#phrase-103) (p. 291); [The gods themselves have made them](#phrase-104) (p. 291); [Shared by all humanity](#phrase-105) (p. 291).


## 984b {#passage-984b}


The account turns from the two visible kinds to the three intermediate kinds, beginning with ether.


**Full articles.** [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55); [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117); [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Between μεταξύ](#register-046) (p. 142); [Earthly γήινος](#register-143) (p. 163); [Ether αἰθήρ](#register-157) (p. 166); [Fair or reasonable ἐπιεικής](#register-166) (p. 168); [Immortal ἀθάνατος](#register-262) (p. 189); [Life ζωή](#register-306) (p. 200); [Middle μέσος](#register-329) (p. 205); [Mold πλάττειν](#register-334) (p. 206); [Mortal θνητός](#register-338) (p. 207); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Soul ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247).


## 984c {#passage-984c}


Ether, air and water supply further mixed living kinds through which soul fills the heaven with life.


**Full articles.** [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110); [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bond σύνδεσμος](#register-053) (p. 144); [Craft or make δημιουργεῖν](#register-109) (p. 156); [Likely εἰκός](#register-309) (p. 201); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225).


**Phrases.** [Small admixtures for a bond](#phrase-106) (p. 292).


## 984d {#passage-984d}


Traditional gods retain their customary placement, while the stars are identified as the foremost visible gods.


**Full articles.** [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39); [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124); [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Coming into being γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150); [Fixed πάγιος](#register-183) (p. 172); [Hera Ἥρα](#register-242) (p. 185); [Laws νόμος](#register-298) (p. 198); [Manifest φανερός](#register-322) (p. 204); [Set down τιθέναι](#register-488) (p. 243); [Sharp ὀξύς](#register-495) (p. 244); [Visible ὁρατός](#register-580) (p. 263); [Zeus Ζεύς](#register-611) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [From manifest gods down to us](#phrase-107) (p. 292); [Where one wishes with an account held fixed](#phrase-108) (p. 292).


## 984e {#passage-984e}


Daimons and the aerial middle kind mediate communication, and ethereal and aerial beings are described as transparent rather than plainly visible.


**Full articles.** [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Aerial ἀέριος](#register-008) (p. 134); [Air ἀήρ](#register-013) (p. 135); [Auspicious εὔφημος](#register-027) (p. 138); [Cause αἴτιος](#register-067) (p. 147); [Daimon δαίμων](#register-112) (p. 157); [Honor τιμᾶν](#register-249) (p. 186); [Interpretation ἑρμηνεία](#register-277) (p. 193); [Middle μέσος](#register-329) (p. 205); [Near πλησίον](#register-351) (p. 211); [Passage διαπορεία](#register-384) (p. 219); [Plain κατάδηλος](#register-397) (p. 222); [Prayer εὐχή](#register-411) (p. 226); [Seat ἕδρα](#register-475) (p. 240); [Seen through διορᾶν](#register-482) (p. 241).


**Phrases.** [Third and central air](#phrase-109) (p. 292); [Present nearby but not plain](#phrase-110) (p. 292).


## 985a {#passage-985a}


The finer intermediaries understand human thought and share pain, whereas complete divinity stands beyond both pain and pleasure.


**Full articles.** [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Goal τέλος](#register-215) (p. 179); [God θεός](#register-216) (p. 179); [Hate μισεῖν](#register-234) (p. 183); [Intelligence φρόνησις](#register-271) (p. 191); [Pain λύπη](#register-380) (p. 219); [Pleasure ἡδονή](#register-404) (p. 224); [Portion μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224); [Quick to learn εὐμαθής](#register-433) (p. 231); [Recognize or know γιγνώσκειν](#register-442) (p. 233); [Retentive μνήμων](#register-452) (p. 235); [Thought διάνοια](#register-549) (p. 256); [Welcome ἀσπάζεσθαι](#register-591) (p. 265).


**Phrases.** [Both kinds know all our thought](#phrase-111) (p. 293); [Beyond pain and pleasure with complete knowing](#phrase-112) (p. 293).


## 985b {#passage-985b}


Intermediate beings interpret between earth and the highest gods, and the watery kind is likened to a sometimes-visible demigod.


**Full articles.** [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100); [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Demigod ἡμίθεος](#register-126) (p. 160); [Dim ἀμυδρός](#register-128) (p. 160); [Fifth πέμπτος](#register-175) (p. 170); [Full συμπλήρης](#register-200) (p. 176); [Hide ἀποκρύπτειν](#register-245) (p. 186); [Highest ἄκρος](#register-246) (p. 186); [Interpret ἑρμηνεύεσθαι](#register-276) (p. 193); [Light ἐλαφρός](#register-307) (p. 200); [Liken ἀπεικάζειν](#register-310) (p. 201); [Rush or impetus ῥύμη](#register-467) (p. 238); [Sight ὄψις](#register-497) (p. 245); [Unseen or unclear ἄδηλος](#register-573) (p. 261); [Water ὕδωρ](#register-586) (p. 264); [Wonder θαῦμα](#register-606) (p. 268).


**Phrases.** [Everyone and everything communicated](#phrase-113) (p. 293); [Water called fifth](#phrase-114) (p. 293); [Sometimes seen at other times hidden](#phrase-115) (p. 293).


## 985c {#passage-985c}


Reports of encounters through dreams, oracles and other experiences ground rites that a prudent lawgiver will not rashly innovate upon.


**Full articles.** [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12); [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Be healthy ὑγιαίνειν](#register-038) (p. 140); [Be ill κάμνειν](#register-040) (p. 141); [Clear σαφής](#register-076) (p. 149); [Dare τολμᾶν](#register-115) (p. 158); [Dreaming ὀνειροπολία](#register-138) (p. 162); [Ending τελευτή](#register-152) (p. 165); [Hearing ἀκοή](#register-235) (p. 184); [Innovate καινοτομεῖν](#register-269) (p. 191); [Lawgiver νομοθέτης](#register-297) (p. 197); [Life βίος](#register-305) (p. 199); [Living being ζῷον](#register-312) (p. 201); [Opinion and reputation δόξα](#register-374) (p. 217); [Oracle μαντεία](#register-375) (p. 218); [Privately ἰδίᾳ](#register-420) (p. 228); [Publicly δημοσίᾳ](#register-428) (p. 230); [Reverence toward gods θεοσέβεια](#register-453) (p. 235); [Sacred rite ἱερόν](#register-468) (p. 239); [Sense νοῦς](#register-483) (p. 242); [Sleep ὕπνος](#register-501) (p. 245); [Voice or report φήμη](#register-581) (p. 263).


**Phrases.** [Sleep dreams voices and oracles](#phrase-116) (p. 294); [Heard in health or illness](#phrase-117) (p. 294); [Private belief and public institutions](#phrase-118) (p. 294); [Even the least sense forbids the unclear turn](#phrase-119) (p. 294); [Innovation toward worship without clarity](#phrase-120) (p. 294).


## 985d {#passage-985d}


Ancestral sacrifices should not be abolished in ignorance, but the manifest celestial gods must receive their neglected honors.


**Full articles.** [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12); [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37); [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Ancestral πάτριος](#register-014) (p. 135); [Dare τολμᾶν](#register-115) (p. 158); [Fitting or belonging προσήκειν](#register-182) (p. 172); [God θεός](#register-216) (p. 179); [Honor τιμή](#register-250) (p. 187); [Laws νόμος](#register-298) (p. 198); [Manifest φανερός](#register-322) (p. 204); [Mortal θνητός](#register-338) (p. 207); [Prevent ἀποκωλύειν](#register-419) (p. 228); [Sacrifice θυσία](#register-469) (p. 239); [Without rites ἀνοργίαστος](#register-605) (p. 268).


**Phrases.** [Innovation toward worship without clarity](#phrase-120) (p. 294); [Ancestral sacrifices and mortal limits](#phrase-121) (p. 295); [Manifest gods must also be made manifest](#phrase-122) (p. 295); [Other gods without rites](#phrase-123) (p. 295).


## 985e {#passage-985e}


A hypothetical observer of the sun and moon has a duty to make their proper festivals and sacrifices known.


**Full articles.** [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82); [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Declare φράζειν](#register-120) (p. 159); [Feast or festival ἑορτή](#register-172) (p. 170); [Honor τιμή](#register-250) (p. 187); [Honored ἔντιμος](#register-251) (p. 187); [Look down upon ἐφορᾶν](#register-314) (p. 202); [Moon σελήνη](#register-336) (p. 207); [Plainly seen καταφανής](#register-398) (p. 222); [Sacrifice θυσία](#register-469) (p. 239); [Sun ἥλιος](#register-533) (p. 252); [Unable ἀδύνατος](#register-564) (p. 259); [Without a share ἄμοιρος](#register-599) (p. 267).


**Phrases.** [Unable to declare as Burnet prints](#phrase-124) (p. 295); [An honored place for plainly seen beings](#phrase-125) (p. 295).


## 986a {#passage-986a}


Clinias accepts that neglect would be wrong, and the Athenian introduces eight heavenly powers.


**Full articles.** [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42); [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Accomplish διαπράττειν](#register-002) (p. 132); [Distribute διανέμειν](#register-133) (p. 161); [Eight ὀκτώ](#register-149) (p. 165); [Manifestly φανερῶς](#register-323) (p. 204); [Observe καθορᾶν](#register-363) (p. 214); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Season ὥρα](#register-474) (p. 240); [Sister ἀδελφή](#register-498) (p. 245).


**Phrases.** [The speaker assumes the obligation](#phrase-126) (p. 296); [No exceptional personal discovery](#phrase-127) (p. 296).


## 986b {#passage-986b}


Sun, moon, stars and five further powers must all be acknowledged as divine, whether they move themselves or ride in vehicles.


**Full articles.** [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Accomplish διαπράττειν](#register-002) (p. 132); [Easy ῥᾴδιος](#register-146) (p. 164); [Permitted θέμις](#register-389) (p. 221); [True-born γνήσιος](#register-557) (p. 257); [Vehicle ὄχημα](#register-576) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [No exceptional personal discovery](#phrase-127) (p. 296); [Two possible modes of divine travel](#phrase-128) (p. 296).


## 986c {#passage-986c}


Equal heavenly honors lead to the divinely ordered visible cosmos and the happy observer's wonder and love of learning.


**Full articles.** [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Assign τάττειν](#register-023) (p. 137); [Brother ἀδελφός](#register-061) (p. 145); [Fortunate εὐτυχής](#register-193) (p. 175); [Help complete συναποτελεῖν](#register-240) (p. 185); [Learn thoroughly καταμανθάνειν](#register-303) (p. 199); [Love ἔρως](#register-315) (p. 202); [Mortal θνητός](#register-338) (p. 207); [Orbit πόλος](#register-376) (p. 218); [Pass one's life διάγειν](#register-383) (p. 219); [Portion μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224); [Render ἀποδιδόναι](#register-450) (p. 235); [Wonder at θαυμάζειν](#register-607) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [Brothers in sister portions](#phrase-129) (p. 296); [As much as mortal nature allows](#phrase-130) (p. 296).


## 986d {#passage-986d}


Astral understanding is described through initiation and hoped-for continued contemplation after death.


**Full articles.** [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Contemplator θεωρός](#register-096) (p. 153); [Continue διατελεῖν](#register-098) (p. 153); [End or die τελευτᾶν](#register-151) (p. 165); [Fitting or belonging προσήκειν](#register-182) (p. 172); [Initiate μυεῖν](#register-268) (p. 191); [Pass one's life διάγειν](#register-383) (p. 219); [Place τόπος](#register-396) (p. 222); [Share in μεταλαμβάνειν](#register-493) (p. 244).


**Phrases.** [One participant in one intelligence](#phrase-131) (p. 297).


## 986e {#passage-986e}


The eight powers are reaffirmed, and the near-equal courses of the sun, Dawn-bringer and another unnamed star introduce planetary identification.


**Full articles.** [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13); [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Affirm firmly διισχυρίζεσθαι](#register-010) (p. 134); [Course διέξοδος](#register-107) (p. 155); [Dawn-bringer ἑωσφόρος](#register-116) (p. 158); [Fifth πέμπτος](#register-175) (p. 170); [Fourth τέταρτος](#register-196) (p. 175); [Motion φορά](#register-339) (p. 208); [Name ὄνομα](#register-347) (p. 210); [Non-Greek βάρβαρος](#register-357) (p. 212); [Slow βραδύς](#register-504) (p. 246); [Speed τάχος](#register-515) (p. 248); [Think or regard ἡγεῖσθαι](#register-547) (p. 255).


**Phrases.** [Nearly equal in speed](#phrase-132) (p. 297); [On the whole](#phrase-133) (p. 297); [A difficult leadership clause](#phrase-134) (p. 297).


## 987a {#passage-987a}


Egyptian and Syrian conditions are credited with early sustained celestial observation and its transmission into Greek practice.


**Full articles.** [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Be confident θαρρεῖν](#register-033) (p. 139); [Boundless ἄπειρος](#register-055) (p. 144); [Cloud νέφος](#register-078) (p. 149); [Egypt Αἴγυπτος](#register-148) (p. 164); [Nourish τρέφειν](#register-360) (p. 213); [Summer θερινός](#register-531) (p. 252); [Syria Συρία](#register-534) (p. 253); [Ten-thousand-year μυριετής](#register-543) (p. 255); [Test βασανίζειν](#register-544) (p. 255); [Water ὕδωρ](#register-586) (p. 264); [Way τρόπος](#register-588) (p. 264).


**Phrases.** [So to speak always visible](#phrase-135) (p. 297); [Tested by enormous time](#phrase-136) (p. 298).


## 987b {#passage-987b}


Morning and evening star are identified, divine planetary titles are given, and the eighth motion is distinguished as contrary to the others.


**Full articles.** [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13); [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Aphrodite Ἀφροδίτη](#register-016) (p. 136); [Contrary ἐναντίος](#register-099) (p. 154); [Cosmos κόσμος](#register-102) (p. 154); [Eighth ὄγδοος](#register-150) (p. 165); [Evening Star ἕσπερος](#register-159) (p. 167); [Hermes Ἑρμῆς](#register-243) (p. 185); [Name or address προσαγορεύειν](#register-348) (p. 210); [Right-hand δεξιός](#register-459) (p. 237); [Same-course ὁμόδρομος](#register-471) (p. 239); [Syrian Σύριος](#register-535) (p. 253); [Title ἐπωνυμία](#register-553) (p. 257).


**Phrases.** [The same morning and evening body](#phrase-137) (p. 298); [Fitting for a Syrian lawgiver](#phrase-138) (p. 298); [Contrary to all those](#phrase-139) (p. 298); [The added negation in not leading](#phrase-140) (p. 298); [As it would appear to the little informed](#phrase-141) (p. 299).


## 987c {#passage-987c}


The remaining stars are ordered by relative slowness as Cronus', Zeus' and Ares', the last being the reddest.


**Full articles.** [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Apprehend κατανοεῖν](#register-019) (p. 137); [Ares Ἄρης](#register-021) (p. 137); [Color χρῶμα](#register-080) (p. 150); [Cronus Κρόνος](#register-110) (p. 156); [Red ἐρυθρός](#register-443) (p. 234); [Slowness βραδύτης](#register-506) (p. 246); [Understanding σύννοια](#register-566) (p. 259); [Zeus Ζεύς](#register-611) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [Some utter the title](#phrase-142) (p. 299).


## 987d {#passage-987d}


Planetary knowledge can be learned, and the Athenian praises Greece's intermediate climate while acknowledging its later reception of astronomy.


**Full articles.** [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26); [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Apprehend κατανοεῖν](#register-019) (p. 137); [Apprehension κατανόημα](#register-020) (p. 137); [Greek Ἕλλην](#register-225) (p. 182); [Non-Greek βάρβαρος](#register-357) (p. 212); [Place τόπος](#register-396) (p. 222); [Think or regard ἡγεῖσθαι](#register-547) (p. 255); [Winter χειμών](#register-596) (p. 266).


**Phrases.** [Receiving and improving](#phrase-143) (p. 299).


## 987e {#passage-987e}


The claim that Greeks improve borrowed discoveries is qualified by the difficulty of establishing these matters beyond dispute.


**Full articles.** [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Beyond dispute ἀναμφισβητήτως](#register-047) (p. 142); [Produce ἀπεργάζεσθαι](#register-422) (p. 229); [Receive παραλαμβάνειν](#register-439) (p. 232).


**Phrases.** [Receiving and improving](#phrase-143) (p. 299); [Discovery beyond dispute remains hard](#phrase-144) (p. 299).


## 988a {#passage-988a}


Greek education, Delphi and lawful worship are joined to the hope of improved celestial piety, and fear of investigating divine things is rejected.


**Full articles.** [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34); [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37); [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Delphi Δελφοί](#register-125) (p. 160); [Fear φοβεῖσθαι](#register-171) (p. 169); [Hope ἐλπίς](#register-252) (p. 187); [Occupy oneself πραγματεύεσθαι](#register-364) (p. 215); [Service θεραπεία](#register-487) (p. 243).


## 988b {#passage-988b}


The divine knowingly teaches number and rejoices without envy in human learning and goodness.


**Full articles.** [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Be angry χαλεπαίνειν](#register-032) (p. 139); [Envy φθόνος](#register-154) (p. 166); [Follow along συνακολουθεῖν](#register-186) (p. 173); [Rejoice with συγχαίρειν](#register-445) (p. 234).


**Phrases.** [Without envy at divine assisted goodness](#phrase-145) (p. 299).


## 988c {#passage-988c}


Earlier stories about divine deeds and subsequent theories giving bodily elements priority over soul are both criticized.


**Full articles.** [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31); [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Cooling ψῦξις](#register-101) (p. 154); [Heat θερμότης](#register-236) (p. 184).


## 988d {#passage-988d}


Soul is affirmed as capable of moving itself and body and as the cause of the whole.


**Full articles.** [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109); [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Carry round περιφέρειν](#register-066) (p. 146); [Move κινεῖν](#register-340) (p. 208); [Poor φλαῦρος](#register-406) (p. 224); [Soul ψυχή](#register-511) (p. 247); [Weight βάρος](#register-590) (p. 265).


**Phrases.** [Soul moving both body and itself](#phrase-146) (p. 300).


## 988e {#passage-988e}


The best soul causes motion toward the good, contrary motion has a contrary source, and the inquiry returns to wisdom and justice.


**Full articles.** [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Avenging τιμωρός](#register-028) (p. 138); [Best ἄριστος](#register-045) (p. 142); [Conquer νικᾶν](#register-093) (p. 152); [Contrary ἐναντίος](#register-099) (p. 154); [Motion φορά](#register-339) (p. 208); [Movement κίνησις](#register-341) (p. 208); [Unholy ἀνόσιος](#register-568) (p. 259).


**Phrases.** [The best soul for movement toward good](#phrase-147) (p. 300); [Must have prevailed and must prevail](#phrase-148) (p. 300).


## 989a {#passage-989a}


The Athenian seeks the education or craft needed for sound judgment of justice and identifies neglected virtue as the difficulty.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Without judgment ἀγνώμων](#register-601) (p. 267).


## 989b {#passage-989b}


Piety is declared the greatest virtue for mortals, and rare good natures are characterized by balanced disposition, courage and temperance.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94); [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Admire ἄγασθαι](#register-006) (p. 134); [Benefit ὄφελος](#register-044) (p. 142); [Gentle πρᾷος](#register-209) (p. 178); [Good-natured εὔκολος](#register-221) (p. 181); [Moderately μετρίως](#register-332) (p. 206); [Piety εὐσέβεια](#register-393) (p. 221); [Ready to be persuaded εὐπειθής](#register-436) (p. 232); [Stupidity ἀμαθία](#register-526) (p. 251).


## 989c {#passage-989c}


Memory, love of learning and proper nurture enable genuine rather than merely ostentatious religious conduct for the city's benefit.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Contrive τεχνάζειν](#register-100) (p. 154); [Hold in check κατέχειν](#register-247) (p. 186); [Lover of learning φιλομαθής](#register-316) (p. 202); [Nourishment τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213); [Outward form σχῆμα](#register-379) (p. 218); [Purification καθαρμός](#register-429) (p. 230); [Retentive μνήμων](#register-452) (p. 235).


**Phrases.** [Manner and occasion together](#phrase-149) (p. 300); [True honor rather than contrived show](#phrase-150) (p. 300).


## 989d {#passage-989d}


The best part of the community requires rightly guided teaching, while wrongly conducted teaching makes not learning preferable.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Lead the way ὑφηγεῖσθαι](#register-301) (p. 198); [Sovereign κύριος](#register-513) (p. 248); [Teach διδάσκειν](#register-539) (p. 254); [Way τρόπος](#register-588) (p. 264).


**Phrases.** [True honor rather than contrived show](#phrase-150) (p. 300); [Better not to learn if teaching is wrong](#phrase-151) (p. 301).


## 989e {#passage-989e}


The Athenian undertakes to explain the subjects and manner of learning within the capacities of speaker and hearers.


**Full articles.** [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225).


## 990a {#passage-990a}


True astronomy is named as the sought wisdom and distinguished from merely observing seasonal risings and settings.


**Full articles.** [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15); [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43); [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Astronomer ἀστρονόμος](#register-024) (p. 138); [Astronomy ἀστρονομία](#register-025) (p. 138); [Circuit περίοδος](#register-074) (p. 148); [Cycle κύκλος](#register-111) (p. 157); [Do astronomy ἀστρονομεῖν](#register-136) (p. 162); [Give ear εἰσακούειν](#register-213) (p. 178); [Hesiod Ἡσίοδος](#register-244) (p. 185); [Inexperience ἀπειρία](#register-267) (p. 190); [Reverence toward gods θεοσέβεια](#register-453) (p. 235); [Rising ἀνατολή](#register-460) (p. 237); [Setting δυσμή](#register-489) (p. 243).


**Phrases.** [An unexpected name through inexperience](#phrase-152) (p. 301); [Seven circuits within eight](#phrase-153) (p. 301).


## 990b {#passage-990b}


The seven circuits require unusual aptitude, with the moon considered first and then the sun and its companions.


**Full articles.** [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15); [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21); [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Contemplate θεωρεῖν](#register-094) (p. 153); [Fast ταχύς](#register-168) (p. 169); [Full moon πανσέληνος](#register-201) (p. 176); [Run together σύνδρομος](#register-466) (p. 238); [Turning τροπή](#register-561) (p. 258).


## 990c {#passage-990c}


Long preparation from childhood leads to the study of numbers themselves, especially the nature and power of odd and even.


**Full articles.** [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53); [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70); [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85); [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87); [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Accustom ἐθίζειν](#register-004) (p. 133); [Boy παῖς](#register-056) (p. 144); [Coming into being γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150); [Even ἄρτιος](#register-158) (p. 167); [Labor thoroughly διαπονεῖσθαι](#register-294) (p. 197); [Number ἀριθμός](#register-362) (p. 214); [Odd περιττός](#register-365) (p. 215); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Prepare παρασκευάζειν](#register-416) (p. 227); [Route ὁδός](#register-463) (p. 237); [Subject of learning μάθημα](#register-527) (p. 251); [Teach beforehand προδιδάσκειν](#register-540) (p. 254); [Young man νεανίσκος](#register-610) (p. 269).


**Phrases.** [The pupil is the boy and young man](#phrase-154) (p. 301); [Numbers themselves without bodily collections](#phrase-155) (p. 301).


## 990d {#passage-990d}


Geometry and stereometry are presented as successive ways of making unlike numbers alike in planar and solid dimensions.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53); [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103); [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Evident διαφανής](#register-161) (p. 167); [Geometry γεωμετρία](#register-210) (p. 178); [Increase αὐξάνειν](#register-265) (p. 190); [Like ὅμοιος](#register-308) (p. 200); [Make like ὁμοιοῦν](#register-319) (p. 203); [Making alike ὁμοίωσις](#register-321) (p. 203); [Name ὄνομα](#register-347) (p. 210); [Plane ἐπίπεδος](#register-400) (p. 223); [Portion μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224); [Ridiculous γελοῖος](#register-457) (p. 236); [Solid στερεός](#register-509) (p. 247); [Stereometry στερεομετρία](#register-520) (p. 250); [Three times τρίς](#register-551) (p. 256); [Unlike ἀνόμοιος](#register-571) (p. 260); [Wonder θαῦμα](#register-606) (p. 268).


**Phrases.** [Likeness with respect to plane figures](#phrase-156) (p. 302); [Three times increased](#phrase-157) (p. 302).


## 990e {#passage-990e}


The discussion connects mathematical power, doubling and proportion with nature's articulation into form and kind.


**Full articles.** [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24); [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35); [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Contrary ἐναντίος](#register-099) (p. 154); [Double διπλάσιος](#register-137) (p. 162); [Form εἶδος](#register-191) (p. 174); [Kind γένος](#register-288) (p. 195); [Power or capacity δύναμις](#register-408) (p. 225); [Proportion ἀναλογία](#register-427) (p. 230); [See into ἐγκαθορᾶν](#register-477) (p. 240); [Stamp out ἀποτυποῦσθαι](#register-516) (p. 249).


## 991a {#passage-991a}


Doubling through number, square and solid dimensions leads to the two kinds of mean between six and twelve.


**Full articles.** [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35); [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62); [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Account and reason λόγος](#register-003) (p. 132); [Be exceeded ὑπερέχεσθαι](#register-036) (p. 140); [Exceed ὑπερέχειν](#register-164) (p. 168); [Extreme ἄκρον](#register-165) (p. 168); [Middle μέσος](#register-329) (p. 205); [Part μέρος](#register-382) (p. 219); [Six ἕξ](#register-499) (p. 245); [Tangible ἁπτός](#register-538) (p. 254).


**Phrases.** [One to two in ratio](#phrase-158) (p. 302); [Equal differences around the arithmetic mean](#phrase-159) (p. 302); [Equal fractions around the harmonic mean](#phrase-160) (p. 302); [Six and twelve as the named extremes](#phrase-161) (p. 303).


## 991b {#passage-991b}


Ratios of one-and-a-half and one-and-a-third give musical concord before the curriculum turns to divine visible nature.


**Full articles.** [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19); [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62); [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Coming into being γένεσις](#register-084) (p. 150); [Commensurate σύμμετρος](#register-085) (p. 151); [Concordant σύμφωνος](#register-090) (p. 152); [Dance χορεία](#register-113) (p. 157); [Harmony ἁρμονία](#register-233) (p. 183); [Music and poetic art μοῦσα](#register-344) (p. 209); [One-and-a-half ἡμιόλιος](#register-372) (p. 216); [One-and-a-third ἐπίτριτος](#register-373) (p. 217); [Play παιδιά](#register-402) (p. 223); [Rhythm ῥυθμός](#register-456) (p. 236); [Twelve δώδεκα](#register-562) (p. 258); [Use χρεία](#register-575) (p. 261).


**Phrases.** [Six and twelve as the named extremes](#phrase-161) (p. 303).


## 991c {#passage-991c}


Learning requires bringing particulars to forms through questioning and refutation, together with attention to precise heavenly time.


**Full articles.** [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49); [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102); [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106); [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Accomplish ἀποτελεῖν](#register-001) (p. 132); [Bring toward προσάγειν](#register-060) (p. 145); [Ease ῥᾳστώνη](#register-144) (p. 164); [Form εἶδος](#register-191) (p. 174); [Futile μάταιος](#register-204) (p. 177); [Gathering συνουσία](#register-205) (p. 177); [Precisely ἀκριβῶς](#register-412) (p. 227); [Precision ἀκρίβεια](#register-413) (p. 227); [Pretend προσποιεῖσθαι](#register-418) (p. 228); [Question ἐρωτᾶν](#register-432) (p. 231); [Refute ἐλέγχειν](#register-444) (p. 234); [Test βάσανος](#register-545) (p. 255); [Time χρόνος](#register-552) (p. 256).


**Phrases.** [Particulars brought to forms](#phrase-162) (p. 303); [Question what has not been well said](#phrase-163) (p. 303).


## 991d {#passage-991d}


Soul's priority and celestial precision support the claim that all is full of gods and free of divine neglect, provided these matters are learned rightly.


**Full articles.** [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29); [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51); [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112); [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Benefit ὄφελος](#register-044) (p. 142); [Divine θεῖος](#register-134) (p. 161); [Forgetfulness λήθη](#register-190) (p. 174); [Full πλέος](#register-199) (p. 176); [Neglect ἀμέλεια](#register-354) (p. 212); [Older πρεσβύτερος](#register-369) (p. 216); [Receive παραλαμβάνειν](#register-439) (p. 232); [Slight παρολιγωρεῖν](#register-502) (p. 246); [Stronger κρείττων](#register-525) (p. 251).


**Phrases.** [Things full of gods](#phrase-164) (p. 303).


## 991e {#passage-991e}


Diagrams, numerical systems, harmony and stellar revolution must become intelligible together through a unifying approach.


**Full articles.** [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49); [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Agreement ὁμολογία](#register-012) (p. 135); [Bond δεσμός](#register-052) (p. 143); [Combination σύστασις](#register-081) (p. 150); [Come to light ἀναφαίνεσθαι](#register-082) (p. 150); [Diagram διάγραμμα](#register-127) (p. 160); [Revolution περιφορά](#register-455) (p. 236); [System σύστημα](#register-536) (p. 253).


**Phrases.** [Learning while looking toward one](#phrase-165) (p. 303); [One bond by nature](#phrase-166) (p. 304).


## 992a {#passage-992a}


One natural bond unifies the studies, which are presented as the necessary route and nourishment for happiness in cities.


**Full articles.** [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32); [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48); [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49); [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52); [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99); [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Bond δεσμός](#register-052) (p. 143); [Come to light ἀναφαίνεσθαι](#register-082) (p. 150); [Easy ῥᾴδιος](#register-146) (p. 164); [Fortune τύχη](#register-194) (p. 175); [Nourishment τροφή](#register-361) (p. 213); [Permitted θεμιτός](#register-390) (p. 221); [Think through διανοεῖσθαι](#register-548) (p. 256).


**Phrases.** [One bond by nature](#phrase-166) (p. 304); [Whether hard or easy this way](#phrase-167) (p. 304).


## 992b {#passage-992b}


The fully trained wise person is promised posthumous unity and blessedness in an affirmation that explicitly conditions continued survival after death.


**Full articles.** [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62); [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77); [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126); [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Affirm firmly διισχυρίζεσθαι](#register-010) (p. 134); [Be in earnest σπουδάζειν](#register-041) (p. 141); [Death θάνατος](#register-118) (p. 158); [Fill up ἀναπίμπλημι](#register-176) (p. 171); [Island νῆσος](#register-282) (p. 194); [Mainland ἤπειρος](#register-318) (p. 203); [One εἷς](#register-371) (p. 216); [Perception αἴσθησις](#register-387) (p. 220); [Play παίζειν](#register-403) (p. 224); [Portion μοῖρα](#register-407) (p. 224); [Share in μεταλαμβάνειν](#register-493) (p. 244); [Share in μετέχειν](#register-494) (p. 244).


**Phrases.** [Play and earnest together](#phrase-168) (p. 304); [If indeed he still is after dying](#phrase-169) (p. 304); [One out of many](#phrase-170) (p. 304).


## 992c {#passage-992c}


Public and private practitioners may fare alike with the gods, while complete happiness remains restricted to a few.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45); [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59); [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Few ὀλίγος](#register-173) (p. 170); [Privately ἰδίᾳ](#register-420) (p. 228); [Publicly δημοσίᾳ](#register-428) (p. 230); [Share in μετέχειν](#register-494) (p. 244).


**Phrases.** [The same divine treatment in public and private](#phrase-171) (p. 305).


## 992d {#passage-992d}


Natural virtue joined to the blessed studies warrants divine favor, the greatest offices in old age and a summons to the nocturnal council.


**Full articles.** [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16); [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27); [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70); [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84); [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97); [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Beginning ἀρχή](#register-043) (p. 141); [Council σύλλογος](#register-103) (p. 155); [Follow along συνέπεσθαι](#register-187) (p. 173); [Goal τέλος](#register-215) (p. 179); [Hand over παραδιδόναι](#register-229) (p. 182); [Labor thoroughly διαπονεῖν](#register-293) (p. 197); [Nocturnal νυκτερινός](#register-356) (p. 212); [Old man πρεσβύτης](#register-368) (p. 216); [Speak auspiciously εὐφημεῖν](#register-514) (p. 248); [Subject of learning μάθημα](#register-527) (p. 251).


**Phrases.** [Those who have labored in this way](#phrase-172) (p. 305); [After knowing and scrutiny](#phrase-173) (p. 305).


## 992e {#passage-992e}


The summons to this wisdom is to follow adequate knowledge and scrutiny by all the interlocutors.


**Full articles.** [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84); [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93); [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97); [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102).


**Defined vocabulary.** [Scrutinize δοκιμάζειν](#register-472) (p. 239); [Summon παρακαλεῖν](#register-532) (p. 252).


**Phrases.** [After knowing and scrutiny](#phrase-173) (p. 305).


# Thematic index {#thematic-index}


These routes gather complementary discussions rather than treating a theme as another Greek lemma.


## The unfinished question and the search for wisdom


Begin with the difference between possessing a useful ability and understanding the kind of learning that completes a human life and the work of legislation.


- [Wisdom and the right to be called wise](#entry-wisdom-wise) (p. 126)

- [Intelligence and its human and divine measures](#entry-intelligence) (p. 65)

- [Sense attention and the mind that rules](#entry-sense-attention) (p. 107)

- [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106)

- [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67)

- [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64)

- [Persons names and the silent participant](#entry-persons-dialogue) (p. 93)

## Mortal life limits hope and happiness


The opening diagnosis of life and the ending's blessed prospect belong together. Neither the exception for a few nor the survival conditional should disappear in a summary.


- [Life age and the reckoning of labor](#entry-life-age-labor) (p. 70)

- [Hope happiness and the opening limit](#entry-hope-happiness) (p. 59)

- [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128)

- [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45)

- [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77)

- [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90)

## Useful crafts and their different limitations


The excluded crafts are not excluded for one identical reason. Necessity, imitation, interpretation without truth, uncertain circumstances, fortune, and opinion each perform different work.


- [Craft necessity and the standard of complete wisdom](#entry-craft-necessity) (p. 24)

- [Food making lawful eating and the first necessities](#entry-food-making) (p. 48)

- [Farming nature and divine provision](#entry-farming-nature) (p. 43)

- [Building equipment and what suits the people](#entry-building-equipment) (p. 18)

- [Hunting skill and magnificence](#entry-hunting) (p. 61)

- [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100)

- [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62)

- [Help usefulness and the grouping of practical expertise](#entry-helping-crafts) (p. 58)

- [Generalship courage and the need for good fortune](#entry-generalship-fortune) (p. 52)

- [Medicine untimely seasons and conjectural help](#entry-medicine-seasons) (p. 75)

- [Pilots sailors and the uncertainty of the wind](#entry-pilots-wind) (p. 96)

- [Lawsuits persuasive power and the routine of opinion](#entry-lawsuits-opinion) (p. 68)

- [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76)

## Number reason order and the gift of heaven


Counted experience becomes an education in rational relations. The strong association between number and goodness retains the explicit allowance for courage and temperance without complete reason.


- [Number arithmetic and the foundation that is not yet the whole answer](#entry-number-arithmetic) (p. 85)

- [Odd and even elementary discrimination and later study](#entry-odd-even) (p. 88)

- [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57)

- [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22)

- [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106)

- [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123)

- [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121)

- [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87)

## Soul body generation and divine causation


Read soul's precedence as a claim about agency, worth, and explanation, while preserving the embodied character of the living being and the compressed character of the recalled proof.


- [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31)

- [Soul body and what is older](#entry-soul-priority) (p. 112)

- [Soul as craftsman and body as what is molded](#entry-soul-craftsman) (p. 110)

- [Living being combination and one shape](#entry-living-being) (p. 71)

- [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109)

- [Motion toward good and toward its contrary](#entry-motion-good-evil) (p. 79)

- [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46)

## Five bodies and differentiated living kinds


The bodily list, the order of exposition, and the hierarchy of divine and human beings are not a single interchangeable numbering scheme. Mixture and predominance matter.


- [Five bodies mixture and the distinct status of ether](#entry-five-bodies) (p. 46)

- [Earthly life rooted beings and the qualified charge of disorder](#entry-earthly-kind) (p. 39)

- [The stellar living kind and its excellent body and soul](#entry-stellar-kind) (p. 117)

- [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77)

- [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120)

- [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124)

- [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29)

## Intelligent celestial order and the force of its evidence


The Athenian reverses a popular judgment about repeated motion and adds the argument from stellar size. These distinct arguments should be assessed rather than silently fused.


- [Order intelligence and the reversal of the many](#entry-order-intelligence) (p. 91)

- [Necessity settled deliberation and the three Fates](#entry-necessity-fates) (p. 80)

- [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19)

- [Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover](#entry-stellar-size) (p. 114)

- [Soul as cause bodily passivity and self movement](#entry-soul-causation) (p. 109)

- [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55)

- [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121)

- [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51)

## Divine communication knowledge and affection


Intermediaries make communication possible without becoming identical with the perfect god. Human prophetic interpretation, daimonic interpretation, dreams, thought-reading, and emotion require separate attention.


- [Prophecy interpretation and knowing whether a saying is true](#entry-prophecy-interpretation) (p. 100)

- [The three middle kinds and their changing numbers](#entry-middle-kinds) (p. 120)

- [Daimons interpretation and passage between earth and heaven](#entry-daimon-interpretation) (p. 27)

- [Dreams voices oracles and the limits of a report](#entry-dreams-oracles) (p. 37)

- [Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge](#entry-divine-affection) (p. 29)

- [Visible manifest invisible and seen through](#entry-visible-invisible) (p. 124)

- [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32)

## Worship tradition and the proposed religious correction


Ancestral practice is protected while neglected visible gods require recognition. Prayer, hymning, piety, truthful instruction, and legislation connect philosophical claims with action.


- [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97)

- [Divine generation and the work of likening](#entry-divine-generation) (p. 31)

- [Zeus Hera and the place left to traditional gods](#entry-traditional-gods) (p. 129)

- [Ancestral law uncertain worship and the limits of innovation](#entry-ancestral-rites) (p. 12)

- [Neglected visible gods fitting honors and religious reform](#entry-visible-honors) (p. 82)

- [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55)

- [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94)

- [Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect](#entry-full-of-gods) (p. 51)

## Eight powers seven circuits and planetary names


Separate the eightfold heavenly whole from the seven curricular circuits, the five named planetary bodies, the approximate equal-speed group, and modern names supplied only for explanation.


- [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42)

- [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21)

- [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13)

- [Cronus Zeus Ares and the slower stars](#entry-cronus-zeus-ares) (p. 26)

- [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15)

- [Counting the moon and the formation of a calendar](#entry-counting-calendar) (p. 22)

- [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103)

## Observation across peoples and permission to learn


The history of observation credits Egypt and Syria, then makes a culturally charged claim for Greek completion. The rejection of divine envy removes a supposed obstacle to inquiry.


- [Egypt Syria and Greek appropriation](#entry-egypt-syria-greeks) (p. 40)

- [Divine teaching without envy](#entry-divine-envy) (p. 34)

- [Aphrodite Hermes and the names of the solar companions](#entry-aphrodite-hermes) (p. 13)

- [Astronomy Hesiod and the surprising name of wisdom](#entry-astronomy-hesiod) (p. 15)

- [Heaven as giver teacher and object of contemplation](#entry-heaven-number) (p. 57)

- [Wonder initiation and contemplation](#entry-wonder-initiation) (p. 128)

## The mathematical course and its unity


The curriculum moves through differentiated studies toward their natural bond. Its difficult descriptions require mathematical explanation without pretending that every reconstruction is explicit in the Greek.


- [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99)

- [Numbers themselves and the first mathematical study](#entry-numbers-themselves) (p. 87)

- [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53)

- [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115)

- [Doubling power and proportion](#entry-doubling-proportion) (p. 35)

- [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73)

- [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118)

- [Time precision and celestial accomplishment](#entry-time-precision) (p. 121)

## Forms questioning and the conditions of understanding


The final studies are not simply memorized. Classification, questioning, refutation, accurate testing, and a comprehensive view distinguish education from accumulation.


- [Forms kinds and the organization of particulars](#entry-forms-kinds) (p. 49)

- [Questioning refutation and the test of an account](#entry-questioning-test) (p. 102)

- [The synoptic bond of the studies](#entry-synoptic-bond) (p. 118)

- [Knowledge learning and the difference between possession and completion](#entry-knowledge-learning) (p. 67)

- [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64)

- [Reason account and what an argument must establish](#entry-reason-account) (p. 106)

- [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103)

## Nature character education and political authority


Quickness and memory become valuable within a more demanding conjunction of character, aptitude, preparation, divine guidance, and completed learning. The offices and council make the consequences political.


- [Memory quick learning and the limits of natural aptitude](#entry-memory-quickness) (p. 76)

- [Best natures and the formation of learners](#entry-best-natures) (p. 16)

- [Divine guidance and the conditions of teaching](#entry-divine-guidance) (p. 32)

- [Preliminary studies and the labor of preparation](#entry-preliminary-studies) (p. 99)

- [Piety virtue and truthful civic worship](#entry-piety-virtue) (p. 94)

- [Virtue complete goodness and the unresolved content of wisdom](#entry-virtue-goodness) (p. 123)

- [Old age offices and educated authority](#entry-old-age-offices) (p. 90)

- [Nocturnal Council and the final summons to wisdom](#entry-nocturnal-council) (p. 84)

## Play seriousness imitation and philosophical affirmation


The word family does not keep one evaluative force. Dismissed imitation, the lawgiver's fine play, musical pleasure, and the final affirmation in play and earnest belong to a connected but differentiated reading.


- [Imitation music and the changing value of play](#entry-imitation-arts) (p. 62)

- [Prayer hymn and the new beginning](#entry-prayer-hymn) (p. 97)

- [Celestial procession dance and what living things need](#entry-celestial-dance) (p. 19)

- [Means musical ratios and the gift of the Muses](#entry-means-music) (p. 73)

- [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45)

- [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103)

## Textual decisions alternatives and open questions


Follow what the supplied edition actually prints. Corrupt wording, alternate construals, conjectures, and the speaker's own conditional alternatives limit claims in different ways.


- [Reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) (p. 103)

- [Gods themselves or god made images](#entry-gods-images) (p. 55)

- [Mortality indestructibility and life long enough](#entry-immortality-longevity) (p. 77)

- [Eight powers and equal celestial kinship](#entry-eight-powers) (p. 42)

- [Circuits their ordering and the contrary eighth](#entry-circuits-order) (p. 21)

- [Geometry and the making alike of unlike numbers](#entry-geometry-assimilation) (p. 53)

- [Stereometry and three dimensional number](#entry-stereometry) (p. 115)

- [Final perception unity and the qualified hope after death](#entry-final-perception) (p. 45)

- [Inquiry agreement and qualified assent](#entry-inquiry-assent) (p. 64)

# Source guide and notes {#source-guide}

## The supplied edition

The controlling source for this companion is *Plato Epinomis*, Diotimos Editions, 2026, supplied as *Epinomis_Edition.md*. It contains the complete Greek and English dialogue, 973a–992e, with introduction, key-word essays, notes, outline, glossary, editorial explanation, and a record of that edition's production. The source file has been preserved unchanged. The lexicon is a separate work accompanying it; it does not silently amend its Greek, English, or notes.

The supplied edition identifies its Greek as John Burnet's text in the fifth volume of the Oxford edition of Plato, first published in 1907. It describes the particular later impression as issued between October 1936 and 1945 on the evidence of its bound publisher's list and publishing and printing names. That is a distinction between the date of the edited text and the date of the reproduced physical impression. It is not a claim that Burnet prepared a new text in 1936.

The English translation and explanatory matter belong to the supplied Diotimos edition. Short English quotations in the articles follow that text. Explanatory prose in this companion should not be mistaken for a new translation of the whole dialogue. Where the source itself marks an explanation as interpretation, the lexicon preserves that status, particularly in the mathematical curriculum, divine mediation, planetary ordering, and the conclusion.

The article architecture and layered navigation follow the supplied *Minos Lexicon* and *Theages Lexicon*. Those companions provide a formal precedent, not evidence for what the *Epinomis* says. The present selection of articles and shorter records is determined by this dialogue's content rather than by a target borrowed from either earlier volume.

## Ancient references identified by the edition

The following references record the comparisons and contextual evidence used by the supplied edition. They are not a bibliography of every parallel in ancient philosophy. Unless stated otherwise, the lexicon's use is limited to the specific connection described here; it does not claim a new verification against manuscripts or a full survey of subsequent scholarship.

### Diogenes Laertius and the attribution

*Lives of Eminent Philosophers* 3.37 reports the attribution of the *Epinomis* to Philip of Opus alongside the report concerning his work on the *Laws*. Sections 3.60–62 supply the ancient arrangements of the dialogues and their titles or classifications. These passages establish a transmitted report and a catalogue tradition, not an uncontested resolution of authorship.

### The Laws

- **1.625a–b.** The journey from Cnossus to the cave and shrine of Zeus belongs to the dramatic setting of the *Laws*
- **6.782b–d.** The account of earlier nourishment and mutual eating supplies the comparison identified in the note on food production
- **6.752a and 7.812a.** The Athenian can describe the city in words and related educational accounts in the language of story-telling, relevant to the *Epinomis*' self-description at 980a
- **10.885b–907b.** The earlier argument against impiety concerns divine existence, care, and resistance to being bought off; soul's priority is developed especially at 891e–896c
- **10.899b.** The saying that all things are full of gods provides an explicit parallel for *Epinomis* 991d
- **12.951d.** The council's daily meeting is located before sunrise, relevant to its traditional designation as nocturnal
- **12.960c–d.** The Fates and the language of an irreversible power illuminate the *Epinomis*' application to settled divine deliberation
- **12.966d–967e.** Knowledge of soul's priority and of the ordering role of sense belongs to the council's education
- **12.968d–e.** The difficulty of specifying the required studies provides an important background to the *Epinomis*' proposed curriculum

### The Timaeus

- **28c.** The language of maker and father is one possible comparison for the “father” at *Epinomis* 978c; the edition also allows an animal's own parent as the local reference
- **35c–36b.** The musical ratios help explain the arithmetic and harmonic means discussed in the notes on *Epinomis* 991a–b
- **55c and 55d–56b.** The fifth figure used for the whole and the four elemental solids provide a comparison, not an identity, with the five bodies of the *Epinomis*
- **58d.** Ether is described there as the clearest kind of air, unlike its separate place in the fivefold list here

### Other Platonic comparisons

- **Republic 7.527d.** The practical usefulness of astronomical observation provides a comparison for the distinction between seasonal observation and the fuller education proposed here
- **Theaetetus 147d–148b.** The discussion of powers supplies a mathematical comparison for the usual interpretation of the geometry passage, without deciding every detail of its compressed language
- **Gorgias 463b and 501a.** Experience, routine, and memory in the discussion of cookery illuminate the vocabulary of expertise denied the rank of wisdom
- **Statesman 290c.** The description of prophecy-related interpretation between gods and humans clarifies the activity distinguished from knowledge of truth at *Epinomis* 975c
- **Symposium 202e.** Diotima's account of daimonic interpretation and conveyance is a useful comparison for the middle kinds at 984e–985b; it does not settle all the present dialogue's elemental distinctions
- **Phaedo 97b–c.** The supplied key-word essay recalls Anaxagoras and the ordering role of νοῦς while explaining the ordinary idiom “have sense”

### Hesiod Aristotle and planetary nomenclature

The edition identifies the practical stellar timings of Hesiod's *Works and Days* at 383–387, 564–567, 597–598, and 609–617. Those are the background to doing astronomy “after Hesiod's fashion,” a form of useful seasonal orientation distinguished here from the fuller course. The possible association of the islands at 992b–c with the Islands of the Blessed is explicitly tentative; the edition cites *Works and Days* 167–173.

Aristotle, *On the Soul* 1.5, 411a7–8, attributes the saying about everything being full of gods to Thales. That external attribution should not be used to make Thales a named speaker or explicit citation within the *Epinomis*. Diodorus 2.30.3 is cited by the edition to explain the Sun-related title in the textual alternatives for the planet printed here as Cronus'.

### Ancient quotations and the apparatus

The edition identifies quotations in Eusebius' *Preparation for the Gospel* at 13.18.2, 13.2.1, 13.18.3, 11.16.1, 10.4.21, and 10.4.22, corresponding to selected passages of the *Epinomis*. It also lists passages quoted by Theon of Smyrna in the Hiller edition of *Mathematics Useful for Reading Plato*, pages 2, 7–10, and 84. Ancient quotations can preserve wording, omissions, or paraphrases different from the direct manuscript tradition. Their presence in Burnet's apparatus does not make every reported form part of his printed text.

The supplied edition itself identifies limits in these references. It does not provide checked line numbers for Theon's quotations; it preserves Burnet's report of a Eusebian reading despite a recorded difference in Dindorf's text; and it relies on Burnet's report for Grou's conjecture. This companion does not claim to have removed those limits.

## Lexical references

The identification of στερεμνίας as an inflected adjective belonging to στερέμνιος is checked against the [Liddell Scott Jones entry for στερέμνιος](https://atlas.perseus.tufts.edu/dictionaries/entry/urn%3Acite2%3Ascaife-viewer%3Adictionaries.v1%3Alsj-n96544/). The register distinguishes that lexical identification from the word's particular use in the account of solid earthly composition at 981d. The aorist κατίδωμεν is grouped under καθορᾶν on the evidence of the [Liddell Scott Jones entry for καθοράω](https://atlas.perseus.tufts.edu/dictionaries/entry/urn%3Acite2%3Ascaife-viewer%3Adictionaries.v1%3Alsj-n51881/), while the register preserves the contextual distinction between observing and seeing. These supplemental dictionary checks do not alter the supplied Greek.

## Textual cautions that affect interpretation

The article on [reading the text and apparatus](#entry-text-apparatus) gathers the chief interventions. They include the daggers at 975b and 980e; the indefinite expression rather than “prophet” at 978a; play rather than education at 980a; the deletion of “wandering” at 986b; Burnet's corrections and addition concerning the three equal-speed motions and the eighth motion at 986e–987b; the competing planetary title at 987c; the unclear wording at 988c; and the readings behind “always,” “three times,” and “stereometry” in the curriculum. The exact effects are different in each case. A corrupt word, a conjecture, a manuscript variant, and an uncertain construction should not all be filed under an undifferentiated label of “uncertain text.”

Two grammatical questions also remain visible in the supplied edition. At 979a the English keeps the god as the subject of seeing numbers together, while another construal takes “all things” as the subject. At 984b the English connects “most clearly” with the middle kinds' coming into being; another reading connects it with speaking. The lexicon explains the edition's choice and avoids building an unnecessary doctrinal certainty on either disputed construction.

## Mathematical explanation and its limits

The mathematical course is exceptionally compressed. The interpretation of geometry as making numbers alike through areas whose sides may be incommensurable is an explanatory reconstruction identified as such by the edition. The same applies to understanding “three times increased” through three-dimensional products and cubes, and to the passage's relation between doubling, squares, and cubes. The articles separate the Greek terms from the modern explanatory language.

The arithmetic of the means is secure as arithmetic: between 6 and 12, the arithmetic mean is 9 and the harmonic mean is 8. The first is three units above and below the extremes; the second exceeds 6 by one third of 6 and falls short of 12 by one third of 12. The resulting fifth and fourth ratios are 3:2 and 4:3. These examples explain the edition's note; they should not be presented as if the Greek separately enumerated all four modern Arabic numerals. Nor do the calculations eliminate every interpretive question about the larger account of nature, form, and kind.

## Scope and verification

The lexicon is based on the complete supplied edition and keeps its Greek text, translation choices, and explanatory qualifications distinct. Full articles are accompanied by context-defined vocabulary, phrase explanations, and linked indexes. The substantive checks concern Greek attestations, the location and range of quotations, numerical relations, continuity of terminology, coverage of the argument and its minor examples, and agreement among the four output formats. The PDF and Word rendering have been reviewed page by page for legibility, and the EPUB is reflowable.

This is not a manuscript collation, a replacement critical text, a comprehensive history of reception, or a verdict on authorship. It has not received an external human specialist's review. References inherited from the supplied edition are identified as such rather than represented as newly researched findings. A close-reading companion can make uncertainty more intelligible without pretending that it has settled every question.