《cratylus》

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cratylus- 第21部分


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nou; the pure and garnished mind (sc。 apo tou chorein)。  He; as we are

informed by tradition; was begotten of Uranus; rightly so called (apo tou

oran ta ano) from looking upwards; which; as philosophers tell us; is the

way to have a pure mind; and the name Uranus is therefore correct。  If I

could remember the genealogy of Hesiod; I would have gone on and tried more

conclusions of the same sort on the remoter ancestors of the Gods;then I

might have seen whether this wisdom; which has come to me all in an

instant; I know not whence; will or will not hold good to the end。



HERMOGENES:  You seem to me; Socrates; to be quite like a prophet newly

inspired; and to be uttering oracles。



SOCRATES:  Yes; Hermogenes; and I believe that I caught the inspiration

from the great Euthyphro of the Prospaltian deme; who gave me a long

lecture which commenced at dawn:  he talked and I listened; and his wisdom

and enchanting ravishment has not only filled my ears but taken possession

of my soul;and to…day I shall let his superhuman power work and finish the

investigation of namesthat will be the way; but to…morrow; if you are so

disposed; we will conjure him away; and make a purgation of him; if we can

only find some priest or sophist who is skilled in purifications of this

sort。



HERMOGENES:  With all my heart; for am very curious to hear the rest of the

enquiry about names。



SOCRATES:  Then let us proceed; and where would you have us begin; now that

we have got a sort of outline of the enquiry?  Are there any names which

witness of themselves that they are not given arbitrarily; but have a

natural fitness?  The names of heroes and of men in general are apt to be

deceptive because they are often called after ancestors with whose names;

as we were saying; they may have no business; or they are the expression of

a wish like Eutychides (the son of good fortune); or Sosias (the Saviour);

or Theophilus (the beloved of God); and others。  But I think that we had

better leave these; for there will be more chance of finding correctness in

the names of immutable essences;there ought to have been more care taken

about them when they were named; and perhaps there may have been some more

than human power at work occasionally in giving them names。



HERMOGENES:  I think so; Socrates。



SOCRATES:  Ought we not to begin with the consideration of the Gods; and

show that they are rightly named Gods?



HERMOGENES:  Yes; that will be well。



SOCRATES:  My notion would be something of this sort:I suspect that the

sun; moon; earth; stars; and heaven; which are still the Gods of many

barbarians; were the only Gods known to the aboriginal Hellenes。  Seeing

that they were always moving and running; from their running nature they

were called Gods or runners (Theous; Theontas); and when men became

acquainted with the other Gods; they proceeded to apply the same name to

them all。  Do you think that likely?



HERMOGENES:  I think it very likely indeed。



SOCRATES:  What shall follow the Gods?



HERMOGENES:  Must not demons and heroes and men come next?



SOCRATES:  Demons!  And what do you consider to be the meaning of this

word?  Tell me if my view is right。



HERMOGENES:  Let me hear。



SOCRATES:  You know how Hesiod uses the word?



HERMOGENES:  I do not。



SOCRATES:  Do you not remember that he speaks of a golden race of men who

came first?



HERMOGENES:  Yes; I do。



SOCRATES:  He says of them



'But now that fate has closed over this race

They are holy demons upon the earth;

Beneficent; averters of ills; guardians of mortal men。'  (Hesiod; Works and

Days。)



HERMOGENES:  What is the inference?



SOCRATES:  What is the inference!  Why; I suppose that he means by the

golden men; not men literally made of gold; but good and noble; and I am

convinced of this; because he further says that we are the iron race。



HERMOGENES:  That is true。



SOCRATES:  And do you not suppose that good men of our own day would by him

be said to be of golden race?



HERMOGENES:  Very likely。



SOCRATES:  And are not the good wise?



HERMOGENES:  Yes; they are wise。



SOCRATES:  And therefore I have the most entire conviction that he called

them demons; because they were daemones (knowing or wise); and in our older

Attic dialect the word itself occurs。  Now he and other poets say truly;

that when a good man dies he has honour and a mighty portion among the

dead; and becomes a demon; which is a name given to him signifying wisdom。 

And I say too; that every wise man who happens to be a good man is more

than human (daimonion) both in life and death; and is rightly called a

demon。



HERMOGENES:  Then I rather think that I am of one mind with you; but what

is the meaning of the word 'hero'?  (Eros with an eta; in the old writing

eros with an epsilon。)



SOCRATES:  I think that there is no difficulty in explaining; for the name

is not much altered; and signifies that they were born of love。



HERMOGENES:  What do you mean?



SOCRATES:  Do you not know that the heroes are demigods?



HERMOGENES:  What then?



SOCRATES:  All of them sprang either from the love of a God for a mortal

woman; or of a mortal man for a Goddess; think of the word in the old

Attic; and you will see better that the name heros is only a slight

alteration of Eros; from whom the heroes sprang:  either this is the

meaning; or; if not this; then they must have been skilful as rhetoricians

and dialecticians; and able to put the question (erotan); for eirein is

equivalent to legein。  And therefore; as I was saying; in the Attic dialect

the heroes turn out to be rhetoricians and questioners。  All this is easy

enough; the noble breed of heroes are a tribe of sophists and rhetors。  But

can you tell me why men are called anthropoi?that is more difficult。



HERMOGENES:  No; I cannot; and I would not try even if I could; because I

think that you are the more likely to succeed。



SOCRATES:  That is to say; you trust to the inspiration of Euthyphro。



HERMOGENES:  Of course。



SOCRATES:  Your faith is not vain; for at this very moment a new and

ingenious thought strikes me; and; if I am not careful; before to…morrow's

dawn I shall be wiser than I ought to be。  Now; attend to me; and first;

remember that we often put in and pull out letters in words; and give names

as we please and change the accents。  Take; for example; the word Dii

Philos; in order to convert this from a sentence into a noun; we omit one

of the iotas and sound the middle syllable grave instead of acute; as; on

the other hand; letters are sometimes inserted in words instead of being

omitted; and the acute takes the place of the grave。



HERMOGENES:  That is true。



SOCRATES:  The name anthropos; which was once a sentence; and is now a

noun; appears to be a case just of this sort; for one letter; which is the

alpha; has been omitted; and the acute on the last syllable has been

changed to a grave。



HERMOGENES:  What do you mean?



SOCRATES:  I mean to say that the word 'man' implies that other animals

never examine; or consider; or look up at what they see; but that man not

only sees (opope) but considers and looks up at that which he sees; and

hence he alone of all animals is rightly anthropos; meaning anathron a

opopen。



HERMOGENES:  May I ask you to examine another word about which I am

curious?



SOCRATES:  Certainly。



HERMOGENES:  I will take that which appears to me to follow next in order。 

You know the distinction of soul and body?



SOCRATES:  Of course。



HERMOGENES:  Let us endeavour to analyze them like the previous words。



SOCRATES:  You want me first of all to examine the natural fitness of the

word psuche (soul); and then of the word soma (body)?



HERMOGENES:  Yes。



SOCRATES:  If I am to say what occurs to me at the moment; I should imagine

that those who first used the name psuche meant to express that the soul

when in the body is the source of life; and gives the power of breath and

revival (anapsuchon); and when this reviving power fails then the body

perishes and dies; and this; if I am not mistaken; they called psyche。  But

please stay a moment; I fancy that I can discover something which will be

more acceptable to the disciples of Euthyphro; for I am afraid that they

will scorn this explanation。  What do you say to another?



HERMOGENES:  Let me hear。



SOCRATES:  What is that which holds and carries and gives life and motion

to the entire nature of the body?  What else but the soul?



HERMOGENES:  Just that。



SOCRATES:  And do you not believe with Anaxagoras; that mind or soul is the

ordering and containing principle of all things?



HERMOGENES:  Yes; I do。



SOCRATES:  Then you may well call that power phuseche which carries and

holds nature (e phusin okei; kai ekei); and this may be refined away into

psuche。



HERMOGENES:  Certainly; and this derivation is; I think; more scientific

than the other。



SOCRATES:  It is so; but I cannot help laughing; if I am to suppose that

this was the true meaning of the name。



HERMOGENES:  But what shall we say of the next word?



SOCRATES:  You mean soma (the body)。



HERMOGENES:  Yes。



SOCRATES:  That may be variously interpreted; and yet more variously if a

little permutation is allowed。  For some say that the body is the grave

(sema) of the soul which may be thought to be buried in our present life;

or again the index of the soul; because the soul gives indications to

(semainei) the body; probably the Orphic poets were the inventors of the

name; and they were under the impression that the soul is suffering the

punishment of sin; and that the body is an enclosure or prison in which the

soul is incarcerated; kept safe (soma; sozetai); as the name soma implies;

until the penalty is paid; according to this view; not even
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