Note 173.37 — APPENDIX.

186. This elegant comparison of Socrates to the clever πεττεύτης is more lightly touched in a passage in the Laws, vii. p. 820 c:—προβάλλοντά τε ἀλλήλοις ἀεὶ διατριβὴν τῆς πεττείας πολὺ χαριέστερον πρεσβυτῶν διατρίβοντα φιλονεικεῖν ἐν τοῖς τούτων ἀξίαισι σχολαῖς.

187. The τραγέλαφος was a mere fictitious or fabled animal, like the griffin.

188. μετεωροσκόπον, the usual term of reproach with which the Sophist visited Socrates. Compare Apolog. Socr. p. 18 b; and see throughout Aristophanes’s caricature in his comedy of the Clouds.

189. τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν πλουσίων θύρας ἰέναι. The Scholiast has a long note on this bon-mot, which he ascribes to Eubulus in a dialogue with Socrates. Schleiermacher, however, following Diogenes Laertius (ii. 69), attributes it to Aristippus, and Schneider to Simonides, on the authority of Aristotle, Rhetor. ii. 16.

190. Comp. here Book v., ch. 20 (p. 476, c, d).

191. Gr. οὕτω λήγοι ὠδῖνος. Allusion is here made to the pangs attending the birth of the idea and love of beauty—τὸ καλόν,—as more largely treated in the Sympos. p. 206, b, e.

192. Gr. ξυγγένεια ἐῤῥωμένη ἐν πόλει. Plato similarly speaks of political connexions in the Sympos. p. 178 c:—ὃ γὰρ χρὴ ἀνθρώποις ἡγεῖσθαι παντὸς τοῦ βίου τοῖς μέλλουσι καλῶς βιώσεσθαι, τοῦτο οὔτε ξυγγένεια οἵαοἵα τε ἐμποιεῖν οὕτω καλῶς, οὔτε τιμαὶ οὔτε πλοῦτος οὔτ’ ἄλλο οὐδέν.

193. Ast conjectures that there was a well-known adage;—τὸ θεῖον ἐξαιρῶ λόγου.

194. Similarly in the Menon (p. 97 b, 100 b), Plato, in ridiculing the statesmen of his own day, declares that they acquired virtue,—not from human instruction, but by a certain gift from heaven.

195. A Diomedean necessity is a proverbial expression applied to those, who do anything from necessity: its origin is as follows. Diomedes and Ulysses, having stolen the Palladium from Ilium, returned by night to their ships. Ulysses, however, most anxious that the glory of the deed should be his alone, endeavoured to slay Diomedes, who walked before him with the Palladium. Diomedes, however, on seeing by moonlight the shadow of the sword raised over him, seized Ulysses, bound his hands, bid him walk before him, and, after striking him on the back with the flat part of his sword, proceeded onward, and at length reached the Argive camp.

196. It seems highly probable that Plato is here drawing a portrait of Alcibiades, with whose general character this description most closely tallies.

197. Gr. ὀλίγης καὶ ἄλλως γινομένης, ὡς ἡμεῖς φαμέν.

198. We give the Greek entire:—οὗ δὴ ἐφιέμενοι πολλοὶ ἀτελεῖς μὲν τὰς φύσεις, ὑπὸ δὲδὲ τῶν τεχνῶν τε καὶ δημιουργιῶν ὥσπερ τὰ σώματα λελώβηνται, οὕτω καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς συγκεκλασμένοι τε καὶ ἀποτεθρυμμένοι διὰδιὰ τὰς βαναυσίας τυγχάνουσιν.

199. The elegant play on the words λελυμένου and λελουμένου is wholly lost in the translation.

200. Theages is stated in the Apology of Socrates (p. 33 c), to be the son of Demodocus and the brother of Paralus, and to have been most desirous of attaining to a knowledge of the Socratic philosophy;—and we are here told that his delicate health hindered him from persevering in its pursuit:—so true is the saying of Plutarch (de Sanit. tuend. p. 126 b), φιλοσοφεῖν ἀῤῥωστίαι πολλοὺς παρέχουσιν.

201. Heraclitus the Ephesian said that the sun descended to the western sea, and at its setting was extinguished,—being again enkindled when it ascended above the earth in the east; and that this took place perpetually.

202. The Scholiast suggests, that Plato here refers to mathematical science: but Stallbaum conceives with far greater probability, that allusion is made to all liberal or musical arts whatsoever, which are to be studied as disciplines for the mind, just as gymnastics are practised to promote the growth and strength of the body.

203. Gr. πόῤῥωθεν ἀσπαζομένων, an elegant phrase equivalent to χαίρεινχαίρειν ἐώντωνἐώντων, bidding farewell to. Perhaps Plato had in memory the line of Euripides, Hippolyt. v. 101, where Hippolytus accosts Aphrodite—

πρόσωθεν αὐτὴν ἁγνὸς ὢν ἀσπάζομαι.

204. The reader will take in connexion with this what had been stated at the close of the first chapter of this book,—that the philosopher’s studies were concerned with real and eternal being, and not allowed to wander to the changeable and destructible—οὐ πλανωμένην ὑπὸ γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς.

205. Philosophers ideally contemplating the image of a perfect state are here elegantly compared to painters about to make an original design of a city, who of course require that their tablets be clean, ere they commence their drawing.

206. The meaning is;—that as such persons are forced to allow that knowledge of itself is not the highest good, but should be referred to the highest good, as the arbiter thereof,—those persons run into an absurd error, who denying that we have any knowledge of “the good,” yet so act as if we had a sufficient knowledge thereof,—fixing their notion on some abstract theory of good.

207. Socrates says this in consequence of the inability of his auditors to understand the nature of the good: for the Greek Scholiast well observes on this part of the Republic, that it is through the inaptitude of subordinate natures that the more excellent are unable to energize. Παρὰ γὰρ τῶν καταδεεστέρων ἀνεπιτηδειότητα τὰ κρείττονα ἀδυνατοῦσιν ἐνεργεῖν.

208. The equivoque of the word τόκους is difficult to translate; as it signifies equally children, productions, and the interest of a debt. The word πατήρ, if τόκος be taken in the latter sense, will refer to the capital. Comp. Aristotle, Polit. i. ch. 10—μεταβολῆς γὰρ ἐγένετο χάριν, ὁ δὲ τόκος αὐτὸ ποιεῖ πλέον. ὅθεν καὶ τοὔνομα τοῦτ’ εἴληφεν· ὅμοια γὰρ τὰ τικτόμενα τοῖς γεννῶσιν αὐτά ἐστιν, ὁ δὲ τόκος γίνεται νόμισμα νομίσματος. Plato uses the same figure in the Politicus, p. 267 a.

209. The words φῶς and φέγγος are here opposed,—the first referring to the original and primary light of the sun, the latter to the inferior and borrowed light of the moon and stars.

210. The generation of things illuminated by the sun, shows that it is perfectly unbegotten; for, according to the Platonic philosophy, the sun alone of all the bodies in the universe is without generation, neither receiving any accession nor diminution; whereas all that it illuminates receives light, through the motion of the sun about its proper centre, which also at different times sends different rays to the heavenly bodies belonging to its system. So far therefore as the sun illuminates, it is unbegotten; and, on this principle only, and not as respects its corporeal shape, is it assimilated to the good.

211. Plato conceived that there was an ideal and a visible world,—the world of reason and the world of sense, and two essences in each;—in the former, pure or abstract ideas and mixed ideas,—in the visible world (which comprises exclusively the objects of sense), material substances; and secondly, the images, shadows, or representations of bodies. Analogous to these also are four faculties of the human mind, two only of which have any relation to the ideal world or form any part of true science;—1. νόησις, the knowledge of pure ideas (reflection, the pure reason of Kant);—2. διάνοια (understanding), the knowledge of mixed ideas;—3. πίστις, faith, the knowledge of bodies and their properties;—4. εἰκασία, conjecture, the knowledge of the images or shadows of bodies. The two last belong to unstable, varying opinion (δόξα). This explanation is here given, as the words require a more accurate definition than can be furnished by the text. See article Plato, in the P. Cycl.

212. Allusion is here made to puppets which are made to perform on a moveable stage by means of strings pulled from behind. See Ruhnken’s Lexicon to the Timæus, on the word θαύματα, which he explains by the compound word νευροσπάσματα.

213. Comp. Hom. Odyss. x. 428.

214. This refers to the reproach made to philosophers on the unpractical nature of their pursuits, and elsewhere alluded to in the preceding book, ch. 3, and likewise in the Gorgias, p. 484 c.

215. Euripides alludes to the same false notion in the Hippolytus, v. 917.

ὦ πόλλ’ ἁμαρτάνοντες ἄνθρωποι μάτην,

τί δὴ τέχνας μὲνμὲν μυρίας διδάσκετε

καὶ πάντα μηχανᾶσθε κἀξευρίσκετε,

ἓν δ’ οὐκ ἐπίστασθ’ οὐδ’ ἐθηράσασθέ πω

φρονεῖν διδάσκειν οἷσιν οὐκ ἔνεστι νοῦς;

Pindar has a similar sentiment in Olymp. ix. 152-5.

216. This alludes to a game of chance,—ἡ ὀστρακίνδα, fully described in the Onomast. of Pollux, lib. ix. ch. 7 § 110-112.

217. This passage refers, no doubt, to some one or more lost tragedies in which Palamedes is made to accuse Agamemnon of an utter ignorance of arithmetic.

218. Gr. ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ τούτοις οὐκ ἀναγκάζεται τῶν πολλῶν ἡ ψυχὴ τὴν νόησιν ἐπέρεσθαι τί ποτ’ ἔστι δάκτυλος. The words τῶν πολλῶν are usually taken with τί ποτε, as above translated. Schleiermacher, however, takes it with ἡ ψυχὴ, the souls of people generally. Ast thinks the words an interpolation.

219. Abstract, ideal numbers, Plato terms αὐτοὶ οἱ ἀριθμοί; and these only are the subject of scientific calculation. The concrete numbers (ἀριθμοὶ σώματα ἔχοντες) are the subjects only of every-day practical numeration and computation. The monad is the idea of unity, abstract, indivisible unity (αὐτὸ τὸ ἕν), the duad of abstract duality, &c.

220. Gr. ὡς πράττοντές τε καὶ πραξέως ἕνεκα.

221. The use of the ironical compound καλλίπολις gives a force and beauty to the passage which is wholly lost in translation. It is the reading, too, of all the best MSS., and altogether preferable to the old reading.—ἐν τῇ καλλίστῃ πόλει σου.

222. Gr. τῶν δὲδὲ ἀληθινῶν πολὺ ἐνδεῖν, ἃς τὸ ὂν τάχος καὶ ἡ οὖσα βραδυτὴς ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ ἀριθμῷ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀληθέσι σχήμασι φοράς τε πρὸς ἄλληλα φέρεται καὶ τὰ ἐνόντα φέρει. The passage is evidently corrupt,—and, as it now stands, is almost incapable of translation. That given above closely resembles that given by Victor Cousin, a far better one than Schleiermacher’s.

223. It is here alleged that there are two species of motion (φορά),—one affecting the eyes, and including the motion of the heavenly bodies, which are the subject-matter of astronomical science,—the other affecting the ears, and comprising that harmony of the heavenly motions which the Pythagoreans conceived to have given the first notion of music.

224. Glaucon is here complaining of the difficulty of the task proposed; and Socrates replies, that is a mere introduction or prelude to the main composition or piece of music (meaning dialectics) that is to follow. The word νόμος often means a strain or piece of music.

225. This is a passage, the difficulties of which have caused much discussion. The above translation seems on the whole the best; but the reader can consult the conjectures of Ast and others in Stallbaum’s long note on the passage.

226. Gr. γενναίους τε καὶ βλοσυροὺς τὰ ἤθη. The word βλοσυρός usually means stern, scowling, fierce; but also grave, serious, as here.

227. So Quinctilian in his Institutes, lib. i. c. 1, 20:—Nam id in primis cavere oportebit, ne studia qui amare nondum potest oderit, et amaritudinem semel perceptam etiam ultra rudes annos reformidat.

228. This refers to the interruption at the beginning of the fifth book, when, Socrates being about to describe the four kinds of wickedness in both individuals and states, was desired to develop his notions about the community of women and children.

229. This passage, descriptive of the geometric or fatal number, has baffled the ingenuity of every commentator. Any literal translation is little better than nonsense, and any explanation would be too long for a mere note. The views of Baroccius, Schneider, &c. are given in a dissertation at the end of the volume;—but they are all far from satisfactory.

230. Allusion is here made to Plutus, the god of riches,—who is usually represented blind. The word χοροῦ, which is the reading of the best MSS., refers to the noisy crowd of desires that hurry a man through life.

231. The word πατήρ is here used to signify the principal sum (τὸ κεφάλαιον), from which the interest (τόκοι or τὰ ἔκγονα) are derived. Comp. b. vi. ch. 18, p. 196.

232. Gr. πολλάκις ἰσχνὸς ἀνὴρ πένης, ἡλιώμενος, παραταχθεὶς ἐν μάχῃ πλουσίῳ ἐσκιατροφήκοτιἐσκιατροφήκοτι, πολλὰς ἔχοντι σάρκας ἀλλοτρίας, &c.

233. Gr. ὑπερβεβλημένην φύσιν. Euripides uses a similar expression in the Alcestis, v. 155:—τί χρὴ γενέσθαι τὴν ὑπερβεβλημένην—γυναῖκα.

234. Gr. ᾗ τε ὠφέλιμος σῖτος, ᾗ τε παῦσαι ζῶντα δυνατή,—i.e. if there be no sufficient supply,—the general meaning being, that the desire for food is not only useful, but indispensable to the maintenance of life.

235. These Lotophagi are described by Homer, Odyss. ix. 94, &c.

236. Allusion is here made to the Eleusinian mysteries, which after certain lustrations and sacrifices, were successively communicated to those in course of initiation,—first, the lesser mysteries (μικρὰ τέλη), and six months subsequently, the greater (τὰ μεγάλα τέλη).

237. A large portion of this and the following chapter will be found rendered into Latin in Cicero de Republ. i. ch. 43, 44.

238. The proverb here alluded to runs thus, according to the scholiast:—οἱάπερ ἡ δέσποινα, τοία χἁ κύων. The adage from Æschylus, somewhat above, is of an origin equally unknown.

239. The same oracular legend occurs in Herodotus, Clio, ch. 55.

240. Comp. Hom. Il. xvi. 776; Odyss. xxiv. 39.

241. Gr. ξυγκλύδων ἄλλων. The word ξύγκλυς means the vilest and most worthless scum of the people. Comp. Thucyd. vii. 5, where it is used in the same sense.

242. This refers to the description of the δημοκρατικὸς in book viii. ch. 12.

243. Gr. προστάτην τῶν ἀργῶν καὶ τὰ ἕτοιμα διανεμομένων ἐπιθυμιῶν, ὑπόπτερον καὶ μέγαν κηφῆνά τινα. This is perhaps the best rendering;—but the passage is somewhat obscure.

244. Gr. δανεισμοὶ καὶ τῆς οὐσίας παραιρέσεις, lit. the borrowing of money on usury, and the seizure of property for non-payment.

245. These grave crimes are almost similarly enumerated in the Gorgias, p. 508 e, and also by Xenophon, Mem. i. ch. 2, s. 62.

246. Euripides, Jon. v. 621-4, has a similar sentiment beautifully expressed:—

τυραννίδος δὲ τῆς μάτην αἰνουμένης

τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἡδὺ τἀντἀν δόμοισι δὲ

λυπηρά· τίςλυπηρά· τίς γὰρ μακάριος τίς εὐτυχής,

ὅστις δεδοικὼς καὶ περιβλέπων βίαν

αἰῶνα τείνει;

247. Gr. οὐκ οἴεσθαι χρὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλ’ εὖ μάλα τῷ τοιούτῳ λόγῳ σκοπεῖν;

248. The real spiritual nature of this truth is beautifully expressed in the Phædo, p. 67 a:—καὶ ἐν ᾧ ἂν ζῶμεν, οὕτως—ἐγγυτάτω ἐσόμεθα τοῦ εἰδέναι, ἐὰν ὅτι μάλιστα μηδὲν ὁμιλῶμεν τῷ σώματι μηδὲ κοινωνῶμεν, ὅτι μὴ πᾶσα ἀνάγκη, μηδὲ ἀναπιμπλώμεθα τῆς τούτου φύσεως, ἀλλὰ καθαρεύωμεν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸς ἀπολύσῃ ἡμᾶς.

249. The following numbers are employed by Plato in this place. He considers the Royal character as analogous to unity, the Oligarchic to the number 3, and the Tyrannic to the number 9. As 3 therefore is triple of unity, the Oligarchic is the third from the Royal character; and in a similar manner the Tyrant is distant from the Oligarchist by the triple in number; for 9 is the triple of 3, just as 3 is the triple of 1. But 9 is a plane number, the length of which is 3, and also its breadth. And a tyrannic, says Plato, is the last image of a royal life. He also calls 3 a power, because unity being multiplied by it, and itself by itself, and 9 by it, there will be produced 3, 9, 27. But he calls the third augment 27, arising from the multiplication of the power 3, and producing depth or a solid number. Lastly, 27 multiplied into itself produces 729, which may be considered as a perfect multiplication, this number being the 6th power of 3; and 6 as is well known is a perfect number. Hence, as the King is analogous to 1, he is said, by Plato, to be 729 times distant from the Tyrant.

250. By this many-headed beast, desire is signified.

251. The lion signifies anger, and the figure of a man reason; for the whole soul is divided into reason, anger, and desire.

252. According to the Greek scholiast, Creophilus was an epic poet of Chios. Homer, it is said, married his daughter, and dwelling in his house, had from him the poem of the Iliad. His name, to which Socrates alludes, signifies a lover of flesh.

253. According to the Greek Scholiast, Glaucus is said to have been the son of Sisyphus and Merope, and to have become a marine demon. For, meeting with an immortal fountain, and descending into it, he became immortal. Not being able, however, to point out this fountain to certain persons, he threw himself into the sea; and once every year coursed round all shores and islands in conjunction with whales.

254. The helmet of Pluto is said to be an immortal and invisible cloud, with which the gods are invested when they wish not to be known to each other. And it is applied as a proverb to those that do anything secretly.—Schol. Græc. in Plat. p. 197.

255. That is to say, one of these through aptitude will receive the illuminations of divinity, and the other through inaptitude will subject himself to the power of avenging demons.

256. By the eight whirls, we must understand the eight starry spheres, viz. the sphere of the fixed stars, and the spheres of the seven planets.

257. The reader is referred for further information on the pre-Socratic theories of nature, to Stallbaum’s Prolegomena to the Timæus, pp. 48-54; as well as to Introductions to the Protagoras and Theœtetus, in vol. i. of this translation.

258. Plato, in ch. xxiii. designates matter as the receptacle, and, as it were, the nurse (ὑποδοχὴν, οἷον τιθήνην) of all production; while God, on the other hand,—the sum of all ideas,—is the Father and fashioner of the Universe. In ch. xxvi. also, it is described as one and the same with space, which furnishes a place for all generated things. This principle of nature, therefore, is without form,—without an idea; and it is only in the productions of the creative energy and the all-susceptible nature,—that is, in the son of the father and mother,—that there is form and determinate idea. This is clearly laid down in ch. xxiv.; and Ritter accordingly very rightly observes:—“Matter is nothing more than the condition of all human existence, which, however, is a necessary condition, and so causes the natural itself to appear as necessary; whereas the shape received from the good is that which under this condition comes into being and has its actual existence in nature.”—(Ritter, ii. p. 341, compared with ch. xliii. of this Dialogue.)

259. This subject is considered at some length in the third, fourth, and fifth books of the Republic, as well as in the Laws, v. 739, b.

260. Its code was formed by Zaleucus, and it was said by the Syracusans to beto be the best governed of all the Greek cities of Italy. Comp. the Laws, i. 638.

261. Critias was a man of a generous, vigorous-minded disposition, who was so fond of the company of philosophers, that he was said to be ἰδιώτης μὲν ἐν φιλοσόφοις, φιλόσοφος δὲ ἐν ἰδιώταις. He was afterwards one of the thirty tyrants, and Socrates’ most bitter enemy. Hermocrates was a celebrated Syracusan general, several times alluded to by Thucydides and Xenophon, and who made a vow to live by certain rules (κατὰ νόμον ζῆν ἐφιέμενος).

262. The Apaturia, according to Proclus and Suidas, were festivals in honour of Dionysus, publicly celebrated for the space of three days; and they were assigned this name, δι’ ἀπάτην, that is, on account of the deception through which Poseidon is reported to have vanquished Xanthus. The first day of these festivals was called δόρπεια, in which, as the name indicates, those of the same tribe feasted together; and hence (says Proclus) on this day εὐωχίαι καὶ δεῖπνα πολλά, splendid banquets and much feasting took place:—the second day was called ἀνάῥῥυσις, a sacrifice, because many victims were sacrificed in it; the victims being called ἀναῤῥύματα:—the third day, of which Plato speaks in this place, was called κουρεώτης, because on this day κοῦροι, that is, boys or girls, were collected to have their names registered in their tribes (φρατρίαι:)—to these some add a fourth day, which they call ἐπίβδα, or the day after.

263. It was the opinion of Heraclitus and many of the old philosophers, that the earth would be periodically destroyed by fire or water. The notion was borrowed, perhaps, from the Egyptians. (Comp. Herod. ii. ch. 142.)

264. Gr. γράμμασι τελευτᾶν ἀφώνους, which can only be paraphrastically rendered.

265. τὸ παρ’ ὑμῖν μάχιμον. So reads Stallbaum, on the authority of several MSS., the old reading being παρ’ ὑμῶν, which is retained by Bekker.

266. Gr. πηλοῦ κάρτα βαθέος ἐμποδὼν ὄντος. The old reading is καταβραχέος. We have here followed Bekker’s emendation.

267. The whole of the story about the Atlantic isles, so much canvassed by the critics, is so improbable and so at variance with the geographical knowledge of the Greeks, even in Plato’s time, that it can only be considered as a mere myth. See Martin’s admirable remarks, ÉtudesÉtudes sur le Timée.

268. Gr. οὐκ ἀπᾳσόμεθα, lit. we shall not sing out of tune. The old reading is ἀπωσόμεθα, which is untranslatable.

269. Gr. εἰ κατὰ νοῦν ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν οὗτοςοὗτος.

270. The terms ταὐτόν—θάτερον, ὅμοιον—ἀνόμοιον, so constantly met with in this dialogue, express eternal constancy, as contrasted with mutability; and they are found among the ten pairs of opposites which, according to the Pythagoreans, constituted the elements of the universe.

271. Gr. γένεσιν καὶ τὸ πᾶν τόδε.

272. Plato seems, therefore, to regard the soul (ψυχή) as an intermediate agent and uniting bond between perishable bodies and the eternal and indestructible intellect, powerfully acting on matter; but yet, on the other hand, closely and necessarily connected with intellect; though not like the latter, naturally eternal and indestructible, but the best of things generated and constituted eternal by the divine decrees.

273. Gr. οὗ δ’ ἔστι τἄλλα ζῶα καθ’ ἓν καὶ κατὰ γένη μόρια, τούτῳ πάντων ὁμοιότατον αὐτὸν εἶναι τιθῶμεν. The meaning is somewhat obscure: the above is Stallbaum’s interpretation. Compare also, ch. xv. at the beginning. It may be observed, as regards intelligible and sensible objects, that Empedocles had laid down that the universe is νοητός,—although the παράδειγμα ἀρχέτυπον κόσμου αἰσθητοῦ.

274. So we have ventured to render,—τοῦτο δὲ πέφυκεν ἀναλογία κάλλιστα ἀποτελεῖν. On the whole subject, see Stallbaum’s long and satisfactory note.

275. Gr. ἓν ὅλον ἑκάστου,—one whole, without deficiency or superfluity,—the τὸ τέλειον, alluded to by Aristotle, Metaph. iv. § 16.

276. On these seven kinds of motions, comp. ch. xviii. of this dialogue, p. 348.

277. Gr. ἡμιολίων δὲ διαστασέων καὶ ἐπιτρίτων καὶ ἐπογδόων γενομένων ἐκ τούτων τῶν δεσμῶν ἐν ταῖς πρόσθε διαστάσεσι, τῷ τοῦ ἐπογδόου διαστήματι τὰ ἐπίτριτα πάντα ξυνεπληροῦντο, &c. The whole paragraph is very difficult, owing to the very scanty records left us respecting the nature of the ancient Harmonics.

278. The whole of this Pythagorean-like speculation on Harmonics has been variously explained by Cousin, Stallbaum, and Martin (as well as Böckh, in many of his learned tracts). It may here simply be observed, that the two harmonic scales, thus split down their length and crossed, formed two circles or orbits, one (θάτερον) revolving within the other (ταὐτόν), but in an opposite direction. These, according to many commentators, correspond with the equatorial and zodiacal circles(?).

279. Gr. καὶ ὁπότε συμβαίνει κατὰ τὰ γιγνόμενα τε πρὸς ἕκαστον ἕκαστα εἶναι καὶ πάσχειν καὶ πρὸς τὰ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχοντα ἀεί. The whole sentence is difficult,—not so much from its obscureness, as its pregnancy of meaning, which all but defies translation. The same remark applies to the phrase—λόγος ὁ κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἀληθὴς γιγνόμενος—in the succeeding sentence. See Stallbaum and Martin ad locum.

280. Gr. ἔθηκεν εἰς τὰς περιφοράς, ἃς ἡ θατέρου περίοδος ἤειν, &c.

281. Gr. πάντας γὰρ τοὺς κύκλους αὐτῶν στρέφουσα ἕλικα. On this construction, see Matth. Gr. Gr. § 408.

282. The sun, he means, was provided with light that those animals, that required it, might gain a knowledge of number, i. e. of the principle on which the world is formed and now moves.

283. In the Timæus Locrus it is said (p. 432 of Stallbaum, vol. vii.), that it is day, when the sun travels from east to west, and night when it travels from west to east;—and Plato must necessarily have thought this, as he held the earth to be immoveable, without any motion even round its own axis. Comp. Aristot. de Cœlo, II. ch. 13.

284. Gr. τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἤδη μέχρι χρόνου γενέσεως. The old edd. read εἴδη.

285. Plato is here describing two motions of the universe,—one on the principle of ταὐτόν (which is that of intelligence) round its own axis, the other on that of θάτερον (that which the soul of the world is formed), progressive, the latter of which—viz. sensible creation, is wholly subordinate to the former.

286. Gr. τὰ δὲ τρεπόμενα καὶ πλάνην τοιαύτην ἴσχοντα——κατ’ ἐκεῖναἐκεῖνα γέγονε.

287. A comparison of this statement with Hesiod’s will show that Plato was not much governed by the poet’s authority. Comp. Theog. v. 132-156; 336-350; 453-460. Plato probably took his notion, as Proclus suggests, from the Orphic hymns.

288. On this speech we must refer the reader to Stallbaum’s long and valuable notes.

289. Gr. εἰς τὰ προσήκοντα ἑκάστοις ἕκαστα ὄργανα χρόνων.

290. This is a clear indication of the philosopher’s belief in the transmigration of souls;—and the same notion is developed towards the close of the dialogue. Some, however, suppose that they are the opinions of Timæus, not Plato. How can we separate them?

291. Gr. δανειζόμενοι, &c., borrowing certain particles, which were to be paid back as a debt at some future time, namely, at the dissolution of the mortal body.

292. The general meaning of this rather involved sentence is,—that as well by the natural bodily change as by the perceptions of the senses, a disturbance is caused in the equable and constant agitation or operation both of the intelligent and sensuous part of the soul.

293. This celebrated passage most plainly shows what Plato meant by the harmonic and arithmetic ratios concerned in forming the universe,—viz. that they indicated a certain harmony and equability of the intellectual powers, clearly perceptible in their agitation and movements, so long as the power of body and sense is not such as to destroy and impair them:—but this of course must be the result of an union of body and soul.

294. Gr. ἀτελὴς καὶ ἀνόνητος. Stephens proposed ἀνόητος on the authority of some MSS.:—but no change is needed.

295. ταύτῃ τὸ πολὺ τῆς πορείας ἡμῖν ἔδοσαν.

296. This is a very obscure passage, but much light has been thrown upon it by Prof. T. H. Martin (Études sur le Timée, 2 vols. Paris, 1841), who conceives that Plato is here referring to convex and concave mirrors. Considerable light is thrown also on the meaning of the Greek words by a passage in Euclid’s Optics, p. 393.

297. Gr. τῶν ξυναιτίων.

298. Gr. τὰ μὲν οὖν τῶν ὀμμάτων ξυμμεταίτια.

299. That is, philosophy, which likewise is signified by the term ἡ μουσική.

300. Gr. τὸ τῆς πλανωμένης εἶδος αἰτίας.

301. Gr. κατὰ τὸν παρόντα τρόπον τῆς διεξόδου. Stallbaum considers this phrase as equivalent to κατὰ τὸ εἰκός. We have preferred giving a literal interpretation of the words themselves.

302. Gr. τὸ δὲ κατ’ ἀρχὰς ῥηθὲν διαφυλάττων, τὴν τῶν εἰκότων λόγων δύναμιν, &c. He is here alluding to what he had said in his introduction of the subject, ch. ix.

303. Gr. μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἔμπροσθεν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. Stallbaum suggests as an emendation, κατὰ τὰ ἔμπροσθεν, according to the plan of our former discussion:—but this is scarcely needed.

304. On the nature of primitive matter and the distinction between matter finite and matter infinite, see Stallbaum’s long and learned note ad locum.

305. Gr. κύκλον τε οὕτω διαδιδόντα εἰς ἄλληλα, ὡς φαίνεται, τὴν γένεσιν.

306. Gr. ἐκμαγεῖον γὰρ φύσει παντὶπαντὶ κεῖται. This unusual meaning of ἐκμαγεῖονἐκμαγεῖον is well explained by a passage in the opening of the Timæus Locrus, p. 94, a.—τὰν δ’ ὕλαν ἐκμαγεῖον καὶ ματέρα τιθάναν τε καὶ γεννατικὰν εἶμεν τὰς τρίτας οὐσίαςοὐσίας. The words χώρα and ἕδρα are sometimes used in this dialogue to express a similar notion; viz. the primitive matter of things created, infinite in extent but capable of receiving shapes.

307. This passage is alluded to by Aristotle, Metaph. I. ch. 6.

308. Gr. πῦρ μὲνμὲν ἑκάστοτε αὐτοῦ τὸ πεπυρωμἐνον μέροςμέρος φαίνεσθαι.

309. The question now proposed is, whether the elementary bodies have a separate existence and eternal ideas, or whether those only are certain that are cognizable by the senses. On this point he says, that just as science and opinion widely differ, so also do the ideas of things and the things submitted to the senses. Different, however, from both these is the χώρα or receptacle of that infinite matter, which can only be conceived by a bastard sort of reason; because the infinite is not the subject of mental intelligence, but is, as it were hypothetically, considered by an inferior reasoning faculty.

310. This passage is somewhat difficult and involved; but Plato’s meaning seems to be, that the things falling under the senses are conformed according to the example of the ideas, and are, as it were, representations thereof, though different from the ideas themselves:—and hence there must necessarily be some matter in which they have been moulded, or else they can have no permanent existence; though nevertheless sound reason shows us that there is a wide difference between them and the ideas properly so called.

311. On the full meaning of this passage, see Stallbaum’s long note ad locum.

312. What Plato here means is, that the elements before the creation, although infinite, shapeless, and soulless, contained within them certain traces of their true essence, and were afterwards made finite and of fixed shape by being clothed, as it were, with forms and numbers.

313. Gr. ἡ δὲ ὀρθὴ τῆς ἐπιπέδου βάσεως ἐκ τριγώνων ξυνέστηκε. These notions about triangles were decidedly Pythagorean, as we are informed by Proclus in Euclid, II. 46. οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόρειοι τὸ μὲν τρίγωνον ἁπλῶς ἀρχὴν γεννήσεως εἶναί φασιν καὶ τῆς τῶν γεννητῶν εἰδοποιΐας, &c. See also Martin’s note, 67, Études sur le Timée, ii. p. 236-8. Plato, however, could have been no mean geometrician himself, having studied under Theodorus.

314. ἐξ οὗ τὸ ἰσόπλευρον τρίγωνον ἐκ τρίτου συνέστηκε. The sense of the whole passage is explained geometrically in Stallbaum’s note. We here give only what seems the correct rendering of the Greek.

315. Namely, the tetrahedron or pyramid, octahedron, and icosahedron, which are generated from six equal-sided triangles, and fourthly, the cube, generated from an equilateral triangle. See Stallbaum, ad locum.

316. Gr. γενόμενος εἷς ἀριθμὸς ἑνὸς ὄγκουὄγκου μέγα ἀποτελέσειεν ἂν ἄλλο εἶδος ἕν, lit. one number being formed will complete one separate and large kind of single mass.

317. On these geometric forms or elementary particles, we must refer the reader to Martin’s Études sur le Timée, notes 66-69, ii. pp. 234-250, where the whole subject is exceedingly well explained and illustrated.

318. It was the opinion of Democritus that the worlds are infinite; and the same notion was afterwards entertained by Epicurus. Comp. Diog. Laert. ix. sect. 44, and Cic. Acad. Q. iv. 17.

319. Gr. ξυνασθροισθέντων δὲ πολλῶν τοὺς ὄγκους αὐτῶν ὁρᾶσθαι.

320. Gr. ταύτῃ πάντῃ δι’ ἀκριβείας ἀποτελεσθεισῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ξυνηρμόσθαι ταῦτα ἀνὰ λόγον. Here is an awkward anacoluthon from the introduction of the passive perfect ξυνηρμόσθαι, for which Stephens suggested, as an emendation, ξυναρμόσασθαι.

321. Gr. τό τε ἀπὸ τῆς φλογὸς ἀπιόν. The old editions read ἁπτόν.

322. The distinction between τὸ ὑγρόν and τὸ χυτόν is not easily conveyed in translation. The former means an elastic fluid like water,—the latter, a mass of greater density and less elasticity, such as jelly, syrup, or oil. We have rendered it fused, because in the next page the term is used respecting metals.

323. The Greek text is evidently corrupt. It stands as follows:—τὸ——ὕδωρ, ὅσον λεπτὸν ὑγρόν τε διὰ τὴν κίνησιν καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν κυλινδούμενον ἐπὶ γῆς ὑγρὸν λέγεται, &c. Stallbaum suggests the removal of the last ὑγρόν, and the insertion of ἐστί after κυλινδούμενον. This suggestion has been followed in our translation.

324. Gr. διακριτικὸν ὄψεως, lit. having the power of separating sight.

325. This is the same as the σιλλικύπριον or Palma Christi. Comp. Herod. ii. 94, and D. Turner’s note thereon.

326. Lindau conjectures this to be basalt. It is probably lava, or some similar volcanic product. The same commentator conceives the λίτρον mentioned in the succeeding sentence to be potash or some alkali suitable for mingling with oil to form soap.

327. Gr. ὀξύ τι τὸ πάθος,—meaning, that the affection resembles the impression formed by an acute angular body.

328. Allusion is here made to ch. xix. p. 350 of this translation.

329. Plato was not aware that the palate is the chief organ of taste, and that these sensations are transmitted to the sensorium by means of nerves (i. e. minute tubes filled with cerebral matter), all of which communicate either with the spinal marrow or the brain itself,—the centre of all sensation, as Herophilus and Erasistratus held long prior to Galen. Plato, on the contrary, maintained that these sensations were carried by certain small veins (or arteries,—for he makes no distinction between them), to the liver—regarded by him as the seat (comp. ch. xliv.) of the lower mortal soul. The heart was regarded by Aristotle as the centre of the sensations.

330. Comp. ch. xix. p. 350-352 of this volume.

331. Comp. ch. xi. p. 335 of this translation, and also the concluding sentence of the dialogue, p. 409.

332. Gr. περιετόρνευσαν, lit. turned in a lathe.

333. The immortal soul Plato has already (ch. xix. xx.) placed in the head,—in which opinion Hippocrates and Galen both coincide;—and he composed it of two circles, and endowed it with three faculties—intelligence (νόησις), science (ἐπιστήμη), and true opinion (δόξα ἀληθής). Here, however, he speaks of the mortal or sensuous soul, which he divides into two distinct parts,—the male or spiritual portion (τὸ θυμικόν), and the female or appetitive (τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν). This seems to have been a notion of the Pythagoreans. Aristotle and Zeno placed the mortal soul in the heart only. On the three souls and their respective energies, comp. Martin’s admirable note, vol. ii. pp. 296-302, Études, &c.

334. Gr. θώρακι, a word used by Plato and Aristotle to mean not merely the upper part of the trunk, as by later writers, but the whole of it, from the collar-bone down to the pelvis. The word κοιλία in ch. xlvi. has a similar latitude of signification.

335. Gr. ἀρχὴν. This reading is introduced by Stallbaum (and followed by Cousin) from three of the best MSS. The old editions have ἅμαἅμα, which Stephens altered into ἅμμα (a knot or ganglion), and Toup into νᾶμα, both on mere conjecture. Plato clearly thought that the heart was the source of the blood and the centre of union for the veins, which he regards as messengers transmitting to the whole body the orders coming from the male part of the mortal soul; but he runs into the error of attributing to them the function of nerves, as well of motion as sensation. We may remark further, that he considers the veins to have two centres—the heart and the liver, which are the two seats of the mortal soul, and makes no distinction whatever between veins and arteries. See Martin’s note, 140; ii. 301-304.

336. Plato is quite wrong in stating this;—for all the blood passes through them, in order to be supplied with oxygen by the air contained in the cells. This, however, is not nearly so great an error as his statement in ch. lxxiii. (speaking of generation), that the fluids we drink pass through the lungs into the bladder!

337. Plato, in this purely fanciful description of the liver and spleen, seems to have been ignorant of the great use of the bile in promoting the digestion of the food during its passage through the duodenum; for in ch. lxiv. he considers it wholly in the light of a vicious secretion, though he acknowledges its presence in the healthy body as exercising a great influence over dreams and divination. Aristotle, while refuting Plato, is not a whit more correct as to this question in the animal economy. Hist. Anim. iv. 2.

338. A distinction is to be observed between μάντεις and προφῆται,—the former referring to the interpreters, the latter to the utterers only of the divine oracles; but the words, as Plato observes, have often been confounded.

339. Gr. ἐκμαγεῖον,—very wrongly rendered by some, a mirror,—the error of which was first shown by Barker in No. xlvi. of the Class. Journal, p. 201.

340. Gr. τό γε μὴν εἰκὸς ἡμῖν εἰρῆσθαι καὶ νῦν καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἀνασκοποῦσι διακινδυνευτέον τὸ φάναι, καὶ πεφάσθω.

341. The intestines are not, as Plato seems to think, solely destined to receive the excess of food. It is in the stomach that digestion commences, and it ends in the intestines, from which the chyle produced from the food is sent to the lungs to form blood. Aristotle’s ideas on this point are more correct. Hist. Anim. iii. 14.

342. Respecting these triangles, see ch. xxviii., and further on at ch. lxii. They are in fact the primary atoms, of which the body is composed, and are of different classes, according to the parts or organs of which they are the components.

343. There is a play here on the words κεφαλὴκεφαλὴ and ἐγκέφαλον, which cannot be translated.

344. Gr. τῇ θατέρου προσχρώμενος ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὡς μέσῃ ἐνισταμένῃ δυνάμει. Comp. a similar passage in the succeeding chapter.

345. Gr. ἔτι δὲ πτωμάτων οἷον τὰ πιλητὰ ἔσεσθαι κτήματα. A similar idea is nearly similarly expressed by Longinus, xxxii. sect. 5. τὴν σάρκα οἷον πιλήματα προθέμενοι.

346. Gr. ἐξ ὀξέος καὶ ἁλμυροῦ ξυνθεὶς ζύμωμα καὶ ὑπομίξας αὐτοῖς, σάρκα ἔγχυμον καὶ μαλακὴν ξυνέστησε. Plato here alludes, however, not only to the σάρκες or muscular fibre, but to the whole cellular tissue and integument that form a general covering and defence for the entire body. The word νεῦρον in the succeeding sentence refers not to the pulpy, delicate fibres now called by that name, but to the tendons and ligaments that hold an intermediate position between flesh and bone.

347. Plato here alludes to the soul of man, which is said to be generated and composed by necessity in consequence of its union with the body.

348. Gr. ἐπ’ ἐσχάτην τὴν κεφαλὴν περιστήσας κύκλῳ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον ἐκόλλησεν ὁμοιότητι, &c.

349. So we have ventured (taking it as a case of ἕν διὰ δυοῖν) to render the words διὰ τὴν περιόδων δύναμιν καὶ τῆς τροφῆς. These periods are certain changes caused from time to time in the flesh by the motion of its particles, both solid and fluid,—and this owing to the constant supplies of food. A notion very much resembling it has been propounded by modern physiologists.

350. The meaning of the sentence seems to be, that the whole cutis or scalp of the head was perforated by fire, and through the holes thus formed, there issued certain delicate streams of fluid which were hardened into fibre, as they rose above the skin and encountered the pressure of the external atmosphere.

351. The question, whether plants are a distinct kind of animals, which was held by all the Platonic philosophers, is touched on by Plutarch, De Plac. Philos. v. 26, sect. 10, and by Cicero, Tusc. i. 26, where he remarks:—“tam naturæ putarem hominis vitam sustentari, quam vitis aut arboris:—hæc enim etiam dicimus vivere.”

352. I. e. τὸ ἐπιθυμητικόν.

353. What Plato here means, seems simply to be, that it is by turning in and about themselves; that is, by growth, without locomotion, that plants develop the perfection and beauty of their nature, without being in any way obliged for their origin or nature to the objects by which they are surrounded. The phrase στραφέντι αὐτῷ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περὶ ἑαυτό is somewhat difficult, but is explained by a sentence in the Theætetus (p. 181, c.), where ἀλλοίωσις is also used to express the contrary notion.

354. This passage is well illustrated by Longinus, xxxii. sect. 5, where he is illustrating the power of metaphor:—τῆς δὲ τροφῆς ἕνεκα, φησίἕνεκα, φησί, διωχέτευσαν τὸ σῶμα, τέμνοντες ὥσπερ ἐν κήποις ὀχετούς, ὡς ἔκ τινος νάματος ἐπιόντος, ἀραιοῦ ὄντος αὐλῶνος τοῦ σώματος, τὰ τῶν φλεβῶν ῥέοι νάματα. A very similar passage occurs in the Timæus Locrus, p. 101, c., p. 437 of vol. vii. in Stallbaum’s edition of Plato’s works.

355. The whole of this description refers to the œsophagus, which enters the upper part of the stomach, and runs side by side with the trachea, which divides to form the entrance to the two great cells of the lungs. This division is no doubt that of one of the ἐγκύρτια, which, it is said, God διέπλεξε δίκρουν, and then subdivided it into the numerous bronchial tubes that ramify in all directions over the surface of the lungs, i. e. διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ πλέγματος. It may also be added that in the mouth are two passages leading up to the channels of the nose. The meaning is exceedingly obscure; but the reader is referred to Stallbaum and Martin for several long explanatory notes on this curious account.

356. Gr. πᾶν ζῶον αὑτοῦ τἄντος περὶ τὸ αἷμα καὶ τὰς φλεβάς θερμοτάτας ἔχει, οἷον ἐν αὑτῷ πηγήν τινα ἐνοῦσαν πυρός. The common reading has πάντως, instead of τἄντος, and θερμότητα for θερμοτάτας.

357. Comp. ch. xviii. and xx. with Republ. vii. ch. 12, where the harmony of the soul is treated more at length. See also Martin, ii. p. 339.

358. This is a very memorable passage, and clearly shows that Plato was not only well acquainted with the doctrine of attraction and repulsion, but was of opinion also that the law of repulsion depended on the congregation of similar elements throughout all nature. The whole matter, however, is largely treated by Plutarch in his sixth Platonic Dissertation, vol. ii. p. 1004, ed. Par.

359. Respecting the origin of the colour red, comp. ch. xlii. Galen thus speaks of this opinion about the blood (vii. ch. 159)—τὴν ἐρυθρὰν χρόαν γεννᾶσθαί φησι ἐν τῷ αἵματι διὰ τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς ἐξόμορξιν.

360. It is this kind of death of which he speaks in the Georgics (p. 524)—ὁ θάνατος τυγχάνει ὢν οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ δυοῖν πραγμάτοιν διάλυσις, τῆς Ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων. Comp. also Plutarch, De Plac. Phil. v. sect. 24, where he records also the opinions of many others on the same topic.

361. He now proceeds to consider the second cause of diseases—from the deprivation of the compound substances of the body,—blood, bile, flesh, marrow, &c., which can easily be comprehended, says he, by those who have followed him in his speculations on the first.

362. The old reading was πολλά: but the best MSS. have κολλᾷ.

363. Gr. πικρότητι. The old editions read πυκνότητι ποικιλούμενον.

364. What he here means is—that the health of the body mainly depends on the state of the blood; and on this principle chiefly he explains the causes of diseases, which arise from the corruption of the humours caused by the disturbed state of the body, bringing also a taint on the blood;—and hence it must follow that the general health becomes impaired, because the blood runs through the veins, diffusing through the body its vital nutriment.

365. ὑπὸ νόσων, omitted in the old editions, has been restored on the authority of several of the best MSS.

366. Gr. καταψήχεται. The old editions have καταψύχεται. The same observation applies to καταψηχόμενον, a few lines lower down.

367. Gr. ὑπὸ ῥευμάτων φράχθεις, obstructed by discharges of phlegm.

368. Gr. ἃ δὴ καὶ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τῆς ξυντονίας τοῦ παθήματος τὰ νοσήματα τέτανοί τε καὶ ὁπισθότονοι προσεῤῥήθησαν. Galen describes the τέτανος as a distension or convulsion extending equally over a considerable part of the body;—but it appears to be a generic term also, of which ὁπισθότονος and ἐμπροσθότονος are species,—one extending over the hinder, and the other over the forepart of the body. Celsus explains it as nervorum rigor;—and it seems, in fact, to be an involuntary retraction, in a contrary direction to the muscles.

369. Epilepsy, however, was what the ancients usually termed the sacred disease, because it was supposed to be sent by the anger of the gods, and could only be assuaged or removed by incantations and other sacred ceremonies.

370. Gr. εἰς ἀταξίαν ζέσασα διέσεισε. The old editions have διέσωσε, which makes against the context.

371. Martin has taken great and successful pains to point out the surprising sagacity of Plato’s conjectures on the causes of disease. His notes on the subject are well worthy of on attentive perusal.

372. The old editions read ὀδύνας, not ὠδῖνας.

373. This is quite according to Plato’s well-known doctrine—οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν κακός, as he explains it below, and in the Republ. ix, p. 589, c.; Protagoras, p. 345, e.

374. Gr. ὅταν μέν τις ἡσυχίαν ἄγον τὸ σῶμα παραδιδῷ ταῖς κινήσεσι, κρατηθὲν διώλετο.

375. Gr. τῷ κατανοουμένῳ τὸ κατανοοῦν ἐξομοιῶσαι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν φύσιν, &c. The meaning is, that where the reflective powers are employed in meditating on the universe, they are necessarily brought into harmony with the only true objects of intellect,—and which existed indeed from the first creation.

376. This very erroneous view has been before alluded to in a note on ch. xlv. speaking of the lungs. Plato had evidently no knowledge of the action of the kidneys.

377. Gr. ἐκ τῆς τοῦ λόγου διαπορείας.

378. Gr. δίκη δὲ ὀρθὴ τὸν πλημμελοῦντα ἐμμελῆ ποιεῖν.

379. Gr. οὐράνια, which Stallbaum has adopted on Cornarius’s conjecture, Instead of the ἀνθρώπινα, the readings both of the editions and MSS.

380. Gr. τὴν τοῦ θεάτρου διάνοιανδιάνοιαν. The term θέατρον is frequently used to mean the audience only. This was no doubt unknown to those critics, who very unnecessarily conjectured from the use of this term, that Critias had brought out scenic representations.

381. The old editions read ὑστεραίας; but Bekker and Stallbaum have ὑστέρας, which is adopted here, as agreeing with τάξεως understood.

382. Gr. νῦν δὲ ὑπὸ σεισμῶν δῦσαν ἄπορον πηλόν. The old editions read δυσανάπορον.

383. Gr. φιλοτεχνίᾳ. The old editions have φιλοτεκνίᾳ, which is an evident error.

384. This is an extremely involved and most probably a corrupt passage. We have nearly followed Stallbaum’s interpretation; though it was absolutely necessary, in order to make it readable, to divide the sentence into two clauses.

385. The Eridanus here mentioned was in Attica:—it is not the Eridanus known by geographers in Ætolia and Acarnania.

386. Gr. ἤδη καὶ τὸ ἔτι. Cornarius here conjectured κατὰ τὰ ἔτη as the true reading; but as the reading of the MSS. admits of translation, it seems unnecessary.

387. Gr. λήξεις. The old editions and several MSS. have μίξεις.

388. Gr. ταῖς δὲ δὴ κρήναις, τῇ τοῦ ψυχροῦ καὶ τῇ τοῦ θερμοῦ νάματος, πλῆθος μὲν ἄφθονον ἐχούσαις, ἡδονῇ δὲ καὶ ἀρετῇ τῶν ὑδάτων πρὸς ἑκατέρουἑκατέρου τὴν χρῆσιν θαυμαστοῦ πεφυκότος, ἐχρῶντο, &c. This is a very difficult and involved sentence; but we have given its meaning as nearly as language will allow. Both Ast and Stallbaum consider the text imperfect from the dropping out of two or more words.

389. Gr. ἔτι δὲ ξυνωρίδα χωρὶς δίφρου καταβάτην τε σμικρασπίδα καὶ τὸν ἀμφοῖν μετ’ ἐπιβάτην τοῖν ἵπποιν ἡνίοχον ἔχουσαν. The old editions read καταβάτας.