CHAPTER VII
The scene in the house of Callias is further described.
1.
τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ εἰσενόησα, ἔφη Ὅμηρος.
Homer, Od. XI.
601 τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ εἰσενόησα βίην Ἡρακληείην. The reference is not
to be pressed beyond the words quoted: for there is no special
likeness between Homer's Heracles (
δεινὸν παπταίνων, αἰεὶ
βαλέοντι ἐοικώς 608) and Plato's Hippias, whose situation as here
described is more like that of Minos in Homer,
ibid. 569 ff.
χρύσεον σκῆπτρον ἔχοντα θεμιστεύοντα νέκυσσιν, ἥμενον: οἱ δέ
μιν ἀμφὶ δίκας εἴποντο ἄνακτα ἥμενοι ἑσταότες τε κατ᾽ εὐπυρυλὲς
Ἄιδος δῶ. With
ἔφη Ὅμηρος (‘as Homer said’) cf.
Meno, 76D
σύνες ὅ τοι λέγω, ἔφη Πίνδαρος.
3.
ἐν θρόνῳ—ἐπὶ βάθρων. Hippias is depicted as a schoolmaster among his pupils.
Ἐρυξίμαχός τε—Ἄνδρων ὁ Ἀνδροτίωνος. Eryximachus and his father Acumenus were doctors. The former
delivers one of the speeches in the
Symposium, defining his art
as
ἐπιστήμη τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἐρωτικῶν πρὸς πλησμονὴν καὶ
κένωσιν (
Symp. 186C). Phaedrus, son of Pythocles, of the deme
of
Μυρρινοῦς in the tribe
Πανδιονίς, also appears in the
Symposium, and gives his name to the dialogue
Phaedrus. Andron, son
of Androtion (so T here, and both B and T in
Gorg. 487C—the
Ἀριστίωνος of B is therefore a mistake), is in the
Gorgias
described as one of those who shared the view of Callicles, that
too much
φιλοσοφία ruined men. His son is believed to have been
the orator Androtion.
6.
περὶ φύσεως. The primary substance which early Greek
philosophy sought to discover was called by them
φύσις: see
Aristotle,
Met. IV. 4, p. 1014
b. 32 ff.
τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν τρόπον καὶ
τῶν φύσει ὄντων τὰ στοιχεῖά φασιν εἶναι φύσιν, οἱ μὲν ρῦπ, οἱ δὲ γῆν,
οἱ δ᾽ ἀέπα, οἱ δ᾽ ὕδωπ, οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον λέγοντες, οἱ δ᾽ ἔνια
τούτων, οἱ δὲ πάντα ταῦτα. Thus (among others) Heraclitus,
Anaxagoras, and Empedocles called their books
περὶ φύσεως,
i.e. on the substance which gives birth (
φύει) to all else. By
Plato's time the word had acquired a wider meaning equivalent
to ‘de rerum natura’, our ‘Nature’, and it is in this sense that
the word is here used.
7.
ἀστρονομικὰ ἄττα. Schanz brackets
ἀστρονομικά, but the
word is meant to be taken rather with
μετεώρων than with
φύσεως. On Hippias' skill in astronomy cf.
Hipp. Minor, 367Eἦς
(sc.
ἀστρονομικῆς)
αὖ σὺ τέχνης ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπιστήμων οἴει εἶναι ἢ
τῶν ἔμπροσθεν.
10.
Τάνταλόν γε.
Od. XI. 582 καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον εἰσεῖδον
κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγε᾽ ἔχοντα. Prodicus is compared to Tantalus because
of his physical wretchedness: see
Crat. 395E καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ἔοικεν
ὥσρεπ ἂν εἴ τις βουλόμενος ταλάντατον ὀνομάσαι, ἀροκπυρτόμενος
ὀνομάσειε καὶ εἴροι ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνου Τάνταλον: τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ τούτῳ τὸ
ὄνομα ἔοικεν ἐκπορίσαι ἡ τύχη τῆς φήμης.
ἐπιδημεῖ γὰρ ἄρα. Heindorf's correction
ἐπιδημεῖ for
ἐπεδήμει seems to be necessary, as Prodicus is still in Athens.
Just so the presential tenses are used in
314Dκινδυνεύει δὲ—
ἄχθεσθαι and below, l. 14
κατάλυσιν πεποίηκεν. If the clause
is taken as a parenthetical clause of explanation, there is nothing
harsh in the construction:
ἦν δὲ ἐν οἰκήματί τινι naturally enough
follows on
εἰσεῖδον. For
γὰρ ἄρα (a somewhat rare combination)
Heindorf quotes
Rep. IV. 438A πάντες γὰρ ἄρα τῶν ἀγαθῶν
ἐπιθυμοῦσιν,
Symp. 205B ἀφελόντες γὰρ ἄρα (so T: B has only
γάρ)
τοῦ ἔρωτός τι εἶδος ὀνομάζομεν,
Laws, III. 698D συνάψαντες
γὰρ ἄρα τὰς χεῖρας σαγηνεύσαιεν πᾶσαν τὴν Ἐρετρικήν. γὰρ ἄρα
always introduces something supposed to be known to the
person addressed: see
314Bοἶμαι δὲ καὶ Πρόδικον τὸν Κεῖον.
17.
Παυσανιας is known from the
Symposium 180C ff. The
deme
Κεραμῆς was in the tribe Acamantis.
ὡς μὲν ἐγᾦμαι is to be
taken closely with
καλόν τε κἀγαθὸν τὴν φύσιν.
20.
τὴν δ᾽ οὖν ἰδέαν πάνυ καλός. Cf.
Symp. 174A ταῦτα δὴ
ἐκαλλωπισάμην ἵνα καλὸς παρὰ καλὸν (i.e.
Ἀγάθωνα)
ἴω. There is
no ground for reading
καλόν for
καλός with Stephanus: cf.
Lach. 180E τὰ γὰρ μειράκια τάδε—διαλενόμενοι.
21.
Ἀγάθωνα. It is at the poet Agathon's house that the
scene of the
Symposium is laid. From his speech in that dialogue
194D ff. we should infer that he had studied under Prodicus to
some purpose. Born about 447 B.C., Agathon was first successful
on the tragic stage at an early age: cf.
Symp. 175E ἡ δὲ σὴ (sc.
Ἀγάθωνος σοφία)
λαμπρά τε καὶ πολλὴν ἐπίδοσιν ἔχουσα, ἥ γε παρὰ
σοῦ νέου ὄντος οὕτω σφόδπα ἐξέλαμψε καὶ ἐκφανὴς ἐγένετο ρπώην ἐν
μάρτυσι τῶν Ἑλλήνων πλέον ἢ τρισμυρίοις. He visited the court of
Archelaus about 407 B.C. and died probably about 400. That he
was held in esteem by the Athenians appears from
Ar. Frogs,
83 ff.
Ἀγάθων δὲ ποῦ 'σθ᾽; ὅπου 'στ᾽; ἀπολιπών μ᾽ οἴχεται ἀγαθὸς
ποιητὴς καὶ ποθεινὸς τοῖς φίλοις. For
παιδικὰ Παυσανίου cf.
Symp.
193B.
22.
τοῦτ᾽ ἦν τὸ μειράκιον. So BT: the idiom is like our
‘There was this young man’. The nearest parallels seem to be
Phaedo, 59B ἦν δὲ καὶ Κτήσιππος ὁ Παιανιεύς and
Rep. X. 615D
ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ἰδιῶταί τινες. τοῦτό τε δή (Ast),
τοῦτό τ᾽ οὖν (Heindorf),
τοῦτ᾽ ἔνδον ἦν (Schirlitz), have been suggested, while Kroschel
rejects the words, but the text is probably sound.
23.
τὼ Ἀδειμάντω. Adimantus son of Cepis is not elsewhere
named. The son of Leucolophidas was afterwards
στρατηγός
under Alcibiades, whose policy he supported (Xen.
Hell. I. 4.
21): he was taken prisoner at the battle of Aegospotami, but
spared by the Spartans. He was afterwards put on his trial by
Conon on the charge, not improbably a true one, of having
betrayed the Athenian fleet at this battle: see Kock on
Ar.
Frogs, 1512.
26.
πάσσοφος—ἁνήρ—καὶ θεῖος. For
ἁνήρ BT read
ἀνήρ,
but see on
314Eabove.
πάσσοφος is often ironical: e.g.
Euthyd.
271C
ὃ δὲ σὺ ἐρωτᾷς τὴν σοφίαν αὐτοῖν, θαυμασία, ὦ Κρίτων:
πάσσοφοι ἀτεχνῶς τώ γε, οὐδ᾽ ᾔδη πρὸ τοῦ ὅ τι εἶεν οἱ παγκρατιασταί. For the meaning of
θεῖος cf.
Meno, 99C οὐκοῦν—ἄξιον
τούτους θείους καλεῖν τοὺς ἄνδρας, οἵτινες νοῦν μὴ ἔχοντες πολλὰ
καὶ μεγάλα κατορθοῦσιν ὧν πράττουσιν καὶ λέγουσι; θεῖος (in the
form
σεῖος) was the favourite Spartan word of praise and was
much affected by the Socratic circle in Athens.