Epinomis - Platonic Foundation

Epinomis

__________

persons in the dialogue: ATHENIAN STRANGER

CLINIAS of Cnossus, Crete

MEGILLUS of Sparta

scene: no setting

_____

CLINIAS: Well, stranger, here we are, duly assembled, all three of us as we agreed, you and me and

Megillus here, to consider what account we should give of the sort of understanding which,

according to us, once apprehended, gives a person the finest understanding a human being

can possibly have. For although we maintain that we have, in general, described all matters

concerned with lawgiving, we have neither investigated nor referred to the most important

question: what exactly should a mere mortal learn in order to become wise? So we should

now attempt to make good this omission. Indeed, we run the risk of failing to complete the

objective of all our endeavours, which was to clarify everything from beginning to end.

ATHENIAN: Well said, Clinias. I believe the argument you’re about to hear is unusual, and also, in

a sense, not so strange at all. Indeed, many people, based upon their experience of life, prof-

fer the same argument – that humankind will never be blessed or happy. Follow me, then,

and decide whether or not you think I am right in what I say, along with them, about such

a matter. I deny the possibility of humanity, with few exceptions, being blessed and happy,

at least during this lifetime. But on dying, there is a noble hope of encountering everything

that we are so eager for, as we live the very best life we can whilst alive, and we aim for the

noblest departure when we die. I am not saying anything wise, but something that all Greeks

and non-Greeks would somehow recognise: that from the very outset, being born is a dif-

ficulty for every creature. First, there is involvement in the condition of all who dwell in

the womb, then there is the actual birth, followed by nurture and education, and everyone

agrees that all of these give rise to a great deal of trouble. And, indeed, if we don’t count

the travails but only what people would regard as acceptable, the duration would be quite

short, providing a sort of breathing space, it seems, in the middle phase of human life. But

old age sets in quickly, making anyone who is not full of naïve notions reluctant to live life

all over again, having reflected upon the life that has just been lived. So, what evidence do

I have for all this? This is the nature of the subject of our current investigation. We are

investigating the manner in which we may become wise on the assumption that each of us

has this capacity in some measure. But it takes flight and is gone once someone embarks

upon any understanding of the so-called skills or the other areas of understanding or

branches of knowledge, as none of these deserves the title of wisdom concerning these

human affairs. But our soul is strongly convinced and intuits that it somehow possesses this

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Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25

wisdom by nature, although it is quite unable to find out when and how, or even to discover

what it is. Now, doesn’t the problem with our enquiry into wisdom bear a strong resem-

blance to this? It is enquiry that exceeds the expectations of those among us who are capable

of examining ourselves and others intelligently and coherently through all sorts of arguments

and various discussions. Shall we agree that this is how matters stand, or not?

CLINIAS: We shall agree, stranger, based perhaps on the hope that, in your company, in due course,

the truest possible opinion on these matters may eventually arise.

ATHENIAN: Well, we must first review the other kinds of knowledge, so-called, whose acquisition

does not render the possessor wise. This will enable us to set these aside and attempt to

introduce those we need, and to understand them too once they have been introduced. Well,

in the first place, of those which constitute the primary needs of the mortal race we should

note that, although these branches of knowledge are more or less the most necessary of all,

and truly primary, their possessor, even if he did at once seem wise initially, is certainly not

regarded as wise nowadays. Rather, he incurs reproach on account of having this sort of

knowledge. Let’s say what these are then, and state that every man, those at least who strive

for inclusion among those with the very best reputation, flee from these so that they may

acquire understanding and its practical application. Let the first one be our knowledge of

eating other creatures, which, the story goes, forbids this entirely in some cases, and insti-

tutes a law to allow such consumption in other cases. May those who have gone before us

be gracious to us, as indeed they are, but let us first bid farewell to those we have just men-

tioned, for although the production of barley and wheat as well as food is noble and good,

it will never, of itself, make someone perfectly wise. Indeed, the very word ‘production’

might bring about a distaste for the actual things that are produced. And since it is not by

our skill, it seems, but by nature subject to God that we have all come to manage the earth,

agriculture will never really make us wise either. Nor indeed will the building of houses, or

construction in general, the manufacture of various sorts of equipment, the work of the

blacksmith, the carpenter, the potter, the weaver, and the provision of all sorts of tools. This

knowledge is of benefit to the populace, but it is not said to confer excellence. Nor again

does hunting in all its forms, multifarious and skilled as it has become, ever elevate the soul

and confer wisdom; neither does prophecy or its interpretation do so at all, for the prophet

merely knows what he is saying without understanding whether it is true or not.

Now, we can see that the acquisition of our necessities is achieved by means of skill,

but that none of the skills makes a person wise; what is left after this is play, which is, for

the most part, imitative, but by no means serious. For although they are engaging in imitation

by various devices, and by numerous imitations of the body itself that are most unseemly,

and by means of words and music in general, and the arts that are born of painting, achieving

a great variety of designs of all sorts in various media, wet and dry, imitation does not make

anyone wise in any respect, even someone who toils with the utmost diligence.

When these have all been excluded, what remains is defence of vast numbers of peo-

ple by countless means, the most important and extensive being called military skill, the

skill of the general, requiring a lot of good fortune, but, by nature, given more to courage

than to wisdom. As for the skill of the physician, this is presumably a defence of sorts

against the ravages inflicted upon the nature of living creatures by the various seasons with

their untimely cold and heat and the like. But none of this is reputed to be wisdom in the

truest sense, being devoid of measure and driven by opinion and guesswork. We also refer

to steersmen, and sailors too, as defenders, but you would not declare a single man among

them to be wise, even to reassure us. For they could not know the wrath of the wind nor its

friendly face either, all of which is so central to navigation. Nor indeed do those who claim

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to act as our defenders in lawsuits with their power of speech. They pay attention to human

character by means of memory and experience born of opinion, but they have strayed far

from the truth of what is really just.

But there remains yet an unusual power that is reputed to be wisdom, although most

people would call it a natural capacity rather than wisdom. It is noticed in a person who

easily learns whatever he is learning, securely commits a lot of material to memory, recalls

what is relevant to each situation and what is appropriate, and quickly enacts this. All this

is designated by some as a natural capacity, by others as wisdom, by others as a natural

shrewdness, but no sensible person will ever be prepared to call someone truly wise for any

of these endowments.

But surely there must prove to be some knowledge whose possession would consti-

tute the wisdom of the one who is truly wise and does not merely seem so. Let’s see. For

we are attempting to find, through an extremely difficult argument, another knowledge

besides those we have mentioned, a knowledge which may truly and reasonably be

described as wisdom, which will render its possessor neither lowly nor simple-minded, by

which he will be a wise and good denizen of the city, ruling and being ruled justly, as a fit-

ting citizen. So, let’s first look for the one knowledge among all those we have at present,

which would render the human race mindless and stupid if it were removed from human

nature, or was never present at all. There is not much difficulty in seeing what this is. For

comparing one with another, so to speak, the knowledge which gives number to the entire

mortal race would do this. And it is a god, I believe, rather than good fortune, that saves us

by giving this to us.

But I believe I should state which god, since it is an unusual one, and somehow,

again, not unusual. For how could we ever doubt that the cause of everything that is good

for us is also the cause of the greatest good of all, namely understanding? So, Megillus and

Clinias, what god am I referring to with such seriousness? Surely it is Uranus whom we

are duty bound to honor along with all the other daimons and gods, and to whom above all

we should pray. We would all agree that he has been the cause of everything else that is

good for us, and we also maintain, correctly, that he has at the same time also given us num-

ber, and continues to give this to anyone who is willing to follow along. For once someone

embarks upon the correct contemplation of this god, either as the universe, as Olympus or

as the heaven, or whatever one pleases to call it, let him only follow how this provides the

seasons and sustenance to all as it variegates itself and turns all the courses of the stars

within itself. And so, we would maintain that, along with all number and the other goods,

there is also understanding in general. But if someone, having accepted his gift of numbers

were to explore the entire circuit of the heaven, this would be the supreme benefit.

Yet, going back a little in the argument, we should recall how right we were to appre-

ciate that if number was indeed removed from human nature, we would never attain any

understanding. For the soul of that creature from whom rational discourse is absent could

never yet attain total excellence. And a creature that could recognise neither two nor three,

odd nor even, and was ignorant of number in general, would never be able to give a rational

account of anything of which it had acquired mere sense impressions and memories. There

is, however, nothing to prevent it from acquiring the rest of excellence, courage and sound-

mindedness. But being deprived of true discourse, no one could ever become wise, and

whoever is devoid of wisdom, the greatest part of excellence as a whole, could never

become happy because he would not have become perfectly good. And so, it is absolutely

necessary that number be the foundation, but to explain why this must be so would give

rise to an argument more extensive than anything we have yet discussed. But it will indeed

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Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25

be correct to declare now that whatever is said about the other skills which we listed just

now, accepting that there are these various skills, not a single one of these remains, but all

of them cease entirely, once someone does away with the skill of number.

Someone, having considered the various skills, might perhaps assume that the human

race needs number for everyday purposes, although even this is important. But what if

someone were to behold both the divine and the mortal aspects of creation, in which rever-

ence and true number will be discovered? Yet not everyone would recognise just how much

power number, in its totality, is responsible for when it assists us. Indeed, music in all its

aspects obviously requires the enumeration of movements and sounds. Nor will many

realise, most importantly, that number is responsible for all that is good, and as we need to

understand, for none of the evils that may perchance befall us. And anyone who is to con-

clude his life in happiness needs to appreciate that any, more or less, irrational, disordered,

unseemly, unrhythmical and inharmonious motion, and anything else that involves anything

bad, is lacking in all number. And no one who does not have knowledge of the just, the

beautiful, and everything of that sort, having acquired only true opinion about them, will

ever enumerate them in such a way that he fully convinces himself or anyone else.

Let us proceed, then, with our enquiry into this very question: how did we learn to

use number? Come on then, from where did the one and the two come to us, so that we

may think of them possessing, from the universe, this nature that enables us to think thus?

Now, in many other creatures, the nature enabling them to do this is not even present, and

so they are unable to learn how to use number even from the Father. But God first implanted

this particular ability in us so that we would be up to the task of understanding what is being

shown, and he then showed us, and continues to do so. Of all that is shown to us, what one

could be a more beautiful one than the realm of day? We may then come to the night time

retaining our vision, where something totally different from it would be presented to us.

And as the heaven keeps on revolving these very objects around, through many nights and

many days, it keeps on teaching one and two to us humans until even the slowest learner

has adequately learned how to use number. And, indeed, on seeing these, each of us would

also conceive of three and four and many. And as he was fashioning the various objects,

God made one of them, the moon, which appears large at one time, smaller at another, as it

proceeds on its way, always illuminating a different day, until fifteen days and nights have

elapsed. This is its actual orbit if you are prepared to treat a single whole cycle as one, so

that even a creature who is very slow to learn would learn this, provided God had bestowed

a nature that is capable of learning. And thus far, and in these respects, every capable crea-

ture has become skilled in the use of number by observing a particular unit. But for the pur-

poses of consistently reckoning everything in relation to everything else in terms of number,

and, I believe, for a greater purpose too, God, having made the waxing and waning moon,

as we have said, also established, in conjunction, the months in relation to the year. And so,

as a happy outcome, all creatures began to discern number in relation to number.

Through

these, the earth brings forth its fruits and harvests for us in order to provide nourishment

for all living things, as the winds and rains arise without excess in due measure. But if any-

thing occurs for the worse, contrary to these measures, the divine nature should not be held

responsible. Rather, our human nature should be blamed for not arranging our lives justly.

Now, in our enquiry into laws, it seemed to be easy, in general, to understand what

is best for humanity, and that anyone would be up to the task of understanding the various

pronouncements, and acting upon them, provided we understood precisely what is likely

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–––––

This introduces the notion of ratio.

to be to our advantage and what is not advantageous. It seemed then, and still seems now,

that all the other pursuits are not particularly difficult, but the question of how we are to

become good people is extremely difficult. Again, to acquire all the other so-called good

things is possible and not difficult, including the amount of wealth we need or do not need,

and the sort of body we need or do not need. And everyone agrees with everyone else that

the soul should be good, and about the way in which it should be good. It should be just,

sound-minded and courageous, and everyone maintains that it should be wise too, but as to

the sort of wisdom, as we have already explained, no one agrees at all with anyone else in

most cases.

Now, however, we are discovering, besides all the previous wisdoms, another one

which is not without its uses for certain purposes: whoever has learned the subjects we have

outlined seems to be wise. But whether the person who is knowledgeable in these subjects

is indeed wise and good, is a question that needs to be decided.

CLINIAS: How right you were, stranger, to say that we are trying to come up with important for-

mulations on important issues.

ATHENIAN: Indeed, Clinias, the issues are not trivial, but the greater difficulty is that the formula-

tions are to be completely true in every way.

CLINIAS: Very much so, stranger, but you should not tire of saying what you are saying.

ATHENIAN: Yes, and you two are to keep on listening.

CLINIAS: Granted. I am answering on behalf of both of us.

ATHENIAN: Very well. To begin with then, we need to say, first and foremost, it appears, most of

all, whether or not we are able to capture in a single word what we think wisdom is. But if

this proves quite impossible for us, we should say, secondly, what, and what kinds of wis-

dom, would, according to our account, make a person wise, if he were to acquire them.

CLINIAS: Please proceed.

ATHENIAN: After this, no reproach will ever be incurred by the lawgiver for presenting a likeness

of the gods that is nobler and better than any that have been presented previously, having

recourse to a sort of noble game, honouring the gods and celebrating them with hymns and

happiness throughout his own life.

CLINIAS: Well said, stranger. Let this indeed be the objective of your laws: that the life be lived in

greater purity, praising the gods, and that it may end in nobility and supreme goodness.

ATHENIAN: So, Clinias, how are we to describe this? Do you think we should honour the gods by

singing heartfelt hymns, praying that the noblest and best words will come to us? Is this

the way? Or what do you think?

CLINIAS: Yes, that’s a wonderful way to proceed. So, good man, have faith in the gods, utter your

prayers, and then speak the beautiful words that come to you about the gods and goddesses.

ATHENIAN: It shall be so provided if the god himself guides us. Just join in the prayer.

CLINIAS: Speak on.

ATHENIAN: Well firstly, since our predecessors did such a bad job of describing the origin of gods

and mortal creatures, it is necessary for me first to express this better, based upon my pre-

vious argument, resuming what I was trying to say to the impious folk.

I was saying that

there are gods who care for all things great and small, and who are more or less incapable

of persuasion in matters of justice. I presume that you remember, Clinias, since you both

took notes, and, indeed, what was also said at the time was very true. The most important

of these statements was that any soul would be elder than any body. You do recall?

This

must surely be the case, for it is plausible that the better, more ancient and more godlike be

elder than the young, the younger and the less honourable, and that the ruler be elder in

every respect than the ruled, and the leader than the led. Let us understand, then, that soul

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Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25

is elder than body. But if this is the case, our starting point would constitute a more plausible

basis for the starting point of creation, and we could then propose that we are embarking

aright upon the greatest wisdom, that which concerns the origin of gods.

CLINIAS: Let it be so. We have spoken as best we can.

ATHENIAN: Come on, then. Should we declare that a living creature may most truly be described,

according to its nature, as a combination of soul and body coming together to give rise to

a single form?

CLINIAS: Correct.

ATHENIAN: Is something of this sort then rightly called a living creature?

CLINIAS: Yes.

ATHENIAN: Well, according to the likely account, we should say that there are five solid bodies

from which the best and most exalted things may be moulded, while the other kind, in its

entirety, has a single form. For nothing could be bodiless and always entirely devoid of

colour, apart from the truly most divine kind, which is soul. To this alone, we may say,

belongs the function of moulding and fashioning, while according to us, it belongs to body

to be moulded, to be fashioned, and to be visible. But we should say once more, for it should

be stated more than once, that it belongs to soul to be unseen, to be aware, to be known by

reason, and to partake of memory and calculation by odd and even transformations. Now,

we should declare that there is fire and water, that air is third, earth fourth. and ether fifth,

and that every creature is perfected in complexity and variety by the relative predominance

of these bodies. It is necessary to understand these individually as follows. We should pro-

pose that the first one is earthy, consisting of all humans, all creatures with many feet, those

without feet, those that are mobile, and those that are immobile, being held fast by their

roots. We should think of these as being one, in the following sense. Although these are all

composed of all of the kinds, this type is, for the most part, composed of earth and is solid

by nature. We should also propose that there is another type of living creature that is also

capable of being seen. Indeed, it consists mostly of fire, although it has earth and air too,

and small portions of all the other kinds. And so we should declare that various living crea-

tures, also visible, arise from these constituents, and we should think of them again as being

the race of the creatures of the heavens, which, we should declare, constitute collectively

the divine race of stars, each possessed of a perfect body and the happiest and very best

soul. To these two we should assign one destiny or the other, proceeding more or less by

opinion. For each of them is either imperishable, immortal, and, by absolute necessity,

wholly divine, or it is possessed of a life that is long enough for the particular creature,

none of whom would ever require any more.

So let us, in the first place, bear in mind that, according to us, there are two living

beings of this sort, and we should repeat that both are visible, although one seems to be

composed wholly of fire, the other of earth. The earthy one moves in a disorderly manner,

while the one composed of fire moves in perfect order. The one that moves in a disorderly

manner should be thought of as unintelligent, acting for the most part like the living crea-

tures about us. The one that maintains an orderly course in heaven should provide us with

great evidence of being intelligent. Indeed, by constantly proceeding, acting, and being

acted upon in the same way without variation, it would be providing sufficient evidence of

living in an intelligent way. The necessity belonging to soul possessed of reason is by far

the strongest necessity of all, for soul then gives laws, ruling, but not being ruled. And when

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This picks up on the argument from Laws x.

Laws x.891e ff, 896a ff.

soul has made the best decision in accord with supreme reason, the result is unalterable and

complete, truly in accord with reason, and not even adamant could ever prove stronger or

more unalterable than this. But, in fact, three Fates hold fast and keep watch to ensure the

completion of whatever has been decided with perfect deliberation by any of the gods. But

for humanity, there should have been adequate proof that the stars and their entire proceed-

ings are possessed of reason in the fact that they always do the same things because they

are acting out deliberations of ancient date, made a wondrously long time ago, and they do

not alter their decision this way and that, doing one thing at one moment and something

different the next, as they wander and change their orbits. This conclusion of ours is the

very opposite of what most people believe. They think that whatever does the same things

without variation does not possess soul. Hence, most people have taken their lead from the

unintelligent; they assume that humans are intelligent and alive because they are moving,

while the divine race is unintelligent because its orbits remain the same. But humanity could

have relied upon the more beautiful, the better, the friendly to understand that whatever is

the same and unvarying and always acts accordingly should, for this very reason, be

regarded as intelligent. Such is the nature of the stars, most beautiful to behold, as they

dance the most beautiful and exalted dance movement of all, to satisfy the need of every

living creature. And, indeed, to justify our claim that they have souls, we should first con-

sider their size. For they are not small as they appear to be; each of them is, rather, of enor-

mous bulk. This conclusion deserves to be believed because there are ample proofs. Indeed,

it is possible to appreciate correctly that the sun as a whole is larger than the entire earth,

and that all the moving stars are possessed of wondrous magnitude. We should decide, then,

how it might be possible that some nature can cause such an enormous bulk to revolve

always in the same period, as the stars now revolve. Well, I maintain that God will be the

cause, otherwise this is not possible at all. For as we have shown, nothing could ever become

ensouled except through God. And since God is capable of this, it is extremely easy, in the

first place, for any body or any complete bulk to become a living creature and be moved in

whatever way God thinks best, in which case we may now state one true argument in rela-

tion to all of these. It is not possible that earth and the heaven, all of the stars and the com-

plete masses formed from them, should proceed with such precision by the year, the month

and the day, and that all these happenings benefit all of us, without soul being present to

each, or, indeed, in each of them.

Insofar as a human being is debased, it is necessary that he avoid mere blabbering

and prove to be speaking sensibly. Now, anyone who speaks of the surges or natures of

bodies as causes will not be talking sense. But what we have said needs to be re-examined

seriously to decide whether it makes sense or completely falls short. Firstly, there are two

things, body and soul, and there are many instances of each, all different from one another,

with either kind being different from the other kind; there is no third thing common to both,

and, finally, soul is distinct from body. We shall propose that one is presumably intelligent,

the other devoid of intelligence, one rules while the other is ruled, one is the cause of all

while the other is not the cause of any effect. And so, it is most foolish and unreasonable to

maintain that whatever is in the heaven has come into being by some other agency, and is

not the product of soul and body as we say it is. Now, if our arguments about everything of

this sort are to prevail, and they are all, collectively, to be shown, without doubt, to be of

divine origin, one or the other of two things must be said of them: either they are to be glo-

rified as actual gods, or they are to be understood as images of gods, created representations,

fashioned by the gods themselves. For the artificers were neither devoid of intelligence nor

were they of lesser rate, but as we have said, one option or the other should be adopted,

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and whatever representations are adopted should be honoured far more than all others. For

having been generated entirely in this way, no representations would ever appear more

beautiful, none more common to humanity as a whole, more established in exalted places,

or more pure, solemn and distinguished in their overall manner of life than this.

Now, in relation to gods, we should undertake this much: having discerned two kinds

of creature, both visible – one, we maintain, being immortal, the other, the earthy, being

mortal – we should attempt to speak of the three that are in between these two, the middle

three of the five, doing so with the utmost clarity based upon reasoned opinion. Indeed, we

should place ether above fire and propose that soul fashions, from this, living creatures pos-

sessing power belonging for the most part to the nature of ether. The same holds for the

other four kinds, although there are lesser portions of the other kinds to act as a unifying

bond. After ether, we should propose that soul fashions a different kind of creature from

air, and a third from water. And soul, having wrought all these, is likely to have filled the

entire heaven full of living creatures using all five kinds according to their power, all having

come into being partaking of life. These are second, third, fourth and fifth in descent from

the manifest gods, ending with us humans.

As for the gods such as Zeus, Hera and all the others, anyone may propose whatever

they wish, but in accordance with the same convention, and this account must be adhered

to. The visible gods, then, the greatest, the most honoured, the keenest of sight, must be

said to be first. These are the stars and whatever else we observe among their cohort. After

these and below these in order are the daimons, the airy type, occupying the third and middle

position, responsible for interpretation, whom we should greatly honour in our prayers to

ensure that they convey auspicious messages. Two of the creatures, one being of ether, the

one after it being of air, each of them being entirely transparent, are not clearly visible to

us in spite of their proximity. Partaking of a wondrous intelligence, since they constitute a

race that learns and remembers with ease, we should declare that they are aware of the entire

content of our minds, take delight in the noble and good, and hate the utterly ignoble since

they do share in the experience of pain. For although a god perfected in divine destiny is

beyond pleasure and pain, he does partake of total wisdom and understanding. And the

heaven has been filled full of living creatures, who all interpret towards one another and

towards all the supreme gods, because the creatures of the middle region move easily and

gently over the earth and the entire heaven. As for the fifth substance, we would not go far

astray in comparing whatever is produced from this to a demigod that is sometimes visible,

sometimes hidden and invisible, providing us with a wondrous spectacle of obscurity.

Now, since there are indeed these five living creatures, howsoever any of us have

encountered them, coming across them in dreams whilst asleep, in prophetic statements

and utterances heard in health or in disease, or meeting with them at the end of our lives,

beliefs develop in individuals or in communities from which various sacred traditions of

many peoples have arisen and will arise. And no lawgiver possessed of reason, even to the

slightest extent, would ever dare to engage in innovation in any of these, and turn his own

city over to some service of God that is insecure. Nor indeed will he obstruct whatever the

ancestral law has decreed concerning sacrifices when he knows nothing at all about this,

since the mortal nature is quite unable to understand such matters as these. The same argu-

ment holds for the gods who are actually evident to us. Vile indeed are those who dare not

speak of them and reveal that there are these other gods, bereft of rituals, receiving not the

honours that are due to them. But something like this is actually happening nowadays. What

if one of us, having seen the sun and moon coming into existence and watching over us all,

said nothing, being somehow unable to speak, showing no eagerness to play our part, leav-

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985 e

EPINOMIS – 984b–985e | 1,281

ing these deprived of honours, reluctant to elevate them to an exalted status, institute festi-

vals and sacrifices for them, assigning special times to them, and determining the durations

of their various annual cycles? Wouldn’t it be agreed then by the man himself, or anyone

who understood the situation, that he might rightly be referred to as a bad man?

CLINIAS: Of course, stranger, the worst of men.

ATHENIAN: Well then, dear Clinias, mark my words, this is clearly what I am engaged in now.

CLINIAS: How so?

ATHENIAN: Note that there are, in the entire heaven, eight powers that are kindred to one another.

These I have observed, and this is no great achievement; in fact, it is easy for anyone. Three

of these belong, in one case, to the sun, in another to the moon, and to the stars we mentioned

a little earlier. There are five others. Now, there are all these powers, and those which either

proceed in these powers or, being borne in chariots, proceed accordingly. But let no one of

us ever believe, idly, that some of these are gods while others are not, that some are exalted

in their lineage while others are the sort of beings that none of us may lawfully declare

them to be. Instead, we should all declare and proclaim that these are all kindred and share

kindred destinies. And we should bestow honours, not assigning the year to one, the month

to another, and to others no portion or time period in which they traverse their own orbit,

completing an order which reason, most divine of all, has ordained to be visible. Happy is

the man who, in the first place, wonders at all this and then develops a passion for under-

standing as much about this as our mortal nature will allow, deeming this to be the best and

most fortunate way to spend his life, and attain after death the regions where excellence

abides. Then, having been initiated into truth and reality, being one himself and possessed

of one understanding, he will thereafter have a perfect vision of all that is most beautiful,

as far as sight allows.

What remains for us is to say what and how many of these beings there are, for we

should never prove false. I affirm then, with certainty, this much at least: indeed, I say once

more that there are eight orbits, three of which have been described already while five still

remain. The fourth motion or circuit, together with the fifth, travels at more or less the same

speed as the sun, and, in general, neither slower nor faster. The leader of these three must

be the one that is sufficiently possessed of reason. Let us say that these are the orbits of the

sun, the dawn-bearer, and a third whose name we cannot utter because it is unknown, the

reason being that the person who first observed these was a non-Greek.

An ancient circumstance encouraged the first observers. Because Egypt and Syria

are blessed with an excellent summer season, they had a more or less continuous view of

all the stars, since clouds and rains are consistently absent from that part of the world. And

so their observations, well tested over a vast, nay limitless, period of time, have spread

abroad and arrived here. Therefore, we must be courageous enough to pass laws for these,

since it obviously makes no sense that some divinities are honoured while others are not.

As for the fact that they do not have names, the explanation is that they have, in fact, been

named after gods. For the dawn-bearer, which is the same as the evening star, is, by common

account, the star of Aphrodite, and this is a most appropriate name for a Syrian convention

setter to assign. That which runs its course more or less along with this, and with the sun

too, is the star of Hermes. We should also mention three further orbits of bodies proceeding

to the right along with the moon and the sun. And we should also mention one, the eighth,

which may especially be referred to as the Cosmos, proceeding in the opposite direction to

all those, leading the others, or so it might seem to humans with little knowledge of such

matters. But we need to say whatever we are up to the task of saying, and that is what we

are doing. For to someone who has experienced even a little sound and divine reflection,

986 a

986 b

986 c

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986 e

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1,282 | EPINOMIS – 986a–987c

Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25

the actual truth seems somehow to lie in this direction. Three stars remain, one of which is

much slower than the others, and some people take this to be the star of Cronus; the next

slowest should be called the star of Zeus, and after this comes the star of Ares, which has

the reddest colour of all. None of these phenomena are difficult to apprehend once someone

has described them, but, as we are saying, it is necessary for someone who has understood

the matter to take the lead.

Now, there is something that every Greek should understand: the region we Greeks

inhabit is perhaps the best of all for the acquisition of human excellence. And in praise of

this, it should be explained that our climate is a mean between the extremes of winter and

summer, and our summer climate, being inferior to the climate in that region yonder, has,

as we said, delayed our appreciation of the order that belongs to these gods. But we may

assume that whatever we Greeks acquire from non-Greeks, we take to a higher level of per-

fection. And, indeed, we should keep in mind that the same holds for the topics we are now

discussing. Although such matters as these are difficult to investigate with certainty, there

is, nevertheless, a great and noble expectation that we Greeks will exercise a better and,

indeed, a more just concern for all these gods than the tradition and worship that has come

from the non-Greeks. For we will make use of instruction and prophecy that comes from

Delphi, and the entire system of worship ordained by our laws. And let none of us Greeks

ever harbour the fear that mere mortals must refrain from engagement with matters divine.

We should hold the very opposite view: that the divine is never devoid of intelligence, nor

somehow ignorant of our human nature. It knows, rather, that under divine instruction we

shall follow along and learn whatever is being taught. And the divine knows, of course, that

the very thing it teaches, and what we, for our part, learn, is number and counting. For the

divine would be utterly mindless if it were unaware of this. Indeed, as the saying goes, it

would be ignorant of its own self, angered by someone’s ability to learn, rather than sharing

without envy in the joy of someone who had become good, with the help of God.

Now, there is an account, widespread and plausible, that there was a time when

humans had their initial conceptions of the gods and how they came into being, and the sort

of beings they were and how they engaged in various activities. But the accounts were nei-

ther acceptable to nor to the liking of the sound-minded. Nor could they accept the subse-

quent accounts in which priority was attributed to fire and water and other bodies, and lower

status given to the wondrous soul, accounts whereby the more exalted and revered motion

was the motion allotted to the body to move itself by means of heat and cold and the like,

rather than the motion of the soul moving both itself and the body. But now, since we are

saying that soul, once it has actually come to be present in the body, naturally moves and

circulates both itself and the body, there are no reasonable grounds to doubt the ability of

the soul to set any mass in motion. Since we maintain that soul is the cause of the whole,

and the causes of all good things are like those things, while the causes of bad things, on

the other hand, are other things of that sort, it is no wonder that soul is the cause of all cir-

culation and motion, that the circulation and motion towards the good belongs to the best

soul, while the opposite holds for the opposite kind of soul, and anything that is good must

prevail, now and ever, over its opposite.

We have said all this according to justice, the avenger of those who are unholy. But,

regarding the matter under scrutiny, we cannot but believe that we should regard the good

as wise. As for the wisdom we have sought for so long, we should see whether we can dis-

cern this in some education or skill whose lack of recognition among the just would render

us ignorant for being like this. I must explain. For having sought this wisdom high up and

low down, I shall attempt to reveal it to you in the way that it has become evident to me.

987 d

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EPINOMIS – 987d–989a | 1,283

Indeed, I am strongly of the view, as indicated by what has just been said, that our failures

in practising the most important part of excellence is responsible for our predicament. And

it must be said that for our mortal race there is no part of excellence more important than

reverence, and we should never be persuaded to the contrary. But through the utmost igno-

rance, this reverence has not arisen in the very best natures. The very best natures are those

that, although they come into existence only with extreme difficulty, nevertheless confer

enormous benefit when they do arise. For the soul that quietly accepts its due measure of

lethargy and its opposite would be good-natured, admire courage, and be easily persuaded

towards sound-mindedness. And, most importantly in such natures, soul is able to learn,

has a good memory and is able to delight in these qualities, and thus develop a love of learn-

ing. For although these qualities are not easy to develop, once they have arisen and have

encountered the nurture and education they need, they would be able to constrain the major-

ity of people, the baser sort, in the right way, to think, act and speak about the gods as they

should and when they should in relation to sacrifices and purifications belonging to the

gods and to humans, not as a mere outward show, but truly valuing excellence, which is

indeed of the utmost importance for everyone in every city. According to us, then, this part

is, by nature, the most exalted and well capable of learning all that is noblest and best, pro-

vided there is a teacher. But there would be no teaching unless God were to take the lead.

And if someone were to teach but did so in an improper manner, it would be better not to

learn from such a teacher. Nevertheless, from what we are now saying, it is necessary that

such a nature, the very best, should learn these things, and that I should say so.

Let us attempt, then, to give an account explaining what these things are, their char-

acteristics, and how they should be learned, to the best of my ability as the speaker and

your abilities as listeners. So, in what way may someone learn to serve God? Now, although

it may sound strange on first hearing, we should at least state its name, a name which some-

one with no experience of the subject would never guess. The subject is astronomy, but

people are unaware that the true astronomer must necessarily be utterly wise. He should

not engage in astronomy, as did Hesiod and so many others like him, by observing risings

and settings, rather than observing seven orbits of the eight as they each proceed in a way

that would be beyond the capacity of most natures to discern easily. An exceptional nature

would be required. This has now been stated, and we shall, I propose, explain how and in

what way it should be learned. But we must begin by saying the following. The moon trav-

erses its orbit fastest, bringing the month and the full moon first. Next, we should observe

the sun throughout its entire cycle, and those bodies that run their course along with it as it

brings the solstices. Now, to avoid constantly repeating the same things on the same topics,

let’s just say that the other orbits of these bodies as described previously are not easy to

understand, and to produce natures that are up to the task it is necessary to work hard and

consistently at basic education and training in childhood and youth. Certain studies would

therefore be required. First and foremost is that of numbers themselves, devoid of anything

physical, concerned rather with the overall generation of odd and even, and the influence

this has upon the nature of things that are.

Having learned this, what comes next goes by the very strange name of geometry,

which, by reference to part of plane surfaces, produces a likeness of numbers that are not

by nature like one another. Now, it should be evident to anyone who could understand this

marvel that it is no mere human contrivance, but divine in origin. After this are numbers

that multiply threefold, and are like unto the three-dimensional. Then again, those that are

unlike are made like by a different skill, which those who are acquainted with it call stere-

ometry.

This is godly, and a wonder to those who look closely and appreciate that nature

989 b

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1,284 | EPINOMIS – 989b–990e

Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25

in its entirety, in the case of each ratio, is continually turning power, and the opposite to

this, about the double. Now, the first progression of the double is based upon the numerical

proportion of one to two [1, 2, 4...], while the double of this progression is based upon their

powers [1, 4, 16...]. The double of this again is the proceeding from one to eight, to the

solid and tangible [1, 8, 64...].

The proceeding to a mean of the double, lying equally

between the greater and the lesser, or to a different mean that exceeds and is exceeded by

the same proportion of its own extremes both occur in between six and twelve, as the ratios

three to two and four to three.

In the means between these themselves, in both senses, the

benefit of consonance and symmetry is bestowed upon humanity in furtherance of the play

of rhythm and harmony, a gift from the blessed chorus of the Muses.

So much, then, for all these matters, let them be as we have described them. But to

bring them to a conclusion, we should proceed to a divine creation that is at once most

beautiful to behold, and, indeed, the most divine production of any that God has allowed

us humans to have sight of. But no one can ever claim to have understood this easily without

a clear vision of everything we are now explaining. As well as this, we must apply that

which is based upon one to that which is based upon form, in all our studies, questioning

and challenging whatever is badly formulated. Indeed, for us humans, this constitutes the

first and most excellent test of all, while tests that pretend to be this test but are not, prove

to be the most barren endeavour of all. We must also grasp the precision of the timing, and

how precisely all the phenomena of the heaven are completed, so that anyone who has come

to believe in the truth of our argument that soul is older than body, and more divine too,

would come to the view that it is right and reasonable to declare that “everything is full of

gods”,

and that we will never be neglected by our superiors through their forgetfulness or

inattention.

In relation to all matters of this sort, it is necessary to bear in mind that if someone

grasps each of these aright, a great benefit accrues to whoever apprehends systematically.

Otherwise the best course is always to call upon God. It is necessary to explain what we

mean by ‘systematically’. Every geometric construction, every numerical system and har-

monic structure, and the unified agreement of all the circuits of the stars, should be revealed

to the person who learns systematically. And revealed they shall be if, as we say, a person

learns aright by looking towards one. For a single bond naturally uniting all these will be

revealed to those who think about things in this way. But if someone engages in these studies

in some other way, he should, as we say, invoke fortune. For without these studies, no happy

person will make an appearance in our cities. This is the system, this is the upbringing,

these are the subjects, and whether it be difficult or easy, this is the course along which we

must proceed. And it is not permissible to disregard the gods now that our systematic dec-

laration about them all has been disclosed so successfully.

Whoever has grasped all these subjects together is deemed by me as most truly the

wisest. Of such a person, I insist, in jest and in all seriousness too, that when his destiny is

fulfilled in death – if we may say that he still persists after death – he will no longer partake

of a multiplicity of perceptions as he does now. Having a share of one destiny alone, having

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EPINOMIS – 991a–992b | 1,285

–––––

Stereometry is the measurement of solids.

These three progressions represent the transition from one dimension to three dimensions. The values of one-dimen-

sionality, which are based on the ratio of 1:2, are squared to obtain the values of two-dimensionality, and cubed to get

the values of the “solid and tangible” third dimension.

These ratios are obtained through taking the arithmetic mean, 9, and the harmonic mean, 8, between 6 and 12: 9:6 =

3:2 and 8:6 = 4:3; 12:8 = 3:2 and 12:9 = 4:3.

Aristotle in his De Anima (I.5.411a8) attributes this phrase to the preSocratic philosopher Thales.

become one from many, he will be happy and wise, and blessed too, and whether he lives

this blessed life on continents or on certain islands, he will forever share in good fortune of

this sort. And whether he has spent his time here in public life or as a private citizen, he

will, at the hands of the gods, experience the same advantages in the same way.

The same argument is presenting itself now, the one we stated at the very outset, and

it really is true that, with few exceptions, it is not possible for us humans to be perfectly

blessed and happy. These statements are correct. For only those who are divine and sound-

minded and naturally share in excellence in general, and, furthermore, have grasped every-

thing that is contained in the blessed subject – and we have explained what this involves –

only these people adequately acquire and retain the entirety of that which belongs to the

divine. And so, we maintain in private and enact in public, in our laws, that those who work

at these studies in the right way should be awarded the highest positions of authority in their

advanced later years. The others, speaking reverently towards all the gods and goddesses,

are to follow such people, and it is only right that all of us, having properly recognised this

wisdom and put it to the test, should call upon the Nocturnal Council to pursue it too.

–––––

1,286 | EPINOMIS – 992c–992e

992 c

992 d

992 e

Epinomis, David Horan translation, 19 Nov 25