Plato · Complete work
Stephanus 22b
Stephanus 22b of 125. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
διθυράμβων καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, ὡς ἐνταῦθα ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ καταληψόμενος ἐμαυτὸν ἀμαθέστερον ἐκείνων ὄντα. ἀναλαμβάνων οὖν αὐτῶν τὰ ποιήματα ἅ μοι ἐδόκει μάλιστα πεπραγματεῦσθαι αὐτοῖς, διηρώτων ἂν αὐτοὺς τί λέγοιεν, ἵνʼ ἅμα τι καὶ μανθάνοιμι παρʼ αὐτῶν. αἰσχύνομαι οὖν ὑμῖν εἰπεῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τἀληθῆ· ὅμως δὲ ῥητέον. ὡς ἔπος γὰρ εἰπεῖν ὀλίγου αὐτῶν ἅπαντες οἱ παρόντες ἂν βέλτιον ἔλεγον περὶ ὧν αὐτοὶ ἐπεποιήκεσαν. ἔγνων οὖν αὖ καὶ περὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ἐν ὀλίγῳ τοῦτο, ὅτι οὐ σοφίᾳ ποιοῖεν
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the complete Ancient Greek text across all 125 Stephanus sections for fidelity, philosophical precision, Socratic voice, legal clarity, and structure.
other poets—expecting that there I should catch myself in the very act of being more ignorant than they. So I would take up those of their poems that seemed to me to have been most carefully composed, and ask them what they meant, so that at the same time I might learn something from them. I am ashamed, gentlemen, to tell you the truth; nevertheless, it must be told. Almost everyone present, so to speak, could have discussed the poems better than the men who had composed them. Thus I soon discovered this about the poets as well: they did not compose what they composed through wisdom,
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 125 Ancient Greek Stephanus sections.
thinking that there I would catch myself red-handed as being more ignorant than they were. So I took up those of their poems that seemed to me to have been composed with the greatest care and asked them what they meant, so that at the same time I might learn something from them. I am ashamed, gentlemen, to tell you the truth, but it must be said. Almost everyone present, so to speak, could have explained the poets’ own compositions better than the poets themselves could. So I soon recognized this about the poets as well: they did not compose what they composed through wisdom,