Stephanus 47

47a them on us—that must next be told. Sight, then, has become, by my account, the cause of the greatest benefit to us: for none of the accounts now spoken about the whole would ever have been uttered, had we never seen the stars, nor the sun, nor the heaven. But as it is, day and night having been seen, and the months and the circuits of the years, and the equinoxes and the solstices, these have brought forth number, and given us the notion of time, and the inquiry into the nature of the whole; 47b and from these we have won the harvest of philosophy—and no greater good has come, or will ever come, to the mortal race as a gift from the gods. This, then, I say, is the greatest good the eyes give us; and for the lesser goods, why should any man sing their praises?—the goods whose loss the man who is no philosopher would bewail in vain laments. But let this stand as our account of the cause here: the god devised and gave us sight, that we might behold the circuits of intelligence in the heaven and use them for the revolutions of our own thought within us, which are akin 47c to those—ours troubled, though theirs stand untroubled—and that, having learned them and come to share in the natural rightness of reckonings, we might imitate the god's utterly unwandering circuits and set our own wanderings within us in order. And of voice and hearing there is again the same account: they were given by the gods for the same ends and the same reasons. For speech is ordained for this purpose above all, contributing the greatest share toward it; and as much again of music 47d as is given to serve hearing by way of the voice was given for the sake of harmony. And harmony, whose motions are akin to the circuits of the soul within us, was given by the Muses as an ally to the one who uses the Muses with intelligence—not for irrational pleasure, as it now seems to be, but to serve as an ally in setting to order and bringing into concord with itself the circuit of the soul that has come to be discordant in us. And rhythm again, as a helper to the same ends, was given by the same powers, because of the unmeasured condition and want of 47e grace that comes to be in most of us.

The things said so far, then—except for a few—have shown what was wrought through intelligence; and what comes to be through necessity must also be brought into the account.

Timaeus: For mingled,

47a gave them to us, must be said next. Sight, then, by my account, has become the cause of the greatest help to us: none of the words now spoken about the whole would ever have been spoken if we had not seen the stars, the sun, and the sky. But now, from seeing day and night, the months and the turns of the years, and the equinoxes and the solstices, number has been worked out for us, and we have been given the idea of time and the search into the nature of the whole. 47b From these we got philosophy, and no greater good has come or will ever come to the mortal race as a gift from the gods. So I say this is the greatest good of the eyes. As for the other, smaller goods, what could we sing praise for? A man without philosophy, if he went blind, would grieve and mourn over them for nothing. But let this be the cause we give for these things: the god found out sight and gave it to us, so that, seeing the circuits of intelligence in the sky, we might use them for the turnings of our own thought, 47c which are akin to those circuits, ours disturbed while those are calm; and, learning them and taking part in the natural correctness of reason, and copying the god's circuits, which never wander, we might set straight the wanderings within us. About voice and hearing, again the same account holds: they were given by the gods for these same ends. For speech has been set up for these very ends, and it brings the greatest share to them; and all that part of music 47d useful to the voice for hearing was given for the sake of harmony. Harmony has motions akin to the circuits of the soul in us. It is useful to anyone who uses the Muses with intelligence, not for senseless pleasure, as it now seems to be, but it was given by the Muses as an ally, to set in order and bring into agreement with itself the circuit of the soul in us that has come to be out of tune. And rhythm too was given for these same ends by the same gods, a helper against the lack of measure and the want 47e of grace that comes to be in most of us.

So almost everything that has been said, except a little, has shown the things made through intelligence. But we must also set beside the account the things that come to be through necessity.

Timaeus: For the birth of this world

47a benefit effected by them, for the sake of which God bestowed them upon us. Vision, in my view, is the cause of the greatest benefit to us, inasmuch as none of the accounts now given concerning the Universe would ever have been given if men had not seen the stars or the sun or the heaven. But as it is, the vision of day and night and of months and circling years has created the art of number and has given us not only the notion of Time but also means of research into the nature of the Universe. From these we have procured Philosophy in all its range, 47b than which no greater boon ever has come or will come, by divine bestowal, unto the race of mortals. This I affirm to be the greatest good of eyesight. As for all the lesser goods, why should we celebrate them? He that is no philosopher when deprived of the sight thereof may utter vain lamentations! But the cause and purpose of that best good, as we must maintain, is this,—that God devised and bestowed upon us vision to the end that we might behold the revolutions of Reason in the Heaven and use them for the revolvings of the reasoning that is within us, these being akin to those, 47c the perturbable to the imperturbable; and that, through learning and sharing in calculations which are correct by their nature, by imitation of the absolutely unvarying revolutions of the God we might stabilize the variable revolutions within ourselves.

Concerning sound also and hearing, once more we make the same declaration, that they were bestowed by the Gods with the same object and for the same reasons; for it was for these same purposes that speech was ordained, and it makes the greatest contribution thereto; music too, in so far as it uses audible sound, 47d was bestowed for the sake of harmony. And harmony, which has motions akin to the revolutions of the Soul within us, was given by the Muses to him who makes intelligent use of the Muses, not as an aid to irrational pleasure, as is now supposed, but as an auxiliary to the inner revolution of the Soul, when it has lost its harmony, to assist in restoring it to order and concord with itself. And because of the unmodulated condition, 47e deficient in grace, which exists in most of us, Rhythm also was bestowed upon us to be our helper by the same deities and for the same ends.

The foregoing part of our discourse, save for a small portion, has been an exposition of the operations of Reason; but we must also furnish an account of what comes into existence through Necessity.

Timaeus: