Euthydemus Passage 305

ΚΡ. ποῖον, ἔφη, χαρίεν, ὦ μακάριε; οὐδενὸς μὲν οὖν ἄξιον. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ νῦν παρεγένου, πάνυ ἄν σε οἶμαι αἰσχυνθῆναι ὑπὲρ τοῦ σεαυτοῦ ἑταίρου· οὕτως ἦν ἄτοπος, ἐθέλων ἑαυτὸν παρέχειν ἀνθρώποις οἷς οὐδὲν μέλει ὅτι ἂν λέγωσιν, παντὸς δὲ ῥήματος ἀντέχονται. καὶ οὗτοι, ὅπερ ἄρτι ἔλεγον, ἐν τοῖς κράτιστοί εἰσι τῶν νῦν. ἀλλὰ γάρ, ὦ Κρίτων, ἔφη, τὸ πρᾶγμα αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐπὶ τῷ πράγματι διατρίβοντες φαῦλοί εἰσιν καὶ καταγέλαστοι. ἐμοὶ δέ, ὦ Σώκρατες, τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐδόκει οὐκ ὀρθῶς ψέγειν οὔθʼ οὗτος οὔτʼ εἴ τις ἄλλος ψέγει· τὸ μέντοι ἐθέλειν διαλέγεσθαι τοιούτοις ἐναντίον πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων ὀρθῶς μοι ἐδόκει μέμφεσθαι. ΣΩ. ὦ Κρίτων, θαυμάσιοί εἰσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἄνδρες. ἀτὰρ οὔπω οἶδα ὅτι μέλλω ἐρεῖν. ποτέρων ἦν ὁ προσελθών σοι καὶ μεμφόμενος τὴν φιλοσοφίαν; πότερον τῶν ἀγωνίσασθαι δεινῶν ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις, ῥήτωρ τις, ἢ τῶν τοὺς τοιούτους εἰσπεμπόντων, ποιητὴς τῶν λόγων οἷς οἱ ῥήτορες ἀγωνίζονται; ΚΡ. ἥκιστα νὴ τὸν Δία ῥήτωρ, οὐδὲ οἶμαι πώποτʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δικαστήριον ἀναβεβηκέναι· ἀλλʼ ἐπαΐειν αὐτόν φασι περὶ τοῦ πράγματος νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ δεινὸν εἶναι καὶ δεινοὺς λόγους συντιθέναι. ΣΩ. ἤδη μανθάνω· περὶ τούτων καὶ αὐτὸς νυνδὴ ἔμελλον λέγειν. οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν μέν, ὦ Κρίτων, οὓς ἔφη Πρόδικος μεθόρια φιλοσόφου τε ἀνδρὸς καὶ πολιτικοῦ, οἴονται δʼ εἶναι πάντων σοφώτατοι ἀνθρώπων, πρὸς δὲ τῷ εἶναι καὶ δοκεῖν πάνυ παρὰ πολλοῖς, ὥστε παρὰ πᾶσιν εὐδοκιμεῖν ἐμποδὼν σφίσιν εἶναι οὐδένας ἄλλους ἢ τοὺς περὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἀνθρώπους. ἡγοῦνται οὖν, ἐὰν τούτους εἰς δόξαν καταστήσωσιν μηδενὸς δοκεῖν ἀξίους εἶναι, ἀναμφισβητήτως ἤδη παρὰ πᾶσιν τὰ νικητήρια εἰς δόξαν οἴσεσθαι σοφίας πέρι. εἶναι μὲν γὰρ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σφᾶς σοφωτάτους, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις λόγοις ὅταν ἀποληφθῶσιν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀμφὶ Εὐθύδημον κολούεσθαι. σοφοὶ δὲ ἡγοῦνται εἶναι πάνυ - εἰκότως· μετρίως μὲν γὰρ φιλοσοφίας ἔχειν, μετρίως δὲ πολιτικῶν, πάνυ ἐξ εἰκότος λόγου - μετέχειν γὰρ ἀμφοτέρων ὅσον ἔδει, ἐκτὸς δὲ ὄντες κινδύνων καὶ ἀγώνων καρποῦσθαι τὴν σοφίαν. ΚΡ. τί οὖν; δοκοῦσί σοί τι, ὦ Σώκρατες, λέγειν; οὐ γάρ τοι ἀλλὰ ὅ γε λόγος ἔχει τινὰ εὐπρέπειαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν.

Cri. Charming is it, my dear innocent? he exclaimed: nay, a thing of no consequence. Why, had you been in that company just now, you would have been filled with shame, I fancy, for your particular friend: he was so strangely willing to lend himself to persons who care not a straw what they say, but merely fasten on any phrase that turns up. And these, as I said just now, are the heads of their profession today. But the fact is, Crito, he went on, the business itself and the people who follow it are worthless and ridiculous. Now, in my opinion, Socrates, he was not right in decrying the pursuit: he is wrong, and so is anyone else who decries it: though I must say I felt he was right in blaming the readiness to engage in discussion with such people before a large company. Soc. Crito, these people are very odd. But I do not yet know what answer I shall give you. Of which party was he who came up to you and blamed philosophy? Was he one of those who excel in the contests of the courts, an orator; or of those who equip the orators for the fray, a composer of the speeches they deliver in their contests? Cri. Nothing of an orator, I dare swear, nor do I think he has ever appeared in court: only he is reputed to know about the business, so they declare, and to be a clever person, and compose clever speeches. Soc. Now I understand: it was of these people that I was just now going to speak myself. They are the persons, Crito, whom Prodicus described as the border-ground between philosopher and politician, yet they fancy that they are the wisest of all mankind, and that they not merely are but are thought so by a great many people; and accordingly they feel that none but the followers of philosophy stand in the way of their universal renown. Hence they believe that, if they can reduce the latter to a status of no esteem, the prize of victory will by common consent be awarded to them, without dispute or delay, and their claim to wisdom will be won. For they consider themselves to be in very truth the wisest, but find that, when caught in private conversation, they are cut off short by Euthydemus and his set. This conceit of their wisdom is very natural, since they regard themselves as moderately versed in philosophy, and moderately too in politics, on quite reasonable grounds: for they have dipped into both as far as they needed, and, evading all risk and struggle, are content to gather the fruits of wisdom. Cri. Well, now, do you consider, Socrates, that there is anything in what they say? It is not to be denied that these men have some color for their statements.

[305a] me répondit-il. Elle n’a aucune valeur. Et si tu avais été là tout à l’heure, tu aurais eu honte pour ton ami. Il était assez fou pour vouloir se livrer aux leçons de ces hommes qui se soucient peu de ce qu’ils disent et s’en prennent à chaque mot que le hasard leur offre. Et ceux-ci, comme je l’ai dit, sont en ce genre des plus habiles de notre temps. Mais à te dire la vérité, Criton, la philosophie et ceux qui s’y adonnent sont tout-à-fait frivoles et ridicules. - Malgré cela, je ne trouve pas, Socrate, [305b] que ni lui ni qui que ce soit ait raison de blâmer cette étude ; mais de disputer publiquement avec ces sortes de gens, c’est ce qu’il m’a paru blâmer avec raison. SOCRATE. Ce sont, Criton, des hommes très singuliers, cependant je ne sais pas encore trop qu’en dire. Mais qui est cet homme qui te rencontra et blâma la philosophie ? Est-ce un orateur habile à plaider une cause devant les tribunaux, ou un de ceux qui y envoient les autres, un faiseur de harangues dont se servent les orateurs ? [305c] CRITON. Non, par Jupiter, ce n’est point un orateur, et je ne crois pas qu’il ait jamais paru devant un tribunal. Mais on dit qu’il s’y entend parfaitement, et qu’il sait composer d’excellens plaidoyers. SOCRATE. J’entends bien maintenant, et j’allais te parler moi-même de ces gens-là. Ce sont ceux que Prodicus plaçait entre le politique et le philosophe. Non-seulement ils croient être les plus sages de tous, mais aussi paraître tels à la plupart des hommes, et que les philosophes seuls empêchent que leur réputation ne soit universelle. Ils s’imaginent qu’ils remporteraient sans contredit la palme de la sagesse s’ils pouvaient décrier les philosophes comme tout-à-fait indignes d’estime ; dans leur opinion, ils sont bien les plus sages, mais dans les discussions particulières, [305d] quand ils y sont réduits, ils craignent d’être battus par ceux de l’école d’Euthydème. Ils croient être sages comme il convient ; car s’occuper un peu de la philosophie, et un peu de la politique, c’est justement ce qui convient, puisque ainsi ils participent de toutes les deux autant qu’il est besoin, et que, placés hors des dangers et des disputes, ils peuvent goûter tranquillement les fruits de leur sagesse. CRITON. Eh bien, Socrate, que penses-tu de ce qu’ils disent ? Il semble pourtant que leur discours a beaucoup d’apparence. SOCRATE. C’est vrai ; mais, comme tu dis, plutôt de l’apparence