Lettres attribuées à Platon Passage 340

αὐτῷ δέ μοι ὑπῆν ὡς οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν νέον ἄνθρωπον παρακούοντα ἀξίων λόγου πραγμάτων, εὐμαθῆ, πρὸς ἔρωτα ἐλθεῖν τοῦ βελτίστου βίου· δεῖν οὖν αὐτὸ ἐξελέγξαι σαφῶς ὁποτέρως ποτὲ ἄρα ἔχοι, καὶ τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ μηδαμῇ προδοῦναι μηδʼ ἐμὲ τὸν αἴτιον γενέσθαι τηλικούτου ἀληθῶς ὀνείδους, εἴπερ ὄντως εἴη τῳ ταῦτα λελεγμένα. πορεύομαι δὴ τῷ λογισμῷ τούτῳ κατακαλυψάμενος - πολλὰ δεδιὼς μαντευόμενός τε οὐ πάνυ καλῶς, ὡς ἔοικεν - ἐλθὼν δʼ οὖν τὸ τρίτον τῷ σωτῆρι τοῦτό γε οὖν ἔπραξα ὄντως· ἐσώθην γάρ τοι πάλιν εὐτυχῶς, καὶ τούτων γε μετὰ θεὸν Διονυσίῳ χάριν εἰδέναι χρεών, ὅτι πολλῶν βουληθέντων ἀπολέσαι με διεκώλυσεν καὶ ἔδωκέν τι μέρος αἰδοῖ τῶν περὶ ἐμὲ πραγμάτων. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀφικόμην, ᾤμην τούτου πρῶτον ἔλεγχον δεῖν λαβεῖν, πότερον ὄντως εἴη Διονύσιος ἐξημμένος ὑπὸ φιλοσοφίας ὥσπερ πυρός, ἢ μάτην ὁ πολὺς οὗτος ἔλθοι λόγος Ἀθήναζε. ἔστιν δή τις τρόπος τοῦ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πεῖραν λαμβάνειν οὐκ ἀγεννὴς ἀλλʼ ὄντως τυράννοις πρέπων, ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῖς τῶν παρακουσμάτων μεστοῖς, ὃ δὴ κἀγὼ Διονύσιον εὐθὺς ἐλθὼν ᾐσθόμην καὶ μάλα πεπονθότα. δεικνύναι δὴ δεῖ τοῖς τοιούτοις ὅτι ἔστι πᾶν τὸ πρᾶγμα οἷόν τε καὶ διʼ ὅσων πραγμάτων καὶ ὅσον πόνον ἔχει. ὁ γὰρ ἀκούσας, ἐὰν μὲν ὄντως ᾖ φιλόσοφος οἰκεῖός τε καὶ ἄξιος τοῦ πράγματος θεῖος ὤν, ὁδόν τε ἡγεῖται θαυμαστὴν ἀκηκοέναι συντατέον τε εἶναι νῦν καὶ οὐ βιωτὸν ἄλλως ποιοῦντι· μετὰ τοῦτο δὴ συντείνας αὐτός τε καὶ τὸν ἡγούμενον τὴν ὁδόν, οὐκ ἀνίησιν πρὶν ἂν ἢ τέλος ἐπιθῇ πᾶσιν, ἢ λάβῃ δύναμιν ὥστε αὐτὸς αὑτὸν χωρὶς τοῦ δείξοντος δυνατὸς εἶναι ποδηγεῖν. ταύτῃ καὶ κατὰ ταῦτα διανοηθεὶς ὁ τοιοῦτος ζῇ, πράττων μὲν ἐν αἷστισιν ἂν ᾖ πράξεσιν, παρὰ πάντα δὲ ἀεὶ φιλοσοφίας ἐχόμενος καὶ τροφῆς τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν ἥτις ἂν αὐτὸν μάλιστα εὐμαθῆ τε καὶ μνήμονα καὶ λογίζεσθαι δυνατὸν ἐν αὑτῷ νήφοντα ἀπεργάζηται· τὴν δὲ ἐναντίαν ταύτῃ μισῶν διατελεῖ. οἱ δὲ ὄντως μὲν μὴ φιλόσοφοι, δόξαις δʼ ἐπικεχρωσμένοι, καθάπερ οἱ τὰ σώματα ὑπὸ τῶν ἡλίων ἐπικεκαυμένοι, ἰδόντες τε ὅσα μαθήματά ἐστιν καὶ ὁ πόνος ἡλίκος καὶ δίαιτα ἡ καθʼ ἡμέραν ὡς πρέπουσα ἡ κοσμία τῷ πράγματι, χαλεπὸν ἡγησάμενοι καὶ ἀδύνατον αὑτοῖς, οὔτε δὴ ἐπιτηδεύειν δυνατοὶ γίγνονται,

And I felt also myself that there would be nothing surprising in a young man, who was apt at learning, attaining to a love of the best life through hearing lectures on subjects of importance. So it seemed to be my duty to determine clearly in which way the matter really stood, and in no wise to prove false to this duty, nor to leave myself open to a reproach that would be truly serious, if so be that any of these reports were true. So having blindfolded myself with this argumentation I made the journey, although, naturally, with many fears and none too happy forebodings. However, when I arrived the third time, I certainly did find it really a case of the Third to the Saviour : for happily I did get safely back again; and for this I ought to give thanks, after God, to Dionysius, seeing that, when many had planned to destroy me, he prevented them and paid some regard to reverence in his dealings with me. And when I arrived, I deemed that I ought first of all to gain proof of this point, - whether Dionysius was really inflamed by philosophy, as it were by fire, or all this persistent account which had come to Athens was empty rumor. Now there is a method of testing such matters which is not ignoble but really suitable in the case of tyrants, and especially such as are crammed with borrowed doctrines; and this was certainly what had happened to Dionysius, as I perceived as soon as I arrived. To such persons one must point out what the subject is as a whole, and what its character, and how many preliminary subjects it entails and how much labor. For on hearing this, if the pupil be truly philosophic, in sympathy with the subject and worthy of it, because divinely gifted, he believes that he has been shown a marvellous pathway and that he must brace himself at once to follow it, and that life will not be worth living if he does otherwise. After this he braces both himself and him who is guiding him on the path, nor does he desist until either he has reached the goal of all his studies, or else has gained such power as to be capable of directing his own steps without the aid of the instructor. It is thus, and in this mind, that such a student lives, occupied indeed in whatever occupations he may find himself, but always beyond all else cleaving fast to philosophy and to that mode of daily life which will best make him apt to learn and of retentive mind and able to reason within himself soberly; but the mode of life which is opposite to this he continually abhors. Those, on the other hand, who are in reality not philosophic, but superficially tinged by opinions, - like men whose bodies are sunburnt on the surface - when they see how many studies are required and how great labor, and how the orderly mode of daily life is that which befits the subject, they deem it difficult or impossible for themselves, and thus they become in fact incapable of pursuing it;

[340a] s’il était en effet tel qu’on le disait. Ainsi justifié à mes propres yeux, je m’embarquai, mais avec des craintes et de funestes appréhensions. Je me rendis donc une troisième fois en Sicile, sous la conduite de Jupiter sauveur ; cependant, après Dieu, c’est à Denys que je dois rendre grâce de mon salut : il a résisté à ceux qui voulaient me perdre, et a conservé vis-à-vis de moi quelque pudeur. [340b] Quand je fus arrivé auprès de lui, la première chose que je crus devoir faire fut de m’assurer si réellement il avait de l’amour pour la philosophie, ou si le bruit qui en avait couru à Athènes était sans fondement. Il y a une excellente méthode pour faire cette expérience, quand on a affaire à des tyrans et surtout à des tyrans imbus de fausses doctrines comme l’était Denys, à ce que j’avais compris dès mon arrivée. Il faut lui montrer tout ce qu’est la philosophie, quels travaux exige [340c] et quelles peines elle donne. Après quoi, s’il aime la philosophie sincèrement, s’il est digne de la connaître, et pour cela il faut avoir une âme presque divine, il admire la route qu’on lui trace, il croit qu’il faut la poursuivre sans relâche, et qu’autrement on est indigne de vivre. Puis, s’y précipitant avec ardeur, il entraîne après lui son guide même, et ne s’arrête pas avant d’être parvenu au terme ou au moins à un point assez avancé pour atteindre désormais le but sans autre guide que lui-même. [340d] Dans cette disposition, quelles que soient les situations où un tel homme se trouve, il règle sa vie sur les principes de la philosophie, il s’habitue à un régime qui conserve ses facultés, sa mémoire et sa raison, et prend en horreur toute autre conduite. Mais ceux qui ne sont pas véritablement philosophes, et qui, semblables à ceux dont le soleil a bruni le corps, n’ont pour ainsi dire qu’une couleur de philosophie, quand ils entrevoient tant de science à acquérir, tant de travaux, [340e] un régime, un ordre si sévère, une telle carrière leur paraît trop difficile, impossible même à parcourir, et ils n’ont pas même la