[397a]
who is skilled in that kind of purifying.Hermogenes
I agree, for I should be very glad to hear the rest of the talk about names.Socrates
Very well. Then since we have outlined a general plan of investigation, where shall we begin, that we may discover whether the names themselves will bear witness that they are not at all distributed at haphazard, but have a certain correctness? [397b] Now the names of heroes and men might perhaps prove deceptive; for they are often given because they were names of ancestors, and in some cases, as we said in the beginning, they are quite inappropriate; many, too, are given as the expression of a prayer, such as Eutychides (fortunate), Sosias (saviour), Theophilus (beloved of God), and many others. I think we had better disregard such as these; but we are most likely to find the correct names in the nature of the eternal and absolute; for there the names ought to have been given with the greatest care, [397c] and perhaps some of them were given by a power more divine than is that of men.Hermogenes
I think you are right, Socrates.Socrates
Then is it not proper to begin with the gods and see how the gods are rightly called by that name?Hermogenes
That is reasonable.Socrates
Something of this sort, then, is what I suspect: I think the earliest men in Greece believed only in those gods in whom many foreigners believe today— [397d] sun, moon, earth, stars, and sky. They saw that all these were always moving in their courses and running, and so they called them gods (θεούς) from this running (θεῖν) nature; then afterwards, when they gained knowledge of the other gods, they called them all by the same name. Is that likely to be true, or not?Hermogenes
Yes, very likely.Socrates
What shall we consider next? [397e] Hermogenes
Spirits, obviously.Socrates
Hermogenes, what does the name “spirits” really mean? See if you think there is anything in what I am going to say.Hermogenes
Go on and say it.Socrates
Do you remember who Hesiod says the spirits are?Hermogenes
I do not recall it.Socrates
Nor that he says a golden race was the first race of men to be born?Hermogenes
Yes, I do know that.Socrates
Well, he says of it:“But since Fate has covered up this race,
”
I agree, for I should be very glad to hear the rest of the talk about names.Socrates
Very well. Then since we have outlined a general plan of investigation, where shall we begin, that we may discover whether the names themselves will bear witness that they are not at all distributed at haphazard, but have a certain correctness? [397b] Now the names of heroes and men might perhaps prove deceptive; for they are often given because they were names of ancestors, and in some cases, as we said in the beginning, they are quite inappropriate; many, too, are given as the expression of a prayer, such as Eutychides (fortunate), Sosias (saviour), Theophilus (beloved of God), and many others. I think we had better disregard such as these; but we are most likely to find the correct names in the nature of the eternal and absolute; for there the names ought to have been given with the greatest care, [397c] and perhaps some of them were given by a power more divine than is that of men.Hermogenes
I think you are right, Socrates.Socrates
Then is it not proper to begin with the gods and see how the gods are rightly called by that name?Hermogenes
That is reasonable.Socrates
Something of this sort, then, is what I suspect: I think the earliest men in Greece believed only in those gods in whom many foreigners believe today— [397d] sun, moon, earth, stars, and sky. They saw that all these were always moving in their courses and running, and so they called them gods (θεούς) from this running (θεῖν) nature; then afterwards, when they gained knowledge of the other gods, they called them all by the same name. Is that likely to be true, or not?Hermogenes
Yes, very likely.Socrates
What shall we consider next? [397e] Hermogenes
Spirits, obviously.Socrates
Hermogenes, what does the name “spirits” really mean? See if you think there is anything in what I am going to say.Hermogenes
Go on and say it.Socrates
Do you remember who Hesiod says the spirits are?Hermogenes
I do not recall it.Socrates
Nor that he says a golden race was the first race of men to be born?Hermogenes
Yes, I do know that.Socrates
Well, he says of it:“But since Fate has covered up this race,
”
