Plutarch, De E apud Delphos, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 7

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[7] When Theon ceased, Eustrophus the Athenian, I think it was, said to us in answer, Do you see how zealously Theon defends logic, all but arraying himself in the lion’s skin? Under such conditions, we who repose in the Theory of Numbers all affairs together, natures and principles of things divine and human alike, and make this theory far above all else our guide and authority in all that is beautiful and valuable, should not be likely to hold our peace, but to offer to the god the first-fruits of our beloved mathematics, believing, as we do, that, taken by itself, E is not unlike the other letters either in power or in form or as a spoken word, but that it has come to be held in honour as the symbol of a great and sovereign number, the pempad, from which the wise gave the name pempazein to counting which is done by fives.¹

These words Eustrophus addressed to us not in jest, but for the reason that at this time I was devoting myself to mathematics with the greatest enthusiasm, although I was destined soon to pay all honour to the maxim Avoid extremes, when I had once become a member of the Academy.²

De E apud Delphos. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Ε at Delphi (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. 5. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τοῦ Ε τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol 3. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1891.) — 7 focus

[7] παυσαμένου δὲ τοῦ Θέωνος, Εὔστροφον Ἀθηναῖον οἶμαι τὸν εἰπόντα εἶναι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁρᾷς, ὡς 5 ἀμύνει τῇ διαλεκτικῇ Θέων προθύμως, μονονοὺ τὴν λεοντῆν ἐπενδυσάμενος; οὕτως¹ οὐδʼ ἡμᾶς² τοὺς πάντα συλλήβδην πράγματα καὶ φύσεις καὶ ἀρχὰς θείων ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀνθρωπείων ἐν ἀριθμῷ τιθεμένους, καὶ πολὺ μάλιστα τῶν καλῶν καὶ τιμίων τοῦτον ἡγεμόνα 10 ποιουμένους καὶ κύριον, εἰκὸς³ ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, 387f ἀλλʼ ἀπάρξασθαι τῷ θεῷ τῆς φίλης μαθηματικῆς, αὐτὸ μὲν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ μήτε δυνάμει μήτε μορφῇ μήτε τῷ ῥήματι τὸ Ε τῶν ἄλλων στοιχείων διαφέρειν ἡγουμένους, ὡς δὲ μεγάλου πρὸς τὰ ὅλα καὶ 15 κυρίου σημεῖον ἀριθμοῦ τετιμῆσθαι τῆς πεμπάδος, ἀφʼ οὗ τὸ ἀριθμεῖν οἱ σοφοὶ πεμπάζειν ὠνόμαζον. ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔλεγεν οὐ παίζων ὁ Εὔστροφος, ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ τηνικαῦτα προσεκείμην τοῖς μαθήμασιν ἐμπαθῶς, τάχα δʼ ἔμελλον⁴ εἰς πάντα τιμήσειν τὸ 20 μηδὲν ἄγαν ἐν Ἀκαδημείᾳ⁵ γενόμενος.

Translations (1)

Of the word ΕΙ engraven over the gate of Apollo's temple at Delphi Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. 4. Goodwin, William W., editor; Kippax, R, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 7 focus

[7] Theon having ended his speech, I think it was Eustrophus the Athenian who said to us: Do you not see how valiantly Theon vindicates logic, having, in a manner, got on the lion’s skin? So it is not right even for us—who comprehensively place all the affairs, nature, and principles of things both divine and human in number, and make it most especially the author and lord of honest and estimable things—to be at quiet, but we must willingly offer the first-fruits of our dear mathematics to the God; since we think that this letter E does not of itself differ from the other letters either in power, figure, or expression, but that it has been preferred as being the sign of that great number which has an influence over all things, called the Quinary (or Pemptas), from which the Sages have expressed the art of numbering by the verb πεμπτάζειν (signifying to account by fives). Now Eustrophus spake these things to us, not in jest, but because I did at that time studiously apply myself to the mathematics, and perhaps also in every thing to honor that saying, Nothing too much, as having been conversant in the Academy.

Notes on the current edition

The

1. That is, by counting on the fingers: Cf. 374 a, supra, and 429 d, infra.

2. Cf. 431 a, infra.

Plutarch De E apud Delphos 7

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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