Hipp.
Not at all, Socrates; he made him most simple; for in
The Prayers, when he depicts them talking with one another, he makes Achilles say to Odysseus:
1
365a
365b
Zeus-born son of
Laertes
, wily Odysseus, I must speak out the word without refraining, as I shall act and think will be accomplished
and pray do not mutter in discord sitting here beside me. For hateful to me as the gates of Hades
is he who hides one thing in his heart and says another. But I shall speak that which shall be accomplished.
Hom. Il. 308 ff.
In these lines he makes plain the character of each of the men, that Achilles is true and simple, and Odysseus wily and false for he represents Achilles as saying these lines to Odysseus.Soc.
Now at last, Hippias, I think I understand what you mean; you mean that the wily man is false, apparently.
Hipp.
Certainly, Socrates; for Homer represents Odysseus as that sort of a man in many passages of both
Iliad and
Odyssey.
Soc.
Homer, then, as it seems, thought that a true man was one man and a false man another, but not the same.
Hipp.
Of course he did, Socrates.
Soc.
And do you think so yourself, Hippias?
Hipp.
Most assuredly; for it would be strange if I did not.
Soc.
Then let us drop Homer,
365d
since it is impossible to ask him what he meant when he made those verses; but since you come forward to take up his cause, and agree in this which you say is his meaning, do you answer for Homer and yourself in common.
Hipp.
Very well; ask briefly whatever you like.
Soc.
Do you say that the false are, like the sick, without power to do anything, or that they have power to do something?
Hipp.
I say that they have great power to do many things, and especially to deceive people.
Soc.
They are, then, powerful, according to you, and wily, are they not?
Hipp.
Yes.
Soc.
But are they wily and deceivers by reason of simplicity and folly, or by reason of shrewdness and a sort of intelligence?
Hipp.
By shrewdness, most assuredly, and intelligence.
Soc.
They are intelligent, then, as it seems.
Hipp.
Yes, by Zeus, too much so.
Soc.
And being intelligent, do they know what they are doing, or do they not know?
Hipp.
Yes, they know very well; that is why they do harm.
Soc.
And knowing these things which they know, are they ignorant, or wise?
Hippias Minor. Plato. Harold North Fowler (Translator), ed. Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb. Cambridge, MA. 1926.
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