Lucian of Samosata, Hermotimus, ed. Kenneth Kilburn, 27

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ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας. τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ

Τίσι λέγεις; τοῖς κατὰ ποίαν ὁδὸν ἐλθοῦσιν; ἢ τίνι τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἀκολουθήσασιν; αὖθις γὰρ ἡμῖν τὸ αὐτὸ ἄπορον ἐν ἄλλῃ μορφῇ ἀναφαίνεται ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας μετεληλυθός.

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς τοῦτο φής;

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ

Ὅτι ὁ μὲν τὴν Πλάτωνος τραπόμενος καὶ συνοδοιπορήσας μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐκείνην ἐπαινέσεται δῆλον ὅτι, ὁ δὲ τὴν Ἐπικούρου, ἐκείνην, καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλην, σὺ δὲ τὴν ὑμετέραν. ἢ πῶς γάρ, ὦ Ἑρμότιμε; οὐχ οὕτως;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ

Οὐ τοίνυν ἀπέλυσάς με τῆς ἀπορίας, ἀλλ’ ἔτι ὁμοίως ἀγνοῶ τῷ μᾶλλον χρὴ πιστεῦσαι τῶν ὁδοιπόρων. ὁρῶ γὰρ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἡγεμόνα μιᾶς πεπειραμένον καὶ ἐκείνην ἐπαινοῦντα καὶ λέγοντα ὡς αὕτη μόνη ἄγει ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν. οὐ μέντοι ἔχω εἰδέναι εἰ ἀληθῆ φησιν. ἀλλ’ ὅτι μὲν ἀφῖκται πρός τι τέλος καὶ εἶδέ τινα πόλιν δώσω αὐτῷ ἴσως, εἰ δὲ ἐκείνην εἶδεν ἣν ἐχρῆν ἐν ᾗ ἐπιθυμοῦμεν ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ πολιτεύσασθαι, ἢ δέον ¹ εἰς Κόρινθον ἐλθεῖν, ὁ δ’ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα ἀφικόμενος οἴεται Κόρινθον ἑωρακέναι, ἄδηλον ἐμοὶ γοῦν ἔτι—οὐ γὰρ πάντως ὁ τινὰ πόλιν ἰδὼν Κόρινθον εἶδεν, εἴ γε οὐ μόνη πόλις ἐστὶν ἡ Κόρινθος. ὃ δὲ δὴ μάλιστα εἰς ἀπορίαν με καθίστησιν, ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν—τὸ εἰδέναι ὅτι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη μίαν εἶναι τὴν ἀληθῆ ὁδόν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ Κόρινθος μία ἐστίν, αἱ δ’ ἄλλαι πανταχόσε μᾶλλον ἢ εἰς Κόρινθον ἄγουσιν, εἰ μή τις οὕτω σφόδρα παραπαίει ὡς οἴεσθαι καὶ τὴν εἰς Ὑπερβορέους καὶ τὴν εἰς Ἰνδοὺς ἄγουσαν εἰς Κόρινθον στέλλειν.

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

Hermotimus. Lucian of Samosata. ed. Kenneth Kilburn. Medford, MA. Perseus 5.0.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Σκύθης ἢ πρόξενος (Greek) (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).)

Editions (1)

Ἑρμότιμος ἢ Περὶ Αἱρέσεων Perseus (Lucian. Luciani Samosatensis Opera, Vol. 1. Jacobitz, Karl, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1909.) — 27 focus

Ἑρμότιμος

ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας· τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

Λυκῖνος

τίσι λέγεις; τοῖς κατὰ ποίαν ὁδὸν ἐλθοῦσιν, ἢ τίνι τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἀκολουθήσασιν; αὖθις γὰρ ἡμῖν τὸ αὐτὸ ἄπορον ἐν ἄλλῃ μορφῇ ἀναφαίνεται ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας μετεληλυθός.

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς τοῦτο φής;

Λυκῖνος

ὅτι ὁ μὲν τὴν Πλάτωνος τραπόμενος καὶ συνοδοιπορήσας μετʼ αὐτοῦ, ἐκείνην ἐπαινέσεται δῆλον ὅτι, ὁ δὲ τὴν Ἐπικούρου, ἐκείνην, καὶ ἄλλος ἄλλην, σὺ δὲ τὴν ὑμετέραν. ἢ πῶς γάρ, ὦ Ἑρμότιμε; οὐχ οὕτως;

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

Λυκῖνος

οὐ τοίνυν ἀπέλυσάς με τῆς ἀπορίας, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ὁμοίως ἀγνοῶ τῷ μᾶλλον χρὴ πιστεῦσαι τῶν ὁδοιπόρων· ὁρῶ γὰρ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἡγεμόνα μιᾶς πεπειραμένον καὶ ἐκείνην ἐπαινοῦντα καὶ λέγοντα, ὡς αὕτη μόνη ἄγει ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν. οὐ μέντοι ἔχω εἰδέναι εἰ ἀληθῆ φησιν· ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὲν ἀφῖκται πρός τι τέλος καὶ εἶδέ τινα πόλιν, δώσω αὐτῷ ἴσως, εἰ δὲ ἐκείνην εἶδεν, ἣν 767 ἐχρῆν, ἐν ᾗ ἐπιθυμοῦμεν ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ πολιτεύσασθαι, ἢ δέον εἰς Κόρινθον ἐλθεῖν, ὁ δʼ εἰς Βαβυλῶνα ἀφικόμενος οἴεται Κόρινθον ἑωρακέναι, ἄδηλον ἐμοὶ γοῦν ἔτι· οὐ γὰρ πάντως ὁ τινὰ πόλιν ἰδὼν Κόρινθον εἶδεν, εἴ γε ού μόνη πόλις ἐστὶν ἡ Κόρινθος. ὃ δὲ δὴ μάλιστα εἰς ἀπορίαν με καθίστησιν, ἐκεῖνό ἐστι, τὸ εἰδέναι ὅτι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη μίαν εἶναι τὴν ἀληθῆ ὁδόν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ Κόρινθος μία ἐστίν, αἱ δʼ ἄλλαι πανταχόσε μᾶλλον ἢ εἰς Κόρινθον ἄγουσιν, εἰ μή τις οὕτω σφόδρα παραπαίει, ὡς οἴεσθαι καὶ τὴν εἰς Ὑπερβορέους καὶ τὴν εἰς Ἰνδοὺς ἄγουσαν εἰς Κόρινθον στέλλειν.

Ἑρμότιμος

καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

Translations (2)

The Scythian or Consul Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 6. Kilburn, Kenneth, translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959 (unrenewed copyright).) — 27 focus

HERMOTIMUS

I will free you from your uncertainty. Trust those who have made the journey before, Lycinus, and you cannot go wrong.

LYCINUS

Whom do you mean? Which road did they go? Which of the guides did they follow? The same uncertainty appears to us in another guise shifting from events to persons.

HERMOTIMUS

What do you mean?

LYCINUS

That the man who took Plato’s path and had him for travelling-companion will obviously praise Plato’s route, and so with Epicurus’s and the rest and you with yours. What about it, Hermotimus? Is that not so?

HERMOTIMUS

Of course.

LYCINUS

Then you have not freed me from my uncertainty. I am just as much in the dark which of the travellers to trust. For I see that each of them and the guide himself have tried only one way, and he praises that one and says that it alone leads to the city. But I cannot know whether he is speaking the truth. That he has reached some destination and has seen some city or other, I will perhaps grant him. But whether he has seen the one he should have seen (that in which you and I want to live) or whether, when he should have gone to Corinth, he has arrived at Babylon and thinks he has seen Corinth, I still do not know—certainly not everyone who has seen a city has seen Corinth, if Corinth is not the only city. What particularly makes me uncertain is this—my knowing that only one road can possibly be the right one. Only one road is the Corinth road, and the other roads lead anywhere except to Corinth, unless a man is so much out of his wits as to think that both the road to the Hyperboreans and the road to India lead to Corinth.

HERMOTIMUS

How could that be, Lycinus? Different roads lead to different places.

Hermotimus, or the Rival Philosophies Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 27 focus

[27]

Hermotimus

Oh, but I can solve that puzzle for you; you cannot go wrong, if you trust those who have been already.

Lycinus

Which do you mean? those who have been by which road, and under whose guidance? It is the old puzzle in a new form; you have only substituted men for measures.

Hermotimus

How do you mean?

Lycinus

Why, the man who has taken Plato’s road and travelled with him will recommend that road; so with Epicurus and the rest; and you will recommend your own. How else, Hermotimus? it must be so.

Hermotimus

Well, of course.

Lycinus

So you have not solved my puzzle; I know just as little as before which traveller to trust; I find that each of them, as well as his guide, has tried one only, which he now recommends and will have to be the only one leading to the city. Whether he tells the truth I have no means of knowing; that he has attained some end, and seen some city, I may perhaps allow; but whether he saw the right one, or whether, Corinth being the real goal, he got to Babylon and thought he had seen Corinth —that is still undecided; for surely every one who has seen a city has not seen Corinth, unless Corinth is the only city there is. But my greatest difficulty of all is the absolute certainty that the true road is one; for Corinth is one, and the other roads lead anywhere but to Corinth, though there may be people deluded enough to suppose that the North road and the South road lead equally to Corinth.

Hermotimus

But that is absurd, Lycinus; they go opposite ways, you see.

Notes on the current edition

Σκύθης ἢ πρόξενος

1. ἢ δέον Solanus: ἡδέως MSS.

Lucian of Samosata Hermotimus 27

ed. Kenneth Kilburn

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ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας. τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς τοῦτο φής;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

Current edition Perseus

Ἑρμότιμος

ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας· τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς τοῦτο φής;

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

Ἑρμότιμος

καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

HERMOTIMUS

I will free you from your uncertainty. Trust those who have made the journey before, Lycinus, and you cannot go wrong.

LYCINUS

Whom do you mean? Which road did they go? Which of the guides did they follow? The same uncertainty appears to us in another guise shifting from events to persons.

HERMOTIMUS

What do you mean?

LYCINUS

That the man who took Plato’s path and had him for travelling-companion will obviously praise Plato’s route, and so with Epicurus’s and the rest and you with yours. What about it, Hermotimus? Is that not so?

HERMOTIMUS

Of course.

HERMOTIMUS

How could that be, Lycinus? Different roads lead to different places.

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας. τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ Πῶς τοῦτο φής;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ Καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

Current edition Perseus

Ἑρμότιμος ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας· τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

Ἑρμότιμος πῶς τοῦτο φής;

Ἑρμότιμος πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

Ἑρμότιμος καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

HERMOTIMUS I will free you from your uncertainty. Trust those who have made the journey before, Lycinus, and you cannot go wrong.

LYCINUS Whom do you mean? Which road did they go? Which of the guides did they follow? The same uncertainty appears to us in another guise shifting from events to persons.

HERMOTIMUS What do you mean?

LYCINUS That the man who took Plato’s path and had him for travelling-companion will obviously praise Plato’s route, and so with Epicurus’s and the rest and you with yours. What about it, Hermotimus? Is that not so?

HERMOTIMUS Of course.

HERMOTIMUS How could that be, Lycinus? Different roads lead to different places.

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Lycinus

Hermotimus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας. τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς τοῦτο φής;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

ΕΡΜΟΤΙΜΟΣ

Καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

Ἑρμότιμος

ἀλλʼ ἐγώ σε ἀπολύσω τῆς ἀπορίας· τοῖς γὰρ προωδοιπορηκόσιν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, πιστεύσας οὐκ ἂν σφαλείης.

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς τοῦτο φής;

Ἑρμότιμος

πῶς γὰρ οὔ;

Ἑρμότιμος

καὶ πῶς οἷόν τε, ὦ Λυκῖνε; ἄλλη γὰρ ἀλλαχόσε ἄγει.

HERMOTIMUS

I will free you from your uncertainty. Trust those who have made the journey before, Lycinus, and you cannot go wrong.

LYCINUS

Whom do you mean? Which road did they go? Which of the guides did they follow? The same uncertainty appears to us in another guise shifting from events to persons.

HERMOTIMUS

What do you mean?

LYCINUS

That the man who took Plato’s path and had him for travelling-companion will obviously praise Plato’s route, and so with Epicurus’s and the rest and you with yours. What about it, Hermotimus? Is that not so?

HERMOTIMUS

Of course.

HERMOTIMUS

How could that be, Lycinus? Different roads lead to different places.