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Truth and the conjecture of truth, O beloved, differ from one another; 2.22 for conjecture indeed has many errors, but truth does not tolerate teaching anything contrary. Therefore one speaks in one way when conjecturing about truth, and truth interprets itself in another way; since even Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, son of Hegesibulus, when the philosophers who lived before him had conceived nothing beyond what is seen, was the first to say that Mind presides over the world, and that this brought the elements from disorder into order; and Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, said that the Monad is the principle of all things; and Anaxagoras and Pythagoras lived at the same time. 2.23 But Pythagoras's school was succeeded by his wife Theano and Telauges and Mnesarchus, his sons, and Empedocles of Akragas became a pupil of Telauges, and Archelaus of Anaxagoras, and Socrates the Athenian of Archelaus; and both Anaxagoras and Pythagoras, having gone to Egypt, associated there with the wise men of the Egyptians and Hebrews and gleaned their knowledge concerning that which is. 2.24 And later in time, Plato also undertook this journey abroad; and Plutarch says this in his *Parallel Lives*, and Xenophon, son of Gryllus, also says it, in what he wrote to Aeschines the Socratic; and he writes thus: "For they were enamored of Egypt and of the prodigious wisdom of Pythagoras; whose excess and instability, a love of tyranny and—instead of a frugal diet—the Sicilian table of an immoderate belly, exposed in the time of Socrates." 2.25 Xenophon wrote such things about Plato, that, having disdained the teaching of Socrates, he emulated the prodigious wisdom of Pythagoras and associated with Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, enjoying Syracusan luxury; 2.26 and he said that he also was enamored of the wisdom of the Egyptians. Therefore, Pythagoras and Anaxagoras and Plato collected certain enigmatic sayings about that which is from the Egyptians and Hebrews; why then do you believe these men, who have not learned divine things accurately, but are unwilling to learn from those from whom these men learned them? 2.27 For that the poets and philosophers who lived before these men supposed nothing to exist beyond what is seen, Plato has made clear in the *Cratylus*; "For it seems to me," he says, "that the first men in Greece held these alone to be gods, just as many of the barbarians now do: sun and moon and earth and stars and heaven; since, then, seeing them always going in their course and running, from this nature, that of 'to run' (thein), they named them 'gods' (theous)." 2.28 And Homer and Hesiod were entirely ignorant of the maker of the universe; for Hesiod said that from Chaos, Oceanus and Tethys were born, and from Oceanus and Tethys, Heaven and Earth, and from these, Cronus and Rhea and their brothers, and from Cronus and Rhea, Zeus and Hera 2.29 and Poseidon and Pluto. And Homer says Oceanus is "the origin of gods, and their mother Tethys;" and him whom he calls father of gods and men, as being born of Cronus, he calls son of Cronus. Therefore, these men also have been very much enslaved to error. But nevertheless, Plato, knowing this very well, somewhere urges us to believe them when they tell such myths, and speak without plausible and true proofs. 2.30 And elsewhere Plato says: "For a light and holy thing is a poet, and he is not able to create until he becomes inspired and out of his mind." But Orpheus the Odrysian, having himself also gone to Egypt, learned about that which is in some such way and cries out: One is He, self-complete, and by Him are all things completed; and He Himself moves among them, but no mortal sees Him, though He Himself sees all. But I do not see Him, for a cloud is established around Him; for all mortals have mortal pupils in their eyes, weak, since they are encased in flesh and bones. 2.31 And again: And He again has established Himself upon the great heaven on a golden throne, and the earth is beneath His feet; He has stretched out His right hand to the ends of the Ocean; and the foundations of the mountains tremble in their heart; nor can they bear His mighty strength; and He is in every way celestial and upon

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διαφέρουσιν, ὦ φιλότης, ἀλλήλοιν ἀλήθεια καὶ στοχα 2.22 σμὸς ἀληθείας· ὁ μὲν γὰρ στοχασμὸς καὶ διαμαρτίας ἔχει πολλάς, ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια ἐκπαιδεύειν οὐδὲν ἐναντίον ἀνέχεται. Τοιγαροῦν ἄλλως τις ἀληθείας πέρι τεκμαιρόμενος λέγει, καὶ ἄλλως αὐτὴ ἑαυτὴν ἑρμηνεύει· ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας ὁ Ἡγησιβούλου ὁ Κλαζομένιος, τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ γεγενημένων φιλοσόφων οὐδὲν περαι τέρω τῶν ὁρωμένων νενοηκότων, πρῶτος νοῦν ἔφησεν ἐφεστάναι τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ τοῦτον εἰς τάξιν ἐκ τῆς ἀταξίας ἀγαγεῖν τὰ στοι χεῖα· καὶ Πυθαγόρας δὲ ὁ Μνησάρχου ἀρχὴν τῶν πάντων ἔφησε τὴν μονάδα· κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἐγενέσθην Ἀναξαγόρας 2.23 καὶ Πυθαγόρας. Ἀλλὰ τὴν Πυθαγόρου μὲν διατριβὴν ἡ γαμετὴ Θεανὼ διεδέξατο καὶ Τηλαύγης καὶ Μνήσαρχος οἱ τούτου παῖ δες, Τηλαύγους δὲ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ὁ Ἀκραγαντῖνος ἐγένετο φοιτητής, τοῦ δ' Ἀναξαγόρου Ἀρχέλαος, Ἀρχελάου δὲ Σωκράτηςὁ Ἀθηναῖος· καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόρας εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀφικόμενοι τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑβραίων αὐτόθι σοφοῖς ξυνεγε 2.24 νέσθην καὶ τὴν περὶ τοῦ ὄντος ἠρανισάσθην γνῶσιν. Χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ ὁ Πλάτων τήνδε τὴν ἀποδημίαν ἐστείλατο· καὶ τοῦτο λέγει μὲν ἐν τοῖς Παραλλήλοις ὁ Πλούταρχος, λέγει δὲ καὶ Ξενοφῶν ὁ Γρύλλου, ἐν οἷς πρὸς τὸν Σωκρατικὸν Αἰσχίνην ἐπέστειλε· γράφει δὲ ὧδε· "Αἰγύπτου γὰρ ἠράσθησαν καὶ τῆς Πυθαγόρου τερατώδους σοφίας· ὧν τὸ περιττὸν καὶ μὴ μόνιμον ἐπὶ Σωκράτει διήλεγχεν ἔρως τυραννίδος, καὶ ἀντὶ διαίτης λιτῆς 2.25 Σικελιῶτις γαστρὸς ἀμέτρου τράπεζα." Τοιαῦτα περὶ τοῦ Πλά τωνος ὁ Ξενοφῶν ἔγραψεν, ὅτι τῆς Σωκράτους διδασκαλίας ὑπερ ιδών, τὴν τερατώδη Πυθαγόρου σοφίαν ἐζήλωσε καὶ ∆ιονυσίῳ τῷ Σικελίας τυράννῳ ξυνῆν, Συρακουσίας ἀπολαύων χλιδῆς· ἔφη 2.26 δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων ἐρασθῆναι σοφίας. Οὐκοῦν καὶ Πυ θαγόρας καὶ Ἀναξαγόρας καὶ Πλάτων αἰνίγματά τινα περὶ τοῦ ὄντος παρ' Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑβραίων ξυνέλεξαν· τί δήποτ' οὖν τούτοις μὲν οὐκ ἀκριβῶς τὰ θεῖα μεμαθηκόσι πιστεύετε, παρ' 2.27 ὧν δὲ οὗτοι ταῦτά γε ἔμαθον, μαθεῖν οὐκ ἐθέλετε; Ὅτι γὰρ οἱ πρὸ τούτων γενόμενοι ποιηταὶ καὶ φιλόσοφοι πλέον τῶν ὁρωμέ νων οὐδὲν ὑπέλαβον εἶναι, ὁ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ Κρατύλῳ δεδήλω κεν· "Φαίνονται γάρ μοι" φησίν "οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τούτους μόνους ἡγεῖσθαι θεούς, οὕσπερ νῦν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ γῆν καὶ ἄστρα καὶ οὐρανόν· ἅτε οὖν αὐτὰ ὁρῶντες ἰόντα δρόμῳ καὶ θέοντα, ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς φύσεως, τῆς τοῦ θεῖν, θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπονομάσαι." 2.28 Καὶ Ὅμηρος δὲ καὶ Ἡσίοδος παντάπασι τὸν τοῦ παντὸς ἠγνόησαν ποιητήν· Ἡσίοδος μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ Χάους ἔφησεν Ὠκεανὸν καὶ Τηθὺν γεγενῆσθαι, ἐκ δὲ Ὠκεανοῦ καὶ Τηθύος τὸν Οὐρα νὸν καὶ τὴν Γῆν, ἐκ δὲ τούτοιν Κρόνον τε καὶ Ῥέαν καὶ τούτων τοὺς ἀδελφούς, ἐκ δὲ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας τὸν ∆ία καὶ τὴν Ἥραν 2.29 καὶ Ποσειδῶνα καὶ Πλούτωνα. Ὁ δὲ Ὅμηρος τὸν Ὠκεανόνφησι "θεῶν γένεσιν καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν·" καὶ ὃν θεῶν καὶ ἀνδρῶν ὀνομάζει πατέρα, ὡς ἐκ Κρόνου γεγενημένον, Κρονίδην ἀποκα λεῖ. Πολλῷ οὖν ἄρα καὶ οὗτοι δεδουλεύκασι πλάνῳ. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ τοῦτο εὖ μάλα ὁ Πλάτων εἰδώς, πιστεύειν αὐτοῖς που παρ εγγυᾷ τὰ τοιαῦτα μυθολογοῦσι, καὶ ἄνευ εἰκότων καὶ ἀληθῶν 2.30 ἀποδείξεων λέγουσιν. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ ὁ Πλάτων φησίν· "Κοῦ φον γάρ τι χρῆμα καὶ ἱερὸν ποιητὴς καὶ οὐχ οἷός τε ποιεῖν, πρὶν ἂν ἔνθεος καὶ ἔκφρων γένηται." Ὁ δὲ Ὀδρύσης Ὀρφεύς,καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀφικόμενος, τὰ περὶ τοῦ ὄντος οὕτω πως μεμάθηκε καὶ βοᾷ· Εἷς ἔστ' αὐτοτελής, αὐτοῦ δ' ὑπὸ πάντα τελεῖται· ἐν δ' αὐτοῖς αὐτὸς περινίσσεται, οὐδέ τις αὐτὸν εἰσοράᾳ θνητῶν, αὐτὸς δέ γε πάντας ὁρᾶται. Αὐτὸν δ' οὐχ ὁρόω· περὶ γὰρ νέφος ἐστήρικται· πᾶσι γὰρ θνητοῖς θνηταὶ κόραι εἰσὶν ἐν ὄσσοις, μικραί, ἐπεὶ σάρκες τε καὶ ὀστέα ἐμπεφύκασιν. 2.31 Καὶ πάλιν· Αὐτὸς δ' αὖ μέγαν αὖτις ἐπ' οὐρανὸν ἐστήρικται χρυσέῳ ἐνὶ θρόνῳ, γαίη δ' ὑπὸ ποσσὶ βέβηκε· χεῖρα δὲ δεξιτερὴν περὶ τέρμασιν Ὠκεανοῖο ἐκτέτακεν· ὀρέων δὲ τρέμει βάσις ἔνδοθι θυμῷ· οὐδὲ φέρειν δύναται κρατερὸν μένος· ἔστι δὲ πάντῃ αὐτὸς ἐπουράνιος καὶ ἐπὶ