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lies in the pure heaven, in which are the stars, which indeed most of those accustomed to speak of such things call aether; of which these things are the sediment11.37.5 and they flow together always into the hollows of the earth. that we, therefore, living in its hollows, are unaware and think that we are living up on the earth, just as if someone living in the middle of the bottom of the sea should think he was living on the sea, and seeing the sun and the other stars through the water, should think the sea was the heaven, but through slowness and weakness had never reached the surface of the sea nor had seen, by coming out and raising his head from the sea to this place here, how much purer and more beautiful it happens to be than the one with them, nor had heard of it from another who had seen it. 11.37.6 This is the very same thing that has happened to us; for living in a certain hollow of the earth we think we live on top of it and we call the air heaven, as if the stars move through this, it being heaven. And it is the same thing, that through weakness and slowness we are not able to pass through to the farthest part of the air, since if anyone should reach its summit or become winged and fly up, he would see, on raising his head, just as the fish here rise up out of the sea and see the things here, so would someone see the things there; and if his nature were able to endure the sight, he would recognize that that is the true heaven and the true light 11.37.7 and the true earth. For this earth here and the stones and the whole region here are corrupted and eaten away, just as things in the sea are by the brine; and nothing of any account grows in the sea, nor is there anything perfect, so to speak, but there are caverns and sand and endless mud and mire, wherever there is earth, and they are in no way worthy to be compared to the beautiful things with us. 11.37.8 But those things there in turn would appear to differ far more still from those with us. For if it is indeed good to tell a tale, it is worth hearing, O Simmias, what sort of things are on the earth under the heaven. But indeed, said Simmias, 11.37.9 O Socrates, we would gladly hear this tale. It is said then, he said, my friend, that first the earth itself, if one were to look at it from above, is like one of those twelve-sided balls, variegated, marked out with colors, of which the colors here are, as it were, samples, which painters use; but there the whole earth is of such colors and of colors much brighter11.37.10 and purer than these. For part of it is sea-purple, wonderful in its beauty, and part is golden, and the part that is white is whiter than chalk or snow, and it is composed likewise of the other colors, and of still more11.37.11 and more beautiful colors than we have seen. For these very hollows of it, being full of water and air, present a kind of color, gleaming in the variety of the other colors, so that one continuous and varied form of it appears. 11.37.12 And in this earth, being such, things grow in proportion, both trees and flowers having their fruits; and in turn the mountains likewise and the stones have, in the same proportion, their smoothness and transparency and their colors more beautiful; of which these little stones here that are prized are parts, carnelians and jaspers and emeralds and all such things;11.37.13 but there nothing whatever is not of this kind, and they are still more beautiful than these. And the reason for this is that those stones are pure and not eaten away or corrupted as the ones here are by rot and brine and the things that have flowed together here, which cause blemishes and diseases to stones and earth and to the other animals and plants. And the earth itself is adorned with all these and also with gold and silver and the other such things. For they are conspicuous by nature, being many in number and large and in many places on the earth, so that to see it is a sight for blessed spectators.”

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ἐν καθαρῷ κεῖσθαι τῷ οὐρανῷ, ἐν ᾧπέρ ἐστι τὰ ἄστρα, ὃν δὴ αἰθέρα ὀνομάζειν τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα εἰωθότων λέγειν· οὗ δὴ ὑπο11.37.5 στάθμην εἶναι ταῦτα καὶ ξυρρεῖν ἀεὶ εἰς τὰ κοῖλα τῆς γῆς. ἡμᾶς οὖν οἰκοῦντας ἐν τοῖς κοίλοις αὐτῆς λεληθέναι καὶ οἴεσθαι ἄνω ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς οἰκεῖν, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ἐν μέσῳ τῷ πυθμένι τοῦ πελάγους οἰκῶν οἴοιτό τε ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάττης οἰκεῖν καὶ διὰ τοῦ ὕδατος ὁρῶν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα τὴν θάλατταν ἡγοῖτο οὐρανὸν εἶναι, διὰ δὲ βραδυτῆτα καὶ ἀσθένειαν μηδεπώποτε ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῆς θαλάττης εἴη ἀφιγμένος μηδὲ ἑωρακὼς εἴη ἐκδὺς καὶ ἀνακύψας ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης εἰς τὸν ἐνθάδε τόπον, ὅσῳ καθαρώτερος καὶ καλλίων τυγχάνει ὢν τοῦ παρὰ σφίσι, μηδὲ ἄλλου ἀκηκοὼς εἴη τοῦτο ἑωρακότος. 11.37.6 ταὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμᾶς πεπονθέναι· οἰκοῦντας γὰρ ἔν τινι κοίλῳ τῆς γῆς οἴεσθαι ἐπάνω αὐτῆς οἰκεῖν καὶ τὸν ἀέρα οὐρανὸν καλεῖν, ὡς διὰ τούτου οὐρανοῦ ὄντος τὰ ἄστρα χωροῦντα. τὸ δὲ εἶναι ταὐτόν, ὑπ' ἀσθενείας καὶ βραδυτῆτος οὐχ οἵους τε εἶναι ἡμᾶς διεξελθεῖν ἐπ' ἔσχατον τὸν ἀέρα, ἐπεὶ εἴ τις αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἄκρα ἔλθοι ἢ πτηνὸς γενόμενος ἀνάπτοιτο, κατιδεῖν δὴ ἀνακύψαντα, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε οἱ ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ἰχθύες ἀνακύπτοντες ὁρῶσι τὰ ἐνθάδε, οὕτως ἄν τινα καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ κατιδεῖν· καὶ εἰ ἡ φύσις ἱκανὴ εἴη ἀνέχεσθαι θεωροῦσα, γνῶναι ἂν ὅτι ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθῶς οὐρανὸς καὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς 11.37.7 καὶ ἡ ὡς ἀληθῶς γῆ. ἥδε μὲν γὰρ ἡ γῆ καὶ οἱ λίθοι καὶ πᾶς ὁ τόπος ὁ ἐνθάδε διεφθαρμένα ἐστὶ καὶ καταβεβρωμένα, ὥσπερ τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ ὑπὸ τῆς ἅλμης· καὶ οὔτε φύεται ἄξιον λόγου οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ οὔ τε τέλειον, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, οὐδέν ἐστι, σήραγγες δὲ καὶ ἄμμος καὶ πηλὸς ἀμήχανος καὶ βόρβοροί εἰσιν, ὅπου ἂν καὶ ἡ γῆ ᾖ, καὶ πρὸς τὰ παρ' ἡμῖν καλὰ κρίνεσθαι οὐδ' 11.37.8 ὁπωστιοῦν ἄξια. ἐκεῖνα δὲ αὖ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν πολὺ ἂν ἔτι πλεῖον φανείη διαφέρειν. εἰ γὰρ δὴ καὶ μυθολογεῖν καλόν, ἄξιον ἀκοῦσαι, ὦ Σιμμία, οἷα τυγχάνει τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὑπὸ τῷ οὐρανῷ ὄντα. Ἀλλὰ μήν, ἔφη ὁ Σιμμίας, 11.37.9 ὦ Σώκρατες, ἡμεῖς γε τούτου τοῦ μύθου ἡδέως ἂν ἀκούσαιμεν. Λέγεται τοίνυν, ἔφη, ὦ ἑταῖρε, πρῶτον μὲν εἶναι τοιαύτη ἡ γῆ αὐτὴ ἰδεῖν, εἴ τις ἄνωθεν θεῷτο, ὥσπερ αἱ δωδεκάσκυτοι σφαῖραι, ποικίλη, χρώμασι διειλημμένη, ὧν καὶ τὰ ἐνθάδε εἶναι χρώματα ὥσπερ δείγματα, οἷς δὴ οἱ γραφεῖς καταχρῶνται· ἐκεῖ δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοιούτων εἶναι καὶ πολὺ ἔτι ἐκ λαμ11.37.10 προτέρων καὶ καθαρωτέρων ἢ τούτων. τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἁλουργῆ εἶναι θαυμαστὴν τὸ κάλλος, τὴν δὲ χρυσοειδῆ, τὴν δὲ ὅση λευκὴ γύψου καὶ χιόνος λευκοτέραν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων χρωμάτων συγκειμένην ὡσαύτως καὶ ἔτι πλει11.37.11 όνων καὶ καλλιόνων ἢ ὅσα ἡμεῖς ἑωράκαμεν. καὶ γὰρ αὐτὰ ταῦτα τὰ κοῖλα αὐτῆς, ὕδατός τε καὶ ἀέρος ἔκπλεα ὄντα, χρώματός τι εἶδος παρέχεσθαι στίλβοντα ἐν τῇ τῶν ἄλλων χρωμάτων ποικιλίᾳ, ὥστε ἕν τι αὐτῆς εἶδος ξυνεχὲς 11.37.12 καὶ ποικίλον φαντάζεσθαι. ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ οὔσῃ τοιαύτῃ ἀνὰ λόγον τὰ τοιαῦτα φύεσθαι, δένδρα τε καὶ ἄνθη ἔχοντα τοὺς καρπούς· καὶ αὖ τὰ ὄρη ὡσαύτως καὶ τοὺς λίθους ἔχειν κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τήν τε λειότητα καὶ τὴν διαφάνειαν καὶ τὰ χρώματα καλλίω· ὧν καὶ τὰ ἐνθάδε λιθίδια εἶναι ταῦτα τὰ ἀγαπώμενα μόρια, σάρδιά τε καὶ ἰάσπιδας καὶ σμαράγδους καὶ πάντα τὰ τοι11.37.13 αῦτα· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐδὲν ὁτιοῦν τοιοῦτον οὐκ εἶναι καὶ ἔτι τούτων καλλίω. τὸ δ' αἴτιον τούτου εἶναι ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι οἱ λίθοι καθαροί εἰσι καὶ οὐ κατεδηδεσμένοι οὐδὲ διεφθαρμένοι ὥσπερ οἱ ἐνθάδε ὑπὸ σηπεδόνος καὶ ἅλμης καὶ τῶν δεῦρο ξυνερρυηκότων, ἃ καὶ λίθοις καὶ γῇ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ζῴοις τε καὶ φυτοῖς αἴσχη τε καὶ νόσους παρέχει. τὴν δὲ γῆν αὐτὴν κεκοσμῆσθαι τούτοις τε ἅπασι καὶ ἔτι χρυσῷ τε καὶ ἀργύρῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις αὖ τοῖς τοιούτοις. ἐκφανῆ γὰρ αὐτὰ πεφυκέναι, ὄντα πολλὰ πλήθει καὶ μεγάλα καὶ πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς, ὥστε αὐτὴν δεῖν εἶναι θέαμα εὐδαιμόνων θεατῶν.»