Plato, Timaeus 22a · 22a

Solon questions the priests

Critias — καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ ἀνερωτῶν ποτε τοὺς μάλιστα περὶ ταῦτα τῶν ἱερέων ἐμπείρους, σχεδὸν οὔτε αὑτὸν οὔτε ἄλλον Ἕλληνα οὐδένα οὐδὲν ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν εἰδότα περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀνευρεῖν. καί ποτε προαγαγεῖν βουληθεὶς αὐτοὺς περὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων εἰς λόγους, τῶν τῇδε τὰ ἀρχαιότατα λέγειν ἐπιχειρεῖν, περὶ Φορωνέως τε τοῦ πρώτου λεχθέντος καὶ Νιόβης, καὶ μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν αὖ περὶ Δευκαλίωνος

Critias: And once, when he was asking the priests who were most experienced in these matters about the ancient events, he found that neither he himself nor any other Greek, one might say, knew anything at all about such things. And once, wishing to draw them into talk of ancient times, he tried to tell the oldest stories of ours here: about Phoroneus, said to be the first man, and Niobe; and, after the flood, about Deucalion

Word by word

Critias

καὶkaìandδὴdḕ—καὶkaì—τὰtàtheπαλαιὰpalaiàancient thingsἀνερωτῶνanerōtônaskingποτεpoteonceτοὺςtoùstheμάλισταmálistamostπερὶperìinταῦταtaûtathese mattersτῶνtôn—ἱερέωνhieréōnpriestsἐμπείρουςempeírousexperienced,σχεδὸνschedònalmostοὔτεoúteneitherαὑτὸνhautònhimselfοὔτεoútenorἄλλονállonotherἝλληναHéllēnaGreekοὐδέναoudénaat allοὐδὲνoudènanythingὡςhōs—ἔποςépos—εἰπεῖνeipeînsayεἰδόταeidótaknewπερὶperìaboutτῶνtôn—τοιούτωνtoioútōnsuch thingsἀνευρεῖνaneureînfound.καίkaíandποτεpoteonceπροαγαγεῖνproagageînto drawβουληθεὶςboulētheìswishingαὐτοὺςautoùsthemπερὶperìaboutτῶνtôn—ἀρχαίωνarchaíōnancient thingsεἰςeisintoλόγουςlógoustalk,τῶνtônof thoseτῇδεtêidehereτὰtàtheἀρχαιόταταarchaiótataoldestλέγεινlégeinto tellἐπιχειρεῖνepicheireîntried,περὶperìaboutΦορωνέωςPhorōnéōsPhoroneusτεte—τοῦtoûtheπρώτουprṓtoufirstλεχθέντοςlechthéntoscalledκαὶkaìandΝιόβηςNióbēsNiobe,καὶkaìandμετὰmetàafterτὸνtòntheκατακλυσμὸνkataklysmònfloodαὖaûin turnπερὶperìaboutΔευκαλίωνοςDeukalíōnosDeucalion

The setting

At Saïs the Egyptian priests honour Solon. Critias goes on telling what his grandfather heard: Solon tried to draw them out about the oldest Greek stories.

A note on this passage

This section is reported speech. Everything after the opening kai dē kai, "and in particular," hangs on a verb of saying that stands in the earlier part of Critias's account, so the Greek strings its verbs as infinitives: aneurein, "to find out," proagagein, "to draw on," epicheirein, "to try." The first finding is a blunt one. Solon asks those empeirous, "experienced," in such matters and learns that no Greek, himself included, knows anything on the subject, which is softened with schedon and hōs epos eipein, roughly "so to speak."

Then Solon turns to ta archaiotata, "the oldest things" of Greek tradition. Phoroneus is called ho prōtos lechtheis, "the one said to be first," and the word lechtheis keeps the claim at arm's length, since it reports what is told and says nothing of anyone checking it. Niobe follows, and then, after the kataklysmos, the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha are the names that come next.

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