Phaedrus — Plato

p. 172eral uses, and praised some of them and censured others, as he approved or disapproved of them. There would be no use in repeating all that Thamus said to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts. But when they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories ; for this is the cure of forgetfulness and of folly.

Thamus replied : ' O most ingenious Theuth, he who has the gift of invention is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them.

'' And in this instance a paternal love of your own child has led you to say what is not the fact ; for this invention of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories ; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves.

You have found a specific, not for memory but for reminiscence, and you give your disciples only the pretence of wisdom ; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing ; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing ; they will be tiresome, having the reputation of knowledge without the reality. PhcBdr, Yes, Socrates, you can easily invent tales of Egypt, or of any other country that you like. Soc.

There was a tradition in the temple of Dodona ®^ that oaks first gave prophetic utterances. The men of that day, unlike in their simplicity to young philosophy, deemed that if they heard the truth even from " oak or rock,'* that was enough for them ; whereas, you seem to think not of the truth but of the speaker, and of the country from which the truth comes. Phcedr.

I acknowledge the justice of your rebuke; and I think that the Theban is right in his view about letters. Soc. He would be a simple person, and quite without understanding of the oracles Thamus and Ammon, who should leave in writing or receive in writing any art under the idea that the written word would be intelligible or certain ; or who deemed that writing was at all better than knowledge and recollection of the same matters.

Phcedr, That is most true. •» Dodona (do-do'na') : a city in Epinis (epi'rus), a country of ancient Greece. Dodona was the seat of a very ancient and celebrated oracle o( Ae same name. Responses were said to be given in the rustling of leaves.

PHiEDRUS 173 Soc, I cannot help feeling, Phaedrus, that writing is unfortunately like painting ; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be said of speeches. You would imagine that they had intelligence, but if you want to know anything and put a question to one of them, the speaker always gives one unvarying answer.

And when they have been once written down they are tossed about anywhere among those who do and among those who do not understand them. And they have no reticences or proprieties towards different classes of persons ; and, if they are unjustly assailed or abused, their parent is needed to protect his offspring, for they cannot protect or defend themselves. PhcBdr. That again is most true.

Soc, May we not imagine another kind of writing or speaking far better than this is, and having far greater power, — which is one of the same family, but lawfully begot- ^ ten ? Let us see what his origin is. ' Phadr, Who is he, and what do you mean about his origin ? Soc. I am speaking of an intelligent writing which is graven in the soul of him who has learned, and can defend itself, and knows when to speak and when to be silent. Phadr.

You mean the word of knowledge which has a living soul, and of which the written word is properly no more than an image ? Soc, Yes, of course that is what I mean.

And I wish that you would let me ask you a question : Would a husbandman, who is a man of sense, take the seeds, which he values and which he wishes to be fruitful, and in sober earnest plant them during the heat of summer, in some garden of Adonis,** that he may rejoice when he sees them in eight days appearing in beauty (at least he does that, if at all, only as the show of a festival) ; but those about which he is in earnest he sows in fit- •> Adonis (a-d6'nis) : a beautiful youth greatly beloved by Aphrodite.

Her grief was so great at his death that he was allowed to return to earth and spend half of every year with her. His cominjp^ was attended by the springing up of grass and flowers, and the singing of birds, and was symbolical 01 the return of vegetation in spring after six months of hiding in the ground.

The Greek women celebrated yearly a festival in honor of Adonis, and for this occasion cresses and other such quick-growing herbs were grown' in pots. (L. and S.) ^ * ^

1/4 PLATO THE TEACHER ting soil, and practices husbandry, and is satisfied if in eight months they arrive at perfection ? PhcBdr. Yes, Socrates, that will be his way when he is in earnest j he will do the other, as you say, only as an amusement. Soc, And can we suppose that he who knows the just and good and honorable has less understanding in reference to his own seeds than the husbandman ? Fhcedr, Certainly not. Soc.

Then he will not seriously incline to write them in water with pen and ink, or in dumb characters which have not a word to say for themselves and cannot adequately express the truth ? Fhcedr, No, that is not likely.

Soc, No, that is not likely, — ^in the garden of letters he will plant them only as an amusement, or he will write them down as memorials against the forgetfulness of old age, to be treasured by him and his equals when they, like him, have one foot in the grave ; and he will rejoice in beholding their tender growth ; and they will be his pastime while others are watering the garden of their souls with banqueting and the like. PhcBdr.

A pastime, Socrates, as noble as the other is ignoble, when a man is able to pass time merrily in the representation of justice and the like. Soc. True, Phaedrus.

But nobler far is the serious pursuit of the dialectician, who finds a congenial soul, and then with knowledge engrafts and sows words which are able to help themselves and him who planted them, and are not un- ' fruitful, but have in them seeds which may bear fruit in other natures, nurtured in other ways, — making the seed everlasting and the possessors happy to the utmost extent of human happiness. Fhcedr, Yes, indeed, that is far nobler.

Soc, And now, Phaedrus, having agreed upon the premises we may decide about the conclusion. Fhcedr, About what conclusion? Soc. About Lysias, whom we censured, and his art of writing, and his discourses, and the rhetorical skill or want of skill which was shown in them ; for he brought us to this point. And I think that we are now pretty well informed about the nature of art and its opposite.