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cratylus

HERMOGENES

I assure you that I think otherwise, and I believe you to be on the right track.

cratylus

SOCRATES

There is reason, I think, in calling the lion’s whelp a lion, and the foal of a horse a horse; I am speaking only of the ordinary course of nature, when an animal produces after his kind, and not of extraordinary births;—if contrary to nature a horse have a calf, then I should not call that a foal but a calf; nor do I call any inhuman birth a man, but only a natural birth. And the same may be said of trees and other things. Do you agree with me?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes, I agree.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Very good. But you had better watch me and see that I do not play tricks with you. For on the same principle the son of a king is to be called a king. And whether the syllables of the name are the same or not the same, makes no difference, provided the meaning is retained; nor does the addition or subtraction of a letter make any difference so long as the essence of the thing remains in possession of the name and appears in it.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

What do you mean?

cratylus

SOCRATES

A very simple matter. I may illustrate my meaning by the names of letters, which you know are not the same as the letters themselves with the exception of the four epsilon, upsilon, omicron, omega; the names of the rest, whether vowels or consonants, are made up of other letters which we add to them; but so long as we introduce the meaning, and there can be no mistake, the name of the letter is quite correct. Take, for example, the letter beta—the addition of eta, tau, alpha, gives no offence, and does not prevent the whole name from having the value which the legislator intended—so well did he know how to give the letters names.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I believe you are right.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And may not the same be said of a king? a king will often be the son of a king, the good son or the noble son of a good or noble sire; and similarly the offspring of every kind, in the regular course of nature, is like the parent, and therefore has the same name. Yet the syllables may be disguised until they appear different to the ignorant person, and he may not recognize them, although they are the same, just as any one of us would not recognize the same drugs under different disguises of colour and smell, although to the physician, who regards the power of them, they are the same, and he is not put out by the addition; and in like manner the etymologist is not put out by the addition or transposition or subtraction of a letter or two, or indeed by the change of all the letters, for this need not interfere with the meaning. As was just now said, the names of Hector and Astyanax have only one letter alike, which is tau, and yet they have the same meaning. And how little in common with the letters of their names has Archepolis (ruler of the city)—and yet the meaning is the same. And there are many other names which just mean “king.” Again, there are several names for a general, as, for example, Agis (leader) and Polemarchus (chief in war) and Eupolemus (good warrior); and others which denote a physician, as Iatrocles (famous healer) and Acesimbrotus (curer of mortals); and there are many others which might be cited, differing in their syllables and letters, but having the same meaning. Would you not say so?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes.

cratylus

SOCRATES

The same names, then, ought to be assigned to those who follow in the course of nature?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And what of those who follow out of the course of nature, and are prodigies? for example, when a good and religious man has an irreligious son, he ought to bear the name not of his father, but of the class to which he belongs, just as in the case which was before supposed of a horse foaling a calf.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Quite true.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Then the irreligious son of a religious father should be called irreligious?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Certainly.

cratylus

SOCRATES

He should not be called Theophilus (beloved of God) or Mnesitheus (mindful of God), or any of these names: if names are correctly given, his should have an opposite meaning.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Certainly, Socrates.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Again, Hermogenes, there is Orestes (the man of the mountains) who appears to be rightly called; whether chance gave the name, or perhaps some poet who meant to express the brutality and fierceness and mountain wildness of his hero’s nature.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

That is very likely, Socrates.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And his father’s name is also according to nature.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Clearly.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Yes, for as his name, so also is his nature; Agamemnon (admirable for remaining) is one who is patient and persevering in the accomplishment of his resolves, and by his virtue crowns them; and his continuance at Troy with all the vast army is a proof of that admirable endurance in him which is signified by the name Agamemnon. I also think that Atreus is rightly called; for his murder of Chrysippus and his exceeding cruelty to Thyestes are damaging and destructive to his reputation—the name is a little altered and disguised so as not to be intelligible to every one, but to the etymologist there is no difficulty in seeing the meaning, for whether you think of him as ateires the stubborn, or as atrestos the fearless, or as ateros the destructive one, the name is perfectly correct in every point of view. And I think that Pelops is also named appropriately; for, as the name implies, he is rightly called Pelops who sees what is near only (o ta pelas oron).

cratylus

HERMOGENES

How so?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Because, according to the tradition, he had no forethought or foresight of all the evil which the murder of Myrtilus would entail upon his whole race in remote ages; he saw only what was at hand and immediate,—or in other words, pelas (near), in his eagerness to win Hippodamia by all means for his bride. Every one would agree that the name of Tantalus is rightly given and in accordance with nature, if the traditions about him are true.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

And what are the traditions?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Many terrible misfortunes are said to have happened to him in his life—last of all, came the utter ruin of his country; and after his death he had the stone suspended (talanteia) over his head in the world below—all this agrees wonderfully well with his name. You might imagine that some person who wanted to call him Talantatos (the most weighted down by misfortune), disguised the name by altering it into Tantalus; and into this form, by some accident of tradition, it has actually been transmuted. The name of Zeus, who is his alleged father, has also an excellent meaning, although hard to be understood, because really like a sentence, which is divided into two parts, for some call him Zena, and use the one half, and others who use the other half call him Dia; the two together signify the nature of the God, and the business of a name, as we were saying, is to express the nature. For there is none who is more the author of life to us and to all, than the lord and king of all. Wherefore we are right in calling him Zena and Dia, which are one name, although divided, meaning the God through whom all creatures always have life (di on zen aei pasi tois zosin uparchei). There is an irreverence, at first sight, in calling him son of Cronos (who is a proverb for stupidity), and we might rather expect Zeus to be the child of a mighty intellect. Which is the fact; for this is the meaning of his father’s name: Kronos quasi Koros (Choreo, to sweep), not in the sense of a youth, but signifying to chatharon chai acheraton tou nou, the pure and garnished mind (sc. apo tou chorein). He, as we are informed by tradition, was begotten of Uranus, rightly so called (apo tou oran ta ano) from looking upwards; which, as philosophers tell us, is the way to have a pure mind, and the name Uranus is therefore correct. If I could remember the genealogy of Hesiod, I would have gone on and tried more conclusions of the same sort on the remoter ancestors of the Gods,—then I might have seen whether this wisdom, which has come to me all in an instant, I know not whence, will or will not hold good to the end.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

You seem to me, Socrates, to be quite like a prophet newly inspired, and to be uttering oracles.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Yes, Hermogenes, and I believe that I caught the inspiration from the great Euthyphro of the Prospaltian deme, who gave me a long lecture which commenced at dawn: he talked and I listened, and his wisdom and enchanting ravishment has not only filled my ears but taken possession of my soul, and to-day I shall let his superhuman power work and finish the investigation of names—that will be the way; but to-morrow, if you are so disposed, we will conjure him away, and make a purgation of him, if we can only find some priest or sophist who is skilled in purifications of this sort.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

With all my heart; for am very curious to hear the rest of the enquiry about names.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Then let us proceed; and where would you have us begin, now that we have got a sort of outline of the enquiry? Are there any names which witness of themselves that they are not given arbitrarily, but have a natural fitness? The names of heroes and of men in general are apt to be deceptive because they are often called after ancestors with whose names, as we were saying, they may have no business; or they are the expression of a wish like Eutychides (the son of good fortune), or Sosias (the Saviour), or Theophilus (the beloved of God), and others. But I think that we had better leave these, for there will be more chance of finding correctness in the names of immutable essences;—there ought to have been more care taken about them when they were named, and perhaps there may have been some more than human power at work occasionally in giving them names.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I think so, Socrates.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Ought we not to begin with the consideration of the Gods, and show that they are rightly named Gods?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes, that will be well.

cratylus

SOCRATES

My notion would be something of this sort:—I suspect that the sun, moon, earth, stars, and heaven, which are still the Gods of many barbarians, were the only Gods known to the aboriginal Hellenes. Seeing that they were always moving and running, from their running nature they were called Gods or runners (Theous, Theontas); and when men became acquainted with the other Gods, they proceeded to apply the same name to them all. Do you think that likely?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I think it very likely indeed.

cratylus

SOCRATES

What shall follow the Gods?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Must not demons and heroes and men come next?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Demons! And what do you consider to be the meaning of this word? Tell me if my view is right.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Let me hear.

cratylus

SOCRATES

You know how Hesiod uses the word?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I do not.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Do you not remember that he speaks of a golden race of men who came first?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes, I do.

cratylus

SOCRATES

He says of them— “But now that fate has closed over this race They are holy demons upon the earth, Beneficent, averters of ills, guardians of mortal men.” (Hesiod, Works and Days.)

cratylus

HERMOGENES

What is the inference?

cratylus

SOCRATES

What is the inference! Why, I suppose that he means by the golden men, not men literally made of gold, but good and noble; and I am convinced of this, because he further says that we are the iron race.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

That is true.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And do you not suppose that good men of our own day would by him be said to be of golden race?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Very likely.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And are not the good wise?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes, they are wise.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And therefore I have the most entire conviction that he called them demons, because they were daemones (knowing or wise), and in our older Attic dialect the word itself occurs. Now he and other poets say truly, that when a good man dies he has honour and a mighty portion among the dead, and becomes a demon; which is a name given to him signifying wisdom. And I say too, that every wise man who happens to be a good man is more than human (daimonion) both in life and death, and is rightly called a demon.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Then I rather think that I am of one mind with you; but what is the meaning of the word “hero”? (Eros with an eta, in the old writing eros with an epsilon.)

cratylus

SOCRATES

I think that there is no difficulty in explaining, for the name is not much altered, and signifies that they were born of love.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

What do you mean?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Do you not know that the heroes are demigods?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

What then?

cratylus

SOCRATES

All of them sprang either from the love of a God for a mortal woman, or of a mortal man for a Goddess; think of the word in the old Attic, and you will see better that the name heros is only a slight alteration of Eros, from whom the heroes sprang: either this is the meaning, or, if not this, then they must have been skilful as rhetoricians and dialecticians, and able to put the question (erotan), for eirein is equivalent to legein. And therefore, as I was saying, in the Attic dialect the heroes turn out to be rhetoricians and questioners. All this is easy enough; the noble breed of heroes are a tribe of sophists and rhetors. But can you tell me why men are called anthropoi?—that is more difficult.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

No, I cannot; and I would not try even if I could, because I think that you are the more likely to succeed.

cratylus

SOCRATES

That is to say, you trust to the inspiration of Euthyphro.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Of course.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Your faith is not vain; for at this very moment a new and ingenious thought strikes me, and, if I am not careful, before to-morrow’s dawn I shall be wiser than I ought to be. Now, attend to me; and first, remember that we often put in and pull out letters in words, and give names as we please and change the accents. Take, for example, the word Dii Philos; in order to convert this from a sentence into a noun, we omit one of the iotas and sound the middle syllable grave instead of acute; as, on the other hand, letters are sometimes inserted in words instead of being omitted, and the acute takes the place of the grave.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

That is true.

cratylus

SOCRATES

The name anthropos, which was once a sentence, and is now a noun, appears to be a case just of this sort, for one letter, which is the alpha, has been omitted, and the acute on the last syllable has been changed to a grave.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

What do you mean?

cratylus

SOCRATES

I mean to say that the word “man” implies that other animals never examine, or consider, or look up at what they see, but that man not only sees (opope) but considers and looks up at that which he sees, and hence he alone of all animals is rightly anthropos, meaning anathron a opopen.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

May I ask you to examine another word about which I am curious?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Certainly.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I will take that which appears to me to follow next in order. You know the distinction of soul and body?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Of course.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Let us endeavour to analyze them like the previous words.

cratylus

SOCRATES

You want me first of all to examine the natural fitness of the word psuche (soul), and then of the word soma (body)?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes.

cratylus

SOCRATES

If I am to say what occurs to me at the moment, I should imagine that those who first used the name psuche meant to express that the soul when in the body is the source of life, and gives the power of breath and revival (anapsuchon), and when this reviving power fails then the body perishes and dies, and this, if I am not mistaken, they called psyche. But please stay a moment; I fancy that I can discover something which will be more acceptable to the disciples of Euthyphro, for I am afraid that they will scorn this explanation. What do you say to another?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Let me hear.

cratylus

SOCRATES

What is that which holds and carries and gives life and motion to the entire nature of the body? What else but the soul?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Just that.

cratylus

SOCRATES

And do you not believe with Anaxagoras, that mind or soul is the ordering and containing principle of all things?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes; I do.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Then you may well call that power phuseche which carries and holds nature (e phusin okei, kai ekei), and this may be refined away into psuche.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Certainly; and this derivation is, I think, more scientific than the other.

cratylus

SOCRATES

It is so; but I cannot help laughing, if I am to suppose that this was the true meaning of the name.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

But what shall we say of the next word?

cratylus

SOCRATES

You mean soma (the body).

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes.

cratylus

SOCRATES

That may be variously interpreted; and yet more variously if a little permutation is allowed. For some say that the body is the grave (sema) of the soul which may be thought to be buried in our present life; or again the index of the soul, because the soul gives indications to (semainei) the body; probably the Orphic poets were the inventors of the name, and they were under the impression that the soul is suffering the punishment of sin, and that the body is an enclosure or prison in which the soul is incarcerated, kept safe (soma, sozetai), as the name soma implies, until the penalty is paid; according to this view, not even a letter of the word need be changed.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I think, Socrates, that we have said enough of this class of words. But have we any more explanations of the names of the Gods, like that which you were giving of Zeus? I should like to know whether any similar principle of correctness is to be applied to them.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Yes, indeed, Hermogenes; and there is one excellent principle which, as men of sense, we must acknowledge,—that of the Gods we know nothing, either of their natures or of the names which they give themselves; but we are sure that the names by which they call themselves, whatever they may be, are true. And this is the best of all principles; and the next best is to say, as in prayers, that we will call them by any sort or kind of names or patronymics which they like, because we do not know of any other. That also, I think, is a very good custom, and one which I should much wish to observe. Let us, then, if you please, in the first place announce to them that we are not enquiring about them; we do not presume that we are able to do so; but we are enquiring about the meaning of men in giving them these names,—in this there can be small blame.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

I think, Socrates, that you are quite right, and I would like to do as you say.

cratylus

SOCRATES

Shall we begin, then, with Hestia, according to custom?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Yes, that will be very proper.

cratylus

SOCRATES

What may we suppose him to have meant who gave the name Hestia?

cratylus

HERMOGENES

That is another and certainly a most difficult question.

cratylus

SOCRATES

My dear Hermogenes, the first imposers of names must surely have been considerable persons; they were philosophers, and had a good deal to say.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Well, and what of them?

cratylus

SOCRATES

They are the men to whom I should attribute the imposition of names. Even in foreign names, if you analyze them, a meaning is still discernible. For example, that which we term ousia is by some called esia, and by others again osia. Now that the essence of things should be called estia, which is akin to the first of these (esia = estia), is rational enough. And there is reason in the Athenians calling that estia which participates in ousia. For in ancient times we too seem to have said esia for ousia, and this you may note to have been the idea of those who appointed that sacrifices should be first offered to estia, which was natural enough if they meant that estia was the essence of things. Those again who read osia seem to have inclined to the opinion of Heracleitus, that all things flow and nothing stands; with them the pushing principle (othoun) is the cause and ruling power of all things, and is therefore rightly called osia. Enough of this, which is all that we who know nothing can affirm. Next in order after Hestia we ought to consider Rhea and Cronos, although the name of Cronos has been already discussed. But I dare say that I am talking great nonsense.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Why, Socrates?

cratylus

SOCRATES

My good friend, I have discovered a hive of wisdom.

cratylus

HERMOGENES

Of what nature?

cratylus

SOCRATES

Well, rather ridiculous, and yet plausible.