THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE G R E AT E R H I P P I A S DIALOGUE O F PLATO CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFULL LONDON: Printed by H. Wo o d f A L L ; And Sold by W. Sandby in Fleet-Street ; and by R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall- Mall. M Dec LIX. [ Price Four Shillings. ] vv 4 6? THE GREATER H I P P I A S, A DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE BEAUTIFUL L 5S0670 ENGUBH T O THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PHILIP, Earl of CHESTERFIELD, ft Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, This TRANSLATION of the Greater Hippias of Plato Is infcribed, With the moft profound Respect, by his Lordship's moft obedient humble Servant Floyer Sydenham. Cs] THE ARGUMENT. CJT^HI S Dialogue has the Addition of Greater to its^ -^ Name, Hippias, in contra-diJlinSiion to Another of the Same Name, which is fhorter. Concerni7ig the Title of it, there is not any Difpute or Diver fity : neither i?tdeed can any be. For, after an IntroduBion of greater Le7igth than ufual^ acquainting us fully with the CharaEier of Hippias \ at the fame time artfully leadi?jg to the main SuhjeSl, and pre- paratory likewife to that high DoSirine^ which our Philofopher aims to inculcate ; the Subjedl of the Converfation is opejied plainly in this ^eflion, propofed by Socrates to Hippias, — " What is The Beautiful I P " — And the Point is debated fimply and clofely^ without any of thofe collateral Difquifiio72s, or Di- grejfons by theWay, with theVariety of which our Author ntahs the great eft Part of his PFri tings fo entertaining. The Defign of this Dialogue is by little afid little to ufifald the Nature of true 6 Tlie A R G U M E N T. true Beauty ; and gradually to conduEl our Minds to the View ef that Being, who is Beauty Itfelf ; and from whofe Origi- nal Ideas, all of them effential to his Nature^ is copyed every Particular Beauty. This Plato does^ in the firft place^ hy efla- hlifiyir.g Four grand Charaderiftic Marks of The truly Beau- tifull : the Firjl of which is Univerfality ; all Things^ which are fair, derivinor their Beauty from it, and according as they more or kfs partake of it, in the fame Proportion being Beau^ tiful. The Seco?id CharaBeriflick is ^u^v^m^icy ; The Univer- fal Fair fuppor ting always the fame Dignity, and maintain- ino- its CharaEier of Superiority in Beauty, with whatever elfe it be compared, a7id in whatever Light beheld : fo that the Beauty of every Thing, aiiy way fet in Competition with it, is fou7id inferior. A Third Property, efjentially belonging to the Univerfal Sovereign Beauty, a?jd charaBerifiig it, is the Simenefs of it in all Places, and at all Times. A7td the Fourth Ejfential Property, by which it is de?ioted, is the Im- mutability of it ; this unrivaled Beauty, to whofe Prefence there is no Bar, and of whofe Being there is no Decay, abid- tjig mdepeJidant of Fancy, or of Fapion ; 7ior ever varying, however Things or the Circmn fiances of Things 7nay change, Bui all thefe Marks are pointed out to us in a Negative Way of Reafoning, by f jewing The Beautifull not to be That, which wants any of thefe Ejfential and CharaBeriflic Property s ; in particular^ The A R G U M E N T. j particular^ 7iot to be Corporeal Beauty, whether fimple, or fet off 'with any aciJitiona/On\a.n\ents'j nor to be the Affemblage of all thoje outward Advantages, which are vulgarly fuppofed to conjiitute a Happy Life^ and feejfi to the Many above all things Beautiful and Goody the higheji ObjeSls therefore of Love and of Deftre ; fuch as Riches^ Healthy Honour ^ Long Life^ and afurvivi7jg Offspri?7g. I'he next Step, which the Philofopher advances in the Difquiftion of this Supre?ne Beauty, is to fettle Three farther Charaderifticks of it, more decifve, and fnore declarative of its Nature. 0?2e of thefe is Truth or ReaHty ; the E^'ence of The truly Beautifull being i?2dependant on the Sejfes or on Opinion, which prefe?tt us 07jly with Appearances of Things. Another Property inherent in the Nature of The Supremely Beautifull is Power and Government ; that is. Power to produce Good, and Government for the Sake of pro- ducing it ; Power and Government, produSlive of 111, ?iQt really doifig any thing, but tending rather to undo all things. The Difcernment of this Property in The Sovereign Fair opens. a Way to the Difcovery of Another, that is, Good confdered in its Source and Fountain : all the Good, which any Beina- enjoys, naturally flowing y;w« this Principle, which Thto loves to contemplate mofl under its Chara&er of Fair and Beautiful, All this he inculcates in a like Negative Way, by di/linguifrin^ The truly Beautifull, frji, from the meer Appearance of it founded S The A R G U M E N T. founded O'n Opinion ; next^frotn what in common Eftimation is the Povvcrfull ; and lajily, fro7?i the Profitable, or proba- ble Means of attaifrmg Good. Having 7w-jo explained the Nature of this Univerfal Fair, in its own Effence, copioiijly and clearly enough to jet the Mind 07i thinking What it 7nay he, the Philofopher proceeds to JJjew, What are the Effeds of it • What Qualitys /*/ communicates to each Being, which any way partakes of it\ by what Fa.rt of us, and how, thofe^alitys are perceived a7id felt • and what is the Confequence of our having fuch a Perception, and fuch a Senfe. We find then^ that every 'Thing, whether it he the ObjeEl of outward Senfe or of Intelle^, havi7Jg in its felf a7iy Proportion or Order, ariy Species of Harmony or Beauty, oweth fuch For7n or Qua- lity to this all-beauteous Principle : This For7n or Quality is perceived C77ly by the Mind ; which has a Faculty or Power of perceiving it, only becaufe it partakes of the fame Princi- ple : And this Perception of Har7nony, or of Beauty, is al- ways acco77ipa7yed by a Senfe of Pleafure and Delight, /;z which confifi the Enjoyment and the Happinefs of Mind. All this alfo is reprefe7ited to us by Plato in the fa77ie Negative Ma7i7ier, by difii7tguifhi7ig The Beaut if ull fro7n the Pleafant /;/ General, a7id by throwing out of the Inquiry all thofe Species ■of Pleafure, which have nothing to do with Proportion or Or- der, t2or iirmediately affeEi the Mind itfelf^ as belo7iging to o another The A R G U M E N T. 9 a-ftother Genus or Kind of Things. In the lajl place^ to pre- vent a dangerous and common Error concerning the Nature of that Divine EJfence, The Beautifully our Philofopher intimates to us^ it can be Nothing which admits of Number, no Parti- cular Being or Beings ; not even One, as diflinguiped from. any Other One ; a?7d cofjfequently mufl be^ in the mofl compre- henfive Sefife, Univerfal. Fro?n conjidering all thefe Propertys, which are proved by Plato to be necejfary Attributes of The Beautifully it comes out plainly to be 7iothing lefs than Uni- versal ' Form, Intelligent and Active ; impartinp- Form and Beauty to All things, as being itfelf the Pleni- tude of Forms , and therefore Abfolutely and Supremely Fair and Beautiful : e}2ergifmg every where and always with equal Efficacy ; and leaving no Chaos of Things^ in any Place, or at any Time, unformed or in Dif order : giving Law to Infni^ tude and Wildnefs^ and by that Law governing the Univerfe and every Part of it j a Law, which tnufl be immutable and unvarying, a Law equally to All thro all Ages, becaufe ?ia other than its own eternal EfCtnce,, confdered not as view- ing, ' By This the Platonifts mean, not Nature's outward Fonn^ but fonie inward Principle m Nature, to which that outward Form is owino-; a Principle, whofe eternal Samenefs is the Caufe of that conftant Simila- rity in General, found in the Forms of Nature, the Individuals of the feveral Species, thro every fucce/jive Generation : a Similarity as exad:, as if they were cad in the fame Mould, or ftamped with the feme 0/-;V ginal Types. B. lo The ARGUMENT. ing, but as defining the Nature of Things^ difpofing and ordering them : — Universal Reason ; — giving Bound and Meafure to 'Things ; a£ig?ting them a certain Nature^ and e?iduing them with certain Propertys ; and being thus the Foundation of all their Reality, the Caufe of all their Power and Virtue^ and the Origin of all their Good : — Uni- versal Mind ; — commufticating, with a Senfe or T'ajl of Or- der and Proportion, of Harmony and Beauty, hitelleSiual Delio-ht a7id Happinefs : brai^ching out into Many Minds, and makifig them Partners of its own pure Unity, and all~compre^ henfve Univerfality ; yet fill re?naifwtg in its Self intire and complete^ pure and fimple. — In the Order we have here de- fcribed, and thro the Procefs we have thus dtflinSlly^ and at the fame time briefly^ attempted to explain^ does Plato in this Dialoo-ue lead us on to that Pointy which he has always princi- pally in View, becaufe true Virtue, according to His DoStrine, •depends on it, the Knowlege of Deity. But fince, in the Co?tclufon of this high Inquiiy, he flrongly afferts the Unity of the Divine Nature, a 'Tenet inconfflent with the Popular Religion at Athens ; and becaufe in Governments merely Po- pular, fuch as the Athenian, it is tmfafe to oppofe Opinions, by the People held Sacred ; for this reafon his Manner of Writ- ing, tho always fuch as to cover his Defgn, and hide it from ■the Eyes of Any ^ but of Thofe, whom a Difcipline in the Prin- ■g ciplet The ARGUMENT. 1 1 sipies of his Fhilofophy admits into the Secret^ is more covert and concealed in this Dialogue than in any Other. Socrates all the way feems only to be confuting thefeveral falfe Defini- tions given of Tlje Beautifull by Hippias ; and doing it too under the CharaEler of fome Other ^ an Imaginary Perfon. Befide this.) our Author conceals the Importance of his Mean- ing fill more.) by a Vei?i of Humour and Drollery, luhich runs throughout the Dialogue. For the fame reafon^ his Style here is lower tha?i tfual^ often the Burlefque ; and his Meta- phors or Images remote from the Subje&y and much below the Dignity of it. The Introdudory Part of the Dialogue is of a Piece with the Principal ; being purely Ironical ; and feeming at frfl Sight as if intended merely to deride the So- phifts, and to expofe their Love of Gain, their Polymathy or various Kjwwlege, of itfelf ufelefs to the- Prime Purpofes of Lif) and their total Want of that true Wifdom, xohofe Ten- dency is to make Men Good and Happy. But tho the Intro- dud ion has tmdoubtedly this View^ it will appear ^ on a clofer Examination^ to have a farther a7^d more immediate Reference to the Subjed;. For in the ff place it is there fiew?i^ that the fincere Study of Nature, and ejpecially of the Governing Prin- ciple in Nature, Mind, 7nujl be Liberal ; becaufe not Jollowed. by Riches or Honour s^ and making 7io Figure in the Eyes of the World: that the lower AffeSiions are fir ft therefore to be kept B 2 under.. 11 The A R GUME NT. under J and the Heatt/ecured on the Side of Truth. In th next place it is infmuated^ that Right Reafon is alone truly Law, the jtift Rule of Human Adions, and the true Stan- dard of Beauty in Manners ; ajid that the End of Law is Public Good : that Human Inftitutions are to be trycd by thefe 'Tejls, a?jd owe their Authority and Validity to their Cor- refpondence with fuch Divine Rule, and to //6^/r Efficacy /or fuch Godlike End. 7he Prejudices of Falfe Taft in Beauty, arifng from received Rules contrary to Reafon, fro-m Popular Modes and Cujloms pernicious to the Publick, being thus re- moved ; if7imediately is introduced the Me?ttion of Grammar, fi/'Arithmetick, Mufick, Geometry and Aftronomy ; Sci- encesy which open, cultivate^ a7id improve the Mmd-, lay the ■Fundaviefital Rules of Order in every Art, and regulate th& Taft of Beauty ; withdraw the Mind frojn Particulars, and familiar if e it to the Contemplation of Things General, the Ob- je&s of Intelledl ; Sciences therefore thefe, accordi?2g to the DoBrine of Plato and his Followers, necejjarily previous and introduElory to found Phyficks and Metaphyficks, that is, the General Knowlege of Nature, and of Mind. In the lafl Part of the IntroduSiion, to guard againfl Error and de- Jiroy the Foundation of it, all the Lear?jing of Mythology and x)f Antiquitys, by which the Vulgar Religion was fupported, is fligmatifed with the CharaBer of old Wive's Fables. — And thm The ARGUMENT. 13 thus much concerning the * Subjedl and the Defign of the Greater Hippias ; as alfo concerning the Method in "which that Dejtgn is carry ed on^ and the ConducH: of the Argument throughout the Dialogue, — The Charader of its Compoftion is fo perfeSily Dramatic, that hut for the Want of Fable ^ it jnight he prefented on the Stage by good Comedians with great Ad- vantage : nay, fo highly Pidlurefque is it^ in the Manners which it imitates, as to be a worthy SubjeSi for the Pencil of any Moral Painter. — The Ancients agree in placi7tg it among the Dialogues, by "Them called Anatreptic ; a Species, anfwer- ing to that, which in our Synopfis we call the Confuting. 'The Compoftion of it has, we co7ifefs, that Turn given it ; and the outward Appeara7ice of it carry s that Air. But we are in Doubt, and fubjnit it to the yudgi7ient of difcerni7ig Cri- ticks, whether it partakes not rather of the ^ EmbarafTing or puzzling Kind, For, in the fir Jl place y tho every Thing, faid by HippiaSj is confuted by Socrates ; yet the Falfty of no Te- net or Dodlrine, laid down by that Sophifl, is here expofedi. He only gives Random-Anfwers to the ^eflions propofed to him, apparently without ever having either thought Hi7nfelfy or heard a7iy Other fpeaking, upon the SubjeB. In the next place, tho it appears frotn the latter Part of the Dialogue, that = See the Synopfis, Page 17, 3 See the Synopfis, Page 10. 14 The ARGUMENT. that there was an Audience round them ; yet we may ohferv& that Audience compofed of PerfonSy who were of the Intimate Acquaintance of Socrates, intirely in his own Way of Think- ing, and confequently in no Danger of being mif-led by the Sophifi. Lafilyt in the Clofe of the Co?iverfation^ we find the hite7itio7i of Socrates, in difputifjg thus with Hippias, re^ frefented by Plato to have been no other^ than to exercife his. own Mind in thinking a7id difcouffiiig upon his Favorite Tar- picky that c/" Beauty. PER- [^5 ] PERSONS OF THE DIAOGUE, Socrates, Hippias. 'SCENE, THE Lyceum. * The Scene of this Dialogue is clearly the Lycmitn, a Strudlure of aftonifliing Grandeur and Beauty, at a fmall Diftance from the City, by the Side of the Ilyjus ; the largeft and moft magnificent of thofe Three, built at the public Coft for the Purpofe of Bathing and the Gymnic Exercifes. The other Two were within the City, lying convenient for the Ufe of the ordinary Citizens and Men of Bufinefs. But This was the moft frequented by Men of larger Fortune and more Leifure ; with Many of whom Socrates was intimately acquainted. Hither, as we learn from Plato's Sympofium^ it was his ufual Cuftom to refort, accom- panyed by his Friends, and to fpend here the greateft Part of the Day. That the Sophijis, whenever they came to Athens, frequented the fame Place, appears from Ifocrates in Orat. Tanathen. as indeed 'tis natu- ral to fuppofe J the nobler Part of theYouth being daily there aflembled: for Thefe were extreamly inquifitive after Knowlege, and great Admi- rers of Philofophy ; and the Sophifts profeffed the teaching it, and the making, for a certain ftipulated Sum of Money, any Man a Philofopher, To carry on this Bufinefs of their Profefilon, they were continually tra- velling about, like the Rhapfodifts, from City to City, {joc-xiuq srctvrcc- yi yiyvo^ivoi, fays IJocrates,) wherever Philofophy and Knowlege were in Efteem j but vifited Athens the ofteneft, where above all Places thofe Ornaments of the Mind were highly valued. Socrates. i6 THE GREATER Socrates. HIPP I AS, the ' Fine, and the Wife ! What a long Time it is, fince laft you * touched at Athens ! HiPPIAS.. I Hippias was remarkable for the Finery of his Apparel, as we (hall fee farther on. This, ftiiking the Eyes of Socrates immediately on meeting him, occafioned his addreffing him firft with This Epithet : As to the Other, here given him, fee Note 9. ' Socrates in this Sentence humoroufly makes Ufe of a Sea-Term, to reprefent the Life led by the Sophifts, as refembling that of Mari- ners; who are roving inceflantly from Port to Port, and never con- tinue long in one Place. But pofTibly there is a farther Meaning ; it may be intended to prepare us for obferving that Inftability of Hip- fias himfelf, his Notions and Opinions, which is afterwards to appear throughout the Dialogue j an Inftability, arifing from his Want of the fi'xed Principles of Science, the only fare Foundation of fettled Opinions. Horace on the fame Subjedl ufes the fame Metaphor, ^10 me cunqtie rapit tempeftas, deferor hofpes. Hor. Epift. I.I. i\ \^.. To exprcfs the full Senfe of which, we have thus paraphrafed it, Myjlecrlefs Veffel fails before the Wind ; *riti lohere the Tempejl drives, Jbme Port I find ; Some temporary Harbour ; till again Rcjtlefs 1 venture out into the Maifi. 2 See H I P P I A S. 17 Hip PI AS. "^ *Tis becaufe I have not had Leifure, Socrates. For the Eleans, you are to know, whenever they have any PubHc Affairs to negociate with any of the neighbouring "^ Citys, con- So likewife M. Anton'mus, in many Places, particularly L. 12. §. 22. At the fame time, there is a Propriety in this Expreffion from the Mouth of an Athenian, to whom it mud: have been habitual ; Athens being feat- ed near the Sea, the Athenians the Principal Merchants, and their State the greateft Maritime Power then in the World. 3 Plato acquaints us always as foon as poflible with the Charader of his Speakers. In this hrfl: Speech of Hippias^ the vain and oftentatlous Sopbijly the folemn and formal Orator^ Both appear in a ftrong Light, and prepare us at once for all which is to follow, agreeable to thofe Characfters. ♦ By Citys here, as almoft every where elfe in Plato, are meant Civil States. For Greece was divided into many fuch, all free and indepen- dant : and the Capital City of each, being flrongly fortified, was the Re- fidence of the Chief Magiflracy, and the Centre of Power : in the Name of This naturally therefore was included the whole dependant Diftridl. The Citys, particularly meant in this Place, are thofe of the Peloponnefiis. For the feveral States, which compofed this Part of Gr^^f^, were divided either in their Interefts or AfFedions between the two Prin- cipal and Rival Powers, thofe of Athens and Spaffa ; who in the Time of Socrates were engaged in a long War one with the other. Moft of the lelTer States joined themfelves to the Spartans : that of Argos, one of the moft confiderable, with a few Others, fupported the Athe- niatis : whilft ihe Eleans not only chofe to continue Neutral, but by their Embaffadors, fent to all the Stales concerned, laboured to reftore a Cfeneral Peace, And when they were at length forced into the War, took the firft Opportunity, given them by a Pretence of III Ufage from •the Party which they adhered to, the Lacedcemonian or Spartan, to re- turn to their Neutrality. Thus we fee, what were the Objeds of the Negociations, in which Hippias had been engaged ; firft, a Peace be- ew€ca the contending Powers j or if That could not be eff^ded, then, G the i8 THE GREATER conftantly apply to Me, and appoint Me their Ambafliidor for that Purpofe, in Preference to all Others : becaufe they confider Me as a Perfon the Ableft to form a right Judg- ment of what is argued and alleged by every One of the Citys, and to make a proper Report of it to Them. ^ My Embaffys therefore have been frequent to Many of thofe Powers ; but ofteneft, and upon Points the moft in Num- ber, as well as of the highefh Importance, have I gone to Sparta to treat with the Lacedsemonians. This is the Rea- fon then, in Anfwer to Your Queftion, why fo feldom I vifit Thefe Parts. Socrates. This it is, Hippias, to be a Man truly wife and perfectly accomplifhed. For, being thus qualified, you have, in your * Private Capacity, great Prefents made you by the Young Men the Maintenance of their own Neutrality. And farther, a Thing more worthy our Curiofity when we are reading Plato, this fliort View of the State of Affairs among the GrecianSy in that Age, will help us in afcertaining the Time of the Converfation, here related, between So~ crates and Hippias. But for this Inquiry we refer to our Differtaticn en the Order of the Dialogues, where we have endeavoured to fettle with feme Degree of Exadnefs the Date of them all. 5 See Philojlrat. p. 495. Ed. Olear. * Hippias is here reprcfented, as being both a Sophijl and an Ora- tor. For the better apprehending this double Charader of his, and the more fully underftanding thofe many Paflages oi Plato, where thefe Profeflions are mentioned, it may be ufeful to give a fummary Account of their Rife and Nature. The Grecian Wifdom then, or Pbilofophy, m the moft ancient Times, of which any Records are left us, included Phyficksy 3 H I P P I A S. 19 Men of the Age ; and are able to make them ample Amends by the greater Advantages, which They derive from you : then, in your Public Charadter, you are able to do Service Phyficks, Ethicks, and Politichy until the Time of Thales the Ionian ; who givii>g himfelf up wholly to the Study c>\ Nature, of her Principles and Elements, with the Caufcs of the feveral Phaenomena, became fa- mous above all the ancient Sages for Natural Knowlege; and led the Way to a Succeffion of Philofophers, from their Founder and firfl Mafter called lo'nic. Addifted thus to the Contemplation of Things remote from the Affairs of Men, Thefe all lived abflraded as much as poflible from Human Society j revealing the Secrets of Nature only to a few feled: Difciplcs, who fought them out in their Retreat, and had a Ge- nius for the fame abflrufe Inquirys, together with a Taft for the fame retired Kind of Life. As the Fame of their Wifdom fpred, the Curi- ofity of that whole Inquifitive Nation, the Grecians, was at length ex- cited. This gave Occafion to the Rife of a new Profefhon or Sedl;, very different from that of iho^ejpecu/ati'ue Sages. A Set of Men, fmitten, not with the Love of Wifdom, but of Fame and Glory, Men of great natural Abilitys, notable Induftry and Boldnefs, appeared in Greece; and affuming the Name of Sophijis, a Name hitherto highly honourable, and given only to Thofe, by whom Mankind in General were fuppokd to be made wifer, to their ancient Poets, Legillators, and the Gods themfelves, (fee our Notes on the Minos;) undertook to teach, by a fev/ Leffons and in a fliort Time, all the Parts of Philofophy to any Perfon, of whatever Kind were his Dilpofition or Turn of Mind, and of what- ever Degree the Capacity of it, fo that he was but able to pay largely for his Teaching. In the fame Age with 'Thales lived Scion the Athe- nian; who took the other Part of Philofophy to cultivate j and applying himfelf chiefly to Moral and Political Science, became fo great a Pro- ficient in thofe Studies, that he gave a new Syflem of excellent Laws to his Country. Hence arofe in Athens a Race of Politicians, ftudious of the Laws, and of the^'^rt oi Go^oernment. During this SuccefTion, thro Force -of natural Genii^s,. Good Polity, Commerce and Riches among the C 2 Athenians, 2.0 THE GREATER Service to your Country ; as a Man ' ought, who wouM raife himfelf above Contempt, and acquire Reputation among Athejiians, great Improvements were made in all the Liberal Arts : but that of Oratory flourifhed above the reft, for this Reafon j becaufe the Athenians lived under a Popular Government, where the Art of Ruling is only by Perfuafion. Eloquence then being one of the principal Means of Perfuafion, and Perfuafion the only Way to acquire and maintaia Power, All, who were ambitious of any Magiftracy or Office in the Government, ftudied to become eloquent Orators; and the Arts of Rhetorick and Polity were thus united in the fame Perfons. Accord- ingly we learn from the Attic Writers of thofe Days, that the moft po- pular Orators at Athens were appointed to EmbafiTys, to Magiftracys, to the Command of Armys, and the Supreme Adminiftration of all Civil Affairs. See particularly Ifocrates in Orat. de Pace, & Panathen, In this Dialogue we find, that the fame Spirit prevailed at Elis. Now in Men of great Abilitys the predominant Paffion is Ambition, more fre- quently than Avarice. Thofe of the Sophijls therefore, who excelled in Quicknefs of Underftanding, Compafs of Knowlege, and Ingenuity, fuch as Hippias was, added to their other Attainments the Arts of Po- pular Oratory, and by that Means got into the Management of the State. Thus much for the prefent : the Sequel and the Supplement of this fliort Hiftoiy, (o far as they are neceflary to our Purpofe, will appear on fit Occafions. 7 Socrates here unfolds the true Motives on which Hippias adled,, m his ufual fly and artful Manner ; doing always like HoracCy Omne vafer vitiiim ridenti Flaccus amico Tan git, & admijjus circum prcecordia ludit. Perf. Sat. i. /. ii6. With Touch fofme, fo tender of his Friend, He bandies every Fault winch he would mend. That the fleas d Patient with a Smile endures The playjul Hand, which tickles while it cures. Equally H 1 P P I A S. 21 among the Multitude. But, Hippias, what fort of Reafon can be given, why Thofe in former Days, who are fo high- ly famed for Wifdom, Pittacus, and Bias, and ^ Thales the Mile- Equally delicate and polite rs the Satyr of Socrates ; but vpith this Dif- ference, that the Philofopher having to do with Sophlfts, whom he knew fenfelefs to their Faults and incorrigible, drew the Smile rather- from his Audience. * 0» u[^(p\ QaA^f. Ficimis, Gryjiceiis, and Bcmbo take thefe Words to ' mean Thofe who lived in the "Time of Thales., that is, the famous co- temporary Seven, upon whom Greece had of old beftowed the Surname oiWife; of which Number were Pittacus and Bias.- But whoever reads in Plutarch, (Vit. Solon.) that all Thefe, except Thales, acquir- ed that Honour utto t^? ■EroA Accordingly in Plato's Protagoras he is called 'iTnritx.; cropcg, Hippias the Wife. On this Account it is, that Socrates, in his firO: Salute, ad- dreffes him with that Title ; the Ironical Flattery of which would have been too grofs, had not the Ears of Hippias been familiarifed to fuch a Compliment. Suidas (in ipsa voce) calls him a Philofopher as well as Sophift ; and informs us, that he had been the Difciple of Hegefidamns ; concerning v/hom, and the Philofophy which he taught, not to repeat needlefsly the fame Thing twice, we refer to our Notes on the Lcifer Hippias, 24 THE GREATER Them the Pre-eminence and '"Precedence above our Selves; in order to efcape the Envy of the Living, and for Fear of incurring th^ '' Refentment of the Dead. Socrates, ^^ Ad-literations, Ad-nomlnations, and Repetitions of the fame Word, were feme of thofe Prettinefles of Style, or Graces where they are em- ployed with Judgment, which are faid to have been invented by the Rhetorical Sophills. P/ato therefore frequently in his Dialogues, with great Propriety, puts them into the Mouths of Such Speakers. On what Occafions, and how differently from the Ufe made of them by thofe Sophiftical Orators, he introduces them into his own Style at other Times, will be obferved elfewhere. " There was a Law at Athens^ the Author of which was SoloTit or- daining f^Yi KeyBiv y.a.y.ui; rou tb^vyikotoc, not to revile the Dead : a Law made, fays Plutarch, partly from a Political Confideration, to hinder the perpetuating of Enmitys ; partly from a Motive of Juflice, which for- bids the attacking Thofe, who are not in a Capacity of defending them- felves ; and partly from a Principle of Religion, agreeably to which the Departed are to be looked on as Sacred : ««( oo-;ct/ r^g (/.ed-eg-urxg Iso^c vo- fA.i^etv. Pint, i/i Fit. Solon, p. 89. E. That this Sentiment was of much earlier Antiquity than the Age of Sole?/, appears from the following Paffage of Archilochus, cited by Cleme?is Alex. Strom. L. 6. p. 619. Ed« Sylburg. Ou yoco (inf. f. rao j i''>ioi, his ufual Term for Artift, will appear in his Dialogue named the Sopbiji ■„ where he debates that ProfefTion below the Rank of the meaneft Artificer in any ufefiil or honeft Way. '* Protagoras and his Doctrine make fo fhining a Figure in the Works of Plato, that, referring our Readers to Them for the Charader of this Sophirt, we ftiall only here obfervc, that He was the Firft who made his Difciples pay fo dearly for his Company, and fet that extrava- gant Price upon his Teaching, mentioned in Note 12. which became a Precedent to Gorgias and the other Sophvfls of the Firft Rank. For This many Authoritys may be feen, colleded by Crejhllins in Theat Rhet. p. 457. and fome by Menage in Not. ad Laert.^. 420. b. '7 Equal to 484/. j s. bd. Englip Money. '* Equal to 64/. \is. ^d. In all our Calculations we have follow^ sd the ufual Way of Computing ; In which an Ounce of the Silver . • Coia H I P P I A S. 29 brought home with me, and prefented to my Father, it ftruck. Him and my other Friends in the City with Wonder and Aftonifliment. To fay the Truth, I am incHned to think, that not any Two of the Sophifts, name which you pleafe^ taken together, have acquired (o much Money as my Self. Socrates. A fair and a notable Evidence have you produced, Hip- pias, proving not only your own Wifdom, but how wife the World too is become now a days ; and what Difference there is between the Modern Wifdom and the Ancient in Point of Excellence. '' For of thofe PredecefTors of yours there is reported great Folly, according to Your Account of Things. To Anaxagoras, for Inftance, it is faid, happened the Contrary of that lucky Fate,, which befel You. For when Great Wealth had been left him, He thi-ougli Negligence, they fay, lofl: it All : fo Coin o^ Athens h valued but at 5J. 2d. and the yf///V (Toa;^//.-/; is fuppofed equal to the Roman Denarius ; tho, as Dr. Arbuthnot ]\id'\Q\o\ii[y obrcivet,, there is Reafon to think it was of greater Value. '9 Tcov ya^ -ar^ori^uv ■are^l 'Amfayo^s;. In our Tranflation we have- omitted this lail Word ; apprehending it to have been at firft one of thofe,, fo frequently of old written on the Margin of Books by way of Expli- cation or Hluftration, and fo frequently, when thofe Books came to ba copied afterward, affumed into the Text. For, if permitted to remain,. it confounds or much difturbs the Conftrudion ; and fo- greatly puz- zled the old Tranflators, that they have feverally given thisVaffa^e four different Meanings, all of them, compared with what follows, evident- ly fpoiling the Senfe. We fhould chufe therefore to read rm ya^ -sr^a^ Ti^VV "Wi^t^ XiyZTOll K,T, X, 2 30 TH E G R EATER '^ fo filly was He with his Wifdom. And of other Ancient Sages they relate Storys of the fame Kind. A clear Proof I think therefore, This which you exhibit, in what a wife Age we live ; and what Difproportion the Wifdom of it bears to that of former Times. Many too, I know, are agreed *° That this is abfolutely Ironical, we fliould have prefumed Nobody needed to be told > had not Mr. Stanley faid, in his Hijiory of Philofo- phy, that " Plato derides Anaxagoras for quitting his Ejlate j" and in the Margin for Proof cited this Dialogue. His taking Plato in this Senfe is the more furprifing, becaufe he had jufl: before told us, that Anaxagoras was " Eminent for his 7toble Birth and ivealthy Fortunes, " but more for his magnanimous Contempt of them : " unlefs he imagined that Plato had fo little of the fame magnanimous Contempt^ as to aim at making it a Subjedl of Derifion. To judge thus, or to attribute to Plato fuch a Meaning, one would imagine belonged only to an Atbe- ncpus, or a Lucian. The Philofopher is plainly deriding the Avarice of the Sophi/ls ; and to expofe it the more, fets it in Contraft with the op- pofite Difpofition of Mind in Anaxagoras. Had the ConduB indeed of this latter been the Point in Queftion, neither Socrates nor I'lato, 'tis true, would have applauded it: (ov T\\ty io ih.tw Wifdom zd.dcv. Among the Atfic Writers si has often the Force of an Adve7-b of Interrogation, fignlfying " %vhe~ " //6^r;" like the Englijh Particle " if." This is one of the many Idioms of our Language, correfponding with thofe of the ancient Attic Greek. But this Idiom feems not to have been well known, or at leafl: not here obferved, by any of the Tranflators : for they all interpret this Part of the Sentence in a Conditional Senfe, making i\ a Conditional Con- jiin&ion. Nor does it indeed appear to have been better known to thofe old Tranfcribers of the Original, from whofe Copys are printed the Editions we have of Plato. For their Ignorance in this Point feems to have occafioned thofe Corruptions of the Text, taken Notice of in the two following Notes. *' The whole Sentence in the prefent Editions ftands thus : "iQt jxoi, u Luxpxre;, aTroKpivtzi • txvtoc. wavTot « (pji; xxXa slvcci, £i ri Bg-tv uvto tq xa- Aoy, raur' oiv iiy\ }icc\(% ; In the latter Part of this Sentence there is un- doubtedly an OmiJJion ; which we ought to fupply thus ; Al' "O raZr civ i'ivj xoiXd, as we read in the Sentence following, where Socrates repeats the Terms of the Queftion : or rather, n a. t. x. the Dative Cafe hav- ino- been ufed by Socrates jufl before, when he flated the Queftion hvi\. *- The G?rek is printed thus : 'Eyu ^e ^»j £fw, on si wu^Sevog xaXiJ, KxXov l^i Si' c tuut au el'-/] xaXci. But the Senfe evidently requires us to expunge the Word el before -sroi^dei/cg, and to read, — ort Tsra^Oevog kkXtj itxXcv \^t, K T. X. The Author of this Interpolation, no doubt, intend- ed to make this Sentence anfwer to the former ; and thus compleated the Series of Blunders, which arofe gradually from that Ignorance of the Attic Idiom, ufed in the former Sentence, of which we accufed the Tranfcribers in Note 40. This laft Blunder has been the Source of another, a mod ridiculous one, made by Aiigiijlinus Niphus, in a Latin Treatife 2 H I P P I A S. 53 Maiden is That Beautifull, to whofe Prefcnce thofe other Things owe their Beauty. HiPPI AS. '^^ Well ; and do You imagine, after This that he will ever think of refuting you ? or attempt to prove Your An- fwcr Treatife de Pukhro. His Intention, in the former Part of that Work, is to illuftrate the Greater Hippias of Plato. In Purfuance of which he thinks it incumbent on him, in the firft place, to prove the Excellence oi fome Particular Beauty ; fuch as may beft (hew, we prefume he means, the Pcrfedion of the Ideal Pattern. For this Purpofe, he po- litely and gallantly urges the following Argument, manifcftly borrowed from the Error complained of in this Note : " If the Princefs Joan of " Arragon be beautiful without a Fault, then there muft be Something " abfolutely beautiful in the Nature of Things : But None can deny the " faultlefs Beauty of the Princefs Joan : Therefore, &c." And in Proof of his laft Pofition, he gives us a long Detail of the Charms of that Princefs; fuch as, befides the Beautys of her Mind and Sweetnefs of her Manners, her Golden Locks, Blue Eyes, Dimpled Chin, (Sc. &c. &c. from Head to Foot. *5 Hippias was intirely a Stranger to the Theory of Mind, and had never thought or heard of any Univerfal Principle in Nature ; confc- quently, had no Conception of any other Beauty, than what was exter- nal, and exifted in Things Particular. Not only therefore did he mif- take the Queftion propofed by Socrates ; but every Explication, given of it afterwards, he adapted to thofe Notions, with which his Mind was pre- pofTefTed. Thus, the Charader of the Beautifull, which Socrates here de- fcribes, in order to (hew Hippias the Abfurdity of his Firfl; Definition, ferves,we find, but to confirm hiin in his Errors. It is clear therefore, that he underflood this Defcription in the Senfe of Lovers. For tho 'tis poffible he never might have felt the fweet Enthufiafm of Love, he had been a great Dabbler, we know, in Poetry; (See Plato' ^ Lefer Hip- pias ;) and Poets in all Ages have agreed in reprefenting all the natural Sentiments of Lovers almoft in the fame Manner, The Sentiment, which. 54 THEGREATER Ivver concerning the Thing Beautiful not a juft Anfwer? or if he fliould attempt it, that he would not be ridiculous ? Socrates. That he will attempt it, Friend, I am well affured : but Avhether in fo doing he will be ridiculous, will appear in the Attempt itfelf. However, I'll tell you, what He will fay. HiPPIAS. Tell me then. Socrates. How pleafant you are, Socrates ! he will fay. Is not a beautiful Mare then a Thing Beautiful ? commended as fuch even by the '^'^ Divine Oracle. What (hall we anfwer, Hip- pias ? which Hippias had in his Mind, is, with the greatefl: Propriety of the Place and of the Objedls, thus exprefled by Virgil, Phyllidis adventu nojlrce nemus omne virebit. Eel. 7. ;f. 59. At Phyllis dear Approach, through all the Grove Each 'Tree jliall deck htm in his gayejl Green. ♦+ The Oracle, here meant, is recorded at large by Jo. Tzeizes, Chil. 9. cap. 291. of which only the following Verfe relates to the prefent Subjed:. The Dames of Sparta, and the Mares of Thrace Excell amongft the Females of their Kind, Out H I P P I A S. 55 pias ? Shall we not acknowlege, that a Mare is beautiful likewife ? meaning a Beautiful Mare. For indeed how fhould we dare deny, that a Beautiful Thing is beautiful ? Hi ppi as. True, Socrates. And, no Doubt, the God rigluly gave that Commendation : for with ^' Us too there are Mares exceedingly beautiful. Socrates, Out of this the Greciam^ with a little Alteration made a Froverb, cur- rent amongfl them„ "Ittttov QitTTaXiKviVf AaKeo carried their Marcs into other Countrys, to be covered, 'Tis probable therefore, that they encouraged only the Female Breed of that Animal at Home: ef; ccially if it be true what Pliny and Servius write, thar Mares are better for a long Race. See the Annotators on Firgli, George I. 3^. 59. The Ekans were undoubtedly thus curious about the Breed,, on account of the Chariot-Races in the Olympic Games 3 which were celebrated in Their Country, and from which they derived the Advan- tage of being fuffered to enjoy a conftant Peace,, with Liberty and Honour,, It 56 THE GREATER Socrates. Very well now, will He fay : but what, is not a beau- tiful Lyre too a Thing Beautiful ? Shall we allow it, Hip- pias ? HiPPIAS. Certainly. Socrates. After This he will fay, (for with tolerable Certainty I can guefs he will, from my Knowlege of his Character;) But what think you of a beautiful '^ Soop-Pan, you Sim- pleton You ? is not That a Thing Beautiful then ? HiPPIAS. Et qnas Elis opes ante pararat eqids. Propert. L. I. El. 8. )^. 36. And by her Mnrcs, fo fleet in Race to run. The Wealth which Elis anciently had won, ^^ A negligent Reader will be apt to fuppofe, that the latter Three of thefe four Inftances of Beauty exifting in Particulars, the Maiden, the Mare, the Lyre, and the Soop-Dijli, are prefented to us by Plato, iuft as Chance offered them to his own Mind. But Plato is not fo negligent a Writer. A Reader who is attentive, tho not converfant in the Depth of thefe Divine Writings, may obferve a Gradation of Ex- cellence in thefe Four Forms : the Firft, intelligent and rational; the Second, indued with Senfe, and an iiiward Principle of Life and Mo- tion ; the Third, capable of producing Harmony, exciting the AffeBions, and influencing the Mind; the Laft, capable only oi fmple Sound, and miniftring only to Ufes of the Body. But This is far from being the Whole of what is here intended. For Plato has, in all he writes, a Meanin'^ much more deep and important. The Affair in Agitation is no lefs, than the putting us upon Inquiry, and the giving us fome Infjght, into the Sovereign Beauty, with the feveral Kinds Jubordinate. Now H I P P I A S. 57 Hip PI- AG. Who is this Man, Socrates ? I warrant, fome unman- nerly and ill-bred Fellow, to dare mention Things fo meaa and contemptible, upon a Subject fo noble and fo refped- able. Socrates. Now the Human Form, when excellent in the Kind, being by Nature the moft pleafing to Man, of all Forms external, is naturally pitched upon by Hippias, (who had no Notion of Univerfal Beauty, nor indeed of any other than Corporeal,) for the perfe5l Pattern ox jujl Standard of all Beauty : in which Senfe he at firft under/lood the Queftion. From hence Socrates takes Occafion to fuggeft, what the Catife is of this pre-eminent Beauty of the Human Form : and to infinuate, that a Fine Woman, confidered in any other View than as partaking of Reafon and Vnderjlanding, is nothing fuperior to an Irrational Animal, fuch a one as is beautiful, with Affedions mild and generous : that if, in the Con- iideration of Beauty, not only Reafon, but all inicard Principle of Har- mony and Spring of A£lion, is left out of the Queflion, let the Body be ever fo finely framed, or ever fo delicate in its Compofition, 'tis an Injirument fitted indeed to give Sounds v;hich can Jlrike the Soul or ra- tertain the Mi?id, but is nothing more ; it is like the Lyre without the Mufician : that, if even this Reference to Soul and Alind be fuppofed wanting, if there be no Finenefs of the Organs adminiflring to Senfe and Reafon, and the Beauty lye but Skin-deep, or at mofl: prefentino- an Idea oi found Fief and healthy Blood, 'tis, in the natural Order of Things, but equal to a beautiful Soop-Dif, filled with good Meat and ivell made Soop. — This Interpretation, we prefume, will be admitted without Dif- ficulty by thofe who are verfed in the Writings of the Ancient Philcfo- phers. Nothing is more common with Them, than to compare Man not governed by Reafon, in his Concupifcible Affedions, to Cattle, roTg (2o(r}c-iifA.tx.a-i, and in his Irafcible, to fVild Beafs, ro'iq '^r^aiaq. The Me- taphor of the Lyre is ufed cxadly in the fame Senfe, as it is here, by Plato in his Phado, p. 85, 86. and frequently by the Platonifts in Imi- tation of their Mafter. See in particular Porphyry, ^A(pooiA.. §. 19. Me- a taphors 58 THE GREATER Socrates. Such is the Man, Hippias ; not nice and delicate ; but a mean {habby Fellow, without Confideration or Regard for Auf^ht except This, in every Inquiry, — What is True. — The Man, however, mufl: have an Anfwer : and in order to it, I thus premife — If the Pan be made by a Good Workman, fmooth, and round, and well-baked ; like fome of our handfome Soop-Pans with two Handles, thofe which hold fix '^^ Coas, exceedingly beautiful in truth ; if he mean fuch a Pan as Thefe are, the Pan muft be confefled Beautiful. For how indeed could we deny That to be beautiful, which has real Beauty ? Hi p pi as. By no Means, Socrates. SOCRAT ES. Is not a beautiful Soop-Pan then, he will fay, a Thing Beautiful ? Anfwer. Hippias. taphors of near Affinity with that of the Pan, ^uV^a, to illuftrate the fame Thing which is here meant by it, are often ufed by the Stoicks and Thofe who borrowed from Them ; fuch as KO-Kog, ocyFewv, ^uXazog, '^i.;r,(; by way of Diminutive, ^c. The very fame Word, %urp«, in Epiclet. Ev.ch. C. 3. Edit. Upton, (but in the common Editions, Cap. 8.) has probably a Reference to the fame Metaphorical Meaning. This will make a great Propriety in the Application of the Verb g-e^ysiv there to %Lirpa, which, othcrwife, juftly feems ftrange to the late judicious Edi- tor of that Book, Dr. Simpfon. That whole Chapter receives, we think, an additional Beauty from being feen in fuch a Light. *7 According to the accurate Dr. Arbuthnot^ Computation, the At- tjc '/i; or %(3a was a Meafure containing three Quarts. So that the fine Tourenes, here mentioned, held 4 i Gallons. H I P P I A S. 59 Hipp I AS. Well then, Socrates ; My Opinion of the Cafe is this : Even this Veflel, if well and handfomely made, is a beau- tiful Thing likewife. But Nothing of this Kind deferves to be mentioned as Beautiful, when we are fpeaking of a Mare, and a Maiden, or any other Thing thus admirable for its Beauty. Socrates. So ; now I apprehend you, Hippias ; when the Man aflcs fuch a Queftion as that, we are thus, it feems, to anfwer him : — Honeft Man ! Are you ignorant how it was faid well by Heraclitus, " that the moft beautiful Ape, in Compari- " fon with the ^^ Human Kind, is a Creature far from beau- *' tiful ?" Juft fo, the moll beautiful Soop-Pan is a Thing far from beautiful in Comparifon with the Maiden -Kind ; as it is faid by Hippias the Wife. — Is it not thus, Hippias, that we muft anfwer ? H 2 Hippias. ♦' In the Greek we read aXXta yiv:i. But, that we ought to read ^v^^uTrtvu yem, there is no Occafion, we prefume, for any Arguments to prove. It will fufficiently appear from what is quoted prefently after from the fame Heraclitus. For however dark or invjlcrious his Writings might have been, as we are told they were, yet there is no Reafon to think he wrote abfurdly. But the Abfurdity was eafiiy com- mitted by the Tranfcriben of Plato ; who probably fom^times did not well underftand his Meaning, certainly were not always very atten- tive to it. For we learn from Thofe who are much converfuit with ancient Maimfcripts, that avQ^u-rru often, and KvQounivui Ibmetimes, is written in this concife manner, avu. And no Error is more common in the Editions of Greek Authors, than fuch as are occafioned by this very Abbreviation. 6o THE GREATER HiPPI A s. By all Means, Socrates : your Anfwer is perfedly right. Socrates. Mind me now : for upon This, I am well affured. He will fliy to me thus ; *' But fuppofe, Socrates, the Maiden- "■ Kind were to be fet in Comparifon with the Goddefs- " Kind ; would not the fame Accident befall the Maidens " in that Cafe, which happened to the Soop-Pans com- " pared with Them ? Would not the faireft Maiden appear " far from being beautiful ? Does not Heraclitus farther *' teach this very Doftrine, '^^ which You your felf muft needs " infer ♦9 The Greek is thus printed, ov cru lirayvj; and by all the Tranflators interpreted after this manner, " That Heraclitus, lokofe Teftimony you " cite :" as if the Word ^ct^TU^a was tacitly underftood after £7F«yy. Whether this Interpretation be agreeable to the Words o( Plato, or not; we fee it plainly repugnant to the Matter of Fadl : for it was not Hip- pias, but Socrates himfelf, who had ju(t before cited Heraclitus. Sup- pofing, however, that the Writings of this Philofopher were cited fre- quently by Hippias ; and that poffibly therefore the Meaning might be this, " Hr, ivhofe Teftimony you are ufcd to cite," yet the Alteration of theWord ov into '^O ''AN will, we prefume, to every attetitive and judici- ous Reader appear to rnake better Senfe and Reafoning. For the Say- ing of Heraclitus, which follows, as this Philofopher inferred the Truth of it, by Analogy, from his Comparifon between Apes and Men ; is no lefs a proper Inference, in the fame Way of Reafoning, from what Hippias had jufl: before admitted to be his own A4eaning, and the Amount of what he had faid concerning the Soop-Pan compared wirh a beautiful Maiden. Our learned Readers will alfo obfcrve the Cou- ftrudlion to be much eafier, and more natural, when the Sentence is read thus j "^H a kxI 'H^dKXeiTog tccvtov tvto Xfyei, o civ (Tu £7ray|i. H I P P I A S. 6i " infer to be true ; — that '° the Wifcfl of Men, compared " with a God, will appear an Ape in Wifdom and Beauty *' and every other Excellence ?" — Shall we own, Hippias, the fairefl: Maiden far from beautiful in Comparifon with a Goddefs ? Hippias. Who, Socrates, would prefume to call This in queftlon ? SoCRATE S. No fboner then fhall I have agreed with him in This, than He will laugh at me, and fay, " Do you remember, So- " crates, what Queftion you was afked?^"' I do, I fhall tell him ; it was This ; " What Kind of Thing was the Beautiful! ** its Self ?" *' When the Queftion then, he will fiy, con- *' cerned the Beautiful! its Self, your Anfwer was concern - ** ing That which happens to be far from beautiful, accord- " ing to your own Confeilion,. as beautiful as it is." " So " it 5° In tBls Quotation from HeracHtics Every one will difcern the Oi'\^ ginal of that Thought in Mr. Popes Ejfay on Man, Stiperior Beings, ivhen of late they fmv A Mortal Man unfold all Nature's Law, Admird ftich Wifdom in an Earthly Shape, Aadjkcw'd a Newton, as We JJ:ow an Ape. There is, however, we Imagine, fome Difference in the Application. For the Meaning of //('r^rZ/Vw;, \( Plato introduced him at all to the main Fiirpofe of his Dialogue, was to infinuate, that Reafonings and Rules meerly human, that is, fuch as were not true and good eternallv, were but Apifh and ridiculous Imitations of Right Reafoning and True Law, which are purely, of Divine Original. 6i THE GREATER *' it feems," — flial] I fay ? or what other Reply, my Friend, do you advife me to make him ? HiPPI AS. I think, for My Part, you muft reply in thofe very Words. ^' For, when he fays, that the Human Kind, com- pared with the Divine, is far from beautiful, without Doubt he will have the Truth on his Side. Socrates. But were I to have afked you at firjft This Queftion, will he fay, " What is beautiful, and ^* at the fame time Far from beautiful ;" and You were to have anfwered me ia the Manner you did ; would not you in that Cafe have an- fwered rightly ? And does the Beautifull then its Self, by which every Other Thing is ornamented, and looks beauti- ful, whenever this Form of Beauty fupervenes and inverts it, imparting thus the Virtue ot its Prefence, does This ftill appear to you to be a Maiden, or a Mare, or a Lyre ? HiPPIAS. 5' We intirely agree with Monf. Maucroy, in affigning the following Sentence to Hippies ; tho all the other TranQations, with the printed Editions of the Greek, attribute it to Socrates. The Error feems to have arifen from want of obferving, that the Particle kou in Plato has frequently the Force of ya,^ ; and that ku) Sy, tho oftner kuI fitv ^"1;, an- i"vvers to the Latin " enimvero!' 5* This refers to that Duplicity of the Human Soul, mentioned in Note -^4. The Pytbagoream and Platonijis, m defcribing Human Na- ture, preftnt us often witli the View of thofe two different Principles in Man at the fame time, the Dixine, and the meeriy Animal; by in- clining to (>ne or other of which he refembles either a Deity or a Brute : cxiMpia-^i.og tic, civ, fays Hterccles, koI i^siroTitig tuv vtu dufri'iioTu.'v. Cora, in A.C. ad y^. 52. bee likewifc Lord Shajtjb. vol. i. p. 184, 195. H I P P I A S. 6'^ HiPPIAS. Truly, Socrates, if This be the Queftlon which he afks, it is the eafieft thing imaginable to anfvver it ; and to tell him, What that beautiful Thing is, by which other Things are ornamented ; and which, by fupervening and inveft- ing them, makes them look beautiful. So that He muft be a very fmiple Fellow, and intirely a Stranger to Things elegant and fine. For if you only anfwer him thus, " that " the Beautifull, which He inquires after, is nothing elfe " than Gold," he will have no more to fay, nor attempt ever to refute Such an Anfwer. Becaufe None of us can be infenfible, that, wherever Gold be applied or fuperinduced, let the Thing have looked ever fo vile and fordid before, yet then it will look beautiful, when 'tis invefted or orna- mented with Gold. Socrates. You have no Experience of the Man, Hippias ; how un- yielding he is, and how hard in admitting any Afiertion. Hippias. What fignifys That, Socrates ? he muft of Necefiity ad- mit what is rightly aflerted ; or, in not admitting it, expofe himfelf to Ridicule. Socrates. And yet will He be fo far from admitting this Anfwer, wy Friend, that he will treat Me with open Derifion, and fay to me, " You that are fo puffed up with the Opinion of " your own Skill and Knowlege, do you think Phidias was a 2 '« Bad (( (( iC 64 THE GREATER *< Bad Workman ? " — And I believe I fliall anfwer, that he was far from being fo. HiPPI AS. You v/iil anfwer rightly, Socrates. Socrates. Rightly, without Difpute. But He, when I have agreed with him that Phidias was a good Workman, will fay, " Do " you imagine then, that Phidias was ignorant of That which you call the Beautifull ? " — " To what Purpofe do you afk This ? " I fhall fay. — " Becaufe Minerva's Eyes, will He reply, Phidias made not of Gold, nor yet *' the reft of her Face ; nor the Feet, nor the Hands nei- *' ther : tho flie would have looked handfomeft, it feems, " had fhe been a Golden Goddefs: but he made ^' Thefe all ** of Ivory. 'Tis evident, that he committed this Error *' thro Ignorance ; not knowing, that Gold it was, which " beautified all things, wherever it was applied." — When he talks after this Manner, what Anfwer {hall wc make him, Plippias ? HiPPIAS. 53 All the other Parts, not here mentioned, were of maflive Gold : as we coUedl from Pli?iy\ Natural Hiftory, L. 36. C. 6. compared with this Place. For the Athenian Minerva was always painted or carved with Martial Habiliments. It became a Goddefs to have Thefe made of Gold. And with equal Propriety, no Doubt, did Plidias make of Ivory the Parts fuppofcd to be left naked. The Olympian Jupiter, and This admirable Statue, the Size of which far exceeded the Human, were efteemed the Capital Works of that Great Mafter. See Plin. Hift. Nat, L. 34. C. 8. The Minerva ftood in the Ua^kvuv, or Temple of that Goddefs, at Athens. 2 H I P P I A S. 65 HiPPIAS. There Is no Difficulty at all in the Matter. We fliall an- fwer, " Phidias was in the Right ; for Things made of " Ivory are alfo, as I prefume, Beautiful." Socrates. " What was the Reafon then, will He fay, why Phidias " made not the Pupil of the Eyes out of Ivory, but '* out <* of Stone rather ? chufing for that Purpofe fuch Stone, as " [in Colour] moft refembled Ivory. Is a beautiful Stone " then a Thing beautiful too ?" — Shall we admit it fo to be, Hippias ? HiPPIAS. We will ; in a Place where the Stone is Becoming. Socrates. But where it is Unbecoming, fhall I allow it to be Un- handfome, or not ? Hippias. Allow it ; where the Stone becomes not the Place. Socrates. 5* This feems to have been very judicious in the Statuary. For Stone^ not being fo fmooth in itfelf, nor capable of fo high a Polilh as Ivory, ab- forbs the Rays of Light more; and confequently, we fliould imagine, muft give the Pupils of the Eyes, amidft the Ivory round them, a Look lefs flat and dead, and more refembling Life. The Words in the Pa- renthefis we have added by way of Explanation. But the whole of this Note we fubmit to the Judgment of thofe excellent Statuarvs anion o- Us, who in After-times will be deemed to have done the Prefent Age fo much Honour. 66 THE GREATER Socrates. " Well now; and is it not the Same with Ivory and Gold, " You Wife Man you ? " will He fay. " Do not Thefe, " where they are Becoming, make Things appear Hand- " feme ; but far otherwife, where they are Unbecoming ?" Shall we deny this, or acknowlege the Man to be in the Right ? Hipp IAS. We mull acknowlege This, that Whatever is Becoming to any thing, makes it appear Handfome. Socrates. Upon this. He will fay thus : " When that fine Soop-Pan *' then,which we have been fpeaking of, is fet upon the Stove, *' full of " excellent Soop ; whether is a Golden Spoon the " moft becoming and proper for it, or a Sycamore Spoon ? '* HiPPIAS. Hercules ! What a flrange Sort of Man, Socrates, is He whom you are talking of 1 Will you not tell me, Who he is ? Socrates. 5? The fine compound Scops of the Athejiians, to prevent fpoihng the Contexture of Some of the Ingredients, and confounding the Order of Others, were, many of them, ferved up to Table in the very Stew- in'y-Pans, in which they were made. See Arifloph. Eq. hdi. 4. Sc. i. Athcnceiis, L. 9. pag, 406. and Cafaubon. in Athen. pag. 693. For this Reafon that elegant People was very curious about the Beauty of thefe Pans or DiQies. The Matter of them feems to have been a Kind of Porcelain, and the Form not unlike our Tourenes. If the Curiofity of any of our Readers fhould lead them to inquire into the Compofitioii of thefe Soops, they may fotisfy it in fome meafure by booking into Athe-^ naus, and Apicius Ca-Iius, L. 5. C. 3. H I P P I A S. (^^ SOCRAT E3. Should I tell you his Name, You would not know him. H I P P I A s . But I know already, that he is fome ignorant filly Fellow. SOCRATE s. He is a very troublefome Queftioner indeed, Hippias. But however, what fLall We anfwer ? Which of the two Spoons fhall we fay is moft becoming and proper for the Soop and for the Pan ? Is it not clearly the '" Syca- more Spoon ? For This gives a better Scent and Flavour to the Soop ; and at the fame time, my Friend, it would not break the Pan, and fpill the Soop, and put out the Fire, and when the Guefts were come prepared for feafting, rob I 2 them ^^ In the Greek o-vkivii. But that we ought to read crvx.a[/,fy7;, there is great Reafon to fufpefl. For the Wood of the Fig-Tree was found lb unfit a Material in the making any domeflic Utenfils, &c. that the Gfr- a'afis in common Speech metaphorically called whatever was ufelefs, (TWivov, a Fig^Tree Things This or That. Upon which Account Horace gives that Wood the Epithet of " Inutile," L. i. Sat. 8. — Whereas the Wood of the Sycamore-Tree, (ruKa,iA..vo;, is by Theophrajhts faid to be |u'Aov — sr^og Ts-oXXa. x^W'l^ov, Htft. Flant. L. 4. C. 2 Not to infill on the extream Bitternefs of Fig-Tree -Wood to the Taft ; and the Offcn- •fivenefs'of its Smoak, when burning, beyond that of any other Tree : (fee Plutarch, vol, 2* p. 684.) Qualitys, which feem to indicate the Scent and Flavour of it not to be very agreeable. The Alteration of this Word is eafily accounted for. The c-jy.xfMvo-, or a-VKouooog, being the fame with the a-vz^ AlyvTrjix, 'tis probable that the ^-ilrx- i.- c: H z o *JliI!iiliii'iililiJii' .'iipiiii! »i