Dialogues

Poseidon; the ε was probably inserted as an ornament. Yet, perhaps, not so; but the name may have been originally written with a double λ and not with a σ, meaning that the God knew many things (πολλὰ εἰδώς). And perhaps also he being the shaker of the earth, has been named from shaking (σείειν), and then π and δ have been added. Pluto gives wealth (πλοῦτος), and his name means the giver of wealth, which comes out of the earth beneath. People in general appear to imagine that the term Hades is connected with the invisible (ἀειδὲς) and so they are led by their fears to call the God Pluto instead. Hermogenes And what is the true derivation? Socrates In spite of the mistakes which are made about the power of this deity, and the foolish fears which people have of him, such as the fear of always being with him after death, and of the soul denuded of the body going to him,34 my belief is that all is quite consistent, and that the office and name of the God really correspond. Hermogenes Why, how is that? Socrates I will tell you my own opinion; but first, I should like to ask you which chain does any animal feel to be the stronger? and which confines him more to the same spot⁠—desire or necessity? Hermogenes Desire, Socrates, is stronger far. Socrates And do you not think that many a one would escape from Hades, if he did not bind those who depart to him by the strongest of chains? Hermogenes Assuredly they would. Socrates And if by the greatest of chains, then by some desire, as I should certainly infer, and not by necessity? Hermogenes That is clear. Socrates And there are many desires? Hermogenes Yes. Socrates And therefore by the greatest desire, if the chain is to be the greatest? Hermogenes Yes. Socrates And is any desire stronger than the thought that you will be made better by associating with another? Hermogenes Certainly not. Socrates And is not that the reason, Hermogenes, why no one, who has been to him, is willing to come back to us? Even the Sirens, like all the rest of the world, have been laid under his spells. Such a charm, as I imagine, is the God able to infuse into his words. And, according to this view, he is the perfect and accomplished Sophist, and the great benefactor of the inhabitants of the other world; and even to us who are upon earth he sends from below exceeding blessings. For he has much more than he wants down there; wherefore he is called Pluto (or the rich). Note also, that he will have nothing to do with men while they are in the body, but only when the soul is liberated from the desires and evils of the body. Now there is a great deal of philosophy and reflection in that; for in their liberated state he can bind them with the desire of virtue, but while they are flustered and maddened by the body, not even father Cronos himself would suffice to keep them with him in his own far-famed chains. Hermogenes There is a deal of truth in what you say. Socrates Yes, Hermogenes, and the legislator called him Hades, not from the unseen (ἀειδὲς)⁠—far otherwise, but from his knowledge (εὶδέναι) of all noble things. Hermogenes Very good; and what do we say of Demeter, and Here, and Apollo, and Athene, and Hephaestus, and Ares, and the other deities? Socrates Demeter is ἡ διδοῦσα μήτηρ, who gives food like a mother; Here is the lovely one (ἐρατὴ)⁠—for Zeus, according to tradition, loved and married her; possibly also the name may have been given when the legislator was thinking of the heavens, and may be only a disguise of the air (ἀὴρ), putting the end in the place of the beginning. You will recognize the truth of this if you repeat the letters of Here several times over. People dread the name of Pherephatta as they dread the name of Apollo⁠—and with as little reason; the fear, if I am not mistaken, only arises from their ignorance of the nature of names. But they go changing the name into Phersephone, and they are terrified at this; whereas the new name means only that the Goddess is wise (σοφή); for seeing that all things in the world are in motion (φερομένων), that principle which embraces and touches and is able to follow them, is wisdom. And therefore the Goddess may be truly called Pherepaphe (Φερεπάφα), or some name like it, because she touches that which is in motion (τοῦ φερομένου ἐφαπτομένη), herein showing her wisdom. And Hades, who is wise, consorts with her, because she is wise. They alter her name into Pherephatta nowadays, because the present generation care for euphony more than truth. There is the other name, Apollo, which, as I was saying, is generally supposed to have some terrible signification. Have you remarked this fact? Hermogenes To be sure I have, and what you say is true. Socrates But the name, in my opinion, is really most expressive of the power of the God. Hermogenes How so? Socrates I will endeavour to explain, for I do not believe that any single name could have been better adapted to express the attributes of the God, embracing and in a manner signifying all four of them⁠—music, and prophecy, and medicine, and archery. Hermogenes That must be a strange name, and I should like to hear the explanation. Socrates Say rather an harmonious name, as beseems the God of Harmony. In the first place, the purgations and purifications which doctors and diviners use, and their fumigations with drugs magical or medicinal, as well as their washings and lustral sprinklings, have all one and the same object, which is to make a man pure