Abstract

This famous sentence, which opens the address of the Demiurge to the created gods, has puzzled commentators both ancient and modern. We must, I think, agree with Taylor and Cornford, who both discuss it at length, that no sense can be got out of θεọ θεν taken together, i.e. with a comma after θεν: I need notreproduce their arguments on this point. Accordingly they punctuate after θεọ. Taylor, however, thinks that even so the sentence cannot be translated, and accepts Badham's proposal to read ộδων in place of θεν ν. He then takes ộδων πγων as an instance of ‘inverse relative attraction’ and translates ‘Ye gods, works whereof I am maker and father, seeing they were fashioned by my hands, are indissoluble without my consent’. Cornford objects to ộδων on the grounds that it creates an objectionable hiatus between the first two words , and also that it destroys what he finds to be the dominant rhythm of the whole speech, and particularly of this first sentence. That rhythm is Cretic: θεọ θεν ν ẻγ δημωνπγς πατπ πγων: which he compares the famous opening of the De Corona τος θεος εχομα πδ κα πδς. I am, however, doubtful about the cogency of this argument from rhythm, as I have noticed a number of places in the dialogue where a similar rhythm occurs to all appearance naturally: 58 A κα ππς ατν πεφνκνα βολεδθα. 66 C δ κα ποδφλς παντ πν. 70 A τν τε δ καπδαν μμτων. 77 A τς γπ νθπωπνης δνγγεν 81 δγκλεν ατν ππς λληλα κκτηα