Name: Fragments and Testimonia
Author: Hermodorus of Syracuse

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These fragments and testimonia concern Hermodorus of Syracuse, a pupil of Plato in the fourth century BC. His writings, including a work on Plato and one On Mathematics, are lost and survive only in quotations and reports by later authors such as Diogenes Laertius, Simplicius, Philodemus and Cicero. The set includes reports from his book on Plato and the proverb that Hermodorus traded in Plato's dialogues by taking them to Sicily for sale.

Hermodorus is one of the earliest witnesses to Plato's life and teaching. His account of Plato's move to Megara after Socrates' death, his date for Zoroaster, and a long passage, preserved through Dercyllides, Porphyry and Simplicius, on Plato's view of matter as the great and small make him important for the early history of the Academy.

About this edition. The Greek text comes from the Eulogikon open corpus of public-domain editions (standard reference: Isnardi Parente, Senocrate–Ermodoro (1982), Hermodorus 1–9). Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).

Ancient Greek · Philosophy

Fragments and Testimonia

Hermodorus of Syracuse · every word parsed

1
Ἑρ μ[όδ]ωρος Συρακόσιος ὁ καὶ πε ρὶ α[ὐ]τοῦ γράψας καὶ τοὺς λό γους εἰς Σικελίαν [μετ]αφέ [ρω]ν. 
Hoc ne Hermodorus quidem faciebat, is qui Platonis libros solitus est divulgare, ex quo ʼλόγοισιν Ἑρμόδωροσʼ. 
Λόγοισιν Ἑρμόδωρος ἐμπορεύεται: ὁ Ἑρμόδωρος, ἀκροατὴς γενόμενος Πλάτωνι, τοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ συντεθειμένους λόγους κομίζων εἰς Σικελίαν ἐπώλει. 
πρὸς τοῦτόν φησιν ὁ Ἑρμόδωρος ἀφικέσθαι Πλάτωνα καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς φιλοσόφους μετὰ τὴν Σωκράτους τελευτήν, δείσαντες τὴν ὠμότητα τῶν τυράννων. 
5
εἶτα γενόμενος ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐτῶν, καθά φησιν Ἑρμόδωρος, εἰς Μέγαρα πρὸς Εὐκλείδην σὺν καὶ ἄλλοις τισὶ Σωκρατικοῖς ὑπεχώρησεν. 
Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν Μάγων, ὧν ἄρξαι Ζωροάστρην τὸν Πέρσην, Ἑρμόδωρος μὲν ὁ Πλατωνικὸς ἐν τῷ Περὶ μαθημάτων φησὶν εἰς τὴν Τροίας ἅλωσιν ἔτη γεγονέναι πεντακισχίλια. 
ἐπειδὴ πολλαχοῦ μέμνηται τοῦ Πλάτωνος ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης ὡς τὴν ὕλην μέγα καὶ μικρὸν λέγοντος, ἰστέον ὅτι ὁ Πορφύριος ἱστορεῖ τὸν Δερκυλλίδην ἐν τῷ ιαʹ τῆς Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφίας, ἔνθα περὶ ὕλης ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον, Ἑρμοδώρου τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἑταίρου λέξιν παραγράφειν ἐκ τῆς περὶ Πλάτωνος αὐτοῦ συγγραφῆς, ἐξ ἧς δηλοῦται ὅτι τὴν ὕλην ὁ Πλάτων κατὰ τὸ ἄπειρον καὶ ἀόριστον ὑποτιθέμενος ἀπʼ ἐκείνων αὐτὴν ἐδήλου τῶν τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον ἐπιδεχομένων, ὧν καὶ τὸ μέγα καὶ τὸ μικρόν ἐστιν. εἰπὼν γὰρ ὅτι “τῶν ὄντων τὰ μὲν καθʼ αὑτὰ εἶναι λέγειν, ὡς ἄνθρωπον καὶ ἵππον, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἕτερα, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ὡς πρὸς ἐναντία, ὡς ἀγαθὸν κακῷ, τὰ δὲ ὡς πρός τι, καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν ὡς ὡρισμένα, τὰ δὲ ὡς ἀόριστα” ἐπάγει· “καὶ τὰ μὲν ὡς μέγα πρὸς μικρὸν λεγόμενα πάντα ἔχειν τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον· ἔστι 〈γὰρ〉 μᾶλλον εἶναι μεῖζον καὶ ἔλαττον εἰς ἄπειρον φερόμενα· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ πλατύτερον καὶ στενότερον καὶ βαρύτερον καὶ κουφότερον καὶ πάντα τὰ οὕτως λεγόμενα εἰς ἄπειρον οἰσθήσεται. τὰ δὲ ὡς τὸ ἴσον καὶ τὸ μένον καὶ τὸ ἡρμοσμένον λεγόμενα οὐκ ἔχειν τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον, τὰ δὲ ἐναντία τούτων ἔχειν. ἔστι γὰρ μᾶλλον ἄνισον ἀνίσου καὶ κινούμενον κινουμένου καὶ ἀνάρμοστον ἀναρμόστου, ὥστε αὐτῶν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν συζυγιῶν πάντα πλὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς στοιχείου τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ τὸ ἧττον δέδεκται. ὥστε ἄστατον καὶ ἄμορφον καὶ ἄπειρον καὶ οὐκ ὂν τὸ τοιοῦτον λέγεσθαι κατὰ ἀπόφασιν τοῦ ὄντος. τῷ τοιούτῳ δὲ οὐ προσήκειν οὔτε ἀρχῆς οὔτε οὐσίας, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀκρισίᾳ τινὶ φέρεσθαι … ”. 
ὅτι δὲ ὡς πρώτην αὐτὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἀξιοῖ λέγειν, ἐδήλωσεν Ἑρμόδωρος ὁ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἑταῖρος ἐν τῷ περὶ Πλάτωνος βιβλίῳ τὰ δοκοῦντα τῷ Πλάτωνι ἔν τε τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ περὶ τῆς ὕλης γράφων, ὡς ὁ Δερκυλλίδης ἱστόρησε. τὸ δὲ συμπέρασμα ἐγὼ τῶν εἰρημένων παραθήσομαι· “ὥστε ἄστατον καὶ ἄμορφον καὶ ἄπειρον καὶ οὐκ ὂν τὸ τοιοῦτον λέγεσθαι, κατὰ ἀπόφασιν τοῦ ὄντος. τῷ τοιούτῳ δὲ οὐ προσήκει οὔτε ἀρχῆς οὔτε οὐσίας. ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀκρισίᾳ τινὶ φέρεσθαι, δηλοῖ γὰρ ὡς ὃν τρόπον τὸ αἴτιον κυρίως καὶ διαφέρον τρόπῳ τὸ ποιοῦν ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ ἀρχή. ἡ δὲ ὕλη οὐκ ἀρχή. ὃ καὶ τοῖς περὶ Πλάτωνα ἐλέγετο μία ὅτι εἴη ἀρχή.” 
9*
ἅμως γέπως καὶ ὁ Ἑρμόδωρος ἄδικον ἀμφισβήτησιν ἀνατελλομένην φησίν, οὔτε δικαίᾳ κρίσει οὔθʼ ὅπλοις τέλους τετυχυῖαν, παρʼ ἐκείνοις ἀδελφοῖς, ὧν ἕτερος μὲν ἀπὸ πατρὸς ἕτερος δὲ ἀπὸ μητρὸς προσεποίει τὴν εὐγένειαν. τελευταῖος δὲ ἅλις δηλοῖ, ὡς οὐκ ἀποδεχόμενος τὸν λόγον τὸν ταῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ κακίαις τὴν εὐγένειαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ γένους ἀμαυρότητα διορίζοντα, ὅτι πέφυκε μὲν ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἀνθρώπου, τοὺς δʼ ὅμως διακρίνεσθαι. εἰ δὲ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωποι φυόμενοι διὰ τοῦτο ἰσότιμοι καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ἀριθμῷ καταλεκτέοι, οὐδʼ ὁ ἐξοχώτατος ἀρετῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ κακίστου καὶ ἀσελγεστάτου διαφέρων ἂν ἦν. τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ φύσις θαμὰ ἀποδοῦναι ἐπιθυμεῖ, θαμὰ δʼ ἐμποδίζεται ἀποτυγχάνουσα τῆς ἀποτελειώσεως. 

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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Liddell, Scott & Jones (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: odyCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.