Dialogue with Trypho 1.2

Summary: Trypho explains that he was taught to seek conversation with philosophers.

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Greek text · Archambault

Ὁ δέ· Ἐδιδάχθην ἐν Ἄργει, φησίν, ὑπὸ Κορίνθου τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ καταφρονεῖν οὐδὲ ἀμελεῖν τῶν περικειμένων τόδε τὸ σχῆμα, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παντὸς φιλοφρονεῖσθαι προσομιλεῖν τε αὐτοῖς, εἴ τι ὄφελος ἐκ τῆς συνουσίας γένοιτο ἢ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ ἢ ἐμοί. Ἀμφοτέροις δὲ ἀγαθόν ἐστι, κἂν θάτερος ᾖ ὠφελημένος. Τούτου οὖν χάριν, ὅταν ἴδω τινὰ ἐν τοιούτῳ σχήματι, ἀσμένως αὐτῷ προσέρχομαι, σέ τε κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἡδέως νῦν προσεῖπον, οὗτοί τε συνεφέπονταί μοι, προσδοκῶντες καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκούσεσθαί τι χρηστὸν ἐκ σοῦ.

English · Claude translation

And he said, “I was taught at Argos by Corinthus the Socratic that one should not despise or neglect those who wear this dress, but should show them every kindness and converse with them, in case some benefit might come from the conversation, either to him or to me. And it is good for both, even if only one of them is benefited. For this reason, whenever I see anyone in such a dress, I gladly approach him; and so I have now gladly addressed you, and these men follow me, expecting themselves to hear something useful from you.”

About this passage

Source
Archambault · Georges Archambault, ed., Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon, 2 vols., Textes et documents pour l'étude historique du christianisme 8, 11 (Paris: Picard, 1909) · Greek text: G. Archambault, Justin: Dialogue avec Tryphon (Paris, 1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Archambault. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Archambault (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Notes

Translation notes

  • “This dress” (τόδε τὸ σχῆμα): the philosopher's cloak (pallium), which Justin kept wearing as a Christian.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Archambault's printed text (wrong breathing)): ὲν τοιούτῳ → ἐν τοιούτῳ.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1/2/).

Plain text
Justin, Dial. 1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/1/2/).

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