Dialogue with Trypho 2.6 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Archambault 1:10–12

Ἐν ἀμηχανίᾳ δέ μου ὄντος ἔδοξέ μοι καὶ τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς ἐντυχεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἦν κλέος. Καὶ δὴ νεωστὶ ἐπιδημήσαντι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει συνετῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ προὔχοντι ἐν τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς συνδιέτριβον ὡς τὰ μάλιστα, καὶ προέκοπτον καὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπεδίδουν. Καί με ᾕρει σφόδρα ἡ τῶν ἀσωμάτων νόησις, καὶ ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἰδεῶν· ἀνεπτέρου μοι τὴν φρόνησιν, ὀλίγου τε ἐντὸς χρόνου ᾤμην σοφὸς γεγονέναι, καὶ ὑπὸ βλακείας ἤλπιζον αὐτίκα κατόψεσθαι τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο γὰρ τέλος τῆς Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφίας.

English · Claude translation

While I was at a loss, I decided to try the Platonists too; for their fame was great. And indeed I spent as much time as I could with an intelligent man, who had lately come to our city and was preeminent among the Platonists, and I made progress and advanced more every day. The contemplation of incorporeal things greatly captivated me, and the vision of the Forms gave wings to my mind; and in a short time I thought I had become wise, and in my folly I hoped at once to see God; for this is the goal of Plato's philosophy.

About this passage

Source

Archambault 1:10–12 · 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)

Extrabiblical texts

Plato, Phaedr. 246–249 (Plato (works)) · echo, medium confidence

Notes

Translation notes

“Gave wings to my mind”: an echo of Plato, Phaedrus 246–249.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (damaged spot in the digital text; restored from the sense): πολ(??) → πολὺ.

Cite this passage

Justin, Dial. 2.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/2/6/).

Plain text

Justin, Dial. 2.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-dialogue/2/6/).