# ΕΝ ΟΙΔΑ ΟΤΙ ΟΥΔΕΝ ΟΙΔΑ



## nickel (Sep 29, 2008)

*Ἓν οἶδα, ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα.*
(Στα αγγλικά:
All I know is that I know nothing
ή
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.)

Πήρα ένα αγχωμένο μήνυμα από φίλο του φόρουμ, που με έστελνε να κοιτάξω αυτό το I know that I know nothing της Wikipedia.

Το διάβασα και έμεινα κι εγώ με την απορία: τι θέλει να πει ο συντάκτης της σελίδας;

Να σας πω τι ξέρω εγώ και συμπληρώστε τα κενά.

Ο Σωκράτης δεν το είπε αυτό το «εν οίδα» με αυτά τα λόγια. Το είπε κάποιος άλλος (εγώ δεν ξέρω ποιος) και το βάσισε στον Διογένη Λαέρτιο, που στο _Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων_ γράφει (2,32): 
ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ προσημαίνειν τὸ δαιμόνιον τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῷ· τό τε εὖ ἄρχεσθαι μικρὸν μὲν μὴ εἶναι, παρὰ μικρὸν δέ· *καὶ εἰδέναι μὲν μηδὲν πλὴν αὐτὸ τοῦτο* [εἰδέναι].

δηλαδή (σε μια ξένη γλώσσα που καταλαβαίνω):
He used also to say that the daemon foretold the future to him; and that to begin well was not a trifling thing, but yet not far from a trifling thing; *and that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance*.

Στην Απολογία (21), κάπως αλλιώς τα λέει. Μεταφέρω πλήρες απόσπασμα επειδή έχει ενδιαφέρον.

καὶ ἴστε δὴ οἷος ἦν Χαιρεφῶν, ὡς σφοδρὸς ἐφ' ὅτι ὁρμήσειεν. καὶ δή ποτε καὶ εἰς Δελφοὺς ἐλθὼν ἐτόλμησε τοῦτο μαντεύσασθαι – καί, ὅπερ λέγω, μὴ θορυβεῖτε, ὦ ἄνδρες – ἤρετο γὰρ δὴ εἴ τις ἐμοῦ εἴη σοφώτερος. ἀνεῖλεν οὖν ἡ Πυθία μηδένα σοφώτερον εἶναι. καὶ τούτων πέρι ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῖν αὐτοῦ οὑτοσὶ μαρτυρήσει, ἐπειδὴ ἐκεῖνος τετελεύτηκεν. 
Σκέψασθε δὴ ὧν ἕνεκα ταῦτα λέγω· μέλλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς διδάξειν ὅθεν μοι ἡ διαβολὴ γέγονεν. ταῦτα γὰρ ἐγὼ ἀκούσας ἐνεθυμούμην οὑτωσί· “Τί ποτε λέγει ὁ θεός, καὶ τί ποτε αἰνίττεται; ἐγὼ γὰρ δὴ οὔτε μέγα οὔτε σμικρὸν σύνοιδα ἐμαυτῷ σοφὸς ὤν· τί οὖν ποτε λέγει φάσκων ἐμὲ σοφώτατον εἶναι; οὐ γὰρ δήπου ψεύδεταί γε· οὐ γὰρ θέμις αὐτῷ.” καὶ πολὺν μὲν χρόνον ἠπόρουν τί ποτε λέγει· ἔπειτα μόγις πάνυ ἐπὶ ζήτησιν αὐτοῦ τοιαύτην τινὰ ἐτραπόμην. ἦλθον ἐπί τινα τῶν δοκούντων σοφῶν εἶναι, ὡς ἐνταῦθα εἴπερ που ἐλέγξων τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ ἀποφανῶν τῷ χρησμῷ ὅτι “Οὑτοσὶ ἐμοῦ σοφώτερός ἐστι, σὺ δ' ἐμὲ ἔφησθα.” διασκοπῶν οὖν τοῦτον – ὀνόματι γὰρ οὐδὲν δέομαι λέγειν, ἦν δέ τις τῶν πολιτικῶν πρὸς ὃν ἐγὼ σκοπῶν τοιοῦτόν τι ἔπαθον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ διαλεγόμενος αὐτῷ – ἔδοξέ μοι οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ δοκεῖν μὲν εἶναι σοφὸς ἄλλοις τε πολλοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ μάλιστα ἑαυτῷ, εἶναι δ' οὔ· κἄπειτα ἐπειρώμην αὐτῷ δεικνύναι ὅτι οἴοιτο μὲν εἶναι σοφός, εἴη δ' οὔ. ἐντεῦθεν οὖν τούτῳ τε ἀπηχθόμην καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν παρόντων· πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν δ' οὖν ἀπιὼν ἐλογιζόμην ὅτι τούτου μὲν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐγὼ σοφώτερός εἰμι· κινδυνεύει μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐδέτερος οὐδὲν καλὸν κἀγαθὸν εἰδέναι, ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν οἴεταί τι εἰδέναι οὐκ εἰδώς, ἐγὼ δέ, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ οἶδα, οὐδὲ οἴομαι· ἔοικα γοῦν τούτου γε σμικρῷ τινι αὐτῷ τούτῳ σοφώτερος εἶναι, ὅτι *ἃ μὴ οἶδα οὐδὲ οἴομαι εἰδέναι*. ἐντεῦθεν ἐπ' ἄλλον ᾖα τῶν ἐκείνου δοκούντων σοφωτέρων εἶναι καί μοι ταὐτὰ ταῦτα ἔδοξε, καὶ ἐνταῦθα κἀκείνῳ καὶ ἄλλοις πολλοῖς ἀπηχθόμην. 

(Μετάφραση)
Well, Chaerephon, as you know, was very impetuous in all his doings, and he went to Delphi and boldly asked the oracle to tell him whether--as I was saying, I must beg you not to interrupt--he asked the oracle to tell him whether anyone was wiser than I was, and the Pythian prophetess answered, that there was no man wiser. Chaerephon is dead himself; but his brother, who is in court, will confirm the truth of what I am saying.
Why do I mention this? Because I am going to explain to you why I have such an evil name. When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? and what is the interpretation of his riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great. What then can he mean when he says that I am the wisest of men? And yet he is a god, and cannot lie; that would be against his nature. After long consideration, I thought of a method of trying the question. I reflected that if I could only find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god with a refutation in my hand. I should say to him, 'Here is a man who is wiser than I am; but you said that I was the wisest.' Accordingly I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him--his name I need not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination--and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is,-- for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him. Then I went to another who had still higher pretensions to wisdom, and my conclusion was exactly the same. Whereupon I made another enemy of him, and of many others besides him.

«Αυτά που δεν ξέρω δεν νομίζω ότι τα ξέρω» λέει το έντονο.

Τώρα, το αρχαίο στη σελίδα της Wikipedia, Οἶδα οὐκ εἰδώς, δεν είναι από τους δικούς μας. Ψυλλιάζομαι ότι είναι φτιαχτή μετάφραση του λατινικού Scio me nihil scire, βασισμένο στο υπογραμμισμένο, ενώ το απόσπασμα σε τούτη τη σελίδα μάλλον παραδείγματα για ασκήσεις είναι.

Μπορείτε να μου λύσετε τις απορίες; Και ενδεχομένως να διορθώσει κάποιος τη σελίδα της Wikipedia; Ακόμα και το «Ἓν οἶδα», λάθος το έχει.


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## Tipoukeitos (Sep 29, 2008)

Κάποια ψυχή έκανε ήδη τις βασικές διορθώσεις στη σελίδα της Wikipedia. Πράγματι, το _οἶδα οὐκ εἰδώς_ σημαίνει «ξέρω ότι δεν ξέρω». Η σωστή μετάφραση του scio me nihil scire είναι _οἶδα οὐδὲν εἰδώς_ (η μετάφραση που δίνει τώρα η Wikipedia) ή ακόμα καλύτερα _σύνοιδα ἐμαυτῷ οὐδὲν εἰδότι_.


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## Bill (Sep 29, 2008)

Nick, I think you must be absolutely right that the likeliest source for this is a Latin original. I'm surprised that's not been suggested before. Or am I? Personally, I pledge never again to make casual references to Diog. Laert. 2.32.
As for ἓν οἶδα, it must be a translation of the perfectly common and colloquial Latin expression _unum hoc scio_ (or _hoc unum scio_), which means nothing more or less than "I know for sure." Rummaging (googling) through Latin texts, I find it frequently in authors from Terence to Erasmus.
By the way, the translations on that Wikipedia page are execrable, aren't they?


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## nickel (Sep 30, 2008)

That entire page needs a rewrite, but I am not up to it. I don't even know the technicalities of the Wiki.


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