Art is prophetic | Forum
Tham: Qvorsvm ista?
Soc: Nempe ob candem cavsam nihil ipse scripsi.
Tham: Fortasse, et qvis tv?
Soc: Socrates ille, sapientissimus Apolline teste ivdicatvs.
Weirdly enough my Translator recognizes Latin script with the U as V. Not expecting that. I know it was used in English that way until the W, but surprising anyway. So I'll do the work for the other 8 people that will read this.
"However, let me try the truth... I have heard, O Thame, from the elders, and they themselves know the truth, that there was a sort of ancient god near Naucrat in Egypt, and the name of the god themselves was Theutatus, to whom the bird which they call there is sacred. But then he, the king of all Egypt, had discussed with him much the same way on both sides about some of his discoveries: he had previously been twenty-five years old in regard to letters, but he had proved by no means that men trust letters and study little by memory."
Tham: What is that?
Soc: Of course, for some reason I wrote nothing myself.
Tham: Perhaps, and who are you?
Soc: That Socrates, the wisest judged by the witness of Apollo.
"Cvi et sacra avis qvam ibim vocant" means "And to whom the bird, which they call the Ibis, is sacred."
Socrates tells Thamus that he has heard that Thoth of Egypt had invented letters and writing. He expresses concern that those who depend on writing become forgetful and possess a weak memory.
