[987b]
is clearly a sign of witlessness; and as to their having got no names, the cause of it should be stated as we have done. For indeed they have received titles of gods: thus, that Lucifer, or Hesperus（which is the same）, should almost belong to Aphrodite,1 is reasonable, and quite befitting a Syrian lawgiver2; and that that which follows the same course as the sun and this3 together should almost belong to Hermes.4 Let us also note three motions of bodies5 travelling to the right with the moon and the sun. One must be mentioned, the eighth,6 which we may especially address as the world-order, and which travels in opposition to the whole company of the others, not impelling them, as might appear to mankind in the scant knowledge that they have of these matters. But we are bound to state,
This text is part of:
1 Lucifer, or Hesperus, may for its beauty be connected with Aphrodite（and so got the further name of Venus）.
2 The cult of Aphrodite flourished among all the eastern peoples.
3 Venus.
4 Hermes being the god of escort or attendance.
6 Here, after the sun, moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, we return to the sphere of the fixed stars（mentioned as the“third power”in 986 B）.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925.
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