 
>1< | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 CHARMIDES, OR TEMPERANCE
by Plato
380 BC
translated by Benjamin Jowett
New York, C. Scribner's Sons, [1871]
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: SOCRATES, who is the narrator; CHARMIDES;
CHAEREPHON; CRITIAS. Scene: The Palaestra of Taureas, which is near
the Porch of the King Archon.
Yesterday evening I returned from the army at Potidaea, and having
been a good while away, I thought that I should like to go and look at
my old haunts. So I went into the palaestra of Taureas, which is
over against the temple adjoining the porch of the King Archon, and
there I found a number of persons, most of whom I knew, but not all.
My visit was unexpected, and no sooner did they see me entering than
they saluted me from afar on all sides; and Chaerephon, who is a
kind of madman, started up and ran to me, seizing my hand, and saying,
How did you escape, Socrates?-(I should explain that an engagement had
taken place at Potidaea not long before we came away, of which the
news had only just reached Athens.)
You see, I replied, that here I am.
There was a report, he said, that the engagement was very severe,
and that many of our acquaintance had fallen.
That, I replied, was not far from the truth.
I suppose, he said, that you were present.
I was.
Then sit down, and tell us the whole story, which as yet we have
only heard imperfectly.
I took the place which he assigned to me, by the side of Critias the
son of Callaeschrus, and when I had saluted him and the rest of the
company, I told them the news from the army, and answered their
several enquiries.
Then, when there had been enough of this, I, in my turn, began to
make enquiries about matters at home-about the present state of
philosophy, and about the youth. I asked whether any of them were
remarkable for wisdom or beauty, or both. Critias, glancing at the
door, invited my attention to some youths who were coming in, and
talking noisily to one another, followed by a crowd. Of the
beauties, Socrates, he said, I fancy that you will soon be able to
form a judgment. For those who are just entering are the advanced
guard of the great beauty, as he is thought to be, of the day, and
he is likely to be not far off himself.
Who is he, I said; and who is his father?
Charmides, he replied, is his name; he is my cousin, and the son
of my uncle Glaucon: I rather think that you know him too, although he
was not grown up at the time of your departure.
Certainly, I know him, I said, for he was remarkable even then
when he was still a child, and I should imagine that by this time he
must be almost a young man.
You will see, he said, in a moment what progress he has made and
what he is like. He had scarcely said the word, when Charmides
entered.
Now you know, my friend, that I cannot measure anything, and of
the beautiful, I am simply such a measure as a white line is of chalk;
for almost all young persons appear to be beautiful in my eyes. But at
that moment, when I saw him coming in, I confess that I was quite
astonished at his beauty and stature; all the world seemed to be
enamoured of him; amazement and confusion reigned when he entered; and
a troop of lovers followed him. That grown-up men like ourselves
should have been affected in this way was not surprising, but I
observed that there was the same feeling among the boys; all of
them, down to the very least child, turned and looked at him, as if he
had been a statue.
Chaerephon called me and said: What do you think of him, Socrates?
Has he not a beautiful face?
Most beautiful, I said.
But you would think nothing of his face, he replied, if you could
see his naked form: he is absolutely perfect.
And to this they all agreed.
By Heracles, I said, there never was such a paragon, if he has
only one other slight addition.
What is that? said Critias.
If he has a noble soul; and being of your house, Critias, he may
be expected to have this.
He is as fair and good within, as he is without, replied Critias.
Then, before we see his body, should we not ask him to show us his
soul, naked and undisguised? he is just of an age at which he will
like to talk.
That he will, said Critias, and I can tell you that he is a
philosopher already, and also a considerable poet, not in his own
opinion only, but in that of others.
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