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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 19 of 44
Charmides · 161d–162a
Ancient Greek
p. 28161dὍτι οὐ δήπου, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ᾗ τὰ ῥήματα ἐφθέγξατο ταύτῃ καὶ ἐνόει, λέγων σωφροσύνην εἶναι τὸ τὰ αὑτοῦ πράττειν. ἢ σὺ οὐδὲν ἡγῇ πράττειν τὸν γραμματιστὴν ὅταν γράφῃ ἢ ἀναγιγνώσκῃ;
Ἔγωγε, ἡγοῦμαι μὲν οὖν, ἔφη.
Δοκεῖ οὖν σοι τὸ αὑτοῦ ὄνομα μόνον γράφειν ὁ γραμματιστὴς καὶ ἀναγιγνώσκειν ἢ ὑμᾶς τοὺς παῖδας διδάσκειν, ἢ οὐδὲν ἧττον τὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐγράφετε ἢ τὰ ὑμέτερα καὶ τὰ τῶν φίλων ὀνόματα;
Οὐδὲν ἧττον.
Ἦ οὖν ἐπολυπραγμονεῖτε καὶ οὐκ ἐσωφρονεῖτε τοῦτο 161e δρῶντες;
Οὐδαμῶς.
Καὶ μὴν οὐ τὰ ὑμέτερά γε αὐτῶν ἐπράττετε, εἴπερ τὸ γράφειν πράττειν τί ἐστιν καὶ τὸ ἀναγιγνώσκειν.
Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔστιν.
Καὶ γὰρ τὸ ἰᾶσθαι, ὦ ἑταῖρε, καὶ τὸ οἰκοδομεῖν καὶ τὸ ὑφαίνειν καὶ τὸ ᾑτινιοῦν τέχνῃ ὁτιοῦν τῶν τέχνης ἔργων ἀπεργάζεσθαι πράττειν δήπου τί ἐστιν.
Πάνυ γε.
Τί οὖν; ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, δοκεῖ ἄν σοι πόλις εὖ οἰκεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ νόμου τοῦ κελεύοντος τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἱμάτιον ἕκαστον ὑφαίνειν καὶ πλύνειν, καὶ ὑποδήματα σκυτοτομεῖν, καὶ λήκυθον καὶ στλεγγίδα καὶ τἆλλα πάντα κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον, 162a τῶν μὲν ἀλλοτρίων μὴ ἅπτεσθαι, τὰ δὲ ἑαυτοῦ ἕκαστον ἐργάζεσθαί τε καὶ πράττειν;
Οὐκ ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἦ δ’ ὅς.
Ἀλλὰ μέντοι, ἔφην ἐγώ, σωφρόνως γε οἰκοῦσα εὖ ἂν οἰκοῖτο.
Πῶς δ’ οὔκ; ἔφη.
Charmides
p. 29161d“Because the man who said that temperance is doing one’s own business,” I said, “surely did not mean it the way the words sound. Or do you think the writing-master does nothing when he writes or reads?”
“On the contrary, I think he does something,” he said.
“And do you think the writing-master writes and reads, or teaches you boys, only his own name? Or did you write your enemies’ names just as much as your own and your friends’?”
“Just as much.”
“Well, were you being busybodies, and not temperate, 161e when you did that?”1
“Not at all.”
“And yet you were not doing your own business, if writing and reading are doing something.”
“But they are.”
“Yes, and healing, my friend, and building houses and weaving, and producing, by any craft whatever, any of the works of craft, are surely doing something.”
“Certainly.”
“Well then,” I said, “do you think a city would be well managed under a law that ordered each man to weave and wash his own cloak, cobble his own shoes, and make his own oil-flask and strigil and everything else on the same principle, 162a keeping his hands off what belongs to others and working at and doing his own?”2
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“And yet,” I said, “a city that is temperately managed would be well managed.”
“Of course,” he said.
Socrates
Reading Charmides · Charmides · 161d–162a
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Socrates, Charmides, and Critias examine temperance, self-knowledge, and the knowledge of knowledge. The complete dialogue appears in Ancient Greek and English, aligned by the supplied edition’s facing pages and Stephanus references.
Historical Text and Translation
Greek: Plato, Charmides, in J. Burnet, ed., Platonis Opera, volume III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), transcribed by the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University. The supplied edition omits words marked for deletion, retains supplied words, lightly normalizes punctuation and paragraphing, and removes a stray digital numeral at 163c. The digital Greek transcription and its modifications are provided under CC BY-SA 4.0, with attribution to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independently worded English translation in house. It aims for clear, measured English while preserving Plato’s conversational rhythm, philosophical distinctions, and the unfolding give-and-take of Socratic inquiry.
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Plato's Greek source work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos.