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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 27 of 44
Charmides · 166d–167b
Ancient Greek
p. 44οἴει ἀγαθὸν εἶναι σχεδόν τι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, γίγνεσθαι καταφανὲς ἕκαστον τῶν ὄντων ὅπῃ ἔχει;
Καὶ μάλα, ἦ δ’ ὅς, ἔγωγε, ὦ Σώκρατες.
Θαρρῶν τοίνυν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ὦ μακάριε, ἀποκρινόμενος τὸ ἐρωτώμενον ὅπῃ σοι φαίνεται, ἔα χαίρειν εἴτε Κριτίας ἐστὶν 166e εἴτε Σωκράτης ὁ ἐλεγχόμενος· ἀλλ’ αὐτῷ προσέχων τὸν νοῦν τῷ λόγῳ σκόπει ὅπῃ ποτὲ ἐκβήσεται ἐλεγχόμενος.
Ἀλλά, ἔφη, ποιήσω οὕτω· δοκεῖς γάρ μοι μέτρια λέγειν.
Λέγε τοίνυν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, περὶ τῆς σωφροσύνης πῶς λέγεις;
Λέγω τοίνυν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, ὅτι μόνη τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιστημῶν αὐτή τε αὑτῆς ἐστιν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιστημῶν ἐπιστήμη.
Οὐκοῦν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, καὶ ἀνεπιστημοσύνης ἐπιστήμη ἂν εἴη, εἴπερ καὶ ἐπιστήμης;
Πάνυ γε, ἔφη.
167aὉ ἄρα σώφρων μόνος αὐτός τε ἑαυτὸν γνώσεται καὶ οἷός τε ἔσται ἐξετάσαι τί τε τυγχάνει εἰδὼς καὶ τί μή, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ὡσαύτως δυνατὸς ἔσται ἐπισκοπεῖν τί τις οἶδεν καὶ οἴεται, εἴπερ οἶδεν, καὶ τί αὖ οἴεται μὲν εἰδέναι, οἶδεν δ’ οὔ, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων οὐδείς· καὶ ἔστιν δὴ τοῦτο τὸ σωφρονεῖν τε καὶ σωφροσύνη καὶ τὸ ἑαυτὸν αὐτὸν γιγνώσκειν, τὸ εἰδέναι ἅ τε οἶδεν καὶ ἃ μὴ οἶδεν. ἆρα ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ λέγεις;
Ἔγωγ’, ἔφη.
Πάλιν τοίνυν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, τὸ τρίτον τῷ σωτῆρι, ὥσπερ ἐξ 167b ἀρχῆς ἐπισκεψώμεθα πρῶτον μὲν εἰ δυνατόν ἐστιν τοῦτ’ εἶναι ἢ οὔ—τὸ ἃ οἶδεν καὶ ἃ μὴ οἶδεν εἰδέναι ⟨ὅτι οἶδε καὶ⟩ ὅτι οὐκ οἶδεν—ἔπειτα εἰ ὅτι μάλιστα δυνατόν, τίς ἂν εἴη ἡμῖν ὠφελία εἰδόσιν αὐτό.
Ἀλλὰ χρή, ἔφη, σκοπεῖν.
Ἴθι δή, ἔφην ἐγώ, ὦ Κριτία, σκέψαι, ἐάν τι περὶ αὐτῶν
Charmides
p. 45good, do you think, for practically all men, that each of the things that are should become plain, as it really is?”
“Very much so, Socrates,” he said.
“Then take heart, my dear fellow,” I said, “answer the question as it seems to you, and say goodbye to whether it is Critias or 166e Socrates who is being refuted.1 Just pay attention to the argument itself, and look to see what will become of it under refutation.”
“All right,” he said, “I’ll do that; you seem to me to be talking sense.”
“Tell me, then,” I said, “what do you say about temperance?”
“I say,” said he, “that alone of all the kinds of knowledge it is knowledge both of itself and of the other kinds of knowledge.”
“Then,” I said, “if it is knowledge of knowledge, it would also be knowledge of the lack of knowledge?”
“Certainly,” he said.
167a“Then only the temperate man will know himself, and be able to examine what he in fact knows and what he does not; and he will likewise be able to inspect others, to see what a person knows and thinks he knows, if he does know it, and again what he thinks he knows but does not; and no one else will. And this is being temperate, and temperance, and knowing oneself: knowing what one knows and what one does not know. Is that what you are saying?”2
“It is,” he said.
“Then once more,” I said, “the third time, for the Savior, let us look, as though from 167b the beginning, first whether it is possible or not for this to be, to know what one knows and what one does not know, ⟨that one knows it and⟩ that one does not know it; and second, even if it is entirely possible, what benefit there would be for us in knowing it.”3
“Well, we must look into it,” he said.
“Come then, Critias,” I said, “look into it, and see whether, on these matters,
Socrates
Reading Charmides · Charmides · 166d–167b
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.
Rights
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.