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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 38 of 44
Charmides · 173c–174a
Ancient Greek
p. 66ἐπιστήμην τοῦ μέλλοντος ἔσεσθαι, καὶ τὴν σωφροσύνην, αὐτῆς ἐπιστατοῦσαν, τοὺς μὲν ἀλαζόνας ἀποτρέπειν, τοὺς δὲ ὡς ἀληθῶς μάντεις καθιστάναι ἡμῖν προφήτας τῶν μελλόντων. κατεσκευασμένον δὴ οὕτω τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος 173d ὅτι μὲν ἐπιστημόνως ἂν πράττοι καὶ ζῴη, ἕπομαι—ἡ γὰρ σωφροσύνη φυλάττουσα οὐκ ἂν ἐῴη παρεμπίπτουσαν τὴν ἀνεπιστημοσύνην συνεργὸν ἡμῖν εἶναι—ὅτι δ’ ἐπιστημόνως ἂν πράττοντες εὖ ἂν πράττοιμεν καὶ εὐδαιμονοῖμεν, τοῦτο δὲ οὔπω δυνάμεθα μαθεῖν, ὦ φίλε Κριτία.
Ἀλλὰ μέντοι, ἦ δ’ ὅς, οὐ ῥᾳδίως εὑρήσεις ἄλλο τι τέλος τοῦ εὖ πράττειν, ἐὰν τὸ ἐπιστημόνως ἀτιμάσῃς.
Σμικρὸν τοίνυν με, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ἔτι προσδίδαξον. τίνος ἐπιστημόνως λέγεις; ἦ σκυτῶν τομῆς;
173eΜὰ Δί’ οὐκ ἔγωγε.
Ἀλλὰ χαλκοῦ ἐργασίας;
Οὐδαμῶς.
Ἀλλὰ ἐρίων ἢ ξύλων ἢ ἄλλου του τῶν τοιούτων;
Οὐ δῆτα.
Οὐκ ἄρα, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ἔτι ἐμμένομεν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ εὐδαίμονα εἶναι τὸν ἐπιστημόνως ζῶντα. οὗτοι γὰρ ἐπιστημόνως ζῶντες οὐχ ὁμολογοῦνται παρὰ σοῦ εὐδαίμονες εἶναι, ἀλλὰ περί τινων ἐπιστημόνως ζῶντα σὺ δοκεῖς μοι ἀφορίζεσθαι τὸν εὐδαίμονα. καὶ ἴσως λέγεις ὃν νυνδὴ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, τὸν 174a εἰδότα τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι πάντα, τὸν μάντιν. τοῦτον ἢ ἄλλον τινὰ λέγεις;
Καὶ τοῦτον ἔγωγε, ἔφη, καὶ ἄλλον.
Τίνα; ἦν δ’ ἐγώ. ἆρα μὴ τὸν τοιόνδε, εἴ τις πρὸς τοῖς μέλλουσιν καὶ τὰ γεγονότα πάντα εἰδείη καὶ τὰ νῦν ὄντα, καὶ μηδὲν ἀγνοοῖ; θῶμεν γάρ τινα εἶναι αὐτόν. οὐ γὰρ
Charmides
p. 67knowledge of what is going to be, and that temperance, presiding over it, turns away the impostors and sets up the true prophets for us as foretellers of the future.1 Equipped in this way, the human race 173d would act and live knowledgeably, I grant, since temperance, standing guard, would not allow the lack of knowledge to slip in and work alongside us. But that by acting knowledgeably we would do well and be happy, this, my dear Critias, we cannot yet learn.”
“And yet,” he said, “you won’t easily find anything else that crowns doing well, if you slight ‘knowledgeably’.”
“Then teach me one small thing more,” I said. “Knowledgeably about what? About cutting leather?”2
173e“By Zeus, not I.”
“Working bronze, then?”
“Not at all.”
“Or wool, or wood, or anything else of that sort?”
“Certainly not.”
“Then we are no longer holding to the argument,” I said, “that the man who lives knowledgeably is happy. For these people live knowledgeably, and you do not admit that they are happy; rather, I think, you are marking off the happy man as one who lives knowledgeably about certain things. And perhaps you mean the one I was speaking of just now, 174a the one who knows all that is going to be, the prophet. Do you mean him, or someone else?”
“Him,” he said, “and another as well.”
“Which?” I said. “Can it be the sort of man who, besides the future, knew everything that has happened and everything that is now, and was ignorant of nothing? Let us suppose there is such a man. For I don’t
Socrates
Reading Charmides · Charmides · 173c–174a
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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