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Facing Pages · Branch 42 of 44
Charmides · 176a–176d
Ancient Greek
p. 74λεύσαιμι ἐμὲ μὲν λῆρον ἡγεῖσθαι εἶναι καὶ ἀδύνατον λόγῳ ὁτιοῦν ζητεῖν, σεαυτὸν δέ, ὅσῳπερ σωφρονέστερος εἶ, τοσούτῳ εἶναι καὶ εὐδαιμονέστερον.
Καὶ ὁ Χαρμίδης, Ἀλλὰ μὰ Δί’, ἦ δ’ ὅς, ἔγωγε, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐκ οἶδα οὔτ’ εἰ ἔχω οὔτ’ εἰ μὴ ἔχω· πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἰδείην ὅ γε μηδ’ ὑμεῖς οἷοί τέ ἐστε ἐξευρεῖν ὅτι ποτ’ ἔστιν, 176b ὡς φῂς σύ; ἐγὼ μέντοι οὐ πάνυ σοι πείθομαι, καὶ ἐμαυτόν, ὦ Σώκρατες, πάνυ οἶμαι δεῖσθαι τῆς ἐπῳδῆς, καὶ τό γ’ ἐμὸν οὐδὲν κωλύει ἐπᾴδεσθαι ὑπὸ σοῦ ὅσαι ἡμέραι, ἕως ἂν φῇς σὺ ἱκανῶς ἔχειν.
Εἶεν· ἀλλ’, ἔφη ὁ Κριτίας, ὦ Χαρμίδη, ⟨ἢν⟩ δρᾷς τοῦτο ἔμοιγ’ ἔσται τοῦτο τεκμήριον ὅτι σωφρονεῖς, ἢν ἐπᾴδειν παρέχῃς Σωκράτει καὶ μὴ ἀπολείπῃ τούτου μήτε μέγα μήτε σμικρόν.
Ὡς ἀκολουθήσοντος, ἔφη, καὶ μὴ ἀπολειψομένου· δεινὰ 176c γὰρ ἂν ποιοίην, εἰ μὴ πειθοίμην σοὶ τῷ ἐπιτρόπῳ καὶ μὴ ποιοίην ἃ κελεύεις.
Ἀλλὰ μήν, ἔφη, κελεύω ἔγωγε.
Ποιήσω τοίνυν, ἔφη, ἀπὸ ταυτησὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀρξάμενος.
Οὗτοι, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, τί βουλεύεσθον ποιεῖν;
Οὐδέν, ἔφη ὁ Χαρμίδης, ἀλλὰ βεβουλεύμεθα.
Βιάσῃ ἄρα, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, καὶ οὐδ’ ἀνάκρισίν μοι δώσεις;
Ὡς βιασομένου, ἔφη, ἐπειδήπερ ὅδε γε ἐπιτάττει· πρὸς ταῦτα σὺ αὖ βουλεύου ὅτι ποιήσεις.
176dἈλλ’ οὐδεμία, ἔφην ἐγώ, λείπεται βουλή· σοὶ γὰρ ἐπιχειροῦντι πράττειν ὁτιοῦν καὶ βιαζομένῳ οὐδεὶς οἷός τ’ ἔσται ἐναντιοῦσθαι ἀνθρώπων.
Μὴ τοίνυν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, μηδὲ σὺ ἐναντιοῦ.
Οὐ τοίνυν, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ἐναντιώσομαι.
Charmides
p. 75advise you to regard me as a babbler, unable to inquire into anything whatever by argument, and yourself to be happier just in proportion as you are more temperate.”
And Charmides said, “But by Zeus, Socrates, I don’t know whether I have it or whether I don’t. For how could I know, when not even you two are able to discover what it is, 176b as you say? I’m not altogether persuaded by you, though, Socrates,1 and I think I very much need the charm. As far as I’m concerned, nothing stops me from being charmed by you every day, until you say it’s enough.”
“Very well,” said Critias. “But Charmides, if you do this, it will be proof to me that you are temperate: if you let Socrates charm you and don’t desert him, great or small.”
“Count on it,” he said: “I’ll follow him and not desert him. I’d be doing something terrible 176c if I didn’t obey you, my guardian, and didn’t do what you order.”
“Well, I do order it,” he said.
“Then I’ll do it,” he said, “starting from this very day.”
“You two,” I said, “what are you plotting to do?”
“Nothing,” said Charmides. “We’ve finished plotting.”2
“So you’ll use force,” I said, “and won’t even give me a preliminary hearing?”3
“Count on force,” he said, “since this man here gives the orders. You, for your part, take counsel what you’ll do about it.”
176d“There’s no counsel left,” I said. “When you set about doing anything, and use force, no man alive will be able to oppose you.”
“Then don’t you oppose me either,” said he.
“Then I won’t oppose you,” I said.
Socrates
Reading Charmides · Charmides · 176a–176d
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.