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Facing Pages · Branch 6 of 44
Charmides · 153a–153c
Ancient Greek
p. 2ΧΑΡΜΙΔΗΣ
ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ
153aἭκομεν τῇ προτεραίᾳ ἑσπέρας ἐκ Ποτειδαίας ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου, οἷον δὲ διὰ χρόνου ἀφιγμένος ἁσμένως ᾖα ἐπὶ τὰς συνήθεις διατριβάς. καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ταυρέου παλαίστραν τὴν καταντικρὺ τοῦ τῆς Βασίλης ἱεροῦ εἰσῆλθον, καὶ αὐτόθι κατέλαβον πάνυ πολλούς, τοὺς μὲν καὶ ἀγνῶτας ἐμοί, τοὺς δὲ πλείστους γνωρίμους. καί με ὡς 153b εἶδον εἰσιόντα ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτου, εὐθὺς πόρρωθεν ἠσπάζοντο ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν· Χαιρεφῶν δέ, ἅτε καὶ μανικὸς ὤν, ἀναπηδήσας ἐκ μέσων ἔθει πρός με, καί μου λαβόμενος τῆς χειρός, Ὦ Σώκρατες, ἦ δ’ ὅς, πῶς ἐσώθης ἐκ τῆς μάχης; Ὀλίγον δὲ πρὶν ἡμᾶς ἀπιέναι μάχη ἐγεγόνει ἐν τῇ Ποτειδαίᾳ, ἣν ἄρτι ἦσαν οἱ τῇδε πεπυσμένοι.
Καὶ ἐγὼ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποκρινόμενος, Οὑτωσί, ἔφην, ὡς σὺ ὁρᾷς.
Καὶ μὴν ἤγγελταί γε δεῦρο, ἔφη, ἥ τε μάχη πάνυ ἰσχυρὰ 153c γεγονέναι καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ πολλοὺς τῶν γνωρίμων τεθνάναι.
Καὶ ἐπιεικῶς, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ἀληθῆ ἀπήγγελται.
Παρεγένου μέν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, τῇ μάχῃ;
Παρεγενόμην.
Δεῦρο δή, ἔφη, καθεζόμενος ἡμῖν διήγησαι· οὐ γάρ τί
Charmides
p. 3153aWe had got back from the army at Potidaea the evening before,1 and after so long away I was glad to make for my old haunts. In particular I went into the wrestling-school of Taureas, the one opposite the shrine of Basile,2 and there I found a great crowd, some of them strangers to me but most of them people I knew. 153b When they saw me come in so unexpectedly, they started greeting me at once from across the room, from every side; and Chaerephon, madman that he is,3 jumped up from the middle of them all, came running over to me, and seized me by the hand.
“Socrates,” he said, “how did you come out of the battle alive?” (Shortly before we left there had been a battle at Potidaea, and the people here had only just heard the news.)
And I answered him, “Like this, as you see.”
“Well, the word here,” he said, “is that the fighting was very heavy, 153c and that many people we know were killed in it.”
“The word,” I said, “is reasonably accurate.”
“You were there, then,” said he, “in the battle?”
“I was.”
“Then come over here,” he said, “sit down, and tell us all about it. We still haven’t
Socrates
Reading Charmides · Charmides · 153a–153c
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.