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Plato

Theages

Name: Theages
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

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TheagesTheages · 128b–128e

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Theages · 128b–128e

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Ancient Greek

p. 26

μέντοι τὸ μάθημα παρ’ ὁντινοῦν ποιοῦμαι δεινὸς εἶναι καὶ τῶν προγεγονότων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν νῦν.

ΘΕ. Ὁρᾷς, ὦ πάτερ; ὁ Σωκράτης οὐ πάνυ μοι δοκεῖ [τι] ἔτι ἐθέλειν ἐμοὶ συνδιατρίβειν—ἐπεὶ τό γ’ ἐμὸν ἕτοιμον, 128c ἐὰν οὗτος ἐθέλῃ—ἀλλὰ ταῦτα παίζων πρὸς ἡμᾶς λέγει. ἐπεὶ ἐγὼ οἶδα τῶν ἐμῶν ἡλικιωτῶν καὶ ὀλίγῳ πρεσβυτέρων οἳ πρὶν μὲν τούτῳ συνεῖναι οὐδενὸς ἄξιοι ἦσαν, ἐπειδὴ δὲ συνεγένοντο τούτῳ, ἐν πάνυ ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ πάντων βελτίους φαίνονται ὧν πρότερον χείρους.

ΣΩ. Οἶσθα οὖν οἷον τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὦ παῖ Δημοδόκου;

ΘΕ. Ναὶ μὰ Δία ἔγωγε, ὅτι, ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ, καὶ ἐγὼ οἷός τ’ ἔσομαι τοιοῦτος γενέσθαι οἷοίπερ καὶ ἐκεῖνοι.

128dΣΩ. Οὔκ, ὠγαθέ, ἀλλά σε λέληθεν οἷον τοῦτ’ ἔστιν, ἐγὼ δέ σοι φράσω. ἔστι γάρ τι θείᾳ μοίρᾳ παρεπόμενον ἐμοὶ ἐκ παιδὸς ἀρξάμενον δαιμόνιον. ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο φωνή, ἣ ὅταν γένηται ἀεί μοι σημαίνει, ὃ ἂν μέλλω πράττειν, τούτου ἀποτροπήν, προτρέπει δὲ οὐδέποτε· καὶ ἐάν τίς μοι τῶν φίλων ἀνακοινῶται καὶ γένηται ἡ φωνή, ταὐτὸν τοῦτο, ἀποτρέπει καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ πράττειν. καὶ τούτων ὑμῖν μάρτυρας παρέξομαι. Χαρμίδην γὰρ τουτονὶ γιγνώσκετε τὸν καλὸν 128e γενόμενον, τὸν Γλαύκωνος· οὗτός ποτε ἐτύγχανε ἐμοὶ ἀνακοινούμενος μέλλων ἀσκήσειν στάδιον εἰς Νεμέαν, καὶ εὐθὺς αὐτοῦ ἀρχομένου λέγειν ὅτι μέλλοι ἀσκεῖν ἐγένετο ἡ φωνή, καὶ ἐγὼ διεκώλυόν τε αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπον ὅτι “Λέγοντός σου μεταξὺ γέγονέ μοι ἡ φωνὴ ἡ τοῦ δαιμονίου· ἀλλὰ μὴ ἄσκει.” “Ἴσως,” ἔφη, “σημαίνει σοι ὅτι οὐ νικήσω· ἐγὼ δὲ κἂν μὴ μέλλω νικᾶν, γυμνασάμενός γε τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ὠφεληθήσομαι.” ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἤσκει· ἄξιον οὖν πυθέσθαι αὐτοῦ

128b 5.Source editor’s annotationποιοῦμαι] fuit qui οἴομαι aut προσποιοῦμαι legendum putaret Stallbaum: ἀντιποιοῦμαι Fritzsche: ἡγοῦμαι Cobet

128b 7.Source editor’s annotationὁ Cobet: ὅτι B T (μοι secl. ci. H. Richards)

128b 8.Source editor’s annotationτι om. Ven. 189

128c 1.Source editor’s annotationἐθέλῃ corr. Coisl.: ἐθέλοι B T

128c 1.Source editor’s annotationἀλλὰ sqq. alteri tribuit B

128c 5.Source editor’s annotationφαίνονται] ἐφαίνοντο Schleiermacher

128d 5.Source editor’s annotationδὲ T: om. B (δ’ b) W

128e 1.Source editor’s annotationγενόμενον] λεγόμενον Cobet

128e 2.Source editor’s annotationνεμέαν T: νεμαίαν B

128e 3.Source editor’s annotationἡ B T: om. W

128e 7.Source editor’s annotationὠφελήσομαι Cobet

Theages

p. 27

subject, however, I count myself clever at beyond anyone, both of the men who have gone before and of those now.¹

Theag. Do you see, father? Socrates hardly seems to me willing any longer to spend time with me—since my part is ready, 128c if he is willing—but he says this joking with us. For I know some of those of my own age and a little older who before they were with him were worth nothing, but once they came to be with him, in a very short time they appear better than all those they were worse than before.

Soc. Do you know, then, what this is, son of Demodocus?

Theag. Yes, by Zeus, I do: that if you wish, I too will be able to become such as those men are.

Soc. 128d No, my good friend; it has escaped you what this is, but I will tell you. For there is something daimonic that has accompanied me by a divine lot, beginning in my childhood.² It is a voice, which, whenever it comes, always signals to me a turning away from whatever I am about to do, but never turns me towards anything; and if one of my friends consults me and the voice comes, it is the same: it turns him away and does not allow him to do it. And of these things I will provide you with witnesses. You know Charmides here, who 128e has grown up beautiful, the son of Glaucon.³ He was in fact once consulting me, when he was about to train for the stadion race at Nemea,⁴ and as soon as he began to say that he was going to train, the voice came, and I tried to prevent him, and said, “In the midst of your speaking the voice of the daimonic has come to me; no, do not train.” “Perhaps,” he said, “it signals to you that I will not win; but even if I am not going to win, I will at least be benefited by exercising for this time.” Saying this, he trained; so it is worth finding out from him

1.In the Symposium Socrates says that he knows nothing except “the things of love” (177d); in the Lysis, that he is quick to recognize a lover and his beloved (204b–c).

2.Daimonion is the adjective of daimōn, a divine being or power, and is rendered “daimonic” throughout, kept apart from theios, “divine”, which stands beside it here. The Alcibiades I uses the same adjective of it, daimonion enantiōma (103a), rendered there “divine opposition”. In the Apology (31c–d) Socrates describes it, as here, as a voice that always turns him away and never turns him towards anything.

3.Charmides, son of Glaucon and Plato’s uncle, is the young man of the Charmides.

4.The stadion was the sprint of one length of the stadium, about two hundred yards; the Nemean games were among the four great games of the Greeks.

About This Reading Edition

Demodocus asks Socrates how his son Theages can become wise. Their conversation turns from political ambition and the sophists to Socrates’ divine sign and the uncertain benefits of keeping his company. This complete edition presents the dialogue, 121a–131a, across seventeen Greek–English page pairs, with an introduction, Key Words of the Dialogue, an outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and thirty-nine translator’s notes. The dialogue is transmitted among Plato’s works; its authorship remains disputed.

Historical Text and Translation

The Greek follows John Burnet’s Platonis Opera, volume III (Oxford, 1903; second impression, corrected, 1909), printed at Oxford by Horace Hart. The supplied edition checks the Perseus Digital Library transcription against the photographed pages and preserves Burnet’s speaker names, verse quotations, editorial signs, and critical apparatus. The companion PDF retains the printed lineation and complete page layout.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Each English dialogue page translates the Greek page opposite it, with Stephanus references in the margin and all thirty-nine translator’s notes attached to their passages. The introduction and Key Words of the Dialogue precede the text; the Outline, Editorial Note, Glossary of Key Terms, and Note on this Edition follow it.

Rights

The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, and reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. The independent English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions.