Theages

Name: Theages
Author: Plato

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

Explore the Lexicon

TheagesTheages · 121c–122c

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 5 of 24

Theages · 121c–122c

Book Mode

Ancient Greek

p. 4

τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα πολλὰ ἂν εἴη λέγειν, ἡ δὲ νῦν παροῦσα ἐπιθυμία τούτῳ πάνυ με φοβεῖ—ἔστι μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἀγεννής, σφαλερὰ δέ—ἐπιθυμεῖ γὰρ δὴ οὗτος ἡμῖν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὥς 121d φησι, σοφὸς γενέσθαι. δοκῶ γάρ μοι, τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν τινες αὐτοῦ καὶ δημοτῶν, εἰς τὸ ἄστυ καταβαίνοντες, λόγους τινὰς ἀπομνημονεύοντες διαταράττουσιν αὐτόν, οὓς ἐζήλωκεν καὶ πάλαι μοι πράγματα παρέχει, ἀξιῶν ἐπιμεληθῆναί με ἑαυτοῦ καὶ χρήματα τελέσαι τινὶ τῶν σοφιστῶν, ὅστις αὐτὸν σοφὸν ποιήσει. ἐμοὶ δὲ τῶν μὲν χρημάτων καὶ ἔλαττον 122a μέλει, ἡγοῦμαι δὲ τοῦτον οὐκ εἰς μικρὸν κίνδυνον ἰέναι οἷ σπεύδει. τέως μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν κατεῖχον παραμυθούμενος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκέτι οἷός τέ εἰμι, ἡγοῦμαι κράτιστον εἶναι πείθεσθαι αὐτῷ, ἵνα μὴ πολλάκις ἄνευ ἐμοῦ συγγενόμενός τῳ διαφθαρῇ. νῦν οὖν ἥκω ἐπ’ αὐτὰ ταῦτα, ἵνα τῳ τούτων τῶν σοφιστῶν δοκούντων εἶναι συστήσω τουτονί. σὺ οὖν ἡμῖν εἰς καλὸν παρεφάνης, ᾧ ἂν ἐγὼ μάλιστα ἐβουλόμην περὶ τῶν τοιούτων μέλλων πράξειν συμβουλεύσασθαι. ἀλλ’ εἴ τι ἔχεις συμβουλεύειν ἐξ ὧν ἐμοῦ ἀκήκοας, ἔξεστί τε 122b καὶ χρή.

ΣΩ. Ἀλλὰ μὲν δή, ὦ Δημόδοκε, καὶ λέγεταί γε συμβουλὴ ἱερὸν χρῆμα εἶναι. εἴπερ οὖν καὶ ἄλλη ἡτισοῦν ἐστιν ἱερά, καὶ αὕτη ἂν εἴη περὶ ἧς σὺ νῦν συμβουλεύῃ· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι περὶ ὅτου θειοτέρου ἂν ἄνθρωπος βουλεύσαιτο ἢ περὶ παιδείας καὶ αὑτοῦ καὶ τῶν αὑτοῦ οἰκείων. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ συνομολογήσωμεν τί ποτε οἰόμεθα τοῦτο εἶναι περὶ οὗ βουλευόμεθα· μὴ γὰρ πολλάκις ἐγὼ 122c μὲν ἄλλο τι αὐτὸ ὑπολαμβάνω, σὺ δὲ ἄλλο, κἄπειτα πόρρω που τῆς συνουσίας αἰσθώμεθα γελοῖοι ὄντες, ἐγώ τε ὁ συμ-

121c 6.Source editor’s annotationπολλὰ ἂν] πολὺ ἂν ἔργον Cobet

121d 1.Source editor’s annotationδοκῶ γάρ μοι] an δοκεῖ γάρ μοι ? Stephanus: δοκεῖν γάρ μοι Cobet

121d 5.Source editor’s annotationαὐτὸν W: αὐτῶν B T

121d 6.Source editor’s annotationκαὶ secl. Cobet

122a 1.Source editor’s annotationμέλει B: μέλλει T

122a 1.Source editor’s annotationτοῦτον B: τούτων T

122a 1.Source editor’s annotationμικρὸν B T: μακρὸν W

122a 2.Source editor’s annotationσπεύδει ⟨σπεύδοντα⟩ Schanz

122a 7.Source editor’s annotationἂν] δὴ Cobet

122a 8.Source editor’s annotation⟨τι⟩ πράξειν Cobet

122c 1.Source editor’s annotationὑπολαμβάνων Cobet

122c 2.Source editor’s annotationσυνουσίας B T: συνηθείας W

122c 2.Source editor’s annotationαἰσθώμεθα B T: αἰσθόμεθα W

Theages

p. 5

There are many other things one could tell; but the desire that has now come upon him frightens me very much—for it is not ignoble, but it is unsafe—for this boy of ours desires, Socrates, so 121d he says, to become wise. For I think some of those of his own age and his own deme, coming down to the town, unsettle him by repeating certain arguments from memory; he has come to envy them, and has long been making trouble for me, thinking fit that I should care for him and pay money to one of the sophists, who will make him wise.¹ For my part I 122a care less about the money; but I think he is going into no small danger where he is hurrying. So far I have held him back by soothing him; but since I am no longer able to, I think it best to obey him, lest perhaps, coming to be with someone when I am not there, he be corrupted. So I have come now for just this, to introduce this boy here to someone among those who are thought to be sophists. You, then, have appeared to us at just the right time, the man from whom I would most wish to take advice when I am about to act in such matters. But if you can advise anything from what you have heard from me, you may, 122b and you should.

Soc. Why, Demodocus, advice is indeed said to be a sacred thing. If, then, any other advice at all is sacred, this too would be, the advice you are now taking; for there is nothing more divine about which a man could deliberate than the education of himself and of his own kin. So first let us agree on it together, you and I, what exactly we think this is about which we are deliberating; for perhaps I 122c take it to be one thing and you another, and then, somewhere far on in our being with one another,² we may perceive that we are ridiculous, I, the one advising,

1.A deme was one of the villages and wards into which Attica was divided; “coming down to the town” suggests a country deme. Demodocus’ deme is later named as Anagyrus (127e). The sophists were teachers who went from city to city and took fees for their instruction; later in the dialogue Socrates names Prodicus, Gorgias and Polus (127e–128a).

2.Synousia, from syn, “with”, and einai, “to be”, is the ordinary word for company and conversation, and for a pupil’s attendance on a teacher. It is “being with” throughout, and the verb syneinai “be with”, so that the dialogue’s question, what a young man gains from being with a wise man, can be heard each time it returns; this series’ Alcibiades I rendered the noun “company” (119a). Syngignesthai, “come to be with” (122a), is kept apart.

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.