Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things

Use in the book

When Theages cannot say in what the wise associates of tyrants must be wise, Socrates offers the things Anacreon said Callicrite knew. Both interlocutors are represented as knowing the song; the reader receives only its compressed description. Socrates asks whether the boy wants a man who shares Callicrite's craft, so that he too may become a tyrant. Theages recognizes the teasing and protests (125d–e2).

The passage is a miniature test of quotation as an answer. A familiar phrase appears to name the missing knowledge, but “tyrannical things” merely reproduces the problematic adjective. It does not identify a curriculum or show that tyranny is a teachable craft. The song also imports a register different from the preceding examples of farmers and wrestlers. The joke may depend on associations a contemporary listener could recognize more readily than we can. Because the song is otherwise unknown in the supplied evidence, a confident reconstruction of its whole erotic or political situation would exceed what this edition supports.

The important result is Theages' clarification: he distinguishes the limitless power he might pray for from the voluntary civic leadership he means to pursue. Callicrite is therefore part of the argumentative provocation, not an actual teacher proposed in earnest.

Places to read

1. 125dἈνακρέων τὴν Καλλικρίτην — The name occurs as the object of what Anacreon said she knew
2. 125dἢ οὐκ οἶσθα τὸ ᾆσμα; — Socrates appeals to shared recognition of a song
3. 125eΚαλλικρίτῃ τῇ Κυάνης — The proposed associate is called her fellow craftsman
4. 125eἐπίσταται τυραννικά — The quoted description names the knowledge without explaining it

Translation in this edition

The note reports that the song is known only here. Burnet prints Callicrite, following Ang. C. 1. 4, while B, T and W have the spelling Callicrete. The companion follows the printed name and records the difference rather than inventing two persons. Anacreon's association with the courts of Polycrates and Hipparchus belongs to the edition's contextual note, not to Socrates' argument.

Anacreon — Ἀνακρέων (Anakreōn)

Ἀνακρέων (Anakreōn)

Anacreon. The poet of the song about Callicrite invoked to tease out the missing subject of tyrannical knowledge. Attested: Ἀνακρέων (125d). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.

Callicrite — Καλλικρίτη (Kallikritē)

Καλλικρίτη (Kallikritē)

Callicrite. The woman whose knowledge of tyrannical things is attributed to Anacreon's song; printed spelling differs from principal manuscripts. Attested: Καλλικρίτην (125d). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.

Cyane — Κυάνη (Kyanē)

Κυάνη (Kyanē)

Cyane. The name identifying Callicrite's mother in the supplied interpretation, not a second proposed teacher. Attested: Κυάνης (125e). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.

Fellow craftsman — ὁμότεχνος (homotechnos)

ὁμότεχνος (homotechnos)

Fellow craftsman. A practitioner of the same craft; applied jokingly to a male associate sharing Callicrite's purported expertise. Attested: ὁμότεχνος (125d–e2). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.

Song — ᾆσμα (asma)

ᾆσμα (asma)

Song. The song Socrates assumes Theages knows; the full composition is not supplied by the dialogue. Attested: ᾆσμα (125d). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.

Tyrannical things — τυραννικός (tyrannikos)

τυραννικός (tyrannikos)

Tyrannical things. The substantival neuter plural for Callicrite's alleged knowledge, whose subject matter remains unspecified. Attested: τυραννικά (125e). Callicrite and knowing tyrannical things.