Contagious yawning · Lexicon

From the book

Charmides

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordChasmōmenous describes people yawning, sympaschein undergoing the same experience along with another, and halōnai being caught.
In the CharmidesAt 169c Critias sees Socrates unable to settle the general problem of self-related capacities and appears to catch the same difficulty, just as people facing a yawner yawn too.
In this editionBurnet keeps ἀναγκασθῆναι, “to be compelled,” at 169c6, while recording Badham's deletion and wondering about an alternative meaning infected.
A place to readCritias catches perplexity, conceals it, and is rescued procedurally by a provisional concession.

Meaning

Chasmōmenous describes people yawning, sympaschein undergoing the same experience along with another, and halōnai being caught. The simile transfers an involuntarily shared bodily response to the spread of perplexity between interlocutors.

Use in the book

At 169c Critias sees Socrates unable to settle the general problem of self-related capacities and appears to catch the same difficulty, just as people facing a yawner yawn too. The narrator portrays shared perplexity as an event, not merely as a conclusion explicitly admitted by both parties. Critias' reputation for brilliance makes him unwilling to confess it, so his words become unclear and concealing.

The image distinguishes experiencing a difficulty from owning it intellectually. Socrates has stated his lack of confidence and asked for help. Critias undergoes a similar predicament but does not acknowledge the inability to make the required distinctions. Socrates' next concession, granting the possibility of knowledge of knowledge for now, permits the inquiry to move on; it does not represent a solution already produced by Critias.

The capture verb also recalls Socrates' erotic capture at 155e. Both figures are vulnerable to an experience they do not simply command, but their responses differ. The parallel is illuminating without reducing philosophical perplexity to a merely bodily contagion.

Places to read

169c–dCritias catches perplexity, conceals it, and is rescued procedurally by a provisional concession
155eThe earlier erotic capture supplies a verbal parallel

Translation in this edition

Burnet keeps ἀναγκασθῆναι, “to be compelled,” at 169c6, while recording Badham's deletion and wondering about an alternative meaning infected. The text printed in this edition therefore uses a contagion simile without actually printing a technical verb for infection.

συμπάσχω

Attested: συμπάσχουσιν (sympaschousin). Undergo the same experience together: Critias catches Socrates’ perplexity as a watcher catches another person’s yawn. References: 169c. Lexical identification: lemma: συμπάσχω. See Contagious yawning.

χασμάομαι

Attested: χασμωμένους (chasmōmenous). Yawn; the bodily response supplies a simile for the involuntary transmission of perplexity. References: 169c. Lexical identification: lemma: χασμάομαι. See Contagious yawning.