From the book
Charmides
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordAnakrisis is an examination or questioning, with the legal sense of a preliminary hearing before a case proceeds.
- In the CharmidesAt the close, Charmides and Critias have already decided that the youth will remain with Socrates for daily charming.
- In this edition“Preliminary hearing” preserves the legal coloring that a generic “chance to answer” would soften.
- A place to readSocrates requests a preliminary hearing when Charmides announces force and relies on Critias’ command.
Meaning
Anakrisis is an examination or questioning, with the legal sense of a preliminary hearing before a case proceeds. The accusative anakrisin appears in Socrates' question whether Charmides will deny him even this opportunity before using force.
Use in the book
At the close, Charmides and Critias have already decided that the youth will remain with Socrates for daily charming. When Socrates asks what they are planning, Charmides answers that their deliberation is complete. Socrates then asks whether force will be used and whether he will receive no preliminary hearing. The language comically turns an educational courtship into a legal situation in which the apparent defendant is not allowed to be heard.
The joke also sharpens the contrast between argumentative examination and coercion. A dialogue organized around asking questions ends with Socrates requesting an opportunity for questioning and being told that the guardian's command suffices. The scene remains playful, but the historical careers of Critias and Charmides permit a darker resonance concerning authority and the denial of a hearing.
No actual lawsuit, magistrate, formal indictment, or sentence appears. The term's institutional background explains the metaphor; it does not make the exchange a transcript of legal procedure. Likewise, an echo of Socrates' later trial is a possible interpretive association, not a prediction explicitly made by the text.
Places to read
- 176c–dSocrates requests a preliminary hearing when Charmides announces force and relies on Critias’ command
Translation in this edition
“Preliminary hearing” preserves the legal coloring that a generic “chance to answer” would soften. The accent on the printed ἀνάκρισίν reflects its immediate syntax, not a different lexical item.
ἀνάκρισις
Attested: ἀνάκρισίν (anakrisin). Preliminary examination or hearing; Socrates invokes a legal-sounding opportunity to question before yielding to force. References: 176c. Lexical identification: lemma: ἀνάκρισις. See Preliminary hearing.
δίδωμι
Attested: δίδωμι / δῶμεν / δόντες / δώσεις (didōmi / dōmen / dontes / dōseis). To give or grant: Socrates allows Critias freedom in assigning words, grants disputed epistemic claims for the argument, and asks whether Charmides will grant him a preliminary hearing. References: 163d, 172d, 176c. Lexical identification: lemma: δίδωμι. See Agreement and concession; Preliminary hearing.