Reading and writing

Use in the book

Writing first appears in Charmides' practical plan to obtain the charm in written form. Socrates' response moves the issue from textual acquisition to persuasion and then to the nature of the treatment. The dialogue never supplies a written incantation for copying.

Before the formal inquiry, Socrates assumes that because Charmides can speak Greek he can articulate the opinion that the presence of temperance would give him. The move distinguishes a familiar linguistic capacity from the harder task of answering well. It is not an assertion that literacy alone yields philosophical understanding, and the subsequent failures make any equation of speaking the language with knowing virtue doubtful.

Reading and writing then perform two distinct argumentative services. At 159c, quickly writing equivalent letters and reading fluently are agreed finer than doing them slowly. At 161d–e, writing another person's name is used against a crude interpretation of doing one's own things. It would be absurd to treat such a school exercise as meddling simply because the written name belongs to an enemy or friend.

The Delphic gramma returns written language to the question of interpretation. Recognizable words do not explain themselves: Critias offers a contested account of what the inscription means and does. Across copying, school exercises, and sacred inscriptions, the text distinguishes possessing marks, performing a skill, and giving an adequate account of significance.

Places to read

1. 156aCharmides proposes copying the charm
2. 159aSpeaking Greek supports the request to articulate an opinion
3. 159cWriting and reading are examples of skilled rapid performance
4. 161d–eOther people’s names expose a literalized reading of one’s own business
5. 164d–165a2An inscription requires interpretation as greeting or counsel

Translation in this edition

At 159c τὰ ὅμοια γράμματα is rendered “copy out the letters.” The Greek comparison presupposes equivalent letters; it does not praise indiscriminate haste or explicitly prescribe a copying technology. The reading verb is distinct from gignōskein, knowing, despite its related formation.

ἀναγιγνώσκω

Attested: ἀναγιγνώσκειν (anagignōskein). Read; schoolroom and craft examples test whether temperance can mean simply doing what belongs to oneself. References: 159c, 161e. Lexical identification: lemma: ἀναγιγνώσκω. See Reading and writing.

γράμμα

Attested: γράμματα / γράμμα / γράμματά (grammata / gramma / grammata). Written letters in the schoolroom example; a written inscription or its words in Critias’ discussion of the Delphic maxims. References: 159c, 164d, 165a. Lexical identification: lemma: γράμμα. See Reading and writing.

Use in the book

Lysis’ parents call on him first when they want something read or written. In this activity he may choose how to proceed because he possesses the relevant knowledge. The present infinitive ἀναγιγνώσκειν and the passive infinitive ἀναγνωσθῆναι belong to the same verb.

Reading supplies a successful counterexample to his claim that mere youth explains all restrictions. It is a practical skill within the household, not yet the reading of a particular philosophical or poetic authority. The passage does not identify the documents his parents ask him to read.

Places to read

1. 209bἀναγιγνώσκειν ὡσαύτως ἔξεστιν — you are allowed to read in the same way.
2. 209a