Riddle and allusion

Use in the book

Socrates calls doing one's own business a riddle at 161c because, taken in the unrestricted practical sense he tests, it gives unacceptable consequences. At 162a–b2 he again proposes that its reputedly wise author must have intended something other than such an absurd reading. The gesture can be heard as charitable interpretation or teasing pressure: if the author is wise, explain the intended sense.

Charmides' reply punctures the defense. Perhaps even the author does not know what he meant (162b). Critias' anger and entry show how claiming depth can become entangled with protecting personal authority.

At 164e Critias himself turns riddling into divine style. Apollo says “Know thyself” but means “Be temperate”, speaking as a prophet would. The recurrence invites comparison with the earlier rescued formula. It does not settle whether Critias' exegesis is correct. His assertion must still become an account that withstands questions. The riddle motif therefore stages the difference between interpreting prestigious words and showing their truth.

Places to read

1. 161c–162b23Three descriptions of the third definition as a riddle
2. 164e–165aCritias’ enigmatic divine greeting

Translation in this edition

“Rather riddlingly” preserves the comparative at 164e. The edition explicitly notes the three earlier echoes; a gloss should not count only the first occurrence and miss the repetition that prepares Critias' speech.

αἴνιγμα

Attested: αἰνίγματι / αἴνιγμα (ainigmati / ainigma). A riddle or enigmatic statement; the formula “doing one’s own business” requires an interpretation beyond its apparently literal wording. References: 161c, 162b. Lexical identification: lemma: αἴνιγμα. See Riddle.

αἰνιγματώδης

Attested: αἰνιγματωδέστερον (ainigmatōdesteron). More enigmatically, or rather riddlingly; Critias says the god expresses “Be temperate” through the apparently different wording “Know thyself”. References: 164e. Lexical identification: lemma: αἰνιγματώδης. See Riddle.

αἰνίττομαι

Attested: ἠινίττετο (ēinitteto). Was speaking in riddles; Socrates infers that the author of “doing one’s own business” cannot have intended literal self-sufficient manufacture. References: 162a. Lexical identification: lemma: αἰνίττομαι. See Riddle.

προύβαλεν (proubalen)

Put forward or proposed; the definition’s author is pictured as setting a riddle. References: 162b. Lemma: προβάλλω. See Riddle.

χαλεπὸν (chalepon)

Difficult; Socrates treats understanding the proposed formula as the task of solving a riddle. References: 162b. Lemma: χαλεπός. See Riddle.

Use in the book

The verb describes Socrates’ proposed reading of the claim that like is friend to like. He suggests that its speakers mean only the good, since the bad are unstable and unlike even themselves.

The wording marks interpretation: Socrates is extracting a restricted meaning from an apparently broad poetic or philosophical statement. It does not establish that the original speakers intended that restricted account. The interpretation itself then becomes the next proposal to be tested.

Places to read

1. 214dΤοῦτο τοίνυν αἰνίττονται — This, then, is what they convey in a riddle.

Use in the book

Porphyry reads a myth as an enigmatic statement about the soul, connecting Pythagorean and Platonic teaching with its imperishability and its susceptibility to change. Pleasure and habit help explain altered embodiment. The interpretive claim belongs to Porphyry’s reading; it is not direct proof that every detail of the myth originally carried that philosophical intention.

Places to read

1. I.49.60.2A myth is interpreted as an allusion to the soul’s changing condition.

Translation in this edition

“Riddle” emphasizes concealed expression; “allusion” suits the act of intimating a doctrine through narrative.