Xenophon's Memorabilia presents Socrates as a morally serious teacher whose guidance benefited his associates and whose conviction rested on weak charges. The deck covers Xenophon's background, the book's structure and translation, the indictment, Socrates' views on divination, his conduct as assembly president, and his defense against blame for Critias and Alcibiades.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What does Xenophon's Memorabilia claim to show about Socrates?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The Memorabilia is described as a recollection of Socrates in word and deed, written to show his character as the best and happiest of men. So the work is both a portrait and a defense of Socrates' character, presented through remembered sayings and actions rather than a systematic philosophical treatise.
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Introduction4 cards
What does Xenophon's Memorabilia claim to show about Socrates?
The Memorabilia is described as a recollection of Socrates in word and deed, written to show his character as the best and happiest of men. So the work is both a portrait and a defense of Socrates' character, presented through remembered sayings and actions rather than a systematic philosophical treatise.
Chapter 1
Who was Xenophon, and what happened to him politically?
Xenophon was an Athenian born in 431 B.C. and a pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans and was exiled from Athens. Sparta then gave him land and property in Scillus, where he lived for many years before moving again to settle in Corinth. He died in 354 B.C.
Chapter 1
How many books make up The Memorabilia, and who translated this edition?
The Memorabilia consists of four books. This edition was translated by H. G. Dakyns and first published in 1897 by Macmillan and Co. It was typed from Dakyns' four-volume series, 'The Works of Xenophon.'
Chapter 1
According to the preparer's note, what does text in brackets represent?
Text in brackets is the preparer's transliteration of Greek text into English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The note adds that the diacritical marks have been lost in this transliteration, so readers should not expect the original Greek accents to appear.
Chapter 1
BOOK I (part 1)4 cards
What two charges did the indictment against Socrates bring?
The indictment stated that Socrates was guilty of refusing to recognise the gods acknowledged by the state and of importing strange divinities of his own; it further charged him with corrupting the young. Xenophon opens by wondering how those who indicted him could have persuaded the Athenians that his life was justly forfeit to the state.
Chapter 2
How did Socrates' language about divination differ from ordinary people's?
Xenophon says ordinary people speak of being turned aside or urged onward by birds or creatures met on the path, but Socrates suited his language to his conviction, saying 'the divinity gives me a sign.' Xenophon argues this saying lay at the root of the charge that he imported novel divinities, though there was no greater novelty in his case than in other believers in oracular help.
Chapter 2
According to Socrates, which matters should people decide by learning and which by divination?
Socrates held that carpentry, building, farming, governing, arithmetic, economy and strategy are affairs of study within human intelligence, and that consulting Heaven on what we may know by numbering, weighing and measuring is profanity. But in hidden matters with incalculable issues he told friends to consult the oracle, since the gods reserve to themselves the outcomes, such as who will harvest a field or inhabit a house.
Chapter 2
What did Socrates do as President of the Assembly when it wanted the generals condemned by one vote?
Socrates was a member of the Council and had sworn the senatorial oath to act in conformity with the laws. As President of the Popular Assembly, when the body wished to put the generals to death by a single inclusive vote, he refused to put the question despite the people's bitter resentment and the menaces of influential citizens, esteeming his oath more important than gratifying the people wrongfully or screening himself from threats.
Chapter 2
BOOK I (part 2)4 cards
According to Xenophon, what happens to the soul when it lacks exercise?
Xenophon argues that the soul works like the body: want of exercise of the organ leads to inability of function, so that a person can neither do what they should nor abstain from what they should not. He adds that fathers keep even temperate sons away from wicked men, since the society of the good trains in virtue while the society of the bad dissolves it.
Chapter 3
What does Xenophon say about remembering a long poem?
Xenophon observes that it is impossible to remember a long poem without practice and repetition, and by analogy forgetfulness of the words of instruction is engendered in a heart that has ceased to value them. He argues that when the words of warning fade, the recollection of the condition of mind in which the soul yearned after holiness fades too, and then the memory of virtue itself slips away.
Chapter 3
Why did Critias hate Socrates, according to Xenophon?
Xenophon says Socrates knew Critias was pursuing Euthydemus in a carnal way and tried to deter him, calling it illiberal and base. When Critias ignored him, Socrates remarked before a company including Euthydemus that Critias seemed to suffer from a swinish affection, wanting to rub against Euthydemus like piglings against stones. Xenophon says Critias' hatred doubtless dates from this incident.
Chapter 3
How does Xenophon defend Socrates against blame for Critias and Alcibiades?
Xenophon argues that while they lived with Socrates they could control their ignoble appetites, but once separated from him Critias went to Thessaly and Alcibiades was corrupted by flattery and beauty. He compares Socrates to a harp or flute master not blamed when a pupil later leaves and fails, and says Socrates should be blamed only if he himself did wrong or approved of others' evil.
Chapter 3
BOOK I (part 3)4 cards
How did Socrates interpret Hesiod's line 'No work is a disgrace'?
The accuser claimed Socrates read it as license to do any wicked work for gain. Xenophon counters that Socrates held only good work to be honorable; dicers, gamblers, and those in base or ruinous business he called 'idle drones.' So the Hesiod quotation, rightly understood, was unimpeachable: no work is a disgrace, only idleness is.
Chapter 4
How did Socrates interpret Homer's passage about Odysseus restraining and striking commoners?
The accuser said Socrates read it as approving blows to commoners and the poor. Xenophon denies Socrates ever said this, noting it would justify beating Socrates himself. Socrates actually said those useless in word and deed, incapable of helping army, state, or people, however wealthy, should be restrained, especially if effrontery is added to incapacity.
Chapter 4
What rule did Socrates follow regarding sacrifice and worship, and what was his prayer?
Socrates conformed to the Pythia's answer: act according to the law and custom of your state, and you act piously; he called those who acted otherwise busybodies. His prayer was simply 'Give me what is best for me,' since the gods know best, and praying for gold, silver, or power was as uncertain as praying for a dice throw.
Chapter 4
What did Socrates teach about the dangers of kissing and beauty?
Socrates warned that a kiss steals freedom, signs a bond of bondage, and forces spending on hurtful pleasures. He compared beauty's bloom to the tarantula: the insect must touch, but beauty injects its poison at a mere distant glance, which is why the Loves are called archers. He advised Xenophon to flee at sight of fair forms, and Critobulus to go abroad a year to heal.
Chapter 4
BOOK I (part 4)4 cards
How does Socrates answer Aristodemus's claim that the gods are too grand to need his service?
Socrates argues the grander the divine power that tends and waits upon a person, the more that person is called upon to honour it. He then lists gifts to humans: erect posture for looking upward, hands, articulate speech, lifelong sexual pleasure, and a soul able to recognize the gods and serve them.
Chapter 5
What does Socrates say about the eye of God compared with human sight and thought?
Socrates argues it is hardly possible that your eye can range over many leagues while God's eye cannot embrace all things at a glance, or that your soul can think of Egypt or Sicily while God's wisdom cannot include all things at once under His care. He urges testing the gods through service.
Chapter 5
How does Socrates argue self-control is the foundation of virtue?
Socrates asks who would trust a man enslaved to belly, wine, lust, toil, or sleep with saving the state, educating sons, or guarding property. No one would accept such a slave even as a gift. He calls self-restraint the corner-stone of virtue, since without it no good lesson can be learned or practised.
Chapter 5
How does Socrates defend his frugal way of life against Antiphon's charge of misery?
Socrates replies that, taking no payment, he lies under no contract to teach anyone he does not choose. He says sharp appetite needs no sauces, clothes are for cold and heat, and training lets a weakling outdo a giant. He adds that self-control offers a counter-charm against slavery to belly, sleep, and lechery.
Chapter 5
BOOK I (part 5)4 cards
What did Socrates claim is the best road to renown?
Socrates often said there was no better road to renown than the one by which a man becomes genuinely good at that wherein he desires to be reputed good. The author argues that by deterring associates from quackery and false seeming, Socrates directly stimulated them to pursue virtue.
Chapter 6
How does the fake flute player example illustrate the cost of false pretence?
The would-be flute player must imitate externals: splendid equipment, a long train of attendants, and a packed audience of flatterers. But he dare not perform, or he is exposed as a sorry flute player and wretched imposter. He faces many expenses, no advantage, and an evil reputation, leaving a life stale and unprofitable, the scorn of men.
Chapter 6
What two misfortunes await one who pretends to be a general or pilot?
Either he fails to convince others of his proficiency, which is bad enough, or he succeeds with a worse result. Anyone appointed to work a vessel or lead an army without requisite knowledge will speedily ruin many people he least desires to hurt and make a sorry exit himself. Later he faces commands beyond his power, failing where credited with capacity, with no commiseration.
Chapter 6
Whom did Socrates call the biggest imposter of all?
Socrates called a cheat, and a great cheat, one who gets money or goods by persuasion and defrauds someone. But he said the biggest imposter is surely the one who can delude people into thinking he is fit to lead the state when he is all the while a worthless creature.
Chapter 6
BOOK II (part 1)4 cards
In Socrates' analogy, which child must learn to resist food, thirst, sleep, and lust?
Socrates asks Aristippus to imagine educating two children, one fit for rule and one not. Both will feel hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and sexual desire, but the one trained to govern must voluntarily endure these cravings, face toils rather than flee, and master knowledge needed against antagonists. Aristippus agrees the future ruler needs all these forms of self-control.
Chapter 7
What middle path does Aristippus claim he wants, and how does Socrates refute it?
Aristippus says he seeks neither to rule nor be enslaved but a free middle road to happiness, roaming the world as a foreigner. Socrates replies that among humans the stronger subdue the weaker, publicly and privately, so one who neither rules nor courts rulers will be reduced to slavery; even travelers face robbers and hostile cities.
Chapter 7
How does Socrates compare voluntary hardship with involuntary suffering?
Aristippus objects that self-chosen hunger, thirst, cold, and wakefulness hurt the same as forced ones, adding only folly. Socrates answers that the voluntary sufferer can stop when he chooses, while the forced one cannot. The volunteer also faces toil with hope of rewards: good friends, defeated enemies, sound household and body, and benefit to his country.
Chapter 7
What does Socrates say about the adulterer's behavior?
Socrates compares the adulterer to foolish birds like quails and partridges, which rush toward the hunter's snare at the call of the hen-bird, losing all sense of danger. The adulterer enters the inner sanctum knowing the law's penalties, the risk of capture, and the disgrace, yet drives headlong on despite many means of release from passion. Socrates calls this frenzy, as if tormented by an evil spirit.
Chapter 7
BOOK II (part 2)4 cards
In Prodicus's allegory, what does Virtue say the gods require for blessings?
Virtue tells Heracles that the gods bestow no lovely or good thing on mortals apart from toil and pains. To gain divine favour one must serve the gods; to be loved by friends one must benefit them; to be honoured by the state one must aid it; to win praise from Hellas one must do Hellas good. Earth yields fruit only to those who court her, and herds reward labour.
Chapter 8
How does Vice describe her own path to happiness, according to Prodicus?
Vice interrupts to tell Heracles that Virtue's road is hard and long, while she will guide him by a short and easy road to happiness. Virtue then attacks her: Vice cannot even wait for desire before being satiated, eating before hunger and drinking before thirst, inventing cooks, costly wines, and summer ice, and forcing natural appetites prematurely.
Chapter 8
How does Socrates define ingratitude to Lamprocles?
Socrates asks whether ingratitude resembles enslaving prisoners, wrong toward friends but justifiable toward enemies. Lamprocles decides that whoever confers kindness, friend or foe, the recipient should requite it or is a wrongdoer. Socrates concludes ingratitude is pure wrongdoing, and the greater the benefit, the greater the misdoing of one who fails to requite it.
Chapter 8
What legal penalties does Socrates say Athens imposes for failing to honour parents?
Socrates says the state overlooks ordinary ingratitude but punishes those who fail to render service and allegiance to parents: the law strikes their name off the roll and forbids them to hold the archonship, since their sacrifices would be tainted with impiety. The state also inquires, in the scrutiny of magistrates, whether a man adorned his dead parents' sepulchre.
Chapter 8
BOOK II (part 3)4 cards
How does Socrates say a younger brother should treat his elder, contrary to Chaerephon's objection?
Chaerephon objects that custom has the elder lead in everything. Socrates replies that custom actually has the younger give way: stepping aside in the street, rising to offer a seat, yielding the soft couch and precedence in argument. He urges Chaerephon not to hesitate but to approach his brother with affection, since proud, frank natures respond to kindness rather than bribes.
Chapter 9
According to Socrates, what advantage do two brothers have over paired hands, feet, or eyes?
Socrates argues that God made brothers to benefit each other more than any other paired part of a man. Hands cannot act together beyond a fathom's distance, feet cannot stretch so far apart, and eyes cannot see front and back at once. But brothers linked in friendship can work for each other's good even when seas divide them.
Chapter 9
What complaint does Socrates make about how people value friends compared with other possessions?
Socrates notes that people admit a good friend is the greatest possession, yet hardly anyone works to acquire or keep one. They spend pains on houses, fields, slaves, and cattle, and fetch doctors for a sick servant while neglecting a sick friend. Asked to list their friends, most cannot, or retract names they had included.
Chapter 9
What qualities does Socrates say to look for in a friend worth winning?
Socrates advises avoiding anyone enslaved to appetite, drink, lechery, sleep, or idleness; also the spendthrift, the money-lender, the quarrelsome partisan, and the man who accepts kindness but never returns it. Seek instead someone self-controlled, kindly disposed, upright in dealings, and zealous not to be outdone in kindness by benefactors. Test them, he says, as one judges a sculptor: by works already achieved.
Chapter 9
BOOK II (part 4)3 cards
According to Socrates, what two kinds of seeds are implanted in humans by nature?
Socrates argues that seeds of love and seeds of war are both implanted in man by nature. Love arises from mutual need, pity, shared effort, and gratitude. War arises because people regard the same things as beautiful or agreeable and battle for their possession, producing discord, anger, avarice, and envy. Yet friendship still binds together the beautiful and good.
Chapter 10
How do the 'beautiful and good' differ from the covetous in seeking state honors?
The author argues that those who covet honors to embezzle public money, act violently, and live in luxury are unjust and incapable of harmony. But one who seeks office to be secure against wrongdoing, help friends in what is right, and bless his fatherland can work in harmony with others of like spirit, since the good share goods as friends.
Chapter 10
What does Socrates say is the one road to being deemed good at something?
Socrates tells Critobulus there is one shortest, safest, best road: in whatever you desire to be deemed good, endeavor actually to be good. He warns that false praise leads to disaster—like a man praised as a pilot who wrecks the ship—and argues that every virtue can be increased by learning and practice.
Chapter 10
BOOK II (part 5)4 cards
How does Socrates advise Eutherus to secure his old age?
Socrates suggests Eutherus attach himself to a wealthy landowner who needs an estate manager. By supervising works, helping with harvests, and guarding property, Eutherus would benefit the estate and be benefited in return, securing provision for old age. Eutherus objects that he could not endure the yoke of slavery, and Socrates replies that heads of state departments are not seen as slaves but as enjoying greater freedom.
Chapter 11
What fable does Socrates tell the man whose relatives now call him a drone?
Socrates tells the fable of the dog and the sheep. The sheep complain that they provide fleeces, lambs, and cheese yet get only what they nibble from the earth, while the dog provides nothing but shares the master's meat. The dog replies that he keeps the sheep safe from thieves and wolves, without which they could not graze. The sheep admit the dog is rightly preferred in honour.
Chapter 11
How does Crito solve his problem with vexatious litigants?
On Socrates' advice, Crito engages Archedemus, a poor but clever and honest man. Crito gives him farm produce and invitations, making him a grateful ally. Archedemus then prosecutes Crito's persecutors, forcing one to drop his suit and pay money. Other friends of Crito ask to share Archedemus as guardian, and he defends them too, answering critics that accepting kindness from honest folk beats making enemies of gentlemen.
Chapter 11
How does Socrates persuade Diodorus to help Hermogenes?
Socrates asks whether Diodorus would recover a runaway slave or tend a sick servant, and Diodorus says yes. Socrates then argues that an intimate friend more precious than slaves should likewise be saved from want. He notes Hermogenes is not made of wood or stone and would repay kindness, and that a willing, trusty assistant worth dozens of slaves can be got cheaply in hard times. Diodorus goes to Hermogenes himself.
Chapter 11
BOOK III (part 1)2 cards
What did Dionysodorus teach the aspiring general, according to the youth?
The youth reports that Dionysodorus "began where he ended; he taught me tactics—tactics and nothing else." Socrates objects that tactics is only an infinitesimal part of generalship, which also requires supplying material of war, providing the commissariat, practical resource, endurance, shrewdness, and a mix of clemency and fierceness.
Chapter 12
How does Socrates use the coin-pile analogy against the youth's battle formation?
The youth says the rule is to put the best men in front and rear with inferior men between. Socrates replies this is useless unless the professor taught how to distinguish good from bad—just as arranging coins best at top and bottom and worst in the middle helps nothing without knowing real from counterfeit. The youth admits he must distinguish them himself.
Chapter 12
BOOK III (part 2)4 cards
What common duties does Socrates claim a good household manager and a good general share?
Socrates argues both must secure obedience, assign tasks to the best-qualified people, punish the bad and reward the good, win the goodwill of subordinates, attract supporters and allies, guard their charges, and toil painstakingly. He adds that both face enemies and must seek victory, so economic skill serves most in war, where victory is most lucrative and defeat most costly.
Chapter 13
How does Socrates answer Nicomachides' objection that management does not help in actual fighting?
Socrates replies that management matters most in battle: the good economist knows victory is most advantageous and defeat most disastrous, so he eagerly provides what leads to victory, guards against what leads to defeat, attacks energetically when ready, and stays cautious until preparations are complete. He says the difference between private and public affairs is only quantity, since both deal with human beings.
Chapter 13
What advantages does Socrates list for Athens over Boeotia in his talk with Pericles?
Socrates notes Athenians are not inferior to Boeotians in numbers, can field fine healthy men, are more united and friendlier among themselves, and are exceptionally jealous of honour and haughty in spirit—spurs to hazard all for glory. He also cites their ancestral heritage of noble deeds as stirring Athenians to pursue virtue. Pericles agrees but notes Thebes' rising confidence after Lebadeia and Delium.
Chapter 13
According to Socrates, why is Athens' present decline actually a good opportunity for a leader?
Socrates argues the state was never more ripe for a good leader, because fear makes people disposed to application, obedience, and good order, while boldness breeds carelessness and insubordination. He compares this to a ship: in calm weather disorder reigns, but when a storm or enemy appears, every command is obeyed and sailors wait in silence for the next signal.
Chapter 13
BOOK III (part 3)4 cards
What does Socrates say will happen to a man who tries to speak in the Assembly without being heard?
Socrates notes that if such a man is rich and noble, the people will not listen but laugh and hoot him until he either retires of his own accord or, if he persists, is dragged away or put out by the constables at the command of the prytanes.
Chapter 14
What does Socrates identify as the starting point Glaucon must know before advising on state wealth?
Socrates argues that before making the state wealthier, one must know the state's present revenues and their magnitude, and its expenditures, so as to remove superfluous ones. Without knowing the outgoings and incomings, he says, it is impossible to deal with the matter seriously.
Chapter 14
What does Socrates say about the danger of speaking or acting beyond one's knowledge?
The author argues through Socrates that those who speak or act beyond the range of their knowledge earn blame and contempt rather than praise, while those who know what they say and do gain repute and admiration. He urges Glaucon to acquire knowledge of what he wishes to do before entering state affairs.
Chapter 14
How does Socrates counter Charmides' claim that modesty and timidity keep him from the Assembly?
Socrates argues that counting and harp-playing are done equally well in public as in private, and that Charmides feels no shame before the wisest and strongest men yet fears weaklings and dullards. He compares the Assembly to fullers, cobblers, carpenters, and merchants, asking why Charmides quails before amateurs when he can argue with foremost statesmen.
Chapter 14
BOOK III (part 4)4 cards
How did Socrates argue a house should be built to be both pleasant and useful?
Socrates reasoned that a perfect house should be cool in summer and warm in winter. A southern aspect lets winter sun under the verandah while the roof shades summer heat. He concluded the southern side should be built higher to catch winter sun and the northern side lower to block cold winds, making the pleasantest and most beautiful dwelling one offering a good retreat and secure storage.
Chapter 15
According to Socrates, can courage be taught?
Socrates held that while one soul may be naturally more robust in the face of dangers, natural aptitude can always be strengthened toward courage by learning and practice. He noted people under the same laws differ in daring, and that Scythians or Thracians would not face Lacedaemonians with shield and spear, nor Lacedaemonians fight them with unfamiliar weapons. All alike should learn and practice what they wish to excel in.
Chapter 15
How did Socrates define wisdom and temperance, and did he separate them?
Socrates drew no distinction between wisdom and temperance of soul. He judged a man wise and sound of soul if he could recognize things beautiful and good enough to live in them, and knew the base and foul so as to beware of them. Those who know right action but do not apply it he called not wise but unwise and intemperate, since everyone chooses what he considers most to his interest.
Chapter 15
What did Socrates consider the best pursuit for a man, and how did he distinguish it from good fortune?
Asked the best pursuit, Socrates answered successful conduct. He held fortune and conduct to be diametrically opposed: succeeding in a desirable course without seeking it is good fortune, but doing a thing well by learning and practice is successful conduct. Those who make this the serious business of their life, he said, seem to do well, and such people are best and dearest to God.
Chapter 15
BOOK III (part 5)3 cards
How does Socrates define a well-proportioned corselet, according to Pistias?
Pistias says a corselet is well-proportioned when it fits the wearer, not in any absolute sense. Socrates draws out that the term is relative to the individual body, like a shield or cloak suited to one person. Pistias agrees that what fits is well-proportioned, and Socrates concludes the fitting corselet is the one that does not gall the wearer in use.
Chapter 16
What advantage does Socrates say a fitting corselet has over one that does not fit?
Socrates argues a fitting corselet is less galling because its weight is distributed along the collar-bone, shoulder-blade, shoulders, chest, back, and belly, so it feels like a natural integument rather than an extra load. An ill-fitting one either drags from the shoulders or presses on another part of the body, making it troublesome and uncomfortable. Pistias calls this the quality giving his work exceptional value.
Chapter 16
What advice does Socrates give Theodote about keeping a lover constant?
Socrates says a friend cannot be caught or kept by force; kindness and pleasure are the means. She should demand only what a well-wisher can grant without repentance and make requital with like economy. Favors should be suited to the lover's need, since viands given before hunger are insipid or nauseous, but hunger makes coarse fare honey-sweet.
Chapter 16
BOOK III (part 6)4 cards
How does Socrates refute the complaint that the journey to Olympia is too long?
Socrates argues the complainant already spends nearly all day walking at home. On the road to Olympia he would walk, breakfast, walk again, dine, and sleep. Tacking together five or six days' walks in one line would soon reach from Athens to Olympia. He advises starting a day early rather than late, since an overlong day's journey is a nuisance but an extra day is pure relaxation.
Chapter 17
How does Socrates answer the man exhausted after a long journey?
Socrates asks whether he carried baggage. The man says only his cloak, but his servant came along carrying rugs and baggage. The servant fared better than the master. Socrates asks what the man's condition would have been had he carried the servant's load; the man admits he could not have carried it at all. Socrates calls it a confession that he is capable of far less toil than a slave boy.
Chapter 17
At a dinner where guests bring unequal food, what does Socrates have the servants do?
Socrates bids the servants throw the small supplies into the general stock, or else help each guest to a share all round. The large contributors were then ashamed either not to share in the common stock or not to throw in their own supplies too. So the grand supplies went into the common stock, and being no better off than the small contributors, the big caterers soon stopped buying expensive delicacies.
Chapter 17
How does Socrates define the 'dainty fellow' (opsophagos) in the supper discussion?
Socrates notes everyone adds some relish when possible, so liking buttered bread does not make one dainty. A man who eats only venison or dainty without plain food, for pleasure rather than training, earns the title. So does one whose dainties are out of proportion to the rest of the meal. Socrates jokes such a man prays 'May my fleshpots multiply' instead of for corn and oil.
Chapter 17
BOOK IV (part 1)4 cards
What three tokens did Socrates use to detect a good natural disposition?
Socrates detected "good natures" by three tokens: a readiness to learn whatever the attention was directed to, a power of retaining in memory the lessons learnt, and a passionate predilection for studies that serve good administration of a house or state and the proper handling of human affairs. He held that such people needed only education to become happy themselves and capable of making others happy too.
Chapter 18
How did Socrates illustrate that the most gifted natures most need education?
Socrates argued that the most highly-gifted nature stands most in need of training. He compared it to a spirited thoroughbred colt, which if properly broken in becomes serviceable and superb but if left unbroken turns out intractable and worthless, and to a well-bred puppy that becomes excellent for the chase if raised well but a stupid, crazy brute if neglected. Untrained gifted humans become very bad and very mischievous.
Chapter 18
What did Socrates say to those proud of wealth who thought they needed no education?
Socrates pointed out the folly of supposing that without instruction one could draw the line between what is gainful and what is hurtful in conduct, or that wealth alone could help a person to whatever he liked or make the path of expediency plain. He called it simplicity to think that without the power of labouring profitably a man could do well, or that mere wealth without knowledge could purchase a reputation for excellence.
Chapter 18
How did Socrates mock Euthydemus's plan to advise Athens without learning from anyone?
Socrates imagined Euthydemus's exordium: he would declare he had never learnt anything from anybody and had avoided even the suspicion of doing so, offering only whatever occurred to him by nature. Socrates compared this to someone seeking the post of state physician while promising to acquire skill by experimenting on the citizens' persons. Everyone laughed, and the matter dropped.
Chapter 18
BOOK IV (part 2)4 cards
According to Socrates, when is deception of a friend justified?
Socrates offers cases where deceit benefits a friend: giving a sick child medicine disguised as food, or taking a suicidal friend's knife. Euthydemus agrees these belong to right behaviour, and concedes that a straightforward course is not always to be pursued even with friends, rescinding his earlier statement.
Chapter 19
How does Socrates use grammar to argue about intentional versus unintentional wrongdoing?
Socrates asks whether the intentional misspeller or the unconscious one is more lettered. Euthydemus says the intentional one, since he can spell correctly when he chooses. Socrates extends the analogy: the intentional liar knows what is right, so by Euthydemus's own admissions the knowledgeable wrongdoer appears more righteous than the ignorant one, leaving Euthydemus confused.
Chapter 19
What does Socrates say self-knowledge provides, and what does ignorance of self cause?
Socrates argues that through self-knowledge men gain countless blessings: knowing what suits them, discerning the limits of their powers, doing what they know and avoiding what they do not, and gauging others' needs. Ignorance of self leads to missing the good and falling into ill, since such a man knows neither what he wants nor whom he deals with.
Chapter 19
Why does Socrates question whether health, strength, wealth, and fame are simply good?
Socrates argues things that sometimes benefit and sometimes injure us are not strictly good. Health can be evil if the strong perish on a doomed expedition while the sick are saved; beauty, strength, wealth, and fame ruin many. Euthydemus concedes that if happiness includes these, he does not know what to pray for.
Chapter 19
BOOK IV (part 3)2 cards
How does Socrates answer Euthydemus's worry that no one can repay the gods' kindness?
Socrates says the god at Delphi answers those asking how to give thanks: 'According to the law and custom of your city.' He argues this means pleasing the gods with offerings according to one's ability, and that the best honor is doing what the gods bid, not falling short of one's ability. One should then be of good cheer and hope for the greatest blessings.
Chapter 20
What three occasions does Xenophon cite as proof of Socrates' obedience to law?
Xenophon cites: as president of the assembly he refused to allow an unconstitutional vote despite popular pressure; he refused the Thirty's unlawful injunctions, including forbidding him to converse with the young and ordering him to arrest a man for death; and at his trial by Meletus he refused customary flattery and supplication, preferring to abide by the laws and die rather than transgress them and live.
Chapter 20
BOOK IV (part 4)3 cards
According to Socrates, what is the difference between rejecting law because it changes and rejecting wartime discipline because peace comes?
Socrates argues there is no difference: cities constantly make war and then peace again, just as lawmakers repeal and alter laws. To depreciate obedience to law because laws will be repealed is like depreciating good discipline in war because peace will one day be made. He notes Hippias heartily approves of enthusiasm in defending one's home and fatherland in war.
Chapter 21
What did Lycurgus achieve for Sparta, according to Socrates in this chapter?
Socrates says Lycurgus gave Sparta her distinction above other states only by instilling in her, beyond all else, a spirit of obedience to the laws. He adds that a state where obedience to law is the paramount distinction of citizens flourishes most in peace and is irresistible in war, and that no blessing stands higher than unanimity among citizens.
Chapter 21
What are unwritten laws, and who does Hippias believe made them?
Socrates asks about unwritten laws held everywhere in the same sense. Hippias says men could not have made them, since they could not all gather from the ends of the earth or share one speech. He believes the gods made these laws for men, citing universal worship of the gods and honoring of parents as proof.
Chapter 21
BOOK IV (part 5)4 cards
What did Socrates believe a man who truly knew what each reality was could do?
Socrates held firmly that if a man knew what each reality was, he would be able to explain that knowledge to others. Failing such knowledge, he was not surprised that men should stumble themselves and cause others to stumble also. For this reason he never ceased inquiring with his companions into the true nature of things that are.
Chapter 22
How does the dialogue define the pious man?
Socrates leads Euthydemus to agree that piety means honouring the gods, but not in any fashion one likes—there are laws governing it. He who knows these laws will honour the gods lawfully, and he who honours as he ought is pious. The conclusion: he who knows what the law requires concerning the gods is correctly defined as a pious man.
Chapter 22
How does the argument define the just or upright man?
By parallel reasoning about human affairs, Euthydemus agrees that those who know what is lawful concerning men deal with one another as they ought, do well and nobly, and do what is just and right. Socrates concludes they may rightly be defined as just and upright who know the things which are lawful as concerning men.
Chapter 22
How does Socrates define wisdom and the good, and what does he conclude about courage?
Wisdom is knowledge: the wise are wise in what they know, and since no man can know all things, each is wise only in his knowledge. The good is the beneficial, good relatively to him whom it benefits; the beautiful is the useful for its proper use. Courage is noble and useful, but only those who know how to cope with terrors and turn them to noble account are courageous—not the ignorant or the reckless.
Chapter 22
BOOK IV (part 6)4 cards
What limit did Socrates set on the study of geometry?
Socrates held that everyone should learn geometry only so far as to take over, divide, or assign land by geometric rule—simple mensuration easily learned by ordinary application. He disapproved of pursuing geometry to the point of studying unintelligible diagrams, saying such recondite matters wear out a man's life and hinder more useful studies, though he himself was not unversed in them.
Chapter 23
What practical astronomy did Socrates approve, and what did he reject?
Socrates approved enough astronomy to determine the hour of night or the season of month or year for travel, marching, voyages, and watches—knowledge easily learned from night sportsmen and pilots. He discouraged studying planetary movements, eccentric stars, their distances, periods, and causes, seeing no advantage, though he was not unversed in astronomy's subtleties himself.
Chapter 23
Why did Socrates oppose speculating about celestial machinery?
Socrates set his face against attempts to explain how divine power formed celestial operations, believing such matters exceeded human faculties and that searching out what the gods had not revealed could hardly please them. He warned such tortured speculation risked losing one's wits, citing Anaxagoras, who called sun and fire identical despite fire being safe to look at and the sun not.
Chapter 23
How did Socrates defend his life's work as trial preparation?
When Hermogenes urged him to prepare his defense, Socrates said he had practiced his whole life by distinguishing just from unjust and doing right while avoiding wrong—the finest defense practice. He added that whenever he tried to think out his court defense, the divinity opposed him, and he accepted death as better than old age's decline, expecting undying witness that he never wronged anyone.
Chapter 23
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #1177 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-11-02. Cards reviewed 2026-11-02.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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