11-29-2017, 12:00 AM
The theme of The Charmides is TEMPERANCE and self-restraint by the way.
Socrates is just back from the great war and a friend of his wrongly assumes he's interested in local gossip and lusting for the beautiful youths of Athens. But in the dialogue anyway, no, it turns out he's fresh from the great war, finally seeing home again for the first time in years, and all he wants to do is have a book length dialogue about Temperance with some attractive teenagers.
In this dialogue he also gets an erection. It is the only Platonic dialogue where ANY character is known to have an erection. I couldn't even make this up.
The Laches where they talk about Bravery and the training of warriors, properly so-called, is also a masterpiece.
Socrates is just back from the great war and a friend of his wrongly assumes he's interested in local gossip and lusting for the beautiful youths of Athens. But in the dialogue anyway, no, it turns out he's fresh from the great war, finally seeing home again for the first time in years, and all he wants to do is have a book length dialogue about Temperance with some attractive teenagers.
In this dialogue he also gets an erection. It is the only Platonic dialogue where ANY character is known to have an erection. I couldn't even make this up.
The Laches where they talk about Bravery and the training of warriors, properly so-called, is also a masterpiece.