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But as to the concerns of Aphrodite; his advice was to hold strongly
aloof from the fascination of fair forms: once lay finger on these and
it is not easy to keep a sound head and a sober mind。 To take a
particular case。 It was a mere kiss which; as he had heard;
Critobulus'10' had some time given to a fair youth; the son of
Alcibiades。'11' Accordingly Critobulus being present; Socrates
propounded the question。

'10' For Critobulus (the son of Crito) see 〃Econ。〃 i。 1 foll。; 〃Symp。〃
    i。 3 foll。

'11' See Isocr。 〃Or。〃 xvi。 Cobet conj。 {ton tou 'Axiokhou uion}; i。e。
    Clinias。

Soc。 Tell me; Xenophon; have you not always believed Critobulus to be
a man of sound sense; not wild and self…willed? Should you not have
said that he was remarkable for his prudence rather than thoughtless
or foolhardy?

Xen。 Certainly that is what I should have said of him。

Soc。 Then you are now to regard him as quite the reversea hot…
blooded; reckless libertine: this is the sort of man to throw
somersaults into knives;'12' or to leap into the jaws of fire。

'12' Cf。 〃Symp。〃 ii。 10; iv。 16。 See Schneider ad loc。

Xen。 And what have you seen him doing; that you give him so bad a
character?

Soc。 Doing? Why; has not the fellow dared to steal a kiss from the son
of Alcibiades; most fair of youths and in the golden prime?

Xen。 Nay; then; if that is the foolhardy adventure; it is a danger
which I could well encounter myself。

Soc。 Pour soul! and what do you expect your fate to be after that
kiss? Let me tell you。 On the instant you will lose your freedom; the
indenture of your bondage will be signed; it will be yours on
compulsion to spend large sums on hurtful pleasures; you will have
scarcely a moment's leisure left for any noble study; you will be
driven to concern yourself most zealously with things which no man;
not even a madman; would choose to make an object of concern。

Xen。 O Heracles! how fell a power to reside in a kiss!

Soc。 Does it surprise you? Do you not know that the tarantula; which
is no bigger than a threepenny bit;'13' has only to touch the mouth
and it will afflict its victim with pains and drive him out of his
senses。

'13' Lit。 〃a half…obol piece。〃 For the {phalaggion} see Aristot。 〃H。
    A。〃 ix。 39; 1。

Xen。 Yes; but then the creature injects something with its bite。

Soc。 Ah; fool! and do you imagine that these lovely creatures infuse
nothing with their kiss; simply because you do not see the poison? Do
you not know that this wild beast which men call beauty in its bloom
is all the more terrible than the tarantula in that the insect must
first touch its victim; but this at a mere glance of thebeholder;
without even contact; will inject something into himyards away
which will make him man。 And may be that is why the Loves are called
〃archers;〃 because these beauties wound so far off。'14' But my advice
to you; Xenophon; is; whenever you catch sight of one of these fair
forms; to run helter…skelter for bare life without a glance behind;
and to you; Critobulus; I would say; 〃Go abroad for a year: so long
time will it take to heal you of this wound。〃

'14' L。 Dindorf; etc。 regard the sentence as a gloss。 Cf。 〃Symp。〃 iv。
    26 '{isos de kai 。 。 。 entimoteron estin}'。

Such (he said); in the affairs of Aphrodite; as in meats and drinks;
should be the circumspection of all whose footing is insecure。 At
least they should confine themselves to such diet as the soul would
dispense with; save for some necessity of the body; and which even so
ought to set up no disturbance。'15' But for himself; it was clear; he
was prepared at all points and invulnerable。 He found less difficulty
in abstaining from beauty's fairest and fullest bloom than many others
from weeds and garbage。 To sum up:'16' with regard to eating and
drinking and these other temptations of the sense; the equipment of
his soul made him independent; he could boast honestly that in his
moderate fashion'17' his pleasures were no less than theirs who take
such trouble to procure them; and his pains far fewer。

'15' Cf。 〃Symp。〃 iv。 38。

'16' L。 Dindorf 'brackets' this passage as spurious。

'17' On the principle 〃enough is as good as a feast;〃 {arkountos}。


IV

A belief is current; in accordance with views maintained concerning
Socrates in speech and writing; and in either case conjecturally;
that; however powerful he may have been in stimulating men to virtue
as a theorist; he was incapable of acting as their guide himself。'1'
It would be well for those who adopt this view to weigh carefully not
only what Socrates effected 〃by way of castigation〃 in cross…
questioning whose who conceived themselves to be possessed of all
knowledge; but also his everyday conversation with those who spent
their time in close intercourse with himself。 Having done this; let
them decide whether he was incapable of making his companions better。

'1' Al。 〃If any one believes that Socrates; as represented in certain
    dialogues (e。g。 of Plato; Antisthenes; etc。) of an imaginary
    character; was an adept ({protrepsasthai}) in the art of
    stimulating people to virtue negatively but scarcely the man to
    guide ({proagein}) his hearers on the true path himself。〃 Cf。
    (Plat。) 〃Clitophon;〃 410 B; Cic。 〃de Or。〃 I。 xlvii。 204; Plut。
    〃Mor。〃 798 B。 See Grote; 〃Plato;〃 iii。 21; K。 Joel; op。 cit。 p。 51
    foll。; Cf。 below; IV。 iii。 2。

I will first state what I once heard fall from his lips in a
discussion with Aristodemus;'2' 〃the little;〃 as he was called; on the
topic of divinity。'3' Socrates had observed that Aristodemus neither
sacrificed nor gave heed to divination; but on the contrary was
disposed to ridicule those who did。

'2' See Plat。 〃Symp。〃 173 B: 〃He was a little fellow who never wore
    any shoes; Aristodemus; of the deme of Cydathenaeum。〃Jowett。

'3' Or; 〃the divine element。〃

So tell me; Aristodemus (he begain); are there any human beings who
have won your admiration for their wisdom?

Ar。 There are。

Soc。 Would you mention to us their names?

Ar。 In the writings of epic poetry I have the greatest admiration for
Homer。 。 。 。 And as a dithyrambic poet for Melanippides。'4' I admire
also Sophocles as a tragedian; Polycleitus as a sculptor; and Zeuxis
as a painter。

'4' Melanippides; 430 B。C。 See Cobet; 〃Pros。 Xen。〃 s。n。

Soc。 Which would you consider the more worthy of admiration; a
fashioner of senseless images devoid of motion or one who could
fashion living creatures endowed with understanding and activity?

Ar。 Decidedly the latter; provided his living creatures owed their
birth to design and were not the offspring of some chance。

Soc。 But now if you had two sorts of things; the one of which presents
no clue as to what it is for; and the other is obviously for some
useful purposewhich would you judge to be the result of chance;
which of design?

Ar。 Clearly that which is produced for some useful end is the work of
design。

Soc。 Does it not strike you then that he who made man from the
beginning'5' did for some useful end furnish him with his several
sensesgiving him eyes to behold the visible word; and ears to catch
the intonations of sound? Or again; what good would there be in odours
if nostrils had not been bestowed upon us? what perception of sweet
things and pungent; and of all the pleasures of the palate; had not a
tongue been fashioned in us as an interpreter of the same? And besides
all this; do you not think this looks like a matter of foresight; this
closing of the delicate orbs of sight with eyelids as with folding
doors; which; when there is need to use them for any purpose; can be
thrown wide open and firmly closed again in sleep? and; that even the
winds of heaven may not visit them too roughly; this planting of the
eyelashes as a protecting screen?'6' this coping of the region above
the eyes with cornice…work of eyebrow so that no drop of sweat fall
from the head and injure them? again this readiness of the ear to
catch all sounds and yet not to be surcharged? this capacity of the
front teeth of all animals to cut and of the 〃grinders〃 to receive the
food and reduce it to pulp? the position of the mouth again; close to
the eyes and nostrils as a portal of ingress for all the creature's
supplies? and lastly; seeing that matter passing out'7' of the body is
unpleasant; this hindward direction of the passages; and their removal
to a distance from the avenues of sense? I ask you; when you see all
these things constructed with such show of foresight can you doubt
whether they are products of chance or intelligence?

'5' Cf。 Aristot。 〃de Part。 Animal。〃 1。 For the 〃teleological〃 views
    see IV。 iii。 2 foll。

'6' 〃Like a sieve〃 or 〃colander。〃

'7' 〃That which goeth out of a man。〃

Ar。 To be sure not! Viewed in this light they would seem to be the
handiwork of some wise artificer;'8' full of love for all things
living。'9'

'8' 〃Demiurge。〃

'9' Passage referred to by Epictetus ap。 Stob。 〃Flor。〃 121; 29。

Soc。 What shall we say of this passion implanted in man to beget
offspring; this passion in the mother to rear her babe; and in the
creature itself; once born; this deep desire of life and fear of
death?

Ar。 No doubt these do look like the contrivances of some one
deliberately planning the existence of living creatures。

Soc。 Well; and doubtless you feel to have a spark of wisdom yourself?

Ar。 Put your questions; and I will answer。

Soc。 And yet you imagine that elsewhere no spark of wisdom is to be
found? And that; too; when you know that you have in your body a tiny
fragment only of the mighty earth; a little drop of the great waters;
and of the other elements; vast in their extent; you got; I presume; a
particle of each towards the compacting of your bodily frame? Mind
alone; it would seem; which is nowhere to be found;'10' you had the
lucky chance to snatch up and make off with; you cannot tell how。 And
these things around and about us; enormous in size; infinite in
number; owe their orderly arrangement; as you suppose; to some vacuity
of wit?

'10' Cf。 Plat。 〃Phileb。〃 30 B: 〃Soc。 May our body be said to have a
    soul? Pro。 Clearly。 Soc。 And whence comes that sou

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