Cover of Charmides

Charmides

by Plato

First published
1986
Reading level
Plain English
Price
Free

About the book

"Charmides" by Plato is a philosophical dialogue written in ancient Greece. Socrates returns from battle and encounters the handsome young Charmides at a wrestling school, initiating a provocative inquiry into the nature of sophrosyne—temperance or self-control. Through exchanges with Charmides and his mentor Critias, Socrates dismantles each proposed definition, from quietness to self-knowledge. The dialogue explores profound questions about virtue and wisdom while never reaching a final answer, leaving readers to grapple with these timeless philosophical challenges themselves.

  • Classical literature
  • Socrates, 470 BC-399 BC
  • Ethics
  • Knowledge, Theory of
  • Temperance

Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #1580. Charmides on Wikipedia.

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