
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.











