Phaedrus — Plato

p. 131Socrates, you admit) ; and I am conscious that if I did not shut my ears against him, and fly from the voice of the siren,*^ he would detain me until I grew old sitting at his feet. For he makes me confess that I ought not to live as I do, neglecting the wants of my own soul, and busying myself with the concerns of the Athenians ; therefore I hold my ears and tear myself away from him.

And he is the only person who ever made me ashamed, which you might think not to be in my nature, and there is no one else who does the same. For I know that I cannot answer him or say that I ought not to do as he bids, but when I leave his presence the love of popularity gets the better of me. And therefore I run away and fly from him, and when I see him I am ashamed of what I have confessed to him.

And many a time I wish that he were dead, and yet I know that I should be much more sorry than glad, if he were to die : so that I am at my wit's end. And this is what I and many others have suffered from the flute-playing of this satyr. Yet hear me once more while I show you how exact the image is, and how marvelous his power. For I am sure that none of you know him ; but I know him and will describe him, as I have begun.

See you how fond he is of the fair? He is always with them and is always being smitten by them, and then again he knows nothing and is ignorant of all things — that is the appearance which he puts on. Is he not like a Silenus in this ? Yes, surely : that is, his outer mask, which is the carved head of the Silenus ; but when he is opened, what temperance there is, as I may say to you, O my companions in drink, residing within.

Know you that beauty and wealth and honor, at which the many wonder, are of no account with him, and are utterly despised by him : he regards not at all the persons who are gifted with them ; mankind are nothing to him ; all his life is spent in mocking and flouting at them.

But when I opened him, and looked within at his serious purpose, I saw in him ^'7- divine and golden images of such fascinating beauty that I was ready to do in a moment whatever Socrates commanded (they may have escaped the observation of others, but I saw them). >» The sirens were maidens living on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. By their sweet singing they charmed all who sailed by, and allured them to destruction. Whoever heard them, and drew near, never saw wife or home again.

p. 132[Alcibiades next gives a long account of how he tried to entice Socrates into vice, but without success.] All this, as I should explain, happened before he and I went on the expedition to Potidaea ; there we messed together, and I had the opportunity of observing his extraordlnary_powerj)f sustaining fatigue and going without food when our supplies were intercepted at any place, as will happen with an army.

In the faculty of endurance he was superior not only to me but to everybody ; there was no one to be compared to him. Yet at a festival he was the only person who had any real powers of enjoyment, and though not willing to drink, he could if compelled beat us all at that, and the most wonderful thing of all was that no human being had ever seen Socrates drunk ; and that, if I am not mistaken, will soon be tested.

His endurance of cold was also surprising.

There was a severe frost, for the winter in that region was really tremendous, and everybody else either remained indoors, or if they went out had on no end of clothing, and were well shod, and had their feet swathed in felts and fleeces : in the midst of this, Socrates, with his bare feet on the ice, and in his ordinary dress, marched better than ahy^ of the other soldiers who had their shoes on, and they looked daggers at him because he seemed to despise them.

I have told you one tale, and now I must tell you another, which is worth hearing, of the doings and sufferings of this enduring man while he was on the expedition.

One morning he was thinking about something which he could not resolve ; and he would not give up, but continued thinking from early dawn until noon — there he stood fixed in thought ; and at noon attention was drawn to him, and the rumor ran through the wondering crowd that Socrates had been standing and thinking about something ever since the break of day.

At last, in the evening after supper, some lonians* out of curiosity (I should explain that this was not in winter but in summer), brought out their mats and slept in the open air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand all night.

There he stood all night as well as all day and the following morning ; and with the return of light he offered up a prayer " lonians : Greeks from Ionia (i-o'nf-a), a region on the west coast of Asia Minor.

p. 133to the sun, and went his way. I will also tell, if you please — and indeed I am bound to tell — of his courage in battle ; for who but he saved my life ?

Now this was the engagement in which I received the prize of valor : for I was wounded and he would not leave me, but he rescued me and my arms ; and he ought to have received the prize of valor which the generals wanted to confer on me partly on account of my rank, and I told them so (this Socrates will not impeach or deny), but he was more eager than the generals that I and not he should have the prize.

There was another occasion on which he was very noticeable ; this was in the flight of the army after the battle of Delium, and I had a better opportunity of seeing him than at Potidaea^ as I was myself on horseback, and therefore comparatively out of danger.

He and Laches were retreating as the troops were in flight, and I met them and told them not to be discouraged, and promised to remain with them; and there you might see him, Aristophanes, as you describe, just as he is in the streets of Athens, stalking like a pelican, and rolling his eyes, calmly contemplating enemies as well as friends, and making very intelligible to anybody, even from a distance, that whoever attacks him will be likely to meet with a stout resistance ; and in this way he and his companions escaped — for these are the sort of persons who are never touched in war ; they only pursue those who are running away headlong.

I particularly observed how superior he was to Laches® in presence of mind. Many are the wonders of Socrates which I might narrate in his praise ; most of his ways might perhaps be paralleled in others, but the most astonishing thing of all is his absolute unlikeness to any human being that is or ever has been.

You may imagine Brasidas* and others to have been hke Achilles^; or you may imagine Nestor ^^ and Antenor^^ to have been like Pericles; and the same may be said of other famous men ; but of this strange •^ See Apology, note 22. w Laches (la'icez): an Athenian general. A dialogue of Plato bears his name. ** Brasidas (brSs'f-das): a distinguished Spartan e^eneral in the Peloponnesian War. He was long honored by annual sacrifices and games.

"See Apology, note 21. *» Nestor (n^s'tor): a legendary Greek hero, distinguished for wisdom, justice, and eloquence. He rendered great service to the Greeks during the Trojan War, by his prudent and persuasive counsels. ^ Antenor Cân-te'nor): a Trojan prince, who took part in the Trojan War.