§285ΣΩ.
μὰ Δίʼ οὐκ ἔγωγε,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ὦ Διονυσόδωρε, ἐπεὶ φιλῶ σε, ἀλλὰ νουθετῶ σε ὡς ἑταῖρον, καὶ πειρῶμαι πείθειν μηδέποτε ἐναντίον ἐμοῦ οὕτως ἀγροίκως λέγειν ὅτι ἐγὼ τούτους βούλομαι ἐξολωλέναι, οὓς περὶ πλείστου ποιοῦμαι. ἐγὼ οὖν, ἐπειδή μοι ἐδόκουν ἀγριωτέρως πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔχειν, προσέπαιζόν τε τὸν Κτήσιππον καὶ εἶπον ὅτι ὦ Κτήσιππε, ἐμοὶ μὲν δοκεῖ χρῆναι ἡμᾶς παρὰ τῶν ξένων δέχεσθαι ἃ λέγουσιν, ἐὰν ἐθέλωσι διδόναι, καὶ μὴ ὀνόματι διαφέρεσθαι.
SOCRATES: "'By Zeus, not I,' he said, 'Dionysodorus, since I like you, but I am admonishing you as a companion, and I am trying to persuade you never to speak so rudely in my presence, saying that I wish these men to perish whom I value most.' So I, since they seemed to me to be behaving rather savagely toward one another, teased Ctesippus and said, 'Ctesippus, it seems to me that we ought to accept what the strangers say, if they are willing to give it, and not to dispute over a word.
εἰ γὰρ ἐπίστανται οὕτως ἐξολλύναι ἀνθρώπους, ὥστʼ ἐκ πονηρῶν τε καὶ ἀφρόνων χρηστούς τε καὶ ἔμφρονας ποιεῖν, καὶ τοῦτο εἴτε αὐτὼ ηὑρήκατον εἴτε καὶ παρʼ ἄλλου του ἐμαθέτην φθόρον τινὰ καὶ ὄλεθρον τοιοῦτον, ὥστε ἀπολέσαντες πονηρὸν ὄντα χρηστὸν πάλιν ἀποφῆναι· εἰ τοῦτο ἐπίστασθον—δῆλον δὲ ὅτι ἐπίστασθον· ἐφάτην γοῦν τὴν τέχνην σφῶν εἶναι τὴν νεωστὶ ηὑρημένην ἀγαθοὺς ποιεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐκ πονηρῶν—συγχωρήσωμεν οὖν αὐτοῖν αὐτό·
For if they know how to destroy people in such a way as to make them good and sensible from being bad and foolish, and if they have either discovered this themselves or learned from someone else such a kind of destruction and ruin that, after destroying someone who is bad, they show him again to be good—if they know this (and it is clear that they do, at any rate they said that their newly discovered art was to make men good from bad)—let us then concede this to them.
ἀπολεσάντων ἡμῖν τὸ μειράκιον καὶ φρόνιμον ποιησάντων, καὶ ἅπαντάς γε ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἄλλους.
Let them destroy the youth for us and make him wise, and indeed all the rest of us as well.
εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς οἱ νέοι φοβεῖσθε, ὥσπερ ἐν Καρὶ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔστω ὁ κίνδυνος· ὡς ἐγώ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πρεσβύτης εἰμί, παρακινδυνεύειν ἕτοιμος καὶ παραδίδωμι ἐμαυτὸν Διονυσοδώρῳ τούτῳ ὥσπερ τῇ Μηδείᾳ τῇ Κόλχῳ.
But if you young men are afraid, let the danger be on me, as on a Carian; since I, being also an old man, am ready to run the risk and surrender myself to this Dionysodorus here as if to Medea the Colchian.
ἀπολλύτω με, καὶ εἰ μὲν βούλεται, ἑψέτω, εἰ δʼ, ὅτι βούλεται, τοῦτο ποιείτω· μόνον χρηστὸν ἀποφηνάτω. καὶ ὁ Κτήσιππος,
ἐγὼ μέν,
ἔφη,
καὶ αὐτός, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἕτοιμός εἰμι παρέχειν ἐμαυτὸν τοῖς ξένοις, καὶ ἐὰν βούλωνται δέρειν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἢ νῦν δέρουσιν, εἴ μοι ἡ δορὰ μὴ εἰς ἀσκὸν τελευτήσει, ὥσπερ ἡ τοῦ Μαρσύου, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἀρετήν.
Let him destroy me, and if he wishes, let him boil me, or if not, let him do whatever he wishes; only let him show me to be good.' And Ctesippus said, 'Socrates, I too am ready myself to offer myself to the strangers, and if they wish, to flay me even more than they are flaying me now, if my skin is going to end up not in a wineskin, like Marsyas's, but in virtue.
καίτοι με οἴεται Διονυσόδωρος οὑτοσὶ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτῷ· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ χαλεπαίνω, ἀλλʼ ἀντιλέγω πρὸς ταῦτα ἅ μοι δοκεῖ πρός με μὴ καλῶς λέγειν.
Yet this Dionysodorus here thinks that I am angry with him; but I am not angry, but I contradict those things which he seems to me to speak not beautifully against me.
ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸ ἀντιλέγειν, ἔφη, ὦ γενναῖε Διονυσόδωρε, μὴ κάλει λοιδορεῖσθαι· ἕτερον γάρ τί ἐστι τὸ λοιδορεῖσθαι. καὶ Διονυσόδωρος,
ὡς ὄντος,
ἔφη,
τοῦ ἀντιλέγειν, ὦ Κτήσιππε, ποιῇ τοὺς λόγους; πάντως δήπου,
ἔφη,
καὶ σφόδρα γε· ἢ σύ, ὦ Διονυσόδωρε, οὐκ οἴει εἶναι ἀντιλέγειν; οὔκουν σύ γʼ ἄν,
ἔφη,
ἀποδείξαις πώποτε ἀκούσας οὐδενὸς ἀντιλέγοντος ἑτέρου ἑτέρῳ.
But you, noble Dionysodorus, do not call contradicting "abusing"; for abusing is something different.' And Dionysodorus said, 'Are you making your speeches, Ctesippus, on the assumption that there is such a thing as contradicting?' 'Most certainly,' he said, 'and very much so; or do you, Dionysodorus, not think there is such a thing as contradicting?' 'You, at any rate, could never prove that you have ever heard anyone contradicting another,' he said.
ἀληθῆ λέγεις; ἔφη·
'Are you speaking the truth?' he said.
ἀλλὰ ἀκούων μὲν νυνί σοι ἀποδείκνυμι ἀντιλέγοντος Κτησίππου Διονυσοδώρῳ. ἦ καὶ ὑπόσχοις ἂν τούτου λόγον; πάνυ,
ἔφη.
'But by listening right now, I prove to you that Ctesippus is contradicting Dionysodorus.' 'Would you actually undertake to give an account of this?' 'Very much so,' he said."