§70ΜΕΝ. ἔχεις μοι εἰπεῖν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἆρα διδακτὸν ἡ ἀρετή;
MEN. Can you tell me, Socrates, whether virtue is teachable?
ἢ οὐ διδακτὸν ἀλλʼ ἀσκητόν;
Or is it not teachable but acquired by practice?
ἢ οὔτε ἀσκητὸν οὔτε μαθητόν, ἀλλὰ φύσει παραγίγνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἢ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τρόπῳ;
Or is it neither acquired by practice nor learned, but comes to human beings by nature or in some other way?
ΣΩ. ὦ Μένων, πρὸ τοῦ μὲν Θετταλοὶ εὐδόκιμοι ἦσαν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν καὶ ἐθαυμάζοντο ἐφʼ ἱππικῇ τε καὶ πλούτῳ, νῦν δέ, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, καὶ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ, καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστα οἱ τοῦ σοῦ ἑταίρου Ἀριστίππου πολῖται Λαρισαῖοι.
SOC. O Meno, before this the Thessalians were famous among the Greeks and were admired for both horsemanship and wealth, but now, as it seems to me, also for wisdom, and not least the citizens of your companion Aristippus, the Larisaeans.
τούτου δὲ ὑμῖν αἴτιός ἐστι Γοργίας· ἀφικόμενος γὰρ εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐραστὰς ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ εἴληφεν Ἀλευαδῶν τε τοὺς πρώτους, ὧν ὁ σὸς ἐραστής ἐστιν Ἀρίστιππος, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Θετταλῶν.
The cause of this for you is Gorgias; for having arrived at the city, he has taken as lovers for wisdom the first of the Aleuadae, of whom your lover Aristippus is one, and of the other Thessalians.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος ὑμᾶς εἴθικεν, ἀφόβως τε καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀποκρίνεσθαι ἐάν τίς τι ἔρηται, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς τοὺς εἰδότας, ἅτε καὶ αὐτὸς παρέχων αὑτὸν ἐρωτᾶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων τῷ βουλομένῳ ὅτι ἄν τις βούληται, καὶ οὐδενὶ ὅτῳ οὐκ ἀποκρινόμενος.
And indeed he has also accustomed you to this habit, of answering fearlessly and magnificently if anyone asks anything, just as is reasonable for those who know, inasmuch as he himself also offers himself to be questioned by any of the Greeks who wishes, about whatever anyone wishes, and answering no one whomsoever he does not answer.
§71ΣΩ. ἐνθάδε δέ, ὦ φίλε Μένων, τὸ ἐναντίον περιέστηκεν·
SOC.
ὥσπερ αὐχμός τις τῆς σοφίας γέγονεν, καὶ κινδυνεύει ἐκ τῶνδε τῶν τόπων παρʼ ὑμᾶς οἴχεσθαι ἡ σοφία.
But here, dear Meno, the opposite has come about; as if a certain drought of wisdom has occurred, and wisdom runs the risk of having departed from these places to you.
εἰ γοῦν τινα ἐθέλεις οὕτως ἐρέσθαι τῶν ἐνθάδε, οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ γελάσεται καὶ ἐρεῖ· ὦ ξένε, κινδυνεύω σοι δοκεῖν μακάριός τις εἶναι—ἀρετὴν γοῦν εἴτε διδακτὸν εἴθʼ ὅτῳ τρόπῳ παραγίγνεται εἰδέναι—ἐγὼ δὲ τοσοῦτον δέω εἴτε διδακτὸν εἴτε μὴ διδακτὸν εἰδέναι, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ αὐτὸ ὅτι ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ παράπαν ἀρετὴ τυγχάνω εἰδώς. ἐγὼ οὖν καὶ αὐτός, ὦ Μένων, οὕτως ἔχω· συμπένομαι τοῖς πολίταις τούτου τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ ἐμαυτὸν καταμέμφομαι ὡς οὐκ εἰδὼς περὶ ἀρετῆς τὸ παράπαν·
If, at any rate, you wish to ask anyone of those here in this way, there is no one who will not laugh and say: "O stranger, I run the risk of appearing to you to be some blessed person—to know at any rate whether virtue is teachable or in what way it comes to be—but I am so far from knowing whether it is teachable or not teachable, that I do not even happen to know at all what virtue itself actually is." I myself also, Meno, am in this condition; I share the poverty of my citizens in this matter, and I blame myself for not knowing at all about virtue.
ὃ δὲ μὴ οἶδα τί ἐστιν, πῶς ἂν ὁποῖόν γέ τι εἰδείην;
And what I do not know what it is, how could I know what sort of thing it is?
ἢ δοκεῖ σοι οἷόν τε εἶναι, ὅστις Μένωνα μὴ γιγνώσκει τὸ παράπαν ὅστις ἐστίν, τοῦτον εἰδέναι εἴτε καλὸς εἴτε πλούσιος εἴτε καὶ γενναῖός ἐστιν, εἴτε καὶ τἀναντία τούτων;
Or does it seem to you to be possible, that whoever does not know Meno at all, who he is, this person should know whether he is handsome or rich or indeed well-born, or indeed the opposite of these?
δοκεῖ σοι οἷόν τʼ εἶναι;
Do you think it is possible?
ΜΕΝ. οὐκ ἔμοιγε.
MEN. Not to me, indeed.
ἀλλὰ σύ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἀληθῶς οὐδʼ ὅτι ἀρετή ἐστιν οἶσθα, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα περὶ σοῦ καὶ οἴκαδε ἀπαγγέλλωμεν;
But you, Socrates, truly do not even know what virtue is, and are we to report this about you even back home?
ΣΩ. μὴ μόνον γε, ὦ ἑταῖρε, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι οὐδʼ ἄλλῳ πω ἐνέτυχον εἰδότι, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκῶ.
SOC. Not only that, my companion, but also that I have not yet met anyone else who knows, as I think.
ΜΕΝ. τί δέ;
MEN. What?
Γοργίᾳ οὐκ ἐνέτυχες ὅτε ἐνθάδε ἦν;
Did you not meet Gorgias when he was here?
ΣΩ. ἔγωγε.
SOC.
ΜΕΝ. εἶτα οὐκ ἐδόκει σοι εἰδέναι;
I did.
ΣΩ. οὐ πάνυ εἰμὶ μνήμων, ὦ Μένων, ὥστε οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι πῶς μοι τότε ἔδοξεν.
MEN.
ἀλλʼ ἴσως ἐκεῖνός τε οἶδε, καὶ σὺ ἃ ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγε· ἀνάμνησον οὖν με πῶς ἔλεγεν.
Then did he not seem to you to know?
εἰ δὲ βούλει, αὐτὸς εἰπέ· δοκεῖ γὰρ δήπου σοὶ ἅπερ ἐκείνῳ.
SOC.
ΜΕΝ. ἔμοιγε.
I do not have a very good memory, Meno, so that I cannot say at present how he seemed to me then.
ΣΩ. ἐκεῖνον μὲν τοίνυν ἐῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἄπεστιν·
But perhaps he knows, and you know what he said; remind me, then, how he spoke.
σὺ δὲ αὐτός, ὦ πρὸς θεῶν, Μένων, τί φῂς ἀρετὴν εἶναι; εἶπον καὶ μὴ φθονήσῃς, ἵνα εὐτυχέστατον ψεῦσμα ἐψευσμένος ὦ, ἂν φανῇς σὺ μὲν εἰδὼς καὶ Γοργίας, ἐγὼ δὲ εἰρηκὼς μηδενὶ πώποτε εἰδότι ἐντετυχηκέναι.
Or if you wish, say it yourself; for surely you agree with what he thought.
ΜΕΝ. ἀλλʼ οὐ χαλεπόν, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰπεῖν.
MEN. I do.
πρῶτον μέν, εἰ βούλει ἀνδρὸς ἀρετήν, ῥᾴδιον, ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἀνδρὸς ἀρετή, ἱκανὸν εἶναι τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράττειν, καὶ πράττοντα τοὺς μὲν φίλους εὖ ποιεῖν, τοὺς δʼ ἐχθροὺς κακῶς, καὶ αὐτὸν εὐλαβεῖσθαι μηδὲν τοιοῦτον παθεῖν.
SOC. Let us then leave him aside, since he is also absent; but you yourself, Meno, by the gods, what do you say virtue is?
εἰ δὲ βούλει γυναικὸς ἀρετήν, οὐ χαλεπὸν διελθεῖν, ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὴν τὴν οἰκίαν εὖ οἰκεῖν, σῴζουσάν τε τὰ ἔνδον καὶ κατήκοον οὖσαν τοῦ ἀνδρός.
Speak and do not grudge it, so that I may have lied a most fortunate lie, if you should appear to know, and Gorgias too, while I have said that I have never met anyone who knows.
καὶ ἄλλη ἐστὶν παιδὸς ἀρετή, καὶ θηλείας καὶ ἄρρενος, καὶ πρεσβυτέρου ἀνδρός, εἰ μὲν βούλει, ἐλευθέρου, εἰ δὲ βούλει, δούλου.
MEN. But it is not difficult, Socrates, to say. First, if you wish the virtue of a man, it is easy: that this is the virtue of a man, to be capable of managing the affairs of the city, and in managing them to do good to friends, and harm to enemies, and to be careful himself not to suffer anything of the sort. But if you wish the virtue of a woman, it is not difficult to describe: that she must manage the house well, preserving the things inside and being obedient to her husband. And there is another virtue of a child, both female and male, and of an older man, if you wish, a free man, if you wish, a slave.