§93ΣΩ. πότερον δὲ οὗτοι οἱ καλοὶ κἀγαθοὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου ἐγένοντο τοιοῦτοι, παρʼ οὐδενὸς μαθόντες ὅμως μέντοι ἄλλους διδάσκειν οἷοί τε ὄντες ταῦτα ἃ αὐτοὶ οὐκ ἔμαθον;
SOC. And did these gentlemanly men become such spontaneously, having learned from no one, but nevertheless being able to teach others these things which they themselves did not learn?
ΑΝ. καὶ τούτους ἔγωγε ἀξιῶ παρὰ τῶν προτέρων μαθεῖν, ὄντων καλῶν κἀγαθῶν· ἢ οὐ δοκοῦσί σοι πολλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ γεγονέναι ἐν τῇδε τῇ πόλει ἄνδρες;
ANY. And I indeed claim that these too learned from their predecessors, who were gentlemanly men; or do you not think that many good men have arisen in this city?
ΣΩ. ἔμοιγε, ὦ Ἄνυτε, καὶ εἶναι δοκοῦσιν ἐνθάδε ἀγαθοὶ τὰ πολιτικά, καὶ γεγονέναι ἔτι οὐχ ἧττον ἢ εἶναι· ἀλλὰ μῶν καὶ διδάσκαλοι ἀγαθοὶ γεγόνασιν τῆς αὑτῶν ἀρετῆς;
SOC. To me, Anytus, there do seem to be men here who are good in political matters, and to have arisen in the past no less than there are now; but have they also been good teachers of their own virtue?
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν περὶ οὗ ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν τυγχάνει ὤν· οὐκ εἰ εἰσὶν ἀγαθοὶ ἢ μὴ ἄνδρες ἐνθάδε, οὐδʼ εἰ γεγόνασιν ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν, ἀλλʼ εἰ διδακτόν ἐστιν ἀρετὴ πάλαι σκοποῦΜΕΝ. τοῦτο δὲ σκοποῦντες τόδε σκοποῦμεν, ἆρα οἱ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες καὶ τῶν νῦν καὶ τῶν προτέρων ταύτην τὴν ἀρετὴν ἣν αὐτοὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἦσαν ἠπίσταντο καὶ ἄλλῳ παραδοῦναι, ἢ οὐ παραδοτὸν τοῦτο ἀνθρώπῳ οὐδὲ παραληπτὸν ἄλλῳ παρʼ ἄλλου· τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ὃ πάλαι ζητοῦμεν ἐγώ τε καὶ Μένων.
For this is what our argument happens to be about: not whether there are good men here or not, nor whether they arose in the past, but we have long been considering whether virtue is teachable. And in considering this, we are considering this: whether the good men, both of the present and of the past, knew how to hand down to another also this virtue in respect of which they themselves were good, or whether this is not something to be handed down to a human being, nor to be received by one person from another; this is what Meno and I have long been seeking.
ὧδε οὖν σκόπει ἐκ τοῦ σαυτοῦ λόγου· Θεμιστοκλέα οὐκ ἀγαθὸν ἂν φαίης ἄνδρα γεγονέναι;
Consider it, then, in this way from your own argument: would you not say that Themistocles was a good man?
ΑΝ. ἔγωγε, πάντων γε μάλιστα.
ANY. I would indeed, most of all.
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν καὶ διδάσκαλον ἀγαθόν, εἴπερ τις ἄλλος τῆς αὑτοῦ ἀρετῆς διδάσκαλος ἦν, κἀκεῖνον εἶναι;
SOC. Therefore, if indeed anyone else was a teacher of his own virtue, was he also a good teacher?
ΑΝ. οἶμαι ἔγωγε, εἴπερ ἐβούλετό γε.
ANY. I think so indeed, if at least he wished to be.
ΣΩ. ἀλλʼ, οἴει, οὐκ ἂν ἐβουλήθη ἄλλους τέ τινας καλοὺς κἀγαθοὺς γενέσθαι, μάλιστα δέ που τὸν ὑὸν τὸν αὑτοῦ;
SOC. But do you think he would not have wished some others to become gentlemanly, and above all, surely, his own son?
ἢ οἴει αὐτὸν φθονεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξεπίτηδες οὐ παραδιδόναι τὴν ἀρετὴν ἣν αὐτὸς ἀγαθὸς ἦν;
Or do you think he envied him and deliberately did not hand down the virtue in respect of which he himself was good?
ἢ οὐκ ἀκήκοας ὅτι Θεμιστοκλῆς Κλεόφαντον τὸν ὑὸν ἱππέα μὲν ἐδιδάξατο ἀγαθόν;
Or have you not heard that Themistocles had his son Cleophantus taught to be a good horseman?
ἐπέμενεν γοῦν ἐπὶ τῶν ἵππων ὀρθὸς ἑστηκώς, καὶ ἠκόντιζεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων ὀρθός, καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ καὶ θαυμαστὰ ἠργάζετο ἃ ἐκεῖνος αὐτὸν ἐπαιδεύσατο καὶ ἐποίησε σοφόν, ὅσα διδασκάλων ἀγαθῶν εἴχετο·
At any rate, he used to remain standing upright on horseback, and hurl javelins from horseback standing upright, and perform many other wonderful feats which his father had him trained in and made him skilled in, as many as depended on good teachers.
ἢ ταῦτα οὐκ ἀκήκοας τῶν πρεσβυτέρων;
Or have you not heard these things from your elders?
ΑΝ. ἀκήκοα.
ANY. I have heard them.
ΣΩ. οὐκ ἂν ἄρα τήν γε φύσιν τοῦ ὑέος αὐτοῦ ᾐτιάσατʼ ἄν τις εἶναι κακήν.
SOC. Therefore, no one could have blamed the nature of his son at least for being bad.
ΑΝ. ἴσως οὐκ ἄν.
ANY. Perhaps not.
ΣΩ. τί δὲ τόδε;
SOC. But what about this?
ὡς Κλεόφαντος ὁ Θεμιστοκλέους ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ σοφὸς ἐγένετο ἅπερ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, ἤδη του ἀκήκοας ἢ νεωτέρου ἢ πρεσβυτέρου;
Have you ever heard from anyone, young or old, that Cleophantus the son of Themistocles became a good and wise man in the same way as his father?
ΑΝ. οὐ δῆτα.
ANY. Certainly not.
ΣΩ. ἆρʼ οὖν ταῦτα μὲν οἰόμεθα βούλεσθαι αὐτὸν τὸν αὑτοῦ ὑὸν παιδεῦσαι, ἣν δὲ αὐτὸς σοφίαν ἦν σοφός, οὐδὲν τῶν γειτόνων βελτίω ποιῆσαι, εἴπερ ἦν γε διδακτὸν ἡ ἀρετή;
SOC. Are we then to suppose that he wished to educate his own son in these other things, but as to the wisdom in which he himself was wise, to make him no better than his neighbors, if indeed virtue was teachable?
ΑΝ. ἴσως μὰ Δίʼ οὔ.
ANY. Perhaps, by Zeus, not.