文档介绍：LACHES
LACHES
by PLATO
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
1
LACHES
INTRODUCTION.
Lysimachus, the son of Aristides the Just, and Melesias, the son of the
elder Thucydides, two aged men who live together, are desirous of
educating their sons in the best manner. Their own education, as often
happens with the sons of great men, has been neglected; and they are
resolved that their children shall have more care taken of them, than they
received themselves at the hands of their fathers.
At their request, Nicias and Laches have panied them to see a
man named Stesilaus fighting in heavy armour. The two fathers ask the
two generals what they think of this exhibition, and whether they would
advise that their sons should acquire the plishment. Nicias and
Laches are quite willing to give their opinion; but they suggest that
Socrates should be invited to take part in the consultation. He is a stranger
to Lysimachus, but is afterwards recognised as the son of his old friend
Sophroniscus, with whom he never had a difference to the hour of his
death. Socrates is also known to Nicias, to whom he had introduced the
excellent Damon, musician and sophist, as a tutor for his son, and to
Laches, who had witnessed his heroic behaviour at the battle of Delium
(compare Symp.).
Socrates, as he is younger than either Nicias or Laches, prefers to wait
until they have delivered their opinions, which they give in a characteristic
manner. Nicias, the tactician, is very much in favour of the new art, which
he describes as the gymnastics of war--useful when the ranks are formed,
and still more useful when they are broken; creating a general interest in
military studies, and greatly adding to the appearance of the soldier in the
field. Laches, the blunt warrior, is of opinion that such an art is not
knowledge, and cannot be of any value, because the Lacedaemonians,
those great masters of arms, neglect it. His own experience in actual
service has taught him that the