LACHES

by PLATO



Translated by Benjamin Jowett




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 accompanied 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 accomplishment. 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