looked in vain for Euclides in the Agora; the latter explains that he has
been down to the harbour, and on his way thither had met Theaetetus, who
was being carried up from the army to Athens. He was scarcely alive, for
he had been badly wounded at the battle of Corinth, and had taken the
dysentery which prevailed in the camp. The mention of his condition
suggests the reflection, 'What a loss he will be!' 'Yes, indeed,' replies
Euclid; 'only just now I was hearing of his noble conduct in the battle.'
'That I should expect; but why did he not remain at Megara?' 'I wanted him
to remain, but he would not; so I went with him as far as Erineum; and as I
parted from him, I remembered that Socrates had seen him when he was a
youth, and had a remarkable conversation with him, not long before his own
death; and he then prophesied of him that he would be a great man if he
lived.' 'How true that has been; how like all that Socrates said! And
could you repeat the conversation?' 'Not from memory; but I took notes
when I returned home, which I afterwards filled up at leisure, and got
Socrates to correct them from time to time, when I came to
Athens'...Terpsion had long intended to ask for a sight of this writing, of
which he had already heard. They are both tired, and agree to rest and
have the conversation read to them by a servant...'Here is the roll,
Terpsion; I need only observe that I have omitted, for the sake of
convenience, the interlocutory words, "said I," "said he"; and that
Theaetetus, and Theodorus, the geometrician of Cyrene, are the persons with
whom Socrates is conversing.'

Socrates begins by asking Theodorus whether, in his visit to Athens, he has
found any Athenian youth likely to attain distinction in science. 'Yes,
Socrates, there is one very remarkable youth, with whom I have become
acquainted. He is no beauty, and therefore you need not imagine that I am
in love with him; and, to say the truth, he is very like you, for he has a
snub nose, and projecting eyes, although these features are not so marked