Soc. Yes, certainly, Anytus ; and many good statesmen also there always have been and there are still, in the city of Athens. But the question is whether they were also good teachers of their own virtue ; — not whether there are, or have been, good men in this part of the world, but whether virtue can be taught, is the question which we have been discussing. Now, do we mean to say that the good men our own and of other times knew how to impart to others that virtue which they had themselves ; or is virtue a thing incapable of being communicated or imparted by one man to another ? That is the question which I and Meno have been arguing. Look at the matter in your own way : Would you not admit that Themistocles was a good man ?
Any. Certainly ; no man better.
Soc. And must not he then have been a good teacher, if any man ever was a good teacher, of his own virtue ?
Any. Yes certainly, — if he wanted to be so.
Soc. But would he not have wanted ? He would, at any rate, have desired to make his own son a good man and a gentleman ; he could not have been jealous of him, or have intentionally abstained from imparting to him his own virtue. Did you never hear that he made his son Cleophantus a famous horseman ; and had him taught to stand upright on horseback and hurl a javelin, and to do many other marvellous things ; and in anything which could be learned from a master he was well trained ? Have you not heard from our elders of him ?
Any. I have.
Soc. Then no one could say that his son showed any want of capacity ?
Any. Very likely not.
Soc. But did any one, old or young, ever say in your hearing that Cleophantus, son of Themistocles, was a wise or good man, as his father was ?
Any. I have certainly never heard any one say so.
Soc. And if virtue could have been taught, would his father Themistocles have sought to train him in these minor accomplishments, and allowed him who, as you must remember, was his own son, to be no better than his neighbours in those qualities in which he himself excelled ?
Any. Indeed, indeed, I think not.
Soc. Here was a teacher of virtue whom you admit to be among the best men of the past. Let us take another, — Aristides, the son of Lysimachus : would you not acknowledge that he was a good man ?
Any. To be sure I should.
Soc. And did not he train his son Lysimachus better than any other Athenian in all that could be done for him by the help of masters ? But what has been the result ? Is he a bit better than any other mortal ? He is an acquaintance of yours, and you see what he is like. There is Pericles, again, magnificent in his wisdom ; and he, as you are aware, had two sons, Paralus and Xanthippus.
Any. I know.
Soc. And you know, also, that he taught them to be unrivalled horsemen, and had them trained in music and gymnastics and all sorts of arts — in these respects they were on a level with the best — and had he no wish to make good men of them ? Nay, he must have wished it. But virtue, as I suspect, could not be taught. And that you may not suppose the incompetent teachers to be only the meaner sort of Athenians and few in number, remember again that Thucydides had two sons, Melesias and Stephanus, whom, besides giving them a good education in other things, he trained in wrestling, and they were the best wrestlers in Athens : one of them he committed to the care of Xanthias, and the other of Eudorus, who had the reputation of being the most celebrated wrestlers of that day. Do you remember them ?
Any. I have heard of them.
Soc. Now, can there be a doubt that Thucydides, whose children were taught things for which he had to spend money, would have taught them to be good men, which would have cost him nothing, if virtue could have been taught ? Will you reply that he was a mean man, and had not many friends among the Athenians and allies ? Nay, but he was of a great family, and a man of influence at Athens and in all Hellas, and, if virtue could have been taught, he would have found out some Athenian or foreigner who would have made good men of his sons, if he could not himself spare the time from cares of state. Once more, I suspect, friend Anytus, that virtue is not a thing which can be taught ?
Any. Socrates, I think that you are too ready to speak evil of men : and, if you will take my advice, I would recommend you to be careful. Perhaps there is no city in which it is not easier to do men harm than to do them good, and this is certainly the case at Athens, as I believe that you know.