Source edition
Platonis Opera, Tomus III: Tetralogia V-VII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This dialogue depicts the young Theages, who, eager to acquire wisdom, seeks to become a disciple of Socrates. The story begins when his father, Demodocus, consults Socrates about his son's education. Through dialogue, Socrates reveals that the "wisdom" Theages seeks is actually the art of ruling over people, leading to a discussion on whether one can learn this from famous politicians. When Theages earnestly begs to study under Socrates himself, Socrates modestly claims to possess no educational wisdom but begins to speak of his "daimonion" (the divine voice) that guides his actions. Socrates explains, with concrete examples, how this divine power mysteriously influences his associates, determining whether they make progress or not. In the end, Theages and Demodocus propose to try spending time together to see how the divine sign responds, a proposal to which Socrates agrees, bringing the dialogue to a close.