[90a]
to take his share in our quest. And we may well ask his assistance; for our friend Anytus, in the first place, is the son of a wise and wealthy father, Anthemion, who became rich not by a fluke or a gift—like that man the other day, Ismenias1 the Theban, who has come into the fortune of a Polycrates2—but as the product of his own skill and industry3; and secondly, he has the name of being in general a well-conducted, mannerly person,
[90b]
not insolent towards his fellow-citizens or arrogant and annoying; and further, he gave his son a good upbringing and education, as the Athenian people think, for they choose him for the highest offices. This is the sort of man to whom one may look for help in the inquiry as to whether there are teachers of virtue or not, and who they may be. So please, Anytus, join with me and your family-friend Meno in our inquiry about this matter—who can be the teachers. Consider it thus: if we wanted Meno here to be a good doctor,
[90c]
to whom should we send him for instruction? Would it not be to the doctors?Anytus
Certainly.Socrates
And if we wanted him to become a good cobbler, should we not send him to the cobblers?Anytus
Yes.Socrates
And in the same way with every other trade?Anytus
Certainly.Socrates
Now let me ask you something more about these same instances. We should be right, we say, in sending him to the doctors if we wanted him to be a doctor. [90d] When we say this, do we mean that we should be wise in sending him to those who profess the art rather than those who do not, and to those who charge a fee for the particular thing they do, as avowed teachers of anyone who wishes to come and learn of them? If these were our reasons, should we not be right in sending him?Anytus
Yes.Socrates
And the same would hold in the case of flute-playing, and so on with the rest? What folly, when we wanted to make someone a flute-player, [90e] to refuse to send him to the professed teachers of the art, who charge a regular fee, and to bother with requests for instruction other people who neither set up to be teachers nor have a single pupil in that sort of study which we expect him, when sent, to pursue! Do you not consider this would be grossly unreasonable?Anytus
Yes, on my word, I do, and stupid to boot.Socrates
Quite right. And now there is an opportunity of your
Certainly.Socrates
And if we wanted him to become a good cobbler, should we not send him to the cobblers?Anytus
Yes.Socrates
And in the same way with every other trade?Anytus
Certainly.Socrates
Now let me ask you something more about these same instances. We should be right, we say, in sending him to the doctors if we wanted him to be a doctor. [90d] When we say this, do we mean that we should be wise in sending him to those who profess the art rather than those who do not, and to those who charge a fee for the particular thing they do, as avowed teachers of anyone who wishes to come and learn of them? If these were our reasons, should we not be right in sending him?Anytus
Yes.Socrates
And the same would hold in the case of flute-playing, and so on with the rest? What folly, when we wanted to make someone a flute-player, [90e] to refuse to send him to the professed teachers of the art, who charge a regular fee, and to bother with requests for instruction other people who neither set up to be teachers nor have a single pupil in that sort of study which we expect him, when sent, to pursue! Do you not consider this would be grossly unreasonable?Anytus
Yes, on my word, I do, and stupid to boot.Socrates
Quite right. And now there is an opportunity of your
