Theaetetus

Eucleides and Terpsion, two citizens of Megara, a town near Athens, run into each other following the latter’s sojourn in the country. Eucleides reveals that he was also out of town recently, on his way to the harbor. There he came across a man called Theaetetus, just returned from a battle in Corinth, between Sparta and Athens, where he had been wounded and contracted dysentery. Eucleides and Terpsion both praise Theaetetus’s courage. Eucleides shares how, on his way back from meeting Theaetetus, he “recollected with admiration how prophetically Socrates had spoken about him” (3).

He recalls how Socrates had engaged in a philosophical conversation with Theaetetus when Theaetetus was 16, shortly before Socrates’s death. Further, when Eucleides went to Athens, Socrates repeated what he said to Theaetetus to him. Terpsion asks if Eucleides could recall this discussion. Eucleides explains that he cannot by heart, but he did write down what Socrates said upon returning home. He filled in any gaps in recollection through subsequent visits to Athens. Since they are both recovering from long journeys, Eucleides and Terpsion agree to look at the record of this dialogue together while they rest.