Xenophon, Memorabilia, ed. Edgar Carew Marchant, 4.6.9

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[9]
τὸ δὲ καλὸν ἔχοιμεν ἄν πως ἄλλως εἰπεῖν; ἤ, εἰ ἔστιν, ὀνομάζεις καλὸν ἢ σῶμα ἢ σκεῦος ἢ ἄλλʼ ὁτιοῦν, ὃ οἶσθα πρὸς πάντα καλὸν ὄν; μὰ Δίʼ οὐκ ἔγωγʼ, ἔφη. ἆρʼ οὖν, πρὸς ὃ ἂν ἕκαστον χρήσιμον ᾖ, πρὸς τοῦτο ἑκάστῳ καλῶς ἔχει χρῆσθαι; πάνυ μὲν οὖν, ἔφη. καλὸν δὲ πρὸς ἄλλο τί ἐστιν ἕκαστον ἢ πρὸς ὃ ἑκάστῳ καλῶς ἔχει χρῆσθαι; οὐδὲ πρὸς ἓν ἄλλο, ἔφη. τὸ χρήσιμον ἄρα καλόν ἐστι πρὸς ὃ ἂν ᾖ χρήσιμον; ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ἔφη.

Memorabilia. Xenophon. ed. Edgar Carew Marchant. Oxford. 1921.

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Ἀπομνημονεύματα (Greek) (Xenophon. Opera omnia, Vol. 2. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921.)

Translations (1)

Memorabilia Perseus (Xenophon in Seven Volumes, Vol. 4. Marchant, Edgar Cardew, editor, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1923.) — 4.6.9 focus

[9]
Consider the Beautiful: can we define it in any other way? Or is it possible to name a beautiful body, for instance, or vessel, or anything else that you know to be beautiful for all purposes?
Of course not.
Then does the beauty in using anything consist in using it for just that purpose for which that particular thing is useful?
Certainly.
And is a thing beautiful for any other purpose than that for which it is beautiful to use that particular thing?
For no other purpose whatever.
The useful, then, is beautiful for any purpose for which it is useful?
I think so.
Next comes Courage, Euthydemus.

Xenophon Memorabilia 4.6.9

ed. Edgar Carew Marchant

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