191a
Soc.
I will explain, so far as I can: let us take that man to be courageous who, as you describe him yourself, stays at his post and fights the enemy.
Lach.
I, for one, agree to that.
Soc.
Yes, and I do too. But what of this other kind of man, who fights the enemy while fleeing, and not staying?
Lach.
How fleeing?
Soc.
Well, as the Scythians are said to fight, as much fleeing as pursuing; and as you know Homer says in praise of Aeneas’ horses, that they knew
how to pursue and to flee in fright full swiftly this way and that way;
Hom. Il. 8.107-108
191b
and he glorifies Aeneas himself for this very knowledge of fright, calling him
prompter of fright.
Hom. Il. 8.107-108
1
Lach.
And very properly too, Socrates; for he was speaking of chariots; and so are you speaking of the mode of the Scythian horsemen. That is the way of cavalry fighting but with men-at-arms it is as I state it.
2
Soc.
Except, perhaps, Laches, in the case of the Spartans.
191c
For they say that at
Plataea
, when the Spartans came up to the men with wicker shields, they were not willing to stand and fight against these, but fled; when, however, the Persian ranks weree broken, the Spartans kept turning round and fighting like cavalry, and so won that great battle.
3
Lach.
What you say is true.
Soc.
And so this is what I meant just now by sayng that I was to blame for your wrong answer, by putting my question wrongly.
191d
For I wanted to have your view not only of brave men-at-arms, but also of courage in cavalry and in the entire warrior class; and of the courageous not only in war but in the perils of the sea, and all who in disease and poverty, or again in public affairs, are courageous; and further, all who are not merely courageous against pain or fear, but doughty fighters against desires and pleasures,
191e
whether standing their ground or turning back upon the foe—for I take it, Laches, there are courageous people in all these kinds.
Lach.
Very much so, Socrates.
Soc.
Then all these are courageous, only some have acquired courage in pleasures, some in pains, some in desires and some in fears, while others, I conceive, have acquired cowardice in these same things.
Lach.
To be sure.
Soc.
What either of them
4
is—that is what I wanted to know. So try again, and tell me first what is this thing, courage, which is the same in all of these cases; or do you still not comprehend my meaning?
Lach.
Not very well.
Laches. Plato. Walter Rangeley Maitland Lamb (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1924.
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