INTRODUCTION.
Laches.
Analysis
Steph. 178
Lysimachus, the son of Aristides the Just, and Melesias, the son
' of the elder Thucydides, two aged men who live together, are
desirous of educating their sons in the best manner. Their own
179
education, as often happens with the sons of great men, has been
neglected ; and they are resolved that their children shall have
more care taken of them, than they received themselves at the
hands of their fathers.
At their request, Nicias and Laches have accompanied them to see a man named .Stesilaus fighting in heavy armour. The two 180 fathers ask the two generals what they think of this exhibition, and whether they would advise that their sons should acquire the ac- complishment. Nicias and Laches are quite willing to give their opinion ; but they suggest that Socrates should be invited to take part in the consultation. He is a stranger to Lysimachus, but is 181 afterwards recognised as the son of his old friend Sophroniscus, with whom he never had a difference to the hour of his death. Socrates is also known to Nicias, to whom he had introduced the excellent Damon, musician and sophist, as a tutor for his son, and to Laches, who had witnessed his heroic behaviour at the battle of Delium (cp. Symp. 221).
Socrates, as he is younger than either Nicias or Laches, prefers to wait until they have delivered their opinions, which they give in a characteristic manner. Nicias, the tactician, is very much in 182 favour of the new art, which he describes as the gymnastics of war — useful when the ranks are formed, and still more useful when they are broken ; creating a general interest in military studies, and greatly adding to the appearance of the soldier in the field. 183 Laches, the blunt warrior, is of opinion that such an art is not knowledge, and cannot be of any value, because the Lacedaemonians, those great masters of arms, neglect it. His own experience in actual service has taught him that these pretenders
