KNOW THYSELFson why they jested and did not take it seriously. So I told them still
more earnestly that we were really serious about it” (283c). Crito and
the audience of the dialogue might sense the irony in Socrates’ remark,
but the characters within the reported action of the Euthydemus do not.
And consider the Republic, where Socrates addresses his narrative audi-
ence: “I too was at a loss, and looking back over what had gone before,
I said, ‘It is just, my friend, that we’re at a loss, for we’ve abandoned
the image we proposed’ ” (375d). These examples of Socrates’ narrative
commentary let the audience of the dialogue follow Socrates’ thought
processes throughout the entire dialogue.^49 The audience understands
more of Socrates’ thoughts and experiences than do the characters in
the dialogues.
The enacted dialogues contain numerous moments where Socrates
the character becomes a narrator. In these instances, the audience can
see Socrates’ thoughts quite clearly, just as they do in the dialogues nar-
rated by Socrates. For example, in the Apology the character Socrates,
on trial for his life, narrates how he received his reputation for human
wisdom; he tells of Chaerephon’s trip to the Delphic oracle (21a– 23a).
Similarly, in the Crito, an enacted dialogue, Socrates the character nar-
rates an imagined conversation between himself and the Athenian laws
that gives Crito, his immediate audience, and the dialogic audience
deeper insight into Socrates’ acceptance of the punishment of the Athe-
nian court (50c– 54c). Socrates the character also becomes a narrator
in the dialogues narrated by other narrators. In the Phaedo, Socrates
the character narrates his intellectual autobiography to give his dra-
matic audience insight into why he distrusts natural philosophy and
comes “to take refuge in discussion and investigate the truth of things
by means of words” (97c– 99e). Similarly, in the Symposium, Socrates the
character narrates his encounters with Diotima to his fellow symposiasts
(201d– 202c).
These passages reveal that Socrates does not present himself as
the all-knowing philosopher with complete knowledge of the narrated
events. Rather, he struggles through an arduous process of fi nding
knowledge through human interaction. Furthermore, he regularly ad-
mits his aporetic moments of thought and displays an ongoing commit-
ment to move beyond them. He continually reassesses what he thought
to be the case. In doing so, he reassesses his previously held values, be-
liefs, and assumptions. By describing his pattern of thinking as he nar-
rates, Socrates the narrator teaches his narrative audience to regard
these impasses as part of philosophy. The narrative dimensions of these
texts show Socrates in the process of thinking. As a result, the thoughts
and words and deeds of Socrates the character are easier to emulate.