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Section 132

SOCRATES. I went into the grammar school of Dionysius, and there I saw the most beautiful of the young men, in their appearance and noble birth, and their lovers as well. Two of the youths happened to be arguing, but about what exactly I could not clearly hear. It appeared, however, that they were disputing either about Anaxagoras or Oenopides, for they were drawing circles and demonstrating certain inclinations with their hands, bending forward with great earnestness. I sat down beside the lover of one of the boys and nudged him, asking what the youths were so focused on, and whether it was something so great and beautiful that they were giving it such intense attention. "Great and beautiful?" he replied. "They are just babbling about astronomical matters and philosophizing." I was surprised by his answer and said: "My young friend, do you think philosophizing is a bad thing? Why do you speak so harshly?" Another person sitting near him, who was a rival lover of the same boy, heard my question and said: "Socrates, you are not doing yourself a favor by asking him whether he thinks philosophy is a bad thing. Do you not know that he has spent his whole life practicing wrestling, gorging himself, and sleeping? Why would you expect any other answer from him than that philosophy is bad?"