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Of two brothers living in discord, the younger is reminded by Socrates that a brother is worth more than money and land. On him, as the younger, it is incumbent to win his brother by affection; the latter will be ashamed to remain alienated: and thus the two will work with combined energies, to which, indeed, they are, as brothers, summoned by nature.
Χαιρεφῶντα: from early youth a follower and friend of Socrates, so that Aristophanes brackets him with the latter, τοὺς ὠχριῶντας (pale-faced), τοὺς ἀνυποδήτους λέγεις, | ὧν ὁ κακοδαίμων Σωκράτης καὶ Χαιρεφῶν Clouds 103, 104. He, too, it was who questioned the Pythia at Delphi as to whether any man was wiser than Socrates. The philosopher, when on trial, appealed to Chaerecrates to corroborate this, since Chaerephon was dead. Cf. Plato Apol. 21A. διαφερομένω: see on ζῶντα i. 2. 16. οὐ δήπου: surely not, ironical in tone, yet implying a neg. answer. Cf. iv.2.11. τῶν τοιούτων ἀνθρώπων: of that sort of men. χρησιμώτερον: a more useful possession. For the gender, see G. 925; H. 617. χρήματα: purposely chosen, instead of, e.g., κτήματα (cf. ii.4.1), on account of χρησιμώτερον, for the sake of the ‘parechesis.’ Cf. ii.4.5. καὶ ταῦτα τῶν μὲν ἀφρόνων ὄντων: and that, too, though the former are without sense. τοῦ δέ: from ἀδελφούς, the generic idea, Socrates passes to τοῦ δέ, having in mind the special case of Chaerecrates. βοηθείας: the care and attention needed by crops and live-stock.
ζημίαν: a detriment. ἐνταῦθα: here, “in this case.” δύνανται: the subj. is an indef. pl. implied in τὶς above. Cf. i.2.62. κρεῖττον: sc. ἐστί. ἐπί: in the case of. ἀγνοοῦσι: fail to recognize.
ὥσπερ γιγνομένους φίλους: “just as though friends were made from.” For the acc. abs. of the pers. verb, see GMT. 853; H. 974: and, for the comparison with an assumed case, GMT. 867.
καὶ μὴν ... φῦναι: and yet it is a great inducement to friendship to be born of the same parents. πόθος τις: a sort of yearning. πόθος is instinctive, φιλία rational. τοὺς συναδέλφους: those who have brothers (to defend them). τούτοις: i.e. τοῖς συναδέλφοις, the prominent obj. of thought.
τὸ διάφορον: the cause of dissension. Cf. τοῦτό γε δὴ Χειρισόφῳ καὶ Ξενοφῶντι μόνον διάφορον ἐν τῇ πορείᾳ ἐγένετο An. iv.6.3 φεύγειν: to avoid. ἀγαθόν: see on χρησιμώτερον 1. ὁπότε ... ἐνδέοι: “but suppose he should be wanting in every brotherly quality.” ἐπιχειροίη: for the potential opt. in apod., cf. ii.2.3.
ὥσπερ οὐδέ: what was said of καί in the note on i. 1. 6 is true also of οὐδέ in neg. sentences. ἔστιν οἷς: see on ἔστιν οὕστινας i. 4. 2. καὶ πάνυ: vel maxime. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ... αὐτόν: why, just for that reason have I good ground to hate him. For γάρ in an answer, see on i.4.9. ἔργῳ: see on λόγῳ, ἔργῳ 8.
χρῆσθαι: belongs to both ἀνεπιστήμονι and ἐγχειροῦντι.
λόγῳ, ἔργῳ: the usual order. Cf. 15, 17; iv. 5. 11. Here, too, it corresponds to εὖ λέγειν, εὖ ποιεῖν. In 6, ἔργῳ was placed first, prob. to emphasize its importance. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέ: “and neither.” For ἀλλά in this sense, see Kr. Spr. 69. 4. 2.
εἰ κύνα μὲν ἂν ἐπειρῶ κτλ.: that while you would try etc. For μέν in logically subord. clauses, see on i.4.17. εἰ ἦν, ἠσπάζετο, ἐχαλέπαινεν: all in prot. to ἂν ἐπειρῶ. τοῦ ὀργίζεσθαι: for the articular inf. with ἀμελέω, see GMT. 793. αὐτόν: i.e. τὸν κύνα. For the use of this pron. to recall the main subst., cf. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν βασιλέα ... οὐκ οἶδα ὅ τι δεῖ αὐτὸν ὀμόσαι An. ii.4.7 φῂς μέν: correlative to οὐκ ἐπιχειρεῖς, but δέ follows ἐπίστασθαι because this is placed first in the sentence.
ἔχω: for the ind. with verbs of fearing, see G. 1380; H. 888. σοφίαν: here practical wisdom, as distinguished from ἐπιστήμη, theoretical knowledge. καὶ μήν: as in 4. ποικίλον: intricate, lit. variegated. Cf. οὐδὲν ποικίλον, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοὶ (νομίζουσι) Plato Gorg. 491 D. οἷς: equivalent to τούτοις ἅ, of which ἅ is obj. of ἐπίστασαι and τούτοις modifies ἁλόντα.
οὐκ ἂν φθάνοις λέγων: you could not be too quick in telling me, i.e. “pray tell me at once.” Cf. iii.11.1. For the supplementary participle with φθάνω, see G. 1586; H. 984. φίλτρον: a love charm, (properly φίλητρον, from φιλέω). εἰδώς: see on φθάνοις above. κατεργάσασθαι: bring about, hence, induce. ὁπότε θύοι: see on ὁπότε βούλοιτο ii. 1. 18. ἐπὶ δεῖπνον: to the usual feast held after sacrifices, to which kinsmen and friends were invited. Cf. ii.9.4. κατάρχοιμι ἂν τοῦ καλεῖν αὐτόν: I should take the lead in inviting him. αὐτός: for the nom. agreeing with omitted subj. of inf., cf. κεκτημένος i. 2. 1.
προτρέψασθαι: to persuade. Cf. i. 2. 64.
ξένον ποιῆσαι ὑποδέχεσθαι σεαυτόν: for the unusual order of words, see on i.5.1. εἰς τὴν ἐκείνου: sc. πόλιν. αὐτόν (in line 69): myself. For the omission of the pers. pron., see G. 990; H. 680, 3. ἐκείνῳ: dat. of advantage. Cf. ἢν ταῦτά μοι ποιήσῃς Cyr. vii. 2. 27. The usual const. is ποιεῖν τινά τι.
φίλτρα: with somewhat contemptuous reference to φίλτρον in 11. ἀπεκρύπτου: have been keeping (this knowledge) to yourself. Cf. ii. 6. 29; iii. 6. 3. ἢ ὀκνεῖς: the conj. like the Lat. an, when a previous declarative sent. implies a question. αἰσχρὸς φανῇς: “appear to lower yourself.” Χαιρεφῶν: described by Plato (Apol. 21A) as σφοδρὸς ἐφ̓ ὅ τι ὁρμήσειε. ἡγεμονικώτερος: better fitted to take the first step. Cf. ἡγεμονικοὶ πρὸς τὰ πονηρά Cyr. ii. 2. 25. τῷ ποιεῖσθαι: for the articular inf. after verbs and adjs., cf. 11; i. 2. 3. ἡγούμενος: cond., if you take the lead. τοῦτο: belongs in meaning to τὴν φιλίαν ταύτην, equivalent to “good terms again.”
πρὸς σοῦ (sc. ὄντα, cf. on ii. 1. 32): “like yourself.” ὃς κελεύεις: for the causal rel., see G. 1461; H. 910. νομίζεται: see on νομίζων i. 1. 1. τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἡγεῖσθαι: explanatory appos. to τἀναντία.
οὐ γάρ: as in i. 3. 10. ὁδοῦ: for the gen. of separation with verbs of withdrawing, see G. 1117; H. 748. κοίτῃ μαλακῇ τιμῆσαι: cf. εὐνῇ ἐνὶ μαλακῇ Hom. I 619 and πυκινὸν λέχος 659. Recognition of superiority in age was characteristic of the Greeks. Cf. πᾶς ἡμῖν αἰδείσθω τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πρεσβύτερον ἔργῳ τε καὶ ἔπει Plato Laws 879 C. ἔφη: he continued. τὸν ἄνδρα: more emphatic than αὐτόν. ἐγχείρει, καὶ ὑπακούσεται: try, and he will hearken. For the same use of an ind. after an imv. implying a cond., see ii. 7. 10; iii. 6. 17. Cf. ‘Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find.’ οὐχ ὁρᾷς: the omission of ἤ (‘asyndeton’) adds vivacity to the question. τὰ μὲν γάρ: the γάρ is to be explained by an omitted sent. like “I say this to you (that he is φιλότιμος and ἐλευθέριος).” For μέν equivalent to while, see on 9. κατεργάσαιο: win over.
ἐὰν γίγνηται: with an omitted apod. like τί λέγεις or τί ἔσται. τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ κινδυνεύσεις: see on ii.1.17. Cf. σὺ οὐδὲν ἄλλο [ποιεῖς] ἢ αὐτὸς ἀπορεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ποιεῖς ἀπορεῖν Plato Meno 80 A; and classis ad insulam se recepit, nihil aliud quam depopulato hostium agro Livy xxvii. 21. κινδυνεύσεις has an adv. force with the following verb, “you very likely will.” So often in Plato. ἐπιδεῖξαι: here with the inf. equivalent to show that you are. ἐκεῖνος δέ: sc. κινδυνεύσει ἐπιδεῖξαι εἶναι.
τὼ χεῖρε, ἃς: for the change in number, see on i.2.14. ἐπὶ τῷ συλλαμβάνειν: so ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ in 19. See on i. 3. 11.
οὐκ ἂν εἴη: so often in animated discourse, where the opt. expresses a modest claim, without οὖν. Cf. iii.11.1; Cyr. i. 4. 13; iii. 1. 43. καὶ μήν γε: see on i.4.12. ἀδελφά: adj., in pairs. ὀργυιᾶς: a fathom, from ὀρέγειν to reach, hence the outspread arms' reach. ἅμα ποιῆσαι: to act together on. φίλω ὄντε: conditional. διεστῶτε: concessive. ἅμα πράττετον: conveys the idea of “with united efforts,” while ἅμα καί in the preceding clause is equivalent to simul ac.
Xenophon: Memorabilia. Josiah Renick Smith. Boston. Ginn and Company. 1903.
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