[80] Cf. Havet, Le Christianisme et ses Origines, I., 167.
[81] Gesch. d. Phil., II., 47.
[82] The oracle quoted in the Apologia Socratis attributed to Xenophon praises Socrates not for wisdom but for independence, justice, and temperance. Moreover, the work in question is held to be spurious by nearly every critic.
[83] Mem., IV., vi., 1.
[84] Mem., IV., iv., 10.
[85] Zeller, Ph. d. Gr., II., a, 103, note 3 sub fin.
[86] It may possibly be asked, Why, if Plato gave only an ideal picture of Socrates, are we to accept his versions of the Sophistic teaching as literally exact? The answer is that he was compelled, by the nature of the case, to create an imaginary Socrates, while he could have no conceivable object in ascribing views which he did not himself hold to well-known historical personages. Assuming an unlimited right of making fictitious statements for the public good, his principles would surely not have permitted him wantonly to calumniate his innocent contemporaries by foisting on them odious theories for which they were not responsible. Had nobody held such opinions as those attributed to Thrasymachus in the Republic there would have been no object in attacking them; and if anybody held them, why not Thrasymachus as well as another? With regard to the veracity of the Apologia, Grote, in his work on Plato (I. 291), quotes a passage from Aristeides the rhetor, stating that all the companions of Socrates agreed about the Delphic oracle, and the Socratic disclaimer of knowledge. This, however, proves too much, for it shows that Aristeides quite overlooked the absence of any reference to either point in Xenophon, and therefore cannot be trusted to give an accurate report of the other authorities.
[87] Ph. d. Gr., II., a, 93 ff.
[88] In the conversation with Hippias already referred to.
[89] Mem., III., ix., 4.