[25] Plato, Menon, p. 99 A. ᾧ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἡγεμών ἐστιν ἐπὶ τὸ ὀρθόν, δύο ταῦτα, δόξα ἀληθὴς καὶ ἐπιστήμη.
[26] Plato, Menon, p. 99 B. Οὐκ ἄρα σοφία τινὶ οὐδὲ σοφοὶ ὄντες οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἄνδρες ἡγοῦντο ταῖς πόλεσιν, οἱ ἀμφὶ Θεμιστοκλέα.… διὸ καὶ οὐχ οἷοί τε ἄλλους ποιεῖν τοιούτους οἷοι αὐτοί εἰσιν, ἅτε οὐ δι’ ἐπιστήμην ὄντες τοιοῦτοι.
[27] Plato, Menon, p. 99 D. καὶ τοὺς πολιτικοὺς οὐχ ἥκιστα τούτων φαῖμεν, ἂν θείους τε εἶναι καὶ ἐνθουσιάζειν, ἐπίπνους ὄντας καὶ κατεχομένους ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅταν κατορθῶσι λέγοντες πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα πράγματα, μηδὲν εἰδότες ὧν λέγουσιν.
All the real virtue that there is, is communicated by special inspiration from the Gods.
And thus (concludes Sokrates) the answer to the question originally started by Menon — “Whether virtue is teachable?“ — is as follows. Virtue in its highest sense, in which it is equivalent to or coincident with knowledge, is teachable: but no such virtue exists. That which exists in the most distinguished citizens under the name of virtue, — or at least producing the results of virtue in practice — is not teachable. Nor does it come by nature, but by special inspiration from the Gods. The best statesmen now existing cannot make any other person like themselves: if any one of them could do this, he would be, in comparison with the rest, like a real thing compared with a shadow.[28]
[28] Plato, Menon, p. 100.
But what virtue itself is, remains unknown.
Nevertheless the question which we have just discussed — “How virtue arises or is generated?“ — must be regarded as secondary and dependent, not capable of being clearly understood until the primary and principal question — “What is virtue?” — has been investigated and brought to a solution.[29]
[29] Plato, Menon, p. 100 B.