Strauss on Xenophon's Socrates Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An ...

STRAUSS ON XENOPHON 109
of Socrates' justice or transcendence of justice; but the title which he
gives to his discussion ("Socrates' promises"), alone, would show
that this question is not forgotten. Socrates' willingness to help
Kritoboulos out of the economic difficulties which he had called to
Kritoboulos's attention had yielded no more, in Chapter II at least,
or had been limited to the promise to show Kritoboulos "the best
masters of the economic art, so that he could learn from them"
(107). In his discussion of Chapter III, <strong>Strauss</strong> stresses Socrates'
clarification so to speak, not to say quasi-abandonment, of this promise:
. Socrates renders his promise more precise by speaking of some of the parts
of the economic art (107);
He will, then, not simply take Kritoboulos to the masters . but will make
him discover those masters by himself; or, more cautiously, he will show him
both the masters and the bunglers (108);
In the literal sense of the word, Socrates does not `take' Kritoboulos anywhere in
the Oeconomicus (108).
This may mean, <strong>Strauss</strong> suggests, that "the present conversation of
Socrates with Kritoboulos is only the first stage in Kritoboulos's
learning under Socrates' guidance the complete art of household
management," i.e., that Socrates took Kritoboulos to the masters
(and bunglers) later on (108-109). But <strong>Strauss</strong> continues, "It is
almost equally possible . . . that Kritoboulos's learning of the art is
completed in the , present conversation . . ." (109); "surely not all
promises [made by Socrates to Kritoboulos in Chapter III] are kept
in the Oeconomicus" (111); as to the promise to introduce
Kritoboulos to Aspasia, "This promise at any rate is not kept in the
Oeconomicus; we are permitted to wonder whether it was kept at
all" (111).
<strong>Strauss</strong> also brings out and reflects here on another fact relevant
to the evaluation of Socrates' dealing with Kritoboulos: his willingness
to be persuaded by Kritoboulos to join him in going to look at
comedies, the very activity which he himself singles out as keeping
Kritoboulos from more urgent things. "We might feel that Socrates,
who knows all the time that Kritoboulos neglected his duties, should
never have given in to Kritoboulos's importunities. But perhaps he
indulged Kritoboulos's wish in order to gain his confidence or his affection
and thus increase the likelihood that the young man would