2.13
Well, then, asked Antisthenes, had this Syracusan not better exhibit his dancer to the city and announce that if the Athenians will pay him for it he will give all the men of Athens the courage to face the spear?
2.14
Well said! interjected Philip. I certainly should like to see Peisander the politicianPeisander, a demagogue of some power in the unsettled times of the Peloponnesian War, had a number of weak points, especially his military record, which were exposed by the comic poets Eupolis, Hermippus, Plato, and Aristophanes. Cf. Aristoph. Birds 1553 ff. learning to turn somersaults among the knives; for, as it is now, his inability to look spears in the face makes him shrink even from joining the army.
2.15
At this point the boy performed a dance, eliciting from Socrates the remark, Did you notice that, handsome as the boy is, he appears even handsomer in the poses of the dance than when he is at rest? It looks to me, said Charmides, as if you were puffing the dancing-master.
2.16
Assuredly, replied Socrates; and I remarked something else, too,—that no part of his body was idle during the dance, but neck, legs, and hands were all active together. And that is the way a person must dance who intends to increase the suppleness of his body. And for myself, he continued, addressing the Syracusan, I should be delighted to learn the figures from you. What use will you make of them? the other asked. I will dance, by Zeus.
2.17
This raised a general laugh; but Socrates, with a perfectly grave expression on his face, said: You are laughing at me, are you? Is it because I want to exercise to better my health? Or because I want to take more pleasure in my food and my sleep? Or is it because I am eager for such exercises as these, not like the long-distance runners, who develop their legs at the expense of their shoulders, nor like the prize-fighters, who develop their shoulders but become thin-legged, but rather with a view to giving my body a symmetrical development by exercising it in every part?
