Books of Titans Podcast

Charmides* is a dialogue of search and the search is for a definition of the Greek word sophrosyne. It’s a word that encompasses the spirit behind the famous sayings at Delphi of “Know Yourself” and “Nothing in Excess.” Translators have rendered it self-control, moderation, prudence, temperance, and discretion.
In this episode, I walk through the attempts by Socrates, Charmides, and Critias to define sophrosyne. It’s a fascinating journey that may not leave us with an exact definition, but that does get us thinking about knowledge and action.
*Quick, embarrassing note: I mistakenly refer to Charmides as Charmenides throughout the podcast episode. I didn’t realize the error until I had finished recording. Mea culpa. I got Parmenides and Charmides mixed up. Any time I say Charmenides, just think Charmides in your head.
Translations Mentioned:
* Plato Meno and Other Dialogues / Robin Waterfield / Oxford World’s Classics
* Plato Complete Works / Rosamond Kent Sprague / Hackett
* Plato Collected Dialogues / Benjamin Jowett / Princeton University Press



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I’m closing out my biweekly summer podcast schedule with an episode about my top 5 favorite Loeb Classical Library books. Do you need these if you don’t read Greek or Latin? Why collect these when there are plenty of alternatives? I address these questions and show you my top 5 (with 2 bonus books at the end) in this video podcast recorded in the Books of Titans Library.


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The famous inscription a the Temple of Apollo at Delphi encourages the visitor to “Know Thyself.” Plato’s dialogue Alcibiades is an exploration of that inscription. What does it mean to know oneself? And how does Socrates lead the powerful Alcibiades in this dialogue?
In this episode, I cover Alcibiades and Second Alcibiades by Plato, two relatively short dialogues with wonderful thoughts about virtue, the soul, and the good.


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What is love and what does it have to do with the immortal soul? These are some of the questions addressed in the wide-ranging Phaedrus dialogue by Plato. Similar to other Plato dialogues, this one contains a myth. Perhaps you have heard of the Tripartite Soul. This is one of the dialogues that introduces that idea and it is found within the Myth of the Winged Soul.
In this episode, I talk about how Plato used this myth to talk about ideas like love, desire, immortality, education, and the soul. I then tie that together with a major theme of this reading project, direction. I close out with a, how should I say this, interesting 😬 definition of love from Plato.
Show Notes:


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2026 has been a fun year of reading so far. I’ve read the Bible, a few Plato dialogues, legends of King Arthur, and others. Here’s my mid-year reading review. It’s a great way to learn about books you may want to add to your own reading list. I go through the 20+ books I’re read so far for this year and a little about each one of them. Enjoy!
Reading List (Jan - June 2026)
* The Intertextual Tanakh
* Bibliotheca Vol II: The Latter Prophets
* Bibliotheca Vol III: The Writings
* Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell
* Bibliotheca Vol V: The New Testament
* Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman
* Heraclitus Fragments
* The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists
* Early Greek Philosophy
* The Logos of Heraclitus by Eva Brann
* Nero & Paul by Kathie Lee Gifford w/ Brian M. Litfin
* One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
* The Greek Sophists
* The Flowering Hawthorn by Hugh Ross Williamson
* Plato: Complete Works by Plato
* Philebus Plato
* Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory
* Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite
* King Arthur and His Knights of The Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
* The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien
* Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
* The Mirror, the Mask, and the Masterpiece: A Guide to C. S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” by Peter Kreeft


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe