Theaetetus in the middle: a note on Pl. Theaet. 144c 1

This note deals with a specific passage in Plato’s Theaetetus (144c 1), in which Theodorus of Cyrene, Theaetetus’ teacher, introduces his young pupil as he is approaching along with his companions. Plato writes that Theaetetus is the one in the middle (ἐν τῷ μέσῳ). Modern commentators have not dwelled on this expression, with the sole exception of Ronald M. Polansky, who states that the position ἐν τῷ μέσῳ indicates the esteem that Theaetetus’ friends have for him. To this plausible hypothesis we may add another one (compatible with Polansky’s). Plato presents Theaetetus as Socrates’ alter ego also from the somatic point of view: the young man symbolises the perfect (Socratic) philosopher. As Franco Trabattoni has suggested, the identity between sophia and episteme (Theaet. 145d-e) may refer back to Diotima’s speech in the Symposium (203e-204b), where it is said that Eros (representing the nature of the philosopher) stands in the middle (Symp. 203e 5: ἐν μέσῳ) between wisdom (sophia) and ignorance (amathia). If Theaetetus represents the “Socratic philosopher” who aspires to wisdom (without being entirely ignorant), it cannot be ruled out that Plato’s indication of Theaetetus’ position among his friends is an allusion to the intermediate philosophical nature of Eros embodied by Theaetetus himself.