In the dialogue "Charmides", Socrates explores the definition of
temperance. The paper explains that, to the Greeks, temperance represented both an inner order of the
soul and a kind of self-aware restraint; the two are linked together in a whole person who is temperate in body, soul, and action. At the outset, Socrates says that before he can presume to cure Charmides of his headache, he must establish the condition of his soul.