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.