Sōphrosynē

Sōphrosynē (σωφροσύνη) is usually translated 'temperance' or 'self-control', but its make-up says more: it joins sōs, 'sound' or 'whole', to phrēn, 'mind', to mean something like 'sound-mindedness' — the well-tempered wholeness of a person in full possession of themselves. It is one of the four cardinal virtues, and stands close to the Delphic counsels 'know thyself' and 'nothing in excess'.

Stronger than oneself

Plato circles the virtue in the Charmides without quite pinning it down, and gives it a fuller place in the Republic. There temperance is not mere restraint of appetite but a kind of harmony — the agreement of all the parts of the soul (and all the classes of the city) as to which ought to rule. To be temperate is to be 'stronger than oneself', the higher willingly governing the lower.

A virtue of order

Where courage belongs to the spirited part and wisdom to reason, sōphrosynē runs through the whole — the concord that lets reason lead without revolt. It is the beauty of a soul in order: measured, lucid, at peace with itself, and a near neighbor of excellence and justice in Plato's account of the well-lived life.