When discussing self-discipline and self-indulgence with Callicles, Socrates mentions an analogy on page 81 which is as follows: “… The jars belonging to one of them are intact and are filled variously with wine, honey, milk, and so on and so forth. And suppose that each of these liquids is rare and hard to come by, and that it takes a great deal of strenuous work to get them. Now, once our first man has filled up his jars, he stops channeling the liquids into his jars and gives them no further thought as far as they’re concerned, he can rest easy. The other character, however, is just as capable of getting the liquids- albeit with the same degree of difficulty- but his vessels are cracked and flawed, and he’s forced to work day and night keeping them full, or else suffer terribly.”

On the next page, Socrates asks Callicles if he’s convinced the one with the jar intact is better, and Callicles claims he is not convinced; that the person with full jars would not feel pleasure and live the life of a stone.

This passage caught my attention because Callicles’ viewpoint doesn’t make sense. Why would someone want to work tirelessly to maintain the cracked jar full instead of enjoying what is already in there. I think it would be better to use the jars still intact and those could bring pleasure as well. I think creed is an underlying issue here since the person with the cracked jar wants to keep filling and keep filling regardless of how much is in it. Meanwhile, the other person is able to appreciate what he already has.