They start out with the idea that learning to fight in heavy armor will be good for the children. It's great physical training and should make them braver in battle. However, one remarks that those who are dedicated to this art rarely become accomplished. Either this art is of little value or not an art at all.

Socrates clarifies that they should not focus so much on the art of heavy armor fighting. It is the effect of it that is desired, not the thing bringing the effect. What is it exactly they want for the children? Socrate says it is the cultivation of their souls. I think everyone is a little quick to accept this, not one remark about whether the body or the souls is fundamental to man.

They debate about who knows virtue and can teach it. Socrates puts forward a common standard by Plato for knowledge whether someone has knowledge: if you cannot say when you learned it or from whom then you probably don't know it. Self-taught people must make demonstrations of their expertise to prove their worth, interestingly Socrates professes to be self-taught since he could not afford lessons from the sophists. But didn't he say he was taught by Prodicus in Protagoras?

Learning what virtue really is is difficult, they decide to focus on finding a part of virtue, courage (manliness).

The first answer is the simplest, courage is to fight without running away. However there are many fighting styles that include running away and turning back to fight, such as cavalry and sometimes the Spartans. What is the common courage for everyone?

Is courage the endurance of the soul? It cannot be in all cases, such as endurance with folly which is not admireable. It is endurance with wisdom. But only in some circumstances like war, endurance with wisdom in money making is not courage.

Is a man fighting with knowledge that that he has an advantage more brave than someone fighting without knowing of an advantage? No, but then we have disqualified wise endurance in favor of foolish endurance.

Finaly answer, courage is wisdom, the knowledge of what is fearful and hopeful in war. To tell good and bad in the past, present and future. But this "courage" is not a part of virtue, it is all of virtue!

Aporia, the definition of courage is not found at the end of the dialogue.

Observations: Maybe Plato it felt too easy to mention Pericles in this dialogue about the transferability of virtue to offspring.

The dialogue ends with a citation of Homer that made an appearance in Protagoras: "Modesty is not a good mate of a needy man."