The relationship between tyranny and nobility is explored through a reading of the opening chapters of Book Seven of Aristotle's Politics and an analysis of Xenophon's presentation of Charmides in the Memorabilia and Symposium . Aristotle embeds his teaching concerning the relation between tyranny and nobility within a discussion of whether the political or philosophic way of life is best. Some fundamental limitations of political life are exposed, as is the way those limitations are expressed in the dynamic between tyranny and nobility. The tension between the political life and the philosophic life is again at issue in Xenophon's presentation of Charmides. Like the political men on whom Aristotle focuses, Charmides is tempted by tyranny, but, unlike the political men, his preference is for the philosophic life. Taken together, the two accounts reveal the full range of the problem.
