Adeimantus serves as a kind of impatient, energetic, poetic foil for Socrates in the dialogue. He is impetuous and seems to seek instant knowledge. For example, Socrates frequently asks his respondents in the debate to think about the argument seriously by encouraging them to “reflect” on the progress of the discussion. When Socrates asks Adeimantus to reflect, Adeimantus habitually replies that he has already reflected, and he says that he is “anxious” for Socrates to get on with things. As a respondent in the dialogue, Adeimantus comes close to being hyperbolic in his agreeing with Socrates’ arguments; with his “very true” and “absolutely” and “very good,” he seems to overstate Socrates’ argument with simplistic and instantaneous concurrence.
