In the Timarchus myth in Plutarch’s De genio Socratis, the daimon is conceived as the highest
part of the human soul, currently referred to as “intellect” (νοῦc) and wrongly believed to be
internal. By contrast, in the two speeches preceding and following the myth (by Simmias and
Theanor, respectively), the daimon is a superior entity assisting each man in multiple ways.
This is Plutarch’s way to harmonize Plato’s different pronouncements concerning the personal
daimon – an attempt anticipating later developments found in Plotinus.