A question in an ancient dialogue may request information, challenge another speaker, or redirect the discussion. Rather than assigning it a function immediately, follow the exchange for a few lines. The answer—or the absence of one—can change how the question works.
Identify the local situation
Record who asks and whom they address, where the translation makes that clear. Note what has just been said. A question that looks general in isolation may respond to a specific claim in the previous passage.
Then describe the response. Does it provide information, ask another question, introduce an image, or shift the subject? Use the passage itself before importing an explanation from a summary of the work.
Compare the effect on the reader
Write what you expected an answer to clarify and what the exchange actually clarifies. These may differ. If the conversation remains uncertain, keep the unresolved point rather than supplying a conclusion the text does not state.
For further reading, bring the whole exchange to a commentary rather than searching only the isolated sentence. The method keeps dialogue in motion and helps you see how a text develops its thought through relationships between speakers, not merely through a collection of quotable statements.