Plato: Gorgias, Menexenus, Protagoras

Three Platonic dialogues newly translated by Tom Griffith and introduced and annotated by Malcolm Schofield.

Malcolm Schofield (Edited by), Tom Griffith (Translated by)

9780521546003, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 November 2009

266 pages
22.3 x 13.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.36 kg

'First it seems that the goal of this new translation is to update the language, making it more readable and colloquial, and thus brining the dialogues to a wider readership … The result is that these new translations read more smoothly in more colloquial English, making them suitable as introductions to undergraduates and specialists … this new edition in the Cambridge series 'Texts in the History of Political Thought' will surely be the edition to find on the shelves of scholars, and in the hands of more advanced students.' Robert C. Robinson, Political Studies Review

Presented in the popular Cambridge Texts format are three early Platonic dialogues in a new English translation by Tom Griffith that combines elegance, accuracy, freshness and fluency. Together they offer strikingly varied examples of Plato's critical encounter with the culture and politics of fifth and fourth century Athens. Nowhere does he engage more sharply and vigorously with the presuppositions of democracy. The Gorgias is a long and impassioned confrontation between Socrates and a succession of increasingly heated interlocutors about political rhetoric as an instrument of political power. The short Menexenus contains a pastiche of celebratory public oratory, illustrating its self-delusions. In the Protagoras, another important contribution to moral and political philosophy in its own right, Socrates takes on leading intellectuals (the 'sophists') of the later fifth century BC and their pretensions to knowledge. The dialogues are introduced and annotated by Malcolm Schofield, a leading authority on ancient Greek political philosophy.

Editorial note
Introduction
Principal dates
A guide to further reading
1. Gorgias
2. Menexenus
3. Protagoras
Index of names
General index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]