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Conversations of Socrates (Penguin Classics) Paperback – July 3, 1990
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPenguin Classics
- Publication dateJuly 3, 1990
- Grade level12 and up
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions7.8 x 5.08 x 0.91 inches
- ISBN-109780140445176
- ISBN-13978-0140445176
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Product details
- ASIN : 014044517X
- Publisher : Penguin Classics; Revised edition (July 3, 1990)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780140445176
- ISBN-13 : 978-0140445176
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Grade level : 12 and up
- Item Weight : 9.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.8 x 5.08 x 0.91 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #50,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Historical Essays (Books)
- #17 in Philosopher Biographies
- #106 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Xenophon (/ˈzɛnəfən, -ˌfɒn/; Greek: Ξενοφῶν [ksenopʰɔ̂ːn], Xenophōn; c. 430 – 354 BC), son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, and student of Socrates. While not referred to as a philosopher by his contemporaries, his status as such is now a topic of debate. He is known for writing about the history of his own times, the late 5th and early 4th centuries BC, especially for his account of the final years of the Peloponnesian War. His Hellenica, which recounts these times, is considered to be the continuation of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. His youthful participation in the failed campaign of Cyrus the Younger to claim the Persian throne inspired him to write his most famous work, Anabasis.
Despite growing up in Athens and being an Athenian citizen, Xenophon is also associated with Sparta, the traditional enemy of Athens. His pro-oligarchic views, service under Spartan generals in the Persian campaign and beyond, as well as his friendship with King Agesilaus II endeared Xenophon to the Spartans, and them to him. A number of his writings display his pro-Spartan bias and admiration, especially Agesilaus and Constitution of Sparta. Other than Plato, Xenophon is the foremost authority on Socrates, having learned under the great philosopher while a young man. He greatly admired his teacher, and well after Socrates’ death in 399 Xenophon wrote several Socratic dialogues, including an Apology concerning the events of his trial and death. Xenophon’s works cover a wide range of genres and are written in very uncomplicated Attic Greek. Xenophon’s works are among the first that many students of Ancient Greek translate on account of the straightforward and succinct nature of his prose. This sentiment was apparent even in ancient times, as Diogenes Laertius states in his Lives of Eminent Philosophers (2.6) that Xenophon was sometimes known as the "Attic Muse" for the sweetness of his diction.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Scan by User:Gabor [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Robin Anthony Herschel Waterfield (born 1952) is a British classical scholar, translator, editor, and writer of children's fiction. Waterfield was born in 1952, and studied Classics at Manchester University, where he achieved a first class degree in 1974. He went on to research ancient Greek philosophy at King's College, Cambridge until 1978, after which he became a lecturer at Newcastle University and then St Andrews University. He later became a copy-editor and later a commissioning editor for Penguin Books. He is now a self-employed writer, living in southern Greece, where he has Greek citizenship.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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To what degree Plato or Xenophon have modified Socrates' views in their own image in The Republic (Penguin Classics) or Conversations of Socrates (Penguin Classics) is unclear - it is quite possible that Socrates was too critical and individual a thinker to be a man purely of the left or right. Xenophon's version is written with clarity and little pretence (if perhaps slanted towards the authors own predispositions) and strikingly illustrates Athenian life in general, and the influence of Socrates and his methods of critical inquiry on Athenian thought and intellectual life in particular. Highly recommended for anybody with an interest in Ancient Greek philosophy, culture or history.
Xenophon divided his works into four books: Socrates' Defense; Memoirs of Socrates; the Dinner-Party; and the Estate-Manager. Xenophon writes in the second and third person so that we "hear" the Socratic Method throughout the text. We see how Socrates used questions of his followers to teach them to think. His method thoroughly flushed out the truth and often revealed the flaws in the arguments his opponents and followers made.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Xenophon. One could almost imagine being right there with the master as he shredded the weaknesses in faulty arguments and uncovered hidden truths. His opinions on virtues may be dated to Twentieth Century people but one must remember that it was largely his teachings that had such a great influence on Western thought and ideas.
History of Socrates as claimed by Xenophon
Pretty sure he was there, I wasn't.
So I have to take his word for it
Note the important difference from the early Platonic dialogues. Instead of ending in aporia (indecision), Socrates urges on to his followers rather conservative notions of the virtues. No wonder Xenophon’s Socrates was beloved by the ancient Romans and Victorians.
Which is the real Socrates? Scholars have been debating the merits of Xenophon’s and Plato’s Socrates for millennia. Each reader is best left this decision for themselves.
One point every potential reader should know, however, is that Xenophon’s dialogues are not philosophy. While college students can still enthusiastically debate the arguments of Socrates in the Platonic dialogues there is nothing in Xenophon to discuss. Hence, the long-standing tradition of teaching Plato rather than Xenophon.
Interesting enough and, as one of the few sources about Socrates other than Plato’s, essential reading for those who have fallen under his spell. Those looking for philosophical material can safely pass on these more personal reminisces.
I recommend to also read Plato's Socrates.
Wonderful book.
Top reviews from other countries
One can find the answers on many questions about Greek society in Xenophon's works, the clever writer of `Hellenika' (`All Persians are educated to become a slave, except one').
In his works about Socrates, Xenophon brushes a lively picture of the `real' Socrates and explains clearly his political views: 'Where offices were filled by men who satisfied the legal requirements, he considered the constitution to be an aristocracy; where they were filled in accordance with a property qualification, a plutocracy; where they were filled by anybody, a democracy.'
Socrates was an anti-democrat and defended oligarchy is his teachings.
What oligarchy really meant for the majority of the Athenians, one can also read in `Hellenika'. Describing the reign of the Thirty (comprising two uncles of Plato), Xenophon states: `The oligarchs went on a killing spree murdering all democratic opponents, more Athenians than all the Peloponnesians did in ten years of war ... when people could vote, it was in full view.'
Xenophon explains one of the main reasons for oligarchic rule in his rhetoric question: `if people uses its superior power to enact measures against the propertied classes, will that be violence rather than law?'
Socrates was a moderate anti-democrat, not as his pupil Plato who fulminated relentlessly against the democratic beast (Gerard Koolschijn). He respected the law: `He disobeyed the illegal orders of the Thirty on the ground that what he was ordered to do was illegal.'
He also was a moderate in his personal life (`to need nothing is divine').
Xenophon's works are key texts for understanding the ancient Greek society (daily life, morals, social issues, drink-parties, sex, politics). They are a must read for all those interested in human history and for all lovers of classical texts.