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3.0
Memories of Socrates: Memorabilia and Apology
ByPublisher Description
'Who would you say knows himself?'
In 399 BCE Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of irreligion and corruption of the young, convicted, and sentenced to death. Like Plato, an almost exact contemporary, in his youth Xenophon (c. 430-c. 354 BCE) was one of the circle of mainly upper-class young Athenians attracted to Socrates' teaching.
His Memorabilia is both a passionate defence of Socrates against those charges, and a kaleidoscopic picture of the man he knew, painted in a series of mini-dialogues and shorter vignettes, with a varied and deftly characterized cast--entitled and ambitious young men, atheists and hedonists, artists and artisans, Socrates' own stroppy teenage son Lamprocles, the glamorous courtesan Theodote. Topics given Socrates' characteristic questioning treatment include education, law, justice, government, political and military leadership, democracy and tyranny, friendship, care of the body and the soul, and concepts of the divine. Xenophon sees Socrates as above all a supreme moral educator, coaxing and challenging his associates to make themselves better people, not least by the example of how he lived his own life. Self-knowledge, leading to a reasoned self-control, was for Socrates the essential first step on the path to virtue, and some found it uncomfortable.
The Apology is a moving account of Socrates' behaviour and bearing in his last days, immediately before, during, and after his trial.
In 399 BCE Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of irreligion and corruption of the young, convicted, and sentenced to death. Like Plato, an almost exact contemporary, in his youth Xenophon (c. 430-c. 354 BCE) was one of the circle of mainly upper-class young Athenians attracted to Socrates' teaching.
His Memorabilia is both a passionate defence of Socrates against those charges, and a kaleidoscopic picture of the man he knew, painted in a series of mini-dialogues and shorter vignettes, with a varied and deftly characterized cast--entitled and ambitious young men, atheists and hedonists, artists and artisans, Socrates' own stroppy teenage son Lamprocles, the glamorous courtesan Theodote. Topics given Socrates' characteristic questioning treatment include education, law, justice, government, political and military leadership, democracy and tyranny, friendship, care of the body and the soul, and concepts of the divine. Xenophon sees Socrates as above all a supreme moral educator, coaxing and challenging his associates to make themselves better people, not least by the example of how he lived his own life. Self-knowledge, leading to a reasoned self-control, was for Socrates the essential first step on the path to virtue, and some found it uncomfortable.
The Apology is a moving account of Socrates' behaviour and bearing in his last days, immediately before, during, and after his trial.
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3.0
“I can definitely see why Xenophon wanted to preserve this portrait of Socrates. Rather than presenting him as this distant, abstract philosopher, he shows him as someone deeply concerned with how we actually live. Nearly every conversation comes back to self-mastery, friendship, moderation, leadership, or simply becoming a better person. I especially loved his argument that “those who aren’t masters of themselves have no freedom”…
What surprised me most was how practical Socrates felt. His discussions about simplicity, caring for the body, truthful friendship, and choosing the harder path of virtue over the easier path of pleasure felt incredibly relevant. I also appreciated how Xenophon ultimately defends Socrates through the way he lived… his life itself becomes his strongest argument. I finished the book feeling like I had spent time with someone genuinely trying to help others become better people.”
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