Plato’s Apology, on The Examined Life (Live Reading)

The Apology by Plato is an account of the famous trial of Socrates, who was charged in 399 BC with impiety and corrupting the youth. One of the most famous and important works of Western philosophy, the Apology is less concerned with asserting any particular philosophical doctrine than it is with creating a portrait of the ideal philosopher. On trial, with his life at stake, Socrates maintains his cool and unwaveringly defends his way of life as unassailably just. He explains why he has devoted his life to challenging the most powerful and important people in the Greek world. The reason he says is that rich and famous politicians, priests, poets, and a host of other people profess to know what is good, true, holy, and beautiful, but when Socrates questions them, they are revealed to be foolish rather than wise. Socrates' speech has served as an inspiration and justification for the philosophical life ever since.

The Apology, along with the Euthyphro, Crito, and Phaedo comprise the quartet of Plato’s works that are sometimes collectively called "The Trial and Death of Socrates". It is part of the first tetralogy of Platonic works and was composed in the late 390s or the early 380s BC.

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This is a live reading of the Apology. This Plato group meets on Saturdays and has previously read the Philebus, Gorgias, Critias, Laches, Timaeus, Euthyphro and other works, including texts for contextualisation such as Gorgias’ Praise of Helen. The reading is intended for well-informed generalists even though specialists are obviously welcome. It is our aspiration to read the Platonic corpus over a long period of time.

The host is Constantine Lerounis, a distinguished Greek philologist and poet, author of Four Access Points to Shakespeare’s Works (in Greek) and Former Advisor to the President of the Hellenic Republic. January 4 is the introductory session for the Apology and hence an ideal opportunity to join the group without having to do any catching up.

The text can be found here.