Conversations of Socrates (Penguin Classics)

After Socrates' execution in 399 BC. a number of his followers created the legend of Socrates by writing dialogues that, although usually expressing their own interpretations of his thought, featured Socrates as the protagonist. Only two such portraits of Socrates survive-that of Plato, and Xenophon's, whose complete Socratic works are translated in this volume. Xenophon is less speculative than Plato and applies Socratic principles more to everyday life: by reading his books, we not only learn about Socrates and his philosophy but also gain fascinating insights into the daily life of ancient Greece and into the religious, political and moral views of a certain type of Athenian. As Robin Waterfield argues in the Introduction to the four books in this volume, Xenophon's apparently conventional views are coloured by an underlying vein of Socratic thought.