Description
Book SynopsisPlato's dialogues are some of the most widely read texts in Western philosophy, and one would imagine them fully mined for elemental material. Yet, in Plato and Tradition, Patricia Fagan reveals the dialogues to be continuing sources of fresh insight. She recovers from them an underappreciated depth of cultural reference that is crucial to understanding their central philosophical concerns.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 6 Introduction 7 Section I: Eros and Tradition 15 Chapter 1: Alcibiades I and Pederasty 16 I. The Conversation of Alcibiades I 16 II. Learning Language 20 III. Socrates’ Knowledge 24 IV> Socratic Love 27 V. The New Pederasty 29 VI. The New Eros as a Challenge to Athenian Culture 36 Chapter 2: The Symposium and Sappho 38 1. Care 39 II.Careful Reading 49 III. Diotima 52 IV. Eros 63 Conclusion 69 Section II: Polis and Tradition 74 Chapter 3: Republic 3 and the Sirens 75 I. Republic 3 and Odyssey 12 78 II. Socrates’ Foundational Myths 90 III> Republic 3 and Sparta 98 Chapter 4: Laws 4 and the Cyclopes 102 I. The Situation of the City 103 II. The Cyclopes 107 III. Dionysus 113 Conclusion 118 Section III: Philosophy and Tradition 121 Chapter 5: The Apology and Oedipus 122 I. Oedipus 124 II. Socrates 127 III. Teiresias 136 IV. Tragedy to Epic 139 Conclusion: Genre and Innovation 142 Chapter 6: The Crito and Thersites 145 I. Socrates’ Dream 146 II. Crito and Thersites 149 III. Socrates’ Response 155 Conclusion 162 Conclusion 165 Bibliography 167 Notes 177
