The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics)

This book comprises the last part of Socrates' life: Euthyphro, the cause of his accusation, The Apology ,his cross-interrogation at the court, Crito, his refusal to escape from jail, and Phaedo, his Sarcrifice. There are the most important chapters in Plato. The weight of Socrates' sarcrifice is like the cruxifiction of Christ; if he does not die, he is not the Messiah. So, if you don't have too much time to read the Complete Works of Plato, this book undoubtedly would be the best choice for you to understand Plato.


great book   August 16, 2004
J. P. Vergne (Presque Isle, ME United States)
18 out of 24 found this review helpful

The only "sad case" is for the critic below, who while being an independant baptist minister, is so blinded by his prejudice as to ingore the universal truths in this book. The archetypal death of a martyr is described here in all its glory. Great Book!


W.J. Knapp is quite ignorant!   December 1, 2004
Michael D. Mock (Phoenix, AZ USA)
14 out of 40 found this review helpful

Just like the other person who said that W.J. Knapp's review is, essentially, incredible and ridiculous, I, too, think that he knows nothing of Socrates. I have studied ancient philosophy for the last 4 years, specifically Socrates and Plato!, and this "Baptist Minister" is quite ignorant of Socrates and his ostensible love affairs with young men. There is NO evidence for any claim that says that Socrates slept with young men. He even resisted Alcibiades when Alcibiades wanted to sleep with him (read Alcibiades, by Plato)! He also died for a cause; he did not die for nothing! Besides Jesus, and possibly the apostle Paul, Socrates was the best man who had ever lived--and I am a devout Christian saying this! HE WAS A MARTYR! HE DID NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE GREEKS OF HIS TIME BELIEVED AS REGARDS GOD! In sum, do not pay heed to what W.J. Knapp says; he is obviously ignorant about the TRUTH! And you, W.J. Knapp, call yourself a Baptist! Besides bashing Knapp's comment, I would like to say that this book is great; an excellent read, and it stimulates one's mind, challenging one to consider things anew. It is also a wonderful story about the most influential philosopher who died for what he belived in: the TRUTH! I hope that each one of you finds this book as enjoyable as I do each time I read it! God Bless!

The following is a reply to Eric's recent comment (January 20, 2005)

It seems as if Eric does not know what he is talking about, for his logic is both fallacious and implausible. Just because many male Greeks in that era had sex with young boys, this does not necessarily prove that Socrates did. Not everyone in that era had sex with young boys; now did they, Eric?! His argument would not be right even if, say, 999,999 male Greeks out of 1,000,000 did have sex with young boys. If anyone was the exception, it would be Socrates. Moreover, as a philosophy professor (who is knowledgable specifically in the ancient philosophy period), I have studied this man quite in depth, and his character and daimon would certainly proscribe such immoral conduct. For, even if it was not deemed heinous or immoral in that era, that does not mean that Socrates deemed it moral. Lastly, perhaps you have not read many of the Platonic dialogues, but in one of them Socrates even had a chance to sleep with the finest young boy in Greece (Alcibiades); but he refused! Socrates did not have sex with young boys. There are no questions! Let us hope that this argument has eliminated any difficulties you, or anyone else for that matter, are struggling with. All in all, the book is wonderful, and I recommend it to anyone, even if he thinks Socrates did have sex with young boys!




let's not argue   January 20, 2005
Eric Frenkil (Baltimore, MD)
9 out of 56 found this review helpful

First, let me commend this book on it's ability to maintain relevance over the course of hundreds, even thousands of years. It is a necessity to any "rooty" student of philosophy.

Secondly, let me acknowledge that Socrates was a seemingly unhuman grace to the acomplishments of the human race. However, as he encouraged us to face rational facts as opposed to common beliefs, you must face the reality that in fact Socrates had sex with young boys, as was the norm for that era in Greek history. There are no questions. Most of the great minds did, though I am both a devotee to their teachings and wise to the ugliness of those actions.

If Aristotle killed a stranger would that make his work of lesser importance?

Let me stress that dignity in experiences (your 4 years of study) should not extend to close the mind but to expand it. We are reading passionate works of a man who shaped our world.

To argue irrationally on the topic of Socrates is to hit a man who disrespects Gandhi.


The Last Days of Socrates. Plato. (Penguin)   November 13, 2007
Wesley L. Janssen (San Diego, CA USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Although many accounts of Socrates' trial are known to have existed for some time after the actual events described by Plato, only Plato's and Xenophon's accounts survive. Both writers were sympathetic to Socrates, and so are somewhat suspect as to whether they adequately and accurately describe the full nature of the charges against Socrates. Plato, a 27-year-old admirer of Socrates at the time of the trial, describes the charges as being impiety (questioning the state sanctioned [poly]theology) and, thereby supposedly corrupting the minds of Athens' youth. A similar charge had, years earlier, driven Anaxagoras from Athens, but many scholars believe there were probably other factors involved in the case against Socrates. Here we find an intractable mystery (and some unwarranted speculations that are merely libelous)*.

Plato's telling of Socrates' last days consists in four parts:
(1.) Euthyphro: Socrates in Action. (2.) The Apology: Socrates on Trial. (3.) Crito: Socrates in Prison. (4.) Phaedo: The Last Conversation.

Euthyphro, The Apology, and Crito are better paced and more interesting than Phaedo, which is a long Socratic argument that the soul must possess some extra-material existence, which continues, or is somehow renewed, beyond corporeal death. I suspect that most readers will enjoy the first three sections of this text, but find the last (and longest) more of a chore; at least that is my opinion. Throughout the text, Plato presents Socrates as a man of both relentless curiosity and an admirable ethical heroism.

* As to the rather facile side bar discussion that seems to have been present in earlier reviews in this forum (while noting the forensic evidence indicating that the worst of these comments was deleted): Given the full weight of the available evidence, Socrates' supposed bisexuality can add up to nothing more than idle speculation. As to his relationships with young men, it cannot be confirmed that they involved males that were considered to be below an age at which they could accountably assent--and even more importantly, IF any such relationships were of a sexual nature at all. Given the available accounts, arguments that these were NOT sexual relationships seem clearly more defensible than (slanderous?) accusations that they were. In other words, as regards this charge, we simply enter an arena of irresolvable facts and potential slander. Why go there?! What we CAN glean from the only extant accounts of Socrates' character is that he considered himself to be one who strove to consistently abide by the highest ethical standards, and that this is consistent with Plato's account here. As cited in Phaedo, these comments of Socrates' seem particularly relevant to this [particular slander]: ". . . true philosophers abstain from all bodily desires and withstand them and do not yield to them. . . those who care about their souls and do not subordinate them to the body dissociate themselves firmly from these others and refuse to accompany them on their haphazard journey; and, believing that it is wrong to oppose philosophy with her offer of liberation and purification, they turn and follow her wherever she leads."