Socrates (469–399 BC)

References and further reading

	Aristophanes’ (c. 423) Clouds, ed. K.J. Dover, Aristophanes Clouds, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968; trans. A.H. Sommerstein, Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1982; trans. A.H. Sommerstein, Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Acharnians, The Clouds, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973. (Classic comic portrayal of Socrates. Dover is an edition of the Greek text with explanatory notes; Sommerstein’s 1982 translation also includes the Greek text and explanatory notes.)
	Aristotle (c. mid 4th century ) Metaphysics I 6, XIII 4, Nicomachean Ethics VII 2–3, Sophistical Refutations 34, Magna Moralia I 1, Poetics 1, in J. Barnes (ed.) The Complete Works of Aristotle, revised Oxford Translation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984, 2 vols. (Important testimony on Socrates. The Magna Moralia is possibly by a follower of Aristotle, and is of uncertain date.)
	Benson, H.H. (1992) Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates, New York: Oxford University Press. (Reprints fifteen of the best journal articles of the 1970s and 1980s on Socrates and Socratic philosophy; broad coverage of topics, full bibliography.)
	Cicero, M.T. ( late 45 ) Tusculan Disputations, trans. J.E. King, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London: Heinemann, 1927. (Parallel Latin text and English translation.)
	Giannantoni, G. (1990) Socratis et Socraticorum Reliquiae (The Fragments of Socrates and the Socratics), Naples: Bibliopolis, 4 vols. (Volumes 1 and 2 contain the surviving Greek and Latin testimonia of Socrates – other than in Plato and Xenophon – and of Antisthenes, Aeschines, Aristippus and other ‘minor’ Socratics; volume 4 has notes in Italian.)
	Grote, G. (1875) Plato and the Other Companions of Socrates, London: Murray, 3 vols. (Judicious, perceptive older account of Socrates in Plato’s works and of the other Socratics; still valuable.)
	Hegel, G.W.F. (1833–6) Lectures on the History of Philosophy, trans. E.S. Haldane and F.H. Simpson, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1892. (Volume 1, pages 384–487 concern Socrates and the ‘minor’ Socratics.)
	Kierkegaard, S. (1840–1) Om Begrebet Iron, trans. L.M. Capel, The Concept of Irony, London: Collins, 1965. (Subtitled ‘with constant reference to Socrates’.)
	Maier, H. (1913) Sokrates, Tübingen: Mohr. (Authoritative German treatment of the ‘Socratic problem’, arguing for the reliability of Plato’s testimony as against that of Xenophon.)
	Nietzsche, F. (1872) Die Geburt der Tragödie, trans. W. Kaufmann, The Birth of Tragedy, New York: Vintage Books, 1967. (Sections 7–13 especially concern Socrates.)
	Plato (c. 390s–380s) Apology, Euthyphro, Crito, Charmides, Laches, Lysis, Ion, Lesser Hippias, Protagoras, Greater Hippias, in Plato: Complete Works, ed. J.M. Cooper, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1997. (These are the works of Plato usually categorized as ‘early’ or ‘Socratic’ dialogues.)
	Plato (c. 380s–365) Meno, Gorgias, Phaedo, Symposium, Republic I, Phaedrus, Euthydemus, Theaetetus, in Plato: Complete Works, ed. J.M. Cooper, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1997. (The philosophical ideas in these dialogues cannot in general be assumed to be those of the historical Socrates; but they do contain biographical information and characteristic portrayals of his philosophical personality and manner.)
	Reeve, C.D.C. (1989) Socrates in the Apology, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett. (Commentary on Plato’s Apology in the light of Socrates’ general philosophy; accessible to the general reader.)
	Vlastos, G. (1971) The Philosophy of Socrates, Garden City, NY: Doubleday. (Collection of essays: see especially G. Vlastos, ‘The Paradox of Socrates’, A.R. Lacey, ‘Our Knowledge of Socrates’, and M.F. Burnyeat, ‘Virtues in Action’.)
	Vlastos, G. (1991) Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. (Comprehensive account based on a lifetime’s engagement with Socrates’ philosophy; good bibliography.)
	Xenophon (c. 385) Apology of Socrates to the Jury, trans. O.J. Todd, Socrates’ Defence to the Jury (Apology), Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London: Heinemann, 1922. (Parallel Greek text and English translation.)
	Xenophon (c. 370s) Symposium, trans. O.J. Todd, The Banquet, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London: Heinemann, 1922. (Parallel Greek text and English translation.)
	Xenophon (c. 360s) Memorabilia, trans. E.C. Marchant, Memoirs, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press and London: Heinemann, 1923. (Parallel Greek text and English translation.)
	Zeller, E. (1875) Die Philosophie der Griechen, 2. Teil, 1. Abteilung, Sokrates und die Sokratiker, trans. O.J. Reichel, Socrates and the Socratic Schools, London: Longmans, Green, 1885. (Exhaustive scholarly discussion and interpretation, which is still useful; part 2, section 1 concerns Socrates.)