The Apology is one of the so-called Early Dialogues of Plato.[1] In it, Socrates makes his own defense of the accusations he had received for corrupting the youths and introducing new gods in the city of Athens. To start with, it is interesting to note that this dialogue does not take a proper noun (the name of one of the characters in the dialogue concerned) as a title but chooses… Read more
Poseidon, receiving for his lot the island of Atlantis, begat children by a mortal woman, and settled them in a part of the island, which I will describe. Looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island… Read more
We were pleased to welcome Caroline Stark of Howard University for an Open House. The title of the discussion was: The Reception of Greek in Renaissance Italy. The session was live-streamed and recorded. The event took place on Thursday, December 5 at 11:00 a.m. EST. To get ready for the event, you might like to read: Petrarch’s letter to Homer: Text on Project Gutenberg Aristophanes’ speech, from Plato Symposium, 189–193: Text… Read more
Hold it right there. Tell me this, Ion—respond to what I ask without concealment. When you say well the epic verses and induce a feeling of bedazzlement [ekplēxis] for the spectators [theōmenoi] —as you sing of Odysseus leaping onto the threshold and revealing himself to the suitors and pouring out the arrows at his feet, or of Achilles rushing at Hector, or something connected to the pitiful things about Andromache… Read more
We were pleased to welcome Thomas Köntges of University of Leipzig for an Open House discussion titled, Re-Re-Counting Plato: This Time with More Data. It took place on Thursday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m. EST, and was recorded. In preparation, you might like to read these short passages with the following questions in mind: How does Aristotle usually quote Plato? When Aristotle mentions Socrates, does he refer to Plato’s Socrates?… Read more