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1X PREFACE by his social relations. This is an inexhaustible mine of wisdom for the teacher. The Phaedo is introduced partly for its own sake and partly because all Plato's thought about the education of man was determined by his conception of the absolute nature and destiny of man. The introductions to the several dialogues are intended only to give a few suggestive clews which may prove useful to elementary readers. The introduction to the Phaedo is an outline for the study of that dialogue. The notes constitute a dictionary of the biographical, geographical, and mythological terms or references in the text. Scholars will observe that the notes have been written with great reserve. While we have sought the highest accuracy in every line, we have sought no less to exclude all antiquarian lore that would not directly assist the elementary reader to understand the text. In the preparation of this book the endeavor throughout has been to let Plato speak for himself. The notes and introductions are intended only to elucidate and not to criticise. To prevent possible misunderstanding, however, it may be well to state a few of the more important points in which we do not accept Plato's teaching, (i.) It is scarcely necessary to say that the modern Christian world has outgrown many of Plato's ideas of morality. In criticising these, however, it should be remembered that no one is wholly free from the influence of his age, and that in many things Plato was better than his age. (2.) We prefer actual democracy even to Plato's ideal aristocracy. (3.) We believe that con-
2PREFACE XI • tact with the earth through the senses and hands is not, as Plato seems to have believed, a degradation to the soul, but is a spiritual necessity. (4.) We believe that Plato's conception of God and of man's relation to God, far as it is beyond that which is often found among Christians, falls far short of that shown to us by our Lord. The translation used is that of Jowett (the Charles Scribner*s Sons* Edition). In a few cases where Jowett uses a foreign phrase or an expression presenting special difficulty to those unread in the classics, slight alterations have been made. In the preparation of the notes we have used the Greek text of Plato ; Liddell and Scott's Greek Dictionary ; * Harper's Classical Dictionary ; Johnson's Cyclopaedia; Smith's Classical Dictionary; Bulfinch's, Guerber's, and Gayley's Manuals of Mythology ; Jowett's Introductions and Analyses ; The Index to Jowett's Plato, third edition ; Zeller's Plato and the Older Academy ; Zeller's Socrates ; Grote's History of Greece ; Grote's Plato ; Bosanquet's Companion to Plato's Republic ; Socrates, Talks with Socrates about Life, Talks with Athenian Youth, A Day in Athens with Socrates, published by Charles Scribner's Sons ; and Webster's Dictionary, on the pronunciation of proper names. * Referred to in notes as L. & S.
3GENERAL INTRODUCTION THE ATHENS OF PLATO. Plato was born at Athens about 427 B.C. His native city was then at the height of its prosperity. At the beginning of that century the Greek states, often at war with each other, and always jealous of each other, had been forced to unite in a fight for life against the innumerable hordes of the Persian Empire. Athens was foremost in this fight, and when the Persians were finally driven away, she succeeded in placing herself at the head of a powerful league of Greek cities. Accordingly, although the city had been captured and burned by the Persians, she presently became, under the direction of the statesman Peri£l^, far stronger politically and commercially than ever before. A variety of causes made this period also a golden age for many of the arts. The city had to be rebuilt. This was done under direction of the sculptor Phidias, with a splendor and artistic perfection perhaps never elsewhere equalled. |The democratic Athenian government, according to which questions of State were decided in a general assembly of all the people, gave occasion for the development of oratory of
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1X PREFACE by his social relations. This is an inexhaustible mine of wisdom for the teacher. The Phaedo is introduced partly for its own sake and partly because all Plato's thought about the education of man was determined by his conception of the absolute nature and destiny of man. The introductions to the several dialogues are intended only to give a few suggestive clews which may prove useful to elementary readers. The introduction to the Phaedo is an outline for the study of that dialogue. The notes constitute a dictionary of the biographical, geographical, and mythological terms or references in the text. Scholars will observe that the notes have been written with great reserve. While we have sought the highest accuracy in every line, we have sought no less to exclude all antiquarian lore that would not directly assist the elementary reader to understand the text. In the preparation of this book the endeavor throughout has been to let Plato speak for himself. The notes and introductions are intended only to elucidate and not to criticise. To prevent possible misunderstanding, however, it may be well to state a few of the more important points in which we do not accept Plato's teaching, (i.) It is scarcely necessary to say that the modern Christian world has outgrown many of Plato's ideas of morality. In criticising these, however, it should be remembered that no one is wholly free from the influence of his age, and that in many things Plato was better than his age. (2.) We prefer actual democracy even to Plato's ideal aristocracy. (3.) We believe that con-
2PREFACE XI • tact with the earth through the senses and hands is not, as Plato seems to have believed, a degradation to the soul, but is a spiritual necessity. (4.) We believe that Plato's conception of God and of man's relation to God, far as it is beyond that which is often found among Christians, falls far short of that shown to us by our Lord. The translation used is that of Jowett (the Charles Scribner*s Sons* Edition). In a few cases where Jowett uses a foreign phrase or an expression presenting special difficulty to those unread in the classics, slight alterations have been made. In the preparation of the notes we have used the Greek text of Plato ; Liddell and Scott's Greek Dictionary ; * Harper's Classical Dictionary ; Johnson's Cyclopaedia; Smith's Classical Dictionary; Bulfinch's, Guerber's, and Gayley's Manuals of Mythology ; Jowett's Introductions and Analyses ; The Index to Jowett's Plato, third edition ; Zeller's Plato and the Older Academy ; Zeller's Socrates ; Grote's History of Greece ; Grote's Plato ; Bosanquet's Companion to Plato's Republic ; Socrates, Talks with Socrates about Life, Talks with Athenian Youth, A Day in Athens with Socrates, published by Charles Scribner's Sons ; and Webster's Dictionary, on the pronunciation of proper names. * Referred to in notes as L. & S.
3GENERAL INTRODUCTION THE ATHENS OF PLATO. Plato was born at Athens about 427 B.C. His native city was then at the height of its prosperity. At the beginning of that century the Greek states, often at war with each other, and always jealous of each other, had been forced to unite in a fight for life against the innumerable hordes of the Persian Empire. Athens was foremost in this fight, and when the Persians were finally driven away, she succeeded in placing herself at the head of a powerful league of Greek cities. Accordingly, although the city had been captured and burned by the Persians, she presently became, under the direction of the statesman Peri£l^, far stronger politically and commercially than ever before. A variety of causes made this period also a golden age for many of the arts. The city had to be rebuilt. This was done under direction of the sculptor Phidias, with a splendor and artistic perfection perhaps never elsewhere equalled. |The democratic Athenian government, according to which questions of State were decided in a general assembly of all the people, gave occasion for the development of oratory of
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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