Menexenus

Plato, 427？ BCE-347？ BCEProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 57K words
Chapters: 6

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Menexenus by PlatoAuthor: Plato, 427? BCE-347? BCE,Language: English, Class: PA: Language and Literatures: Classical Languages and Literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 1999

Editor's review

Menexenus is a work of quite unusual form in the Platonic corpus: it simulates an Athenian funeral oration for the war dead, with Socrates relaying a eulogy taught to him by Aspasia, combining rhetorical display with irony. The pleasure of reading it lies not in acquiring a political theory but in observing how Plato brings the rhetorical conventions of civic ceremony into a dialogue and, in imitating them, covertly examines rhetoric and the city's self-image. Short and clearly structured, it serves as a supplementary text for understanding Athenian political culture and the relation between rhetoric and philosophy. The English translation is plain, and the public-domain e-edition is easy to obtain. If you have read the Apology or Gorgias, this book adds the angle of "how the city tells its own story"; if you have not yet encountered Plato, it can be enjoyed on its own as a short sample of classical rhetoric, though one should keep its parodic nature in mind and not take it as a direct statement of Plato's political views.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Athenian political culture, funeral orations, and civic ritual.
Readers who have read several Platonic dialogues and want to broaden their sense of the genre.
Students of classical rhetoric who want to analyze oratorical conventions.
General readers who want to encounter classical works through short English texts.

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a systematic exposition of Plato's political philosophy.
Readers uninterested in rhetorical parody and irony who want only positive doctrines.
Beginners who need detailed notes and scholarly introductions to read classical texts.

Reading tips

First learn the public background of Athenian funeral orations for the war dead; the imitation and irony are then easier to appreciate.
Compare with Thucydides' funeral oration to see how the two texts tell the story of the city.
Note which sentences are rhetorical commonplaces and where Socratic questioning may be implied.
The text is short; read it through, then revisit the beginning and end to grasp the purpose of the framing narrative.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Menexenus genuinely by Plato?

The materials attribute it to Plato and do not list it as spurious or doubtful. The dialogue's form and content are still debated among scholars, however; read it as an unusually formed piece within the Platonic corpus rather than a programmatic statement of his political thought.

What is this dialogue mainly about?

It simulates an Athenian funeral oration for the war dead, relayed by Socrates and said to derive from Aspasia's teaching. The text combines rhetorical display with parody; its point is not to propose a new theory but to show how civic oratory shapes the city's self-image and how philosophy keeps its distance from it.

Is it suitable for learning English?

As a public-domain English translation, its language is plain and its length short, making it light material for encountering classical texts in English. But it involves Athenian history and rhetorical background; read purely as language material, one may miss the parodic dimension, so use it with background notes.

Do I need to read other Platonic dialogues first?

Not strictly, but having read the Apology or Gorgias makes Plato's attitude toward rhetoric easier to appreciate. If you have never encountered Plato, read a short dialogue first to get used to Socratic writing; this book will then go more smoothly.

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About the author

Plato, 427？ BCE-347？ BCE Author

Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher. Reliable details of his life are limited in public sources, and his thought and writings are generally known through later accounts. The library holds 65 of his works, including the multi-volume Republic (Πολιτεία), the Symposium, and the Phaedo. These works are mostly dialogues with Socrates as the central figure, unfolding through question and answer around justice, the governance of the city, love, the soul, and knowledge, combining philosophical inquiry with dramatic literary form. The Republic, which discusses the ideal city and justice, is especially influential. Plato's style is marked by analogy, argument, and open-ended conclusions, and he has had a lasting influence on later Western philosophy and political thought.