6,811 words

Jacques-Philippe-Joseph de Saint-Quentin, The Death of Socrates, 1762
Part 2 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of the conclusion of the introductory lecture of an eight-lecture course called The Trial of Socrates. As usual, I have edited this transcript to remove excessive wordiness and filled in the gap between the two sides of the tape.
(more…)
6,384 words
Part 1 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of the introductory lecture of an eight-lecture course called The Trial of Socrates. The lecture was delivered on September 1, 1998. I have previously published six of the lectures, but the Introduction and the final lecture, on Plato’s Phaedo, were thought to be lost. (more…)

Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Socrates,” detail
5,274 words
Part 2 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s Crito. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness. (more…)
6,489 words

Antonio Canova, “Crito Closes the Eyes of Socrates,” detail
Part 1 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s Crito. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness. I have also added a few lines. (more…)
6,751 words
Part 2 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s Apology of Socrates. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness. I have also added a few lines and repositioned some paragraphs. (more…)
7,093 words
Part 1 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s Apology of Socrates. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness. I have also added a few paragraphs and points based on my notes. (more…)
6,448 words
Part 2 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness.
The quotes are from Plato and Aristophanes, Four Texts on Socrates
, (more…)
6,806 words
Part 1 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s dialogue Euthyphro. (more…)
8,631 words
Author’s Note:
The following text is based on a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on Plato’s dialogue Theages. As usual, I have edited his transcript to remove excessive wordiness.
Unlike earlier transcripts in this series, I have also added new sections and rewitten others. (more…)
5,079 words
Part 3 of 3
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of a discussion of Aristophanes’ Clouds, which took place prior to a lecture on Plato’s dialogue Theages. (more…)
7,204 words
Part 2 of 3
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of part of my lecture on Aristophanes’ Clouds. As usual, I have edited this transcript to remove excessive wordiness and any factual errors. (more…)

Socrates: among other things, a good 5 cent cigar
6,365 words
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of the second part of my lecture on Aristophanes’ Clouds. As usual, I have edited this transcript to remove excessive wordiness and any factual errors. The quotes come from the translation of the Clouds in Four Texts on Socrates
.
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Papyrus fragment of Antiphon’s “On Truth,” 3rd century A.D.
1,922 words
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of the prefatory remarks on Antiphon the Sophist from the first part of my lecture on Aristophanes’ Clouds. As usual, I have edited this transcript to remove excessive wordiness. The quotes come from the first edition of A Presocratics Reader, ed. Patricia Curd.
Antiphon the Sophist was a younger contemporary of Socrates. He was the author of the treatise On Truth, only fragments of which survive. (more…)

Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Socrates,” detail
35:07 / 428 words
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(more…)

Luca Signorelli, “Empedocles,” Orvieto Cathedral, 1502
6,530 words
Part 2 of 2
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on the presocratic background of Aristophanes’ Clouds. (more…)

Canova, “The Death of Socrates,” detail: Crito closing the eyes of Socrates
46:06 / 400 words
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(more…)
41:40 / 417 words
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This is the second of two parts of a lecture on the Platonic dialogue Apology of Socrates to the Jury, which I interpret in the light of Plato’s Euthyphro and Aristophanes’ Clouds.
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Thales, Union Station, Washington, D.C.
6,614 words
Author’s Note:
The following text is a transcript by V. S. of a lecture on the presocratic background of Aristophanes’ Clouds. I have edited this transcript to remove excessive wordiness, and I have added section headings and transitions. I found it sobering to read this transcript, for I discovered just how widely the written and spoken word vary, and how flabby my lectures are compared to my writings.
(more…)

Plato, 1st century marble bust, Capitoline Museum, Rome
45:05 / 399 words
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This is the first of two parts of a lecture on the Platonic dialogue Apology of Socrates to the Jury, which I interpret in the light of Plato’s Euthyphro and Aristophanes’ Clouds.
(more…)
46:12 / 416 words
Audio Version: To listen in a player, click here.
To download the mp3, right-click here and choose “save target as.”
To subscribe to our podcasts, click here.
This is the second of two parts of a lecture on the Platonic dialogue Euthyphro, which deals with the nature of piety. As with the Theages, I interpret the Euthyphro as in part a reply to Aristophanes’ Clouds. (more…)

The veneration of Zeus Meilichios, relief, Berlin
46:58 / 415 words
Audio Version: To listen in a player, click here. To download the mp3, right-click here and choose “save target as.”
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This is the first of two parts of a lecture on the Platonic dialogue Euthyphro, which deals with the nature of piety. As with the Theages, I interpret the Euthyphro as in part a reply to Aristophanes’ Clouds. (more…)
54:34 / 342 words
Audio Version: To listen in a player, click here. To download the mp3, right-click here and choose “save target as.”
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(more…)

Aristophanes
36:31 / 374 words
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This is the third of three podcasts on Aristophanes’ Clouds.
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45:43 / 463 words
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This is the second of three podcasts on Aristophanes’ Clouds.
(more…)

Seated Socrates, fresco from ancient Ephesus
54:53 / 472 words
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This is the first of three podcasts on Aristophanes’ Clouds. This lecture opens with a discussion of the Sophist Antiphon.
(more…)
48:29 / 435 words
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Topics discussed in this second and final installment on the philosophical background of Aristophanes’ Clouds: (more…)
48:45 / 408 words
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Transcript here
In September and October of 1998, I gave a course of eight, two-hour lectures on “The Trial of Socrates.” (more…)