Plato's dialogue presents Socrates in prison, debating his friend Crito about whether to escape his death sentence or accept Athens' judgment. Through their philosophical exchange, this ancient Greek work explores fundamental questions of justice, civic duty, and moral obligation. Benjamin Jowett's translation captures the ethical reasoning that has influenced Western thought for millennia.
SOCRATES: Why have you come at this hour, Crito? it must be quite early. SOCRATES: I wonder that the keeper of the prison would let you in. CRITO: He knows me because I often come, Socrates; moreover. I have done him a kindness.Continue reading →
This is the Benjamin Jowett translation, a public-domain English text. Marginalia presents it unabridged, with chapter navigation, your reading position saved, and optional AI commentary on any passage.
Ancient Greece's most influential philosopher, this student of Socrates founded the Academy in Athens around 387 BCE and taught Aristotle. Through dialogues like "The Republic," he explored justice, truth, and ideal government, introducing concepts like the Theory of Forms that shaped Western thought for over two millennia. All works by Plato →
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