Plato's dialogue explores the nature of definition and knowledge through Socrates' attempt to distinguish philosophers from sophists in ancient Athens. The conversation examines fundamental questions about being, non-being, and truth through rigorous dialectical reasoning. Benjamin Jowett's translation presents this complex work of ancient Greek philosophy with clarity and scholarly precision.
THEODORUS: Here we are, Socrates, true to our agreement of yesterday; and we bring with us a stranger from Elea, who is a disciple of Parmenides and Zeno, and a true philosopher. SOCRATES: Is he not rather a god, Theodorus, who comes to us in the disguise of a stranger? For Homer says that all the gods, and especially the god of strangers, are companions of the meek and just, and visit the good and evil among men. And may not your companion be one of those higher powers, a cross-examining deity, who has come to spy out our weakness in argument, and to cross-examine us? THEODORUS: Nay, Socrates, he is not one of the disputatious sort--he is too good for that. And, in my opinion, he is not a god at all; but divine he certainly is, for this is a title which I should give to all philosophers.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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