Abstract

The first question I ask of Plato's Apology of Socrates is: Given that Plato wrote this dialogue and not a treatise, how must I interpret this dialogue in order to take into account this important choice on his part? ;The answer which I give is: When interpreting a dialogue, as when interpreting any piece of literature which has been constructed so that certain definite characters speak in certain definite circumstances, you must take into account the character of each of the speakers, their audience, and the circumstances within which they are speaking. ;Since the speech takes place in a courtroom before the Platonic character of the young philosopher Plato, I found that the Platonic Socrates would be attempting to answer two questions: the philosophical questions "Who am I?" and "What is the proper relationship between the philosopher and the city?" ;When attempting to answer these questions, I found that Plato had constructed the Platonic Socrates's speech so that it suggests answers using certain literary images. Through these images, this Socrates suggests that he as speaker of this speech should be understood as the Homeric Odysseus who speaks his own "apologos" before Alcinous in Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey . ;Understanding this Platonic Socrates as like this Odysseus, this Socrates's prophetic announcement that "No one is wiser" takes on the unexpected meaning that Odysseus is wiser than Socrates and suggests that Odysseus's speech before Alcinous must be reinterpreted to understand how he might be wiser than this Socrates. ;Reading Odysseus's speech in this way, Odysseus shows Alcinous through his speech the injustices which theoretical desire commits through not having become fully self-conscious of itself as theoretical desire. Since the Platonic Socrates suggests that he is like this Odysseus, this Socrates also suggests to the Platonic Plato the injustices which he had committed in Athens through following a theoretical desire which was not fully self-conscious. Since the Platonic Socrates desires to be a just man, he also suggests ways---such as writing and establishing the Academy---in which the Platonic Plato might justly conduct his theoretical desire within the city of Athens