Night Waves

The Trial and Death of Socrates

Thursday 7 February 2008 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)

An exploration of Plato's The Trial and Death of Socrates. The series championing influential works of art focuses on Plato's account of the trial and death of Socrates, as Philip Dodd and his guests explore the character of the man that emerges from the Dialogues as well as Socrates' enduring power both as an exemplar of moral conduct and as a thinker.

The Trial and Death of Socrates by Sebastian Baczkiewicz on Drama on 3.

Duration:

45 minutes

The Trial and Death of Socrates

The Trial and Death of Socrates Fresco of Socrates from Ephesus, Roman (c. AD 60-80) in the Ephasos Archaeological Museum, Selcuk. (Photo: AKG London/Erich Lessing) From the front cover of The Last Days of Socrates by Plato published by Penguin Classics

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Socrates is one of the most celebrated names of classical antiquity..a teacher, a self- styled gadfly on the body politic and the forerunner of the isolated and persecuted freethinker. He wrote nothing himself but survives in the writing of his pupils..none more famous than Plato whose account of Socrates' trial and death is one of the cornerstones of our culture.

In Night Waves this evening Philip Dodd is joined by the philosopher, John Gray, the classicists, MM McCabe and Edith Hall and the playwright, Adriano Shaplin to sift the three act drama of Plato's narrative. What kind of man was Socrates and why do the questions he asked about truth, citizenship and immortality still matter?

The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato is published by Penguin Classics.

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