The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters

Socrates defends himself before an Athenian jury, discusses the meaning of courage and justice, and faces death among his friends. Elsewhere Plato turns to love, political power and the problem of how a good life should be lived. The dialogues move between ordinary conversations and difficult arguments, often leaving the reader with a sharper question than the one with which they began.

The Collected Dialogues brings the major works—including the Republic, Symposium, Phaedo, Gorgias and Laws—together with the Letters traditionally associated with Plato. Edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, the collection draws on English translations by various scholars, with Hamilton's notes, Cairns's introduction and an index to help connect recurring ideas. These are established translations rather than the latest individual versions; their variety is part of the character of this substantial one-volume collection.