Plato Projects

Mid-Term Project:
Socrates' Last Days: Euthyphro, Crito, Phaedo

• Select one of the three dialogues listed above
• Read your dialogue in a good English translation
• Create your own report (to be typed and distributed to the class) on the dialogue as follows:
  • Date, occasion, place, participants
  • Subject
  • Questions raised
  • Sentence outline of the content and progression of the dialogue
  • Your observations about the style, language, and content
  • The relationship of this dialogue to the Apology
  • Your assessment of this dialogue
• Select a passage for its style and significance from your dialogue to translate with the class (provide both English and Greek texts)
• Prepare a bibliography of sources on the dialogue; consult two books: Victorino Tejera, Plato's Dialogues One by One: A Dialogical Interpretation (University Press of America: Latham, NY, Oxford, 1999), and A.E. Taylor, Plato: The Man and his Work (Meridian Books: NY, 1960); read at least one recent article on the dialogue in the field of classical studies

Final Project:
Socrates Alive!: The Symposium (Aristophanes, Diotima, Alcibiades)

• Read the The Symposium in a good English translation with the Greek text nearby. I suggest Plato: Symposium, translated with commentary by A. Nehamas, P. Woodruff (Hackett Publishing, 1989) [Gill Library: B 385.A5/N44/1989].
• Consult print and internet sources on the dialogue, creating an electronic list with a brief description of each listing
• Read at least two reputable secondary sources, in classics or philosophy, on the dialogue
• Choose one of the characters listed above to focus your attention on: describe him/her, describe how others relate to him/her, outline his/her contributions to the discussion, select a passage of his/her words or about him/her to translate with the class (use the Greek & English text of Symposium translated by Tom Griffith [Gill B 385.A5 G68 1989]), assess his/her impact on the thought and action of the dialogue
• Compare the form, content, and language of the Symposium to the Apology
• What lasting significance does The Symposium have, particularly in regard to Socrates' mission and reputation?
• Submit a written outline of your oral presentation to each member of the class