CONTENTS Preface by Clement Salaman vii The Historical Context by Michael Shepherd viii Translator's Introduction xi Acknowledgements xii Socrates xiii Plato xiv Welcome xv PART ONE: Summaries of Twenty-five Dialogues of Plato 1 Translator's Notes to Part One 2 Ficino's Preface to his Commentaries on Plato 3 Hipparchus: the Desire for Gain 9 Philosophy or The Lover 10 Theages: Wisdom 12 Meno: Virtue 14 Alcibiades I: Nature of Man 17 Alcibiades II: Prayer 19 Minos: Law 21 Euthyphro: Holiness 23 Hippias: the Beautiful and Noble 25 Lysis: Friendship 30 Theaetetus: Knowledge 35 Ion: Poetic Inspiration 53 Statesman: Kingship 59 Protagoras: Virtue 65 Euthydemus: the Views of the Sophists 74 Lesser Hippias: Truthfulness 81 Charmides: Temperance 83 Laches: Courage 90 Cratylus: Names 95 Gorgias: Rhetoric 109 Apology: Socrates' defence 122 Crito: Socrates' way of life 129 Phaedo: Nature of the soul 130 Menexenus: Love for one's country 140 Critias: Story of Atlantis 143 PART TWO: Discussions of the Twelve 'Letters of Plato' 149 Translator's Notes to Part Two 150 First Letter: from Dion to Dionysius 151 Second Letter: from Plato to Dionysius 152 Third Letter: from Plato to Dionysius 160 Fourth Letter: from Plato to Dion 161 Fifth Letter: from Dion to Perdiccas 162 Sixth Letter: from Plato to Hermias, Erastus, and Coriscus 163 Seventh Letter: from Plato to Dion's relatives and friends 166 Eighth Letter: from Plato to Dion's relatives and friends 171 Ninth Letter: from Plato to Archytas 172 Tenth Letter: from Plato to Aristodemus 173 Eleventh Letter: from Plato to Laodoman 174 Twelfth Letter: from Plato to Archytas 175 PART THREE: Appendices 177 Translator's Notes to Part Three 178 Ficino's Introduction to ten of Plato's dialogues 179 Ficino's Preface to his commentaries on Plato 182 Index 184
Arthur David Farndell is a translator and the author of A Mahabharata Companion.
"This long awaited translation of a key Renaissance work will prove invaluable to scholars and fascinating to the general reader." —Michael Shepherd, editor, Friend to Mankind: Marsilio Ficino 1433–1499 "This is philosophy with a mystical dimension—one that is crucial to the original Socratic and Platonic teaching." —Faith and Freedom "These prefaces [to Ficino's dialogues and letters] will interest intellectual and cultural historians and students of philosophy, religion and literature." —Renaissance Quarterly "The distilled conciseness of these writings gives us, more vividly perhaps than any other source, a sense of what Plato's wisdom meant to [Ficino] who became his apostle to the Renaissance." —Temenos Academy Review
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