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If the law condemns you unjustly, do you owe it obedience—or must you escape?
Before dawn, Crito enters an Athenian prison and finds his old friend Socrates asleep. Socrates is condemned to die, but Crito brings a plan: bribe the guards, leave the city, and find safety in exile. For Crito, the danger is immediate and deeply personal. He cannot bear to lose his friend.
In Plato’s short dialogue, Socrates asks Crito to pause and follow reason rather than fear or the crowd. Their conversation weighs the wish to survive against the duty never to do wrong. When Socrates imagines the Laws of Athens speaking, the prison becomes a place to question what citizens owe their city—and why.
What you’ll discover
- A friend before dawn Meet Crito as love and fear drive his urgent plea for Socrates to escape.
- Reason against the crowd Consider whose judgment deserves your trust when public opinion presses against careful thought.
- The limits of retaliation Face Socrates’ demand that suffering injustice never gives us permission to do wrong ourselves.
- The city finds a voice Hear the imagined Laws of Athens put their claims directly to a condemned citizen.
- The agreement behind citizenship Explore the idea that staying in a society carries obligations we must examine.
Is it for you?
This book suits anyone curious about justice, civil disobedience or the duties of a citizen, and it is a gentle first step into Plato. If you want a long, systematic theory of politics, you may find it too brief.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A friend comes before dawn
- Crito pleads with love and fear
- Follow reason, not the crowd
- Never do wrong, even in return
- The Laws speak for the city
- Staying in Athens means agreeing
- What later readers make of it
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Critone
by Platone
Socrates considers whether escaping prison would be just.
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Language: Italiano
“tutta la storia della filosofia occidentale non è che una serie di note a margine su Platone”
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 7
A friend comes before dawn
The dialogue opens in the early dark. Crito has bribed his way into the prison and finds Socrates asleep. He does not wake him at first. He sits and watches, struck that a man facing death can sleep so peacefully. When Socrates wakes, he asks why Crito has come so early, and the two men talk like the old friends they are.
Crito brings bad news. A ship has gone to the island of Delos for a yearly religious mission, and while it is away, Athens may not carry out an execution. That is why Socrates has lived so many weeks in prison after his trial. Now the ship has been seen near Sounion and will land within a day. Crito expects the sentence to be carried out soon after.
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The author
Plato
428 BC–348 BC · Ancient Greek philosopher
4th-century BCE Greek philosopher.
“We ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to any one, whatever evil we may have suffered from him.”
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What is Crito about?
Crito is a dialogue set in prison, where Socrates waits for his sentence. His friend Crito urges him to escape. Socrates examines whether escaping would be just, and decides that it would not.
Who is Crito in Plato's dialogue?
Crito is an old, wealthy friend of Socrates and of the same age. He loves Socrates, fears for him, and tries to arrange his escape with the help of other friends.
What is the social contract in Crito?
The Laws of Athens argue that a citizen who knows the city and stays there agrees to obey it. Socrates has lived there seventy years, so he has accepted its rules.
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