7 h 54 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can an angry son, quarrelling brothers, and an unready leader learn from Socrates?
In The Memorabilia, Xenophon recalls Socrates through short conversations about the work of living well. An Athenian soldier and writer who knows Socrates in his youth, he sets out to answer the charges against his teacher. His account opens with a defence against accusations of impiety and corrupting the young.
Throughout these conversations, Socrates asks what people need to understand before they judge, lead, or call themselves wise. He advises his angry son Lamprocles, challenges men who seek office, and questions Euthydemus, a young man whose many books leave him confident in his wisdom. Friendship, work, money, and justice become matters for close attention.
What you’ll discover
- A friend's defence See how Xenophon answers the accusations through his recollections of Socrates' words and conduct.
- Strength through self-control Meet a teacher who practises living on little and resisting pleasures that weaken him.
- Everyday ties under scrutiny Follow conversations that bring family anger, quarrelling brothers, and the need for work into focus.
- Leadership put to the test Watch Socrates question would-be leaders about whether they understand the work they hope to do.
- Wisdom beyond owning books Encounter Euthydemus as Socrates turns youthful certainty toward questions of justice and self-knowledge.
Who will love it
For readers who love Socrates as a teacher of everyday conduct, and anyone curious about Athens and its habits of mind. These practical conversations explore self-control, friendship, work, leadership and justice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Socrates was devout, not a corrupter
- Self-control comes before everything else
- Family, friends and work deserve real effort
- Leaders must know the work they seek
- Justice is lawful conduct, and knowing yourself matters
- A different Socrates from Plato's
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- Large print hardcover
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The Memorabilia
by Xenophon
Socrates counsels quarrelling brothers and ambitious young men as Xenophon defends the man Athens condemned.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Socrates was devout, not a corrupter
Xenophon opens with the charges brought against Socrates. He was accused of not honouring the gods of the city, of bringing in new divine powers, and of corrupting the young. Xenophon answers each in turn. He says Socrates sacrificed openly at home and at the public altars, and that he used divination like everyone else. Anyone could see how he behaved.
The new divine power was his daimonion, a private sign or inner voice that warned him against certain actions. Xenophon argues this was no stranger than the omens other Athenians trusted. Socrates told his friends what the sign advised, and when events followed its warnings, they saw it was reliable. To Xenophon, this made him more religious than his accusers, not less.
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What is The Memorabilia about?
It is Xenophon's collection of conversations and recollections of Socrates in four books. It defends him against the charges of impiety and corrupting the young, then shows his practical teaching on self-control, friendship, work, leadership and justice.
Is The Memorabilia a true account of Socrates?
It is a real portrait by a man who knew him, written after his death in 399 BC. Scholars treat it as a main source, but it is also a defence, so it stresses his virtues.
How is Xenophon's Socrates different from Plato's?
Xenophon's Socrates is practical and plainspoken, giving advice on daily conduct. Plato's Socrates pursues abstract questions about knowledge, the soul and ideal forms. Historians read both together to piece the real man.
The author
Xenophon
430 BC–353 BC · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Greek philosopher, historian, and soldier.
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