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Audiobook edition · 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
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.
Who will love it
For readers who love a tight argument in a small space, who wonder what citizens owe their country, or who like to see a great thinker tested by a friend's plea.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Calm meets fear in the cell
- Friendship makes the case for escape
- Good judgment outweighs the crowd
- Being wronged never justifies doing wrong
- The laws ask for an answer
- Staying can become a promise
- Principles remain open to reasoned challenge
- Ask what is right before safety
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Philosophy & IdeasFree shelf
Crito
by Plato
At dawn in an Athenian prison, Crito begs Socrates to escape, and Socrates asks only whether escaping is right.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to read20 languages
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“the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
In short
It is dawn in an Athenian prison, and a man sits quietly beside a sleeper. The man is Crito, an old and loyal friend, and he has come with money, helpers and a plan.
Crito at a glance
- Reading time
- About 20 min15 min fast, 25 min slow
- Length
- 4,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- about 390 BCby Plato
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A calm sleeper and a friend in distress
The dialogue opens before sunrise in the prison where Socrates waits for his sentence to be carried out. His old friend Crito has slipped in and has been sitting by the bed for some time. Socrates wakes and is surprised that the guard let anyone in at such an hour. Crito explains that the man knows him well, because he comes often and has done him a favor.
Socrates asks why Crito did not wake him at once. Crito says he did not want to share such distress, and he has watched the peaceful sleep in amazement. He has never seen anyone bear such a disaster with so much ease. Socrates replies that a man of his age should not grieve as death draws near. Crito answers that other old men grieve all the same.
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Cite this edition
Plato. Crito. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/crito.
Plato. (2026). Crito. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/crito (Original work published ca. 390 B.C.E.)
Plato. Crito. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/crito.
@book{plato2026crito,
author = {Plato},
title = {Crito},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/crito},
note = {First published ca. 390 BCE}
}
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What is Crito about?
Crito is a conversation in prison before dawn. Crito urges Socrates to escape, and Socrates tests the plan by asking whether it is just. The talk turns to public opinion, wrongdoing and what a citizen owes to the laws of the city.
Who are the speakers in Crito?
There are two speakers, Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito. Within the talk, Socrates also imagines the laws of Athens speaking to him, so the argument has a third voice that answers Crito's plea.
Is Crito based on a true story?
It draws on Socrates’ actual trial in Athens, and Plato belonged to his circle. Plato wrote the conversation himself, so scholars see it as his account of the spirit of Socrates and not a record of exact words.
The author
Plato
428 BC–348 BC · Ancient Greek philosopher
4th-century BCE Greek philosopher.
“what matters most is not merely living, but living well”
More by Plato
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