24 pages 48 minutes read

Plato

Crito

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | BCE

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Essay Topics

1.

At 48b, Socrates tells Crito that “The most important thing is not life, but the good life.” What does Socrates mean by the good life, and what does he mean when he says that it is more important than life?

2.

The Socrates that Plato presents in Crito is both a representation of a historical figure and a literary character. How does Plato characterize Socrates? How does it help Plato’s purpose in writing a dialogue like Crito to characterize Socrates in this way?

3.

Just as Crito’s Socrates is a literary character, so too is its Crito. How does Plato characterize Crito? In your analysis, pay close attention to how Plato compares and contrasts the characters of Crito and Socrates.