THE SOCRATIC DIALOGUES: EARLY PERIOD VOLUME 1 The Apology, Crito, Charmides, Laches, Lysis, Menexenus, Ion

Reading Plato on the page, we tend to forget that the DIALOGUES were just that, works designed to be read aloud in an age when if you wanted a copy of a book, you had to have it made. David Rintoul, as Socrates, and an able supporting cast perform these pieces as theater, with real people discussing issues that concern them. Particularly in the APOLOGIA, Socrates's speeches before the court in Athens, a listener can understand just how annoying he might have been to have wandering the streets. Wise, yes, and as useful as he claimed, but for those who did not want their basic beliefs challenged, these works show that Socrates was definitely a pain in the neck. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2018]