He ultimately produced a volume of work that has heavily influenced western thought and provided the world with a record not only of his own philosophical thoughts, but also historical documentation of Socrates’s influential years in Athens. Responding to this gross display of injustice, Plato abandoned politics for philosophy. After democracy was restored in 403 BC, Plato again considered politics until Socrates, Plato’s mentor, was accused of impiety and corruption and subsequently put to death in 399 BC.

Plato planned a political career until 404 BC, when Athens shifted to an Oligarchy controlled by wealthy men. What will become of him once he drinks the poison prescribed for his execution? Socrates and his friends examine several arguments to prove that the death of the body does not kill the soul.Plato’s father Ariston descended from Codrus, the last King of Athens, and his mother Perictione had ties to Solon, one of the creators of the Athenian Constitution.

In the course of their conversations they probe the foundations of civil and moral law, and treat issues that are as relevant to our time as to theirs.The Phaedo presents Socrates' final conversation. In the third dialogue Crito tries to persuade Socrates that it is right to flee from the unjust sentence imposed on him. Socrates fails in his attempt to avoid the death sentence, but his friend Crito has bribed the guards offers him a way to escape. He insists that instead of being punished he should be rewarded for his services to his fellow citizens. He explains why he has devoted his life to challenging the most powerful and important people, a process that has generated great resentment and has led to his indictment. Socrates challenges Euthyphro's claim that ethics should be based on religion.In the Apology Socrates presents his own defense. On the way he meets Euthyphro, an expert in religious matters. These dramatized, unabridged versions of Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo present the trial, imprisonment, and execution of Socrates, who Phaedo said was the 'wisest, best, and most righteous person I have ever known.'In the Euthyphro Socrates approaches the court where he will be tried on charges of atheism and corrupting the young.

The apology plato audio