Statesman

by Plato, 1stworld Library

Overview

On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. As usual, a pilot put off immediately, and rounding the Chateau d'If, got on board the vessel between Cape Morgion and Rion island. Immediately, and according to custom, the ramparts of Fort Saint-Jean were covered with spectators; it is always an event at Marseilles for a ship to come into port, especially when this ship, like the Pharaon, has been built, rigged, and laden at the old Phocee docks, and belongs to an owner of the city. The ship drew on and had safely passed the strait, which some volcanic shock has made between the Calasareigne and Jaros islands; had doubled Pomegue, and approached the harbor under topsails, jib, and spanker, but so slowly and sedately that the idlers, with that instinct which is the forerunner of evil, asked one another what misfortune could have happened on board. However, those experienced in navigation saw plainly that if any accident had occurred, it was not to the vessel herself, for she bore down with all the evidence of being skilfully handled, the anchor a-cockbill, the jib-boom guys already eased off, and standing by the side of the pilot, who was steering the Pharaon towards the narrow entrance of the inner port, was a young man, who, with activity and vigilant eye, watched every motion of the ship, and repeated each direction of the pilot.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421897998
Publisher:	1st World Library
Publication date:	12/30/2007
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Eva Brann, Peter Kalkavage, and Eric Salem are Tutors at St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. They have co-translated Plato’s Sophist and Phaedo for Focus Publishing.

Read an Excerpt

Socrates: I really owe you a big debt of thanks, Theodorus, for my getting to know Theaetetus, along with getting to know the stranger as well.

Theodorus: And soon, Socrates, you’ll owe triple that, once they’ve worked out the statesman and the philosopher for you.

Socrates: Come now, is that how we’re going to say we’ve heard it put, my dear Theodorus, by the one mightiest at calculations and geometrical matters?

Theodorus: How so, Socrates?

Socrates: Because you set down each of the men as of equal worth, though in honor they stand farther apart from one another than accords with any proportion in your art.

What People are Saying About This

John Cooper

The original publication of Rowe's translation in 1995 was a landmark event in the study of this fascinating but enigmatic dialogue. Based on a careful and convincing revised Greek text, the contemporary English of this unpretentious, clear, and-above all-accurate version [Hackett Publishing Co.] make it by far the best available. In fact, Rowe's translation is now and will surely remain the only acceptable choice.

Interviews

Statesman is for students of philosophy, political theory, or history of philosophy, as well as those in departments of Philosophy, Political Science, Classics, History, or Great Books.

Editorial Reviews

A student edition of Rowe's (Greek, U. of Durham) contribution to the published by Hackett in 1997, itself slightly revised from the 1995 Arts and Phillips publication of . It includes only the translation, a few annotations, a 20-page introduction, and a select bibliography. Paper edition (unseen), $7.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

This will be the preferred edition of Plato’s Statesman for teachers and students who are serious not only about reading the text in good translation, but also about working through its arguments.
— Dustin Gish, College of the Holy Cross

“Having taught Plato's dialogues in my classes over the past forty-three years to upper level undergraduates, I can especially appreciate the value of this new edition of Plato's Statesman. The three translators have paid very close attention to the amazing fecund versatility of the Greek text, producing a translation that is as accurate and lively as possible and the best currently available for classroom use. The interpretative essay is unique in its highlighting of all of the issues that a thoughtful reader should be led to consider concerning this work. As has been the case with other works by these translators, the glossary leads any Greek-less reader as close as possible to the interconnections of the major words that sustain the flow and eddies of this perennially fascinating work.”

—Donald Lindenmuth, The Pennsylvania State University

“All serious students of Plato will want to obtain this book. Brann, Kalkavage, and Salem have provided all the tools one needs—short of a knowledge of ancient Greek—to undertake in-depth study of this enormously important, complex, and fascinating dialogue.”

—Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa

From the Publisher