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Plato: Alcibiades (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)

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A Greek Text and Commentary with Greek Text and Commentary
Warning: Doesn't include English text

Plato: Alcibiades (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)
Plato
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Republic (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0521634148

Book Description

The Alcibiades was widely read in antiquity as the very best introduction to Plato. In spite of its ancient reputation, many modern scholars have thought that the Alcibiades is not by Plato and it has therefore lacked a decent commentary. This edition remedies that situation. The notes explain difficulties of linguistic, literary and philosophical detail. The introduction includes a discussion of the dialogue's authenticity, and of the consequences that acknowledging its authenticity has for our conception of Plato's intellectual development.

Customer Reviews:

A Greek Text and Commentary with Greek Text and Commentary.......2007-05-25

The previous reviewer's decision to give a one-star review to a book for failing to be what it makes no attempt to be should not influence anyone's view on the usefulness of this text. Anyone looking for a commentary on the Greek text of Plato's 1 Alcibiades need look no further. Since most scholars have long considered the text to be spurious, it has not usually been read in the schools, especially in its original language, and Platonic scholars have not often turned to it for insight about Plato's thought. Denyer argues that Plato really did write the Alcibiades, and his view is becoming more common than it used to be, though many still reject it. Even those who consider it spurious, however, have come to acknowledge the dialogue's value as a piece of writing in the Platonic tradition. Platonic philosophers in antiquity often assigned the 1 Alcibiades as their introduction to Platonic philosophy, and the dialogue would still serve that purpose well today.

Perhaps the most serious problem with this commentary is that it is written for a more sophisticated audience than many of the Cambridge green and yellow books are. Denyer's interest in the commentary is less in explaining grammar to advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students than in defending the dialogue's authenticity and in dealing with more complex philological matters. In my experience with the green and yellow series, there is little consistency in the language skill level that the commentators assume of their readers. Since few undergraduates will find themselves reading the 1 Alcibiades in Greek, it won't matter much that Denyer's commentary doesn't do much to help them. For more advanced students and scholars, however, Denyer's commentary is the best place to turn.

So yes, don't buy this book if you want an English translation of the Alcibiades. But don't imagine that the book deserves a single star review because it doesn't include an English translation.

Warning: Doesn't include English text.......2007-02-02

I'm sure this commentary is very good, however it doesn't have the English text of "Alcibiades" in it - only the Greek one.

Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades (Cambridge Greek & Latin Classics)

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Plutarch: Life of Alcibiades (Cambridge Greek & Latin Classics)

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0521870364

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