The Platonic Theages

Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive study of the Theages, a dialogue whose Platonic authorship was not questioned in antiquity but has been doubted by most modern scholars. The book's introductory chapters confront such problems as the dialogue's purpose and meaning, its authenticity and date of composition, its depiction of Socrates' divine sign, and its relation to other Platonic and Socratic literature. The commentary deals in detail with a wide range of philosophical, philological and literary questions. A new text is also offered here, the first to be founded upon a complete knowledge of the manuscript tradition. "Joyal's commentary is the first work that has done justice to the Theages as a genuine document of Ancient Greek rather than as a work to insult and denigrate because it does not reach the heights of the best Platonic dialogues. Philologists and philosophers can gain immeasurably from Joyal's work." Gnomon "There can be no doubt that this edition will stand for many decades as the standard work" The Heythrop Journal "For anyone who does serious work on the language or text of Plato, and anyone who wants to explore an early monument of Socrates' transition from hero to saint, this ambitious study will yield years of profit.� Classical World "�this is certainly an important book and will be of enormous interest to students of Plato" Scripta Classica Israelica "�the edition is a pleasure to use, and an important tool of scholarship. It made me think. What more could one want?" Phoenix .