779:
84:, Aeschines of Sphettus was present at the trial and execution of Socrates. We know that after Socrates' death, Aeschines went on to write philosophical dialogues, just as Plato did, in which Socrates was main speaker. Though Aeschines' dialogues have survived only as fragments and quotations by later writers, he was renowned in antiquity for his accurate portrayal of Socratic conversations. According to
27:
402:, in which Aeschines' adversary chastises him for incurring a debt while working as a perfume vendor and not paying it back, a turn of events that is surprising—the speaker alleges—given that Aeschines was a student of Socrates and that both of them spoke so much of virtue and justice. Among other charges, Aeschines is basically characterized as a
387:
in
Syracuse and then returned to Athens after Dionysius was deposed by Dion. (If this is true, Aeschines must have lived at least until 356, which would mean that he probably died of old age in Athens, as he was likely not less than 18 at the time of Socrates' trial in 399.) He is also said to have
239:
and argues that
Alcibiades is unprepared for a career in politics since he has failed to "care for himself" in such a way as to avoid thinking that he knows more than what he actually knows on matters of the most importance. Socrates seems to argue for the view that success is directly proportional
280:
to learn politics. In the dialogue, Socrates argues, among other things, that women are capable of exactly the same military and political "virtues" as are men, which
Socrates proves by referring Callias to the examples of Aspasia herself (who famously advised Pericles), Thargelia of Miletus (a
438:
The extant fragments and quotations concerning
Aeschines were collected by the German scholar Heinrich Dittmar. That collection has been superseded by the Italian scholar Gabriele Giannantoni's work on Socratic writings. English translations are hard to find.
289:, and so is confirmed as genuinely Socratic.) A certain Xenophon is also mentioned in the dialogue—Socrates says that Aspasia exhorted this Xenophon and his wife to cultivate knowledge of self as a means to virtue—but this Xenophon may not be the same
244:
for complete success), as opposed to being dependent merely on fortune or divine dispensation, independent of knowledge. Socrates' arguments cause the usually cocky
Alcibiades to weep in shame and despair—a result also attested to by Plato in the
415:, it was Aeschines rather than Crito who urged Socrates after his trial to flee Athens rather than face his sentence; Diogenes says that Plato puts the arguments into Crito's mouth because Plato disliked Aeschines due to his association with
368:, but is probably a close relative of his. The dialogue contains an encomium to Miltiades for having had an exemplary training and education in his youth, perhaps in contrast to the kind of education offered by sophists like Protagoras.
88:, Aeschines' style of presenting Socratic dialogue was closer to Plato's than Xenophon's. (Some modern scholars believe that Xenophon's writings are inspired almost entirely by Plato's and/or by the influence of other Socratics such as
281:
courtesan who supposedly persuaded many Greeks to ally themselves with Xerxes who in turn gave
Thargelia part of Thessaly to rule), and the legendary Persian warrior-queen Rhodogyne. (The doctrine is likewise found in Plato's
566:
462:
Charles Kahn provides a good, up-to-date account of
Aeschines' writings, with many references to current secondary literature on the topic. Kahn believes that Aeschines' writings, and in general all
430:. But Hegesander is notoriously unreliable, and the story is entirely uncorroborated. There is no other evidence of Aeschines' having a "philosophy" of his own to teach or any followers of his own.
311:'s young son Critobulus. In the dialogue, Socrates criticizes Telauges for his extreme asceticism and Critobulus for his ostentatiousness, apparently in an attempt to argue for a moderate position.
337:, there is a discussion of the "correct use" of wealth; it is argued that how one holds up under poverty is a better measure of virtue than how well one makes use of wealth. In the dialogue,
406:
in the speech. (We gather that the litigation in question was one brought by
Aeschines himself against his lender for reasons that are not made clear in Athenaeus' quotation.)
231:
a papyrus (#1608) containing a long, fragmentary passage from this dialogue that had been lost since ancient times. In the dialogue, Socrates converses with a young, ambitious
96:. On the other hand, there is no good reason to think that Aeschines' writings were not based almost entirely on his own personal recollections of Socrates.)
68:. Historians call him Aeschines Socraticus—"the Socratic Aeschines"—to distinguish him from the more historically influential Athenian orator also named
253:
Alcibiades that he can improve him (by cultivating in him a desire to pursue knowledge?), since
Socrates has no knowledge of his own to teach.
176:, a Byzantine encyclopedia compiled a dozen centuries later, ascribes to Aeschines several other works called "headless" or "Prefaceless" (
769:
809:
618:
577:"It is generally agreed that the Suidas' testimony concerning the is not trustworthy" (D. E. Eichholz, "The Pseudo-Platonic Dialogue
834:
426:
From
Hegesander of Delphi (2nd century CE)—via Athenaeus—we hear of the scandal that Plato stole away Aeschines' only student
814:
791:
477:'s position that both Plato and Aeschines preserve a faithful historical legacy in their portrayals of Socrates.
763:
330:, one of the many works that the Socratics published to clear Socrates of any blame for Alcibiades' corruption.
819:
364:(stepfather of Theramenes), and Miltiades son of Stesagoras. This Miltiades is not to be confused with
383:
of Aeschines, reports that Aeschines, having fallen into dire financial straits, went to the court of
594:
93:
85:
307:
Telauges (a companion of Hermogenes who was Callias' half-brother and a follower of Socrates) and
829:
824:
785:
219:
at length, preserving for us the largest surviving chunk of Aeschines' written work. Just before
455:. More recently, David Johnson has published a translation of all the extant passages from the
420:
49:
37:
384:
365:
361:
319:
615:
474:
224:
376:
105:
8:
326:—criticized Alcibiades for being a drunkard and a womanizer. Evidently, it was, like the
135:
762:
463:
109:
638:
308:
212:
120:
293:
who is more familiar to us as a historian and another author of Socratic memoirs.
622:
301:
803:
784:
208:. Few modern scholars believe these other works were written by Aeschines.
236:
689:
440:
273:
228:
220:
89:
72:. His name is sometimes but now rarely written as Aischines or Æschines.
470:
and cannot be an ultimately reliable source of historical information.
427:
416:
342:
323:
232:
391:
357:
261:
69:
20:
338:
290:
265:
65:
403:
304:
277:
19:
This article is about philosopher. For the Athenian orator, see
395:
269:
61:
411:
81:
786:"Socrates, with predecessors and followers: Aeschines"
394:
quotes a passage from a lost prosecution speech, ghosted by
26:
353:
172:
57:
356:
of Zeus Eleutherios. The dialogue is between Socrates,
64:, was a philosopher who in his youth was a follower of
773:. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 271–272.
585:, Vol. 29, No. 3. (1935), pp. 129-149 at pp. 140-141).
473:
Kahn's treatment might profitably be contrasted with
451:
fragments, and a translation of Cicero's excerpt of
388:
practised rhetoric, writing speeches for litigants.
409:Diogenes Laërtius claims that, contrary to Plato's
162:Of these, we have the most information about the
801:
272:. In the dialogue, Socrates recommends that
138:erroneously included in the Platonic corpus)
249:. Socrates claims that it is only through
240:to knowledge (though knowledge may not be
170:, and only a little about the others. The
75:
25:
802:
744:"Aeschines of Sphettus." A.E. Taylor.
500:
487:
99:
555:
419:. But Diogenes' source for this is
13:
755:
678:Socratis et Socraticorum Reliquiae
121:Platonic dialogue of the same name
14:
846:
810:4th-century BC Greek philosophers
792:Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
652:Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
612:Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
550:Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
447:fragments, paraphrases the other
443:has a translation of some of the
777:
341:is criticized for having taught
119:(not to be confused with either
16:4th century BC Greek philosopher
738:
733:Plato and the Socratic Dialogue
725:
712:
699:
683:
670:
657:
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537:Plato and the Socratic Dialogue
604:
588:
571:
542:
529:
517:
433:
300:, Socrates converses with the
1:
835:Ancient Athenian philosophers
480:
423:, a notorious scandalmonger.
136:the dialogue of the same name
815:Classical Greek philosophers
694:Plato and His Contemporaries
371:
44:, c. 425 BC – c. 350 BC) or
7:
276:send his son Hipponicus to
211:The 2nd century AD sophist
56:), son of Lysanias, of the
10:
851:
256:Our major sources for the
53:
41:
18:
539:, pp. 76-79 & 393-401
134:(not to be confused with
466:of the time, constitute
213:Publius Aelius Aristides
108:, Aeschines wrote seven
770:Encyclopædia Britannica
720:Socrates and Alcibiades
583:The Classical Quarterly
795:. Vol. 1:2. 1925.
665:Aischines von Sphettos
421:Idomeneus of Lampsacus
76:Aeschines and Socrates
30:
746:Philosophical Studies
696:. 1930 (out of print)
676:Gabriele Giannantoni.
385:Dionysius the Younger
366:Miltiades the Younger
34:Aeschines of Sphettus
29:
535:e.g., Charles Kahn,
46:Aeschines Socraticus
650:Diogenes Laërtius,
610:Diogenes Laërtius,
548:Diogenes Laërtius,
348:The setting of the
54:Αἰσχίνης Σωκρατικός
820:Pupils of Socrates
663:Heinrich Dittmar.
621:2010-12-12 at the
464:Socratic dialogues
110:Socratic dialogues
100:Socratic dialogues
31:
764:"Aeschines"
601:(1928), chap. II.
526:(1928), chap. II.
400:Against Aeschines
377:Diogenes Laërtius
106:Diogenes Laërtius
42:Αἰσχίνης Σφήττιος
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215:quotes from the
202:The Erasistratoi
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756:Further reading
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743:
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731:Charles Kahn's
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718:David Johnson.
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24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
848:
838:
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832:
830:350s BC deaths
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825:420s BC births
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80:According to
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50:Ancient Greek
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38:Ancient Greek
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790:
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719:
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709:, 1.31.51-52
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562:
561:"Αἰσχίνης".
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467:
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237:Themistocles
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60:Sphettus of
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735:. pp. 18-29
690:G. C. Field
633:Athenaeus,
595:John Burnet
475:A.E. Taylor
441:G. C. Field
434:Scholarship
302:Pythagorean
229:Oxyrhynchus
225:Arthur Hunt
221:World War I
90:Antisthenes
86:John Burnet
804:Categories
481:References
468:literature
457:Alcibiades
449:Alcibiades
445:Alcibiades
428:Xenocrates
417:Aristippus
343:Theramenes
328:Alcibiades
324:Alcibiades
242:sufficient
233:Alcibiades
217:Alcibiades
164:Alcibiades
117:Alcibiades
94:Hermogenes
705:Cicero's
599:Platonism
524:Platonism
392:Athenaeus
372:Anecdotes
358:Euripides
350:Miltiades
262:Athenaeus
247:Symposium
186:Polyainos
178:akephaloi
147:Miltiades
70:Aeschines
21:Aeschines
619:Archived
552:, ii. 61
339:Prodicus
320:Axiochus
316:Axiochus
298:Telauges
291:Xenophon
287:Republic
266:Plutarch
166:and the
157:Telauges
132:Axiochus
66:Socrates
616:2.60-64
579:Eryxias
508:Apology
506:Plato.
497:, 33d-e
495:Apology
493:Plato.
453:Aspasia
404:sophist
352:is the
335:Callias
333:In the
305:ascetic
296:In the
278:Aspasia
274:Callias
258:Aspasia
194:Eryxias
182:Phaidon
168:Aspasia
142:Callias
127:Aspasia
782:
748:, 1934
722:. 2003
680:. 1991
667:. 1912
654:, 2.60
512:Phaedo
396:Lysias
362:Hagnon
270:Cicero
268:, and
251:loving
235:about
204:, and
190:Drakon
152:Rhinon
62:Athens
510:33e,
412:Crito
309:Crito
82:Plato
563:Suda
514:59b.
381:Life
354:stoa
314:The
285:and
283:Meno
260:are
173:Suda
92:and
58:deme
581:",
180:):
806::
789:.
767:.
692:.
637:,
614:,
597:,
459:.
398:,
360:,
345:.
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223:,
200:,
196:,
192:,
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184:,
112::
52::
40::
641:.
123:)
48:(
36:(
23:.
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