Chapter 2, Memoirs of Socrates, Book I Summary and Analysis

The Memoirs of Socrates is Xenophon's most significant Socratic work; it is divided into four books of largely similar length. The books show Socrates talking with others and sometimes delivering a homily. The conversations are often poorly organized, though. For this reason, the work is hard to date. The pieces were probably written late in Xenophon's life. The editor thinks the piece is quasi-fictional, despite Xenophon's emphasis that the pieces are reliable.

Xenophon's main theme in the Memoirs is the ideal of the 'true good' which seems to reflect Xenophon's view, not Socrates. Xenophon's conception of the truly good is tied to both external and internal qualities, almost like the ideal of being a gentleman. A truly good person is (i) free by means of self-discipline, i.e., internally free from...