Book 4, The Crito: Chapter 1, Introduction & Crito Summary and Analysis

This is the first of the dialogs that takes place after Socrates has been sent to prison. It is rapidly described as the shortest one. The introduction gives the editor, an English scholar living in Australia, the opportunity to express the focus of the Crito. One powerful facet of the dialog is the fact that Socrates chooses to not escape from prison. This is even though his friends attempt to rescue him. The editor also clues readers into a prominent psychological element: the moral judgment of justice and the intellectual effort involved with coming to understand what this is.

The dialog opens in a prison cell in Athens. Two old men are there. One is Socrates, who is sleeping. The other is Crito. Crito has come to visit Socrates out of...