CHANGE OF MIND

 On October 18 I wrote to Professor Allan:

‘Those who turn to internet for information on Plato are misinformed: They 'learn' that Plato began to write his dialogues after Socrates died, that is after 399. This is wrong. Plato's dialog Meno was written some three years prior to Socrates' trial and death, during Meno's visit in Athens.

What allows me to be confident about this dating?

Xenophon in the Anabasis describes the treachery of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes, thanks to which he succeeded in imprisoning the majority of the Greek generals. Xenophon describes the way in which the Persian general Ariaeus 'informed' the Greek army about the event:

'Clearchus [the leader of the Greek army], men of Greece, inasmuch as he was shown to be perjuring himself and violating the truce, has received his deserts and is dead, but Proxenus and Menon, because they gave information about his plotting, are held in high honour.'

This means that the Greeks learnt about Meno's treachery in 402. Plato could not have written the Meno after this information reached the Greeks, that is well before Socrates was tried and sentenced to death.

Those who turn to internet for information on Plato are directed to 'PLATONIC CHRONOLOGY AND WRITINGS'. There they 'learn' that Plato began to write his dialogues after 399, that is after Socrates' death. The dialogue Meno figures there among dialogues written in 'Plato's second writing period', from 388 to 367.

I shall protest with 'LET US DISCUSS PLATO' in front of Balliol College on Tuesday October 22.

***

This morning, I was preparing myself for the Protest. Since in each of my journeys are periods of waiting, I took in my bag a copy of Plato’s Meno and a copy of Xenophon’s Anabasis. Then I looked in the draw in which I have kept my bus pass; the only thing I found was an empty plastic cover.
I went to the Library to get a new bas pass. I paid the obligatory £10, hoping to get a new one. Instead, I’ve got a payment confirmation: ‘You should receive your bus pass within two weeks.’

And so, if, when I get the bus pass, I should wish to make LET US DISCUSS PLATO protest at Balliol, I shall do it then.

***

I wanted to inform Professor Allan

‘I have changed my mind. I shall not be protesting at Balliol tomorrow.’

Unfortunately, my computer does not allow me to send any emails, at present.