Thinking of Death places Plato's Euthydemus among the dialogues that surround the trial and death of Socrates. A premonition of philosophy's fate arrives in the form of Socrates' encounter with the two-headed sophist pair, Euthydemus and Dionysodorus, who appear as if they are the ghost of the Socrates of Aristophanes' Thinkery. The pair vacillate between choral ode and rhapsody, as Plato vacillates between referring to them in the dual and plural number in Greek. Gwenda-lin Grewal's close reading explores how the structure of the dialogue and the pair's back-and-forth arguments bear a striking resemblance to thinking itself: in its immersive remove from reality, thinking simulates death even as it cannot conceive of its possibility. Euthydemus and Dionysodorus take this to an extreme, and so emerge as the philosophical dream and sophistic nightmare of being disembodied from substance. The Euthydemus is haunted by philosophy's tenuous relationship to political life. This is played out in the narration through Crito's implied criticism of Socrates-the phantom image of the Athenian laws-and in the drama itself, which appears to take place in Hades. Thinking of death thus brings with it a lurid parody of the death of thinking: the farce of perfect philosophy that bears the gravity of the city's sophistry. Grewal also provides a new translation of the Euthydemus that pays careful attention to grammatical ambiguities, nuances, and wit in ways that substantially expand the reader's access to the dialogue's mysteries.

About the Author
Gwenda-lin Grewal is the Onassis Lecturer in Ancient Greek Thought and Language at the New School for Social Research. Her publications include English translations of Plato's Phaedo (2018) and Cratylus (forthcoming) and the book Fashion

Reviews
This book offers a wealth of background information to read the Euthydemus, suggestive comparisons to the Greek literary tradition and beyond, striking crossreferences to other dialogues, and fruitful discussions of the possible implications and significance of often neglected details and allusions in the text. * Greece & Rome *
Grewal's commentary is commendably ambitious...Grewal's rendition of the Platonic text is excellent overall, being especially valuable for its careful attention to the grammar of the Euthydemus in ways not found in the other English translations of which I am aware...will insist upon using this translation when teaching the Euthydemus to graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the future. * Colin C. Smith, Pennsylvania State University, Ancient Philosophy *



Book Information
ISBN 9780192849571
Author Gwenda-lin Grewal
Format Hardback
Page Count 298
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 558g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 160mm * 20mm