The Republic focuses on the meaning of justice – of the character of thejust city, and what it meant to be a just man. After examining the variousoptions for forms of government, Plato concludes that just government isonly possible under the rule of a philosopher king. The Republic featuresthe famous ‘Allegory of the Cave’. Plato examined the belief system of agroup of people who had spent their entire lives facing a blank wall inside acave. When a fire is lit behind them, they see the dancing shadows on thewall in front of them and give them names, believing them to be real. InPlato’s argument, the philosopher is the freed prisoner, seeing reality for thefirst time and no longer fooled by the deceptive shadows.This volume includes nine other Socratic dialogues: Charmides, Meno,Gorgias, Parmenides, Symposium, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo.In Charmides, Socrates discusses the meaning of restraint; Symposiumdepicts a contest of speeches and rhetoric on the subject of love; Menoexamines the concept of virtue and questions whether it can be taught, orindeed, learned; Gorgias questions what makes something persuasive andhelps to establish the foundations of a theory of rhetoric; while Parmenides,one of Plato’s most enigmatic works, articulates the philosopher’sinfluential theory of forms.The next four dialogues, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo, tell thedramatic and heart-breaking story of the trial of Socrates. Accused ofcorrupting the youth of the day and heresy, Socrates is dragged through theAthenian legal system. Euthyphro narrates a discussion about piety, shortlyafter he has been charged with heresy but before the trial begins. The Apology recounts his legal defence before the jury, Crito investigates the meaning of justice and Phaedo examines the nature of the soul whileSocrates prepares to die in his prison cell.Plato’s work influenced generations of writers, philosophers andhistorians.