Sisyphus(dialogue)
TheSisyphus(/ˈsɪsɪfəs/;Greek:Σίσυφος) is purported to be one of thedialogues of Plato.The dialogue is extant and was included in theStephanusedition published in Geneva in 1578. It is now generally acknowledged to be spurious. The work probably dates from the fourth century BCE, and the author was presumably a pupil ofPlato.[1]
Synopsis[edit]
It is a dialogue betweenSocratesandSisyphus of Pharsalus.Sisyphus believes that deliberation allows one to find the best course of action, but Socrates is puzzled by what deliberation is, and why it is supposed to be different from guesswork. By the end of the dialogue, it becomes clear that Sisyphus does not know what deliberation is.[1]The dialogue seems to engage with an idea of good deliberation (euboulia) for whichIsocrateswas a noted exponent.[1][2]The author uses the termdialegesthai[3]in an un-Platonic fashion to refer, not todialectic,but to what Plato considerederistic.[4]
Dating[edit]
Carl Werner Müllerargues that theSisyphuscan be dated securely to the middle third of the fourth century BC, and, assuming that the reference to "Callistratus"[5]is toCallistratus of Aphidnae,to the period between Callistratus' death sentence in 361 and his execution (by 350), when no one needed to ask "Who is Callistratus?" but Callistratus' constantly changing location in exile made "Where is Callistratus?" a real question.[6]Francesco Aronadio also dates the work to Plato's lifetime and places it within the circle of theAcademy.[7]Schleiermacherhad opined that theSisyphuscould perhaps have been produced in theMegarian school.[8]
The dialogue is freely paraphrased inDio Chrysostom'sOn Deliberation(oration 26),the earliest instance of a famous author making reference to a work of theAppendix Platonica(notheuomenoi).[9]
Notes[edit]
- ^abcD.S. Hutchinson, introduction to "Sisyphus," in John M. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson (eds.),Plato, Complete works,Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997, pp. 1707-8.
- ^Carl Werner Müller,Die Kurzdialoge der Appendix Platonica,Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 1975, pp. 79-82.
- ^Pseudo-Plato,Sisyphus,338d8, 390b6
- ^Müller 1975, p. 104
- ^Pseudo-Plato,Sisyphus,388c
- ^Müller 1975, p. 103
- ^John M. Dillon,review of F. Aronadio,Dialoghi spuri di Platone(Turin, 2008), inBryn Mawr Classical Review2010.03.05.
- ^Friedrich Schleiermacher,Kritische Gesamtausgabe,Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1988, part 1 (Schriften und Entwürfe), vol. 3 (Schriften aus der Berliner Zeit, 1800-1802), p. 366.
- ^C.W. Müller, "Appendix Platonicaund Neue Akademie: Die pseudoplatonischen DialogeÜber die TugendundAlkyon,"in Döring, Erler, and Schorn (eds.),Pseudoplatonica(Stuttgart, 2005), p. 155.
External links[edit]
- Sisyphustranslated by George Burges
- Free public domain audiobook version ofSisyphustranslated by George Burges
Apocryphapublic domain audiobook atLibriVox.Collection includes Sisyphus.George Burges,translator (1855).
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