SECOND PAPER Core 1.1

Professor Hansen

Fall 2006

Length: three to four double-spaced pages

Due date: Wednesday, December 13.

A Conversation with Sokrates

“If . . . death is a change from here to another place, and what we are told is true and all who have died are there, what greater blessing could there be, gentlemen of the jury? . . . I could spend my time testing and examining people there, as I do here, as to who among them is wise, and who thinks he is, but is not. What would one not give, gentlemen of the jury, for the opportunity to examine the man who led the great expedition against Troy, or Odysseus or . . . innumerable other men and women one could mention?” (Plato, Apology 40e-41c)

Imagine a scene in Hades. Sokrates is wandering among the souls of those who died long ago, looking for people with whom to have a discussion. He runs into Dido and Medea, who are having a lively conversation, and asks if he can join in. They immediately agree.

Write an account of the dialogue which the three of them then have. Each speaker should refer in detail to her/his own life and guiding principles.

You may write your paper either as a third-person account or in the form of a dramatic (i.e., Platonic) dialogue.