Introduction

Summary

This volume collects those of Myles Burnyeat’s philosophical publications from his Oxford period and in retirement that were devoted to two particular areas of his Plato scholarship. He had regularly lectured in his Cambridge days on the central books of Plato’s Republic. But it was in these later years that he was able to articulate in extended published form his multi-faceted vision of the dialogue. One highly developed but hitherto unpublished paper (‘Plato and the dairy-maids’) appeared to require only one or two small finishing touches, and is also included. In addition, two short book reviews which address further important aspects of the Republic’s philosophy or literary form are reproduced.