-
Symposium, the Apology, and the Allegory of the Cave
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Allegory of the Cave
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Gil Anders
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Allegory of the Cave appears in Plato’s Republic and compares the effect of education and the lack of it on human nature. It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother and Socrates, who tells of people that have been chained to the wall of a cave their whole lives. They see shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them. Socrates explains that the philosopher is like a prisoner who has escaped the cave and realizes that the shadows on the wall are not the true reality at all.
-
-
Plato made uninteresting
- By Aaron on 08-09-20
By: Plato
-
The Socratic Dialogues Middle Period, Volume 2
- Phaedrus, Cratylus, Parmenides
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Laurence Kennedy, full cast
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remarkable range of Plato's Dialogues is vividly demonstrated by these three works. It opens with Phaedrus, a highly personal discussion between Socrates (David Rintoul) and the young, love-struck Phaedrus (Gunnar Cauthery). They go for a walk outside the walls of Athens and, under a plane tree by the banks of the Ilissus, talk about love - erotic and 'Platonic' love. Socrates endeavours to steer Phaedrus away from infatuation and show him that real love is based on concern for the beloved.
-
-
Excellent recording, but ...
- By Victor on 07-25-20
By: Plato
-
Plato's Republic
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing?
-
-
Benjamin Jowett Translation, Ray Childs Narration
- By The Masked Reviewer on 06-24-17
By: Plato
-
The Allegory of the Cave
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Adriel Brandt
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This simplistic and ingenious allegory from one of the fathers of Western philosophy casts light on society’s naiveté and ignorance.
-
-
Old English language. Not an Easy Read
- By Kephas on 06-29-20
By: Plato
-
Symposium
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greek word sumposion means a drinking party (a fact shamefully ignored by the organizers of modern symposia), and the party described in Plato's Symposium is one supposedly given in the year 416 BC by the playwright Agathon to celebrate his victory in the dramatic festival of the Lenaea. He has already given one party, the previous evening; this second party is for a select group of friends, and host and guests alike are feeling a little frail.
-
-
A perfect introduction to Plato
- By B. Leddy on 02-19-12
By: Plato
-
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, The Ego and the Id
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Derek Le Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are three key works by Sigmund Freud which, published in the first decades of the 20th century, underpinned his developing views and had such a dramatic effect on world society. In the uncompromising Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), he declared that 'sexual aberrations' are not limited to the insane but exist in 'normal' people to a greater or lesser degree. The three essays are divided between sexual perversions, childhood sexuality and puberty.
-
-
Great set of books
- By Nicholas on 11-18-19
By: Sigmund Freud
-
The Allegory of the Cave
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Gil Anders
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Allegory of the Cave appears in Plato’s Republic and compares the effect of education and the lack of it on human nature. It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother and Socrates, who tells of people that have been chained to the wall of a cave their whole lives. They see shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them. Socrates explains that the philosopher is like a prisoner who has escaped the cave and realizes that the shadows on the wall are not the true reality at all.
-
-
Plato made uninteresting
- By Aaron on 08-09-20
By: Plato
-
The Socratic Dialogues Middle Period, Volume 2
- Phaedrus, Cratylus, Parmenides
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Laurence Kennedy, full cast
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The remarkable range of Plato's Dialogues is vividly demonstrated by these three works. It opens with Phaedrus, a highly personal discussion between Socrates (David Rintoul) and the young, love-struck Phaedrus (Gunnar Cauthery). They go for a walk outside the walls of Athens and, under a plane tree by the banks of the Ilissus, talk about love - erotic and 'Platonic' love. Socrates endeavours to steer Phaedrus away from infatuation and show him that real love is based on concern for the beloved.
-
-
Excellent recording, but ...
- By Victor on 07-25-20
By: Plato
-
Plato's Republic
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing?
-
-
Benjamin Jowett Translation, Ray Childs Narration
- By The Masked Reviewer on 06-24-17
By: Plato
-
The Allegory of the Cave
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Adriel Brandt
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This simplistic and ingenious allegory from one of the fathers of Western philosophy casts light on society’s naiveté and ignorance.
-
-
Old English language. Not an Easy Read
- By Kephas on 06-29-20
By: Plato
-
Symposium
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greek word sumposion means a drinking party (a fact shamefully ignored by the organizers of modern symposia), and the party described in Plato's Symposium is one supposedly given in the year 416 BC by the playwright Agathon to celebrate his victory in the dramatic festival of the Lenaea. He has already given one party, the previous evening; this second party is for a select group of friends, and host and guests alike are feeling a little frail.
-
-
A perfect introduction to Plato
- By B. Leddy on 02-19-12
By: Plato
-
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, The Ego and the Id
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Derek Le Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are three key works by Sigmund Freud which, published in the first decades of the 20th century, underpinned his developing views and had such a dramatic effect on world society. In the uncompromising Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), he declared that 'sexual aberrations' are not limited to the insane but exist in 'normal' people to a greater or lesser degree. The three essays are divided between sexual perversions, childhood sexuality and puberty.
-
-
Great set of books
- By Nicholas on 11-18-19
By: Sigmund Freud
-
The Socratic Dialogues: Middle Period, Volume 3
- The Republic
- By: Plato, Benjamin Jowlett - translator
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Republic is perhaps the single most important, the most studied and the most quoted text of all of Plato's Socratic Dialogues. Through the medium of Socrates, Plato outlines his view and ideas concerning the ideal working of the city-state. Socrates narrates a conversation that took place the previous day with Cephalus, Glaucon, Thrasymachus and others. The dialogue is organised into 10 books and covers a broad range of topics, including the ideal community and the ideal rulers of the community.
-
-
Amazing
- By Arnar Styr Björnsson on 12-12-19
By: Plato, and others
-
Plato's Symposium
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic nature of Plato's dialogues is delightfully evident in Symposium. The marriage between character and thought bursts forth as the guests gather at Agathon's house to celebrate the success of his first tragedy. With wit and insight, they all present their ideas about love - from Erixymachus' scientific naturalism to Aristophanes' comic fantasy. The unexpected arrival of Alcibiades breaks the spell cast by Diotima's ethereal climb up the staircase of love to beauty itself.
-
-
fantastic
- By Aleksander on 11-09-16
By: Plato
-
The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
-
-
This is a great book
- By Gary on 04-25-14
By: Arthur Herman
-
The Socratic Dialogues: Early Period, Volume 1
- The Apology, Crito, Charmides, Laches, Lysis, Menexenus, Ion
- By: Plato, Benjamin Jowett - translator
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, full cast
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are the Socratic Dialogues presented as Plato designed them to be - living discussions between friends and protagonists, with the personality of Socrates himself coming alive as he deals with a host of subjects, from justice and inspiration to courage, poetry and the gods. Plato's Socratic Dialogues provide a bedrock for classical Western philosophy. For centuries they have been read, studied and discussed via the flat pages of books, but the ideal medium for them is the spoken word.
-
-
Entertaining, insightful, stimulating
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-30-18
By: Plato, and others
-
Plato's Apology
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Socrates is on trial for his life. He is charged with impiety and corrupting young people. He presents his own defense, explaining why he has devoted his life to challenging the most powerful and important people in the Greek world. The reason is that rich and famous politicians, priests, poets, and a host of others pretend to know what is good, true, holy, and beautiful, but when Socrates questions them, they are shown to be foolish rather than wise.
-
-
Just amazing!!!!
- By Goodlife on 10-24-18
By: Plato
-
The Socratic Dialogues Early Period, Volume 2
- Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, Lesser Hippias, Greater Hippias
- By: Plato, Benjamin Jowett - translator
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, full cast
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here, in this second collection of Socratic Dialogues from Plato's Early Period, read by David Rintoul as Socrates with a full cast, are contrasting six works. Often, as with Gorgias, which opens the recording, Socrates combats the popular subjects of sophistry and rhetoric, in direct conversation with Gorgias (a leading sophist teacher), and with one of his pupils, Callicles.
-
-
an excellent performance
- By Christopher Powell on 07-10-18
By: Plato, and others
-
The Consolation of Philosophy
- By: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Consolation of Philosophy is one of the key works in the rich tradition of Western philosophy, partly because of the circumstances in which it was written. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c480-c524) was of aristocratic Roman birth and became consul and then master of offices at Ravenna, one of the highest posts under the Ostrogothic Roman ruler Theodoric. But Boethius was unjustly charged with treason in 524, and this led to house arrest, then torture and execution.
-
-
A Self-Help Bestseller since 524 AD
- By John on 01-25-17
-
Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle
- By: Robert C. Bartlett, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Bartlett
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than two millennia, philosophers have grappled with life's most profound and "eternal" questions. It is easy to forget, however, that these questions about fundamental issues like justice, injustice, virtue, vice, or happiness were not always eternal. They once had to be asked for the first time. This was a step that could place the inquirer beyond the boundaries of the law. And the Athenian citizen and philosopher who took that courageous step in the 5th century B.C. was Socrates.
-
-
Worthwhile
- By Amazon Customer on 02-18-15
By: Robert C. Bartlett, and others
-
Beyond Good and Evil
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Roy McMillan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Continuing where Thus Spoke Zarathustra left off, Nietzsche's controversial work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most influential philosophical texts of the 19th century and one of the most controversial works of ideology ever written. Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts. Nietzsche tried to formulate what he called "the philosophy of the future".
-
-
Great Book, great Audio Narration
- By Bob H on 01-07-11
-
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
- By: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall - translation
- Narrated by: Nigel Carrington
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This series of 28 lectures was given by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, during the First World War and first published in English in 1920. The purpose of this general introduction was to present his work and ideas - as they had matured at that point - to a general public; and even though there was to be considerable development and change over the ensuing years, these talks still offer a valuable and remarkably approachable entry point to his revolutionary concepts.
-
-
Simply Spectacular
- By Thomas on 09-05-16
By: Sigmund Freud, and others
-
The Interpretation of Dreams
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Derek Le Page
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud is one of the most significant books of the 20th century. Though dreams and their role in human consciousness have been a continuing thread in religion and art and life down the centuries, Freud's look at the subject through the prism of his emerging practice and study of psychoanalysis provided a startlingly new and challenging perspective.
-
-
What he really wrote.
- By Zachary Martin on 01-14-20
By: Sigmund Freud
-
Metaphysics
- By: Aristotle
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aristotle's Metaphysics was the first major study of the subject of metaphysics - in other words, an inquiry into 'first philosophy', or 'wisdom'. It differs from Physics which is concerned with the natural world: things which are subject to the laws of nature, things that move and change, are measurable. In Metaphysics, the study falls on 'being qua being' - being insofar as it is being; the causes and principles of being, the causes and principles of substances.
-
-
For Academics
- By George C. on 01-31-19
By: Aristotle
Publisher's Summary
This collection brings together three of Plato's most enduring classics: the "Symposium", the "Apology", and the famous "Allegory of the Cave" from the Republic. The "Symposium", a dialogue on the nature and purpose of love centered around the ideals of beauty and goodness, is arguably the deepest inquiry of its kind in Western philosophy. The "Apology", Plato's account of the speech given by Socrates at his trial in 399 BC, constitutes an essential defense of Socrates' life and philosophy. Finally, the "Allegory of the Cave", written as a fictional dialogue between Socrates and Plato's brother, Glaucon, is a profound commentary on the human understanding of reality. This edition is the translation by Benjamin Jowett.
More from the same
What listeners say about Symposium, the Apology, and the Allegory of the Cave
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- David
- 06-17-11
Reader kills it
Good choice of extracts if you want to learn the basics of Plato. It's the Benjamin Jowett translation, which is a bit stodgy but fine, and features lengthy introductions.
Unfortunately the reader kills the text. He's perfectly clear, but he recites everything in the same emotionless monotone. He doesn't give different voices to the characters in the Symposium, so it's hard to tell who's talking. He keeps giving words the wrong intonations, as if he's reading the text for the first time. He pronounces 'rhetoric' wrong (which is annoying because Plato says it a lot). It's very clear that the reader doesn't understand or care about what he's reading - indeed it sounds like he's not even listening to himself speak.
I fought through the whole thing, but I won't be buying any more books by this reader.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Bubb
- 07-25-15
absorbing
Would you listen to Symposium, the Apology, and the Allegory of the Cave again? Why?
yes - especially the symposium. takes multiple listens.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
decription of Socrates as a soldier in the SYmposium
What does Jonathan Cowley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The even pacing foregrounds the ideas
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- p.
- 07-24-12
Excellent
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This audio book thouroughly enhances the scenes created for us by Plato!
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The Symposium was definitely the best. It was quite compelling to hear the dialogue read.
Which character – as performed by Jonathan Cowley – was your favorite?
They were all read equally well.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me laugh when the discussion of drinking was being performed in the Symposium.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- linzjen
- 05-01-20
Missing the end???
I read the Allegory of the Cave before listening to it and this version is missing probably a 2-3 pages of the story. I plan to listen again following along with the written text, understanding that it’s a different translation, but I’m disappointed.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Frederick
- 01-04-18
Not a good reader
The reader has a good voice but someone should correct his pronounciation. Words like agora and rhetoric he gets so wrong and he does not really know how to dramatise reported Or direct speech. Did he have any direction ? Sadly these faults spoilt the enjoyment of this important work