Organizers: Ann Michelini, University of Cincinnati (Ann.Michelini@uc.edu); Ruby Blondell, University of Washington (Blondell@u.washington.edu).

Plato is both the founder of a discipline, philosophy, and perhaps the greatest Greek prose stylist. Philosophers and classicists have recently renewed their interest in literary aspects of Platonic texts as constitutive elements in philosophical meaning. Concomitantly research has begun to emphasize the ways in which Platonic texts challenge the traditional ideology and structure of Athenian society and Greek culture.

The time seems right for a colloquium group to explore literary approaches to Platonic texts. These panels have been presented at the American Philological Association meetings for the past four years. They have, we believe, considerably increased the interest in literary topics in Plato at our meetings. Appended below are the speakers and topics for the 2002-2004 panels, as well as the abstracts for the panel presented in January 2005.

There will be two further panels. The panel presented in 2006, at the meetings in Montreal, Canada, will deal with The Reception of Platonic Texts. (Unfortunately the deadline for submissions has been set as February 15, 2005). The final panel, at the 2007 meetings, will deal with the subject of humor in Plato.

Panel 1, 2002 - Metaphor in Plato

Presiding, Ann Michelini

Hayden Ausland, Univ. of Montana
"The deuteros plous in Platonic literature and thought"

Ruby Blondell, University of Washington
"Shifting perspectives" (on the contrast between eikon and phantasma as it relates to Plato's own writing)

Scott Carson, Ohio University
“The Proof is in the Paradox: Expertise and Socratic Midwifery in Plato’s Theaetetus”

Commentator: William Johnson, University of Cincinnati.

Panel 2, 2003 - Dialogic Technique

Presiding, Ruby Blondell

Diskin Clay, Duke University
“The Art of Platonic Quotation”

Edward Halper, University of Georgia
“Dialogue and Argument in Plato’s Protagoras”

Daniel Murphy, The Nightingale-Banford School
“And so, This is Just What Happened”: Mimesis and Diegesis in Charmides 155c-e

Margalit Finkelberg, Tel Aviv University
“Dramatic Allusions and the Grading of Speakers in Plato’s Symposium”

Panel 3, 2004 - Historical Context

Presiding, Ann Michelini

Seth Schein, University of California, Davis
“Orality, Textuality, and the Interpretation of the Platonic Dialogues”

Joanne Waugh, University of South Florida
“Speaking to the Soul: Reading the Symposium”

Geoffrey Steadman, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Plato's Crito and the Graphê Paranomôn”

Emilie Kutash, Boston University Center for the History and Philosophy of Science
“What Did Plato Read?”

Panel 4, 2005 - Historical Characters

Ruby Blondell, Presiding

David Schenker, University of Missouri
“The Use and Abuse of History in Plato” - ABSTRACT

Ann Michelini, University of Cincinnati
“Alcibiades in the Socratic Tradition and in Plato” - ABSTRACT

Alex Long, St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge
“Phaedo’s Mistake: Socratic Dialogues and Philosophical Authority” - ABSTRACT

Christian Schaefer, Regensburg University
“On the Pythagorean Youths in the Phaedo” - ABSTRACT