November 15, 2000
The Jowett translations of Plato's Dialogues have long been considered some of the best extant. As language, terminology, and culture have changed, however, classic translations have frequently been reexamined. Here Pelliccia (classics, Cornell Univ.) has revised Jowett's translation of five seminal Platonic dialogs (Ion, Phaedrus, Protagoras, Symposium, and the Apology) and has rendered the texts in fresh, modern, and more accessible English. Pelliccia also takes into account both scholarly research carried out on the Greek texts since Jowett's time, and archaisms or affectations in Jowett's English that today tend to dilute the power of the translations. The result is a set of texts that retain Jowett's strengths while coupling them with the fluidity of contemporary English. This is a needed and welcome addition to the translations of the Dialogues. Recommended for all libraries with holdings of the major philosophical writers.--Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.